Contents
Page
Task 1: 99 Luftballons
2
Task 2: Psychogeography
8
Task 3: Mapping
20
Task 4: Conditional Design
32
Task 5: Rules Based Design
38
Task 6: One A Day
46
Bibliography
51
1
2
Task 1: 99 Luftballons
3
Brief
The objective of today was to understand Concept Fanning, an exercise in which you push yourself to consider new ideas and think ‘outside the box’. You are given a problem, and come up with as many solutions as possible, each written onto an individual sticky note. Our suggestions could be written, drawn or presented in any manner so long as it could be affixed to the board. We were all asked to come up with as many ideas as possible, the minimum was ten. Once all the ideas were assembled, we had to organise them into appropriate categories. Our problem was: How to get a helium balloon down from the Heartspace.
Method
It became clear very quickly that if you approached the problem purely logically, you would soon run out of ideas. Consequently, I had to start thinking of the ridiculous and slightly impractical so that I had a full set of ideas. Some members of the class found it helpful to go down to the Heartspace
4
to visualise the problem. I started with very practical theories, I knew that Sulphur Hexafluoride is far heavier Helium, so if the pressure within the balloon could be altered it would eventually sink down. I later considered more extreme ideas such as sending in an army of ants, so the results varied in practicality enormously. As a class, we then assembled them into categories
5
such as practical ideas, delegating, impractical and impossible. Through categorising them we were able to see that many in the class had individually reached the same conclusion, and also how laterally most of us thought. We had all predominately taken very practical approaches, and whilst they worked, they were often the ideas had been repeated throughout the class. It was the less likely, the more adventurous ideas that sparked conversation and none of the more outrageous ideas were repeated. The advantage of completing this exercise in class was that you could
6
compare ideas with colleagues, who might also be able to help you develop them further or create new ones. Therefore, at home I found this a harder challenge than expected. I gave myself two new challenges: ‘How to paint a wall red’, and ‘What to do when you forget your umbrella’. Initially there didn’t seem to be much of a problem, it was only when I reached about ten ideas I would struggle to come up with more that weren’t repetitive of previous ideas. It is interesting to now compare how I developed from a fairly even amount of realistic and unrealistic ideas to a startling obvious amount of
impractical ideas (see images above).
Analysis
Initially, this task sounded easy. But this has taught me that good ideas are hard to come by and even if they’re stupid ideas, coming up with 20 ideas for one subject is actually quite difficult. There is also more than one way to come up with ideas, to go try and visualise the problem helps, or simply starting by throwing out the first idea to get the ball rolling. I’ll certainly consider using this approach in other projects, as I think a big problem designers face is simply using the first idea that comes to mind,
where as this concept proves that the first idea is probably the not the best. This approach is good alternative to mind maps, which are my current approach to problem solving, as mind maps usually don’t allow for many ideas, and don’t push you to consider the unlikely ideas that may be brilliant.
7
8
Task 2: Psychogeography
9
Brief
Today we discussed the concept of Psycho-geography and were instructed to embark upon a 30 minute DĂŠrive from the University. We were asked to immerse ourselves in this journey, not simply taking pictures but observing things we might otherwise miss, sounds, textures, lights, etc. These observations should be serendipitous and we were not dismiss anything as we deemed as worthless. We were then to collate our findings into and A4 page to be presented to the class the following week. Our findings could be presented visually, but were not limited to photos, and may include indexical markings, signs sounds or found art.
Method
I left the university with my phone and a few sketching tools, not really sure what I would find. I started to take pictures both of images that stood out to me (like the footprint in the cement) and also taking photos rather aimlessly to see what I might find in them later. I also tried to record the impression I received overall, some textures I could photograph but I also took rubbings of various tree barks. In an attempt to capture the autumnal feel of the
10
11
park, I took many photos of the leaves, both those of evergreen trees, fallen leaves and the change in colour of leaves. It wasn’t until I came to review my photos that I realised most of them were of leaves and trees although this was not the intention. Conversely, I also took photos of things I may not usually notice, for example the lock hidden in the gate. The practice of opening your eyes to the find the unexpected proved harder than I realised, and I found it very difficult to not rule things out on the basis that I couldn’t appreciate the beauty in them. I had to constantly remind myself that what I saw may not be the same as to what others saw. For example, the rust on the metal fencing I saw as unfortunate sign of deterioration and negligence but took the photo anyway. With hindsight, I now see that in an odd way there’s a rather beautiful comparison between the new healthy grass and the rusting man made structures. My approach to the impending presentation was fairly simple, I would organise my photos into categories such as indexical markings, tree species and photos with a central line of symmetry (which was a surprising amount of my photos).
12
However I knew I wanted to present something more substantial than a page of photos, and somehow had to combine the ‘feeling’ of being in the park and a useful piece of information. It was only after my group presentation when people commented on the number of the pictures of the trees,bark and leaves that I considered creating a piece that reflected the number or species of the trees in the park. I went back to the park and wrote down varying information about the trees, their height, whether they were evergreen or not, if they produced fruit etc. With this information I realised that and infographic would be an appropriate format to display the information I’d gathered. As to how the infographic looked -and what information it conveyed- I was still unsure. I decided to research how other designers presented information.
Research
I started by looking at a book on visual research1 which had an example of a how to present a walk which featured a lot of graffiti. Here the road signs and markings had been taken away to leave just graffiti , which in itself created a map outline so you
Images categorised as: bark textures, leaves, indexical markings/footprints, central line of symmetry, erosion.
13
14
15
could see where the streets where. Whilst this would be a great idea, I quickly realised that this works well because the graffiti were generally sentences, and due to being on a street would leave a pattern that resembled a street map. Because the walk I chose was in a park not a street, the map may have ended up looking messy rather than strategically organised. Consequently I quickly dismissed the idea of using text. Secondly I looked at a different interpretation that presented objects found, and thought this could work with tree species, however my research proved there were too many species, and so many overlapping boxes could have looked messy and illegable. Finally I realised I simply didn’t have time to develop ideas for every map I appreciated in this book. However I saw a very simple pie chart that I thought I could adapt, perhaps to visualise more than just tree species. I mocked up some drafts and then went into Illustrator to develop my ideas.
Analysis
I’m particularly interested in infographic pieces, so was keen to produce a piece that could convey information whilst maintaining a artistic aesthetic. Maps are usually created to direct people, but I considered a map that might convey information about the trees in the park. I then developed this idea to create pie charts that gave perspective to the facts. I’m pleased with the two pieces I’ve produced for this task. Initially, I really struggled to make pie charts that were both visually pleasing and mathematically accurate. I felt it was very important to demonstrate that I could produce a piece that looked professional but also could be used. Once I’d learnt how to use the graph tool in illustrator, the main problem was I felt the piece looked incomplete. I added shadows, but if I had more time I would have liked to develop the idea further, perhaps in making the circles animate so it would be appropriate for web or mobile platforms. Similarly, I would like to have developed the map to a further stage, include types of flowers etc. but this is limited by time constraints in this instance. Whilst maintaining a similar colour scheme is important for continuity, I’ve now learnt that this can hinder a piece if it requires a large spectrum of colours, in this instance for the key. I’m very happy with the development of this piece, especially as I learnt how to use a new aspect of Illustrator.
16
17
Holly
Ash
Beech
Oak
Pine
Fir
Cedar
Larch
WIld Cherry
Elm
Horse Chesnut
Aspen
Tree speicies within Lammas Park Task 3: Psychogeography
18
Non native tree species
Larch trees
Conifers and fruit bearing trees
Oak trees
Deciduous Trees
Trees over 7 feet tall
19
20
Task 3: Mapping
21
Brief
Our challenge this week was to consider the process of mapping and conveying information in different ways. We were encouraged to read around the subject and explore the works of other data visualisers for inspiration. Ultimately we were tasked with coming up with four infographics in a week.
Research
With this task I felt it was really important to start with researching, as this might give me some ideas for the subject of my infographics. I looked a few books, one called Inforgraphics2 which I had recently bought from the British Library and contained many simple but very elegant pieces of data visuals, mostly in insignificant and light hearted subjects. I was also shown a website with this piece by Nicholas Felton3. I was particularly inspired by this piece as it was an annual review, so the information was personal, and probably mostly of use for him, but as a result it was probably quite quick to research and produce. I decided that due to the time limit, it would make sense for me to produce some infographics for which I already had the information, or are more personal to me. My most successful source of
22
23
inspiration was David McCandless’ Information is Beautiful4 who is one of my biggest inspirations. Whilst I didn’t end up directly mimicking any of his work in particular they did influence my style. McCandless aims for a clean, minimalistic look which I tried to apply to my work too.
Method
Following my research I soon realised it would be practicaI to make two using information I readily available to me. Therefore, I decided to do one on my book collection, and one on the amount of pets I’d had in my lifetime. The pets inforgraphic was more challenging than expected because of the sheer number of animals, and I was aiming to fit them all on one A4 sheet. My concern with the book infographic was the opposite, for an A4 page I had comparatively little information, and was concerned the page would be a little basic. I decided I would make illustrations of the books proportional to the amount of books I have in that genre. For my last two pieces, I wanted to create something that had a more practical outlook, and was designed with a user in mind. I created an conversation piece, where you could select from a flow
24
chart of phrases that had a French translation underneath so that the user could select how they wanted the conversation to progress. Whilst this was initially supposed to be a relatively simple task, I decided to create a small skyline illustration for the bottom boarder, which ended up taking a lot longer than I anticipated. For the final piece I wanted to create a map, partially to utilise skills learnt in the previous task and also because I think maps are some of the oldest forms of infographics so it seemed an appropriate place to start. I selected London and New York on the basis both are easily researchable. However I soon realised that both have a lot of boroughs, which would all require individual labels. Trying to create a minimalistic aesthetic when I had a lot of information proved difficult, regardless of the weight or typeface, there was a lot of information that also needed to not look cluttered. Following feedback from my peers and lecturers I was advised that the lines labelling the boroughs where perhaps too thick, which made the page too disordered and a little confused. As a result I tried labelling using thick and thinner lines, and tried using a thinner typeface.
25
My Library
Tuesday Challenge: Infographics Case 3: A Summary of my Bookshelves. By Amy Papworth Concept Development
Science, Philosophy & History
Noam Chomsky, René Descartes, Lesley Levene, Leonard Susskind, Ian Stewart, Plato, Stephen Hawking, Orlando Figes, Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw, Richard Dawkins.
Design & Travel
Naomi Klein, Rick Poynor, Ellen Lupton, John Duckett, Sean Adams, Martin & Simon Toseland, Roland Barthes, Wael Shawky, Alex Bellos, George Blagowidow, Prenslauer Berg.
Thrillers
John le Carré, Agather Christie, Raymond Chandler, Paula Hawkins, Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, Harper Lee.
Classic Fiction
JRR Tolkein, Daphne du Maurier,George Orwell, John Steinbeck, CS Lewis, F Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens, Arthur Connan Doyle, Arthur Miller.
26
27
Paris
Tuesday Challenge: Infographics Case 1: Pets during my lifetime Amy Papworth Concept Development
Hampstead
St Albans
Alfie the Goldfish
Kaa the Snake
Chesnut the Horse
Baby the Rabbit
Trouble the Rabbit
Bournemouth
Ebony II the Black Labradour
Ealing
Satin, Cinamon, Penny, Poppy, Tuppence the hamsters
Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Debussy the Guinea Pigs
Peppermint the Rabbit
Marmite the Rabbit
Fudge the Rabbit
Freddie the Rabbit
Snowflake the Rabbit
Flopsy the Rabbit
Maidenhead & Windsor
Xana the Ewe
Alice the Goat
Oak the Brown Labradour
Birch the Yellow Labradour
Ebony the Black Labradour
Toffee the Rabbit
Halley, Henrietta, Hayley, Harper, Heyden, Heidi the Hens
Dakota, Daphne, Deanna, Debbie the Ducks
Do you have outside seating? Il y a une terrace?
Can I pay with card? Puis-je payer avec ma carte bleu?
Do you have decaf? Avez-vous un décaf?
Where is the river from here? La Seine, c’est dans quelle direction d’ici?
To take-away, please. A emporter, s'il vous plaît
I’d like a white coffee and a croissant please. Je voudrais un café au lait et un croissant s'il vous plaît
Excusez-moi, où puis-je trouver un café pres d’ici?
Excuse me, where can I grab a coffee near here?
Where’s the nearest Metro Station? Où est le métro le plus proche?
Is this gluten-free? Est-il sans gluten?
Do you have wifi? Avez-vous le wifi?
Are you serving lunch? May I see the menu? Servez-vous un répas de midi? Est-il possible de voir le menu?
What do you recommend? Qu'est-ce que vous recommandez?
Thank you, that was delicious! Merci, c’était délicieux!
The bill please. l'addition s'il vous plait.
Tuesday Challenge: Infographics Case 4: Café conversation in Paris By Amy Papworth Concept Development
28
Harrow
City Islington Haringey Camden Westminster Kensington & Chelsea
Enfields Hackney Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Newham Redbridge
Hillingdon
Havering
Brent Ealing Hammersmith
Barking
Hounslow
Bexley Greenwich Kingston
Bromley
Richmond Wandsworth Merton
London
Sutton
Lewisham Southwark Croydon
Lambeth
Tuesday Challenge: Infographics Case 3: A Summary of my Bookshelves. By Amy Papworth Concept Development
Hamilton Heights
Harlem
East Harlem
Morningside Heights
Spanish Harlem
Upper West Side Central Park
Yorkville
Lincoln Centre Columbus Circle
Upper East Side
Theatre District
Midtown
Hell’s Kitchen Garment District
Murray Hill Kip’s Bay
Chelsea
Gramercy Greenwich Village East Village
West Village Soho Tribeca Financial District
Lower East Side Chinatown City Hall
NEW YORK
Washington Heights
Tuesday Challenge: Infographics Case 2: New York By Amy Papworth Concept Development
29
30
Following the class presentation I was pleased with my work but wanted to develop the map especially, I felt that the map could convey more information, so I found articles online on unemployment5 and rent prices6 and used the colour of the boroughs as an indicator. Again, it was important for me that the information was correct, as if it were a real brief for a client.
Analysis
This has been the most enjoyable task for me and I’m pleased with the professionalism I achieved and the colour scheme I selected. I greatly enjoyed researching other data visualisers, and whilst some of the techniques used (such as programming) I’m not yet able to use, I was pleased with what I achieved in the given time parameters. If I’d had more time I would have like to create a complete set of the London/New York comparison pieces, but the same facts where not as easy to find nor would the results be entirely fair as there are multiple factors to include when comparing rent in different countries. Consequently these would not be a fair or honest comparison I would also like to have considered different approaches to the pets infographics, as I didn’t allocate much time to develop my ideas, unlike the London infographic. I have a very clean style but perhaps the pet infographic could have been a good task to experiment with. As you can see in my sketches and my development work I did experiment with different styles and perhaps if I’d had longer to work on this project I could have progressed with these experiments.
31
32
Task 4: Conditional Design
33
Brief
Today’s task involved working in small groups and practicing simple drawing games. I worked with Laura and Chris and together we worked on a game that involved joining random dots as triangles, and filling with stripes. At the end we put are images on the wall and compared them with the other groups.
Method
The approach was fairly simple, once we had our game we simply carried it out in groups. Towards the end it became a bit more tricky as we started to run out of space and with so few colours, we had some colours the bordered triangles of the same colour. Whilst this wasn’t desirable, we changed the direction of the stripes so it didn’t look out of place. Laura created a video for the process, which has been uploaded to YouTube and can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOSK38eKWuk
34
Analysis
Whilst I am pleased with the overal result, I’m aware it could have been neater and better put together with a bit more time. It would have been good to try it with black pens with different thicknesses or perhaps a combination of pens and pencils. I think that the neatness of this task calls for pens over paints and inks, but I would have been enjoyable trying this game with different mediums. We were told that this task would be related to a task where we would create a drawing game of our own, so we did discuss our game possibilities. however this probably delayed the start of drawing on this project.
35
36
37
38
Task 5: Rules Based Design
39
Brief
For this task we were to use our experience in the previous challenge to create a simple game. I chose to stick with drawing games, as they could be more easily practiced than 3D games. We were to instructed to test our games out and practice them using slight variation on the current rules, and finally impose them on to marketable products.
Method
I practiced various drawing games, but quickly settled on a simple game that created a 3D effect. The rules are very simple, you start by drawing a four sided shape of roughly equal proportions and use one of the existing sides to create another four sided shape, however the angle and direction of the shape need not stay the same, in fact I learnt that the image looks better when there is a high contrast in the direction. The greater the contrast, the more tactile the image looks at the end.You continue doing this until you have filled the page. I started by doing simple line drawings with a thick pens and then took the image in the Illustrator so it could later be used to super impose on to products.
40
41
However, I knew that the game should be experimented with, so I tried different approaches- using metallic colours, using triangular shapes, using different colours and finally using no boarders only shading the faces instead. I felt if the game translated easily into other variations that still gave appealing outcomes, then the game would be successful. For all of these examples, I asked two children I look after to try and help, they understood the rules well, and were able to create interesting imagery will little assistance (the children were 12 and 14). I’m very pleased with the outcomes, and decided to do some screen prints to see how the outcomes would vary. I printed on to cartridge paper but experimented with repeat printing and colours. I also
42
tried on print on black paper, but as the ink was purple and grey the paint only showed up when it was wet. Whilst this meant the print was not a success by the time it dried, the photo made for a good image to be super imposed onto the mock t shirt. I produced too many prints to fit all of them in one picture, so took a panoramic picture instead. I selected the more abstract prints to impose on to t shirts, but if this was to be taken into a professional environment I would like to see a larger series of t shirts using more of the prints.
43
44
Analysis
I enjoyed this task as it allowed us to develop the game in anyway we liked and we could experiment with the game in different manners according to our preferences. I decided to take the game into prints as I thought a simple image like this would work well with repetition and a variation in colour. If I’d had more time, I would like to have taken more of the prints and super imposed them onto t shirts to create a collection. This task could be taken further into other merchandise ideas, or even a small collection of prints. I believe that the simplicity of the game is it’s best
attribute, as it allows for progression to other software pieces, this could have been produced as an animation, but I also really enjoyed the variations by slightly altering the rules to create a new set of outcomes.
45
46
Task 6: One a day
47
Brief
The brief for this additional task was very open- simply to practice doing something every day for a week, be that type based, illustration, programming or whatever we so choose. I set myself that challenge of producing an infographic a day on airports.
Method
Whilst initially a daunting task, producing the infographic wasn’t as difficult once I had set up the layout, as I then repeated it for each airport. One of the greatest challenges was keeping everything accurate, so that down the decimal point the illustration reflected the statistic accurately. I gathered the information from multiple sites7 and then produced one final infographic of the summary of the aviation industry in America in total. Gathering the information took the longest time as it came from various sources, making the tickets themselves was comparatively quick. The biggest obstacle was definitely that I was striving to produce one each day, but despite that it was a very rewarding challenge.
Analysis
The most significant down fall with this task that I didn’t manage to produce one for each 7 days, but I am very pleased to have completed the five tickets and a separate infographic. If I’d had more time I would like to have continued the tickets, however the lesser important/smaller the airport the less information was available on it, even whilst I was researching the airports, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to find as much information once I had completeled the top five airports. It would have been intresting to compare these airports with other airports around the world, I chose America as the British aiports are neither as big, and suprisingly are less easy to find out about.
48
49
50
Bibliography 1) Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design by Ian Noble and Russell Bestley. Published December 4th 2004. 2) Infographica by Simon & Martin Toseland.Publlished February 4th 2012. 3) Nicholas Felton as featured on It’s Nice That. http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/nicholas-felton-releases-final-everpersonal-annual-report 4) Information is Beautiful by David McCandless (second edition). Published October 1st 2014. 5) London Unemployment http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk/indicators/topics/work-andworklessness/unemployment-by-borough/ 6) London House Prices http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/average-private-rents-borough 7) Aviation information i) https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/US%20 International%20Air%20Passenger%20and%20Freight%20Statistics%20 Report%20for%20September%202014_0.pdf ii) http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/ iii) http://www.aci.aero/Data-Centre/Annual-Traffic-Data/Passengers/2011-final iv) http://airlines.org
51