Last, final words… It’s been a learning curve, a journey that has helped me reflect and explore graphic communication design in unconventional, unrestrained ways. As I write this final entry (for now), I reflect on how my past projects and how they somehow point to the enquiry I finish this season with:
How can graphic communication design facilitate cross-cultural dialogues around localities and their nuanced narratives?
Since before finishing my BA I was really interested in the unique qualities of localities, as I pursued projects like exploring the shoe trade in Norwich or looking at the industrial legacy of the city. My final project looked at the influence of Dutch immigration in local architecture and the legacy in the textile trade. I just think back to these things and see how my work for Unit 3 has cycled back and helped me articulate my core interests, serving as a starting point to pursue further focused research in this area.
Riso prints – Learnings and moving forward
Having done riso printing only once before, I set myself the challenge to try to reproduce the work using this method. Although, it was not completely successful as I encountered issues with the inks I chose and the general use of the process, I think it was a great first step to keep pushing through and adopting riso printing as a potential avenue to expand my creative practice. For the final submission, I use my own digitally printed versions of the book as a starting point towards the material qualities I want to achieve.
I’ve always been a very hands on printer, involved in every aspect of production, from the paper selection, to the inks, and using a method I was not familiar with really brought me out of my comfort zone. In the following weeks, I will also be preparing my work for the graduate showcase and exploring riso printing further as a way to mechanically reproduce the work in an alternative way. I think this medium can be really successful as the inks are a lot more vibrant than what I can produce digitally generally.
Production and finishing
As I close this post, this last week is an opportunity to celebrate and capture the last final bits of this project. There’s an element of vibrancy and colour that now comes across strongly, that it’s also tied to Colombian culture in some way. I put strong emphasis in showing the pieces in different contexts and how they also come together to form meaning and spark a conversation. I hope in the future I have more opportunities to share this collection and engage others in a dialogue around my own localities.
During this project I also developed my use of digital collage based on traditional printmaking processes inherited from my previous illustration work. The outcome is a series of images aimed at prompting questions about their interpretation. I represent the sayings and idioms literaly through the image, producing a series of absurd notions which add to the character and nature of the visual language.
Next Steps
During this time I had the opportunity to reflect on my practice more deeply and to consider why and how I want to engage with design practice in the future. I’m paticularly interested in developing more colaborative projects around image-making, book and editorial design tied to the mobility of language and cross-cultural communication. I also expect to hone my skills in alternative bookbinding and mechanical printing processes which will support my study of endangered publication formats.