INTRO TO TYPO(graphy) - Rubik's Cube Installation
For our last project, we were given a cardboard box and told to go wild. Anything goes, as long as it relates to the fonts we created in the previous project, or we can create a new one.
First, my partner Gia and I brainstormed for ideas. We wanted to create something out-of-the-box that'll make us stand out from the other groups.
Here are our sketches:
Our initial sketches included tearing the box apart, creating a snake thing that slithers in and out of the box, embossing and debossing, but we finally settled with the idea of a rubik's cube.
We think this will make a good continuation, a "Part 2" if you will, of our previous project, which was about complexity. The rubik's cube is one of the most ingenious puzzles commercially marketed, and even to this day I cannot wrap my head around how someone could conceive such an idea.
We briefly toyed with the idea of creating an actual working rubik's cube that can spin around, but decided against it, with our limited time and resources.
This is our final sketch:
We're also going to create emboss and deboss effects using balsa wood, and support the base with PVC tube so the box stands at its corner and not its side.
The initial process (painting) was easy enough. We decided to go with the traditional rubik's cube colours such as red, blue, yellow, green, etc. We also decided to use the fonts from our previous installation.
Cutting the balsa into appropriate squares proved to be a challenge on its own.
Oh, and in case you're curious what our class normally looks like:
Say hello, everyone. Really, we have every single class in the studio. They should just rename it "Batch 15 Room".
Next, we cut the balsa boards to create the emboss and deboss components.
That's me. Hello.
Cutting up the much smaller pieces takes a little practice. Some balsa boards were tougher than others, even though they're all supposedly the same thickness. Maybe they came from different trees. Chaos Theory, but I digress.
Placing the embossed/debossed components on the layout, painting the covers, and writing our quotes inside (note Gia's band aids, she injured her hand twice when cutting the balsa):
Working with the balsa may have taken the most time (over the span of 3 days in total), but fixing the boxes on the cardboard box was the most complicated and took a good day on its own.
This is what the inside of the box looks like:
We initially used UHU superglue to secure the balsa boxes, but it took a long time to dry and is not very strong (despite its name) so we switched to duct tape instead.
We were going to support the bottom with a PVC tube and create box fonts on the top side as well, but decided against it because we were running out of time. When conceiving a design, you can't always stick to the original plan---sometimes you have to improvise, which is what we did. So we created a sort of tabletop layout by lining the top with duct tape and acrylic. We hope this is will invite people to actually approach the installation. We also created balsa boxes with lids on them, that people can actually open and see our quotes inside.
This is what our final installation looks like in its final display. On the right you can get a glimpse of all the other boxes. Overall, I think ours really stand out because it's colourful, it's dynamic and it's playful. The other boxes chose to display heavier topics like teenage angst and war/videogaming, but ours embraces the interactive, curious nature of puzzles. We wish to contrast our previous installation while also creating a connection with it, and I think it's done pretty well. We also put the most effort into this, staying on campus for an extra day, which our lecturer took note of :)
If we could fix anything with the installation, I wish we had more time, and was neater. If you look closely, a few of the boxes were out of place, and you can catch glimpses inside the box. Still, it lends a pretty grunge look to the installation, so it's still workable.
Overall, I think this was one of my favourite projects so far, because I love the concept we were working with, I love the materials, and I love the playfulness of it all. It's a nice refreshing break from the heavy, cynical viewpoint of our previous installation. And I'm looking forward to do more of this.