OUG603 - Farm - 7 - Feedback and Reflection

I have explored a variety of typographic styles however I am finding it hard to start designing due to a lack of direction and purpose. To overcome this hurdle, I asked for feedback from a variety of people to discuss the project and inspire a direction.

Alec Dudson:

• Material Consideration - Everyday farming materials and processes should be reflected through the book. Alec suggested that I look at the work of Launch Press in order to gain inspiration into how a concept can be communicated not just through text and image, but the book as form. 

Launch Press - The Black Line

https://vimeo.com/130690464

Created by Domonique Fletcher and photographer Michael Curia. The publication explores role models

Attention to materials is clearly evidenced as the form of the book has been influenced by the context of swimming. For example, the cover is made from lycra, the material that swimwear is made from. Finer details highlight Launch Press' attention to details such as the dimensions of the book being the size and depth of an Olympic swimming pool.

Portraits have been covered in hydrochromic ink, appearing blank until light application of water reveals the photographs underneath. This then dries white again, so that the viewer can repeat the effect. “Its significance is in the repetitive nature”, Michael tells me, “it mimics the repetition of the swimmers’ rigorous training regimes”.

Forgotten spaces within the pool are highlighted by a tracing paper overlay where small windows are cut out to direct the readers attention to specific areas:

Two other portraits have been soaked in chlorine for the same amount of time each athlete has trained over one week:

The book was only published in an edition of 8 to reflect the amount of lanes in the pool.

• What's the purpose / audience? 

I wanted to ask Alec about the purpose of the publication and target audience in order to guide the project and gain more structure within the concept. 

- We agreed on bridging the gap between agriculture and design in order to build empathy from the reader to the farmer. 

- Communicate how the labour intensive work is often overlooked

- Use the publication to help them tell their story 

Create a narrative in order to help communicate this. 

- Pot luck - No matter how much preparation a farmer can make, a yield can be ruined by factors out of their control such as weather, disease, drought, etc.. 

- Rules for participation

- Despite how hard you've worked 

Real people - Real stories

Reflection 

Need to think of a narrative and identify specific themes that I want to communicate.

• Luck of the draw
• Hard work
• Endless hours

Domonique Fletcher

Spoke to Domonique Fletcher about the publication in order to gain some valuable feedback from an experienced artist book publisher.

Refinement - Agriculture is so broad it is hard to tackle the entire industry therefore Domonique suggested narrowing the concept down to a specific area of the industry.

It's up to what I want to communicate and how I can use the publication to communicate this.

Interaction - Demonstrate the effort and manual labour by forcing the user to play out the farmers role. 

Falmouth Students

I went to Falmouth University's third year graphic design department in order to discuss my project and gain valuable feedback.

• Tearing - Careless and immediate way of creating shapes such as typography. This would reflect the labour intensive and raw qualities to farming. 
• The students liked the idea of using an online format to animate the type growing in real time with the real harvest.