Development Exercise

During our second session of the week, we were introduced to a development exercise to help us examine and look closely into one of the pieces that we will be creating this term. I have just started to develop my theme, therefore, it is inevitable that I still have not thought about/ developed the products that I will be considering this term. 

The example we were introduced to was the Rouen Cathedral by Monet:

Rouen Cathedral (1893)

This series depicts the Rouen Cathedral in various parts throughout the year. It also shows different lighting and different hues to further emphasise the contrast of light and shadow. 

Even though I am unaware of the products that I will be including this term, I did complete some research on existing products. One of the following blog posts will display existing products from a place called ‘Caveman furniture’. 

I decided to use their furniture as an inspiration to create something. I wanted to create something bulky, however, I also wanted it to be related to nature. Therefore, I decided to draw a very basic bench. 

Creating a bench is definitely something that I am considering this term.

The brief was to create a minimum of 10 sketches showcasing the different perspectives of the product.

I decided to add these specific colours as they remind me of the Flintstones. The material would most probably be rocks or something similar to branches. I am still unaware of the materials and colour scheme.

What do I like about my drawings? 

I decided to create thumbnail sketches, which are the ones I feel most comfortable and familiar with. I like the use of the ink pens and the different colours used to produce each one. Additionally, I like how organised it is. I tried to mirror the image from the different sides to make it more visually pleasing. I like that the front view is the centre of attention and it is definitely the most accurate drawing out of all. 

I also tried to include orthographic drawings which do not have a lot of dimension to make the shapes and the size more clear.

Overall, for the time taken, I do like how these drawings came out. 

Was this useful? 

I do believe that this was useful. I think that I could drastically improve these drawings (see next paragraph), even though the brief said to create 10 sketches. I think that looking at a product from different perspectives is a very useful element for a designer as it helps visualise all the different angles. I think that it is really hard to accurately draw these different perspectives and I definitely had a really hard time working with perspectives. I am aware of the fact that these drawings are not well drawn, however, I tried to create rough sketches.

I do believe that this task would definitely be more useful in the future. I am still unaware of the products that I will be designing, therefore, I had to quickly rush and research a product for this task that I will most likely not be using. I definitely think that this would be more useful when using relevant objects. However, this task still has vital importance regardless. I am planning on doing this (more accurately) with the final products of this term.

What could I change about my drawing?

Firstly, it is evident that my drawing is not well made. It did not take a lot of time and I tried to create quick and rough sketches (what you usually see with designers). My tutors in my high school would always suggest to not waste a lot of time on sketches as the imperfections is what makes these drawings unique. I took this approach and advice and tried to replicate the different angles.

However, it is evident that there are not enough angles. Even though I met the 10 sketch criteria of the brief, I definitely feel like I could add more possible angles such as back angles. 

Next time, I would definitely like to spend more time on these to make them more accurate, even though I get easily frustrated when doing them.

Additionally, I did not play around with lighting which I feel like it was a big foul. While doing these drawings, I had in mind to create very simple and light shading and accidentally made it identical for each one. It would have been way better if I properly experimented with lighting and showcased various ways of how the light hits the bench.

I do believe that adding light of some sort of background to this would make it better. It is currently looking like it is floating, therefore, adding some background would make everything co-exist more peacefully.

I am glad that I recognise multiple mistakes along the process. Now I am more aware of what to do better next time. I do think that next time (when I have my final product outcomes), I need to sketch all the perspectives more accurately.