URBAN IDENTITY
For this project I used the concept of 'identity' to form barcoded outlines of each chosen urban area. The river systems are very distinguishable and easy to visualise. They were particularly prominent in the New York barcode due to the number of river systems and the London barcode where the River Thames and the Isle of Dogs was instantly recognisable. I like how they intersect the barcode and this is a characteristic that makes the graphics more visually exciting. There is continuity between each of the designs yet the overall shapes and barcodes remained different. Whilst the lines are simple, together they are intricate and visually effective.
I also created a timeline illustration of population density, surface area etc. I was in heavily influenced by music visualisers when developing my design. I wanted to echo the sounds of each city into the graphic. The number or amount of something is represented using the lengths of lines. When placed next to one another it was easy compare the 4 cities.
Inspired by the concepts of identity I began to focus on fingerprints and the intricacy of their lines. As shown below, I have created a fingerprint version of London. To do so I used the ‘charcoal - feather’ stroke tool which successfully gave me the appearance of a fingerprint. I have developed my design further by overlaying my previous design incorporating the data of London over the fingerprint version of London.
For my final piece, an array of perspex panels were laser cut and arranged in low relief, creating a 3-dimensional form. They are each a unique size representing the geography and physical surroundings of the city itself. The panels form the undulating curves of the land. There is no optimum viewpoint and the shape of the city changes dependent on the viewers perspective.
The entirety of this city display acts as an optical illusion which is further enhanced by the installed colour changing LED lights. Not only do they add to the overall design, but it also adds another interactive component as viewers are able to change the colours using a remote, reflecting their own personal response to the design.
The template file ready for the laser cut.
