Reconnaissance

The Lay of the Land


I have visited my grid several times and made some reference photos to go with it.There are 16 shops in my square but unfortunately many of them are shut down, and lots of the buildings are very similar. However one or two do stand out, especially the building that houses the Yorkshire Bank, which looks quite out of place compared to the rest of the street.

various photos of my grid area

GRID 2

This is my first of two solo projects, and I am hoping to use traditional techniques but still create a way of interpreting my grid area in an original and interesting way.

The first thing that I needed to do was become familiar with the section of town that I had drawn.

My grid runs through the middle of Huddersfield's main shopping High Street and includes the main length of the pedestrianised High Street, as well as the shops that run it's sides, so it is a very straight run with out any bends, or off roads, so in terms of re-creating a map that won't get you lost I shouldn't have any troubles.

GRID the Boardgame

Grid, the boardgame!

This is the group project that my team and I are to be working on.
We know that each of us needs to use our Huddersfield grid as the basis not only for our game but also to find a way to include each of ours into this project.

We have decided to keep the gameplay mechanics simple where possible as it will make for easier gaming and look at something that will be a good idea to complete our own take on the project while still sticking to a frame work.

So far, we have this to begin with:

The Basics

The GRID game, is a simple more "old fashioned" type boardgame.

The object of the game is to build as large a group of blocks (buildings) on one your gameboard before the other players beat you to it.

The Buildings are made up from different shaped geometric shapes, making it more difficult for you to place your pieces as you go.

A die roll will determine what size block you get on your turn, but your opponent picks the shape.

There are also cards that can be drawn, which will greatly alter the outcome of the game.

Bigger pieces could be worth more resulting in a greater final score.

You can also remove and hinder other players as they try to build larger areas up.


We're not to sure of the finer details, but are going to be mocking up boards and trying some game testing to see what does and doesn't work.

Basically this project is broken into three parts,

GRID 1
1. A group project in which we must be create a board game, using a grid square section of Huddersfield to use as a starting point to invent some form of game that can be played

GRID 2
2. Continuing to use my square grid, this is a solo task in which I must again use that area to look at how I can find a way to map, chart the area myself in different ways.

GRID 3
3. Expanding on the last task I must again, working alone, use a different area and ways of looking at an area to create a kind of chart.

I shall be using the GRID 1, 2, 3 titles until they get full names to distinguish them apart.

My Grid section

GRID 3

GRID: Project 3

My third project based around the Grid idea allows me to expand my horizons and find an area that could be much further afield than Huddersfield. I am taking this opportunity to look at older ways of charting and navigation, and what maps actually are. 

This has been inspired by my work on both of the other projects, especially my second which has left me think about plotting and courses much more than standard ways to map reading or location finding. I have already, very briefly touched upon stars in their assistance to chart the skies and it interests me that flat 2D charts can illuminate paths via the celestial skies above that extend on so far.

I have always liked to draw basic maps when I have traveled abroad, I have found that it helps to give me a sense of direction and an idea of position when I have done.

Grid Project

This is a project contributing to my studies for a Virtual Reality Design and Animation degree at Huddersfield University

This is the third project in my Studio Practice Module and I shall be using this blog as a running diary of my progress