PROJECT SUMMARY + FINAL DESIGN IDEAS

Project Summary:

At first I found this project quite difficult. I didn't feel inspired to draw in my sketchbook and wasn't sure how I would ultimately bring everything together to form design ideas that would be relelvant to things I had been looking at or reading about.

However, I found that by combining a blog with the sketchbook, I could use both to provide ideas for the other and I found that actually it was quite a good system.

I am surprised at the end results, because I wasn't really sure what they would look like until I started making them. However, once I began putting the bits together it all fell in to place. 

This has been a challenging, but ultimately rewarding project..

Final Design Ideas:
 
These are mixed media collages i've made in response to work from my sketch book and research on my blog.
I photocopied images from my sketch book that particularly interested me or stood out as being visually strong. I needed a way of bringing all my different ideas together and found that collage seems to naturally fit this. It has meant that I can move things around and play with different colours/textures/shapes easily as I go...


 

Inspiration:

VnA Chair (Sketchbook/Blog)

Flooring Pattern from hatching Grids (Sketchbook/Blog)

Inspiration:
Japanese Garden Rocks (Sketchbook/Blog)

Patterned Rug  Path (Blog)

Japanese Garden Theme (Blog)

Rocks and Children (Installation, VnA Courtyard, Visit)

Inspiration:
'Mask' Sculpture - Part of a VnA Chair (Sketchbook/Blog)

Patterened Plinths (Sketchbook - b+w pencil flower sketch)

Focal Point (Sketchbook)

Grid Paving (Blog/Sketchbook)

Inspiration:
Church Spire (Sketchbook)
 Paving Sets (Sketchbook/Blog)
 Frank Lloyd Wright, Stained Glass (Blog)
Andrea Cochran (Blog)
Ulf Nordfjell (Blog)

 

Inspiration:
Stachys Drawing (Sketchbok)
 Community Garden (Blog)
Foliage (Sketchbook)

Inspiration:
Chairs, VnA Visit (Sketchbook/Blog)
Community Garden (Blog)
Paving - Rug/Japanese Garden/Neo Bankside (Blog)
Stone Roof (Drawing, Sketchbook)

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT II

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (b.1867 - d.1959)
Architect / Interior Designer / Designer
USA 

F-L-W also used to design the interiors for his homes and produced some really beautiful stained glass work and furniture. 
When thinking about the minimalist garden, the shapes in the stained glass really stand out. They almost look like garden plans, where the shapes could be planting. When looking at them like that, you can start to see where the ratio of mass and void is so important. I think the furniture would look good in all three gardens. I will look further in to the furniture at a later date.

 

PATH PATTERNED RUG

The pattern on this rug makes me think of overlapping paths. I could apply this idea to any of my chosen garden styles - just adapting it by using different hard landscaping materials..

MIREI SHIGEMORI

MIREI SHIGEMORI (1896-1975)
Landscape Architect / Japanese garden history expert
Find out more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirei_Shigemori

This is a really important statement for me about the work of Shigemori:

"Shigemori...spoke extensively of the growing estrangement between people and the primordial power of nature, and his gardens are full of hybrid symbols that seek to reveal the cultural and natural histories their sites. Traditional garden forms are reinterpreted with modern materials and attempt to reengage the viewer with the ever developing continuum of Japanese culture".

 

Going to look out for this:

BRICKWORK PATTERNS

HOCKNEY PT.2 - SKETCHBOOK WORK

David Hockney
Sketchbook Work

Some more inspiration for my own sketchbook. I like these quick observations Hockney made as much as the finished pieces because they really get a sense of the place itself, before it gets filtered through his brain and altered. He fills the pages really well also and his use of paint allows him to be both bold and detailed at once (important when observing nature)

TEXTURES

On holiday a couple of years ago I used a disposable camera to take pictures of textures that were specific only to that place. 
This is what caught my eye....

 

BRUNO MUNARI

BRUNO MUNARI (b.1907)
Artist / Designer

I love the work of Munari, and find that it influences me regularly in how I approach design work. I love the sense of playfulness present in his work, as well as freedom within design. These images are just the tip of the iceberg of his collection of work as a whole.

 

D+G

DOLCE + GABBANA
AUTUMN '13 
MENSWEAR COLLECTION

This menswear collection by Dolce & Gabbana is not only beautiful but also a really great example of how limiting the boundaries of your creativity can actually lead to more interesting things. What I mean by that is that the title of this collection was 'devotion' - a word with limitless possibilities. This should in theory give you great scope - however a brief that is too broad can often lead to a lack of focus and a piece of work that fails to capture anything coherent or really meaningful. 
Using D+G as an example, we see them take the word 'devotion' and narrow it right down to study religion in small Sicilian communities. This immediately gave them all the material they needed for colours, shapes, textures and prints. They even cast their models straight from the streets of these communities. 
In design, it can be common to get a brief from a client that is too broad but that supposedly offers you many different avenues to explore. You need to take that brief and narrow it down - set your own boundaries, use your own experiences and you will find that the  outcome is far more interesting (and rewarding) as a result..