Board Evaluation:
Overall, I am content with what I have managed to produce, especially considering the time frame. One of the aims of this brief was not only to represent each type of proximity explored in my essay, but also to create something that the SU liked and wanted to keep on their walls. This at least has been achieved. Throughout the process both Emma and Kaitlyn stopped by and said how much they liked it and wanted to preserve the boards for as long as possible. They were also consulted at the early stages of the design process concerning the quotes that were to be used and whether they were happy to have them on their walls. Because the quotes are mostly relatable to creative practices of all kind, they really work in the space and create a positive and encouraging atmosphere.
If I had the chance to do this project again. I would have liked to spend more time just experimenting with the designs in the chalk medium. To a certain extent, from experience, I know when something is or isn't going to work in chalk but I would have like the opportunity to play around with how to push the boundaries of the medium a bit more. This could have been done by allowing more time in the actual space with the boards. Having said this, I do feel that my organisation and management has been pretty good. It has allowed me to methodically attack the design process and create a large body of good quality work.
Even though there are areas that I would have liked to improve, such as the layout of the type in board two, which proved really difficult and conquered me somewhat, there are also areas that I am really happy with. These include the extensive variations in typographic design from one board to the next, I have tried not to let my comfort zone dictate the designs of the boards and rather matched style to meaning as best I could. Despite this variation the boards were still completely legible from a great distance, which works perfectly in the space. I am also really pleased with the use of the high colour intensity art chalks that I started using for the first time in this project. I found a great way to mix the light pastels of traditional chalks with the bright colours of art chalks to create depth and presence. This can especially be seen in the second and fourth boards.
Despite the fact that the process of creating each board united the different types of proximity found in my theory, I do think that the design of each board communicated its specific type of proximity. Although it is not obliquely obvious that each board sits under the bracket of a type of proximity, they each communicate the idea they were intended to, which is more than enough. The combination of type and ornamentation was really effective, although on later projects I really ant to see if I can mix the boundaries between the two and play with the traditions of the practice a little bit more.
Lastly I would say that upon reflection I wonder if this project may have been improved by a smaller scale outcome. Perhaps one board instead of four, produced to a really high standard. This is not to say that the boards I have created are not to a high standard, it is just that it might have been good to focus my efforts more directly and not do something large and good, out of a fear of not being able to do something small and great.
Evaluation of Proximity in Practical:
Physical:
I think the film was a particularly effective method for examining the physical proximity of this project. In every frame I am there, interacting with the boards. However, I do wonder whether this interaction is such an intrinsic part of the process that it almost goes without notice. Perhaps there could be a way to softly blur my movements, so as to accentuate them. However, this could be really distracting and the physical interaction is there, you just need to be ready to see it.
The sketch book is also an interesting and equally effective record of my physical proximity to the project. It is all of the marks made in the development of the design recorded and kept. Each mark a mark of my physical proximity to the designs. In all fairly effective as recording methods.
Social:
The film was really successful in terms of recording peoples' social interaction with me and during production. I took care to slow down and accentuate this part of the film and this works not only to communicate the social proximity facilitated but also to add a playful open tone of voice to the films, which it needs to fit with the idea of closeness and friendliness.
The critical journal also recorded the physical proximity of the project, but does so where the film could not; before the production started. This details the interaction with people about my planned designs and getting their opinions and feedback on those ideas. It also communicates how this is important to the process and something that is repeated no matter what I am designing. Proves a really interesting study of social proximity, but possibly, on reflection could have had a more 'catch all recording method' so all interaction was documented.
Emotional:
This type of proximity was possibly the hardest to facilitate an exploration of. However, in terms of my emotional proximity to the project, which is the starting point for the audiences emotional proximity, the critical journal is the perfect magnifying glass. It allowed me to think each day about how I felt during the design process. It is eel known that this process is somewhat of an emotional roller coaster but the journal links these ups and downs to actions and turning points in said process. It also examines the way that a design becomes more distant when it is physically manifest. not what I expected but this is because it is no longer soupy in your head but in the hands of the audience, whose turn it is to emotionally interact with the piece. So, effective as an examination method but if repeated could be improved by recording audience response in some qualitative way.
Temporal:
This is a type of proximity which is ingrain very deeply in the development and research of the designs. This is why I have recorded it through my blog. There were two times when the designs facilitated this closeness; board two and board four. This was when I had to do doe research into the Arts and Crafts movement, specifically the typographic design of the Kelmscott press, and when I had to research the origin of copperplate or english Roundhand calligraphy. In both situations this research closely informed the design decisions of the board and through physically interacting with the information found (drawing or lettering as a form of study) a deeper understanding was gleaned that passed into the final designs.
Something that I didn't expect was a point of reflection in the critical journal, in which I found that through a project that drew on past skills developed (so all design work practically) the designer becomes closer to their own past and are able to gain motivation from a confidence in ability. Overall, surprising and effective as an examination method.
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