Phase 3: Week 12
Design Development
Weeks 11-12: Design development | Ongoing concept, project refinement
Weekly learning objectives
This period of the MA Final Major Project is for you to demonstrate a clear sense of development and review, to allow your project to evolve holistically but also maintain depth and rigour. This ensures it is critically positioned and conceptually exciting and new. It is always a challenge at this phase of longer and more in depth projects – you need to focus on keeping motivated and maintaining the ambition and intention of the original question driving your work.
Alongside the development of your practice based studio work, you need to be working on your draft critical report, due to be submitted for formative student peer review in Week 13.
By the end of this period you are expected to have a body of work that certifies your final direction and area for developing, building and launching, as a culmination of the final Phase 4.
Some more but still not got going…
New question?
I’m not sure I even had a question for the panel review. Still feeling in a void, still grey areas.
Versions of the project are still twisting and turning:
1 – Keeping with the original, incorporating the feedback from the panel review.
This still leaves the question of ‘who is it for’ which I’m still not convinced I have an answer for.
2 – Bring together a selection of more niche groups to show the different ways cycling has an effect (affect?) on different lives
This would bring in a wider audience, the more generally curious even outside of cycling.
3 – Find one subject (one unusual or alternative group, club or event) to focus on
It’s week 12, how much longer do I keep looking?
4 – Avoid the people, look at the cycling itself?
What brings a value to cycling instead of the value cycling brings to us? A history, or an event? Avoid the obvious such as the Grand Tours, there are way too many studies or books or gimmicks from these. What’s a layman’s history?
Cycling, racing, started as the poor man’s sport. Riders in the early Tours were labourers and farm workers, etc., what current history is there which has evolved from those early days?
Look into the language and events in everyday cycling, not the pro’s but the ordinary club cyclist.
Research Question
Cycling brings many different things to our society; a sense of freedom and escape, belonging and associations. How can I show its diversity and the meaning it has to people beyond the stereotypes?
Revised:
Cycling brings many different things to our society; a sense of freedom and escape, belonging and associations. How can the cycling community show its diversity and value to people beyond the stereotypes?
Who’s it for?
Stay away from Rapha/Rouleur, etc. Somehow…
Study individual cycling clubs (start local), document a run-of-the-mill ride or event; a race, a Reliability ride – before during and after? (Although it’s likely no events, at least during the early part of 2021.)
Matt Rudd Feedback:
I’ll be interested to see in the end how you combine text (quotes?) and images to tell this story. Maybe you could attach this project to an existing club that would actually like to use it for their own purposes?
Contact a set of cycling clubs across the country for opinions and reasons, etc. as in the original idea of ‘what three words’. Send the Q&As and use the results to see if patterns are depending on location, use data for visual purposes within the outcome; common words, reasons for, etc.
Either a single outcome documenting clubs across the UK or as a set of results shown club-by-club, their own report.
Visuals:
- Club jerseys as cover graphics?
- Plain photos, snapshots
- Stories from/interviews with club members
Avoid slowly creeping towards a cycling version of the Market Hall project…
Approach clubs which famous cyclist started, e.g. Herne Hill where Bradley Wiggins first started – would this be done over and over already?
Alternative Groups
Bring together a selection of strange/niche/alternative groups who use cycling for expression into a single volume?
Protest/attention/escape
Is a single volume spreading things a bit thin – are individual documents a bit over-ambitious? Finding out enough about those who are no longer running could be difficult. Images would need to be supplied by the subjects – would that be feasible?
An underlying theme here could be the lack of care for body image. From the photos in the research, some of the people are clearly saying ‘this is me’. Opposite to the club cyclist who tends to be very image-conscious.
An option for the groups:
If there’s enough content, each ride is produced as a small booklet – released as a set?
Focus on a single group?
Feasibility would lead the way – something still current and accessible means I can gather primary as well as ethnographic research during an event. Ethnographic research would be missing from studies of some other groups.
Two events come to mind; the Tweed Run and the Naked Bike Ride – complete opposites with the attention coming from what the riders are or aren’t wearing.
World Naked Bike Ride London
Cleaner environment, safer roads, healthier lifestyles, better attitudes!
The ride demonstrates the vulnerability of cyclists and is a protest against car culture. WNBR is a worldwide campaign with a number of linked themes.
Freedom, escapism. The wind in your…
The Tweed Run
A bit of history
The Tweed Run is a fabulously quirky event where participants don their finest tweeds and brogues and cycle through London, stopping along the way to take tea, have a picnic, and ending with an old fashioned knees-up in the afternoon.
Compare these opposites?
Document/event consists of juxtaposing images; the dapper -vs- starkers?
Opinions and interviews to see why, what does the participant get from the ride? How does taking part make them feel?
Why do they do it?
How to show this freedom and escape? The association – we get back to the clubs again; the club ride. The club history – the ride history.
Reliabilities?
I think I’ve mentioned these rides in a look at terminology during an earlier week – these are a traditional event which has a relevance to the act of cycling beyond just being a member of a club – they’re events the clubs put on each year, could this bring an historical value to the project rather than just the pre/post-ride photos? Look at the ride, not the riders?
‘Ride-types’
- Reliability
- Audax
- Time-trial
- Omnium
- Scratch
- Keirin
- Madison
- Classics
Their history and origin?
Feedback: Susanna
Useful pointers from Susanna this week after looking through the research blog. Opened things back up to getting info from anyone and everyone, to build an archive kind-of-thing of people’s memories, photos, opinions, etc., and see what comes…
Show the cultural value from the inside, not my view of it from outside.
Came across the Rough Stuff Archive earlier but looked at its content, not its concept – looking too hard at things!
I’ve since been in touch with their archivist via the contact form on their website – waiting for a response.
Contact everybody…
Collect stuff from everywhere…
So…
Cycling brings many different things to society; a sense of freedom and escape, belonging and associations. How do I tell the story of its diversity and cultural value beyond the stereotypes?
Finally, the theme. The cultural value of cycling: what does cycling mean to the people who do?
Rather than focus on the people, focus on why they do it, what it means to them. Is it an escape or a release, does it bring a sense of belonging? What got them cycling, what is the most precious thing that connects them to cycling?
A memory, a story, a photograph, an object. Mine is the ride number below which was pinned to my jersey riding from London to Paris in 24 hours, 286 miles with just minutes to spare. I want to build an archive which will show the wider appeal which brings people to cycling; the fun, the fitness, the social elements and the
I’m going to send out a Q&A to cycling clubs via their websites or Facebook pages asking for stories from its members. Currently, the Q’s are:
- How long have you been a member?
- What attracted you to your cycling club?
- Did a personal goal give you the incentive to join?
- What has the club helped you to do that you never deemed possible?
- What does your club mean to you?
- What would be missing from your life if the club didn’t exist?
- What do the highs and lows look within the club?
- What kept the club together during COVID and lockdown? (Are people sick of Covid links?)
- What three words say why you ride…
I’m still going to include the ‘What Three Words’ question, I think it will make participants really consider their reasons. It will also mean I can gather some data for the project that I experiment with visualisation as part of the final outcome. It’s not vital to the project, but it could prove interesting at the very least.
There will need to be a different set for those who aren’t members of a club but are part of what might be more accurately described as a group, I’m referring to the women of Saudi Arabia and the Ovarian Psycos from earlier in my research. I don’t think the quick-fire questions listed above will be suitable, these groups might have a political stance or more emotional reasons.
I’m also going to try reaching out to familiar names within cycling; tv commentators, presenters and journalists, etc. can’t do any harm, and you never know…
Found what I’m looking for (3 months…)
Things like:
- Texts interviews and artefacts to play with.
- Photos of what cycling meant to them in childhood
- Cyclists during WW2, for e.g.…
- Someone’s images of them on their E-bike in Covid
- Collect material and play with it
- Reasons, rituals, unwritten rules, military pride
- The cultural value of cycling past and present.
My artefact is my ride number from the first London-Paris 24hr ride (L2P24) I took part in in 2010 and a photo from the start line.
I think if I include a reference to these in the club questionnaire, it will give a clue to what I’d like from them, some of the ones I know aren’t very bright…
Contact:
Ovarian Psycos
Events
Tweed Run, via website: https://www.tweedrun.com/contact-us
Naked Ride, Facebook: https://facebook.com/WNBRLondon or website form: https://wnbrlondon.uk/
Commentators
Matt Rendell
Ned Boulting
Chris Boardman
David Millar
Matt Stephens
Groups
https://www.facebook.com/TheChainEffect/
Misc
The Rough Stuff Fellowship archivist – emailed via their website, 10/12/20
Eben Weiss, Bike Snob NYC: famousoriginalbikesnob@gmail.com
Refine the Q’s and the intros.
I’ll need to tailor the approach to the different groups. The cycle clubs will be more straightforward than the other groups; the Psycos, the events and commentators, from my experience of club members I don’t think the intro to the project needs to be as formal as a long intro is likely to put members off, seeming too much like hard work to read any further. Some clubs will be approached via their chairman if their FB pages are locked to non-members.
The main thing is that it shouldn’t sound formal to be too ‘wordy’ – keep it direct. At the moment the text loops around in circles:
Cycling brings many different things to society; a sense of freedom and escape, belonging and associations. I’m looking to build an archive of what cycling means to different groups of people; their stories, artefacts or just a few words to tell the story of its diversity and cultural value other than the usual stereotypes.
So what does cycling mean to you? Is it an escape or a release, does it bring a sense of belonging?
What got them cycling, what is the most precious thing that connects them to cycling?
I’m looking for memories, stories, photographs of people or objects.
How long have you been a member?
What attracted you to your cycling club?
Did a personal goal give you the incentive to join?
What has the club helped you to do that you never deemed possible?
What does your club mean to you?
What would be missing from your life if the club didn’t exist?
What do the highs and lows look within the club?
What kept the club together during COVID and lockdown?
Using only three words, say what cycling means to you.
A lot of these questions are kind-of asking the same thing.
Informal club request:
I’m studying for an MA in graphic design at Falmouth University. As part of my current project, I’m gathering opinions on what cycling brings different people; what it means to be part of a club or group, etc.
If you could spend a little time filling in this survey please, that would be great. / Would it be possible to post the link onto your club FB page for your members to take part?
[Link]
Survey:
(Needs the tick-box-to-agree-to-take-part bit)
First name:
Email address (optional):
Name of Club: (Am contacting clubs directly, so there’s no need for member/non-member options)
How long have you been a member:
What does your club mean to you?
What attracted you to your cycling club?
Did a personal goal give you the incentive to join? (need to avoid possible yes/no answers – possible drop-down/multiple-choice selection from the first question? This would gather some collatable data.)
Describe any personal goal which gave you the incentive to join: (better version than above.)
What has the club helped you to do that you never thought possible? (too similar to the above?)
What has the club helped you achieve that you never thought possible? (better version.)
What would be missing from your life if the club didn’t exist?
Describe what kept the club together during COVID and lockdown?
Using only three words, sum up what cycling means to you:
Check the order of the questions, could they flow better? Anything missing – ask the chairman if there’s a club archive?
- Famous members
- How long it’s been going
- Any old jersey designs to show how they evolved?
Survey (revised):
(Needs the tick-box-to-agree-to-take-part bit)
First name:
Email address (optional):
Name of Club:
What attracted you to your cycling club?
How long have you been a member:
What does your club mean to you?
Describe any personal goal which gave you the incentive to join:
What has the club helped you achieve that you never thought possible?
What would be missing from your life if the club didn’t exist?
Describe what kept the club together during COVID and lockdown?
I’m looking to build an archive of historical and contemporary stories connected to cycling, what would be yours?
Tell me about an artefact you may have that has personal value; a special jersey, a family connection, the number from your first race or sportive, etc.
If you’re able to send any images of the item that would add extra value to the archive. [add a way to submit]
Finally, using only three words, sum up what cycling means to you:
Questionnaire Intro:
Above shows the content and the first of the requests for people to take part. Now down to the survey itself; what’s it called and what’s the intro?
Title?
“So what does cycling mean to you?”
That sounds ok, clear and pretty direct…
The intro to the project here can sound more ‘academic’ than the request to be posted on social media; they’re already here with an idea of what they’re being asked to do. I think an initial request worded this way (I think I said already) would put people off as it sounds too official.
“Cycling brings many different things to society; a sense of freedom and escape, belonging and associations. I’m looking to build an archive of what cycling means to different groups of people; their stories, artefacts or just a few words to help build up the story of its diversity and cultural value other than the usual stereotypes.”
I think it’s best to add a friendly bit that flows from what they’ve read on social media to get here; explain my role and what it’s for again.
I’m studying for an MA in graphic design at Falmouth University. As part of my current project, I’m gathering opinions on what cycling brings different people; what it means to be part of a club or group, etc. – this should come before the statement.
Thanks for coming to take part in the survey. My name is Tony Clarkson, and I’m studying for an MA in graphic design at Falmouth University. As part of my current project, I’m gathering opinions on what cycling brings different people; what it means to be part of a club or group, etc.
So what does cycling mean to you?
Thanks for coming to take part in the survey. My name is Tony Clarkson, and I’m studying for an MA in graphic design at Falmouth University. As part of my current project, I’m gathering opinions on what cycling brings different people; what it means to be part of a club or group, etc.
Cycling brings many different things to society; a sense of freedom and escape, belonging and associations. I’m looking to build an archive of what cycling means to different groups of people; their stories, artefacts or just a few words to help build up the story of its diversity and cultural value other than the usual stereotypes.
(Needs the tick-box-to-agree-to-take-part bit)
First name:
Email address (optional):
Age range: [drop-down categories]
Name of Club:
What attracted you to your cycling club?
How long have you been a member:
What does your club mean to you?
Describe any personal goal which gave you the incentive to join:
What has the club helped you achieve that you never thought possible?
What would be missing from your life if the club didn’t exist?
Describe what kept the club together during COVID and lockdown?
I’m looking to build an archive of historical and contemporary stories connected to cycling, what’s your favourite or most memorable story from your time as a cyclist?
Tell me about an artefact you may have that has personal value; a special jersey, a family connection, the number from your first race or sportive, etc.
If you’re able to send any images of the item that would add extra value to the archive. Please send a clear photo on a plain background or if you’re able to scan it; e.g. a document or photo, and send to [add a way to submit; email or dropbox]
Finally, using only three words, sum up what cycling means to you:
Includes:
Falmouth Flexible logo will add integrity to the questionnaire
Add a visual style where possible – but don’t go overboard
The tick-to-agree bit. Take from the ethics from Week 4.
Consent:
I’ll be including a tick box to the form to show agreed consent from the participants; there’ll be a link to download further information about the intended use of information received. Signed consent will not be possible in these online surveys, but the fact that they’re filling in the form implies consent. However, I will need a formal document to be available should those taking part wish to read about the research’s purpose.
“Implicit Consent
“In some situations, it may be appropriate to provide participant information without requiring a consent form which identifies the participant. An example might be if you are asking someone to answer a few questions anonymously at an exhibition. As long as you make it clear that participation is voluntary, agreeing to answer questions anonymously (verbally or by completing a questionnaire) can be regarded as implying consent to participate. However, the participant information provided should still meet the standards set out in the sections above.”
Guidance on creating a participant consent form
Consent:
I’ll be including a tick box to the form to show agreed consent from the participants, and there’ll be a link to download further information about the intended use of information received. Signed consent will not be possible in these online surveys, but the fact that they’re filling in the form implies consent. However, I will need a formal document to be available should those taking part wish to read about the research’s purpose.
“Implicit Consent
“In some situations, it may be appropriate to provide participant information without requiring a consent form which identifies the participant. An example might be if you are asking someone to answer a few questions anonymously at an exhibition. As long as you make it clear that participation is voluntary, agreeing to answer questions anonymously (verbally or by completing a questionnaire) can be regarded as implying consent to participate. However, the participant information provided should still meet the standards set out in the sections above.”
Participant consent.
University Logo
Title of Project: So what does cycling mean to you?
Name of Researcher: Anthony Clarkson
The purpose of the research is to use general questions around the subject of cycling to gain personal opinions, stories and general information to compile an archive of material to be used either in full or in part, to create an as yet undecided artwork which can be viewed in the public domain.
You will be asked for your forename and email address; this information will only aid the research and not be made available outside of the study. Adding these details to the survey is not compulsory.
You have the right to decline to participate and to withdraw from the research once participation has begun.
Answering any part of the survey will be regarded as implied consent to participate.
It implies that:
- You have read and understood the research study’s information and have had the opportunity to consider the information.
- You understand that participation is voluntary and that you are free to withdraw at any time without giving any reason, without any legal rights being affected.
- You agree to take part in the study.
If you have any questions about the research, please contact the researcher via email: tc233461@falmouth.ac.uk
Alternatively, you can contact the module tutor at Falmouth University:
Susanna Edwards | Course Coordinator
MA Graphic Design (online)
Falmouth University Flexible Learning
flexible.falmouth.ac.uk
susanna.edwards@falmouth.ac.uk
Edit:
There’s a problem with the form in that I can’t create a link to the sheet in Google Forms. I’ve looked at others such as Microsoft and Survey Monkey, but these don’t allow for uploading images. Survey Monkey does, but for £30 per month…
I’ve added the text below to the form to show user consent.
The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete; although that depends on how detailed you make your responses. The survey is anonymous, and you will not be contacted after its completion unless you were to opt-in.
You can withdraw at any time during the survey; however, once you have submitted your answers, they cannot be changed.
I confirm that I have agreed to participate in this study and that my answers can be used as part of this project.
Clubs linked on social media:
Easiest set – first for the Q&A standard form (contact via the chairman).
Tweets by ParamountCRT
Tweets by TheNovaraiders
Tweets by Rideventures
Tweets by PlushHillCycles
Tweets by midshropswheels
Tweets by ChorleyCycling
Tweets by PresidentMSW
Tweets by TelToothpaste
https://twitter.com/davemellorcycle
Survey Screens:
I’ve kept the main page of questions open; people may not have answers for every question in there. The consent tick-box and the ‘About You’ section and the ‘Three Words’ have been set to required answers so that I can, at least, get data on the demographics and some thoughtful answers.
Reflection
A good enough response from the clubs to get the point of view from the expected cyclist. Now I’ll carry one looking for and contacting more niche groups, ones who will show the other side of cycling. Getting more stories and being specific in what I’m asking for should (hopefully) mean better content – the more, the better…
Looking back from this point I thought I’d be further along with this project even though it took the first five weeks to come up with a subject and 12 to come up with an angle – it’s been hard and a bit empty still at this point.
It isn’t exciting for me yet…
