Project 2: Form & Composition

ABOUT: For project two, I had to create image compositions using only black squares, of any size and orientation, to convey meaning of the words: comfort, order, tension, playfulness and congestion. By having the squares interact with each other and the given space using Gestalt’s principles, I had to explore how simple images can communicate various meanings.

PROCESS: The first step of the process for me was to write down what the words meant and the different ways they could be interpreted. Next, I had to create at least five thumbnail sketches for each word. This was the most challenging part for me as it forced me not to be too literal, and instead search for a more creative and thoughtful way to represent the word. I think sketching the rough designs first allowed me to explore more ideas without getting too stuck on one. After our initital sketches, we moved onto developing and iterating over a few sketches in Adobe Illustrator.

Comfort:

For comfort, I really wanted to draw inspiration from geometric patterns and nature. So my first few ideas where rain drops, water bodies and flowers. I chose to move forward with raindrops and the the geometric flower print.

Between the raindrops and flower geometric pattern, I thought the balanced look of flower was more comforting. So I started creating different orientations of the pattern until I settled on the final one below:

I thought this was a more interesting composition since there was more white space, which brought more focus on the flower. Moreover, I thought the tilted black square within the white square created a rotation with the image where each square could be turning but still for the same image.

Tension:

The words I associated with tension were anticipation, disarray, a sort of build up, incomplete or something being put under pressure or force. With the first,third,fourth and sixth thumbnails I was trying to create a moment of anticipation. The second thumbnail was inspired by the physics definition of tension: something being pulled. The fifth thumbnail I was trying to bring a sense of incompleteness.

I chose the first, second and fifth to further develop in Illustrator.

I felt like the first two did not portray tension as much as the third, which is why I chose it as my final piece. I really liked the use of white space to create a sense of something being pushed down and pulled apart.

Playfulness:

Playfulness was perhaps the most difficult for me to portray. To me its about being childlike and interacting with other people; so, I tried using many squares which interact with each other directly in this compostion. I thought the best representations of this were the third and fifth ones.

These were my initial Illustrator sketches. At desk crit, I was told to play more with the rule of thirds and white space. I really liked the movement in the first picture so I tried playing around with different heights of the bigger blocks which were the ‘ground’. I tried using the rule of thirds and having a clear background and foreground to bring about the idea of the smaller blocks playing and jumping over the more solid, ground blocks. I finally reached my final iteration which had a lower ground and more exaggerated jumping of the blocks.

Order:

I intilly associated order with classification and uniformity. But on further thought, I realised that order could also mean commanding which led me to the picture of someone directing and giving orders to their subordinates. I thought this was an interesting take on order and chose that as my final piece to work on.

At desk crit, I was told more to focus on the proximity of the blocks and the rule of thirds to create a more put together piece, which I tried to iterate through by reducing the number of blocks and changing the spacing between them. I thought my final iteration was more balanced than the previous ones, and the blocks seemed to be more interactive with each other. I thought it was really interesting how just changing the spacing could create such a difference in the composition.

Congestion:

For congestion, it was hard me to think of a composition that was not too literal. I thought the first and fourth one were the most creative so I decided to work on them further in Illustrator.

I though the first one created a greater sense of ‘fulness’ and overflow since there was an boundary created of a bowl or cup. For further iterations, I worked on the placement of the ‘bowl’ in the page, until I settled with the one just above the bottom. I thought this gave enough white space to contrast the congested area.

CONCLUSION: At final crit, we received feedback on our pieces and got to review everyone else’s as well. I found that congestion and playfulness recieved the most positive feedback. In retrospect, I wish I had explored the different, more complex shapes that I could have formed with the squares.