Design Principles Project 2 / Sense of Place

23.5.2022 - 30.5.2022 (Week 9 - Week 10)

Takuto Hozumi / 0354047 / Bachelor Of Design (Hons) In Creative Media

Design Principles

Project 2 / Sense of Place

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INSTRUCTION

Week 9 - What is Sense of Place?

1. A Recap of Project 1 Brief

Description

Through this project, students once again are required to utilize and apply the design principles they have learnt to date in order to express a location of their choice. The place becomes the subject of the composition in which the design principles are applied to capture the social and environmental aspects, and even the time/s effects that will best express their intention/interpretation for a particular location. This requires the students to move beyond the classroom to the outer world and to employ their skills in capturing and communicating a complex relationship.

Requirements

Observe your surroundings – people, vehicles, buildings, plants, signages, nature, activities. Record these in sketches, photography and/or video recording. Study all the visuals that you had collected.

Select visuals that you find relevant and interesting to you, which you can translate into a design work that reflects your interpretation of a place.

Remember to apply design principles in your work. For materials, you may use any of your choice, but do consider their suitability to best express your idea.

2. Visual Research

My first step was to make a list of areas and countries that I have lived in my life that I have been particularly attached to. I have singled out those that have influenced my life (especially my personality development and values).

Fig.1: Town of my childhood (Japan)

I was born in Chiba Prefecture (a prefecture east of Tokyo). It is close to Tokyo but across the river, and although it is a bustling town, it is not as crowded as Tokyo. There are no tall buildings, air pollution and danger for children. I spent my entire elementary school years in this peaceful town. The photo shows my most frequented commercial establishment, located in the center of town.

Fig.2: City where I spent my youth (Japan)

When I was a teenager I lived in Itabashi city. As the name of Itabashi (板橋=bridge), there is a historic bridge here that has existed for a long time. But today, the historic face of the city is less evident, and there are many concrete buildings.

Fig.3: The center of the city (Japan)

The image shows Itabashi Kuyakushomae Station, the center of town. As represented by this building, almost all buildings have a gray or dull-toned color scheme that looks a bit artificial and cold-hearted. Convenience is high, however. It is where I have lived most of my life, my roots may be here.

There were many events during my student days, but I will skip them because they would be too much to complain about.

After graduating from a vocational school, I started working, but I soon became tired and bored with the way I worked in Japan. Then came a turning point.

Fig.4: San Jose (The US)

I have close relatives living in the US. When my work and life were not going well, this relative invited me to visit the US for a while. 

When I was a student, I have been to visit and stayed for an extended period of time, but at that time I did not have a particularly good impression of the US. My subjective view was completely fixed on Japanese values and I was in a state of delusion. Especially in Japan, student status is protected. Therefore, I was not aware of the distortions in Japan, especially in society.

My visit to the US as an adult changed my work values. The first thing that surprised me was the way the store clerks seemed to enjoy their work. On the other hand, another clerk was clearly unmotivated to respond. I could not communicate in English at the time, but their unique appearance reminded me that work is also a human-to-human interaction. My stay at this time has left many influences on me up to the present day.

Fig.5: Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

I have found that life abroad was spreading with a completely different set of values than in Japan, recognized the importance of language skill. Then I thought about how to study English on a limited budget and drifted to Malaysia. By this time I had tried living in Southeast Asia for a while, including Vietnam and Thailand, and I was able to come to Malaysia without any resistance.

My initial goal was just to study English, but I fell in love with Malaysia and ended up working there for two years after graduating from language school. And now, in order to explore further possibilities, I have returned to study at the university.

3. Idea Exploration

As "time/s effects" was mentioned in the description, I came up with the idea of creating a seamless design of these places that made me, in chronological order.

Fig.6: Example 1

iStock

Fig.7: Example 2

iStock

These are images of the final outcome. I thought this approach was possible in the sense that the design is a condensation of different places.

Fig.8: Example 3

iStock

Furthermore, the overall color scheme is also important. In order to create cohesiveness, a certain degree of uniformity in hue or tone is required.

4. Concept Determination

I used to love game, although I don't play it much now. The flat design is not very interesting, so I am going to adopt the design rule; isometric grid like gaming.

Isometric Grid

Fig.9: FINAL FANTASY TACTICS ADVANCE

© SQUARE ENIX

Nowadays, games in 3D are popular but there used to be many 2.5D games that utilized isometric grids. Among them, tactical games are the best to demonstrate this diagrammatic method because the squares are clearly visible. "FINAL FANTASY TACTICS ADVANCE" is one of the typical 2.5D games.

Fig.10: Isometric Grid (with line)

© SQUARE ENIX

Isometric grids are formally drawn in the following proportions.

Fig.11: Proper Ratio of Isometric Grid

Reference of how to create in Illustrator: http://13creativ.com/isometric-grid/

Fig.12: Create Normal Grid

Fig.12: Scale (Vertical from100 to 86.602%)

Fig.13: Grid after Scaled

Fig.14: Shear (30%)

Fig.15: Grid after applying Shear

Fig.16: Rotate

Fig.17: Completed

The common interpretation is that left means past and right means future. This is evident in the playback bars of video sites and in the orientation of books. On the other hand, time flows from right to left on stage and manga. I must consider which direction to adopt.

From the feedback, here is what the given ideas from the professor;

• Drawing buildings is not the only way to show location
• For example, make effective use of national and city symbols
• Ways of depicting time, such as left to right, bottom to top, etc.

More details on feedback are provided in the Feedback section below. In response to this, after consideration, it was decided to utilize symbols and a lime line from left to right.

5. Idea sketch

Fig.18: Idea Sketch (1/6/2022)

Each country's motifs are incorporated in the design.

6. Designing in Illustrator

Fig.19: Set Isometric Grid

Fig.20: Designing Process 1

The materials are created and placed. For work efficiency, some objects are repeated in the design. It then sneaks in a symbol of the town transformed into isometric proportions. The brown building in the foreground is made to resemble the color of my former apartment.

Fig.21: Designing Process 2

My elementary school has a large schoolyard with a circuit. And it is located next to a river, where students sometimes drown.

Fig.22: Designing Process 3

From here, I make it with the feeling of expanding overseas. Creating the airplane was difficult for me because of the streamlined model, so I transformed existing free materials. American (or is it European?) style buildings differ from Japanese modern architecture, with a few details added. Passports and suitcases are placed just for fun.

Fig.23: Designing Process 4

I wanted to create a Malaysian feel. Since previous symbols have also been adopted from cities and states, this symbol is actually adopted from the Selangor state flag rather than the Malaysian national flag. The university is placed on the far right as the current final place.

Fig.24: Designing Process 5

As for the overall time flow, the image is from lower left to upper right. Finally arranged the overall arrangement and exported. I also used a typeface for the title that I myself designed.

Final Outcome

Final Outcome (4/6/2022)

Final Outcome PDF (4/6/2022)

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FEEDBACK

Week 9

Drawing buildings is not the only way to show location. For example, make effective use of national and city symbols, margin etc. Regarding timeline, the most common way to indicate time is from left to right, Right-to-left is less desirable. However, bottom to top is also available.

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REFLECTIONS

Experiences

I was very torn between a concrete or abstract design in this assignment. As a result, I settled on a figurative design. With the design principal at my disposal for this assignment, I aimed to mix and match the various techniques I had learned in other classes. I believe that further investigation and understanding was gained, especially with regard to isometric grids. It also gave me practice in drawing shapes in Illustrator.

Observation

In this feedback, the professor gave me some ideas that gave me the freedom to think outside the box and get rid of stereotypes. However, I regret a little that my final submission fell into the category of figurative or realistic ideas. I tend to judge what I can make from my means rather than my desire to make something from a creative idea. Also, ideas are based on very pragmatic thinking and have a sense of work. As a student, I would like to improve my values in this area over time in order to gain new insights to cultivate my artistic side.

Findings

I intended to create a flat design, but I thought about the direction of the light and added shadows. (The light is assumed to be toward the lower left corner of the screen.) I think the overall look would still be better with a little shadow in the 2.5D design.