Versus- A documentation of the Exchange Semester at HS Hannover, Germany by Shreya Chakravarty

Versus A documentation of the Exchange Semester at Hochschule Hannover, Germany

Shreya Chakravarty 1 PGDPD Graphic Design National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

Versus

Versus A documentation of the Exchange Semester at Hochschule Hannover, Germany

Shreya Chakravarty PGDPD Graphic Design National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

A documentation of the Exchange Semester at Hochschule Hannover, Germany This documentation is structured in a manner that reflects all my learning and tries to capture the essence I could gatherat Germany.

Typeset in PT Sans and Minion Pro All images and text by Shreya Chakravarty 2012-2013 6

September 2012- February 2013

Contents Survival Kit - 11 Projektsexperience extensions Out Of Balance -14 Life Is More Than Just Yesterday Open the Jar - 22 Listen Hear Speak - 30 Present - 36 New York Is A City Of Things Unnoticed - 42 Figur und Potrait - 46 Yellow Dot - 50 Hannovers B채ume - 54 Die Gilbe Post - 58

The Darkest Winter- 63 Being German - 65 Travelling, Sketching & Having Fun - 67 The Four Phases - 73 Sincere Gratitude - 77

Living Alone Breathing New Adjusting To Joining In Accepting Reality

Survival Deutschland

SCANNED COPY OF A TICKET Memoirs pic pressure cooker

Survival Kit

It was important to carry something essentially Indian. To remember the flavour of the food, to be carefully reminded of things that would connect back home. Whether it was a small pressure cooker, memoirs of home or even a Devanagri type poster, things that would help to cope. 1. Pressure Cooker 2. Paneer Butter Masala 3. Ruby Poster by Roshini 4. Survival Guide 5. Pink Wollen Coat 6. Reynolds Pens 7. Brocade Salwar Kameez

Projektsexperience extensions A compilation of projects done at HS Hannover is almost like a compilation of my experiences. kind of courses offered allowed me to incorporate the new environment along with a different context and a perspective from my side. Out Of Balance

Life Is More Than Just Yesterday Open the Jar + Listen Hear Speak Present New York Is A City Of Things Unnoticed Figur und Potrait Yellow Dot Hannovers B채ume Die Gilbe Post

Out of Balance Based on the information design principles of Otto Neurath, to critique the present world and represent rising inequalities that exist in our society today. To study what is todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reality and how we are drifting apart at every level. An exhaustive study of societal principles, building connections and looking at layered perspectives. The theme of my study was communication and language and I conducted a research study on Exchange Students based in Germany. The inferences were drawn based on personal interviews, analysis and discussions, readings on material and building connections. The final outcome was to be a series of three infographic posters that represented findings of the entire research study. The competition submissions will be published by the organisers and exhibited in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Haus der Kulturen der Welt", Berlin in summer 2013. http://invisibleinequality.wordpress.com

The Chosen Theme The project was entirely a Research Project conducted at a small and inductive scale. There were many stages and processes involved in this research. The final outcome (in visualisation forms) was based on the empirical data collected and observed.

The Process Since the research was an inductive study with the focus on empirical data, the process of the entire project came into effect as it commenced. Choosing and building a theme, understanding the theme, asking some basic questions, interviewing and studying a research group and finally drawing insights from these collected data. The last and most important step of the project was visualisation. Building them involved a lot of categorisation of information and insights in a narrative and consistent manner. 16

The Project Wall- Brainstorming and Research 17

Otto Neurath. Nandita. Andreas. Rupesh. Abhigyaan The entire project was based on the philosophies of Neurath but since it was a very large scale project, it was required of me to get guidance and help for the different stages of the project. Nandita was my guide for the whole project and the others guided me for times when I needed feedback and help regarding specific things like information and insights.

Invisible. Intangible. My focus in the entire research study was entirely on inequalities that were invisible and intangible, as opposed to inequalities that are glaringly part of our society today. This branched out from the main theme of Language Alienation and Social Exclusion.

Craving for Human Interaction One of the most important and interesting insights developed from the project was that a person who faces language alienation and social exclusion craves for human interaction. This craving can be equated to inequality because a craving arises out of a feeling of not having access to something that one particularly wants.

Japanese Students- Part of the Focus Research Group 19

Inferences

Structuring Brainstorming

Urbanisation

Inequality Craving

Migration for opportunities

Power

Migration for Education

Brainstorming

Multi Cultural & Multi Ethnic Socities

Language Alienation & Exclusion

Understanding The Connections

RISING INEQUALITIES THE OVERVIEW Power, or the access to power is the basis of any inequality. Varied and unnoticed forms of inequality created by this power slowly creep into the environment, seeping into daily interactions and creating a ripple effect which is finally felt across a large spectrum of society, albeit invisibly.

Inequality Production Migration for Education Power

Craving for Human Interaction Urbanisation

Multi Cultural Society

Migration

Language Alienation

Technology

Exclusion

Layer & Ripple Effect

A controlled and measurable concept or notion

Inequality as a whole does not affect the environment at a given point or time. It is a 'point-and-beyond ripple and layer effect' which finally translates into inequality.

A feeling or emotion, qualitative in nature

CONTEXT OF THE INDUCTIVE STUDY

International Exchange Students At Germany

Feeling Excluded And Alienated

Evoking Strong Emotional Responses

REFERENCE NO. SN0427

Final Poster-1

INVISIBLE EVIDENCES AND IMPACTS EXCLUSIONS AND ALIENATION There are strong responses to exclusion and alienation. There are also strong and effective coping strategies used to get over these forms of exclusions. Ultimately all these come down to the fact that there is a prevailing ‘invisible inequality’.

LANGUAGE ALIENATION

CRAVING FOR HUMAN INTERACTION SELF BELIEF

VING

OBSER

EMOTIONAL RESPONSES

EXCLUSION

LANGUAGE WALL

Spin the wheel

TECHNOLOGY CAUSING DISTANCES

The matrix allows one to see that every evidence will correspond to an impact and further to a strategy. Although inter-dependent, they correspond to different combinations.

Evidence of Social Inequality Impact of the Inequality Coping Strategy Used

EMERGENCE OF A PARADOX IN THE SYSTEM A paradox emerges when communication that ideally connects two people actually creates a distance and a gap between them. This further induces a response that creates a very strong craving for human interaction.

Communication Alienation On An Everyday Basis

Communication Distances

Beginning Of Craving For Human Interaction REFERENCE NO. SN0427

Final Poster-2

REALITY NOW & TODAY DRIFTING APART People are moving apart; drifting away from each other. The distance, though not felt, is growing wider as an invisible inequality slowly sets in.

Invisible Inequality

FEELING THIS DRIFT

The nature of inequality is such that it is observed as a possibility and not a statement, unless experienced on a personal level. It is to be believed that inequality affects us all at some point of time.

CREATING A BALANCE

The world is out of balance and what is needed is to bring people closer through communication tools that let them interact with the person right next to them in a simple manner without letting them crave for human interaction and slowly drifting away.

REFERENCE NO. SN0427

Final Poster-1

Open The Jar The Frauennotruf Hannover marked its 25th year anniversary and collaborated on a project with the Hochschule Hannover, titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Life Is More Than Just Yesterdayâ&#x20AC;? for an exhibition to be held in honour of the same. The Frauennotruf Hannover offers full suport to victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse and thus the objective of our project was to campaign for this cause. The campaign and final deliverables were left open to the students, giving us an opportunity to explore various creative possibilities. I decided to concentrate on the issues that were being faced by women. http://frauennotruf-hannover.de

Understanding the Context It was very important for me to understand the context with which I was working. Understanding the position of women in Germany, the life they lead and the roles in society was important to establish the context.

The Problem Upon reading about women, the problems that they face and also gathering information directly from them, I realsied that women are not heard and wanting to be heard. Their stories are locked and buried inside them. There is no outlet to share the pain they feel.

Stories Untold. Stories Unheard Following up on the insight gathered, I decided to build an interactive installation that would enable women and their stories to be actually heard. The installation would allow people to interact with real untold and unheard stories.

25 Meeting the Representatives of the Frauennotruf

The Idea The placement of the installation needed to be interactive, authentic and connect well to the problem. Using the metaphor of a kitchen jar for a woman, to signify that her problems were always locked inside of her and also a connect, as the kitchen is a place she finds solace.

Open The Jar For the final installation, nine kitchen jars were placed in an arrangement and four out of these nine had recordings of stories in both German and English. These stories were real and played constantly on loop in the jars. One had to be in proximity of the jar to hear the story.

27 Brainstorming

29 Final Installation

31 Final Installation

Listen. Hear. Speak The Frauennotruf Hannover marked its 10th year anniversary and collaborated on a project with the Hochschule Hannover, titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Life Is More Than Just Yesterdayâ&#x20AC;? for an exhibition to be held in honour of the same. The Frauennotruf Hannover offers full suport to victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse and thus the objective of our project was to campaign for this cause. The campaign and final deliverables were left open to the students, giving us an opportunity to explore various creative possibilities. I decided to concentrate on the issues that were being faced by children in my second approach. http://frauennotruf-hannover.de

Following Facts The introduction with the authorities from the Frauennotruf allowed me to read and know more about abuse in general and abuse of women and children. I decided to work on real, hard hitting facts about abuse.

What to Show? How to Show? Through a concept that showed a straight and simple fact, that it takes a child who is abused , seven people to talk to before s/he is actually heard. That was what I wanted to convey through visual language that would not be very harsh but would still deliver the message loud and clear.

33 Final Installation

The Difficulty The challenge was to show a hard hitting fact that would still not scar someone but leave an impact on them. The message would still need to be brought across in a subtle yet strong manner.

Seven Since the fact involved the number seven, I chose to represent this fact through a series of seven posters that illustrated seven mouths and the seven ways (metaphorical ) of a mouth shutting or rather not being able to open up.

Listen. Hear. Speak The final outcome was seven posters with simple illustrations thaty were to be placed on a brick wall for the final exhibition. The visual language was kept in such a way that, it was colourful and attracted attention but still conveyed the message in a strong manner.

Ein missbrauchtes Kind muss sieben Erwachsene ansprechen, um gehรถrt zu werden.

It takes 7 mouths to talk to for a child before she is heard.

LISTEN >> HEAR >> HELP

Final Posters

Ein missbrauchtes Kind muss sieben Erwachsene ansprechen, um gehรถrt zu werden.

It takes 7 mouths to talk to for a child before she is heard.

LISTEN >> HEAR >> HELP

Ein missbrauchtes Kind muss sieben Erwachsene ansprechen, um gehรถrt zu werden. It takes 7 mouths to talk to for a child before she is heard.

Ein missbrauchtes Kind muss sieben Erwachsene ansprechen, um gehรถrt zu werden.

LISTEN >> HEAR >> HELP

It takes 7 mouths to talk to for a child before she is heard.

Ein missbrauchtes Kind muss sieben Erwachsene ansprechen, um gehรถrt zu werden.

It takes 7 mouths to talk to for a child before she is heard.

LISTEN >> HEAR >> HELP

Ein missbrauchtes Kind muss sieben Erwachsene ansprechen, um gehรถrt zu werden. It takes 7 mouths to talk to for a child before she is heard.

LISTEN >> HEAR >> HELP

Final Posters (expected display)

Present The students of the Hochschule Hannover were to exhibit a range of products that were based on the theme â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Presentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. As part of the project, I handled the visual identity and exhibition collaterals and logo was kept simple keeping in mind the neutrality of the theme. The collaterals included badges, concept cards for each product and an A3 foldout explaining explaining the context of the project and entire range of products. The exhibition was a part of Ambiente 2013, Frankfurt and was well received at the event by spectators from all over the world. http://www.ambiente.messefrankfurt.com

Present The theme of the project was 'Present' and the students were required to design products that would ideally present a product. The theme was predecided by the faculty in-charge.

18 Student Designers The project was showcasing the work of 18 students and it was necessary to give each of them credit and importance through collaterals that would be designed by me.

Understanding the Students It was very important for me to understand the students, their products and what they were trying to show in their final products.

Notes of Students'39 products

Neutrality It was important to build some sort of commonality and neutrality amongst all the products and showcase them as they could best represent the theme and the idea.

An open box, a space... To represent 'present', an open box was chosen, which also represents a space and an area. The colours were chosen keeping in mind the variety of products displayed the emphasis on lighting.

Ambiente 2013, Frankfurt The project was part of Ambiente 2013, Frankfurt, one of the largest exhibitions that showcases consumer goods from across the world. The exhibition space was set up entirely by the students, that complimented the visual identity and branding of the exhibition.

PRESENT

present

Draft Identity Options

Foldout

Badges

Concept Cards

Exhibition Space at Frankfurt

NY Is A City Of Things Unnoticed Based on a text by Gay Talese who describes NY as a place of things unnoticed, the brief was to develop an interactive iPad app that would involve the user finding out different things about the city that lie unnoticed. The process involved clear comprehending and understanding of the text, updating the information with current facts and building a navigation system that would keep the user engaged and yet allow him to exit it if he wished. The final concept is based on a game that is fully illustrated and the colourful app shows some specific parts of NY. Upon navigating through the pictures and clicking on them, information and small facts pop up on the chosen topics.

Gay Talese and New York Gay Talese describes New York as big place of small things. There is a story in everything and in everyone who lives there. The text is a merry yet truthful take on things that can be overlooked many times in a bustling city like NY.

Ideating The ideation stage for the final app was one of the first steps, after comprehending and understanding the text. Ideation was important and brought about a lot of clarity for what all could be done for an app especially with respect to the technical aspects.

Notes for building the app

Navigating One of the primary concerns was to understand a user and how s/he would ideally navigate through an interactive app. It was important to keep in mind that the users' interest had to be kept alive throughout the journey that s/he was venturing on.

Illustration One of the self induced challenges was the visual language and style of the app. Since illustration is not my forte, I decided to work on a vector based illustration style.

Learning By the end of the course, I had developed a full fledged, illustrated, working, interactive app. There were minor technical problems however those were things I could further develop.

47 Sample Illustration

Figur Und Potrait Learning and applying the basics of figure and portrait learning through various medium and exercises done over 6 weeks, including the making of a painting for a client.

49Portrait Final

Class in Progress

Schwimmerin

The Yellow Dot A two day collaborative workshop with the Hiroshima City University and the HS Hannover which was based on the theme of Lines and Dots. Something that could be considered as connecting two cultures, two nations and many students within these boundaries.

Pure Art or Pure Design It was completely left upto students to approach the workshop as pure art or pure design. The two day workshop included the introduction to the Japanese faculty and the workshop on the first day and the culmination a nd presenttaion of our work on the second day.

Process The workshop required us to draw a life size dot on paper, paint it in a colour of our choice and take photographs with it or of it within a context or space that we liked and thought that it, fit in.

53the Dot Painting

Nature

Shadow

Hannovers BĂ¤ume Hannoverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trees have something special about them, especially during the Autumn. A wide range of colours are found in this season - the best time to enjoy their beauty. A project that aims to promote the reuse of one sided, used and waste paper. The simple illustrations show these trees in their best kept secret, their bright and eye-catching colours. Waste Paper was collected from the offices of XING, Printers at Hannover and the Hochschule Hannover to make the notebooks.

57 Trees Colourful

59 Range ReTree Hannover- The Notebook

Die Gilbe Post Before my departure to Germany, I started a blog where I began to record my everyday experiences as an Exchange Student. The blog became my journal where I shared everything. I decided to make the blog into a book to remember and reflect upon my experiences later in life. http://diegilbepost.blogspot.in/

The Live Blog

The Blog Book

The Darkest Winter Strangely, the winter of 2012- 2013 was recorded to be the darkest winter in the records of the past 40 years in German. It was indeed cold and dark. The sunlight recieved throughout the season was only 96 hours. This fact was unknown to us till the last day of our stay. It was anyway our first European winter so we were prepared for the worst but we ultimately survived through something pretty big!

Being German As the months passed by, it was interesting to observe that there were certain changes incurring at a personal level that made me feel German and indigenous. The creeping in of German words in regular vocabulary, being more punctual than ever before and planning almost everything in advance were examples Germany blending into me. Lifestyle habits, food habits and everyday living and being changed drastically by the end.

Travelling, Sketching and Having Fun! Photographs of some wonderful trips, pages and doodles from my not-soregular sketchbook, and some plain ole' fun!

The Four Phases To put it on a timeline, the entire experience could be divided into four phases. Each of which was a transition from the earlier. These four phases were felt very strongly and there was a distinct demarcation that transformed from one phase to another. It is purely personal that I write this, but I feel that this is a certain thread of commonality that runs through various foreign exchange students who go and study, away from their home country.

1. In Awe 2. Lonely and Unsure 3. Getting comfortable 4. Not wanting to leave

Sincere Gratitude My sincere thanks to everyone who made my German Exchange Semester so wonderful and an experience of a lifetime. My faculty at both schools, parents and close family, besties at NID and outside, Muddles and the superpower above.

Versus A documentation of the Exchange Semester at Hochschule Hannover, Germany

Post Graduate students at NID. As part of this programme, I got the opportunity to travel and work in an entirely new place, space and context. It was an experience of a lifetime and learning for many more.

Versus A documentation of the Exchange Semester at Hochschule Hannover, Germany