OUIL406 Visual Communication - Roughs and Deciding on a Theme/Idea

I decided to make roughs for three of the themes that i was most interested in. These were:
. Isolated Cities
. Cities twinned with Leeds
. Cities that share the same name as well-known cities

Cities Twinned with Leeds - Typical skyline idea, showing important landmarks/features of the different cities. This was dull. 

Cities that share the same name as more well known cities - I liked the bottom left design that I had come up with, it reminded me of looking at google maps and seeing the streets and buildings from above. I could see the potential in this idea if it was developed but I just wasn't feeling it.  

Isolated Cities - Emphasis on landscape, cities/towns would be centred or just off centre depending on the city. I think this offers the most room for development and is also something i can see myself working on and enjoying quite a lot. At the moment, I'm trying to be more engaged with what I'm making and I think this theme will interest me and provide me with enjoyment whilst completing the work. 

I was also going to look at mountain towns/cities but by the time I got round to that I realised that I definitely knew which theme i wanted to go with, Isolated Cities. I think this idea strikes me the most purely because I find it fascinating how people can live in places that are so far away or that are practically unreachable. When you live in a busy city it's hard to escape the bustle of everyday life but these places look so remote and for the most part quite tranquil, quiet places to live, it'd be interesting to be able to spend time in these places and experience how life would be when you don't have everything you may need or want a 20 minute walk away.

I also found drawing architecture really dull and boring, I much prefer working with natural forms and landscapes so I think I'll enjoy working on Isolated Cities. I want the actual towns to take up a minimal amount of space, leaving most of the postcard to show the environment, emphasising how isolated these places are. I think the next step will be to do a bit more research into the 4 different places I have chosen and then go back to my roughs and develop these more, possibly at the actual size the postcard will be. I also need to think about colour.

OUIL406 Visual Communication - Places The Share a Name Visual Research

Paris, Texas vs Paris, France

St Petersburg, Florida vs St Petersburg, Russia

Ottawa, Ontario vs Ottawa, Kansas

Cairo, Illinois vs Cairo, Egypt

Athens, Greece vs Athens, Ohio

La Paz, Bolivia vs La Paz, Mexico

Moscow, Kansas vs Moscow, Russia

Perth, Scotland vs Perth, Sydney

Memphis, Egypt vs Memphis, Tennesse

Sydney, Australia vs Sydney, Canada

For this idea I think it'd be pretty cool to do a set of four postcards of the more well known places on this list, but rather than doing the better known place, the postcard will show the lesser known version. For example rather than showing Sydney, Australia, the postcard would show Sydney, Canada. I think this is a pretty strong idea and could work well if executed right. 

OUIL406 Visual Communication - Visual Research for Cities Twinned with Leeds

Leeds, England

Brno, Czech Republic

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Dortmund, Germany

Durban, South Africa

Hangzhou, China

Lillie, France

Louisville, Kentucky, US

Ulan Bator, Mongolia

Once again I'm not entirely sure which 4 I want to try and make roughs for. Obviously Leeds would be one of the postcards and then I'd maybe want to make the other 3 postcards that had quite bit of contrast to how Leeds is. Or maybe even choose cities that are from different continents and try and decide that way.