Jordan Harison Reader
Brief 04 - Ian Anderson
Brief
DO SOMETHING POINTLESS FOR ONE HOUR BACKGROUND
BRIEF
Ian Anderson is a renowned designer known worldwide for the various projects he was involved with creating while working at his company The Design Republic. Now looking to spread his valuable wisdom, Anderson is involved with student focused workshops that challenge the conventional application of creative thinking.
Do something pointless for an hour, document it and then present it. The response should display clear and concise thinking and focus more on the concept and ideas rather than the aesthetics and design.
DELIVERABLES • Appropriate documentation of the pointless task. • A 5 minute presentation explaining the task. • Appropriate documentation of design process and final outcome recorded on blog.
Extended Practice
01/05
Jordan Harison Reader
Brief 04 - Ian Anderson
Initial Researh
POINTLESS? The project was stated by first defining what makes something pointless, as to successfully complete the task it is essential to understand the basic concept behind the outcome. A quick body of research allowed me to ascertain that a pointless task, or object, is something that does not fulfil its primary function in any way.
Extended Practice
02/05
Jordan Harison Reader
Brief 04 - Ian Anderson
Pointless Task
CONCEPT Adhering to the hypothesis defined through my initial research, my pointless task was based on the burning of matches, the purpose of doing which is usually to ignite some kind of object.
The process was repeated for an hour exactly, which created a surplus of burned matches I could then count and use to create interesting statistics in my presentation.
To ensure my task stayed truly pointless and adhered to the limitation of the brief, nothing was lit with any of the matches I burned. Instead, I held the match until it was uncomfortable and then blew out the flame, ensuring the matches function was not met in any way.
Another aspect of the brief requires us to choose an appropriate way of recording our task. Thereofre, I decided to use a timelapse to capture the initial ignition and subsequent burning of each match used within the hours timeframe.
Extended Practice
03/05
Jordan Harison Reader
Visual Research
Brief 04 - Ian Anderson
THE PRESENTATION A definitive aspect of the project was the final presentation, specifically how we chose to communicate our pointless task and engage the audience with our story. To ensure that members of the audience were interested in my presentation I created statistics using the numerical results from my task, such as how many matches were burned in the hour timeframe. In doing so, I was able to move away from specifically speaking about burning matches and integrate interesting facts and figures. Furthermore, I supported this information with a presentation that created a visual consistency through a balance of type and imagery.
Extended Practice
04/05
Jordan Harison Reader
Product Images
Brief 04 - Ian Anderson
PHYSICAL OUTCOME As an additional aspect of the project, I decided to put the collection of matches burned during the task to good use, choosing to create a physical outcome in the form of a poster that visually communicates the tedious nature of my chosen task.
Extended Practice
05/05