RE: Visiting. Text and Image.

In the spirit of all this personal development and reflection. I’m re visiting text and image.

Some original issues I had with text and image, that were noted in my feedback sheet was that my research, and sketchbook in general jumped all over the place. Some items were in place in random places and it wasn’t very coherent. This made it difficult for the development and theory behind my idea to be seen. Looking back at the sketchbooks, I can see these issues surfacing. For example, on some pages, I have done sketches and illustrations based on the work I was doing in that moment, with no supporting work or reason for it. While this way of recording information would work and would show my thought processes with appropriate annotation, my sketchbook is devoid of such information, making a lot of the work just confusing and jarring to the flow of the sketchbook and, in turn, the development and theory behind the final outcome.



In relation to this, in the following project I used a folder format so that I could explore avenues and ideas as they came along and then arrange them in to a flowing order as I handed it in. I then returned to the sketchbook format for the following flash project and found it a lot easier to work in. I found that I could record information effectively If I simply annotated and showed my thought processes as I went a long. I felt a lot more confident about the flash sketchbook than I did the text and image.

One aspect of text and image which I feel I should re-explore was some ways of forming inspiration and creating a visual library. This is most obvious in the drift project. I researched a method of recording inspiration and ideas through the use a ‘one illustration/group of text/lyric/haiku/image per page’ technique. I filled this sketchbook as I walked through, and with materials from a drift through Brighton. When the sketchbook was full I was left with a plethora of ideas, records of the way I was feeling at the time, illustrations and general visual material which I could simply pick and choose elements from in order to create an illustration.



I enjoyed this method of recording inspiration. I felt I was able to produce a highly informed and truly reflective piece of illustration from the sketchbook, and I also felt that the sketchbook itself was a great record of my experience through the drift, while also being an enjoyable piece of work to produce, helping me to hone my skills based around interpretation ideas and creating illustrations from them.

Another problem in text and image which was highlighted was that ideas that were incorporated into the final outcome were done so without much thought or reasoning. I believe this is a combination of running low on time and lacking the ability to include my thought processes that led me to the outcomes, and also me wanting to include so many elements in to my final book that a lot of them were there seemingly without any back up. One aspect that stands out in this respect was the inclusion of the concept of the book itself. It was based on lyrics and the meaning behind these lyrics. As the concept of the book was based on these lyrics, I also included elements from the design of the album the lyrics were form in to the design. However the inclusion of these elements were quite last minute.



In future project I focused on developing a final idea and improving and experimenting with fewer elements, while underpinning all of these elements with theory and research. I feel that the change was made as the outcome for text and image was quite a personal affair, however future projects were intended to be viewed and understood by an audience, also during this time my contextual knowledge and understanding and improving.




Text and Image gave me a lot of opportunity to experiment with new ways of doing things and also offered me feedback in how to improve my methods of working. Each one I feel I took on board and after re visiting it I have also been able to give myself action plans to include my current working.

Amnesty International Poster

Visual Thinking Feedback

Reflecting on the feedback that was fed back from the Visual Thinking Unit.
Some aspects to take away from the feedback were that my breakdown of the brief and detailed analysis of a wide range of research were noted as being positives in the comment section. I felt this was something I focused on in this brief as I tried to incorporate elements of the contextual studies we had been working on throughout the year in to my analysis of advertising elements and other designer’s work. My new way of recording elements instead of using a sketchbook was also noted as a plus, however I am still experimenting with new ways of recording information in current projects.
In relation to the final product, two posters, one for a bus shelter and one for a side of a bus was received well. The concept itself (My idea of saying ‘Pass it on’ in relation to Amnesty’s already existing ‘Protect the human’ tag line) and to form a connection with young people through the imagery and idea of the advert, according to the feedback, may not have been communicated as well as it possible could have been. It was noted on my sheet and also during discussion with tutors that there wasn’t as much development and in depth analysis of my final idea as there was when compared to my research and theory that underpinned my idea. I feel the final outcome and message not being communicated clearly related to this as if I had applied as much time and analysis to the final image, the aspects that were holding the message back from being received successful may have been tweaked and polished through critique and improvement.
As a result of this feedback and reflection I have outlined that in future projects I will focus on:
• Maintaining my in depth analysis of research, so that all my future works are underpinned with the same level, if not a higher degree, of theory and contextual ideas.
• Managing time so that I can apply the same level of analysis and development in to my final idea as I do in to supporting it.
• Allow time to experiment and tweak the final outcome so that it is designed to a high degree.
• Maintain a consistent style of displaying information and research in my sketchbook for coherency and readability.

Adventures in Flash

The beast that is Flash was slain but a few days ago.

The focus of my project was around time spent watching television. We had to communicate a statistic using rhetoric:

rhet·o·ric

n.

1. The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively.

I focused my project on a stastistic based on a study of how long people in Britian spend watching Televsion. Turns out, 26 hours a week is how long, on average, us English folk are staring at the box. This is 3 hours 42 minutes a week. I approached the project by comparing this little tidbit with a study done on musicians, athletes and people in other skill based activities.

The studies were performed and researched for a book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The study stated that anyone who has reached a certain level of excellence or performance in a subject had practiced their chosen area for at least 10000 hours. The phenomenon is called the 10000 hour rule and is based off of several studies. What's interesting though and why it became the focus for my project was that 10000 hours of practice, works out at around 3 hours of practice a day for 10 years.

The comparison between this and the time people spend in front of the TV was obvious. My animation focused on challenging the viewer to turn off the tv and find out what they want to become great at, by communicating both the statistics and comparing the two, followed by questioning the viewer.

I formed the animation from many different video clips and sound bites, the visual of a fellow changing the channel and the combination of each clip created the statement that I wanted to communciate.

Overall I was happy with the project. I felt strongly about the subject matter, and the project offered me the oppurtunity to explore the message of going after what you want in a medium I was not used to. The use of time and animation offered unique ideas and ways to explore the presentation of a message and I felt through research in to artists such as Shepard Fairy that I used the medium in a way that was appropiate to the message I want to send, in that I incorporated the style and medium that I wanted to create a message against.

In other news, I attended The Four Designers (it's for designers?) conference on the 23rd and 24th of Febuary.

Overall, it was good, a large amount of nuggets of knowledge were thrown our way. The focus of the talks were varied, with different speakers focusing on different areas. Some speakers simpply showed their work and talked about it, others focused on sending a message to the crowd. One of the main points of interest was that at least 2 of the 4 designers were self taught, however one noted that after 3 or 4 years in the indsutry being a self taught he designer, he started to see the benifit of education, and how he had gaps in his knowledge base which he felt an education would of learnt.

The final and best speaker, Andrew Shoben commented about how as he was self taught, he gave himself the belief that he could do anything as it was the only way he could approach his work. The message clicked with me and the outcomes of his work reflected this outlook, you could see it in the originality and how out of the box his interactive media based projects were.

Some Other Ideas Presented During the Conference (for your reading pleasure):

• Don't wait for the ideal job, similar to a surfer and a wave, just take it and see what you can get (these were the words of one of speakers, not mine)
• Waiting is standing still.
• Frances Jackson stated she used to look for creative people who were also original, and now she focusing on looking for creative people who can talk about their work, as this is such a key skill when dealing with clients.
• When designing, get in to the mindset of 'what's the worst that could happen?'
• Approach new projects by making something, get out of the house, get off the internet, approach things from new angels.

End of Visual Thinking

Handed in a day early and EVERYTHING! Sometimes, I blow my own mind.

I was happier with the level of completion with this project more so than Text and Image. I always think I could've done more, and would of liked to include more than I always do but on the whole I felt I hit more targets on this than on Text and Image.

Joy.

The project was interesting and a great way to explore some ideas generation techniques. Researching methods to approach creativity was an interesting aspect of the whole thing, and led to some interesting ideas. I also felt that the development of my work was improved in this project. Instead of pulling ideas out of left field and throwing them in to the final product with little or no explanation, I felt everything i'd done had a reason and that I documented that reason in my sketchbook (folder device) with both style and panache.

I'm really interested to see my mark for this project though, I found myself omitting most the work i'd done pre-christmas holidays from the fianl hand in, resting the final result on work done towards the end of and after the holidays.

On the whole though the project was good, I felt I made a big step in the final outcome by not using any kind of Illustration. Instead of incorporating what I prefere to do as a designer, I went with what was best for the concept I had created rather than trying to force the idea through a medium it wasn't suited for. I think this was the best aspect of the final outcome and of the project of a whole, and added some diversity to my portfolio. I am however looking forward to doing some serious illustrative animations in the up and coming flash project.

Also, this graced my eyes, thought it was right on.

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.—Joseph Chilton Pearce

JCP speaks truth.

Text and Image in a nutshell

These are the main pages from the Text and Image book. Some of them are layouts displaying the work done for several of the tasks within Text and Image. The editorial Illustrations and displayed on a faux Editorial Article for which the Illustrations are suited.

Picking up the Blogging

I've neglected this blog, since, well forever really. It's self esteem is probably at an all time low but i'm turning that around right now. My PPRD was going to be a combination of a work journal and this blog but i'm changing direction on a few things so now it's this blog and an expanded book from text and image, plus that journal on the side.

So after a little overhaul of the name and colour scheme (which I am digging 104%) I'm going to pick this up after Text and Image.

The feedback from my Text and Image suggested new ways of working. The feedback suggested that sometimes my ideas and thinking are 'jumping all over the place'. A comment such as this was expected as my ideas and thinking are jumping all over the place, I know this, as they are my ideas and thoughts.

There was a suggestion on a way to work to aid this in the feedback sheet, I have applied it to the current Visual Thinking project. It was suggested that I really reflect on what the brief is asking and then go on to generate initial ideas, then research, then deconstruct that work on the surface and use the findings to underpin and develop my own ideas. This has been a refreshing way of working as I've been using methods I gained on my foundation course which was to first research, then create ideas, then develop them. It's refreshing to be able to solve the brief in your own way first, as this is what I inevitably do anyway.

The other main difference I've had is to work in a folder, on single pages. This is to help keep a flow and coherent formation of ideas that is viewable and understable. In a sketchbook, I felt bound by the pages being in order already. I would not analyse research, not do a sketch, so that I could contemplate the order and make sure it all flowed seamlessley, showing my ideas in one long river of creation.

However it all it served to do was stop me from doing anything and fuel an already powerful ability to put off doing anything. I've found that the freedom to work on a single page and place them in a folder to be put in to a coherent order in the future has been a refreshing experience. It allows me to get down ideas, and analyse research when I need to and not be forced to create a beautiful coherent sketchbook first. I've felt my work growing from the ground up, and my research supporting my ideas, instead of feeling like I have un-recorded ideas, and gaps to fill before I display them.

Other than the improvements needed to my working method I was happy with Text and Image on a whole. I can see how I need to improve the undepinning of my ideas as a few elements in the final book of Text and Image were plucked out of my head at the last minute and the thinking behind them was probably missing in the final product. For Visual Thinking I am making sure I make note of why i'm doing everything, and fully relating it to the designers and information that has caused me to do it.

I was always thinking that next project i'll do it right and it's yet to happen, i've been thinking that the next project will be the one where I go about everything right but after chatting with friend on this topic we came to the conclusion that when this happens, you might as well go do something else, as you're not going to get any better.