More Research

This image is of a press clip from the research of Bells Labs in 1926, an early and extremely technical investigation into the visualisation of sound and voice patterns. Part of progressing with this brief will be understanding the history of the topic and what tests we could do to progress the subject, rather than simply a regurgitation of existing projects.

Here demonstrating how an acoustic lens focuses sound from a horn, a wave was made visible with an aluminium rod with a microphone and a neon lamp at the end. A complete 'sound photo' took 10 minutes exposure.

Thomas James

Brief on phono-aesthetics by Thomas James for his FMP. The project explores the relationship between perceived sound, type and image within the traditional form of publication design. The book is however interactive as the video below illustrates.
-
The second spread relates to sound source, and initial positions that sound comes from. Using a left to right,  composition, the interactive elements and sounds also pan from left to right, allowing the user to observe the relationship between source and location.
-
This image to the left technical aspects and complications of the project. Although between us we don't have the technical ability to achieve anything like this we are considering getting in touch with people from more musically orientated backgrounds.

Phonaesthetics

Leading on from dissertation research and the last post I have started looking into Phonaesthetics, which explores the relationship between the representation of words and noises. This might be a really interesting and slightly more graphic orientated way of creating responses for the cymatics brief.

This is a longer definition of the term taken from wikipedia _-_-_-_-_-_

Phonaesthetics (from the Greek: φωνή, phōnē, "voice-sound"; and αἰσθητική, aisthētikē, "aesthetics") is the study of inherent pleasantness or beauty (euphony) or unpleasantness (cacophony) of the sound of certain words and sentences. Poetry is considered euphonic, as is well-crafted literary prose. Important phonaesthetic devices of poetry are rhyme, assonance and alliteration. Closely related to euphony and cacophony is the concept of consonance and dissonance. From this meaning should be distinguished the closely related but different concept of phonaesthesia, which does not refer directly to aesthetic attributes of sound, but to phonetic elements that are inherently associated with a semantic meaning. The term was introduced by J. R. Firth in 1930 "The phonæsthetic habits [...] are of general importance in speech." Firth defined a phonaestheme as "a phoneme or cluster of phonemes shared by a group of words which also have in common some element of meaning or function, though the words may be etymologically unrelated."

I will try to get hold of some publications of the subject to obtain some more reliable sourcing and development for the brief.

Shavian Letterforms

Shavian letterforms were another interesting topic that I have come across while researching the visual sound brief.
-
The alphabet is conceived as a way to provide simple, phonetic orthography for the English language to replace the difficulties of the conventional and non phonetic spelling of the English language. Creating typographic pieces of work based on this translation of the alphabet might be another route to take for representing the link between sound and image.
-
I will look into purchasing the book ready for FMP and see what typographic routes I can explore to create imagery for the brief.

Morse Code Typeface

Morse Code essentially has a direct link between sound and visuals. This typeface designed by Konst & Tecknik illustrates that link in the form of typography. There are plenty of other beautiful examples of their work on their website.
-
I am considering working on a typeface for the brief simply for headers but feel my typographic skills may not be an appropriate quality for the project, or that they may even cheapen the final result.
-
Using musical notes to create or edit a typeface might also be a nice idea, I will have to do some research into different bits of software to work out what processes I will have to undertake to progress with this idea.

Beatles Info-graphics

This info-graphic by New York based designer illustrates different pictograms derived from mapping each albums relative key distribution over a key of fifths. This might be another angle to take working on digital tests, we need to build up a library of existing tests and add our own to make the project unique.

This sort of design is far more representative of the digital experiments we have been working on. We will keep experimenting with techniques over Christmas to define what other research we will need to undertake for FMP.
-
Info-graphics are another obvious choice possibly hi-lighting the highest and lowest parts of songs. Again this is something that will be developed through practical research & experimentation.

Visualising Sound

Lovely exhibition exploring the relationship between sound and visuals. Because of the live element to the testing and the resources that have been used it will be extremely hard to top this. But its a valuable piece of research none the less.
-
I am going to get in touch with them over the Christmas break to see if they want to get involved or even for some advise on setting up the event.

People could shout into the speaker, and see the direct relation between the sound and movement of the paint.
-
As an extension of this brief next year we will be hosting a small exhibition as part of a night in Leeds called Loco. We have decided to keep this aspect of the brief a bit more simple and aimed more towards creating an initial hype for the event.

See more images and info from the event here
-
There are also a few technical specifications from the event that may be really helpful when doing the experiments again.

Transmutations

Lovely book on transmutations by Johan Rosenmunthe designed by Lodret Vandret  in 2011. The case for the book is particularly interesting, given the chosen substrate, of Chipboard which you could say has been through a process of mutation from the original bits of wood. We were considering creating a book / case for the cymatics brief but it has changed into more of a booklet with a series of posters.

Visualising Sound

This video was made for the exhibition 'Invisible Fields' in Barcelona, it  has an eerie vibe, but amazing static abstract qualities draw me into it.

20 Hz observes a geo-magnetic storm occurring in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Working with data collected from the CARISMA radio array and interpreted as audio, we hear tweeting and rumbles caused by incoming solar wind, captured at the frequency of 20 Hertz. Generated directly by the sound, tangible and sculptural forms emerge suggestive of scientific visualisations. As different frequencies interact both visually and aurally, complex patterns emerge to create interference phenomena that probe the limits of our perception.

 _______________________________________________________________________________


This video in particular has opened my eyes to less literal representations of visualising sound, using interpretation and even simply through enlarging or reworking aesthetics you can end up with some really abstract visuals.

This strange looking, mechanical / origami type structure creates a dialogue between one another each producing sounds at regular intervals, while the other listens, records and analyses the sounds. It also moves according to the frequencies of the sounds. Immediately after that, the second sculpture plays back the recorded sound, but it adds to it any disruption caused by the reverberating space and the voices and sounds made by visitors entering the space.

A particularly interesting approach to visualising sound, considering the exhibition feature of our brief would have been good, but we plan on running this project on after Christmas and involving it in the LOCO project. There is a pre planned studio space to use during a music event, that we have been given free reign over.
______________________________________________________________________________

"The L.E.V. Festival is a physical and ephemeral space, particularly focused on the natural synergy between image and sound, on live action, on the influence of avantgarde movements on contemporary creation, on the relationship forged between the spectator and the public space, and on the new art movements emerging around the world in connection with audiovisual culture."

Source

HORT - NEW YORK

Shoe-boxes for each part of New York, and a huge mural as an announcement for 'The world is watching' street basketball event.
-
Also 'type treatment' as described on the website. Nice idea to create some slightly altered type just adding the studio name creating some more personal hype around the studios identity stemming from the event.

I was particularly inspired after hearing the head of the studio speak at Typo Talks London, explaining their unconventional methods of working. Its hard to understand the process that went into making this project, especially when you look at the typeface, which looks as if it shouldn't work... but does so well and with so much character on the shoe-boxes and mural.

Cymatics - Matthew Lucas

Cymatics - Matthew Lucas

This statement is a great piece of contextual research as well as visual inspiration, we need a mission statement that explains what the project aims to achieve. This may be one of Dom's stronger points, something that we will need to consider carefully to devise a plan of how to approach the brief in the remaining weeks.

After seeing this somwhat simple set up I realised that Dom & I really need to think about how we will go about our own experiments and how to make the project unique. Lots of projects surrounding visualising sound each year, to create something that engages people with the subject is what I feel is key its its success.

The visuals aren't exactly within my own style choices, but they are unique and extremely suitable for the content. Need to think about how the choice of typeface will affect the overall design quality of the project. I will brose existing typefaces and consider making my own for the publication, even if its just for headers / title text.

Nice Things

Built up a collection of photos over the past weeks since deciding what I was doing for each brief. Researching like this is a much more effective way of working for me. I find it sets off more ideas and has more subtle visual influences in my work, opposed to browsing the internet and looking at the same sort of design and not having an understanding of how it engages with its environment.

Pretty bad photo, but the new buses are beautiful. Designed by Heatherwick, a studio which I looked at last year for the moving image module. Looks slightly like an eye patch on the back but the retro interior with a modern sleek twist redeems it. Also one of the most economic buses in Europe!

The Type on 'The Future Gallery' in London really makes the most of its black canvas. The slick black tiles with the white grouting also fits perfectly with the signage. I think its this relationship between a piece of signage has to fit with its surroundings but exploit the space and colours to stand out. I need to start putting my designs into the context of lots of books, because of the variety of colours and sizes I will keep the colour to a minimal and make the type stand out as much as possible to separate the signage from the books.

Retro Johnston Sans - Lovely to see old typography amongst the new designs through out the underground, especially after the hosting of the Olympics over summer. It also embodies the sustainability of the typeface, its constant changing surroundings and somehow it still works and looks unique.

Nice way of storing the disk that came with this book called 'format perspectives' in the Carhartt store in Covent Garden. I will consider using thicker stocks that completely conceal the disk.

These slightly thinner tipped in pages in this book add an element of mystery and instantly draws me towards that section of the book. I had intentions of doing something similar with my typography books but I will have

Opening Ceremony

Opening Ceremony Pop Up Shop
-
The identity and shop interior are great pieces of inspiration for my bookshop and show the potential of a pop up show and the layout of the inside of a shop! The shop how now been allotted a permanent spot in Covent garden after becoming one of London's top fashion destinations.

During my trip to London I visited the opening ceremony pop up shop in Covent garden. Everything from the shop interiors to the delivery of the receipt was phenomenal and extremely well considered. The vibrant variations in the interiors I assume are adaptations of the original Olympic colour scheme and the forms follow similar shapes used in the 2012 Olympic identity.

A publication sold at the shop...

The receipts are given to you in a business card sized envelope and the book wrapped in bandanna patterned paper. This shows how just a little more thought increaces the value of a brand as well as the image that the shop leaves in a customers mind.
-

The layout of the book uses wonderfully colourful layouts and refers back to the colour scheme used in the traditional Olympic logo of the four rings, representing the different nations coming together for the great sporting event.
-
The composition between images works in a beautiful harmony, I will also consider this when laying out the images the cymatics publication.

The quirky info graphics were my favourite element of the book, looking at the relationships betweens players success and skill as well as their sense of humour!
-
The colour schemes and use of tints is something I need to consider for the design of my cymatics brief but also within the brand communication of my bookshop concept!

Fashion and Art Collusion

This is book from the V&A museum is Kensington. The exhibition explored the relationship between art and design so it makes it somewhat relevant to both my cymatics brief, when looking at the format and presentation of the pack and to my bookshop brief that explores the relationship between the different creative subjects. I will analyse is in relation to content (Bookshop), format and print processes (cymatics)
-
The pack includes a book explaining the existing relationships between the fashion designers and the artists involved, and how they approached their individual responses to the brief. The video about the exhibition can be seen here (can't embed the video on my blog)
-
It is books like this that are perfect for the shop I am proposing, they close the gaps between practices and emphasise the possibilities for success and innovation that is possible when subjects integrate and unify. It also closes a theoretical gap between the sections of shelving that I am proposing, where each subject seamlessly merges into the next (this will become clearer when I start making floor plans)

The type on the front and the tipped on cover are foil blocked leaving a slight emboss into the stock. The cover also uses fabric and stock on the cover and the text folied over both showing the collusion between each subject.
-
The inside cover is a high gloss and heavy gsm paper that works well against the grey fabricated stock, glossy black text and bold white header.

The black space around the disk is beautiful, the minimalist approach through the entire book is what makes it feel just so special. This will be something I need to consider when approaching the cymatics book.
-
Also the number of deliverables within the book / package increases the value of the project. Me and Dom have already proposed a publication and disk but with the potential for image creation in the project I'm sure this is something we can expand on.

The book also implies a systematic way of separating the words from the images but maintaining some level of relationship between the two. The pages with text on are all white and in segments between the pages consiting of full page images of the art / fashion works.
-
This is something I was considering for the cymatics brief given my part of the brief will be the layout and book design, but this may only be applicable for the sections on our own work where we have high resolution images.

The Social Grid

After an inspiring weekend and typo London I had a lot of new relevant work to blog, none however as much as 'The Social Grid' by Joshua Davis. Check out some of his work here
-
As a basic summary of what I have learnt is that I shouldn't underestimate what people can do with the grids and I need to give people an incentive to use the books!

Joshua Davies is a graphic artist from New York and gave an exciting and lively presentation about his life and his work. Another part of his presentation was getting people to fill in these grids two days prior to the event, asking them to find 'type and forms' and the best would be part of the presentation.
-
The grids created were a way of getting people to play and explore ways of working that they may not have experienced before, mine however have more of an educational function (not that I don't want people to play)

There were also some digital renditions using the grids he had created that he posted online 10 days before the event (also with the chance of being shown in his presentation)
-
It was the engagement with the event that really made people want to see the presentation and that created a certain level of 'hype' about his talk.

_____________________________________________________________________________

One person even created music that was again made through programming, a different series of songs that represent the different grids. Its this sort of innovative way of using something as simple as a grid that really inspired me to push my ideas.

This video is also a great bit of research into cymatics, using an alternative approach to recreate the grids in sound, essentially the opposite of visualising sound.

Qubik - Glitch Book

Glitch by Joe Gilmore (Qubik)
-
This was on the main projects I wanted to speak to Joe about when visiting him earlier last month. Really interesting project exploring different methods of creating digital and analogue glitches. The project was stemmed from a collaboration between Joe and a few designers / artists and features experiments from a range of internationally renowned artists.

-
Its the collaboration between the different practices that I feel makes this project so interesting, and after a brief conversation with Phil I feel this is the angle me and Dom need to take with out cymatics brief.
-
We need to re-evaluate the aims of the project
-
Is it a way of getting people to complete their own experiments?
Is is a purely informative project?
Do we just focus on our own processes?
How will this affect the format of the book?
-
I will raise these issues with Dom later today as we divide our individual roles of the process and try to answer these questions and maintain a higher level of focus on the brief...