Monday 5 March 2012

Travel Guides - Istanbul


ISTANBUL
Istanbul has been described as a 'labyrinth - it's layers are intertwined and every corner is full of suprises' - so I quickly decided that this maze idea could become a diagrammatic tool. The challenge was how to reflect the two sides of Istanbul, the European side and the Asian side. I decided to try to create a labyrinth map using carpets as the lines and then fill the holes with images of Istanbul. Looking at images of the spices and textiles for sale in the markets suggested a rich palette of colours such as the ones used in the Turkish Carpets.

I wanted to use the ribbon like nature of arabic writing for the hand drawn typography. So I started to experiment with the composition. 

The Bosphorus cuts through the city, but It didn't really work with the idea to have it running so freely across the labyrinth, so I decided to stylize that too.. I selected images that would work within the 'windows... the Grand Bazaar, the Underground cistern, the Blue mosque and Spice market on the European side and then the Palace, the Galata Tower and the Grand Hotel on the Asian Side with the two bridges over the Bosphorus and cruise boats in the middle 


Next I transfered the image to a larger sheet and coloured it with guache...

I added the carpets in the computer, but I'm not sure they work like that, I hope that the images are distinct enough, I wanted to stylize them and create 'patterns' from them. I am not sure that it didn't work better as a drawing, the finish might need a bit of a touch up here and there, but the excercise asked for visuals and a mock up and I think it works in that respect. 






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