Mix Masters

@galenstrachan

Great Minds Think Alike

27 posts

Reflection

This is the first Tumblr account I’ve ever had so jumping into the Tumblr game was a new experience for me. Even though I’ve used Tumblr in the past for research, the posting and re-blogging aspects took me a bit to get used to. I think tumblr is an extremely powerful tool for supplying and providing huge amounts of visual research. It is really easy to find your interests and uncover a great deal of inspiration, which can be extremely helpful, and also somewhat overwhelming. Within this course I think maintaining a Tumblr journal is a great way to note progress while painting a visual reflection of the overall process and journey. Being able to reflect over the semester and watch the steps of the journey is a great quality of using the Tumblr platform. My only issue revolved around the fact that the journal was being assessed. It created an atmosphere of re-blogging to achieve a certain level of content to gain a good mark, rather than documenting genuine factors of research that actually held personal and helpful value within the process. Obviously the original posts were genuinely reflective, but I chose to only post when I felt the content would inform my process. That being said, the assessment factor is the primary drive for the journal so having that motivation drove me to dig deeper and only benefited my journey. I think having the vast amount of research we have collectively explored and combined through our Tumblr’s is an amazing source of knowledge that we should all be pretty happy about achieving.

Original - 12

Re-blog - 11

Peer re-blog - 3

Total - 26

#frankensteinunbound

Week nine & ten -

The last few weeks have consisted of most of us sounding out our directions and experimenting. For me this has been playing around with imagery and conceptualising methods to create dialog between different pages within the book. I collected some great books that I have been cutting and playing with, but I’ve also scanned a lot of the images from these books and begun playing around with compositions and layers. I’ve burnt a few screens and am going to play with some screen printing, a few quotes and illustrations to combine within the mix. From here it’s just a matter of finding what works to benefit the direction and some further experimentation. Over the last week or so I’ve gained some confidence in my process and am looking forward to seeing how I can improve my thinking and product. Hopefully I can come up with some more interesting concepts!

#frankensteinunbound

hellothisisjason

Transparent book

I heard this was a real page turner.

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parkourskeletonfugue

Toby Ng Design. Catching Moonbeams.

The light of the moon was chosen as a metaphor for Antalis paper printing effects project to promote their black, grey and sliver paper. The project is presented in a set of two volumes within a specially designed moon-textured case. The whole set is designed to capture the concept of ‘Catching Moonbeams’, highlighting the ephemeral and illusory nature of light, darkness, colours. Its effects take the reader in the first volume, ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, from black, a place where there is no reflection from the light of the sun, to the second volume, ‘By the Light of the Silvery Moon’, where the experience of light and silver are subtly illustrated.

‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ is an experiential journey – both visceral and texturally rich. As readers touch and feel the different paper textures and printing effects, they are taken step by step to the moon. Finally, with man’s first step on the moon, the impossible becomes possible, the dream comes true through the prints and textures – we can touch the moon!

In the 2nd volume, ‘By the Light of the Silvery Moon’, we continue to catch moonbeams in a simple paper sample booklet showcasing Antalis’ black to grey and silver papers.

There are so many parts of this publication that I could talk about because it is a huge project, so many clever aspects and references. Unfortunately I can’t appreciate it fully as I’m only viewing it though the computer screen, I’m sure in person I’d be exploring it for all its worth. I think this is a great example of really cleverly reproducing the atmosphere of the subject. Taking something colossal in comparison to a book and still forming a mini lunar experience is really commendable. The element that grabbed my attention was the embossing of the case, the way it replicates the craters on the surface of the moon is fantastic. Having that initial touchpoint of the experience when you pick up the publication is such a great way to set the scene and prepare you for what comes next. Very cool.

#frankensteinunbound

ayyitsangelo-blog

CZARNO (BLACK) Designed by mariaszczodrowska artbook Created in 2015 in 1 copy Dimensions: 20,6 x 20,6 x 3,8 cm Book has been made to appeal to sighted and unsighted people.The use of tactile pictures as well as traditionally printed and embossed Braille texts is aimed at broadening the multi sensory reception of artists’ books by the sighted and the blind.The topic of vision loss is subtly developed in the short text and provides the rationale for all formal procedures applied in the work. The series has been made with reference to picture books(unavailable for the group in question).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This book uses the sense of touch as the most important aspect of the design. I thought that how she was able to cater to both people who are able to see and those who don’t was awesome as they can feel the whole aesthetic of the book with just their touch. The use of no content and subtractive cut emphasises her main point even more.

Angelo, this project is great, cool find! Apart from being beautifully put together, the meaning behind it is what captured my attention. Because art and design relies on the observational relationship that vision provides, exploring the territory of creating for lack of vision is so interesting. By taking such a fundamental element of design (vision) away from the process, then creating with this in mind builds a completely new method. So many new variables to consider. Almost like writing songs for the deaf.

#frankensteinunbound

kayleeturvey-blog

Fluid art

I have began exploring with fluid acrylic art, not only for it’s mesmerising marbled colour effects, but it’s a highly therapeutic practise which is handy at this point in the semester. Through my exploration I decided that the unique dynamic textures and colours would be a valuable inclusion into my publication. After printing on multiple paper stocks I fell in love with the transparent surface. This, to a degree, mystified the art, taking it away from it’s standard canvas foundations and onto a surface that the light from the back of the book would travel through with ease and intrigue.

Kaylee, this looks so sweet! If I had have known you were doing marbling styled stuff I could have lent you some of my marbling stuff. I have this sea cucumber powder called carrageenan that people used to do marbling back in the medieval days. You mix it with water leave it for a day and it thickens so you can create really intricate organic designs. But the effects you’ve got here look banging, good on you. Looking forward to seeing how it works with the lighting stuff you have planned!

#frankensteinunbound

gfransiskasylvia-blog

Éva Valicsek – Analogue Interactivity in Contemporary Book Design

I really love this effect. I think finding new and unconventional aspects of something to create within can carry completely new perspectives of the object you are using or making. I experimented with this technique when I self published a series of publications around sound last year. I used the waveforms of a song I had made specifically for the publication and placed the sound within the book. By bleeding the waveforms to the edge of the page I created a similar effect to the original post above. Very fun to do!

#frankensteinunbound

k-u-l-a-c-h-e-k

Really interested in this space age enclosed body. The reflective element of the packaging makes you want to reach out and feel it, to see how it responds with different light. I’m not going to go this far in terms enclosing my work, but I’m playing around with some plastic envelope cases that reveal the contents. Still a work in progress. But this work has me thinking about ways to create more interesting work down the track, I really like the cosmic feel, it adds a huge amount of intrigue, could be interesting to apply to work apart from publication too.

#frankensteinunbound

Started playing around with some of the material I’ve taken from some of my dead bodies. I’m just going to experiment with the techniques I’ve been playing around with this semester and see what I can discover. I’m currently pondering ways I can create contrast/discussion between separate pages. Colour is an easy way to do it (as seen in the kittens above), but I would also like to convey some sort of theme throughout certain sections of the book, eg. sublime nature vs dangerous knowledge. A current concept that I’m playing with centres around the state of mind of Victor Frankenstein throughout the tail end of the book. He finds himself retreating to nature in an attempt to forget the severe pain his monster has caused him. The healing effect nature carries is only temporary as Victor cannot escape the monster, taunting him within his mind. Then in a fit of rage and revenge pursuing the monster into nature to kill his creation. SO, because I have all of this great imagery of wildlife and nature I could reflect the fact that even though Victor does his best to use nature as a tool of healing, he cannot escape his reality. This means subtly imposing references to the monster and his presence within Victors head. At the same time I wouldn’t want to press the idea too hard throughout, but still present to a degree.

#frankensteinunbound

Week eight -

In this week’s session Andy gave us a demonstration on a binding technique he had been using over the years. It was really simple to put together and created some pretty outlandish results. You would definitely catch a bit of attention carrying a book around with the bright sci-fi goo covering the spine of your work. It was a really intelligent technique and worked so well as a quick method to create something interesting while holding together really well. Props to you Andy. If I were to use this method I would probably file it down into something more sculpted, but for achieving that messy, vibrant look this is pretty spectacular. I’m keeping my binding to a more subtle level but such a handy lesson to have learnt. Here is a pic of Andy looking sophisticated.

#frankensteinunbound

womenofgraphicdesign

Laura Beretti (France)

Underground Youth Hostel Identity, 2013

Keep reading

Absolutely beautiful design from Laura Beretti. The conversation between the design and its placement within the environment creates something completely fresh and innovative. By subtracting the central element of the design, it creates a infinitely flexible and versatile piece of work as the poster could introduce new elements anywhere it is placed. In this case the bold yellow and dynamic tags beneath the poster become part of the composition in such a strong way. Within my final book I’m subtracting elements to form relationships between separate pages. I think it will be a really clever way to easily produce strong contrast, both within content and colour. I’m exploring ways to address some of the themes within frankenstein such as dangerous knowledge vs sublime nature. Cutting to reveal more content could be a nice way to juxtapose some of these themes. But gorgeous poster, love the energy and collaboration with the environment.

#frankensteinunbound

What we’re reading, Moss Tang

Innovative new use for dead bodies. Perhaps we should have a catwalk ready when we exhibit our work?

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Week seven -

Within this class Andy brought along a sewing machine. This was a great idea, as I’m sure some kids might utilize it really well within their work. The effects the sewing machine produces are really interesting, only problem was it took the entire class to get it up and running. Luckily we had some savvy sewing technicians (Kate and Mary) to take a look under the hood.

#frankensteinunbound

Metahaven, WifiVeil (Disposable Imagecraft), 2012. METAHAVEN is a graphic design studio based in Amsterdam.

Week six -

This week Andy took us through a whole bunch of different art collectives that he was interested in. It was good to get some exposure toward some of the thinking that he finds fascinating while trying to open our minds a little bit. At the forefront of most of these collectives is the thinking. The significance and message behind a lot of the work we saw drives a lot of the process. I find this such a valuable level of creativity, especially in the face of shallow regurgitated design that I find myself in contact with quite often. This got me thinking around any local art collectives that I knew about and sadly enough none pop into mind, so I might have to look into changing that. Metahaven are probably the group we discussed that I’m most familiar with. I find their work really provocative, especially the political scale of the content they produce. It makes me feel as though I should be doing so much more with my work and thinking. Knowing that there are people out there using design and art to make changes within the world and affect the lives of people for the better makes me question how I could apply myself in a more valuable way.

#frankensteinunbound

A couple of dead bodies I picked up over the weekend. Looking forward to experimenting, although I’m going to have to do a few scans before I cut them up as there are some killer photos in there. Gotta love 70′s type and book layouts. I’m thinking I could perhaps include some aspects of collage within my final work. Perhaps warping or screen printing over the images in combination with cutting away elements. Even creating something similar to my prototype.

#frankensteinunbound

baptistatouchka

Another example of a simple temporary enclosed body. Huge fan of the contents of this publication. Beautiful design and imagery. Going to head to Officeworks and have a look at some potential packaging, perhaps get a few ideas around new elements to explore.

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(via ddd91e12996947.5636992e15f75.jpg (1240×828))

I thought the way this project was presented was really interesting, as far as the idea of temporary binding goes. By embracing newsprint packaging techniques and the addition of a plastic enclosure, an enclosed body has been formed. This makes me wonder about the potential of introducing something similar into the next project. Could the work be enclosed then progressively grow into something else? Or could the initial enclosed aspect reveal itself as the only binding, and once opened, the book falls into disarray, leaving the contents up to interpretation?

#frankensteinunbound

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