Tung Nai — The Anh

artefact study & wearable design

(left to right) The artefact and my final work

Core Idea: Study an art artefact, using it’s characteristics to design a wearable item
Medium: 2D + Model-making
Outcome: an artistic poster + 1 wearable
Year: 2019
Time spent: 1 month

From a list of artefacts, I chose this traditional Vietnamese lacquer painting - “Tùng Nai”
Although arduous, lacquer is better known for its brilliant use of exotic materials, such as gold leaves or egg shells. “Tùng Nai” utilizes pearl inlay along very common lacquer colors (brown, black and vermilion), revering the pearl’s eye-catching qualities. The deer presented here represent the spiritual aspect of life, symbolizing beauty in its purest forms.
I began by taking it apart under these 6 visual elements:

Color
Form
Lines
Shapes
Texture
Space

Each element was brought to light by tracing the artefact and annotating my observations. (click to see annotations)

Color

Shapes

Lines

Shapes

Texture

Space

=======================

Out of all the body parts on a human body, I was drawn to the top half more, particularly the long lines from our shoulders down our hands, and arm pieces are just freaking badass in general.

My vision quickly changed after realizing the arm moves way too much to design a working, durable wearable.
So I opted for a mask/headpiece instead.

The evolution of my headpiece

Wearing the wearable, feeling how it fits me, both physically and aesthetically

Designing a poster, adding slits to retain the ‘spiritualness’

Final brainchild

This project was integral to my abilities as an artist/designer, as it trained me to think, design and critique with the essential concepts and principles underlying all good design. Not just design-wise, but my worldview completely got upgraded.

> next: Hò Biển - 3D Visualizer

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