September

It's hard to believe that the first month of school wraps up tomorrow. With a lot of things keeping me busy, I've barely had time to slow down and post anything. I'm not going to make a habit of posting about school, but perhaps some people may be interested to see some of the things I've been working on - here are photos of my first project for my 3D studies course.

The assignment called for us to create 5 "hypothetical" tools. These objects didn't need to have any true purpose or function, but, mine made pretty heavy reference to common tool forms that we've grown used to seeing in day to day life. Using a combination of found scrap objects as well as hand carved/tooled wood handles, I did my best to construct objects that seemed antique in nature. Some of the objects already had been worn by time, which I used to my advantage, but others were polished or otherwise new looking, which required some reworking in order to keep the look cohesive.

As a person that's grown accustomed to creating my pieces on a computer, it was nice to truly put my hands to work. While it's perfectly legitimate to design on a computer, I can't help but feel like a fraud sometimes. Perhaps not so much a fraud per se, but, I feel like there's a certain distinction to be drawn between artists and designers. Artists can always boast a certain sort of soulfulness to their work, and designers tread a path that's more calculated and technical, and really only the best can demonstrate a definite artfulness, or soul in the work they produce.

Despite being very artistically driven, I've found it hard to call myself an artist, since I've never been all that happy with my drawings or paintings - instead, I've tended to find my calling in computer based design work. It's easier to reconcile myself as a designer. The problem with being a designer is that it's hard to feel unique at times. There are accepted conventions, and rules that exist for good reason, and sometimes it's hard to find a way to approach a design that not only works, but that also doesn't feel stale or uninspired. Another issue I have difficulty with is the nature of design - that is to say - design makes use of other people's illustrations/photos/paintings and helps to integrate them with text on a page, or a 3D package etc. While there's skill required to achieve "good design" it can feel like more of a job of organization than one of true creativity. I think there's comparisons that can be made to photography. I've often heard people belittle the art of photography as little more than a technical skill, as opposed to an artistic skill. I disagree with that notion completely, and I suppose in that, I must also allow myself more credit as an aspiring designer.