Aylin Önel

"Graphic design is my point of departure. Experimentation and direct experience is at the core of every project I do" 

Aylin Önel is a graphic designer from Istanbul, Turkey. I came across some images of her when flicking through a book at college, and decided to have a more detailed look at her work. I found this piece, which fits perfectly with the work I'm doing at present in my FMP. 

The image is from a set of works called 'Evolution/Speech' and they're collages made from torn up ink drawings. I was drawn to them because I felt it could have been taken from a section of a map, with the outlined shape being a county or country and the ink marks the roads. 

This is an ink drawing I did myself, using coloured inks and a straw to blow the inks on their own journey. In my sketchbook, I'm going to tear up these pieces of work and stick them back together in similar shapes to those that I made when I looked at the journeys my family and I make on a daily basis in my local area. 

Floodplain Maps

These floodplain maps of the Mississippi river date back to 1944, created by a cartographer named Harold Fisk. The maps were commissioned to record and track the past and present (at the time) flow of the river, hand coloured and layered on top of each other. Looking at the layered information, these maps have inspired me to think about creating my own map, with the journeys of others pinpointed across it. I could use photoshop to layer the information I gather, or take a leaf out of Fisk's book and layer it all by hand. 

Shane McAdams

To me, the most obvious part of starting a journey is by looking at maps, to decipher the route to take. Brooklyn based artist Shane McAdams has used a variety of mixed media to create vast, layered landscapes, that look like an alternative map, in which the place you could be visiting is peeking through the grids and roads. Some of the illustrations look as though they have mould growing over the top of them, but I find this strangely appealing, the mouldy effect is creeping and making it's own journey across the illustrations. I could perhaps use a similar style in my work, by layering photographs I have taken, with my own hand drawn maps. 

Illustrator Workshop

On Tuesday we were encouraged to develop our skills on Adobe Illustrator, I really relished this opportunity to develop my skills as they are somewhat lacking. First of all we had to do observational drawings that related to our project, I drew cogs and spokes as you would find these in modes of transport. 

This workshop has really helped me to refine my skills, and I will be able to come back and use Illustrator competently. With regards to my project I'd like to come back to Illustrator and use it again, I think it will really help me to develop my ideas, and is another great resource to have in my sketchbook. 

I really find the way that Illustrator has given this image a hand drawn look appealing. It isn't my best drawing to date, but as it was a trial on software I am unfamiliar with I think that it has come out quite well. 

Claire Brewster

I discovered Claire Brewster and her glorious birds, insects and flowers when I visited The First Cut exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery. All work that was displayed was created out of paper from all walks of life. There were old junk food bags cut up, magazines and books all made into new sculptures and pieces of art. One of my favourite however, was Claire Brewster's birds that were flying across the walls. All the birds were cut out of old maps, which is what initially intrigued me, but the birds were displayed on pins which created a separate silhouette, it made them look as though they were alive.

Brewster is perfect for my project because looking at a map is subconsciously often the start of planning a journey. Birds are well known for travelling long distances and by separating them from the map, it looks as though they are flying over the towns and cities. By cutting the birds out and separating them from the terrain of the map, it has brought a new dimension to the piece. Brewster has inspired me to use maps in my own work, and I would like to explore using silhouettes by cutting into the map itself. 

Final Major Project

This blog is to document my progress and development throughout my FMP. I shall add posts about artists and designers that I find inspiring and relevant to my project 'On a Journey', as well as my own work in progress.