Researching the different cultures

In order to begin my project I needed to reaearch into the different cultures and traditions around the world, in my sketchbook I have looked into the ways of life of those in India, Japan, Africa, China and so on, I have also looked at Islamic religion. I have used books and internet resources as well as gallery visits to gather this information. I decided it would be useful to not only look at there ways of life and traditions, such as African culture using a lot of natural resources to create the majority of their belongings but also to look at the patterns that already exsist from these cultures. I wanted to discover what was the meaning behind the patterns and symbols they create, for example the Islamic Hamsa is to ward off evil and keep the carrier of the Hamsa symbol safe. This research gave me the starting point to continue with my project and begin to develop my own ideas for patterns and ways of working.