Visual Language 8/12/09

In this weeks visual language we were sent out in groups of two, to collect 100 photos of a specific subject. Me and Niall had been given plug sockets. With it being quite a simple subject, I decided to try and make the images more interesting by including what the plugs sockets were being used for. I found these worked better than just the sockets alone, and I also considered the composition of my images. I particularly like the images that are close up in one point and then extend further away from you as more of their surroundings are being captured.

Here are my favourite 25 images:

OUGD102 What If...Rational

Within a group of five we had to establish a problem that affects some sector of the general public in Leeds, and then solve it. From all our 100 photographs from the previous brief we focused on depicting an overall theme, so we could find a problem within Leeds. We each had similarities of outdoors, nature, the city, urban environments, and architecture.

Our initial ideas to begin researching were looking into nature. We wanted to know how it is affected by the city, how it has been ruined by the development of civilisation and buildings, and how the landscape has been ruined. The growing population in Leeds means they are always building new accommodation for students, as they make up 70/80% of the general population living in Leeds. We wondered if Hyde park was a threat to this development of the city, as it was the only large green area left, of oppose to there not being much in Leeds centre.

We then began to look into eyesores in the city, as there are problems such as littering that affect both nature and the city. Things such as vandalism, pollution, cigarette butts, gum and litter were the main eyesores that we noticed through observing the city. These things visually change the persepective of the city, and seems to be giving it a bad reputation as these people are disrespecting the city. Things such as drugs, crime and rowdy students are also brought into the equation for giving the city a bad name, who are these people and why do they do it?

We each began on independently researching to find out problems within the city and natural environment in Leeds.

Through secondary research I found that lately there had been a bin strike that began on Sept 7th, due to low pay cuts. "Leeds has a refuse collection service that is 20% less efficient than many other councils, and efficiency that equates to approximately £2 million. Strikers had been asked to work longer and harder, with a pay cut of over £1000. GMB members feel that the productivity targets are in-achievable in that the council expects bin lift rates if 220 properties per hour. Are bin lift rates a problem in Leeds? Are overflowing bins meaning that people are more likely to throw rubbish on the floor?

We decided to try and find this out by some of our own investigations and primary research. Some members from the group went out at different time sin the day to document their observations of how people use the bins. Through counting the number of bins within a route through the city centre, they accumulated 97 bins. 24 of which were on Briggate (the main shopping street).  A lack of bins was definitely not an issue, and some were situated from as close as 3m away from each other. The bins did become more full as it got later, but very few bins were full, and people had littered within 16 metres of the nearest bin. Even if a bin is full, there is no excuse to not be able to hold onto your rubbish until you reach the next bin.

Looking at the Leeds Gov. website I found that the bins are emptied in accordance to how busy that particular area is, with bins being emptied either daily or 2-3 times a week.

According to the website www.praguepost.cz, 91% of litter on the street is from pedestrians and people throwing rubbish out of vehicles.

Litter is an important environment issue which many people overlook. It makes the environment suffer, and is also a waste of money for the government when they have to employ people to pick up the litter. It is also a hazard to health, a fire hazzard, it attracts vermin and bacteria, it is dangerous as things such as glass and syringes and other sharp objects can be left lying around, it is harmful to wildlife and waterways, and above all litter looks bad and reflects badly on the people who live there.

I also found out that from a survey of the places with the most penalties for littering, Leeds came in second with £65,000 in fines. With littering being an obvious problem, and looking at the litter on th streets, the fines aren't enough to stop people from littering. Our intentions as a group is to try to decrease the amount of litter on the streets by persuading people to use the bins provided. From our research we understand that the main reason behind littering was that people are jsut too lazy to fing a bin. We want to persuade people to use the bins by making it more convenient for them. We plan to achieve this by directing people to the bins if necessary, and also by creating posters to make the bins more visually appealing

OUGD101 - No News Is Good News - Message & Delivery - Final Mail Shot

Here is my final mail post, consisting of an envelope with a tear away back, containing a beer mat... I think the post is effective as people seem to be fascinated with the beer mat and how it works, making it something that would be used as something to fiddle with whilst in an alcohol fulled enviornment, which also has a message to it, that they are more likely to read. I chose the envelope with a tear away back as a connection between the interaction of the beer mat and the envelope. The front of the envelope has a ring stain on the front to represent drinking.

From my crit an issue was raised that I should have information on the inside of the envelope to give more about where to get the beer mats from. So, as you take out the mat, there is a message on the envelope beneath it that says 'Drink Spiking is on the increase'. Another issue raised was that on the front of the envelope I should use the design from my poster of having 'Are you sure about drinking that' within the ring stain to tie it in with the contents of the envelope and create a relationship to it, so the recipient has an idea that it is about drinking, as it wasn't to clear just the ring stains alone.

The net for my beer matt (double sided) and the front and back of the envelope.

OUGD101 - No News Is Good News - Message & Delivery

From developing a message in response to the previous brief, I had to produce a mail shot that distributes, disseminates and reinforces my message to an appropriate list of recipients. My resolution had to fit within the envelope provided (dimentions of 114x116mm) and be accompanied by a visually appropriate mailing list. I had to consider the outside/inside of the envelope and its contents.

I decided to work wioth the same colours used in my posters as they worked well with the message and were effective.

WHAT?

To inform people about drink spiking and to advise people to reconsider drinking from a glass they have left unattended as it may put them in danger.

WHY?

To make them more aware of the situation they could end up in whilst drinkin. To make them be more sensible and stay safe.

HOW?

I came up with the idea of having a beer mat in the envelope, containing relevent images and information. So those on my mailing list will use them in their working environment.

WHO?

Aimed at those who drink in public places. In risk of getting spiked.

INFORM/INSTRUCT/PERSUADE/PROMOTE?

The mats will be used to inform and advise

Format:

Beer mat - paper engineering, a continuous folding mat to reveal more information.

Considering the relationship between the envelope and beer mat.

Colour/Stock:

Same as poster, white stock, grey/biege and red colours.

I felt that a beer mat would be the most appropriate thing to send in a mailpost as it is relevent to drinking and will be there as a constant reminder for pub and club goers to see if they are used in those environments.

Here is some of my development work...

A prototype for a beer mat display using two.

When I was younger I remember finding a beer mat that used to flip the sides round and round continuously. I couldn't find a net anywere for it anywere it was as if I had made this up! However, with much patience and trial and error, I finally figured out the complex paper engineering.

For the Mailing List, I thought the most relevent places to send the mats to would be to where they'd most liekly be used, e.g, in pubs, bars and nightclubs, but also to College's and Universities for students to be able to pick up and keep.

I wanted to keep it as a local mail post so I have researched into these places within Leeds and here is my Mailing list...

The Dry Dock (pub)

The Original Oak (pub)

The Warehouse (club)

Oceana (club)

The Faversham (SU bar)

The Arc (bar)

The Box (bar)

Mojo (club)

The University of Leeds

and of course, the mail post I have to actually send out...

BA (Hons) Graphic Design

Leeds College of Art

Blenheim Walk

Leeds

LS2 9AQ

OUGD101 - Now New Is Good News - Message & Interpretation - Final 3 High Impact Posters

For my 'Type' poster I decided to use the 'Spiking causes extreme decreased memory in most cases' with the horizontal message of 'sex crime'. I think this is simple and effective and the colours I have used of white stock, with grey and red type tie in well with the message as it is a serious one so I didn't want it to be too playful or colourful, just a simple statement with the word 'sex crime' being emphasised. I chose to set the statement on an angle and to the top of the poster to create a more visually appealing look.

For my 'Type and Image' poster. I decided to use the hazard symbol made of ring stains from a drink, with the question ''Are you sure about drinking that?'' embedded within in it, and then the words ''Your unattended drink is a target for spikers'' I chose this composition as it positions the logo in the centre creating a focal point, showing its importance as the first thing that drags you to the poster, and then the type below it with the words 'target spikers' emphasised, still clearly important.

For my 'Image' poster I chose the row of bottles with one being lifted with the hazard symbol as its ring stain. That particular bottle contains little spects of grey to subteley symbolise the date rape drug within the bottle. This is again to make people aware of the dangers of not keeping an eye on your drink.

I think my posters work well together as a series as they all represent the close relations between drink spiking and sex crime. I have kept to the same colour and also type within each poster and I think they are memorable pieces of work.

OUGD101 - No News Is Good News - Message & Interpretation - Part 2

I had to produce designs for a set of three high impact posters that deliver a personal identified message derived from my research into part one of this brief. The three posters had to work as a set or series and be visually consistent. The first must be produced solely using type, the second solely with image, and the third a combination of both type and image. I was also restricted to the use of two colours plus stock.

Here is some of my development work.

I liked this idea of being able to unpick a message from a sentence as it is clearly shown. This makes the Fact more interesting and people would rather read this than just another boring fact. It also makes you think about the clever message afterwards. Simple. Effective.

I wanted to focus on the fact that picking up your drinks after leaving it unattended could put you at risk because it may have been spiked with the date rape drug.

I wanted to make people more aware of this and by asking the question ''Are you sure about drinking that?'' so they will rethink the situation that they could end up in.

I recreated this biochemical hazard symbol with ring marks from drinks to represent picking up a drink that could have been unattended and spiked unknowingly.

So as to make the person reconsider drinking it.

OUGD101 - No News Is Good News - Research

I had to produce a body of research based upon a headline from a newspaper bought on Saturday 17th October 2009. The Headline I chose was ''SPOT RAPE DRUG WITH... LIP GLOSS!''. It was about the latest gizmo created by the company ' 2LoveMyLips', as a way of detecting if your drink has been spiked. I chose this article as I think it is an serious and improant issue, as drink spiking and rape could happen to anybody, but I think it is especially appliable to my age group, and being a student it has made me more aware of situations that can happen on a night out, as there are many drink spike victims.

 

The concept for my research was based on drink spiking and being more in control of preventing it from happening by becoming more aware of the facts and protecting yourself. The ideas I chose to take forward into investigating further were:

1. Statistics - spike victims, rape victims (both men and women)

2. Binge Drinking - side effects, and how to tell if somebody has been spiked or has just drank too much.

3. Information on different date rape drugs and their effects.

Here are a few facts and figures I have found out through researching the above.

The Guardian and the Channel 4 programme Dispatches recently interviewed 750 people in 16 cities over a period of two days. 1 in 4 women of club and pub-going age surveyed said that they had had their drinks spiked. According tot he survey, as many as thirty women a week are victims of drink spiking. Despit attempts all over the country to curb the escalating problem of drink spiking, the number of incidents reported continues to increase year after year.'' www.2lovemylips.co.uk

People need to be made more aware of the dangerous situations that they could end up in.

''8 out of 10 women wouldn't report a rape''
''There are more than 80 sex attacks every day in the UK''
''Only 1 in 100 assaults leads to convitcion''
''three-quarters of rapes are never reported''
Cosmopolitan Magazine

Victims of Rape:
80% are under age 30
12-34 are the highest risk years
Girls aged 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.
In 2003, 1 in every 10 victims were male
1 out of every 6 women has been the victim of an attemtped or completed rape in her lifetime

Effects of Rape
Victims of sexual assault are
3 times mroe likely to suffer from dpression
6 times mroe likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress isorder
13 times mroe likely to abuse alcohol
26 times more likely to abuse drugs
4 times more likely to contemplate suicide
www.rainn.org/statistics

''There's been an increase in sex crime involving tranquillisers like Rohypnol. Victims drinks are spiked with the drug, knocking them out into an often paralysed stupor so they're either unaware of or unable to prevent a sexual assault.''
''Due to its illegal abuse, this drug (Rohypnol) is more commonly known as the 'date rape' drug. It is very easy to be slipped into drinks undetected.''
''Because GHB and BGL can really knock you out, it's been linked to drug assisted sexual assaul. This is a punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.''
www.talktofrank.com

OUGD101 - Alphabet Soup 1 (Edit)

This is my final outcome to represent the word 'Edit'

 

OUGD101 Alphabet Soup 2

My final A1 type sheet and namebadge for Niall.

 

Visual Language 10/11/09

As a group we all collected items of a certain colour, and aranged them in a circle by colour of hue. My colour was green, so I had to then choose a few green objects, and also objects from its complimentary colour (red).

Concentrating on which colours contrast and compliment eachother, I had to use the objects with coloured paper to experiment with and find different combinations.

Visual Language - 13/10/09

In todays session we had to create four different interpretations, in each 10x10cm square,using the letter A, that represented scale and frame. We then had to swop these with another person in the class and create three multiples of each of there interpretations, after figuring out what they were tying to do in each one, and seeing if we could improve on it.

The top row of four were the other persons, and all the ones below them are all my multiples of them.