Big Data
Research Task
- Analyse a piece of information design and consider its effectiveness at presenting complex data in way which is easy to digest.
- Consider clarity, communication, structure and form. Be precise and write a critical outline of this piece of work.
Big Data
I found this...extremely powerful and emotive way to present the cost of human life in the current Gaza war. It reminded me of the Danube Bank Memorial in ??? showing shoes representing all the jews that lost their lives during the ???
References
Facing History & Ourselves (2016), Shoes on the Danube Bank Memorial. Available at https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/shoes-danube-bank-memorial-0#:~:text=Sixty%20pairs%20of%20shoes%20mark,river%20in%201944%20and%201945. [Accessed 8th February 2024].
BBC (2024), Children's clothes laid on beach in Gaza war protest. BBC News, 6th February. Online Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4qe491pj7o [Accessed 8th February 2024].
Brief 1 - Concept & Development:
Type Lingo Bingo
Over the last year I have been working with the local museum to update their logo and signage. On doing the research task in week 1, looking at historical and contemporary type I remembered a ghost signs walking tour I had done some years ago organised and lead by ghostsigns expert, Sam Roberts around Stoke Newington. You can access the tour via the Ghostsigns website and either walk it yourself with the downloadable plan or virtually via google maps, as all signs on the tour are geo-located (ghostsigns, 2024). This got me thinking about the letterforms collected and how they tell a story of Emsworth's history and type. The museum already do walking tours but not on this subject.
I then remembered a Type Tasting workshop I attended with type expert, Sarah Hyndman and how she has made the subject of type and fonts accessible for all through type experiments and games. Adding a fun element would engage a younger audience, which the museum is lacking.
After looking at pressing issues in research task 2 and reading about the library being in danger again, I wondered if the two ideas could be combined in a collaboration with the library. The walking tour could have additional elements like a workshop run alongside, aimed at children and young people, which could be held at the library. The local library provides workshops for children and have the space to do so, unlike the museum where space is limited.
So, the concept is a walking tour where the map would be available from the museum. So, it appeals to a younger audience I came up with the name, Type Lingo Bingo and users can check off the letters as they find them, learning a little about each letterform and its location...BINGO! until they have a full house! Users can explore the town centre while playing this game of observation.
Another twist...could the map be sponsored by local businesses, as they could benefit from exposure?
Workshop Concept: Type colouring sheets for younger children where they add colour and texture to the letterforms found on their walk, adding a future spin. Type specimen sheets for older children to reference and create their own future letterform. There could be a communal wall of letters if participants didn't wish to keep all their letters.
With our constant bombardment with advertising in both digital and analogue form, the younger generation have grown up with a huge variety of fonts and are quite akin with the language they carry. Therefore, I have added sections to the map explaining how the letters are created which in turn gives them their distinct characteristics e.g. stone engraving and sign painting.
The first layout above didn't allow much room for text content, so I explored other options through my folded samples and how each section would be viewed and in what order upon opening. I chose to work with A3 to maximise space and legibility but not compromise on size, so it still fits easily in a coat pocket. The colour scheme uses blue from the museum's identity, in addition, to black connecting to the past and pink representing the future while also being fun and giving visual impact. Below is a A4 prototype.
Colouring sheet development: Some of the letterforms were very dark and difficult to isolate an outline, so I decided to trace these by hand and then scan before touching up in Adobe Photoshop and vectorising in Adobe Illustrator. I could have just drawn them as vectors first off but where is the fun in that? The colouring sheets enable the user to add adornments, shadows, outlines, as well as colour. By isolating the mosaic tiles allows for the colour scheme to be manipulated rather than the internal tiles being just black.
The scope here is broad and could include a digital version of the tour and there could be letter postcards available in the museums shop, as well as the workshops being extended beyond the type highlighted through the walk and become a series, whereby books, films, music could be explored too? The community centre where the library is home, shows films and holds music gigs too and again this could be more themes for type workshops. The community centre also offers art classes, which again attracts an older audience, perhaps these could attract a broader age range and have young and old engaging more. It has worked with the introduction of table tennis, which brings a great sense of community. The community centre are holding a 'young people's day', which has been extensively advertised in an attempt to draw in more young people.
Best get on and write the content rather than just playing with letters and rambling!
References
Ghostsigns (2024), Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk. Available at https://ghostsigns.co.uk/tours/stoke-newington-ghostsigns-walk/ [Accessed 5th February 2024].
House Industries (2013), House Industries: 100 Postcards. Chronicle, London.
Type Lingo Bingo
Studio PDF
