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Postbook
Handmade edition of notebooks, made entirely from upcycled envelopes, each notebook is entirely unique due to the nature of the production materials. Playful, intriguing and full of a variety of paper and texture for any purpose.
Originating from a practical difficulty of funding the making of twelve notebooks out of new materials and high quality printing, I devised the notion of creating a well crafted notebook from upcycled and found paper. Intrigued by notebooks that included ruled, square or grid paper I recalled my collection of interesting envelopes with printed security grids and patterns which are often left forgotten when the letter is opened.
Largely design decisions stemmed from conversations with others and working with the materials I collected, for instance size was determined by the envelope dimensions. Thickness came from experiments, the softness of envelope paper caused the need for a substantial feel of notebook and binding was devised through trial and error, coptic binding between each envelope gives a less hectic arrangement of pages.
This series of notebooks could extend to include some made from both other sizes of envelopes, I began a trial of DL sized ones, but also other sources of interesting papers.
I owe many thanks to Sam, the CSM security man who gave huge quantities of old envelopes, plus friends in office work who collected for me.
Research - features
Research -
Research - notebook styles and bindings
Experimentation and Production
During my project, Phil Baines showed me this example of an Artist’s book consisting of envelopes he has been sent, similar materials but this was a bit self indulgent in my opinion. Whereas I was using the materials on a practical basis, to be written and drawn on, this book was more a preservation of one man’s post. hmm…
Prototypes and making
Packaging
Final Postbooks
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The Colour of White
My intention for this project was to observe and experiment on the idea of white as a colour within itself. I aimed to reflect that white has qualities which we forget and often only associate with other colours.
‘Any colour is a degree of darkness away from white’ - Goethe
'White must be the lightest colour in a picture, here we have a sort of mathematics of colour’ - Wittgenstein
Research
Initially drawn to studying white having come across Tauba Auerbach’s work with subtle but powerful use of colour. Before reading a description of these pieces, I saw them as being projections of colour onto a white surface and the texture creating these shades.
Shades of white
Robert Ryman - Artist known for his white paintings, using textural quality of the paint to express the nuances of the medium.
'White has a tendency to make things visible’
Rauschenberg - White Paintings, said to react to atmosphere such as light and the number of people in a gallery.
Experimentation
Comparison of whites with scanned paper and materials.
Photographed physical comparisons of white papers having ordered the shades myself.
Application Research
From these observations I found the degree of which white varies considerable, this prompted me to think of how this could be visualised.
Application iteration 1 - Attempt to visualise the earlier comparisons I’d done
Finding white within colour
Simultaneously to thinking about white against itself, I tried a bit of a wild experiment to see how subtraction of colour to make white could work. With varies colours of paper I used bleach to discover what would happen.
Josef Albers
Having looked at a huge range of resources I felt my project lacked restrictions which left me without a point of reference.
Therefore I tried to take a fresh approach, first by considering Josef Albers Interactions of Colour, which was inspiring on how to consider colours against one another and the reflexes that happen.
Bruno Munari
A conversation led me to Bruno Munari’s book 'Little White Riding Hood’, a very playful and amusing piece of work which seems almost ironic in it’s approach to the colour white, engaging the reader to imagine the scenes through language yet visual hindering this with the notion of being covered in snow - a blank page. Inviting each reader to create their own imagery, resulting in numerous interpretations.
Reflecting on this caused me to refocus on the concept that white is considered a neutral situation, a blank space in which to fill with something else. Like Bruno Munari, and from my interrogation of the colour, white seems far richer than even I thought before and should be given a presence, whether that be through a small indication that leaves the viewer to interact personally and interpret white.
What I find so attractive in Bruno Munari’s book is the way he has pushes the reader to formulate their own imagery and imagine white. I want to take the idea that white means absence and emptiness and interrogating this by presenting white with a purpose, a presence and an identity for itself.
Latest
As an outcome for this investigation I have compiled 2 books, identical in format and words yet the content differs. Both ask the reader to contemplate several examples of white, each of which is accompanied by what can be considered a name or description I have determined from my research of what white is associated with, both in abstract ideas of empty, clean, fresh with concrete ideas of things which are the colour.
Book 1
Each spread presents the viewer with two indications of shades of white, accompanied by a description, the question being how they are perceived, does the reader see the whites on the spread to be identical or differing slightly? In reality each spread holds two examples of the same shade and texture, but I do wonder if the reader didn’t know this whether they notice?
Book 2
Consists again of the reader being presented by an example of white with a description, in this instance the white is identical throughout the book and once more the question is whether the reader perceive each white to be the same or varying from the others.
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Window Display - Live Brief
Competition entry to design window displays for a German department store based on the theme ‘feel London’. Working with fellow students Satara Achille and Henrike Dreier, we took a step away from traditional tourist imagery of the capital to create an innovative approach.
'The Life of the Londoner’ is a window into the aspirational lifestyle of London.
Through providing an insight into moments and scenes, the customer is able to identify themselves as a Londoner through the experiences and products. Use of cut out and frosted glass to inhibit view creates a sense of curiosity, with playful product placement and atmospheric moving image encouraging the audience to imagine themselves as a Londoner.
Our designs use a variety of set design; carefully arranging objects to construct the invisible Londoner, with 3D lettering and moving image and London styled window illustrations.
Window display - Set Design
Products arranged to create the illusion of an invisible 'Londoner’ character with three dimensional type hung within the space as well. We physically arranged and photographed over half the images below. We imagined the scenes being fuller and more bustling but having this iconic character as a centre point.
Research - mood of London, window variations
Window styles
Designs inspired by the windows of London.
Application
Using frosted glass to inspire curiosity and intrigue.
Moving Image - click below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR8mDcTNp4g&feature=youtu.be
Moving Image - Window Application
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Luxurious Craft - Live Brief
Competition set by Richemont group asking students to create work in response to ‘What does luxury mean to you?’. Considering the power of craftsmanship in the various design sectors Richemont own including watchmaking, jewellery and leather ware I worked on a series of designs which referenced the skills and production methods for each area.
Research and Experimentation
Designs
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Measuring Time - Perpetual Calendar
Initially I focused on researching the bizarre notion of time passing and how a calendar could project a particular attitude to this, but I simply became very lost and stilted with how to move forward.Therefore I took a new approach, my idea for this project was then to use a calendar as a way to visually map progression through the year, month and week simultaneously, each to be shown as the same distance with different divisions, visualising a variety of time scales.
Inspired by the perpetual calendar design, my calendar enables the user to mark the date with three rulers. Each ruler can be used as an instrument of measuring, one side is engraved with objective measurements; centimeters/millimeters, one is a scale ruler with 1:100 and 1:500, and a typographic ruler with inches/pica. On the reverse of each, a more abstract idea of time measurement is indicated relating to the three distances of time; how different seasons seem to last longer than others, the lunar cycle, and how 60 minutes can see to sweep past or stretch on within the same day.
Research
Concept
Experimentation and Construction
Many thanks is owed to Georg Foster and the technician Billy for their help with production.
Prototype
In progress - before oiling
Final Calendar
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Byrd Airlines - Final Work
As a way forward we merged the two routes into a visual system of elements using both the linear graphic and the origami bird. From different perspectives we formulated a series of birds in the same style which could be used as a whole or broken up into the shapes as a system of identity.
Screenshots of route and bird development
Main logo bird
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The British Library - Final Work
What intrigued me most about the British Library designed by Colin St John Wilson was the central structure of The King’s Library around which the central concourse is designed around goes largely unnoticed within the space despite being a great glass tower.
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Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Pavilion - Final Work
My transformation of Louis De Bernieres novel into a building related strongly to a contrast between the grids and structures found within the physical object of the book in terms of page layout and break down into chapters with the literary content and plot of the story which is both violent and loving, very unpredictable and largely varying whilst dealing with themes of loss and destruction.
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Typography - Final Book
Final letterpress bees book, it has been a long process but I am pleased with the result. The quality accomplished by letterpress is impressive, and I found the way sometimes I ran out of certain lower case letters and so had to improvise with upper case gave a charming effect. The end covers were designed to look like a honeycomb pattern created from the letter b,e,e and s.
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Typography - Final Posters
Having revisited my three large format typography posters I have developed them with more confidence.