Context of Practice Ideas, Outcomes, Synthesis and Evaluation

After choosing my essay topic, I started to think about my practical work as I feel that the practical aspect of cop was my downfall last year. I knew that I wanted to create resources that could be used with patients, so I started to mock up some simple flashcards. Flash cards seem to be the most common resource in speech and language therapy so felt like a good and easy place to start.

Following Aphaisa Accessibility guidelines I created a set of numerical flash cards and mocked up the cover of a leaflet for help at home, considering people with aphasia and perhaps someone who may suffer from dyslexia.

I considered typeface, type size and the size of the cards in my production.

I chose Helvetica and it is a sans serif typeface and is legible at large and small type sizes due to the many iterations of line weight.

I considered the idea of making it into a help pack, taking inspiration from a company called Talking Mats who package their content into 'packs' and you buy each pack individually.

Because of that, I decided to do a really quick brand idea, as aphasia is all about relearning how to read, write, and even talk I decided that calling the brand 'relearn' was simple and self-explanatory.

In order to illustrate the medical/health context of the brand, I put a cross at the end of the word, as it is a universal symbol known for hospital or health.

As symbols facilitate comprehension and understanding of words for people with aphasia it was a nice addition to the logo.

As for colours I wanted something that could be present across all materials but not interfere with any designs, for this reason, I made the logo a pale blue and pale yellow. The two colours have enough substance to be noticeable but it will not detract from any of the other designs.

From my research, I determined that I wanted to go with a more post-modern approach, in the sense that the designs didn't follow any regimented layout, specific type size or colour scheme. This was to emphasise what role graphic design can have within this industry, to take what exists and change it, try and improve it and come up with something different. It also allows designers to take the strain off therapists and do the designing and creating for them. LGI SLT department prides themselves in being quite forward thinking department and if anything that encourages me to try something different that they can test out.

Outcomes

I was really pleased with my outcomes.

I had 3 a4 cards

1. various coloured rectangles

aim; receive verbal instruction such as point to a light blue rectangle or point to a light blue and yellow rectangle.

Context: straying from primary colours and standard layout and figure out what effect this has on comprehension.

is it more difficult or can it not be understood at all? what cause that effect? colour or layout?

2. various shapes in different sizes in various colours

aim same as 1

3, number flash cards that use size and colour to depict progression rather than layout.

these cards each contain 3 numbers, the number in question is the biggest and darkest using the other numbers on the same card is to be used as a prompt in order to help remember the other numbers, but in order to depict order, I have used colour and size.

again, I want to know if this can be comprehended, if not why not, what needs to be changed what effect does this have.

4.

Visual Investigation Evaluation

    

A lot of my research had already been conducted whilst researching my essay, i had searched for graphic approaches to graphic design and examples of sustainable produces graphic design that wasn't packaging. I found it really heard to find something that inspired and influenced me so i decided to think about it in a different way.

My brief was to find a way to educate people about the problem at hand rather create a poster illustrating waste or something along those lines.

Throughout this task and and the essay task, I found it difficult to find examples of sustainable design or practice other than packaging designs. I looked at a number of sustainable produced packaging designs just to get an idea of typefaces, colours and materials used to implement into my own design.

Through my contextual research, i was able to identify the biggest problem as people embracing sustainable practice

This means my aims for this project are:

Where possible re-use materials, or get materials from sustainable sources, and materials that can be recycled.

Where possible stick to analogue processes.

Try and maximize the materials and create as little waste as possible.

Target audience

For this project, my target audience is mainly designers. I would ideally like to create something i can distribute within college so my target audience will be students and staff. Although the focus will be on aiming to reduce waste from design processes, getting the message out to more people will only be beneficial to the cause.
This is the stage i found most difficult. I knew i didn't want to create packaging or info graphics so i became a little stuck. However, after contemplating the visual research i had done, i found that the recycling stamp could be found on every design. This is what gave me the idea to think of stamps.
Having settled on an idea I had more of an understanding about what materials i would need. I wanted to make four stamps and two signs, and i wanted to make them all out of paper. For the signs it would be incredibly easy, i would be able to reuse scrap paper found across the college or abandoned at printers and use that to print the message on. As for the stamp that was going to take a little more though. My initial plan is to reuse scrap materials. Use cardboard for the base of the stamp and then layer on scrap paper, after this is done, cut out the message in the paper so that the message is left standing away from the cardboard base, allowing just the letters to be printed
I tried 3 different methods and combinations of paper and cardboard. However the paper was unable to hold its form to create precise letter forms and it was incredibly hard to cut out the letters on this much of a small scale
I would aim to produce the stamps purely out of scrap and reuse and re purpose materials, this would allow me to compromise on the analogue method of cutting out the letters and use the laser cutter. Using the laser cutter as the added bonus of precision, which analogue methods don’t always have.

Idea Generation.

Material considerations:

Prototypes

Production

All of the info graphics i could find seemed incredibly cluttered and it was difficult to gather any substantial information at a quick glance.

because of this i have identified that i would like my designs to be simple. communicating thier message quickly.

Studio brief 2 - The brief

Studio brief 2 

The brief

The brief for studio brief 2 was to create a piece of visual graphic design that was underpinned by the research conducted in  studio brief 1

In studio brief one, I looked at the issue of environmentalism and sustainable design, which arguable can encompass themes o politics, society, culture and aesthetics.

From the research I had conducted in studio brief 1 I had concluded that the environmental crisis effects designers and that sustainable practice should underpin all of our creative decisions throughout the lifecycle in our design.

I have identified, through observation of multiple practices around the college, that whilst people would never turn down working in a more sustainable way, it is something that is easy to forget to do. 

Therefore the brief I am setting myself is design a way to remind people to really contemplate their design decisions and operate in a more sustainable way. 

Upon completions of this I hope to have something that encourages people to design and practice more sustainably.

Critical analysis, COP Essay

For my COP essay i wanted to focus on a current issue that often gets overlooked. Having visited professional printers, looked into print processes etc, sustainability was something that interested me.

In order to relate this issue specifically to graphic design i wanted to look at home designers contribute to the problem and how we can help the cause, not only that, i wanted to see if the creativity of the designer was in anyway compromised when designing with sustainability in mind.

Having done a vast amount of research i was unable to find any reliable sources of information regarding how sustainable practice effect the designer or if it applies any constraints. From thinking around the problem logically and using the information i did obtain, I was able to see that the main effects of sustainability was using up more time and money. Being more sustainable often calls for more expensive materials as more care has gone into making them, and usually more time is spent contemplating or completing a process.

Overall I felt like i was able to investigate the question i set out to answer fully and arrive to conclusions that make me and the reader more knowledgeable on the topic. Hopefully this essay will serve to educate on the issue at hand and allow me to undertake my responsibility as a designer to encourage sustainable practices.

Study Task 02: Parody and Pastiche

The Google definition of pastiche:


An artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.
The Google definition of parody:
An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.
Pastiche is considered 'blank parody' as it is the same as parody but lacks the mimicry and ulterior motive that parody has.
Notes for the text:
Modernism: Art style that aims to move away from classical and traditional forms.
Post Modernism: A self conscious use of earlier arts styles and conventions; mixing artistic styles and media and a general distrust of art theories

Pastiche

Fredric Jameson - American literary critic 

modernist parody becomes post modern pastiche

parody imitation of a peculiar unique idiosyncratic style wearing a linguistic mask 

pastiche is the same but devoid of parodies ulterior motives and amputated of the satiric impulse examples nostalgia films desperate attempt to appropriate a time gone by appropriate the missing past pastiche 

Linda Hutchinson president of the modern language Association 

Jameson 

pastiche 

parody becomes pastiche non political capitalist 

past as code

modernism is king 

post modernism is capability 

Hutchinson 

parody 

parody is parody 

politically charged/critical 

Re reading of the past 

the past Incorporated 

post-modernism is king modernist is capitalist

COP 3 Research Proposal

Critical analysis evaluation

Much like last time, it takes a little while to get into the swing of essay writing, especially writing at such length. However i quite enjoyed the topic and the fact we were able to chose our own question. At first that seemed quite daunting however after a little research it was nice to be able to tailor the question to my own interests. The hardest part about this for me was the research. For the specific question i was asking"what constraints, if any, does sustainability put on designers" i was able to find copious amount of material on why we should conduct a sustainable practice and how to conduct a sustainable practice, however there was not much to be found on the effect this had on graphic designers which made it difficult to bring my essay to a conclusion. All in all im very happy with the question i picked and the outcome of the essay. I'm quite happy that this essay question leads nicely tot he the one i have chosen to look at for COP 3, this will allow me to develop this understanding even further.