CRUMBLING BOOK COVER 

Final Book Cover

I was born and raised in Hawaii. The ocean will always be part of me. On my book cover I wanted to show how my view of water changed after watching the tsunami in Japan. Peoples lives and homes were destroyed from the ocean that I thought was so peaceful and pure. I explores this idea through my book cover project. I put a picture of a pineapple that was sliced up on by book cover to represent my show how my view on the ocean at home was crushed. The title of my book is Crumbling and the font is something I created. The words are made out of pineapple pieces that appear to be crumbling down. I created the font and edited the picture using both Photoshop and Illustrator. 

PRODUCT LOGO AND PRODUCT POSTER PROCESS

My partner Sonia and I had another conquest to conquer. We started to brainstorm how we would manifest a powerful product poster. We started of this process with getting used to photoshop and illustrator. Sonia and I split the sketch we chose into half and we created the sketch using illustrator and photoshop. My analytical drawing was of the bottom half of our sketch.

We then enraptured ourselves in the task of constructing a logo and company name. We decided on the name Vita Arco which was Latin for Life Protect. After we figured out out name we played with fonts and chose a font that was well suited with our vision. We revisited photoshop and illustrator and started to create our logo. We wanted a wave in our logo, but more of a abstract wave than a literal wave.

We created many different versions of our logo and narrowed it to one that we both loved and thought matched our prototype.

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM INSPIRATION

I visited the wonderful Metropolitan Museums and meandered in two exhibits, the Arms and Armor exhibit and the Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations exhibit. Both exhibits were very inspiring for my garment project. While indulging in all the detailed artifacts of both exhibits I took some pictures and drew some sketched of what I loved in both exhibits.

 

Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations 

Asian amor as the Arms and Armor Exhibit

Arms and Armor exhibition sketches 

PRODUCT POSTER

Final Product Poster

PRODUCT PROTOTYPE

Final Prototype

The product my partner Sonia and I came up with was a product that would help somebody stranded in the water. We were broth affected by the connection of water and tragedy. The Life Catcher is an inner tube that you could strap yourself in that would help you survive in the ocean until you were rescued. Our inner tube came with a GPS device, signal device, and a hook device. We created our prototype with drawing paper stuffed with newsprint and covered with ziploc bags. The head piece designed to protect your head and face from water is made out of wire and ziploc bags. 

ANATOMY PAINTING

Final Painting

The unarmored body painting was completing using a figure drawing that I sketched before. On top of my figure I painted radioactive isotopes to show what happen to an unprotected body during the tsunami. I sketched a radioactive isotope stretched along my figures body and painted my sketch. I painted radioactive isotopes on my figure, because of the radiation exposure Japan had after the Tsunami. 

PRODUCT AND PROTOTYPE PROCESS

My partner Sonia and I started to imagine a product that could be used to help somebody stranded in the water. We started with a Venn Diagram, we wrote down some emotions that both of our events had in common. We wrote down what our events had in common.

From the Venn diagram we concluded that we wanted to do a safety device that would help somebody be safe when they are stranded in the water and need help. Sonia and I started sketching down ideas of what we thought would be a affective product. Sonia and I thought of a low tech product that would be portable.

This was our first sketch, witch was a life jacket that was attached with a inner tube that would inflate. The tube had pockets for the signal signs which were a foldable and attachable large SOS sign. The life jacket would have a hood which would zip up an create a triangular helmet to protect the head from water. There would also be a GPS chip in the tube.

Our second sketch had the same concepts as our orignal idea. Instead of a life jacket, we thought of straps instead so it would be easier for the person to swim. The sketch had all the same components as the other original sketch had

The last sketch we cultivated was very similar to our second sketch. This sketch id not include the head piece, we thought maybe the head piece would be in the way and was not a necessity. In the end we decided that sketch number 2 would be the best fit and we started on the prototype.

ANATOMICAL FIGURE PAINTING PROCESS

I created a figure drawing painting that would be the end result of a person who was affected by the Japan Tsunami if they were not protected by our amor garment. I chose a figure drawing that I drew with a soft pose.

I used radioactive isotopes to represent the anatomy of my figure. I sketched the radioactive isotopes on my figure and played with placement of the lines on my figure. After I sketched the radioactive isotopes, I painted the isotopes and my figure and completed my painting.

FIGURE DRAWING AWESOME EXPERIENCE 

Figure drawing was always enticing, I have never actually had the chance to do a figure drawing session with a model. Gesture drawing was definitely my favorite part of figure drawing. I think dance really played a big part of the gesture drawing session. When I was drawing the model, I felt in my body what muscles or body parts were twisting or stretching. I could translate what I was feeling onto the my drawings.

Experimenting with different mediums of figure drawing was really interesting. I used sumi ink an charcoal and had a great time using both mediums.

ERUPTION EVENT PAINTING PROCESS

Volcano Eruption Event Painting 

 I painted a picture that I thought expressed how I felt during my event. Through my painting I wanted to express how I felt like erupting while watching the Japan Tsunami. I had so many emotions and thoughts rushing through my head and exploding out of my mind. I choose to paint a volcano erupting, I thought that it was a perfect representation of how I felt. The picked an image to paint and get inspiration from. 

Original Picture 

I drew the volcano on a illustration board. Then I thought about contrasting colors that I wanted to use. I tested out color palettes in my sketchbook. 

I ended up choosing the colors Ultramarine blue, Electric blue, light purple, Ivory Black, Hot pink, Cadmium Red and Yellow. The black and blue contrasted really well with the hot pink, yellow and red. The final painting expressed exactly what I wanted. 

THE CORRUPTED ABSTRACT PAINTING 

Final Design

COMME DES GARCON INSPIRATION

Comme des Garcon from Fall 2012 Ready to Wear

Photo from Style.com of course 

Oh boy oh boy! I love Comme des Garcon, this collection was pretty amazing. I loved the colors, patterns, texture, shape, and character. This pretty pink coat from the 2012 fall collection was like eye candy. The shape is very A-line. The properties are very over sized. The form is boxy and is very sleek and hard. The petter pan collar and the pink with the A-line form give it such a cute character. The geometric pattern shape goes the jacket movement and life. The rounded hem line and the edging of the sleeves are lovely. I love how clean this piece is. Can somebody please send me this coat? :) 

CONTAMINATED GARMENT PROCESS

I created a garment out of painted and printed drawing paper. The garment represented armor that I would be used to protect people from the Japan Tsunami. My motif in my event was corruption. I designed a armor like dress from the idea of corruption. I crafted a mood board that I thought represented the concepts that I wanted to explore and color choices that I wanted to work with.

I started of creating a sketch of my design. I envisioned 3-D cubes in my design. I thought the use of
 3-D cubes on the garment would add a nice dynamic to my garment. I wanted to add an armor like boxy shape to my garment but still have a feminin touch to it. I envisioned using a print of flowers on my design.

At first I wanted to do a dress, but the amount of time that I had, I focused more on the chest piece. From the sketches I moved on to the lovely form. I never created a pattern before, so I grabbed a T-shirt and threw it over the form. I cut out pattern pieces of from the T-shirt fabric and made a pattern for my dress.

After creating the pattern, it got a little easier I just had to trace the pattern onto paper, cut out my pieces and tape/glue them together. Once I had my construction done....it got a little tedious. I started cubing like no other. I created 2 sheets of drawing paper worth of cubes. Drawing paper is 18 inches by 24 inches I think. After cubing like crazy. I painted the chest piece black. Then I cut out the flower print to fit the corset. I cut out and painted the black jagged geometric shapes then glued it to the corset. Then the glueing the cubes process began. Then I painted the cubes black on top. Lastly I added the cute little butterflies at the top.

Tadda!! 

CONTAMINATED PAPER GARMENT 

Final Garment

My garment was inspired by the idea of corruption. My view on the ocean was corrupted after watching the tsunami in Japan. I wanted to create a garment that also had an armor like look to it. I began the process with concept sketches and a mood board. Then, based on a pattern I designed, I made a corset and chest piece out of paper. To decorate I printed out a flower print to put on the corset to represent innocence. I also constructed some geometric triangular shapes that invaded the flower print on the side of the corset to represent corruption. To decorate the chest piece I covered the chest piece in cubes that were cascading down towed the flowers on the corset. The cubes represented corruption, I painted the top of the cubes black. 

TOKYO CHOREOGRAPHY INSPIRATION

Dance has always been apart of my life. Dance has definitely opened me up to knew things. One of my favorite choreographers is named Tokyo. His work has influenced me a lot. His movement opens your mind and he explores space and energy in his work. His movement is unique and technical. I love watching his choreography. I would love to have lunch with him and talk about his creative process. I would want to hear what part of the music he listens to when he choreographs, where does he get his inspiration from, and how does he comes up knew movement. Tokyo's choreography has inspired me to reach out and be more free. I indulge in the concept of taking over space in my work. In all of my Tokyo's movement the body moves in a direction and doesn't stop until the body can not physically go any further. The concept of reaching a point until having to move, a sense of constant movement has always influenced my work. I apply Tokyo's influence to both my dancing, art, and fashion. Concepts that Tokyo uses such as always having a constant line and exploring space and energy is what I always try to achieve in my work. 

ERUPTION EVENT PAINTING

Final Painting

When the tsunami hit Japan I was watching the Japan news with my mom. We saw it happen live. As I saw the ocean consume hundreds of homes and people, I felt like I was erupting. I had so many emotions and thoughts going on at once. I wanted to create a painting that expressed how I felt. I choose to depict an image of a volcano erupting and painted the volcano using contrasting colors. I used colors like black, blue, purple, hot pink, yellow, red, and orange to convey the feeling of all the intense emotions that were radiating out of me.

CRUMBLING BOOK COVER PROCESS

I designed a book cover and created a special font for my book cover. I based my book cover of off how I felt toward the Japan Tsunami. The first thing I did was envisioning a font that I wanted to use on my book cover. I sketched down the font that I thought was appropriate for the book. I titled the book "Crumbling". 

After creating a font, I needed a picture that I was going to encorporate onto my book cover that related to my event. I imagined a pineapple all sliced up on my book cover. The shattered pineapple to represent how my vision of the water was shattered. I then went on a hunt to look for a pineapple in NYC. It was actually pretty easy to find a decent pineapple. I took some shoots of this epic pineapple. 

Photoshop and Illustrator were very helpful during this process. I cut the pineapple up using illustrator and collaged the image and my font to create my book cover. 

GREY SCALE PROCESS

I have never really worked with paint before. I painted a grey scale on a illustration board. I really experimented with the different shades of grey. I mixed black and white to come up with a gradiating grey scale.

I cut and pasted together a grey scale out of little pieces of grey, black, and white pictures and I had to figure out a smooth transition from white paper to black paper.

The most interesting part really was just getting to know paint and mixing colors. Figuring out things like adding the smallest dot of white paint makes a huge difference. Also things like how to make a color brighter or more dull. I painted a color wheel, from this project I really understood how to create a particular color you want to achieve.

THE CORRUPTED ABSTRACT PAINTING PROCESS

I wanted to design a black and white abstract painting inspired by how I felt personally toward the Japan Tsunami. I started with a mind map, I wrote down intense emotions that I was feeling throughout watching the tsunami. The mind map also included sensory experiences like what I heard, physically felt, and saw. 

From the mind map I selected a few words that I felt strong about. I choose the word corrupted, I felt that "corrupted" was the perfect word that represented how I felt. 

 I started sketching a design that represented a sense or corruption. I came up with 3 designs that I really liked, and then narrowed it down to one design.

1st Design

2nd Design

The Final Design (The Winner!)

The final abstract painting was painted on a 12 by 12 Gesso board. I changed the composition of the final painting and tweaked my original design.

Aloha! The first "challenge" my class had to complete was to reflect on a event that affected us personally, locally, nationally, or globally. This "challenge" might have been easy for everybody...but I have a pretty blessed life and also a very non dramatic life. Some of my classmates had really dramatic events, involving kidnap, death, and crashes. I had nothing near tragic that happened to me personally compared to my class mates. I choose the Japan Tsunami for my event. Even though I personally did not experience the event, I was affected by the event personally. The Japan tsunami was very personal for my family and I. I am full Japanese and have friends and family all over Japan. When the tsunami occurred I was watching it happen from a live feed on the Japanese news. After watching the news with my mom and making sure my friends and family were okay, my view of water was corrupted. I always loved the water and most of my memories were with the ocean. What I thought was so pure, calming, fun, and whole turned out to be something powerful, destructive, and dangerous. My views of the ocean were corrupted from the tragic tsunami that I saw take away people homes and lives.

Beautiful Lanikai Beach, Oahu (My favorite beach)

Powerful an destructive Japan Tsunami 

Aloha my name is Malina or Malinka... I love to walk around everywhere and just take in everything around me. I always have my i-pod with me and a earphone in my left ear. And now I will start talking in third person boy oh boy...

Malina Yanai was born and raised in Honoulu, Hawaii. Malina started traveling as a baby and has been exposed to many different types of cultures and surroundings. She has taken inspiration from her travels and incorporated it into her work. Malina has always had a passion for creation and a strong interest in fashion. Malina grew up with a very creative household. She grew up going to textile meetings, production meetings, assisting photo shoots, and watching her mom's sportswear design company flourish. Malina started working at Betsey Johnson at the age of 14 and by the age of 17 she was working at Diane Von Furstenburg. Malina desires to build her own design label and hopes to share her  fashion designs with world. She hopes to see people on the streets wearing her clothes.