Why do people protest? They believe in a cause and want to make their voices heard, to cause change. One such occasion was Brexit:
In June 2016 the British public voted to leave the European Union. Leading up to this people all over Europe participated in a kissing chain to demonstrate their love for Great Britain, there were Brexit protests in London, buildings had the Union Jack lit up on their sides. It was a protest as loving as they come in many ways.
Despite the vote affecting everyone in the UK and the British Citizens living abroad, a large chunk of people this effects were not permittedto have their voice be heard in the polls. This was due to their nationality, age, criminal record, and various other reasons. Their voices do not count when it counts.
Being tasked with the word ‘gaming’, I decided to represent the contrast between the innocent excitement that games can give to the masses, but also the toxic and scary side of gaming from cyberbullying to hacking. In my first piece, the bright lights and excentric colour tones present freedom and excitement to the theme of gaming in addition to the facial expression and body language. In the second piece, the colour tone and body language are very much darkly toned muted colours in addition to the red glows in the eyes all represent the danger underneath the excitement of gaming.
In Kim’s project we experimented with the initials of our names and created a monogram with both of the letters combined, the final outcome is in the featured image and image above.
First i brainstormed ideas, i copied the letters H, S in the different fonts: Futura and Garamond. I drew both of the initials in lowercase and uppercase mixing them together. I used pens, pencils, markers, a ruler, a rubber and layout paper to create these brief designs.
I really liked the bottom right design and the one on top of it. I liked how the main strokes of the H were extended down to match the S, However i chose the one above as i like how the letters blended together better.
Here i drew the process of how the initials merged to make a monogram.
Too improve i would create these designs online so they would have a more polished finish and also so i could experiment with colour.
What is a book? Why are we so scared to damage them? Why is this format invincible?
This mini brief required us to question the ‘concept’ of books, alongside with their composition, layout, binding etc. True enough, I had never thought or even considered the importance of visual dimension within books. We have all become so accustomed to flipping the pages in a certain pace, holding the spine in a particular manner and feeling the repetitive texture of paper, that all of these aspects are almost ‘forgotten’ by our conscious self. And bringing in this element of ‘connection’ to a reader, can help to create powerful and immersive experience.
With ‘loop’ as my chosen theme, I decided to narrow down some factors aside from the provided storyline/narrative (which is based on a female, that hired to kill her partner, with the help of an assassin, who is reading a book about, female, that hired to kill her partner, with the help of an assassin, in reality).
The creation of loop sits on-top of the temporal dimension: time. Without the fourth dimension, a loop wouldn’t exist (whether it may be in the narrative or in reality). Instantly, I knew that alongside with the murder narrative, the blend of time could add in an interesting imagery.
The cover of the book, focusing on repetitive days and time variations, alongside with textureStriking red acrylic paint, with haphazard brush strokes to portray the ‘soon to be’ murder scene
I have always been extremely interested with texture and the sensations it can provide, therefore I wanted to draw severe attention towards it. But the material couldn’t just be anything. It also had a make a connection with loop or the narrative of murder. After some quick research, fabrics, especially threads seem to have a portrayal of ‘loops.’ With their never ending entwining threads curling each other, they almost seem to reflect some aspects of loops and temporal dimension. Thus, the need to experiment with threads seemed very important. Whether they may be glued on or stitched into the texts.
The introduction page stripped down to important words, with a layout change, to slow down the pace of turning pagesA combination of materials and techniques
For one the ‘main’ concept page, I decided to create a collage based on the predator (who is a female and hired to kill her partner, with the help of an assassin, in the book he is reading, in reality) before linking it with the prey (who is the man). Of course, I also wanted to created some repetition from the cover, so I brought in the element of time (and day) to mimic the loop of reality and fiction. Lastly, I paired it with some sewn in lines, to support the madness, that a loop in time could create, especially with a murder.
A close up look at the textureThe texture representing the madness
The ‘taboo’ of not destroying books. The page flipping pace. The feel of paper.
These ideologies can easily be altered through movement, sound, pace, time, involvement, shape, space, 3d, scale, texture etc and in return, they can make the reader more connected with books physically and realise that we have all been missing out a lot on the ‘experience’ of reading.
Using the Futura typeface, both medium and bold, I experimented with how the 2 letters – A and P could be incorporated together as a single unit, motif or symbol. I began by merging the letters next to each other, however it seemed that it could easily be misread as a letter R. Therefore, I explored flipping one of the letters upside down, leading to my 7th and final design solution, where the cross bar of the A merges into the the counter of the P. This creates an interesting ‘impossible staircase’ type aesthetic. I would like to further explore with colour .
For today’s mini project, we were asked to go out into the environment, around the university campus or out into town, and photograph lettering that we come across. We were not restricted in any way with what lettering we could take photos of, it could be anything from road markings, to building names and sign posts. Anything that we came across that interested us, we were told to photograph using different angles, lighting and compositions. This task really made me aware of my surroundings and I started to notice little things that I never did before. For example, the fonts and colours, the materials used, the shapes and techniques of the words displayed all around me. Actively seeking different forms of lettering around me enabled me to analyse the typography used to convey a message, instruction or display information and the effect it may have on the reader.
I came back with a series of photographs taken of all different words, phrases and names that I had found. We were then asked to sort these photos into groups of our choice. I chose 4 different themes which linked certain photos together and compared and contrasted them with my group. I found this project to be a fun way to learn about lettering in the environment and I came away feeling like my eyes had been opened to noticing new things.
For the project ‘Broken Narratives’ I chose the theme of ‘Staircase’. As the brief stated, the man had an unknown disease. I wanted to create a book that looked as if it was also diseased. To create this, I used glue and tissue to make a 3D textured effect to look damaged and cut open. I then used acrylic paints to show the colours of decay.
On the inside of the book, following the brief of the man being moved downstairs, I wanted to create the effect of stairs falling into an abyss, where that man was lying. To do this, I used my craft knife to cut out a series of different sized squares to look like stairs. I then drew the man at the bottom floor. I also painted the pages black to represent a feeling of hopelessness and painted some stairs that didn’t lead to any particular direction to represent no way out. I enjoyed creating this project and felt that it encourage out of the box thinking.
In June 2016 the British public voted to leave the European Union. Leading up to this people all over Europe participated in a kissing chain to demonstrate their love for Great Britain, there were Brexit protests in London, buildings had the Union Jack lit up on their sides. It was a protest as loving as they come in many ways.
the box thinking.