Throughout the process of researching and writing the essay part of this module I spent time establishing a solid approach and methodology for understanding and communicating the central ideas of my dissertation. This involved large amount of organisation of time, thoughts and resources to achieve a well rounded discussion of craft n the digital age. The strenuous planning process I went through also meant that my writing was much more concise than in past essay, as waffling has always been an issue for me. Despite this I did have trouble fitting to the word count and the carefully planned structure meant that taking material out effected the connectivity of each point. However, I did manage to edit down, still being a bit close to the upper limit of the word count, to my great discomfort. Bringing all of the theory together tot focus on chalkboarding examples of craft practice worked really well. It allowed me to connect my own practice to the theory before I even started working on the practical, making the transition all the more seamless. It also made finding examples easy because the chalk art world is something I make a point to be aware of.
The practical piece was a real challenge, mostly because of the scale of the job and the many methods I needed to examine the different type of proximity in the practical process. Overall I am really happy with it, specifically the variation in design and the colour usage. However, there are areas that I would like to improve on, like the layout of board two and the photography of the final pieces which could be better but was made difficult by the artificial lighting of the space and its public nature.
What is strongest about this project as a whole from my perspective is the synthesis of the essay and practical. In the past this is something that I have struggled with but this time the theory methodology transferred perfectly into the practical process. I do wish I could have improved the recording methods for the emotional proximity aspect of the practical, but the size of the project made this really tricky to do. Possibly, I should have made the practical outcome smaller and the reflect on the practical larger. The critical journal also united the two pieces, the observation of the practical feeding into the discussion of the essay. What is most satisfying is the way the essay divided up the theory to analyse it and then it was united in the practical, divided again by the methodical analysis of the practical, feeding back into the essay. Divided in theory, united in practice.
Wednesday, 13 January 2016
OUGD601 Context of Practice 03 Practical Piece Final Designs and Evaluation
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.
Tuesday, 12 January 2016
OUGD601 Context of Practice 04 A Reflection on Relational Aesthetics
Relational aesthetics is a term coined by Nicholas Bourriaud in 1998 which he termed as:
'A set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context, rather than an independent and private space'
Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/relational-aesthetics
This is an area of theory which I touched on during the early stages of research for my essay. At the time it didn't quite fit in anywhere. Yet, on reflection I can see how it fits perfectly into the practical application of this theory. I mean that my attempt to capture the social interaction around my craft process, very much fits with Bourriaud's relational aesthetics. Although this reflection doesn't contribute to the outcome of this project I though it an interesting point worth noticing and possibly further exploration at a later date to see how a fine art theory could be applied to graphic design. To be honest graphic design is already all about people, just turning it into something which empowers people would make it fit into the relational aesthetics box!
'A set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context, rather than an independent and private space'
Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/relational-aesthetics
This is an area of theory which I touched on during the early stages of research for my essay. At the time it didn't quite fit in anywhere. Yet, on reflection I can see how it fits perfectly into the practical application of this theory. I mean that my attempt to capture the social interaction around my craft process, very much fits with Bourriaud's relational aesthetics. Although this reflection doesn't contribute to the outcome of this project I though it an interesting point worth noticing and possibly further exploration at a later date to see how a fine art theory could be applied to graphic design. To be honest graphic design is already all about people, just turning it into something which empowers people would make it fit into the relational aesthetics box!
OUGD601 Context of Practice 03 Practical Piece Social Media Response
As a small side project or evaluative measure I have collected all internet information in relation to this project in an effort to measure the social proximity seen online.
The first quantifiable piece of data concerning the social proximity of the project can be seen in the view numbers for the videos in their original source entrance onto the internet.
These view come redirected from a link I shared on Facebook. Along with this comes the like stats in the images above as well as the more qualitative comments.
I also shared a number of small snapshots during the project onto my Instagram feed. There is a large network of letterers and chalk artists on this platform whom I don't know personally but through the use of hash tags can interact with my work through comments and likes.
Overall I think this is an interesting but not definitive way of measuring social proximity facilitated by this project. After all it is not the project alone that facilitates this, it is the act of me sharing the information online that makes it possible.
OUGD601 Context of Practice 03 Practical Piece Time Lapse Videos
The Proximity of Craft from Beth on Vimeo.
The Proximity of Craft Part 2 from Beth on Vimeo.
Evaluation:
Overall I am fairly happy with how these videos turned out. Something that I was intent on achieving was a synchronistic of music and visual. Although there are certain limitations to this such as the necessity of narrative which also have to be obeyed, i.e. I couldn't jump around simply mixing music to visual, everything had to go in a certain order, I think I managed a good balance. I am pleased with how I managed to film, the wide angle not only showing people that interact with me while I am working but also showing the boards that I have already done. It took a while playing around with different replay speeds to get to the right mix. I think this has been achieved to best effect in the first video, where there is the most interaction with people. These are the best parts to slow down because it highlight them as important parts of the process and adds to the playful happy tone of the piece. I also made some use of transitions that I haven't used before. It actually worked really well to smooth over areas where large jumps in narrative are made and create a sense of time passing. One thing that I would like to improve would be the changes in camera angle. I like them overall but some greater consistency would have benefitted the finished videos. I even feel that, were this at any other time of year I would have asked a friend to film this, rather than statically filming it myself because my mind needs to be fully on the designs themselves and splitting energy between the designs and the boards is possibly not the best for high quality finished products. However, saying this I am still happy with what I have managed to achieve and think that this is indeed a successful way of measuring physical and social interaction facilitated by the project. Although, I would say that the camera didn't catch all interaction and this frustrated me. But the fact is that people will more readily talk to you when they feel like they are not interrupting something. I think that the physics proximity demonstrated by this piece can be easily overlooked because it is so obvious but my physical interaction with the boards is in each and every frame.
The Proximity of Craft Part 2 from Beth on Vimeo.
Evaluation:
Overall I am fairly happy with how these videos turned out. Something that I was intent on achieving was a synchronistic of music and visual. Although there are certain limitations to this such as the necessity of narrative which also have to be obeyed, i.e. I couldn't jump around simply mixing music to visual, everything had to go in a certain order, I think I managed a good balance. I am pleased with how I managed to film, the wide angle not only showing people that interact with me while I am working but also showing the boards that I have already done. It took a while playing around with different replay speeds to get to the right mix. I think this has been achieved to best effect in the first video, where there is the most interaction with people. These are the best parts to slow down because it highlight them as important parts of the process and adds to the playful happy tone of the piece. I also made some use of transitions that I haven't used before. It actually worked really well to smooth over areas where large jumps in narrative are made and create a sense of time passing. One thing that I would like to improve would be the changes in camera angle. I like them overall but some greater consistency would have benefitted the finished videos. I even feel that, were this at any other time of year I would have asked a friend to film this, rather than statically filming it myself because my mind needs to be fully on the designs themselves and splitting energy between the designs and the boards is possibly not the best for high quality finished products. However, saying this I am still happy with what I have managed to achieve and think that this is indeed a successful way of measuring physical and social interaction facilitated by the project. Although, I would say that the camera didn't catch all interaction and this frustrated me. But the fact is that people will more readily talk to you when they feel like they are not interrupting something. I think that the physics proximity demonstrated by this piece can be easily overlooked because it is so obvious but my physical interaction with the boards is in each and every frame.
OUGD601 Context of Practice 03 Dissertation Final Draft of Dissertation
Dissertation draft 3 from Crystalbeth
I have colour coded my journal to highlight the emotional proximity reflection: Green, social proximity reflection: Blue and Temporal proximity reflection: Yellow.
I have colour coded my journal to highlight the emotional proximity reflection: Green, social proximity reflection: Blue and Temporal proximity reflection: Yellow.
OUGD601 Context of Practice 02 Practical Piece Creating the Time Lapse
From previous experiences of editing videos, I knew that what I needed to do with this video was simple and so more advanced program such as final cut pro just wasn't needed. So, instead I used iMovie. iMovie also allows easy editing of the speed of replay as shown below. I mostly made the film x20 speed. However, as suggested by my research into other time lapse videos I did slow down to x4 sometimes to show the social interaction facilitated by the project when people came into the frame.
Because of the scale and amount of film the whole process was excessive it took a while to pick out the bits that were most relevant but the full library display helped that. I also used some gentle cross dissolve transitions in places where there were large changes in the visuals, such as a bit jump foreword in time. I also had a few shots that were a little out of focus and the transitions helped to make this less noticeable.
I spent a long time thinking about music choices and whether copy right laws apply to something that is completely none profit and harpy being shared. I decided not because it seemed fine for my previous projects and the music is all already freely available on youtube. I chose two songs, one for each video, which each details the creation of two boards. The songs were This is the Beginning and Little Numbers by BOY. They combined the sense of time passing with a fast rhythm and an upbeat open natural sound which fits with the visual content of the videos. Again because of my research into time lapse videos I matched cuts and changes to the rhythm of the music. Most difficult was how to finish both videos, leaving enough music at the end without visuals to fade out to but also not making it seem unnatural and abrupt. In the end I settles on finishing with the penultimate bar of music, which made the most natural effect.
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