Context of Practice End of Module Evaluation

Similarly to last year, I was very apprehensive about COP as a module as I struggle with writing. To make sure I did not leave the essay till last minute I made sure to start straight away and had weekly sessions with my DSA tutor. These sessions have been really helpful, giving me the much-needed confidence in my own writing. They have made the thought of a 3000 word essay less daunting, due to the weekly workload set, allowing my essay to slowly but surely come together over a long period of time.

At the beginning of the year I was really unsure about what type of subject I wanted to look into, I worried I would make the wrong decisions on a essay question and loose interest/momentum with it.

Though I was not set on the question I chose to research into homelessness, luckily I was aware of a project-taking place at ST George’s crypt (a homeless shelter) so I decided to take part, which allowed me to visit the crypt every Wednesday. This was a great opportunity for me to gain primary research into my subject. Though having to be involved in a separate project was very time-consuming and sometimes irrelevant to my COP study, the opportunity to experience the environment of the crypt and interact with the people made me more passionate about my project, which I feel has really helped the development of my essay and practical work.

it has definitely opened my eyes and changed my opinions towards stereotyping homeless people, and how easy it can be for any of us to end up in such a desperate situation.

 At times I found this project quite challenging and intrusive when interviewing the users of the crypt.

my initial idea was to create 8 illustrations of 8 different homeless people i interviewed at the crypt, however after talking to tutors and thinking realistically, i decided to focus on one person. i felt that if i tried to illustrated 8 peoples stories the concept would not be as focused  and the final resolutions may not create a strong enough individual connection to someone’s personal life and therefore my piece wouldn't be as empathetic. i found by focusing on the one person, i was able to really explore them as a person, which made it easier for me to try and illustrate there life with sensitivity and justice. 

 To adhere to the brief, i had to then think about how to visually communicate the persons (Tony's) in the format of an 8-12 publication. However after discussing with Eleanor she reassured me that the work I was creating and then laying up into the one portrait collage image substitutes for the amount of work asked for from 8-12 publications.

I have definitely learnt the importance of primary research in this project, i feel the work I have produced from the case studies have much more of a personal, sensitive aspect to them due to my aspiration to communicate the person/people I met and do them justice in what I create.

I feel I have began to envisage my work with context and publication in mind in this module, thinking about where the illustrations would go and how and it would be seen as this is something I have had to be aware of in other modules. I think this has helped me develop and push my ideas further, such as considering how the audience will interact and understand my idea by experimenting with creating a jigsaw from the collage illustration.

To communicate the homeless persons life journey in images I decided to use a collage method, layering up individual illustrations on Photoshop creating one image of he’s story. This allowed me to really focus on one image at a time adding the pencil details I wanted to produce intricate pieces, helping connote my concept and the sensitivity of someone’s individual life.

 Though I have primarily created my piece by hand, I have had to tackle working with Photoshop to collage the illustrations together, which has been challenging. However I feel this is something I needed to do to improve my skills as I believe digitally editing can really increase the professionalism of someone’s work.

When drawing the portrait of Tony (homeless man) I started off with the multiple fine liner drawing which I have been developing in previous projects I thought this would be a ideal technique to illustrate and strengthen my concept as the multiple lines looked like the grains of a tree, a visual metaphor for the many different journeys in life.  However I found this made the portrait to bold, so I decided to draw in pencil as I felt this gave the more gentle effect I was after.

With the jigsaw idea, I have had to consider text to replicate instructions given in a commercial puzzle, I wanting to make the context of the jigsaw as realistic and professional as possible so research a variety of game instructions for inspiration of layout. When experimenting with font and layout in previous projects, I have found this very difficult to get right, as can alter the whole tone of a publication, after testing myself; I ask my flat-mate (graphic design student) for advice. He helped me with the composition and font of the instructions pages improving the continuity of the tone of voice, creating a strong recognition.

After spending a long time on the development and refining my illustrations, I feel the printing and presenting of my work could be better. I need to spend more time thinking about what paper and what size paper to print on, as I feel this has slightly lessened the impact of the illustration/s from not experimenting with this.

Basing my illustration around the information and interview material I used in the essay I feel my practical work represents my theory well. Because I decided on an idea early on, I found it more straightforward and clearer to link the two together as I was working on both at the same time.

Finals

Single image Practical resolution to COP module.

Jigsaw Practical resolution to Cop Module

Final Version of COP ESSAY

Puzzle game instruction research and designs

• keeping the colour scheme continuous and in conjunction with the grey colours i have used in the illustrations. 
• using terminology used in the game/puzzle examples above to create a strong and believable puzzle replica but to also illustrate my concept.  i.e Special addition - symbolising how he is 'special' an individual - should not be grouped and judged in a stereotype. 
• as well as the muted colours, i have used a simple layout to maintain a sophisticated, sensitve tone. 

above are my first attempt at creating the text inserts for the jigsaw pack. i feel the font i chose it quite contemporary and direct which is in keeping with the sincere and straight talking topic.  however iam struggling with the layout of the writing, especially on the first page, i feel the font does not look right on a large scale- to bare and happy, and the placement of the title add ons (special edition etc) are not correct. 

i decided to ask my flatmate Liam who is studying graphic design for advise. he mocked up these designs above with my required information. these designs remind me more of what you would expect from instructive text - i realised games are designed to focus on the idea (game) rather than the visual instructions, there to be easily understood so need to have a simple font and simple straightforward layout, which i feel these have. 

however i didn't particularly want the interview text to be spread across to pages, but i do agree that having the text all on is over-faced and cramp, making it less appealing to read.  to avoid printing 2 separates pages, i will make the interview text double sided to make it clear the texts follows on and is not a separate piece of text. this is something that i have noticed being done in commercial games aswell - this is probably to avoid unnecessary extra printing and save on costs. 

i really like the way the title of the puzzle is present on each piece of text, maintaining a strong brand identity. i also like the line that differentiate the instructive text and the title, i feel this guides the eye and makes it simpler to understand. 

experimenting with the best way to create jigsaw tiles.

though this idea gives a strong likeness too jigsaw pieces you would find in a game, because i am using card to print my jigsaw piece on and cutting them out by hand they will be very tricky to cut out. - i tried its not easy! because of the difficulty cutting them out exact, they did not fit together perfectly as a jigsaw which made it look messy and unprofessional. 

below i have tested out using straight line cut outs. this was far more straight forward and when placing the tiles together you can easily work out the illustrations they make up unlike the tiles above. 

thinking about my design in context of a jigsaw

doing this  idea to the commercial standard of a jigsaw-  the jigsaw would have to be printed onto a material thick enough to avoid blending easily, after talking to Eleanor she suggested creating a wood block jigsaw, developing on the concept i touched on in previous development work about how grains of the wood could symbolise the many paths and journeys in a persons life.

 however due to the materials, the processes and the time i have left to produce this, i intent to just create a prototype, printing the jigsaw and the pieces on fairly thick paper to represent the wood.

Below i have experimented putting my designs and adding the jigsaw pieces to pieces of wood or hard board to show how it would be commercially made.

thinking about single image resolution

since the crit on Friday, i have changed the composition of my illustration and added detailed arms to the man, below i have played around with adding the interview of tony to the background of the portrait as suggested by Eleanor to give the piece are stronger and clearer concept. 

Eleanor suggested adding the text by hand to add to the handmade, personal feel of the piece. 

before experimenting with this, i was wary that adding more detail (text) to the piece would overcrowd it and possibly take the attention away from he's illustrated story in the t-shirt.

after adding it, i can see eleanors point for adding the text as it does make it feel compete- showing he's whole story through image and text, although i still think i need to play around with the layout. i have played around with the opacity of the text to try and make it less invasive on the focal point of the piece (the illustrated story and he's portrait. 

if i keep the text, i have also played around with removing the outline of the t-shirt as the text does this anyways. 

linking theory to practical

linking theory and practice - the idea of creating a puzzle for my practice response is to communicate how everyones life is a continuous puzzle, but generally, through stereotyping, a homeless persons individual life/reason for being homeless tends to get forgotten or not considered. therefore my piece is to shows the humanity and emphasise how no know ones journey to homelessness is the same.

re-doing composition.

i decided to re-scan all the illustrations that sit inside the t-shirt which make up Tonys journey so try and solve the pixelated problem.

making the decision to print my design of at a smaller scale to replicate a jigsaw that would be sold commercially, i have build up the t-shirt composition again onto a photoshop page that is a3 size instead of A2, this way the board (background illustration of the portrait and outline of t-shirt) could fit into the jigsaw box swell.
thankfully, when adding the illustrations to the t-shirt they have not pixelated and you can see the precise detail i have added to each one. hooray!
though it was frustrating and time consuming to re-make my whole composition, i am glad i have as i think it is a stronger layout.

i have added detail to Tonys arms as i felt they looked to empty and odd seen as though i have made the rest of he's body (face and neck) very detailed. 

Also, to avoid a obvious change within the t-shirt illustration where there is no map in the background, i have subtly taken a similar light grey colour and filled in the rest of the background of the t-shirt. 

Another thing i noticed more when printing my illustration was that it looked bizarre that Tonys head was not in the centre of the page, however this was unavoidable as it would mean the t-shirt would not be in the centre. To overcome this on my re-made illustration, i have slightly altered the alignment/angle of it, tuning it slightly right so both the head and the shirt are central. 

Final Crit

presenting the jigsaw

to add context to my idea, i want to present the jigsaw puzzle as you would usually find a jigsaw puzzle (in a box)

i think using an old graze box and re-branding/designing the box will be a way forward for me as i think the size and format it exactly what i want. on the inside lid i plan to add the case study interview by tony for the person to read as a instruction for building up the jigsaw journey of he's life. 

 creating the net of the gaze box on my own card

i was in two minds weather to go with black or white card. i decided to chose black as it was in keeping with the sincerity and respectfulness of the piece, i also thought this would be a better colour as it will look more professional as it is less likely to get marked or appeal grubby.
though it was very useful having the graze box net to work from, the taps and format of the of the net were very tricky to cut out, however, minus a few mistakes, i am happy with the result of the box and feel it will hold the jigsaw well. 

Problems with printing

as i knew the digital print room would be fully booked after easter i made an appointment before easter a couple of days before our final crit, making sure i would have my would to show on the day.
though i was ready to print my designs, i had not considered what size resolution would be appropriate for the idea of a jigsaw. i printing out at a3 as i thought this would be more striking and appear like a final piece but thinking about it now, i feel my concept would be much stronger on a smaller scale - would be able to sit in a box to appear like a jigsaw you would find commercially.

problems i encountered when printing.

• i added both the full illustration and the jigsaw pieces of the t-shirt onto my pen drive so i could add them to the computer in the print room, when trying to open my designs, only the full illustration would open. i decided to print out 2 copies of the full illustration and then cut out the jigsaw pieces after. though this wasn't the end of the world, i found it very difficult cutting out the shapes to fit the jigsaw without a worked guideline. i feel this made the pieces and the whole final piece look rushed and not done to a high or professional standard. 
• choosing paper stock- i wanted a thicker paper to print the jigsaw pieces onto to replicate what they would be like commercially. however there wasn't a thick enough paper that i felt would stop the pieces bending or becoming misshaped. i just used the thickest paper available. annoyingly, this paper came off a roll and even when printed it was still curved and would not lay flat, making it impossible to cut out, let alone make up the jigsaw! 

instead i used the same paper stock as the portrait illustration (what the jigsaw pieces sit on) for my jigsaw pieces. this paper stock is not ideal as it is easily torn and bended but it will lay flat  which means the concept of creating a jigsaw is obvious. 

• low resolution - i realised after printing that the illustrations inside the t-shirt were really pixelated, this was really annoying and confusing as purposely drew each illustration as a big scale and scanned them in at a high resolution (600) to make sure this wouldn't happen. however a peer mentioned that this has happened to them when scanning things in at a high resolution and then shrinking them down. 

though i do not have another print session due to how booked up the print room is, i plan to develop my final piece, learn from these mistakes listed above (think about what stock to print on first, consider size and context of the pieces, resolve the pixel problems) and use the drop in print sessions to reprint. 

jigsaw publication

from discussion with Eleanor about how i would present/publicise my work, i have tried to develop/ figure out how i could create the interactive jigsaw idea we talked about - i liked this idea as i feel it will reinforce and exaggerate my concept by making the viewers interact with each piece (stage of his life), therefore will learn about Tony's life journey, instead of just seeing him as homeless and presuming the stereotypical label that comes with. 

Giff / animation?

when putting the the gradual illustrations in order and flicking through the pdf showing the illustration changing from one image to the next, it gave me the idea of creating a giff or animation of the images to emphasise the how our opinions can change of a person after spending the time to get to know there story (the time i represented with the duration of the giff/animation) but without this story, we don't see a person as a individual and can judge them with a stereotype - i.e tony as the stereotypical homeless man.

experimenting with layout to gradually tell Tony's story.

illustrating the crypt

 

gardening tools to represent Tonys gardening qualifications

i much prefer the black and white edit to this, the colours were to garish. even though my initial idea was to show the positive end to he's life journey (so far) in colour when putting all the motifs together they all work best in black and white. 

as i want to show visualise that  Tony's family were gone but he was left, my idea is to illustrate him as a 15 year old boy (the age he was when they died) within the family silhouette, however i will add the detail to his body and face unlike the rest of the family, to symbolise that he is still alive.
above i have collected images of teenage boys for as reference material for me to use to draw from. 

i will also take inspiration from this image when drawing my illustration as i won't to connote and emphasise the fact that tony was a school child when the tragedy happened. 

i have drawn the boy with pencil to keep with the design style of the main portrait illustration and the rest of the drawings i am adding inside the t-shirt.

motif for relationship breakdown

 i decided to change to the motifs of a couple arguing to represent relationship breakdown in Tonys past as i thought the card motif may symbolise gambling in some peoples minds, which is something that Tony did not do (that i know off) so i don't want to create any misconceptions. 

Motif to show the street warden that found him on the streets of leeds and took him to the crypt.

the reason i chose to draw a street warden for one of the motifs in Tony's story is because he seemed like a vital part - tony couldn't thank the crypt enough, claiming it 'saved his life' therefore by this street warden taking him to the crypt, this was a major turning point in he's life and change in his life story. 

to maintain the detailed drawing technique used on the main portrait, i decided to find separate images to use as references to draw the street warden as i couldn't find a image with a high enough resolution to capture the detail in the mans face. 

motif to represent Tonys time in prison.