Exercise: A visual diary

Start a scrapbook, sketchbook or use a blog to document the visual world around you. Find examples of visual language that interest you, these could be taken from anywhere (art, film, photography, illustration, design, craft, cinema, hobbies etc. Reflect on what you have been collecting:

• Are there dominant themes emerging?
• What does your areas of interest tell you about your own visual language and cultural awareness?

Make notes in your learning log.

This is an exercise I have no problem in undertaking, I have been keeping visual diaries and inspiration for many years. They are on my walls, hanging from the ceiling, in books, folders, scrapbooks, and online.

My areas of interest very much reflect my work and my photography. They focus on concerns I am grappling with such as environmental issues, food production and consumption, and identity. As I have moved through GD1 I think they also pick up on popular culture, identifying and working with messages in art and design and being playful. It is no accident I have a Pinterest board labelled ‘magical.’

I have yet to find the best way to manage all the material I collect but probably the most comprehensive is my Pinterest boards, 51 boards and thousands of pins give me a huge amount of flexibility to collect ideas and inspiration from all fields and genres. My Learning Log now also includes a plugin for my most recent pins so the two are becoming more connected.

I have noticed in recent years I am often more interested in visuals that are clean, clear, stripped back and quite minimal. They don’t have to have an obvious message and I enjoy conceptual work but I do like work that is very crisp and spare.

Interestingly, in the last few months Pop art has also become more of an interest, although it is a movement I was reasonably aware of I had never really connected with it in the past. Having seen the Rauschenberg show and documentary and recently watching the BBC’s ‘Soup Cans and Superstars…’ I am increasingly intrigued by the aspects of activism and political commentary the movement in part contained.

In addition to my Pinterest boards I have also started a visual diary as part of my Learning Log and while this is taking a while to get the hang of, and populate, it is proving useful as a repository of some of the direct influences on my exercises and assignments.

In my photography and design work I am constantly reminded of the Anais Nin quote:

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

I am no longer cautious about seeking feedback, as that is the best way to get a sense of how others see things; I enjoy the fact that other readings of cultural artefacts are different and sometimes surprising. It helps me reflect on my visual awareness and cultural references, and reminds me to be mindful of the assumptions I may be making in my work.