Visual Thinking

Visual Thinking A Visual Journey into Typography

‘Visual Thinking focuses on extending your awareness, individual creative language and understanding of contemporary practice while examining the fertile and complex semiotic and aesthetic nature of word, image and object.’

Index Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Typogrpahy as a Semiotic Resource Letters in the Landscape Berlin Trip Lectures and Seminars Key Text & Exhibition

CHAPTER ONE

Ty p o g r a p h y as a Semiotic Resource

B r i e f

“Typography can be used as a 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.�

The first part of out brief asks in a group of two is to work from an initial letter given to us, from which we are to create a three dimensional letter that communicates a word or meaning beginning with the chosen letter.

The letter can be either in upper or lower case and has to be at least 300mm high.

Gg

List of words beggining with the letter

G

Go Gum Geometric Germ Galaxy Gothic Ginger Gimp Gammon Gravy Glitter Garnish Glue Gay Gate Goldfish Gerbil Gift Gap Ghost Grand Giant Gooey Gaterade Grade Glow Guts God Gold Genie Gravel Grapefruit Googly Genitals Grains Groovy Grid Goat Gangster Gastric Gas Gaudy

A r t i s t References To gather some inspiration I want to look into artists references who explore type in a three dimensional form whilst exploring how the use if different mediums and characteristics can convey another meaning of its own.

Above is the work of Tom Davie. http://www.designworklife.com/2012/01/19/ tom-davie-2011-typographic-posters/

Nicole Dextras

“A series of other words were created with the letters from Cultivate and set up in a variety of sites in the park.�

Petra Blahova Quote from Petra Blahova.

“You can create typography from anything.”

Definition of

Semiotics The study of signs and symbols, along with their use or interpretation.

“According to the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, language can be understood as a system of signs. Saussure proposed that the basic unit of any language is a sign or phoneme. A sign is made up from of a signifier (an object) and a signified (its meaning)�

Visual Research, Pages: 092-093, Author: Ian Noble & Russel Bestley, 2nd Edition, Published 2011

Rough sketches for experiments

Initial idea and development

Our initial idea was to look into the word and meaning ‘Gimp’ our plan was to design the letter ‘G’ in a gimp outfit using materials and a gag ball. After cutting out the letter from foam and attempting to decorate it we decided to re evaluate and change directions as we thought that the idea wasn’t substantial enough and didn’t fully answer the brief fully. For an experiment we covered the foam ‘G’ in glitter that I feel didn’t work but was fun non-the less. After some thinking we decided to look into the word ‘Gothic’ as it was related to typography and would give us a better scope of opportunities and be able to answer the brief better.

Examples of

Gothic Fonts Centurary Gothic Copperplate Gothic Bold Franklin Gothic Book Letter Gothic Std News Gothic MT Nanum Gothic

R e s e a r c h

i n t o

Gothic Typeface ‘The name “Gothic” applies rather to the spirit than to the exact letter forms of the style. The same spirit of freedom and restlessness characterises the architecture of the period wherein this style of letter was developed; and Gothic letters are in many ways akin to the fundamental forms of Gothic architecture.

Their effect is often tiring and confusing to the eye because of the constant recurrence of very similar forms with different letter meanings; yet this very similarity is the main cause of the pleasing aspect of a page of Gothic Type.’

Online Book: Frank Chouteau Brown, Letters and Lettering A Treatise With 200 Examples Chapter 3, Accessed: 17/1/14

‘Traditionally, a black-letter typeface, however, this term also sometimes refers to a specific sub-category of black-letter typefaces, the gothic-Antiqua designs. In the U.S., gothic also sometimes refers to sans serif typefaces based on sans serif designs created during the nineteenth century; many authors have theorized that this is because the sans serif designs reminded printers of black-letter typefaces.’

Glossary G, http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/ fontology/glossary/g, Accesse: 17/1/14

H i s t o r y

o f

‘Century Gothic’ 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 123456789 ‘Century Gothic is a design based on 20th Century, which was drawn by Sol Hess between 1936 and 1947. Century Gothic sustains the basic design of 20th Century, but has an enlarged ‘x’ height and has been modified to ensure suitable output from modern digital systems. Its design is influenced by the geometric style sans serif faces ,which were popular during the 1920’s and 30’s, and by the desire to give it widths compatible with ITC Avant Garde Gothic.

Century Gothic is very practical for headlines and general display work and for small quantities of text, particularly in advertising.’

Century Gothic 2006-2014 http://typedia.com/ explore/typeface/century-gothic Accessed: 16/1/14

Experimenting with Layouts

G

st vis pubis Ego Cat, res atusse co , opoerei p ublium ati p t u a r o cep cit nsime defa o c u s n o c re diu se esturo imu ad cla res te re que se adem ob consulos, ni in dienm e n m ru pe s, achucibu atus rei pro rumed to ut et fac ta stalarit. Ti. nerfit quo i abus, C. S Atusquam , i inte noc fitri contid

G

Endaecta solupta ssequos ma sequiatur aspienis et mil mo eumquiatium ventusam illamusciae. Nam, simet, nem nuscit ipsandae voluptam se non num num dendel magnis re dolupta doluptatiunt aute cumquas alicae.

Itas sedi re, odis endeliberum, solorias exceseque pre evero volecus, qui

G

Oc, et; norum hae tertam horte et; nocutem, quo hos tere compricatus, Catus, que cret vivatus uamque non tem catus, que cratus, que cratus, que cr

G

Porem rem aboriatem aut plitiur, unt faccaectat ad que de rectint arcienit raesti santur?

Aspelle nienihil inte nus et mo qui consequ iderfer natius aliquat iaestibus et vero vel magnatius.

Aperiatatus. Piet eum enihit vel maximust landunt.

Nem es rectatur aliquiberum nos ipis ariatem oditinim nos volore ex et, entenimin rerit aut a.

G

G An viure ta nos, nunum itato molin accio Catum efactesta Serfin te tem, in publicae in dis confex suXimet everibus si incium et diorep

Photographs of the

3D Letter Form ‘G’ Here is a selection of photo’s taken of the 3D letter form which we created by cutting out of layers of plywood then glued together. The effect of shadow around the edges was an accidental mistake through the laser cutter burning the wood harshly, however I do feel this is

a successful mistake as it adds more form and characteristics of a gothic letter. We experimented with both the letterform itself alongside the template cut out of the letter, which was left over.

We used a Nikon D3100 with a 18-55mm lens to shoot these photo’s.

Final Proposals

for Postcard For the final design we have been asked to have a photo of our letterform and a brief description of the symbolic value of the letter alongside it.

Gothic ‘Traditionally, a black-letter typeface, however, this term also sometimes refers to a specific sub-category of black-letter typefaces, the gothic-antiqua designs.’

CENTURY GOTHIC ‘Century Gothic is a design based on 20th Century, which was drawn by Sol Hess between 1936 and 1947. Century Gothic sustains the basic design of 20th Century, but has an enlarged ‘x’ height and has been modified to ensure suitable output from modern digital systems.’

Gothic ‘Traditionally, a black-letter typeface, however, this term also sometimes refers to a specific sub-category of blackletter typefaces, the gothic-antiqua designs.’

Gothic ‘Traditionally, a black-letter typeface, however, this term also sometimes refers to a specific sub-category of black-letter typefaces, the gothicantiqua designs.’

Gothic ‘Traditionally, a black-letter typeface, however, this term also sometimes refers to a specific sub-category of black-letter typefaces, the gothicantiqua designs.’

CENTURY GOTHIC ‘Traditionally, a black-letter typeface, however, this term also sometimes refers to a specific sub category of black-letter typefaces, the Century Gothic antiqua designs.’

CENTURY GOTHIC ‘Traditionally, a black-letter typeface, however, this term also sometimes refers to a specific sub category of black-letter typefaces, the Century Gothic antiqua designs.’

Final Postcard Design Here is my final Design for the front of my postcard. I have chosen this one as I feel there is a balance between positive and the negative space.

I also feel comapred to the others the type doesn’t either look too awkward nor like its just floating, it leads the down and with the flow of the ‘G’.I also prefer the angle of which this photo is taken, it gives greater contrast and understanding of the letter form.

CENTURY GOTHIC ‘Traditionally, a black-letter typeface, however, this term also sometimes refers to a specific sub category of black-letter typefaces, the Century Gothic antiqua designs.’

CHAPTER TWO

Letters In the Landscape B r e i f For this brief we began with a visit to Poole, where we where a task to identify, collect and photograph, examples of vernacular letterforms in the town. These could

literal interpretations This task was another like road signs, group task consisting gravestones and of 4 people; with the shop fronts etc. end product of an A-Z or they could be perfect bound book, more abstract and which we would of challenging through edited and created as using architectural a group. forms or manipulation of the camera.

Artist References Lisa Rienermann ‘Lisa Rienermann is a graphic designer, photographer and illustrator. She loves it when the areas blend together when typography and photography holding hands, are texts to images and tell stories here. Her work has been internationally published and awarded.’ http://lisarienermann.com/tagged/about Here Lisa Rienermann has taken more of abstract vernacular letterforms by using the negative space created by photographing how the building frames the sky.

All images taken from: http://www. visualnews.com/2013/06/07/ type-in-the-sky-buildings-outlinecloudy-letters/

Stephen T. Johnson ‘Stephen T. Johnson is a highly versatile American artist whose visually arresting and conceptually rich body of work forges connections between words, objects and ideas.’ http://www.stephentjohnson. com/about/

Here is an example of Stephen T. Johnson work from his book ‘Alphabet City’. He went out within urban area to capture vernacular letterforms but captured them through a different medium of paint and go on to put those images into a book. I feel this is a great source to reference and gain inspiration from as his work answer our brief to an extent.

All Photo’s Taken From http://www.stephentjohnson.com/ artwork/the-letter-o/

Brooke Reynolds ‘I’m a graphic designer, so I love letterforms.. especially the beautiful ones you see around the city on old store awnings, hand painted on brick walls, carefully pieced in subway tile, or 4 feet high in neon.’

Quote from-http://inchmark. squarespace.com/inchmark/2008/11/21/nyc-5.html

Again another good example of how I could set out my book and the style of photo’s that I could achieve. I feel that she manages to create a good sense of balance in weight and colour within her layout; this will be something i will take into consideration when designing.

All Photo’s taken from http://inchmark.squarespace.com/ inchmark/2008/11/21/nyc-5.html

Photography of the Letterforms

I really enjoyed this task of going out and exploring the possibilities of letterform within a urban landscape. The closer you looked the more you saw, and the more abstract the letterforms became.

I was using a Nikon D3100 with a AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm Lens shooting in Aperture mode.

The following photo’s where taken by myself.

The photo’s will later be editied and lifted before going into the book.

Book Design Layout I personally wasn’t able to have any input into the book layout for our book, as I was on the Berlin trip. We did intially do a breif planning sheet of ideas of how we may lay out and breif layout rules we wanted to stick to. Personally I am not a massive fan of the book layout, it doesn’t have a flow and are some pages where the balance and colour is out.

Perfect binding

This was the first introduction to French Fold book and perfect book binding for myself. I really enjoyed the proccess of seeing how the book was made, which then gave me a greater understanding into possible layouts that may work with the style book.

Photo’s of our Final Book

I feel the book has a strong selection of photography, with a variety of oblique and more obvious letterforms. The book would of benefited with having a title page, describing the purpose of the book and the people involved. I would like to revisit this project and reshoot and design the book myself.

CHAPTER THREE

Berlin Trip

Description To build upon as a designer and educate ourselves, we where given the opportunity to go to Berlin, a city full of history, diversity and known for its design influence. Whilst I was there, I was able to visit several galleries and museums, whilst being submersed in the architecture and graffiti of the city.

Not only did the trip give me a chance to view some amazing pieces of design, it gave me the opportunity to experience a new culture and get in touch with the city/ country strong history.

Jewish Musuem

Firstly Daniel Libeskind’s architecture is one of magnificence, for the museum was atheistically stunning and unforgettable. The design was created with ‘voids’; desolate space that represent the tragic losses of the Germany’s Jewish population in an implicit and metaphorical way. The museum was a was an amazing example to how to present exhibits in unorthodox shaped rooms and with such diversity that it manages to keep your attention and draw you in the whole way round.

My main highlight of the Museum was he installation by Shalekhet called ‘Fallen Leaves’. It is in one of the desolate voids of the museum, the floor is then covered by the iron faces and filling them with expressions that evoke painful memories of the innocent victims of the past, present and the future. This installation showed me how interaction, scale and environment can have an impact not only a physical but a psychological level and is something I would like to take forwards into my own work.

Berlinische Galarie I found my visit the Berlinische Gallery of Modern Art to have branched and stimulated my knowledge of Fine Art, Photography and Architecture. It gave me a different perspective towards topics and gave me a great deal of inspiration in the stylisation and layout of work. I was particularly intrigued by how they laid out the exhibit and how by they made work interactive within different levels and angles of the building. I was also taken by the clinical and masculinity of the architecture which lead your eye around the exhibit.

Buchstaben Museum The Bechstaben Museum upheld the most relevance to this unit and was of great inspiration to me. The way in which they creatively displayed their large quantities of letterforms into such a small space really captured my imagination. Seeing the large letterforms, which usually would be seen from afar, up-close gave a totally different perspective and gave me ideas on how I could develop our Gothic Letter G.

Bauhaus Archive

Visiting the Bauhaus Archiv was one of my highlights of the trip. I have taken much influence and hold the upmost respect for the influence that the Bauhaus movement has had in architecture and design.

Being able to view the workings and sketchbooks and teaching methods of the Bauhaus has broadened my perspective and inspiration.

Architecture of Berlin

Berlin has such a vast array of architecture that intertwines from its eclectic history of design periods and history.

To me the architecture wasn’t just building they where forms of propaganda and manifestos formed over history. It’s diversity and sense of openness came apparent very quick and captured my intrest.

Historical place of Berlin

Whilst there I was able to visit a few places of historic value which I thought would enhance my cultural competence and broaden my knowledge.

I feel the two places that held most significance to me and affected me the most were the Holocaust museum and the Berlin Wall. I feel they had the most impact on me in an emotional and held the most physical presence.

CHAPTER FOUR

Lectures and Seminars

Propaganda Senimar Transmedia Senimar Oooh Ahh Mmm Seminar Traditional Letterpress Workshop Untraditional Letterpress Workshop Japenese Bookbinding Workshop Explosive Drawing Workshop

Propaganda Senimar

This lecture gave me a greater understanding of propaganda: the different styles and forms of which it comes in and the capability of which it can achieve. I found the lecture to be very intriguing in how it went through history and examples of the different styles of propaganda e.g. black propaganda used by Hitler during WW2.

This lecture helped me immensely with my essay writing as it gave me a reference point and a foundation of knowledge to write about propaganda in relation to my essay.

Seminar Notes

Definition -(organised promotion of) information to assist or damage the cause of a government or movement‘ -the spreading of ideas, information, or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person‘ -ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause; also: a public action having such an effect The word propaganda derives from the ‘Congregatio de propaganda fide’ which is the congregation for propagating faith, from the 18th Cen from pope George the XV Chomsky- Left side political activist in the US. Idea of this Sub conscious manipulation.

Kent University leading in Propaganda.

Examples of Organisations that use Propaganda - Respect for Animals - Greenpeace - Liberty - PETA - Amnesty International - Act Up To ‘Propagate’- is to spread info/ ideas, reproduce/breed or grow 3 main Types of Propaganda - Black- Artificial i.e. Hitler ‘Big Lie’ - White- Factual- seen as clean - Grey- Mixture of both.

Censorship 4 basic varieties Prof. Arthur Siegel, York University in Toronto 1. Big Lie – was adapted by Hitler and Stalin. Big Lie, saying the World Trade Center was attacked by Israel to embarrass Arabs.‖ 2. It doesn’t have to be the truth, so long as it’s plausible‘.

3. Tell the truth but withhold the other side’s point of view.

4. Most productive - is to tell the truth, the good and the bad, the losses and the gains.

Propaganda: is it concealed or open emotional appeals to reason Logical, or otherwise Variety of Propaganda techniques: - Persuasion technique - Cover Up - Being selective with information - Repeated Affirmation - Reframing-newspeak( in other words a nice way to say bad things) - Delusion: false idea, alternative views not aired/broadcast False Flag“False flag terrorism” occurs when elements within a government stage a secret operation whereby government forces pretend to be a targeted enemy while attacking their own forces or people. The attack is then falsely blamed on the enemy in order to justify going to war against that enemy. http://www.wanttoknow.info/falseflag - Distraction and Denial- Divert people’s attention on something else Vicarious/ Imitative learning- imitating others, copy behaviour. Humans naturally do this from birth- reinforced behaviour- to imitate someone.

Negative Imitative learning- GTA/Films/Music language reinforces stereotypes.

Reptition helps us Meta size the delusion.

“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

Winston Churchill Modern Propaganda strategies Incompleteness Inaccuracy Driving the agenda Milking the story (maximizing media coverage of a particular issue by the caseful use of briefings, leaking pieces of a jigsaw to different outlets, allowing journalists to piece the story together and drive the story up the news agenda, etc.)

Exploiting that we want to believe the best of ourselves Perception Management (in particular by using PR firms) Reinforcing existing attitudes Simple, repetitious and emotional phrases (e.g. war on terror, axis of evil, weapons of mass destruction, shock and awe, war of liberation, etc) Why is propaganda so powerful and successful?

People wish to believe the best about themselves and their country; Fear-mongering, especially about the threat to cherished values such as freedom and justice; Presenting fears and claims that appear logical and factual.

Media management and public relations is very professional Managing thoughts by narrowing ranges of debate, thus minimizing widely discussed thoughts that deviate from the main agendas

Transmedia Senimar The Transmedia seminar taught me that in the modern age how people sell a story or a product over many medium platforms and the importance of recognising the potential to span work into everyday life. I did feel the lecture went off on too much of a tangent at times and that it didn’t seem uphold much relevance to design.

Seminar Notes Transmedia Transmedia is best understood by looking at what came before; Monomedia • • •

Books Spoken language Traditional Media Forms

However, no media exists in singular isolationAla Barthes ‘ Most images exists in relation to the written word, a title that anchors its meaning’ The purest form is music Interpretation/ Adaptation- remaking one media product into another i.e. Book to Film For Example Alan Moore- Comics into a Film Multimedia Combination of media working together i.e. Books, Film, Internet, sound, touch, video , hyperlinks Multimedia or Multimodality ( kress & Van Leevwen) is commonplace Transmedia• • • •

Co existing Open Ended Adaptability Interactively

Jenkins Model Fagerjord 2010 against the model Jenkins Model- google it :) Today we live in a Converge Culture whereby all media and platforms converge.

The concept of Transmedia The Matrix franchise, an early example of Transmedia • A Film • Books • Comics • Figurines • Games • Clothing Etc. The matrix is the best example if early transmedia, all narratives combine to form a whole story.

Intertextual References- Google Intertextual- the Interrelationship between texts, especially works of literature; the way that similar or related texts influence, reflect, or differ from each other.

Each medium of which transmedia is communicated across has a Unique Contribution, each has its own – • Affordances- who can pay for it, its availability • Potential • Communicative ability • Accessibility ‘Connection of multiple texts between each other- stories develop between and across text. The Universe becomes expansive but interrelated and intertextual.’

Wachowski Brothers -How they the ability to make any franchise being drawn into everyday lifeNine Inch Nails- Band Non-Commercial TransmediaThis entails the role of folk story: from word of mouth Romulus & Remus- discussion on origins of storys.

Example of is the Slendermen- started off a internet myth- turned into a franchise.

The Gutenberg Parenthesis- Distinction emerging between a diachronic and synchronic (simultaneous, potentially a historic) Diachronic- concerned with the way in which something, especially language, has developed and evolved through time.

Synchronic- concerned with something, especially a language, as it exists at one point in time.

Pre Parenthetical- Gutenberg Parenthesis- look up What is our entry point to digitally stored media?

Is it useful to consider a beginning and end point of something, finding the original source?

Oooh Ahh Mmm Seminar This Seminar explored the relationship that we uphold with material goods and what draws to them. It explored what makes items classic and the importance of the design of everyday objects. This seminar made me look differently at the items that surround me daily, how I interact with them and what made me drawn to them. It also gave me an indication to what qualities to look for in an object when either designing or buying an item.

Seminar Notes Taste- Our relationship with objects and how respond to and give value to ‘things’. ]Cool Hunting- www.coolhunting.com - A daily update on ideas and products in the field of art, design, culture and technology Taste- derives from old French term- to touch or to feel Metaphor for judgment Taste- judgment, style, discrimination, elegance, experiences Aesthetics- whether it is good or bad taste in relatively modern terminology.

Culture has an impact on consumer consumption- Different countries different cultures preferences/ social taboos Adidas- was badly affected during the London Riots, their brand was seen to be associated with the hooligan’s of the riots- sales decreased.

Designs that we use everyday, how important are they to us?

-rubber bands - Post it notes -Biro pen Etc. Mass Production- the production of standardised goods For example in the 1920’s consumers engineering –beauty= new business tools (car market styling’s) 19th century- people seen to develop more individual taste and this idea that having aesthetic goods is seen as having power and saw an increase in spending power.

Visual Language- Lifestyles possessions bespoke, Unique, Limited edition Desirable Identity- objects for the home- personal-subjective Ornaments- personal belongings.

Prestige- status = luxury things/ conspicuous consumption is a mark of status How do we (general public) judge design?

- Subjectively - Objectively - Experience of objects - Influence eg. Media, exhibitions

- - - -

Education having the knowledge of something Fashion, styles Aesthetic judgement - taste Lifestyle preference

-Form of an object is closely related/ followed by its function Design appraisal- how we judge design by their looks- connotations high vs mass culture ‘Less is More’ – Mies Van der Rohe vs ‘Less is not more, less is a bore’- Robert Venturi What do you need to consider for items to be a ‘Classic’?

Alesso- design company Anglepoise Lamp Mini Cooper Etc. The Frankfurt School Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944). The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.

Power of capitalism “The public is catered for with a hierarchical range of mass-produced products of varying quality, thus advancing the rule of complete quantification. Everybody must behave (as if spontaneously) in accordance with his previously determined and indexed level, and choose the category of mass product turned out for his type.”

Culture Jamming- subversion of the message Prime example- Adbusters Kitsch •Visual pleasure – novelty, humorous •Cheap, mass produced, poor quality •Non functional •Superficial, copy, fake •Vulgar, ignorant •Sentimental, souvenir, momento •Personal •decoration ‘Kitsch is the epitome of all that is spurious [fake] in the life of our times. Kitsch pretends to demand nothing of its customers except their money - not even their time.’

Clement Greenberg (1939) Avant Garde and Kitsch.

Bourdieu means ‘taste.’

It is used as a marker of class and as an act of social positioning of kitsch and poor taste – associated with lack of education 20th Century Kitsch is coming popular e.g. Lady Gaga “Changes of attitude towards the consumer society, combined with the growing awareness towards the consumer society, combined with the growing awareness of the need for resource conservation, the dangers of pollution and the threat of a growth economyto the quality of life, have brought in to question the functions and purposes of industrial design, as they have done also with certain applications of advanced technology.”

Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World. 1972

Traditional Letterpress Workshop In this workshop we where given the opportunity to experiment with the traditional methods of printing typography and using a letterpress.

Letterpress Printing also known as ‘Relief Printing’ is called letterpress because you use pressed designed to print from; this is done when a raised surface is mashed against another surface, resulting in a printed area.

This workshop I feel was very beneficial to me, as it gave me a larger understanding into the history of print, how to lay type, the value of different weights and spacing, whilst teaching me a new skill to transfer into graphics. I found it a straightforward process that allows crisp, clean typography and that gives more of a sense of intimacy and craftsmanship to the work over printers.

It has defiantly inspired me to want to go and revisit traditional letterpress and has given me a new found skill that I could utilise in future projects.

Untraditional Letterpress Workshop In this workshop we where given an introduction to a software called ‘LetterMPress’ which gives you a virtual experience of producing work on a letterpress.

The advantages of using LetterMPress over traditional is the speed of which you can produce work, scale and change inks. It gives a more realistic letterpress look to the prints or normal printer, which gives more of a textural quality to the work.

I found it an interesting contrast to traditional letterpress, in the way you don’t get the sense of intimacy and craftsmanship, but non-the less, come out with something that aesthetically looks remarkably similar. I can see myself using this program in the future if working within a time scale and would like to produce typography with the quality of traditional letterpress.

Japenese Bookbinding Workshop Japanese bookbinding is a quick and easy way of making an aesthetically pleasing book. I found the process of creating my own book to be more personal and satisfying than just buying one off the shelf.

I feel that I shall to utilising this method of bookmaking in future projects.

Explosive Drawing Workshop 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.’ I found this workshop a different experience, it tested my ability to try and reflect what I heard directly into a drawing/ painting. I found the task gave me a different way of experimentation and exploration towards a topic, which could easily be transferred into the exploratory stages of a brief. I also gave me the opportunity to work with other student within another creative discipline and work collaboratively with them.

CHAPTER FIVE

Key Texts The Visual Dictionary of Graphic Design Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris

I found this book gave me a basic understanding of various techniques and methods used within graphic design. For this term of work I found the pages that related to the technical processes helpful e.g. French fold binding. I do however wish I read this book earlier on within the term, as I feel it would of benefited my first project.

Typography Sketchbooks Steven Heller & Lita Talarico

Found this book a good reference to gain inspiration for my typography based ideas and designs. The book shows and explains the workings and thoughts behind the designer’s creations which can be used as a foundation for idea generation.

For the Love of Graphics Exhibition ‘A one day exibition that aims to explore our love of graphics through a spectacular display of graphic artefacts, text and collections collated and curated by first year students from the BA ( hons ) Graphic Design course at the Arts University Bounemouth.’

This was the first exhibition that we have been asked to put on led by ourselves. I found it a highly educational and productive task, as I learnt a lot about the organisation, planning and timing behind putting on an exhibit.

Our input to the exhibit was a collection of ‘classic board games’. We felt that board games have been an interactive triumph of design that goes unrecognised.

We managed to source some older and more diverse range of board games from MODip (Museum of Design In Plastics) to go alongside games we had ourselves. The exhibition turned out to be a success and a great learning curve for myself for future exhibitions.

Sam Jones Graphic Design Level 4 Arts University Bournemouth Overall I feel this unit has given me a greater awareness and understanding towards the concept of ‘Visual thinking’ and has given me the opportunity to work in/with trans disciplinary from within the University. It has given me the opportunity to work within groups facing a range of tasks, which has broadened my skills within design socially and practically.