Research Statement and Bibliography

My field of research is Art Nouveau (furnishing in particular), a movement which was most popular from 1890-1910.

A Book with a Single Author

Arwas, V. (2002). Art Nouveau: The French Aesthetic. London, Great Britain: Andreas Papadakis Publisher.

Art Nouveau: The French Aesthetic

His book is very useful to my field of research as it has both a chronological account of the history of Art Nouveau, and it is also divided into chapters depending on object, such as: sculpture (p218), lamps (p266) and walking sticks (p428).

A Scholarly Journal Article

Peña, J M., Snyder, J R. (1992). “Art Nouveau” Stained Glass and Ironwork. The Journal of Propaganda Arts, Vol 18, Argentine Theme Issue. P222-241. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1504097.

“Art Nouveau” Stained Glass and Ironwork

This scholarly journal may come in helpful for my design research as it includes concise broken down examples of Arts Nouveau in glass and metal furnishings. It often mentions well known Art Nouveau metal and glass artists.

An Edited Book

Krastiņš. J. (1998). The Art Nouveau Architecture of Rīga. Latvia, Rīga: Jumara;

The Art Nouveau Architecture of Rīga

This book would come in very useful for this research subject as it takes an in-depth look into the Art Nouveau roots of the city of Rīga, often described as “a genuine metropolis of Art Nouveau” (p8). It also has a brief general account of the history of Art Nouveau, which could be helpful.

A website

National Gallery of Art (NGA), (2000) Anatomy of an Exhibition: Art Nouveau 1890 – 1914.  Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/feature/nouveau/nouveau.shtm

Anatomy of an Exhibition: Art Nouveau 1890 – 1914

The purpose of this website is to act as a behind-the-scenes resource for the exhibition “Art Nouveau 1890 – 1914” in the NGA 08/10/2000 – 28/01/2001.It has many interesting and informative sections such as timelines and analysis of the presence of Art Nouveau in its most well known cities, which would be very useful for my field of research.

An Image

Lewandowski, H. (Photographer). (Built 1901). Dining Room of the Banker Adrien Bénard in Champrosay. Paris, France. Retrieved March 29 2012 from: http://naturalisticspoon.com/Art_Nouveau_Style.html

Dining Room of the Banker Adrien Bénard in Champrosay

This image is useful to my research field as it shows an entire room of furnishings dedicated to Art Nouveau. It is an example of an influence on society (with the highly regarded owner) and promotion of the style.

Copy/Transform Identity

Copy/Transform Hatch

Copy/Transform Draw

Copy/Transform Section

Copy/Transform Touch and Draw

Copy/Transform Individual Work

I have decided to investigate Leonardo Da Vinci for my technical drawing style. One of the main things which stand out is the sketchiness of his drawings, yet they are still quite detailed. He often uses diagonal hatching in the background to make the item stand out, and also on the item itself to give it shading. Da Vinci regularly does the outlines on his drawings thicker than the rest of the lines, so I made sure to use that idea in my drawing, as well as the oblique style of drawing he often employs. There is also the idea of making things fade out if they leave the main focus area which he does often. I have also used backwards handwriting to add notes to the sketch, a signature handwriting style of Leonardo's.

Dual-core A5 chip
8mpiSight camera
iOS 5 and iCloud
and introducing Siri

It's the most amazing iPhone yet

A little tip...

Something I just came to realise everyone, spilling water all over your ink drawing will cause the colours to run everywhere... And you will have to start again :(

My Design Persona

Good evening blogosphere, Connor here to discuss the all important me, myself and I.

Now I know you, the collection of avid readers I’ve no-doubt already gained, have all been asking yourselves, “Why on earth did Connor Thompson decide to go to design school?” Well, anyone who knows anything about me knows that I love art. I love drawing and painting, and when I say this I mean realistic and detailed art (I’m not an expressive-brush-strokes-all-over-the-show kind of person). You’re probably all wondering at this point, “So then why didn’t he go to an art school, rather than a design school?” The reason for this is my favourite teacher from high school, (my design teacher) who, in his gifted wisdom, told me that one should not turn one’s hobbies/passions into one’s job.

So I decided to follow something else which always interested me, which is animation/movie post-production. I’ve always judged movies first, and foremost, on their graphics. The main movie which kick-started this passion, I’m almost disinclined to say, is “Transformers”. I watched this movie after growing up with the cartoon TV show (where the robots just curl into a ball and suddenly they’re a vehicle) and suddenly I was bombarded with something so much more realistic. The amount of detail in those animations, with hundreds of tiny, rendered  pieces all doing their separate things to come together in an amazing display of alien robotic potential, was just striking. It was then and there that first sparked the idea of becoming an animator.

Thus, I found Victoria University where I could take French and Media Design, and which is also in the same city as Weta Workshop (the current pinnacle of my animation dreams).

So there you have it my good fellows. That is the story of my design persona.

Inspirational quotes

This comes from the movie "Helvetica", a pretty good film I must say.

"The way something is presented will define the way you react to it."

And this from "Objectified", the follow-up to the aforementioned movie.

"Good design distinguishes you..."