Monday 17 January 2011

Unit 10_3

The proposed projects described in this submission merged some commissioned work as well as the original proposal to produce an online archive of 35mm slides, subsequently called the 'Museum of Modern Life'.

In terms of organisation this submission was excellent. It is important to note that the author took the decision to produce the piece as a book. This made perfect sense in this case as most of the imagery that was being used was stored digitally and the intention was for it to exist on screen as mediated imagery. It also meant that the submission could be formatted/designed allowing the viewer to easily navigate across the page and through the document as a whole. However it is NOT a requirement to make your submission as a book. What is being illustrated here are the principles that underpin an excellent submission.



apologies for the quality of the image. This is the cover page [including name - 'no brainer' I know but you would be surprised - please make sure that you include your name on your submission]. The submission already has an identity and through the course of the document the history and rationale for the choice of font/colour and overall look of the work is made clear. Whilst these are essentially graphic design concerns it is important that all aspects of your submission are considered, that you think about legibility. Good work can be dragged down by poor/lazy presentation so make sure that you consider how you label your work and consider applying a consistent' look'.




What is clearly identified above are types of activity that are broken in to chapters for instance the contextual research that constitutes the first chapter describes the rationale for the project development and the relationship with Unit 9.

The second 'chapter' is Archival research, relating very specifically to the project and its intention.

The third visual research - for this project as mentioned before the research was essentially found imagery that would be applied in to a format - but for the majority of you the visual research will constitute primary and secondary sources. In other words drawings/images that you have produced as well as imagery that you have found - drawn inspiration from.

The fourth section deals with website construction, including a substantial amount of technical research. Again very particular to the project but all of you will be engaged in some kind of process that enables you to produce work - it is worth taking some time to digest and explain what affect this had had on your working process, what you have learned/discovered etc.

The fifth and final section deals with branding and identity design - again this was essential for this kind of project - rather that run away and think that you have to do the same think about what aspects of your work you can clearly define, what you want to achieve by the end of the year in terms of profile - for instance if you are in the process of building a web site what kind of visual identity will you give it that helps to carry forward a sense of what your work is about. Everybody constructs a visual identity whether they are Illustrators or Graphic Designers, what is critical is that you are in control of that process and [allowing for serendipity and moments of intuitive genius] you make informed and intelligent decisions about what you are doing.

This makes the document very easy to navigate - it is very straightforward identifying the different aspects of the process. Whilst all of your submissions are going to look very different it is important to be aware of the level of clarity that your body of work should achieve.

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