These are some findings I have noted over the "study and reaction" segment of my research. This post will go over shapes, direction and a slight touch of colour theory.
There are three definitions I need to clarify as I progress through my research:
My definition of "Directional interface" is the process of how the viewer navigates an artefact in a direction that is either suggested by the creator or into a completely random direction of their choice.
Polyhedron definition: "In geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons) is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices." - Wikipedia definition.
Platonic solids are "In three-dimensional space, a Platonic solid is a regular, convex polyhedron. It is constructed by congruent (identical in shape and size), regular (all angles equal and all sides equal), polygonal faces with the same number of faces meeting at each vertex." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid
At approaching the concept of polyhedrons and exploring interactions with the shape, I stuck a shape down using blue-tac for temporary trials of placement. This was to test where I should place the shapes to explore the viewer's direction travel of a shape. If you think of a sandwich with the bread as polyhedrons, how would this change the way a viewer interacts with the shape? Would it be the same if platonic-solids were the bread instead?
The paper sizes of the bread sandwich are A4 and the base (filling/middle bit) is A3.
After using Blue-tac I used PVA glue but that ruined the paper. Changing the paper to the card was not successful because the PVA glue was not strong enough to bind small bits of card together. However, superglue is a good alternative because it binds quickly.
Colour
Photographing these allowed me to lay a foundation for digital watercolour experiments (using the Paper App on iPad).
Colour Polyhedron - Digital watercolour
Former work on colour theory led me to suggest that using bright and warm colours would be likely to promote positive emotions and monochromatic and greyscale tones for negative emotion. The monochromatic tones offer balance to the piece, contrasting the busyness that the bright colours give. The challenge for colour and shape will be to find which colour palette will best combine balance and busyness.
Contrasting colours have been used as a method to guide viewers around the shape in a particular direction. During a peer-assessment, the colour alone, on the shape created a more appealing visual, thus increasing the possibility that it will be a strong variable to focus on. This guided me to try repainting the image with a monochromatic colour palette, to see if it made a difference.
Illustration:
During my "thinking through making" method, I have found that the viewer is guided by different variables. These variables are:
The choice of equal/unequal sided shapes
Size of shapes
The number of shapes glued together. ( I have stuck with 3)
The initial results were to use 2 small shapes - glued to - a larger shape in the centre that formed a base. I stuck with the same amount of shapes for 7 experiments because using 2 shapes, did not have enough room for illustrations. For a simple narrative, 2 shapes aesthetically felt too small. Using more than 4 shapes felt too busy and big. Using three shapes seemed a bit like too much at first, but it offers a good "beginning, middle and end" to the story as a piece.
The first piece was a mix of equal and unequal shapes: 3 shapes, one large cube, a medium-sized cuboid and hexagonal prism. This changed the object was viewed. By having flat areas at every side created no definite top or bottom to the piece, this also did not encourage the viewer to navigate around the object.
The second piece consisted of 3 unequal shapes. I used arrows as a directional visual cue for the viewer offering no beginning or end to the piece. Keeping the ink black to eliminate any emotional attachment to a colour and adding contrast.
Arrows on polyhedron piece.
The third piece consisted of 3 cubes, 1 small, 1 medium and 1 large (large cube as the base) and this time using card. This allowed illustrations to be drawn directly onto the shape. From this, I drew blue butterflies as a directional visual metaphor to explore the shape whilst still allowing me to practice my illustration skills. There is a small piece of card that I added on an edge to play further with 3-dimensional shapes (I might use this further down the line).
The type of shape helps with moving around the piece in a specific direction (Octahedrons and tetrahedrons are strong contenders so far, as they are not as difficult to make and offer a large amount of surface area for the illustrations to go on.
Butterflies on a platonic piece.
Illustration language
During the exploration of illustration, I began to experiment with panels as "border for an image". Each panel can be as big or as small as required, allowing artistic influence to take advantage of the shape. A good rule to stick by is "the more sides on the shape, the more panels you can work with".
Blue lines square shows the square's shape-face
Red lines show panels
When analysing the results from Cat and crow platonic solid. I found that you can have more than 1 panel, on a single shape face. Having all black borders is an efficient way to keep the narrative direction neutral. However, here are some notes I made whilst creating the cat and crow platonic piece 1.
Thick black borders are good to separate chunks of the stories from getting mixed up.
Black or white borders, keep them distinguished. Possibly add colour to the border? or include black to the whole panel?
Green: suggested pattern
Red: restricted pattern
Blue: suggested story plot
My current work is inspired by comics. I have an appreciation of comics for the way the imagery can explain the story with words as an aid. With a dyslexic mind, I found comics to be the best route for explanation and storytelling. As my thoughts consist of imagery and not words, followed by a bilingual heritage. Imagery is compatible with all languages which suits my work well.