Project Description: 1
We were required to brainstorm a list of ideas of objects or even social issues that we were interested in. From the brainstorm we then picked one of the ideas that we were interested in order to create a Zine based on the selected idea. We were also required to create a zine that correlated to our paper written in our seminar class (attached in the end of the post), where we focused and combined themes from the reading “Mythologies Today” by Roland Barthes.
Overview:
Take a minute and think about every building structure you have seen. Each of these structures has a critical yet simple architectural element to it, that acts as a barrier. An object, which creates this sort of a frontier that, separates two specific areas. This everyday object holds the essence of mystery. For centuries doors have acted as form of defense mechanism to protect those within a space. What makes this everyday object so important in the construction of any building is that it acts as a portal, a human portal that not only gives one the access to enter a premise but to control those who are welcome and those who aren’t. All in all the doors are used to protect but the fact of the matter is, can they really protect us from external threats. Each door has its own significance, from the intricate designs to as simple as the colour. Through my zine I wanted to illustrate how the design structure of a door changes and reflects the environment and society that we live in.
Materials Used:
- Ink
- paper
- glue
- watercolour paint
- Adobe Photoshop
Process:
In order to gain a better understanding of the purpose of different doors and their design structures I started walking around different areas within the City and photographed different types of doors as illustrated in the image below.I also collected a variety of images of doors that I found interesting online and captured myself.
The next step was to start sketching the doors and the selecting the ones I wanted to keep as images.In order to bring out a sense of mystery, using Photoshop I smudged the borders of the images in order to create a smoke like effect. This effect not only helped blur out the sharp borders but also represented itself as though it were being submerged into the paper. With a combination of hand drawn illustrations and photographs. I was able to create a zine that illustrates doors from different parts of the world and doors of families from different social classes as seen in the images below.
Reflection:
I enjoyed working on this project as it came to my notice of how a simple thing such as a door, can hold such a strong significance yet at the same time reflect so much about the community one we lives in. This project also pushed me to work into combining work between digital images and hand drawn sketches. However, I also realized later that I could scan and print the images onto paper, which would have given it a better finish. I also think it would have been better if I created a prototype before, in order to provide a chance for me to reflect and Identify how I could re-approach a project or make any corrections necessary.