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Initial Proposal

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Proposal Feedback

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Feedback Email

The feedback was helpful as it made me realize that I was closing myself off for this project as I was too specific and decided to investigate other aspects within the dance and boxing club rather than just looking at the individual identities within these spaces. I also thought that maybe bookmaking would not be suited for this project as these spaces are all about movement, so I should explore other ways to conceptualize these ideas.

Tutorials

Tutorial 1 

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Email from Harriet

We were a few weeks into the developing practice module at this point, and I wanted to ensure my project was moving in the right direction. Since it was mostly typography-based, I was not overly confident about it. By this point, I knew my project would revolve around dancing, boxing, and communities. I tested different ways to bring forward the multi-sensorial aspect of dancing and boxing by creating 3D type and textile printing. I had also read Loic Wacquant’s book Body & Soul, which brought forward the idea of exploring how boxing could be re-interpreted through typography. Harriet asked me what elements of design interested me the most. Is it the type in itself? Is it the creation of the typefaces? What do I genuinely want to learn during this master’s degree? This made me realize I had to experiment more to understand the graphic design element I favoured most. I found it encouraging and that I should push myself more into experimenting to find what was truly interesting to me. 

Tutorial 2

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Tutorial Notes

For this final tutorial with Harriet, I showed her the typeface designs that I had created that represent the dynamism and movements of Boxing and Dancing. I also showed her the boxing and dancing filming that I had done. She brought forward the strangeness of the vibe within the boxing clubs; they had an unreal and airy vibe to them. I found that interesting as I had not seen it that way, maybe because I was immersed in it, so it seemed normal. By this point, I had created a few animatics and was planning on experimenting with animations, and I wanted to bring this idea forward to bring more depth to it. 

 

I tried interviewing as many people as possible for this project, but I had less than ten interviews. I also brought forward the idea of non-verbal communication within dancing that I had discussed with Jas. Harriet brought forward the idea that this project did not need to revolve around people's thoughts specifically, but it could also be about the non-verbal communication aspect. People in the boxing club want to refrain from speaking; they are individualistic, so this could be exciting. She recommended that I look at Henri Lefebvre's The Production of Space (1984), as it discusses how humans interact within spaces. She brought forward an interesting aspect: the typefaces sometimes looked like sculptures or drawings rather than typefaces, and how focusing on visual cues rather than language could be interesting. I could test out the aspect in which I do not need to understand the language but instead focus on what I hear or see. She told me to push myself even more in the area where the text might not resemble traditional typography anymore. She recommends that I look at the work of Anna Halprin, who explores movement and expression through her work. 

Workshops

Library Workshop 

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The library workshop helped me realize that I need to write more of my thoughts on paper, as it could help investigate what I want to learn this term. I found it helpful to investigate different research methods and ask myself specific questions, such as what I want to do for the final project. How can I make one understand my ideas? Do I want to do practice-based research or practice research? My practice is a blend of both, as I enjoy researching, reading different books, and watching different movies to get ideas. I also experiment with different mediums, allowing me to find new ideas and concepts simultaneously. I usually start by doing more theoretical research to find ideas, so it is challenging to push myself to do practice-led research simultaneously. However, this new approach may help me find new ideas and concepts for my project. 

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After the workshop, we had to show our objects, which would define our project, and I chose to bring a hand wrap for boxing as it could be an exciting concept to blend typography onto to make it move. We then did a “What If?” exercise, where I got new insights into how to proceed with my research. One original thought was to place sensor devices onto the dancers and boxers. Or have boxers and dancers interview each other. I thought these were fun ideas but was unsure if they would be helpful for my project yet. 

Research Method Workshop 

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I found this workshop insightful as it taught me new methods of research, from cutting up words from a text to find new inspiration to drawing the environment around us to force us to not think of perfection and create quick roughs to find new concepts. The two methods of research that stood out to me the most were the interview questionnaire and the multi-modal method. These will be the most valuable modes of research for my project as I am still a bit unsure about where my project is going, although I know that I want to experiment with typography and movements. I still need to find a theme for this project. It could be interesting to find out what boxing and dancing bring to the participants and what it means to them. My research is multi-modal as I am trying out different methods of research in order to find what topic is the most interesting to me for this project. 

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