September 7, 2017
When I was a kid, I loved playing with duplicates of greeting cards, cutting out figures and assembling them into little shadow box art. Cardboard glued between the cards and attached to the background made the little figures pop out into space. The fact that they were flat and I could give them dimension was their charm. I never made anything worth keeping, but I loved making 2D art into a 3D world. I think that was the beginning of my love of set design.
I didn't have much exposure to theater arts, so instead of continuing to explore 3D imagery, I spent my time drawing and illustrating. Senior year, I saw a student's portfolio who'd graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in graphic design. Now here was a place where my love of art and lettering could translate into a gainful career.
The biggest thing I got out of studying graphics was that I could combine images together with typography to make something that could communicate a message. This was perfect! I didn't have to be an expert at drawing or photography–leave that up the other professionals–I was good at thinking up ideas and assembling images into a interesting way to communicate to an audience. Many years later, when I finally sought out a way to add a 3D element to my design, I went back to school and I pivoted into a career as a set designer. Here I could make 2D and 3D art come together
I still get a lot of pleasure making model pieces for productions. After the model is made, and the production in full swing, I take the extra pieces and incorporate them into a different art piece. Above you'll see one where I arranged the set pieces for All Shook Up into another art story about journeys and where the road might wind.
I love learning and writing about art and design. You can read more about my design process in my regular blogs and news from Lynn Grant Design. Leave a note so I'll know you visited, or become a subscriber so you won't miss any blog posts.