postcard reflection

I chose to illustrate the “Digital Fabrication” lecture by Larry Sass from MIT.  Since digital fabrication is by nature controlled by a computer, it resounds as something clean and precise, yet simultaneously complex; these concepts embody the spirit of digital fabrication and were the focus of each of my compositions.

I first worked with Wordle and arrived at a 'finished' level of work within an hour.  After setting the parameters on color (light blues and whites), orientation, and establishing a hierarchy, I probably spent at least half an hour pressing the 'realign' button, which would give me a somewhat random arrangement within my stated limits.  I saved 20 different compositions I liked out of 60 or so total that were generated, and I found that there was a diminishing return on how much I liked any given composition over the next, so I decided to not spend any more time realigning and be happy with what I had.

Following Wordle's completion, I moved onto the illustrator postcard.  While in Wordle the compositional outcome always fell within an expected range of organization and color scheme, this was not the case in illustrator where I had to start with a blank slate and everything was intentional. To create a digital 'structure' for this composition, I worked with a dot matrix to turn 'on' or 'off' the general reading of my text.  I spent nearly all of the two hours working on this, as I first had to experiment with how to create roughly legible text at three different scales on the same dot matrix.  In this composition, as opposed to the first, scale does not define the hierarchy; it is hue.

The third postcard, which is hand drawn, was completed last and is probably farthest removed from the spirit of 'digital fabrication.'  By definition, an analog drawing is the farthest removed from the digital, and I didn't want to attempt to precisely draw binary or the likes.  Instead, I wanted to create a free flowing dynamic piece that suggests some sort of self-assembly by a natural algorithm.  The composition is simply a collection of cellular components that twist and join to create a framework that possibly suggests it was created or conceived in a digital environment, or on Zaha's computer screen.  Although my hand drawn postcard is probably farthest from the parameters of the project statement, I enjoyed working on it the most and spent all of the two hour time allotment. 

The introduction of Wordle in class played a large part in the development of the other two post cards, but in an adverse way.  The last thing I wanted to do in the following two compositions was take two hours to mimic something anyone can generate with Wordle in 5 minutes.  Instead of taking influences from Wordle, I turned the complete opposite direction and sought to create something that would be extremely difficult or near impossible for Wordle to ever produce.

I feel a bit defeated in admitting that I think the Wordle postcard was in the end the most successful.  After working with Wordle I looked forward to the illustrator and hand drawn compositions, where I would have much more artistic freedom to do as I please.  However, I think it was within Wordle's strict framework and limited inputs that I was forced to be most creative, and therefore I had a more successful and clever solution.