Week 3

This week I continue to reflect on my project's aims and purpose, as I develop a project draft summary.

Resource reflection

Having chosen to go ahead with the project question How can typography be used to help people connect with spaces?, I decided to focus on resources related to place and type making.

The CR podcast episode 14: Making, changing and documenting places

Fig. 1: Unknown maker. ca. 2010-2018. The CR Podcast [digital graphics]

In episode 14 of The CR podcast, the hosts discuss making, changing and documenting places.

Here, as well as in resources explored last week, I witnessed a discussion on cliches, this time in relation to the marketing of countries. The hosts suggested that today we’re eager to step away from cliches, but that we shouldn’t do so completely as we might then end up loosing the unique aspects of what we’re marketing (Patrick Burgoyne, Eliza Williams, and Rachael Steven, no date). To me this line between too much and too little usage of cliches seems quite intuitional and subjective, almost like a feeling. However, I also think we as designers must ensure to learn as much about what we’re designing for as possible, as a way of actively trying to dig beyond the cliches.

In the podcast, the hosts also mentioned than when designing for a place, you can’t just make it cool if it isn’t credible. Rather, designers should look for that which makes the place special (Patrick Burgoyne, Eliza Williams, and Rachael Steven, no date). I can sometimes feel this urge to make things cool when designing, and so I think this will be an important point to remember throughout my project.

Further, the hosts also mentioned that to avoid gentrification, we need to preserve the character of a place, whilst also giving it something it didn’t have before (Patrick Burgoyne, Eliza Williams, and Rachael Steven, no date). This to me seems vital to type making for spaces. The typography should add a sense of value, but one must also stay true to the space, not taking over too much of it’s identity. Type is first and foremost a tool used for reading, and one might be cleaver in sticking to it’s humble original function.

Nicer Tuesdays: Caterina Bianchini

Fig. 2: Bianchini 2019. Nicer Tuesdays: Caterina Bianchini

Caterina Bianchini’s talk for Nicer Tuesdays was a quick and inspirational video, on poster and layout making.

I was particularly interested in Bianchini’s development method where she described how she looks at subjects by describing them with words, which she then reimagines in graphics (Caterina Bianchini, 2019). This way of analysing and synthesising seems like a easy and playful method which could result in unique results. Especially for visual translation, I think this could be a great way of avoiding direct translation and cliches.

I further admired Bianchini’s way of characterising type, and how she would draw letterforms in different moods and situations (e.g. by imagining what a bouncing, dancing, boring, etc. B would look like) (Caterina Bianchini, 2019). Drawing on last week’s wrap up, I would like to embark on more visual and experimental research this week, and I think this exercise would be a lovely way of starting this.


Tutorial w/Celine

Referring to last week’s wrap up, I wanted to make sure to discuss my project with a tutor, as I was feeling a bit lost and unsure about further developments. Celine suggested a range of action points:

Question terms needs to be defined (they can be redefined once a week):

  • Spaces (Places)
    • Look into various types: physical/digital, public/private, crowded/intimate, etc.
    • Look into the difference between space and place
  • Typography
    • Could it be language instead?
  • Connect
    • How did I come to the need for people to re-connect with spaces?
    • What is the issue I am dealing with?

Look into history:

  • Need a strong historical knowledge – architecture and design are interlinked and codependent
  • Need to be aware of the existing

Test and develop your own methods and see what works for the project:

  • Collect lots of material and label each?
  • Express your research as visuals or writing?
  • Conduct interviews?
  • Test methods and see what works for the project
  • Look into theory of dérives

References:

  • Artists working with language: John Baldessari, Jeremy Deller, Lawrence Weiner, Jenny Holzer
  • The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard.
  • The Social Life of Small urban Spaces, by The municipal Art Society of New York (short movie).
  • Theory of Dérives, Guy Debord. Some reading available here: http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/2.derive.htm

These points were very helpful, particularly the ones on defining my key words, and responding to research through visual experiments. Inspired by Celine’s suggestions, I set out a goal to finish every week by developing a visual response to research, define my key words, and review my design objectives.


Development of project draft summary

Before being I able to write my project draft summary, I wanted to reflect on the purpose of my project, and also to process some of Celine’s insight through written reflection.

I began by attempting to explain my project to my partner, and through our discussion I began to open my mind up on what a place could be. Rather than solely looking at inside public places, I could also look at cities or countries. In our discussion we talked about the city of Oslo, and how there is very little visual evidence left in the streets from it’s historic past. This made me wonder if I could somehow develop a language for Oslo which could let people learn about it’s cultural heritage. Reflecting on cultural heritage, I also began to wonder if languages could somehow help people integrate and feel at home in the city. I don’t believe history should be displayed just for the sake of it, but what I really liked the idea of was to make people connect to a place by becoming part of the place’s culture.

Having discussed my project with my partner, I went on to write, re-write and re-write the project draft summary documents, eventually landing on the documents below. This process also included the development of objectives and design strategies, which I used to develop my critical plan. These were very influenced by my tutorial with Celine, which helped me plan my way forward.

After finishing the draft treatment, I was left with the following hypothesis:

Languages in places can help people connect to the place’s culture and societal values, leading to a an increase in belonging and understanding.


Weekly tasks

As mentioned above, my tutorial with Celine inspired me to develop weekly wrap up tasks, where I would respond visually to research and define my keywords based on my current understanding of them. The visual task can be quick (like this week) or more extensive, as the goal is really just to get away from the computer for a moment.

Visual response to research

Inspired by Caterina Bianchini’s Nicer Tuesdays talk, I decided to test an exercise where I would first describe a place with words, and the draw letters to fit these descriptions. Looking back, I don’t think I spent enough time with this task, as most of my results ended up being quite cliche. It was still valuable to test the method however, as I think it could be very beneficial at a later stage in the project, where I will have done proper research into a place (meaning I would be able to describe it better).

As advised by Celine, I also wanted to mind map all types of places I could think of. Moving forward, I hope to find examples of the different types of places, in order to hopefully figure out which types of places I’d like to look at in my project. Initially though, I took an interest in boundaries, and how a place can have both visible and invisible boundaries. Based on this I think it could be interesting to look at more abstract places – if there is such a thing.

Key word definitions

Place
Having read up on the difference between space and place, my current understanding was that places are areas or buildings with a purpose. I was still slightly confused however, and so I wanted to look briefly into place making, to try and understand how a place comes to be.

Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value. Paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.

(Project for Public Spaces, 2022)

The above quote fascinated me, as it felt very much in line with what I had been trying to say with my project purpose text. Coming together as a community really seemed like the goal of place making, and so I wondered if I could potentially explore how language could become a contributing element in achieving this.

If choosing to look at Sagene Bad for example (explored last week), it would be very interesting to look at how language can be used as a tool for place making, bringing together the community together in a shared public space.

Language
Beyond the basic definition of what language is, I was currently feeling most interested in the development of a visual language, and how that could be used as a shared mode of communication, even if place participants didn’t speak the same verbal language.

These reflections made me wonder if visual languages could be developed based on what a community shares. For example, two people may not share the same verbal word for apple, but perhaps the colour yellow means joy to them both. This fact made me realise how important it will be to consider audiences in my project, perhaps by arranging workshops or conducting interviews.

Further, I began to think about the power of a shared language, and wether this could potentially bring people closer together, simply due to a community sharing an understanding of something.

Connect
At this stage I wasn’t seeing a need for people to re-connect with places for their own sake, but rather for the sake of a community. By connecting to a place and a shared culture, one might be able to tear down invisible boundaries, and thus democratise that place.

I also don’t think connection needs to mean becoming part of. Everyone doesn’t need to feel at home in every place, and with every culture. However, if everyone can begin to form a deeper understanding for unfamiliar cultures, we might begin to feel more empathy for those cultures we previously did not understand. Perhaps language can be used to connect cultures with other cultures, giving them a place of understanding?


Weekly wrap up

This week has been a little though, like last one, as my project still feels quite broad and abstract, and therefore overwhelming. The tutorial with Celine was luckily very successful however, and moving forward I’m excited to get started on her suggested action plans. I particularly think it will be useful to research specific places, as I’ll hopefully be able to pin point some specific focus points, where language can be used to solve a specific problem.

Looking back, I think it would have been beneficial to spend more time with my visual research respond, in order to actually develop something “good”. However, I think it was interesting to experience how easily typography can become cliche, and how important this is to avoid. As I move on to conduct expert interviews, I think it would be very valuable to ask designers about how they avoid cliches in their work, and wether there are any tools one can use to do so.

Developing my project draft summary must have been the most successful aspect of this week, as it made think (and re-think) the purpose and aims of my project. I realised that I can’t simply do a type project based on my interest, but that an MA project should also be contributing to the times we live in somehow. Discussing my project with my partner also helped me realised this. Moving forward I think it will be vital to keep discussing my project with peers, to ensure the project continuous to have purpose.


REFERENCES:
Caterina Bianchini (2019) Nicer Tuesdays: Caterina Bianchini. (Nicer Tuesdays). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZi-lrVt458&ab_channel=It%27sNiceThat (Accessed: 4 February 2022).

Patrick Burgoyne, Eliza Williams, and Rachael Steven (no date) ‘Making, changing and documenting places’. (The CR podcast). Available at: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/the-cr-podcast-episode-14-making-changing-and-documenting-places/ (Accessed: 4 February 2022).

Project for Public Spaces (2022) What is Placemaking? Available at: https://www.pps.org/article/what-is-placemaking (Accessed: 11 February 2022).

LIST OF FIGURES:
Figure 1. Unknown maker. ca. 2010-2018. The CR Podcast. [digital graphics]. Creative Review [online]. Available at: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/landing-page/cr-podcast/ [accessed 11 February 2022].

Figure 2: Caterina BIANCHINI. 2019. Nicer Tuesdays: Caterina Bianchini . Available at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZi-lrVt458&ab_channel=It%27sNiceThat [accessed 11 February 2022].

Figure 3-4: Caterina BIANCHINI. 2019. Nicer Tuesdays: Caterina Bianchini . Available at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZi-lrVt458&ab_channel=It%27sNiceThat [accessed 11 February 2022].