BUZZ TIMELINE

to follow

BUZZ STATEMENT OF INTENT

Over the course of BUZZ I will be engaging in case study research. To quote from Kieran and Maria… this “entails the close study of a single case, so case study inquiry is concerned with the complexity and particular nature of the case in question. The most common use of the term ‘case’ associates the case study with a location (such as a particular community or institution). examples of case studies are: Steph’s ideas on the nature and relevance of research in the creative working procedures of her third level visual communication students.”

The key purpose/aim of my research...  The central aim of my research in BUZZ revolves around an examination of how (and if) research is embedded into the creative design process, in a non-linear way. I encourage my students to undertake extensive research throughout the creative process - to guide them in all aspects of that process - from building an understanding of the issues involved in a brief, through to the concept and visual development for it. It is my belief that research is fundamental to the design outcome and is involved at every stage of the creative design process. A key research aim in BUZZ is to set about finding evidence to prove or disprove this hypothesis. I will undertake this research with a case study group formed among 5 of my third year students in BA (Hons) Visual Communication at AIT.

What needs to be the focus... 

In order to address the central research question, the focus of my study will be in the examination of the embedded nature of research in the students design process and the influence (or not) of the research on the visual development and final creative outcome from the students.  I will distill the information I gather in an effort to progress my specific research purpose as I observe in my case study group.  

As part of the statement of intent for BUZZ I felt it important to include an issue that sits to the side of my main hypothesis, but which is also at the very heart of understanding the key issues being addressed within it. Specifically, I am referring to analytical thinking being a fundamental part of the creative practice of a graphic designer. Perhaps unlike artistic practice where generally the creative spark is free to roam and the journey of visual discovery and expression is at the heart of the creative process, in design practice the rationale and conceptual bases are intertwined wholly, and the creative visual expression of those elements through the final piece is the best attempt at capturing that.
In essence the beauty is in the aesthetic, and in the way in which the aesthetic embodies both the concept and the research behind it .

If we think of a graphic design artifact it can take many formats – posters, books, magazine design, marketing materials, branding, packaging etc. etc. I believe the research the designer does into the parameters of the brief (whether that be as set by a client, or a looser outline set personally)  and every single aspect of the design thereafter will be affected by the research undertaken as part of the creative design process. For example, the research will help identify the visual culture of the target audience, and therefore influence everything from the copy writing to the typeface choice, to the imagery, and even the format.

Research methods and reporting on research...
Research methods I will use are the ones which reveal themselves as most relevant and intuitively useful as the research and reporting upon it evolves and changes over the course of BUZZ. For now I anticipate using “analysis of documentary evidence” -  the analysis of the design artifact (predominantly the students’ sketchpads and notebooks) as my primary research method.  I will be filtering the elements I observe through the lens of my central hypothesis, so that ultimately my response to this will take the form of both a written offering and a visual one. I intend on approaching this through photographing and documenting my learners’ sketchpads in journal form on my blog.  This blog journal will feature firstly * student research methodologies and the influence and impact of research on their creative process and the designed outcome; and secondly * the journal will express my own analysis of it and my own design progress for the BUZZ reporting.

The second research method I intend exploring will be “structured interviews” with the learners involved. This will take the form of one to one tutorials with the student throughout their project, which I do weekly, the difference for the purposes of my central BUZZ hypothesis will be that I will be reflecting on these discussions through the lens of my central research aim, and cataloguing my responses as well as the responses of the students. I will examine the 'hows' and 'whys' of the student study groups' researching methods.

The final research method I anticipate using will be in the form of “art practice as research” and this will culminate in the concept, design and layout of a final visual artifact that reports on the experience of BUZZing.  I have been producing on my own research throughout the REV creative output and on into visual mapping within COP. Thankfully without the parameters of a brief the artifact itself is open ended until the information gathering and analysis of it is in full swing and setting the creative trajectory. I may re-vist a book format used in SynaeScape or move more in the direction of visual mapping which I explored within COP, or possibly it could become an onscreen piece featuring mapping and/or motion.

COP Ended

Please see "Sites I Like" panel to the left to link to my COP Module Website

I have continued to tease out some elements I identified during REV and have attempted to evolve them in the context of my undertakings in COP.
While the primary subject matter of my visual explorations during REV related to Synaesthesia as a subject (the outcomes of which can be seen on my blog – http://stephsmythmasters.blogspot.com) it became more and more evident that the act of researching itself was forming a huge part of the creative output. The creation of my book 'SynaeScape' revolved largely around the process of researching and the sense of overwhelm in ordering and processing of that research visually. Additionally, areas I encountered as part of the creative practice - for example visual mapping and data visualisation (as referred to in my Voice Threads) – started to come to the fore.

COP has provided me with the opportunity to explore these areas further and I have also attempted to visually capture the design process of my students and my own efforts as their lecturer in instilling an appreciation of the value and influence of quality subject and visual research as part of their own creative design practice. There is a transformation that occurs when research moves from being a passive act of observation and discovery to its application as an active agent of change. There is an element of complexity to this, and I have attempted to capture that visually here in taking the opportunity to explore visual mapping in my own work.

Below is the piece finished in the course of COP.
It visually describes the design process in the studio culture of my 3rd year students.
In it I have tried to encompasss my COP focus points of research, studio culture and complexity.

Visual Rhetoric

"Visual Rhetoric" is an inter-college, inter-disciplinary collaboration between the London College of Communication and the London College of Economics. It captures some of the areas I am researching in terms of contemporary design curriculum. On the one hand I am investigating complex relationships between the designer and the viewer and then also the complexity that exists as we are exposed to more and more information to visually express. This project, which focuses on the visual mapping of complex data, captured my attention on may levels. It has also stimulated my thinking in relation to the possibility of collaborating with other faculties in my own work environment as part of expanding on my participatory research and further development development on into BUZZ.

COP Introduction Video

Oh the horror of watching myself on video but hope this provides a quick introductory overview of my COP intentions.

REV ENDED

What follows below are the 3 strands of work I have created during the revival of my personal creative practice during REV.

SynaeScape  – a sense of synaesthesia, my book of personal reflections and visual responses to both the subject of synaesthesia and also to the process of researching and designing around it within REV

SynaeScope – a series of photographic explorations expressing heightened sensory awareness and visually alluding to the brain mapping technologies that capture that state.

SynaeSence – a wall installation that attempts to map the synaesthetic mind in an abstract way.

SynaeScape - REV project 2

My book is entitled SynaeScape - a sense of synaesthesia, and is a personal account of the ideas and responses I have had to the subject of synaesthesia, through my research and through my visual explorations and expectations. Given the abstract nature of synaesthesia I felt that it was more appropriate not to attempt to pin down or explain the condition in the work I produce but rather flow with that abstraction and subjectivity of experience. So to some degree I have removed the subject matter in a literal sense and tethered it to an autobiographical account of its discovery  - in doing so I have moved the attention away from the subject and focused attention on my response to the topic. The book is as much a documentary as it is a document, an intuitive response to the information gathered and I have endeavored to capture my journey of discovery in its pages.

The cover uses thermochromic paper which reacts to the heat of the readers hands by changing colour – from a gloss black to shades of red, green and blue. It reacts immediately and hopefully sets the tone for the rest of the book in its engagement with the viewer and the way in which it underlines the personal nature of the creative work and the condition it describes.

Following is a small selection of sample pages from the book (it can be viewed in full in the movie clip above and I will also bring it with me to the next face to face day on October 15th)

The design of the book utilizes both paper and acetate in its make up and so the notions I have had since the start of the creative process in REV are being carried through – specifically those of layering views, altered perceptions, subjective individual views on the world, and of course engaging the viewer through the design – this I have addressed in the use of the materials, in the paper mechanics of the book  and hopefully too in the writing itself. I have used acetate to produce layering and staged delievery of the message. And also to emphasise subjective views – where printed elements across layers of acetate interact with eachother in an expression of how different people can perceive the same information in very different ways or to underline the idea of layers of perception working in unison.

The lift up flaps on this page, for example, read " f sharp; pear; seven" and these refer again to the sensory mingling where the colour yellow that is being revealed underneath can also cross over to these other things - be they the sound of a note, a colour perception of a number or the taste of a particular fruit. These occur in the 'synaesthesia & memory' section of the book where I talk about the way that synaesthetes have extra hooks upon which to hang a memory trigger. 

I  have used folding and binding to provide alternative views. These are used in different ways throughout the book, but one device for example creates an envelope type effect where the page is folded back on itself and bound into the spine.  My intention here is to communicate hidden aspects – whether they relate to memory or concealment of what lies beneath.

Also I have used die cuts which provide peep holes through to other pages in the book, and which also change how we read the visuals as they alter the context by revealing only part of the story, This could be interpreted as alluding to the non synaesthetes reality where we are not getting the richer more intense version of the world, my hope is these communicate too notions of altered views and perceptions.

I have used a couple of my SynaesScope images in the book also and below the image is used to enhance the communication on synaesthesia and its link to metaphorical thinking. The image is used to highlight the change in view from the literal where all can be seen clearly with the acetate set against the white background and then when you turn the acetate page there is a more metaphorical lateral view of it against the black background.

I also played with reflective paper to explore the communicative qualities in mirroring to express the impact of synaesthesia on emotions. I have used acetates extensively in this section too.

Elsewhere in the book, as you can see in the video, I have made use of the ampersand to allude to the richer more intense reality of the synaesthete – there is always more to their perception, everything is more intensified. In the spreads with the gradually increasing point size in the text I intended to communicate the idea of  becoming more and more consumed by the volume of the research I was getting into and also it represents the overwhelming nature of the condition for some synaesthetes  - like sensory overload. All these  devices will combine to, hopefully, engage the viewer both physically in the use of the book and intellectually and visually in decoding the communication as they work through the book.