Design Fundamentals II
MODULE ONE PROJECTS
CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE
Project 1: Rectilinear
The objective of this project was to gain an understanding of the rectilinear form and how to make a composition using basic shapes visually interesting.
Rectilinear Sketches
Six Rectilinear 3-Dimensional Sketches
Six Rectilinear Proportional Sketches
Final Composition: Rectilinear
At the start of the project, I think that I was confused by the idea of a rectilinear. But as we slowly progressed throughout the project, I can see that it's a 3-Dimensional concept that I have now acquired.
For this project, the idea was to understand how to create contrast with 3-Dimensional shapes and create visual interest.
What I learned about the rectilinear project . . .
In the rectilinear project, I learned about how different volumes and shapes should vary in character as much as possible. This established a hierarchy of relationships between the shapes, calling them the dominant, subdominant, and subordinate. In my work, I tried to make sure that the dominant shape was seen as dominant from all angles in order to correctly portray this idea. As well as that I also tried to make the subordinate piece in my design interesting and have character in it. The subordinate piece in this composition offers a new view of the axis and makes the composition look more balanced in a sense. When completing the project I was informed that it should have more character, therefore I created misalignment in different areas of the project. The subordinate piece is misaligned from the center and uneven on either side, making sure that it doesn’t align with any part of the figure from any side. I also purposely misaligned the subdominant piece in order to create a more interesting look to the composition.
Overall, I really liked how the final composition turned out. The smooth foam board and the photos with the pure black background give it a sense of elegance and professionalism. I think the hardest thing for me was to pick the final composition because originally I finished two compositions in full size. I think it was hard for me to decide on this question because both of them seemed to fit all of the requirements, and contained an element of surprise in them. I think this project taught us a lot about the importance of how different shapes should be, and how it is important to style them in a way where they look cohesive. I successfully completed this challenge and am ready for the next one!
Final Composition Pieces
Project 2: Planar
The objective of project two was to gain an understanding of the characteristics of planes and how they relate to each other in space.
Planar Sketches
_edited_edited.jpg)
Six Planar 3-Dimensional Sketches
Six Planar Proportional Sketches
_edited_edited.jpg)
Final Composition: Planar
What I learned about the planar project . . .
In the planar project I learned about the understanding of the characteristics of planes and how they relate to each other in space. For this project we were supposed to make six linear compositions by combining three to five planes. The planes are supposed to have contrast and contrast in proportion, and create a visual balance. Afterwards we completed the compositions and sketched then, you needed to consider the negative and the positive space throughout the composition. After we refined our composition where it contained a feeling of movement, tension, or even dance, we created a final composition of the piece. For the planar project, I choose two compositions to show my creative process. I thought that both of the compositions were very well thought out. The composition on the top was created with triangular shapes, these triangular shapes are seeen in the curving of the dominant feature. As well as the crinkles of the subdominant feature, and even in the subordinate feature when the two lines going in different directions form a shape of a triangle. This project was very intense in the beginning, I was thinking of this project as different elements of the earth, such as the crinkled paper being the fire, the dominant being the water as it caves in, and the small thin piece of paper that is piercing through the dominant as the air element. I think all of these elements as the came along created a very cohesive design, as the triangle shape intertwines in between each of the planes. The second design that is on the bottom was a little bit more chaotic, but this reminded me of the idea of music notes - and how chaotic it can be to begin with an idea. I think my composition really takes on this idea of chaos in balance. I really liked how I positioned the different elements in the figure, because it kind of shows a different story from each angle. With this the viewer is drawn more into the composition, I tried to make the planes different widths and different lengths in order to incorporate that idea of contrast, as well as the visual inertia. Overall, I think that the planar was a pretty interesting project that helped us understand the ideas of dominant, subdominant, subordinate, form, visual inertia, and so much more in so many different ways. This project gave us the opportunity to use our creative freedom in order to create such wonderful planars!
_edited_edited_edited.jpg)
Project 3: Concave/Convex
The goal of this exercise was to create two interesting three-dimensional organic forms through the concepts of convexity and concavity.
Convex/Concave Sketches
.png)
Twelve Concave/Convex Proportional Sketches
Convex/Concave Edition
_edited_edited.jpg)
_edited_edited.jpg)
_edited_edited.jpg)
Final Composition: Convexity/Concavity
What I learned in this project. . .
In the convex/concave project, I deepened my understanding of how concavity and convexity can be portrayed in three-dimensional organic forms. For this project, we made three convex forms as well as three concave forms. The words concave and convex have completely different meanings to them. Convexity is when the expression of positive volume or form pushing
into the negative space. Whereas concavity is the expression of negative space pushing into positive volume or form. After we formed all our compositions, we set into the sketching stage. We, therefore, picked our favorites and refined the composition. The compositions turned out really well in my opinion. The concavity composition portrayed a very good idea of “cave” like patterns that were created out of the line of modeling foam. The convex composition is also a good representation of the convex idea, where the object is more positive and pushes into the negative space. Even though the idea might look simple, I think that it was very balanced and cohesive. The concave design on the other hand is a little more complex and is kind of confusing to the viewer as to where to look first, but it makes it more interesting as it is different from the ones that we are used to seeing. Overall, I think that this project was definitely a challenge and that it really makes you think differently about the core ideas of convex and concavity because they both are everywhere. And this is something that I was struggling with in the project because both concepts can be easily found in most projects, but the key is to see which one is more dominant. This idea of convex and concave is somewhat similar to the idea of feminine and masculine, or even yin and yang, and for that reason, I think that this project was more understandable and how in general most would contain about equal parts of each.