Personal Aesthetic – City Light Inspiration

For my personal aesthetic, I had a really hard time trying to find one that describes me. I do not have a very distinctive style that I like to wear, and I decorate with a broad variety of aesthetics and themes. In my brainstorming, I took a longer walk home from classes today and I found that simply walking at night gave me a lot of comfort. I fixated on the warm-toned lights and remembered that I truly love the time of day when all the city lights turn on. While I do not know if this is the proper name for this aesthetic, an aesthetic that feels personal to me is one inspired inspired by city lights.

A Walk Through Campus

I took this photo on my walk today, I love how the light is not completely gone from the sky, I believe the photo enhanced the colors a little, but that glow just after sunset is something that really stands out to me. I think that while the light from the lamp post looks somewhat green in the photo, I adore the comfortable quaint light it gives. Further back you can see the much warmer lights in the buildings, I feel this is also really important to this aesthetic as, to me, the buildings almost look warmer than they did when the sun was out.

Phoenix City Lights Horizon – Shutterfly

Seeing city lights whether it is from afar or I am walking right by them, is always very relaxing and beautiful to me. Without the sun the sights are much less discernable. It is rare to make out any wildlife, and there are less people to be seen outside of their cars. However, the lights almost highlight the parts of the world that are still awake. Headlights from cars are people in motion, windows from homes show that people are still going about their lives. Even the lights that shine on sidewalks or empty public places are shining in the areas where the few people who are still out and about will be walking. Unlike the sun that shines a light over everything, the city lights are like little spotlights that point out where life is.

While I would love to include this aesthetic in my final project, I am still very unsure of what I want to do with my project. If I wanted to use this aesthetic as inspiration I could look into making some sort of light fixture, either highlighting the comfy warm glow, or possibly trying to imitate a streetlamp.

Street Lamp Painting – Marcelina Bulai

I would be interested in doing this but I have also wanted to try to find something more practical. I think possibly building out a fold a way bed/storage area for my SUV would be something I would be really interested both in making and using. Car camping is not my favorite but it allows for much more comfortable and longer road trips than just camping or sleeping in a car without the bed. These represent a pretty wide range of effort. I feel that the lamp, while it is fun and is something that I can make easily make more complex, could be made a lot easier than an entire car buildout. Ideally I would like to find something right in between the two of these in terms of complexity and functionality.

Sources:

Phoenix City Lights Dusk Stock Photo 199140275. Shutterstock. (n.d.-b). https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/phoenix-city-lights-dusk-199140275