Play in Colour
Gillian Cairns
This evolving design centres on a photograph of my hands playing the bagpipe chanter, using finger positions and musical notes to visually express my passion for piobaireachd, with a hidden code in finger lengths revealing which notes are played, all featured on a striking black T-shirt.
Design Brief
This design developed from a desire to share my love of bagpipes. The design brief to take a photo of our hands telling a story resulted in an image of my hands on the chanter which became the central feature of my final design.
I wanted to convey my passion for piobaireachd (pronounced “peeb-roch”) which is the classical music of the bagpipe. Piobaireachd tells a story which might be joyful, tragic or a respectful tribute and some pipers see these stories in colour as they play.
Description of the Project
The design has continually evolved as I incorporate new ideas. The length of the fingers now better reflect the secret I included in the design; I also added musical notes and placed the design in the centre of a black tee-shirt to make it more eye-catching. The only way to show all the design elements of a musical creation was with the instrument that inspired it.
Process
Oh! Did I mention a secret? well I should tell you now that the length of the ‘fingers’ tells you whether the finger is off or on the chanter, the longer length is off the chanter. When fingers are placed on the instrument as they are in the design the note that is produced is only played in the classical music.
You’re now privy to a design secret. Shhhhhh! Don’t tell.
A secret
About me
I have really enjoyed my introduction to design and being able to incorporate my other passions into my studies. I am very excited to continue to develop my design skills and see where they take me.