+ presentation '08

A V I S U A L I Z AT I O N O F H Y B R I D R E S E A R C H

T Y P O L I T I C S :

S A M TOW N

01/ I N T RO / W H Y H Y B R I D ? W H Y P L U S ?

July finished an MA in graphic design at Nottingham trent.untutored in graphic design.undergraduate degree in politics.

H Y B R I D ?

T H E O RY P R A C T I C E

What is an MA?

undergrad knowledge

personal research

Share some of the MA research / what I got up to.Contribute something of interest to Plus festival.

01/ I N T RO / TA L K S T R U C T U R E & A I M

Focus: Final outcome

Research question / final outcome.Combining old & new knowledge.

creating the hybrid element

Getting from;Untutored in graphic design » reflective typographic designer?Creating the new knowledge.

Stepping off the cliff edge

02/ N E W K N OW L E D G E / B A C K G RO U N D

Where I’d been

02/ N E W K N OW L E D G E / L E A R N I N G T H RO U G H D O I N G

R E S E A R C H

02/ N E W K N OW L E D G E / L E A R N I N G

Craft & Detailing.Filling my ‘typography toolbox’

Reflective Practice. Context, brief, audience. Communication problem.

Context

Design history.Debates.Intuition / craft.Straight to the point.

Confidence.

03/ C O N T E N T / P O S T E R S

C O N T E N T The hybrid momentstyling quotes from undergraduate study

03/ C O N T E N T / O L D K N OW L E D G E

Realization:

HOW CAN TYPOGRAPHY COMMUNICATE, EXPRESS OR CRITIQUE, A POLITICAL SPEECH OR PIECE OF LITERATURE?

Research Question » parameters

but where now?

Politics » literature. Typography » visual form of literature.

04/ S TA R T E X P E R I M E N T I N G

Churchill

We shall fight on the beaches speech.Began deconstructing it.

1) aggressive words picked out, aligned right, break the line.

2) whole speech as lists. 3) using only 2 of the lists, the name Win-ston and the year ‘40.

04/ E X P E R I M E N T

5) entire speech ’distilled’ as 8 words.

6) ‘mapping’ the tone of voice

04/ E X P E R I M E N T

Size = emphasis. Position = loudness.

Sourcing.SpeechesQuotesTexts( o l d )

Grounding.BarthesLevi-StraussDerrida( n e w )

Editing.

05/ F I N A L O U T C O M E P H A S E

O P T I O N S

05/ O P T I O N S

inspiringbeautifully writtensignifi cantbut a mess

Subverting textsGreat British political speechesThemes; atemporality / antithesisAuthoritative worksSeries of books (PMs)Series of quotes posters

O P T I O N S

how can this information be systematized?

05/ S E R I E S O F Q U OT E S P O S T E R

POLITICAL COMPASS

Theoretical device.Relies on prior knowledge.

Putting this to work.Meaningful structure.

Enhancing understanding.

Engaging comprehension.

Employing a concept from old research to solve a new design problem.

Political Compass

05/ S E R I E S O F Q U OT E S P O S T E R

Expressive typography. Simple vector shapes.emphasizing core information.

Confusing layout.Ambiguity / messiness.

Test One

but...

Unbalanced whole.

Narrow Format.

Misplaced quotes.

05/ B O O K S / D I T H E R I N G

POLITICAL COMPASSHorrible, uncertain moment.

Unfamiliarity.Stage Fright? Challenge? Lack of brief / direction?= Down

05/ B R E A K T H RO U G H

EDUCATIVE VALUECrucial realization. » Communication problem:

HOW CAN POLITICAL LITERATURE BE COMMUNICATED IN AN EDUCATIVE WAY?

Group Discussion / idea rejected – well received

Elicitation

Direction, lacking before.

Confidence

Enthusiasm

Context.Audience. Means to judge outcomes.Enabling reflective practice.

05/ B O O K S / D I T H E R I N G

Horrible, uncertain moment.

Multiplicity of typefaces Confusing / illegible.

but...

Test Two

Task One.Identify typefaces with specific ideological resonance.

Flippant, ill considered research.

Devalue work in this context.

Task Two. (plane filling)key authors / figures

key words

representative of political terrain

Communication problem.

05/ R E P O S I T I O N I N G

Constructivism.

Willi Kunz.

Grid - Enhancing clarity. Navigation. Political compass - geography. Expressive, wordless communication.

Geometric political symbolism ( M e g g s 1 9 9 2 )

Modernist visual language. with abstract geometric spaces.( L u p t o n 1 9 8 8 )

05/ T E S T 3 / O U T C O M E

Hierarchy.Ideology / Political figure /

Abstract concept / Quote.

Geometric Symbolism.Examples;

Infographic Arrangement.Layout determined by political compass.

Outcome

05/ E X A M P L E S

Fascism – Narrows, jagged, uneasy, aggres-

Conservatism – Bush & Thatcher bridge gap.

‘Corporate’ hierarchy.

Traditional Conservatism.

05/ E X A M P L E S

Third Way – Broke from social democracy

and moved to the right.

Liberalism – Linked to libertarianism

(it’s logical conclusion).

05/ E X A M P L E S

Anarchism – Grid = metaphor for state.

Socialism – Linked to communism

(further left) and social democ-

racy (to the centre).

05/ BU T. . .

Concerns

Intelligibility.Communication problem?

Instructional’ translucent grids .

Derived from geometric symbolism.

Helping reader navigate content.

Began to add a critical voice.

Instructional posters in their own right?

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05/ L I N G U I S T I C T H E O RY

Tableau. (Brecht / Theatre)Cutting out segments in order to depict them.

Totally abstract yet totally concrete instance.

Non-neutral editing process

Offered for criticism and impact.

Gest.Rhetorical form.

Some significant, moral, social and critical edge.

(Bar thes 1994)

Concerns

Sharp instances.Critical voice.Improving intelligibility.

Exciting

TABLEAU GEST

05/ TA B L E A U S O F I N F O G R A P H I C P O S T E R

Grounded by;

Relation to the main poster.

Words all derived from authoritative political figures / texts.

Quasi-grid structures for layout. (making the grid)

Layouts treatments & grid to express ideology.

Layout IN NO WAY ARBITRARY!

Yet totally concrete

Totally abstract Listed key concepts emboldened on the main poster.

Back to Churchill - lists of abstract concepts.

Allowed to elect.

Use of state coercion.

Stateless societies.

Instances with rhetorical form

05/ A N C H O R A G E

ANCHORAGELnguistic way of dealing with uncertain images.

Loosing connection to infographic poster.

Concerned

Needed some level of integrity, unity, cohesion.

Depict words contained in areas, not immediately obvious.

Explanatory text.

Focusses understanding

Guides interpretation towards desired meaning.

Author, and typeset some extra information.

05/ A L L OW E D TO E L E C T

Allowed to elect

Rounded elements › Openness.

Flowing type › Discursiveness

Neo-liberal concepts to the right hand

side more rigidly aligned.

Represents the narrow electoral

paradigm available in Britain.

Seeks to encourage the reader to think

beyond what is made available to them

on a ballot paper.

05/ L E G I T I M I S E C O E R C I O N

Coercion

Uneasy, oppressive tone › Use of force.

Strict grid › Authority and control.

Linear hierarchy ›

Master race, Übermensch.

Third way, conservative and neo-liberal

areas, grouped on the same poster as

Hitler and Stalin, encouraging the reader

to question the use of coercion close to

home, by their own governments.

Concepts like national purpose and

globalization - media faves.

05/ S TAT E L E S S N E S S

Statelessness

Lack of a grid and intuitive placement

of elements › Visual metaphor for the lack

of a state. (back to Brody & Speikermann)

Focus on the relationship between words.

Narrative flows of words.

Grouping same words together.

Reflects the strong emphasis on social

relations inherent in all anarchist

philosophy, particularly in Marxism.

05/ D I A G R A M

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POLITICAL COMPASS

GEOMETRIC POLITICAL SYMBOLISM

QUASI-GRID STRUCTURES

TABLEAU / GEST

05/ V I S U A L I Z I N G H Y B R I D R E S E A R C H

- Idea organization - Data acquisition - Info management - Info analysis - Info synthesis

- Gather data - Organize, describe, communicate - Explain or understand phenomenon - Propose and persuade - Resolve and communicate findings

( G r a y & M a l i n s 2 0 0 4 )

Research

H Y B R I DVisualizing

OLD KNOW

T H A N K YO UW W W. F U T U R E - R U S T I C . C O . U K

+ presentation '08

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