Elizabeth Armour

Hello! ....And also goodbye a bit..

2012-02-04T04:15:00.000-08:00

I have traveled to the shiny (and a bit complicated) world of Wordpress and have a brand new blog to show for it, still under construction (I need better photos) and also figuring out how to work widgets etc. So I'll no longer be using this blogger at the moment!If you want to keep up with whats happening in my final semester and what I'm up to at the moment, the address is:www.earmourdesignermaker.wordpress.com :) Please have a look!

Birnam walk in the woods

2011-10-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

Mold making and silicone rubber..

2011-10-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

So I tried my best at hot rubber mold-making again, this time casting a material I'd never used before - silicone rubber. I imagined it would be a rubbery yet smooth texture.However I'm actually really not keen on the feeling of it! If this is the way it always turns out, including translucent silicone which I would have to buy myself....I don't think I'll be using this in the future! It's is something I've tried and tested though, so it's a learning curve.I might have a few more goes at it- one adding bubbles to it to create a more organic effect, and one go putting the liquid silicone in a vacuum to take all the bubbles out.Oh well, I hope I have a better making day tomorrow!

'sciencey' things...

2011-08-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

Off to the woods we gooo...took a wander up round the castle estate to find some mushrooms, squishy things, lycan, etc. Thought i'd slice some fungi up and take a look at it under the microscope. As you can see from the picture, this is a VERY old microscope! My dad's, originally my great grandpa's. You have to have a torch/lamp placed where the mirror is and adjust it so that the light shines up towards the slides, there's no fancy internal light within this thing! It's really cool that it's a piece of family history.
I wiped the dust off it and the slide that i last used years ago was STILL sitting on the plinth, must have been looking at spores because an orange dust-pattern was stuck to the glass slide.

Anywho! I got the best photos that i could out of this. Last time i tried looking down the lens, then drawing what i saw..quite tricky. So i focused my camera down the lens.

The light isn't too great but i didn't think i'd even be able to get pictures in the first place so i'm quite pleased! And i like that the photos are the lens and black background :)

The coven of witches..

2011-08-10T10:22:00.001-07:00

A funny mossy collection of lumps which is sitting up a hill near the Maltlands on the Castle Estate in Inveraray..I've walked passed them so many times and thought they looked like a group of witches huddling together or whispering! I'm sort of waiting for them to pop out of the undergrowth one day..

Hmmm...silicone eh..

2011-08-10T10:18:00.001-07:00

Whoopie cakes! (or pies)

2011-06-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

Decided to make these today, having never tried these wee treats, or made them before...

...leading up to the ultimate question: Are they better than the good old cupcake?!

I can't decide myself, was a good excuse to try them all the same!

A lot have been munched already due to my brother and his pal diving into them.

Orkney

2011-06-05T16:40:00.001-07:00

The end of term

2011-05-10T16:38:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted for quite a long time, about two months. Finally the semester is over, we've all passed and are heading towards scary 4th year! It will be all worth it to see our shiny degree show though :)
However I can't help but think that this year was a little bit of a downer on the course for me, I enjoyed it so so so much in 2nd year, 3rd year I felt was a bit of a flop. The excitement had gone from the previous term, getting stuck into something I'm interested in, I think maybe what held me back apart from unfortunate circumstances, is that it wasn't 2nd year anymore, 3rd year seemed so much more serious that I shrivelled up a little bit, I wasn't quite as free as I wanted to be. I'd experiment with lots of different materials but nothing ever came to a 'spectacular ending' like I'd planned in my head. They came out more like samples.
For 4th year I'm aiming to bring the excitement back, not hold back and be brave, but at the same time I want to create something that looks more like a finished piece, well executed and with great skill. In order to do that I think I'm going to have to think about the way I work more, and learn about the materials I want to use really well.
I'm hoping for a better year next year, one where I feel much more comfortable in college and just get stuck in. Apart from aiming to get most of my dissertation done over the summer, and having to earn lots of money...I aim to have a good break! :)

Sake, should have posted this up aaaages ago..

2011-03-28T13:55:00.001-07:00

My Domestic Paradise project finished!

Everything is beginning to thaw....

2011-02-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

Hopefully to much brighter times :)

Spoons and knives :)

2011-02-20T09:06:00.001-08:00

So for our Domestic Paradise project I have so far made a giant rubber spoon, and an acrylic knife (which im not sure what im going to do with yet) for my collection of unusable tableware objects. Next I would LOVE to make a giant porcelain cracked egg, soft looking and brilliant white and then flock the inside, AND a large copper bowl with texturized details at the bottom. Who knows when im going to make them though...onward to Munich this week..!

'Domestic Paradise'

2011-02-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm.....spooooons...

Just some rings :)

2011-01-15T05:26:00.000-08:00

Two rings I made in the workshop this week, for myself, while I had the time!

That's a SWEET piece of jewellery you're wearing

2011-01-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

Baking, baking, baking and a little bit of cooking is mostly what I've been doing in the holidays, which is what I love doing to relax and it keeps me making things outside of college too when there's no access to a workshop.
In 2nd year when I wasn't quite so confident about doing some crazy ideas, I considered making edible jewellery..now this of course could be modelled on a kind of food and made out of plastics/different materials etc, or completely edible..or both.
I like the idea of bringing something like cake-decorating off the cake and transfering it onto the body to make a wearable sweet sculpture!
Jewellery which lasts can be beautiful and is treasured by the owner obviously for a long time, but just for a bit of fun, some edible jewellery which can be enjoyed for a short time and also offer a tasty treat- how can you refuse? :P

Ana Crisan's Sugar Creation "Art is there to be consumed, so please start nibbling as so as it's out in the open!"

Christmas baking so far!!

2010-12-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

So every holiday I go back and think, what else is there to do in the middle of nowhere, but bake things for family and friends! I go a bit crazy otherwise.. :D
(I'm so proud of the cupcakes, they look so professional, hehe!)

A tactile, magnetic ear piece, that you might not necessarily want to touch...

2010-12-03T11:13:00.000-08:00

This is my final piece so far for my research project, a lot of thought was put into how it would fit onto the ear..
The piece is still in progress, but the concept is basically a tactile piece which you may not want to touch (the sphere shapes are made from latex, rather squishy and odd) and I decided to put it in an unexpected or 'hidden' place on the body. I chose behind the ear because that is a habit of my own, to rub behind my ears, I don't notice I'm doing it. If i forgot I was wearing this, I'd get a fright feeling some sort of weird rubbery texture there!
Anyway, I have set magnets in the copper and into the latex so it fits anywhere around the ear (very strong magnets!) and can be moved around. I have not yet flocked the inside of the spheres (added texture) or added chains and more spheres to hang off the piece. It will also be silver plated.

Some wee porcelain samples for your viewing pleasure

2010-12-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Georgia kindly arranged a porcelain workshop for us in the general workshop which was fun and a nice break from other stresses in our owm workshop and design studies! Here's a few wee glazed samples:

Have calmed down a little bit...

2010-11-18T14:28:00.001-08:00

After verging on....a week and a half to two weeks, I have been fairly stressed about my dissertation subject. Basically, what I began with was 'The relationship between Europe and Japan, why we are influenced by Eastern Culture.' Now this needs narrowing down a lot, so I began reading more into it..and thought about basing it around cities, perhaps urbanisation...then i came across craft. A friend suggested to me: How East Asian craft has affect that of the UK, using Japan as a case study. Still needs some fair narrowing...however I have begun delving into the world of craft, and the arts and crafts movement which clearly links with Japanese craft. (Mengei theory)

.......why am I so adamant on basing my dissertation on Japan? I am interested in Eastern Culture, particularly Japan because it seems like such an 'alien' country to me, I have been exposed to Japanese artwork, print and paintings since I was fairly young, it's been around my house, have come across works amongst artists I'm fond of...
From what I learnt last year it has a very low crime rate, an organised transport system (bullet train) a polite society, I just loved learning all these facts and some figures about a completely different culture from my own. So in turn thought I'd investigate into why Europe, or even just the UK, is inspired by an Eastern culture, and vice versa. Globalisation could factor into this a lot, but from what I've learnt so far it's the need we have to learn about another way of living, a cross cultural knowledge is sought after.
So...really I think I'll just have to keep reading to narrow it down :S I'm not sure if I'd like to write about craft just yet...transport is another option, could make it a service design type discussion..who knows just yet. The first proposal is coming up and I think I'm just going to have to do with what knowledge i have a the moment. I would be so much less stressed if i definitely knew what I was doing, but there you go! I hear a lot of other folks are in the same position but pretty much everyone I've spoken to seems to know what they're doing...
On the upside of things, the research project is going really well! Yay! A blog to follow that coming up :)

Ooooh boy....I'm going to have fun with this project..

2010-11-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

Sooooo, this morning we got a new brief, Sandra took us through it explaining the Research Project. We have to research into a jeweller/designer which has been picked out for us according to our own styles/interests, which lead up to a 10 minute presentation of the designer's work. We also have to design and make a piece which uses either a technique, material, inspiration or concept etc that they use. The line between using their work as inspiration and plagiarising their work shouldn't be crossed.
I had a feeling I would maybe get a designer who uses plastics, is inspired by organic forms, pattern, or texture..I was almost right, and I do like her work!
Zoe Robertson, is a contemporary jeweller who is interested in unusual materials, plastics, rubber and currently flocking are used to create her designs.
Bold, colourful, tactile and industrial yet sensual are all keywords to describing her work...however..
I did quite a lot of research this afternoon and found 2 videos of her giving a lecture about her work at Birmingham Institute of art and design, where she teaches as a lecturer on the jewellery and silversmith course.
Her earlier work as she describes, was inspired by a mixture of her love of creating, and her social life.. The market she aimed to sell her jewellery at before she started teaching was to the Rubber and PVC Fetish market! This was a big part of her life when she was younger, and having researched into fetish clothing companies and knowing that particular area of style, she noticed that nobody was doing jewellery in this line of fashion! So this is where her career took off....

Her work is quirky, very tactile looking, and a lot of fun.

Well, I'd never have guessed it from more recent designs...

Oh and I will post some of my final samples for the colour project up here but I haven't shipped them back to my flat yet.

Spore Prints!

2010-11-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at mushrooms quite a lot for my colour project..I love the organic forms, the colours, the textures of them (although I don't like eating them) Have done some spore prints of some mushrooms I gathered at the weekend, and quite a few of them turned out really well and are very detailed! I'm going to try and replicate a print on the laser cutter tomorrow. Not exactely very colourful but I can incorporate colour into them some other way. Not too sure of designs yet but I'll have to come up with some pretty soon...such a short project compared to our first one which was 5 weeks! Time is running away pretty quickly.

Some A.R.T. Society fun..

2010-11-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks I've gone along to the A.R.T. Society events, with encouragement from my friend Jen who happens to be the president of the society (ooooo!) and it's been a lot of fun!
At the beginning of the term I was a fundraiser for the D.A.R.E. Society...although this provided much involvement in a team, was enjoyable/for a VERY good cause, it also provided a lot of stress, which got to me because really (I suppose!) I should be putting my course first. I decided to stand down as a fundraiser which I did and do feel quite guilty/sad about, I really enjoyed doing it. However this doesn't mean I'm leaving D.A.R.E. entirely. I still attend events, go to meetings and want to help out when I can. I just don't want to be relied upon when I can't be completely reliable due to my course or whatever else appears in between.
Anyway, having said all this the A.R.T. Society has given me some stress relieving activities to enjoy once in a while, it's good to go to an event where I can just carve a vegetable (a pumpkin just to clarify) or decorate piles of cakes in amongst all the work I'm doing! Here are a few picturess..

Colour Project..

2010-10-27T12:33:00.001-07:00

Some wee sketches in my sketchbook!

Yesterday we took a trip to the botanic gardens, mostly staying in the glasshouses because of the weather to draw plants using colour for our project. I went and took a few pictures myself today just around Dundee. We have to incorporate resin/acrylic into our samples that we make after our workshops.
I'm really looking forward to the workshops! I really like using alternative materials to metal, or alongside it, and I have been wanting to know more about the possibilities with plastics!
We have a resin workshop to look forward to tomorrow I think, also vacumming, heating and moulding, carving and finishing on other days. This could help me a LOT with how to use the materials I love and another step towards knowing what I want to do for 4th year :)

Narrative project final piece..

2010-10-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Very nearly forgot! Here is my final piece for the narrative project, I have never made a piece of jewellery which has such a deep meaning or story behind it so it was a challenge, but Im pleased with the outcome :)

Based on Pre-Raphaelite paintings and William Morris patterns, my 'compact mirror' is beautiful on the outside, but broken on the inside...

Made with Brass, contains resin in the centre and shards of broken mirror set inside.

Colourful, resin jewellery

2010-10-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

I think our new project which is 'Colour' based on architecture and using resin/acrlyic and embelishing with metal where ever we see fit....will be awesome. I'll probably get stressed out anyway on choosing a final design as usual but I lOVE using a mixture of materials in addition to metal and without.

I was also thinking that I really enjoyed using ceramics in college, maybe I could use it in this project? I'm unsure as to if it specifically has to be plastics though, we'll find out tomorrow.

Here are some looovely images I've found, using colour in jewellery:

Cristina Aucone

Tracy Page Smith

Nicole Collins

Thoughts on a not-far-off dissertation..

2010-10-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

Having not blogged as much as I probably should be, I feel like I should keep up with it because I do really do do work! I just don't post it up here..it hasn't become an automatic reflex yet. Plus I really want to pimpmyblog :( I can be pretty bad with computers (just ask those who've seen me use photoshop, illustrator, you name it) but I'd like to show my work more and get it out there.

Anyway, I've started a mind map on subjects I think I'd really enjoy writing about/care about/am interested in, if it's not going to be interesting, and I don't enjoy writing it, it's not going to be a good read!
In second year I really enjoyed writing about Eastern Design, it was a sort of 'Western vs East' in way about cultural differences, and how Japanese technology is so advanced, how borrowing from different cultures can benefit our own. I think I would like to take this further but at the moment it's somewhat vague.
I'm also worrying that Primary Research is very important, and as I've never been to Asia or the far East before I'd be worried I'd end up writing about a country/continent I don't entirely understand? However there are other ways such as interviewing someone from Japan etc, but I'm not sure if that would be enough?

However I did get a wealth of knowledge and a great perspective on life in China from the assignment in second year, analysing photos. I spoke to a girl from Graphics who is from China, we talked for over two hours and could not have had a more different home life from each other. It was fascinating to find out more about a culture which i've never experienced straight from a person from there rather than looking through a book, watching a film, which may not be entirely accurate.

This also leads me on to the lecture 'Made in China' which we had before the reading week. I was so excited about this lecture. I thought yes, this is exactly what I want to know more about, this could help me so much to decide what I want to write about.

I knew China had a massive historical background, I'm still very unaware of the details. But because we were told this was literally skimming the surface of it's history, it made me wonder if I could research into Chinese Design without getting too bogged down in all the details. I tend to go off on a tangent when I do research and need to go back and think you need to focus on the most important points, but what's interesting about it without the details?
I thought this lecture as a whole had a huge effect on me. I had heard of Tiananmen Square...it was a place in China. That is it. I didn't know of the politics, the protests, the open fire on their own people. The way of life there as a mostly Capitalist country also worries me. The huge difference between the rich and the poor ways of life. Then we come to the factories...I know look at my ipod, with disgust, a lot of the time, and then think why did i not go for another mp3 player...which would also have probably said on the back, made in china. So why should i worry? It's a vicious cycle...the products are made there because it's cheaper, if we stop buying the products it puts people out of jobs..so what can you do?? Can design help? I was seriously overwhelmed and a little bit depressed after this lecture because it seemed all doom and gloom..I did wonder what the Chinese people in our year thought of the lecture? Considering that China no longer talk of the Tiananmen Square protests too. I found a lot of the things I saw strange (such as the fake English town) or to do with the overworked underpaid factory workers.
What good comes out of China/is in China? What makes people happy there, and is a normal day just going off to the empty, fake English village to get a post-marriage photoshoot done?

I want to go! I want to experience China for myself, the cities, the countryside and take in the culture.

However that lecture made me slightly scared and that I might feel like 'the idiot abroad'..

Look, the great wall doesn't seem that big..:|

Design studies group, 2nd meeting

2010-10-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

So, our group decided to pass up Air bar for the grass on the campus green. We met up to see how was everyone was getting along with their research and how writing the Wiki was coming along, I think everyone agreed that there were few problems along the way but each of our subjects were so broad in information that you could carry on and on researching about them! For example Culture, there are 164 different definitions of (according to Claire's book, which I need to get the name of) and so she was having to cut it down a lot and focus on a certain area she wished to write about. Anyway, we enjoyed the chat and hopefully we're all getting on fine with our topics!

Design Studies :Assignment 1.

2010-09-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

For this assignment I thought carefully about the topic I wanted to choose before we met up with our study groups. Crime and Design instantly jumped out at me from the list of Wiki topics but I had written about that for my level 2 essays so much last year I thought it's time to move on.
I googled and researched topics if I weren't too sure what they were, for example I had no idea what 'Green Wash' was before I looked it up, I had no idea that companies did this! Was pretty shocked and thought people are just so crafty! Of course saying 'this is a green product' is going to sell much more than those who aren't but faking it is awful...
Ecoliteracy is the topic I chose, luckily no one else in my group wanted to write about this, however we did find some common ground discussing it! Ecoliteracy is teaching sustainability and 'How to be green' in schools, which I think is an amazing subject, very important for future generations and has so much potential for design ideas!
Peter from our group suggested I visit the Student plot up at the Botanic Gardens, he does a lot of work up there and was telling me about some possible designs.
We were also discussing 'natural graffiti' which is using moss, as it grows really well up walls and buildings, mixing it with glue in a blender and 'graffiti-ing' public places! Technically you can't really get into any major trouble with this, it might not be as colourful or as personal as using spray paint, but its natural, and very green as it will continue to grow :)
We did go slightly off subjects at times but I think it was altogether a very useful meeting, getting to know each other and swapping ideas!

Transparency

2010-09-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the reasons for liking the particular themes that appear in my work. With third year approaching I'd like to look more into subjects and understand the materials I love to use much better. Obvious loves of mine are the sea, sea creatures, fish, Japanese and Eastern culture, but a tutor asked me during the stone setting project what particular element do I like about these themes? Had I ever thought about looking further into it. I told him that I loved looking at transparent objects, multiples, stones that contain many colours such as Opals, I use layering in a lot of my pieces and sketchbooks.
I'd love to continue looking further into these ideas. However I'd never dismiss anything new that I come across..
During college in Glasgow when I was doing a portfolio course, I got really into looking at cells, bacteria, animals, the way nature works behind all the leaves and trees. If I look into a particular subject like an animal I think is just really interesting (usually reptiles, sea animals..) I HAVE to know everything about it and the way it works. Sort of like if I watch a film in a way, I have to know the workings behind it.
Some of the images I came up with for the Mixed Media project in that course weren't pretty, but they were full of detail, intricacy, and just lots of information!

A few hits of transparency into Google gave me some images that I really like..

Stone Setting..

2010-05-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Very late posting this since the year is officially over and it's onward to third year (!) but here is my little glass vial creation from the stone setting project. It's a bit wonky if I'm honest but I'll get better at the making, and designing! :)

A thought. about medical labels..

2010-04-20T15:43:00.001-07:00

I was having a look about bbc iplayer earlier, and since i've watched the latest Doctor Who and Nevermind the Buzzcocks at this point, thought i'd find a documentary to watch or something similar. I've only seen two Louis Theroux documentaries before, one of which was 'The City addicted to Crystal Meth' which was just...really bizzare and the other was about Fundamental Christian's in America being as strange as they can be I suppose. This one is 'America's medicated kids' not something I'd choose to watch because I'd feel it's...over-exposing? Maybe quite biased? Not that the other one's aren't but when it's something medical I get put off for some reason, same with any hospital progammes.
Anyway, I noticed something which I can kind of relate to, and which also tied in with this term's design studies, our assignments when we were interviewing the public.
So in certain parts of the programme Theroux sits in on doctors/psychiatrists talking to very young children aged from about 6 to 12 or so who are on medication for whatever reason. From ADHD, to Bi-Polar disorder (I had no idea children so young could be diagnosed with that and given pills for it...:s) and to other conditions I've never heard of. I paid particular attention to the questions they were being asked in their checks ups with the doctor. 'Do you feel times when you just feel like you have so much energy you're going to burst?' Do you feel very very angry sometimes?' and the replies were usually if not always a yes... The way they asked the questions seemed very directed to me. The child could be going along with what the doctor wants to hear, parents want to hear, or lying to perhaps feel special. (one child did infact admit that he liked the fact that he was labeled Bi-polar, that he takes numerous pills, and he feels special because of this).
It just struck me that these doctors and parents obviously want to make their children better, but could this just be an easy way out to calm them down with pills? Should children this young be on that amount of medication if at all? Are the questions they're asking their children really that well thought out enough to give an honest answer? Could they perhaps ask instead: So how did you feel on this day? What do you normally do at break time in school? Do you go and play with friends after school? If so why not?
I don't obviously understand the full force of it, as I have never come across a child who is just too much to handle everyday of the week like these parents. Maybe these questions are asked and this programme is just making it out that these particular people are more narrow-minded than they really are, but if they want to help these children I think they should ask more and listen more rather than giving a 6 year old medication for three different 'conditions' that they very well may, or may not have.
The only way I could relate to this documentary otherwise which I thought of, was that I have a friend who was told years ago by a doctor that said person had OCD, once they were told this, the OCD became 'worse', it seemed because they had been told this they automatically thought, right, I have this, I'm going to think about it more...and proceeded to be more worrysome, sort things into orders, etc. They had been labeled. I'm not saying that it wasn't there before at all, as there were tendencies, but once given the label it was like they were now acting on it more.
If a teen could become like this by being told they have OCD, a child would probably get into it even more-so and carry it with them throughout their life.
It was strange how one minute I was watching this and then the next minute thinking, they shouldn't be doing this, questions worded in a different way would give them much better answers from these kids..the interview techniques have sort of stuck with me a bit. It's made me think different about all sorts of things now that I've noticed. Design is coming into everyyyything...

Growing..

2010-04-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

My research on sustainable jewellery has taken me towards sculpture at the moment, raking through the internet I've discovered artists with great ideas and designs. I came across a Community artist called Karen Whiterod who uses nylon and other plastics such as bottle and fishing wire, to create forms which are entirely manmade yet represent natural forms. I love these scupltures because of their transluecency, they way they also reflect light as well as let light through. A lot of her work is also suspended which is another aspect I've been looking into as I got further into the 'ring a day' project on Flickr, some very interesting and sciencey- ideas! Once I've looked further into the idea of suspending pieces of work I'll post it up here..for now here are some of Whiterod's pieces.

A Ring a Day..

2010-04-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

Over Easter 2nd year (argh, nearly 3rd!) Jewellery have been asked to research for the Sustainability project, aiming to make Sustainable jewellery/sculpture in 3rd year. For the end of term we've to finalise our ideas with design boards.

My research is quite sketchy at the moment, I have..too many ideas and want to use too many materials, so I guess I'll just keep looking/sketchbooking till an idea sparks.

I found this sweeet idea on notcot.org called the Ring a Day project, it's mostly about experimenting and having fun with different materials to create different ideas everyday. Idea by Colleen Baran but pictures of rings posted in by all makers can be found on Flickr, interesting to see all the different ideas that people come up with!

Rhino 3D

2010-04-01T01:46:00.001-07:00

After a week full of learning tutorials, some frustration and then thinking *this is so much better than photoshop*...I finished my first ring design using Rhino 3D (presented using photoshop) which I'm pretty pleased with. Based on the project brief 'Hidden' I chose to create silver drops attached to a chain falling off a ring, with a pearl just visible inside one of the drops. The inside of the ring has indented letters which read 'escape' which only the wearer would be aware of.

Assignment 5 part A

2010-03-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

In semester one I researched into Subway design and train stations; the cultural, environmental issues, general security and atmosphere placed around these public transports. The sources for my research were primarily surveys and journals which observed railway stations and links to crime.

How the general public found using stations everyday was my main concern, however after finding results of this I also started to question this service in other cultures, mainly Japan as their country is run by the Subway system. Gaining a greater knowledge of how to improve general public transport is important as everyone uses it and so everyone should be provided with a safe public service to use.

From my secondary research in semester one, I found a relevant Journal of information: ‘The International Journal of Transport Management 1 (2003) 121-132: Managing Crime and Fear of Crime at Railway Stations - a case study of South Wales.’ Which brings forward evidence that the general publics perception of personal crime in the station and in the vicinity of railway stations are much higher than statistics show, discouraging them from using trains. In this journal there is a specific type of research method used in finding this evidence: a Virtual Reality Interaction Programme (CPTED, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). This provided a walk-through panoramic view of a particular station, with a constructed questionnaire then completed candidates (three males, three females); results were then used in finding needs for improvisations of the railway stations.
Using this method to find out how the public viewed these stations (a total of six in six different locations) gathered some interesting results. Mainly that the stations should have better lighting, followed by increased staff and cleaning to improve customer safety. The interesting part is that all of these screen shots of stations were taking during the day, yet people noticed that more lighting was needed at night. This tells me that by using CPTED people were really paying attention because of the visual aspect of the survey; this may not have been noticed just through a series of questions.

‘Learning from the Japanese City; West Meets East in Urban Design’ Shelton B.1999; gave me an overview of Japanese Culture; why cities look the way they do, and a comparison to the Western world. In relation to my subject this source informed an idea of ‘content’ in Japan rather than ‘context‘(in the West). The locations of rail stations (according to source 1) are usually in deprived areas in Britain. Why? This made me consider how cities are laid out. I questioned the influence of other cultures on our society and how we could learn from Eastern countries to look at Design from a different point of view to perhaps improve on our public transport.
If I were to investigate this topic further with Primary research I would choose to interview the public and also use visual aids such as photographs. I believe that asking the general public is important, as you would gain a good knowledge of who uses the train, how often, what do they think of the service, any bad experiences using the train? My target group to ask would be adults younger and older who pass through the station at rush hour, travelling in and out to work every day. I’m likely to get informed answers from more frequent users. Five main questions would be enough to ask initially then I could ask more from their responses, it would be sensible to keep it under 10 minutes long, as I would hopefully get more than yes/no answers.

Interviewing combines observation; as you interview you tend to analyse their reactions especially from your own questions, so I would use the skills I have learned from my previous assignment ‘Design Safari’.

Even though I would be combining this with an interview and would mainly be observing the person I’m talking to, I could take note of the ‘type’ of person they are; businessman, traveller, etc. Paying attention to whether the interviewee seems calm or stressed when asking them about the trains with the kind of questions I ask. Current issues are important so I would ask about past experiences but mainly stick to up to date questions which would give me fresh answers.

Showing candidates three photos of three different stations and asking them to analyse the image, would help me gather a lot more information rather than just relying on my own observations, they may notice things I don’t with their interpretations.
Problems caused conducting these interviews would be the environment in which I’m interviewing; people who are rushing about for trains may either give me very short answers or not want to partake at all. However I would then ask people in cafes or sitting waiting on trains as they are more likely to be relaxed. There is a possibility of contradiction, I would have to structure my questions carefully so as not to gain an answer that the person might think I’d want to expect or hear. In-direct questions are key essentials. Some of the public may find the interviews invasive, which would then make the situation daunting for myself, questioning more people may prove difficult. The interview participation sheets would clearly state that they may stop being interviewed at any time if they feel uncomfortable and no personal information (name, age etc) will be used in the research or posted on the internet unless consent is given. I have to take into account that the answers given will be opinions, not facts, so when using the interviews for further research I must also look at other sources by other researchers.
My personal safety would be at risk as I would be asking strangers questions so during the day and at rush hours would be my target times. There may also be the risk of station staff questioning my interviewing on the premises, so I would explain my research with the use of a participation sheet. If still unacceptable I would ask in the centre of a city, as most of the public would use this public transport to get to work.

To conclude, I would make use of interviews to research further into the need to improve railway stations and subway design, including using images of different stations and asking people to analyse them. I think this will give me accurate up to date information of the general public’s opinion on the needs and improvements of stations. Also whether they feel safe, the atmosphere and everyday issues of using the train. I will do this by interviewing candidates in stations in a quieter area such as a café, and around five main questions with sub-questions thereafter. Each candidate will be given a participation sheet and consent form to read and sign. Gaining non-bias information from the public will improve my research further and help towards looking at other sources to back-up my findings.

Bibliography

Cozens.P, Neale.R, Whitakers.J (2003) ‘International Journal of Transport Management 1’ Wales: Elsevier LTD

Shelton.B (1999) ‘Learning From the Japanese City: West Meets East in Urban Design.’ London: New York. Taylor and Routledge.

Assignment 5 part B

2010-03-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

Our most recent project for jewellery was setting; to make a piece in metal which incorporates settings of other materials. This did not just involve the skills we had learnt in the workshop, our design was to be inspired by religious/ spiritual symbolism, which gave us a chance to create something with a deeper meaning, have a story attached to our designs which we might not normal choose to do. I found this brief particularly interesting because it makes you question superstition; why is luck attached to jewellery? How would you recognise a religious piece of jewellery? Why does a stone make something spiritual, protected, it made me question jewellery being associated with memories and the history of stones.
If I were to do this assignment again I would do some secondary research on spiritual symbols and religion. The main source for my research when doing this project was a book called’ Secrets of Aromatic Jewellery’ by Annette Green and Linda Dyett; Flammarion, illustrated edition (15 February 1999). A fantastic source of the history of religious and spiritual meanings of jewellery, also containing many detailed images of perfume bottles, pomanders and containers. This is a design I have become gradually more interested in as I love compartments, the ability to make something which will contain, hold or hide something precious. “Together, scent and container were considered a protection against violations of the spirit, the soul, the psyche.” (pg5) To take my research further I would use library journals and look further into jewellery used as religious objects, such as pomanders and rosary beads. Thinking about the personal identity created by both the scent and container at the same time. I would also mind map my thoughts and ideas for my design, which I did do in my sketchbook but would then brainstorm these ideas to enhance them. Amulets and pomanders were used to protect, to cleanse etc; do they have any other functions? The internet is especially useful to look up meanings and uses of precious and semi-precious stones which I would look further into.
To enhance my research further, asking the public to analyse images and interviewing would be my main body of primary research. I would ask males and females of all ages, to gather the most information and opinions I possibly can, and divide the findings by age, sex and occupation accordingly. Perhaps starting off in a shopping centre where people are likely to walk past a Jewellers that day and have maybe had a look at or bought an item that day. My thought is that most of the general public have at least a couple of items of jewellery they are attached to which have significance to them. I would not make the questions too invasive and keep them quite open to interpretation; as I am looking for how closely people are attached to their jewellery and how much they realise that symbolism plays a big part in this and for them to tell me themselves how much they know.
If I asked “Do you have any religious jewellery?” I think that people may be reluctant to answer. A better question may be “What was the last piece of significant jewellery you were given?” Hopefully if it related to symbolic connotations I could ask further questions. If asked “Do you own any jewellery that contains precious stones?” I could then ask if they knew what kind of stone it is, do they know what meaning there is attached to it if any? For creating a piece of contemporary jewellery with stone settings the results could be useful, I would perhaps find out a currently popular stone, why that is, for example is turquoise a trend in stone set jewellery at the moment because it is set to bring good fortune? Or is it because of the colour? Perhaps where it is from?
“Would you recognise a religious piece of jewellery?” Even getting a description would be useful of the kinds of images people would think of associated with that. Asking “Do you believe there is luck attached to jewellery?” Could give me varied answers but possibly some negative ones, or a short ‘no’. So I would perhaps say: “Is there a particular piece of jewellery you tend to wear all the time or frequently?
This would tell me whether it was because the piece was a gift from somebody important in their lives, to mark a special occasion, or if they wear it because it brings them luck, kind of like a modern-day talisman.
The other technique I would use to gain further information is to present to people images of jewellery, symbols, religious and spiritual. By analysing a photo of for example a pomander, which is a scent container used to cleanse sacred areas and for church ceremonies, I could find out whether people know of them, their function, the history, do they like the aesthetics of them? Also providing images of different varieties of religious and spiritual jewellery such as talisman, amulets, rings, necklaces, scent bottles, then ask people what they like about them in terms of materials, texture, colour, decoration would give me further informative ideas of how to create my design accordingly.
Now that I have done this project and have reconsidered how I would approach it using these different techniques I can see how much it could benefit my designs. Mind mapping and interviewing seems to me to make the design process more logical than just doing research, developing some ideas I like and think could work then creating a final piece. Now it feels more like I’m designing in the real world as a jeweller. I do forget that I am a design student and must pass to get to the next level of study but ultimately; my aim is to design for the people, by their information but through my research and thought process with my skills. I could apply these techniques to so many aspects of my life; I aim to carry on this process in third year to make more sense of how I’m going to carry out my work, and to carry on questioning. I will definitely be putting people, adverts, and global issues under more observation than I realise from now on, hopefully I will learn to use these observations for future designs and further thinking. Primary research is not only a key element to design but very enjoyable, by going out and asking the public questions I am interacting with potential clients, not just the ‘general public’. It has made me realise that talking to people to create contemporary designs is crucial as well as your own ideas.

Bibliography

Dyett.L, Green.A, (1999) ‘Secrets of Aromatic Jewellery’ Flammarion, Illustrated version.

Assignment 4, the interviews

2010-03-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

To begin with for assignment 4 I decided to choose the topic I covered last semester which was the Design of train and subway stations. I began with a mind map and asked the question ‘Do you think the design of train stations could/need to be improved?’ in the middle of my map, then branched off with different areas. Such as culture, public service, environment and safety. Questions started to appear as I added more information, and I used the ones I thought would give me the most knowledge and interesting answers for interviewing people. Re-wording questions so as not to give directed or yes/no answers proved difficult but I think I thought about it enough to give me some good results.

I interviewed some acquaintances, friends of friends, and all gave me varied answers for most questions. This may be because three were female, one was male; the male comes from London and uses the subway at least 3 times a week, one female comes from Orkney and only uses the train in Dundee very occasionally, one female is on the train a lot and usually travels alone, and the other female is from Edinburgh but has only ever used the train from Edinburgh to Glasgow with friends/family.

My main aim was to find out how comfortable the interviewees were in train stations, how easy it is to use the service, perhaps how safe they felt on their own. Their opinion on improvement of rail service, does it need improving?

I asked ‘How useful do you find time tables in a train station?’ Generally the feedback was fairly useful and straight forward, can be confusing when in a hurry. The leaflets are easier to read than the sheets on billboards in train stations (which I also agree with) but the boards above the trains which are usually lit up are direct. One female suggested a touch screen board which you could key in information to let you see your own time table for a particular train which is an idea, however maybe not so good if you’re in a rush to get somewhere. Another female also said that the departures and arrivals boards were confusing when in a hurry, perhaps this could be of some improvement?

I did ask about congestion but the main answer was that trains themselves were occasionally packed with too many people, longer trains perhaps? But no issues with general queuing.

‘How energy efficient do you believe trains are? Should there be more information on this?’ “Guessing they would be pretty efficient because you can get more people on a train, and they’re direct. Could have a comparison of using public transport and cars to say why it’s more efficient, why it’s better for you.” All others interviewed said there was little or no information about the efficiency of trains, that there could be more.

Every single person immediately said ‘WH Smith’ when I asked ‘Which shops do they regularly see/notice in stations?’ There are also coffee shops, perhaps a pub and some fast food places. However nobody said they required anything else, a station is a passing place to get from A to B, you don’t need more than a book and a drink to pass some time whilst waiting for your train.

All interviewed said the general atmosphere is that of busy, rushed; female from Orkney also mentioned that it’s smelly, dirty and full of pigeons…not that there is anything so strange about a busy atmosphere, the hustle and bustle of a working day passes through these stations, most said this can be stressful but that it’s also just a normal occurrence, none seemed too bothered about this.

Only the male from London said that he had seen graffiti in stations, he uses the London underground regularly, and said that the images that this creates is one of vandalism.

Young teens with not a lot to do graffiti-ing tags and pictures that don’t mean much. However he mentions graffiti artwork (which I hoped someone would) and said that if it was a piece of wall art he would admire it, that he quite liked it. I asked if say street artists did this more and rid the ‘vandal’ look would the train/subway stations feel a bit safer, perhaps just more interesting? He agreed with this, if somebody like say Banksy or professional street artists were commissioned to landscape our stations then that would be good.

The question I was hoping to get a lot of interesting information from was ‘How do you feel when waiting for a train with friends compared to when you’re by yourself at a platform?’ Nobody gave me an answer that I expected, perhaps if I’d said, at night on an open platform outside, then I would have got some ‘I’d be slightly nervous’ or something similar. Also I did expect the male to say ‘makes no difference at all’ which he did. The general consensus for the three females was they’d be concerned whether they were at the right platform for the train, got the right time, but if they were with friends then they wouldn’t care. Also that it is better to have company, someone to sit with etc.

I had focused on safety and looked at surveys to do with how safe the public felt when in a train station at night last semester so I have to say I was expecting those kinds of answers, perhaps my question was too vague rather than undirected?

I asked if any of the four new of any other countries with ‘good’ subway systems? One female said she had heard that German and Scandinavian countries tended to have good railways, that we could learn from German rail as they are punctual and environmentally friendly. The male interviewee said that England tended to have better rail travel than Scotland, that France, Canada and Moscow had very good rail service. Not one mentioned Japan…which surprised me a little (again, maybe because I wrote about it last semester) but maybe due to it’s famous for its regimental shoving at rush hour? Looking back on it maybe I should have had a question to ask whether they had heard about this…

As a last question I asked what they might think tourists would think of our railway stations. All but one said that it didn’t really matter, that it was our problem to worry about and not their’s if they’re not up to our standard…but surely, if people visit this country even if we don’t care about how good we look exactly, we want them to have a pleasant experience whilst they’re here? One female said “I do believe it’s important, it all comes down to how they see our country. Tourists do use our public transport; there is always a tourist information point.” Which I thought was a good observation, why would there be info points if Tourists didn’t use our transport? I wasn’t so sure myself if many tourists would use train stations, maybe Subways more, but they probably do. Something to look up for me now would possibly be the tourist industry, how often do they use public transport?

I can see that from doing interviews I have gathered a lot of different information from only asking a few question from just four people. All with varied backgrounds and train station experience but I feel like I’ve gained some valid points which I could use as genuine research. If I asked more people would I begin to see patterns and similar answers? Or perhaps if I made my questions more detailed would have I gained more answers that I expected to get the first time round, would I make them more directed? I think if I did it again I would have asked more in-depth questions back from their answers. I can see how using interviews can be useful in gaining research of public opinion; it can be tricky however I think could be made very successful with a lot more practice!

Design Safari

2010-03-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

For assignment 3, I to walked into town with a few flatmates and wandered about looking for a spot to observe the public. My thoughts were a place I hadn't been to in a while but loved to go to, like a coffee shop or even just a shopping centre (these involve money unfortunately and temptation to buy!). However we all immediately marched towards a shiny new sign saying 'The McManus gallery', had no clue it was the re-opening of it last Sunday.
Which is when I came to my first observations; I knew as a general rule that museums and art galleries admissions are free, neither of my flatmates new this, and there were no signs telling us otherwise. I assured them it should be free and there would be a box for donations somewhere if you wished to do so. (I didn't see one myself) Plus on the way in in the very busy fast moving queue we were given leaflets (including a map) of the gallery. We still did not know that it was the opening day but soon figured this out as it was extremely busy inside, especially for a Sunday in a museum I guess.
Since this was the opening day as a general I'm guessing that I may not have found the same sort of people as I would have done on a 'normal' day. There were families, couples of all ages, students, art students (I recognized quite a few) just...all of the public were in the gallery!
I think my challenge then for observing was to see how these different 'groups' of people acted.
I noticed that when looking at paintings, an adult would perhaps walk past and stop double backing a bit if it catches their eye, read the blurb beside the painting, and then stand back a bit to look at it again, perhaps to take in what they are seeing in more detail. I couldn't quite figure out if the art students were doing this too, but I noticed that when someone was looking at an abstract painting in the contemporary section, they took one quick look at what it was and then immediately read the information to find out what it was/what it meant etc to understand what they were looking at, as I do the same. Either that or I try to figure out what I think of it first, or how I interpret it, and then see if I'm right. Most people seemed to read the info after a quick glance first of all and then have a look at it though, like an automatic action.
Parents tend to explain to their children what they are looking at, either because of unlogical questions they ask, or ones that adults may never have thought to question... I saw a boy of about 5 or 6 run up to a drypoint sketch of a tree, onto a glass frame, and announced that 'the tree is on the glass on this side, and then there is another tree on the paper!' and then ran off into the next room to look at the next piece of work. I hadn't even noticed that the light in the room was creating a shadow from the tree onto the green paper behind it to produce another tree until that little boy had said...
From my observations so far it looked like families got a quick run round the gallery as children's attention spans are short or are elsewhere completely so parents just have to keep up with them, and on occasion children spot other things some adults wouldn't.
I could quite clearly recognize some art students when I saw some with their SLRs gathered round some paintings or sculptures and taking pictures, one also made me spot a sculpture right up in the rafters when she was pointing her camera towards the ceiling, of a gargoyle. I think the piece was called 'the king is dead' other than that i don't know much about it..
In general everyone was tending to circulate the rooms in an order, if they realised they had missed a room they would double back.
Children were most interested in the rooms with interactive screens, and running around the free-standing wall spaces.
Most with young children are lead to something that catches their eye in the room first (such as the interactive screens) then the parent slook around the room in a circular order. Everyone else does circulate as normal.
I might have listened in a little bit to a family who were all gathered round a painting by Pompeo Batoni. They were discussing the story of the painting, then refered to the information beside it, and associated it with a tv programme. As people tend to do they refered to what they could link it to in their daily lives maybe.
I think my favourite part of observing (and maybe listening in a bit although they were standing right next to me when I was taking photos of an exhibit piece) was when a father and his two girls were looking at a large Mayan headdress. One of the girls said 'that looks stupid' and the dad said 'well it may have look silly to you but it was important in their culture because the headdress showed that the woman who wore it was very wealthy..' (which i think definitely realtes back to the Taste lectures!) '...which is why it was covered in precious jewels, and also men would want to marry them'. Haaaang on a minute there, I had just read the information on the headdress and it had said that this was actually a wedding piece and that the newly-wed woman would wear this for most of her married life (god knows how as it looked extremely heavy and impractical as it was pretty big). So...he did tell his children some truth in it but has also told them his own interpretation without really knowing himself...I'm not sure if he would be too bothered to know that he got it half right or wrong, but I wasn;t too sure what to make of that myself.
It made me think...to tell kids the truth...(which in this case wasn't really an extreme truth to tell) or to keep them happy with what we know? Children soak up information ... I'm not sure if this was the 'right' thing to tell two very young girls. It could have also been a father who was exhausted from the questions and didn't quite realise the explanation he was giving was maybe a little behind the times? I'm not keen on judging too much but it was an interesting observation for this assignment anyway!
I did enjoy doing the Design Safari, could have maybe spent a little longer in the gallery and maybe explored the rules and regulations of the way the gallery shop works or the cafe, but I felt the gallery itself was a more interesting topic for me. Also not sure if I went into too much detail or perhaps snooped more than I should have into passing conversations but I felt like that's what I was there to do!
I have to say I didn't feel too uncomfortable doing this assignment because the place I chose was a public art gallery, i would not have listened into people's conversations in a coffee shop but merely observed, as more private/personal issues would have been main topics in such places which i wouldn't have posted. I feel like thoughts and ideas in a gallery are shared with other people looking at a piece/painting anyway, sort of public opinions coming to light as i spoke to other's standing beside me about some paintings, so i decided focus on that for this task and got some interesting results.

Assignment 2, Undestanding the Rhetoric of the image...

2010-02-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

I couldn't quite believe that these were the first three random images that came up on the randomiser on sxc.hu, because every project I have done so far that I've done in second year involves fish somewhere along the way or the sea..but there you go!

Polsemy - 'Having multiple meanings; the existence of several meanings for a single word or phrase'. (or image, symbols, etc)

From first read of the essay by Roland Barthes, I understood that images had different meanings, and different symbols to work out what was going on in an image, but some are picked up and some are missed depending on the individual. That advertising will also have use of text, perhaps just even one word, which the viewer will be drawn to as word comes before image..well, in history the written text came before illustrations, so even one word can trigger understanding the meaning of an image. I suppose again depending on the individual. There are three different messages we can translate from an image - the linguistic: communication by word, language, A Coded Iconic message: which having the knowledge and information to be able to read the image, and a Non-iconic message: which is the raw object.
From my three random images I got some very interesting results. I asked seven people in total to look at these images and interpret them in any which way they wanted, including a computing student, a dentistry student, a medic, an acting student, two dancers, and an ex-army cadet. All very different people from different backgrounds, however all around the same age, 18-20.
I found that in a relaxed atmosphere, for example, talking to one of my flatmates (20, male, computing student) I got a short and sweet, playful story.
Not going into too much detail, but a basic story linking the three images.
When I asked my dentistry and medic friends I was in Tower building and we talking after a DARE society meeting. I felt like they thought much more about how they were going to answer my question. Perhaps because their work involves so much in-depth reading and interaction this was the result? However I thought maybe because there were no linguistic messages on the images as of yet, I got two very different stories, and if there had been some text I may have got much the same from both of them...

"Once upon a time in Tayside and Fife, there was a beautiful family of shiny shiny fish, they found themselves on an adventure one calm Monday afternoon. The sun was setting that Monday afternoon and a beautiful sky it was, the sky was red, the water was black, the fish soldiered on. For they were on a mission; to pass the pier and find out what was on the other side.
What they found there was no normal thing. It was an underwater fruit and vegetable market, run by a corporation of entrepreneurial mermaids." 19, male dentistry student.

This story doesn't make too much sense, but it's imaginative with plenty of detail which is great, as I got a very realistic story from my medic friend:

"You take a boat trip to an island, a romantic early morning boat trip, go to a market where you get some fresh fish, and vegetables. At night you head back to the boat and sit out as someone cooks for you." 20 female, medicine student.

I actually found that the courses and hobbies my story tellers did such as acting, dancing, were so much more emotional than the medics and dentists, a more in-depth story with a tragedy planted somewhere within their story too! I guess I did expect this a little, but I didn't expect to get such creative stories just from 3 images I found on the internet. One in particular (a very long story) had characters and plot lines!

For the second part of this experiment of adding another image, I chose the Dentistry students story mainly because he added another element to the story which I thought people would be drawn to; mermaids. I guess it was perhaps a bit more interesting than say adding a boat, however probably would have got similar stories. Some stories were far too long and I thought if I used them I'd never get a similar story from someone else.I 'm not sure of my logic behind it but in my head I thought people might think sea, fish, market, mermaids....ah! Underwater market! As most of the things I read are quite fictional but probably should have gone with something a bit more realistic as not everyone thinks like me! ....Anyway, here's the image I added:
The results I got from this were quite similar, but with some variations. One began quite realistic, very similar to the medic's story and then ended with 'and you saw some strange things'. So the person did take into account that the mermaid was fantasy but only mentioned briefly so as not to make the story 'fictional'.
I then added some text to see if I could take this story further, I knew now I wasn't going to get exact stories but I wondered how much more detail I could get by adding 'Underwater'.

Here is one of the most interesting I think :

"One day at the beach the small sardine-like fish were bored with their average everyday fishy lives swimming in the sea. They decided they were going to evolve, a very strange decision to make on a whim. They managed to do it in about half an hour, which they were really chuffed with and they kind of looked like mermaids. They achieved their evolution and it turned out they had evolved into humans. So they went to market, 'cause they always thought it looked fun." 18, female, sales assistant/musical person.

I'm not too sure if adding the text Underwater changed too much in this or not, but I like the way this story is mixed with the real and surreal..

I think I would maybe do this experiment again choosing a more realistic story to use as my main aim, as everyone has their own thought process and imaginations, but a more 'normal' everyday story would give better results.

From this I have learned that the image creates very individual ideas, continual adding more information gradually brings together a similar interpretation of the image. I know that from advertising text sets the image, which Barthes talks about and I believe to be true from own experience. One word can explain a whole image/scene.

I found this experiment very interesting as it gave me an idea of what kind of answers I would get in which setting (relaxed/formal) and the correct predictions I got from whom I was asking, such as the more emotive stories from the dancing and acting students, the more realistic (well, occasionally) and detailed from the science students. However I'm sure there are exceptions out there somewhere!

Catwalk project...finally, a design I like.

2010-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

I managed to build up my headpiece once everything was ready like the paper cut-outs and had got the acrylic I ordered, a day before the deadline (seems way too suspiciously organized to me, it'll never happen again!)
My main problem with my Japanese headpiece was the material going with the design; I could not get my head around making the entire thing out of paper, layered, and being 3D for some reason, in my mind my idea looked aesthetically pleasing but whenever I drew it and I saw it on paper it didn't really work. I wanted a mask/headpiece that would cover half the face and act as a sort of 'modern day geisha' head dress.
I decided to go a step back and do more research, I mostly looked at paper sculptures, some of which were amazing and extremely 3D, colourful, but would have taken an age to make. And to learn all the techniques used. I came across an artist/sculpture called Zoe Bradley, her work was mainly elaborate paper dresses/installations, and also headwear. A lot of these were massive, very bold and like catwalk fashion. Her work inspired me to change the shape of my head piece. I also thought about Chinese/Japanese lanterns when I thought of this idea...for the photoshoot I hope to have a light on the inside to project patterns onto the background.
I made an acrylic base sawing it out to be the same shape as the paper patterns, heated it up in a kiln to 'mold' it into a comfortable shape for a head, decided it was better curving up away from the head than down onto it...riveted with silver wire 5 of the paper patterns onto the base, drilled two holes in the centre to thread some ribbon through to make the headpiece wearable and stay on. Then I just built the paper patterns up and out the way joining up at the top again with pewter fasteners..

I'm really pleased with the effect of this, it's not an obvious Japanese design, but it's fragile, intricate AND bold at the same time. I'm hoping the lantern idea works :)

Also, for Design Studies The Rhetoric of the image..it's so difficult to understand :S I'm really trying to decipher every second word as I go along reading it, hopefully in my understanding most of it means that there are at least three different kinds of messages to be read/shown in an image? Including linguistic, coded and non-coded messages..the linguistic part i definitely understand I'm not sure about the rest though, hmm. We'll see.

Assignment 1: analysing photos

2010-02-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

This is a little bit later than it should have been posted but my swapping photos partner and I could only meet after the lecture on Friday, so I decided to make more notes on it and post it when I thought everything was ready!
I swapped photos with a graphics student, Jianru who is from Eastern China, I hadn't really met her before but thought it would be particularly interesting for me to learn about a completely different background than I expected to be looking at. When we met, Jianru hadn't quite made notes about my photos yet and asked me about them as we went along. As I was talking I sort of re-affirmed things I had thought about my home life before, and found out a few little things about myself I only just realised. I had written quite a lot of notes about her photos and went through them with her, seeing which I got correct and finding out very interesting things about the ones I got completely wrong and had very interesting stories behind the photos that I couldn't quite figure out how to talk about!
Talking about my photos brought up a lot of emotions in me. Most of my pictures were of myself from when I was about 2-3 and up to about 11 years old, most of them being taken in the countryside where I grew up and most of them are of my dad and I. Jianru unravelled that I was a shy, reserved child, I'm not smiling much in any of my pictures, however I'm very influenced by my dad and he clearly makes me happy. My mum is taking most of if not all of the pictures, which she hadn't quite figured out, but that I have a really good family. My younger brother and I (he's five years younger) were quite close when we were little as a picture shows of him and myself sitting on top of a hill that overlooks our town. There are no pictures of me as a teenager as Jianru pointed out, which I asked my parents about and it's because I'd refuse to have my picture taken..so there is this big gap of my life; apart from the odd photo which I'd claim to hate, missing because I was an awkward teen!
Jianru was in awe of how beautiful the place where I come from is, and I explained that when I was a child it was a great place to grow up, going out to play was all you did. However growing up there as a teenager was a different matter. I sort of realised this when I told her how unhappy I was for most of my high school days there. The school I went to and my brother still goes to is 24 miles away, and where most if not all of my friends lived. I think apart from the fact that I feel so lucky and appreciate my family so much because they're great, and have a nice house, I was a very lonely child/teen.
The minute I got to college, I came out of my shell, I loved being in a city, I'm much brighter and happier than I've ever been. Maybe moving also encouraged my want to travel... So she pointed out that when she met me, I am much different from in my younger pictures. I also told her that my brother was the more confident, louder one who easily made friends. Jianru then asked is it because he is optimistic? Which made me feel...slightly down-hearted, I know I'm optimistic now, a lot more confident than I ever have been, but I know that my brother easily made friends because he was a normal looking skinny little child. I however, was a very over-weight child, too anxious to talk much and ended up caring a lot about what people thought of me. Primary school was also awkward because my mum was a primary teacher when I was there, so that resulted in some bullying. However I did make some very good friends when I went to high school, and I think my love for books and drawing as a reserved person who had problems socialising ended up helping a lot me because now I'm here at art college. So facing difficulties when I was younger has resulted in a lot of happiness in the present! I learnt quite a lot about myself through someone else looking at these photos. And I don't think anyone of my friends now would say I was reserved or very quiet... :)

Jianru's photos: I made quite a lot of notes on her pictures! Perhaps too in-depth, because some things I suggested to her such as in the first picture of her bedroom, which all of her cousins (who I thought were her friends) are sitting on her bed are all wearing very similar sporty/casual looking clothes and I thought she might be very influenced by them. She did say that her and her four cousins are very close and they spend most of their time in each other's company but, in China most people dress this way and that they do not influence each other much in terms of clothing, most people are quite casual unless they are working. She also said that here however is different...a lot of people like their fashion and are dressed up, I can agree with this mostly, especially in the art school!
I said that Jianru's house looks quite modern, which it is and her family have moved about a lot, most houses are modern in China. I suggested that her room was set up for studying or relaxing, she has cream coloured walls, carpets and a sunshine yellow bedspread, the room looks quite calming with a lot of light coming into it. She does her studying elsewhere in another room of the house always, never eats in there and just uses her room for sleeping, relaxing, listening to music. Light is also very to her important in her room. I couldn't see any books or DVDs, but they are tidied away on a shelf that I couldn't see in the picture and she doesn't watch anything in her room. I figured that Jianru is tidy, organised (the photos were given to me stuck into a notebook, I just handed over a pile of loose photos) sensible person. She isn't a girly-girl much at all, apart from the give-away of cuddly toys lined up on her bed-head there aren't many feminine things about her room. The chairs in her room are very old, traditional Chinese furniture which she likes because you can't get many traditional things such as this in China anymore, so she's collecting them. She has posters on her wall which weren't too clear, they looked like models/famous actresses or something of that kind which I thought Jianru may look up to/ may be some inspiration to her, but really she just liked the pictures! Cut-outs from a magazine.

Jianru has one younger brother, the picture she gave me was taken when he had just come back from a school trip to Beijing on the train and he looks extremely happy. I said that all her family may have come to meet him off the train, which they did, and it was a good day because her family is so close and rarely apart that it was a family event that they should go and meet him from his travels. Her family get together and eat every Sunday, including her grandfather and cousins. However her dad is a businessman and works very hard all the time which makes her upset because he doesn't have as much time to spend with the family. She'd like to see more of him.
She has a picture of her cousin's baby which of course she must be very close too being so close to her cousin already, she was the first one to see her after her being born. Talking about this photo she mentioned the fact that you are now only allowed one baby in China which I'd have liked to ask more about but felt slightly awkward about the subject, I'm not too sure what she thinks of this.
Photos 4 and 5 were confusing pictures when I looked at them, because they were of workmen. One up a very tall building hanging by some ropes cleaning windows, and then the other of three workmen outside on a very hot day working on a railway. I asked her if she knew them, if they were related, or if she just admired the workman's bravery who was cleaning the windows because it's so high up?? In fact the reason was that she doesn't think it's fair. These workers are people who have just been to middle school so have laborious jobs, are worked to the bone and aren't paid very much. She also mentions that she took a picture of the three workers because it was so hot outside that day she couldn't believe they were made to be working. They work outside all the time, have no beds to sleep in and I have to say from the photos look very skinny. Jianru feels very strongly about this, hence the two photos. She also says that she studies so hard because she does NOT want to have a job like this. She says that this picture shows that she must face difficulties in life and pass through them to become happier. (sounds familiar!)

From photo 6 which was a picturesque view of some mountains, I maybe thought that she found this picture beautiful, wants to travel more and learn about new places, possibly appreciative of nature and her surroundings. This picture actually has greater significance than I thought. Jianru told me that these are very famous, if not the most, famous mountains in China the 'Huang Shan' mountains. A lot of traditional Chinese stories, probably as children are tales from these mountains, they are inspirational to her. She visited them before she came to Scotland with her mother and brother, and said that is was beautiful, and that the food was really good...I then asked if she wanted to visit more places and she said that she wanted to visit all of the famous mountains in China, and try all the food everywhere, it's very important to her! Hehe, Jianru likes good food :) However she says that preparing food takes a long time in China which is better about being here, but the food isn't so varied. I kind of agree that our traditional food isn't varied much at all, and is kind of lost because we have Indian, Italian, Chinese etc etc restaurants over here which seem to be much more popular than your average meat, potatoes and veg British food...at least for eating out anyway.

Her last photo made me laugh a lot when I first saw it, Jianru has a great sense of humour. It's a mop which has obviously been left lying on the floor for a while to stew and has started growing mushrooms.. I thought she may have chosen this photo to represent what she thinks of lazy people, because I know that hard work is very important to herself, and I know know is extremely important in China. However she says that it was a mop that her and her flatmate found in her student accommodation in China. They had to get rid of it and buy a new one because they hadn't cleaned in a while and they were very disgusted by it! Apparently in China mostly the parents clean and cook in the home, and children only learn how to do this when they move away and have to tackle how to do this themselves through trail and error it seems :) But she says that through moving she has learned on her own how to cook, clean, everything and cannot believe how lazy she must have once been.

From analysing her photos I believe Jianru wants to travel, to learn about different cultures and she is a very open, friendly person. She loves her family, is very close to them, and works extremely hard. She also cares about the environment a lot and explains that if she travels China more she doesn't want to travel by plane but by train because it's better for the environment, she appreciates nature and I could tell that when she looked at my countryside pictures.

It was very interesting to try and figure out another person's history/personality..and very surprising about how much I got right and wrong, also the similarities between us, and the differences which were mainly stemming from two completely different cultures. I did feel a bit uneasy when it came to areas of human rights in China...I felt like I wanted to ask more but didn't quite know how to go about it. Although I'm glad I spoke to Jianru because I've always had an interest in learning about other countries, and lifestyles completely alien to my own so it was a good insight into China and her home life. I think I was half accurate, half completely mislead when analysing these photos, but it was a fun exercise!
I did learn some things about myself I haven't thought about for a while, and had been re-affirmed of things I had thought were true. I didn't feel like I was being judged at all, but felt slightly disappointed when I knew some evidence Jianru found was true but I secretly didn't want them to be.
In China, older people say "If you've wasting time, you've committed a crime" ...I think I need to work harder, from talking to Jianru it has given some motivation want to learn more about this thing called culture.

Understanding Bourdieu, Chapter 8

2010-01-31T08:46:00.000-08:00

After making a horrendous amount of notes and being signed in and out of the Netlibrary several times, I now definitely Understand Bourdieu's view of cultural production; however it's very good to know now that I actually really enjoyed reading it and found myself able to read in one straight sitting and make notes that made sense to me.
So Bourdieu's main topic of concern is with people's taste, after our first lecture on friday I was a bit unsure as to how to answer the question 'how do you define taste?' What makes people interested in a particular style, music taste...there were obvious points such as your peers, advertising, but as a design student it made me think, what makes a designer distinct? How do you define how good they are? By popularilty? Who they work for? Are they self-made? Why should that matter, because they worked really hard?
Bourdieu believes that taste or culture is more to do with social class, status, and education more than any other factors.
In answering the question :What is art? We come across a principle which is known as 'disinterestedness' playing with the idea that the romantic notion associated with artists, that they are gifted beings, seperated from the world etc who make art of 'art's sake', create their work primarily not to make money. However to make some sort of statement, their individual mark on the world.
However in the field of cultural production this can prove interesting because it has no investment, it is a social event and symbolic.
I think to have an identity within the world is an important thing, everyone looks for definition and to tell other people, their friends, this is what I'm into, this is what I represent, and you are likely to go and look for other's who are interested in the same things as you.
Disinterestedness such as a particular genre of music 'Grunge' which they use as an example in Understand Bourdieu 'provides a sense of identity and a 'voice' for some young people' in a world where youth is hostile.

I find myself feeling that after reading the subheading 'Distinction' I felt I could relate this to my own past experiences...After many a school trip to an art gallery which was 'boring' and for 'old people' as most of my class would say, I was taken to many an art gallery by my parents, particularly my mum when I was younger.
Bourdieu explains that 'middle class people have a better idea of their 'taste' for art than working class because of their upbringing and social background.' He also suggests that an art museum which is free to the public is so in an undertone type manner..that the design and structure is catered more for middle class people and that working class people feel uneasy going to these places because they are fancy. I guess in some respects this is true, I also confirmed earlier that my flatmate agrees with this when I spoke to her about it, but when I was younger I never thought about it this way. I was taken to galleries etc by my mum because she's interested in art, my house is full of paintings and sketches by family members, from my dad's side who funnily enough isn't 'arty' in the slightest (so he says) I don't know I've just never seen myself or my family as 'middle class'...I guess this doesn't tell how my 'taste' for art is unless I went to a gallery and listed off some things that I liked. And depending on the works I listed, would that say something about me, whether I'm working/middle/upper class? A student? A snob? Political?
In my essay last term I was looking at the Japanese culture and particularly referenced a book called 'Learning from the Japanese City, East meets West in Urban Design'. So looking at how Bourdieu explains that symbols can be used to identify a nation, and how it is almost a must so that the nation can become distinct was very interesting to me. I love that every nation is defined by their particular influences, of course, not all to the same extent, for example Britain is a mesh of different countries put together with a lot of mixed nationalities living here too so distinct we are, but with a lot of variety, which makes us interesting.

The Structure of the Field explains that art is bifurcated, divided into two poles, heteronomous; pre-established forms, production line, art out to make money etc. And autonomous, free from social or economic influence, and that usually, artwork stands about between these two poles.

I do agree that for being a creator of particularly autonomous art, the reward is to have you're art recognized universally, to perhaps become a household name, this also comes with earning a lot of money for your famed work which once becomes famous the public will want copies of...which was the opposite of the non-goal..or was it? I have to say, you need to earn money to live, if you you work really hard and become a great artist by doing so and make money from it, why complain? It's a great achievement. On the other hand, I dislike that this art work could just be a commercial piece aimed at tourists which has been churned out before...
What would make it interesting for me, is creating something which helps people, I love getting lectures/talks by people who are on/have done the master's programme because they are amazing pieces of work which aim to aid people and usually things that make me think how...did they ever think of that? Where did they begin? If they become successful and earn money from it, it seems fair to me because they've come up with something innovative.
Bourdieu concludes that culture of production is 'unifying' because it tells a story of 'us' and represents ourselves and others, however it is also divisive and defines nations, communities and individuals....so taste and understanding appear to be the effects of social order.

Which I guess it does, but I also think if it depends on your resources, for example the wealthiest countries for instance seem to be of a climate which has some sort of balance....third world countries tend to be extremes. Although I suppose that's going off the point of art and artists but just in terms of culture it's perhaps not all down to social order but natural balance and then trying to define ourselves.

Catwalk project/semester 2 begins...

2010-01-29T03:27:00.000-08:00

I really feel I should keep up with this again, it's been way too long. However I am thinking about changing to Wordpress.com but I don't understand how you follow other people..anyway I'll keep this blog for the moment.
Ok so as other folks in my class have posted, in Jewellery right now our first Sem. 2 project is 'Catwalk Jewellery' we had to research over the Christmas period catwalk design and fashion designers; also a period of history or culture to inspire our work. Paying particular attention to colour and pattern and unusual adornment of the body.
My fascination with Japanese culture sprang to mind first. Although traditional Japanese art at least is rather subtle and isn't as bold and bright as some I could think of, so I did look into the Venetian carnival, Brazil, the Aztecs...though Japan kept calling back to me and I thought I'd regret it if I didn't get to research a culture I love to learn about..
Geishas, warriors, samurai swords, modern Japanese fashion, architecture, it was difficult to know which direction I wanted to go into, eventually I decided to mix armour and geisha headresses, as a kind of contemporary Geisha 'Kanzashi' (hair ornament) which sits at the side of the head and covers the face slightly.
Unfortunately I'm having trouble with this design, I decided that the base was going to be made out of aluminium, and the rest entirely paper, using paper as a material in itself fits in very well with the japanese style, and I also love working with paper and making models, i've also tried origami a few times.
I cannot see it any other way than FLAT though. In my head, it is a lot of layers, of 2D paper, with a metal base, which didn't go down well in my tutorial (here is an example of the headdress by use of a maquette and my flatmate, pic up the top) So I've been trying to think of ways to make it more 3D. In my tutorial some folks in my class suggested that i cut out more and more shapes from this pattern and build it up in layers so that it built out the way instead, would be much more effective. It took me most of last night to make another layer and well..it's still pretty flat, so i'm not sure how long it will take me to make that work.
Perhaps using wire or something to seperate the layers slightly and building out that way would work? I'm unsure for the moment but will just have to keep going with it...when I get my epiphany (and it better be soon) I'll let you know! - Lizzie

I have created life!. . it's a pufferfish

2009-12-03T16:16:00.000-08:00

A while back (quite a long while back) I mentioned on my blog that I had been looking at Quentin Blake drawings, sketchy, quirky and lively, these drawings inspired my wire project to form.
To focus on just a particular object or 'theme' I suppose, I chose fish, not only because they're very interesting to draw, textural, covered in scales, the skeletons provide a lot of line, but because I love the sea and thought I'd continue that theme in my work.
I came across an image of a pufferfish which I loved, they're quite comical anyway but this one looked a bit angry, and had some personality about it.
I drew so many other things, had so many other ideas for necklaces, brooches, looked at Arbroath Smokeries, seaweed, netting. . . and always came back to this idea, of designing a pufferfish brooch. Tricky? I didn't really know how I was going to make it if i could, but the drawings and the week in the media lab helped a lot to come up with this idea. .

Here is the little attachment (there is a bigger one, the main brooch) which will be linked to the halved bigger pieced with jump rings and gold-plated. It has some humour about it, as well as some rage, I think it looks quite like a sand-mine, or a satellite too to be honest :)

Assignment 4 part C

2009-12-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

From reading both 'Learning from the Japanese City: West meets East in Urban Design' and 'The International Journal of Transport Management 1'; I have gained a greater interest in cultural design as well as learning new information, facts and ideas from these sources.
I very much enjoyed reading source 2 because it gave me a different perspective of the way the Western world is built around us, the Eastern Urban culture, and made me consider another way to view the way we're living, by all it's content rather than context as Shelton suggested.

If I were to take this further I suppose I would investigate and research further into CPTED, if it has been used more-so and currently in railway stations to improve the facilities. I would also look into graffiti art more; how do we move from vandalism to becoming a public form of art? Could these be commissioned in our subways?

I would perhaps create my own survey, whilst looking more into Japanese culture, history to present in further detail. Asking the public what they think about their city, what could be (greatly) improved? Do they know anything/much about Eastern Culture, would it be of use to look at a city as a 'whole space' rather than categorized? I think my own investigations could help when looking into this subject as well as looking at more varied sources, and perhaps looking beyond the present to the future of Eastern Urban Culture . .

Assignment 4, Bibliography

2009-11-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

Bibliography

Cozens.P, Neale.R, Whitakers.J (2003) ‘International Journal of Transport Management 1’ Wales: Elsevier LTD

Giblin Matthew.J (2008) ‘The Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency’ Southern Illinois, Carbondale

Hiroshige, Nihonbashi, Edobashi images. (Taken from 'Learning From The Japanese City: West Meets East in Urban Design')

www.japanrail.com

MOFA (Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Japan) www.mofa.com

Morse:1972, 1-6

Nakamura:1984, Process Architecture, 49 (62-63)

Price, Emmet.G (2006) ‘Hip-Hop Culture.’ Santa Barbara, Calif.

Shelton.B (1999) ‘Learning From the Japanese City: West Meets East in Urban Design.’ London: New York. Taylor and Routledge.

www.web-japan.com

Assignment 4, reviews.

2009-11-29T03:03:00.000-08:00

Here is what is hopefully a good review of the sources I was reading. I would have liked to have put some images into the text, however the source 'Learning from the Japanese City:West Meets East in Urban Design' is no longer available on the netlibrary, i have to have an 'Athens' password and user name :(. . .thankfully this happened after I had read and looked through all of it! Except the images I would have liked to put in, everything else is there:

I have researched into Subway Design, learning about the need to improve the general atmosphere and congestion problems of train stations, also investigating into rail stations links to crime. This led me to take an interest in other cultures, delving into learning about ‘The Japanese City’ and how the Japanese way of life could give the Western world some inspiration on seeing design in a different way.

The first Journal of relevant information I came across was ‘The International Journal of Transport Management 1 (2003) 121-132: Managing Crime and Fear of Crime at railway stations - a case studying South Wales (UK)’ which brings forward evidence that the general public’s perception of personal crime in the station and in the vicinity of railway stations are much higher than statistics show, discouraging them for using trains.
The article also analyses and discusses railway safety and accessibility, surveying a select number of the public’s ‘Cartography of fear and Crime’ (Cozens, 2003:128). Introducing a new solution using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) was tested using a VR (Virtual Reality Interaction) which provides a walk-through ‘panoramic’ view of the station. Six different stimulus stations were shown to each person being surveyed. A constructed questionnaire then completed by the candidates; results were then used in finding needs for improvisations of the railway stations.

Having also looked into other subway systems such as the NYC Subway, one of the busiest undergrounds in the world (4.5 million passengers a day ‘www.web-japan.com’) my attention then turned to the Tokyo Subway which takes around 7.2 million passengers to their destination everyday. Whilst researching on the internet for pictures, videos, something to give me a good impression of what a Japanese train station looked liked and how it worked, I discovered that their subways are a carefully fabricated system. Images showed a clean, environmentally friendly, organised form of transport.

If the Japanese population can have a safer subway system, surely the Western world can learn/borrow from their continuously modernising culture? Which led me onto my next source: ‘Learning from the Japanese City: West Meets East in Urban Design’ Shelton B.1999. In this source the author sets the question: ‘Why do Japanese cities look the way they do?’ Shelton gives the reader a sense of the Japanese city in comparison to Western Design culture through his own research and own experiences.
The main information in Source 1 is the study findings. The graph shown in the article is backed up by the people’s surveyed answers: “I wouldn’t like to walk down there, if I was on my own, especially after dark.” (Female Respondent 3, (F3) Station Family Group 3 (SF3). Can the station be improved by using CPTED and VR to provide a safer, cleaner and more accessible public transport?
In my research I also came across a journal of ‘Research in Crime and Delinquency’ Giblin Matthew.J. (2008) which examined Personal Security and Avoidance Measures, using a similar survey to Source 1, to show their findings. Studies show that depending on age, race, sex and marital status, those within the general public are more likely or less likely to avoid a certain area of a city.

As it is similar to the case study in source 1, if the CPTED can give as much information to the public as possible, collecting an honest view of what should be improved to make rail stations better, and make rail users safer and feel much safer would be incredibly useful. A huge improvement.

“Although times are changing, Japan is still a remarkably honest country and if you lose something on a train or in a station, there is a very good chance that someone will turn it into the lost and found.” www.japanrail.com A country well known for it’s etiquette, honesty and a low crime rate (about half as many crimes committed compared to the U.S. figure) -M.O.F.A. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) the author of Source 2, Shelton, explains that as a country Japan look at Design in a completely different way for the West, including the way cities are built. In the 1950-60s visitors admired Osaka for ex. it’s ‘extensive grids of streets and Spaciousness (Shelton;1999) However Westerners did not entirely appreciate or were so impressed Japan’s Urban Culture, to most it was found to be grey, drab and featureless (Morse:1972, 1-6). Throughout history, Shelton goes onto explain; that most Japanese streets and houses are thought out in an equal manor, persons within an affluent area would build a house around or in a grand garden rather than being based on grand features for example, which is what Westerners are general more used to seeing.

Shelton believes that as much as Western architecture is influenced by other cultures, it also has a long standing hierarchal history, which we need to move away from. Where as the Japanese live by the ‘content’. This is possibly the best secondary source I found in the text to explain Shelton’s context further:
“The Japanese language and culture have certain flexibility in them. In the field of philosophy it is believed, in European languages and thought that at the centre of things reside God. . . So there exists such a centre at some point, by which everything is controlled. In other words the whole can be universal. . . A place (in Japan) is originally designed as an empty place into which anything may be brought. The way of interrogation is not that the centre holds everything together, but rather only that there exists co-ordination at some point but with nothing inside it.” (Nakamura:1984, Process Architecture, 49, 62-63).

Looking back on Source 1, the survey includes 6 chosen railway stations picked within areas of a different status, deprived, affluent, etc. Europe it seems goes from one extreme to the other, whilst a Japanese City is mostly middle ground. I would agree with Source 2 in saying that the Western world’s cities and towns are based around religion; most cities around the U.K. for example, are cities because they have a cathedral. Houses in these areas near the centre are bigger, grander, as you move further away from the area to the edges of the city, houses are smaller, plainer, and in deprived areas.

Why do immediate access entrances to subways in this country tend to be in a ‘deprived’ area? I don’t think the answer would be to move the entrance, but perhaps illuminate the area. The findings show in Source 1, that the main suggestions for improvisation after viewing the CPTED were; much better lighting for stations at night. Despite the VRs being show were shot in the daytime, more and more people picked up on and suggested better lighting. Including these were more CCTV, working staff and a cleaner station.

Source 1’s main assumption seems to be that the public’s ‘fear’ will be gone after installing more lights. Railway stations are quite ominous at night from my own experience, more CCTV, cleaning and staffing would improve customer safety: “Cleaning up the stations automatically makes it feel a safer place” (M3, SF4). “If you take away those bushes and trees you could be seen by motorists” (F2, SF6) “People feel safer on a station that other people can see (F2, SF3)

In comparison with Source 1, Source 2’s main assumptions are that living in the Western world where cities are built by context, is a bad thing. . I agree that accounting for every street, building and house in a city is an important subject; however Europe should be proud of their amazing historical architecture.
Buildings in Europe have great stories behind them; Western culture I believe is rich and interesting. Japanese buildings do not have this same history but a completely different interest.
A key secondary source in Source 2 in this text is images by Hiroshige, Nihonbashi and Edobashi. They are examples of the Japanese focus of one fragment of an object looked at closely, for the expense of the whole thing. ‘Incompleteness is the natural order”. (Shelton .B 1999:175).

After reading and thoroughly taking in the information of these two sources I do think that more attention should be paid to deprived areas in the U.K, housing as well as railway stations. I feel that the author of Source 2 is a little biased in his opinions, almost saying that the East and better than the West; having said that, this statement I may agree with: “Now it may be the cities turn and I am one of a small but growing band of designers and planners who are setting their sights in an Easterly direction.’ (Shelton.B:1999, 189). This is one of the author’s main conclusions in the article; Shelton also insists that the Japanese cities buildings are more ready to be built on in/for the future than the West’s.
I am not in complete agreement with Shelton, I believe that borrowing or perhaps ‘stealing’ ideas from another culture, particularly the Japanese could however be very successful.

A safer subway made me also think about crime and vandalism within these areas, I think that if we made for instance graffiti art a trend, it could catch on even more-so than it has done already. “Featuring artwork from more than 20 cities around the world, this book chronicles the evolution and development of the art form from it’s beginnings on subway cars to it’s acceptance into art galleries.” Why not use what we recognise as vandalism to our advantage and make a street-art form part of our culture? This would make subways more interesting and individual at least.

Both of these sources have given me relevant information on improving through designing, surveying, and the author’s self-experiences.
Source 1’s survey and case study led to a “£2.5 million grant” from the Welsh Assembly to improve the stations, notably ‘The Wales and Borders Trains (2003). This shows a success in their use of CPTED. Evidence of past usage of the same format comes from ‘The Parliamentary Travel Safe Committee in Brisbane Australia’ providing a ‘variety of potential solutions designed to reduce recorded crime rates in the railway environment’. I think CPTED could be used more frequently in the present, the future and for other uses such as bus stations, airports, etc.

Source 2 demonstrates a new way of seeing and thinking about the design of a city. Although slightly biased, I see the importance of looking at the bigger picture; looking beyond a building, a bridge: looking at a whole area/space and analysing it.
Shelton demonstrates the contrasts in Eastern and Western Culture by comparing two children’s magazines: Fig 2.9 ‘A Japanese children’s magazine cover a collage of large and small things which enjoy some kind of visual equality over the whole surface of the page’ (Tanoshii Yochien, Issue 10, 1995) Fig. 2.10 is a cover of a children’s English language magazine Thomas the Tank Engine. ‘This cover shows an altogether simpler more heriarchial order.’
Our cultures differentiate us; we should be able to borrow from other cultures without stealing from them completely. This source (2) supports the idea that the Western world may need to move forward even more-so in design, to make a more secure, cleaner, friendlier place to be. Source 1 supports evidence that this is so in the design of public transport.

Fantastic Mr.Fox...

2009-11-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

So I went along to the DCA, Fantastic Mr.Fox was on show I thought I might cringe at one of my favourite childhood stories...This is not what you expect. Well it wasn't for me at least, a favourite childhood book of mine, this Roald Dahl tale now turned into a quirky slightly Americanised (ok well quite a lot) kids film/animation...with more attitude than truth to the story. But it was Brilliant.
The stop-motion animation is great for a start, if a little bit creepy but I found that with all Dahl books to be honest, children love them even if their not just that wee bit scary. It was fast-paced and quick-witted, definitely had a good dose of both childish and slightly more grown up sense of humour. The non-cheesy witty remarks and quirkyness throughout this film saved it from being a pile of emotional mush...(which I cringe at in most 'U' films). I recommend this to anyone having never had read Roald Dahl before even just for the animated quality, or if you have read the book and want to be introduced to Wes Anderson's take on the story.
This probably isn't revelant to my blog at all, I'm not sure If reviewing films is a good use of my time, however; watching this has inspired me to go and research further into Quentin Blake drawings and sketches for my 2nd Jewellery project on wire as he uses a lot of line, and a fantastic sense of humour within his work..

The Vessel Exhibition

2009-11-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

This is a little late, since we've already started Project 2:Line (looking at contemporary jewellers and then a specific artist combined with spontaneous sketches to make a wire neckpiece/brooch or combination of the two) But.. how good was the exhibtion night? I was so pleased to see how many people turned up, how good our vessels looked; all so different as well!

A clean-living, up-to-date, squashed way of life

2009-10-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

I love the subway. This may be sad, but it's true. Maybe it's because I'm orignially from a tiny place in the countryside where trains haven't quite reached yet. Moving from home, living in Glasgow myself for the first time before I came to Dundee brought much appreciation for the city and a kind of awe of :'this can take me...anywhere, yes!' Without having to wait two hours for a bus. The Clockwork Orange in Glasgow does do one circuit around the city (hence the name and it's orange) But one comes along every 20 minutes, and takes you to all the main parts of town within a max. of half an hour. People like to get where they want to go quick n' easy.

My poster consists of my thoughts around a more...friendly atmosphere on an underground. I've been looking at the Tokyo subways stations, searching into their systems a bit and compared to the Western world...Japan has it sorted. Apart from the squishing.
When I was getting a bit ahead of myself I decided to search into making the Subway experience more effecient, and how to avoid crowded times should you not need to be there. I came across the 'Metro Cuff' by Tiffany Burnette online, which is a simple matte metal bracelet (and now being sold for $25) with an etched map of the NYC subway. It's a simple solution if you're an everyday metro user to quickly check that you're enroute to your destination in the right direction. This is a Universal creation, any Underground map could be used on this bracelet.

With my spider diagram up there I came up with perhaps making a personalized train-time version of this, telling you the times of your trains, with little LED lights telling you whether one is on time, if it's pretty busy, if it's late and if it's full. Maybe useful for Business people running through the station who don't have time to look at the screens overhead etc. To upgrade this further why not have a device in the bracelet to replace your ticket? A small chip you scan and top up with money, then scan at a turnstile to let you through. Which would mean you really could dash for a train and not have to look at the display boards for 5 minutes.
As I thought about it more this is useful but doesn't quite solve the problem of the masses of peak-time train users being shoved into a box-like situation.

The Tokyo Subway (or Metro) seems like a sight to behold. The imaculate stations, scattered with Recycling bins and working (at all times) escalators to be confused with the likes of an underground airport, or even space station. Japanese way of life and culture in general IS a clean, organised, 'no need to pick up litter, there isn't any' and more respective of their living environment than the Western World to me. From only photographs online, these stations look safer, friendly and more organised than NYC Subways, no graffiti, no shady characters, not a single speck of dirt.. Is just more care and taking a leaf out of another cultures book the answer? Or is Western Culture just..too laid back to care? Our subway stations would be marvelled at if for example graffiti was an amazing artfrom at every station stop instead of just a 'tag' here and there, there's no need to copy the Tokyo way of life exactly. . but maybe we just see an underground a a dark and dingey place and always have...it's underground it doesn't need to be taken care of? Or colourful, interesting, whilst being an organised fast track to the next place. .

The one fault I will pick up on with the shiny Japanese Metro is the massive amounts of piling people in and squashing them in (with the help of the station's guards). Having said this at least one million people pass through and use the enormous Japanese subway system everyday. There's bound to be some pile ups. This does happen on other undergrounds too around the world, but not quite to this extent. However the Japanese seem to be able to handle pressed up against each other like sardines in a can in a very calm and civilised manner, kind of like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-X6dC2yrUc
Not quite as perfect as I'd first thought.
This has become a normal way to travel, is putting on more trains the answer? It's probably not that simple, but it might be a start.

Brainstorming 'The Power Of Context'

2009-10-23T05:38:00.000-07:00

A collection of people from our class in different seminar groups brainstormed 'The Power Of Context' which was basically anything and everything linking crime and how to prevent and improve on different areas such as CCTV, the effect graffiti has on street crime etc. Posting anything we could think of we came up with different areas to research into such as Alarms, 'Wall in a Can' (an inventive way to incourage graffiti as an art form rather than as vanadlism) Hidden Cameras. I have decided to research into 'Atmosphere' in certain areas in cities such as undergrounds, bridges, bypasses, crime rates are high because of the general atmosphere 'The Broken Window Theory of vanadlising certain areas discourages the public from going into Subways without having some kind of feeling of 'this is a dangerzone'. I'm going to look into atmosphere to investigate if cities perhaps in Scotland, maybe have a look at New York Subways to see if they have generally been improved at all and how to do so to make this a safer transport for the general public.

The pods are here....

2009-10-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

These are my coral based pod-forms so far :) A lot of fly-pressing, sawpiercing, soldering, sanding and filing has been done. . . and I'm pretty pleased with them. Next stage is to make a base, which I plan to make from acrylic and drill holes into it for the pods to be able to sit upright. I'm also going to fly press some rings of different metals to sit around the holes for added interest...I can't wait to polish these up and make them look nice n'shiny! They're looking ...organic, but still a bit battered at the mo. Hopefully this will all get done by next week in time...heh...

Design for a better....coral reef

2009-10-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

The designing of Vessels are beginning to take shap this week, I've made two (on the third so far) little pod-type things based on coral forms, planning to make two more....and then a base for them to sit in. This may take some time..anyway!
For just general research in the summer I found some really interesting sculptures by a sculptor called Jason Taylor which I LOVE because they are underwater, for a start. . .
These sculptures have been placed beside a coral reef in Grenada, the West Indies; there is a collection so is now a 'Sculpture Park', not only are these an interest for divers and a depiction of Grenadian people and their history but it also protects the coral reef.
The coral has begun to grow onto the sculptures themselves providing new ground for them, divers/explorers are more reluctant to go too near the reefs because of the art work there; the reef has protection. I think the idea behind this is brilliant, I love environmental design and I think there is much more exploring to be done within this subject. I'd like to do some sculptures with only natural objects and blog them up...stay tuned.

"The aim of the Sculpture Park is to create a unique space which highlights environmental processes and celebrates local culture. By creating an artificial reef of sculptures which depict Grenadian peoples and their history, the project fulfils its dual purpose of protecting the marine environment and illustrating the richness of Grenada" Jason Taylor

The Law Of The Few..

2009-10-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here is my detailed mind map of the chapter 'Law Of The Few'. I will probably now forever be spotting Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen everywhere I go . . :) Which is probably a good thing since Jewellery Design = finding other Jewellers to chat to/get inspiration from. Networking, observing other people's work; I need some kind of social/networking group in my life I feel, haha. This blog may come in useful. .
After studying this chapter I believe that the main reason that makes a Connector what they are, is confidence. A great thirst for socialising, a love for people, a huge amount of energy and confidence. I've never understood the few people who seem to have an endless supply of this. How do they do it, do they say to themselves everyday YOU ARE CONFIDENT, go and meet at least 10 people you don't know, get chatting to them and make a new circle of aquiantances/friends? Although Roger Horchow in the book is discribed as a natural collector of names and just enjoys getting to know everyone, literally everyone and collects their information like stamps. So...not quite normal social behaviour, and maybe not confidence in this case but just a natural skill for talking to people.
I know maybe two definite Connectors quite well, and I've got to say, they're confident....friendly...loud...full of energy.... *trails off* :)

The Tipping Point and Mind Maps

2009-10-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of the Mind Maps I've made covering all of 'The Tipping Point' which I did struggle to get through in large chunks, so broke them down a bit which is odd because I normally read pretty quickly, I had to get used to it. This book needs severe concentration, however I really enjoyed and understood the book a lot better for doing this mind map! It really works for me.
Despite having to power through it I found the Tipping Point really interesting, as it's a kind of universal look on the world's behaviour I've never read anything like it before.
The Law of The Few was particularly interesting, I definitely know at least one Connector, Maven and Salesmen without even trying which makes the book relative to just about everyone I think!
Learning about the Stickyness Factor taught me that children are even more sponge-like than I thought. I knew that learning a language when you're young comes easily and quickly but I didn't know that kids learned literacy and numbers whilst doing several different things at once, half listening and playing with toys is just as good if not better than sitting watching apparently!

Just a thought . .

2009-10-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

One final comment on last weeks lecture, Visual Commuincation; signs and logos we're all familiar with and used to.. "Today I was shopping in M&S, I pushed a door that says pull and it still opened; I've beaten the system." A recent musing from Jack Dee.

Tomorrow I might just post something a little more bit more intelligent than this, but that'll do for now!

Today's lecture

2009-09-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

I've now been trying to think of Design as the 'cake' rather than the icing now for the past week when working on this project...the process, trial and error, is important! I like thinking of it this way instead of trying to think and rush ahead to a final piece.
The Design Studies lectures I feel are completely different from our first year lectures, because they're involving us a lot more instead of just sitting and listening; it's engaging, I'm listening more and taking more information in.
When the lecturer was asking us "What does red mean to you?" I did instantly think, well it's a colour..then started thinking what it represented such as the emotion 'anger', the warning 'danger' etc It is just a colour, but the question to get those answers which people gave would probably be what does the colour red symbolize. Because really it doesn't mean anything. However this made me question if I used the colour red to do a design for jewellery would that affect the wearer's thoughts of it, the general feeling of it? Would this be the same for any other colour?
I also like that our association with things that we are comfortable with were questioned e.g. when Mozart was played it made me feel relaxed, I knew what was coming next..if I had heard the Lament for Hiroshima and been told the title before hand, I may not have cringed quite as much as I did because I've heard A-Tonal music before and if i knew the reason or meaning, I may have listened more and not just thought, what is this load of noise?!
I really want to look more at branding and advertising, and find out the ways which subtle hints in advertising can completely convince a person into buying something, or using that company.

Vessels. .

2009-09-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Sooo for my first project in Jewellery we've to design a vessel; mine is going to be based on organic forms and textures. Have been looking at some plant shapes, done some observation drawing outside and got a lot of inspiration from pieces by David Huang, his vessels are 'Relic' type works made from copper, silver, gold.
This particular vessel has a completely different textured inner and exterior from all his others which are smoother and kind of swirling patterns rather than squashed circle shapes and oblongs but I looove the pattern on this one. Shading in circles instead of markings is a thing of mine so i've been using this pattern a lot for texture and interest.
Going to start thinking about the form of my vessel soon so I'll be look at more plants and underwater plants/coral I think for many different twisty shapes and jaggy textures.