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Content
Conversation 4-39 pg Huddersfield Re-Brand 40-53 pg Live Briefs 54-61 pg
Conver
rsation
Mind-Map
Inspiration For my “Conversations” project I am delving down the route of the conversations through music. This music video released by Ed Sheeran for his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ is perhaps a prime example of how a conversation can be more than just sentences between groups of people.
without the sound. I also is. In one sense this is suggest only listening to a narrative conversation. the song. The couple are expressing their narrative to us, Paralinguistics pay a crucial through more than part in any conversation just words, and we in in person. Visually, even turn are responding without the sound you can tell by acknowledging the that there is a conversation fact that they are going on between the madly in love with each dancers. Although this other, i.e. we enjoy may seem like no the song or perhaps an communication is going emotion is triggered I suggest watching the on between an audience by watching such an video both with and and the couple, there expressive piece. With
all of this being said, the conclusion could be that a conversation can be much more abstract than initially thought of. Although marketing would suggest that these lyrics are nothing more than a ploy to manipulate all women to thinking this song is about them, we can consider this song as a conversation. Sometimes music can express things what we truly want to say, a lot easier and more intimately than any other form of communication. With the way language has changed, we must realise that the way we express ourselves in modern day society is
boring in comparison to that of the past. Love letters from war times expressed such sorrow at the parting between loved ones in such elaborate words and ways, but now we limit our words and our emotions in the hope that our loved ones will understand what we truly feel. The concept of romance now seems outdated in various means of communications, be it a conversation in person or via electronic media. For this reason, perhaps it is music and other expressive arts that keep romance still alive, even if it is just a marketing thing.
For this reason, after mind mapping, I propose the following for my project. I would like to reignite the concept of romance in a conversation through the medium of music, since music is one of the most accessible expressive art. I will look to collaborate to write a piece of music using my own skills as a musician, and attempt to make art from the piece, be it through sound waves or an animation.
Initial Problem It is key in all professional to selfdirect some of your learning in your free time. Although it may, or may not, aid in current or future projects, it will still be a challenge and have the potential to aid in other practical developments. With my Adobe AfterEffects skills being my weakest, I would like to focus on this. Most of my personal development this year with have a focal point around this software, as well as keeping up to date with the other soft-wares, regardless of my confidence in my ability to use them. My first personal development project will be to learn how this video was created, and aim to create something similar.
Initial Solution I decided to combine the two for the sake of this brief. With thanks to Digital Tutors, I am slowly going through some tutorials to aid me in making these new compositions.
Style Research When considering a final outcome for any given piece, the question needs to be asked, ‘what reaction am I trying to provoke?’.
emotionally connected to the characters. Potentially, the audience thought they were the character and felt like they were having a conversation with the opposing If, as explained in my idea characters. A Conversation in a proposal, I am to narrate a story conversation. I can only hope that with the aide of music, then my animation will be as successful. what conversation am I trying to have with the audience? Will my narration require the audiences response to be a specific emotion, or just to ponder their own lives? An example of a well animated piece that visually narrated a song is this video for Ryan Woodward’s ‘Thinking of You’. The animators here conversed with the audience telling them a story of life. The response, although not required as with most narrations, was one of provoking thoughts and feeling
Considering the story line for my animation is taking it’s time, but when considering the two characters to dominate it, I have considered using an androgynous approach in their drawing. When Androgynous is defined it means to be of indeterminate gender, and this could benefit me in the production of the final outcome. With gay marriage being at the forefront of equal rights, at this present time, I considered making a piece that would be relatable to all, so that the story I am wanting to converse with an audience can be heard from a wider audience. Although artists for many millennia have attempted to break the rules, perhaps one that should not be broken is one where you limit your outcome. PEST analysis (political, economical, social and technological) would suggest that the best outcome for a piece in regards to love is either to make two main characters in a love story real, i.e. based on a real life couple, or make the figures androgynous so not to offend anyone.
Regardless of what I decide, I believe that we should also consider that androgynous isn’t always well designed. Androgynous figures in art will still either look feminine or masculine. In The ‘Last Judgement’ by Hieronymus Bosch, the androgynous figures in the second and thirds piece of this triptych all look feminine.
Although this may just be coincidental, perhaps we should consider the connotations. Would painting androgynous figures in a feminine way add to the motion of the art piece? In both parts of the triptych that depict such an occurrence, the figures are suffering. When this painting was made, men were the dominants in society. The figures would have maybe given a better emotive response because they could have been seen as more of a damsel in distress figure than humanity in general.
Continued
During the ‘gender-bender’ fashion trends of the 70’s and 80’s, it was clear to see that being androgynous was more of a power play. Women who dressed like men to appear more androgynous, had more power and were taken very seriously. So many business women during this era power dressed to get places. When men dressed slightly more femininely to look androgynous did it to feel more in touch with their audiences and seem more relatable (if they were famous like Boy George) or to merely agree with societies change in how the genders should be defined. Since World War 2, many women took it upon themselves to take part in male roles in the home and work place, since a lot of men did not return. Women were forced to adapt to fill in the gaps war had torn. As the Glam Rock era’s emerged it was clear to see that a more psychologically androgynous society was being formed.
If the concept of evolutionary psychology is more than just theoretical, then as humans we are heading for a 100% androgynous society where roles between the genders is no longer defined. Whether you are a feminist or not, this is a key factor. My animation’s outcome with bare these points in mind, I should decide whether I want to conform to an androgynous world, or stick to what is still, sadly, deemed to be ‘socially acceptable’. Perhaps androgyny will mean more to an audience than being controversial in an individual’s eyes. By being controversial in my decision, would I be cancelling out an aspect of my audience? Do I want to speak to the masses or to an individual? Who do I want to define as my audience? To define is to destroy.
Story
Pixar’s Up demonstrated the power of music to go along side a piece of animation. The actual animation was one of the best crafted piece of story telling in the modern age. For this reason, considering a montage would perhaps be an idea. It would make the piece relatable to more people and would also show the stages of Love, to symbolise how it grows. With this in mind, how will the montage be laid out? A few main story lines have become clear from initial idea generation. The idea of falling in love is one that happens in different ways for everyone, but it is actually conveying this concept. From one perspective, it could be the initial stages of falling in love. As a dance sequence, the story line could be more a metaphoric piece of narration. The characters see each other, one of them asks the
other to dance, initial clumsy steps, finally dancing perfectly, continue dancing, perhaps through seasons etc, and then end with a kiss. It is an idea, but perhaps more of an animation like in the first Ice Age film, where Manny’s back story is given light. Where context is given and then a main story is stated. With this in mind, perhaps just a story of love would be required. For example a first date, special occasion or how the couple met or even saying final goodbyes. The emotions that go along with saying final goodbyes, could be quite interesting to convey. It would explore the use of colour, speed, and imagery in general. I will story board various ideas, and come to a conclusion. All ideas so far are plausible whilst still keeping with the brief I have created with the parameters from the initial brief: Conversation.
Initial Hand-Dr
rawn Animation
Problem With
Influential art is perhaps the pinnacle of society. If for whatever reason, like during World War Two, famous pieces of art work were to be destroyed, there would be chaos. Art represents history and lives. Much can be learnt from the factors that surround any given piece. It could give clues as to the lifestyle at the time and the personal lives and feelings of given artists.
Art used in protests, for example graffiti, take this into a new light. Artists such as Banksy, have used art to aid in protests. His piece that he used the Berlin Wall as a canvas for caused much controversy and stirred the pot for many protesters and activists. Perhaps activist and protest art just stirs the pot but the main question is: is this a good thing?
When the conceptual activism started in regards to “This is What Democracy Looks Like� began, the pinnacle was in regards to World Trade. Conspiracy theoriests would argue that the art works in regards to these sets of ideas were the reasons behind the tragic events of 9/11. Art is perhaps the most influential part to any given protest.
Art
When you look at any given protest, you see signs, banners and sometimes graffiti. Art is spoken about and critiqued. People act on what they interoperate from such a subjective media. Political art and controversial art can be dangerous, and unless we want to start a war, we must consider all possible outcomes. As designers we want to break rules and move forward with design,
but we must also keep in our minds that we do not wish to cause harm to society as it stands. We may want society to re-evaluate something, but we must do it in a way that causes peaceful activism.
Be careful with controversy.
Revelations
Illustrator and contemporary artist, Dawn Mellor took time out last week to give us her insights on her industry, artwork and lifestyle. Guest lectures are very important to the development of students as it gives us some knowledge of the real world. Mellor, perhaps more than other artists, has had much life experience and reflects this in her pieces. A side from life experience, Dawn Mellor is fascinated by and takes inspiration from people and fame. She is driven by the concept of famous people taking on different roles. On exhibition she showed us was based around Helen Mirren. Helen Mirren’s role of the queen inspired many people, so seeing Mirren in such roles such as a house made with filthy fetishes, it makes an audience question. Moving on from her disturbing depictions of various characters, she also exploited current events. After the passing of Michael Jackson, she released a book she had made prior to this event, of her portraiture of the King of Pop. Although the ethics of this may be questionable, this has shown that exploiting a market
With this rebellious attitude in mind, Mellor refuses to have her artwork analysed critically with her personal history as a context. She argued that the majority of her artwork did not have meaning as such, and was made “Just ‘Cause”. The excuses for her artwork mostly involved around feminism and not her tragic past, though the fractured, defaced portraits and her attitude may have suggested otherwise. Though this lecture may not have been helpful in the practical side of things, it certainly taught me about the criticism and scrutiny our own work will come under and how we shouldn’t react. I also learnt that although being choosy with where you work can aide in you feeling more comfortable, sometimes you need to be open and find a way to be passionate about anywhere you work. First impressions count, and having an attitude towards a certain employer or curator can cause a lot of problems in the future. Nobody would hire a person for a second time if they didn’t like that individual.
Is My Project Too Safe?
and a given situation can often work in an artist’s favour and should be considered.
Alternativ As a musician, I wrote and performed these pieces. These are some snippets of some music experimentation. I apologise for the quality, but when I decide on the final outcome, it will be recorded properly. Two pieces have already been edited, but still are not complete. Please listen to the here.
Dead End
ve Passion Due to difficulties outside of University, I had to cancel my project in this route. Collaboration, although can be amazing when done right, is sometimes also a pitfall. Relying on others can often hold up on projects getting completed.
With this setback, I opted to experiment down other paths. With music being a main passion of mine, I opted to look further into how I could combine my two passions. Recording music for my animation triggered this epiphany.
Musical Research Whilst waiting for the dancer’s to finish recording their part for my animation, I started to experiment into some alternative ideas. One of the main ideas, along a similar track, came from watching this TED Talks video.
Classical music, although perhaps isn’t dying, it is becoming a very ancient music form. In saying this, music is starting to become more stripped back to like it’s ancestors, in classics, for example All of me by John Legend and Clean Bandit’s Rather Be. Learning a musical instrument, is still pushed in the education system, but some children choose to ignore it’s benefits. It has been proven that people who are good at music tend to be more sociable and are good at maths and logic problems. Music can be very beneficial and so, I came up with the idea of creating little adverts to try and make music “cool”.
Mixing Media
Though Mocking up posters to try and help the cause seemed fun and interesting, I found that sometimes passions need to stay as hobbies. Mixing both my university life and my hobby made me lose a little something for music. I found myself unfocused and this piece of artwork forced.
Dead End
The Issues I decided to go back to my mind map and rethink everything over. I looked to TED Talks for inspiration and found the above video.
as an individual. One thing that sprang to mind when watching this video is that strangers are just potential friends. Everyone is human after all.
As highlighted in this TEDs Talks video, conversations are important. The content and purposes of said conversations are crucial to how we are perceived
For this reason, the idea of “pegging” people, as a marketing ploy for a hypothetical company would be an excellent side project. The hypothetical company
would perhaps be a match making service looking for new clients. These pegs would contain contact details for the company and would be secretly “pegged” onto various members of the public. Though this may offend some, for others it could be just what they needed.
Research
With my other paths all being dead ends, I opted to look back to my mind map one last time. I noticed that, though I may not have had an idea written down, my style of mind map was unusual and so looked into it further.
With much research into it was defined as art done outside of normal social boundaries and cultures. The best examples of outsider art either happens in newly discovered civilisations that have not been influenced by the wider worlds, or those who do not have access to the outside world, i.e. people in From string to string, prison or asylums. I became interested in outsider art and handwriting The most recognised outsider analysis. I had my own art originates from mental handwriting analysed, which asylums. This is because whilst the outcome was the artwork reflected on the somewhat offensive, it was reasons why said patients interesting as I have the were in there. Art work same handwriting as my included depictions of abstract dad. topics, such as the feelings of paranoia and other mental Outsider art, however was health issues. exceedingly interesting.
Whilst most of the artwork would be considered as scary or dark, it also possesses a key insight into the minds of people we may not understand, or health conditions we cannot experience for ourselves.
Final Idea
With all of the research in mind, and some additional prior knowledge, I decided to create some outsider styled art. So that I didn’t waste my animation skills I had learnt about at the beginning of the brief, I believed I should find a way of using these skills.
music I had recorded the few weeks before, but the topic was different, so I needed a way of making the sound more haunting and in a minor key.
With the aide of Adobe Audition, I found that I eventually found something that hurt the The insomnia drawings lecture Alison gave us ears just like I wanted to achieve as this film gave me an idea and so since I don’t sleep much would be hard hitting and scary and I wanted anyway, I used this to my advantage. I drew something to reflect this. most of these pictures at unearthly hours, and also channelled the times I could remember being on certain medications for pain. The side effects from certain pain medications were very haunting to me and has put me off them for life, regardless of my need for them due to chronic pain. I remembered the paranoia and hallucinations I had, and attempted to draw them. With the help of some typography I eventually came up with the idea of a short film that would be best. I still wanted to incorporate the
Final Piece
Evaluation
If I had the chance to redo this project, I would like to do my rotoscoping, hand-drawn animation I had wanted to do in the beginning. I understand that time constraints and attempting to work with others did not go to plan, but it keeps it open for a personal project later down the line. I liked the fact that I had a chance to go down many routes with this brief, but most of all my final idea. I think that if I had more time, I would have made the animation longer and maybe composed another piece of music instead of editing one I had already done for the other brief.
ReBr
rand
Group Project
Working as part of a group can either be a blessing or a curse. As seen in the last project, it was a curse. Working with friends, however, you know eachother’s strengths and weaknesses. You also know their styles as designers, so it can help with idea generation. For this rebrand project we only worked as a group for the initial stages of research. Though this hardly counts as a group project, it was interesting to see people take this project in different directions. Please click to see everyone’s different opinions on how to rebrand The Cotton Factory in Huddersfield. Below are links to my friends blogs and their work on this brief and to the right is our grouped initial research. It is clear to see that we all have our own individual styles in how we did things.
Audience Rebecca Shaw
Huddersfield, Yorkshire Ruth Willis
The Competition Lauren Winstanley
Cotton Factory Now Gaynor Thorpe
Original Idea After much deliberation and finally discussing it as a group, we made this mind-map and split off to follow our chosen paths of design. Whilst my colleagues chose to make specifically a bar, nightclub or restaurant, I decided to exploit the building’s name and historical purpose. I opted to change it into a nightclub from war times and exploit the vintage fashion. Whilst this may seem like it is only for a young audience, I also aimed it at an older generation by considering turning it into a club that specialise in this era, for example with the interior and music being specifically, or made to be like it was from that era. Essentially, I created an experiential heritage centre. As we split off I researched further and made a few boards on Pintrest to help with both what Brand Guidelines should look like and ideason how I should design my idea physically.
WW2 Art During many lectures, feminism has become a main focal point. Though I do in fact disagree with many feminists who say that women in western cultures are victimised, I will continue this blog post. With a focus on propaganda during both world wars, we see a change in the role of the woman. As stated in the lectures, the woman is victimised into being a weakling and needing protection. Although I agree that the “damsel in distress� will always instigate a reaction from men, this was merely the times. I would however like to disagree with the statements made about women being seen as the victim. Whilst men were off fighting the war, women were left to pick up the pieces. They had to take the place of the man in any given household. They were given a form of equal rights, as they were now seen as good enough to take part in typical male duties. The society became gender neutral. Women were not victimised as not only were they seen as strong for being able to take over these
roles, but also smart enough to potentially cause a collapse of a nation with slogans such as “Keep mum, she’s not dumb” may have graced the public walls, but this was not to belittle a woman into saying that women will gossip to the wrong people. Perhaps this was more the fact that women were smart enough to be able to partake in espionage. Feminism is very different to sexism. Sexism implies there is a victim; feminism should stand for equality. By going out of our way to see women as a victim and try to better ourselves to outdo men, we are not being helpful. There should be a definitive marker of equality instead of trying to palm of sexism as feminism. The semiotics of propaganda when it comes to this topic will always be open for interpretation, but we need to realise that times have changed and victimisation in this context will not help society today.
Berlin Trip I found the trip to Berlin very helpful to this project. Seeing how another culture honours their histroy, regardless of how different to the one I am looking into. The German’s may not be proud of their history, but they do strive to make sure that it is remembered and learnt from. I saw the museums and memorials that had been erected and decided that for my own project, I need to make sure that I honour history in the way it needs to be. Neither good, nor bad historical events should be forgotted about as they are both, equally, learning curves. Though I will be creating a happy atmosphere and celebrating the entertainment of the wars, I also need to remember that Veterans faught for our freedom. As a supporter of BLESMA, I feel like I should find a way to incorporate local Veterans and war history into my project, be it in pictoral form or in events. I feel that I could do this mainly through restoring photos to colour from this era, as I did with my Grandparent’s wedding picture last year and perhaps cpontinue with my project for Earth Artefact.
Final Brand
Bra
d Guidelines
and Guidelines: Cotton Factory
Evaluation
We had some issues with the Cotton Factory and although it came with a lot of freedom, I wish we had chosen another place. Too much freedom in a brief can sometimes be a bad thing, and I struggled with this brief a lot due to the restrictions of the actual brief not reflecting on the lack of restrictions we had in reality. If I had more time, I would have written a full business proposal alongside the brand guidelines as the company went under at the very start of our project. If it weren’t for the restrictions on the brief, I believe I would have made the brand guidelines longer and covered the business a lot more in depth. One main benefit of this project was that it reinstated my beliefs that working collaboratively can work. It also aided me securing a placement.
Live B
Briefs
Y.C.N : Pan
Please find my research Document here and my final pieces, without he logo to the right.
n MacMillan
Level Co
ollective
Placem
Having secured a years placement at BWAR!, I have already started and am finding the job amazing. Working in industry is always helpful and having done two short placements over the course of university so far, in the fashion industry, I wanted to branch out. BWAR! so far has been amazing and I am looking forward to continuing here over the year. So far I have created many logos for several businesses, written content for web and apps, created graphics for web and apps, advertising and much more. With a fast paced company like this, no two days are the same, and I like the fact that there is never nothing to do. The experience I get here will set me up for work after university, where-ever I end up.
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