Landscape illustration

 

 

Above are a few images from my sketchbook.  All of these images have an interesting shape that looks intriguing when taken out of it's original environment.  For example, the image in the middle of the three has a really interesting shape that could be taken into my context of music because of it's jagged outline.

It makes sense that the more you simplify the original image, the further detatched it becomes from what it actually is, and in this case, the simplicity still holds the aspects that I want to keep for my illustrations.

Here is an example of an image being simplified.  It looks similar to a sound wave showing different pitches. 

The whole idea for this project now is to gain inspiration from things that we see everyday, or things that already exist in life to try and grasp what 'looks like sound'.  From this I will use textures I have found and existing shapes (i.e.above) to create a snippet of a song.

Bringing together all of my research and design ideas so far, I have come up with a rough idea of what I want to achieve visually-I thought that this would fit in well with my already established concept.  Using ideas and visuals that people already understand to be a visual representation of sound and music, means that it will give off these connotations and allow me to bend the rules slightly technically to produce something much more aesthetically interesting- moreso than what they are used to with things such as 'Windows Media Player'.

Primary Research, 'Shapes'

 

I discovered the relevance of this object to my project when showering.  The shape inspired me.  The flowing curves and constant pattern created by the mesh gives a more emphasised sense of depth that reflects the connotations of music visualisation.  And I feel that, for me, these images are so interesting to examine, why wouldn't I attempt to incorporate certain aspects of it into my own work.  It shows that inspiration really can come from anywhere, and still be as relevant as the most current designer.

From the photographs above I began experimenting with how this shape could be translated into my project.  I began with a rough sketch on the image, which then led me to other things.  From this I began listening to music to see how it could be incorporated within this style.  For example, with the image at the bottom I have listened to a fairly ambient track, here I have focused in on the vocal, noting the high pitched areas and the low- this is how the initial shape was determined.  I then focused on the pace of the vocals, this is represented by the spacing between the lines.  Lastly, I based the amount of shading on fullness of the voice and how how loud it was.  Although non of these aspects are 'technically/mathematically' correct, I feel that this gives me more room to produce a more illustrative, abstract look.

Primary Research, landscapes

Above are a few images of landscapes i've taken whilst away.  The idea behind looking at this aspect of nature is its visual relation to the visualisation of sound i.e. soundwaves.  Looking more simply at the lines created by the landscapes is evidence of this.  From this research I hope to somehow incorporate these shapes into the music I choose, below is (in a basic sense) essentially what I am looking to create.  
The idea of it is to consolidate a section of a song into one shape- with different patterns/shapes/strokes representing beat/riff/pace etc within it.  This idea has been heavily influenced by my secondary research of existing work that has (for me) such an interesting look, yet I am hoping to inject some meaning into my designs- communicating music whilst designing a visually stimulating piece.

How objects; places; things visually relate to 'visualisation of sound'

Some primary research on things that relate to the visualisation of sound- an attempt to gain some form of inspiration outside the world of music.

First I began by brainstorming 'what looks like sound'.

Communication is a virus, powerpoint.