OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1 - Ambient Music - Format Sizes

Format Sizes 

There were a few problems and considerations for the construction of compost heap.

- It will be difficult to work out how much of the different coloured sands will be needed to fill a square container so making it smaller will make it easier to buy enough sand to fill the design.
- The acrylic and sand is quite expensive so restricting the design to half a sheet of perspex will mean that the design remains affordable. If the design is square it will be no larger than 18 x 18cm 
- If the design was square stickers of the symbols could be applied to acrylic and placed within the compost heap 
- It was considered that in order to cut down on the amount of sand needed the compost heap could be taller and thinner to show a cross section whilst still having a design on both the front and back
- However it was thought that if the taller and thinner design was used this would mean that the acrylic symbols would not be able to be used as it would be difficult to fit a hand in to hold the pieces in place while the sand was added around the symbols.
- Therefore if the thinner design was to be used acrylic stickers of all the pieces would have to be applied to the outside of the acrylic box so that the coloured sand could be seen behind.

Options for the design
- Black symbols on clear vinyl would allow the sand to show through any white areas within the symbol design. These would be applied to a thin box.
- Black symbols on white vinyl would allow the white in the designs to stand out whilst allowing the sand to be visible. The black symbols however would have to be cut right up to the edge of the design so registering may be a problem.
- Black symbols with white borders printed on white vinyl to then be applied on white acrylic. Solid black symbols will be laser cut from black acrylic. These would then be placed within a square compost heap with designs on four sides. 

Tutor Feedback 
It was said that rather than compromising on the idea for the compost heap and its shape, which reflects the shape of a real compost heap, solutions should be considered to overcome the issue of displaying the object in a exhibition setting.

Displaying the piece 
- It was considered that if the design is to be quite small (18  x 18cm) and placed on the ground the viewer would only see the top layer of the compost heap rather than the designs on the side 
- The design would need to be elevated off the ground to roughly chest height to allow people to see the designs on the sides of the compost heap.
- The design will also need to be on something that people can walk round such as a pedistool which will allow them to view the designs on each of the four sides.