'Cut a zero from your budget'

We just received the dimensions for our show space, and they are much smaller than anticipated. Cutting many inches off my original idea. I'm quite excited though that us designers will be in the Sculpture Court, the main and busiest section of the college, also beautifully lit.

But back to dimensions, 1200mm x 2400mm is much smaller than what I was expecting! Thank goodness I didn't continue with the bus shelter idea, clearly impossible. Though my IKEA rails aren't necessarily the perfect prototype and barely work anyways, their size is too large for the space given anyways.

This is when the creativity sinks in. Bigger clearly isn't always better. Shrinking works down could come to an advantage, I was thinking before in large scale - because I normally do - but now is a challenge to create a more intimate exhibit.



On another note, I have created various poster designs. Not all of them are brilliant, but the intent is to play with ideas. They are now in my mind, they can easily be modified - and will have to be modified once my railing system is figured out.

Does it 'move' you?

The idea of a moving exhibit came to mind after visiting the London Transport Museum. In a previous post, I mentioned just how overwhelming and stressful this visit was due to the large amount of children and the difficulty of being able to walk through the museum. After exiting the exhibitions, I made my way to the cafe - I then delved into my sketchbook with a panini and a glass of wine. It was a simple joy of not being surrounded by the smell of diapers and sounds of whining.

Sketches came about and it became clear what I wanted to do: allow my posters and imagery to be moveable, like that on a train track - moveable in a sense that the viewer is able to put my pieces together like a puzzle. I enjoy the fact that the control is in the hands of the viewer, the audience and not so much myself. I can and will set it up in a way where they are able to play with such imagery and find meanings amongst themselves.

Creating such imagery and 'puzzle pieces' is not so difficult. In my mind, I need to know how the physics will work: find a railing system first, then modify such pieces.

One trip to IKEA, I came across a shower curtain railing. This shower curtain railing is meant to be hung from the ceiling, but why wouldn't it work by being attached to a vertical wall?

After long hours of simply figuring out how to assemble said shower curtain:
(Why IKEA instructions have not gotten easier over time is beyond me...)

I assembled my shower curtain rail, now to attach a mock poster. I know the the images/posters used in my exhibit will be printed on a thick foam core, so fear of piercing through a simple foam board from the student store is not a worry at the moment: just make sure it sticks...and it moves from left to right.

It works. Kind of. Not really actually. Yes said poster board moves from left to right, but it squeaks and doesn't move smoothly. I assume this to be from the fact that the tracks are meant to be hanging from the ceiling and not from a vertical stand point. Without the board, the tracks are smooth - due to no weight. Of course the board is somewhat flimsy, something I figured could be fixed with a double railing:

But I doubt that would take the squeakiness out of the movement.

I tried, and it's not successful at this point.

New ideas: looking into railings found in drawers, railings found for large scale objects such as televisions, etc. I know there are rail systems intended to be attached to a vertical wall, now to just find such at a reasonable cost and are easily moveable. No squeaks please.

It's a mouse, not a magic wand.

Taking a break from construction, planning, and inventing for my degree show, I am inspired. Too often my mind is spinning quite quickly with ideas, thoughts rather - that I forget to stop and breathe. Stressed at all? Take a break, go for a walk. Draw something that has nothing to do with what is stress related. Wander in the library, find a book that is not in the design and/or exhibition section.

When looking over research I've gathered thus far, I am inspired by the underground poster designs by Theyre Lee-Elliott. I noticed a few of such posters at the London Transport Museum, they are implanted in my mind.

His aesthetic is inspiring:

How often we're faced with marketing posters featuring little to no free/white space. Especially in America. It's relieving to view simplistic posters featuring little logos, mass text, etc. This reminds me again that design is art - I don't have to just be a skilled person who knows how to use a mouse and a drawing program. "It's a mouse, not a magic wand."

Furthermore, I came across a TED Talk by Jaime Lerner:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jaime_lerner_sings_of_the_city.html

After the first minute, I immediately liked him. This is a man who was able to transcend his thoughts and imagination into a complete and reliable reality. I knew nothing of this man before this video. I simply typed in the search bar "public transport" and came across this beautiful mind. A bit of history: Jaime is a renowned architect and urban planner, this talk specifically focuses on his work towards the city Curtiba in Brazil. (Where he was once the mayor).

Of course with most, if not all TED talks, he was quite inspiring. He spoke of how he influenced the city through changing the means of bus transport. Here, I have been working on finding joy and happiness within a bus or train - and this man focused on the influence of the architecture and appearance of certain bus stops. It was a view I never considered to focus on before. At all. He examined the trends of transport, the influence of a city map, and of course the mind of the commuter. In a friendly and humorist stance, he related transport to a woman saying. "The car is like your mother-in-law, you have to have a good relationship with her. But she cannot command your life. If the only woman you have in your life is your mother-in-law, you have a problem."

It make sense.

Yet another brilliant quote when it came to focusing on his project(s): "Creativity starts when you cut a zero from your budget."

I'm surrounded by brilliant artists, designers and illustrators alike, who are using the best of their minds and hands to get such work done. Whether it be finding old frames in second hand shops - sanding down such, repainting such. Or it's coming across inspiring rare books outside the university library, other examples also include that of building, hammering, painting, and even welding certain new materials.

This creates nothing but a smile in an artist's eye.

London Transport Museum - My Bliss

Today I went to the London Transport Museum and was widely impressed. I was overwhelmed, but impressed nonetheless. The biggest shock of my visit was when approaching the museum, there was an actual line to get in. The museum was quite crowded, extremely actually. There were many children and strollers - kids running around. At a few points, it was even difficult to navigate through exhibits from the overcrowding.

Though it was slightly aggravating, I did enjoy seeing the large interest in public transport. At first, I was confused about the overcrowding. It's not often you hear good words about public transport, so why would people take time out of their busy days to pay to visit a museum revolved around it? It was then I remembered: Oh yeah, little boys like trains. I had forgotten about the playfulness of trains and vehicles.


The first exhibit at the museum was the least crowded, people breezed through the World Cities Walk to get to the next exhibit: the old buses and trains. Victorian era displays. 

 

 

I still found the World Cities Walk to be quite interesting, it displayed maps and videos of people on public transport from all over the world.

Though I was interested in seeing actual old carriages, my main interest was that of original posters and artwork for the Tube and trains. There were many cases with pull out drawers to view original documents: posters, tickets, flyers, postcards, etc. To me this was the most fascinating part of the exhibit. Yes, it was enjoyable climbing in and out of old trains and buses - but I found my joy in the poster artwork.

Poster design by Theyre Lee-Elliott

By far, the busiest portions of the museum are the trains and buses. Parents and children alike are smiling and enjoying their interaction with such historical objects.

What I've taken away from this exhibit is the need for my degree show to be interactive, educational slightly, but interactive at most. Here people have found joy in the 'old' and 'historical' aspect of public transport. Similar to my work, the London Transport Museum has created a marriage between the old and the new. Historical and Modern. Encouraging and Educational.

Pause. Re-examine.

We love our space. We love isolation, we don't love the random elbow rub from sitting on a bus. Eye contact is usually prohibited. I came upon this product design, it is extremely creative. I do enjoy the playfulness behind the idea, but of course the meaning for this design is somewhat uneasy.

 http://www.behance.net/gallery/aria/948567

In essence, this is the exact opposite of my subject. Encourage isolation. The message is the same of encouraging those to find joy in public transport, but by complete opposite methods as my own.



While listening to Spotify the other day, an advert for Audible kept playing. Audible is from Amazon, it is an application you can download to your phone, and then download audio books for listening purposes. This particular advert speaks of the joy and peace you find when you put your headphones on and get lost in Audible during your morning commute. Encouraging you to cut off from the rest of the world and surroundings.

It is no secret that I'm not a fan of Amazon. Their main goal it seems is to promote the death of printed books my any means, whether it be through the kindle or through audible. Since they have become publishers on their own, they are able to completely bypass the printed editions of books, encouraging new means of 'reading.'

What these products essentially are doing is creating the environment one has in a car during their commute and transforming that to public transport. Isolation, withdrawal, privacy, reclusion. No opportunities for interaction, for conversation, for new experiences. Sit on your own, don't look up.

Go big or go home right?

That's the American way. We're not used to doing things on a small term basis, for proof just take a look at our cars, bathrooms, and roads. Even our plates of food.

I have a large idea for my degree show, whether it will be possible or not is still up in the air. But if I shoot high, aim for a large idea, I can always cut back if it ends up being out of reach. Better than working from little and trying to add more ideas.

Bus shelters are disgusting. They are cold and uninviting. My goal is to take that idea and 'reinvent' it to something welcoming and loveable. This is directly tied to finding joy in public transport as well, make something that is old and dull and exhibit in a positive light. Finding joys in what would normally be ignored.

There are many examples of bus shelter art. Whether it's an aesthetically pleasing design:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/City-of-Moscow-Bus-Shelter-Design/3072493

Or whether it's designs that are a bit more playful:

 http://www.behance.net/gallery/University-of-Idaho-bus-shelter/392761


IKEA has also dived into the creative bus shelter world for advertising purposes:

It's a large idea: getting a hold of a bus shelter, perhaps one that is not so used and grotesque, and incorporating my artwork in and around the bus. Clearly, it would be too simple to just attach my posters to the windowed sections - but it's a simple mock up.

I do know that I want my exhibit to be interactive, I don't want it to simply be a display of work that people walk by and only look at. My subject is to encourage interaction on public transport, so why would I create an exhibit that doesn't possess the same quality?

Create interaction, peace, joy, smiles, enlightenment.

Happiness is a Warm Cushion

 It's rare to come across random acts of kindness. My classmate sent me this link:
 http://imprint.printmag.com/daily-heller/happiness-is-a-warm-cushion/

I am quite impressed and amazed by the minds of graphic design students Lizzy Showman and Kathleen Fitzgerald. They created bus seat cushions for NYC bus drivers on the M15 line. Every bus driver.

As commuters, we rarely think of the patience required of bus drivers. People aren't too cheery on their commute, we're grumpy, we're tired - we're thinking about how warm our bed was just 30 minutes ago. But one person has to deal with the our bitterness, one person absorbs the weight of everyone's frustration and continues to do their job - the driver.

Smiles are contagious, happiness spreads. As designers, we have the power to spread joy through these simple little movements.