language of design

LANGUAGE

OF DESIGNERIN GWOZDZ

PROCESS BOOK

ObservationMy observation process began at Boston’s Museum of Science. As a long time lover of taxidermy and natural history, I was immediately drawn to the Blue Wing’s Natural Mysteries exhibit. Set up like an old-style museum in which collection drawers can be freely opened and explored, the exhibit gave me the opportunity to study designs of nature up close.

Using photography as documentation, I was able to take macro photos of organisms: something I would not be able to do as easily in their natural habitat. Inevitably, I spent the most time with the lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). I have collected and studied lepidoptera for about four years, and have always been fascinated by their striking patterns and symmetry,

Upon further inspection of my photos, however, it became clear to me that the wings of a butterfly are not as perfect as they appear.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012

ObservationFor the past four years I have been collecting framed butterflies, two of which I brought with me to school. I scanned each butterfly at a high resolution to get a closer look at their patterns, scales and colors. Here is a blue morpho butterfly, the inside on the left and out-side on the right.


ObservationA continuation of my personal butterfly scans, here is the yellow nawab butterfly.


ConstructionDuring a studio day, Meghan brought in various materials to work with, including lemon juice and cotton balls. Ideally I wanted to try an ink-blot test to mimic the symmetrical patterns of a butterfly, but since the lemon juice would have dried transparent, it wouldn’t have been effective. Instead I tried a combination of wetting colored pastels with cotton soaked in lemon

juice. I drew a random design and folded the paper in half to create a “symmetrical” image that mimics the imperfections of a butterfly’s apparent symmetry.


ConstructionAnother material that Meghan brought in for us to work with was spaghetti. At first I wasn’t sure how I could use it to capture the essence of a butterfly’s imperfect symmetry. Eventually, however, I experimented with a few methods: breaking equal amounts of pasta and dropping each handful at the same time; overlapping and crossing individual pieces of pasta; breaking equal

pieces of pasta and aligning them to create to “equal” patterns, reminiscent of patterns on the wings of a butterfly.


Observation I was still lacking in research, so I went to the AIB Library to find some inspiration. I came across one of my favorite books, Art Forms in Nature: The Prints of Ernst Haeckel, which contains monographs which focus on forms of organic symmetry.

Not only did I find images of butterflies, but also images of other organisms that capture the essence of a butterfly’s symmetry.


Observation The next book I found was another favorite of mine, Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, located in the jumbo book section. Its filled with over 600 pages of detailed natural history illustrations and is absolutely breathtaking.

I remembered the book contained a section on butterflies and moths, so I collected some images from that section along with a few others.


ConstructionI decided to explore symmetry outside of my topic, focusing mostly on the face, human form and abstract patterns. Initially I found images from National Geographic and i-D magazine that exemplified the idea of symmetry. After I collected these images, I manipulated them to be perfectly symmetrical, which allowed me to view each form in a new way.

For example, by making human faces perfectly symmetrical, they appear “off” and disturbing.


ConstructionThe next studio exercise was to survey our collected visual data and begin identifying patterns and strengths through mapping. Although I did not create a map in the traditional sense, I tried to further my thought process with some cut and paste collage work, using my observation materials and symmetrical photos.


ConstructionThe in-class start of symbol development with the research question, “As a designer, how can I create a unique symbol about the imperfect symmetry of a butterfly?”


ConstructionContinuation of symbol development at home, using tracing paper, previously collected images, micron and sharpie pens.


Observation During the symbol making process I realized I needed to collect more images of butterflies to work with. I went to one of my favorite websites, The Evolution Store, to find what I needed: a wide variety of butterflies with different shapes and marks.


ConstructionContinuation of symbol development with new images.


Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionContinuation of symbol development with new images.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionContinuing to use the images from the Evolution Store, I attempted a different method and made symbols with photocopying and digital manipulation.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionFrom the digital symbols I selected and refined three butterflies.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionThe three final symbols drawn in Adobe Illustrator.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionColor studies using natural, realistic color pallates.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionColor studies using assigned languages: urban.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionColor studies using assigned languages: tranquil.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionColor studies using assigned languages: western.

Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionRelationship studies between my symbols and other elements including: letterforms, provacative words and images.

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Erin Gwozdz Language of Design Fall 2012ConstructionRelationship studies between my symbols and other elements including: letterforms, provacative words and images.

language of design

Documents

i wasnt sure

random design

equal patterns

butterflys symmetry

symmetrical patterns

blue morpho butterfly

personal butterfly scans

reminiscent of patterns