Before we get to the city itself, a few pointers re. presenting your work for OGR; you've reduced the size of your thumbnails to such an extent that even as a fullscreen document, your presentation is hard on the eyes! I don't think that very strong background template is helping your cause much either. In short, it's all a bit over the place in terms of presentation, but easily remedied next time around; bigger images, and truthfully, most things look best on a nice white background!
So, Despina it is... Throughout all of your thumbnails for most of your cities, there's been this rather joyous, child-like quality. In reading your mission statement for your design of Despina, it's clear you're pushing the nautical theme. What's interesting - and difficult - about Despina however is, ultimately, it's not a boat, and actually, in its structures, it doesn't sound completely charming either; there are skyscrapers, antennae, windsocks and factories, with chimneys belching smoke; it almost sounds more industrial than 'sea-sidey' - so less like this:
There's technology implied by Calvino's description (radar/skyscrapers/industrialisation), so again, it's not quite that family-friendly, English-resort feeling: isn't this vision of a great ship amongst the dunes a bit more epic, a bit more cinematic, a bit more...
In terms of thinking about the architecture as being 'ship-like', looking at the shapes of these big white wonderful steamships gives you architectural inspiration like this:
You've got the colours and vibrancy of a port town, but again, if you take from Calvino's description a sense of modernity, then maybe the port area is more industrialised and massive, as opposed to 'family friendly' and expo-like:
So, in summary, I'm wondering if you might need to just look back at Calvino's language re. the type, era and scale of the 'shipness' that Despina shares, and think about something a bit more imposing?
OGR 08/10/2015
ReplyDeleteHi Robin,
Before we get to the city itself, a few pointers re. presenting your work for OGR; you've reduced the size of your thumbnails to such an extent that even as a fullscreen document, your presentation is hard on the eyes! I don't think that very strong background template is helping your cause much either. In short, it's all a bit over the place in terms of presentation, but easily remedied next time around; bigger images, and truthfully, most things look best on a nice white background!
So, Despina it is... Throughout all of your thumbnails for most of your cities, there's been this rather joyous, child-like quality. In reading your mission statement for your design of Despina, it's clear you're pushing the nautical theme. What's interesting - and difficult - about Despina however is, ultimately, it's not a boat, and actually, in its structures, it doesn't sound completely charming either; there are skyscrapers, antennae, windsocks and factories, with chimneys belching smoke; it almost sounds more industrial than 'sea-sidey' - so less like this:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01694/british-seaside-du_1694839c.jpg
and more this:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01848/9_1848236i.jpg
There's technology implied by Calvino's description (radar/skyscrapers/industrialisation), so again, it's not quite that family-friendly, English-resort feeling: isn't this vision of a great ship amongst the dunes a bit more epic, a bit more cinematic, a bit more...
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/4d/6a/0a/4d6a0aaf723ef8b6bb567941c4a575ff.jpg
http://www.originalwildlifeart.com/images/Titanic-Art-final-farewell-desktop.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zE19l1e02A
In terms of thinking about the architecture as being 'ship-like', looking at the shapes of these big white wonderful steamships gives you architectural inspiration like this:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Sydney_Opera_House_Sails.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Guggenheim_Bilbao_06_2012_Panorama_2680.jpg
You've got the colours and vibrancy of a port town, but again, if you take from Calvino's description a sense of modernity, then maybe the port area is more industrialised and massive, as opposed to 'family friendly' and expo-like:
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/604/custom/shipping-singapore-guariglia_60456_990x743.jpg
So, in summary, I'm wondering if you might need to just look back at Calvino's language re. the type, era and scale of the 'shipness' that Despina shares, and think about something a bit more imposing?