Class task: Experimenting with patterns

 During todays class, we were talking about ways that we can experiment with our projects. I am not concerned about the shape of the designs, as I am more concerned about the colour and how I will showcase it in my design. I will be experimenting with different colour combinations and patterns to finalise this aspect of my design.

By the end of this week, I am planning on having the complete outcome of the designs ready in order to start designing on software by week 7 Monday. 

I decided to focus on the cupboard and try out different shades and patterns on that as I feel like it is one of the most important elements of the design. I will roughly sketch out everything just for the purpose of looking at how the colours blend together. 

I mentioned in my previous blog posts that I will try out different colour combinations and I feel like this is the perfect opportunity to do so.

The first colour scheme I decided to look at was a monochromatic approach.  Monochromatic is a colour scheme that is made up of variations of one colour. I tried placing each shade of the colour on one side of the cupboard. This approach was the ideal one at the start of the project. I envisioned purple solid products that would co-exist in the same space and look neat.

However, after my previous research on marketing, I realised how boys are not attracted to purple. It is evident that this design will be more appealing to girls which inevitably limits my target market. I decided to discard the monochromatic approach as I want to be inclusive of all people in my targeted audience. 

The second colour combination I looked at was analogous colours. Analogous colours are groups of 3 colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. These colours include blue, blue-violet and violet. I really like this colour scheme as it includes everything that the previous colour scheme excludes.

My previous research showed that blue is the most preferred colour for both men and women. This will be very beneficial as it will balance out the purple and make it more universal for both genders. 

The next colour scheme I looked at was complementary colours. Even though these colours are supposed to complement each other, I do not like the specific shades of yellow and purple. I do think that the bright yellow will limit my target market as it is a very vibrant shade. I am not very interested in adding yellow as my previous research showed that yellow is one of the least favourite colours for both men and women. 

In my last colour combination, I decided to try out split colours. These colours included of purple, blue-purple and red-purple. Even thought this is similar to analogous colours, I still prefer the analogous colours. The red-purple is not my favourite as I want to maintain the blue and purple combination. 

I definitely am planning on continuing with the analogous colours as my research proves that this will be the most effective. 

After looking at the different combinations of colours I could include, I decided to explore some patterns or ways that I can implement these colours in my design.

I decided to add analogous colours in my own products as they are more exclusive and they include blue which would make boys keen on buying these items too. It was an area of concern that my products would appear too 'girly', however, after looking at analogous colours, I am confident that it will appeal to males too. 

It is important to note that the colours and patterns are not finalised. These are rough sketches of the designs and I will explore different shades and colours that I will like to include in the next blog post. I will add swatches and what each colour represents to ensure that I am on the right track.

My first design was inspired by one of the ideas I had in the very beginning of this project. I decided to try out a gradient effect with changing colours. I feel like this would look really nice with a matt finish. It would make it stand out. I really like the darker frame as it emphasizes the colours inside.

This is definitely an option to consider as I feel like with the correct shades, this would turn out really nice. 

This is the second design I came up with. Throughout these last few weeks, I realised that I am more keen on designing cubic furniture. However, at the start of my research, I mentioned that I wanted to try out different shapes. In this design, I decided to draw some inspiration from George Nelson and add triangular patterns. Triangles can represent feminism which is linked with purple. However, I am not a fan of this design as I feel like it does not look very aesthetically pleasing. 

Even though the execution of this design is not well done as it was a rough sketch, the idea of this design is my favourite. This was inspired by Gerrit-Thomas Rietveld which was inspired by the De Stijl movement. It was pointed out by my teacher that it would be beneficial to include a research of this movement and I am planning on doing so in the next blog post. 

Inspired by Philippe Starcks 'BoxinBox', I decided to implement only one shape in this design. I decided to use rectangles to form a pattern similar to De Stijl.

However, the colours do not look coherent as this was a rough sketch. Additionally, I feel like more white areas should be included in order to make this 'breathe' a bit. Further to that, I should pick out 2-3 shades from each colour in order to not create chaos. The frame of the cupboard should be darker in order to make the pattern stand out. I feel like the pattern should be more simple with less squares and less variations of colour. I will look at this in the next blog post. 

Additionally, these colours should have the same undertone to make it more appealing and cohesive. 

Looking at this design, I am also inspired to add a plastic layer surrounding this to create a feeling similar to Philippe Starck. I feel like that would be very interesting to explore in my initial ideas.

I feel like rectangles are a common shape that will match with every room aesthetic so I am excited to see where this design takes me. 

The next pattern I created was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Stacking cabinets' design. He added engraved  rectangular patterns on his cabinets. I like this pattern as it creates an illusion and dimension. Illusion is related to magic and magic is related to purple which might indirectly have a link. However, I am not as impressed by this design as I really liked the previous one. 

However, in comparison to the first and third design, I feel like this limits my target market as it is not as modern. 

Concluding, I am definitely planning on using De Stijl inspired textures in my design. I feel like it would look very modern and neat. I am planning on simplifying that design to make it appeal to more people and make it unique. I will also consider the gradient effect and see which texture is more suitable with my design at the end of the development stage.