Study Task 9 | Evaluation of Synthesis

PART ONE - Generate 10 key words that relate to your project

1. Authenticity
2. Meaning
3. Personal
4. Symbolism
5. Narrative
6. Visual map
7. Personal geography
8. Meaning over aesthetic
9. Low culture
10. Pictograms 

Authenticity + meaning = A piece of art without meaning isn't authentic. Meaning provides authenticity.

Personal + symbols = Symbols and motifs may be used to represent a greater personal meaning

Narrative + visual map = Like a mural, piece of pottery, or a tapestry, all of these are adorned with images that tell a story and act as a visual map

Personal geography + meaning over aesthetic = The personal narrative embedded into an image or piece of art is more important than representational image-making, or how 'good' it looks

Low culture + pictograms = Pictograms are simple images, a bigger idea boiled down into a simple image. Much like the imagery in folk art, it may not be accurate or realistic but it represents bigger themes; traditions, people, communities, memories, etc etc.

PART TWO - Use the 10 point plans to consider the development of the brief a plan of what you have done. Then fill out and specify the purpose and reasoning behind each step.

1. Research (books, articles, texts) - Gained an understanding of folk art and its values, origins, and have developed themes for my COP project.

2. Artist research (historical + contemporary) - Looking at examples of folk art (quilts, pottery, traditional art done by everyday people), dissected these on a visual level and in terms of their values/what they represent. Strengthened my own ideas on non-accurate image making, relates to what I'm doing within illustration. 

3. Observational drawing - Based on my own sights and experiences, beginning to bring my own personal aspect to the project, aligning myself with the ideals and values of folk art but in my own way.

4. Visual research - Sketching, collage, general image-making, sketchbook work. Turning my theoretical ideas into visuals.

5. Maps - Bringing in ideas from maps, diagrams, pictograms. Maps are a way of visually interpreting the world around us. But I'm doing this from a personal standpoint rather than real geography.

6. Simplification - Boiling down bigger concepts I've thought about and discussed in my work into much simpler pictures. 

7. Collage - Assembling drawings, sketches, paper, piecing together images that represent locations and things familiar to me, my memories, justifying their non-representational appearance.

Sketchbook Work | Developing ideas

Now that I was feeling a bit more sure of my idea and how to work in the format of the sketchbook, I started creating compositions and playing with different iconography. At this point, the word 'map' was still quite important to what I was doing.

Even if it was in a more abstract sense, removed from real and accurate geography and truthful representation of a place. In my tutorial I mentioned that I think my project has taken a more romanticised view of my home, and in some ways I think that makes it more charming?

It relates to the aspect of memories, as you tend to remember things being a bit rosier than perhaps they were.

Roughing out simple motifs and symbols. Collage has became a large part of what I've been doing, because I'm forming these scenes/maps as I remember them in parts.

Text has also been involved at times. It gives the viewer a bit more clarity about the meaning of these small images, however it is still pretty mysterious. It also embellishes the picture by adding a story to it.

Working with overlapping imagery and layers is nice, kind of relates to the vague nature of the images I've been making - lots of scenes, locations, and times all blurred into one, but ultimately forming a single image.

I will need to think about how I can push these drawings further. Maybe I can change the materials I'm using, or even alter the process I take to make them. Make it more intuitive/from a gut feeling?

Sketchbook Work

When it comes to working in the sketchbook I've been trying not to think about it too much, and see it all as visual research, or a way of testing my ideas out in picture form.

These pages are at the start of the book, and from there it became apparent that part of what I was doing was about simplification, turning objects and motifs into simpler versions of themselves. So the essence of what they were is still there, but just not bogged down with accuracy or detail.

For instance, the cranes which held a bigger meaning of regional industry could have been boiled down to simple lines or patterns. Similarly with rivers, maps, and other topographical symbols.

This example is a map-like layout of my street back home, obviously this has great significance to me but becomes abstracted to other people viewing it as they don't have that link. However it is that meaning and symbolism that pushes this naive aesthetic forward, becoming more than just wonky lines and disproportionate drawings.

From there, the drawings have become less about mapping out areas of my hometown, and more about personal geography? Maps and topographical items based on anecdotes, sights, and memories which all hold a personal meaning to me.

Tutorial

I had a tutorial today because I wanted to discuss my practical work so far, as well as the beginnings of my ideas for the COP 3 proposal. Here are some notes...

Discussion of COP 3 Proposal:

• Gallery and museum spaces - public engagement

• Higher purpose of design - communicative, informative, educational. To make our lives easier, as opposed to being just for money, status, symbolism.

How do I take the question forward?

• Look for contemporary examples of conscious/socially responsible design

• Educational design + spaces -> museums and gallery spaces ->
design for social change -> relationship with the public, encouraging engagement

• Accessibility of design -> design for everyone. E.g. modernist ideals, Bauhaus...
-> counter-argument: this standardises people and the way they live, no variation...

• Spaces involving the audiences and the public, bringing people in, not just for a restrictive group of people

• Visual culture

• Design in the everyday -> Museum/Gallery publications, posters, etc.
They could be very dull and boring, but can be visual and exciting. Pieces of art in their own right that have communicative value (Willem Sandberg - his designs were exhibited)

• Visual identity of exhibitions - communication, education, engagement.
Makes it interesting for audiences.

Discussion of practical work:

• Motifs, maps, symbols, lines, simplification, abstraction

• Create visual maps of stories, travels, sights, memories

• Abstraction - overlays, different perspectives and view points (e.g. aerial view)

• Maps are about interpreting what you see. Early maps in history may not have been accurate, but gave an insight into what they saw.

• Good start, just keep going!! continue testing and making images. The visual language you want to use has been identified, just make compositions.

SB3 | Question 1 Research

Question 1: What is Good? - To what extent does social responsibility impact on the role and function of illustration?

• Willem Sandberg
          - 'Sandberg, director and designer' exhibition at Stedelijk Museum 2016-17

          - Mentioned in this post on my PPP blog...

• Posters, campaigns, and infographics for public projects, spaces and events that promote education, etc. (For example, posters for museums, libraries, art galleries, other projects...)

• Matthew Richardson - V&A commissioned posters

• First Things First Manifesto - Ken Garland, 1964

• First Things First Manifesto - Adbusters, 2000

• 'Design for the Real World' - Victor Papanek, 1971
          Recognising that designers have a talent, and when used correctly it can change the           world for the better. He is against design for the wrong reasons (e.g. solely for profit,             etc)

• 'The Lesser Arts' - William Morris, 1877
          Arts & Crafts movements, decorative arts. The hope for beauty in every home and a             non-alienated experience for the workers involved in their production/creation.

• Stepanova & Popova

• VKhUTEMAS - Art School

SB3 | Proposal Research

There are a couple of example questions/starting points that I am interested in at a glance from the set 6. I want to see which of these I can get the most out of, to make sure I am going ahead with the right one.

Deliverables:

• 10 slide ISSUU presentation, which will define/outline your area of research for COP 3

1. Research question (based on one of the 6 listed COP3 questions). Based this on personal interests which align with contemporary lines of enquiry

2. Context and themes:

• 5 relevant contextual images
• 5 relevant books or journal articles
• 5 relevant websites
• 5 relevant quotes

(the books, websites, and journal articles can be presented in a bibliography format)

3. Case Studies:

• 5 examples of animation/illust/graphic design that relate to your chosen research question• Include names, dates, titles, in accordance with the Harvard system

4. Reflective practice: 

• Include at least 5 proposals for practical work that you might make to investigate your chosen research question. You can include examples of work already produced, or sketches, mock-ups of work you want to produce


These are the two set questions I'm interested in...

Question 1: What is Good? - To what extent does social responsibility impact on the role and function of illustration?

Question 5: To what extent does aesthetic 'style' reflect the context, audience and/or function of contemporary illustration?

...I want to try and compile a few things for each of these, and hopefully that will help me to decide on which will be a better choice for my COP 3 project.

Peer Review

Is there a rationale? - How does it relate to the subject area?

• Storytelling, experiential

Strengths?

• Looked at folk art, storytelling

• Historical tapestries/murals, as well as diagrammatical illustration like maps

• Good contextual research

3 positive points?

• Combining drawings through collage

• Observational drawings

• Symbols, and the abstraction of forms

3 areas that could be developed?

• Automatic drawing, children's drawing, drawing from the unconscious (meaning over aesthetic)

• Try creating patterns, or assemblages of the motifs you make

• Drawing from memories. Continue making it personal

Synthesis, contextual analysis and practical explorations?

Does it all make sense together? Do elements feel connected?

•  Great link between historical maps, folk art, etc - your hometown and your experiences

What are the next steps with the research project, practical and theoretical?

1. Think about personal aspect. Drawing from memories

2. Base on your experiences (I think this is key)

3. Try making patterns

4. Automatic drawing

5. Contour drawing - geography in an abstracted way

6. Explore use of colour