Project 2 – Week 1&2
Feedback – Project 1 (Final Crit – Week 4)
I have experimented a lot with my tool. I have my tool/method. How can I use it to continue working? The book feels like a test that will help me work on the next project.
The story starts to develop more at the point where the couple is/the woman, etc. making the reader wonder, want to discover how this evolves.
I can continue working with the narrative I already have if I want, but I can also find another topic* to work with.
Discussion for the 3rd prompt: Platform (what’s next?)
I want something that will help me develop my tool in not only a subjective way. Does this mean that I want to work with something that can’t be done in the wrong way? Hmm… I don’t know yet.
*What contextualizes my work? What’s the content I want to use?
User manual (how to…)
Matthew’s workshop/Instructional Photography (reference).
How I will treat the format of a newspaper or a zine that folds out as a poster? Going through the book (one page after the other) is different than looking at a ‘poster’. I can use the folding/form of it as part of the story/communication (form follows function).
References:
– Real Review Magazine (there is a meaning behind the size of the book and the way this folds/unfolds (form follows function).
– Instructional Photography (book)
– Unorganized response
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PLATFORM
For the second project of this term, I will work on the third prompt: Platform (platform/mode of distribution). Audience? How others will come in contact with my practice?
CONTENT/CONTEXT
User Manual (instructions)
e.g. How to save the planet. How to make the earth flat.
How to be a nice human
How to live…
Observing my surroundings (neighbourhood) = Walking/strolling around.
How the brain functions (thoughts developments, etc.).
FORMAT/MEDIUM
Newspaper/Zine that unfolds.
Print edition/Publication. Creating and communicating narratives using my method/tool.
The format of the newspaper that unfolds into a bigger poster will give a new dimension to my work and will impact the direction of my practice. Also, will affect how the viewers engage with my work. However, this is similar to my project 1, where I made a book.
or,
A series of cards.
A narrative, or a series of instructions. Each card communicates a storyline of the story/ an instruction/ a step and it’s part of a bigger series of cards. All together complete the narrative with a specific order. But can this order change? And if so, what new narratives and instructions can occur?
or
A series of spreads/pages that are not bounded as a book.
The spreads are numbered (in a particular order) that make a story, but the viewer can change the order and make a new interesting narrative.
References
http://sdccdesign100margaretpadilla.blogspot.com/2014/11/visual-principles-step-1-points-lines.html
Graphic Design Manual – Armin Hofmann
Graphic Design Manual, 1965 Hofmann
A Primer of Visual Literacy – Donis A.Dondis
Visual Grammar – Christian Leborg
https://vdocuments.mx/visual-grammar-christian-leborg.html
Design is Storytelling – Ellen Lupton
Gestalt Principles
Inspiration
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Week 1&2 experiment
Medium
Working along with the Platform prompt, I have decided to use the ‘zine/newspaper’ as a mode of print publication, with a twist. Newspaper Club prints two different sizes, folded two or three times. Despite the size, I want to fold the newspaper in a different way; a one-page book, or a folded book that unfolds differently. Both ideas unfold into a big poster. Additionally, the folds can be used as part of the design/compositions (form follows function/communication).
Audience
This can be a publication that is published every few months (e.g. monthly, or bimonthly), or just once. The audience is people who love art books and zines. The publication can be sold in magazine/bookshops like Magma Books, Artwords, Tender Books, Magculture, etc.
Content/Context
Most of the work I have already created during the course includes observations and stories from my everyday surroundings (urban, city). Even the short story(booklet) in project 1 of this unit, takes place in my neighborhood (the main character is at the Myddelton Square (Clerkenwell) at the beginning, then walks around, crosses paths, etc.). For this experiment, I will continue working around this idea through a different lens; trying to communicate what is happening inside me and around me, while walking (thoughts, people, roads, landscapes, etc.). All these, with the use of black simple forms (shapes, lines, arrows), and text.
Discussion with Daisy and Alfonso (10.02.22)
Why am I using this method? What this will offer to the world?
Two possible routes
1. Universal language (all people can understand, read it). But, what can I show using this method that I can’t say using text?
2. A tool that causes the ‘thinking and imagination’ of the viewer. It can be interpreted in various ways but still has one story that is based on (source: story, poem, piece of text).
Newspaper (format)
The second way to fold the newspaper (not the one-page book) is more interesting. It’s nice that I am using the folds as part of the narrative. I can also make different parts that are part of a bigger narrative (spreads that can be read separately, without an order, as the viewer can open it in different ways).
It is better not to explain things too much. Not saying things that I have already communicated using my method. Extra information that complements the rest.
Audience?
People that like art books/zines – Bookshops
Magma Books, Artwords, Tender Books, etc.
Main Idea
Using a piece of text (story, poem, etc.) as a source that the diagrammatic illustrations and visual compositions are based on. The compositions are part of a print publication that challenges the ‘thinking and imagination’ of the viewer. It can be interpreted in various ways but it still has one story that is based on (leaving space for imagination, striking a balance between clarity and ambiguity, objectivity and subjectivity).
“An exploration in the art of reduction. Breaking down the imagery into its purest form by discarding any unnecessary information.” –Duane Dalton
Aim
Trying to communicate a narrative using diagrammatic elements (shapes, lines, arrows – Visual Grammar), and text. Walking, thinking, and writing are three ‘elements’ interconnected, for me.
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Newspaper size(unfolded into poster): 700mm x 500mm
Final newspaper size (folded three times): 175 mm x 250mm
Paper: 55gsm newsprint [this paper will embrace the city vibe (motion, distribution, activity)].
Unfolding the newspaper, going through the visual story, interpreting new narratives.
The reader can unfold the newspaper in different ways so, each ‘surface'(1-4), communicates a part of a bigger narrative. There is not a right/specific order; instead, the newspaper can be unfolded in any way and the reader can still go through the narrative.
- Front and backcover (introduction)
- A horizontal composition that unfolds, consisting only of shapes, lines, and arrows.
- Piece of text (poem written by me) + diagrams
- Fold-out poster (it uses all the previous elements together, communicating the narrative in another way).
strolling around
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Communicating what is happening inside me and around me, while walking in my neighbourhood (thoughts, people, roads, landscapes, etc.), with the use of black simple forms (shapes, lines, arrows), based on a piece of text written by me.
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the front and back side of the zine/newspaper when unfolds (pages and fold-out poster).
Printing (test in a smaller size):
This idea didn’t work very well. The narrative is not clear and it’s confusing (more feedback on Week 3 post of Project 2).
I have decided to continue with one of my other ideas.