Moerheim and Saxony
A curated selection of the work I produced for my advanced design project. Which I chose to be about world building, and how visuals, both written and illustrative, can inform viewers about a world. How it functions, how the people live and various stories hidden within. I wanted to build something that felt real and lived in. But more importantly what is said without saying. Posing questions without a clear answer, one you as a view would need to figure out. So explore the world I’ve made, see what secrets and stories you can find. And of course always ask yourself why?
Kingdom of Saxony map -
This is the first thing I made as part of this project. We were tasked with creating a broad foundational piece of work, which over the year would be narrowed down in focus. So, I started of with a map. One of a whole fictitious kingdom. One with cities, forts and even the main roads that link them all. It can provoke a number of questions, who lives here? Are they humans like us, why have the built they way they have, why are part of the map blank? But these questions will never have a clear or cannon answer, that’s for you to decide.
Moerheim City Notice Board -
One of the first things I made for this degree project. I had around a month to design everything, build the board, print off all the notices and then weather them. I even made custom wax stamp molds.
Mistulpheim Contracts -
These are some of the first printed notices I made for the board. A pair of bounty contracts. One of which, the Man-eater, later became the subject of my final outcome for this project. A diary, written by a young journeyman scribe whom becomes fascinated by the giant. Even venturing out into the wilderness to catch a glimpse of it.
Mistulpheim Notices -
These are a selection of the digital designs I made for the notice board. I took a lot of inspiration from 16th century print and scripture. Keeping it within the vein of works from that era. Similarly for the illustrations, keeping it simplistic. Using line and hatching, as they would have done.
Icons and Seals -
What is a medieval notice without it’s seals and icons. These some of the few designs I made for the various guilds and religious groups found within Moerheim. Each representing and containing various motifs relating to either of their respective groups.
The Mistulpheim Man-eater -
As part of my final outcome, I wanted to create various pieces from my world. Along with the map, notice book and eventual book. I was posed an idea, why not make bust of a character in this world? And so, I did. With help from my lecturer Alan, I created four clay busts of the Man-eaters head, each a differing variation on how he may have looked. The end game I had in mind was a museum. A museum made by the descendants of Mistulpheim. A faux museum of a faux world. Each of these heads being reproductions of an archaeological find, along with the original unpainted artefact. Again it goes back to saying without saying. Leaving it up to you how you might see the Man-eater.
Orchestra of the Giants -
My piece de resistance, was the Orchestra of the Giants. The diary and accounts of Hendrik Van Arde. A journeyman scribe sent from Saxony to Moerheim to complete his apprenticeship. During his time there he becomes obsessed with seeing the giant for himself, and is willing to go beyond the norm to do so. The images above are the digital scans of the hand drawn and lettered pages. Each printed onto aged paper and bound in a leather book. It was on display in the faux museum I created, and visitors were prompted to pick up the book at read through at their leisure.
Museum of Moerheim -
My final exhibition was the museum of Moerheim. A faux, yet very real museum. Showcasing various artefacts and reproductions from the post golden age era of Moerheim. Within the exhibit were various tags, documenting what each artefact might be and may have been used for. It showcased the entirety of the final works I had produced over the year. While small, it did give you a glimpse into this world, a world that wouldn’t exist with my own imagination and work. I brought the world in my head, out and into the reality. Where anyone could explore, and discover the secrets and mysteries within.
