Rebecca CollinsYear one

The overall brief for the Visual Thinking unit asks us to extend our visual awareness, taking part in various lectures and workshops across the courses in the School of Visual Arts including Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration and Visual Communication. It has been broken down into 10 weeks and focuses our studies first on creating a 3d letter based on a word beginning with this letter. We are given the task of making this 3d letter portray this word through visual communication.

The unit aims to :

-Demonstrate your ability to conduct visual and contextual research and communicate your findings effectively.

-Demonstrate your developing critical evaluation of your practice, appropriate Theoretical knowledge and related audiences.

-Demonstrate an appropriate range and level of technical competence in the Production of coherent visual solutions

The Brief Learning outcomes

To get a better understanding of both the brief and the project as a whole, I used the key texts stated in the brief to explore various images and artists related to each stage of the project.

The book which interested me the most out of all of these was ‘typography sketchbooks’ by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico.(2012) This book is a collection of various designers work in their sketchbook stages, often the sketchbook images are the final pieces. I found the variation of styles inspiring for my project. In particular this book was relevant to the first task of the project which was to create a £d letter-form. It gave me ideas on how to go about generating ideas and how I wanted my ideas to then be presented.

An artist who interested me, mentioned in the book was, Jan Wilker, a German designer who had created a grid system styled alphabet of type using hand lettering with a pen. He quoted ;So long as I have had a computer (which is always) I have a sketchbook” (page 349). I found

this statement relevant to this project as a whole as the main bulk of the project was produced on the computer. With a collection of images and photos taken throughout, my form of sketchbook will be computer based.

The second book which is in particular relevance to my project is ‘Grid systems in graphic design’ by Muller Brockmann (2007). It gave detailed descriptions and examples of how the grid system is used in InDesign for a range of items such as books and leaflets. It showed how grids can create a constant division of space and make a piece more aesthetically pleasing as it is structured with tension. This was the book I found most relevant to this online book design (in InDesign).

The first workshop I took part in was the digital letterpress, looking at an alternative method of making letterpress images and type. Although I had no previous experience with this form of typography before, digital

or hand made, I wanted to gain some knowledge of this method of printing. There’s something rather soothing about the sound of the rollers as they press the pre prepared ink onto paper, even if my first experience of this was a digitally

reproduced sound opposed to the real thing.

Using the given software (m-press) We were able to create letterpress images in half the time of a normal hand made letter press. Throughout my project The

letter G was a particularly important one for me and my partner. So I took the opportunity to develop some of the words that we had chosen to explore beginning with G. My favourite printed design for this was ‘Goldfish’ which I then developed

into a fish and chips logo.

I developed A keener interest for the method of letterpress after this initial workshop which I hope I can use not only for this project in s some aspect, but in future projects.

DIGITAL LETTERPRESS

Let terpress

Screen-print

Silkscreen

I have always had a love of screen printing but have never had the chance to use it in project or elsewhere so I was keen to take part in the silk screen printing workshop.

The technician showed us how to prepare a screen using a light sensitive emulsion. The image we wanted pressed was a simple triangle printed on paper. The paper was then oiled and placed onto the screen which had been dosed in light sensitive emulsion.

This was then put onto a light box and exposed to light to imprint the black image onto the screen. This meant that ink would only go through the screen in the parts that had where blacked out.

We then used ink and a squeegee to press the ink through the screen and onto our chosen paper.

This was an easy and

effective method of printing and looked really effective when finished. Although the images we produced where simple and basic, the process and method could be applied for any project.

BindingThe third workshop I attended was perfect book binding. Although we had already covered this particular method during out book printing process, I have

a passion and interest for illustration and book making so felt that I should perfect my skills on this subject for further use. Quite selfish of me really.

The first step in book binding

is to have the printed pages. These are then folded so that the seems are the outside edged of the pages. These will be the spine of the book. These pages are then placed within a press/

vice which holds them together whilst you place glue down the length of all the pressed pages, a piece of fabric I then placed over the spine and glued repeatedly over a period of an hour.

(Four times. Once every 15 minutes.)This was then dried overnight. To add the cover we removed the book pages from the vice, trimmed the ages I with a scalpel and glued the cover

by the sine to the outside pages. The cover was measured and cut before this. The whole book was then cut down to size using a gelatine.

LecturesLecture 1:Propaganda

The lecture for this subject was by far the most beneficial and interesting topic which greatly influenced my essay pieces. The lecture explored themes of war time propaganda which is the most recognised form of propaganda. It explored how we can related these themes and methods of

manipulation to our current consumerism society. People are lead to believe in false things which drive them to do something. A great contribution to the posters designed during the war in aid of various countries to try and influence them to support a cause or to fight for their country. The images we were shown where aggressive and pithy, almost scary at times. The use of fake public figures to influence people such as uncle Sam, used in the war to drive men to join the army.

From the lecture I got a better understanding of how the media and even the government can influence people on a wide scale through various forms of communication whether that be through television, advertising or even public figures.

Lecture 2:Transmedia

A lecture which also played a part in my project for both the 3d letter-form and the photo-shoot which was done in Poole was on Transmedia. Looking at the relationships between current and past designs and how the method of reusing designs plays a part in some of the designs today. We reviewed companies such as coke cola and Pepsi, discussing the disputes over ownership and copyrighting. We also explored how companies such as these two examples relate to one another and often dispute over similar designs or brands because of their similar products.

We looked over a range of well known brands and how they use past designs to create strong well known brands. Also exploring how design has progressed from lettering, printing and books to digital methods and the use of the internet.

Designers now are reverting back to these earlier forms of design.This lecture opened my eyes to a wider range of methods and styles used in design and made me more aware of how designers develop and change as processes and methods change.

Lecture 3: Photography is killing paintings

This was one of the most interesting lectures out of all the lectures in the term. The subject matter focused on how a digital age had taken over from hand crafted imagery such as paintings, from the development of photography and the transition between old and new forms of design.

Themes of what reality was came into play, exploring how people are no longer shocked because of exaggerated imagery and ultra realist styles. We are constantly being fed spectacles and are almost expecting something new and even more shocking.

I was particularly interested in Ansel Adams work of photography in Yosemite. He believed his photographic imagery wasn’t enough to display how he felt seeing these images so he used modern technology to edit his photos, provoking the same feelings he had in the viewer. Similar to

what paintings in earlier decades aimed to do. Creating an interpretation or exaggeration of reality.

Lecture 4:Cinematic bodies

In this lecture we looked at how the cinema and media like to keep images and ideas of the human form contained and we are often shocked when these things are corrupted e.g.) gore and bodily fluids being shown in films.

The way in which the female form is portrayed can often be a topic of controversy. As women are expected to dress and act as media and film has portrayed. Sexuality is often a media driven perception.

I found this lecture extremely interesting as I have a love of film and cinematography. It was interesting to see how exaggeration and shock imagery is used to distort reality and shock or even disturb audiences, creating captivating cinema.

From

OvenTo

Printer

Let ter-form

Our first task was to design a 3d letter-form encapsulating a word within one letter. The aim behind it being that the audience will instantly know what the word is by using the first letter and the relevant imagery used to make it. This seems like a simple task to begin with. Our given letter was G. We started by brainstorming words relevant to graphics such as grid and guide, later moving on to look at words like goldfish, garden and gingerbread.

Images from sketchbook

The first idea we explored was ‘Grid’ looking at the various ways this could be portrayed. We started with a simple set of blocks mad out of paper to make a G. however me and my partner felt this was not as clear as it could be and didn’t initially read ‘Grid’. So we further developed this idea.Using works by Benoit Lemoine as seen in the

collective book ‘The 3d Type Book’ (Fl@33 2011) and Neisen de Vries in the book ‘Typography Sketch Books’ ( Heller, S & Talarico, L 2012), we moved on to using layered tracing paper in which layers of a grid image were placed on-top of each other, allowing light through various layers in different section to then spell out the letter G.

Initially this design seemed very interesting and appropriate, however once the design had been tested and developed it was hard to see the G through all the layers of paper, making it look scrappy and ineffective. Often the sound of a design is better than the finished result which was definitely the case with this piece.

We moved on to experiment with different words and methods exploring the word guide in detail. We used a road map which we cut and folded cleverly to portray a G shape in the centre. Although we thought this image was effective, during the

critiques the group felt it did not portray the word efficiently so we moved onto look at gadget which was a collection of kitchen gadgets. Again this didn’t come across effectively enough.This is when we moved on further to ‘Gingerbread’.

And that’s where the fun began.

‘Typography Sketchbooks’

Steven Heller & Lita Talarico

We decided to test out a wider range of words after our first attempt. We went on to look at a less relevant word (based on the subject of graphic design) ‘Gingerbread’ the first attempt at this design was a handmade gingerbread letter, made and baked in the over and then decorated in the style of a traditional

gingerbread man. Although this was effective we chose to look at another designs as well, experimenting with words like Guide, in which we used a map to cut into a G shape. We chose then to further develop the Gingerbread Idea and used mini gingerbread men to form the G. This was by far

GingerbreadChosen word development

This was photographed and made into a postcard. To make the word Gingerbread man seem appropriate to the subject of typography we came up with the following quote, ‘Like a type, a gingerbread man has an arm, a foot and a head, but can often be distinguished by their alternate characters.’

Overall I felt we explored a wide range of ideas and developed them thoroughly before concluding this piece. The quote had an almost fairytale like ring to it, making our image look like a children’s book image which went with the theme of gingerbread men.

Like type, a

gingerbreadman has an arm, a

foot and a head, but areoften distinguished by

their alternate characters.

Images printed by ‘Uni print’ - Found in Rebecca Collins folder of work

‘The 3d type book’laurence king

Let ters in the landscape

Photography trip to Poole

The next stage in our project was a photo-shoot trip to Poole. The brief of this shoot was to find typography in the everyday surrounding, trying to use letters which had been created without editing or interference by the designer. This was then to form an alphabet.

This shoot was influenced by the design group called open studio and their piece ‘ABC collected’ as seen in the book ’The

3d Type book’ (Fl@33 2011) The designers used letters which had been created in the landscape of an urban environment, making sure that the letters where not interfered with. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time.

OutcomesA selection of the photos Taken by me.

Using earlier binding methods we had learnt during workshops

(Also taught by our course leader previous to the workshop)

We began to bind our book.

Making the book‘Letters in Landscape’

It was the efforts of four people used to create the finished book. From the photography trip to Poole

to binding the finished article our group worked together well in producing a Piece fit for the initial

brief.

Using Photoshop we edited each photo in terms of lighting and cropping. We used InDesign to put the

photography into a book layout.

Our group (Jodie Morris, Louise Donovan, Alice Farrar, Rebecca Collins) worked efficiently together.

The book binding and finish was entirely a group effort.

Book found in ‘Alice Farrars’ Folder of work.

The images were edited and developed into a book layout which was created in InDesign. This was an easy programme to navigate and work from, making the process fairly quick once we knew what we wanted the finished book to look like. Using a grid guide method, we positioned the images on each page in various layouts to make the book look aesthetically pleasing.

Using the method shown in two

separate workshops, we bound our book with a orange cover. We then cut out a box in the front to show the main title of the book which was printed on the inside page. The overall finished look was very professional and effective. The workshop in digital letterpress had also led to the completion of the book as we used the method to make the title on the inside page.It was clear to see how each workshop and lecture was enabling us to complete various

stages of the project.

I feel the overall look of the finished book was very professional. Although the digital letter press title may have looked a little to chunky and big, overpowering the cover.

If we were to do this part of the project again, I would adjust the type for the cover, to make it look more atheistically pleasing.

The finished piece

Photography By Alice Farrar.

In terms of exploring the theme of propaganda, the

Jewish museum , which was located underneath an enormous memorial, informed us of the many

forms of propaganda present during that time

and also the suffering that was endured in this

period. It was not only informative but deeply

sad to witness.

During this term a group of students from various courses at the university where given

the opportunity to go to Berlin for a week, exploring themes of

propaganda and design. Both themes leading to the completion

of the project and the written aspect of the term (essay).

Although the weather was cold and windy, arriving in Berlin was

an exiting prospect. The buildings and the culture surrounding them

seemed completely different to home, although there was the

odd Starbucks to remind us that we weren’t too far away. (Travel

tip for any student; Starbucks hot chocolate is the best thing to buy

when walking around in Berlin in the cold).

Arriving in Berlin

One of my favourite places we visited during the trip was the TV tower (Fernsehturm ) in the centre of Berlin. We visited this monument at 9.00pm. The city was cold and dark, adding to the atmosphere which surrounded this building. The lights surrounding the tower highlighted its enormity which made it all the more daunting to travel up. The tower itself is 368 m and has the best overall view of Berlin from the bar at the top.I felt truly lucky being at the top of this tower with the view of Berlin in front of us. It was the highlight of the trip for me. I think part of the process of design should be to appreciate the opportunities given and to gain inspiration from these.

Fernsehturm Berlin

An example of an older styled building seen in Berlin is the Reichstag building located in the centre of Berlin. The building itself was opened in 1894 used to house the Imperial Diet. It was partially destroyed during world war two

and refurbished in 1960. By 1999 it was being used for political meetings. In the current day it is seen by tourists, like us. We were able to climb to the top and see a good overlook of the centre of Berlin.

Photographs by Rebecca Collins - Reichstag

During the week we visited a lot of various architectural areas in the centre of Berlin. The area which stood out for me was the remains of the Berlin wall which had been painted and painted upon by various people and artists. Some parts of the wall had political statements ( the image of the two politicians kissing) and some where simply artistic. The wall showed a vast variety of design that Berlin had to offer.

Overall the trip opened my eyes to a wider variety of design in other areas of the world and how this differs to English design. The architecture is, although similar in style in some places, was vastly different to England. The buildings where placed wider apart giving the illusion of more space. The buildings ranged from highly modern and unique to old and regal.

Berlin wall

ExhibitionFor the love of graphics

The Next stage of the project was to organise and set up an exhibition in the graphic design studio titled “ For the love of graphics”. Each of us had to bring in items or designs which portrayed our passion or love for certain aspects of graphic design.

For my piece I presented my collection of vintage packaging and tins. The quote which I wrote to coincide with my exhibit was as follows; “I love how a design can be preserved and still be relevant today,whether it

be an iconic brand or just a toffee packaging. These tins are each like little time capsules, preserving a slightly rusted picture of what design used to look like and influencing future design.”

The exhibition overall was put up in a very short amount of time but Was executed well. The small team of people in the class we had to organise the main bulk of this event did a superb job and the finished event went down really well with students and tutors.

To conclude my project overall I think I met not only the initial brief but I also understood the learning objectives well. I feel like I developed my ability to research and conduct experiments into various forms of visual communication, ranging from photography to sketchbook imagery.

I feel I have engaged with key texts to fully understand the theoretical elements of the project and gain a critical understanding of visual thinking.

I believe throughout the project I have used selected programmes like Photoshop and InDesign to develop my skill and knowledge in these areas. I believe my visual solutions were all effective and portrayed a competence with the programmes selected within the brief.

My conclusion

Finished project