Project 6: Analytical Space and Place

The objective of this assignment is to digitally represent a space as accurately as possible. Afterwards, we composed two compositions that fully explained the place: one analytically, the other subjectively.

The first board above depicts a bay of the Linear Gallery modelled in FormZ. Its intention was to analytically describe the space. The Axon is the main image and is supported by the other three drawings. With the Axon, you fully understand the space and how each element relates to the rest. It is a three dimensional version of the others and seemingly describes the project.

The next board begins to describe the feel of the space. A perspective is taken of the model and then the context is photoshopped in around it. Through this model, you begin to understand how light enters and plays with the space. It clarifies where the model is and how it fits into its surroundings. People add not only scale to the drawing, but a sense of inhabiting.   

Midterm Review (Project 7) and Revisions

Final Review Board:

The board above is the final board from the midterm review. Overall, I was praised for the composition and topic I chose to explore. Compositionally, I was praised for understanding the differences between background, middle ground, foreground and "super ground".

Criticism of the placement and treatment of my process seemed to have become an issue. I have been struggling with how to treat the "objects" that are just pasted on the page. In the revisions, I took that into consideration and made that the big change. In the new image, the process occupies its own zone to the left of the "super, blue image. It has been desaturated to fit in with the background; however, it also stands out from the context because of the way it is pasted on the page. It also opens up the perspective and frees it from the clunky process. This effectively eliminates the dead space to the left of the blue object and further continues to join the composition together. The image below is the revisions of my final board:

Project 6: Revisions of Final Board

The goal of Project 6 was to revise our final board while taking into consider criticism from the Project 5 review. The same perspective is used as the focus of the board; however, the process and analysis play a bigger role towards the top and bottom of the image. Above the perspective is the letter analysis/creation of the pattern process. It shows step by step how the two letters ("o" and "k") line up and are influenced in design by each other. It also fully describes the process in which the pattern is created. At the bottom of the image, the 3D pattern process is displayed. Since the process images generally stand out from the page, the gray overlay is meant to give them their own space. This allows them to look less "copy and pasted". The lone spiraling form is meant to engage both the process and perspective while intertwining the two. It also begins to extrapolate how the 3D form can begin to be seen as a 3D pattern. Below is the final board for Project 6:

Project 5: Representation of Digital Analysis

The objective of Project 5 was to explore how digital renderings and visualization can enhance or detract from the perception of space and spacial hiearchy.

The project above is taking the concepts from the past few exercises and applying them to a comprehensive board that sums up my research into the typeface. In FormZ, I re-rendered my final Project 4 while following modified steps. The overall image is to show insight into my process and how the final form was synthesized. The perspective is taken inside the object to demonstrate how space is being created through my procedure. The blue"tentacles" are to express how this seemingly finite intersection can be seen as an infinite pattern. Finally to contrast the three dimensionality of the board, the original two dimensional pattern is set as the background to play with figure and ground. From far away, the pattern is seen as a background; however, up close, one could view the pattern as an element upon the page.

Project 4: Solid Model of Pattern

The objective of this project was to use the geometric and spatial logic of the 2D pattern synthesized from Project 3 to create a solid three dimensional object that dealt with spatial condition.

The pattern created for last project was created around the idea of modularity. For this project, the unit (created in Project 3) was brought into FormZ and manipulated. Since the unit was comprised of the unification and intersection of different letters in two dimensional space, this project is based around the unification and intersection of the unit in three dimensional space.

First, I began by duplicating the unit and extruding different letters or objects within the unit sets to highlight different geometric characteristics I had studied in the previous exercises. After creating a grid composed of 6 three dimensional units, I rotated another unit (so the base was now on the X-Z plane) and extruded the unit through the solids I had created. Below are the "ghosted" process images describing this process:

"Ghosted" Axon View

"Ghosted" Plan View

Finally, I intersected the two extruded objects. The four images below are the final FormZ renderings:

Rendered Axon:

In the rendered axonometric drawing above, you can see the materiality changes from grey to purple. The unit extruded from the X-Z axis was turned purple and the units extruded from the X-Y plane were grey. When the two solids were intersected, the planes that had been cut by the purple object turned purple. Because of this feature, you can see just how the geometry of the unit interacts with itself in three dimensional space. 

Wireframe Axon:

Rendered Plan:

Wireframe Plan:

Project 3: Synthesis + Modularity + Pattern

The objective of the project was to create a two dimensional pattern that reanalyzed a typeface we studied in the previous two assignments. The typeface I have chosen to analyze is a San Serif font. In this blog, I will present my process first and then the final pattern.

Process 1: Synthesis

In my previous project, I analyzed how the design of specific letters had informed the design of others. From that, I was able to conjecture what a new letter would look like based on the information I had gathered.

In this project, I used the same font and stuck with the idea of how certain design principles informed the design of others. The two letters I chose to focus on were the letters "o" and "k. The image above depicts the synthesis of my base unit in my final pattern. The synthesis began by mirroring the "k". When placed right next to each other, the space seems to suggest the form and design of the letter "o". Finally, the shear angle of the form was taken from the angle of the legs of the "k".

This analysis was used in my final board.

Process 2: Modularity

After establishing a base unit for the pattern, I began playing around with the different angles of shear based on the form of the "k". Ultimately, this lead to a three dimensional cubic pattern. The idea of treating the synthesized pattern as a modular unit was formed here.

Synthesis + Modularity + Pattern:

Final Pattern: Fill + Grayscale

Final Pattern: Line + Line Weight

The final boards were ultimately reliant on the process and the ideas of synthesis and modularity. The pattern analyzes how the modular unit fits together to make a perfect square. This idea could be extrapolated and suggest that all characters within this typeface are synthesized and designed according to this perfect square. The idea of modularity is also shown in the background. The modular unit is used to reproduce the "k". This finally begins to suggest a modular design strategy to the typeface as well. 

Project 2: Analyzing Sans Serif Type

The studies below are part of Project 2. The intent for the board is located directly below the image.

The first study of sans serif type was an investigation in how spacing occurs between characters and how different proportions between the characters inform their designs. The project shows a flurry of letters storming down to the bottom of the page where they collect in between the forms at the bottom. These letters are used as modular units to visually describe the spacing between each form. The forms at the bottom are another study within the project. They are a combination of the letters “O” and “E” to show how the proportions of the “O” are almost identical to that of an “E”. By using the counter of the “O” to help subtract portions of the “E”, a new letter is postulated: the letter “C”.

The second study explores the idea of datum and width within the typeface. The project shows how the heights of many of the lower case letters are the same all while playing with the idea of figure and ground. Vertical datum is also explored to the left hand side by comparing the different stems, legs and hairlines of the different letters. Finally, by mirroring and flipping the “W”, an “M” begins to be implied.