OUGD404 STUDIO BRIEF 2 - RESEARCH

Following on from my decision to produce my book about Drive, using an interview with the Director as the content of my book, I started researching into different techniques or aspects of my book that I may perhaps use.

Handmade font research
HandMade Font, from Estonia has created these very quirky fonts from using different items and materials to make each letterform.

I really like this typeface as it is very legible, yet colourful and bold as well. I like how it is green with flecks of yellow in the paint as well, and how the paint is uneven and clumpy, rather than perfectly painted. I like the appearance of this typeface, however I am not sure about whether this would suit the kind of style I perhaps want my book to be produced in.

This typeface has been produced using succulent plants, arranged in the shapes of letters. This typeface is even more structured and legible than the previous, and appears to be in a specific typeface as well, perhaps Helvetica or something similar. The detail of the letterforms is also quite subtle, although you can clearly see they are made out of circles. This could prove interesting to use, as the detail could make an otherwise quite simple page more interesting and intricate.

This is a design similar to the last design with the succulents. The letters have been made out of leaves all piled together to make the shape of letters. This has a very blocky effect, perhaps because of the typeface chosen to produce the leaves in, but also I imagine it would be tricky to create an intricate typeface using this method, as leaves are all shapes and sizes and in the blow of a wind can move around easily as too.

Illustration research
Illustrations are going to be a very large part of this book, and I have a clear idea of what I would like them to look like, however finding an example of this to help me create my own illustrations is key, as I want to create continuous line drawings for my book, however I do not like doing continuous line drawings at all, I find them very challenging so I need to learn how to produce them quickly and effectively. I think continuous line drawings will help reflect the fluidity of the film, as the soundtrack helps one thing flow smoothly form one to another, and with the characters not really talking massively, everything relies on body language and eye contact, which is constant throughout the film. I think this will be great to show in continuous line drawings, but injecting colour through using watercolour paints of bright purples, reds, blues, and oranges, the main colours of the film, and also highlighting what the current mood of the film is.

Kris Trappeniers
"I’m a paper cut artist based in Belgium. At the moment I don’t have the possibility to work full time, unfortunately, so I’m just experimenting with graphic design in order to develop a new way of presenting the paper works in the future. My paper cuts (usually about 1 meter tall) are based on tiny ‘continuous line’ drawings. The paper cuts are presented as a cut out line, directly installed on a wall, which creates a blurry shadow in the background. Paper cuts are pièces uniques but the drawings are sometimes reproduced by silk screen printing."

This is a really interesting continuous line drawing using ink of paper and drawn freehand. I really like the fluidity of the lines and how they construct the face. I also like how the type of line that is mainly used are circles, ovals or curved lines, creating a very rounded appearance. The weight of the lines are all the same as well, with shadows and curves only created by layering up lines and producing them more densely. 

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This continuous line drawing is a lot more angular as it doesn't really use rounded lines as a rule, but draws to make the object as quickly and simply as possible. However I like how colour has been applied to the handles of the scissors, making them a little bit brighter and contrasting with the dark black of the medium they have been produced on.

Pats Painted Prism

This continuous line drawing is very different in style to the one by Trappeniers, as it uses wobbly lines to construct the illustration rather than lots of circles and curved lies. This creates a lot less strong image, especially when coupled with the watercolour background which uses colours that aren't very bold but watered down considerably. I do like the idea of drawing onto a page of watercolours, however if I do this I must ensure my colours reflect the film and are bold and bright rather than a little vague like in this design.

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I really like this painting, which isn't produced using continuous line however does look very similar. I like the use of watercolours for the actual drawing rather than just filling in the colour using watercolours. I also like the different colours of the strokes as the paintbrush runs out of ink and becomes a lighter shade, as it gives character to the design, and also allows different parts of the illustration to be emphasised or toned down. The background has also been produced using watercolours which allows the illustration to blend into the background as the same colours have been used. Because watercolours are painted using water, this gives the background a fluent, calming feel to it, which I think matches the continuous line style very effectively. I think it also matches the tone of the film as well, as Drive has a very quiet feel to it, with outbursts of anger and passion.

These are three continuous line and watercolour illustrations which are a lot more similar to the kind of illustrations I want to produce. The continuous line drawings are produced using rounded lines and squiggly movements, and the watercolours used to colour them in are bold and bright, with different strengths of colour highlighting certain aspects of the illustration. I also like how the watercolours stay pretty closely within the lines, however to go out of the lines in some parts, giving it a careless feel, yet still showing clearly the shape of the object.

Alicia Murcia (Art as You Go)

This is another interesting continuous line and watercolour illustration, where the strength of colour in the watercolours has been used to a great advantage, clearly using a stronger consistency of paint for the head of the prawn, and a lighter consistency for the other parts, as well as a slight hint of red paint connecting one prawn to the other, which may suggest the watercolour painting aspect may also of been produced using continuous painting as much as possible. This produces a very fluent yet bold piece, with the continuous lines being the foundations of the design, but the colour really bringing it to life, especially with the extreme varying shades as well, giving the prawns extra detail. I must think very carefully when it comes to choosing the colours for my illustrations, so that the colours don't take away from the line drawing, but enhance it.