Part 4: Assignment 4

 Sketchbook Pages:

Mind mapping initial ideas of what the phase 'You are Here' could be communicating.

Then looking at what types of Street art are known about.

Based on my Street Art research, I knew I had developed an interest in these areas but specifically in crochet because of the historic value the craft has brought to many people over the years. Whether it be used as a coping tool through personal trials, practical use, making things to wear or to serve another purpose. Now crochet is also being using to communicate political, social and other meaningful messages as it is made and constructed in public places for the purposes of bringing value and awareness to others.

Initial seasonal ideas with no clear message. I liked the initial ideas but knew I needed to make it a far more deeper meaning and something that would benefit others for it to work as a strong 3d illustration and be relevant for Street art purposes.

As it was Summer I used that as  my starting point and thought about what elements I could use and what message I could add with it.

Since climate change and our use of plastic is very much in the news right now, making an awareness piece about this topic seemed like a good fit. My personal interest in seasons, animals and nature fit and I could crochet those elements in my piece to get my message across.

I thought about each individual element. What sea life creatures are the public most likely to know of and have some kind of connection to that would make them care about this environmental message.

I decided the dolphin was one of the most loved sea animals and wanted to use this as my focal point. I needed some other smaller elements around the dolphin. I picked the star fish, another well known sea creature and some shells. When you think of the beach seashells are definitely objects that spring to mind.

To communicate my message I knew I needed to think about 'saving our seas' and the most logical item I could think of was a life ring used to save people who are in trouble in the sea. These elements together with some plastic materials attached were the basis of my design.

I then needed to think about the construction. I measured our local post box and started to think about the types of crochet stitches I would use to construct the different elements including the sand and sea which would form the base.

I then worked on composition. I soon realised that a full sized dolphin would take up too much space on the base area and when positioned with the other elements didn't make much sense to be laying on the water. To make my message stronger I decided to have the dolphin jumping out the water and being caught up in the plastic. To show the damage these plastic items can do to sea life.

Mock Up:

I made a mock up of my design using a photo of our local post box that I took on my phone and then put it into Procreate to draw my design on. This also helped me work on my colour scheme. I decided to use mostly primary colours for a striking impact and to be seen from a distance when placed on the post box.

Construction:

I bought my materials locally and chose a range of wool types, including a sand colour with a silver thread to create some shimmer for the sand and bobbly blue and white wools to create waves in the sea and on the shoreline.

I then set about crocheting the different elements. Starting with a free online pattern for the base of the starfish which I then adapted to make my own 3d version and added crystal beads to make it shimmer.

I then created my own patterns for the dolphin and life ring and base. This was a lot of trial and error and in the end due to time I didn't manage to get the shells made but the rest of the elements came out really well.

Final design.

Reflection:

Following on from the street art exercise I chose to develop my post box topper concept and actually make a crocheted 3D version which I intended to actually put on a post box near me and leave up as my message to address the destruction of plastic in our seas.

I sketched different layouts for the elements and chose the elements I felt would have the best impact. A dolphin as a symbol of the ocean which people love and recognise well, a star fish, also easily recognised and something that could reside on the sand part of my topper. Taking inspiration from a post box topper in my previous research about 'Save the Bees', I decided on a life ring to display my message. I played around with the wording for this to make it fit. Initially the dolphin was going to lay on top of the sea but I decided to have him jumping out to make the scene more effective and leave space to add some real plastic items to enhance my message.

Each element I designed and crocheted myself, I have never constructed 3D crochet animals before and so I had to learn along the way through trial and error. The star fish was made from a tutorial of an applique star fish which was just a flat piece and I adapted it to make it my own design by duplicating the sides to make it 3D and stitching Swarovski AB crystals on it to give it some sparkle. I used a variety of stitches including, trebles, half treble, single crochet, slip stitch and double crochet.

Once all the elements were made, I used fibre fill to stuff them and then hand stitched closed before attaching them to the base of sea and sand.

My intention was to actually attach this to my local post box. I had measured it to fit and was going to attach a sign to explain the purpose behind it. I had planned to be finished in the Summer so it was relevant but it ended up taking a lot longer to make than planned and then I got covid, so I couldn't go out to even show it on the post box, which is a shame. 

In summary I have expressed 'You Are Here' in crochet form as an environmental awareness piece for the destruction of plastic in our sea, which is harming the marine life and contaminating the waters.

I feel that the context behind my piece communicated my message well, I chose colours that are natural, primary colours associated with the colours of real sea life. The plastic attached speaks of the real threat we are bringing with our excess plastic waste.

Overall I feel this project visually communicated the threat of plastic in our seas and how damaging it is to the marine life, therefore answering the brief. 

From a creative and design point of view I would have like my stitching on the letters to be clearer and of better quality but considering my lack of experience in this area I am quite pleased with the overall look. This project really stretched my skills both in terms of design, construction and visual communication and my research into Street art, specifically post box toppers gave me the inspiration and clarity to bring this design together.

References:

Youtu.be. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/VEz3hL77ZoA> [Accessed 7 October 2022].