project report S I O B H A N S P E N C E R O U I L 5 0 5
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3......................................................PROPOSAL 4................................CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH 5..................................................INITIAL IDEAS 6-7...........................................DEVELOPMENTS 8-9...................................................OUTCOMES 10-12..........................................APPLICATIONS 13.............................. 13..............................SUMMATIVE EVALUATION
proposal
these are sections taken from my revised proposal, giving an overview of my intentions for this project. A d m i t t e d l y, m y p l a n s d i d change as the module went along due to time constraints and feedback so I altered my proposal a c c o r d i n g l y. This proposal form forced me to think about not only what I wanted to produce but why and how these would be placed into context. This was a useful exercise as although this was a self-directed project, it made me think about where my work fits into the i l l u s t r a t i o n i n d u s t r y.
SIOBHAN
SPENCER
O U I L 5 0 5
contextual references
I wanted to look at various executions of narrative-based images. Maer’s images are laid out in a methodical way while Kyle’s and Krasnova-Shabaeva’s work is more abstracted and surreal, leaving it up to the viewers’ intepretations. Their work is for a range of purposes but some of them function as GIFs, making use of the digital format. Niemann has produced a series of crime illustrations for the NY Times to accompany book reviews so I was interested in his use of visual symbols. However, I was aware that they represented fiction whereas my outcomes would be telling true crime stories and would probably have to be more ‘sensitive’ in regards to things such as blood. Alexander produces the existing imagery for the Criminal podcast so I was interested to see the black and white pieces that she creates, usually just portraying one element of t h e s t o r y.
T H O K A M A E R
M A S H A K R A S N O V A - S H A B E V A
P A T R I C K K Y L E
C H R I S T O P H N I E M A N N
J U L I E N N E A L E X A N D E R
initial ideas
To b e g i n t h i s p r o j e c t , I listened to a lot of episodes of Criminal as I wanted to pick the most visually rich and interesting stories. Once I had chosen my episodes, I began sketching while relistening to them, in order to pick out key elements and t r a n s l a t e t h e m i n t o i m a g e r y. i tried to produce quick s k e t c h e s , q u i t e i n t u i t i v e l y, taking in information like other listeners would, noting down key information to aid me. At this stage, I also briefly tested colour palettes, mainly with coloured pencil just to give me an idea of how colours might work alongside one another.
developments
My next step was producing compositional roughs, reordering my elements within the square format. I was advised that this could be an endless process so I chose to create my elements separately and use Photoshop to combine and compose them. I started producing different versions of each element, using various media so that I could choose the most successful once I had scanned them in. This was quite time consuming but it gave me a range of options and allowed me to test media while I was producing my final elements.
developments
Once I had the elements for each image produced using analogue media (gouache, pencil, chinagraph pencil, ink pen), I used Photoshop to alter the colours and refine them. In some cases, I incorporated monoprint textures to stop my outcomes from being purely block colour. I have found this to be a really effective way of working and I’ve realised that I produced ‘roughs’ digitally; experimenting with Photoshop enables me to do lots of testing and decide upon the most successful outcome. I also composed my compositions in Photoshop, which gave me endless possibilties and was possibly a little time-consuming so it helped to take a step back from my work and get feedback from my peers.
outcomes These are 3 of my 6 outcomes. I really like how my images work as a set due to their square format and the way I have composed them. The consistency of the white background also helps to unite them. One of the things I am most pleased with is my use of colour and how I have restricted the palettes so as to make the elements work as a whole and to avoid attention being taken away f r o m t h e i m a g e r y.
outcomes These are the remaining outcomes and possibly the strongest. As the top images were some of the first I created, they almost set the precedent for the other outcomes. Overall, I think my use of visual symbols to create intrigue is what I’m most proud of. I picked up on details in the stories I heard to try to convey the essence of each episode using primarily visuals. The outcomes give away clues or hints about the stories. My peers told me that this makes them want to know more about the stories, which is exactly what I intended.
applications
These are my images applied to various social media outlets as advertisements. I have made them work around the podcast’s own branding taking their existing logo as I wanted to incorporate my i m a g e r y i n t o t h e i r i d e n t i t y. The nature of the Facebook advertisements allows the user to click through to the website in question; I think that my images are distinctive, eye-catching designs, acting as teasers to entice the viewer to want to know more.
F A C E B O O K
I N S T A G R A M
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
applications
Here, I have considered my images in the context of outdoor billboards and how they work within this environment. In order for this to work, I have had to extend my outcomes into rectangular formats and incorporate the podcast’s existing logo and taglines. While this text isn’t necessary for other contexts, this gives enough information for the viewer to understand the advertisment and be able to access the content online. I like that by adding the podcast logo, the seeminly miscellaneous elements in the images almost take on a new, darker meaning. This method of advertising brings the world of podcasts more into the mainstream, aiming to give light to the stories told on Criminal.
applications
In creatng these mock ups, I was weary of the possible tackiness of merchandising and monetising this podcast due to the subject matter. Because of this, I think that is is only suitable to produce merchandise of certain episodes, perhaps the ones that non-violent and more light-hearted. I have produced t-shirt and tote bag mock ups and I think that they work because of their ambiguity (possibly being worn just for aesthetic reasons) while also signifying that the wearer is a fan of the podcast. The idea behind producing merchandise for the show is to raise money and support the independent podcast network that Criminal is under and enable them to tell more stories.
evaluation This project began with me considering my personal interests and how I could incorporate them into my proposal. This is interesting as I am constantly trying to find the line between my practice and my personal life and questioning whether there needs to be one so I took this as an opportunity to integrate the two. I have written project proposals before but this time, it required me to think about where my eventual outcomes would sit within the context of t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n i n d u s t r y, a s w e l l a s t h e w o r l d a n d t h e r e f o r e , where does my practice lie? I flitted between the disciplines packaging design, narrative, and editorial to begin with, and then settled on narrative, knowing that at the start of the project, I said that the thing I wanted to take forward from 504 was experimenting with narratives and creating worlds and atmospheres. With this knowledge, I started thinking about narratives and having recently discovered the podcast ‘ C r i m i n a l ’ , I t h o u g h t t h a t t h i s f i t p e r f e c t l y, g i v i n g m e t h e content to produce images from but also allowing me to i n t e r p r e t t h e m i n m y o w n w a y. I looked at practitioners such as Thoka Maer, Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva and Patrick Kyle to influence the non-linear narratives I wanted to create and was inspired by the abstracted nature of their work. Their work is surreal and perhaps seems nonsensical but feels like it has been informed by substance of some sort. I knew that I wanted to produce abstracted images but they had to have intention and meaning so the standalone stories in the podcast would enable me to do so. I also looked at the work of Christoph Niemann for The NY Times Crime Fiction review, which gave me an insight into how to possibly interpret the subject of crime. Niemann uses a lot of visual symbols/metaphors, which were really interesting but I also had to bear in mind that these illustrations were used to convey fiction, whereas mine would be representative of true crime. This was something that I was conscious of throughout this project - how to convey sensitive subject matter without trivialising it. I was advised not to illustrate blood literally so I avoided this with my choice of colour. I also considered this when applying my outcomes to merchandise. I wanted merchandising my images to be a way of monetising the independent podcast/providing the network
with the means to tell more stories but I didn’t want to exploit the subjects/victims in the stories. Therefore, for the wearable merchandise, I chose to only apply the outcomes based around lighthearted, non-violent stories.
Howeve r, in order to advertise the podcast, I created mockups of billboards and social media advertisements, which included all of my outcomes. In doing this, I had to convert my square illustrations to rectangles by adding the podcast’s existing logo, along with a tagline. I could have produced my own logo but I felt I didn’t have to skill to do this, and I really wanted to see how I could create illustrations to sit alongside an existing ‘brand’. Although very different to the black and white illustrations currently being produced by Julienne Alexander for the podcast’s website and merchandise, I feel that my designs tie in with the bold logo. Creating mock ups of my work is rewarding as it allows me to see it in context and imagine where my illustrations lie within the world. With regards to personal organisation, I did let this project take a back seat for a while due to the concurrent modules b u t I f e e l t h a t I h a v e p u l l e d i t t o g e t h e r n i c e l y, c r e a t i n g strong outcomes that work as a set. The nature of working digitally to refine and compose my outcomes enabled me to produce lots of developmental tests so that I could then evaluate the most successful. In the past, I have tried to resist my tendency to rely on Photoshop to refine handmade imagery but I have now realised that this is how I work and it allows me to produce polished illustrations, which is what I aim for. I do wish that I’d had the time to produce more sophisticated animations using After Effects as I’d have liked to have seen the elements move alongside audio from the podcast but this was too ambitious for the length of the project so I had to revise my proposal. I’m really pleased with the feedback I’ve received about how the illustrations make people want to learn more about the stories because they’re intriguing and only give so m u c h i n f o r m a t i o n a w a y. I l i k e t h e i d e a t h a t p e o p l e h a v e t o try and piece the images together themselves, almost like their own crime scene.