Statement of Intent

I will be making a piece of moving image based on the statistics surrounding potholes. The statistics I will use will focus on the increase of road damage this year due to weather conditions, costs of repairs, costs of insurance payouts to drivers whose vehicles have been affected and how many people have been affected.

The critical stance I am taking is that roads are in a bad condition and that something should be done about it. I will be taking a less serious approach as the subject matter would be viewed by many as slightly mundane and far less life affected than some other more weighty topics. Nevertheless, the high cost of road repairs to councils and vehicle repairs to businesses and individuals should not be underestimated during a recession.

Although I will mainly be looking at the statistics about car and road damage I have also researched into several news stories involving accidents that have occurred from people swerving to avoid potholes. The AA Driving School have even now introduced a section to lessons to concentrate on dealing with the terrible road conditions.

I will be predominantly by using animation, using type in a way inspired by Jarratt Moody's Pulp Fiction Typography.

I have also drawn inspiration from a scene in the film 'Yellow Submarine' directed by George Dunning. The scene, 'Sea of Holes' where the characters are surrounded by black holes which take on a different state of matter, allowing the characters to pick the holes up. The scene also plays a lot with perspective, distorting it in unexpected ways, something I would like to use for my own design. I also like the psychedelic feel given to the animation and would like to use this to keep the animation light-hearted and interesting, this will also affect my colour choices. I don't plan to use a voice over but will use a background track to fit with the speed of the animation, but not detract from it.

I will try to keep the animations simple focusing on text which I will integrate with the images, attempting to make them interact. I would like to make the points clear using a minimal amount of text to keep the viewers attention and make the points clear. I will be using some images to illustrate certain figures to make the statistics clearer and to have more impact.

I have collected statistics from www.potholesnews.co.uk and from www.theaa.com/insurance and will base my statistics on the UK only. I have also contacted Bournemouth and Poole Councils to get local statistics.

Ideas

Animation by Johnny Kelly

This is a great animation using mixed media by Johnny Kelly. I love the simplicity of this animation. the sound design is by Mike Wyeld with a voice over by Bryan Quinn.

This is a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis. It is a wonderful way to show a story, using an abandoned building and the painting technique is bright and clever.

Hans Rosling

In THIS TED Talk researcher Hans Rosling talks about how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty, comparing households of varying income levels worldwide. The data tools he uses are fantastic at conveying statistics and the way he can show how figures have changed through time is a really great visual device.

The website Gapminders shows how this software works allowing people to see the way countries change in way that challenge old myths.

Inspiration

As research for this project I have been looking at a lot of existing videos that demonstrate statistics or have an interesting technique that can visually show the information in a clear way.

The first is a Sprint advert, I found this on Infosthetics.com a really useful site showing ways in which statistics can be shown visually.

This advert titled 'What's Happening Now' gives a variety of statistics and visualises them using both animation and filming. The most successful representation is at the beginning when the statistic is shown by many small graphics of men in suits to show what proportion of people are currently on the phone and then changes the visual to show how many just hung up.

Potholes

A subject that I am considering going with is potholes. Due to the icy weather the roads have got rapidly worse and I think this is a subject, although slightly mundane, that many people can connect with. I like this topic because it is less serious and will allow me to be slightly more creative with the visuals.

Some statistics I have managed to collect...

• With potholes estimated to cause as many as 1 in 5 mechanical failures on UK roads and costing motorists an estimated £320 million every year
• Potholes are a major factor in causing axle & suspension failure, which counts for a third of mechanical issues on UK roads and costs British motorists an estimated £2.8 billion every year.
• Authorities currently pay out more than £50 million in compensation claims due to poor roads
• Road maintenance in England and Wales is underfunded by around 50%, or £1 billion every year.
• At current maintenance levels, the average frequency for a road to be resurfaced in England is once every 65 years. In Wales it is once every 81 years.
• If all authorities were given the budgets they need to fix their roads, it would take English authorities 11 years to catch up with the current backlog, and Welsh authorities 16 years.
• Latest figures show compensation payouts for accidents involving potholes at £45million.

Flash

Today was the first lesson in Flash, having not used it before I was a bit worried but it wasn't as hard as I was expecting. I've only looked at the basics so far though. I will continue to experiment with what I have learnt today so that I can build on this...

Screen Based Communication

Statistics

Today we received our next brief, to create a piece of moving image, lasting between 30 and 90 seconds, that rhetorically communicates a statistic, in an effective way that can be understood universally.

This is not something I have done before so I'm looking forward to the challenge.

I've been researching all day, looking into existing animations and looking into interesting statistics for ideas, my head is spinning with numbers but still to find the one I would like to use.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

This is a quote from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I'm not sure the typography style fits very well but I think it is quite sweet and took far too long to do.

A Heart...

Text as Texture

I have just watched an amazing podcast from the 'It's Nice That' series, a talk by Sam Winston. Winston is inspired not only by the visual aspect of typography but more fundamentally by what the words true meanings are. He picks apart stories, for example 'Beauty and the Beast' and threads them back together in ways that are visually beautfiul and allow the viewer to get envolved with the language in its most basic form.
Sam Winstonhas created a Dictionary story where each word of the narrative is followed by its definition, and these definitions then begin to move around the page becoming entangled and flowing amongst each other. In his research for this book he discovered a room that was filled with all the words that were not put in the dictionary. It is such a lovely image to think that when we do not have the words to fully express ourselves that maybe those words are in this room.

Hand In

War on Want finished....finally.

Visual Thinking PPRD

I have found this unit very challenging. The brief, to create a bus stop adshel and a second dimension, has been very specific as to who it is aimed at, its purpose and the budget. It has been interesting to make use of everything that I have so far learned about semiotics, looking at what colours are used and the connotations of the imagery, in order to encourage people to donate money

I have felt very supported throughout this project by tutors and other students because of the frequent tutorials and interim critique, however I was set back towards the end because my designs would not have been within budget.

Whilst working on this project I asked for advice much more frequently, seeking peers’ and tutors’ opinions in terms of colour, design and levels of information. I found this way of working very useful, and it helped generate ideas I would not have arrived at on my own. I will draw from this new way of working and make sure I use this in the future.

This project concentrated a lot on idea generation and research through looking at other advertising campaigns. I found this very useful and became quite overwhelmed with the variety of designs and unique ideas. I was concerned as it seemed to me that everything had been done before, although I discovered that I could benefit from this as I could see what had worked and what had not, adapting ideas to fit my designs and making them more effective.

There were two group projects within this unit, the first being ‘Democracy’. The group I worked within for this project worked very well together, we began by researching the subject and them broke off into groups to look into specific areas. As a group we made decisions as to how our image would look and then worked out the best way to create this. The group worked well together and we benefited from concentrating on our own skills before putting everything together.

The second group project, 'Black Box' meant creating an image to promote Aquafresh Toothpaste. Again the group I was in worked well together, generating ideas through brainstroming together. We were pleased with the image, however we had not thought about our presenting techniques which meant we let ourselves down in the critique. I have, however, learnt from this experience and will give much more time to thinking about this next time.

I found creating the second dimension the most difficult aspect of this project. Every time I decided on an idea, after researching further, I realised it was either too expensive, too ambitious or unethical. Although my final idea for a second dimension is not particularly unique I feel that it does answer the brief well. The brief asked for something to educate a younger generation and raise awareness to human rights, rather than concentrating specifically on raising money. Aiming my second dimension at schools means I do hit this demographic and educate about the current issues War on Want is dealing with, whilst also giving the opportunity to donate through leaving donation boxes within the schools.

In contrast to the previous project I worked on a lot of different ideas and designs before making a final decision, valuing the opinions and comments of others. I also worked hard on my final poster design, changing colours and layout until I was completely happy. I think this is a good practice as it meant every detail had been thought about, but I also feel that it is possible to work too much on a piece of work, where simplicity was possibly more effective.

Were I to approach this project again I would look more at technology and the possibilities this could give. As the campaign was designed to be aimed at a younger generation I think virals and other techniques that exploit the immediacy and unavoidability of the Internet would have been the best direction, however lack of time and experience deterred me from attempting this. In my work practice I would have liked to have decided on a main design sooner so that I could have spent more time developing it.

In my next unit I plan to continue concentrating on my sketchbook work, experimenting and planning each step as I go along. I will make sure I research thoroughly and use this research to further my own ideas. I will attempt to be more organised in planning my time to make sure I arrive at my final ideas sooner, allowing me more time to work on those ideas, realising them and developing them.

Final Crit

Todays crit seemed to be much more honest than any others we have had. I am very grateful for the criticism as I know that without this I cannot progress, however I think it is very late in the day to hear certain comments. I had a tutorial yesterday in which I went through my poster and second dimension and was told the idea was good and given a few stylistic details that may need changes. Today I was told my poster did not give enough information and my second dimension would be too costly, something I was slightly concerned about, however I am annoyed this was not mentioned before. So now, before the hand in on friday I need to change my second dimension to something that is more cost effective.

I think I will stick to my idea of donating 'Small Change to Make a Big Change', however now I will work on specifically institutions like schools and universities working on posters that can be put around the schools encouraging to donate and design a donation box to be put in the reception.

I will also change my poster design because after hearing feedback I feel it does not give enough information about War on Want and what is happening in Palestine.

Poster Decisions

In the end I decided to keep the poster design very similar to the original but change the background to white. This way the poster remains simple and effective and also stays in the War on Want colours.

After a tutorial I also thought it would be best to move the 'HELP' slightly higher. It was brought to my attention that when looking at a poster the eye is drawn instantly to eye level, whereas on my previous design people would have to have looked down slightly.

With these changes in mind I have also changed the colour scheme on my leaflet, looking at the typography and layout in more detail. I decided to make sure all locks of text were in line with images and that paragraphs that were more important were slightly more bold.

Options...

Interim Crit

Today was an interim critique., a week before the hand in date. Despite feeling incredibly ill I managed to drag myself in, and I am glad that I did. I've been struggling a lot with this project, finding it hard to trust my own ideas and generate unique ideas that also have to be ethical and economical...

However, I presented what I have so far and the feedback was really positive. I was concerned that my leaflet idea was slightly dull and I know it could also be quite a costly idea. The idea went down well and suggestions were made as to how to go about designing a donation box.

The criticisms that were made of my poster were fair and helpful and not aspects that I had considered myself. I was told that it looked slightly threatening in the current red and black colour scheme and that it would be worth working on this adding a certain positive aspect to encourage people to donate rather than guilt them into it. I do agree with this and have begun working on different colours but keeping the same basic idea of the poster layout. I was also concerned that not enough information was contained in the poster but this did not seem to be an issue, so I am happy to keep it the way that it is.

Small Change Makes a Big Change

Second Dimension

I have had a lot of trouble trying to decide on the best second dimension, it has been hard working out whether to go with a digital aspect or traditional paper based ideas.

In the end I decided to work on the idea of small change donations. Because of the current financial climate many people would not want to commit to donating regular amounts of money, so instead I decided to focus on smaller donations of loose change and foreign currency that people may have in their pockets or lying about the house, but still give them an option for regular donations. As well as collecting money for War on Want this would spread the information about what is currently happening in Palestine and the aid work War on Want is doing to help.

I will be designing a leaflet that will be based on the design of my poster, this will include information about Palestine and how to donate money. I will also attach a custom made envelope to the front of the leaflet that will be possible to pull off and use to donate change to any schools or universities and also a selection of ethical shops like Lush, Body Shop, Fat Face and V Cosmetics.

I would have liked to have designed something slightly more exciting but I feel the leaflets would be most economical and effective. If sent directly to students and a younger generation they would encourage people to get involved with War on Want's work.

PPRD: Introduction to Visual Culture: Context and Theory

This module has been particularly challenging, I feel that there has been a lot to learn and understand in a very short space of time. However, I do think that over time my understanding has become deeper and that what I have learnt is extremely useful in all aspects of my work.
Semiotics seems to involve many theorists and terms that all need to be understood before creating a further meaning from them and I have found the concepts within this module extremely hard to grasp.
The further reading has helped me understand the meaning of semiotics more, particularly David Crow ‘An Introduction to Semiotics’, which simplifies the different theories and gives clear definitions. However, in relation to Visual Communications I found Malcolm Barnard’s ‘Graphic Design as Communication’ a very useful source in understanding how semiotics is used to communicate particular meanings and have bought this book as I believe it will continue to be useful throughout the course.
This module introduced many different terms in a very short space of time which became quite overwhelming and confusing. However, with further reading and attempts to decode images, each aspect began to fall into place. I found it interesting that I began to decode images I saw every day but had not thought about in such depth before. For example, adverts in magazines or even food packaging. I think it is very interesting to think that every decision, for example, colour or typeface, was made to communicate a particular message. It is no exaggeration to say that it has changed the way in which I look at images.
The first task, to produce a Dada inspired poem, I found interesting as the brief was quite broad, allowing me to interpret it as I wanted and produce the final image in any way I decided. I cut words from various magazines and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The sentence was not coherent but it did flow and several of the words inspired some interesting images. I used Photoshop to create my final image drawing mostly from found images to visualise my cut-out sentence. The final image was visually appealing and I was pleased with it, although I found it extremely hard to keep it nonsensical rather than to try and create meaning.
The group task was challenging. As it was such a large group we found it difficult to delegate certain tasks and I would have liked to have spent longer on the initial research I regret that I was unable to attend the presentation. However, I feel that our group worked well together, breaking the group in half to research Nestle in one and McDonalds in another, and then breaking that down further to concentrate on research and the other half to work on design. Were I to do this task again I feel we would have been more organised from the beginning, using our time more efficiently.
The assignment to analyse and contextualise a visual image was very difficult, particularly trying to conform to essay conventions in terms of references and bibliography.
We were first asked to submit a draft essay of 800 words, I had done this but did not receive specific feedback as to how this could be expanded on. In future I feel that I should push for more help so that I can fulfil my potential. I introduced another similar image to contrast and compare, again looking at historical art references to see where the ideas were generated from. Although I found this task hard it was interesting to spend such a long time concentrating on one image, beginning to see aspects that I had never considered before and that the average reader would not have considered themselves.
Writing the essay has also helped me discover certain theorists and authors whose work supported the comments made in my essay. Learning the terms in relation to an actual image was much easier and during this essay I began to learn a lot more in terms of the ‘gaze’ associated with the male consumption of images of women in Western Visual culture. I have also learnt during writing the essay, how the production of meaning is related to culture and communication through codes and signs. I have also learnt how connotations need cultural knowledge to be understood and constructed.
Within this module I have learnt about semiotics, which I have discovered is the study of signs and symbols and their meanings.
The skills I have learnt during this module and whilst writing this essay are how to analyse a visual text on a formal level and through decoding. I have also learnt how to put this in a historical and cultural context. On a larger scale I have also made frequent use of the library which again has been a useful skill for all modules within the course. I have always been heavily reliant on using the internet to find information and supporting evidence but the research skills I have learnt and the wide variety of books the library contains has helped me look further to gain a more detailed analysis of images and a better understanding of semiotics.

Marrakech

I began the new year in Marrakech which was extremely inspirational. The culture is very different to ours and in terms of the War on Want project allowed me to see extreme poverty first hand. This was extremely upsetting but I feel it allows me to become more involved in the current project. Something I have learnt through researching charity advertisements is that people are far more likely to donate if they can identity with that charity and after seeing the ways in which some people are forced to live I can easily agree with this.

As well as the different ways in which people live Marrakech was also very inspirational in terms of colour and design and I definitely hope to use these influences in my work at some stage. I really liked the patterns on this lantern and bowl, however I am particularly pleased with the above photograph. I think the light works really well and the sawdust in the air highlights this.

Mud Graffiti

Below is the result of my mud graffiti, a way to ethically advertise War on Want's work. I think this worked really well, the lines are strong it conveys a clear message that links well with my poster design.