Phase 4: Weeks 19-24
Define, Test and Prepare
More Iteration and review
More further development, peer review, Studio Practice PDF
Weekly objectives
Room concepts: visuals and sounds
Event Name
Event Literature
Industry feedback
Be methodical, at this stage everything needs to count!
Something to focus on…at this week’s webinar Stuart asked what I was looking to gain from the project. My on the spot answer was that I’m looking to work with different mediums; sound and lighting, as well as scale.
I’m looking to exaggerate and contrast the scale of items shown such as a 20ft brake calliper as the exhibition entrance or to make parts of the rooms feel too small for the visitor. Could lighting be used to help alter the sense of scale?
Now I’ve had the nudge to think about it I’ll think about it more – what am I looking to gain?
(Trying to get) Industry feedback
I’ve sent off a few requests to places I think would be useful in terms of technology and others for feedback on the designs in mind.
The kind of exhibition I’m looking towards is something I’ve not had the experience of working with. I’ve only worked on show stands where sound and lighting, other than downlighting onto products, are never considered. I’m planning to get in touch with people who produce work similar enough to my concept to help me to understand any considerations to make.
What do they see as a good way to visualise and explain an exhibition concept?
What have/are the alternatives for contemporary exhibitions as a result of Covid? Do I take some parts online?
I’ve posted the question opposite onto the-dots.com to see what response I can get.
I’ve been using the ‘you’re amazing’ approach as it usually gets better results so some of the language in the request emails feels a bit ott. So far I’m only getting help and feedback from the people who are sources for the room subjects.
Simon Manchipp from SomeOne sent me a link-up request on The Dots website. Thought I might as well take advantage of it. No reply…
Some amazing projects by OneDotZero, exacly the right people to ask for advice and feedback. Emailed. No reply…
Another attempt – from a technical side – TenAV in Leatherhead
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Another non-responder is Gavin Grindon who put me in touch with the people at Bike Bloc.
Design Development
Event name and style
How could the circle fit in with the theme of change?
Contain a symbol; a movement?
Animate the logo – no denying a sense of change if the circle changes but how does it show when the logo can’t be animated? Static logos could be each of the colours to be associated to the rooms.
Cut out a wedge shape to be the start of the movement in the animation? Perhaps the could be a key colour for the whole show? That can then be included as either the wedge or the main area, then each room could be the wedge.
Circular logos
A circle, although the obvious answer; a wheel, revolution, more?, would fit best with the subject and the underlying theme of change can also be incorporated by changes in colour to fit in with the different rooms. Its best fit is that it looks like a badge – the small button badges worn by groups, fans of bands or movements, and in large numbers,
The circle can be animated for the main placements so that it reveals each colour in turn. One problem I find with circular logos though is that they tend to end up with the company name just ‘stuck on’ to the side rather than being part of the circle. But that’s just a personal opinion and something I try to avoid (get-out route activated).
Design Development
Logo Trials
Work in progress; what says the event?
REVOLUTIONS is a pretty long word – not easy for a logo…
Too much Revolt, not enough revolve?
The idea of the circles on the floor of the Bike Bloc room (Week 24.1) brings us back to the plain logo.
The circle links to this new part of the show as a significant part of how things work, such as now the spotlights to make the sound and vision come alive and increase in numbers with the interaction of the audience.
Circle Only
Would this need explaining as there’s no resulting symbol? I like that it’s just the circle, a wheel, a direction but I can hear “what’s that?” quite a bit.
Revolutions – Spanish
Circle unveils the word in the languages associated with the rooms; Spanish, Dutch, Arabic and English so far.
Revolutions – Arabic
This results in a recognised article; the name Revolutions. I like the touch of the foreign language versions but the word left floating in space doesn’t work.
Circle With Symbol
The symbol–the asterisk, can stand alone as a symbol for the show as well as the circle. It works too with the circle at different stages of revealing. The symbol is a note or a highlight, the spokes of a wheel, a cog, a centrepoint.
Circles for lights and film
Star/note/asterisk for noise
Variants (as well as a full circle)
Application – quick example
Try-outs: adding the title
I prefer logos to have the name incorporated into a symbol for a logo, or for the words to either be the logo or contain a designed element within it. I’d rather not just badge a word if it’s possible.
I find though, that circular logos are pretty much likely to be badged but I managed to get around it. The star will be the logo version and not the circle. Any derivatives containing the circle or part of it will be shown without the name.
Design Development
Event guide/companion piece
The exhibition is interactive so the literature for it should be also. Can the guide be made in such a way that the visitor can add to it as they view the rooms?
Can visitors tear out from the book and stick in from the walls? How can they take the sounds away with them? (Are we precariously close to mentioning an app to go alongside the exhibition?)
How can we get visitors to deface things where appropriate, or to try and fix things? Are we allowed to spy on them in the Bike Bloc room or harass them in the hijab room?
Can we test the visitors in some way? (Will Smith dragging the table, Men in Black)
Is a scrapbook considered interactive?
What if visitors were given an incomplete book which they could complete (if they felt like it) as they visit the rooms?
Look at kids books: ‘The Imaginary World of …’ and ‘Wreck This Journal’ by Keri Smith.
Not a kids book
SMLXL, a book containing what seems like random findings, notes and examples of work gathered together, then thrown up in the air and then paginated where they stood.
Wikipedia: Enormous, 1376-page-long book is a collection of essays, diary excerpts, travelogues, photographs, architectural plans, sketches, cartoons produced by Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.) in the twenty years prior to publication.
Carry through the idea of change: Visitors fix/destroy/change the guide content to reflect how they interpreted the rooms?
Is this going off-track from the cycling?
Design Development
Layouts
Visualising the scrapbook idea into the exhibition book layout. The rooms will get their own styles but there needs to be a common element throughout, the orange circle is there for now – to explain or alter when I address the name and ID/logo for the show.
- Changes
- The Revolutions
- Revolution
Design Development
Exhibition Venue
Remember it’s a concept – an ideal building might not actually exist. The closest building I can think of to illustrate the outside is the Paul Smith store on Melrose Avenue in LA.
It’s a plain pink box – no features (except the window). A blank canvas for projections, fabric facias, paint-job.
A painted surface showing the text/title of the exhibition which has the images projected over the top, the old projection mapping appears again…
Reflection
Looking to create an overall identity for the exhibition seems to be going well. I’m not going to go into huge detail for the visuals but just to get the style across as well as some mockups.
The identity should avoid restrictions. Logos and their use are often restricted by a set of rules, even down to the smallest organisation it’s often seen as what you have to do. If things are left more open there’s more scope for the design.
The week’s been useful in getting things together but I’ve not been able to work on the sounds I’ll need. I reached out to see if I could get responses from industry professionals in regards to lighting and sound but there’s been no response. I need to target directly in the same way as getting in touch with those involved in the organisations I’m covering.
In week+1 I’m looking at the Kindermoord and Bike Bloc rooms. For Bike Bloc I’m working on an animation to overlay onto one of the information films and the soundtrack they supplied to me, the graphics will follow a techy/chaos theme. I’ve touched on the look of Kindermoord in the visuals for the exhibition above, which’s going to be applied to a mockup room.
With the same work in mind, I’ll be building up (starting!) the module hand-in as I go along.
The annoying/upsetting thing I’m annoyed/upset about is the industry contact. It took until week 16 to get the new direction then 20 to get the concept leaving it late to try and find somewhere to take a look. It’s an opportunity missed where it’s not going to get in front of someone who might like to help pick it up and develop it for real, or at least, a bit of networking.
