OUGD601 - Context Of practice - Evaluation

My initial research had me looking at creative freedom through the Dada art movement and aspects of postmodern graphic design. The project lead me to critical analsye and explore subjects and creatives I had not looked at before, this opened up my understanding on a number of topics and has given me confidence to explore new ideas in both a visual and contextual way.

Through researching into the topic of creative freedom my project has lead to looking at a number of movements and styles which have achieved this in a number of different ways. Having looked at subjects such as Punk design I was able to further my existing knowledge and gain a greater understanding or its historical and cultural relevance, looking at the designers and work of the time I have produced work which represents creative freedom. 

Through the practical project the work progressed from being a an idea to produce a manifesto to expanding into a movement like campaign which aims to bring together creatives to a place where they can exercise creative freedom. The project became a concept in the forms of it was more an aim to do something, this has been outlined in the rationale.

I have looked at a combination of texts and visual artefacts related to the project question, thoroughly examining cultural and historical relevance attached to these chosen subjects. Though through progressing through the brief I realised new ideas and found new sources which would help further aid my project and made the practical grow bigger than the original planned outcome. Through my findings the topic could have been expanded on further but through the essay I had to restrain myself from opening up new thoughts to keep in with the word count. 

My skills throughout the project has developed, as I have grown a deeper understanding of the movements and subjects which I looked at, taking in ideas and opinions aswell as the techniques and skills of the designers and artists which have been the focuss of the written element of the module. Through extensive research I have explored the notions of creative freedom both theoritically and practically, this has lead to a practical outcome which experiments with a range of styles and methods with relevance to the written element. 

The project is a body of work which compliments each other through the linking research, the exploration into how a manifesto inspired by Dada thinking can be executed in a contemporary way. There are elements of the brief which I feel are not succesful such as the way the practical peice could not have been experimented further under this project, though this opens the possibilities to continue the project, putting out the content properly and testing how the public respond to the project. 

I aim to continue this projects themes and intentions through extended practice, with this completing this concept. The skills and knowledge learnt in this brief will be very benofficial for future design work, overall I am very satisfied with the majority of the way the project has gone.

OUGD601 - Context Of Practice - Publication Design

Opting to create a publication in which to express the manifesto, I chose to input quotes taken from Dada texts to promote the way the 

Target Audience-  

The eye catching nature of the design (large direct typography) & (dynamic composition) relates to the target audience of creatives, designers and art enthusists as it is interiging and not something you seen in the every day.

The radical composition of the design reflects the ‘concreate poetry’ technigues adopted by the Dada artists of the time. 

Similarly the use of black and white hand composed type relates to the process’s used at the time of Dada. Differentiation of size in typography also relateses to the Dada art of the early 20th century.

OUGD601 - Context of practice - Time Keeping - Calendar

A record of my digital time plan

OUGD601 - Context Of practice Practical - Synergy

Through looking at the work of the dada art movement I have formed opinions and understanding of what a manifesto is and how it can be applied.  Having examined the Manifestos which the Dadaists put out, I found that for with each one produced, different ideas and individual conflicts would be included, the Dadaists would apply there own beliefs and ideas to the movement, these ideas have been taken and applied to the practical outcome through forming a manifesto and campaign to get creatives to excercise there own creative freedom through producing work which shows who they are as creatives, there ideas, opinions and style.

The practical outcome takes inspiration from how the Dada art movement began, when Hugo Ball opened his nightclub in 1916 Zurich, which was where the Dadaists met and formed, Ball stated “When I first set up the Cabaret Voltaire I believed there would be a few young people in Switzerland who, just like me, considered it important not only to enjoy their independence but also to document it.” The practical outcome and concept is based on this same desire, to bring creatives together who want to retain there creative freedom, by offering them a platform for which to showcase it. 

The design inspiration for the practical outcome is taken from a number of sources, a primary one would be the art of the Dada movement, looking at the photomontages and collages which were used by the Dadaists to communicate personal messages in an obscured propaganda style form, this created confusion to those who veiwed it, this was a technique used to express creative freedom, the re-working of prexisting imagery to form new art to creative bold powerful visuals, this is clear within the Manifesto of the practical, used to communicate the message and show examples of creative freedom. The design of the outcome also takes inspiration from the Dadaist publications where they would show the rejection of grid and form in favour of abstract typographic compositions. 

Other visual inspiration taken for the outcomes is that of Punk design, through the work of the ‘Non-designers’, a term which describes the people who were not professional graphic designers but who were producing the work which has become iconic of the Punk subculture, people such as Jamie Reid, the artist who produced the art work for Punk band the sex pistols, Reids style had a cut and paste do it yourself feel of design which became the visual identity of the movement, these peices, similar to work the Dada movement, reject common practice design ideas and methods, using primitive techniques and a rejection of formal thinking, the outcome to the practical utilises this rejection of formalilty within its design. 

Design techniques such as the use of photocopiers and computer editing have been informed by the research into new wave design which followed punk, looking at the work of Terry Jones who produced culture magazine I.D using his own unique ways of designing which he calls 'instant design' this is through using primitive techniques like that of the Punk movement, bold type and digitally altered images. Taking on these ideas the practical outcomes show a mixture of these 'primitive' techniques of collage and photocopier altered images combined with bold digital typographic compositions.

The practical outcome is further study of how a manifesto can be formed and applied, the concept outlined by the produced manifesto, aswell as the supporting promotional material serve as an exploration in how the use of Dada stratergy can be applied today and how the expressive nature of a combination of Dada, punk and new wave techniques and styles can form the identity for a platform for the showcase of creative freedom. 

OUGD601 - Context Of practice Practical design - production/outcome

The Manifesto publication has been posted on Issuu as a means of digital public output. Having attempted to just put it on instagram I found that the smaller parts of text become illegible, through using Issuu I have been able to link this is on the instagram account (See Below) which will hold the bulk of the content. Issuu has proved to be a better option for the publication, it is a free access domain and will provide easy access at any time.