Deadline here

I decided to include the Balloons a little too late, and the ones I previously had custom made didnt fit the colour theme, so I decided to create a stencil and spray paint them. I hope they turn out well... fingers crossed! I have to do some tidying up then all should be done (I hope).

Displaying the collection

I had to go back to my project proposal, although I have strayed quite a bit from my original intentions, I could make my project fit my proposal but creating a party scene. Because this would be creating art and beauty from some thing that is broken (a marriage) which is ultimately the breakdown of something being just and aesthetically significant as the composing of it. Because I have decided to create a party scene I have to consider the Handbooks significance in this and I will have to re make the CD cover if time allows. I will also make Balloons to compliment this display. Here are some Table displays that have inspired me....










I filmed candles that spelt out just married burning out and the end result was quite dramatic, it also represented how love (just like candles) eventually burns out. The candles were red and white so they would look great in the final table display.

The pinata

I thought back to the idea of a party scene and thoguht that a pinata would suit this divorce party setting perfectly, divorced women would love to hit a male head that resembled their husband it would be a great form of anger relief. I made my pinata out of paper mache and paint and completed the look with a wig. The pinata is filled with sweets!

The cake

After lots of research on divorce cakes I decided to create a divorce biscuit, I cut the heart shaped biscuit with a jagged line through the centre and customised with broken heart icing and a just divorced logo. The end result wasn't what I pictured. So I re-thought this idea, I was afraid of making a cake because I had no skills in cake making. So I decided to buy the bottom layer and make the top layer. I struggled to make the top layer so I ended up using pre-made sponge and icing the sponge. I bought cake decorations and organised them so that the bride was holding the head of the groom that she had beheaded with a saw (candle) and a gravestone (candle) at the bottom saying RIP marriage. I decorated this scene with red icing to look like blood. I enjoyed customising the cake and the results were great. The only difficulty I had was beheading the resin groom I ended up using a very sharp knife as scissors weren't working. It was also difficult to keep the grooms head attached to the bride so I is currently being held by tape until the PVA glue dries.

creating the hand book

I wasn't sure where I was going with these items so I wondered if a hand book would be relevant to a party scene. With this in mind I know i hadnt put as much thought into the making of it as I had with the other items. I wrote a paragraph on each of the most essential issues in divorce, solicitors, emotional support, financial advice, children, single parenting, friends, moving home, health and wellbeing, new relationships... I returned to the cut and paste method that I had used with the CD and did some illustrations to completment each passage I also made cards for 6 divorce Lawyers in London to put inside. This felt rushed and It was too similar to my previous zine however it lacked the visual diversity that the other zine had. With the deadline looming I decided to move onto the next thing... the cake.

More making

I thought about making a CD for this collection of Divorce necessities and choosing the songs was the easiest part as there are so many break up song divorce and relationship breakdown are so prevalent in todays society. So I thought about a song for each phase in divorce. So i took into account; the power song, the children, the exes feelings, the emotional song, the cheerful song... When it came to creating a CD cover I struggled, I had a creative block. So I started brain storming again. The CD would have to convey the concept well. Although a medical label would suit the whole notion of music therapy I decided to return to the vintage design. I enjoy creating things that have a hand rendered quality about them. So I used a cut and paste method using a dirvorce decree, and image of women celebrating and poignant statement for humour. The actual CD design was a 'just divorced' decorated car. I enjoyed making the CD and its cover alone however I wasn't happy with it as part of the collection. It didnt seem to fit in, in any way. I decided that there were other things to make so if time allows I would recreate something that was more compatible as a set.

Making things

I started on the new wine packaging by researching wine packaging... There were tonnes of designs that were intriguing and aesthetically pleasing. However I came across some simplistic designs whereby the label had lines for the user to write on the bottle and interact with the packaging, I decided to take this into account when designing my own label. I thought back to the chocolate bar wrapper and its prescription label, I decided to adapt this to the wine and reuse this (for consistency). In relation to the prescription label I also created a first aid box from red and white card for additional packaging. I was pleased with the outcome.

I decided that If I was to continue with this party scene idea as opposed to a kit, some cups would accompany the bottle of wine well. I thought back to the pharmaceutical notion and continued this by creating white paper medicine cups with divorce stamped on them. It was difficult papering these to make them look authentic but I finally got there.

When making the tissue box I instantly thought about those wipes you can use in hospitals and the packaging that they come in. Although this design would have suited the medical packaging that has dominated the other packaging designs, I had to assess the use for tissues during divorce. From this I concluded that a medical labelling would only accentuate a divorced woman's anguish (they would perceive them self as lesser than a married woman). So I decided to create something that was a little light hearted. I researched tissue boxes and there were frequent designs with crying faces on the packaging, I like the idea of packaging demonstrating its use however this was still quite pessimistic. I looked into 50's animations, for the humorous side of things and came across Ernie Pintoff. I like his simplistic style and started using paper illustration to create a crying face that was slightly humorous after many 2d attempts I created a 3d face. The nose was the place where the tissues were pulled from, which accentuated the humour. I also custom stamped each tissue with facetious messages such as marriage is grand but divorce is 100 grand. I enjoyed making this and was pleased with the outcome.

I booked a day in screen printing to customise the blank voodoo doll, this was a tricky process as I was working with a 3d surface which is something i haven't done in screen printing before. I printed of a list of things a divorced wife usually thinks or says about their ex husband, they were very American phrases, however this saved me time in making a list myself. I printed each quote in a random place onto the doll. The doll looked great, all I needed were pins and a box...

I researched voodoo doll packaging, as I wasn't sure how people would buy them? (Boxes,bags or alone) I decided that a box would be most appropriate, because I enjoyed making the tissue box so much I wanted to create a similar packaging for the Voodoo doll. Vodou has come to be associated in popular culture with the lore of Satanism, zombies and "voodoo dolls". While there is evidence of zombie creation, it is a minor phenomenon within rural Haitian culture and not a part of the Vodou religion proper. Such manifestations fall under the auspices of the bokor or sorcerer rather than the priest of the Loa. It has its origins in African (Haitian) tribes. So I wanted a box that conveys this. I started making African voodoo doll heads from paper. These were ruined during the leak that happened in my home 1 week ago, so I tried to replicate this in a box form using the red and white colour theme for consistency. The end product was fun and doubled as a storage box for the doll rather than one that is disposed of. The doll is removed from the mouth which is open, so the box isn't destroyed when the doll is taken out.