CC 05

[walent]

Oh I'm definitely joining this one. I've been studying hard surface shapes for a while now and taking them to an alien look is definitely a challenge.

Gotta finish up some commissions first though.

Here's a little shape play



Oh and since this is the first time I'm joining, let me know if there's something I'm missing. I saw that there's a finals thread where you post your finals, but also a study thread? And the wip thread here.
So.. if I make a study of some object I have to post it in a different thread and not here?

[Piotr Jasielski]

Hey, glod you're joining!

You can post anything here in the wip thread and then when you have a final, post it in the final's thread along with a comilation of some studies/sketches.

Good luck!

[crackedskull]

I'm glod your joining aswell. Looking forvard to what you come up with.

[Amit Dutta]

Very glod to see you participating! Let's see some design juice man.

[jesusWasAnAstronaut]

Love the marker like rendering SeemsGood

[tienchi]

the study is looking good keep it up

[walent]

Got it, thanks Piotr! Thanks guys!

I'm not sure I fully understand the brief actually... I mean it's a little confusing, given that it talks about finding a pattern, which makes me think of a wallpaper, or like those background patterns on websites, basically a tile (usually square) that repeats itself on both axes.
And then it says "Create an alien landscape and architecture out of this shape". So like taking this tile (without actually repeating it) and using it as a base shape for the landscape? Because it says "out of this shape" but I'm pretty sure it's meant like "using this shape"
So I'm thinking that this pattern should give a sort of mood to this landscape, like a signature. And this could also be a triangle, or a square. Right? Like a chess board. Of course adding variation to this, like in some places there's a circle, in other places there are triangles, but the dominant is square.

So I'll try to create something that's pretty much a lot of hard surfaces, based on squares.
It's pretty much a challenge, since all the alien-ish looking structures are pretty organic. Maybe because humans tend to build boxy structures, and everything that's not boxy, looks alien.

To do that, I'll just start by taking existing "normal" structures, and pushing them to a different level. I'm not yet sure how.

[Amit Dutta]

Check out Zipfelzeus and Miracoly's entry and approach. They've got the right idea. We are really just talking about designing a geometric pattern and in some way using it as the shape language to inform the design of the structures. Whether you tile them or not, whether they are seamless or not, repeating or not and how you use them is totally up to you.  

It has been a little disconcerting how few people in this challenge understand the importance of shape as a basic element of design! I'm sure it's because self teachers are so focused on technical drawing skills, they don't realise how important design is as a skill to learn and also practice.

In terms of design, a simple square is ok, but you mentioned yourself what the challenge is with using this yourself. It should inform your approach. Pattern also implies some rhythm and repetition. Perhaps explore some patterns first and see what results. Another note, just because something is composed of hard surfaces doesn't mean it can't be organic in structure and shape as well. Maybe it will help you to imagine a pattern and how a species might use this in their culture to inform their buildings. You see that sort of thing everywhere in the world's cultures.

Anyway Carry on dude, I want to see your skills applied to this challenge however you interpret it! :)

[walent]

Like the Parthenon uses the columns as a pattern? Because that's what I though at first, taking a shape and using it here and there, but it's just an accent, it's not the base shape for the buildings.

Gathered some more reference. I'm going for an ancient look, maybe located on Mars. Maybe a big percent of the city is underground and some parts of it reach the surface in some places. Maybe they even have the ability to slide a big chunk of the plateau over their city so we can't spot it, haha






And here's some more exploration:

[Amit Dutta]

I like this idea of undergound structures breaking the surface. Explore this concept. How would this influence their day to day lifestyle and design of their various habitats, while using patterns to think about structure. So much cool stuff to think about :)

[walent]

Here's some more exploration stuff