Diorama Scavenger Hunt
The Promotional Mailer of My Dreams
This double-sided diorama showcases my illustration, design, and screen printing skills. I imagined the concept of something mailed flat in a 6”x9” envelope that turned into a 3D diorama many months ago. Once I realized I could laser cut the chipboard and screen print the imagery myself, the project started to get rolling.
Double Sided Design
I decided to make the most of both sides of the diorama and created two different scenes that featured my imaginative illustration style.
Ocean Smorgasbord & Carnival Forest
Here you can see my initial sketches of both scenes.
Laser Cutting
After ordering a massive stack of chipboard and cutting it down into 14”x15” pieces, I spent ten hours standing in front of a laser cutter at Honolulu Tool Library. This was a much better way to cut a precisely cut outline than for me to cut out the top edge by hand. Thank goodness for technology!
Silkscreen Shenanigans
I spent many hours refining my sketches to that both Ocean Smorgasbord and Carnival Forest could be printed with two colors: the top color would be translucent in order to create a third color where they overlap.
Nunya Business
In order to present a cohesive bundle, I also screen-printed business cards with a funky, 2 color pattern on the back.
Printing Up a Storm
I took my 100 chipboard pieces and printed like a fiend! Thankfully, the translucent overprinting worked just as I had hoped so they turned out amazing. I’m very thankful for the printmaking studio at Honolulu Printmakers. The amazing creative community is a big part of why I love living on O’ahu so much! It’s a tight-knit, supportive group of wildly talented folks.
Dusting Off the Cobwebs
I put my semi-dormant BFA in Printmaking to the test and it was just like riding a bike. This diorama was my first screen printing project in about seven years, but now I’m back in business with my own screens and a brain overflowing with ideas. Stay tuned for more printing projects!
CARNIVAL FOREST
OCEAN SMORGASBORD
Video Proof
If you’d like to see video footage of the printing process, check out this reel I made showing all the steps.
