Visual Research Development

After my last tutorial, my group and my tutor suggested that I begin to come out of my comfort zone within my sketchbook and start to create some 3D pieces from my drawings, in order to push myself forward. Similarly, with a context in mind of costume or set design, we all thought that creating something 3D would be more relevant and would relate more closely to these industries, as both involve working in a 3D manner as they design. It was also suggested that I begin to look into window dressing, as it involves both the body and interior space.

I researched into a couple of designers; Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake who both create unusual garments, some using organic shapes and some geometric. Out of the two, I prefer Issey Miyake's work (below, right) as it is slightly more structured, and appears to use stiffer, more industrial materials than Rei Kawakubo (below, left), which appears to be made from softer materials, which are manipulated and stuffed to create unusual shapes.

Matt Shlian designed a shop window display for Levi's made solely out of paper, which also was made up of geometric shapes such as hexagons and pyramids. From this, I realised the works I have looked at over the past week would assist me in considering my audience more closely - such shapes could be used in both costume and set design, as well as installations in shop window dressings - see below.

I have begun designing compositions from my drawings using 3D geometric shapes similar to the ones that Matt Shlian used in his Levi's installation as well as Issey Miyake. 

The mix of colours with the figurative elements from my drawings, I think, work well as they make the shapes look even more abstract. In contrast, it also adds depth and sharpness to the 3D shapes. Moreover, with the mixture of dark and brighter colours, this would suit the audiences I mentioned before as costume and set need to be bright in order for them to be clearly defined under lighting. In contrast, a shop window display could be plain, dark or colourful, depending on the client and their store vision.