Project 1: Communicative Shapes
Intersection Exploration
Sat 8/24/19
"Mommy, can we get some ice cream on the way home?” a little girl asked, swinging her mom’s hand back and forth. On the other side of the street, a football team waiting for their bus laughed at a particularly funny joke. Cars honked impatiently when the traffic light changed. The sound of people laughing and cursing loudly can be heard amid busy traffic.
If I have to use one word to describe the intersection of Forward and Murray Avenue at 5:40pm on a Wednesday, it would be “diverse”. The footprint of time can be found on brown brick walls of shops, the rust on the red fire hydrants on the streets, and the soot colored 25 mph speed limit sign. Yet at the same time, a brand new apartment building stands at one corner of the intersection; fashionable window coverings hang over the modern looking shops on Murray Avenue. The contrast between the old and the new testify to the dynamic of this busy little intersection in Squirrel Hill.
Residential and commercial buildings alike gather around the intersection like old friends. A little street that flows into Forward Avenue named “Procusset” is dappled by the shade of big trees, forming canopies over little brick houses. Going further down Forward Avenue would bring us to a commercial area with cobble stone shops advertising eyewears and tailoring. Right on the corner of Murray and Forward is a GetGo gas station with a tall sign that advertises the price of $2.67 per gallon. Three bus stations that line the streets are frequented by red and blue PortAuthority buses. It is an intersection bustling with the exciting energy of shoppers yet slowed down by the leisure of residents reading newspapers in their backyards.
The demographic of the people who pass through this intersection is also very diverse. African American drivers are frequently seen through car windows. White and Asian residents can be seen crossing the streets with grocery bags or fit-bits. A man wearing a Kippah briskly hurries towards a Jewish residential service center down Murray Avenue. People across race and age can be seen living in, passing through, or waiting at this lively intersection.
It is an intersection that people get on the freeway from, get gas from, wait for the bus at, pass through on their way to shops or to go home from school, but rarely stop at.
An intersection is such a common place in cities and towns. They are everywhere—places people pass through every day yet ignore because of their commonality and familiarity. And yet intersections are such special places. Each intersection has its own unique flair, telling its stories about the people that live or pass through there.
When Caleb the human programmer asks Ava the artificial intelligence in the movie “Ex Machina” the place she most wants to go to in the outside world, she replies “a busy pedestrian and traffic intersection in a city”. That wasn’t what Caleb was expecting. So Ava explains “A traffic intersection would provide a concentrated but shifting view of human life”—it is the best place for people watching.
Forward and Murray (again)
Wed 8/28/19
My takeaway from our class discussion on Tuesday is that the photos we take or the sketches we make should be representative of our intersections. We need to capture something specific, something unique to our intersection to make it instantly recognizable to other people. And I decided that I want to find the most iconic thing(s) about my intersection. From my last visit, the thing that stood out to me the most was the brand new apartment building on the corner of Forward and Murray, so that is where I decided to start.
The two views of the intersection I chose to take pictures of and to sketch both have the apartment building in sight. I wanted to capture the geography of this intersection. It is very hilly, with curves everywhere. As a result, the newly built apartment has a unique curved shape as it aligns itself to Forward Avenue. This intersection is the lowest point between two adjacent hills. So when we approach the intersection from whichever way, there is a nice a dynamic view of the buildings around it. Also, I took less detail shots in the intersection, substituting them with comprehensive views.
This time we went at 10:30 am on a Saturday. The intersection is more empty than last time. We climbed and sat upon a hill to get a better view of the intersection. I paid more attention to the texture of the buildings across the street: the brand new apartment has a smooth, painted over wood texture with shiny glass windows. In contrast, the old brick buildings around it are dusty and have a rougher texture. Maybe I can show the brick surface by creating more texture on the paper for the upcoming project. I also paid more attention to the sound of this intersection. It is a less busy time, so I can hear crickets chirping on the grass hill we are sitting on. Occasionally though, honking can be heard. I guess people are just as impatient on a Saturday morning.
As noon neared, the intersection got a lot busier. More cars and people passed through. To get a better sense of the people that pass through or live around this intersection, we broadened our radius of exploration, going into the old stores along Forward Avenue, passing by the apartment buildings on Murray, going into the neighborhood on Procusset Street(the little one-way street that flows into Forward). There must be a good amount of Asians that live here, as can be seen by the Korean grocery store and Chinese restaurant on Forward Avenue. A lot of college students can be seen carrying grocery bags or hanging out in small groups, enjoying the weekend. They must live in the apartments around here. The neighborhood on Procusset seems to have a big Jewish population. Front yards with signs reading “No Place for Hate” can be seen everywhere. Also, there is a Jewish Congregation just a few blocks away.
As we learned in class last Thursday, we are eventually going to pick just one photo of the intersection we took. This enabled me to focus more on the large picture of the intersection, searching for comprehensive views and iconic imagery that can be instantly recognized.
Paper Cut (White on White) Pass 1
Wed 9/4/19
After reading my notes and looking at my sketches from my two visits to the intersection, I made a map of what I believe the photo I choose should represent in the intersection. I picked four photos that roughly fit the above.
After considering the pros and cons of each photo, I decided that the first one represents the intersection the best as a whole. The iconic curve of the red apartment is best shown in this angle. Also, there are no obstacles to distract the eye like the crosswalk in picture 3 or the poles in picture 4. I liked that picture 2 captures the intersection from a different perspective, however it isn’t easy to tell the function of the red apartment building from that perspective (a classmate said it looked “academic”), so I decided against it.
I used “cropping L”s to find a better composition for this photo, zooming in on the actual intersection and cutting off unnecessary details. I tried out both a 6" x 8" and a 7" x 7" composition. However, ultimately I decided that a horizontally longer composition showcases the incline of the Squirrel Hill better, capturing the essence of the intersection more.
I used tracing paper to trace over the contours of the shapes in the photographs, simplifying whenever I can. Then I used an Exacto knife to cut out everything. The most challenging thing was cutting out the little windows. At first, I tried using a bone folder to indent the building to make little windows, but the marks are too light. Then, I tried just cutting little lines to indicate one side of the window, but the effect was still not satisfactory. Finally, I decided to group little windows together and cut them out. Then I glued all the layers down on another paper, paying attention to create depth using shadows by overlapping the shapes, and layering paper under foreground objects.
I am pretty satisfied with the result I achieved, considering my lack of experience in cutting paper and the limited time I had. As a prototype, the composition mostly captures what I deem to be important in my intersection. However, there are definitely things I can do better. One is craftsmanship — I hope to make clearer edges for inorganic things such as windows. Another is to show different texture across buildings (for example, maybe I can try scoring a building to create a brick like texture). Something else I can do better is evening out the composition; some parts are too busy while others are too empty. I hope to achieve a better composition next time by cutting out more unnecessary details in busy parts and adding informative details in empty parts.
Paper Cut (White on White) Pass 2
9/9/19
My main takeaway from our class critique/discussion last Thursday is that it’s important to strive for a balance between craft v.s story, technique v.s message, and too much v.s not enough. One thing I need to consider is the hierarchy of the shapes in my image. In my first paper cut, I made the power lines too thick so they stand out too much. I also want to decrease the number of windows I cut out on the buildings, exploring that fine line between too much detail and too much abstraction.
The second time cutting out my intersection, my craft improved a lot (straighter and more precise lines). I also kept elements that worked well from the last paper cut, for example, cutting out the dark side of the buildings to show they are on a different plane.
I added in more elements I think are important for this intersection: the trees near the gas station sign in the foreground, the pedestrian cross walk, and more power line poles.
For the power lines themselves, I experimented with techniques such as cutting into the background, embossing, cutting them into thinner stripes, or leaving them out entirely. In the end, I decided that cutting them into thinner stripes works best, and I am quite satisfied with the result. They read as power lines yet are not too distracting for the image as a whole, unlike my previous paper cut.
I also tried out another type of paper (Bristol), which is thinner than the one I used last time but considerably easier to cut. To make up for the lost thickness, I glued layers on the back on the shapes in the foreground and the ones I want to pop out more.
I think I definitely improved from my last version. The composition looks more balanced and nothing pops out too much.
Tonal Paper Cut
9/11/19
We were given four different tone papers and address the same prompt. I took a picture of the tone papers and did some compositions on Photoshop, using the eyedropper tool to take colors from the picture I took.
I did 1A first, using the darkest tone paper to portray the shadows and the lighter tone papers to portray objects in the light. The result was interesting but some feedbacks I got was that the assignments of tones seem too random. So I tried putting the tones in the order of light to dark from foreground to background, and vice versa (resulting in 2 and 3). This brought more order to the scene. However, I did not like the effect 2 created, because it looks like a night scene, and since I have never been at my intersection at night, the image feels alien. As for 3, even though it creates a nice composition, it isn’t “truthful” to the intersection. The darkest tone contrasts with the rest of the tones too much, creating a bigger distance between the foreground and middleground/background than desired. Also, in the actual intersection, this distance is relatively small. In addition, the buildings in the middleground all blend into one another, and I want to emphasize the apartment building on the corner of the intersection due to its iconic tie to the intersection (as I mentioned in previous blogs).
So I went back to 1A to attempt to harmonize the composition. A friend pointed out that there is too much contrast between the darkest and lightest tones. So I took out the lightest tone, and changed the tones of objects to make them recognizable. In the case of the gas station sign in the foreground, I added its light side to make it stand out against the apartment’s shadow. The result is 1B. This is the one I like best out of all four compositions because it is both aesthetically pleasing and captures the “place-ness” of my intersection.
I had to rethink the way I cut out the elements because I am using different tones instead of paper shadows to communicate the intersection. As a result it took me longer and I made some mistakes.
If I were to do this again, I would avoid some tangents in the composition (for example the car and the traffic light pole in the foreground), clarifying the shapes to communicate what they represent.
But overall I am pleased how it turned out. Working with different tones is more fun than just using white on white, and I especially enjoyed trying to figure out the different versions of the composition on Photoshop.
Tonal Paper Cut (Pass 2)
9/17/19
After the critique in class, the main takeaway for me is that I need to adjust the poles to make them straight, and try adding the fourth tone.
On the left is my original from last time. In Photoshop, I tried using white on the buildings to make them stand out, but the result makes the tonal organization too arbitrary, and it doesn’t communicate the same thing as the white-on-white composition. So I tried using white on the sky instead, and I liked this version (one on the right). I really like my original version, but the tonal background conveys a nostalgic feeling which I did not sense in my intersection. Also, it is hard to tell that the shape in the foreground on the far left is a gas station sign. So I changed it back to a unified shape as in my white-on-white composition.
To determine if this indeed is a successful composition, I asked many people in the studio what the first thing they saw was. The majority said they saw the gas station sign first, then the apartment building on the corner of the intersection, then their eyes follow the receding line of the buildings. Preferably I would like them to notice the apartment building first, but I couldn’t do this without sacrificing the readability of the gas station sign. I also asked people what they think the gas station sign looks like without telling them what it is. Some people said it looked like a water tower, so in my paper cut I made it less round than I previously did. I also brought the gas station sign in front of the patch of grass it stands on to separate/organize the layers by tone more.
Adding Color
9/18/19
The last part of the project is to add one color into the intersection, exchanging one tonal value for it. The color doesn’t have to replace everything in that tone. In other words, there can be five different paper used (the previous four plus the color).
A variety of ways color can be used for:
- aid specific activities (stop signs)
- mimic/reference nature (green)
- evoke emotion
- reference culture/ritual
- inform
- suggest depth (red v.s. blue)
- emphasis
- convey time of day
Some visual inspirations:
I tried several ways to put color in:
- background (this usually suggests time of day)
2. emphasis
3. a mixture of the two above (communicating the direction of light and leaving the buildings as the only light objects)
I like the result of method 1. The background colors yellow and orange harmonize the whole piece, making it feel like sunset. The result is aesthetic, but I don’t think adding color this way is meaningful enough. Method 2 is the opposite. It does a lot by emphasizing the buildings, but the result is too jarring to the eye. So I thought of mixing the two and came up with method 3. Using the direction of light in my photo as a guideline, I put everything in shadow in the darkest shade of blue. This method both highlight the buildings and convey the atmosphere of the scene.
Out of the blue, green, red version, I like the blue one the best. The color green is too closely associated with nature, which this intersection doesn’t have a lot of. The red version looks too intense and bloody. However, I realized a problem. The blue looks much darker in real life than it does in the photo. So I came up with more accurate colors.
This resulted in my changing the crosswalk from white to brown because they stick out too much. The street now looks like a bottomless pool. So out of a whim I tried this:
The brown makes the road feel more grounded, and the blues serve to push the shadow of the buildings back. Because of the warmth in the tone used for the light sides of the buildings, this composition makes the buildings stand out even more. Therefore this is the final version I went with.
I mounted my final compositions (white-on-white, tonal, and color) on black matte boards.
Reflections:
This was a fun project overall. I learned a range of things, from how to generate new ideas, make design decisions, to specific crafting skills. The thing that stood out to me the most perhaps was the fact that there is always somethings I can do better the second time. Through iterations, I am able to get my paper cut closer and closer to what I want to communicate. In the future, I will keep this in mind. Even when I am satisfied with a result, I will try new ways to see if I can make something even better, until I run out of time.
Feedback from my professors:
- process and decision making is well documented
- hand-sketches help a lot
- photo was well chosen and cropped
- usage of color + value was a bit confusing
- blue and brown too close in value in final composition
- three compositions work well together
- craft problem: a few inconsistencies in form, shape, and placement; but does not impede clarity of communication
Thank you for reading my long story!
