At the beginning of Major Project, I started brainstorming. I think people have many different versions of themselves. I started by investigating self-awareness, social pressure, culture and family. I found that kaleidoscope would fit my theme. Because “kaleido-scope” is often used to describe a mixture of various elements and characteristics, which represents the diverse and changing nature of the world.
After the Work In Process Exhibition, I took some tutorials. I realized that I need to change my paper to increase the quality of my final outcome. G.F.Smith Studio Lab was exactly what I needed. I learned about the types of paper and had the opportunity to touch and appreciate various paper works. I was very impressed by the work on the left that can be pulled apart. Because it is playful and uses exquisite craftsmanship. I think it can inspire me in some way. After that, I bought a lot of paper on their website and tried to re-make my works.
Based on my previous hand-drawings, I found it difficult to create high-quality works on paper. So I decided to hand-drawing and went digital. I kept some of the symbols I had thought of before. I used a symbolistic approach to create metaphors in the drawings. For example, the Rubik’s Cube surrounded by beauty needles and surgical knives represents plastic surgery procedures, which is like “piecing good-looking bodily features together”.
As an avoidant personality, hearing others’ evaluations of me always makes me want to escape. My inner self yearns for a quiet, enclosed space, where I can be alone, free from the anxiety of appearance. So, I incorporated this fantasy into my work and created this conceptual poster. Initially, it was a rich, colorful, and somewhat nostalgic American-style poster, but for consistency and mass production, I reorganized and redesigned it into its current form. I added the design of a cage in the image, further emphasizing the enclosed nature of this space. While my illustrations may appear pink and fresh blue on the surface, the emotions they convey are suppressed. The fresh color scheme is intended to provide my audience with a sense of healing and inspiration upon seeing this artwork after purchase.
During the spring break, I tried to start making my pop-up book. Although I bought good black paper, more problems began to arise. For example, risograph cannot be printed on black paper, and pens that can show color on black paper also need to be purchased. In addition, the workshop was closed, so I considered testing it by hand-drawing. After making the stairs, I first tried to use various patterns to increase the completion of this work. (Picture above) But at this step, I found that my ability was limited, so I stopped at this step. But I found that this pattern form is feasible.
These are some drawings that were made but not used.In the previous page, the advantages of hand-drawing were introduced. However, here I regretfully have to abandon some ideas and hand-drawn designs. Bacause through one-on-one sessions, I have come to the profound realization that to mass-produce and efficiently create high-quality pop-up books, it is necessary to utilize printing techniques. With this goal in mind, after careful consideration, I have chosen the risograph printing technique.
Consequently, I have decided to forgo the large quantity of beautiful black paper I purchased at a high price earlier
During the spring break, I tried to start making my pop-up book. Although I bought good black paper, more problems began to arise. For example, risograph cannot be printed on black paper, and pens that can show color on black paper also need to be purchased. In addition, the workshop was closed, so I considered testing it by hand-drawing. After making the stairs, I first tried to use various patterns to increase the completion of this work. (Picture above) But at this step, I found that my ability was limited, so I stopped at this step. But I found that this pattern form is feasible.
The picture above was a piece of my hand drawing. You will see how I made these hand drawings into a riso print on white paper. According to the direction of my research, I want to pay more attention to the aspect of appearance anxiety. So I drew some symbols to represent them. For example, I designed these cards with plaster facial features.
The picture above was a piece of my hand drawing. You will see how I made these hand drawings into a riso print on white paper. According to the direction of my research, I want to pay more attention to the aspect of appearance anxiety. So I drew some symbols to represent them. For example, I designed these cards with plaster facial features.
Though in the end I made everything into riso, I still like the texture by a real pen. People can see some clues of hand drawing pieces that shows this was by a pink slim pen. Which is hard to revival by Risography. I used the mechanism of the cage to represent what it means to be imprisoned.
Here are some flat design drawings and process drawings, I try to show the process here and help the audience understand how I did it. The interesting point is that the one on the right shows the process of folding the parts like an octopus.
In this checkpoint, we were able to see some inspiring artworks by my classmates. Luckiely I was given a lot of feedbacks frome the others. The illustration design by me adopts bright colours, charming graphics, or visually appealing images, which can immediately attract the attention of potential audiences.
It is a compelete piece of my hand making piece. The colour of inner part of it is clearly different from the outside one. I think the final result is nice and eye-catching. Even though I didn’t use it in the final product. Because they are hard to do and lack style and are a bit off from my illustrations. It loses the characters and some of the original colors. But I still think it is a good attempt. It laid the foundation for my later finished product.
I was given 10 sheets of G.F Smith sampl paper. This was a great way to get to know the different textures of the paper. The textures are very interesting. They have a lot of textures, some are clothy, some are rough, and some are smooth. I need to test them to see if they will work for my work.The paper sent by gf Smith was wrapped in layers of cardboard. I thought it would be a waste to throw it away directly, so I cut and trimmed them. This machine is located in the corner of the print finishing entrance. I spent some time cutting them all down to SRA3 (450mm*320mm), and at this time I didn’t know what they were for, I just didn’t want these complete packaging boards to fill up the trash can.
Throwing back to my works done within few months, I feel like this says a lot about my life, my experience.I benefited from this project a lot. The techniques I developed the most was printing using Risography. Riso allows me doing a lot of tests and going wrong for severall times.
For the future, I think my pop-up book series can have an ending, or a big change. After a long period of self-doubt and confusion, something new will happen on my character. If I continue to work on this project, I will make a few new pages in the future to make the book truly complete.
In the studio lab on Fridays and Thurthdays, I made some notes about preservation my artworks detaiking how to frame and keep the pages.
The image one above indicates how to place my pop up on the wall. Our answer is to find a conner in the showcase place. The suggestion was so precise that the size of the painting’s protective frame is only one centimeter larger than the work. They have also recommend me to go for 3d workshop and book arts if I got time.
The image two was about the suggestion on packaging.
The third image is a display of my reward from the book arts workshop.