Week 2
This week, I attended the lecture as well as the MABF excursion at the National Gallery.
During the lecture today, we talked about different historical writing systems such as engraving into clay as well as hieroglyphics. One think I found particularly fascinating is how these old writing systems have shaped our current ones. I found the fact that Egyptians and people from middle eastern countries used ink rather than engraving and that is why the Arabic alphabet looks the way it does today. Another thing I found interesting was how our alphabet today stems from symbols that represent objects or animals, rather than individual letters. I enjoyed seeing the evolution of the ancient symbols transforming into the letters we have today and noticed how they got simpler and easier to engrave.
Upon arriving at the Melbourne Art Book Fair, I was overwhelmed with the amount of books, zines and hand sanitiser there was. I enjoyed looking at the wide range of books there was to offer but often found myself just looking at the front cover. I think this was because of the sheer amount of books there was on offer as well as the amount of people often crowding the stalls. I did find that I was often drawn to bright coloured or maximalist book covers and typically, they were the only few I picked up and had a quick flick through. In all honesty, I was surprised at how many books were filled entirely with words (I know this is how books work but I thought they would all be full to the brim of artwork and design pieces).
My favourite part of the exhibition was probably the central area containing the large array of zines. I think I liked this section the most because it directly relates to this course and my studies. I loved how all of the zines were so different and covered so many topics. A few of my favourites were 'Cat Encounters' and 'Wog Mum'. I liked how each zine showed off someone's unique personality or aesthetic and they came in all different shapes and sizes. This part of the fair got me very excited about our upcoming assignment as I could see the freedom I have in constructing a zine that shows my personality and skills.
Something that wasn’t part of the course but I found really amazing was the enormous KAWS statue outside the book fair. I was in awe at the size of the sculpture and me and friends were trying very hard to work out how they got it into the building. Seeing this sculpture made me think about how large designs can be. I often find myself restricting my view of communication design to poster sized pieces and usually forget about the freedom designers have in terms of size and 3D modelling. Seeing this large sculpture encouraged me to think more about how communication design can be adapted to 3D objects and inspired me to think outside the box when designing in the future.
This is a photo I took of the back of the sculpture. I love how there is a streak of light going through it as well as the upward-facing angle I used to take it.