ATHLONE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

A REPORT ON ISTD 2011 PROJECT 04: “NOT JUST FELURONS”

TITLE OF PROJECT: “GARDEN LIFE”

STUDENT’S NAME: ALVARO GOMEZ GRACIA

Introduction

Decision making

In this project, the third, we were to create a Motion Type; we had to work with typography. First of all, we chose one project between four possibilities. Four projects with their briefs and their names: “Flatland”, “Mutton Quad”, “Fakery” and “Not Just Fleurons”.

I discarded the first two. “Flatland” is the title of the Victorian (1884) novella by the English schoolmaster, Edwin A.Abbott. It talks about a world in two dimensions, where a square discover one day a sphere from the other dimension, the third. I discarded this option because I didn’t have too much information to realize the project. I didn’t read the novella and I only found information in a few websites. In the “Motton Quad” project we had to create a concept for the branding of a typography themed restaurant. I discarded this project because I don’t have experience in that world, I never worked in a restaurant and it was difficult to create a ideas for the project. For that it wasn’t easy create the typography in relation to world cuisine and define the market as the philosophy of the restaurants in Ireland is quite different from the philosophy of the Spanish restaurants.

Therefore, I chose two finals projects. The first, “Fakery”, had positive aspect to realize the project like a game between real-fake, typography easy to define and a direct market. But it was difficult to follow a correct strategy. For this reason I chose the project “Not Just Fleurons” how my final project. In it, we had to consider plants in the broadest possible ways – their form, colour, size… and develop an eye-catching and informative outcome that interprets and celebrates plants and the concept of the garden and its role in our lives. I thought that project had an easy research, a well-defined market and a very wide field of experimentation.

Main Body

Early Ideas

Chosen the project, I started to think some ideas to create my Motion Type. I wanted to make a coherent and compacted project, between the different elements that it’s composed. I thought what the meaning of the garden is for me and people around me to represent the idea of my project as clearly as possible. Finally, I decided to follow the spiritual meaning of the garden for the humans been. Independently of its visual and decorative meaning, the garden has for us a spiritual sense and represents our mood at every stage of our lives. Then, talking with my girlfriend I understood that exist a relationship between our lives and our spiritual garden and in my example at the end of the garden we have our particular family tree.

Research

To begin the project y was looking for a examples of typography in websites and specialized books. I researched about motion types in websites like youtube.com or behance.net. In this last I founded many examples of motion types with connection with my project, motion types with a game between letters and nature. Those examples were important for me, because their animation were like I had in my mind. Shapes and lines to grow with great fluency through a fund.

Search an important factor was the method of animation that I wanted for my project. I had a special interest in working with traditional methods of animation. I mean, I wanted to realize an archaic work and then retouch it with software and not vice versa. Finally, I decided to make my project with stop motion, I mean, work frame to frame drawing and then animate all frames in a sequence. That is very easy to do with specialized programs like Affter Effects, but I was very interested in to work in this way and I decided this traditional work.

Development and refining the idea

When I chose stop motion how my system of animation of my project, I was looking for a material appropriate to create my work like I wanted. First of all I saw some stop motion videos on line by a Spanish artist called cesarlinga and began to be interested in to make my video with sand, I mean, to draw the frames with colour sand as my material. But I didn’t find colour sand and I had to change the material and I did the stop motion drawing black paint over transparent plastic with a light table under it.

Before create the frames I made my story board and I created some pictures of plants, tree branches and flowers with photoshop. I was inspired by curved and continuous shapes.

To develop my idea I looked in some typography books from the library to learn more about the importance of the types inside the image frame. When I chose the paint as my way to make the stop motion I was looking the works of a Russian artist called Alexander Petrov.

Learning experience

I’m glad to make this project because I learned many things. First of all, I never worked before with typography and I improved in this aspect very much. Other aspect where I learned a lot of things was working of a traditional way in the photograph studio and knowing other curses students.

It was nice to work with art stuffs and animate with the traditional stop motion, although was difficult and tired I enjoyed very much, because I could work in an artistic way but I'm used to in Spain.

Technology

As I said before, for a high percentage of my work I didn’t use too much computer technology. Only I used a pair of programs as After Effects and Photoshop to retouch the pictures in the post production, to create some effects in my video and clean the pictures.

To work in my stop motion I used the next stuffs: black paint and brushes of different sizes, to draw the different frames. Water, wools and chemical solvents to clean the draws. Light table and matte paper to make the background. And one tripod and one camera to take the pictures.

Problems encountered

The first problem I encountered when implementing the project was to think the initials ideas. I knew what I wanted to express with my work, but I wasn’t able to express it through a Motion type. It was very difficult to develop a good idea from a brainstorming.

The second problem I had and the most important, was finding the colored sand to make my stop motion. First I went to the most important art shops in Athlone and I couldn’t find sand, because there are more painting stuffs than other things. Then I was looking in three more shops, in a toy shop, in a pet shop and in a garden shop; but I didn't get the sand. Finally I had to change my first idea and to start with a plan B. That was to paint over a methacrylate piece.

Other problem was to work with paint, because it was very hard clean the methacrylate when I wanted to make every frames and it was very tired to spent hours to make a few seconds in the screen.

Evaluation

Despite these problems, the experience of this project has been very good for several reasons. To do my work I had to go to several books and several websites about typography and for this reason I learned a lot of things about that. Also the experience was nice because I knew more about the world of the motion type. Before this project, I never noticed before in this field. And with this project I could work as wanted from the beginning and despite the difficulties, I finally realized my stop motion exactly like I wanted.

References & Bibliography

• Type: the best in digital classic text fonts, Tom Carnase, Baruch Gorkin; 1995, Graphis Press.

• Logo, font & lettering bible, Leslie Cabarga, 2004, How Designs books. • Behance.net. • Vimeo.com • Youtube.com • Dafont.com