Study Task Book analysis for Illuminations by Walter Benjamin & Interim crit on initial idea

Book analysis for Illuminations by Walter Benjamin & Interim crit on initial idea 

Interim Crit & Initial reading

Based on an initial reading of the book I took forward some points from the essays on "The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction". What I took from this reading was his thoughts on certain art works having an aura too them when seen and appreciated in first person, and how this aura is lost when this work is reproduced and replicated for mass production. 

The work in the sistine chapel is a classic example, it has a spiritual feel too it but this cant be replicated through secondary sources. 

This relates quite well to famous artworks been reproduced digitally for application in interior decor and for style purposes with no real thought of what the work means or represents just that it looks nice hung up on your living room wall!

This same idea applies to when work is photographed and presented on the internet or in books, the Aura (Feel, Field of energy, its personality, atmosphere, mood) is lost.

Initial Ideas

A few ideas I came up with to emulate, this idea of lost of aura is to work off the idea of dilution or fading, this could be visualized through the exploration of tones, contrasting colors, transparencies, monochrome schemes.

Use sizing, proportions, positioning within type, icons, shape, color to emulate dilution and fading. Ideas exploring these ideas alongside perspective could represent how the message from artwork is perceived depending on application, positioning, re-production, the thoughts and personality of the viewer, re-appropriation and if its a source image or viewed as the original.

Feedback was sparse on this proposal but everyone seemed to agree with the idea but some further reading will help provide a broad alternative to potential ideas.

Further book analysis/Study task 5
Scanning through the book I analysed a number of points that had potential for expansion into ideas for possible resolutions. 
Focus on Essays 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and "These on the Philosophy of History" 
Other content covers the translation of Art and its messages something that could provoke ideas based around medium is message and how design decisions can visualise a focused idea.
Has poetic tone of voice when discussing theories and there interaction with artwork. 
"Lithography enabled graphic art to illustrate everyday life" gives off the impression that as technology develops the methods of communication becomes more concise, quite the opposite of dilution more of an idea of refinement and precision which represents the "Reproduction" section of the essay title. 
Ideas of progress through social democratic theories.
Some language is quite dark while some is vivid and bright, contrast of tones. 
How simple theories can be overanalysed and become overwhelming. 
Contrasting to this he does break up subjects into relevant subsections that approach a range of issues. Multiple angles approached. 
Predicts modern theories and social solutions 50 years before.
Contrast and relationship between modern aesthetics and how they present political issues.
Culture and effects on how work is perceived, analysing different peoples view points. 
The meaning of life, how this could reflect theories of the everyday. Reflection of the everyday within complex theories.
Deception, how messages and meanings have been hidden from society ranging from the middle ages to predictions to the modern day. 
How medium has strengthened message over the ages.
Translation of artwork and its message is a way of expressing social and political messages. 
How figurative speaking terms can form and develop into riddles and critical thinking to everyday life. 

Persona of book
The books audience would be people interested in philosophy focusing on studying a range of theories from political & social issues, to cultural issues all the way to theories on art work and the messages behind it taken from multiple view points. The target audience would be interested in History, its quite a specific style of writing so the reader would appreciate quite complex writings so presenting quite a complex visual outcome wouldn't be an issue.

The wide view points and multiple subjects covered in the book would suggest the reader would take the content with an open mind, this further supports an idea of presenting quite a conceptual visual response with potential to emulate the complexity of the book within a visual outcome that explores lateral thinking. 

On the flip side of this the reader is after working out theories so presenting a clear concept through a visual response would benefit this. Literal thinking within idea generation would support this, clearly communicating a defined issue. 

A third persona would want to read the book to figure out the content itself, the complex language and tone of voice suggests this. So the response should consider leaving the message open to interpretation. Lateral and abstract ideas would support this.

Analyse of the book to influence Ideas
Throught word generation, mindmaping and deeper thinking relating to the highlighted persona these points will influence informed ideas to work from.
Deception
Reflection of the everyday within complex theories.
Predicts modern theories and social solutions 50 years before.
language is quite dark while some is vivid and bright, contrast of tones. 
"Lithography enabled graphic art to illustrate everyday life" gives off the impression that as technology develops the methods of communication becomes more concise, quite the opposite of dilution more of an idea of refinement and precision which represents the "Reproduction" section of the essay title. 
Ideas of progress
poetic tone of voice
Focus on Essays 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and "These on the Philosophy of History"
Translation of artwork and its message 
Expand on the initial ideas of Aura within the deeper analyse

Studio Brief 1 - Final's, Rationale & Evaluation

Studio Brief 1 - Final's, Rationale & Evaluation 

Concept & Purpose

Working from the proposal to solve issues relating to social housing and options for first time buyers a campaign will be created that revolves around raising awareness of these issues and suggestion of possible solutions and there advantages for local councils, property developers and first time buyers. 

Proposals for housing solutions will incorporate plans for building propositions and the advantages of these for;

Councils to deliver social housing solutions.

Property developers for offering cheap and accessible housing solutions (Rent and Buy to own)

First time buyers looking to see the advantages of self building. 

The proposals will act as information packs, mailed out to local councils, property developers and available upon request for first time buyers or self builders through http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/. A resource for people interest in self building. 

Build guides influenced by my range of research and take the format of architectural plans and files through the exploration of illustration, typography, 2D and 3D craft within a publication. 

The tone of voice will be informative yet concise, using as little typographic explanation as possible with the structural drawings communicating the structures and there potential for solving various housing related solutions. 

Finals & Rationale
Grid system that derives from the structure illustrations used throughout the publication. 

Body copy and textual content, short precise and a reflection of the imagery to keep tone of voice concise.

The delivery of the publications are supported through the use of clear files to act as protection and a reference to architectural plans.

Green stock references environmental considerations.
Pink references progression.
Neutral yellow and stone reference natural and recycled material.
Colours carried through the collateral reference the build materials and possible render finishes. 

Black and white architectural style drawings act as a concise 3D breakdown of the stages involved in the construction process showing it in 3 simple stages. 

The structure of the interlocking pages reference the modular system within the social and self build structures while the arco clip reinforces this feeling of structure and architectural plans. 


Attention drawn to important information that outline the basics of the solution to housing related issues and important stages of the process through type, shape, colour and layout positioning. 

The motion, angles and deconstruction of elements show an idea of construction, with all these elements coming together at the end of the publication into a final 3D breakdown. A visually concise journey of the construction process.

Orange references the sustainable brick while off yellow references clay based rendering, further use of color within the publication references other proposed materials. 

To provide a concise overview of each stage of production a number of angles are presented in there basic frame form before building up to there rendered example. Black and white was chosen instead of the original color variations to reference architectural drawings more.

Brown stock references re-purposed wood, a main material used in these modular housing plans, the grey stone stock references sustainable aggregate foundations that pays homage to Brutalist architecture as a reference to positive change learning from the mistakes of this movement. 

While talking about sustainability the GF smith lager stock has a very rustic texture too it that references recycled materials, a main consideration throughout these proposals. 


Arrows reference progression, change and a literal example of construction. 

The cover page acts as an introduction to the upcoming content showing the deconstructed materials that are soon to be put into constructive context. 

A breakdown of all the advantages these housing solutions can meet ranging from good use of space to meeting elderly residents needs all the way to students and young professionals needs. 

A reflection of the Brutalist movement in a contemporary proposal for change, promoting possible communities for both rural and urban environments while showing the versatility of the stacking and interlocking modular systems. 

Evaluation
I had a very specific issue that I aimed at solving through the delivery of these information packs with a strong concept behind it, I wanted to create a focus on concise presented information with minimal textual explanations and I think I did this, architectural drawings helped this.

I did a lot of research to arrive at this point and i am not quite sure it shows in such a concise presentation of information, theres consideration to every design decision based on solving and raising awareness of housing related issues covering social housing and first time buyers but i am not sure that the amount of research I put in is reflected within this outcome. Still I am happy with the outcome and feel I have tackled an issue in a way that reaches out to potential audiences well.

Outlining a target persona as with other briefs has helped define a certain problem, giving me more direction when it comes to informed and refined research to influence idea generation. I took consideration of corporate and council bodies as well as first time buyers, these audiences would cover a range of age ranges so a system that targeted both needed to be thought of. Architectural drawings and plans informed the format and the content of the publication which supported the concise tone of voice. 

I had a very strong concept within my ideas generation based on raising awareness of un-used space and proposed to make 3D house kits, this referenced the self build idea through exploration of 3D distribution and would have referenced proposed material quite well.

I also proposed exploration into textures to emulate material, both this and the 3D models where a good idea to react to a strong concept but bad time management and personal issues arose. I want to explore physical 3D outcomes next year though, I feel theres a lot of potential in 3D physical outcomes and can support 2D print based outcomes well. Creating a typeface would work well with the exploration of 3D structures and is something I will explore over the summer.

The production of this supported the visual content though, the format of the structure was influenced by a grid system that comes from the architectural drawings keeping things consistent and the concept applied to every design and production decision.

Next time with a project like this that involves lots of research I intend on creating more obvious links, the problem I aimed at solving is distributed well but the content could be more theoretical, the tone of voice needed to be concise though but maybe if I explored more sustainable approaches it would have been a stronger outcome. Specifying time for research, time for influence from research and time to figure out how to inject all key aspects of research into a more theoretical body of content would benefit my outcomes.  

Studio Brief 1 - Refinement and Production

Studio Brief 1 - Refinement and Production

The production stage was a bit of a disaster, there were two main concepts for the use of stock. For the sustainable social housing solution it needed to not only emulate accuracy of the modular housing but also have an aesthetic that suggested sustainability. 

The use of yellow simulated a feeling of doing good and positivity but my printer miss alligned the double side print. TWICE.

Grey stone Daler Rowney paper was used with standard print paper for the leafs as I didn't want it too be too thick and difficult to turn through the pages. It was difficult lining up the arco clip as the punch only went through a few pieces at a time. 

The arco clip reinforced the feeling of construction and had that organised architectual feel that reflected the concise tone of voice within type and image. 

To reflect ideas of DIY a mish mash of color stocks were selected, I tried out the GMUND neon GF Smith stock but it was far too bright and the grey stone was far too mechanical in contrast with it.

So the other colours explored were more pastel, this pastel tone has a more sustainable feel while the colours used reference self sufficiency, progression and environmental connotations.