Final Major Project
Exploring a theme:
Throughout my time at college I have enjoyed the theme identity, as well as the theme botanical. I enjoyed both of these themes as they had a lot of freedom within them due to the range of ideas that could fall into them. The theme of identity covered a variety of sub-themes such as music, family, heritage and culture which I believe was really interesting. Additionally the theme of botanical had sub-themes such as medicine, plant structures, plant types, and seasons. As a result, both of these themes could be interpreted in a number of different ways that could produced a vast range of individual work. Furthermore, I have really enjoyed the varied use of materials the past 2 years. Over this time I have explored the use of different materials, this allowed me to experiment with new materials and grow my confidence with materials I've already visited.
I put this mood board together based on my theme of time. I selected these images as I feel that they will help me generate my own ideas and help me produce a starting point.
Gantts Chart:
Mindmaps:
These are 2 mind maps that I done to help me direct this projects. The first mind map is about what's important to me, the second mind map is about the theme of 'time'. I plan to use these mindmaps to help me direct my project and support my ideas as I progress.
The mind map on the left is about aging. From time I decided to look at aging, to then make this project more focused, I decided to look at childhood. Therefore, I made this mood board; this mood board is compiled of images that relate to childhood.
My own childhood toys:
Growing up, I collected soft toys to the point we had no more room for them to go, however I clung to as many as I could for as long as I could (some of these are to the right). Eventually, like most children, I grew out of this, however, I kept those that were the most important to me. The first ones to go were the ones I had no attachment to anymore, these mainly consisted of plain bears that had no remarkable features, or those that had no sentimental value to me anymore. I got rid of loads, however, none of them went in the bin, we sold some at car boot sales, and the rest were donated to a number of different charity shops. Despite me losing a large amount of my soft toys and forgetting about them, looking back at pictures and seeing one that is long gone in the background evokes a strong feeling of nostalgia for me. As a result of this, for my project I am planning to look at nostalgia, soft toys and why some toys are more attractive to children than others.
Sustainability is very important and should always be considered, throwing toys away that are beyond repair is reasonable, however throwing away masses of toys is not. If we had thrown away all of the toys I no longer wanted, there would be very little environmental impact, but if every other child decided the same fate for their old toys, landfills would become over run very quickly. As it is 8.5 million toys in new conditions are thrown away every year alone, this figure does not include old or unwanted toys. I personally think this number is too high as a large majority of these toys could be donated or even recycled into something new.
Lino Plans:
This image is my 30 ideas in 30 minutes design page. These designs were inspired by my Photoshop collages. I started by drawing out the size of my lino so I could plan the size of my shapes and lines. I used a thick black pen to draw out my designs as I had no intention of cutting thin lines on the lino as I knew they would not print well. I only considered lines and shapes within my designs as I felt that over planning would hinder the process. Furthermore, I worked on these designs quickly to ensure that I would not overcomplicate my lino. To improve these designs, I would use felt tips in different colours so I could plan both my lines and shapes with an addition of the colour pallet.
These images show my plans for my project. I completed each of these drawings using the bears for reference to ensure proportions were accurate and the drawings were dynamic. I used felt tip pens for these plans to keep them simple and to ensure that too much time was not spent trying to make them perfect. The plan in the top left was done to show the bears moving, along with the plan in the bottom left, however the plan on the top right was done to show a dynamic pose of the 3 soft toys together. To improve these plans id include colour schemes so i could easily pick a colour palette.
Bear Plans:
These images show a sequence of a bear doing a roll. To make these bears I first drew a plan ,shown above, so I could accurately portray the movements of the toy. I then drew out the sequence using paint pens. I chose to use paint pens so I could achieve bright colours and interesting texture. I chose to use these aspects of creative language as I felt that they would be the most interesting for my target audience. Once I had done this, I cut around the bears and stuck them to cardboard, I made this choice so I could see if this technique would work. Therefore, I decided to re-make these bears to a larger scale. To improve these bears within themselves, I would make them appear more dynamic and slightly less stiff.
Presenting my work:
I plan to present my work in 3 different ways. The first way is in my sketchbook, the second is this Wix website and the third is at the college exhibition. I plan to stick smaller pieces of work into my sketchbook so that I can make sure that they are kept together and are not damaged. I, also, plan to display my work on this website. I will scan many pieces of work in and photograph other pieces that cant be scanned, I believe this is the best way to do this so my work is presented in the best possible quality. As well as this, uploading my work onto this website has allowed me to reflect on it weekly, and keep up to date on what I need to do next. Furthermore, I will be presenting my final pieces as part of the college exhibition. These final pieces will be Photoshop collages and at least one 6 foot bear.
The Exhibition:
For the exhibition I could present my work in a number of ways. For my Photoshop pieces I could have them printed out, put into frames and hung from the wall. For the 6 foot bear, I could use command strips and stick it to the wall. Or, I could print the Photoshop pieces out to the scale of the bear and have the bear as part of the sequence. In the end I want my work to be interesting for my audience, so I will consider all of my options before I settle on a decision. Furthermore, to make my pieces for the exhibition more interesting and interactive, I plan to have post it notes left out by my work for the audience to wite down their favourite toy growing up.
Alternative Presenting Methods:
These images show the 'Myths and Monsters' exhibition at Victoria Art Gallery. This exhibitions caters to children by having pieces that will interest them and hold their attention. I plan to use similar presentation techniques as a part of my colleges exhibition, however, if I were to do this project again or make more work I could use the same presentation techniques shown in the images.
