Seminar 5: Triangualtion

• What purpose does advertising serve? Does it serve a greater purpose?

• What is the content or purpose of illustration in a consumerist society?

• These texts can be used in relation to my quote, as they are essentially agreeing with what Zeegen is saying about contemporary illustration. Although I may not reference them in my final essay, I enjoyed today's task of triangulation and getting to grips with the writing I will be carrying out over the next few months. These documents were relevant to my quote so provided a good starting point to begin my essay and generating thoughts of what to look for content-wise and how to back the comments up with supporting evidence.

Lecture 4: Type Production and Distribution - Part 1

In this lecture, I learned the history of type and unpicked some of its origins. I discovered some of the factors that impact language such as culture, society, aesthetics and technology creating the alphabet as we know it today. Typography is the art, technique, composition, arrangement and appearance of printing with moveable type. It is the craft of endowing human language with a durable form. Type is what language looks like. There are many chronologies surrounding type; it doesn't just exist now. We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present. Type is a modernist obsession, before which there were only a small amount of systems at that a font could be created and look like. Microsoft Word has a whole range of fonts on offer and there is a reason why we have these set typefaces. They haven't just happened or appeared, there is an entire history of the development of these fonts and why they look like they do. Chronologies is an underlying theme of the next two lectures. They are not necessarily linear, but it is beneficial to have an informed awareness and understanding of where things came from in order to shape the way they are perceived for the future. We can start to develop, redefine, innovate and change what has come before.

For any language to exist, whether text-based, spoken or visual, there has to be an agreement between a group of people that one thing stands for another. It is not something that is individual but something that will impact a whole society or a culture. For example, if Victorian people babbled in a certain way, not understood to the masses, they would have been ostracised and placed in an asylum. The sender and receiver need to understand each other using the tools of visual language to communicate ideas.

Type is what language looks like. When we talk about type we do not mean typography as an isolated form; we mean text-based language and its visual interpretation. Type is about language. It has pace, tone and weight. Type in a contemporary setting can be read in a whole range of different ways as we are the most technologically advanced generation. Type and typography are used  interchangeably but mean different things. Typography is the mechanical process of words whether that be a print-based or screen-based delivery. It is the organisation and layout of letters. Typography is for the graphic designers. Type, however, is applicable to all creatives as it is about enhancing legibility and readability whether that is through image or moving image. Type will form a consideration in my practice.

We have physical evidence for the beginnings of written language charted and documented throughout our history. What began as a purely oral tradition began to form written words. The written word endures but the spoken word disappears, meaning that languages could have existed but we only know what has been documented. The earliest representation of language is hieroglyphics - this doesn't mean they were necessarily the first written words, but they were the first to be recorded. These were the hunter-gatherers where text-based language formed as an agricultural sector emerging through acknowledgment of commerce and trade. Receipts were needed to record transactions. People settled down, built towns, cities, cultures and societies. Later language became more descriptive. Type was speech made visible. We began with phonetics and words beginning with certain letters. Za meaning Zayan represented weapon which grew to become to letter Z in the alphabet. Derivation happened across every written language. It is complex, multidimensional and directional. The are histories and chronologies depending on location - the Occident has an entire different history of language as opposed to the Orient.

Occidental - West
Oriental - East

As societies blended, settled down and formed a language of trade and commerce Occidental alphabets formed. Writing developed from hieroglyphs to Proto-sinaitic scripts to Cuneiform, Ugaritic and the Phoenician alphabet. Pictograms were used as phonograms representing the first sounds of words moving into signs representing sounds. Descriptive images of objects and pictures moved through to more defined symbols which were understood throughout cultures and countries. The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 where multiple languages (Egyptian, Demotic and Greek) were carved and all alluded to the same thing. It was the same statement, same words and same meaning written in 3 different languages. It showed us that language had root origins through trade, travel, social and political development, wars and negotiations. The 3 major languages of the time already were conforming to a translated set of ideals and notified us of the element of translation.

In this sense, the first true alphabet was the Greek alphabet which was adapted from the Phoenician. Latin, the most widely used alphabet today, is a further development of the Greek. True alphabets consistently assign letters to both consonants and vowels positioned on an equal basis. The Phoenician Alef began as a symbol of an Ox head, developing into the Greek Alpha, Roman Ah and, eventually, letter A. We now have a strong and robust set of symbols to communicate visual language where people develop literacy and an understanding of words. It is strong and hard to break. The system is so ingrained in our language and literacy levels, socially and culturally, that we have the ability to play with this in a range of different ways. It isn't something that exists within isolation. We can develop a whole range of ways to break, remake and adjust those letter forms and still maintain a meaning.

According to research at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without a problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole.

As well as the development of the alphabet and language, the way in which the symbols looked physically was a factor in how it was communicated and distributed. This was effected by the location, the time period and the tools that were available. In Babylonian, for example, lines and triangles were pressed into clay or were chiseled into stone. The tools to make marks affected what the symbol would look like. In the Orient of Japan, China, Korea and Arabia, the production methods were different. It was entirely brush based, paper and inks were invented and thick sable brushes provided different ways of working and producing. For the early Bibles, bone nibs found in quills were used on deer skin to create letter forms as a production method which affected the quality of the line. Technological products, processes and distribution came together when Johannes Gutenberg's work on the printing press came to prominence in approximately 1436. In the West we moved away from the written word and into block type in a moveable process. Through travel, war, upheavals and developments, the process was brought forward and Gutenberg capitalised on that.

Type became a physical thing and a whole series of typefaces developed from that physical production of type. Hot metal type, letter press and wooden type affected the way type was presented and looked aesthetically. Suddenly ten pages could be produced in an instant, looking exactly the same, for mass distribution. The lineage of typefaces we now have represents 400 years worth of historical development that we have at our disposal. Modernist type and classical type can become commodities across a range of social, political and cultural contexts. Type can be categorised into different tones and voices.

Thanks to the Elementary Education Act, in 1870 by William Foster, it became mandatory to go to school and learn to read and write. Before this, reading was only available to a privileged few within the upper classes. Production methods changed, written words were changed into mass production of newspapers and books as we wanted things to read. Physical writing of words became less and less formal, becoming a hobby instead. Commerce and business came through mass production using printing presses and type writers presenting a more formal representation.

After the First World War, the role of the visual communicator changed - especially within the Bauhaus institution - where the drawing together of the arts and industrialisation began to form. There was a fundamental influence of industrialisation on design. Design became a discipline and the hand-crafted was being informed by mass production and the industrialisation of the West.

Type has a whole range of ways in which it could be distributed and communicated allowing us to be sophisticated. The principles of form follows function resonate out into our culture today. We navigate our life using words - language and the written word is the method of how we communicate with the world around us. From this point forward I need to look at not what is but what I believe type to be and explore what it can become.

First Tutorial with Jamie

I had my first tutorial with Jamie today to get some feedback on my blog, my visual journal's humble beginnings and the research I have collected for written piece. Here are the notes on my iPad that I made during our discussion:

• Alongside trying to debunk Zeegen's comments, look at the Pick Me Up print fair.

• Maybe there is a difference between print fairs and festivals. Is it about purely printmaking and not illustration?

• Finds arguments for and against to triangulate more effectively.

• What is wrong with illustration just being purely about aesthetics?

• What is illustration? In its simplest form it is communication. Children's books are pretty for decoration's sake and what is wrong with that?

• Look at things in context.

• Mention in your blog how there is so much information online on Google Books and J-Stor and how it is time-consuming to filter through and refine the search.

• Consider your 3 texts to triangulate with. Are they powerful enough? Do they communicate what you are wanting to say?

• Design thinking; a design process for illustration, about concept and ideas, ideas over process and final outcomes. 

• What is design thinking? What does it mean to be a designer? Illustrators are designers.

• What do the AOI determine to be illustration?

• What does Lawrence Zeegen himself consider to be illustration?

• Triangulate and create your own definition and draw comparisons.

Reflection

I'm feeling a little lost at the moment in regards to my COP work. Granted, I have just started to undertake the tasks and get a sense of what is required but I like to know what I am doing early on so I can make quick progress and feel like I am achieving something! What is my aim here? What am I doing in my visual journal? Why does it just feel like an extension of visual language by looking at line, shape, colour? Argh!

Seminar 4: 20 Images

 

• These are the 20 images I chose for today's seminar. I tried to focus on art with a political tone as much as possible, though struggled to find work from different illustrators. Through websites such as Pinterest, Creative Bloq, It's Nice That and Google images politically-charged illustrations from the same few illustrators kept appearing making the search more limited. Is this proving Zeegen's quote?

• What initial questions do I want to explore in my essay...Is illustration dead? What does it stand for anymore? What is design thinking? (A design process for illustration about concept and ideas, process over ideas?) What does it mean to be a designer? (Illustrators are designers too?) What do the AOI determine to be illustration? What does Lawrence Zeegen himself define as illustration? What does Varoom consider to be illustration and what is their opinion of style and content?

• I came across these quotes, from AZ Quotes, during my image search regarding form and function. These may be useful for the development of my essay as starting reference points. They don't necessarily agree with Zeegen's remark on how function now follows form in recent illustration and this can create a more interesting argument.

• Going forward I now need to select 3 of the most successful illustrative examples that either prove or disprove Zeegen's point of illustration being 'done'. I want to be able to compare and contrast and go back and forth; so do not want to be in favour of only one side. This will make a stronger essay in order to draw my own conclusions.

Seminar 3: Finding Research Sources

BA (Hons) Illustration • Context of Practice 1

CoP Theme: Politics

Search Terms / Keywords: Quantity, quality, design doing, design thinking, illustration, style, content, function, form

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LCA Library

1. Zeegen, L. (2009). What is illustration? Brighton: RotoVision.
This title sets out to explain the underlying principles of illustration, as a means of visual expression, as a highly competitive industry and as a contemporary, innovative practice. What is illustration? is a must-have guide for practitioners and students, as well as graphic designers and other media professionals who require an understanding of the issues and principals surrounding contemporary illustration. It explores the discipline's history and its relationship with art, design and photography; it investigates how illustrated images are read and understood and how personal visual languages are created by today's illustrators and image-makers. This book also investigates many different contexts for illustration and the range of career opportunities that are open to today's illustrators.

2. Marks, T. (2009). Good design: deconstructing form and function and what makes good design work. Beverly, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers.

The author polls several designers of different age groups and phases in their careers about what they consider good design to be. Each has selected an existing design piece they feel to be good, based on their personal definition of what good is. The author also takes a critical look at the design to determine if it is effective with its target market and interviews the designer of the piece to unlock the concept behind the design. By taking this backwards approach through design from the completed piece back to the conception, readers will discover why the design works and how they can use this information in their own projects.

3. Ambrose, G. and Harris, P. (2009) Basics Design: Design Thinking. Switzerland: AVA Publishing.

Basics Design: Design thinking is an introduction to the process of generating creative ideas and concepts used by designers in order to start the process that leads to a finished piece of work. This focus on ideas and methods favours a useable approach to design as a problem-solving activity. This is supported by practical work examples and case studies from leading contemporary design studios, accompanied by concise descriptions, technical expansions and diagrammed visualisations. Design: Design Thinking teaches the generation of ideas as a practical skill, vital to the creation of successful design.

4. Varoom: The Illustration Report. (2014). Style Issue 26. London: Association of Illustrators.
The 'Style' issues endeavours to answer the unanswered questions resolving around style, delving deep into its depths and challenging the definition of style - from typography to fashion, the preconceived ideas to the actualities, the creators to the observers. Varoom gets under the skin of 'style', from Creative Review Art Director, Paul Pensom's examination of The Ephemera of Style - the disappearing flotsam and jetsam of analogue culture such as trading cards and cereal box toys, to the work of French street artist Horfee who is described as an artist who, "takes the expected norms of graffiti style and metaphorically proceeds to shred them through a mechanical mince-grinder to produce something more organic and unexpected."

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Google Books (Preview)

1. Rowe, P. G. (1991). Design Thinking. Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
In Design Thinking, Peter Rowe provides a systematic account of the process of designing in architecture and urban planning. He examines multiple and, often, dissimilar theoretical positions whether they prescribe forms or simply provide procedures for solving problems - as particular manifestations of an underlying structure of inquiry common to all designing. Over 100 illustrations and a number of detailed observations of designers in action support Rowe's thesis.

2. Cross, N. (2011) Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work. New York: Berg.
This book offers new insights and understanding of design thinking, based on evidence from observation and investigation of design practice. Design Thinking is the distillation of the work of one of Design's most influential thinkers. 

3. Ambrose, G. (2nd edn. 2015) Design Thinking for Visual Communication. London: Bloomsbury.
Design Thinking for Visual Communication identifies methods and thought processes used by designers in order to start the process that eventually leads to a finished piece work. Step-by-step guidance for each part of the process is highlighted by real-life case studies, enabling the student to see teaching in practice. This focus on ideas and methods eschews an abstract, academic approach in favour of a useable approach to design a as a problem-solving activity. This editions uses contributions from a broader international range of design practices and adds depth to existing case studies by looking in greater detail at some of the processes used.

4. Jevons, W. S. (1864). Pure Logic or the Logic of Quality Apart from Quantity. London: E Stanford.
"It is the purpose of this work to show that Logic assumes a new degree of simplicity, precision, generality, and power, when comparison in quality is treated apart from any reference to quantity."

5. Male, A. (2007) Illustration: A Theoretical and Contextual Perspective. Switzerland: AVA Publishing.
"Contemporary generations are also greatly influenced by illustration and because of the medium of print, moving images and more recently the digital revolution, accessibility is everywhere."

6. Dawber, M. (2009). Big Book of Contemporary Illustration.
This is an essential sourcebook for any creative professional or student and all those who appreciate the art of illustration. It covers the broadest range of illustration today from digital drawing, pixelated pictures, Photoshop fantasies to the traditional techniques of sketching and painting from over 160 international artists. With close to 1,000 illustrations, the categories cover range from the technical, architectural through nature, people to fantasy, fashion and pop culture.

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Google Scholar

1. Dorst, K. (2011) Design Studies, the Core of Design Thinking and its Application
In the last few years, “Design Thinking” has gained popularity – it is now seen as an exciting new paradigm for dealing with problems in sectors as far a field as IT, Business, Education and Medicine. This potential success challenges the design research community to provide unambiguous answers to two key questions: “What is the core of Design Thinking?” and “What could it bring to practitioners and organisations in other fields?”. We sketch a partial answer by considering the fundamental reasoning pattern behind design, and then looking at the core design practices of framing and frame creation. The paper ends with an exploration of the way in which these core design practices can be adopted for organisational problem solving and innovation.

2. Simonton, D. K. (2000) Creativity: Cognitive, Personal, Developmental and Social Aspects.
Research has taken place on 4 fronts: the cognitive processes involved in the creative act, the distinctive characteristics of the creative person, the development and manifestation of creativity across the individual's life span, and the social environments most strongly associated with creative activity. Although some important questions remain unanswered, psychologists now know more than ever before about how individuals achieve this special and significant form of optimal human functioning.

3. Brown, T. (2009). Change by Design. New York: HarperBusiness.
Tim Brown's understated, exciting take on innovation draws its inspiration from design: he calls the process "design thinking." Brown in a CEO and president of IDEO, an influential US design and innovation firm. This book conveys that innovation is the norm at IDEO. 

4. Ranciere, J. (2013) The Politics of Aesthetics.
The Politics of Aesthetics rethinks the relationship between art and politics, reclaiming "aesthetics" from the narrow confines it is often reduced to. Jacques Ranciere reveals its intrinsic link to politics by analysing what they both have in common: the delimitation of of the visible and the invisible, the audible and the inaudible, the thinkable and the unthinkable, the possible and the impossible.

5. Deutsche, R. (1996). Evictions: Art and Spatial Politics.
Collection of Essays that explore connections among contemporary art space and political struggles.

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Websites

1. https://www.creativereview.co.uk/where-is-the-content-where-is-the-comment/
The original article from where Zeegen's quote was selected; reading the article in it's entirety will provide context and enable me to better understand the point Zeegen is trying to make, as well as the work he was originally criticising as a result.

2. http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/opinion-lawrence-zeegen-pick-me-up
3. http://theartedge.faso.com/blog/63519/a-few-thoughts-on-quantity-vs-quality-within-the-context-of-art-making
4. http://www.illustratorsillustrated.com/evaluating-illustration-aesthetically/
5. https://joshmurr.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/what-is-the-state-of-illustration-today-as-compared-to-other-practices-and-what-does-this-spell-for-its-future/
6. Isn't it time the world of illustration had a bit of a kick up the arse?
7. http://www.creativebloq.com/illustration/kick-arse-11513958

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JStor

1. Razzouk, R. and Shute, V. (2012). What is Design Thinking and Why is it Important?
2. Kazmierczak, E. T. (2003). Design as Meaning Making: From Making Things to the Design of Thinking. The MIT Press.
3. Yanow, D. (2010). Form Follows Function?
4. Sudjic, D. (2006) Form and Function. Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. 
5. Oakley, T. (1919). Illustration. The American Magazine of Art. The Frick Collection.
6. Fisher, J. (2016). Designing out Way to a Better World. University of Minnesota Press.
7. Goldschmidt, G. (2014). Linkography: Unfolding the Design Process. The MIT Press.
8. Antonelli, P. and Martin, R. (2013). Rotman on Design: The Best on Design Thinking from Rotman Magazine. University of Toronto Press.
9. Whitbeck, C. (1996). Ethics as Design: Doing Justice to Moral Problems. The Hastings Centre.

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Reflection

While I found it easier to access websites and the library for research sources, rather than Google scholar and Jstor that I had never used before, I still found it rather difficult to filter through all of the information to ensure it was relevant to my original quote and can be related back to it somehow. Google brought up far too many results, a lot of which were not what I was looking for, so completing this sheet was a lengthy process and took over a week to complete! I'm happy that I have accomplished more than 3 results for each research type as, at first, I didn't think I would be able to manage it! I'm hoping that having quite a longer list of sources will help support me better when it comes to writing my 1,000 word essays.

Lecture 3: 2,000 Year History of the Image

In today's lecture, I looked at the 2,000 year non-linear history of the image; visual communication that has spanned eras, cultures, contexts and epochs. The Paleolithic cave paintings found in Lascaux, France, were a great starting point to the topic as these are some of the oldest images in Europe at approximately 17,300 years old. They feature mostly animals and, while their context is largely unknown, it is believed that they were methods of communication between our early ancestors and a higher, mystical power - engaging and communicating in a spectral way, very different than before. People knew that they couldn't exist forever, but their paintings and visual messages could.

In more contemporary and conceptual pieces, using Cy Twombley, Richard Long and Mark Rothko as primary examples, they have tried to emulate a similar technique and approach - incorporating primal, spiritual and energetic applications to their canvases evoking meaning and magic just as in the past. There's a continuity and similarity between Paleolithic and Aboriginal paintings and the Western conceptual movement; showing that events are not always linear and far more tangental and complex. Image-making and visual communication connects us all. Long's Red Circle was highly controversial and accused of culturally appropriating and imperialising a culture that is not his own. Rothko's work is similar to staring into an abyss, the void of humanity. The Abstract Impressionism movement were trying to tap into the divine being within us. He mixes his dyes and paints with wax deliberately so that there is no reflection; allowing the audience to stare without distraction. A spiritual, emotional and powerful experience. Pollock had the same idea in the '50s and '60s when creating his drip paintings in a shamanistic fashion, whilst listening to Jazz music. "The soul just vomited out onto the canvas", as lecturer Richard puts it rather eloquently!

Is there something within visual communication that evokes a raw emotion? Or is it institutional framing and the authority of art that manipulates us into feeling this way? There is an air of importance when something is displayed in a gallery environment, far more than it should, so are we expected to feel a certain way when looking at the pieces? There are similarities in a church or religious building, you go to them rather than them coming to you, akin to a pilgrimage at the alter and honour of culture. There are questions around institutions and the power they have on us.

In a similar way, is Da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' truly the greatest painting ever or do we just think it is because of its monetary value and the price that our society has given it? It is only valuable because the majority of people know what the painting is and what it looks like - giving it power, importance and status? The Louvre, where the painting is displayed, used to be a palace before it was turned into a gallery - does the setting influence its status? The Mona Lisa is protected by bulletproof glass and it is easily the main attraction; always full of tourists taking photographs of it, rather than standing and appreciating the art itself, giving undertones of a religious experience in itself. Do people have a meaningful relationship with visual communication or is it institutionally led? Does having a gift shop, where the Mona List can be purchased on a t-shirt or a china serving set, add to the experience or cheapen it through consumerism - capitalising culture and degrading authority? Does the reproduction of an image increase its accessibility to a wider audience?

Knowledge is power in modern society. The rise of technological advancement and a digital age provided evolution for print and and photography, causing the original images / paintings to degrade somewhat. It manipulates the original message that was communicated during the creation. Money, authority and culture has a strong relationship. Authority creates the taste-makers.

Images as a political weapon: The image of Che Guevara is one of rebellion and revolution, but the original has been manipulated, re-appropriated and recycled so much that it has nearly lost it's meaning. It has now become part of pop culture, found on tapestries and posters - even photoshopped memes, rather than the genuine intent of representing socialism and Cuba. Similarly, Shepard Fairey's Hope campaign poster symbolised an era of change and revolution for modern America, did he influence Obama's win because of such a clever visual campaign that people connected with? It was anti-climatic as Obama continued with the American agenda of bombing the middle-east. Fairey manipulated his original image, this time with the Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta, to symbolise a new revolution away from politicians.

Peace for Paris became an image unifying the public across social media sites after the attacks in November 2015. The symbol for peace was merged with the Eiffel Tower to create an instantly recognisable and powerful image of solidarity across the globe for the victims. The Enso circle is hand-drawn, made of one or two brush strokes, to express a moment when the mind and body are free to create. It symbolises absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe and the void.

Reflection

I found today's lecture highly fascinating, especially concerning the power that an image can have on the world - whether that be political, societal, historical, technological, etc. One strong and powerful image has the ability to change the thoughts and feelings of entire nations of people. Especially in this digital age that I am lucky enough to be alive during, there is a whole robust platform to reach an audience of people that was not possible in the past until large-scale print production, mass-media, pop culture and technological advances.

OUIL401: Module Information

As this module is going to be much more of a challenge for me, as opposed to more practical-driven modules such as Visual Skills and Visual Language - which rely on sketchbook development and artist research, I want to ensure I have a clear understanding of what my aims are, what the learning outcomes are and what the work is that I will be undertaking over the course of the year.

Module Aims

• To introduce appropriate methods of academic research, theoretical analysis and critique of image, object, process and text in order to contextualise art, design and media.

• To develop effective approaches to the writing, recording, documentation and communication of student responses to the context of their practice.

• To introduce and establish the integrated relationship between the theoretical, contextual and practical aspects of creative practices.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate an awareness of the aesthetic, cultural, historical, technological, social, political or other contexts relevant to individual subject disciplines.

• Demonstrate an awareness of the relationship between the theoretical and practical contexts of their own subject discipline.

• Evidence the ability to analyse and evaluate ideas from a range of primary and secondary sources.

• Evidence the capacity for undertaking practical and theoretical research that demonstrates an awareness of critical, effective and testable processes.

• Communicate individual opinions in written, visual, oral and other appropriate forms.

Module Briefs

• Build on and apply contextual knowledge and skills in critical writing

• Using practice as a method of research

• Variety of practical and theoretical research methods to explore a specific contextual theme through investigation and resolution of an issue

• Support through, lectures, seminars, tutorials and crits

• Three deliverables to the brief which demonstrate a synthesised ability to research, critique and examine an issue theoretically and practically.

COP Blog: Use this to document lectures, seminars, set tasks and independent research activities. Use the blog to document and evidence engagement with and understanding of contextual, theoretical and critical concepts and ideas. The blog should include: lecture notes, records of activities undertaken in seminars, collection of writing tasks in response to set tasks and activities. Provide notes of self-initiated trips, gallery visits and research activities relevant to the development of your understanding of contemporary illustration.

3 x 1,000 words of critical writing: 3 one-thousand word essays of critical writing and a body of visual research in response to one of the set module themes. Writing should show that you unstained the nature of academic writing and the importance of critical and analytical approaches to your subject discipline.

Theory into practice: Demonstrate that you can investigate and understand your chosen topic visually. Show that you understand the value of research for a creative practitioner. Your visual research can make use of any process or technique related to illustration

Reflection

After going through the aims, the learning outcomes and the deliverable pieces at the end of the module - I now feel I have a much clearer understanding of the work I will be undertaking that will be underpinning my contextual and theoretical development this year. I'm excited to get started - especially in the visual journal to make sense of the theories I come across - and learn new vocabulary, ways of writing, critiquing, analysing imagery and sharing my work with my peers and seeing what they do with this module as well. Onwards!

Seminar 2: New Quote

Despite having chosen a quote with my peers for the session today, I want to select a new quote in order to focus my COP studies on as the previous quote does not interest me so much now that I have analysed it thoroughly. Instead, I am rather passionate about Lawrence Zeegen's quote and the accompanying article posted on Creative Review:

"Where is the content? Where in the comment? It's all about materials, rather than the message. It's all about quantity, rather than quality. It's all about design doing rather than design thinking. It's all style over content, function following form. Illustration has withdrawn from the big debates of our society to focus on the chit-chat and tittle-tattle of inner-sanctum nothingness."
Zeegen, Lawrence. (2012) Where is the content? Where is the comment? Creative Review [Online]

• What do you think is being communicated by the quote?
Zeegen is stating that contemporary illustration is now purely decorative rather than thought-provoking - style, media, materials and making art for the sake of it to build up one's website, social media and / or portfolio have replaced illustrations with something to say, elements or themes that make you stop and think, question the world and how it works.

• How does it fit with the overall theme?
In terms of the theme of politics, Zeegen is stating that illustration no longer incorporates political undertones, or questions the government and society we live in. Images are made to be aesthetically pleasing, look pretty and disconnect from the world we live in. He also alludes to the politics of illustration itself and how contemporary illustrators do not use their platform and opportunities to be seen and heard. In the article, Zeegen states a few examples of this. The first is a David Shrigley illustration of a clenched fist emblazoned with "Fight the Nothingness" above it, billboard-sized and hanging from the Hayward Gallery, which Zeegen believes to be fighting nothing itself and having nothing to say. Another example he gives is an exhibition of graphic art, which doesn't push the envelope with the display work within. The final example is of an olympic artwork opportunity that was given to Fine Artists rather than Illustrators, which Illustrators accepted with silence rather than critique.

"Big protest noises from graphic design, yet defining silence from graphic artists and illustrators. A prime example of a discipline so entrenched in navel-gazing and self-authorship that as another glossy new tome of back-to-back, jam-packed illustration arrives hot-off-the-press to take pride of place on the coffee table, it is clear the discipline is unable to peer over the fence at a world outside it's own garden."

• What are the key terms within the quote that can be investigated?
Content, comment, materials, message, quantity, quality, design doing, design thinking, style, function, form, big debates, society, inner-sanctum nothingness

• Define those key terms using research - linking to potential examples.

• Content: The things that are held or included in something. Information made available.

• Comment: A verbal or written remark expressing an opinion or action.

• Materials: The matter from which a thing is or can be made.

• Message: A verbal, written or recorded communication sent to or left for a recipient who cannot be contacted directly. A significant political, social or moral point that is being conveyed by a film, speech, etc.

• Quality: The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something. A distinctive attribute or characteristic.

• Quantity: The amount or number of a material or abstract thing not usually estimated by spatial measurement.

• Design Doing: Making something, being physically creative. Taking action.

• Design Thinking: Design-specific cognitive activities that designers apply during the process of designing.

• Style: A particular procedure by which something is done; a manner or way. A distinctive appearance, typically determined by the principles according to which something is designed.

• Function: An activity that is natural to or the purpose of a person or thing. Work or operate in a proper or particular way.

• Form: The visible shape or configure of something. A particular way in which something appears or exists.

• Illustration: A decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process.

• Debates: A formal discussion on a particular matter in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward. Argue about a subject in a formal manner.

• Society: The aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community.

• Inner-sanctum: The most sacred place in a temple or church.

• Nothingness: The absence or cessation of life or existence. Worthlessness or insignificance.

• Locate two images that you think could relate to that quote:

• How do they exemplify the argument within the quote:
I selected two images that I felt followed the terms of 'form over function', as stated in Zeegen's quote. These products are entirely unfit for purpose, as a table or a fork, but fulfil the quota of having a design flair and an interest visual form. They were clearly created for aesthetic purposes, one-off creations to make a comment on society, politics, history, aesthetics, technology, perhaps, in a postmodern landscape - as opposed to modernist ideals of mass-production, streamlined efficiency and functionality being superior to form.

• Is there a counter argument?
I haven't managed to find one yet (just my own research for a counter argument), but I have found a supporting article on ItsNiceThat which agrees wholeheartedly with Zeegen's quote. I can use this when I develop some triangulation within my texts. It could be said that this quote is commenting on aesthetics and personal taste, trends in illustration and the politics within the creative industries, which is something to consider when drafting my written pieces.

Seminar 2: Critical Analysis

In today's seminar session I looked at analysing quotes and collecting references; understanding the context of specific quotes and how they can be interpreted and explored. The quote my group and I looked at was the following:

'Once upon a time there was pure art and applied art (I prefer to use these terms, rather than 'fine' and 'commercial', because 'commercial art' does not cover enough ground). At all events, forms were born in secret in ivory towers and fathered by divine inspiration, and Artists showed them only to initiates and only in the shape of paintings and pieces of sculpture: for these were the only channels of communication open to the old forms of art.'
Funari, Bruno. (1966). Design as Art. Rome: Editori Laterza

• What do you think is being communicated by the quote?

In this quote there seems to be slight contempt towards how, historically, fine art was out of reach to the everyman in society and images and ideas were displayed and 'born in secret' amongst those were were self-initiated or appointed; but otherwise wealthy. Works were unveiled in estates and mansions and had a 'gentleman's club' inner circle who were only allowed to view them.He describes this hierarchy as secluded 'in ivory towers' and with only a limiting range of what art could be / was considered at the time. Who considered only sculpture and paintings to be the only channels of communication? Did this simply reflect the taste of the rich and powerful? Divine Intervention conveys imagery of miracles, deities and religion. Why were artworks mostly religious figures? Is Munari critiquing the restricting themes of what was considered to be the subjects within fine art works - religious icons, rich and powerful aristocracy, prostitutes used as life models but ultimately disguised as heavenly figures, landscapes?

I am led to believe, by reading the rest of the chapter that this quote has context within (Design As Art, Chapter: Pure and Applied, pages 34 - 36) that Munari has issues with things that are just purely aesthetic without function and considered factors. He makes comments on Modernity and Industrialism, mass-producing objects that are no longer hand-crafted. He describes aesthetic perfection, carefully chosen materials, and balance of space and massive as 'old-fashioned claptrap'. He favours function over form, substance over style and judges objects on their ability to fulfil their intended purpose rather than look pretty. "Every age has had its ideal Venus (or Apollo), and all these Venuses or Apollos put together and compared out of the context of their periods are nothing less than a family of monsters."

• How does it fit with the overall theme?

Within the context of aesthetics, this quote is concerned with the society and politics surrounding classical art and the limiting means of . Artworks were created purely to be aesthetically stimulating, rather than politically or ethically driven, but who decided that these pieces of portraiture and sculpture were the epitome of perfection? The taste of the rich elite drove what was considered, shunning any opinion or commentary from the everyman; a farm-worker or labourer. Commercial art is for the masses, and is mass-produced, whereas the fine art of older times was simply housed in rich people's homes for their circle to admire. These elements of taste, because of where the work was displayed, has trickled down and still influences today on which art we define as pure art / fine art. We have to consider the value that is put on these things - the classifications and interpretations of art between people and where illustration may fit into that.

•  What are the key terms within the quote that can be investigated?

Pure art, applied art, fine art, commercial art, initiates, paintings, sculpture, old forms.

• Define those key terms using research - linking to potential examples.

• Pure Art: We can apply Pure Art to paintings, carving, music, speaking languages. One of the elements of Pure Art is 'Purity' - Purity means unique, clear, no other elements in the concerned set of elements. It seems easy to understand, we always want a single and attractive element that no other can hinder our incentive to pursue. (Source: http://www.artlau.com/pure_arts.htm)

• Applied Art: The applied arts are the application of design and decoration to everyday objects to make them aesthetically pleasing. The term is applied in distinction to the fine arts which aims to produce objects which are beautiful and / or provide intellectual stimulation. In practice, the two often overlap. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_arts)

• Fine Art: A visual art considered to have been created primarily for aesthetic and intellectual purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness, specifically painting, sculpture, drawing, watercolour, graphics, and architecture." (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_art)

• Commercial Art: Often called advertising art, is used to sell goods and services. It is different from fine art, which exists for its own sake. Commercial artists design advertisements, logos, billboards, brochures, book covers, product packaging and other similar artwork. Their work is often used to sell, promote, explain, narrate and inform. They are often employed by advertising agencies, newspapers, magazines, graphic design firms, television studios and similar businesses. (Source: http://study.com/commercial_art.html)

• Initiates: Admit (someone) into a secret or obscure society or group, typically with a ritual. (Source: Google Define)

• Paintings: The action or skill of using paint, either in a picture or as decoration. (Source: Google Define)

• Sculpture: The branch of visual art that operates in three dimensions, representative or abstract forms, specifically by carving stone or wood or by casting metal or plaster. (Source: Google Define)

• Channels of Communication: Refer to a medium through which a message is transmitted to its intended audience, such as print media or broadcast (electronic) media. There are many more communication channels today than there were 50 years ago where print, TV and radio were the main vehicles. (Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/communication-channel.html)

• Old Forms: Configurations or structure of art from a long time ago.

• Locate two images that you think could relate to that quote.

• How do they exemplify the argument within the quote?

I have selected two images in relation to Munari's quote; a portrait of Field Marshall George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend - known as The Viscount Townshend - a British politician and soldier and, in contrast, a well-known advertising campaign from Apple Inc. to sell the iPod.

They are both images of people that were created to live within different contexts, in different time-periods and to specific audiences. The first was created purely as a portrait to be housed in Townshend's home, clearly a man of wealth and status, whose audience would be himself, his family and his elite circle. The population of the time would have had no access to view this painting. However, the artwork by Apple was created to advertise, sell and promote a piece of technology which reached a wider mass audience and available to view by everybody - with a much simpler aesthetic to the first painting and giving the impression of simplicity, fun, flair and adaptability that the first image does not contain. It also represents a rime in which there are far more than just two main channels of communication and Apple took advantage of many of these in order to sell its product.

The sparks the question of who decides which is fine art and which is not? Is commercial art thought-provoking or does it just have to be aesthetically pleasing to sell? How can we challenge the influential and wealthy of today to consider thought-provoking illustration as a form of high art. Can we move away from commercialisation? Question of ownership and what elements align with the aims and messages of the rich and powerful.

Lecture 2: Visual Literacy

As an illustrator, it is my job to communicate; communicate ideas, enhance a message or meaning and persuade people. That is the core of my practice and I have to be interested in words, language, message and meaning. In order to be successful, I must be effective at communicating and ensure that is works coherently to a range of audiences. A wide range of viewers will receive and host my work and this is a factor I must consider when producing work.

Visual communication as a concept in its' three basic forms include type, image and motion. Visual communication as a core term is the sending and receiving of images. It is a process of being aware whether a visual message is clear enough to send - but also ensuring that the audience receives it, too. A shared understanding, in a sense. An audience is driven in terms of my illustrative discipline so the distribution has to be effective enough. We are a visually literate generation, the first to have such a grand platform, and visual culture is on a global scale through press, the internet and social media. It is bigger than ever before and we consume and interpret visual images daily without realising.

Visual literacy is the ability to construct the meaning from visual images and type - from the past and present as well as other cultures - to interpret, negotiate and construct meaning from information presented in the form of an image. It is something we do automatically through a cognitive process of colour, culture. historical, technological and social symbols we have learned through life. When manipulated, it can be a robust language that we can work with creatively. When the complex visual system of interpreting signs and symbols can be deconstructed, we can control it and allow communication to be more sophisticated.

Cultural connotations are ingrained within us as we grow. We are sometimes given things from bygone eras that we have to adapt. Visual language, signs and symbols are not static and they are something that moves, changes and shifts as well as being affected by culture, society and the say-to-day things we experience. Like any other language it continually develops and we must develop along with it. Pictures can be read. Our level of literacy has a visual equivalent. Before the written word there was the picture; paintings on cave walls, Egyptian hieroglyphics, to name a few. I need to identify how I can use this vocabulary to communicate successfully. For any language to exist there needs to be an agreement amongst a group of people that one element can mean another / can stand for another - knowing that one thing that is highlighted can mean something else. To simplify, there is a whole different range of ways that we can interpret and work with principles. Some of these symbols have a history, reiteration and representation and use within visual culture is something that feeds into our own visual literacy. Different time periods, countries and cultures will affect the meaning of the sign or symbol.

Being visually literate requires the relationship between two elements - visual syntax and visual semantics. Syntax refers to structure, organisation, the components we use to create an image. We use these to effect, enhance and communicate - the building blocks to improve upon, such as shape, texture and colour. Semantics convey how the image fits within the context. This can be geographical. It has nothing to do with the building blocks of an image, or the elements, but the context - the cultural and the societal - and the relationship between the two is how we control visual communication. Semiotics is a complex subject, referring to the study of signs and sign processes; what they mean, the association with them, the symbolism. The core study of how literacy and visual literacy works. The apple logo, for example, is the sign for the company (identity). The signifier means the aspects and associations that we interpret from the image; for Apple we associate things such as quality, innovation, lifestyle, creativity and design (brand).

A visual synecdoche is part of something that represents the whole. For example, the Statue of Liberty has become the symbol of New York as it is part of that geography and carries the meaning of the entire city. However, it only works when the image is universally recognised - if you had never seen Lady Liberty before, you would not make that connection. A visual metonymy is a symbolic image that is used visually to make reference to something with a more literal meaning - an associated part of what we know already. Continuing with the New York example, a yellow taxi is now physically a part of NY as they are everywhere - but we make that connection when the image is within context. Work the metaphor, work on what it stands for and take those meanings to apply to the work I am doing.

Reflections and Thoughts

Even though I am very familiar with semiotics, largely due to my Access to HE Contextual Studies lectures last year where we explored them in detail in regards to advertising, it was still fascinating to delve into visual literacy and make sense of the things I process daily, with my limited vision, without considering the meaning behind the signs and symbols I 'read'. It was beneficial to note how minor changes, such as extended lines or a change in colour, can mean the image suddenly reads differently and presents new connotations and meanings. This is something I will certainly consider when creating my illustrations going forward.