a process book by Elizabeth Malley
This is my process book for the majority of work and experiments done in the fall semester of Intro To Multimedia Systems. I really didn’t know what “Intro To Multimedia Systems” meant when I started the class. After going through all of these multimedia experiments, I assume, this is what it’s about. This book is made of multimedia systems. At least, that’s what I’ve gotten out of it. The title of this book, “try again. fail again. fail better.” comes from the Samuel Beckett quote: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. I think that accurately sums up my feelings about this past semsester .
We were told to bring in three items that had meaning to us. It could not be something that could be worn, like clothing. Admittedly, I did not pay attention to the have meaning and not wearable part... I brought my green sunglasses, a clean kitchen utensil, and a spray bottle. The sunglasses are special to me because they are my favorite color and my sister got them for me while she was living in Spain. The sunglasses, though loved, could not be used because they are, in fact, something you wear. Onto the next item. The random kitchen utensil was grabbed because it was the only thing clean in my kitchen. This is more siginificant as an indicator that I am a messy person more than anything. It doesn’t really have meaning to me at all. Check that item off the list... And then there’s the last item, the spray bottle. I explained that this object has a strange meaning to me. I use it as a teaching tool for my cat. I think my specific words were, “I spray my cat in the face with it,” which is true. Cats can be taught not to do something with a spray bottle. And voila, the next step of the project unfolded.
This was a quick exercise to get out any and every word that somehow relates to the object.
Impact 1. Puddle 2. Residue 3. Squeak sound 4. Clean counters 5. Water 6. Healthy plants 7. Wet kitten 8. Angry kitten 9. A mess 10. New haircut 11. New hairdo 12. Angry person 13. Fear 14. Accomplishment 15. Muscly finger 16. Bruise 17. Evenly distributed spray 18. Wet paper towels 19. Electrical damage 20. Water spots 21. Crafts
Variations 1. Cleaning spray 2. Pressure washer 3. Faucet 4. Sponge 5. Geyser 6. Spitting 7. Cannon ball splash 8. Exploding cola 9. Mister 10. Water balloon 11. Pointing finger 12. Drainer 13. Spa jets 14. Cup 15. Shower head 16. Sink 17. Fountain hose 18. Sprinkler 19. Water gun 20. Pistol
Subjectivity 1. Gun 2. Pistol 3. Male genitalia 4. Coil mechanism 5. Slide 6. Hairspray 7. Household cleaner 8. Duck 9. Alien 10. Cyclops 11. Mike Wizoski 12. Light bulb 13. Foot 14. Spray fan 15. Windshield wipers 16. Lion 17. Blob 18. Shotgun 19. Lines 20. Hand
Subjectivity 1. Gun 2. Pistol 3. Male genitalia 4. Coil mechanism 5. Slide 6. Hairspray 7. Household cleaner 8. Duck 9. Alien 10. Cyclops 11. Mike Wizoski 12. Light bulb 13. Foot 14. Spray fan 15. Windshield wipers 16. Lion 17. Blob 18. Shotgun 19. Lines 20. Hand Connotations 1. Clean 2. Longevity 3. Learning 4. Punishment 5. Health 6. Growth 7. Life 8. Shiney 9. Commercials 10. Power
Context 1. Pet owners 2. Animal stores 3. Grocery store 4. Emergency water supply 5. Kanye West 6. Florists 7. Kittens 8. Kitchen 9. Bathroom cabinet 10. Hairdresser’s cabinet 11. Garden shed 12. Window sill 13. Artists 14. Water park 15. Hot day 16. Printmaking studio 17. Rain 18. Weather 19. Drains 20. supersoaker
11. Moist 12. Accuracy 13. Precision 14. Wet 15. Feminine 16. Masculine 17. Fear 18. Anxiety 19. Anger 20. Soaked
Denotations 1. Cleaning 2. Hairstyling 3. Crafts 4. Printmaking 5. Teaching 6. Gardening 7. Floristing 8. Pet training 9. Ceramics 10. Tool
Actions 1. Carnival games 2. Clean hair 3. Spray kitten 4. Spray people 5. Style hair 6. Clean windows 7. Water plants 8. Freshen up floral arrangements 9. Clean glasses 10. Windshield wiper 11. Drink 12. Scare animals 13. Squeak sound 14. Disperse liquids 15. Make a mess 16. Tye dye shirts 17. Feel like Rihanna 18. Piss people off 19. Makes spots on shirts 20. Feel like a cleaning commercial 11. Games 12. Revenge 13. Punishment 14. Adhesive 15. Hydration 16. Relaxation 17. Air conconsitioning 18. Windshield cleaning 19. Sliding 20. peeing
These collages are based around words off my mindmap.
kitchen
faucet
puddle
printmaking studio
pistol
sprinklers
printmaking
umbrella -> Rihanna
The dot drawings really forced me to figure out what part of the spray bottle is the most important. The drawing with 2 and 3 dots are pretty bare and hard to see but as it goes on, a spray bottle appeared. 2 dots
3 dots
5 dots
50 dots
20 dots
100 dots
These drawings just used simple, drawn shapes to create the spray bottle.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
20
This was probably one of my favorite experiments overall because I love construction paper. Aside from that, some of the results were actually pretty clean and iconic. It’s pretty much the same as the previous experiment but in a more substantial medium.
These three spray bottles will actually come up again later...
(This trigger is a little ridiculous.)
What kind of shapes do spray bottles make in their shadows?
Orthographic.
Still life with a spray bottle, plastic water bottle, reusable water bottle, and napkin.
From memory.
Blind countour.
Tracing.
Croasshatching.
Isometric.
Shadow.
Not outline.
Photo tracing.
These photographs were done to show the spray bottle, show it in different environments, show it distorted, and show its uses.
And more! Although the freedom of these experiments was nice, they were also tedious. At this point of the process, I could spray bottle without looking. Possibly without even hands.
Three stroke ink.
Collage.
Drawing with the item.
Marker.
Mindmap collage.
An paint pressed spray bottle print!
Our stencil had to be from a photo of our object at a different angle. Once this was made, I wanted to use it for everything.
Negative space.
Highlight.
Wire sculpture.
Similar objects (water bottles) making a spray bottle.
Ballpoint pen.
First attempt at a ballpoint pen drawing without sketching first. Not so good. Try again.
Better.
Finally, the experimensts are paying off. This is the point in the process of making an icon where it starts coming together.
The 3 spray bottles from the construction paper cutouts made it to the end.
So close to the final icon at last!
I was not kidding when I said I wanted to put this spray bottle everywhere.
After a critique of the six icon contestants, the final icon was created.
This is not actually the final icon. The final icon is to the right. This, however, is the spray bottle I wanted to use for it, The critique about this spray bottle icon was that it was not iconic enough. The one that actually became the final was more iconic and less confusing. I personally still fight for this icon because I find it more interesting. I agree that it’s stylized but it still looks real. Ultimately, I followed the critque and guidelines and went with the more iconic icon. Maybe I am just resentful toward spray bottles at this point so anything that is slightly different from the typical, profile view makes me happy. I’m not sure.
Unfortunately, the final icons was not the final assignment. From there, we did even more. Here are 6 “custom fonts” that I made. They are letterforms, in reality, but that’s okay. The “font” at the bottom was actually vectored and expanded - and used throughout this whole book.
This is uses the idea that type can be used as images. I took words from the mindmap and made images, sort of.
The goal of all these experiments was to warp the icon in different ways. Some tried to make the object look 3D and others warped certain aspects of the spray bottle. Three pattern swatches were made along with some experiments with scale and composition.
What’s more unexpected than a murderous spray bottle?
Color experiments. This was a study on how color changes the use or tone of the object.
Making this book has forced me to be the most organized I ‘ve been all semester but now it’s over.