Jordi James
18/05/2020
”After heading back to the Midlands to isolate at my parent's house, I began photographing the Desire Lines I frequently used when walking my dog. (A Desire Line is an informal path created by people repeatedly walking the same route, often a shortcut). Due to the nature of the Desire Lines I wanted to bring the images into a tangible form which lead me to these A4 photographic cyanotype prints, using sunlight as an exposure unit. - If you spot any Desire Lines while out walking send a photo to me and I’ll send a Blueprint back.”
Mabel (Xiaotong) Chen
17/05/2020“This is the longest, toughest and most challenging project I have done so far. As we are experiencing a pandemic situation, I had no choice but to pivot my brief, which was to design for a chosen location in London, and I had to start pretty much everything all over again and it was frustrating. Also, I am exploring new territory of merging information design and product design, to create an alternative data visualisation with functionality, at the same time to make challenge furniture design with narratives and communication purposes.
Info-furniture, the project aims to design a multi-dimensional visual representation which communicates aspects of our life and create imaginary space and objects from data, hence to evoke the relationship of space, people, objects and technology through tangible data visualisation.
I wouldn't say it is the final work yet, still planning to change some bits. And I was worrying the visual may look too similar to my last project 'A Map of (Us)', but I guess this is actually an extension and I would like them linked visually. However, the design logic is completely different, what do you think guys?”
Abbie Lilley
16/05/2020
“Here are some in-progress spreads from the project I’m currently working on. The aim is to re-design the mundane catalogues we receive at exhibitions. My approach is for the book to be more reflective of the work and the way in which we interact with art in gallery spaces. Each spread is designed entirely differently with a simplistic structure. The project has allowed me to be super experimental with type which I’ve loved, any feedback or references would be appreciated!”
Sam Todd
14/05/2020
“352 is my response to the tsundoku (acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them) bookcases, shelves and piles littered across homes worldwide, a place where books are left forgotten about, collecting dust.
I focused on my parents tsundoku bookcase, a collection holding hidden literature and media gems spanning from genres such as art, history and space to religion, tarot and popular children literature. 352 consists of a 180 page publication containing 352 bookswithin itself.
The aim was to disrupt how one interacts with the collection whilst archiving the contents at the same time creating a spontaneous method of communication between the reader and the bookcase. Inviting new books to be read at random and disrupting the flow of information through a physical algorithm allowing one page from every book to be documented.”
Jingyin Luo
11/05/2020
“
‘I want to go there!’, which is a set of postcard design exploring images’ influences on people’s collective consciousness; which recalls memory learned unconsciously in both human and machine vision. The impression and cognition can be seen as a product of standardisation and globalisation.”
Jahnavi Inniss
10/05/2020
“I finished this weeks ago - an update from her initial submission”
Mayli Mountford
09/05/2020
“An unconventional rebrand of 'Britishness' so it accurately represents contemporary ’British' Identity to promote and represent all people and culture in the United Kingdom. An aspect I decided to rebrand was British slang and language - there are typical British sayings but I knew there are other sayings from other
cultures that are spoken in the UK. People of different ethnicities have been born, grown up here, and consider themselves British and yet the British identity does not represent them? Maybe Britain wouldn’t be so divided, if
Britain actually represented Britain?
To promote a more inclusive identity I discovered Pidgin languages - a language based on European language (in this case English) which was combined with another language to create a dynamic hybrid. pidgins and Creoles like Naija, Jamaican Patois, and Singlish are commonly spoken. These tote bags show Pidgin Creole slang/ sayings with their English equivalent. The words are interwoven and overlapping with one another showcasing the dynamic of cultures within Britain.”
Jess Li
08/05/2020
“'Verbal-Vocal-Visual' is an experimental project which attempts to explore the expressions I can do across words, sounds and visuals.
The idea of playing with the humming sound 'mm' came from my observation of own condition while thinking. People make the sound 'mm' while thinking, for me, I can feel the thinking process not only happening in my mouth with such a humming, it rather flows through my whole body circularly. So I started with extending the structure of 'mm' verbally till they are long enough as my height. Then created different graphic scores for them to play around with -- I think the thinking process is actually much more exciting than humming! Then it developed into different versions based on different typefaces I used to represent various thinking situations. When they go together, we will be listening to the harmony of thinking.”
Abbie Lilley & Indiya Tupe
07/05/2020
“Unearth is a campaign intending to inspire a deeper exploration and richer interactions with our surroundings in order to apprehend a deeper embrace of natural and urban environments. Animating the lyrics of Nothing but Flowers by Talking Heads, playful juxtapositions are at the heart of our environmental centred campaign; investigating a place’s potential to transform typographic led interventions and inform visual language.”
Ning Yan
03/05/2020
“Vinyl Cover designed for forefront Chinese Punk Movement band Brain Failure and its single Eternal Utopia(both in English and Chinese Pinyin), and some lil tattoo stickers to go with it. The front of the cover design looked like cave drawing, yet on the back, it shows a more zoomed out image, and the audience
would realise it was only a small stone. It symbolised we are always living in our own 'utopia' until acknowledging a bigger world is always there to be discovered. The stickers are fun because they reflect the idea of opinions getting manipulated and deleted online, they are fragile and temporary, so they could be removed easily.”
Yukari Ono
03/05/2020
“My workshop 'Express and Create'' is designed to help people recognise and document their emotional state during Covid-19 pandemic through various craft activities - writing, drawing, colouring, cutting etc. I also encourage my audience to explore the possibilities of materials that they have at home.
Since this is participatory project, I need more people to join my workshop. If you send me DM, I will give a brief. So please let me know!”
Agata Gerasimovič
02/05/2020
“So I'm doing a quarantine fashion magazine which is called OUTBREAK. It will be a one-off issue that's created specifically for this pandemic. The ethos of the magazine is to capture this bizarre time of quarantine through fashion while celebrating creativity in though times and also encouraging readers to use this time revaluate their relationship with fashion consumption. I think especially during times like this we realise how important creativity can be with helping us cope. Which is why I wanted to create a curated publication that communicates that.
Last term I felt quite lost with my work and realised I didn't truly like anything I had produced this year. The pressure to tick some academic or I guess intellectual boxes with my work has left me producing things that just weren't enjoyable for me to make and felt bland. Because of this I was quite in a bad place mentally and just didn't have the motivation to work which made my progress really slow. And then the corona situation got out of hand and we had lockdowns which brought its own mental toll. So then I just decided to let go and move away from my work for a bit which resulted in something good. That might not be the case for everyone but I found a silver lining in the pandemic which might have made this situation benefit me more than do harm uni work-wise. In fact, I'd say I haven't felt this interested in doing a project in the entire past academic year. Yes, I don't have access to the facilities, and I've wasted a lot of time having to change my project completely but I want to embrace that and just trying to move away from the pressure and not to worry about the outcome that'll produce. I want to use this project as a means of coping with the stress of the pandemic and just make things with my hands because it's fun.
I'm sending you a few pictures of a very lofi photoshoot I did of my friend. I've never done a semi proper fashion shoot before which kind of shows and they still aren't very coherent and need editing but it was fun to make and experiment which is what matters the most.Also, my magazine is going to be made partly from content produced by me and partly from contributions. I've been working on a list of things people could send me which I'm going to post soon and send to you so you can hopefully share as well!
Amanda Gayle
27/04/2020
“About Art started as a side project (born out of a creative block from my own brief) whereby I asked people about their favourite artwork. I was also receiving a lot of responses from strangers online, and as I invested more and more time gathering and reading through these beautiful descriptions, I knew I had to put it out there. I've always noticed this stigma of discussing art, with it being seen as elitist or that prior knowledge is needed, and the language used in academia only emphasises this. This project will hopefully show people that anyone can appreciate art and contribute to this growing archive of work.
I was initially going to put these in a publication, with their descriptions in the first half and the images of the artwork at the back to encourage this unconventional way of exploring art, but this situation may have turned out to be a blessing in a disguise because the digital archive not only makes it more accessible, but has allowed me play around with more interactive features (and build a website for the first time).”
Check out the project at:
https://aboutartarchive.com/
Monelle Kanza
23/04/2020
"Prompter is a project with the aim to combat creative blocks or the feeling of being stuck.
The design intervention consists of fourteen prompts which invite us to de-automate our routine and thought patterns in order to let go of the things that hinder us from being productive.
I started working on this project a little more than a year ago as a result of a creative dry spell I was dealing with at the time. I spent days, if not weeks, staring at my notebook and getting precisely nothing done. So I decided to design a system which would allow me to enter a state of "controlled chaos” in order to turn my daily routine upside-down.
Little did I know that a year later, this method would come in quite handy again. I’ve spent the last few days updating the visual language and converting Prompter into something that can be accessed by anyone who feels like they could use a change of perspective and is curious enough to give it a try.
You can access the complete set of prompts here: www.monk.studio/prompter-pdf”
Indiya Tupe
22/04/2020
“Of Ice and Tears chapter 3: Re-enchanting glacier glossary, Re-wilding glacier terminology.
Enclosed into built-in environments, limiting our interactions with the natural world out of duty, we contemplate what seems to be a liberated Earth. However, anticipating a deeper embrace post Covid19, allowing a conscious and joyful existence in resonance, it is essential to continue to develop sensibility and modesty for imperilled landscapes This third chapter of my major project, marking a pivot, in theory and practice, pursues my intentions into a more accessible and adequate experience. As a letter lover, still investigating language as a medium and process, I intended to implement greater substance and emotion into climate emergency related words.
How could a sensitive use of language open our minds to deeper levels of ecological awareness?
How could we continue to cultivate empathy and increase our knowledge in our present uncertainty?
Here are the very beginnings, in the form of a typography-led poster campaign, of a revised glossary for contemporary glacier language.
Focusing on building emotional connections through poetry, letterforms, rhythm, I aim to suggest a revised knowledge adventure Thinking of a digital environment to encourage a wider audience, I imagine the posters as an auspicious encounter. They will « just be there ». perhaps sharpening the mind and changing the vision.”
Lili Phillips
22/04/2020
“I’ve been productive most days, but to be truthful I am moving far too slowly to reach my goals. I’m spending most of my time finding a reason that prevents me from working. I did, however, use the past few sunny days to make paper in my garden, but I’m still not finished and now running out of excuses. Eventually, I want to make all my handmade sheets into one big book - I just need to get on with it really.”
Giulia Bertini
20/04/2020
“At the beginning of my first project, I was so confused. I knew I wanted to create something about hands and their parallelism with manuality, in my case manuality over technology, but I didn’t know what. I thought all the ideas that came to my mind were stupid and banal so I got so stuck that I spent more than two weeks without producing anything at all. Then I decided to turn my creative block in a form of advantage and I overturned my situation, imposing myself to do a project a day. A small project a day means that I could explore my practice more in depth, that I could experiment, explore, that I could actually DO something, CREATE something, even something insignificant but important for me and for my wellbeing. At the centre of it all, I kept the hand as my muse. However, instead of placing it over technology, I decided to create a balance in which technology and manuality join together and match perfectly. Especially during this difficult time, technology has a main importance. I’m now stuck in London because of the lockdown and the few and expensive flights to go home in Italy. I really miss my family and sometimes has been hard to be productive, but I tried to stay focused, and “the making” of stuff really helped me going through this difficult period.
At the moment I called this project “everyHanday” ( a hand every day. I know it’s cheesy, I’m still working on it :P). The initial plan was to create a book/publication, combining the style of a guide, for artist with creative block; and the artist book style, to enhance the perception of our hands and stimulate the desire to produce, create. Due to the current coronavirus situation, the book has become a website, but I hope I will be able to create a book somehow later on.”
Sarah Ehmann
20/04/2020
“My work aims to be a celebration of different crafts in the food area and also a tool to inform and maybe teach other people about what still goes on in some places around us and what food related techniques are important to perpetuate. My plan was to do that through film, by documenting a nearby farmer who uses ancient farming techniques and also is a baker. Now that that isn’t possible, I have been naturally gravitating towards making food and experimenting with different amazing techniques daily and learning more on how massive a pillar it is in every society.
Food is being shared massively on social media, now more then ever, so I believe it’s important to go back to the roots of these foods, where they come from and how they’re made and learn a bit from that. I am fortunate to be in confinement in the countryside on a farm with a full vegetable garden, farmers as neighbors who provide us with lots of fresh ingredients so I am reconnecting with my native area, using just what is available here to experiment in the kitchen and learning some traditional cooking methods from my mom like fermenting vegetables and by myself like making sourdough bread.
I am thinking of starting a correspondence with my friends, people, sharing some recipes and techniques with them that I have learned throughout this confinement time, maybe start a newsletter I send every week to them with some thoughts and recipes. I’ve been keeping an instagram page, where I document my daily experiment and am working on a website now to lay it out more like a diary type process and have more freedom in the layout.”
Kate Wixley
18/04/2020
“I’ve been continuing to plan my final dollhouse, making models of each room. Just two rooms to go, but would love any feedback on my models before the final instillation begins. These photos document the bathroom, based on my wallpaper design of the ipod shuffle. I've tried to add subtle hints to the product through all aspects of the interiors, like the framed painting of an apple. Ensuring that all aspects of the design, take the technology into account. A portal back in time. As we are constantly stuck at home, connected by technology, this is an interesting project to be doing. Still working out how/if I can integrate this social circumstance into my own work. Any suggestions are welcomed! Sending everyone strength and motivation for our final term, we can do this!”
Yasoja Ratilal
18/04/2020
“I am looking at the robot as a complex construction of engineering and fiction, reflecting my own duality as system and illustrator.
This series of illustrations, including a 2-meter-long scroll, depict the home robotic system I am developing to encourage healthy relationships between people and machines. I feel this is more topical than ever as I realise how society find unique ways of developing technology to aid us in our isolated domestic spaces.”
Clelia Anchisi
17/04/2020
“An homage to Swiss women” - Sub-brief number 3/6 - WIP
My late grandmother grew up in the mountains, one of 7 children, the daughter of farmers. Agriculture was the path of life for most living in rural regions of Switzerland. There was no school in her village, for a long time women’s voices were muted, she had a set path for her future, and just like most in her situation, little to her name. She owned one folk dress she wore everyday, a hat, a pair of hand-knitted stockings, one underwear, a change of apron and shawl for church. This traditional Swiss folk dress is known as a peasant dress, varying in style depending which valley you were from. Is bright, yet modest, convenient but beautiful. The beautiful embroidery featured on these dresses almost seems like the most expression a women could have at the time.
Swiss women did not have the right to vote until the federal vote of 1971. My grandmother left her home and all she knew at the age of 15, but was only able to vote at around 42 years old. Women in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden had to wait until 1991 to vote locally. Today things are different in Switzerland thanks to powerful women who demanded change, today women MPs now occupy 42% of seats in Swiss parliament, which is the highest it has ever been.
Whilst there has been so much progress, the number of women dying as a result of domestic violence is higher in Switzerland than in many other European countries. Switzerland's 19 women's shelters had to turn away nearly 500 requests last year due to the lack of space or staff, 806 others were not admitted for other reasons. This begs you to wonder how dangerous these periods of confinement can be for some. Growing up I have noticed countless campaigns regarding domestic violence featured in public transport, it had a big impact on me.
I wish to create a symbol of hope and pride. So I decided to pay homage to Marie Goegg-Pouchoulin, known as the first Swiss feminist. A pioneer in the women’s rights and peace movement. In 1868, she founded l’Association Internationale des Femmes (IAW), which was not only the first women’s organisation in Switzerland, but also the first international women’s organisation. I have created a pattern of her face made of circles, representing a cycle and a symbol of wholeness. Embroidered onto fabric and transformed into a traditional folk dress, a dress of women less heard, with the help of my talented mother. I wish to celebrate the voices of women all over Switzerland, past and present, and to reinforce strength and unity.
The photographs are of my mother in Swiss nature, wearing this symbol of strength, as well as her mother’s traditional hat, shawl and hand knitted jacket.
Lewis Fry
15/04/2020
“This design was inspired by how at uni I felt that people ( including myself) tend to take an all work no play mentality a lot of the time, constantly stressing and thinking about work and how taking a break is fundamental to the creative process to avoid burnout and gain fresh perspectives. I had the idea for this proposal and the likes of Abbie, Lili and Olivia helped me refine it through feedback and I kind of just like how it’s just a simple, straight forward design. Miss the studio and working alongside you guys.
Also I felt this message was particularly important right now with COVID. It’s such a hard time for everyone now with all this stress and having to finish uni from the confinement of our home environments. If you are stressed at how much you have to do and can’t think properly, take a break. Do things you like doing and you might just gain a new perspective when you go back to it. At times like these you have to prioritise living and taking time for your mental health and changing up your home environment, going elsewhere from your desk and taking some time in a different space I find has helped me a lot.”
Olivia Moss
14/04/2020
“Narratives are being created by us and around us at an ever constant pace, whether we realise it or not information is being created, sorted and analysed through different means and forms. Your Data has been created to give users a way to reclaim their own data sets they produce and give it value through physically manipulating it. From the stigma of a technical approach to data through purely numbers, this process gives users a way to enhance their personal connection to their data patterns by forming physical data stories and narratives. I believe it is important to create visuals that encourage careful analysing, reading and personal engagement, by creating meanings and narratives of our own personal data we are finding ways to reclaim our own data that would otherwise be lost.”
Olivia Alexander
13/04/2020
“In this current climate of uncertainty, my mind is all over the place, but I still want to create. From that came this small series of books celebrating food and the relationships I’ve formed, showing me how incoherent thoughts don’t necessarily hinder creativity. Soup was originally inspired by my friend Ruth Pickering and I both rediscovering the wonders of soup last winter and after making this book, I wanted to reach out to my friends to let them know I’m there for them and treasure them. Having a coffee at 3 o’clock became a ritual for Ruth and I at uni, and my friend James and I shared many a delicious chips and beans. These things to me represent our relationship, and I hope the books bring them joy. Made using a typewriter on tracing paper and sent in the post.”
Ruth Pickering
13/04/2020
“paint*type is a short film exploring the alteration and experimental adaptation of a tool, creating a new function for production and output. Painting and typing simultaneously.”
Abbie Lilley & Indiya Tupe
13/04/2020
“Here are some work-in-progress posters of a campaign me and Indiya are working on, we’ve gone through the process of applying typography to both natural & urban environments and allowing the climate to make our design decisions. Now it’s a case of how we translate our visual language that’s been generated into a shorter, punchier campaign identity! The song is (Nothing But) Flowers by Talking Heads”
Lili Phillips
12/04/2020
“I will be honest, I made this series of statement prints before this all went down. I photographed them in the sun a few days ago in an attempt to make me feel productive. But sometimes, terrible things happen that make you reconsider what is important. I’m having good and bad days. Today is a particularly sad day. Right now, I’m trying to tell myself not to feel guilty for sleeping in late, napping for four hours, grieving or simply enjoying the sunshine. Because we could all do with a bit of sunshine. And I will not force out work when there are much more important things going on, such as living.”
Imogen Chandulal
09/04/2020
“I am currently isolating with my best friend which is fantastic as she’s turned into my muse! As a way of keeping me creative and sane she has modelled for me every few days. This has been an incredibly helpful outlet and distraction. It has been hard at times due to the limited recourse to produce and adequate outcome but it has forced me to think outside of the box more. I've discovered how shooting from home can be therapeutic and force you to explore new methods of practice.”
Georgia Pizzala
09/04/2020
“It all started out on a little tie dye tutorial and has turned into something that others can wear enjoy in this difficult time.”
Ella Zeki
07/04/2020
“I am currently working on a collaborative project with Alice Gough, we are working together to design a playful, positive way to introduce the complex topic of mental health to children. We pinpointed how beneficial a 'conversation' is for our mental state and wanted to implement this within our project.
This typeface is a personal response to the ‘act’ of conversing, ‘Helping hand’ shows the physicality that can come from a conversation. It could be used as a gateway to reach out to a friend or stranger to let them know you're there. Now more than ever it is important to have conversations with others, it makes this situation a little less lonely.”
Jordi James
04/04/2020
“The intention of the ‘Public Playlists’ at first was to encourage natural communication and conversation between strangers, using music as a tool to insight interaction with myself and strangers. The first test was outside my house in Crouch End; lasting two and a half hours, I stood in the street playing music on Spotify through my Amp speaker asking passers-by for songs to be played, and then added to the ‘Public Playlist’. By the end there were 37 songs in the publicly curated playlist, lasting 2 hours 43 minutes and mapping a diverse range of music representing the local community and for me, the experiences and conversations I had. A lot of the people I met during this time hung out with me for a while, a few even bringing me drinks, spliffs, and one heart-shaped lollipop as they stood with me talking
about music, life in London and more. I didn’t want the people who interacted to feel awkward or pressured so I decided against using photography or film to capture what happened, instead using writing alongside the playlist to document my experience, conversations and the people I met."
Ruby Hughes
02/04/2020
“For my second project I’m looking at ‘ productivity and wellness’, why are we obsessed with tracking our every move, and having a perfect routine.”
Jahnavi Innnis
01/04/2020
“Black people made a significant contribution to British society during 17th-19th century, however their contributions have been left unrecognised. By way of redress I am using the cultural technique of quilting to give visibility to that which was deliberately excluded from mainstream history. Through my project I am evidencing the power and responsibility that designers have in creating work that influences attitudes towards groups of marginalised people.”
Molly Mayo
29/03/2020
“My work is centred around how Instagram culture is shaping the lives of young women today. My previous project focused on how it has impacted our face to face conversations, I created an installation based around a nightclub bathroom, that encouraged positive social interaction. Now I am looking at how this has revolutionised the beauty industry, more recently focusing on how COVID-19 is impacting our beauty and self-care regimes. Through spatial design, I am currently exploring ways to visualise this impact by creating a physical space titled ‘Party For One.’”
David Frame
28/03/2020
“My project centres around those really bland and unremarkable ‘roadside service stations’. As research, I went on a small road-trip visiting these public spaces and found myself particularly drawn towards the largely-unseen ‘lorry drivers’ that gather. I want to explore the social isolation or unhealthy lifestyles these truck drivers are forced into and how these roadside service stations play a part in that.”
Matt Tam
28/03/2020
“Humans have always had the desire to seek for more. We can see that by looking back at some of mankind’s greatest achievements: climbing to the top of Mount Everest, landing the first man on the moon, etc. I want my illustrations (work-in-progress!) to symbolise us conquering life, togetherness, and to celebrate the fact that under our skin, we are all made out of the same flesh and bones. By reminding viewers of challenges we’ve overcome in the past, hopefully, it can help stimulate an optimistic mindset now for what else we can conquer in the future. As long as we continue to lift each other up, what can’t we achieve?”
Vanisha Nebhwani
27/03/2020
“The human mind is something scientists are still trying to figure out till this day, especially dreams. Why we dream, what do they mean, and if they have any sort of correlation to our day to day lives. I started to explore the narratives that are created in our dreams and the correlation between the dream itself and the emotional connection it has to the user. One of the main questions I kept asking myself is why do we dream these things, are they real, and if not why do they feel so real when we’re in them. What would happen if our dreams became our reality, and how do different people perceive different dreams.
Due to the current situation of coronavirus, many people
are in quarantine or isolated, making their minds wander when all of this is going to end. We start appreciating the small things we took for granted such as going out for a walk. I took this opportunity to ask people who were isolates or in quarantine to keep a dream journal and record every dream they remember and wanted to turn these dreams into reality through illustration.”
Kate Wixley
27/03/2020
“Currently working on maquettes for my dollhouse, saw your post and thought I'd share :)”
Imogen Chandulal
27/03/2020
“I’ve been working on making a zine complied of images I captured during the term. I have been exploring how I can do this from home, using scans of text directly from my sketch book which embody and reflect the meaning of the photographs. The aim of the zine is to promote liberation through self exploration, encouraging adolescents to reimagine their image. I aim to reflect this through experimenting with hand made collages and t
ypography. These images are the beginning stages of my experimentation with this.”
Bobbie Galvin
27/03/2020
”For my final outcome, I have been building a guide for small to medium scale businesses to follow in order to find their ‘Brand Personality’ on their own. My thinking was that it is all good and well providing structures for successful brand personality (like the illustrated brand archetypes), I also needed to provide examples of bad brand personality.
It is imperative that I keep the information I am providing them with to be engaging, exciting and entertaining. Brand Personality is a dense subject, I need to make sure I keep things clear and synthesised.
My idea was to personify bad examples of brand personality. My first alliteration of these personifications where Confused Connor, Loud Larry and Plain Paul. However, later on in a “virtual crit” with my community of practice, I came up with new names that were more culturally diverse. Therefore the new improved names are Inconsistent Ian, Forceful Forceful Francois, and Stark Stephan. By personifying these examples of bad brand personality, I was able to make the information relatable and easier to comprehend.
To know more about these personifications please look at the images of my work.”
James Duhan
27/03/2020
”During the first weeks in quarantine, I have felt very trapped and entirely unmotivated to complete anything, especially with my final deadlines at university approaching. I've found myself most days filming the sky, as within its infinity I cannot be trapped. This space which always exists above has now become ever so important in my daily ritual, and I must use natures infinity to release me and my work. This omnipresent backdrop in my life, as well as all of ours, has only now become fully appreciated, therefore is liberating to my practice. I do feel that we are lucky, especially in London, to have had such consistently uplifting weather the past few weeks, which I think has helped get us through this period. I know it isn't always going to be sunny. However, within this first stretch, it is a perfect foreshadowing of hope we all need. Through capturing this, editing it and playing with it, I feel as if I am productive, even though it does not have much to do with my current project. I now have a tiny element of hope of completing my main feature and feel more motivated to now consider other ways of approaching my film. Which will now follow the guidance of the government, as well as new methods of capturing interviews when I can no longer be present.”
Full film available on https://vimeo.com/401154050
Abby Colquhoun & Beatriz Gonçalves
27/03/2020
“The very first time I met Margareta, she ordered a Guinness in the pub I work at, as she was attending her fortnightly knitting club. I could tell, instantly that she seemed to possess the most compelling and vibrant character. We were looking for storytellers and conversationalists, and the ladies of the knitting club in the Clapton Hart Pub, were as anticipated, the perfect candidates.”
Full film available on https://vimeo.com/401291677
Mabel (Xiaotong) Chen
27/03/2020
“A tangible information experience design project that uses data analysis of the environment and human emotion to create smart furniture for better connecting the users and the world around us. Image one: A rock-shape, light blue, bioplastic chair designed for stressful meetings in GCD Studio. Image 2: A waterfall-shaped, bright purple, bio-plastic chair designed to inspired
creativity in Barbican Center.”
Rajiv Arjan
26/03/2020
“I spent the first month of this term travelling throughout India conducting a photo series focusing on Indian design culture and documenting the people that habituate these areas. I was drawn to India because of my upbringings and my time there as kid and a teenager.
Through my experiences in India, when I used to come back home to England i saw a lot of similarities within design, how Indian business owners would travel to England to set up shop but wouldn’t conform to the western ideals of design but rather take inspiration from what they know back home. I was interested in this and how it can take one man or woman from a different country to set up shop in an area and this then attracts more people from their country thus creating a community, something I saw happen in my area, Belgrave, Leicester.
This project is still a work in progress, and I am focusing on portraiture and landscape photography.
The reason I was drawn to portraiture because of the stories people have attached to their experiences while living in these areas, the images that I am choosing to show right now are of workers that work for my grandads tailoring shop that I used to run around in as a child and these workers and the environment of the shop played a big part of my upbringing and how I view design to this day.
Look forward to sharing the finished project with you guys soon.”
Rosie Stephenson
26/03/2020
“The rate at which deforestation is taking place across the world is unprecedented; trees hold a vital function in helping offset our CO2 emissions and ultimately are our partners in fighting Climate Change. Looking at the sublime beauty in the protected forests of the south, I aim to spark a feeling of joint responsibility for all forests globally.
For my printing process, I will be using the DNA of these landscapes, such as tree ash, as a form of pigment to screenprint onto 100% recycled paper.
Days before COVID-19 caused CSM to close down, I planned to print a montage of my photographs onto 4 metres of paper, but unfortunately ran out of time. Here are some images of my process from that week, and what is the start of my final outcome."
Olivia Alexander
25/03/2020
“I’m enjoying a bizarre feeling of freedom as we settle into this new temporary way of life. I’m taking more time to focus on my wellbeing and trying to take a break from university work. As a designer I like to think about a project a lot before I actually create anything, ‘thinking through making’ doesn’t come naturally to me when there’s the pressure of time constraints. So recently I’ve been executing those quick ideas that come into my head and enjoying the results, even if they’re not what I planned, or don’t work."
Dun Lee
25/03/2020
“Poetic & Physical Hyperlinks of Fluid Graphic Design Practice (I know it’s way too long for a title) attempts to re-programme the interfaces of the textual ecosystem of my dissertation. Deconstruct the report into words, modularise them and mash them up to explore the poetic potential of words. By remixing words and generating subjective hyperlinks brings me a new insight into writing.”
Ellen Powley
25/03/2020
“I’ve been looking at comfort food as a form of self-care, so when the pandemic struck I decided to use it to my advantage. I’m in the process of making a recipe book/journal which documents the comfort foods I’ve been making and eating during this time. The publication is also an opportunity to express any thoughts, feelings and anecdotes that arise, using food as the conversation starter.”
Amelia Tovey
24/03/2020
“I’ve been exploring the important role narrative plays within environmental activism. Natural environments are closely linked to our cultural identities, which are informed and reinforced by a long and deeply ingrained history of storytelling. My most recent project, ‘Folktale for the Future’, aims to narrate our current climate crisis through the voices of future generations, looking back. This was also a chance to explore environmentally conscious image-making methods, as resources will increasingly become scarce.”
Yukari Ono
24/03/2020
“I am investigating the importance of hands-on activities in today’s digitalised world. In my first project, I documented our current behaviour (always on the phone) in order to show our dependence on technology and how we use our hands today. For my second project, I was going to run a series of origami workshop for children. But unfortunately, the class is cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak, so I decided to offer online activities to entertain kids during quarantine.”
Zac Goodenough
23/03/2020
“When I'm stuck on a project, I make these small animations to clear my head so I don't go nuts. I usually make about 50 of these a day.”
Leila Wallisser
22/03/2020
“In Nature nothing can be lost, nothing wasted, nothing thrown away, there is no such thing as rubbish. – John Stewart Collis. Current studies on finding beauty in decay from my ongoing investigation into the relationship between humans and nature. By capturing the aesthetics of this part of an objects life cycle, the goal is to shed a positive light on decay, being a vital part of renewal and growth.”
Jess Li
22/03/2020
“I have been looking into human’s (our) over-adaptive behaviours in interacting with the smart devices. It is simply because I found that not only myself, but people around me are on their phones while they are actually being with each other. And when we are alone, this behaviour of using the phone becomes even more notable. (It is tricky for this timing though, during this quarantine time, some of us probably have no choice but the devices to connect with the world) :O”
Ning Yan
21/03/2020
“404-not-found is a typeface that is designed to create messages when people want a more discreet way of expressing their opinions, or when circumstances do not allow them to do freely. It comes in thin, regular and a handwritten version. The thin and regular version, when used without space, it emerges into a pattern with the message hidden in plain sight. Messages and opinions do not always have to be bold and loud, it can also be sensual and performative. For people like me, sometimes I just want to whisper something through typography, so hopefully, this typeface can help you feel lighthearted and safe.”
Maya Kubota
21/03/2020
“Not until recently, I realized that I love collecting. I have a collection of everything including unused/old notebooks, postcards and boxes. In unit 9, I made paper out of old screen prints, junk mails, and my old notebook. Right now I’m collecting lost& found objects and sentimental belongings. I wanted to repurpose and celebrate these objects through curation and printing.”
Kate Wixley
20/03/2020
“For the past few weeks I've been investigating how visual communication can be used in print and interior design, to communicate a story, or create a juxtaposition. It started with wondering what 'the good old days' would look like in the context of a home. I then focused on themes of technology and nostalgia and designed a range of wallpaper patterns, taking obsolete technologies from my own childhood. The key element of my investigation is: if our home is a reflection of our identity, then why not use visual communication to tell the story? In a period when we are constantly stuck at home, wouldn't you like to be surrounded by something that tells a story, rather than just looking pretty?”
Georgia Pizzala
20/03/2020
“For me a lot of self doubt comes with photography, with the influence of smartphones and easily accessible technology with amazing auto settings, everyone can be a photographer. Therefore this comes with what feels like so much competition and feeling that your work is never as good as the next person. For my own creative development I've had to learn that this "competition" is just inspiration. Photographs my be similar but no one can capture the same split second as someone else. Ever since I was younger analogue cameras have fascinated me, there was so many factors and concentration that went into taking a single shot. I loved the fact that one picture could never be replicated and was engraved forever on a long strip of plastic. The whole process of developing and printing is so calming, so rewarding as the final outcome is all your own effort and time.
This project I have been working on is called "Manners don't cost a thing" I looked at how table manners can represent social status and class. But not in the way you might think. Focusing on Britain as a country and how the influence of immigration has had on the food culture scene. From my studies I found that with the influence of money you could pay people to be polite for you. Those that work as waiters and waitresses learn the ins and out of silver service. Those that come from a lower class have gown up to say their please and thankyou's, not to eat with their mouth open, no phones at the table, elbows on the table so that they don't be seen as rude or any less than others (due to the fact they are already seen as less because of money). It was also a chance to make a light of this situation through clear stereotypes. That there would always be one aspect within my final larger photograph that people could relate to in some way.”
Beatriz Gonçalves
20/03/2020
"Nurturing a special affection by old people since I remember was the main reason to address this question and create a project where I could get them involved. When observing my own family, I can acknowledge how lonely and sad my older relatives feel. Our fast-paced lifestyle gets us distracted from everything and in times makes us forget about their existence.
Growing up being part of a patriarchal society enabled me to observe both perspectives and recognise women’s value and influence on our families. My grandmother and great-aunts were a big part of my childhood and they made me become a strong and independent woman. Back then, my great-aunts were forced to leave school at the age of 9 in order to help their parents with cattle raising and farming. As young ladies, they were expected to get married at a young age, raise children and take care of the household. None of them has ever owned an “important” job and given that, they are diminished by high society. My great-aunts represent power and hard work — in a society led by men, they raised their voices and fought for independence and equality. The matriarchs of the Portuguese society are the strongest and most inspiring women, who have shown us what kindness and simplicity are.
I intend to provide insights on the last analogue generation of my family, in the form of an investigative documentary. I found in here a great chance to celebrate these women, by making them feel valued and worthy. I want to capture the stories and wisdom they have to share with a younger, contemporary generation by raising awareness on the consideration of such important women. Despite the personal relationship between my aunts and I, this project is also a portrait of my own relationship to the place I call home."
This whole situation with the COVID-19 made me quite demotivated in continuing this project, especially because they advise us to stay away from older people. I hope I can go back at it soon as make it happen!”
Ruby Hughes
19/03/2020
“The idea being - to do something I’ve never done before and embrace all the mistakes it creates. Still trying to knit this jumper, no idea what i’m doing. Yet being in isolation means it might get finished, Writing down every time I pick it up, and how i feel about it.”
Bobbie Galvin
19/03/2020
“This brief I have been working on has been to find the most effective way for a brand to discover its ‘Brand Personality’ through approaches of research led as well as a systemic practise within my work. Through my research and process I had toIdentify as well as define one the different theories within the umbrella of ‘Brand Personality’. It was important to understand each of these discoveries within my research. I also had to think about not just where these theories came from but also why they are a success as well as failure. How they can be measured? How could it be conceptualised and why a brand should use each of these theories? Here I have been experimenting with how I could conceptualise the brand archetypes in a human form. Also, what would their habitat look like? I have been focusing on making things exciting and engaging.”
Abbie Lilley
19/03/2020
“I have been undergoing an investigation into the ways in which we interact with art and in the gallery space. I plan to create a responsive critical publication, based upon real-life actions. My project began at a very slow pace, generating an enquiry into how physical interaction and behaviours can be translated through the printed page. Here are some initial spreads of playing with type entirely in B&W, trying to regain the fast, instant and responsive nature my work normally communicates. Very rough, but always gotta start somewhere!”
Indiya Tupe
19/03/2020
“Returning to France last December, away from urban turmoil, I found myself longing to re-unite with the Sea of Ice; iconic glacier ruling over the Alps.
Once brought back closer, I bowed over the edge of the belvedere. A tremendous pain took over me.
Lying ahead was a startling spectacle; an unfamiliar descent to the glacier’s entry, bearing four hundred and thirty metal steps. This new prosthesis re-modelling the experience, obstacle to instinctive interactions, hideous alteration, seemed to move me into a tragic play. As I began walking down to frozen vestiges, veracity, immediacy and emergency made me shiver more than any winds. I was hearing the glacier crying. I knew that nothing was more real than natural tragedies; the Beautiful turned into the Sublime.
Of Ice and Tears is a project, initiated as an ode to the Sea of Ice’s grandiosity, thought as a response to environmental tragedy, experienced as a meditation on modesty between imperilled environments and ourselves Beyond epic images, beyond idyllic representations, this project uses graphic communication design as a system of visual narratives translating and empowering the unheard and forgotten voices of the land. This re-modelled visual experience therefore aims to set a frame for a richer, deeper experience of the niveous landscape. Through organic processes and a sensitive approach to material, the series lying in balance between fragility and movement, intends to expand perceptions and increases sensibility to the land’s past and present story.
In moments when a deceleration and confinement become a global urgency, I am bound to contemplate the glacier burning under the Spring sun, from my window.
Still yearning for vivid interactions and responsive contributions, I painfully acknowledge the need for an interlude. Reminiscing my intentions to call for hope and empowerment in this project, I will now be taking this time indoors, to let go of nostalgia and regret, and cultivate instead patience and determination. If physical distancing from the outdoors is a fatality today, I believe it is my duty as a designer, advocate of tightened relationships between the self and the environment, to promote alternative encounters and adaptive manifestations of the glaciers.
For now, Of Ice and Tears, flows on our universities concrete steps.This particular activation in situ evidently recalls the 450 metal steps necessary to experience the glacier in real life. Implicitly, it becomes a serendipitous metaphor for elevation or descent.”
Lili Phillips
19/03/2020
“I have been orchestrating informal interviews with women in the book arts. So far, I've spoken to four individuals, all with totally different approaches and practices. I shall now be making a series of books (that's if the printers are open) that reflect our conversations. My prototype starts to challenge the joyous flow of reading. The text is only legible when the reader folds the page.”
Ruth Pickering
18/03/2020
“Written on ephemeral technology (typewriter) the words become naturally distorted through the act of writing. The connection to input and output is an instant dynamic transaction between the person and the production.
The repetition of these powerful statements challenges perception and reception of the messages and the piece as a whole, the distortion of the text is a visual mimicry of how communication gets distorted through conversation, interpretation and production alike. The piece becomes bittersweet.
The tactility of the soft cotton material, on which the text lies, ruffles and shifts in contact with human interaction, altering its visibility and readability with every motion and movement. As the viewer moves the words move with it,
creating a beautiful action and reaction dancelike motion.”
Gianni Antonia
18/03/2020
“The last few weeks I have focussed on the exciting journey to learn how to design generative fashion prints – with javascript – for textile production, using people’s identity as data. I’m at the stage, finding out that it’s quite difficult to balance the various aspects of my enquiry, being different disciplines and techniques I'm jumping into for the first time. I think the major difficulty right now and I guess the challenge with the COVID-19 virus, is adapting our approaches to be more accessible to turbulent times. How can we make sure to still produce our prototypes if there’s no access to workshops, delivery times are longer or manufacturers are not delivering at all? – hence my textile mockup. How can we still interact with our audiences, facilitate workshops for our projects, if we cannot physically meet them? I guess this virus is going to urge us to come up with new approaches and help our practice to be more generative. What do y’all think?”
Mabel (Xiaotong) Chen
18/03/2020
"A multi-dimensional map that visualises the stories, the vibrancy and our life in the graphic communication design studio in Central Saint Martins. The design was generated from a series of data analysis in the studio space, including environmental and emotional data, and by visualising data in layers and physicality, it opens up a new perspective for the audience to get a sense of the narratives in the space and also reveal the unnoticeable small moments to us.
I am so glad that I can use design to capture out life at that point of time and glorify those small moments, cause I realise things change so rapidly, especially in this tough time, those memories and experiences we had are things that keep us positive and look forward.“
Sophie French
18/03/2020
"When your whole project is fucked so you have to improvise with "fake" models.“
Lewis Fry
17/03/2020
"This project is inspired by the book the 'the velvet rage' which discusses the development of shame and the invalidation gay men face growing up in a heteronormative environment. It was also inspired by the erasure of LGBT+ education in schools and the recent protests in places like Birmingham where there were parents protesting against teaching surrounding LGBT family. I wanted to design a platform that not only provides essential queer education and guidance but also creates a sense of community for those who may not have one.
My target audience is teenagers from around 14 spanning through their adolescence. This is where the concept for 'Same' came in: originally names 'category is' as a nod to ballroom culture, the app consists of 5 Live shows covering differing educational categories: Sex, Queer history, Current Queer news, General advice and Queer stories. The app was called changed to the name Same as I felt the name was approachable and welcoming, more instant and had a more empathetic tone that nodded to the idea of community. The Live shows provide a live, living breathing sense of community and these shows would have interactive elements whereby the user can interact with and engage with the show.
This project was quite a challenge as the topic education was so expansive and took me into unknown territory whereby I had never designed an application (which the survey response from the age group overwhelmingly voted for as a medium) or animated before. It also made me confront a part of myself that I tend to have trouble with: being gay.”
James Duhan
17/03/2020
"These are images of my experimentation and research on the documentary I am currently making for my final project. This project so far, has genuinely been an unpredictable rollercoaster. I'm about month three into making a documentary now, and throughout the whole process, nothing has been certain or steady. I'm at the point now where I realise the real work it takes to create a film all by yourself, especially when it requires locating, contacting and organising other people. I assumed that a simple email would go a long way. However, it is all about building relationships and trust before even entertaining the idea of filming. As well as this, there is an extensive amount of research and experimentation which goes into every other element of the project, and there is never a point where this stops. After meeting with one person, about several others are suggested; therefore research, inquiry and contacting happen all over again. With a deadline approaching, this endless cycle never seems to stop. There have been points during this project where no one was coming back with a response which would lead to filming. Making the whole outcome fall apart, and just when they all responded, and you feel secure, COVID-19 pops up. Now potential interviews and filming days are compromised once again. I'm just trying to discover a way to complete this film before the final hand in, without jeopardising mine or others health. Obviously, this was unpredictable, but it sure is devastating.”
