REALISATION: Blog entry 12

CONCEPT PANEL - notes

• Visual communication - what message are you projecting??
• What am I doing as an illustrator?
• Market research? RSPB visitor statistics?? - look into this
• Think more about your methodology - criteria to follow
• More research into sparrow symbology/history/folktale? - do this this week
• Photographs - natural textures, pattern, camouflage; research and experiment
• Plan my time more - make a calendar/schedule
• Audience - aim at parents to reach children??
• get in touch with the RSPB for more information (e-mail addresses on website!)
• Branding...will I have a logo? RSPB logo?
• Leaflets for campaigns?
• Project out into the real world - testing!?
• Circles - natural form; reasearch/experiment with
• Build up more work, more experimentation
• RSPB news article; critisim for how they spend their money (find this!)
• Flocks/flight pattern/migration - research and integrate into experimentations!
• resesons for red list status - how the everyday person has made an impact, and how to stop this - may have more of an effect on the audience? - research this!
• Balcony gardens - city centre (give nature a home spin off...)

____________________________________________________________________

Concept panel went so much better than I expected today, and it's given me the boost I needed to get going with my work again! I have so many little things to experiment with and ideas to get down. I think tomorrow and possibly the day after will be a day of hand generated experiments and sketchbook scribbling at home, also possibly some research and blogging. I also have to get the first draft of my PPF to Tim by the end of the week, so I can do that Thursday, and maybe Friday. Looking forward to getting back into this, and getting it done!

CONCEPT : Blog entry 28

Feedback from PPF:

- Rethink title [The art of the species guide in conservation] does the guide have a role in        conservation?

- More research (primary, secondary)

- Include all research in bibliography, not just the thing referenced.

- More artists

- Improve rational - narrative; what I did, where I came from, my conclusions, how that has    influenced my ideas for this module.

- Reference: what have I looked at in terms of guides?

- Be specific with references (all references - Sam Winston??)

- Current RSPB campaigns (Home for wildlife)

- Local community wildlife groups

- Audience? (TBD)

- Outcome? (TBD)

- Boyle Family - forensic recreation of a place, land art

- Key words? guidebook, nature reserve, signage (info graphics), conservation, etc. 

To do this week:

- Concept panel slides (21st July)

- Analyse guidebooks

- Pick out best experiments for concept panel  - Make more??

- Redo PPF (?)

_________________________________________________________________________________

Tim also mentioned this advert, from the RSPB;

Give nature a home advert - RSPB

 (RSPB, 2014)

 From this video, you can then go to the website and find a range of guides on how to 'give nature a home'. Below is the main guide, avaliable to recieve through the post or as a pdf, but there are also guide for how to  make dead wood piles, build a home for bats, and create nature corridors, as well as lots of different activities to help bring nature into your garden  (RSPB: GIVING NATURE A HOME, 2014).

Give nature a home Guide - RSPB

(RSPB: GIVING NATURE A HOME, 2014)

One of the thing Tim suggested I do to help my research and development of my concept, was to dissect the guides that are already out there. I am unsure if it is a guide book that I will produce, but getting to grips with what is already available, and finding the problems with it will help me figure out what it is I am wanting to do. I've also ordered a physical copy of this so I can look at it and analyse it properly in my sketch book; I also intend to do this with a couple of other guide books too.

I really like what the RSPB are trying to do with this campaign; by getting everyone to pitch in and create a better habitat for wild life in their own back garden, this helps with conservation on a much wider scale, at a much lower cost for them. Although the RSPB is primarily for birds, by getting people to make a better environment for plants, insects and other wildlife, it creates a better environment for the birds, and makes their survival much easier. 

My only problem with it it, is it seems to be aimed towards adults. which is fine, in theory. It provides them with activities to do with their children, but non of the material is aimed at children. 

So...for example, I could have been looking at all this, and decide that one Sunday afternoon me and the kids are going to build a wood pile to attract lots of insects; I can download a simple little guide telling me exactly how to do this - this guide is really simple, no images, just the instructions; not appealing to children at all.

If I were to remake this I would have it as something to show the kids, to get them interested too. "If we build a log pile, look at all the cool insects that will come and live in it!" and maybe some kind of treasure hunt list, to keep them coming back to check and see what insects move in.

I think one of biggest parts of conservation should be to educate and build interest in younger people, so that in the future they think of things like our wildlife, and try to help.

And with the main guide that I have shown in this post. It is very simple, and too the point, with lots of good information on what you can do to help, but only focuses on adults.

[This guide also uses, what I thought was one of my ideas, to use the silhouette of the animal with a photograph of it natural habitat...I swear I'm thinking of these things first!] 

I have been thinking about focusing on a specific location for my 'guide', as I think this will narrow down what needs to be included. 'Wild life' is just too broad, I need some kind of limit, such as 'red list', 'nature reserve', or even 'garden'. I really like the idea of focusing on your garden, getting every one to do their bit.

    RSPB, (2014). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc-qlIWG_4E [Accessed 15 Jul. 2014].

   RSPB: GIVING NATURE A HOME, (2014). RSPB: RSPB Giving nature a home. [online] Available at: http://homes.rspb.org.uk/page/projects [Accessed 15 Jul. 2014].

    RSPB: GIVING NATURE A HOME, (2014). RSPB: RSPB Giving nature a home. [online] Available at: http://homes.rspb.org.uk/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwopOeBRC1ndXgnuvx8JYBEiQAq4RPt2v59IpYPBWklX00z16zgAsLTLJC2887yg0e7PDhRiwaAo5H8P8HAQ [Accessed 15 Jul. 2014].

CONCEPT : Blog entry 16

Notes from concept panel:

- Do you need to work against conventions of traditional guidebooks? Challenge them? > going in to illustrator

- Sewell watercolours, quite childlike, cautious about not turning away hardcore birders with more representational images of birds and animals.

- Would it be better to settle on birds or location?

location; wildlife of the area??

- Think about who the audience is that don't want the traditional..

- more modern approach; would typography be a more challenging way to tackle it?

- probably aiming towards a younger audience

- Look beyond guidebooks > BBC spring watch

- style of badger and cockatiel images > simple/abstract

- worried about the idea of a guidebook..how will it challenge us??

- photography presentations of guidebooks

- David Attenborough books

- flight patterns flocks, shape whilst in flight..silhouette?

- key qualities of the species that can make it simple and easy to identify, really break it down

- sound? for the visually impaired

- Graphic/simplistic images

________________________________

I've still got a lot to think about from todays comments.

From these however, I've had the idea of just doing a document (book/guidebook/whatever) not necessarily a 'guide' on a location, which can include history and species information relevant to that site.

For just messing around and research purposes, I'm going to start with Attenborough Nature reserve near Nottingham; mainly because its close, but also because it has a big visitor centre, and I know they are doing lots of work with the RSPB to help with conservation. 

My plan is to take my camera equipment, sketchbook, paints and a picnic, and spend the day there and see what comes out of it. Gather as much information as I can from the visitor center, and report back. I think I'll be doing this tomorrow, as it might be the last day for decent weather this week.

For today though, I want to have a bash at doing some really simple images of birds with block colours in photoshop/illustrator.

Thinking about little bits from the concept panel, I also have a few other little things that I want to try out too, and see how that works; I'll add these later..with any luck.

CONCEPT : Blog entry 12

After my tutorial yesterday, its now clear I really need to nail some kind of direction for this, and just continue to brainstorm, experiment and research until I find a direction.

So here are a couple of things that I've been thinking about..

Guidebooks: My Pinboard;

Pinboard

One of the themes that has run through all of my little ideas, is some sort of guide book; RSPB Red list guide, info on foxes/badgers, a parrot care guide - I think I need to look more closely at the art of making a good guide book, and possibly try to reinvent it. Working with a guidebook format would allow me to experiment with text, continuing on from the Babel project, and would also allow me to work more on my drawing an water colour techniques. Would also allow me to work with what ever subject matter I damn well feel like, seeing as I cannot decide that right now, this appeal to me. Lots.

-...a guide book to mythical creatures (inspired by Rachael Goodyear) also including bits of myth, symbolism, folktale, literature and film...anthropomorphism? (I would really enjoy doing the research for this one) My Pinboard:

Pinboard

-British birds, although already done by Matt Sewell, his does focus on song birds, not the RSPB's red list, but would be very similar..

-Badger culling

-Issues facing foxes

(Thinking about it now, I really like the idea of working with guide books...)

Anthropomorphism & our relationships to animals

• Themes to explore but no set ideas (or ideas at all on what I could produce with this
• Pigeons (earlier work on the BA)
• Phrases (sick as a dog etc.)..a guide book to the origin of these? Poetic nouns come in here too (e.g an unkindness of ravens)
• Symbolism
• Parrots; sound/mimicry (starlings)
• co-dependence

Really a lot of this crosses over with themes that would be present in the above ideas to use in the way of a guide book.

With concept panel coming up on Monday, I think this is what I shall be presenting; my overall theme of exploring the idea of the guidebook/species guide/biology text book format, with my interest/subject being animals/wildlife and also looking into anthropomorphism, symbolism, exploring text and origins..I obviously need to refine this! But thats the plan!

So my plan for this week..considering I also need to talk about my dissertation topic at the concept panel;

today - dissertation (tutorial with Ian later)

Wednesday - dissertation

Thursday - research and prepare concept panel, and fit in some crafty drawing

Friday - research and prepare concept panel

I still need to continue mind mapping in my sketchbook (can add this to concept panel slide when done)

Also need to do lots more research for the dissertation and running up to the concept panel - all I have right now are Matt Sewell, Rachel Goodyear and Sam Winston..I should probably have more than this.

AND I need to have a go at filling in the project proposal form:

PP&M: Blog entry  25

I have been thinking of new things I can do to this text to further obscure the text and change the way in which it is viewed.

After looking at the work of Annie Vought (see below) I decided to experiment with   the spacing of the text. Here, I have also picked out some key elements of the text, although, now I'm looking at it, that is perhaps not so obvious - I think I need to put more emphasis on these areas. Here, I've just increased thwe font size and made small sections Bold to draw attention, but now I'm not sure if there is enough of a difference. Looking at Vought's work, she alsio seems to use different spaceing through out the piece of text. I only did this as a quick experiment (mainly to show at concept pannel on Monday as an example of where my work is likely to be going next) but iI think I need to spend more time on this; and i could be really effective. Just as it is; this piece gives me the feeling of being overwhelmed by all of the words at once. It is possible to work out what is said in the text, but it takes alot of effort. I rellly like this effect, I just need to work on it more, it could be so much ore effective.

Further experimentation with whole text

Annie Vought:

Annie Vought, Christmas, 2007 cut paper

(Annievought.com, 2014)

 

Annie Vought, Don'st Swaer, 2012 cut paper

(Annievought.com, 2014)

Annie Vought, Stuck by and Carried Away, 2013 cut paper

(Annievought.com, 2014)

Vought, A. 2014. don’t swear 39″x27″  | Annie Vought. [online] Available at: http://annievought.com/2009/dont-swear/ 

[Accessed: 3 Apr 2014].

Vought, A. 2014. Christmas  | Annie Vought. [online] Available at: http://annievought.com/2007/christmas/ 

[Accessed: 3 Apr 2014].

Vought, A. 2014. Struck By and Carried Away | Annie Vought. [online] Available at: http://annievought.com/2013/struck-by-and-carried-away/ [Accessed: 3 Apr 2014].