Best of the Week: Texture and Light in Design

                The best idea from class this week is the use of varying textures and consideration of light while designing. This concept first came up in the documentary, Sketches of Frank Gehry, where we saw how the architect Frank Gehry incorporates different textures into his work, which makes his buildings unique, beautiful, and very postmodern. It is also obvious that Gehry puts a lot of thought into how the light of the sun will interact with his buildings while designing them.  It is Gehry’s attention to texture and light that makes him such a great architect.

                Earlier this week we discussed how even the V-show set design was dependent on the elements of texture and lighting. The set includes a few textures, but the one I noticed the most was the horizontally ridged metal used in the background. This was a good texture to use because the colored lights look very vibrant when reflect off of this background. The creative use of lighting was able to effectively set the mood for each act and in some cases, even create the illusion of multiple settings/places on the stage.

                I realized after our class discussions that texture and lighting are the keys to all kinds of 3-D design, including the functional art and furniture design that I enjoy creating.  After reexamining some of my past creations, I realized I have already started to play with different textures in my art.  For example on the bookshelf that I recently refinished, I used two different textures, paint and magazine pictures, to give each of the six shelves a different color and theme.  On a pair of jeans that I decorated a few years ago, I combined many different textures including: paint, fabric, Sharpie markers, patches, and embroidery.

                Now that I have discovered that the elements of texture and lighting can have such an effect on almost any design, I can apply them while designing my works of art. I plan on doing more experimenting with these ideas by incorporating various textures in my future creations. I could also include lights in my designs, which I have not tried yet. I am so glad I was exposed to these ideas, because I am now inspired to take new kinds of artistic risks that I may not have thought of otherwise.