Project 2: Sense of Place

2/6/2020 - 16/6/2020 / Week 8 - Week 10
Lim He Yu (0340423)
Bachelor of Mass Communication (Advertising) / Design Principles

---

Project 2: Sense of Place
Any medium

 Task 

In this project, we were instructed to create an artwork that expresses how we see the things/places around us. Like project 1, we're required to apply the design principles we have learned throughout the semester. 

 Idea Exploration 

For the initial ideas, I was inspired by the Bauhaus movement, and I wanted to incorporate historical buildings from my hometown, which is Penang, into the artwork. The rationale for this was to bring something old to "life", by combining the old buildings and modern design elements to create something new. You can take a look at the reference I found below.

Figure 1.0: Paul Smith Design (source)

Apart from that, I really liked the idea of mixed media artwork, as in putting illustrations in images. From the inspo I've found on Pinterest, I wanted to illustrate a cartoon-ish version of me stepping out of the ocean onto the Penang bridge. The reference is shown below.

Figure 1.1: blog.decostore.com.br (source)

As for the final idea, which I came up with after receiving for the first two ideas, I have a photo from when I visited a really old bungalow in my father's plantation. Due to the fact that the house was built around the 1950s, I wanted to put people in the photo, to sort of bring the old house back to life. I didn't find any references for this artwork because I wanted to make sure that I don't want to risk plagiarism. Shown below is the photo that I used for the artwork.

Figure 1.2: Plantation Bungalow Photo

 Progress: 

INITIAL ARTWORKS 

To be frank, the initial ideas (Bauhaus & mix media) was done quite last-minute before consultation, so there wasn't much exploration done in the artworks I've done for these two ideas. Ms. Jinchi pointed out that the artworks look too similar to the ones inspired by it, which I agree a hundred percent. She advised me to combine the two ideas, by placing the giant girl above the buildings. However, I did not want to go through with the ideas anymore, because I didn't want to stick with something that's in a way "copied". So, I've decided to move on to something more original, something I don't have reference to. Nonetheless, I've attached the initial drafts of the first two ideas below.

Figure 1.3: First Draft Bauhaus

Figure 1.4: First Draft Mixed Media Illustration

FINAL ARTWORK PROCESS  

For this final idea, I personally think this artwork has more of a story-telling aspect to it. The photo itself has a nostalgic feel to it, as it was built in the 1950s. This house holds a lot of memories, not my memories but my dad's. From the stories I've heard from my dad, the people who used to live in the house were unhappy, there were a lot of bickering, and that the house was haunted (am skeptical but that's what he said).

Due to that matter of fact, I thought I could go with that direction to edit in western people from the 50s, because I prefer the style and aesthetics from that era. I've decided to feature an unhappy couple sitting on the furniture, because as I've mentioned, the were a lot of quarreling in that house. Apart from that, I added a fragment of black and white tones and torn paper to further emphasize the subjects, a torn relationship/family concept. As a finishing touch, I added noise for the nostalgic feel.

As for the design principles for the artwork, the evident principle shown in the artwork is emphasis used as the colour difference and the torn paper that divides the two tones bring focus to the subjects on the artwork. Apart from that, I think the artwork somehow exhibits the harmony principle, the two tones of the artwork are kind of dark and dull. Not only that, I added noise to the artwork to add more to the principle as well.

Shown below are the pictures of the subjects used, along with their sources.

Figure 1.5: Vilém Heckel (source)

Figure 1.6: tlc.howstuffworks.com (source)

I've documented the process of making the artwork in the form of a gif, like what I did in Project 1. The gif is shown below.

Figure 1.5: Artwork Process.gif

FINAL ARTWORK AND RATIONALE

Figure 1.6: Project 2 (Final).jpg

Rationale
This artwork was inspired by the events that happened in the house this photo was taken. Back in the 1950s, my father's uncle and his wife was constantly quarreling, which was why I featured a seemingly unhappy couple in the artwork. I chose to feature westerners instead of Asians because I personally favour the fashion choices and aesthetics of that era. As for the torn paper effect, it is used to make a point of the past and present, along with the different colour tones. The noise effect was to enhance the nostalgic feel of the picture. The design principles applied is emphasis, as the design elements used has brought focus to the two main subjects. Apart from that, I believe harmony is evident as well, due to the dull and dark tones, and the noise effect that brings the artwork together as a whole.

---

 Feedback: 

- Initial ideas look to similar with the references

- Try editing the big girl on top of the architecture

- Crop a bit of the house photo from below

 Reflection: 

Overall, this project has made me realise that I can be quite direct when it comes to creating artwork with references, which would result in plagiarism. I've learned that sometimes I shouldn't rely on references and stick with my gut instead. Apart from that I also need to have better time management skills so I don't do last-minute work. Ultimately, I'm quite happy with the final outcome as it's somewhat original and that it tells a story of its own.