Clearly im not the greatest photographer, but as you can see from above, this is Austins, so from the outside it doesnt give much away, like most buildings in this part of the town, its historical so you cant do much with it except admire it.
So further inside we go ! and boy can you colour me disappointed, Austins department store is a grannys dream day out, four floors of things you find only in your grannies house or on a wedding present list. Which is code for they are lovely items, completely not my style, mainly decorative household ware and Sunday best clothing. All well and good, it is a very upscale department store, however that doesn't help me the slightest in designing something to be potentially sold here, even if my intentions arent for the object to be sold, they still have to be something Austins would have instore ... well i must say it was looking grim for three full floors and and two instores cafes, until the godsend of a fourth (maybe fifth?) floor. The ornaments!
Yes the strict rule of only things your granny would possibly have the sense or money to buy was consistent, but to me they were a blessing in plain sight. Ornaments main purposes are to envoke memories usually.
So jewllery, decorative home knick knacks, frames and ornaments is the foundation of the initial ideas.
Below you can see photos of the things that really caught my eye, and itll also give you a general idea or what Austins current stock is.
Please ignore the fact that i took several trips to Austins at the start of this project so the lighting is likely different, and due to the fact these were reference photos for me and not display etc, they are strange, and likely have me in an unflattering manner in the mirrors. Other than that hopefully you will get the general theme of the store.
Austins being a department store obviously have alot of cutlery and crockery, so perhaps not very practical but special crockery could envoke memories of something, like family meals, or the honeymoon stage.
However this wouldnt be the type of challenge i want for this project.
I''ll discuss this further with the snowglobes still to come, but this Winnie the Pooh snowglobe in the Disney display is obviously meant to be a memory closed off and preserved in a little globe, snowglobes are definitely and amazing idea for this project.
And the best part of it is different people have different memories of the same object, like this winnie the pooh may envoke childhood memories to some, or first tim parenthood to others, or maybe something different, to me for example Winnie the pooh doesnt remind me of anything cute or cuddely, i was never interested in the books or show even though they were Disney and i was (am) a serious Disney fan, to be honest this reminds me of a particular cousin who was all about Winnie the pooh (have met no one to date as enthusiastic about winnie the pooh as he was) and he bite me so hard once he drew blood so, this is actually an unpleasant memory in a snowglobe, reminding me, even though it might be a cute or happy memory to some, whatever obects or themes i choose in the end, they will of course envoke very different memories to different people, so i must prepare myself for that and keep my design quite vague so the interpretation ist forced on the viewer.
Like i said before different interpretations for everything, perhaps this is a childhood memory for some, maybe its a memory of first love or a particular dance, really hitting it home how wide the interpretations could become. Keeping this in mind getting others feedback from the final rendering should be interesting.
This i actually loved, an idea i discussed for a bit in my SKETCHBOOK, i called it a memory within a memory, for obvious reasons.
But how could i create something similar ?
And if i did do a memory inside a memory, id be narrowing the memories, it would be a very targeted memory and audience, however perhaps thats a route i should consider going down.
A simple ornament of a place or statue could be like a memory within a memory, If i were to go down the historic or political routes this would be an idea to consider. perhaps the battle scene of the siege of Derry, or maybe even less dated, The city of culture, however that would be a limited edition type of ornament, it could only be sold this year, the year of culture, or in the next few years at most.
Perhaps a small ornament of the city in celebration, with the parades we've had through out the year?
Ignoring the very bold looking Mickey and Goofy on either side and the obvious me in the backgound, i was actually really fascinated by this particular figurine.
I found it on my way out, as its not a very striking or obvious.
At first glance its a fairy, perhaps a mother nature sort of figure?
It actually reminded me of Robyn Lynchs Liberty from the previous project.
The idea of a poem, song or small amount of literature wrapped around the object or incorporated into it is quite personal and would definitely envoke memories to anyone i think. However the poem/song/literature would need to be well thought through and relevant.
At a closer look, you can tell the fairy/mother/sprite is pregnant and the design is like a new life spring sort of background, the writing is a sweet poem/ safe delivery blessing.
A gift for mums to be, or the family in general.
Simple and yet it makes you feel/ hear a flutter, it envokes the senses.
These are very common, but for this project they seem quite perfect
They are faceless, yet they all scream memories.
Usually things like family, friends etc, but they are very meaningful.
But is it too bland? too over done? i mean there are so many of these already, and they are already perfect in their own right... what could i add to it to make it even better, and how could Derry be included.
Between the Fairy mother and the baige faceless people, these figures are really interesting me, and id really like to sketch out some figurines for this projects, but is that too boring? is it a challenge?
(Just to clarify im not half asleep in this photo, i was complaining at Alex on the left )
If i ere to create a figurine similar to this id need to build skills in UV wrapping ALOT, to add to a simple model.Like above has the writing and spring colours on a fairly basic shape.
Glass! Im going to be biased and overly interested in creating a glass model, or something with glass material in it, simple because im still on a high from successful assets in Veepees, such as the glass.
seasonal memories?
as you can see from the glass display many objects could be materialized with glass.... even a clock. and what says time gone past and memories, like the actual time, but is that too obvious?
It could show how fleeting and fragile time, memories and life is.
Austins being a department store, obviously they had entire sections in crockery and cutlery and decorative items for around the house, and im not overly interested in creating cutlery (not after the first year 3D cutlery project, seen on my previous blog, linked at the start of this one) However, fancy old styled cutlery could very easily envoke memories, and the handles are full of opportunity to have odd wee designs, perhaps ones of historical significance ? this would be more of a collectors item though.
I loved the old presence of the staircase in Austins, its rarely used as its off to the side and everyone is more keen on the escalators or elevators, but i think its an amazing feature to still have the original (or close enough) staircase. However when walking down them i realized why most people take the escalator and elevators, and its not just down to handiness, its several flights of uneasiness. Old stairs dont exactly seem safe to begin with, but when theres a loud creak every step and a serious slant (that you actually think you are walking off the sides) This really brings historical sort of memories though, like you would get in a museum, you put yourself in the shoes of ancestors etc, perhaps this could be an interesting idea to develop.
looking down on the staircase, reminding you how insignificant you are in such an old large store.
I dont know yet what i want to do with these images, but the stairs really stand out to me, and i think if i focus on Derry-LondonDerry and Austins itself, the stairs an old moldings etc should definitely be apart of it.
The gift, ornament, jewelry section (just so you can get a bigger picture of the store)
Derry, Austins, and ornamental gifts.... they all can easily be linked up in sentimental ways.
Especially if targeted at tourists etc, with religious relics, Irish themes and Celtic symbols.
But i dont know if thats wise, it is quite biased and wouldnt suit everyones tastes
Though religious and Irish themed, i think the general simplicity of these little objects create a serious emotive impact, which means regardless of your take on these items, they have covered at least one aspect of the project. I want to take that simplicity and implement it into my own work. i dont think i want anything overly complicated or glamorous looking, simple things youd find around the house seems suitable for this particular project.
Clocks, and frames, things found in basically any household, perhaps i could design one that has a Derry theme ? after all photos hold memories themselves, so why shouldn't thier frames.
There are many 'life events' displays through out Austins, with objects like this frame,
Adding a serious event element to the memory the frame protects.
There would be vast opportunities if i choose a photo frame, like build relevant objects ontop of it, so they are somewhat 3D. I like this idea because it reminds me of a frame i seen in the house all through my childhood, quite ahead of its time in this respect, but held four photos of me and my brothers as toddlers, the frame itself had bears building a colouful alphabet house around the photos, so i understand the general weight one of these frames could be and just how much could be added onto the frame before it becomes too 3D, or too cluttered or too front heavy.
As i said before, the snowglobes would be a great opportunity if i found the right scene for the inside of it, and instead of snow, maybe rain? after all we may get snow in Ireland but e get ALOT more rain, maybe little raindrop shape glitter? if it was actual water it would just look flooded.
I do like this idea, but i think i want to stay away from it until i take reference photos of Derry and find a scene/statue/time of significance. There'd be no point investing all my time in a snowglobe and not having a meaningful, memory envoking scene inside it.
The frame wouldnt HAVE to be 3D, It could be a photoshopped image of my own, UV Wrapped into a simple frame, that would be a UV Wrapping challenge but would it be 3D enough for me to be proud of at the end ?
Perhaps a glass with a scene carefully moulded into it (subtly)
Like a glass chalice.But would the glass show enough of the scene ?
Further into the ornaments i found the household knick knacks and ornaments that have no real significance but to look pretty, however they gave me a few good ideas. some of which ill describe.
The above cases/holders/jars could have a memory envoking scene or literature carved into them or cut out of them, with a light/candle inside it, giving it extra feels.
The wee ornamental dress on an old style mannequin got me thinking about things Derry-LondonDerry is fmous for, like the draperies and shirt factories etc, perhaps could make one of those wee mannequins only with a 'very Derry' outfit?
Clocks seem to just be screaming 'design me' at this point..... this is a wall full of cute wee family items, like signs and calanders and clocks with sweet or funny sayings.
Because they are so family orientated they will easily envoke memories. but target audience tourists or families or both?
Ok the last two photos have probably severely confused you all at how i find them interesting for this project... ignoring the obviously cultural parts of these ornaments, they would be easy t make into a Derry cultural ornament, lots of little Celtic signs over it moldings of significance maybe not an elephant or tribe woman though, likely something more like a cow or a northern Irish looking person.
I like how they look so bejewlled and golden, theres serious hidden potential in this collaborative object.
I love these, i understand they are meant to be cutsie and sentimental (the entire display) but i just love the wee inspirational messages, and how they have put them in weird objects (not so much the obvious signs) like the dangling hearts or signs, or windchimes etc.
I could have Derry objects, historical landmarks etc dangling, or a historical landmark surrounding a message
More of the display, smaller less noticeable items, which got me thinking, if i was to make something simple like this with a message in the middle or combined, perhaps i could design (even in 3D) a series of these. like the bottles are the same object yet the colour and message is different on each one, so perhaps a line of objects rather than just the one?
I had a few ideas for these masks, like a masquerade mask with Derry symbols and writing all over it, maybe a line of them, all relating to different times, historical significance or landmarks.
The emotive design would seriously need developed further though.
As discussed briefly earlier there are many 'life events' displays, with objects and gifts for events, like weddings, engagements, graduating, a new baby etc. above it the new baby display, or apart of it at least.
These all have emotional triggers and individual memories in them, if i was to do a life event d need to research all of them to truly see how they envoke memories, and what are the standard objects and placement design. presentation and materials are also a major factor, like the baby display tended to have soft shiny new metals resting gently on soft silk or satin cushioned boxes, giving the new, and pure look about the objects reminding you how pure and fragile a small baby would be.
Just an example of one of the floors and a sign for the anniversary.
I will attempt to get back at some point and explain why i liked each of these objects or what ideas they inspired however 'a photo says a thousand words', so for now ill let them speak because my fingers are actually starting to go numb from typing all this.
