Module 1, Project 3:
'My Cube'

This project was a quick succession of six designs, one for each side of a 20x20cm cube, which will be going on display somewhere in the Bonington (Notts Trent Uni Art & Design) Building, along with all the other students' cubes.

Side One: Self-Portrait Photograph

I never usually like any photos of me, but it's generally since they've just been 'Hey Jon, smile for the camera to show you're having a good time for future reference' shots. Each side of our cube was meant to reflect an aspect of our personality, so here, I was encouraged to experiment with different angles, framing, lighting, etc, in order to get something that gave a reflection on myself. The outcome of this photo was 'Doesn't like being the centre of attention, prefers corners and edges when in an open space'. While that does make it sound like some sort of psycho-analysis, it's true that everyone has traits that, when put into words, become a sort of insecurity. Anyway, it's a nice photo, isn't it?

Side Two: Identity Photograph

Side number two was described as 'A photograph to reflect who you are, without actually featuring yourself'. What I've done here is represented the breakdown between my dual lives, the real and the digital world. If you're reading this, you'll either know me most as Jon, or as Pixellated; it doesn't matter which, but the fact remains. The idea of creating a laptop from my sketchbook came as I remembered a few times in which I'd been working with my tablet for a fair while, and as I then went to work in the sketchbook, I made a mistake, and instinctively tried to press Ctrl+Z on the paper to undo the mistake.

Side Three: Colour

After a quick bit of research, I found that maroon/violet is the colour that reflects introversion, and I'd already had an idea for using the inside of the cube, so I put it into practice. The hole invites people to look inside the box, which is lit from the inside by a small, flickering tea light.

Side Four: Typography

I'd been watching a lot of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, and I came across a fantastic quote when he's discussing spoilt American teens:

"They're the sort of drivelling, unpardonable cretins who use the word 'party' as a verb and, when I'm in charge, and have established my Reich, those people are going to be punished. As will anyone who breaks wind for comic effect, men who wear flat caps, people who consider the Comic Sans typeface acceptable, and Capricorns. Don't know why I'm picking on them, really. I think I'm just drunk with power."

There was no way I wasn't going to use it.

Side Five: Drawn Self-Portrait

Not much to say about this one. It was incredibly apparent that I'm bad at doing serious, accurate portraits, so I opted for a nice, minimalist approach. Shows me rather well.

Side Six: Pattern

Finally, a gaming reference! I think this one's also fairly self-explantory, we all know how much Tetris a person can play when left to their own devices. It was my original intention to create an entire side's worth of blocks, then create the text using like blocks, but I found it was tedious enough doing this one by itself.