PLACEMENT

Before I came away I completed a 2 week work placement with the design creative 'lemoncreative' (http://www.lemoncreative.co.uk). The company works with clients such as Hornby designing for Airfix and Scalextric products.

Here is some of the work I created whilst working for lemoncreative:

^ Scalextric Service Sheet ^

^ Hornby Maintenance Sheet ^

^ Airfix Packaging ^

The more I think about the placement, the more relevant it seems to this project. We were taking a product that they were selling, and displaying it in a way that would be appealing to the masses. Although it may seem a bit blunt, in reality, people on networking sites take themselves (the product) and display themselves in a way that they think will appeal to others (the masses).

Could I somehow take the skills I learned in the placement and apply them to this project?
Could I make myself the product, and display myself in a way that I feel would be appealing to others?

I could simplify myself into a mere object; creating service sheets, operating and maintenance sheets, a paint guide, mood imagery, and packaging for myself.

How much detail of myself could I go into?
Am I a plastic miniature?
Am I a life-size model?
Am I completely myself: A living human selling my personality, my appearance, to the masses?

EARLY INSPIRATION

When browsing the internet for info-graphics I stumbled on Feltron.com
The site of designer Nick Felton.

Felton specializes in infographics, condensing a whole year into a short book by categorizing everything, similar to how I have begun this project.

As everything is displayed with such clear graphic imagery, it is easy to get a general overview of his life. He has used a continual colourscheme & general theme through each journal, so even though the layout and general feel of the journal is different each year, each still holds the simplicity in the way that he displays the information.

He has obviously been extremely strategic in the manner that he has recorded his day to day tasks, as although it is about his personal life, it is informative as the final outcome is unbiased so is interesting, even for someone who doesn’t know him!

DATA ENTRY

So... on the first of April, as planned, I started noting down in my little Camberwell sketchbook everything I ate and drank, my expenses and income, my exercise and sleep patterns, the time I spent working and chilling (including books/music/internet) and the people and places I go (including where, how far and the means of transport). All of this data has the time it occurred next to it so I can easily collate the data when the month is over and see any patterns.

Here are some pages:


I realize the range of this data is pretty vast, and may seem random in the data form that it is currently in, but with no concrete idea of how I am going to use it yet, I thought it was best to have too much data than not enough. As I will be recording it for a month it needs to be useful. Wasting a whole month on recording data that I can’t use would be stupid!

STRANDED

Because of this volcano spitting ash everywhere in Iceland, my flight home from my family holiday has been cancelled, and the earliest flight we can get back is 1st May. So for the whole of april im stuck in Lanzarotte with limited internet, no books, no studio, no tutors, 1 gallery, and lots and lots of volcanos!

INITIAL PROPOSAL

Since beginning the course I’v attended a range of workshops. Screen printing and book binding workshops taught me processes that I applied to produce a set of zines. Letter press and handmade type workshops showed me the range of type that can be created, and the broad array of media that can be used in the development and outcome. The course has allowed me realisation that the pathway of graphics is a lot more open and experimental than I believed, allowing me a broader approach to graphic design.

People are broadcasting mundane tasks on status updates via Twitter and Facebook. Celebrities sign themselves up for reality shows such as Big Brother, their own television series, to then have their lives torn apart by critics and psychologists. People’s lives are no longer private. It interests me how willingly people submit to this, and allow all of their personal business to be so openly shared and assessed by complete strangers.

Within this project I thought it would be interesting, instead of rebelling against the lack of privacy, I’ll embrace it and be completely open with my life. For a month I’ll document all things I do, this could include how many cups of coffee I drink, how many hours a week I spend arguing and how many new people I meet for example. This project will be an opportunity for me to experiment with info-graphics which is something completely new to me, as well as allowing me to take a step back to observe my own life, and as I’ll display the information I find in a clear graphic way, I’ll make my research interesting to other viewers. In order to ensure I collect the right information, I’ll conduct research into the things people want to know and see about people’s lives, and the information they actually get. When collecting my data, I’ll need to be extremely strategic and consistent in my method of recording it, so that I can then assess and display all of the details affectively. I’ll need to devise an interesting way to display all of the information, for inspiration on how to do this I’ll use the internet and the college library to research into info-graphics and artists that produce work in this category to. I’ll also need to decide the media and format of the final outcome. In order to make this clearer I’ll look into workshops and tutorials within Camberwell, for example screen printing and letterpress could be useful to me when creating block colours and type within the final outcome; however I could also do this using vector graphics within illustrator.

In order to evaluate this project effectively I will use a reflective journal to instantly record any feelings I have regarding the project. I will also keep a blog which I will update weekly; this will allow me to use images, links and text so I can have a broader method of evaluation. Finally I will create an action plan timetable so that I can review my time keeping skills, as well as allowing me to see when I planned to complete tasks by so that I can complete the work to deadlines, and stay on task.