Garden Icon Set: Villa de Este Garden
Brainstorming/Research:
LOCATION: Villa D'Este Garden, placed in Tivoli, Italy
-Villa D'Este is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
-This garden is a world-famous garden for its architectural water fountains and the structure of the overall garden itself.
-HISTORY:
The garden was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este; a governor of Tivoli (in 1550) and son of Lucrezia Borgia.
-The work was made by ingenious architect Pirro Logori (1500-1583)
The garden was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este; a governor of Tivoli (in 1550) and son of Lucrezia Borgia.
-The work was made by ingenious architect Pirro Logori (1500-1583)
It is a beautiful example of the Italian Renaissance garden in Europe.
-The work started in 1550 and lasted about 20 years.
-The plan to create the villa was all over the place because the architect was made to use certain parts of the previous monastic building.
-THE GARDENS SIDE:
The architecture of the palace is simple: a long main body of three stories, marked by bands, rows of windows, and side pavilions that barely jut out.
-In 1560, water supply had been ensured and the possibility of it by the natural gravity created by the different levels of the garden, it was when work was started on building the fountains, ornamental basins, and grottoes and on laying out the landscape.
-The gardens stretch over two steep slopes, descending from the palace down to a flat terrace in the manner of an amphitheater.
-MOST STRIKING EFFECT:
A big cascade flowed out of a krater perched in the middle of the exedra. Jets of water activated when people would walk under the arcades.
-The FONTANA DEL BICCHIERONE (fountain of the great glass.) :
It was built according to a design by Bernini (1660-61) (shaped in the serrated chalice, from which a high jet of water falls into a conch shell.)
Visual Research/Collage:
-How did the visual research and collage affect the development of your project?:
The visual research and the making of the collage affected the edits and development of my icons and the overall making of each one. Researching the history and background of the garden not only informed me of it even more but it also allowed me to think ahead as to what I wanted my icons to look like and what I wanted them to resemble. It affected my sketches and progress as I started to develop the three icons of my project.
Collage of Villa d'este:
Sketches:
-Useful feedback you received: Some useful feedback I received included making sure I made my icons minimalistic and less detailed. When it came to creating my icons, I could not really minimalize down without taking the main idea out of them. After choosing the main icons I was going to choose, which are on the second page of my sketches, I was able to finalize the main icons for the project based on the Villa d'este garden.
-What was working/not working: What was working was making the icons based on the architecture of the garden rather than the plants or flowers. What was not working, however, is being able to take that architecture and combine it into a simplistic icon. I believe it made it hard to be able to develop an icon that I could make represent the water fountains or the buildings that the Villa d'este had, which made it work and not work at the same time.
-How it informed what happened next: I had to double-think how I wanted my lines to form and how I would be able to create a design in Illustrator. I found it difficult to be able to finalize some aspects of my icons. However, I was able to realize that making some lines thicker or making it have more weight to the icons would be able to change it so much more than I thoughts. While creating icons I kept that in mind going forward.
Sketches:
Digital Roughs:
-Useful feedback you received: For my digital roughs I had feedback on adding a pillar or having to add the details that made my garden very architecture like in a way that made it fancy or "high class". I also got feedback on playing with illustrator a little more and moving some things around while using some tools that not only highlighted my icons but also made them stand out more.
-What was working/not working: I liked the pillar idea and was really wanting to head in that direction, however, I found that my main idea for that was not really working as it made it too cluttered and too out of place with the rest of my icons.
-How it informed what happened next: For the next step I started finalizing but also thinking about what to add and unadd within my icons. I felt that having the icon too cluttered would take away the main idea of the purpose of the icon but also keep in mind that it should not only represent the garden but also inform the person right away what kind of garden it is.
Refinements:
-Useful feedback you received: With my refinements, I got more feedback on changing the darkness of some lines and feedback on my second icon idea being the favorited one that also had to change by making it more centered but all connected in one piece.
-What was working/not working: What was working was that I felt that I was able to represent my garden within the three icons I was able to create, but at the same time I felt out of place with my first icon and last one. I felt that the idea behind them both was there but was not all uniquely tied together and represented well.
-How it informed what happened next: I think with finalizing the final icons, I took what was not working in my mind and tried to make them better and determine if I wanted to switch a lot of them around or not.
Final Icons:
-Useful feedback you received: For feedback, I did not receive a lot during the final group feedback. However, with some of my peers, I was given feedback on how well the roses complimented some of the structures of the icons itself.
-What was working/not working: What worked within the icons was the line work and how I was able to darken some of it to make it stand out. What was not working, however, was how indifferent they felt. I believe that the way the first and last one were created could have been interpreted differently and more efficiently. Based on the middle icon, the third and first one could have been represented like that more in making it simple but also a little more put well together at the same time.
-How it informed what happened next: I think considering the feedback and what I felt could change, I will consider ensuring in having better sketches and ideas. I felt that with the sketches I had I could have combined a few of the ideas I had with other icons I have sketched to make it better and also combine some simple ideas that I could have made it more eye-catching.
Final Icons:
