Evaluation

This stage of the print processes module has not been easy. It has taught me a lot about planning and the capabilities of the college's equipment. The main issue was with the laser cutter. It had trouble cutting my chosen wood on two occasions, which due to the busy nature of the laser booking caused large delays to the rest of the project and having to go for my 2nd choice wood.

I am happy with the final table, but feel some aspects have suffered due to not enough time being spent in the printing room. I was very pleased with the rough printed affect created on the top and ends and would liked to have done the same to the front and back.

I really like the table itself and its design potential. I'm happy with how it went together and the overall quality.

The top

The final table with props. Photoshop'ed slightly to make it appear darker.

Making the Final Product

screen printing the side design

The printed sides

A rare sucessful cut out, most required a bit of work to get out

To add strengh, every side was cut twice and doubled up. The above image shows it being glued over night

The base coat colour for the ends and top were done in alyric and applied with a small roller

Two coats were applied

The design for the top before running ink through it

The end deign being lied up. This was important as I had to apply white first to bring out the red colour.

Creating the designs

The first design theme I choose was from the television series True Blood.  The plan was to create designs that would suit the screen print process and the texture of the wood. I will use the colour schemes from the B-movies in my research and my designs and illustrative style will be influenced by the folk art of Stuart Kolakosic.

I plan to decorate each side of the box slightly differently but still keeping within the theme and design style. The original aim was to create a series of boxes, each sticking guidelines above. Unfortunately as the making of the stool has been more time-consuming than first planned due to the wood not cutting and the laser cutter slots rarely being available. Instead I will make one and do a impression of what the others would have looked like using Photoshop.

Creating the first screen print.

Original sketch

For this design I have simply taken an image of the synthetic blood sold in the TV series and simplified it.  I will be using four colours (something I have never tried before) and in some places allowing the wood to show through to create a fifth. It is shown below going from initial sketch stage to a mockup on plywood.  I wanted to put onto scrap piece of ply before printing it onto the stool just in case it didn't work.

A possible idea for the other sides

Vector image

Working out the colours

...and order to print them in

Prepared area and inks

There was a lot of masking up areas involved

The print with just the black and dark red done

Lining up the colours with registration marks

black, dark red and white

experimenting with hand prints for other areas of the stool. Thinking of taking them into Illustrator and turning them into simple vectors so they tie in with the rest of the design.

The Final Print

Making the Artifact

Due to the time set for stage two I decided to make a replica of the Kaishu stool. I like the flat surfaces as they will be ideal for different printing techniques and give lots of options when it comes to the design. The plan is to produce multiple boxes, each with a slightly different darkness theme. For instance, one could the based on True Blood and another a Clockwork Orange. I will create collective look by using a style similar to B-movie posters and Stuart Kolakosic's Illustrations.

The first thing to do was to design the template for the stool/table.  to stop people reproducing and profiting on the stool design, there does not seem to be any templates online. So I used photos taken from most angles and set to work replicating it on Adobe illustrator. This was more time-consuming than first thought as getting the measurements and symmetry perfect was vital to the stool working.

Original pencil sketch of the basic box shape before scanning into Illustrator. Some of the pencil lines have then cleaned up as I originally planned to vectorise my sketch.

   After scanning it into Illustrator, I used the pen tool to go over my scanned pencil lines and with the help of grids and guides was able to create symmetrical and parallel lines.  I did try to vectorise my pencil lines, but the result was wavy and would have resulted in the box not working and a rough result. 

Final vector ready for laser cutter.

Once I was happy with the final template vector,  I decided to make a prototype. This was to make sure that my measurements were correct and the slats and holes were in right the place. I used cardboard for my model. I was very pleased with how went together and used it to workout the size of the final artifact. 

MAKING THE STOOL/TABLE

First job was to choose the material. I had my heart set on a wood with a grain so with the guidance and help of the technician in the workshop, opted for 3.6mm Plywood. This would give me the desired finish and should be easy work for the laser cutter. One of my biggest issue with this project was getting time on the laser cutter. Due to it popularity it gets booked up very quickly, which doesn't then allow for many mistakes or test runs. Below are photos from my first laser cutter slot. 

Unfortunately due to a bow in the ply the cutting was not successful and did not cut all the way through the wood. In some places it was so bad that with the help of the woodwork technician we had to re-cut it with a bow saw. This has resulted in a slightly uneven edge. Also this has made the necessary second cutting needed to doubling up the wood thickness too time-consuming. This all meant that it was back to the drawing board regarding what material to use. The plan is to use something flatter which can be cut first time.

Research - Darkness

The things which stood out to me from my mood board was the 'B movie' style posters of the Death Proof & Planet Terror and the darker 'folk' style illustrations.

I have also researched films and TV programmes that also portray darkness in a clever way. 

B MOVIE

Death Proof (2007). Quentin Tarantino's take on the old B-movie poster format.  to achieve an authentic look, Tarantino has opted for a  minimum colour palette and has made it look like it is  faded in parts and has been folded at some point. This look would have been common during the height of B-movies due to cheaper printing techniques and the locations and circumstances in which the posters would have been hung.

Plant Terror (2007). Released at the same time as Death Proof. Again it is a modern poster trying to look old. As with Death Proof, this is one of many.

  

ORIGINAL POSTERS

Below are a few examples of original B-movie posters. Like Tarantino's remakes, the posters use a limited colour palette and have a faded worn look. This style of poster is now very desirable, with posters from even lesser-known films becoming very valuable and collectible.

(Right)

Attack of the 50 ft woman (1958).

 Fire Maidens of Outer Space (1956).

Bride of the Monster (1955)

ILLUSTRATION - STUART KOLAKOVIC

I came across Stuart in Computer Art and was immediately drawn to his illustrative style.  He is a London based illustrator, well known for this folk style. I like how he uses simple shapes and textures to add mood.  In Computer Arts, when asked why he uses 'folk' as an influence he is quoted to say  “It is a 'romantic' alternative to living in today's technologically advanced, expensive and essentially crowded, modern Western world". Below are some of my favourite Kolakovic designs, I'll tried to pick examples which show an element of darkness.  

 

Nobrow 3 Artwork Fail

Private Xmas Commission

Lichen Forest Panel

I have also included the following pictures, as it shows how this illustration style has marketable potential. In the examples below, he's work is shown on the wall of a skate shop, skateboards themselves and on the wall of a shoe shop. The skateboard gives the impression of how it could look on artifact of similar dimensions.  

Projekts Skateshop Wall Mural

Nobrow Lauch, Jaguar Shoes, London

Slalom Skateboard

Research - Artifact

The challenge when choosing an artifact was to produce something that would work with TWO methods of printing. I immediately decided not to go for the artwork and wallpaper as I wanted to use this opportunity to produce something three dimensional. Although problematic due to it's popularity I decided early on that i wanted to use the laser cutter. This was because I wanted to explore it's capabilities and because it produces professional results comparable to products on sale. Because of the size of the laser bed this limited the size of the artifact to that of a stool or table. This also works well with my second printing process as the artifact would be the right size for the silk screens.


 Examples of existing designs/products

 Jethro Macey - Cutaway

" Cutaway illustrates the versatility & simplicity of design combined with the graphic element that runs through much of Jethro Maceys work.
Cutaway uses a pattern influenced by the geometric air bricks used in Mediterranean architecture. Textured matt or gloss powder- coated steel. "

I really like the simple design of this stool and how its designs are influenced by a Mediterranean theme. It would be interesting to create something similar using wood, the issues would be bending it and not losing the simplicity when using two print processes.

Mind map and mood board

The first thing I did after receiving the brief for stage two was to head down the pub with other designers in my class to explore the darkness theme. This was done in the form of a A2 mind map. Having more then one input made getting away from the more obviously darkness themes such as 'Gothic' and 'horror' a lot easier.

From the above mindmap I took the words that interested me and turned them into the below mood board. I didn't want to add too much structure at this stage, instead allowed the ideas to be more free flowing.

The mood board includes:
War (Vietnam, WW1/2, etc) Film (Death Proof, Clockwork Orange, American Psycho, The Road, Planet Terror), television (True Blood), Illustrations (Ahn Na Lim, "My Sweet Mr Nightmare", cdskcdjschskjcskjv) Furniture (Jethro Macey Cutaway stool, zaishu seat, Wooden desk)

 

Introduction

Graphic Design requires you to produce designs for many and varied situations, from magazines, posters, stationery, logo’s, album covers etc. However, from time to time, clients may require you to produce something more unusual, this working outside of your comfort zone will test and challenge you, and the subsequent final production will be somewhat different and rewarding

For the second part of this module “The Art of the Print” we were asked to look carefully and produce artifacts for “Interiors”, with the title “Prints of Darkness” as the theme.

After stage 1, I wanted to further explore laser cutting and screen printing.