IDEAS & THINGS / 015

Decided to get Bauhausey (or at least put my own curve on the style) this week.

IDEAS & THINGS / 014

In order to use color effectively it is necessary to recognize that color deceives continually. 

Josef Albers, Interaction of Color”

Theory eludes me, but I love the Bauhaus aesthetic. From creating the shapes to thinking through color scheme, it’s a soul-salubrious form to replicate.

IDEAS & THINGS / 013

Various shapes and arrangements inspired by Daily Minimal.

IDEAS & THINGS / 012

According to Robert Twigger, repeatability is the mark of a micromastery mastered. After creating “Bad Dream,” I was perplexed as to how to repeat it. After several attempts, and many hours that felt futile, I figured the hack out. Of all my little experiments, this one’s most stellar.

IDEAS & THINGS / 010

Similar to 005 in principle, but wanted to play a bit more with the Transform tool and making elliptical/orbital imagery.

Something about this is loud and clashing and fast. All the angles and the movement provided from their circular orientation, their closeness to each other screams “careen to clash.”

IDEAS & THINGS / 009

Feel like I’d see this atop a priest’s scepter as he led the charge of another Grand Inquisition. “Vaya con Dios,” he’d roar.

IDEAS & THINGS / 008

IDEAS & THINGS / 008 / “BAD DREAM”

Been spending a lot of time goofing off with the Transform feature in Ai. This particular effect was initially an accident. I wanted to apply a gradient to the fill, but instead applied it to the stroke. I liked the accidental version better.

Why Bad Dream?

Because my bad dreams tend to be as alluring as they are unnerving, and never make sense nor do they have a reason for being.

Exactly like this design.

IDEAS & THINGS / 007

This is a blatant imitation of a piece of art I found on the Adobe Create Magazine. The moose is my spirit animal, so when I saw this, I had to figure out how to “draw” it.

It’s not a trace, I simply used shapes and the Shape Builder tool to piece it together.

An homage to another artist. An homage to a goofy-yet-badass beast.

IDEAS & THINGS / 006

I’d named this “Crap Your Pants At the Apocalyptic Dawn,” which I still think is the stronger title, albeit way too long. I’m not a dark, vampirish, gothic, nor an apocalypse-obsessed person, but some of these designs would say otherwise.

Guess I’m just moody.

Here’s to trying on new, darker moods.

IDEAS & THINGS / 005

Geometrically aligning objects around a sphere, along with segmenting/coloring that perforated line, eluded and taunted me for some time. The solution was easy, but still pushed my nascent skills to their limits. This is a weird, non-sense-as-usual design, but there’s something to it that calms. While still being kinda eerie; which is what outer space is to me.

IDEAS & THINGS / 004

Finally learned how to manipulate independent line and path segments.

Again, nothing extraordinary nor that meaningful from the perspective of “art;” especially since it’s #dailyminimalinspired.

As for all the other stuff I started out writing, I decided that unless it’s pretty darn awesome, I’ll hold off on the rudimentary learnings. I may hold off on writing much of anything and just post the designs. Turning out to be a challenge on its own just to pull one of these off each day.

IDEAS & THINGS / 003

WHAT I WANTED DO:

I’m going to stop writing this part. What I want to do is the same for each: apply something I learned to a geometric, totally bogus design born of my wacko imagination.

Until I want to do something more novel, I’m going to leave this out.

WHAT I LEARNED:

How to clip a line and fill it with its own color.

How to apply a gradient/fade to an object.

WHAT I DID:

The scissor tool is pretty damn awesome. But I don’t think that’s the technically-right way to do what I want. But it works for the time being.

IDEAS & THINGS / 002

WHAT I WANTED TO DO:

Create a 2D, geometric design that appears to have some cosmological meaning but that in reality is complete bullshit.

WHAT I LEARNED:

How to use the shape builder tool to make circular cuts into objects.

WHAT I DID:

The last crescent moon-looking thing was made by literally eclipsing the planet with an opaque circle. I could figure out how to make a circular cut.

Now I know it’s as simple as getting the shape builder, imposing a circular shape over the object I want cut, selecting all, then “clipping” out what I don’t want.

IDEAS & THINGS / 001

I’ll write more in depth about this exercise’s inception in future posts, but its purpose is threefold:

1. To catalog my development as I learn Illustrator and Photoshop beyond their most basic functions

2. To keep myself accountable to creativity outside client needs and demands

3. To manifest a larger career and personal objective (“live physically,” i.e. materialize ideas into things).

It’s an effort to migrate from talking about the things I’d like to do (i.e. abstract, immaterial, wishing aloud) to pursuing them and realizing them as concrete things to see, hear, or touch in the real world. Only obstacle is to jettison all regard for my ego’s insecurities about being seen as a hack).

On that note…

I’m a total hack.

One thing to note about these daily design exercises (at least the initial stuff) is that they’re an homage to a Tumblr and Instagram feed called Daily Minimal.

FOR THE RECORD: I’m absolutely, even overtly, copying concepts and even some of his designs.

Why?

Because, in the spirit of Micromastery (rooted in Robert Twigger’s book), in order to learn basic design concepts (with the hope of mastering the fundamentals and being more original), I need to emulate something that inspires me. And the reason for this is simple: I’ll enjoy it more, and therefore able to endure the slog of learning a new set of skills (note: skills I’ll apply to my freelance job as a proofreader and editor).

My goal with this is not to simply replicate Daily Minimal designs ad infinitum. Rather, in copying, I’ll hit roadblocks that’ll push me further and ultimately, in a more authentic direction. But the process for now requires I bite the bullet and just disclaim that I’m going to appear a complete, douchey hack.

To the design-trained eye, I can’t imagine what you’ll see in what I post. I mean, I already see shit I know is bad; I just don’t know how to fix it yet. And this is why I’m excited.

I will learn.

I will get better.

I may not end up in some bourgie MoMA where people bid millions on my art as I shred it in front of them. But I will apply all my education and upbringing in the visual arts to the things I make.

That said, I doubt I’ll ever stray so far from the obsession with geometric designs that you couldn’t see my work and Daily Minimal and not immediately assume one copied the other. But I’m ok with that. I don’t mind my work being seen as an homage to something superior. I actually enjoy knowing that you know I’m not original (yet). Deflates the pressure to impress.

So until I shuck this dilettante husk, I hope you appreciate watching my skillset develop from blatant, crawling copycat to a bipedal reflection of giants greater than me.

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WHAT I WANTED DO:

Create a simple, 2D solar system.

WHAT I LEARNED:

That I don’t know how to use any of the tools at my disposal in Illustrator. This is the design that sent me to Udemy and onto YouTube to learn how to work with paths, shapes, and objects. So damn simple, but beyond very basic applications, I’m a lost cause.

WHAT I DID:

If you could get into the file, you’d see how hackneyed all the shapes and layers are. But from a visual standpoint, one thing I’ll point out (and that I’ve since learned how to correct), is the orbital line.

I wanted it to turn black in front of the planet, but could not figure out how to darken only the points in front. Running out of time, I chocked this one up to ignorance.