Changing Shape Of Place

We were set a competition brief where we were given the task of making designs for 20 light-box seats for an outdoor space in Sheffield. Sheffield Hallam Univeristy were working with a local architecture firm along with the council to involve students in the design process for the outdoor seating. The seating was to be part of a new green space in Sheffield at the heart of the Sheffield Hallam faculty area and campuses in a new 'pocket park' aptly named 'Hallam Green'.

This was my first competetion brief as a graphic designer and I was eagar to explore the connection between new green spaces, local natural history and connections with people in the inner city.

My idea focused on creating illustrative designs for the light-boxes which represented an inclusive and varied set of abstract representations of local animals and fauna.

The heart of my designs were creating a connection between people and nature using abstract patterns where new shapes and forms could emerge in a way which encouraged people to exercise their imaginations and see things from new perspectives.

Promting the idea of local wildlife and environments was crucial to the connection between the viewer and aimed to create a forward thinking and optimistic environment where people were inspired to be part of the growing environmental and biodiversity protection movements.

I started by conducting research and defining the problem which I wanted to solve. I interviewed students who would be a likely demographic for using the seating and formed my initial ideas around their feedback.

After ideating solutions to the problem I began to make sketches on paper and digitally which were abstract representations of local wildlife and fauna. I tried to produce a diverse range of subjects in this style then set about making low fidelity wooden prototypes which were miniture versions of the light-boxes. This allowed me to easily test the robustness of the designs for strength and viability while also allowing to arrange the different boxes to form a narrative people could follow while walking through the park.

In order to produce innovative and compelling designs I wrote code using the programming language 'processing' which allowed me to produce these images. By using consistent mathmatical rules as well as randomness I was able to create unique designs which also conformed to specific standards, aiding with the ease of the illustration process as well as producing viable designs which would be suitible for cutting into metal boxes.

I moved onto producing higher fidelity prototypes which while small and only able to fit in the palm of your hand reproduced the effect of a dark black box with light shining through the sides.

I produced a whole series of these as well as printed material which allowed me to rapidly decide which designs could go onto which cubes as well as being a nice set of memorabillia!