Megan Ong
Final Major Project -Monogram
Research on 5 items and initial monogram letterforms' sketches
For the first part of the final project, we are to do some research on the 5 items we plan to use for our monogram. To make things a lot easier I made a simple mind map stating the basic Information about each item and a separate piece of A3 paper stating the in depth details about each one along with some rough sketches. I found this process really useful because with the help of the mind map, my mind was refreshed very easily. I also decided to make another mind map that has got nothing to do with the 5 items or the monogram. It's about myself. The reason for doing this is so that the lecturer could get to know my personality a little bit more and why I planned my items to be a specific way. I immediately thought of wanting to DIY ( do it yourself ) every single item simply because I wanted to challenge myself in doing more handmade items so that's what I went for. My 5 items consist of " a letter to my younger self ", " a picture plaque ", "my old diary", " my birthday box" and " my bookworm box".
Moving on to the actual monogram sketches, I was having a hard time deciding between two different letterform options that is either LA or MO. It took some time but I ended up deciding on LA. I started off with very simple sketches on the first two pages followed by the more complicated ones. This was a fun process because I got to challenge myself in something that I hardly ever do and before I kew it , the letterforms I chose was quite easy to combine so that was a plus. The minimum requirement of pages for the first part of this project was around 5 pages. and as I was about done with the sketches as well as the research, I was glad that I came up with 7 pages.
Exploration through principle of organizations
This part of the project was where we got to choose our final monogram , develop it, as well as problem solve it. It is important that we needed to add the final touches before transferring it onto our items because logos in general, needs to look it's best. This process took awhile but it was worth it and super helpful. Our lecturer advised us to prepare two important things and that is graph paper and tracing paper as it could play a big part in developing the final monogram and it did. The final monogram I ended up choosing on needed to look it's best and by that, the measurements needed to be correct. I wanted my monogram to stay in a specific shape so I opted for a triangular shape with a combination of the letters L and A, and it worked out perfectly. Colour wise ,I thought it would be nice to make the monogram simple in colour but I ended up adding a touch of gold using a metallic pen on the A simply because it goes well with black and I was surprised of how well the two colours turned out when combined. Developing the monogram was a fun process as I got to try out different types of composition with the letters L and A. I ended up coming up with two filled pages of the monogram development and one filled page off the final monogram. I tried to be as organised as possible ,carefully cutting out the graph paper into squares and pasting it neatly onto A3 pieces of paper. As I was in the process of developing my monogram, I realised that I needed to be extra careful with the final monogram page, carefully cutting out the different sized monograms specifically according to the measurements. I came up with three different sizes for the monograms each belonging to an item which is all stated in the A3 paper . My transfer method is stuck onto the very bottom of the final monogram page which is pretty much just a tracing paper method because when it comes to logos, I would want each of the monograms on my items to be identical. I thought it would be impossible for me to get the exact same outcome with other transfer methods and the fact that I used a special gold metallic pen on the monogram, It would be difficult to achieve it using other transfer methods and I'm glad that I made that decision.
Final monogram design outcomes
A letter to my younger self
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My first item is a letter to my younger self. I wanted this letter to look as old, vintage and rustic looking as possible so I started off by painting normal white paper into a brownish gold colour. I even burned off the sides of the envelope to give it an effect. After everything was dry, I started to form the envelope, folding it carefully and placed my monogram directly in the center because I wanted it to stand out. After the exterior was done, I moved on to the actual letter where I did the exact same thing. I painted normal white paper into a brownish gold and waited for that to dry. After it was completely dry, I started to compose my letter with artline pen. After that was done, I printed out before and after pictures and placed it in the envelope. The reason why I wanted to make my letter look old is because, if my 6 year old self would to recieve this letter, It would take 11 years to be delivered to her because it's travelling back in time . Making this letter to my younger self was a really special feeling because I got to reflect a whole lot on my past. I wrote this specifically towards to my 6 year old self which was 11 years ago. The reason for this was because there were so many positive and yet, negative events that occurred after I turned 6 and I really wanted to tell her how much she has grown and how much she has achieved in her life. Without spoiling anything about the future, I tried to keep it as hidden as possible. I told her that she would just have to wait a few years and see what's about to come as she grows older.
A picture plaque
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My second item is a picture plaque which is one of my favourite ones. I personally had a lot of fun doing this because it brings back the memories from school. I wanted to do something a bit different with pictures. I had a hard time deciding on which picture I wanted to use until I came across 2 photobooth pictures that were perfect when it's being combined. I also decided to compose my very own poem based on the two pictures I picked out. Starting this off, I bought a piece of plywood, sanded it and painted on a combination of white gesso and gold paint just because I thought it would go well together and it did. I ended up really liking he outcome it gave me because the gesso felt smoother that expected so that was a plus. I then bought a clear plastic sheet with a pretty reflective design on the sides that acts as a frame for the pictures. As I got everything ready, I was just missing the poem. To add a rustic and vintage feel to it, I burnt off the sides of 135gsm paper for my poem and started composing it. After I pretty much done, I then stuck on my monogram onto the empty space of the poem page, took some blue tack and used it to stick everything on the wood piece minus the clear plastic sheet which I used double sided tape. After I was done, I was so happy of how pretty it turned out. This plaque basically shows a picture that was taken before the last day of high school, which was last year and a picture of my first few days in uni taken this year in March. This reminds me that I have come a long way in life and that I have accomplished a whole lot which I'm proud of.
My old diary
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My third item is my old diary which I used to write in at the start of 2014 when I was 14 and ended a year later when I was 15. Because I pretty much shared all of my thoughts and emotions in this diary about 2 years ago, I thought it would be nice for me to include this as an item because things like this from our childhood should be cherished. I didn't want to ruin the inside of my diary since it was too precious so instead, I attached a note with my monogram on it stating basic details about the diary located at the side. I burnt off the edges of the note to remain the vintage style like I did for the other items. This diary also screams my personality when I was younger as the colour choice says it all.
My old diary
My Birthday box
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My fourth item is my birthday box which took some time to make considering it's handmade but i was excited to see how it was going to turn out. I firstly gathered some cardboard and started measuring according to the biggest sized cards . My first two attempts were a fail as I measured wrongly but I tried once again and achieved the correct measurements. After I got the right measurements, I stuck on some black paper for the base of the box and separated it into 5 even sections. This is so I could divide up the age groups . What i did was that I took some gold number stickers and stuck it onto the black paper to show what were the years the cards were given to me. After that was done, I moved on to customising the box. I used super glue to connect the cardboards together and to cover up the ugly edges, I used some translucent silver fabric paper which gave me a good outcome and a smooth looking edge. To make the box look obvious that it's meant to be all about birthdays, I painted on some balloons on normal white paper and stuck it on either side of the box along with some brown string. I placed my monogram at the front of the box next to the title because I want it to stand out. Because I used to collect my birthday cards since I was 10, I immediately thought of wanting to include it as an item because of how precious it is to me, and so I did. This box not only shows my birthday cards, but it also shows my personality as well. For instance, when I was younger, I used to always get pastel coloured cards because people knew how much I loved soft colours but as I gotton older, people started writing to me more which I really do appreciate. Looking at this box , it reminds me that i'm blessed to be surrounded by people who cares a lot for me and that I really do appreciate their company.
My Bookworm box
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My fifth and final item is my bookworm box which happens to be the biggest item yet which is once again handmade and time consuming but it was all worth it. I wanted to incorporate books as an item because I realised growing up, books have been a really big part of my life and every time I look at this box, it reminds me that I pretty much grew up with books my whole life. Because I was incorporating books in a box, I straight up knew that one thin piece of cardboard wouldn't be supportive enough to hold the heavy books, so to be safe, I used a double layer of cardboard for the base. After I have measured and cut out all of the cardboard pieces, I started customising the base, wrapping it with black paper all around to cover up the ugly edges and overlapped it with some gold translucent fabric paper simply for a pop of colour and for a smooth edge. I then stuck the cardboard pieces together with superglue until it was evenly connected. I needed to be careful when glueing it because once the cardboard goes out of place, the whole thing might collapse caused by the heavy load of books that is inside the box. After the pieces of cardboard was evenly stuck, I began customising the exterior where I decided to paint a little bit. I took some 135gsm paper and started painting a combination of colours like gold, white and blue simply because it screams such a happy colour when it is being combined. After the paper was dry, I went to cut out some even strips to cover up the edges on the top. After that was done, I moved on with the top lid where issues started coming in but I managed to solve them. After cutting out the lid, I wrapped both the interior and the exterior with white paper and to balance out the colour of the lid with the box, I painted the lid with the same combination of colours like I did before with the box. After it was dry, I used the same gold translucent fabric paper from before to cover up the edges and stuck my monogram on the top. As for the inside of the lid, where I pasted on normal white paper, I planned to write on a personalised note for whoever that opens the box. I firstly stuck on some gold washing tape to act as a frame for the personalised note. Once the whole thing was looking it's best, I quickly moved on to write out the note using an artline pen and stuck on my monogram once again at the bottom of the personalised note . What i did with the overall box was that I basically separated the inside of it into two sections. One fiction and one non fiction . I went through my bookshelf and found 4 meaningful books to add to my bookworm box. I then went on to make a little booklet that states the details about each book as well as the importance of each one. In the end, I was glad that the outcome turned out better than I expected.
