DESIGN PRINCIPLES : PROJECT 1 - SELF PORTRAIT

 

Name  : Ravvetaran Thillai A/L Thillai Kumar 
I.D      : 0346025
Course: Bachelor of Mass Communication (honours) (Advertising & Brand Management)

Self-Portrait

 

INSTRUCTIONS

During Week 3, Mr. Charles gave us an introduction of our first project, a self-portrait, which we were required to complete within a week. Due to the short length of the semester, the due period for this assignment is quite short. To be completely honest, I felt under pressure when I learned that I had to submit my self-portrait in just one week. Many things were going on in my head at the time, not the least of which was me freaking out about the project and worrying about how I was going to accomplish it. Mr. Charles provided us with some pointers on how to get started on the project. He advised us to gain a better understanding of ourselves before continue with the project, because we would be required to communicate our emotions and portray ourselves.

Figure 1.0 Visual Research 

Idea Exploration 

Even though I was in the process of finding out who I was and looking at some artwork on Pinterest, I just sketched what I had in mind. However, I was confused whether the direction I was taking was correct or not. The concept that I was attempting to depict was that I have a little mind that constantly gets in the way of me doing something that I truly want to do in my life. I want to design a little version of myself that symbolises myself in order to illustrate that I can get away with everything I want and believe I should not do. I've always wanted to do something with a space to demonstrate that I have a lot of wishes, which means I have a lot of ideas that I'd like to put into action but am having trouble figuring out how to do so.

Figure 1.2 Sketch 1 

I sketched this as my first piece of artwork, but I was unsure whether I was heading in the proper path for the self-portrait, so before I began working digitally, I submitted my sketch to Mr. Charles in order to receive his input on it so that I could understand his perspective on my picture.

Feedback

Mr. Charles provided me some comments, firstly stating that my sketch was interesting, but that the image of myself wasn't stressed sufficiently. He also reminded me that a self-portrait is simply a representation of oneself.

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In light of the criticism that I received from Mr. Charles, I decided to investigate a photograph that I had taken a few weeks prior. In addition, I was quite happy that he provided me with comments and provided me with specific instructions on what I should focus my efforts on for my self-portrait. I decided to design myself an image, but I had to make some changes because the picture wouldn't be appropriate for the task that I would be doing. It took me about 2 days to finish sketching since I was exhausted from all of the work I had to do, which included my freelance job and club work, and I needed to rest. HAHAHAHA. 

Figure 1.3 Potrait of myself

Figure 1.4 Sketch

I also sketched a rough idea again of how I wanted my self-portrait to be and sent it to Mr. Charles so that I could get some feedback. My concept was the same, but I tried to emphasise more of what I intended to show to the audience. 

Figure 1.5 My idea

Feedback

Figure 1.6 Feedback 1

At this point, I was extremely disappointed in myself because I had hoped to receive positive feedback; however, I remained optimistic that I could do better and attempted to find inspiration on Pinterest in order to generate new ideas. However, I was still dissatisfied with the results of my efforts. I'll attach the design I came up with for my self-portrait. While I was telling myself that this was not what I wanted and that I could have done much better, I nevertheless sent my portrait to my lecturer in order to get his feedback on it.

Figure 1.7 Self Potrait draft 1

Feedback

Figure 1.8 Feedback 2

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With the comments that I received at that moment, I realised that I needed to start over with my self-portrait from the beginning since I knew that if I just touched it up, it would never happen and I would be dissatisfied with the result. In addition, I realised from the responses that there was a lack of harmony and that it appeared to be a little out of character. 

The process of figuring out how to correctly execute my self-portrait took approximately two days, but once I figured it out, I had a vision of what I wanted to do. Despite my doubts, I gave it a shot and completed my self-portrait in the process.

Figure 1.9 Self Portrait draft 2

 

Feedback

Mr. Charles expressed his appreciation for my work by saying, "Wow, it looks really amazing." He also stated that this was a far more bold idea than my prior one, which he found to be true.

Final Self-Portrait

REFLECTION

Reflecting on and learning from this project, I have discovered that design inventiveness is limitless and may convey a great deal of meaning regardless of how it is assembled. The importance of brainstorming ideas and self-representation, is made clear through this project, and we will be more committed to creating an artwork that best represents ourselves through a variety of media or forms of the self-portrait as a result of this project. We always learn from our mistakes, and the mistakes we make motivate us to strive even harder in the work that we perform. This is something I've realised lately. Finally, I gained a great deal of knowledge and was very moved by how significant this self-portrait design is, as well as how it represents a variety of tales, qualities, and messages all inside a single design composition about myself.