Data project

Project brief:
Aim
To increase your ability to solve visual communication problems in creative ways and to have in- creased media experimentation.
Outcomes
Solve visual design problems in an effective and convincing manner. Show enhanced
critical judgement in the use of research and selection of appropriate media.
Project description
This project is about communicating complex information in as visually interesting and graphic a manner as possible, building on your experience of mapping information. It is about translating data into a fresh form.

For this project I decided to look at what mode of transport London use to travel, I thought an interesting way to portray this would be to use physical objects to visualise the data.

Initially I thought about creating a pie chart using toy cars, buses, trains, bikes and people to represent how people travel however I did not like the visual aesthetics. It was hard to see the difference between the sectors as there was not much of a distinctive difference, therefore I decided to try and represent the data in a difference form.

I tried making a bar graph using the objects, as I was able to show the different sectors clearly. I felt this was a more effective way of showing the data compared to the pie chart.

One object represents 5%

although i prefered this idea I think I need try different arrangements and layouts, and also re-shoot as I did not consider the framing properly.

Mapping Project

The brief for this project asked me to devise inventive and experimental approaches to describing physical spaces.

Outcomes:
To create a visual mapping communication based on a real life context and understand how such information can be freshly addressed within the design process. 

I started this project thinking I would only be able to map actual locations, e.g a street/area, a museum or a road map. However it was soon brought to my attention that I could map any physical space. I thought an interesting thing to look at would be human anatomy as there were many things that could resemble maps/road, such as the nervous system, the circulatory system, the brain and its functions.


Another thing I was interested in was the style of old maps and illustrations you would see in books of myths/greek mythology. I combined the two to create a 'Mind map/Maze' as my final outcome.

I also created a similar piece which was inspired by the greek myth about the minotaur, I liked the different patterns I could create and it was something that related to the brain as it was like a puzzle.

Typically in ancient greek labyrinths the goal/aim is placed in the middle and there is only one way in/out, whereas with a maze there are multiple path choices therefore I decided to combine both concepts in my outcome.

Manifesto

For this project I was asked to To design personal manifesto of information based on aspirations and experiences.

Initially I was not very familiar with what a manifesto actually was, so I began by looking at on websites such as designspriation and pininterest to see how other artists had produced and visualised a manifesto.

I also researched the exact definition of a 'personal manifesto' in order to completely understand what I would need to do. 

"A personal manifesto is a declaration of your core values and beliefs, what you stand for, and how you intend to live your life. It functions both as a statement of principles and as a call to action. A personal manifesto can serve as all of the following: As a frame for your life."

Barbara Kruger was one of the artists I looked at, she is an American conceptual artist, The phrases in her works often include pronouns such as "you", "your", "I", "we", and "they", addressing cultural constructions of power, identity, and sexuality. 

To stick to the brief I chose to make my manifesto more about my personal life experiences, I found old photo's of myself, friends and family members and placed them into a grid. Then taking a bit of inspiration from Barbara Kruger I added a short and simple piece of text "Theres so much you don't even know"

The reason I chose to say this was to give people who may have only known me for a short period of time, more of an idea about me and my personal identity, also to imply that there's a lot of history and a lot more to find out.

I feel as if I could have been a lot more experimental with this piece, for example my use of pattern and colour could have been explored a huge amount more, in order to give the outcome a more meaningful and interesting visual aesthetic.