Thursday, November 28, 2013

Urban Camouflage


Yvonne Bayer — Communication Design

Born in Ulm, Germany in 1983, 30 year old Yvonne Bayer now lives and works in Cologne, Germany.  She is a communication designer — a mixed art between information-development and design that is situated how media intermission communicates with people. Bayer enjoys experimenting in different fields such as graphic design, conceptual design, culture and exhibition projects. She is also quite interested in artwork projects. Currently Yvonne Bayer is looking for interesting freelance projects.

Her education consists of having a diploma in Communication design, studies of Communication Design and Product Design at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. Bayer’s professors throughout her years of education consist of Prof. Sven Voelker, Prof. Laurent Lacour, Prof. Tania Prill, Prof. Florian Pfeffer and Prof. Hansjerg Maier-Aichen. From January to July of 2007 she attended Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm where she considered Interdisciplinary Studies.

Yvonne Bayer’s internship and professional experience is extensive and accurate. She has been doing Freelance work —self-employed work without being committed to a particular employer long term —since 2008 for various associations. Bayer’s first internship was in 2003 at Duodesign (Agency for Applied Ideas) and she has done two more since, her most recent one being an Internship at Eat Sleep Work/Play in London. She has also done advertising media design for Karlsruhe Artists’ Fair in 2010. Spiking her Urban Camouflage interest, Bayer attended an Urban Camouflage workshop at Pottfiction Summer Camp.

Her images were modeled by creating costumes and using products found inside of grocery stores to master urban camouflage. In one of her photos she created a costume made of gloves and made her subject lie in a sales bin full of the exact same grey gloves. In another one of her creations she used basic cardboard boxes to make an ingenious photograph set in a shipping room. Most of her images would be difficult to recreate and are all extremely inventive and creative.

In my work I tried to create images that model her techniques and design. Her style inspired me to think of new and creative ideas. Since I could not actually go into a store to take after her favourite technique, I worked at my house and school with what I had. She gave me an idea of what urban camouflage should look like and how it could be created. All in all in her work greatly influenced mine and was a guiding hand as I went throughout this project.

Various Examples: 


I chose this image as an example because I liked how it is located in the middle of a city. In addition the subject facing forward with their face showing is original and I believe adds to the picture. This photo stood out at me for several reasons, one of which being the contrast using the white of the snow and the multi-coloured posters to the fading daylight it the background. The use of this contrast greatly enhances the image making it appealing to the eye.


This is one of the images I chose because the artistic skill needed to create this photo is immense. To create the illusion of reality in this image creativity in painting was a much-needed quality. I enjoy the vibrancy of this image, as I believe it enhances the feeling of realism. In addition, the idea and photo are extremely creative as I have never seen nor imagined anything like it. 




The next image I chose was confusing and interesting, part of the reason why I chose it. It was confusing because it made you think about what it was supposed to look like and what it does look like. The viewer believes that it is supposed to look like the invisible man is not there but then you seen that the man in black is interacting with the supposedly transparent man.  Thus this makes the image interesting as well. This picture also took a creative hand to create and master perfection. 






The last photo that I chose because it was creative as well as being one of Yvonne Bayer’s design. This image could be described very much as urban and does a good job of representing that. The subject stands out just enough for you to know that it is not real, but also blends in for the benefit of doubt. I also enjoy the originality and yet normalcy of this image. This image could be described as original because of its perfect definition of urban without being too overdone. It is also normal because of its everyday qualities that do not make it stand out.  


My images: 




The process I used to create this image was first taking a picture of one of the seat's fabric, printing off four copies and  taping them together to create a somewhat realistic copy of the original seat. I had my subject wear black tights and have their arms behind their back to form this photo. Once I captured this image I edited it in Photoshop to make the contrast of seat similar to those around it. My inspiration for this image was simply seeing the chairs in the hub everyday and wanting to master that in camouflage. I chose to do the chairs in the hub because it seemed like a simple, somewhat creative idea. 


To create this image I needed two blankets that had the same texture and colour. I had the subject position themselves lying on the bed covered in the second blanket, while the first blanket lay underneath the subject. My inspiration to do this image was with the season of winter and representation of warmth in the blankets and light in the corner. I chose this location because it suited my idea with the matching blankets and the portrayal of fervour of warmth in the room. 



To master this image I needed to gather articles of fabric that was similar to colour of my couch. Once I had found sufficient amounts of the plum-burgundy tone, I centered the subject in the middle of the couch. I proceeded to place the pillows on either side of the subject with the corners in front to create that blending-into-the-background effect. I was inspired to create this image from the colour of the couch and a similar toned blanket that had laid upon it. It gave me the idea of camouflaging into my couch by using that blanket and other like hued articles of fabric. I chose this location because it appeared more   sophisticated and formal than my other two images which radiate a more settle feeling.