Reflection 01.03.16

The progress so far on this project has been good.  I hate using the word good to describe a process but at present, until the final realisations start manifesting themselves, I feel like good is the best description. They definitely show potential, but it rests on the ability for the three of us to work together to create something magical together.

After our tutorial, I worry that my projected vision of what could be produced is totally different from everyone else’s. I envisaged an intricately beautifully realised data visualization and therein lies the problem, one that I always struggle with: ‘envisaging’. In planning a potential outcome, or pinning my hopes on a specific visualisation not only am I taking away any creativity from the process of making I am also controlling and manipulating the collaboration. I am not averse to leading some aspects of the collaboration, like decision making, or organising. But in enforcing my ‘vision’ I am not valuing the creative skill set of my peers and that is (surely) the point of this module! Certainly for me, working closely with others is a way to tap into new processes and develop new understanding of different areas.

There is something else lurking in this anxiety of relinquishing the final product about a lack of understanding of my own practice. (Something raised in my FMP tutorial too!) Perhaps understanding is the wrong word here, but certainly the value, and nature of my own practice requires reflection and re-examination in order to ‘let go’ of the final product. I also need to have a belief in the ability of not just my peers, who have an outstanding and diverse set of skills, but also in myself. The extensive reading I have been doing for Research and Practice 2 is constantly sitting at the forefront of my mind and working collaboratively is really challenging the idea of the role of illustration. Perhaps this is part of what is making me question my contribution to this collaborative project, not just an anxiety about my own practice but the role of illustration within the creative world. This is truly engagement with illustration practice on a wider level than I was expecting from the MA, which is good and bad. The bad, only insomuch as, I am projecting a negative spin on it. I need to change the way I think about my own practice and embrace the freedom of illustration

Planning notes

Initial ideas about potential layout options for the poster using a central point, with the information emananting from the middle. The four divided sections are based on the pages generated by the folded poster. We are going to continue to look at other folding options to help divide the information into sections through the pacing, unveiling and pagination of the data. 

Thanks to Kal for the initial plan

Tutorial #2

A week after our experiment we had a second meeting with Mike to discuss how we had developed the planning for our publication and the strategies we had put in place for the next few weeks.

Key points raised: 

We discussed more ideas about the publication, building on our previous idea about a folding large format poster. We played around with some initial paper folding ideas, to look at configuration of information and pagination.

We need to think about a platform for all the other information. A website, or archive for participants to access the rest of the information, the videos, sound tracks and animations, also the analytical information about the experiment with links to blogs and further research. We are all going to research potential web platforms.

Mike suggested that we made one large poster, but we had already bribed the participants by saying that they would get a free copy of the publication. Although this is an added thing to consider, it forces us to think creatively about materials, processes and quality. We looked at the Risograph printer and are considering the potential of producing two variants of the poster, one high quality large format print, for submission and a series of small format Risopgraph prints for the participants. We could increase the appeal of the prints by numbering them as an edition and including a highlighted participant name. The rest of the information would be available for participants to look at online.

We split the tasks for the next week into three distinct areas based on our individual skill set:            

Data Analysis – KAL

Layout and Colour Hierarchy – ERIKA

Paper Formatting – AMY

We have given ourselves a week to complete the initial research into these areas, confirming decisions about format and layout based on the data analysis. Some of the decisions are dependent on the quality of the data from the analysis.

Other tasks:

            Video editing – ERIKA

            Animation exploration and Soundtrack editing – AMY

 Hard copy – written information about the experiment – KAL

These tasks, although important, are less pressing initially and can be worked on over the next few weeks. We need to review these tasks in the middle of March to check progress.

Data Visualization Research

We have finally completed our data collection, after three intense days. We recorded 26 participants, ranging from under 10 to 60+, did 8 interviews, collected 26 foot prints and questionnaires, used 7 tubes of acrylic, and 2 litres of poster paint, 8 basting dishes, used 840 sheets of news print, videoed 104 movie clips and listened to 260 sound clips. It has been epic.

We now need to think about how we start unpicking and analyzing the data we have collected in relation to the hypothesis set out in our initial abstract. Although scientifically analyzing the data is important, I am more interested in how we can visualize our findings in a new and creative way.

Marcin Ignac

Marcin is a data visualization artist, inspired by nature and situations in everyday life. He is interested in patterns emerging from data, bridging simplicity and complexity using the structure of biological organisms. Working with code and creative software tools he is able to develop intriguing and striking visual interpretations of matter in an attempt to promote understanding.

Tatelets



                         Developed during at Hack The Space 24h hackaton at Tate Modern the
                         projects transforms images of the artworks you have seen during your visit
                         in to a bracelet encoding the history of your visit. Each of the artworks
                         selected by you would be analized by an algorithm measuring the image
                         complexity and it's key colors palette. That data would be later used to
                         generate a pattern on the bracelet. The complexity of the image drives the
                         number of surface fractures while the key colors are applied to the resulting
                         tiles.


Crystal Infection



                       Crystal Infection is an iPad application visualizing growth of a virtual plant
                       combined with cold aesthetics of crystals. It's a continuation of my series of
                       explorations on non-photorealistic simulations of natural phenomena. Every
                       time the algorithm starts a possible growth space is defined and during each
                       iteration the plant tries to expand it's branches to fill the most space available
                       within the reach. For me the most interesting aspect of this algorithm is the
                       ability to control the unpredictable. Opposite to L-Systems that always look
                       symmetrical and synthetic this algorithm creates much more natural forms.

                        Video available here.

Digital Type Wall

 

                                      In August 2012 Variable was invited by SEA Design to collaborate
                                      on Pencil to Pixel exhibition showcasing history of typography as
                                      seen by Monotype. The result is an immersive installation
                                      composed of several generative animations showcasing different
                                      fonts. Every time the animation is run a different font is chosen
                                      creating one of 6000 possible compositions

for more information Marcin's blog can be found here.

Data collection done

The sound of taste: An interactive sonic poster

Grey London is an open, ambitious collision of almost 500 people working in London’s Hatton Garden. We are a creative company on a mission to make a different shape of work, partnering with the world’s most ambitious brands to play a meaningful role in culture.

                   To launch Schwartz's new Flavour Shots range of herb and spice blends locked in oil,
                   we wanted to break the dusty, tired, traditional category conventions and create
                   something far more innovative and engaging. What does flavour look like? How does it
                   sound? These are the questions that inspired ‘The Sound of Taste.’ Several tons of herbs
                   and spices were rigged to explode in perfect sync with a bespoke track written by MJ
                  Cole. Each explosion represented an individual piano note or chord, which when filmed in
                  super slow motion, created a surreal three-dimensional sound scape. We pushed the
                  campaign further with innovative content: Feel Flavour is an interactive poster uses touch
                  sensitive inks to turn the surface into an interactive interface, which pairs (via Bluetooth)
                  with a smartphone or tablet, enabling your device to become a mobile speaker. We
                  smashed sales targets by 25%, increased awareness and changed attitudes amongst
                  audiences not previously reached through Schwartz advertising. Our work was also      
                  recognised creatively, picking up a silver Cannes Lion.

More information available at www.digitalbuzzblog.com

Touch Board Poster: Dale Silvester

Illustration student Dale Silvester has screen printed Electric Paint to make an interactive poster. He wanted to create a multi sensory experience for the viewer with images, touch and sound. He used metallic, liquid and crackling noises loaded onto the Touch Board’s SD card to bring the illustrations to life!

Despite our budget restrictions there is something potentially interesting in the idea that the printed publication can produce its own sound though interaction.

Watch the video here.

More information available from www.bareconductive.com