OUGD603 - Brief 3 - Internal Collaborative - YCN Competition Brief - Art Fund - Creating all eleven paper designs

Creating all eleven paper designs

To create the background paper design for each of the places, visual research was done to allow key aspects of the places interiors or exteriors to be represented. Background designs would represent an element of the surroundings that the artwork or object (illustrated by Meg) would be found in.
Each of the designs for the backgrounds will be arranged so that all of Meg's illustrations do not get overlapped by the line that will be running throughout the clocks.

Key aspects of place from visual research

National Museum of Scotland 

- Has a striking Natural History collection where specimens and models are hung from the ceiling 

- Meg has created illustrations of rocks and  minerals as well as a dinosaur head

- Within the gallery there is three levels which have interesting balcony designs and pillars

 Making the design 

- The balconies had quite an interesting and structured form that could work well as a paper cut out
- Making a version of this so that you are looking at it face on then with the dinosaur layered in front would reflect a sense of you looking out across from a balcony on the other side of the gallery

- Creating the form of the arches then repeating this along the length of the 'balcony' line using the grid would create a repeat and regulated pattern to be created.

- Outlining the shape and increasing the stroke then placing them alongside each other would allow a thinner railing to be created without having to space each shape 

- Once outlined the shapes were then filled and placed over a rectangle. Using the divide tool allowed these shapes to be punched out of the rectangle

- Once all of the elements were created the unite pathfinder tool was used to merge all of the elements into a single shape which could then be outlined and used as shape that could be lasercut.

Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden

- Visual research found that pieces of Barbara Hepworths work were set within a small garden setting 

- The garden has a mix of trees, grassed areas and shrubbery that divides the garden up into smaller areas

Making the design

- To reflect the different elements within the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden it was decided that a tree, some bushes and lawn would be used within the design, in which an illustration of her work would sit.

- This would create a natural scene around the sculpture which would be different to the other settings seen in the other designs.

- Having a more curvy looking and natural looking shrub was more effective than simplifying it to a curve

- Having a high lawn line created more space within the design.

Tate Liverpool 

- Meg would be doing some illustrations of modern art so the background for these would have very simple frames in which the artwork would sit. This would reflect the gallery context in which the artwork would be seen.

- Potentially different sized frames could be used 

- Having a thin frame would reflect a minimal and contemporary aesthetic which would complement the modern art and allow the illustrations to stand out. 

Cardiff Castle 

- Meg would be illustrating one section of Cardiff Castle which sits quite prominently on a hill within the castle.

- The hill looks man made and has quite a defined shape

- The stairs leading up to the building would have been quite fortified which can be seen in the thickness of the walls running alongside the stairs 

Making the design

- Drawing the hill from a front perspective would reflect the viewpoint that the other backgrounds have been created from 

- Along the stairs their are bits of the wall which cross over onto the stairs so these were reflected through the addition of the a rectangle.

- Having a slightly higher hill with more angled sides better reflected the shape of the hill

British Museum 

- For the British Museum Meg is illustrating an Egyptian statue so the background imagery will reflect the room where all of the Egyptian artifacts are kept.

- Within the room there are distinctive pillars running the length of the room

- The ones closet to the entrance are rounded with lines running downwards, whilst the others are square with coving along the top

- Placing the statue on a podium will elevate the illustration as well as reflect it as it is in in real life.

- The perspective within this image is striking and draws the eye in towards the statue, a similar think could be used within the background design to further emphasise the Meg's imagery.

Making the design 

- To fit with the angle of the line that will go through this clock face it was decided that one side of the design would have pillars and the rest of the space would have the podium and illustration.

- Having pillars on both sides would make the design look too busy and the illustration within the clockface would have to be made much smaller.

- It was considered that the coving around the room could be added to create a sense of the ceiling within the image, however getting the perspective right for this was difficult and was perhaps overcomplicating the design.

- Making the pillars different sizes and placing them alongside one another creates a sense of perspective and the impression they are further away from you.

- The stepped angle of the pillars also draws the eye down towards the podium where the illustration will sit.

Brighton Pavillion 

- Rather than illustrating and object or artwork Meg would be illustrating the building itself 

- From images of Brighton Pavillions surroundings it was found that there is a pond and lawn which could be represented quite geometrically as a background / foreground for the pavillion.

- This was simplified through the use of rectangles and elongated circles. Using the rectangle meant their would be a straight edge for the pavillion to sit on.

- Placing the imagery to the side would allow the lines to not cross over the illustration

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum 

- For Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Meg would be illustrating the statue outside the building, this was interesting for backgrounds as there is striking architecture around the statue aswell.

- The round archway and ornate pillars within the design are striking within the architecture

Making the design

 - The main focus of the design would be on creating the effect of the raised pillars and different elements within the architecture. This would be created by making full use of layering the different elements and forms to create the background.

- Keeping the arch quite simple would place more focus on the imagery and the elements at the bottom of the design.

- Originally it was considered that the imagery could be sat across the top of the clock lines however this meant that a lot of the archway would drop out of the frame and not be visible.

- The positioning of the clock hands within this circle meant that the imagery would have to be placed to the side of the design.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery 

- For the illustration Meg would be drawing a helmet from the Staffordshire hoard 

- Within the gallery the hoard is found in there is an interesting lit panel with a geometric pattern which would make a striking graphic background for the helmet.

Making the Design 

- Breaking the design down into simple lines then overlapping them and duplicating the elements to create a repeat pattern allowed the design to be created

- Increasing the thickness of the lines made the design more in keeping with the real thing and would be more effective / less fiddly when laser cut 

Harewood House / Temple Newsam

- Meg would be drawing a bust / statue from either of these places
- To reflect the interior of the place it was considered that a decorative table and mirror / frame could be used within the design, in which the statue would then sit upon

- Placing the table to the side would allow enough space for the statue to sit on, whilst the mirror could then fill the space above the line

V&A

- For the V&A Meg would be illustrating some of the objects from the pottery collection 

- Within the gallery all of the pottery / ceramics are placed on shelving from the floor to above head height. These are packed full of different examples and grouped into styles / places where the examples come from.

- The shelves have metal beams going up the side of them

- Creating a simple composition out of lines to reflect the shelves would allow the imagery and different pot illustrations to be the focus of the design, whilst giving the pots a structure to sit within.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard 

- For the dockyard Meg would be illustrating a lamp and compass.

- At the dockyard there are mocked up museum rooms of the insides of ships

- It was considered that perhaps the items would be found on a sailors table. To create this idea a wooden background would be created to reflect the slats used to create an old table.

- The illustrations would be arranged on top of this so it would look like you were looking down at the table top. 

- Having gaps between the slats would allow shadows to be created between the 'slats' of wood

Choosing the background colours

- Each of the background designs would be cut from one of the Artfund colours (yellow, pink,blue or green) to continue with the use of the coloured papers within the illustrations. 

- None of the illustrations will be placed on a background that is the same colour as the illustration. Using one of the other colours would allow the illustrations to contrast against the background

- Within the sequence of images I also didn't want any of the same coloured backgrounds or imagery following each other. Alternating the backgrounds within the sequence would create a changing and visually engaging animation.

- Some backgrounds felt like they had to be certain colours to better reflect the context in which they would be seen e.g. landscapes such as a hill or grass were done in green, whilst the architectural design for Kelvingrove had red brick in real life so pink was used for the background colour.