Laura Taylor

For this project, I was keen to create a handmade outcome incorporating maps, stitching, loose threads and photography. As my target audience is commuters, I was interested in how others would approach this outcome – particularly designing their own to show individual journeys and commutes. Below is a set of rules/instructions that could possibly to used in order for my audience to create their own outcome?

              -       Stick to one constrained size – Large map size preferably / A3

  -       Use relevant map pieces – e.g Wolverhampton and Derby

  -       Use relevant map colours – Yellow, Red, Blue, White, Green

  -       Let threads hang loose, showing that your journey can be continued

  -       Use one main colour and stitch pattern for your personal journey

  -       Other journeys can be any stitch pattern and any colour

  -       Don’t be afraid to experiment

  -       Incorporate paint splats, drag paint across your pages

  -       Tear up maps, papers or prints in order to show elements of your journey

  -       Think about using free hand type /  traced type – allowing hierarchy

  -       Photographs – Essential part of your journey

  -       Transparencies could be used to add layers to the composition

My initial starting point came from Jorge Luis Borges story The Library Of Babel where a circular book was introduced that had a circular spine and followed the circular walls. This concept made me think about the circular journey that I undertake each week where I travel from Wolverhampton to Derby University and vice versa. There are so many commuters travelling back and forth just like me each day, or each week undertaking the same monotonous and repetitive route. The monotony is an element that interests me and I feel that many people could relate to my journey.

  Interaction is a recurring theme throughout my work. With a printed outcome, the reader is given the opportunity to handle the tactile publication, which allows interactivity between the paper qualities and textures. For my dissertation, I explored how digital eBooks and tablet devices have affected printed books, particularly when it comes to interaction. An outcome may be successful in a printed format, but once replicated for an eBook some of the printed and textural qualities can become lost.