Week 1: Initial Research

THE FIRST STEP

The creation process of my Diagon Alley Shop project began with collecting a variety of reference images of Victorian buildings and placing them onto a PureRef board. This will be used to continually base my future decisions/ designs on real world examples of the period's architecture and pre-existing shop fronts, thus keeping within the established Victorian/ Dickensian aesthetic and world of Harry Potter.

Not being familiar with the Wizarding world I needed to do some research to ensure whatever I created would be appropriate for the pre-established aesthetics:

"A cobblestoned shopping area for the wizarding world, where Hogwarts students can purchase necessary supplies."

"There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon..." [1]

Building & Architecture Reference Board:

My research wasn’t limited to all things fantastical and fictional. I also delved into 19th century/ Victorian architecture.

One prominent recurring aspect of my references was the material separation of the various levels of the buildings, with the lower floor nearly always being highly decorative, eye-catching painted stone or wood adorned with fascia boards, panelling and columns. After researching a brief history of retail architecture:

“In the early to mid-19th century, increased interest in leisure pursuits and better urban transportation saw more people hitting the high streets on an afternoon.

Two key elements in architecture contributed to Victorian retail designs still enjoyed today: the availability of iron supports and plate glass windows.” [2]

The aforementioned plate glass bay windows meant you could display more, but that was quickly becoming old news given the wider access due to enhanced production. Standing out was essential, thus the elaborate, ornate shopfront was born. So as often is the case the theory behind the design was done to garner attention and attract all those would-be shoppers away from your competition (Presumably this manipulation exists in the Wizarding society also).

I also created a separate mood board for various materials that I will eventually incorporate into my shop. From bricks and blockwork behind worn plaster, cobbled streets, weathered ironwork and slate roofs, knowing what a building is to be made from will be invaluable when it comes to believability. Some of these will also be suitable for future tileable texture sets.

Materials Reference Board:

KEY INFORMATION from the week:

Diagon Alley's aesthetic is Dickensian/ Victorian with a whimsical wizarding twist.

Buildings in these styles involve 2 main elements, brickwork main buildings with a variety of uniform plate glass windows (the most notable of which being bay windows), with a lower shop section constructed with ornate woodwork.

Fascia boards and hanging signs were often highly decorated as the go-to place for branding and advertising your shops wares.

[1] Rowling, J.K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. London: Bloomsbury.

[2] Engl, H. (2019). A spotter’s guide to Victorian architecture. [online] Heritage Calling. Available at: https://heritagecalling.com/2019/01/11/a-spotters-guide-to-victorian-architecture/. [accessed January 2024].