Day 1
How did this morning’s image presentation change the way you think about type/lettering?
It showed various ways and abilities to create letterform. For example, it can be created in a 3D or architectural form, and even the produce design of “alphabet chairs”. So apart from communication, letterform can be used in reality as well.
You have worked with several restrictions today, describe how you feel you dealt with that—try to identify both positives and negatives.
-At first I thought it would be boring and didn’t see much possibilities, but gradually I realized paper was perfect material to create things, as it can be cut, fold, torn… It can be made into a 3D letterform and create shadows. The outcomes actually are more interesting than just drawing because the process of making is a big inspiration for your letterform.
-Time is limited, it could be better to have more time thinking and composing. But limiting time forced me to think and do as quickly as possible, which makes me see potential of myself.
What have you learnt by looking at other students’ work today?
There were lots of interesting works happened in class. What I’ve learned is that the experiments do not to be fully developed, it is allowed to be immature. What is more important is trying and see possibilities to carry you to the next step.
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I find it difficult for me to work with lots of people around me. I would easily get overwhelming and nervous working in public area, even they don’t talk to me. Then I can’t fully use studio time effectively, and did more at home, which I find is not good. It’s like an awkward performance and letting people judge my unfinished works makes me comfortable. But seeing each other’s work do make my mind open and gives me lots of inspirations. That’s a problem I really need to get over with.
Day 2
What technical problems did you encounter today in making your 3D outcome? How could these have been avoided?
-3D form is a little bit difficult for me as it’s hard to create a letterform without too much sketches and experiments. My first idea turned out not working, because it needed lots of material to insert to support the 3D model, it became messy when I practice in the mockup stage. So I choose another idea, which is to insert several boards in opposing directions to make the main part of the form stand up. It cannot ruin the shape of “A”, so I did lots of sketches and planned it careful.
2.What type of location would be appropriate in which to photograph your 3D outcome? Give reasons. What are you trying to achieve with the photo?
A dark corner of the stairs. My 3D form is sharp, but the dark corner is very easy to be ignored by people walking by. So I am thinking to add more focus to the dark corner through my sharp “A”, and when people walking by, they would be surprised. Also to create a sense of contrast.
What were the challenges of translating a physical form to digital-How did you overcome them?
- If it’s a 3D letterform, the location of the shadows may need to be changed to make it recognizable.
-Mine is 2D, but it’s 2 parts overlap together. So what I’m struggling about is how to make it interesting and vivid. So I use different colors to apply to different parts, also use reasonable color to apply to the parts overlap. It can not only makes the characteristic stronger, but also shows the making process.
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I made horrible mistake today that I folded the big board because I thought it would be easier for me to bring it home. But it turned out that the hard board has been destroyed by the strong wind and the stupid “folding”. It couldn’t stand out easily because some narrow parts become too weak to stand up. So I stuck hot wires and pieces of the board at the back to support them to stand up. Luckily it worked!
One problem I faced when making the model stand up was that I mainly inserted pieces to make the model stand up, so it was significant to carefully consider where I cut the main piece for those three small pieces to insert in. The weight of each part should be balanced so it can successfully stand up.
Day 3
I’ve created a letterform but after applying the technique to some simple letters, such as “I” and “T”, I think it doesn’t work well...First, it becomes hard to recognise. And also, I think it doesn’t have a strong characteristic to be sensible.
I’ve tried another way of creating letterforms, which was recombining parts of the letters to more dynamic, playful ones. The idea is quite simple, but I think it has a stronger feeling than the initial one. Also, through clarifying the overlapping part of the letterforms, they also present the processes of making. I am also inspired by children’s handwriting and I am impressed by their immature way of writing, which comes out dynamic and interesting.
And also for alphabet, I’m thinking organise the letterforms “randomly”, just like children’s handwriting.