Specific Research

Project Research:

As my piece is going to be based around a station or underground station, I decided to have a look at some stations in Japan. I chose to look at Japanese stations due to how Japan is described as having a familiar style that cyberpunk has, as well as being one of the most advanced railways in the world.This could help me get ideas on the layout of the station, or the sort of assets/equipment could be placed in the station.

As our theme is Cyberpunk, I decided to have a closer look at stations in a cyberpunk style. I did this in order to get an idea on the sort of atmosphere to create for my piece, as well as colour ideas, and I can deduce that the cyberpunk style is often dark, with a few signs of bright, neon lighting. It also appears tense, with almost an abandoned feel. It could give off a feeling that the serving city is a very controlled space, with lack of people using the service, or maybe it was the site of an event that has made people steer away from the location.

As well as understanding the environment for a station setting, I also decided to do more research on the general atmosphere for a cyberpunk themed world. This would further help me grasp a better idea, as the topic of cyberpunk isn’t one that I am confident with. I do like, that although it is a mostly dark setting, there are hints of bright colours. This can also help me build up the environment for my final piece.

I also decided to have a look at assets and equipment, from Japanese stations in particular, to get an idea on the assets that I could add for my piece, as I want to see if I can add more detail than I added in my previous project. I had a look at ticket gates, display screens, platform barriers, and even Japanese locomotives. By appearance, they look more technologically advanced, which is something linked with cyberpunk. I hope I can use this to come up with ideas in order to extend the end result I intend to create for this theme.

Art Style Research:

The screenprinting technique is the art style I intend to use for my piece. I first came across it on a previous project, when I was researching railway posters. I liked how simple, but effective, the appearance of the style came out as, and I used it in a previous project to try it out on a smaller scale. Above are some examples of the screenprinting technique being used. I remember it mostly from looking at vintage railway posters, the source of how I found the art style. I had a look at other artists using the style, and I like how even though the technique is so simple to use, it can produce very effective artwork. In the previous project in which I used this technique, I did quite well, and enjoyed using it very much, so I hope I can continue to progress in the technique through this project.