To print or not to print?

Choosing a medium to display my manifesto is causing me considerable headaches! On the one hand a printed object has sentimental value. With so much of our lives dictated by monitors, something tangible that you can view at your leisure has its benefits. However a screen outcome can add extra dimensions to a project and defies many of the limitations of the printed page. These dimensions however can create an exhaustive list of extra detail to create - the project could become unmanageable!

Considerations for progressing my manifesto

Below is the results from a mindmapping exercise I've undertaken on the text 'Graphic Design is an Opportunity...'

To play
To inspire
To Dream
To share your soul
For self expression
To support
To identify
To inform
To provoke
For learning

For fun

There are probably a huge amount that can be added to the list and I need to be selective as to the ones I feel most represents the reasons behind my manifesto.

Thoughts on how to display 'Graphic Design is an opportunity' - would like it be be something opportunistic... maybe photos of individual letters that I find at opportune moments... e.g. a letter G from some graffiti, an R written in the snow.

I might be biting off more than I can chew with this project though so I need to give this more thought

Individual Tutorial, Rob Ketterell

Had some quite positive feedback on my work so far. It definitely feels like I've got more direction over the last few weeks. Discussed cutting my thesis statement down to 'Graphic Design is an opportunity...' - Rob felt this was a good idea - I now need to write my words and decide how to display. Presently I'm torn between a book and a motion graphics piece. They both have there benefits. I think movement could add to the impact of my graphics whilst I also like the idea of a something tangible like a book that the viewer can touch and view at their own pace.
I also showed Rob my motion Graphics project from earlier in the module and we discussed how there is quite a strong connective thread in terms of content with my projects. The child in me >> its okay to be childish >> Graphic Design is an opportunity to play >> Graphic Design is an opportunity

Deconstruction of books, Rob Ketterell

This week we bought in our books and deconstructed them. Quite interesting seeing the different ways they are put together. One thing I learnt that I didn't know previously was that certain types of binding require varying amounts of give in the margins, perhaps even more binding in places than others. We also discussed the prelim pages at the beginning of a book and that it can really vary from book to book. I'm still unsure of what medium to present my manifesto at this moment in time, but I could perhaps present my manifesto as a book.

Consideration of Manifesto

This week I've been considering how to progress my thesis statement into a final manifesto. Some thoughts I've had on the way to display and content:

• Possible stop motion piece with alphabetti spaghetti letters moving into form words
• Change of thesis statement to allow for more scope? How about 'Graphic design is an opportunity'? This could be a real upbeat positive piece about all the benefits I feel graphic design is/does.

Definitely very vague at the moment!

Week 10: Review of Manifesto

This class focused on the key points of our manifesto. At first I felt as if I was on the wrong track but it seems I do have some kind of direction - the idea of non-linear design/thought process definitely leaves me feeling quite lost at times, but I guess that's the nature of it - you never really finish so you don't get that sense of completion. I feel that my manifesto statement - 'Graphic Design is an opportunity to play' does give me quite alot of scope and also encourages me to get my hands dirty a bit more. I am hoping to spend more time researching from now on as I definitely feel I haven't been doing enough of this. I also feel I don't have as much prior knowledge of the wider field as I would like.

Week 10: Collaborative project presentation

Some really interesting concepts were brought to attention by all of the groups. As I had missed the first session, I wasn't aware of all the introductory presentations from campus management so did feel that I had missed out on important information that could have affected our ultimate choice of problem and solution.
Our solution did go down quite well though with the only real criticism being the need to identify a way of increasing the demand for buses through keeping students onsite till later in the evening. It's a little difficult to tell whether it is the fact that there isn't much transportation that causes the problem initially though. Would people stay later if buses were laid on later? Its a bit of an chicken/egg situation.

Reflection on 'Graphic Design that makes me happy'

Unfortunately, due to sickness I was unable to attend the follow up class which looked deeper into our text. I did email John my text in hope of feedback which he kindly obliged.
He raised some interesting points for further exploration and highlighted relevant people who have researched some of the areas I might consider progressing further. I found his feedback incredibly useful in helping me re-evaluate much of my initial text from a new point of view. Some of my views are definitely conditioned by my working practice.