Line Project

These four designs are product of an activity we did with lines. There were four different designs that we had to do. Straight lines, diagonal lines, curved lines, and finally a combination of all four. We had to create these designs on an eight by ten piece of Bristol paper and glue the lines made of simple black construction paper with rubber cement. I had a really good time with this project because we didn't have many limitations The only parameters we had was that:

     1. We had to use one type of line and only that type of line per sheet of paper.

     2. The design had to be non-objective, meaning that the designs could not resemble something in the real world. I forgot about this small parameter when I got to the last design. I wasn't sure if it was a design that I could use, so I made an additional combination design that is not included in this posting.

     3. The lines in each design could not resemble a shape. a short and thick vertical line can seem to look like a rectangle unless you move it to the edge of the page. If it is at the edge, your brain will assume the line continues.

     4. The final designs had to be professional. The paper had to be measured exactly eight by ten, with straight edges. There couldn't be any rubber cement escaping from the edges of the black pieces of construction paper.





Straight Lines

The image to the right was the first design that I did in the project. I loved using the thick lines complimented by the thinner lines and making patterns with the lines. I had to be careful with using smaller, thicker lines because I didn't want them to look like a shape instead of a line. I avoided this by putting those types of lines closer to the edge of the page so the viewer's brain could continue the line off the page. I also was playing around with figure ground reversal a little, but it wasn't successful as I had hoped, because I didn't want to overlap my lines.

Diagonal Lines
This is by far my favorite design!!! This may be because I worked on this design for HOURS when I was at home one weekend watching a movie. I love the way the viewer can't tell if they're looking at different shapes put together on black paper or black lines on white paper. Again, I had to make sure the thick black lines that could have been mistaken for shapes go off the page so the viewer would see them as lines.

Curved Lines
The design to the right is one that I had no clue what do to with. I went into this design with no plan whatsoever and came out with something that looked like flames. However, it is still a non objective design because I didn't make this to look like flames. That is why I added the curved lines coming from the top toward the bottom. I wanted this to be an obvious idea of black lines on white paper, and I wanted the viewer to follow the lines up the page to the top and back down the outside of the page to the bottom. I was just playing with the idea of the viewer finding a scanning pattern up and down the page.

Combination

This design is actually wrong, which is really funny because I spent a lot of time doing it and really loved it when I was done. But then I reviewed the directions and remembered that the design was supposed to be non-objective, meaning that the design was not supposed to resemble objects in the real world. This, obviously, resembles objects in the real world. However, if you pay attention, I used all three types of lines in this design. The straight lines in the tree trunk, horizon line, and mast of the sail boat. The diagonal lines are in the branches of the trees and the snow caps on the mountains. Last, there are curved lines in the mountains, sail of the boat, and the water. 

I did an additional combination design that is not included in this posting. 

In the end, I had a great time doing this project and exploring different ways that I could arrange and play with lines and control the way the viewer looks at my work.