Concept Statement for Vessel Project

Concept Statement for Vessel Project

Wood is a natural element. It grows in the wild on trees and other plants. I want to bring this basic element back to nature. My objects are seeds. They need a vessel to settle and grow. Essentially, I would like to make a garden box for herbs that can be made into tea. I secretly have a dream of creating my own foods and drinks from plants I’ve grown. The box would have to have an organic shape that relates to its naturalistic qualities. Also, it would need to be able to withstand water, dirt, and other basic elements that go with growing a garden. I really want something that can be used after the project is over. The shape doesn’t have to be perfect since it’s organic and I want it to be smooth, but I also want it to be imperfect. My ideal box would hold the plants and look like it just came from nature. I feel like the organic shape will easily relate to my object and give the piece the loose look I’m looking for.  

Description of Vessel Project

Description of Vessel Project

This project was to design a box that could hold an object of our choice. It could be anything, but it had to have a purpose or reason for making a box for it. I chose some seeds for my object of choice. I’ve always wanted a garden pot and I thought it could be a good way to inspire me to do this project. A vessel can hold objects to protect them, shield them, and various other reasons. My dream is to have a little herb garden that I can actually use to make drinks and dishes. We have to make the vessels out of wood and use a band saw and other wood cutting tools. After cutting the pieces they need to be sanded and then glued together again. After that it needs to be sealed. My box will most likely need holes at the bottom for the water to drain. All in all I’ve always wanted to learn how to make things out of wood so I think this will be a good experience. I’m trying to be more open and with the flow. I feel like I need to stop limiting myself as a designer and start enjoying these various projects.   

Amelie Appreciation Post

Amelie Appreciation Post

A non-cartoon film this is very shocking! I truly enjoyed this film and just want to watch it over and over. It's a French film from 2001 named Amelie obviously. The main character is the girl Amelie who lives in a world of her own. She avoids socializing in reality and prefers her mindful wanderings instead. This film is highly artsy and very random at times, yet it all connects in an odd twist. I deeply relate to Amelie's plight, but at the same time wish for her to find happiness. As the film plays through she finds her mission in life is to help others. My favorite case is her introverted father. Amelie removes her father's beloved gnome from his garden and has a friend take pictures of it around the globe. These pictures of the gnome are then sent to her curious father in hopes that he will go see the world itself. The pictures and landscape are so tastefully done in the film. A mixture of live action and some cgi gives the film a life of its own. 

Also the sense of surrealism within the film shows the world through Amelie's point of view.  Sometimes she is a hero and other times a mischievous prankster. All these aspects depend upon Amelie herself and what she chooses. This film deserves more attention than I believe it gets in the states. Just because it's a foreign film doesn't mean the beautiful art and story can be ignored. I recommend this film to almost anyone as a way into an artist's mind and perspective. 

Hotel Transylvania Appreciation Post

Hotel Transylvania Appreciation Post

Although the plot for this film was rather basic, the characters and art made up for it. Seriously, they were able to make main character Dracula not only scary, but really adorable. Parts of the film he looked like an abandon kitten and other points a terrifying demon. It looked awesome and you can tell the creators thought out Dracula's design really well. 

I mean look at all the variations on this page! His final design looks different, but they pulled off that fine balance and made him have a soft side. Another aspect I enjoyed was the humor. Some of the jokes made me laugh really hard. The story was all together okay, but the genuine twists and characters made this quirky film very enjoyable. 

Wreck-It Ralph Appreciation Post

Wreck-It Ralph Appreciation Post

Can I just say how much I love this film. The design and art of the film are amazing. I mean there are so many fine details that makes this animated feature beautiful. It's not hard to believe that it was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated film. I personally love the characters. They mirror their voice actors basic features, but create adorably unique characters with a heart of their own. Also, the entire message of the film is accepting yourself for who you are. What gets better than that? They also were able to make Ralph intimidating as a villain, but a real sweet heart underneath it all. I've owned this film for a little while and have seen it multiple times already. It's really sad how much I enjoy this film. Seriously, I'm starting to even memorize the lines. Also, the designs of the various video games is so well-thought out. From the sugar coated details in the race game Sugar Rush to the simplicity of Fix-It-Felix Junior. I also enjoyed the aspects of how the side characters of Fix-It-Felix Junior could only move rigidly, because of their basic format. Yet the film did not cause a lot of interest until the character Vanellope von Schweetz is introduced.

Ralph describes her perfectly as an adorable winner and it couldn't be truer. Her character is so well done and mirrors the loneliness Ralph has felt for the past thirty years. They form an unlikely friendship that is deeply realistic. Both truly care about one another and find the acceptance they've never had from each other. All in all, the film is beautifully detailed. The art is gorgeous, majority of characters are well-rounded, the music is amazing and fits the film so well, and the story is pretty unique. This film is pretty high on my list of good plots and design. 

Final Comments Over the Chair Project

Final Comments Over the Chair Project

This project took a lot out of me. Not only as a designer, but was also just mentally challenging all around. It’s terribly hard  to work on something that you’re not good at. No matter what I tried or how patient I was, my design did not intially turn out the way I wanted. I do like the final design though. The entire piece is very abstract. My main idea of duality comes across easily once explained. Also, I like that the piece is not perfectly cut. I believe it adds to the aesthetic quality of the work. From the first chair I adapted the imperfect quality of the work and added it into my final design. The reasoning behind this is because the start of new romantic relationships is fragile. From far away the piece looks stable and strong. Once viewed up close all the imperfections are shown. I feel this best represents a new relationship. At a distance a romantic couple looks very stable, but may actually be just starting out and this delicate time can easily fall apart. Much like the chair. The imperfections in the cutting and overall shape, show how a relationship just begins to develop and sometimes does not need time to quickly develop. All in all this project was highly difficult for me skill wise. If had a chance to do it again I might have boughten more cardboard and figured out how to get the fresh cutters into my exacto knife. Otherwise I feel my piece gets my point across.

Description of Exercise 2

Description of Exercise 2

My chair’s essence of duality came from the start of a budding romantic relationship. This means either first intially liking another person to actually dating.The start of a new relationship can be fun and exciting. Although from close up it can also be very unstable and easily broken. I want to portray this fact in my piece. This chair will not be comfortable or very attractive and strong. This relationship will be barren and essentially the bones on which a true relationship can form. My piece will be simplistic and abstract to get certain ideas across. I want it to be basic. Not only because of the relationship, but my skills in the art of paper are terrible. I also would like to mix aspects of masculinity and feminity. Through the use of form or actual structure. I hope from this part of the project I learn more patience with cutting and have a more understanding of cardboard as a form of design, because currently I just hate it. Personally, this form of design gives me little interest and I have such a hard time with clean cuts. It really makes me feel like a pathetic designer and a failure in every aspect. Oh well, maybe there is still hope for me in other parts of design. 

Description of First Chair Design

Description of First Chair Design

Let me just say this and get it out of my system . . . I hated this assignment!  This chair really had too many requirements and limited my ability to think, excuse my phrasing, outside the box. I really did not like this first chair project. It challenged me, but not in a good way. I'm an illustration major and I feel I get wrongfully judged. My craftsmanship skills are not up to par with industrial design majors, even when I try my best. I measured twice and cut once, but still my cardboard didn't fold smoothly and had bumps. It wasn't symmetrical, although I did like this aspect and I found it unique to an extent. All in all, this assignment made me really mad. I feel like these foundation classes are heavily industrial design centered and find it unfair for the other majors especially graphic design and illustration, but I guess it did its job. I was able to make a chair out of one piece of four foot by foot cardboard without glue or tape and was able to sit on it. We shall see what I can do next with less rules and a more well thought out design.