Art M20 / 2D Design / Erika Lizée / Spring 2013

Exercise #3: TEXTURE, Wrapped Gif t Due: March 7th

Texture is the quality of a surface. There are two main kinds of Texture: Tactile and Visual. Tactile textures are physical textures; they are textures that can be felt. Visual textures are simulated textures; they are created on a flat surface to mimic a physical texture. Tactile Textures 1. Found materials: when a texture is an innate part of a material (i.e. fabrics, mesh, rocks). 2. Physical variations on the surface: when material is added to a surface to create texture. (i.e. stucco, paint, wax).

Visual Textures 1. Multiple individual lines/shapes: when lines/shapes are repeated to create a texture. 2. Invented pattern: when a pattern is created to simulate a texture. For this project we will be focusing on Visual Textures. Part A works with Multiple, Individual Lines and Shapes, Part B relies on repetition of a pattern to create a texture. Project Description: In this project you will create a custom wrapping paper with a repeating pattern, which must be inspired by the item you will be giving as a gift. Select a gift that won’t cost more than $5. It should be useful and something you might like to receive. It should also be unisex, as we will have a white elephant gift exchange at our critique. How you create your patterned paper is largely up to you. You can use the computer (Photoshop, Illustrator), drawing, painting, stamping, collage or any combination of these techniques. You must however use text as one element in your design to create a visual texture. You should also think about the box or container. How will the recipient open the gift? Reading: Chapter 9 Texture Objectives: • To understand how text can be used abstractly to create visual textures, and literally to add meaning to a design. • To learn how to expand a design from a single cell or unit into a larger repeating pattern, and to understand how new

designs are created through the repetition of elements from the single cell. • To create a sense of movement or rhythm through the application of an existing pattern structure. • To design the presentation of a whole package and to consider how component parts work together to create an

overall aesthetic. Within this idea to consider the relationship between a 2D design and its 3D application. Part A: Using Repetition to create Visual Textures in the Single Cell Begin by determining what your gift will be and think about how you could design your wrapping paper to give clues to what the gift is without giving it away. You will be using the repetition of text in your single cell to create a visual texture, using it both literally to add meaning to the design and abstractly to create texture. You can also use the repetition of lines and shapes to create other visual textures in the single cell. You should also keep in mind the second part of the project, where you will be taking the unit you are creating in Part A, and turning it into a larger repeating pattern in Part B. Consider what that larger repeating pattern could look like while designing your single cell. Think about what design structure (square, diamond, half-drop, brick, ogee, hexagon, triangle, scale or your own shape) you will use and how that will affect the shape of your single cell. Begin to play around with design ideas and make sketches for potential compositions. Think about how you can use contrast within the cell to add interest. Consider using a range of values or colors. How can you juxtapose small and large text? How can you make areas of abstract text play off of literal ones? How you create this piece is up to you. You can draw, paint, or collage the single cell, creating it by hand, OR you can completely make the whole thing on your computer.

In Part A of this project, you are creating the single cell or unit for the larger repeating pattern in Part B. Remember that the single cell is the smallest segment of a pattern that when repeated over and over, creates a new, larger pattern. The goal of Part B is to take your single cell and turn it into a pattern. Part B: Turning your Single Cell into 3 Different Patterns In Part A, you should have already planned out how your collage will turn into a new, larger pattern. This will have created one version of a pattern created by the single cell. Now take that single cell and create two other patterns. Try taking two cells and putting them back-to-back and repeating that, or have one large cell combined with smaller versions going down one side. There are hundreds of ways that you can make new patterns through the single cell. Play with the different combinations and see what other patterns you can create. Think in terms of density, repetition, size and orientation. These are all elements that can be changed and played off of each other in an on/off type pattern. You will print out three versions of the patterns created by the single cell. The size of your final prints can be no smaller than 11 x 17” (this is called Tabloid size paper). In order to get a sense of your design, the single cell must be repeated 4 times across and 4 times down the page. You can make the single cell at any size you like, but you may need to reduce it or enlarge it for the repeating pattern. Part C: Wrapping the Gift For the presentation of your gift, you will pick your favorite version of the pattern and wrap the gift in this paper. However, a wrapped box isn’t always enough, no matter how cool the paper is. Think about embellishing your gift with handmade ribbons, ties, flowers or other decorative objects that relate to its contents. The wrapping should be so tempting, so inviting, so luscious (that’s right, luscious), that people will be fighting over who will get to open your gift!

Supplies: Sketch, tracing, drawing papers, photocopies, pencils, pens, paints, brushes, scanner, computer, printer, Illustrator, Photoshop, ruler, scissors, tape, beads, glitter, string, gift box, etc. and whatever else you might want to use.

Project Requirements (Bring these 3 things to the critique!): Original single cell 3 versions of your pattern, minimum 11 x 17” Wrapped Gift Texture Vocabulary: • Texture: the surface quality of a two-dimensional surface or a three-dimensional volume. • Tactile Texture: texture that can actually be felt. • Visual Texture: texture that simulates a tactile texture. • Density: the extent to which compositional parts are spread out or crowded together. Visual connections occur more

easily in high-density compositions. • Orientation: the angle at which a visual element is positioned within a composition. • Pattern: A design composed of repeated elements that are usually varied to produce interconnections and implied

movement. • Unit: The basic element of a pattern (single cell). • Repeat: A pattern composed of two or more identical elements or units. • Network: A repeating combination of curved or straight lines; the basic understructure of all repeat patterns. • Grid: A regular network or pattern of (usually straight) lines used to correctly place a pattern on a surface. • Rhythm: the repetition of multiple parts in a composition to create a pattern of sound and silence, positive and

negative or other contrasting forces. • Motif: A theme, or dominant recurring visual elements, forms or subjects. • Movement: a sense of motion that is created by the conscious placement of images and objects in a composition to

provide visual cues for the viewers’ eyes to travel across the surface. • Contrast: strong differences between two or more things. • Collage: An image constructed from visual or verbal fragments initially designed for another purpose. • Embellishments: Increasing the beauty or meaning of something by adding ornaments or decorations.