This week we had a session on concepts which was really enjoyable. After this workshop I feel I have a new outlook on what a concept is and how it can be developed further and deeper.
I followed Loraine's advice and had a conversation with myself on paper about the brief and different avenues I could go down. I am treating the first year as my foundation degree, I feel so much more confident in my approach to a brief, I can solve many problems by myself and come up with ideas and develop them independently. With that in mind I want to create something very different for my information pack. I love editorial and publishing so it is very tempting to design a book which is perfectly bound and professionally designed. I want to try and stray away from my normal way of working and try something different, this could fall through as I do not have a lot of time to try out all of the processes which I would like to but I am certainly going to give it my best shot.
This is my conversation with myself on paper. When Loraine first recommended this I thought it wouldn't work but I stand corrected. Writing all of my ideas down in one mind map helped me to separate my ideas and look more into ones which work and lend themselves to the specific project. I love information graphics and would very much like to use them within this brief, almost all of my ideas lead to some form of information graphics whether it be facts or instructions.
My first thought when I got this brief was to design a series of books or magazines (collectable), with this in mind I have many options when it comes to design and also other features I could attach/include with each. One idea I have is to laser cut a piece of MDF into specific shapes so that, when assembled, it makes a model of the first ever letterpress machine. This idea stemmed from one of my favourite blogs Graphic Exchange.
I want to engage with my target audience, who are students/people who have not yet been introduced to print and the processes. I want to make it very clear with the tone of voice that the pack has been made by a student who is still progressing and learning about new processes and putting them to practice. I know that when I was first introduced to the machinery and equipment needed to print or specifically letterpress I was very intimidated by it all. I want to create a make your own model letterpress machine so that when it comes time for the students to print they will know a few things about the machine and how to use it. I do not want to produce something which students will read and think they do not need to attend sessions taught by professionals because they already know and I will make that clear.
I found this example of my idea on Graphic Exchange and it set the idea in my head, I know it is something I really want to do now. I want to make my model as simple as possible to make which will require me making several prototypes and experimenting with information graphics and instructions. This in itself will be very time consuming but I hope very rewarding. The plan is to laser cut the shapes out of MDF. I would like to make the design pop out of the MDF but as I am new to laser cut I will have to see how things work and how much time it would take to produce.
I had another brainstorm about my idea and came up with a few ideas which I could go with. Some of my ideas will require time I do not have but would be great to propose in a crit.
Further research into different ways I could make my pack more interactive lead me to find this puzzle kit make by Mirim Seo. She has used a laser cutter to separate different animal shapes out of one piece of wood. She has cleverly done this to illustrate the food chain.
This could be another way for me to include the build your own press concept. I have thought about maybe creating a jigsaw-esk idea and this is very similar to my idea. I will have to talk to workshop leaders to find out which idea will work better and what will look more professional in the time scale I have been given.
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