Lecture - Written Communication
Anna Gerber and Britt Iverson, Visual Editions: Part Revolution, Part Reinvention, Part Making it Up Along the Way
It was really interesting seeing all of the creative ways Anna and Britt design books and digital editions. [1]
I thought there were some incredible ideas on here, particularly the Jonathan Safran Foer book with each page having holes in making it difficult but not impossible to read. It really made me think of the idea of complexity - with each page that is turned the book gets simpler to read. This compliments the idea of traditional books, with each page you get more information making it more simple to read.
I thought the ideas in this talk were brilliant and I can't wait to see what ideas they come up with next!
Nicer Tuesdays: Craig Oldham on Books
I could not have enjoyed this talk by Craig Oldham any more! I think this book is a beautiful testament to the Miners and the Strike that happened in the 1980s. Not only do I think my political view line up perfectly with Craig's (the Tories are scum) but I also come from a working class background although with nurses and soldiers rather than Miners. [2]
I thought his talk was a brilliant ode to the hard working people that were trying to create political change and the creativity and ingenuity they showed during this turbulent time. Craig talking about the women's groups that banded together to create beautiful banners and demonstrate against the oppressive government was really inspiring and has definitely made me want to research into this more. I loved the nod to the suffragettes in the colours green and purple used on the banners. This is right up my street so I can't wait to look more into this.
It has also made me think that this week I want to go in a political direction with my workshop task. I had a break from the serious government bashing I normally do with my Hamilton GIF last week but I really want this week to be about something I am really passionate about.
Workshop Challenge
This week we want you to analyse how a tone of voice is utilised by writers to emphasis a narrative and generate your own written and visual content that explores the relationship between content and form.
Please consider your choices about form, layout, typeface selection, colour approach, materials and medium, in order to effectively tell your story. Ensure all components of your writing are embedded into the overall narrative, from tone of voice through to structure and pacing.
Write the first two paragraphs (approx. 400 words) of a written article exploring the tone of voice used by one of the following themes:
A news story
A children’s story
A launch document for a new brand
A love letter
A business plan
A diary
A manifesto
A speech
Present the story by itself (typeset In-Design file, for example) with any accompanying visuals.
Develop a simple design sketch of your final design proposal that explores the relationship between your written content and design form.
Research
Charles Bukowski Glitch Book
Charles Bukowski was a prolific underground writer who used his poetry and prose to depict the depravity of urban life and the downtrodden in American society. His works do not fit to the classical range of modern literature. He is like a glitch on TV screen, when the signal goes ripped and fancy picture of happy life distorts to the reality, full of double meaning happenings. [3]
I have always loved Charles Bukowski's novels and poetry, but I think the design of this book really adds to the depth and meaning of his words. I think this is truly beautiful design that adds to the text itself. It's almost as if the words are jumping off the page and telling you what they mean and I think this is a wonderful thing. It is such a creative way of telling the story of a drunk piano playing in both the text and the design. This definitely gives me ideas for my final piece and how I could incorporate the design into the writing in a creative way.
Article
Looking at the list I am stuck between a speech and a love letter. If I was to do a speech it would be a speech at a rally against the Tory party for the way they ignore working class people and support their Eton peers. If I was going to write a love letter it would be to London (my current city) or Sheringham where my family are from.
I have decided to write a love letter to the best city in the world, London.
Further Research
Love Lettering Project
This is a community art project created by Lindsay Zier-Vogel in 2004 that asks people to write anonymous love letters to the places they live, then hide these love notes for strangers to find. [4] I think this is such a beautiful way of appreciating the place you live and helping others find the beauty in it too. it is a way of offering new perspectives and even changing some people's preconceptions of a place.
I live in London and love it so I've decided to write a love letter to London this week. I know London is a polarising city, some people love it and some people hate it. The hustle and bustle isn't for everyone and some people hate the constant noise, but not me. I've been talking to my partner a lot this week about where we plan to buy a house and we can't afford what we want in London so the prospect of leaving is real. I want to use this week to write a love letter to a city I love but wont be able to stay in forever. I might even hide it somewhere for people to find...
I almost immediately changed my mind when I started writing this letter and instead chose to focus on Sheringham where my family are from, more specifically my Nan's house. I lost my Nan a year ago this week so it's at the forefront of my mind at the minute. I loved that house and spent every summer there so I wanted to pay tribute to the memories and the four generations of my family who loved in and visited it.
400 Words - A love letter to Woodland Rise
To Woodland Rise, my Woodland Rise,
Oh, what a whirlwind our 30-year history has been. Your brown patterned carpets hint at the time that has passed with little alteration. Like a lighthouse resisting the waves of change around you, I always knew I could come home to you. And Nanny. You have been the safe place I have returned to time and time again for a warm hug, some extra buttery toast, and the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in.
My most treasured memories of you are summers spent waking up at the crack of dawn and running down to the beach with Nanny shouting behind us “you better be back before the streetlights come on!”. We would return just after our curfew with sandy feet, bellies full of ice cream and pockets lighter from all the 2ps lost at the arcade. Nanny would complain about us bringing half of the beach back with us, but you never did. You offered a home for us to recharge, talk about our day and for Heidi and Sophie to convince me, the baby of the family, that eating 100 Palma Violets would give me superpowers. Then it was you, silently protecting me, as I threw them back up; and you echoing their hushed giggles that told me they were joking. Even Nanny laughed at that.
You have seen a lot since your guardianship of my family began. Four generations of Colemans have laughed, lost, loved, and been happy with you. I first came to you in my mother’s arms - the baby of the family even as you nurtured me into adulthood. I left you from the driver’s seat, one rainy Sunday, watching a new family start their journey with you. It has been so hard to let go, but I know that is what is best for both of us.
Like all great loves, it took losing you for me realise how much you’d meant to me. All this time. It’s been just over a year since I felt your warmth from the electric fire with its dubious wiring, climbed your slightly too steep stairs to bed, but I want you to know that I still think of you often. Losing Nanny, then you, broke my heart in ways I didn’t even know it could break. I miss you deeply. I hope you find happiness with your new family, and they love and appreciate you in all the ways we did and more.
You will always be home to me.
Further Research
Irma Boom: A Tribute to Coco Chanel
I think tis is one of the most beautiful books I have ever seen. Irma Boom had the vision to crate an all white book after smelling Chanel No5, it was very important to her to emboss the whole thing and not have any ink used at all. She said it would have been too obvious to make the book smell of the perfume so instead she wanted to make you feel like you could smell it. I haven't been lucky enough to see the book in person but I would love to.
To me, the all white embossing makes you think that the story is not yet complete, it is only part of the whole picture. I think this links well with my 400 word article as my family's connection to the house is only part of its history. I think this is a wildly experimental book that has so much to say and I would love to use a similar process with my final piece for this weeks work.
Initial Design
My initial idea was to emboss the words onto the page showing that a lot of the house's history is still to come. It was also to represent the minimal impact on the material like my family's minimal impact on the houses structure. However, I really don't think this design represents my love letter to my Nan's house well, it has no life or personality which is the exact opposite of the reality.
I was struggling a bit this week so had a chat with Ban about it which really helped me to see it in a different way. I need to think about the feel of the house, the layout, the architecture, the stuff inside, and the things we did there.
I started mind mapping love letters thinking this would give me some inspiration for my design however I quickly realised that this isn't the important thing, it't not about the form my writing has taken, it is about the feeling behind it. For that reason I decided to start thinking about Nanny Pats house and everything it means to me. I think this really helped me to think about this in a different way and start to design something that really pays tribute to my feelings for Nanny's house.
I decided to sketch the living room, where we spent the most time as a family. I actually really like the black and white aesthetic. It represents memories fading but the important imprint will stay with us forever, the colour may be gone but the architecture and feeling remains long after my nan or the house itself.
I then thought it might be nice to work my family pictures into this, to show the colour and vibrancy that still comes across in memories even if the house is no longer ours.
I like this as a representation of my love letter to Woodland Rise, It encapsulates the draining colour of losing the family home and our mark on it being erased but also the colour brought to the house over all the years we were there is represented by the pictures. I need to work up a neater version to see if it represents my love letter in the way it is intended.
Halfway through I realised that the text in the frame on the left was not working. The idea I am going for is mismatched and cluttered so I was different typefaces for all of the paragraphs. However, I think if I am going to do that, I need to divide it up into three photo frames for more coherence of design.
I am reasonably pleased with the way this has turned out however I do not feel like the words stand out enough. I want to give the idea that the house itself doesn't hold the meaning, instead it's my family that have given it meaning. I think the words should be colourful too to go with the pictures. However, I don't think they should be in the photo frames, the words are in the fabric of the house, they are not something to be displayed they are part of the building blocks of our lives there.
I came up with the idea of making it paint, something the family but onto the building on purpose to make it our own. I decided to research paint techniques in the 1950s as that is when my family moved into the house.
Abstract Expressionism
Mark Rothko was an abstract painter in the 1950s. He generally avoided explaining the content of his work, believing that the abstract image could directly represent the fundamental nature of "human drama"[5]. I love this as a basis for the words in my piece - almost asking the reader to assign meaning to it themselves. This links closely to my concept that the house itself didn't have meaning, we gave it our own meaning.
I think this is a great place to draw inspiration for the paint from, challenging the reader to come up with their own rationale behind it in the same way we did with Woodland Rise.
I have added my Rothko style paint elements onto my final piece. I really hate this piece of design. I do not think it truly gets across what I want it to, while i think my reasoning and justification for design elements is reasonably sound, I think the execution has not turned out like I imagined. I initially wanted it to look cluttered as that is how the house was, however I do not think it looks cluttered on purpose. It looks a bit chaotic and this is not what I want to go for.
I think I need to go back to the basics, this design has far too may elements and I think it is trying to say too much. This is a love letter to a house my whole family grew up in, all it really needs to do is show how much this place meant. After a tutorial with Paul I realised that it could be as simple as a letter or postcard with an image or drawing of the house. I was thinking too much about this project and putting so much pressure on the design to show everything I have ever felt about it which it doesn't need to do. It just needs to pay tribute to this wonderful place.
I thought about doing a postcard:
I liked the use of the image for the postcard, it represents my Nan's house exactly as it is. However, I want to experiment more. I used to draw a lot of pictures and sent them to my Nan so I want to draw the house and see if this communicates the message effectively.
I like this one more, the drawing represents not only the way I used to communicate with my nan but also the idea that this is me remembering the house. Some bits may be off but this is exactly how I think of the house. I want to push this one step further however. There is a long history in my family with the military, my Grandad was in the army, as was my mum, dad, uncle and cousin. It would be nice to pay tribute to this in the design while still leaving the words as the most important part.
Army Bluey
Families of British service personnel have long been able to send letters on special blue stationery (known as a blueys). They allow people in the military to feel closer to home and they are usually delivered within 24 hours. [6] I remember all of the blueys going round my family when I was little, everyone writing to each other and keeping in touch. A stack of blueys was a permanent feature on my Nan's dining table.
I think this would be a lovely tribute to the history of my family and also holds another meaning. Writing this letter on a bluey is a way of staying close to the house I am writing a letter to, even though I am hundreds of miles away most of the time, I can feel like I am close to home and therefore closer to my family.
After texting round everyone in my family no one has a blank bluey. It was time to take to the internet to see what I could find.
I found this listing for a vintage bluey on eBay. It is actually perfect for this project as my family originally moved into the house in the late 40s/early 50s, this bluey originates from around that time, adding another layer of history. I then bought the bluey, I'm just waiting for it to arrive...
References
[1] TOC (2011) Anna Gerber and Britt Iverson, Visual Editions: Part Revolution, Part Reinvention, Part Making it Up Along the Way, [online video]. Available at TOC 2011: Anna Gerber & Britt Iverson, "Visual Editions: Part Revolution, Part Reinvention..." [Accessed 21/2/22].
[2] It’s Nice That (2015) Nicer Tuesdays: Craig Oldham on Books, [online video]. Available at Nicer Tuesdays: Craig Oldham on Books. [Accessed 31 January 2019].
[3] Tough Slate Design. (2014). Charles Bukowski Glitch Book. Available: https://toughslatedesign.com/charles-bukowski-glitch-book. Last accessed 22/2/22.
[4] Zier-Vogel, L. (2004). About. Available: http://loveletteringproject.com/about/. Last accessed 2/2/22.
[5] National Gallery of Art. (2016). Mark Rothko. Available: https://www.nga.gov/features/mark-rothko.html. Last accessed 27/2/22.
[6] Postal Heritage. (2009). The British Forces Post Office. Available: https://postalheritage.wordpress.com/tag/bluey/. Last accessed 2/3/22.
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