The Challenge: Design a doorbell or door knocker for a famous person or character, either real or fictional. 

 

This model of a door knocker, made to look like brass, is designed for Blair Waldorf, the fictional character from "Gossip Girl" who is the quintessential Upper East Side princess. 

 

Why Initials? 

 

Initials at first might seem like a boring choice, as someone could obviously be identified by his or her initials. However, Blair Walforf is different. She presents herself as her own brand; she is someone to be coveted for her money, status, and fashion. Therefore, she doesn't need to be represented by anything other than her initials, in the same way that we can identify Louis Vitton just by the "LV" initials. 

As Blair comes from a family very decadent and showy about their wealth, I thought that using fancy script seemed appropriate. The lettering is very thick, meaning it would have a lot of weight, as Blair perceives herself as very important. 

 

If the door knocker were to be manufactured, it would be made of cast bronze. The true indication that this door knocker is for the wealthy is that it would need to be custom made. An artist or manufacturer would need to first make a mold for the door knocker, then cast the door knocker in sand, and then spend a large amount of time finishing the surface of the door knocker. 

The door knocker is made of modulan. I cut the modulan using a band saw and then sanded it into shape. I then painted the modulan with sandable gesso to remove the porous nature of the surface of the modulan. After sanding the gesso so it was completely smooth, I painted over the gesso with metallic acrylic paint. I then varnished the modulan to give it the sheen that we expect from bronze.