by Harry murr
‘Visual Thinking’ focuses on extending your visual awareness, individual creative language and understanding of contemporary practice while examining the fertile and complex semiotic and aesthetic nature of word, image and object.
Task Distinctive Characters
objective For this task we were asked to work in pairs, we had to chose a letter from a set based on the terminology and glossaries contained within the brief and create a word related to the letter, there was an option to produce the Letter in Upper-case and Lower-case. Once decided, its required of us to produce a three dimensional version of the character, made from either found objects or collected items, which is finally mounted on a wall.
Once given the brief I paired myself up with Alistair Koh, we received the letter ‘I’ with a guide line of 300 mm. As soon as receiving this we sat down and collaborated our ideas on a computers and researched into different fonts we could use. Due to the limitations that come hand in hand with the letter ‘I’ it is on of the simplest of letter forms in most fonts we had a challenge to overcome. We had to make this an interesting outcome but at the same time still remain true to the original chosen font and not overcomplicate things.
initial ideas To start with we formulated a word bank to help us along with the decision process. ink ivy ice incense inventory island independence inverted introvert internet iglu intermission
intergalactic illustration inferno ironic iron identity ideology illuminate impact implode implant impulse
in-crust indigo infinite iridium inflame incision icon inflate inject input interior itch
After working through a series of words we looked into different fonts that would do our words justice. Below is the line up of Upper-case and Lower-case letters in a range of forms stretching from thick bold Slab Serifs to thin and wavy italic script.
Ink I started by sketching out the Times New Roman ‘I’ with pencil then and then using a paint brush and ink I filled in the sketch and then scattered the black inl around the letter to exaggerate the use of ink. After re-reading the brief we realised that it would be hard to recreate this character in Three dimensional format. This idea was set aside for the time
Ice By creating a cardboard template to fill with ice and photograph the build up step by step. Starting with no ice and then ending with a full container we would make a short tie lapse video, created from photos and displayed on an iPad wall mounted for the final exhibition.
Inventory This idea steamed from a grid based structure, it was created from things found from around the house and in our bags. To start with we decided to tighten things in and have a very compact letter but we found that the design looked better with a small space between the items.
Final idea Island Using the same idea as the ice template we re-created a smaller I out of cardboard to be placed on top of a water painted background and ready to be transformed into and island of independence.
Paper machĂŠ was used to create the padding around the I and then sand was added to the exterior to give the feeling of a realistic island.
And finally to end with we used materials such as moss and plants, stones, rocks and pebbles along with shells and minuscule pieces of wood to create the dock. Most of these were found in the back garden.
Task o w T postcard
objective
Our set task for this section was to create an A6 postcard with an image on one side and the description of the word on the other.
Final three unedited photographs for possible postcard design. after creating this model with the intention of relating it to the word Island we thought that the word independent suited bette.
Upon deciding that the word independent better described the creation we also found that it suited the fact that as a letter most of the time ‘i’ stood alone. along with the fact that the font was one shaped by its surrounding enviroment and it can’t be controlled or influenced by people.
Task e e r h T Letters in the landscape
objective
This section of the brief starts with a visit to Poole with the objective to collect, identify and then photograph examples of Vernacular letter-forms in the designated location. Our images we aimed to collect could have been sections of detailed road sign, fragments of words, individual characters hand painted or neon signs as well as unseen letter-forms hidden in the urban or natural environment.
Partners
Tyrone Westlake Ethan Huang Henry Kirby
As a group we searched Poole to discover and photograph the letter forms, starting at Poole bus station we headed through the shopping centre and then down the main street towards the docks.
The previous set of photographs displayed where my final input towards the book, with added images from my team we compiled a varied series of letter froms and started our book.
Upon return I opened the files in Photoshop and edited the images to match up sharing similar colour pallets, I removed any blemishes from the photographs. While we were picking out the photos to use within the book we tried to be as fair as possible by picking an even amount of i mages from each person, to maintain the group effort.
Task r e u v Fio French fold book binding POSTER
process
Our books where binded in a “French fold� style a method that assures that no ink will bleed through to the paper behind. The images were printed on A3 sheets. We firstly had to fold each page in half matching up the crop marks, using a bone tool we created the perfect crease in our fold to ensure a fine and straight page.
How to bind a book with perfect binding Place book into Lumbeck Press Tighten press Apply first layer of archival PVA glue Wait for 15 minutes Open press Turn the pages on the other side Apply another layer of glue to both sides Wait another 15 minutes Close press again Glue a strip of Mull to the spine of the book and set aside to dry Remove from press Measure and cut cover Glue cover to spine Set in vice for 6 hours Remove, Trim and enjoy
berlin
p i r T
The trip to Berlin set up by the university was an amazing experience and I was fascinated by the history the place had. There was so much to see we couldn’t fit it in to one five day trip, I almost defiantly plan on going back there to explore more of the culture. The thing I noticed about Berlin straight away is that everything is created on such a grand scale, the buildings are overpowering and you instantly feel smaller when walking the streets. The combination of old stone engraved buildings running parallel to the modern simplicity of today’s minimalistic architecture is a shock at first but you can see how they; as a city are evolving with a side line of powerful history. Its great to see the contrast of the buildings and how well the multiple types of form fit together so beautifully. During the stay there I had the pleasure of seeing the Brandenburg Gate along side the Reichstag building as well as visiting the Hamburger Bahnhof, the Bauhaus, the East Side Gallery and Berlin Wall. We went to the Jewish war Memorial and were grateful enough to tour Erik Spiekermann’s office and work environment and receive a talk from him about what i takes to become a graphic designer in Berlin. On the last night we finished it off by going to the top of The Fernsehturm (television tower)
lectures as we as set tasks we were asked to attend a minimum of three lectures organised by Graphic design, Fine art, Illustration and visual communications
transmedia This lecture with Paul Roberts from BA (hons) Illustration explores the concept of transmedia and its application to a range of visual and media practices. It examines the ways in which the term is currently defined and used by a range of contemporary theorists, and how the concept builds upon previous notions such as intertextuality, remix culture, and postproduction. It also draws upon the concept of the Gutenberg Parenthesis which seeks to examine the extent to which contemporary cultural and media practices can be seen to be reverting to a pre-Gutenberg form in which relationships between textual objects become more fluid, and notions of ownership and defined authorship start to break down. The lecture seeks to examine the ways in which transmedia is a useful concept for exploring ideas such as audience and interaction, performativity, storytelling, media affordances; and how it may be useful for understanding and developing contemporary media practices in the digital era.
Notions of taste
This session explores our relationship with objects and how we respond to and give value to ‘things’ and how our aesthetic judgements and purchase decisions relate to consumer culture. The session considers the phenomenon of consumption and notions of style, luxury, memory etc. in relation to bespoke and the mass produced items. It considers the thoughts of Baudrillard, Veblen, the Frankfurt School and Klein. In particular this session interrogates hierarchies of taste and popular culture and questions what factors determine what we consider to be good and bad taste and how the value of things can create social and cultural identities. The session will utilise design examples from AUB’s Museum of Design in Plastic (MoDiP) and wider ‘things’.
The power of Persuasion
This session investigates propaganda - what it is, why it exists and how it operates - through consideration of historical and in particular contemporary examples from across a range of dynamic, dramatic and diverse contexts and channels of communication. The session examines key issues - notions of mass manipulation; spin; persuasion and control - in relation to propaganda examples including visual, aural and ariel examples and digital and guerrilla methods. This provocative session will question how we encounter propaganda today including Animal Rights, political campaigns, war reportage and news stories. The power of persuasion is to be explored and the session will question the role of social media in contemporary propaganda experiences.
Workshops as we as lectures we were asked to attend a minimum of three workshops organised by Graphic design, Fine art, Illustration and visual communications
Traditional letterpress Originally I had signed up for Non-Traditional Letterpress but upon arrival the lecturer decided that we were going to be doing a traditional method. This meant using the old letterpress machines and working with small aluminium type. This was great news as I preferred this method of letterpress and thoroughly enjoyed the workshop.
WORD & IMAGE In this seminar-workshop we will look at how artists and designers have explored the interaction between words and images, and how others have developed theories about how this relationship operates. Whenever we put words and images together the effects of one upon the other can often be both complex and subtle, we will explore this. This session will be relevant to Graphics, Vis. Com., Illustration and Fine Art students alike, who are all likely to encounter this concern at some point in their studies. The topic will be introduced through three themes - the rhetorical power of word/image relations, the equation of words with rationality and images with irrationality, and metaphysical questions about the connection between words and images.
hand lettering
This workshop was a Hand Lettering workshop. In this session we aimed to recreate type with a range of materials. Pen, pencil, fine liner, felt tip and ink. This course was essentially going back to primary school and taking a day off of serious work, it was a pointless exercise and I could have done something so much more productive with my time. I was expecting to learn something about the old craft of hand painted signs or traditional poster design creation but instead I was coasted back into a child like state of mind to create something that was frankly unnecessary, I would not recommend this workshop to anyone. The exercises were pointless and I don’t see how this workshop was considered helpful.
love of exhibition
For the love of graphics was an exhibition hosted by the students of level 4 graphic design. It was a very seccessful day with a great turn out of entries into the exhibiton and a was veiwed by many people around the campus.
Harry murr