Notes about the Work Review, on Thursday 13th December 2018
Premise: before the work review, I was determined to produce an image-based magazine that focused on architecture (found photography), graphic design, text and typography.
Below, I reflect on the constructive criticism that I have received from my peers and tutors, which had a beneficial impact on the development of my project.
Subject and Concept
Before the work review: worldwide modern architecture in general
Feedback: the area of interest can be narrowed, this way, the project will be based on a solid/focused concept
Highlight: Think of the rationale of why this project exists. Is it my project about Architectural History or Contemporary Design?
Background and Research
Feedback: acknowledging the historical context of architecture movements it's essential, it will result in producing a more coherent body of work
Who is my Audience?
Feedback: reflect on which 'typology’ of the audience I want to address my project to.. for instance, photographers, architects, graphic designers, artists, magazine publishers?
Individual Outcome: this also leads me to interrogate my role as a producer, and eventually, the form/medium of my project.
What is my Role as a Producer?
This question really made me think as the nature of my project will depend on it.
Feedback: it’s crucial to understand whether I see myself more of a designer or artist through this project.
The role of the designer: designers usually work with materials they are already provided with. They're concerned with issues such as typography, and colour choices. They take somebody’s abstract ideas (i.e. artists’, producers’) and they realise concrete works which mirror those ideas.
The role of the artist: the artist is behind the project as the inventor, as the developer of the ideas. Within the field of editorial, the more the artist edits found photography, the more freedom the artist has in respect to copyright policies.
Individual Outcome: I identify myself as an artist rather than a designer. I attempt to convey a harmonious sense of design within my artworks, although, I exemplify my own ideas more than I desire to represent someone else’s.
Form and Medium of the Project:
Feedback: in the production of a magazine, there are several experts concerned with different fields.
It follows that the following questions demand consideration.
Am I willing to Collaborate with Professionals (designers, art historians, writers, architects..)?
Where do I see my magazine published?
Art project creating new work or magazine displaying other people’s work?Highlight: think of the rationale of why this project exists?
Overall Individual Outcome: the feedback has allowed me to ponder on the very logic behind my project. To the extent that I have reconsidered some choices that I had previously fixated myself upon. Prior to discussing my presentation, I was determined to produce a magazine, most-likely due to my passion for InDesign and to the satisfaction achieved with my self-published photo-book ‘Archistructural Brutalisation’ (April 2018). However, exposing my work in front of an audience has enabled me to understand that there are a lot of factors that play a role in the production of an undergraduate final major project. In this case, the most relevant aspects to start with are the form and medium of my project. Since I want to display artworks and gain exposure as an artist myself, I have decided to exhibit my works as prints. Rather than showcasing other people’s photographs, I aim to produce my own images. Put simply, due to the nature of my project it would be quite pointless, to gather my artworks in a magazine.
