Panels design : Complete!

My reflection paper on the project:

IT 3499 – Exhibit Design

September 19, 2011

Panel Fabric Designs

I. Task 1 - 5 fabric 4 x 8 panel designs

The five designs I finally came up with were fostered from a series of motifs I innovated from lines and patterns I researched from the Internet. After I exhausted all possible ideas, I began to toy around with the idea of taking what is known and distorting it into something unfamiliar. My final product was inspired by the element of water and the changing seasons in Bemidji. Hence four climates and different displays of the element.
As I began developing my ideas, I realize that the fabric panels would be far more dynamic, and “active” if I shuffled around the orientation of the panels. The flow of the dew covered branches and underwater current transitioning into waves of a river and dancing fish; and then into a storm ridden ocean. The two separate mini panels are close-ups of ripples caused by the rain lines in the panel below it. It was arranged this way to fashion rhythm into what otherwise is a 2-dimensional impression of water.
I chose the blue hues after experimenting with a wide range of colors, mostly bright and ridiculous. It definitely added much zest to my designs - however, it was also distracting. I finally decided to return to the blues and grays as I did not want to take away from the design. It was more so identifying the lesser evil and being assertive with that decision. This series was meant to forge movement in what could otherwise be a dull gray or blue space and is also designed to calm and relax the viewer.  

II. Task II - Heritage fabric 8 x 8 swatch design

I took a long time narrowing things down for my heritage fabric swatch. The ideas that were born from my ideation sketches were not satisfactory and seemed way too complacent. I tend to be very unmotivated to invest time into designs that don’t make sense to me. After reading the story of Queen Esther and watching a film rendition of it (several times now, I should add), titled “One Night with the King”, I was truly inspired to create a motif based on the setting of Ancient Persia. The costumes, the culture, the emblems, color and monarchy - hugely intrigued me. In that era, the Greeks had just achieved democracy and philosophers were born. Therefore, initially, this design was to be called “The Persian Philosopher’s Quilt”. As it slowly began to take shape, I realized it had greater potential to reflect the Persian monarchy instead. I have now named it “The Persian Council of Princes”.
Art in Ancient Persia used natural dyes and colors tended to be muted and gaudy. The limitations set by our instructor for this task were four colors - hence, the final product you see now. This is meant to invoke a sense of ancient intrigue of the past, and add a stroke of nobility wherever it is displayed.