Tag Archives: Learning

Brighton Photo Biennial 2016: a sense of space

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I am determined to capture some of my thoughts about my experiences of an OCA study visit quickly for a change! Often the spirit is willing but my attention span is weak and too much time elapses between the experience and the reflections. It is also important to record my reflections quickly because yesterday was very much an aesthetic day; a multi sensory, multi-modal experience, and I recognise a need to record that while it is still fresh.

This weekend, alongside 38 other OCA photography students, I was at the Brighton Photo Biennial 2016. On the first day I went to four exhibitions – ‘Reimagine’ and ‘Into the Outside: The Story so Far’ at the University of Brighton Galleries (Grand Parade), ‘The Dandy Lion Project’ at University of Brighton Galleries (Edward Street), and ‘Kick over the Statues’ by Ewen Spencer at Fabrica.

I will pick up on the exhibitions themselves more in later posts but for now what is sitting with me is more about seeing the work in situ and thinking about the physical context of the exhibitions, something that connects my interest in both photography and design/graphic design. I may struggle to describe this because it was an embodied experience and I sense my learning involves tacit knowledge primarily. (Polanyi, 1967)

What struck me forcefully was the quality of the energy in the space at Fabrica. It was markedly different to the other venues. This may in part have been influenced by the subject matter and the fact it included a great dance beat. But it was buzzing and seemed like people were really paying attention to the photographs. This is not intended as a criticism of the other shows; they each had their own personality. I write about it now because I think it surfaced something important for me in terms of how I go about developing my own work and the relationship I want it to have with possible audiences.

The ‘Kick Over the Statues’ prints are large (deliberately billboard style), beautiful, arresting and in some cases haunting. There is music playing, the lighting is subdued apart from bright spots over the photographs and there are projected images from Spencer’s own archive spanning years of youth/music subcultures.

What I noticed was peopled engaging with the work in a way I don’t think I saw in the other exhibitions that were more traditionally ‘white box.’ People were talking about their experiences of their own youth subcultures. They were discussing lighting, composition, walking up close, standing back, and observing each other observing the works. Children were being encouraged to dance and there was chatter, and a lot of smiles. It was OK to be noisy.

The exhibition was busy and alive, an experience I will remember.

References and citations:

Polanyi, M. (1967). The Tacit Dimension. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.

 

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Contemplating the history of graphic design

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Poster by Alphonse Mucha in Art Nouveau style

Setting out to look at the entire history of graphic design seems at best an act of optimism and at worst sheer folly. Even the concise published histories run to at least 200 pages. However, undeterred, I did at least want to get some sense of the field and see how others have defined it.

I found a number of helpful infographics, particularly the one from James Cain on the history of visual communications. This was useful in terms of the starting point being prehistoric picture writing, which reinforced for me the depth of our interaction with visuals. Neuroscience suggests that at least 20% of our brain is dedicated to vision.  I’m not sure I’m up to producing my own timeline yet but maybe later in the course.

Rather than recount any particular chronology, which feels a bit overwhelming at this point, I have tried to look for themes and patterns.

  • Links between art movements and developments in graphic design: it seems to me there has been a constant interplay between art and graphic design. Interestingly, the art nouveau posters of Mucha, themselves became regarded as art over time rather than advertising billboards. Modernism, post-modernism, constructivism, pop art to name a few have influenced the designers of their day.
  • The impact of war and propaganda on design: wars appear to have had a significant impact on the nature, purpose and sheer quantity of graphic design at different points in history.

The First World War established the importance of visual design. (Hollis, 2001: 32)

By the outbreak of the Second World War graphic design had become an established element of the political landscape and an essential component in delivering messages to populations.

  • Developments within particular national boundaries which then spread further afield. A number of countries have been credited with specific developments:
    • Russia and constructivism
    • Italy and Futurism, and the Milanese style
    • The Netherlands and de Stijl
    • Switzerland and the ‘Swiss style’
    • France and the Moderne, and so on…
  • Technological development and its impact on graphic design: Technology has both enabled and influenced the history of graphic design. This includes design technology and wider technological developments that have supported graphic design solutions such as the global mail system, lithography, the typewriter, the photocopier, photography, digital technology. I’m really looking forward to Graphic Means being released as it looks like it will give insights into some of these technologies!

Another theme that has emerged is that the key figures mentioned throughout the histories appear to be men, which raises for me the question around the gendered nature of what they produce. I know it is a bit of a rabbit hole to fall down but it does highlight questions about the nature of visual communications and whether gender affects outcome.

I know this is just the tip of the iceberg but it gives me some insight into different approaches and influences on the field of graphic design. It also starts to bring out some themes I might look at in more depth. There is obviously still much to explore!

References:

Hollis, R. (2001). Graphic Design: A concise history. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.

 

Immersion

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Photograph of pile of graphic design books on a white table

Although I had already seen the PDF of the course materials it is always exciting to get the box emblazoned important learning materials! One of the joys I have found of life-long and life-wide learning (Redecker et al., 2011) is that as I get older I am much clearer about the best way to approach my own learning. I can recognise the moments of anxiety and confusion and sit with them more comfortably, reasonably confident that at some point I will move forward. At the moment I am aware of a niggling sense of trepidation as I move into what feels like a different field and away from the photography modules.

There are several things I know will help me at this point:

  1. Immersion: getting a sense of the field, its history, its contexts, its movers & shakers, current debates and future directions
  2. Pattern spotting: for me this is about making connections with things I have some knowledge of, by finding connections I recognise it gives me both an entry point and helps steady my confidence. Finding frameworks like Gestalt, rule of thirds and some familiar designs (even if I didn’t know the designers) has all helped me see a way into GD1
  3. Doing stuff: getting stuck in straight away on exercises both in the course materials and from other sources. Sketching, collecting postcards, noticing more of the graphic design around me

So, as several books arrive I am playing, sketching, pinning, collecting and focusing on the things I can do. As opposed to looking ahead and focusing on the things I might think I can’t do at the moment like use Illustrator properly or design a logo! Postcards here I come…!

References:

Redecker, C., Leis, M., Leendertse, M., Punie, Y., Gijsbers, Kirschner, P., et al. (2011). The Future of Learning: Preparing for change: JRC/IPTS European Commission.

 

Getting Started – Paper

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Piece of paper

I want to be an Origami sheet

They can make a boat of me

Then make a rose of me

For the friend to cherish me.

 

I want to be an art sheet

The artist can paint on me

Sketch their mind on me

Craft something new on me

For the world to adore me.

 

I want to become a plain sheet

For a writer to scribe on me

To open their heart on me

To recite a poem on me

For the readers to review me

Neeti Tibrewala, 2016

If I have learnt anything from my first two OCA courses it is not to be afraid of the blank page. I feel like I am facing multiple blank pages at the moment – GD1 is a new direction (my last two courses being photography based), I have had to set up a new blog and I have a new sketchbook – I needed to find a good place to start.

I am a little apprehensive because I also have to learn Illustrator and In-Design quickly. I am pretty familiar with Photoshop and have used Inkscape, PageMaker and Publisher in the past so I am hoping that will at least help me get going.

I like that the course starts with some of the basic building blocks and talks about paper, so I set myself a small exercise of exploring the different types of paper I had in the house. My new sketchbook is now adorned with an amazing variety from natural and handmade papers to photo and coloured tissue paper. It feels good to have taken a first small step and I actually quite like the collages too!