Room Project- final posters

Note: Dissimilar to the onscreen image, both of these posters have the same color scheme.

As a final compilation of the Room Project, I am very pleased with the outcome of this entirety. The colors were chosen to follow Horta’s love for bold and natural colors, and the layout has a common theme of overlapping which is something frequently found in nature. I used a 24”x27” board and employed a combination of free hand and computer aided graphics and lettering. There is a grid to the board yet some things intertwine with others and move outside the boundaries. This was intentional because nothing in nature is bound to a 24”x 27” box, and I did not want anything on my posters to be completely uniform. I had a lot of fun putting all of this together as it had more of a creative edge, something I always look forward to. Cutting out the letters in the titles was a bit tedious yet I feel I pulled it off without any major mistakes. I took what I have learned through all of the process work as well as through readings and put it together in 2 posters and I am very satisfied with the end result.

RP- research poster

As one the first poster that I made while in Interior Design I am only relatively happy with how this turned out. The layout of the poster I was really excited about because I felt that it incorporated the curves and geometric shapes that Victor Horta often worked with. I was dissatisfied with the colors as they were far different that I envisioned them in the preliminary sketches. The yellow too pale, and the red-orange not exactly as I had hoped, along with the stark white contrast did not convey the message that I had originally hoped for. Although not executes as I had wished, this was a learning process and it made me realize what NOT to do on the upcoming posters and drawings centered around Victor Horta’s work.

Journal Sketches

From last to first, these are a few sample sketches that I have done throughout the quarter. I chose some of my favorites to be included, mainly ones with color because it adds so much to the sketches that you don't see in black and white. I had a lot of fun doing these and always looked forward to them. Always being interested in drawing and color I found my niche in these sketches when color finally became an added aspect. I found that my drawing skills greatly improved, they went from just lines to lines with purpose. I am very pleased with how much I have learned through the completion of these sketches.

RP- Line Project

As with the other room projects, this drawing using only black lines is a representation of Victor Horta and his natural inspirations. It is meant to look like leaves that are shooting out from the stem of a plant. I used line width variation in order to create depth and make the leaves look somewhat three dimensional. I had a lot of fun doing this because it was the first more artistic part of the Room Project series. I enjoyed the challenge of turning a 12”x12” white museum board into a 3D design that seemed to extend off the canvas. It was an inspiration behind all my other works because I had to think beyond a simple line drawing and turn it into some sort of parti to continue with the proceeding works.

Color Harmony

While working on this I became a lot more aware of the use of color in rooms. Although I was aware that it was a main aspect, this showed me that it can be everything. From wall color to the color used in the vases and plates placed around the room, it is evident in everything and truly sets the mood for the room. The monochromatic is peaceful and at times boring while the split complementary is interesting and full of life. While working on this I believe I really got a feel for the use of color in interior design.

RP-Process Poster

As a compilation of the steps taken to reach my final destination of the series of room projects, this poster proved to be far more work that I imagined. Having all the necessary photos and projects to put on the poster, the actual placement of all the objects did not take too long, it wasn’t until printing that there arose any problems. Overall however, I am happy with how things turned out. The placement of the objects is grid-like, yet my eye creates a subtle curve as it follows the 2D model, to the 2D sketches and down to the model sketches and photo of the study model. The title and orange swirls are consistent with the titles and design on the other two posters, and the swirls create a boarder that frames all the posters when they are all aligned. The inspirational quote that my all my room project work centers around is at the top, “From the plant, I Take the stem,” and is the main focus of the poster. It was exciting for me to see all aspects of this entire room project coming together.

RP- Room model

I was very pleased with the finished product of this room model. The same rich and bold colors that had been used throughout my various room projects are evident in this model. I envision it in or near a forest, with the height of the top floor in line with a mid section of the tree. Victor Horta was a believer that architecture should contextualize with nature as well as the build aspects of the environment and this was an inspiration behind the design. All materials, such as mahogany wood, cast iron and painted steel contain a feeling of permanence as well as natural beauty. Steel is strong but elegant as it curves into a half circle, mahogany is polished yet it is still evident that it originated in a very raw and natural form, and cast iron is unfinished and still rich in texture and creates a vine-like appearance as it forms handrails around the structure. The colors are inviting and aristocratic, assimilating with Victor Horta’s own color choice. Curves and circles were chosen for their infiniteness, something that is eminent in nature as it is continually growing, transforming and intertwining domestic and wild life.

RP- 2D concept drawing

As the beginning of my visual creations that are based off a plant stem, this concept model is representative of Victor Horta's love for nature. The bright yellow background evokes a happy and lively feeling from the viewer and it is the most bold of all the colors. It is the first color that many, if not all people, notice. The shade of orange that twists and turns throughout the design is taken from Horta’s designs, as he often uses curvilinear lines in his architecture. It also stands for the path of life that is found so abundantly in nature as it winds seems to never follow a straight path, always led astray by some other force. The strong gray black lines that are vertical and horizontal are a very literal representation of a stem, as one extends vertically and the other horizontally, for the aspirations and tranquility of nature.

Some preliminary sketches

RP- Color and Pattern

Victor Horta

“From the plant I take the stem.”
My pattern represents my quote and designer because like a stem the tints and shades of green are vertical from top to bottom and seem to extend off the page in both directions, like the always growing plant stems. The curved lines are representative of leaves and portray the less geometric aspect of nature that Horta often included in his work. The color is taken from the rich, bold colors that were commonly seen in his designs and are also colors likely to be seen if you wondered along a French countryside filled with wild flowers, a view that was an inspiration in Horta’s early work. The progressive lightening and darkening of the hues on the design implies rounded and curved shapes, much like those found on plants and other natural objects.

Textile Design Block

Irish Textile Design.

Spotlighting on the more basic aspect of Irish culture, the plaid emphasizes the love that the Irish had for their families. Taken from the design of the Irish tartan which surfaced around 450 AD the tartan is a symbol for family clan that provides unity throughout all family members. The green representing tranquility of the family, yellow as the cheerfulness that surrounds Irish culture and celebration, and the red and blue for passion and a sense of regal pride that emulates from family togetherness. All lines join through the connection of another representing the unity of all aspects of family and are either vertical representing the aspirations of the Irish to live fulfilling lives, or horizontal to represent the consistency or the Irish through time, never faltering to endure through hard times.
The trinity is a symbol of a major Irish icon, St. Patrick, whom escaped slavery to become a minister to spread his message of God. He used a three-leaf clover as an aid to his sermon, telling that each point represented one of the holy threesome of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Celtic knot is the most telling of the Irish symbols. Encompassing all of the Irish wishes, it’s never ending, never starting design represents hopes for longevity, luck and duration of all new endeavors and embodies the timelessness of the human character as it has no suggestion to when the spirit should spark or fade.

RP- Object Analysis

I chose this plant to be my representative of Victor Horta. He once said “from the plant I take the stem” and this plant seems to never endingly reproduce more stems. It had radial symmetry that I loved because I felt that it represented him in the way that he loved curved lines and a circular room tends to draw the eye to the center, just as these stems draw your eye outward and then inward again towards the main branch. Some of the stems are slightly curved, while others remain straight and this randomness is a wonderful example of the asymmetrical qualities that one would find in nearly all natural designs and the diagonal stretch upward on all stems creates unity. The verticality of the stem also represents his work because he loved high ceilings that drew the eye upward and then capped with branching out curving lines, which is in this case, the leaves.
I loved the cross cutting of the stem because you could see where the leaf was attached. When looking closely I could see a dark matter that seemed to carry on from the leaf into the center of the stem and this represented to me his love for incorporating what was outside with inside architecture. In Victor’s you often see the organic lines of nature incorporated into stairways, wall décor, as well as on tile placements and the fact that the leaf was drawn into the inside of the plant by this dark matter really appealed to me.
I believe I grew a lot from this. Not only did the drawing practice help with rendering the shadows and values, but it was very enlightening to be able to take an object found in nature that one wouldn’t necessarily link with an architect, but then dissect it and realize that it is a beautiful representation of their work.

Quilt Pattern

Stemming off of the Elements and Principles of design posters, I created a pattern block from the altered images of the pictures I took around campus. Shockingly because of process work with the Elements and Principles of Design posters, this project came very easily to me. I never had the opportunity to play around on Photo Shop and the pattern block allowed me to do so. I had so much fun altering the images to completely unrecognizable versions of the original. It was challenging to fit all of the altered images in the correct places at first but like any creation, you learn as you go and things become easier to maneuver and manipulate into what you originally planned. I ran into a speed bump at the end and realized that I had not filled in all of the spaces after I hid the original pattern block and that caused me, yet again, to spend more time than I had intended. My finished product I was very happy with, it turned out colorful and reminiscent of a quilt that could have been made by my Grammie, and that is what I set out to do!