dsdn 101 | studio 7

Worked on pattern exercise today... After deconstructing and then rearranging the four quarters into the prescribed order:

©2013 helenkwilliams

...then adding another illustration to the 'tile':

©2013 helenkwilliams

I was able to create a repeating pattern in Photoshop:

©2013 helenkwilliams

dsdn 101 | studio 4

Studio 4:

I am starting to focus on my usb stick for all the excercises.

Here are my drawings representing four views of the stick:


©2013 helenkwilliams - front, back, interior section and side of usb stick

Also checking the dimensions to ensure I have the correct proportions:

©2013 helenkwilliams - dimension check for usb stick

dsdn 101 | studio 6

studio 6

A fun excercise where we were asked to recreate a similar piece to this one using one of our objects

(in my case a usb stick). 


©2013 helenkwilliams



Source



inspiration | simplicity

This logo seems to encapsulate the concept of pared back simplicity. The brand is Coyote:

http://imjustcreative.co.uk/logostack/coyote/

dsdn 171 | project 2 underway

We have our group formed and our research persona is Giovanni Piranesi.

Pietro Labruzzi
(Italian, 1738–1805)
Portrait of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1779
Oil on canvas
71 x 58 cm (27 15⁄16x22 13⁄16in.)
Museo di Roma-Palazzo Braschi 

retrieved from http://archive.cooperhewitt.org/piranesi/piranesi.cooperhewitt.org/design/portrait-of-giovanni-battista-piranesi/index354c.html?c=

For the presentation:

• James and Grace will create the power point presentation from our research

• Christy and I will co-present the presentation

We are meeting every Monday at 1pm before the assignment (due Thursday 11 April 2013) and at 9am on the day of the presentation:

There are four in the group. At the moment each of us is responsible for researching an aspect of Piranesi's life and work:

James is researching Piranesi's work
Grace is researching his life facts

Christie is researching his relevance to/influence on 21st century design

Helen is researching the sociopolitical influences on Piranesi

dsdn 111 | more work

I have been struggling with the wire project to date. I can't seem to make the leap from literal to abstract. So I remade my card form (which I am also going to re-shoot) to get me back to where I was coming from when I arrived at that form.

This is the final card form - note sketch on paper in foreground

This perspective is what I sketched once I had completed the form

A closer view of the space beneath the form which is what I am most interested in

From this angle I get a better sense of the 'cornered' feeling I am trying to create

dsdn 101 | studio 5

Process work for the Section Scale excercise...

I have further investigated the USB stick and in order to show the interior as a layered item I have employed the use of butter paper layered over the foundation zeta paper. I am not sure how this will scan but I have decided I can always scan each layer then combine them (with various levels of opacity) in Photoshop.

I am inspired by these diagrams for information about the interior of the stick:

Source

Source

dsdn 111 | planar (card) form

Contact sheet - 10 iterations

10 iterations

final iteration

Three analytical drawings


dsdn 101 | studio 2

studio 2

A first effort for this week's drawing exercise. I would like to redo this replacing the ring with a USB stick and a different composition to make it a little more interesting.

©2013 helenkwilliams - this is a first attempt and not my hand in piece

DSDN 171 | project one

Research Theme: Giovanni Piranesi

four sources and two images:

 

books

 

1. Lawrence, S., Ely, J. & Piranesi, G. (2007). Piranesi as designer. New York, NY: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
2. Piranesi, G. & Ficacci, L. (2000). Giovanni Battista Piranesi : the complete etchings = Gesamtkatalog der Kupferstiche = catalogue raisonné des eaux-fortes. Köln New York: Taschen.

journal article

 

Woodworth, W. J. (1902). Piranesi, the Rembrandt of Architecture. Brush and Pencil, 10(5), 276–284.

website

 

Thompson, Wendy. "Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) ". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pira/hd_pira.htm (October 2003)

images:

Piranesi, Giovanni. c.1744-45 Interior of a Prison
 Lawrence, S., Ely, J. & Piranesi, G. (2007). Piranesi as designer. New York, NY: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution. P160.

Piranesi, Giovanni. N.D. Tomb of Theodoris at Ravenna
Lawrence, S., Ely, J. & Piranesi, G. (2007). Piranesi as designer. New York, NY: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution. 141.

294 words (plus bibliography) explaining the relevance of a library in a design school:

It is easy to dismiss the relevance of bricks and mortar libraries like the one at the School of Design and Architecture in this, the digital age. Our current obsession with convenience and efficiency coupled with the ubiquity of broadband access would suggest that design school libraries, in comparison with the internet, are set to decline in use. However, there are several reasons that argue otherwise.

First, our own conveniently located Architecture and Design Library’s collection is as large as it is diverse. The library houses around 25,000 books alone (Victoria University Wellington, 2013) as well as various other useful media.  In addition to the collection, the internet is available for users unable to gain access elsewhere. It is thus the most egalitarian source of research and teaching media available to the faculty’s students.

Even though it is commonly thought that regular users of the internet, including students, know how to use the internet to research, there are many who ‘tend to overuse Google and misuse scholarly databases’ (Duke & Asher, 2012). Conversely, the resources at the A & D library are of trustworthy integrity and are chosen specifically to support the students and teachers at the school.

In this regard, the librarians themselves are an excellent resource since their training allows them to conduct fast and expedient searches both within the library and beyond, enabling us to avoid wasting valuable time in our research.

Finally, the library can be inspiring, with its richly illustrated books and abundance of ideas and knowledge. A shelf filled with books relating to your chosen subject can be the key to your work’s success and to ignore this and the many other rewards of library use puts the user at a distinct disadvantage while studying at design school.

Bibliography

Duke, L. M., & Asher, A. D. (2012). College libraries and student culture : what we now know. Chicago: American Library Association.

Victoria University Wellington. (2013, March 18). Architecture and Design Library | The Library | Victoria University of Wellington. http://library.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved March 18, 2013, from http://library.victoria.ac.nz/library/collections/a-d.html

 

dsdn 111 | wig 101

Am closer to working out a direction for my first project today - words I have been thinking about are: BOXED-IN, ORDER, CORNERED and DIMINISH.
I am interested in exploring the effects of these situations on the psyche. I started by constructing a box out of scrap paper that is quite thick (and is printed on, on the exterior side).

 First box

Our tutor brought in some books from the library - one was 'Experimental Architecture' by Lebbeus Woods which featured some interesting ideas around architectural design responding to the outcome of environmental forces such as earthquakes. I liked the way his designs seemed to involved interior forces breaking out of their formally ordered containment. It seemed to relate to my other ideas so was building on this line of thought when I sketched the following plan for my card object.

Stepped out plan for the word(s) 'boxed in'

inspiration | gordon road

Had to add - continuing on my thread theme from last year is Constellation - Mana by Japanese artist

Kumi Yamashita. Each image is constructed from a single unbroken black thread wound through an array of nails mounted on a white board. 

Source

inspiration | gordon road

I have a Campari Soda bottle I was given years ago while working on an event for this product. It is still hanging around my kitchen. The bottle was designed in 1932 to be used as a single-dose aperitif by Fortunato Depero (a renowned Futurist artist) and is still in use today. I like its qualities of symmetry and solidity. I also admire the ruby redness of the liquid inside. I don't much care for the taste of Campari and soda.

© helen k williams 2013

Quotidien Inspiration

Starting the week with some art deco objects. Sticking to a favourite theme - dressing tables.



Source
 

dsdn 171 | WIG 101

So we've had our first lecture and the library is the next move... watch this space.

dsdn 101 | studio 1

studio 1

Started sketching objects from my bag using 50mm x 50mm view finder.

© helen k williams 2013

dsdn 111 | wig 101

LINES | March 4 2013 | prefab, wellington, female toilets

So I was initially inspired by the geometry of the above bathroom and tried to emulalte the square-ness of the room...

Studio | March 4 2013 | WIG 101| first 3 iterations

Then we needed to try to work with one word so I was thinking about music and worked on the idea of notes affecting, creasing or even piercing the airwaves.

Studio | March 4 2013 | WIG 101| second 3 iterations