For the main print project I really liked how open the brief was, thought it was a really refreshing chance to just create some work that I wanted to get involved in. But because of this I took it quite seriously, and subsequently took a while to decide on what I was going to embark on before I just dove into a project.
I knew I wanted to make a series, which could be hung as a set and work well together in an exhibition space. They should most likely be framed screen prints, lino cuts or etchings.I had a short lived idea at first that I wanted to create fictitious landscapes which would be really long in horizontal frames. It was a pretty fickle concept that I abandoned hastily. What i did take out of it though was I really liked the formality of the wording underneath, that went on to inform my next idea.
Fig 1. Sketch for "Celebrate Great Landscapes"
Fig 2. Limited edition Rizla packaging from
2008 which I really liked and kept.
Fig 3. Preliminary sketches for the project. Playing
with wording and imagery.
Following that idea I decided to do a project whereby I hi-lighted mundane background objects from everyday life and elevated them to a level of importance through my work. I liked the formality of the wording from the first idea which would sit neatly at the bottom of the print series, the same wording and placement across each one to keep a level of uniformity. I was really inspired by the Rizla packaging and though that the retro 80's party graphics would provide a really nice background layer for the prints. The shapes would be block colour with the illustrations of selected objects just black line sitting on top. I designed some inspired graphics of the same kind of fragmented shapes which are below:
Fig 4. Test work on potential background ideas.
Fig 5. Sketches showing the concept at work,
involving a cast aside fire extinguisher and some
abandoned sofas in the street.
Fig 6. Testing out hand drawn script elements,
cigarette butt illustrations and a mock up print in the center.
At this point I wasn't sure weather I was going to have a hand drawn elaborate script as the text or weather i would have type. Whatever it was going to be it needed to convey the level of importance and formality that I wanted to bring to these prints. I felt that it was crucial they had this element of importance in the presentation for the concept of glorifying the under appreciated/overlooked to come across.
