Visual Thinking by Tammy Johal

VISUAL THINKING TA M M Y J O H A L

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CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS

6 10 16 20 26

27 TYPOGRAPHY POSTCARD 28 VERNACULAR LETTERFORMS 30 IMAGE MANIPULATION 34 BOOK BINDING PROCESS 26

36 38 40 42 26

LECTURE: DIGITAL PRACTISE AND THEORY

DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS

FINAL BOOK WORKSHOP - INTODUCTION TO LETTERPRESS WORKSHOP - LETTERMPRESS WORKSHOP - JAPANESE BOOK BINDING BOOK BINDING PROCESS

LECTURE: NOTIONS OF TASTE, AESTHETIC JUDGEMENT AND CONSUMER CULTURE LECTURE: THE POWER OF PERSUASION: PROPAGANDA KEY TEXTS BOOK BINDING PROCESS

....................................................................................... V I S U A L .

. T H I N K I N G

This term I focused on extending my visual awareness, individual creative language and understanding of contemporary practice whilst examining the fertile and complex semiotic and aesthetic nature of wood, image and object. I examined the relationships while engaging with broad and experimental creative processes through a series of workshops, demonstrations, seminars and critiques across the courses in the School of Visual Arts, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration and Visual Communication. This unit has given me the opportunity to test and expand my range of skills and to combine materials and processes in different ways.

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“Typefaces are clothes for words and OLNH D ŹQHO\ WDLORUHG suit, it’s the detail in their composition that adds interest”

BRIEF 1

DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS Typography can be used as a powerful vehicle to transmit ideas and notions of culture, gender, history, materiality and value. The function of typography is to communicate a message so that is effectively conveys and reinforces meaning. Working in groups of two with Nadine Grant, I had chosen the letter ‘U’ and had to produce a three-dimensional initial character that communicates its meaning.

After receiving the letter U we brainstormed the different words beginning with U that we could visualise and interpret into a three-dimensional character. We then sifted through the numerous words we had come up with to a few, which are illustrated below.

We created several initial ideas that we found interesting to make and explore with. USA caught our eye and we explored the country’s flag and incorporated its stars and stripes in our designs. But after several tries, we could not get a strong enough design and chose the word universe to explore.

UNEVEN

USA UNDERGROUND

ULTRAVIOLET

UNDERWATER

UMBRELLA UGLY

UNIQUE

UPPERCASE UNDERWEAR UNITY UNTIDY

Above: USA initial idea illustrated by Nadine whereby we were trying to hang 50 stars to create a U shape. Below: Universe idea I illustrated.

BRIEF 1

OTHER IDEAS We came up with various other designs that we particularly liked. Although the above picture does not resemble a U shape, we liked the 3D design and explored using stars to resemble USA. We also explored the word Umbrella and used small umbrella cocktail sticks and pinned them into my hair to create a U shape. Another idea created was getting an umbrella and make a U formation, as the water would drip down either side of the umbrella.

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FINAL IDEA

After exploring and testing different ways to create a universe themed shape U we created 9 layers of wire and made the 9 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Experimenting with oven hardening clay and paper Mache did not give us a smooth finish or perfectly round balls.

So we created the planets by using polystyrene balls and painting them according to their colours and fed them through the wire to align into a U shape. We originally used string but it would not hang correctly. We could not get a perfect U shape as it was difficult to bend the wire to a specific shape but we found the rough edges added depth to the overall outcome.

BRIEF 2

POSTCARD Produce an A6 postcard with the image on one side a brief description of word on the other. Using the photographs that myself and Nadine took of our U we had to create a postcard with a quote that incorporates typography and our design. The dimensions of our postcard must be 148mm x 105 mm and had to produce the postcard on InDesign. Below is the template we used to create our postcard and we adjusted the margin space.

‘Quote Research’ ‘Design must seduce, shape, and perhaps more importantly, evoke an emotional response’. - April Greiman

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - ‘Typography at its best is a visual form of language linking timelessness and time’ - Robert Bringhurst - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - We had to chose a quote that links our design and typography together as in our brief it states that ‘typography as a semiotic resource in its own right is capable of transmitting a variety of meanings’.

After we had researched various other quotes, I came across the Robert Bringhurst quote and we decided that it best suited our typography 3D letterform design and chose that quote to incorporate on our post card.

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BRIEF 2

POSTCARD DESIGNS

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Typography at its best is a visual form of language linking timelessness and timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; - Robert Bringhurst

I tried out several different compositions for the postcard and decided these three designs showcased and suited our letter the best. Myself and Nadine edited our images in Photoshop and created the postcard together taking into account each others opinions.

‘Typography at its best is a visual form of language linking timelessness and time’ -Robert Bringhurst

BRIEF 2

FINAL POSTCARD

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Typography at its linking timelesness

ts best is a visual form of language s and timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

VERNACU

The third brief â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Vernacular Letterforms: Mapping the landscape - A Lexicon of urban typographyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; began with us visiting Poole where we identified, collected and photographed examples of vernacular letterforms in the seaside town. We worked in a group of four which consisted of myself, Nadine Grant, Anna Smith and Holly Hand.

ULAR LETTERFORMS

BRIEF 3

VERNACULAR LETTERFORMS

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We collected a variety of photographs from different locations all over Poole, the nearby museum, along the high street and areas along the sea front. The technical specifications for the book had to be the trimmed size of 300 x 300 mm and the final production of the book had to be constructed in InDesign.

As a group we had hundreds of photos that we had to sort through and so we narrowed the images down, discarding the ones that werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t strong enough, and keeping the ones that we could edit on Photoshop. We split the workload between us and created sections of the book separately and then put the book together once we had all edited the images. I designed the letters M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T and edited over a few others.

Initial Photography 3

Below is a selection of unedited photographs that I took around the Poole area. I photographed various sorts of letterforms, some more abstract than others, as I tried approach the brief in a more abstract way rather than be very literal.

BRIEF 3

IMAGE MANIPULATION

After we narrowed down the photographs that we wanted to use as a group, everyone started editing the assigned letters that they were given on Photoshop. Taking into consideration that the final images had to be 300mm x 300mm I edited my letters accordingly. The main images I edited are above and are displayed on the next couple of pages.

BRIEF 3

IMAGE MANIPULATION

These edits that I produced turned out quite successful and the colours pop against one another, as they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drown each others colours out. My personal favourite is the Q as it was one of my abstract photographs.

BRIEF 3

IMAGE MANIPULATION

BRIEF 3

BOOK BINDING PROCESS I had never folded a book before and so this whole process was new to me. We used the French folding technique to ensure we got a professional finish that looked neat and clean. The images we produced and edited were printed on A3 paper, which we folded in half and used a boning tool to create a clean crease in the paper. We then used the Lumbeck Press to gather the pages together and tighten it so we could PVA glue the pages on their spine accurately. We applied three equal layers of glue to the pages and let it dry overnight. Finally, we cut out the exact measurements needed for our book out of coloured card. We chose mustard yellow as we felt it brought out the pages in the book. Once the entire book was finished we checked all the edges were perfect.

BRIEF 3

FINAL BOOK

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WORKSHOPS - Introduction to letterpress 10/Jan/2014 - I participated in the workshop â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Introduction to letterpressâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. I had never used the traditional letterpress technique before and found the process very interesting, although rather long and time consuming. It gave me an insight into the whole process as I enjoyed arranging the type, inking it and then producing the final prints and I found that my outcomes turned out more successful than I had anticipated.

WORKSHOPS - LetterMpress LetterMpress is a creative environment that lets you design beautiful compositions with vintage wood type and art cuts on a virtual hand-driven printing press. Because I previously went to the traditional letterpress, I already knew the processes of letterpress and so this digital workshop deepened my understanding of letterpress altogether.

WORKSHOPS - Japanese Book Binding 14/Feb/2014 - We experimented with the Fukuro toji Japanese Stab Binding. It is considered by many as the classic form of Japanese Bookbinding. The practical workshop allowed me to produce a classic book in six hours. After choosing the amount and quality of pages we wanted, we had to drill in 5 holes into all of them. We then chose a piece of coloured card that would eventually become the front of the book. Using string we thread through the holes in a certain order, we bound the book together and had a final outcome.

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13/01/14

LECTURE: DIGITAL PRACTISE AND THEORY

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In the lecture lead by Lee Mackinnon we explored the history, development and pervasiveness of digital culture today. The focus was on the materiality of the digital as we dispelled the myth of virtuality and disembodiment. Key elements that we explored were: modes of production and obsolescence, gaming and play as forms of labour; the ethics of global digital interactivity; social media; image as information; electronic civil disobedience; computational context.

Notes Alexandra Galloway play interview - The internet as factory and play 1990s - World Wide Web - .com revolution, Sir Tim Berners Lee Carsten Holler Test site 2006, fine artist - sculpture resembles playground, playful element Cory Arcangel exploits digital materiality - hacks into video games, created a super Mario piece History of the internet - Jacquard Loom - early self automated weaving Internet emerged out of warfare, devised rang cooperation for sustaining communication, combat anxious society concerning nuclear attack Hierarchies of power have been slightly demolished - we all participate in the internet, we all have power Stanna - artist dna sampled with musical samples life forms, 2003 Computation origin 2400BC, Babylonian Abacus Julie Mehretu Stadia II, ink and acrylic on canvas, 2004 Sol Lewitt wall drawing - algorithmic Stelarc Third Hand - ear artist Illusion of continuity is broken when ‘404’ error / computer crashes gets annoyed Blast Theory - bank robbery stimulation Essay: Electronic civic disobedience 1996 Essay: Lazzarato ‘Immaterial Labour’ 40% of our technological waste is shipped to 3rd world countries

21/01/14

LECTURE: NOTIONS OF TASTE, AESTHETIC JUDGEMENT & CONSUMER CULTURE

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In the lecture lead by Kirsten Hardie we explored our relationships with objects and how we respond to and give value to ‘things’ and how our aesthetic judgements and purchase decisions relate to consumer culture. The session considered the phenomenon of consumption and notions of style, luxury, memory etc. in relation to bespoke and the mass-produced items. It considered the thoughts of Baudrillard, Veblen, the Frankfurt School and Klein. In particular this session interrogates hierarchies of taste and popular culture and questions what factors determine what we consider to be good and bad taste and how the value of things can create social and cultural identities.

Notes Cool hunting - shows daily trends and ideas and products of art, design and culture and technology Constant pressure to buy ‘what’s cool’ Generalisation of design - name shoes, personalise Seduce & persuade is to buy - alluring advertising Neomania - constantly need now Taste is a metaphor for judgement Design VS Function Interior - identity of individuality - ikea, Laura Ashley Cultural preferences, different taste, different taste in different countries Adidas - uniform for the riots Consume, dispose, waste Consumer culture - James Twitchell Privilege wealth - Rolex - success and professionalism Notion of instant, convenient design (Swiss army knife) Form over function Modernists, less is more, simplistic, function Power of capitalism - Marxism Kitsch - visual pleasure, novelty and humour

27/01/14

LECTURE: THE POWER OF PERSUASION: PROGAGANDA

In the lecture lead by Kirsten Hardie we investigated propaganda - what it is, why it exists and how it operates - through consideration of historical and in particular contemporary exmples froma across a range of dynamic, dramatic and diverse contexts and channels of communication. The session examined key issus of notions of mass manipulation; spin; persuasion and control - in relation to propaganda examples including visial, aural and ariel examples and digital and guerrilla methods. In the session we questioned how we encounter propaganda today.

Notes David welch - propaganda The spreading of ideas, information, or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring a institution, cause or person Ideas that are spread deliberately John Taylor - body horror PETA organisation Respect for animals Green peace organisation Propagate means to spread information The three types of propaganda - Black (lies, source that cannot be identified properly), White (reliable, trustworthy sources, normally used by politicians, makes them look like the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;good guyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;,) grey (in between) Ad busters magazine - American flag - influence opinions Weapons of mass deception - Sheldon Rampion and john Stuber False flag terrorism - horrific, scary images used to shock the public, eye witness accounts do not match up to official story War propaganda Noam Chomsky - propaganda and persuasion

To the right are a variety of books I have engaged with throughout the unit â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Visual Thinkingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

FOR THE

LOVE OF GRAPHICS

The exhibition showcased our love for graphics, through artefacts, texts and collections. The exhibition was very successful and explored peoples different passions for graphic design.

I found the exhibition really interesting as I had come across items that I had never seen before. A group of us contributed by including a sample of scarves as we were inspired by the designer Simon Cook who created a series of handkerchiefs bearing kaleidoscopic designs comprised of textures, graphic shapes and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;foundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; photography digitally printed on them. 47 47

THE END TA M M Y J O H A L