“Organized Chaos” Sarah Von Der Ruhr
Introduction to Design Art 130 Fall 2023 St. Norbert College
This book was made as part of Introduction to Design at St. Norbert College in the fall of 2023. The fonts used include “Georgia” and “Times New Roman.” It was digitally printed and saddle stapled at the college’s print center.
Crash Course As our first class activity, this brief project introduced us to the experience of working with a partner / client, working iteratively, and working quickly and creatively. We were tasked with getting to know someone in our class, figuring out what they need the most in their everyday life (that they don’t already have), and finally creating a prototype of the item we came up with for them.
Brainstorming Sessions Working at such a quick pace and in iterative cycles felt daunting at first. I definitely have perfectionist tendencies (especially when I’m sharing my work), so this exercise was a departure from my usual process. However, I feel like having these time restraints on a low-stakes project helped to spur me on and not get stuck in the planning stage for too long.
Usually, I don’t like sharing unfinished projects with other people, but I think that this instance was easier for me since the experience was mutual and an intentional part of the exercise.
Engaging with a real person changed the direction of my prototype because I had more information and feedback from the interview stages to use during my design process. I had more “requirements” for my prototype that were specifically tailored to Maddie’s wants and needs, and that allowed me to curate the features I wanted more efficiently under the time limit. If I hadn’t had one specific person who I’d interacted with face-to-face, my ideas probably would have been too broad to narrow down in the amount of time that I was given. Finished “Product” Based on what I learned from this project, I would go forward to apply some of the changes my partner and I came up with during the feedback session at the end. If I were to do this project again, I would probably try to improve some elements or features that my partner had questions about when we shared our prototypes.
Dot/Line This was a fast-paced project that focused first on creating a wide array of sketches, then later refining them using feedback from our first critique. The goal was to work abstractly with one-word concepts and emotions, and to express them in a way that clearly communicates that word without crossing over into illustration. The end product was three final compositions created from minimal elements (dots and lines in either black or grey paper) mounted on black foam board. Gestalt is seeing the whole of an image or composition rather than seeing each individual component separately. Gestalt is related to the dot and line project because we took subjects that are very simple on their own - dots and lines in either black or one shade of grey – and arranged them in a way that made them work together to convey one word. By the end, we had meaningful and cohesive compositions that we saw as a sum rather than a collection of shapes.
First set of thumbnail sketches - brainstorming possible compositions
Second set of thumbnail sketches - narrowing in on one design from the first batch and re-arranging it to consider other possible ararangements
I don’t find it difficult to be driven to want to make a well-crafted object, but the difficulty of creating one such object can vary depending on what skills are necessary to meet the requirements of “well-crafted” and what skills I already have. I would much rather spend extra time to get small details right, especially because I agree with the sentiment that people don’t necessarily notice the details when they’re there, but they do notice when the details aren’t there.
This project affected my idea of abstraction in that it reminded me of all the ways in which these strong emotions can be portrayed in nonillustrative ways. I think that abstract art is often made fun of because of the exorbitant prices they can be sold for; however, after removing any monetary value from the picture, I found it much easier to focus on the techniques and thoughtfulness that are necessary to create an effective abstract piece. “Exhaustion”
“Oppression”
“Joy” I did think it was difficult to represent ideas without illustrating them because I tend to use a lot of illustrative language and metaphors to try and express how I feel and think to other people. I think this is especially true when it comes to such strong, emotive words as the ones we were provided with. These words are so expansive and allencompassing that I resort to comparing them to things we can more easily observe.
I definitely see myself using ideas of gestalt and abstraction in other aspects of design – I think that the principle of similarity and anomaly will be especially interesting to experiment with. I can also see myself returning to this exercise when I’m stuck with an idea and need to dig down to the bare bones of a concept to help me move forward with it.
Letterforms This was the first project in which we worked with text, and really focused on the design of and emotions evoked by the letters themselves. In other words, this project gave us the opportunity to experiment with the form and the content of the letters themselves. Additionally, each of us hand carved two letters out of linoleum blocks to create a class alphabet with which to make our compositions with. This hands-on experience with the process of creating each letter helped me to better understand the deliberate nature of elements like kerning and leading and how they aid in communicating the meaning of a word.
Straight-line print
I learned that letterforms are not only more complex than I used to think, but also that there is a lot more intention put into creating different typographies than I previously thought. This project also pushed me to think about letters and words on a deeper level, as well as to examine the emotional ties, connections, and expressions that can be conveyed through seemingly small details (e.g., kerning, saturation, “ghosts,”).
If I were to continue working with these letters, I would work on eliminating some unwanted chatter with the photocopier. I would also explore other meanings of the word “focus,” such as camera focus or a focal point. Typographic variation
If I were to spend more time with just these letters and not with the word I chose, I would like to further experiment with the ideas I used for my fourth composition, but this time using the word “thief,” with the “i” being composed of the pill bottle and cap and the same clay pills spilling out. My professor made a comment about “study drugs” during critique, which got me thinking about how the label being absent from the pill bottle could imply that the prescription is not for the person using the medication. Since I recreated my ADHD pills using clay to represent “focus,” this person would be misusing a controlled substance (and therefore taking it away from someone who needs it).
Modified print
Choice print - composed of mock clay pills and a pill bottle
Iterative illustrations The iterative nature of this project pushed us to explore one subject in-depth and get creative with our methods of representing said subject. We were introduced to a range of new creative styles and formats such as continuous line, geometric, typographic collage, and the styles of two “master” artists of our choosing. This array of styles created equally diverse compositions, ranging from the naturalistlevel realism of Beatrix Potter to the significantly more abstract continuous line illustrations. This was also the first time we worked in Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, though we still completed all our initial work in analogue.
I learned more about barn owl physiology through this process, as well as their behavior in different situations (e.g. “toe dusting” which is a defensive stance).
One part of my Barn Owl Tattoo Flash Art page, and an artistic representation of “toe dusting”
Barn Owl Tattoo Flash Art
I’ve never used Photoshop before, so I’ll use everything I learned about it going forward. I think that the clonestamp tool and the curves layer will probably be the tools I’ll use most, but I’m just really glad that I learned how to use the platform in general!
Beatrix Potter “master” artist iteration The Beatrix Potter Master Artist piece was probably the most challenging for me because I wanted to do her style justice with the level of detail she’s known for, but I definitely felt limited by my watercolor skills and the amount of time I had. I would probably choose the continuous line compositions to be the most enjoyable because I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked even my “blind” barn owls with their highly stylized look. It was fun to just draw without thinking about it too much.
Left: Final Poster
If I had to continue this project with the barn owl for a year, I would love to expand the range of poses I capture, as well as looking into more design styles that could fit this animal. For example, I would try simplifying a barn owl down to only its most identifiable traits, similar to the style of the WWF Panda. I would also like to delve deeper into more master artists and experiment with how their styles would work with a barn owl subject. I also think that a one-to-twopage study of the barn owl in the style of a naturalist’s journal would be challenging but rewarding. I would love to try out a collage piece using a feather-like material, and I want to re-draw the owl-holdinga-dagger tattoo flash art piece so that it’s holding a pen instead and so more of the owl is included.
Barn Owl Tattoo Flash Art
PSA Posters For this project, we were assigned a partner to work with so that we could experience a glimpse of what it’s like to work with a client in design. The aim was to design a Public Service Announcement poster using text provided to us by our “client” that clearly communicates their chosen message to the appropriate audience. There was a special focus on the element of visual hierarchy, and how it can be used to design a final product that draws more attention to the most important information. The main skill that I learned from this project was how to work with a client in a more professional setting. I had to figure out how to navigate differences in creative vision and what the client wants versus what I think will make the strongest composition from my own design perspective. Thumbnail Sketches
I did find it challenging to be limited to type only in a way that was different from the letterforms project. When I was working on my letterforms compositions, I was focused on just one word, and I was able to experiment more with iconography and images created by letters (or vice versa). When I was working on this poster however, I was focused on a body of text, and portraying it in a clear and succinct way.
I used scale to draw more attention to the heading and subheading that my client provided. I also used knockout text for these sections to grab the viewer’s attention, even when the text (such as the heading) was on the bottom of the poster and would otherwise be at the bottom of the visual hierarchy. Additionally, I formatted this poster to be horizontal rather than vertical, so that this difference in orientation would help the poster stand out, even among a bulletin board full of other posters.
Final Poster
Vocation Questions I view the difference between art and design as being one of audience. While both art and design are successful when they convey a certain idea or emotion to the viewer (among other things), I have noticed through this class that the clarity and exactness of the message being portrayed through design is generally more important than it is in art. I first picked up on this during the dot-line project. I don’t utilize abstraction in my art all that often, but when I think about doing so, I tend to lean heavily into my emotions and my own way of expressing them. However, during the dot-line project, I couldn’t let myself fall too far into doing so because I was focused on making sure that my expression of the emotions I chose would translate that same emotion to the viewer.
For example, one of my compositions was based on the emotion of ‘joy.’ If I was to approach that composition as an art piece only, I would have leaned more heavily into my own abstract experience of joy – a feeling so strong it can become overwhelming, like a balloon inside my ribcage that expands until it’s pushing at my bones in an attempt to break free. Within the parameters of the assignment, I probably would have represented my perspective as a dot so large that it’s cut off by the edges of the plane, or as a dot pushing against three lines that cage it in. Even though I would view this piece as an excellent representation of ‘joy,’ my peers would likely interpret it as oppression or fear. I think that art often has more of a buffer for interpretation than design does, and as a result, the artist can focus on creating based on how they experience the world with some – but not as much – attention given to controlling their audience’s response to the piece.
If I had to choose between art and design, I would choose art, mostly because art allows me to express feelings and ideas that I struggle to put into words. I don’t necessarily feel the need to make art so that other people understand what exactly I’m trying to convey, whereas in design, I measure some of my success on whether my ideas are clear to others.
While I am a Business Administration major, I chose this major because I wanted to improve my knowledge, skills, and overall ability to run the small business that I already own selling my art and handmade items. I’m primarily a textile artist, and I have a lot more experience working with mediums in 3D. I also think that my brain is generally better wired for 3D work like sewing and sculpting than for 2D work. I think this class was a good “challenge” for me because of this, and I’m excited to continue using the techniques and technology I learned from this class to keep growing and improving my personal art and business.
I consider my business to be successful, but I am a far way off from being able to fully support myself financially from it. If I was able to jump to the point at which I can financially support myself with my art, I would work on creating more soft sculpture pieces in my new, patchwork ragdoll style, making more conservation-focused pieces like the one at right, as well as designing clothing and more complicated products that can still be made in a way that aligns with my moral and ethical standards.