A post explaining the progress of my project so far, important research points and thoughts about further research and developments
Below is the current structure of my MA project from the developments of DESM13, developing in DESM14 .
(Larger versions of this and the research structure map can be found under the project map tab on my main blog)
-This is a map of my blog posts and where each piece of research and development sit within the structure above.
-It shows which part of the project each post relates to most.
-Blog posts can also be categorised in the blog menu by the subjects at the top of the blog.
-I have picked out a few main highlights in the written evaluation below.
Overall Thoughts
>Within this module I have researched the many forms in which activism takes, from protest marches to gentle protest such as craftivism. Through this, I have then been able to develop a methodology to where I want my project and own project of activism to sit. The strand of gentle protest, for me works best as it activates conversation and development of change. I think protest marches are still very important and very impactful but can then sometimes stop after the event, especially when looking at community activism this does not fit with what I wish to achieve.
Within my research, one of the JRF reports
spoke about how helping in your local community doesn't just benefit the receiver of the help, but the giver too and I think this has stuck with me in that my initial thoughts were to change my design practice to gain motivation through helping others.
Project Talking Points
>The initial prints I made..
were both initial starting points, looking at the ideas in where I wanted to sit within activism. I liked the idea of changing protest to proaction which I felt had more of a motivation to it and it held connotations around change.
-These prints were fun to play with, there were some technical issues such as mis-registration on the letterpress print but I enjoyed making them and may use the same techniques/colours at a later stage, just change the wording.
-These were also developing at the time in which I made 2 posters to paste up at an allotment site, I feel like the impact of these prints and the visuals from these were really strong and will be looking to do this again, with new questions to spark conversations or information to share within the main hub.
>The hub, in which I keep the tools for individuals to work with has developed and a few of the tools are now at a stage in which I wish to edit these through public interaction and use. This will help to make sure they work in the way I intended and redesign any issues if needed. This will be a part of my DESM14 module, alongside developing the small projects that contain individual voices.
Research into designers such as Will Mower and Herbert Bayer from the Bauhaus and his ideas around hierarchy of text were really enjoyable parts of the research for the WeVoice tool. I also really enjoyed looking at local type and the most used words in protests in history.
*More research on these areas can be seen on the research map above under, Voice maker and workshop research.
>I have now connected with a local school in which they wish to develop their allotment site and I have said I will print and decorate the space using both my own designs and pupils designs. This project will be one of the small projects and will be great as it will hold young voices, learning about sustainability and community. This will be starting at the start of May with a now planned visit to the school with one of the lead teachers on the project.
-Within the next module I wish to find other projects to work on, depending on the sizes, this will determine how many small projects and voices I have. In the diagram above I've currently marked out 4, which as said may change, these will be populated and enlarged with details etc as they develop.
>There isn't much research held within the small newspaper area at present, but this is because this will be an evaluation piece as such which will pull all of the projects together so research will evolve toward that end point. I hope to develop my graphic design skills in digital page layout at this point, which is something for me, personally that I have less technical experience in.
Research
>The talks I attended really helped my research. I found a lot of talks from Poster House in New York very helpful, their exhibitions seem to naturally fall into activism a lot of the time because of the nature of posters.
-Attending these live also really helped to ask questions directly and to maybe steer the conversation slightly at times to focus on my specific research.
-I was very pleased to attend talks of both Betsy Greer and Sarah Corbett, 2 of the big names in craftivism and I emailed them directly after the talk to gain more information.
Lockdown has been helpful in these ways as I am unsure if because of travel etc I wold have been able to connect to as many designers and talks.
-More technical based talks were also very helpful to strengthen my skills and ideas around the processes I wish to use. The ideas from Dafi Kühne were very inspirational in the way he pushes traditional techniques
And the exhibition of protest posters and letterpress united studio talks over lockdown have again been very helpful and insightful
>Ive carried on collating different local forms of protest from individuals, from digitally printed stickers, to paste ups and scrawled A4 paper outpourings. I hope to make a small zine towards the end of the project to hold all of these and will add to this collection throughout the next 2 modules. This has been really interesting and fun and again makes you re-look at your local area.
End Thoughts
>Overall, I have been able to steer away from using the idea of holding all forms of activism at an allotment space. My projects will look at all public spaces to hold the projects. There will emphasis on slow conversations, developing voices naturally and a subconscious learning of skills and an activist voice. I do not want the craft skill or the activism part to be prominent as I think the important voices that need to be heard will not be drawn into conversation if these things are very evident and bold from the outset.
-The tools will be developed by feedback from interactions and new tools will be added depending on what is needed by the individuals in the small projects.
-I hope the small projects are diverse in both subject and visuals to really reflect the diversity of community.
-I hope to use my traditional printmaking skills at this point, and develop the digital layout skills to be ready for the digitally printed booklet at the end, to collate all of the projects.
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