Project 2: Form and Composition
Digital Illustrations
Fall 2016
Individual Project
About the Project
Project 2: “Form and Composition” was “an exploration of how objects in space can convey meaning through their placement in relation to other objects and to the space itself.” The project focused on use of the Gestalt principles, using space, scale, closure, proximity, continuation, similarity, equilibrium, and figure and ground. Students were assigned to create compositions which illustrate order, tension, congestion, playfulness, and comfort using only black squares. While squares could be overlapped, rotated, scaled, and placed anywhere on the canvas, no other shapes or colors could be used. Additionally, students were told to ensure each individual square conveyed meaning and was not so small so as to merely act like a pixel.
Project Process
Early Exploration:
The project process began with early sketches created after lecture during the first day of the assignment. These sketches served primarily as a means of exploration and brainstorming. While the thumbnails created in these sketches were very rough, many of the basic principles which I explored at the time ended up in the final product. At the same time, some of the sketches were entirely unlike the final products. For example, the original sketches for Order and Tension were refined into final versions, while the sketches for Playfulness, Congestion, and Comfort merely demonstrated similar concepts as their respective final versions.
Brainstorming and Refining:
The next phase of the project was brainstorming in my sketchbook. I wanted to both generate new ideas for each word while also refining previous ones. The goal was to end up with five, unique sketches for each word. I wanted to make sure these sketches demonstrated variety in concepts, as well as in the number of squares used and the ways they were used. Since brainstorming was done in pencil on the backs of pages, the ink from my later work bled through.
Creating the Thumbnail Sketches:
Five sketches were made for each concept.
Order:
While I really enjoyed my first sketch for order, I wanted to make sure I was sufficiently exploring ideas. My main concern across all the sketches was illustrating order with something other than just a grid or just a line. As a result, many of the sketches here illustrate similar concepts of alignment, but also demonstrate various twists, such as the fractal in the bottom-left corner.
Tension:
Similar to Order, my first Tension sketch was one of my best. However, I also really enjoyed the concept in the top-right corner. The idea behind a toppling tower seemed interesting, since a viewer would be able to sense the upcoming calamity from just a still scene. In the second row, I attempted to use a sole square to convey a sense of suspense, but ultimately was not as pleased with this one.
Congestion:
Congestion was the second hardest concept for me. Most of my ideas revolved around filling the page with black, a technique that I tried to avoid in both the bottom-left sketch seen here, as well as in my final work. While the spike effect in the second row was very interesting, and something I played around with for a long time, I was never happy with the results. Instead, I ended up using the concepts in the second sketch in that row.
Playfulness:
Creating the sketches for playfulness was very enjoyable. I really wanted to convey the word with one square, such as in the top-left corner, or with an explosion of motion, such as in the top-right corner. My final work, however, ended up using the “bouncing” effect conveyed in the bottom-left sketch.
Comfort:
Comfort was easily the most difficult word for me. My attempt at a consoling friend in the second row merely came across as intimidating, my attempt at a homey atmosphere in the bottom-left came across as childish, and my attempt at a comfortable, soft, soothing wave in the second row came across as being in order. However, the sketch in the top-right corner ended up growing on me.
Digital Iterations:
After creating the physical sketches, I moved my work into Adobe Illustrator. The software allowed me the ability to be much more exact when it came to square sizing and placement. I began by transferring my designs attempting to elaborate on certain techniques.
Afterwards, I picked out my favorite designs and worked on refining them. This was the phase of the process during which critique was most needed, most appreciated, and most helpful.
I was pretty pleased with the ways in which these final illustrations used the Gestalt principles we talked about. The continuation in Order makes a viewer think the pattern continues forever. The lack of similarity in Tension creates an awkward and frustrating feeling and in Playfulness creates a fun and whimsical one. The white-space in Congestion was used both to highlight how little space was left (in the case of the spikes sketch) and to draw attention to the congested nature of the packed squares (in the case of the third and fifth sketches). Finally, the closure in Comfort created a very calming and satisfying feeling that helped get the point across.
After refining on each idea, I proceeded to narrow down my work through elimination. While this was difficult, it was clear that I was approaching my final product.
After further refinement and elimination, I arrived at my final designs.
The work was printed out onto card stock and displayed for the class to provide feedback and critique.
Conclusion
The “Black Squares” project is famous among students at Carnegie Mellon University, and after completing it, I can see why. The task of conveying emotion with only black squares may seem strange at first, but proves to be challenging when working and satisfying after completion. The principles discussed in class were incredibly useful when conveying certain feelings and I am very pleased with my final work. That being said, There are probably a few things I still could have tried. For example, I would have liked to experiment with more motion and chaos in playfulness, more points of conflict in Tension, and other ways of conveying Comfort (a very difficult task). During critiques, Riley said he felt some of the Congestion pieces conveyed “density” instead of congestion. After looking at my own work, I can see what he meant. As a result, it would be neat to see if I could use the same white-space concept for Congestion while also avoiding conveying just density. All in all, however, I am pretty satisfied with both the project itself and my final product.
