E x p erim enta l Communicat ion
Name: Br ank a Kova c ev i c Uni ver si t y : Uni ver si t y O f We s t London M o dule Name: E x p erime t al C ommuni c a tion M o dule C o d e: A D 6 0 0 3 6 E C our s e Name: Gr ap hi c D e sign C ommuni c a tion and Illu s tra tion Ye ar O f Stud y : T hird Ye ar : L evel 6
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ph ysica l t y p e
Make a thr e e dimen sional mo d el of your given le t ter ou t of c ardb oard: H elve ti c a b old. B r i ef: The aim of the brief was to create a accurate three dimensional capital letter made from cardboard. The letters were given out at random and had to be 75mm deep. The aim was to create the letter and take photographs of it in the ‘real world’. Then finally to film it getting destroyed and create a edited final version of the letters destruction. Think of way you can destroy the letter creatively. Me t h o d o lo g i es: • Mapping out the letters before physically creating them to proportion. • Just using cardboard? Cardboard as a starting point was simplistic therefore using different more challenging materials was experimented with. • Filming and editing the final destruction of the video was a tough challenge as it
was the first time ever attempting to edit a video. • Photography thought clearly on where and why a certain letter would be photographed and what this meant as a result. • Physically constructing and destroying something beautiful/personal is very tough, a challenge overcome. E va luat i o n : This brief was very challenging as new methodologies made it tough to just have one go at creating a single letter. There were lots of accidents and problems with some of the letters but this was a learning curve and one that has thought new skills. The difficulty was editing the footage of the letters getting destroyed in focus and at one go instead of sections as well as choosing the right music to go alongside it.
Image is of all the letters I made E,A,Z in my flat.
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l e t t er E The letter given by the lecturer was an E. This was a straight forward task as it had no round edges so it was simpler to make. However two different attempts were made as the process of making the letter in the first round failed the first time. The letter became unable to stand on its bottom without a rock being attached to the lower part of the E. This was due to having attempted making the whole letter out of folding cardboard instead of individuality sections. Therefore learning for from this the choice to redo the letter was a wise decision. Having researched into what the word heuristic means this was the approach that took place in almost all my briefs, the process of ‘enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves.’ a definition given by Dictionary.com.
The letter E taken in a phone box outside of Euston station
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T h e m a k ing o f m y l e t t er E Fir s t a t te mp t :
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First failed attempt images of the process taken to make the letter.
The first attempt of making the letter provided to be a tougher challenge than originally though. Instead of mapping out the E’s body before attempting to make it, it was done completely free handed without any pre development. This attempt didn’t work as the E would not stand straight as its body parts were not the same length causing it to bend to the right. A rock had to be inserted to keep it balanced and the overall look of the letter was displeasing to the eye. There was too much masking tape coming out of all the corners keeping the fragile letter into place. The masking tape was not strong enough to keep the letter from swaying to one side.
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Taken into consideration the mistakes made influenced a conscious decision to redo the letter all over again. However this time the letter would be planned out to the centimetre to make sure there were no issues. Another decision was also made to use super glue rather than making tape to hold the letter together as it gave the letter a neater look and also the strength it needed to stand on its own. Using tape and a rock on the lower body of the E so that it could stand straight
T h e m a k ing o f m y l e t t er E S e c ond a t te mp t :
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Second attempt images of the steps taken to remaking the letter E
The second attempt to make the letter E was a very fulfilling task. The E could now stand on its own without needing any weight from the inside and it looked geometrically correct corner to corner with exact measurements leaving no holes or gaps at any opening of the letter. The super glue although very toxic in large amounts was a good decision as it gave the letter a beautiful finish with and without the paper that was added later to it to make it stand out. Using a bright blue and orange for the letter E was a decision made upon redoing it. The E represented empowerment, standing out from the first failed attempt screaming out to the audience saying ‘look at me’. It also made taking photographs of the letter in the world easier as it bloomed with vibrancy almost adapting its own personality.
Showing the letter being thought out and carefully mapped before any attempt to build it the second time along with the process of giving it an identity (colour).
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The reason the letter was placed outside Euston station was because of its vast surroundings. Euston station holds many adventures for new hand made typography. The letter was placed in the environments shown in the photos due to the fact that it made the letter stand out against the bland colours of man made society and its machinery. The E acts as a vibrant colour contesting against the black surroundings giving it a personality. A type with an attitude to be herd.
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It overtook the places it was placed in and transformed them to livelier places. Adjusting the focus on the camera was the toughest challenge. The focus point was meant to be the letter however at certain times the focus would shift to the background making it difficult to refocus on the letter itself. After trial and error with lots of experimentation the focus became easier to manage with clearer photographs being taken.
All images taken outside Euston station and Euston Square
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After the pictures were taken and checked for quality the letter could be destroyed. It was hard to think of a way to destroy a letter without using the obvious method of burning it, however the E had a powerful and bold style therefore burning it would be justified as the flames would suit the E’s natural colourful colours. The letter burnt within five minutes of setting it alight and the effect was breathtaking. It carried and conveyed an emotion to it as it was burning therefore when editing it, it was appropriate to put a powerful song over the top to translate the emotions seen while the letter was burning to the audience. The instrumental piece chosen was from the Gladiator movie. The song is powerful within its own right but as the original it was too overpowering. Therefore searching for instrumental versions of the
song with a quite tune was difficult but in the end it was found and worked perfectly translating the right emotions to the audience as it was tested on six people. When asked these six people said that they could feel that the E was a powerful symbolism with rich meaning as it burnt. The videos introduction sequence and the ending frame both have the letter E’s within the words highlighted in a red glowing type style. This was to hint to the audience beforehand what might happen to the letter as well as summing it up at the end.
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However one thing if could be changed would be to have the bottom wooden laminated floor strap removed. It was placed to stop the fire leaving permanent marks on the ground. However it didn’t look pleasing in the video and it took some of the attention away from the bright letter. Pictures of the destruction taking place.
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Destruction of the letter burning to ash. The full video can be found under this link: https://vimeo.com/150364831
l e t t er
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Photographed outside University of West London
T h e m a k ing o f m y l e t t er A
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Planning and making of my letter A
The letter A was not part of the brief as the only letter that was set was the E. However it being an experimental module the excitement of doing another letter and experimenting more with colour, building it physically and destroying it seemed reasonable to carry on experimenting. The letter A was made from cardboard also however it was then coated in superglue and then wrapped with foil almost like a gift. The letter was then painted black so that it could be scratched into to show the foil underneath but this didn’t work to plan.
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The superglue set the foil into an emotion like paste therefore when the acrylic black paint was added on top it hardened and could not be scratched into to make patterns. Therefore the letter A was just a pure black shiny coat.
Foil being used as a base coat for the letter before paint is added to it.
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Painting my letter after covering it in foil with black acrylic paint.
Since the letter A was black it made the photography more difficult as the mood compared to the E was darker but still strong nevertheless. The look out for suitable background to suit the black Helvetica A was harder. Looking around Euston Square there were many trees and somehow the thickest and the colour of the A worked perfectly with the natural surroundings. The letter worked better with natural surroundings without too much going on to detract from the letter itself.
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The hole at the A’s centre was used to great use as the ability to hang the letter from tree branches came as an compliment. Greenery and white walls worked the best against the black acrylic surface. It made the A blend in with its background as if it had always belonged there. Compared to the first vibrant letter the A looked professional. It almost matched all the people going to work that morning in their black dresses and suits therefore the letter too became a employee ‘model’ with its black coated suit.
Photographed Outside The Place Dance Studio
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Photographed at a Holliday Inn Hotell at Euston Square
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Photographed inside the universities canteen
Photographing the A was harder than the letter E as there was more restraints from people asking if the photographs can be taken at other locations because it was bothering the ‘public’. This was frustrating therefore after being asked for the third time to take ‘my project somewhere not public’ I stood outside the church in Euston, right in the centre of the walk way and hung up my letter taking countless images purposefully getting in peoples way. This bought more attention to not only the letter but also the fact that it was being hung by a branch. People started photographic it also. It seemed that the letter was speaking to people and grabbing their focus while walked past.
Letter hung on a tree branch outside Euston’s church.
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After examining the pictures for quality once again the destruction stage could now be completed. Thoughts of destroying the letter by stepping on it and smashing it were interesting but the burning sensation to burn the letter took over. The reason the letter was burt was to see if it would peal uncovering all the layers it hard underneath. The expectation was that the back would seep into the foil which would then eat though the cardboard. The idea seemed simple but a burn cant be controlled therefore possibilities of the way it would burn are endless
Burning the letter was a tough challenge as it just would not burn or catch alight. Drenching it in alcohol 35%+ still did absolutely nothing to the letter if anything the alcohol was smearing the pain. This caused for drastic measures and holes were cut into the letter with a kitchen knife where the matches were placed inside but they would still not burn. The final decision made was to deconstruct the bottom of the letter and completely cut out the A’s feet and midsection. When cut newspaper was placed inside to help it burn faster and after many attempts the letter FNALLY started to burn.
Despite all this difficulty the effect of the letter burning was as originally wanted. The music added to the final video rose an issue as when editing the letter it was clearly slightly out of focus and the background was in focus. Therefore the letter with the music worked well with the overall feel of the video as the letter wasn’t too sharp but blending with the music being played..
Picture of the damage the fire caused to the ground when the letter was burnt. The full video can be found at: https://vimeo.com/150788265
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l e t t er Z a nd t h e T h e m a k ing o f m y l e t t er z
From the previous environment the letters were made from just cardboard and paper or paint. However passing a bird on the way to university it inspired an idea of making a letter out of cardboard then covering with feathers.
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The letter chosen was a Z because it was straight forward to make and had sharp edges making it easier when applying the feathers onto the body with super glue. Before constructing the letter it was mapped out on a big piece of cardboard to the precise measurements then glued together with super glue to give it a strong hold and clean look.
Mapping and constructing my letter
The construction of the letter was harder tricky as the midsection of the body was very hard to construct and any pressure while holding it would cause the glue to pushing the cardboard inside itself making it almost impossible to fix after the 6th time it happened. This made it hard to decorate to Z. Many attempts to cover it with a soft layer of glue on the top had failed and at a point the inner section got stuck inside the Z’s body needing reconstructive surgery to fix its position. When the Z was fully done it was left for two days to harder so that the centre would never turn in on itself again. Another mistake made was that two of the measurements for the front and back side faces were incorrect by 1.2cm. Although this doesn’t seem like a big problem the letter started to angle slightly to the left. Fixing this problem was easy as adding small thin slices of cardboard covered in glue solved the problem of the holes and the problem of the letter swaying to just one side.
Sterp by step images of how the letter was put together
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Covering the letter with the feathers was very enjoyable but a messy task as each feather had to be cut to precision. The feathers were bought off amazon and came in a ‘natural’ variety of tints and colours that when combined worked beautifully to create a furry letter Z. The texture of the feathers bought a certain emotion to the letter giving it, its own personality just as my previous two letters had their own.
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The superglue used to stick the feathers down was not appropriate even though it did the job as it made the letter smell horrible for two days.
Covering the Z with fluffy feathers
The final results of the Z being covered in feathers from different angles
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The final look of the letter was very pleasing it looked innocent and fragile. Thinking about its innocence the question of how this letter could be destroyed started as a broad idea of firstly thinking about throwing it outside a window as if it was flying or crushing it underneath a cards tire. Unfortunately there were restriction on health and safety so these were not attempted.
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All im Photos taken on a IPhone 4 camera.
Top three photographs taken at Euston square and the bottom at Kensington and Chelsea
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The restriction of not yet having an idea of how the letter would be destroyed wasn’t as threatening as it was first imagined due to taking the letter into the world. Seeing it in the natural environment gave more ideas on the different elements that can be used against the it to destroy it.
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The letter Z settling into its natural environments
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The destruction though of was to take the letter to Kensington Gardens and drop it in the pond surrounding with ducks and swans. However this would have resulted in a ÂŁ180 dine as well as maybe killing off some of the birds. This was due to the high chemical level of the superglue used. In the end time was against the clock and therefore the letter Z still survives today unharmed and undistorted.
Photograph taken at Kensington Gardens, introducing the Z to its family of ducks and swans
l e t t er
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Photograph taken at Kensington and Chelsea on a balkony ledge
T h e m a k ing o f m y l e t t er N
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The mapping process for constructing the letter along side the materials used to make the letter N
Mapping and constructing the letter N step by step guide
A final attempt to play with different materials for the physical type was the most fun to create. The N was made out of melted chocolate poured in the mood made from cardboard. However a mistake was that the corners were only stuck with super glue which when that the chocolate that was poured inside started overfilling running out of its
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Recording chocolate melting and being poured inside the physical type.
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Chocolate set after being in fridge overnight
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Photographs taken on a stairway to my flat at the neighbours front door
The N was set into a stiff chocolate making it easier to move around, although when it came into contact with anything white walls they would get stains. The texture of the chocolate was a mixture between smooth and rough making it look like a cake mixture making the perfect solution to destroying it came to mind and that was by melting it using a low heat source so that it takes longer to melt.
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The top photo is the letter on a windowsill and the bottom is the letter getting ready to be destroyed and tortured.
The length it took to melt nearly the whole chocolate letter was 35minutes using a hair dryer. The reason the hairdryer was used and seen in the original video was because it part of the journey the letter was on... Started as stiff chocolate then it was melted and then stiffened again while now finally melting it all over again.
The video altogether lasted 40 minutes and towards the end the pain in the hands used was too much to handle so the hair dryer stopped melting the letter and instead the fist came out that punched whatever was left of the existing N into a unrecognisable bole of mush. When reediting the video the lowest that it would speed up to wasn’t as fast as in theory wouldn’t have been nice to get it to at least a minute instead of the 3 minutes that its on.
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Also the music alongside the video had a split view, at first it worked well but after 2 minutes in and about the 7th time listening to it the tune got really annoying therefore at the end just before the fist comes to destroy the N completely the original sound of the hitting was kept in. Therefore the music led into the sound of the chocolate being punched which worked and bought some humour to the video too.
The fist destroying any last recognisable elements of the letter N to mush. The full video can be seen a: https://vimeo. com/150589321
a li EnS
Cr e a te 10 ima gina tive draw ing s a day f or a we e k in sid e a a6 s ke t c hb oo k . B r i Ef: Find out who Jon Bargeman is and look at his work. Also watch the video provided in the link on the brief guide and for a week create 10 imaginative drawings a day. No shading or pencil permitted, all drawings must be done in two different size liners to distinguish detail and outline without shading. These would then be created into animation composition of your own alien world with a selected group of aliens to be on the animation. m E t h o D o lo G i ES: • Drawing and scamping ideas using only a 0.8 fine liner and a 0.3 fine-liner • Experimented with screen printing on different materials and using different compositions. • Use photoshop to set up the made composition and make animation in after effects of the duration 1minute.
• Using photography as a tool to document all the work collected in this task to be placed in a pdf at the end of the module. • Used everything and anything around to explore and coming into 10 imaginary aliens. E va luat i o n :
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This brief was the most enjoyable. Despite the brief being specific it was also open to interpretation and open to exploring and experimenting away from just a single meaningless screen print. This task was enjoyable as it had many possibilities and outcomes that could have arose from this. Although one problem was the fact that the brief was set to be simple and quick, by over experimenting I gave myself more work and pressure than I needed to have. This is a skill that has to be improved upon and managed for future projects and for the industry.
Three of my aliens in the backfrop with linia drawing
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All 62 aliens drawn and scanned then turned into sreen prints
Despite the page before having 62 aliens drawn non of them spoke out as being unique therefore this time seeing limitations to a ‘theme’ or a ‘style’ of drawing conditioning the aliens next to come will tighten them up make them look as if they belong together. After this rule was in place the new 16 drawings worked beautifully alongside one another with the same distinct theme of walking houses but all in their own unique style. Though also drawing a couple ideas for just aliens drawings were also being done of landscape ideas for my aliens, what was the world going to look like and which elements will pop out?
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These were the first composition screen print made as an A3 print screen board. Through lots of experimentation and collections of printing on different materials the book below is a collection of over 40 screen prints to which the portfolio still has A3+ screen prints that couldn’t not fit into the book.
Top image 16 alien flats/houses with legs Below image of a landscape idea for the alien composition.
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40+ Screen prints of my aliens and the composition cut and assorted into a hand made book for my alien screen prints.
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left - streetlamp and vines as ideas for the landscape Middle section - tree sketches for ideas to place in the landscape To the right - sketches of hills as possible ideas for the landscape
First experimental landscape idea
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My final landscape idea
sc r eenp rint ing outcom es E x p erimen t a tion: Ma terials, c olour s, weigh t .
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Before and during screen printing showing the process.
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The process to screen printing and re-washing the screen every 30 minutes
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Screen printed on the original A6 sketchbooks withe illustrations inside them
Photographing my prints to get a clearer quality then when scanning them With the help of a tutor the screen prints made could still keep their original colours without having to be destroyed though scanning them in. Two lights were set up on either side of the work and were photographed from above. The two side lights were used to stop shadows managing and infecting the final photographs taken. These photos were then taken into photoshop and adjusted using the levels effector.
Photographing my prints to get a clearer quality then when scanning them
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All the yellow/cream screen prints, printed on tissue paper and card
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Landscape test print on silk paper and cartridge
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Screen print on tissue paper
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Screen prints on mesh and cardboard
Sc r een print produc t s
T hrough ex p erimen t a tion alien gif t pro du c t s wer e ano ther ou tc ome of the brie f Through experimenting with screen printing the idea of creating something physical and meaningful was more important than just doing it for the sake of doing it. Therefore a few thought out products were made though experimenting with the limitations that screen printing offers the time it would take to make these products. The screen prints were mostly printed using black and navy as they took less time to dry and could be picked up a hour or two after the screen printing was finished.
All tags were deconstructed printed on then reassembled with the blacktop at the end
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. Hand made cards that used and combined a mixture of materials: collage, pens, screen printing, overlaying and painting.
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All the cards are smaller than A5 and the pen was placed in front to give them scale. The pen gives the audience a sense of how big or small a design/item
All my hand made alien cards and envelopes on the bottom far right corner.
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Hand made stickers created by buying coloured sheets with circular stickers and printing my own screen prints on them
The stickers came out better then expected. It was impossible to section the aliens on the screen print as they were very close to one another however just taking a risk and printing them anywhere created some very interesting sections of stickers being made abstractly.
Mono - print ing
L e ar ning to mono - prin ting and u s e the la s er c u t ter B r i ef:
E va luat i o n :
Create a couple of vector files in Illustrator including (Image, Indexical and Symbols) if possible. Once complete use the laser cutter to cut the perfect shapes out and experiment with the laser cut type/images.
This was another interesting project set with multiple different outcomes and effects. However personally I didn’t manage to do exactly what was planned because of the shortage of time taken to create individual icons, symbols and indexical vectors.
Me t h o d o lo g i es: • Learning how to vectorise images and text and creating moe than just a single line but double as seen across on the far right hand side image. • Using and testing boundaries of the laser cutter experimenting with material and thickness. • Experimenting with different types of mono printing not just one. • Combining all skills learnt though module to think of a project to base the mono prints on.
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Despite this however there was a lot of experimentation using the laser cutter using the Serbian traditional alphabet. Also experimenting with different monotype styles of printing was interesting not only using the laxer cut pieces but any objects and manually scratching into the etching plate to see different effects that are possible using different materials.
First time using the laser cutter with the Cyrillic Serbian alphabet
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Experimenting using three different styles of mono printing
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The outcomes of just two of the mono printing styles
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Using and recording process on how to use the laser cutter and to note down what thicknesses it can cut at what speed and time.
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Using a double line set in Illustrator to get 3 possible outcome prints for each individual letter
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Different effects and sty.es of the laser cutter can do, even tiny typography
Group pro jEC t
Cr e a ting a s hor t awar ene s s v id e o f or our group proje c tion t a s k b a s e d around gaining awar ene s s for l euk a e mia su f f er er s . B r i Ef:
The brief for this task was quite simple in having to create a group projection project within a week to explore projecting onto different surfaces and testing different ways that something can be projected. Our group gave ourselves a task to do a projection project on Leukaemia therefore making an awareness video while experimenting with ways to project our sedative subject without offending anyone. m E t h o D o lo G i ES:
Research, Who are can get it? What age? Symptoms, diagnosis’s, types, severity and so on. Using tractional methods of using ink/ acrylic paint to take clearer fingerprints
Preparing and communicating though social media keeping up to date what
everyone has done and helping one another. Working in a group, learning listening skills and clashing views but all in all an amazing group and team effort and final outcome. E va luat i o n : This was the hardest and quickest task of the whole module however it was the most challenging one mentally. Group works are usually hard to work with but once everyone is set on a clear path thats been agreed with veery person the group work became fun and enjoyable.
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Everyone did their half of the research and and development recording work. We used two cameras in which one was recording the final outcome whereas the second was at the end of the room recording the way we worked together.
Different effects and styles of the laser cutter can do, even tiny typography
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Group brainstorm ideas for the chosen projection task project
Researching and story boards explaining our thoughts and ideas
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Continuation of the research really getting to know our subject
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Above - Continuous research onto our topic To the right and below - Using our fingerprints to create clear fingerprint scan to represent personal DNA identity, mixed media used from acrylic paint to inks.
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Setting up the photography studio and the projector
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Everyone getting involved and enjoying working on our projection project
Group Pro jec t
Pro te c tion on our b o die s and a c le ar b la c k p ho to gr ap hi c s c r e en.
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Testing colours against our clothes and how bright the projector is and how it works before we start the the filming
Working in a group was a fulfilling and at times stressful task, there were a lot of clashing ideas and views on certain methods and tasks that were set forward. Despite all this we learnt to take in turns and accept others opinions even if we didn’t agree with them. In the end there was nothing but unity. We all knew our roles and parts within the project and the group, working very well together as a group and creating a final short awareness projection video that we are all very proud of. The effort put in by the group was outstanding as every individual made a video of how we made the video and everyone also did all the research without being followed up on or asked to constantly do it. Our final awareness video can be found at: https://vimeo.com/150068028 Also how we made the video and all the development we went though is on another video that can be found here: https://vimeo.com/151085184
Projecting my Cinema 4D generated snowflakes
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Modul e e va luat ion Experimental communication as a whole module has been very challenging and time constraining this is partly to do with the fact that I have myself more work than was needed to be done. This was for the reason because I was enjoying the module especially all the experimentation. It is something that has always interested me especially the alien brief with the screen printing. I love to experiment so much that I loose time and give myself more than what I can chew off at the end. A struggle with this module has been doing this final pdf as I wanted to include everything I was proud of and play it out as a book format then print it after submitting it for the module. However it proved to be too much work and a lot of stress. From this module I picked up on my weaknesses and now that I know what they are I can try improve them for future
time saving strategy and less stress. One of my weaknesses if being a protectionist whilst being very ambitious. Ambition is good but I realised I set myself goals that with the time I have couldn’t never be achieved A strength I found in this module was working well on the group project. Learning to have different contracting ideas but how to also compromise my ideas or adept them to let others feel involved and a part of the group. Overall I am very proud of the work I have produced in this module, even though the work is not perfect and each piece has much more development needed to work the time and dedication I put into this module and each task was my all and I am pleased with that even though Im not really pleased with the outcomes from some of the tasks from this module.
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Bibliogr a ph y • Sagmeister, S. (2013)Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far: Abrams
• Hubner, M.(2009) Tangible: High Touch Visuals, Die Gestalten Verlag
• Tickoo, S. (2015) MAXON CINEMA 4D R16 Studio: A Tutorial Approach: CADCIM
• Klanten, R. (2012) High touch:Tactile Design and Visual Explorations, Die Gestalten
• Technologies
• Hughes, P. (2015) Exhibition Design, Laurence King
• Faulkner, A. (2015) Adobe After Effects CC Classroom in a Book (2014 Release)
• Experimental Communication AD60036E – Sept 2015 Page 8 of 18
• Adobe Press
• Mollerup, P. (2013) Wayshowing > Wayfinding: Basic & Interactive, BIS Publishers
• Jackson, S. (2014) After Effects and Cinema 4D Lite: 3D Motion Graphics and • Visual Effects Using CINEWARE: Focal Press • Barez-Brown C., (2006) How to have Kick Ass Ideas HarperElement • Ingledew, J. (2014) The A-Z of Visual Ideas, London:Laurence King • Klanten R., Ehmann S., Hubner M. (2007) Tactile. High Touch Visuals Die Gestalten
• Mollerup, P. (2013) Data Design: Visualising Quantities, Locations, Connections,
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