Challenge
This week you will identify the subject of your four-week self-initiated project.
- Review the subjects, research and outputs you generated during the GDE710 Contemporary Practice module. Make notes about the topics that interest you and consider the characteristics of your personal interests, identity and experiences.
- Write a short description to outline four potential self-initiated project ideas (up to 100 words per project idea) and add these notes to your blog.
- Select one self-initiated project and post an overview to the Ideas Wall, to encourage discussion and feedback.
- Write a brief for your self-initiated project and upload it to your blog. Your brief should include the following:
- The project question – Think of your self-initiated graphic design project as a question, that you will answer and respond to over the next four weeks.
- Aim, objective and critical context – Write a short summary to outline the intent of your self-initiated project and clarify what you plan to achieve.
- Audience – Take time to identify and refine a specific target audience, as this will help focus your project.
- Anticipated final outcome – Consider a final outcome that is appropriate to your target audience
Research
Research into self Initiated Projects here:
Development
Typography task: Physicality and Type, conveying a message.
VR Exhibition: Mixing the physical and Digital.
Thought Process: Turning thought into a physical and visual journey.
Idea 1:
An Exhibition / Space / Object that tells a specific story without using text from the story.
An idea born from Module 1’s week 10 typography task.
https://mbetts.design.blog/2020/04/02/contemporary-practice-week-10-workshop-challenge-typography-task/
The idea would be to take a story or work of a poet and translate it into a physical space that conveys the same emotions and follows the story. Using texture, light, sound and physicality, can you tell a story in a physical space with no typography?
Idea 2:
An exhibition space brought to life in VR.
This idea is inspired by Module 1’s week 12 project, Paradigm Shift.
https://mbetts.design.blog/2020/04/27/contemporary-practice-week-12-workshop-challenge-paradigm-shift-vr-exhibition-concept/
Can you build a physical space in the real world that gets enhanced when you put on a virtual reality headset? AR or Alternate Reality could also be a great medium and opportunity of research. Is it possible to augment the virtual experience by touching things in real life?
Idea 3:
Turning a thought process into a physical analog.
Inspired by Module 1’s week 5 project, How do we think?
https://mbetts.design.blog/2020/02/25/contemporary-practice-week-5-workshop-challenge-how-do-we-think/
After finishing this project I really wanted to look into scaling this idea up into a large exhibition and turning it in a physical journey through different spaces that explore the different parts of the thought process. Each room would take you through how that part of the process was formed and lead into the next.
Possible Brief for Idea 2:
The project Question
Can you successfully expand on a physical space through the use of virtual reality and Alternate Reality?
Aim, Objective and Critical Context
I recently got a VR headset and the possibilities blew my mind a little bit. More people need to try it and I believe it’s the future for us along with AR or Alternate Reality devices. It is sorely missing something for me. The sense of something physical and tactile. I want to create a microenvironment that, in the real world doesn’t look like much but in Virtual reality, it comes alive and is buzzing with activity. A plain cupboard in the real world could be opened/looked into and become a window to another world. Or a piece of paper suspended from a ceiling could be an elaborate flower in VR.
Audience
People who are trying VR for the first time and know nothing about it. They don’t need a jarring and nauseating roller coaster simulator or a ‘walk the plank’ game. They need to feel inspired and immersed.
Anticipated final outcome
An area (probably a bedroom or shed) that can be recreated and enhanced in VR. I will be using google Tilt Brush among other software to recreate and record myself or possibly another member of the family (can’t really go out into the real world) and gather findings and get their thoughts. I just want to scratch the surface here as I know there are people better suited to make this happen on a bigger budget and more professionally.
I struggled this week trying to come up with a project that I knew I’d enjoy. I loved researching into the possibility of a ‘physical VR’ exhibition in the first module and thought that it would translate over pretty well. I started off this week with optimism and hope that I’d chosen the right project to pursue but no matter what I just couldn’t get into it. I’m definitely more of a ‘doer’ than a researcher. It was hard to think of an outcome that I could achieve with my skills and be happy with. That is why I had a long think and decided to go back to the drawing board and come up with some more ideas.
Idea 4:
Using the work of a poet friend and giving them a graphical representation.
Inspired by Module 1’s week 10 workshop challenge, Typography Task.
https://mbetts.design.blog/2020/04/02/contemporary-practice-week-10-workshop-challenge-typography-task/
The idea is that I would take 3 poems or pieces of work and turn them into an emotion and graphical piece of work that will symbolise all of what the poem does. Whether that is via an illustration, typography or something else. I want to convey the same emotion as the author intended but not in a standard poem format.
Idea 5:
How changing the typography can have a profound effect on the context, intent and reception of a given text.
Inspired by Module 1’s week 10 workshop challenge, Typography Task.
https://mbetts.design.blog/2020/04/02/contemporary-practice-week-10-workshop-challenge-typography-task/
The idea would be to take an established piece of written work, whether that’s a poem, short story or a quote. Then present it in a few different typographical styles that change either the context, intent or reception of the given text.
Possible Brief for Idea 5:
The project Question
Can you change the context, intent or reception of a given text through the use of typography and colour?
Aim, objective and critical context
Find an established quote, text or short story and reinterpret the meaning using typography and colour. I understand this is a broad topic but it’s also exciting knowing that there is multiple ways to explore this idea. I aim to explore how using graphical hierarchies and putting more emphasis on certain words can change the flow of text. I want to make the final outcome as clean and legible as possible and keep it simple. As of right now I’m thinking movie quotes are an easy target. I can display the original quote with it’s intended context and then maybe my ‘bastardised’ version.
Audience
Readers of the original text, peers, typography lovers, other designers.
Anticipated final outcome
A series of posters and social posts.
Final Outcome
Idea 6:
Inspired by Module 1’s week 5 brief, How do we think?
So I’ve been struggling with ADHD for many years and part of managing that is dealing with procrastination. I’ve often been quoted saying “I’ve got time, I’ll do it later”, It turns out that I do in fact not have time later. I have been following a way of thinking called ‘The Unshedule’ by Dr. Neil Fiore, which basically is a schedule where you map out your day/week and block out all the time that you are not supposed to be working/have to do on a daily basis i.e, sleeping, bathing, eating, cooking, the necessary stuff. Then put in the stuff you have to look forward to, hobbies, social events, etc. So you leave yourself with these gaps of time that are allocated to ‘working’ and it really shows you how little time you actually have in a day.
There is a great post about the Unschedule here, https://lanredahunsi.com/the-unschedule-a-time-management-tool-to-beat-procrastination/ that goes through the ins and outs.
So the question I want to ask is less, How do we think? and more, How are we supposed to think given there’s not enough time in a day?
I want to design and look into ‘The Unschedule’ further and see if I can build/implement a simple way for people to create one. There are some blank templates available online but I would love a way to track, drag and drop elements around the schedule whenever needed online or on mobile. Or at the very least, question the typical layout, are square blocks the most effective?
The project Question
Can ‘The Unshedule’ be an appealing option/less of a daunting task for the already poor time-managed consumer if made easy and fun through the use of design? Failing that, can time-management techniques as a whole be more widespread? Can changing the way we think about our time management help?
Aim, objective and critical context
To bring ‘the unschedule’ time management technique into the contemporary age through the use of design. I would also love to come up with a brand’ for the unschedule and try and market the thing. I’m sure the idea is the property of Dr. Neil Fiore so I doubt I’d be able to make it a real thing but that’ll be good to research. Often I find people saying they have poor time management but they never try to fix it o put things in place to try and improve.
Audience
Other humans who struggle with time management and Procrastinating
Anticipated final outcome
A customizable ‘unschedule’. Would love it to be an app/interactive website. A campaign to show awareness of poor time management.
mbetts.design.blog 