OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1 - G . F Smith (Large Individual) - Development of Initial Ideas

Development of Initial Ideas

Initial Development 

For the designs for the Earths with the suns light on them it was considered that the line creating the two halves could be curved like within the images / diagrams that were being used for reference. However it was thought that these could be perceived as looking too much like the moon phases rather than an illuminated area on the Earth. Instead it was considered that the design should use straight lines two create the two halves of the circle. An alternative visualisation could be viewing the Earth from the Suns perspective and how the Sun causes winter and Summer in the two halves above and below the equator. This would involve having the equator line (which would change positions for each circle) and a dot representing the hottest point on the Earth, either above, below or on the equator.

For the scenes for each season it was considered that the scene for Summer could have a rising dot which is at its largest at the top of the page. To reflect the journey of the sun across or up into the sky it was thought that small dots could map out the line it would travel across, whilst one large dot would reflect the actual position of the Sun along its route.

For the dots all on the same page it was thought that grey / dark blue could be used to contrast against the other colours used within the dots. Having a monthly sheet with dots per week it was considered that these could curve across the page to reflect their location in relation to the wider design of the orbit around the Sun. It was also considered that dots could be arranged in a gridded format to reflect the shifting sun or they could randomly positions or in a circular format to reflect the Earths orbit around the Sun. There could be 365 dots for the whole year on one page, 30 / 31 dots on a page for a month or four dots to reflect the weeks in a month or do a weekly calendar with seven dots per week. Having the smaller amount of circles per page would make it easier to do enough colour combinations from the limited colour palette chosen. It was thought that the different circular designs could be repeated a number of times so that there would be enough to represent each day. The whole orbit of the Earth around the Sun would be spread over a number of pages meaning that each page has a different design on it depending where the paper is in relation to the wider design. It was found that each of the equinoxes falls within a month rather than on the month which would mean there would be a change in the circle design during the month. Rather than having days per month, weeks per month would allow enough space for dates inside. Having a circle per month would allow more space for the typography and all the dates to be added whilst still allowing the papers to stand out. It was considered that perhaps all 365 dots could be put within a larger circle to represent the orbital shape. These could tear away revealing more colours as you progress through the year.

For the scene for each season it was considered that there should be a set few dot sizes that are used across all the designs for consistency. For the snow design it was thought that the circles could start at the top and more can be added to the bottom to reflect it drifting downwards. Alternatively it was considered that small dots could start first then a larger dot could be added then the next one. For the spring design with blossom it was though there could be a gradual increase in the size of the dots to show growth, whilst the autumn design of falling leaves would do the opposite of this. The summer sequence it was considered could curve along the top of the circular paper to reflect the height in the sky, with the largest circle in the sequence reflecting the position of the sun along its journey across the sky. Adding a horizon line could create a better sense of perspective allowing the design to be more obvious as a sun crossing the sky. The curve could also start at the bottom of the circle and arch over grounding the design.