Final Video

Click here to view the Sound Moves video on Vimeo

Final Publication

Reflections 29.03.16

Today we completed the publication. We used the industrial guillotine to cut 5mm of each edge. After our difficulties with the alignment we had to make a compromise with the accuracy of the final publication. Our design used the edges and folds to dissect the atoms and graphs into pleasant and unpleasant sounds. The downside to this was that the lack of accuracy meant that a 5mm crop would cut some of the information away. We had to decide between cutting each sheet individually or biting the bullet and cutting them as a stack. Cutting each sheet creates a series of other problems in maintains an accurate A format for the folding to work properly and obviously time. As a group we decided to use the industrial guillotine and cut 5mm of each edge despite the potential loss of information. The information would still be readable and the publication would still be a nice object to hold, interact with and display. It would just be missing some of the exact finer points of information.

The industrial guillotine was a bit temperamental in the beginning but eventually we were able to cut everything to size. Each publication had 7 folds, each of those created a potential accuracy issue. Not only that but the ink, although dry, smudged during the folding process, especially the darker colours and any heavily saturated areas. I think we would have kept to the graphs and atoms and abandoned the block colours in hindsight. We folded 40 publications and decided to pick the best 30 from this to ‘publish’ as a numbered edition for submission and distribution to participants.

It was difficult to let the accuracy of the final publication slip but it was a necessary casualty of the module. During this project we have front-loaded a lot of the organization, workload and ‘exhibition’. As the project comes to an end its easy to forget the volume of research and work that has already gone into the project. However, because I am a perfectionist, I was a bit disappointed that we were not able to create a totally accurate representation. Having said that the qualities of the Risograph print are a total redeemer in terms of exploration of a new process and the haptic qualities of the final publication. I think I would have felt more confident if we had explored Risograph printing more thoroughly. Certainly we could have made it a lot easier for ourselves in the printing stages of the work. In our complicated design, we created too many variables, each with the potential to go wrong and affect the next. That’s not to say that we have not achieved a great deal with this project, certainly in terms of developing our understanding of our own process through collaboration. When else would you have to opportunity to actively try something totally out of your comfort zone and skill base.

Making

Cutting part 1. 

 

Cutting part 2.

 

Folding Part 1.

 

Folding Part 2. 

 

Edition of 30 publiations.

Leah Stewart

Leah Stewart uses Risographs as part of an exploration of natural studies, including monoprints and etching. Her prints are a visual delight of mark making and colour.

 Vessels

3 Colour Risograph

2013

Created as part of the Yuck Printhouse pop up show at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre. Printed by Hato Press

Heath

Risograph print of the meadow in the Ladies Pond, Hampstead Heath.

3 Colour Risograph 

2013 

For more of her inspirational work go to www.leahstewart.co.uk or the Hato Press

Risograph pt.2

 Alice Bowsher - Curious

Emily Rand - Cities

Jack Taylor print

Emily Rand - Trees

All books and prints available at through Hato Press

Risograph pt.1

Great Risograph printing information available at: riso.deconstructed.org.uk

Reflections 24.03.16

So today was our printing deadline day! We had previously selected the paper, the layout, confirmed the designs, made any necessary alterations and separated the colours on to separate layers for the printing. As none of us had used the Risograph, besides practicing and an induction with Mike, we were pretty green. I also realized that I had not separated the colours into different files, only on the same file, which required a bit more shuffling around to get fully right. (My Illustrator skills are not what they once were, although they are passable, I could do with developing them more thoroughly.)

We had planned to work on a 4 colour double-sided print. 8 passes through the Riso. Red, Blue, Yellow and Green – the colours we used in the experiment. The blue drum was out of commission, so we had to make an off the cuff alteration to purple. After our 2^nd pass through, we noticed some miss registration and alignment between the two colours and the third colour. We did not realize that we could change the feed speed on the Riso, to minimize the movement of the paper through the feed. After 30mins of millimeter corrections to no avail we abandoned our registration. In hindsight we should have considered the properties of the Risograph more thoroughly for the task we were trying to achieve. Although the process is perfect for batch production, the nature of the print does not lend itself to a design that requires precision and accuracy. If we had reduced our colours to two and altered the speed from the beginning we would have reduced the misalignment issue.

When we started printing with the purple drum, we realized that it was so dark that we were loosing some of our info graphics in particular sections. We made a group decision to remove some of the block colour sections to keep the readability of the information. Again, if we had had a better knowledge of the Risograph process, I think we would have taken all the block colour areas out of the design. Heavy block colour areas tend to smudge more easily as they pass through the machine. The roller also drags shadows of the colours across the surface as the paper passes through.

After making the amendments during the printing of the first side we were able to complete the reverse side with relative ease. Thankfully. Although we encountered a bit of paper slippage it did not detract from the final image. We also had not thought about drying time for the prints. We have been working to a tight schedule because of other commitments and travel etc. Realizing that we would have to factor another cutting, folding and making day into the timetable was a bit of a blow especially as we all work and travel to get into uni. However, we negotiated another day to finish the publication with relative ease. As a group we have been sympathetic to each other’s external commitments, whether it’s work, or travel, or other modules etc. This has meant that we have all been able to manage and plan the project within our own time frames. This in part has lead to the successful completion of the project.

After planning the intricate layout of the publication and the fine details of each data visualization it was disappointing to have not factored the inherent qualities of the Risograph printing into the design. More research into the technique rather than just the visual qualities would have helped. I think we should have probably thought about having a trial run as well. Although we produced a number of test sheets, which visually we very interesting, these were more as a trial for alignment than the actual process. We should have perhaps tried a range of colour combinations and worked with half tones and transparency values to minimize the colour choices and maximize the accuracy of the final print. I am certain that there is an amount of trial and error with all Risograph printing, but we could have made a design more suitable for the process to make the outcome more in keeping with the informative nature of the experiment.

Having said that we were able to produce a lovely print, with an accessible and handmade feel that made the formal nature of the graphs and information feel more visually engaging and digestible, which I consider to be a more poignant success overall.

Failures

We under estimated the number of test prints we would need.Our original 10% contingency was insufficient. However, after struggling with alignment and 3rd year assistance, we were able to make it. The test prints show our adjustments including colour choice, alignment and block colour. If we were to use a Risograph again I think we would feel more confident choosing less colours. We were trying to get an accurate print, which a Risograph is not designed for. It was more succesful on some than others and gives the final publications a nice hand made unique quality.

Risograph printing

4 coloured drums - 40 finished prints - 18 testers - 6 ink covered mits

Mock up trials

 

 

 

 

Erika has worked up one side of the publication and constructed a mock up to make sure each atomic graph lines up correctly. Erika has worked tirelessly to format this design. I have added the final poster to the reverse side.

 

 

Reflection 16.03.16

We are in the final stages of the project. After 8 weeks of hard work the end is in sight. We are currently working towards completing the final designs for the content of the folding poster and large format poster and plan to print using the Risograph next week.

Although I am pleased with the progress we have made as a group and out data collection methods I am disappointed in the reception of my initial poster design. In reflection the comments made were perhaps correct, but not delivered in a way that was sympathetic to time invested and my involvement with the rest of the project. That said, I have been able to rework the poster and think outside of the direct representation of the movement into something more abstract. There is a part of me that feels as if I have sold my soul in this project. There is nothing of my own skill set in this, only perhaps some organisational skills. I don’t know what that means or where it leaves me in terms of the development and critical engagement within my own practice, apart from at a loss. I am not disputing that I have learnt a lot about myself that is relevant in terms of group work, organisation, curating, editing, researching, problem solving, but not in terms of my own practice. I thought that distancing myself from my own ‘style’ of work would allow me to develop a new perspective on process and practice but it has made me feel lost.

If painting is what I do, is painting all I can do? I am not sure I can answer that question: not sure I can and not sure I want to. I need to continue to push through to the end of this project and think more about my own practice, what I want it to be, where it can go, and how I can move forward without being static. I read ‘Ways of Seeing’ by John Berger. He talks about painting in a way that is historical and contextual but also accessible. It made me think that painting for me is about the brush, the paint, and the marks. Although that might not be directly evident from my work. There is something more in the act of painting that become meditative for me, transcendental, peaceful. Something creative happens in that space, creative thoughts but separate and alien from the physical act of painting. Painting allows the active synthesis of ideas into the new. It is a space of total peace. So how do I bring the creative process directly, actively and purposefully into the physical process? Perhaps that is my challenge? But I am not sure I am prepared to relinquish my love of the physical act of painting, perhaps it can only exists in that place for me and that is why I am so reluctant to move it anywhere else.

Meeting 15.03.16

Points discussed:

1.       Development of data visualizations.

We had spent the previous week working on our format, grid system and data analysis for the publication. We distributed individual tasks to develop the content. Erika had produced 3 atomic shaped graphs, Kal had produced 3 atomic shaped graphs and I had produced the grid template and a poster.

We decided that in order for the publication to feel cohesive we needed to rework some of the graphs to make the line weight, colours and typography consistent. The content for the poster also needs reworking to make it harmonise with the informational and scientific visualizations of the graphs.

 

2.       We need to research batch production to think of ways to highlight participants names, websites etc. Mike suggested Jake Tilson.

 

3.       Mike ran through the assessment for the module. 70% is a summative exhibition, 30% is documentation. Our data collection event is our exhibition. Obviously this has been and gone, so in order to cover that part of the assessment we need to properly document that through the blogs, including an edited video of the process of designing, developing and executing the experiment. I have contacted John Byrne about the evaluation process.

 

We also decided on our printing day for the publication. We will be printing the publication using the Risograph on Thursday 24^th March. We will be using a 4 colour separation and doing a double sided A3 print. The printed posters will need to be cut, numbered and folded for distribution. Our final designs and layouts will be completed by Tuesday 22^nd March.

Unfortunately Kal could not make it to the tutorial as she has prior commitments for her Research Practice 2 module. We arranged to feedback information from the tutorial to Kal.

More experimental visualizations

movement trails

After recieving a mixed reception with the first movement visualizations I moved away from the footprints as a key and started looking at simple paths from each individual participant. Mapping the movement through the space rather than individual movements for each sound. Although this would have created a nice overall movement map I think that individual pathways would be lost in the overlay of all trails. It also does not represent the subtle difference in each participants approach to the experiment, their individual movements and reactions to the sounds. This trail approach is too literal for the final data visualization.
 

Visualization pt3.

Planning individual participants movements based on both pleasant and unpleasant experiments.

First draft layout for 25 participants mapped movements. Including colour choice, gender, pleasant and unpleasant movements, specific sound choice, department and age group.

Visualization pt2.

Footprint movement mapping participant 1 & 2. Including gender, colour choice, movement, pleasant and unpleasant sounds.

Planning directional movement and atomic structures.

Footprint movement mapping exploration of opacities, directional lines and pattern.

Visualizations pt1.

 Floral Participant colour and sound visualization.

Atom colour and sound visualization.

 

 Participant 1 movement visualization exp.1 and 2.

Including colour, gender, pleasant and unpleasant sounds.

Footprint experimentation, colour choice, gender (rectangle for male, oval for female. This started as squares and cirlces but become elongated to give a sense of direction of movement.) Pleasant and unpleasant sounds differentiation through vertical and horizontal division.

Folding experiments

Oyster Fold

Envelope Fold

Square Double Gate Fold

Rectangle Double Gate Fold

 

Thank you!

25 participants later...

Those of you who took part (and you know who you are) thanks so much!

It wouldn't have been possible to create anything without you all.

Reflection 07.03.16

Today we had to present our progress to date to the rest of the group. We were able to clearly explain the hypothesis for the project, the organisation, design and development of the experiment, the data collection event, the data analysis and the start of the visualisation of the outcome. We met prior to the presentation to finalize the layout of the final folded poster and assign tasks for the visualisations. All in all we were able to present a fully rounded and almost complete project. The most interesting revelation of the day, for me, what seeing the way that the other groups worked collaboratively. Although there are 5 groups, only 4 attended, 3 of which did not have all there members. In fact our group was the only group will all members present. I realised that having a smaller number of group members had clearly made a difference in the progress and development of our project. Certainly organising larger numbers proves much more challenging and requires a strong leadership or ‘Art Director’ role. Luckily, our group has three organised and pro-active members. We have been able to organise an efficient and effective timetable, design an interesting hypothesis and experiment based on mutual interest within the group. But also, more importantly, are in the process of building a visualisation that builds on individual member’s subject specific skills. I think this is really the root of our success as a group.

There are more fundamental developments happening here too, which are not overtly evident. In being able to assign tasks, we are all reflecting on our own skill set, being challenged in our preconceptions of the skill sets and subject areas of others and being forced to combine skills which we may have considered to be singular. It may sound bizarre for visual creative people to think of their process as an island but I know that I certainly held painting in an isolated place, unlinked with the creativity of illustration practice, purely a visualisation process, static and unchanging. What this collaborative module has made me realise it that my creative process is not immovably linked with painting. That’s not to say that painting won’t always be part of my process, but the way in which it is connected is open for discussion, debate and change.

I wanted to look more closely at why our group works so well together. Tuckman (1965) theory of group development suggests, groups usually pass through several stages of development as they change from a newly formed group into an effective team. (See table below.)

http://nobaproject.com/modules/the-psychology-of-groups

Using Tuckman’s stages as a reference point I think it is evident that our group moved through the forming stage very quickly. In fact we had completed the forming stage after the sand pit event at the Bluecoat. In the storming stage where initial conflicts to ascertain a group hierarchy, did not really happen either. Although we had disagreements within the group about the finer points of the process of data collection, we were able to overcome them quickly with discussion. Actually the tight time frame for the project forced us to make decisions immediately. For us, the norming stage has been ongoing throughout the project. I think that is because not only are we members of a group in terms of the collaborative module but we are also members of other overlapping groups. So we are all studying an MA at LJMU, also Erika and I are both studying Graphic Design and Illustration. The overlapping of these groups is part of the reason we moved quickly through stages 1 and 2. Our social relationships will continue to develop throughout the rest of the course. Especially because our ultimate goal as individuals is the same. ‘We want to complete the course successfully.’ We are currently in the ‘performing’ stage and are actively focusing our energies on completing the publication. Once that has been printing, we will move to the ‘adjourning’ stage, which will include distributing the publication and evaluating the overall success of the project.

Some of the other groups feel as if they have stalled in their ‘storming and norming’ stages. Some groups have sub groups within them, where members from the same discipline have come together to form core group members. Some of the other groups have not developed a hierarchy within their group so decision making is a lengthy and tiresome process. Unfortunately a lot of decision making is needed in the development and design of content for the publications. Some of this difficulty is due to group numbers too. I certainly had not realised the importance not only of group members but also group size, the combination of both of these criteria has allowed us to form a cohesive and productive group.

Illustrator Poster fold layout

This is a template explaining the folds and page configuration and pagination for the poster design. Each colour represents a different page, including the proposed information for each page. 

Note: The two white triangles are blank space, only visable when fully open - perhaps for a secret message. 

Meeting 08.02

We met prior to the group discussion to talk about the presentation and make some amendments. We started to manipulate and play with the folded prototypes, planning pagination, shapes and format. We were able to build on Kal’s previously suggested idea of using an atom as the basis for the formatting. After looking closely at the folded poster we were able to break the poster down into a simple grid system to use as individual ‘pages/surfaces’ for information. The fold system created some interesting crops and shapes that we were able to exploit as part of the design on the content.

 



Post-it notes:
Some initial ideas about potential circular layout designs.

Pages 1 & 2 designs:  The blue and green represent the separation between pleasent and unpleasent sounds. This will include information about colour choices, gender and department. (KAL) Opens out to reveal Page 3 design: Again the blue and the green represent the separation between pleasent and unpleasent sounds. The central circle will be sound, the other two will show visualizations about ethnicity and age. (ERIKA) This opens out to reveal design 4: This will be a data visualization mapping the movement and colour. This will include names of participants and possibly the photographs. (AMY)

We have designated tasks for the next two weeks:

           

KAL – circular visualizations of colour, department and gender.

ERIKA – circular visualizations of sound, age and ethnicity.

AMY – poster design mapping movement.

We will meet on the 15/03/16 to check progress and start bringing the visuals together.

Other tasks to be completed over the next two weeks:

KAL – bead necklace visualizations, hard copy for publication.

AMY – animation, typing meeting notes, plan for submission, layout plan.

ERIKA – video editing.

Footprint separations.

Still from recording: participant 3.

Separating individual footprints.

Separated rearranged footprints.

Publication folding experimentation.