VIS AL U I TH NKING By Rosie Thomas
Index Chapter One: Distinctive Characters Chapter Two: Postcard Chapter Three: Vernacular Letterforms Chapter Four: French fold book binding Chapter Five: Berlin Chapter Six: Lectures Chapter Seven: Workshops Chapter Eight: Exhibition & Key texts Chater Nine: Conclusion
CHAPTER ONE
Distinctive Characters:
Typography as a Semiotic Resource
Brief “Typography can be used as a powerful vehicle to transmit ideas and notions of culture, gender, history, materiality and value. The function of typography is to communicate a message so that it effectively conveys and reinforces meaning� For this brief we were each given a letter which we had to explore possible design ideas to put on a 3D letterform of that individual letter. The design had to be something that related with the letter form. For example B could be decorated in blue. The letter had to be 300mm high, and could be presented in either upper or lower case.
Words begining with the letter
Ii
Interior
Illuminate
Ice jems
Iris
Idiotic
Imaginative
Island
I.D
Intial
Isometric
Insects
Ibuprofen
Innocent
Indoors
interact
Icicles
Icing
Impress
Ice cream
Icon
Ice
Ink
Information
Ideas
Illusion
Imposter
International
Identity
Illness
Illegal
Illogical
Images
Imune
Imboss
Imbed
Indigo
Impact
Imposter
Impressive
Inches
Artist Inspiration
Nicole Dextras
“Nicole Dextras is an environmental artist working in a multitude of media including sculpture, interactive public installation and photography’” “The Ice Typography series consists of three-dimensional words fabricated in ice placed outdoors that speak to how the viewer’s gaze frames and informs the landscape. The installations have varied from 8-foot high ice letters on the Yukon River to 18-inch high letters set in downtown Toronto. When the ice texts are installed on site, the temperature determines how long it will take for them to change state from solid to liquid. This phase of transition becomes symbolic of the interconnectedness of language and culture to the land as they are affected by time and by a constant shifting and transforming nature” I used Nicole as inspiration for my letter as she used ice to create letterforms. As this was one of my ideas for my letter, I looked into the idea of creating my letter with ice.
“Signs of Change was a solo exhibition of photographs of past ice text projects plus an offsite component of new words made of ice, which were left to melt in the urban landscape on a weekly basis. Each word was pertinent to the site and spoke to our need to subjugate nature and to dominate the environment. At the end of the project I asked people to make a sentence from the words such as: I consume logic and justify denial�
Petra Blahova
Petra is orginally from Prague, however she has lived in Belfast and now in England. She has a Graphic Design Degree and is very passionate about what she does. For this project she said “I love to explore different techniques and ideas. One morning I walked from work and I was inpired by the flowers everywhere so I decided to create a typeface out off them. You can create typography from anything� I looked at Petras work for inspiration down to her use of exploration with ice. I found her work inspirational as it pushed the boundaries of ice and what you could do with it. I also found her alphabet inspirational.
Anna Garforth
“Anna Garforth is a London based artist taking the art world by storm using her diverse skills to uniquely capture the aesthetics of nature and transform the world around us. Never one to be defined by an individual medium. Garforth takes a multifarious approach to her art practice creating an eclectic body of work utilizing a diverse array of skills such as illustration, design and craft�
I used Anna as inspiration for my letter as her work was interesting with good use of typography in an edible form. Her work stood out to me as it was decorative, this could inspire me for words such as icing or ice just make them in a different substance.
CHAPTER TWO
3D Cuboid
Here I have drawn out a 3D cuboid in order to help me think about how I could put a design on top of this to create my letter ‘I’.
Cuboid perspective
Here I have drawn out a perspective drawing of a cuboid to represent my letter I as a 3D form.
Letter ‘I’ net design
The first image is the original net I have drawn out in order to create a simplistic box shape to represent the letter I. The second is the net made from black card which I stuck an indian design over and cut sections out of the design in order to let light escape from the box.
ILLUMINATE For Illuminate I experimented with the shape of a letter I being a simplistic cuboid. This enabled me to work with the net of the cuboid and place a pattern on top of it; this allowed me to cut sections out so light can shine through. I chose an Indian design to fit into the theme of the letter “I�. I feel this design was fairly successful as it created effective images. If I was to do this again however I would try to make the cuboid a more detailed letter I so you could see more clearly what it was suppose to be. I would also possibly experiment a little more with the photography aspect.
ICE For Ice I experimented with ice cubes, which I laid out in the position of the letter ‘I’. I set it up on white paper in darkness, however I angled a light on the subject in order to take atmospheric shots. I feel this design was simplistic so it was successful however if I was to do it again I would try and make a letter mold and possibly add in some dye to experiment with colour.
ICING For icing I experimented with the base of the letter I to be made out of cake as I thought this fitted the theme best. I then smothered icing all over the cake so you could relate to what it was suppose to be. I felt this design worked well as it was simplistic, however if I was going to do this again I would possibly draw more attention to the icing by using different colours, patterns or effects. I would also possibly try and take more creative angles on my photographs.
Photoshop edit examples
These are some screen prints of some of the effects I have used on my final postcard imagery. It displays cropping, which enabled me to remove corners of the images that I didn’t want there and it also allowed me to focus down on the photo at a slightly different view. I changed the brightness and contrast on the images to which lifted the images. I also changed the photo filter on the ice postcard as I thought the blue tone fitted better with the theme of ice.
InDesign postcard process
To set up a postcard in InDesign first create a document using A5 dimensions; 148mm by 105mm and added a 3mm bleed around the whole document. I then placed the image on the page and cropped it down to size. To finish I then added in my quote/text for the postcard. Afterwards to save the image I then went to File > Export and save as a PDF.
HELVETICA HELVETICA HELVETICA Helvetica is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann. Helvetica was developed in 1956 by Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei (Haas Type Foundry) of Münchenstein, Switzerland. Haas set out to design a new sans-serif typeface that could compete with the successful Akzidenz-Grotesk in the Swiss market. Originally called Neue Haas Grotesk, its design was based on Schelter-Grotesk and Haas’ Normal Grotesk. The aim of the new design was to create a neutral typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety of signage. When Linotype adopted Neue Haas Grotesk (which was never planned to be a full range of mechanical and hot-metal typefaces) its design was reworked. After the success of Univers, Arthur Ritzel of Stempel redesigned Neue Haas Grotesk into a larger family. In 1960, the typeface’s name was changed by Haas’ German parent company Stempel to Helvetica (meaning Swiss in Latin) in order to make it more marketable internationally. Below is the alphabet written in Helvetica type face.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Above are some examples of brands that use Helvetica type face. Helvetica is a well known font throughout the world as it is used on a broad range of advertisements and signs. I used Helvetica typeface throughout my work as it is a simplistic easy to read text, even from a distance. For my postcards I have used Helvetica as it works well down to the shaping I have used for my letter I. I chose this font as I thought it suited my style of postcards best.
For my postcard designs I tried many different layouts, angles, colours and fonts before creating my final outcomes. After having a tutorial I realised that I had some research to do into typography as I did not know as much as I first thought. Below are some examples I changed in order to get to the final designs.
Postcard Design
I did not choose this image as I felt the other Ice image was a better angle for a postcard.
I got rid of thw word Ice as I did not feel it was needed.
I changed the font and quote as it was not suitable for the simplistic design I was trying to portray.
Back of Postcard
Back of postcard I created on InDssign in order to create a realistic looking postcard with two sides. I went for pale grey outlines as I did not want it to be too overpowering.
‘If you look over the years, the style has changed - the clothes, the hair, the production, the approach to the songs. The icing to the cake has changed flavours. But if you really look at the cake itself, it’s really the same’ John Oates
“The intensity of light falling at a given place on a lighted surface; the luminous flux incident per unit area, expressed in lumens per unit of area�
CHAPTER THREE
Venacular Letterforms: Mapping the lanscape A lexicon of urban typography
Brief “This intial brief begins with a visit to Poole where you will identify, collect and photography, example of vernacular letterforms in the town. Your images could be literal interpretations of details or road signs, gravestones or shopfront signs, etc or slightly more challenging abtract collections of ‘hidden signs’ drawn from architectural forms, found objects and unintentional typographic structures. You will will work in teams of four and planning which letterforms you each photograph in order to create a lexicon of vernacular letterforms. Remember you will need a full alphabet”
Lisa LisaRienermann Rienermann
Lisa Rienermann creates letterforms from photographing the contrast of the sky and silhouettes of buildings. Above she has created a 26 letter alphabet by following the same process yet creating different letters each time. The typeface is called ‘Type in the Sky’. I have used Lisa as inspiration for my Vernacular letterform brief as it is a good combination of typography, photography, and urban landscapes, all of which I have had to use to create my book.
Rhett Dashwood created this series of images from google mapps for several months starting October 2008 to April 2009. He spent some spare time between commercial projects searching Google Maps hoping to discover land formations or buildings resembling letter forms. These are the results of his findings limited within the state of Victoria, Australia.
Google Maps Typography
I found this inspirational for my Venacular letterforms project as it had a different take on finding letters within the landscape.
CHAPTER FOUR
Book Binding Using the images we took in Poole we created photographic page layouts to display our imagery in an affective way. These were designed on InDesign. We set up guidelines, which divided the pages up enabling us to insert the images accurately and in a consistent format. After finishing the page layouts they were then printed in a two-page spread. We then lined up the crop marks, which allowed the page to be perfectly split down the middle creating two pages either side of the fold; a guillotine machine then cut down the pages. After all the pages were cut down to the same size we accurately placed them in to a Lumbeck press. Adding glue to the top of the pages several times over a period of time we then left it a day came back and glued down a mesh on top of the glue, this gave the book’s binding some strength. After this dried the cover was glued on.
CHAPTER FIVE
BERLIN
BAUHAUS
Bauhaus Archiv Visiting the Bauhaus museam was a real eye opener as I can say that I have visted one of the most famous museaums that displays one of the very first movements of Graphic Design. The imagery in the bauhaus was inspiring to me and may contribute to future work I may do as it has allowed me to have another take on a style of graphic design. The Bauhaus Archive/Museum of Design in Berlin is devoted to the research and presentation of the history and influence of the Bauhaus (1919-1933), the most important school of architecture, design and art in the 20th century. The entire spectrum of the school’s activities is represented in the Bauhaus Collection: architecture, furniture, ceramics, metalwork, photography, stage pieces and student work from the preliminary course, as well as works created by the school’s famous teachers, including Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Vasily Kandinsky, Josef Albers, Oskar Schlemmer, László Moholy-Nagy and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Even today, the ‘Bauhaus Lamp’, the ‘Vasily’ armchair and Bauhaus wallpaper designs are regarded as modern classics. This presentation of paintings, drawings, sculptures and models by Bauhaus masters and students, comprising a selection from the world’s largest collection of Bauhaus artefacts, illustrates the lasting influence of the Bauhaus. The annual museum programme features special exhibitions, numerous lectures, podium discussions, workshops, readings and concerts.
Hamburger Banhoff
Hamburger Bahnoff
Hamburger Bahnoff The hamburger was an interesting gallery as it displayed a broad range of artworks. The gallery was inspirational in the many different scales and layouts. However some of the works I found were to simplistic and not enough to them. Overall I enjoyed the majority of the gallery and it has allowed me to be critical over artwork which gives me another take on how I personally view and criticise my own work. In the mid-1980s Berlin entrepreneur Erich Marx offered his private collection of contemporary art to the city . The Berlin Senate decided in 1987 to set up a Museum of Contemporary Art in the former railway station. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation agreed to integrate the museum as part of the National Gallery. A competition for the renovation of the station was announced by the Senate in 1989, and was won by architect Josef Paul Kleihues. Between 1990 and 1996, Kleihues refurbished the building, and in November 1996, the museum was opened with an exhibition of works by Sigmar Polke. The Museum f端r Gegenwart exhibits modern and contemporary art. As part of the Marx collection, works by artists such as Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol are on permanent display. An emphasis of the Nationalgalerie collection is art on video and film. A collection of 1970s video art, made as a gift by Mike Steiner, as well as the Joseph Beuys-Medienarchiv form its basis. Between 2004 and 2010, the Museum f端r Gegenwart exhibited parts of the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection, whose main concentration is the late 20th century. Artists such as Paul McCarthy, Jason Rhoades, Rodney Graham, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, and Stan Douglas are represented in the collection by large format works, including elaborate installations as well as complex filmic spaces. Due to his Flick family background, the display, which had previously been rejected by the local authorities in Zurich, gave rise to protests in 2004.
Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold. It consists of a 19,000 m2 (4.7-acre) site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or “stelae”, arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The stelae vary in height from 0.2 to 4.8 m (7.9 in to 15 ft 9.0 in). According to Eisenman’s project text, the stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. A 2005 copy of the Foundation for the Memorial’s official English tourist pamphlet, however, states that the design represents a radical approach to the traditional concept of a memorial, partly because Eisenman did not use any symbolism.
Gypsy Memorial
Brandenburg Gate
Reichstag Building
Checkpoint Charlie
CHAPTER SIX
Postmodernism & Identity Lecture notes
Postmodernism & Identity Lecture notes From this lecture I learned about Postmodernism and Identity. The lecture looked at ways identity is revolved around class and how people define it. It took into account Gender, Race, Occupation, Culture, Politics and Food and how these areas effect the world we live in. Postmodernism relates as it is a late 20th centuary style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories.I felt I learned about different areas and how they are viewed in this lecture this has furthered my knowledge which may help me within future projects to come. NOTES Looking at ways identity is revolved around class Social Class How do you define class? - Money - Education - Occupation - Parents Occupation 89% of people believe they are judged on class Race Agenda Sex & Gender Who we are can be thought of to revolve around gender Traditional notions of gender assign certain roles e.g. housewife Certain occupations are assigned to gender e.g. mechanic, cleaner Gender is assigned early - boys wear blue, girls wear pink Gender has been challenged by feminists - arguing that sex is assigned, but gender is learnt, constructed, and negotiable Race Making a difference between them and us is established Discrimination Like class & gender we come to establish ourselves by what we are not just as much as we do by what we are Occupation Many are judged by occupation TV quizzes, talk shows, the news, social networking all identify people by their age and occupation Unemployed seem rarely featured in these formats. They appear in talk shows, crime news etc A sense of purpose and structure to our day to day activities Story of redemption Culture Cultural activities you engage in can define you and your class Consider opera, gigs, classical, drum & bass, football, cricket, river cottage, McDonalds, radio 4 & 6, cinema Politics Traditional allegiances to political parties were defined by class, geographic location and background. Influence issues such as union membership and social network North/ South divide that still exists to some extent in voting patterns Modern politics include tendency towards single issues politics, little or no party allegiance, apathy towards mainstream politics, and a decline in union membership
Food Elaine Glaser on food – contemporary relationship What you eat can define who you are Food culture Individuals making their own food Ingredients – what we should eat, what type of ingredients we use? Where are they from? Food parties Levi Strauss – bricolage Rules of his game is using whatever is at hand Bricolage in this sense is therefore the use of diverse materials that are at hand and bear the little or no historic or purposeful resemblance to the task at hand We pick and choose at life Hebdige – subcultures The mods were the first in a long line of working class youth cultures, which grew up around the West Indians, responded positively to their presence and sought to emulate their style Saville row for wealthy young men about town can be constructed as an act of bricolage Taking something out of text and out of purpose and reusing it Jameson & postmodernism Marked by an inverted millenarianism, I’m which promotions of the future, catastrophic or redemptive, have been replaced by senses of the end of this or that (art, social class) This then is a break with the idea of a grand or Meta – narrative and the progress of history The end of art as an ideology as everything has been done Postmodernism within the arts, no real focus, picks at areas and presents them to us Capitalism – making things over and over again Contemporary cultures says we need these things – we need these things Lost its original meaning Pastiche is speech in dead language The culture of simulacrum comes to life in a society where exchange value has been generalised to the point at which the very memory of use value is affected Klein & Advertising Certain branding – how it was made for the price you pay Target the shelves in a certain way you can take advantage of it to promote brand – were not apart of this or we sell fair trade coffee etc – keep customers happy, make them feel good Branding identifies who you are Sell an image Traditional culture can turn into modern day fashions Zezik – RSA charity talk Bourdieu & capital Defines the concept of different forms of capital – economic capital is self explanatory Cultural capital equally had a value and can be exchanged, although its worth depends on context Cultural capital for example can be of value in getting a job, thus is exchanged through a process, for economic capital Other forms of cultural capital are exchanged through relationships I am selling this piece of work – cultural capital Lawler & Lack Identify in a postmodern context may be defined by lack Working class youths can be categorized due to their lack of taste, knowledge or understanding of the ways of being or doing Consider single working class mother
Lack & Consumption This lack constitutes a powerful means of promoting consumption Consumption is not based upon needs but rather desires What we lack, we try to make up with consumption – fulfillment of this lack is rarely satiated Postmodernism consumer culture also encourages us to buy with economic capital what we lack in cultural capital – lifestyle Constant need to reaffirm our status and lack of lack is termed by Alan de B? Angela McRobbie How society has supposedly been improved Beck & Giddens – sociological aspect Feminism Butler & Performativity Concept of performativity in relation to gender Argues that gender is not so much what one is but rather what one does – gender is performed Argument made by Goffman – refers to social identity as a theatrical performance as if performed on a stage Gender is performed through a number of codes, including clothing and ways of behaving Identity is complex and dependent upon a number of factors – history, social position, education etc Identity is not fixed, however some aspects are harder to change Identity is performed or enacted
Ooooh Ahhh Mmm: Notations of taste, aesthetic judgment and consumer culture From this lecture I learned about the relationships with objects that we have and how we respond to them and also give value to things. This lecture was interesting from a design point of view as it teaches you about the way things are seen from a consumer’s point of view. This allows you to think ahead when designing something for the future, as you look at things such as mass production of your item and would it mean less to you? It also makes you take into consideration things such as cultural preferences, target audience and visual appearance. NOTES Relationship with objects and how we respond to and give value to things Aesthetic judgments and purchase decisions relate to consumer culture www.coolhunting.com - a daily update on ideas and products – art & design/culture/technology Image creates atmosphere for customer Gender Edward Bernays – play upon emotions Neomania – need for the latest Taste – old French term – judgment Interiors – identity of an individual - IKEA – Laura Ashley - Create guidance on taste
Ooooh Ahhh Mmm
Cultural preferences Addidas – riots damaged brand Mass production – most things the same no one offs etc Black eyes & lemonade Redundancy is designed into industry Objects with sacred meaning Lifestyle – unique/ limited edition James Twitchell Prestige/ Status/ Luxury Thorstein Veblen – conspicuous consumption - mark of status How do we judge design? - Subjectivity (views) - Objectively (stand back with factor) - Experiences of objects
Function & form - Use - Ergonomics - Size/handling/storage - Re-cycling - Shape - Colour - Style - Materials - Production process - Manufacture - Cost - Target audience - Less is more - Mies Van Der R Minimalist Dieter Rams – modernist creed Albert Alessi What makes something a classic design? Baudrillard Kitsch - Visual pleasure - Cheap/ maps produced/ poor quality - Non- functional - Superficial, copy, fake - Vulgar, ignorant - Sentimental, souvenir, memento - Personal - Decoration
Propaganda Lecture notes PowerPoint by Kirsten Hardie
From this lecture I learned what propaganda stood for and the many ways in which it was used over history and it has developed now. I learned about the different types of propaganda and the broad range of people who have used it. This lecture was also extremely helpful with my Visual Thinking essay as I was writing about propaganda, it has also extended my knowledge enabling me to further my studies for the future.
NOTES What is propaganda? - Toolbox of politicians - Biased point of view - Subconscious manipulation - Little information on serious issues - Taking away freedom - To convince people of actions that may not exist - Manipulation of beliefs
Propaganda Lecture notes
Power and Persuasion – book – David Welch Example of propaganda: - Iraq poster – taken from apple advertising - First man on the moon – was it an actual image or was it a fake? Where is the proof? Where you might find propaganda - Political - Social - Advertising - Media Information to assist or damage the cause of a government or movement The spreading of ideas, information or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution a cause or a person Ideas facts or allegations spread deliberately to further ones cause to damage an opposing cause also a public action having such an effect - Merriam Webster – online dictionary Support or damage mainly both Look at other online dictionary definitions to support what is propaganda Allegations Is global warming happening or is it American allegations to remain in control Delusion of polar bears and ice caps – global warming World propaganda established 18th centaury by pope George XV Corrugation of propaganding faith
Nationalarchives.gov Colors magazine – provocative publication which highlights world issues Imperial war museum Record war Noam Chomsky – media criticism and politics – political activist Design for dissent Groups that use propaganda - Organisations - Respect for animals - Greenpeace - Liberty human rights - Amnesty international – human rights declaration - Act up – gay organisation - Banardos – Australia – awareness campaign Propagate – to grow and spread (information & ideas) Three types of propaganda - Black - Grey - White Black – sources that cannot be identified, not a valid source (artificial lies) The big lie – Hitler, Certain countries control information BBC news, CN news – only one opinion White – Evidence, reliable source Grey – some facts, questionable, half source Censorship Genetically modified Manic street preachers Smoking campaigns Women against rape Russian propaganda 1917 onwards Propaganda visual image search Denver America Conspiracy theory Apocalypse
Building – Pyramids, Taj Mahal what happened to the people who made them Abortion Uncle sam Reframing Malcolm X False flag termism - sandy hook, global warming Repetition is key for propaganda – effective & memorable Truth is the new hate speech – George Orwell 9/11 for dummies Social media channels influence WWI & WWII propaganda The big lie – Adolph Hitler Goebbels Leaflet bombs Walter Lippmann – we must remember… Winston Churchill Microwave radiation of heat – make people act The Lusitania
CHAPTER SEVEN
Japanese Book Binding
For this workshop we gathered a chunk of paper that was all the same size, placed the template on top and clipped down to hold in place. We then slowly and carefully drilled five holes down the side of the paper. We then stitched the paper together tightly in a particular method. After we knotted the loose strings together to finish and pulled the template off. I found this workshop useful as it taught me a method of making a book. Not only was this interesting but it was valuable for future projects or possibly even sketchbooks I wish to create in the future. To make the book different you can also use many different types of paper in order to give a more personalised approach.
The explosive drawing was a: ‘Dynamic workshop, which encourages the participant to draw and make in unexpected and ambitious ways in response to a spoken narrative. We will learn about changing scale, working in mixed media and challenging conventional approaches to responding to narrative and visual thinking on a large scale’
Explosive Drawing
This workshop was not my favourite however it allowed me think about drawing and expressing myself in a different way. This may not be useful to me now but it may give me ideas on how to start or add to future projects.
Word & Image
This seminar-workshop looked 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. The topic introduces 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. I did not enjoy this workshop as there was too much talking and not enough hands on work. For the task we was asked to collarge newspaper sections together to show a representation of yourself. Overall this was not my favourite workshop but as the Letterpress was full I will possibly take the ideas of this workshop for future parts of the brief where broad thinking is required.
CHAPTER EIGHT
For the Love of Graphics Graphic Design Exhibition
For the love of Graphics was a one day exhibition that aimed to explore our love of Graphic design through a spectacular display of Graphic artifacts, text and collections collated and curated by students and staff from the BA(Hons) Graphic Design course at the Arts University at Bournemouth. The exhibition aimed to investigate how we consider, position, love and cherish examples of Graphic Design. For my part of the exhibition I worked as a group to display board games. We decided that this was a good design concept as people love playing games, so the design is important to entice them to want to play/ buy these games. I feel board games have been developed throughout history and many of the older games have had inspiration taken from them such as Monopoly, Risk Cludo etc. and have had a modern twist put on them. The exhibition was our idea to show a broad range of games to historical, foreign and modern so the viewers can go away and think about how design in games is important.
Final Exhibition Poster
Title: Typography Sketchbooks Author/s: Steven Heller, Lita Talarico Inspiration: Helped with the Distinctive letterform project and Venacular letterform project
Key Texts
Title: Visable Signs Author/s: David Crow Inspiration: Helped with artist inspiration
Title: Visual Research Author/s: Ian Noble, Russell Bestley Inspiration: Helped with visual planning and research
Title: Type and Typography Author/s: Phil Baines and Andrew Haslam Inspiration: Helped visual representation of 3D letterform, Helped with Helvetica typeface
Title: Graphic Design Referenced Author/s: Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit Inspiration: Displayed French fold book binding, layouts, Helvetica type face information and helped with essay
Overall these were some of the books I looked at whilst studying this term. They have helped me with a broad range of tasks such as my essay, e-book and my briefs within this unit. I have learned alot from these books and the information I have learned will hopefully help me with future projects.
CHAPTER NINE
Conclusion In conclusion I have overall enjoyed this unit. For the first project distinctive characters I found a little challenging, as I had to work on my own when most people had a partner. However I think I successfully made three postcards that were fairly effective. If I was do these again I would stick with the words I choose but I would probably make the object I was photographing more complex and possibly experiment more with camera angles. I would also possibly put a bit more thought in matching the font with my actual 3D creations in order to create the best possible outcome. For the second brief Vernacular letterforms we worked in groups of four to produce a French folded book. I enjoyed this project however I do feel we could of worked more effectively as a group if we had allocated direct jobs for each other. For this project I wish I had recorded the processes better, this is something I will take into consideration for my next brief. I feel that sharing the workload on the photography aspect was useful as it enabled us to think in four different ways when finding letterforms in the landscape to take pictures of. One think I do feel we could of done better was focus on the way the image had been taken such as angles and perspectives. When it came to putting the book together I did not feel I was completely happy with the overall outcome as I would of liked the layouts to be much simpler, cleaner looking and a few more larger layouts to display the best possible outcome for the photographs that we took, this is something I would change if I was to do this project again. I feel the French folding of this brief was interesting and enabled me to gain more skills which I could potentially use in the future. Berlin for me was a real eye opener into artwork outside the UK for me. I thought this was a fantastic experience and I was glad I went as I thought I learned a lot about the culture, tourist attractions and different forms of art from galleries to street art. I especially enjoyed the Bauhaus museum, the history and the street art as I thought it was inspirational to me as I learned a lot, hopefully this will further my knowledge and potentially help me out with future projects. At first I did not know what to expect of Berlin but through this trip I would definitely visit again. The lectures I went to during this term have taught me a lot this has not only helped me with this term but will hopefully help me out with future projects/ research. The propaganda essay was especially of use down to my essay being themed on propaganda. For the workshops in this term I did not get to go on the majority of ones I would have had more of an interest in as some of them filled up to fast. However for the letterpress I have been told I can get inducted in the future so I can still gain that skill. The Japanese bookbinding was the most interesting and useful workshop I went to as it is something I am likely to use in future projects. The other two workshops I went to were interesting and may help me in the future with research or project development but having the choice I would have gone to others. For the love of Graphics exhibition was an enjoyable experience, which enabled me to prepare for future exhibitions I may have to put up for my own work. I also found this exhibition inspiring as it allowed me to view many different forms of design as a whole. Overall I have learned a lot throughout this term. I have learned how to research thoroughly, gained more skills such as bookbinding, use InDesign, broadened my knowledge on typography and much more. Hopefully I will be able to use most of these things in the future and I possibly hope to expand on a few for future works. This unit has also taught me to record my work more thoroughly, organize myself better and also to look at more books as the key texts have been useful to me and my studies.
Visual Thinking
First Year Graphic Design Student Arts Univesity Bournemouth Rosie Thomas