VISUAL WRITING

POLINA JOFFEUNIT 1.3

MAJOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

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NHow can graphic design intervention

enhance the reading of a story?

Breaking the fourth wall in reading

with graphic design intervention is not

a common thing in literature publishing.

In this project I want to develop an

understanding of the relationship between

the designer, the reader, the viewer

experience and the visual outcome itself.

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Saporta, M. Conposition No.1. Visual Editions

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My objective is to explore the possibilities

of visual writing, or translation in the

context of fiction. With this project I want

to try to break the fourth wall by using

tools of typographic design, and affect the

way the viewer engages with the designed

outcome and control the intended viewer

experience and response.

By doing this project I hope to learn to

manage viewer experience, which is an

invaluable aspect of the communication

process. I hope to achieve an outcome

that will break the fourth wall between

the reader and the story not by creating

a clear window for the reader to enter

book space, but to create a designed story

space, where the design will be a part in

communicating the message.

Another aim of this project is to

personally understand some aspects of

the relationship between the designer

and their outcome, and what direction my

practice of graphic design itself might be

taking in the future.

Technological advances have meant

that programmes and some design skills

have become available to a wide audience

and some customers have become pseudo

designers themselves. This raises concerns

that some services provided by graphic

design are no longer what a lot of the

organisations require and the future of

the trade and its definition may need to

be reconsidered (I Chilvers 2012, pers.

Comm., 21 Mar.).

However, graphic designers should

not be valued only for their art working

skills, but also for the design thinking.

Apart from a finished designed outcome

the designer offers knowledge of the

market, place, time, patterning skills,

understanding of human psychology etc.

Design can be valuable for it’s thinking

style alone (Golsby-Smith 1966, p. 274).

Golsby-Smith was referring to

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designers working as creative thinkers at

organisations, but I think that the same

ideas can be used in pushing graphic

design practice forward. For this I need to

myself understand what this thinking style

is and how it can be incorporated in the

future of design and visual writing.

Sterne, L. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Penguin Classics

Sterne, L. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Visual Editions

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I hope for this project to be valuable not

only personally, but also to designers.

It will also contribute to designers

understanding of visual storytelling in

terms of typographic design as opposed to

the traditional use of illustration.

Foer, J. S. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Houghton Mifflin

Brian Heffernan. Hacked Language

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The general areas that I am going to

be working within are translation and

remediation. An examination of translation

theory and an analysis of its processes will

benefit my understanding of remediation

of literature into a visual form.

Exploring the translator’s methods

and processes of managing the reader

experience and understanding where to

apply certain methods or bring in personal

interpretations will enable me to apply

those processes into the graphic design

practice where applicable.

Having a general understanding of the

traditional translation theories of language

and other types of remediation processes

such as play and script writing will directly

affect the development and chosen

methods of interference to the text.

I will explore the visual codes that have

been developed and have become a habit

in design and investigate how valuable

and binding they are in visual writing.

An example of such a habit is the use of

a light bulb in design today to indicate

the birth of an idea. It is possible that

some of these denotations are an easy

way in portraying a shared language or

a familiar translation of text into a visual

form without exploring its meaning any

further from it’s commercial familiarity

(Wozencroft 1988, p.5).

Design has created its own system of

visual clichés that present themselves as

‘actual’ or natural rather than ‘imagined’

or created but there is an increasing

amount of hybrid novels being published,

where design is integrated in the text,

that challenge these semiotics (Sadokierski

2009, p.12).

As the modern world is becoming

extensively visual in its communication

styles, the people have had to gain acuity

in reading these visual messages. “’Visual

literacy’ is a necessary competency of

members of contemporary society”

(Sadokierski 2009, p.15).

Visual literacy has become intuitive

and exploring that in the relatively new

territory of visual writing feels like the

natural step in exploring the possibilities

of these changes.

Stevenson, L. S. Strange case of dr Jekyll and mr Hyde. Alberto Hernandez

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NEnquiries to undertake in order to address

the research question:

What is the most appropriate choice of

text for this project? A novel, an extract,

a short story, a folk tale that has no solid

form, a myth, a poem, a play, a movie, an

episode etc.?

The text chosen should have strong

enough themes for material to work with

and it should have aspects that I personally

feel passionate about, so the outcome can

in turn be personal and truthful. The text

needs to be of an appropriate length given

the time restriction of completion of the

project and the possible interventions and

research in investigating the remediation

possibilities to be interrogated in that

time. The story chosen should be whole

rather than an extract, or a chapter from a

work, as that might cut the idea, and take

it out of context.

I like the idea of taking a folk tale or a

myth that I could retell in my own visual

way, without having to worry about really

reflecting what the author of the story

wanted to portray, and I could myself

become the storyteller.

After looking into mythologies and

legends of different countries I decided

to choose a legend from one of the Finnic

peoples.

Having been brought up in Finland,

I relate to the stories and find them

thoughtful and beautiful. There are a few

stories I am considering working with. One

is a Sámi legend about the four winds,

which explains the creation of the four

seasons. Another, better known one is

from the Finnish epos Kalevala, and tells

about the creation of the world. The loon

as the accidental creator of the world as

we know it now is a common theme in

northern mythology. I would like to read

up more on this before choosing the final

story to work with. (I Timakov 2012, pers.

Comm., 7 Apr.).

What are the possible mediums in creation

of hybrid storytelling? What is the most

appropriate one for this specific project? Is

there more than one possible medium?

How can I use word and image interaction

with typographic devices in creation of

hybrid texts that enhance the reader/

viewer experience?

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Carr, E. My unborn daughter. Briana Garelli

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18th Apr. – 25th Apr.

Secondary research:

Reading up on what has been done in the

field of visual writing and hybrid novels

so far. This will include viewing blogs and

websites for inspiration and insight into

the visual language. I will also be looking

at books, conducting interviews and

looking at related visual material to help

me understand the subject and select the

appropriate text for me to work with. I

am interviewing Anna Gerber from Visual

editions on Mon. 23d.

25th Apr. – 19th Jun.

I will be stating on primary research

methods, and conducting graphic

experiments using graphic design

methods. These experiments most likely

correspond with some of the discoveries

I will have made in my previous research,

and through doing those some new

discoveries will be made. When an initial

understanding of dealing with the subject

first hand is done, I will be able to go

back to the major project proposal and

re-evaluate it. I will then write the major

project definition.

19th Jun. – 30st Jul.

Furthering primary research and personal

experimentation with visual writing

following the major project definition.

30st Jul. – 24th Aug.

During the summer break I will be visiting

family in Finland, which will be a good

opportunity to test my work on people,

and discuss some theories with people

I know there who work in the field of

translation. It will also be a good time to

look at Scandinavian design and browse

the design books shops there to see if

there are things there I missed in my

research from London. One week during

the break I will need to put the studies

completely on hold and attend to taking

care of a grandparent.

27th Aug. – 28th Sept.

Creating the final piece.

1st Oct. – 31st Oct.

Finalising the outcome, producing it,

checking and fixing mistakes if any.

1st Nov. – 7th Nov.

Adding finishing touches.

Markus Kraft. Raymond Queneau stilübungen

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I will evaluate the projects effectiveness

by testing it on potential viewers /

readers with increased acuity to visual

communication. I will ask for feedback in

how well or poorly it communicates and

what it communicates. In the evaluation of

my project I will need to see whether what

I intended to communicate and what the

reader experienced correspond.

I will also evaluate and see if I have

answered the issues I raised in “research

question – context” with the project.

Stevenson, L. S. Strange case of dr Jekyll and mr Hyde. Jung & Wenig

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Possible final resolutions are most likely a

printed book, but there is a possibility that

the best solution for the output will be an

e-book or even something else entirely,

like a graphic animation.

Shelley Jackson: Skin

Stevenson, L. S. Strange case of dr Jekyll and mr Hyde. Marius Hügli & Martin Kovacovsky

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Books I intend to look at in support to the

major project include:

Gerber, A. (2012) Interview with the

founder of Visual Editions Publishing.

London, April.

Golsby-Smith, T. (1996) Fourth-order

design: a practical perspective. In:

Buchanan, R., Doordan, D. & Margolin,

V. The designed world. Images, object,

environments. Oxford: Berg

Hayles, N.K. (2002) Writing machines,

Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Hernandez, A. (2009) Hybrid novels: A

new way of reading narrative fiction, MA

thesis, University of the Arts London.

Hernandez, A., Serrano, M. & Stavro,

A. (2012) The publishing lab [Internet].

Available from: < http://thepublishinglab.

tumblr.com/> [Accessed April 2012].

Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, T. (2005)

Reading images: The grammar of visual

design. 8th ed. Suffolk, Routledge

Newark, Q. (2012) Interview with a

graphic designer. London, April.

Peacock, J. (2006) Ten poems form Hafez,

Lewes: Sylph Editions.

Ricoeur, P. (2006) On translation, New

York: Routledge.

Sadokierski, Z. (2009) Visual Writing:

A critique of graphic devices in hybrid

novels, from visual communication design

perspective, PhD thesis, University of

Technology, Sydney.

Steiner, G. (1976) After Babel, Oxford:

Oxford University Press.

Sweetapple, K. (2003) The rhetoric of

distance: a model of the visual narrator in

design, PhD thesis, University of western

Sydney.

Vidal, R. (2012) No Zines articles [Internet].

Available from: < http://www.nozines.

com/> [Accessed April 2012].

Quineau, R. (2009) Exercises in style.

London: Oneworld classics ltd.

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Chivers, I. (2012) Interview with a graphic

designer. London, 21 March.

Golsby-Smith, T. (1996) Fourth-order

design: a practical perspective. In:

Buchanan, R., Doordan, D. & Margolin,

V. The designed world. Images, object,

environments. Oxford: Berg

Sadokierski, Z. (2009) Visual Writing:

A critique of graphic devices in hybrid

novels, from visual communication design

perspective, PhD thesis, University of

Technology, Sydney.

Timakov, I. (2012) Interview with a

historian & philologist. Helsinki, 7 April.