Unseen & Seen by Emma Caroline Thompson

PROCESS

Unseen & Seen Chain of Custody

Emma Thompson CAP 1 Form + Function Communication Design Sam Fox School Washington University in St. Louis Fall 2017

RESEARCH I originally started this project off with another podcast in mind. So I was disappointed at first when I had to choose another one. The podcast I eventually chose was a This American Life called Crime Scene. I have always been a fan of crime shows, murder books, and other evil things, so this podcast caught my eye. It fascinates me how so many pieces come together to find a suspect. I immediately started to think about how my projects form and function could show my concept. I thought hard about what crime scenes show, how crimes are solved, and the contents of a crime scene in order to create my books. I eventually came to the realization that I should mimic a murder board because that is how crimes are solved. I wanted each story to be a particular book and for these books to then work and fit together just like how many parts come togteher to show the bigger picture of the suspect. I also loved the idea of an evidence envelope and my books being in that envelope .

research pages

DISCOVERY I knew that I needed to map out exactly where I wanted the image and text to be placed. In order to do this I made comprehensive thumbnails that would guide the flow of text found in my books. I initally made my thumbnails digital but realized that they were not giving off the appearance I wanted them to. So I went to the wall. I realized I needed to physically make the content of my book instead of actually just digitally. I placed each image and the type onto the wall to create a murder board type feeling. I then worked to discover what would be the best way to trace the connections between each text block and the images that would make the reader want to turn to the next page. I also started to look into what typefaces would best create a dark type of feeling. I got alot of inspiration by rewatching Kyle Cooperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s title sequence for Se7ven. I also experimented with handwritten type but decided that in the end it was too literal.

Thumbnails for Body

Thumbnails for Evidence

Thumbnails for Clean Up

Form specs

Thumbnails for Aftermath

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Crime Scene The Evidence The Body The Scene The Clean-up Typewriter type There was no note

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The Scene The Clean-up Typewriter type

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Crime Scene The Evidence The Body Every crime scene is a story ofThe its own Scene The Clean-up Typewriter type no note In my assessment of this, this There was a was homicide.

As Dr. Drakovic says, every crime scene is a novel.

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The Clean-up Typewriter type There was no note

Crime Scene The Evidence The Body The Scene The Clean-up Typewriter type There was no note

The Evidence

And I understand that from the shape of the droplets, you can tell where the person was standing?

IG. In other words, he was kicking him while he was literally on the ground.

ET.

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Type specs

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Crime Scene The Evidence 17 The Body The Scene The Clean-up

Crime Scene The Evidence The Body The Scene The Clean-up Typewriter type

There was no note

REFINEMENT Once I had reached the wall, I started to think more about the placement of images and what they would look like. Initially I had only black and white but this made the work seem too flat. I then made only certain images colored as another way for the reader to move through each book. I wanted how the images were chosen and cropped to replicate the idea of investigators creating more and more of the picture as they continued to investigate. Thus I made the images start out cropped and more up-close and then they slowly opened up and became more wide angle. I came to the conclusion that I needed to show some sort of direct connection between spreads and elements on pages, that would guide the reader. I did this with the addition of a string. I connected photos and text blocks together in order for them to appear as though they are connected. It also made reference back to my initial inspiration of murder boards because investigators connect their different evidence pieces with sharpie or string. I struggled with how my callouts would appear in my books. Initially the callouts were placed on the wall just like how all my other text and images were, but this felt very forced. My callout design was inspired by crime scene tape, which is found at the scene of the crime not when the crime is being solved. I thus decided to place my callouts digitally on top of the images.

Initial Digitial Mockups

The Wall

Pieceing Together the Final Mockups

Final Books

final image

CRITICISM In my review I got criticism on the fact that my spreads seemed very uniform. There was little to no variety to them. I agree with this point and see that I could have created a second page type that sprung up in my book. I also heard due to the sameness there was a loss of hierarchy in text and image. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think that the progression of what my images looked like came through as well as I would have wanted it too. I definitely could have pushed it some more. My binding was also mentioned. I should have done a more traditional accordian style that would have really allowed my reader to spread all the pages out so they could trace the strings path. I also used binder clips to keep the accordian bindings more together, but this confused my viewers who didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really seem to understand that they could have been taken off. I am, though, very proud with how all 4 books came together to create a singular image. I also was glad that I dove headfirst into an unexpected idea and got off the computer. I think this made my work different and more engaging. It got me to realize that I need to take time in my art making to get off the computer and to just make things with my hands because this really brings me joy.