#14 POINTILLISM/ FINAL THOUGHTS
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| Pointillism Pantone notebook!! |
1. Describe one way you see yourself applying or exploring color in your future work as a designer.
1. I've always been a fan of color in my own work. I have a hard time working without it. Now, I am just all that more sensitive to color palettes and appreciating relationships that form between certain hues. I see myself noticing the "rules" of adjoining colors and picking out the names of the schemes a lot more than before.
2. Discuss how your approach color has developed over the past 15 weeks, do you see color differently?
2. There is certainly a change in the way I notice pretty much everything now. Whether neutrals, monochrome, atonal or complimentary schemes, I recognize what I see instantly. Also, since doing so much research about my own color, I'm more sensitive to the cultural and philosophical meaning attached to yellow-colored objects. The new way I understand color isn't something I can turn off. If I see something arbitrary, I'll think, "analogous pastels with accent shades executed in metallics." Before color was on a purely intuitive level, and now I feel a lot more educated in the significance of this amazing phenomenon.
#13 BOOK PAGES
For a pop-up book, it's difficult to show the designs flat. I'm hammering out the mechanics, adding more transitional pages, and I'm still working on assembling the pages to perfection. I've gone to over 40 pages. Omitting the graphics-less models of color schemes and components like title pages, below are the main layouts of the book. I've excluded some composition pieces and most type to simply show the layout flow. I've flattened the designs, so the layering and pop-up effects are lost here, but will be evident in person.
(Title pages/info/introduction)
(Intro to color schemes/scheme models)
(Intro to "qualities")
(Closing pages/credits/about)
The constructions are tearing less, so more spreads are getting saved. My aim was to create an engaging and fun book. Although it's taking more time than anticipated, I'm pretty satisfied with my direction.
#12 PATTERNS & TRANSPARENCY
This week we're applying last week's patterns to 3-dimensional objects. Behold:
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| Applied to skin. |
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| Applied to classic car. |
Also, we're experimenting with transparencies. In addition to the Color-Aid study in class, I created photographic studies. I used fish oil capsules in different lighting and backgrounds. Check out my endeavors:
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| Seeing shadow patterns cast by flame through transparent material. |
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| Study from class. |
many set-backs but I'm learning from my mistakes. My dummy got ripped apart, so stay tuned for pictures next week. I'm still mourning its loss, I can't believe I lost so much work. I absolutely refuse to be defeated, so I'm wiping away my tears, putting down the chocolate, ceasing my cursing and starting anew. Here's a shot of some of my arrangements from my work station:
#11 PATTERNS
It's pattern week and we were assigned to create our own patterns. Out of the images I sketched to work with, a "fish hook" form seemed most evocative of my theme. I've played around with it and came up with a bunch of different variations. Since there are pointy areas as well as curves, this was a very versatile form. Below are my patterns:
The "fish hook" arranged simply to show off the negative spaces.
A slightly more complicated arrangement with two different color schemes.
Interlacing this one form provides many opportunities for negative and positive space. I feel this form feels more nautical than glamorous. Perhaps because I'm stuck on this "fish hook" idea. I think there is potential to arrange this shape into a pretty brocade and glam it up!
BOOK UPDATE!
And now for the book update. It may be a bit late in the game, but I have had a stroke of inspiration!! I've decided to create something a bit more non-traditional and interactive as far as what's expected. Here is the latest process work:
Just to give a hint to where this is going...
#10 COLOR BOOK DEVELOPMENT
So, here are a few option for the cover. I think I'm leaning towards the first or last one.
Here is the graphic content of my spreads. I'm unsure of the typographic treatment as of yet since my visuals are so overloaded. I will synthesize everything with bold yet simple typography in the end.
Considering there are a lot of color scale exercises to display, I thought it would add a little interest and humor to display the swatches in a unique way. This is what I'm playing with:
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| I dub this "Nightmare Glam." |
And this week's color mixing exercise is experimenting with contrast. I used the same subject to show different color relationships, my free-form 3-d piece. Here are 3 examples of contrast:
Contrast of Hue (Photographic):
#9 TEXTURE STUDIES
Below are my three texture studies. The top page displays 2 analogous schemes (yellow, yellow-orange, orange), and the bottom displays a split-complimentary scheme (yellow, magenta, blue-violet). The texture choices accompany my theme of Dark Glamor and the shapes which the images occupy are distorted versions of my logo.
The images are of natural and man-made objects relevant to characteristics of my theme (lavish, decadent, twisted and beautiful). Featured are furs, leather and feathers, flowers and gems, cake and make-up, silk and vinyl. A phrase that reminds me of my these is "live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse." Dark Glamor isn't about responsibility or planning, it's about living in the now. I featured items which would communicate a superficial attraction and instant gratification apropos of this sentiment.
#8 COLOR AWARENESS
APPETIZING:
Cake, honey, chili peppers, whiskey, lemons, cake again, gourmet cheese, spicy mustard, more cheese, ribbon candy, champagne, champagne and caviar spread.
On the other side of wholesome yellow foods like OJ and bananas are reckless choices geared towards instant gratification and unhealthy pleasure.
FRAGRANT:
Smoke, pollution, nail polish, perfume, hair spray, scented oils, hair dye, flowers, more pollution, leather.
A glamorous lifestyle would be set in a cosmopolitan city-- a place filled with the distinct odors of pollution. Perfumes and flowers are glamorous, yet so are beauty-enhancing chemical products. I feel like Dark Glamor yellows would have acrid moments.
NATURE:
Snake, feather, scorpion fish, fire, hair, flowers, spider, diamond, scorpion, gold, silk husks, raw silk.
My image choices here show that nature provides a wide range of examples of sinister yellows. I feel like all these examples have a twisted sex appeal and so are perceived as glamorous. There's a danger factor yet the beauty is undeniable. Mining for minerals is treacherous, and yet the knowledge of this doesn't diminish their demand. Animals can strike, fire can burn-- and intimacy with the danger factor amplifies desirability.
#7 COMPLIMENTARY MIXING SCALE/COLOR BOOK
Below is a complimentary mixing scale done in paint for my yellow hue. Purple has always been challenging for me to mix, so I'm happy with this result. Perhaps not as bright as I'd like, I feel this effort does the job of illustrating a complimentary color relationship.
The logo for the color book is a combination of W and M, for "woman" and "man". In my book, I will be exploring gender role reversal and sexual identity, which can be used to add edginess to the theme of Dark Glamor. Also, the dichotomous nature of my hue is hinted at in this union of opposites. Below is the process work and the final logo.
Here is a breakdown of the colors I'm using in the logo. The top swatches are paint, the bottom are Color-aid. My metallic is Pantone 873c, a medium gold. The hues are taken directly from the complimentary mixing scale, utilizing only the pastels. I chose a light, pleasant color scheme for the majority of the logo, leaving the bottom points "dipped" in a dark, contrasting color. I'm alluding to the venomous nature of barbs or teeth, and the gradient of the purple as it spreads to the light yellow can be seen as a painful bruise site. I aimed to create an alluring and stylish symbol that had a sense of tension.
The photos used for this week's assignment--assessing photo-based color palettes-- exhibit split-complimentary color schemes. The photos were shot at Bowlmor Lanes, where in the interior design is very bold and a bit psychedelic. The dark space is lit with vibrant blues and purples--perfect to compliment my yellow hue!! Take a look below at the three I chose to break up and analyze.
#5 SPLIT COMPLIMENTARY/COLOR RESEARCH
Inspiration board for my theme: Dark Glamour (femme fatale).
Ask any child, “What is the happiest color?” What color is the sun, dasies and daffodils, smiley faces? Cross-culturally, yellow has positive connotations relting to energy, joy and prosperity. It’s a popular hue for food and toys. In ancient Egyptian and Mayan cultures, it was a sacred color, believed to purify the spirit.
When I was younger, I wasn’t a fan of the yellow family, because I felt it was too obvious a way to get the message across. Not until I noticed its unique use in editorial photography and film did I realize what a dark and sinister side this so-called joyous shade has. In this book, I will explore the role of yellow in protraying dark glmaour. Moving away from its utalitarian omnipresence in traffic and other signage, and foos and nature, I will attempt to reveal the dichotomic existence of this darkly alluring shade.
In this context of danger and sexulaity, yellow is no longer for kids. Although implementing this traditionally-happy color in a more sophisticated way, I believe it retains its cross-cultural appeal. When exhibited in fashion or art, the meaning remains universal. Van Gogh displayed this sentiment in his works-- although many pieces were rich in yellow, they had an air of melencholy.
In making the inspiration board, I compiled examples of yellow which communicate excitement. Yellow is effective in showing sadness and grief, which also can be glamourized, but for this project I’m focusing on seduction and fun. Seeing yellow in this new light, I hope to introduce an understanding veering away from a sunny mentality to something more toxic.
Two spreads for the color book:
And lastly, the split-complimentary color studies, reflective of my theme:
#4 COMPLIMENTARY ASSIGNMENT
Here are the Color-Aid and painted color swatches of complimentary colors. I did two pairs: orange and blue, and red and green. I feel the gray mid-tone was easier to create in the yellow-blue pair rather than the red-green combo. Here's the work:
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| Color-Aid row on top, painted row on bottom. |
For the color theory research project, I chose painter Phillip Otto Runge's color model. It was difficult to pick just one-- I was stuck between about six choices, but ultimately I went with the model which made most sense to me. This is the artist's original sketch of the color sphere:
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| This is my digital example- top and bottom views. |
And here is my interpretation of this model:
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| Multiple views |
When designing this model, I wanted include other models I felt had similarities. I incorporated Wilhelm Ostwald's double-cone, Albert Henry Munsell's 3-d system, and Robert Ridgway's double-cone examples. The result is a spinning (or rather, spin-able) globe which has 3-d tabs that fan out to display the gradients of colors. I don't know how practical my model is, but I aimed to make a sort of color system hybrid.
#3 ANALOGOUS ASSIGNMENT
Part 1 of this week's hw: a 12-part color wheel constructed from Color-Aid. To better illustrate the color transitions I included half steps as well. Behold!
For Part 2, we had to go out and examine the color schemes of our respective environments. As it is winter time, it's easy to spot analogous schemes. There are a lot of gray, white and blue tones dominating the outdoors. This was particularly evident on the day I went photographing because the weather was quite gray and gloomy. The space I explored was a marina right by my house. Sunny or gray, it's always scenic. Here are the three photos I used for analysis:
Part 3 are the Color-Aid and painted analogous studies. My hue for the semester is Toxic Yellow, or Yc-Hue. Since it's a cool, greenish shade, I chose to go yellow-green and green to complete my analogous palate. The accent colors are shades of magenta and red-violet.
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| (Color-Aid) |
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| (Painted) Primary Hue: Yc-Hue Secondary Hue A: YG-Hue Secondary Hue B: Gw-EX |
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| (Color-Aid, extended chart with accented shades) |
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| RO-S1/ Gray 3/ RV-P1-1 B-P2-3/ Gray 6.5/ RV-P2-3 |
#2 MONOCHROME ASSIGNMENT
The swatch I received is Y-HUE. I'm a huge fan of yellow, so I'm quite satisfied with my color! The shade I'm choosing to explore is the cool hue, which I usually call "toxic yellow." I think exploring the color families that will work with toxic yellow will yield some beautiful results.
I based my monochromatic color chart around my chosen hue, Yc-HUE.
Here are my free-form explorations. I did a composition with warm and with cool shades. These cool shades very much remind me of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Whenever I encounter that piece of literature, it is always characterized by the "toxic yellow" in my mind. I channeled the chaotic and claustrophobic intensity of the story when working on these.
Finally, the color wheel comprised of photographed images. The blues, greens and violets were the easiest to gather-- I used the sky, a tank from the NY Aquarium, a monument, traffic light, trees and a store sign. The other colors weren't as available given that it's the middle of winter and everything's covered in snow. I used things closer to home for the other hues-- pomegranate, cranberries, chopped tomatoes, sunset reflection, a fried egg, and an emergency phone. Combining shades from nature and man-made objects made for a vibrant color wheel. Although I'd prefer to scout these colors in a blossoming park, I see that the wheel I comprised has a fun, artificial quality!
#1 GRAYSCALE ASSIGNMENT
Working with Color-aid, I created a gray scale which I used as a guide for the next 2 gray scale incarnations. The first one was created with acrylic paints-- I had to repaint it to get all the values perfect! The second one is a collage creation. I used black and white photo pages from glossy fashion magazines. Most of the pieces are skin tones, since they tend to show the smoothest value transitions. The pattern I used was inspired by rooftop tiles typically seen on Victorian architecture--my fave! I used the undulating pattern to emphasize a smooth gradient.
