Interim Presentation & Feedback

Today we presented to our groups, tutors and external marker. The presentation went well but I'm keen for some notes on my presenting skills.

Here is feedback on my project and my thoughts.

- It's clean I love my idea.

- The causes seem a bit random, try to make them consistent. I discussed this and think they are constant; see my previous post about tone.

- Mock up a test book ASAP

- Might need to separate the patterns and white space might be needed.

- I need time to analyse the book and give it a big revision before hand in (reflection time, restructure time). This means the 3 weeks of October are; week 1 - design, week 2 - revise, week 3 - print.

- Is a book the right format? For some people it could be a call to action and needs to grab people more. The visuals and concepts would be great in more loud media.

- Deciding the audience will change the format.

IN RESPONSE - over the next few days I will

- Plan 3 different book layout (only do 1 of them)

- Plan 3 different sets of additional collateral (only do 1 of them)

ALSO

Not sure what tone to take; is this a first person book about me, my suburb and interest (hence my casual language) or do I need to keep it professional/book shop friendly?

Typography & Design Consideration

I'm still trying to get some type ideas together while I'm working on the craft (October is book design month, but I'm thinking about it a lil now)

I just wanted to talk about these images because they really captivate and inspire me. Obviously they are mostly amazing Japanese design.

Firstly this pink image. I love the softness and strength of it. The wishy wash application of the colour, the thin thin type, the hand generated type and the small info graphics; a map, a stamp and some small print. Theres also a fine illustration and some layering in there. So many soft elements making up a really detailed, unique and kick ass image. 

Still loving the idea of creating my own font. This is a great example. I love daggy 1970's serif fonts and the simple hand generated treatments. Not overdone.. 

I just love this. I love orange a lot. It's simple strong and on point. The kind of design simplicity only the Japanese can execute. 

O is for Origami

Draft for O;

TH CRAFT: 'Okay origami is annoying, not as bad as sedoku but it makes me a bit mad. This is a craft for the mathematically minded and the self punishers. Somehow though I've pulled through and produced this darling recycled garden of eden/flowers. Enjoy! I didn't!' 

THE CAUSE; 'Paper, paper, paper... gah it's everywhere. At least it's easy to recycle. *add statistic here*. Fold everything you can! I used the Telegraph, some old pink paper, newspaper... even the origami instructions. Lucky for me this project came at a pivotal moment in Australian politics and Tony Aboott and his white devil harem are all folded away neatly in my sneaky flowers - adding a double benefit factor to the cause championing aspect of this craft.'

Do I seem a bit angry in this post? I have just watch 4 hrs of a women's prison show, and I've been folding paper since 1pm... it's past 1am now. You do the math! 

UPDATE: its not 3.25am and I've finished a gazzilion origami flowers. Thank god theres no lead in newspaper anymore.

L is for Lanterns and Light

Firstly I need to tell the thousands of readers of this blog that I'm not posting as much because I'm away making! Which is a very good thing.

Secondly I wanted to note that I'm learning a lot about my design process, such as the black zone between thinking of an idea and execute it. As much as I wanted to work through the ideas and get them done swiftly, there has been a need for experimentation and some failure before finishing each idea off. Because of this many projects are underway but few are 100% completed.

Thridly! The title of the post; L is for Lanterns and Light. Originally L was going to be for lentils, which I'm a strong believer in as they can feel far more people that meat can, using the same amount of land. They are necessary for sustainable food production. However there wasn't a crafty appealing use for lentils, so L is for Lanterns and Light. In this project I will produce 3-4 crafty solutions to this idea.

Last year I produced these lanterns for a subject;

The lanterns used recycled/seed containing paper (grows when planted into Sydney native species) and were produced in 5 different shapes. Being 100% made of paper they were sustainable, except for the small LED light that lit them from within. LED's are however a great solution to lighting, using a fraction of the energy used by traditional lighting. For this project I will not reproduce these as the laser cutting treatment we used to the surfaces is to high-tech and not crafty enough. So I will recreate some of the shapes but with different paper and simplified, hand-cut design. I want to produce 3-4 lanterns for the others could be along the lines of;

I find most of these so childish in the best possible way, and if done right they wont look cheap and flimsy but fun, crafty, temporal, and decorative. 

The category of L also has the option for me to include some hand rolled beeswax candles. Which I initially produced for B, so we will see where/if they go. 

I might make L stand for Lights Out, and link this project to earth hour/electricity awareness.

Tone Tally

I want to make sure the tone of the book is consistent and looking at the project I have 3 main groups; humour, traditional hand crafts, and plant based.  Here is a tally which (as I'm making it right now) will inform what direction I need to push the undecided projects in.

I just did this and was surprised! the results are 6, 7, 6 to traditional craft, plant based and humour. So with the undecided crafts I just need to keep this ratio up!

New Layout?

After the worries of the last post, I've come up with a solution! And it seems to fit my constraints. The book folds at the top, similar to a calendar, and is square. There is 1 page per letter and content. All imagery is made in a square frame, with a circle excluded for text later (so all imagery has to be made with this in mind - eg the embroidery is done on a square piece of fabric, with a circle section left untouched.) See diagram below. 

What this means for my existing projects is that some (especially the ones that were confusing me and were maybe a bit out of place) are now redundant and this format is better for flat, patterned and easier to photograph images. For example J for Jar Jungle wont look good, so will be swapped. This also allows me to simplify some projects, such a P for Pickling is not so much about photographic documentation of pickled produce, instead I can use existing pickled produce, cut it up and make a pattern in the grid I've developed. 

This means a far simpler list of craft projects - 1 project per letter, each will be patterned around the text. They tentatively are:

A - Alphabets OR Australian Natives
B - Beeswax
C - Crayons OR Clippings

D - Disco Dancer

E - Embroidery

F - Felt

G - Googly Eyes 

H - Herbs

I - Ink Illustrations

J -  

K - Kleptomania

L - Lentils OR Life (Seeds)

M - Magazine Mockery

N - 

O - Origami

P - Pickling

Q - Queer Quraft

R - Recycled Ragdolls

S - Stealing Succulents

T - Tea Time OR Textiles

U - 

V - Vandalisation

W - Weeds and Wildflowers

X - Xmas

Y - Yaiyai

Z - 

(So there is a few OR options and J, N, U and Z are still undecided! AH! - Also these being undecided leaves open the option to make more humour/eco/plant/art projects depending on what the order needs - I need advice on this from Zoe) 

Concerns, Critiques and Beeswax Bees

So I've just emailed my tutor with my current concerns which having worried and loosing sleep! They include;

- the layout!

- photography!

- craft project strength, consistency, tone and clarity

- time frame ( I need time to experiment as well as create finals)

Luckily one creation that has worked out is my beeswax bees which are adorable!

I think the project may need to be shrunk and simmered; getting me back to a manageable project size (I was getting grand and excited) and focusing on the projects and formats I really love. One way to do this would be to make each letter 1 page only, and in this combine the text and images. Also with the images set some constraints; the craft must be able to be patterned/laid out on a a page with text and it must also be able to be photographed easily (in a way that I could hire a studio for 1 day and photograph all 26 projects on a white table in 1 hit - no big sets). Urgently need to decide and need some advice. Meeting some of my group tomo.

R is for Rag doll

Revised A-Z of Crafting for a Cause

Here is my current master list of craft projects. Some (more than I'd like) are still undecided and some are ready to go! I'm still quiet paranoid about photographing them all at the moment as I need a clear well lit studio and I don't have one. I also need photography to be done at different stages and on different days. AH! Each one is being proposed as a 4 page spread; the first page is a blank, the second is the title page (A is for...), then there a double page images spread. The projects in red are still being discussed and have some potential ideas beneath them. Of the projects in black, only a few need revision and I'm worried some need a bit more pow.

A

is for 

_

- alphabet/type using A materials (ie apples)

- Aboriginal

B 

is for

Beeswax

- beeswax bees

- beeswax candles

C

is for 

Crayons

- celebrity drawings

- c word illustrations (ie. cactus)

D

is for 

Disco Dancer

- page spread of dance poses

E

is for

Erratic Embroidery

- samples

- envelopes

- big embroidery

F

is for

_

- fruit with faces

- felting

- felines

- flowers

G

is for

Greek Grandmama 

(aka Yaiyai)

- spanakopita

- greek biscuits

H

is for

Heartfelt Herbs

- herb bouquets

- herb art

I

is for

Ink Illustrations

- 4 illustrations with eco inks;
1. onion skin
2. berries
3. candle burn/black
4. saffron? 

J

is for

Jar Jungle

- photos of clippings in jars

K

is for

Kleptomania

- spread of stolen items

L

is for

_

- lino 

- lights

M

is for

Magazine Mockery

- collage of things from trashy mags

N

is for

_

- newspaper

- noodles

- neon

- nails

O

is for

Origami

- 4 O words made in origami;

- orchids

- oranges

P

is for

Pickling Produce

- photos of home pickled produce:

- pickles

- capsicum

- onions

Q

is for

Queer Quraft

- confeti

- nails

-

-

R

is for

Ragdolls

- a series of 4 small dolls

- 1 bigger doll

S

is for

Stealing Succulents

- arrangements of succulent clippings

T

is for

Tea Time

- 4 tea recipes

- teas in a jar

- teas in a hot cup

U

is for

_

- undies

- upcycling

- UFOs

- used

- underwater

- universe

V

is for 

Vandalisation

- 6 messages stenciled and photographed

- 1 more illustrative stencil 

Y

is for

Yogurt Masks

- 4 recipes

- photos of people in the masks

X

is for

Xmas

- tree decorations

- cards

- wrapping spread

W

is for

Weeds and Wildflowers

- arrangement of wildflowers/weeds

- 4 plates of nicely presented food/salads

Z

is for

_ 

- zulu

- zombie

- zinc

- zebra

- zumba

- zero

- zodiac

- zucchini

E is for Embroider Everything!

For the sake of generating enough work for each letter, each letter will be planned as a 3 page spread (6 pages). The first spread is a blank page on the left and an intro on the right. The into includes the E is for Embroider everything, a 1 paragraph description, a rating, a small list of other crafty words and a small teaser image. The next 4 pages/2 spreads is the imagery. For E this include; 1 page of sewn samples (on raw linen?), 1 page of sewn envelopes/stationary/cards, 2 pages of embroidered clothes (undies, jumper and maybe shoes?)

K is for Kleptomania

Kleptos are the ultimate greenies, they have a carbon footprint of zero (as far as statistics can tell) and are regularly pulling a Robin Hood by bringing profits from the big guys (Nestle) back into the local community. I recommend becoming one, or making sure you live with one. It's what the planet would want. Sharing is caring and stealing is appealing! 

Beeswax Facts

Facts about beeswax from an Etsy seller;

Beeswax has been used since the beginning of civilization. It has been found in pharoah’s tombs, amongst sunken Viking shipwrecks and Roman ruins.

When honey bees make their wax, it's actually an off-white color, and the beautiful golden hue and scent in our candles comes from the honey, nectar and pollen which get mixed in during the honey harvest and processing.

Beeswax candles naturally emit negative ions. This process binds dust, odor and allergen particles together in the air, making them too heavy to float around and pulling them to the ground where they can be easily swept up and never find their way into your lungs and sinuses. This especially makes beeswax the ultimate burn for anyone with asthma, allergies or sensitive sinuses.
Beeswax burns cleaner and longer than paraffin, soy, palm, or any other wax on the market. (99% of conventional candles are made from chemical paraffin).

Paraffin is a byproduct of the crude oil industry and burning this wax emits toxins and carcinogens which have been known to cause cancer, birth defects, and diseases such as asthma.

Although soy is a healthier alternative to paraffin, the truth is that soy has a very dirty carbon footprint. Soy is one of the most heavily sprayed crops with chemical pesticides which ends up in our soil and water system. It’s also one of the main causes of deforestation in the amazon, wiping out millions of acres of rain forest and unfortunately is almost always genetically modified. The more soy we buy, the more our planet will be punished in the production.

Beeswax production has a ZERO carbon footprint - in fact - being delivered on the wings of honey bees, the only byproduct of this fuel is colorful pollenated flowers and sweet golden honey.

On a side note - if you haven't heard about CCD (colony collapse disorder), US based beekeepers have been hit hard by the dying off of hundreds of millions of their pollinating honey bees. By supporting beeswax, you're helping to fund their ongoing efforts to stay afloat in this troubling time and find a solution to the vanishing of the bees (and in due time, the decline of the flowering plants of the food chain which we all love.. by right, the bees do pollinate 1/3 of -all- fruits and vegetables) 

S is for Stealing Succulents

Also today I finished the Sophie Calle book. Im inspired by her poise, confidence and devotion to her projects. She brings a (french) attitude that allows the project to unravel itself and she takes every stage with a sense of 'modest seriousness' no matter how grand or tiny the result. Also like a true performance artist she has a lot of respect for how things fall. 

The A-Z of Eco Crafts

After some email feedback with my tutor it looks like the A-Z of Eco Crafts is the best idea to follow up on, and I can push this a bit further with my ideas, language and layout to really rough it up. I need to revise the A-Z list and really challenge it. I also need to start on some of the ideas as I need to see how these will look side by side and work as a book. 

The Complete A-Z of Eco Crafts, by Me! 

A -
B - branches/beeswax/beads
C - chalk/crayons/cats/copper
D - dance/disco/movement is free
E - envelopes/embroidery
F - flowers/felts/fluros/fruit with faces
G - garlands/green livin/garlic/gold
H - 
I - iridescent 
J - jars/japan fukashima
K -
L - lino stamps
M - magazines/masks
N - newspaper
O - onion skins/oak leaves/orchids
P - paper bark/pink/potato stamps/propagation/pickling/pasta art
Q - Queers? 
R - ribbons
S - sea glass/seeds/stencils/stuffing/stealing
T - textiles/tartans
U - undies
V - vines/venus fly traps/vegetation/veggie scraps
W - wood/worms/wire/whales
X - xmas
Y - 
Z -

B is for Bee - Demo

If I'm going with the A-Z idea, this is a quick demo of how each page could looks. Features including;

- a large letter

- 1 paragraph of text

- the topic (i.e. bees) visualised as an original (made by me) pattern.

- I also have the option of blending topics; if B stands for Beads and Bees, I can do beaded bees. 

-this layout is probably too basic, and I'd be looking to do something creative with the large B (GREAT type) and also play around with framing elements in the page. I do however like to keep my text blocks simple and square. 

Project Theme

Following on from my posts on rules and conventions, I'm still brainstorming a way to heavily curate the project into a place where the work I have to do is very obvious and the intellectual strength of the project is heightened. I want to come at the topic from a unique and interesting view point. Here are 6 solutions on how to curate it;

1. A-Z of Illustrated Indexed Projects (as discussed in the previous post).

2. Random Ephemera - a bunch of different projects and thoughts messily compiled.

3. Recipe Cards of Indexed Projects - Sebastian's idea. A different way of doing idea 1.

4. Focus on 3 categories/chapters; plant living, textile reuse and dance. View these as 3 different ways you can enrich your experience and life in Sydney.

5. Choose a number (ie. 50) and complete that many pages/projects.

6. Collaborate with people to create stories/interviews, craft pieces and photographs which is compiled into a storybook/ideas book about green Sydney.

Rules and Conventions Cont.

Following on from todays post about rules and conventions, I'm toiling over the idea of creating an A-Z book. Initially I thought each letter should represent an environmental topic within Sydney. When this exhausted me I thought each letter should reflect something Adam France - this had me giggling. Then I experimented with blending the two notions; and A-Z of eco craft ideas and materials. Each topic would be creatively visualised as a image/illustration/pattern using relevant materials. Some have multiple options, most are incomplete at the moment. Here are the 3 lists in progress;

1. A-Z of Illustrated Environmental Issues of Sydney

A -
B - bees
C -
D - dance
E - energy/Eora
F - food waste
G - greenhouse gas emissions
H - herbs at home
I -
J -
K -
L - local markets
M - mulch
N -
O - organic and non gmo
P - public transport
Q -
R - recycling
S -
T - trash
U - upcycling
V - vertical gardens
W - worm frams
X -
Y -
Z -

2. A-Z of Adam France Crafts

A -
B - beads
C - crayons/cats
D - dance/disco
E - embroidery
F - fluros/felts/flowers/fruit with faces
G - green livin/greece/gaga
H - The Help
I - illustration/iridescent
J - Japan
K -
L - lgbtqi
M - masks/marigolds
N - nail art/neon
O - opals/orchids/oak leaves
P - pipe cleaners/pokemon/pink/plaid
Q - Queers
R - rose gold
S - sailor moon/stencils
T - textas/tartan/twisties
U - undies
V - vegetation/voodoo/venus fly traps
W - whales/whoopi goldburg
X - Xmas
Y - Yodeling
Z - Zeus and the Greek Gods!

3. A-Z of Eco Crafts

A -
B - branches/beeswax
C - chalk/crayons
D -
E - envelopes
F - flowers
G - garlands
H -
I -
J - jars
K -
L - lino stamps
M - magazines
N - newspaper
O - onion skins
P - paper bark
Q -
R - ribbons
S - sea glass/seeds
T - textiles
U -
V - vines
W - wood/worms/wire
X -
Y -
Z -

Rules and Conventions

Now I'm halfway through Sophie Calle's book, it's helped me push the boundaries on what the contents and rules of my piece should be. I was feeling overwhelmed at the thought of creating the whole thing (writing, crafting, designing) and creating a conventional book like that is something that the tutors have advised against. But Calle reminds me - as did the 2 examples from last years students - that you can create a book of non linear, concept driven work. So instead of having 8 chapters, a few projects within each one (which I was mapping out and dreading a bit) I am now looking to impose some really strict rules and conventions - in the way that a student from last year chose to create 50 logos for 50 figures from the 1950s. I want to develop some rules similar to this; for example 50 pages of varying illustrations each to an environmental issue within Sydney, such as bees, plants, rooftop gardens. Then each gets illustrated through the mediums I've already been proposing to work with (embroidered, drawn...). This could be called An Illustrated Index to Green Sydney.

Choosing '50' as a number/goal is one strategy of putting a rule over the project, another could be the create an A-Z of (illustrated) environmental issues within Sydney. For example:

B - Bee decline
G - Greenhouse gas emissions
E - Energy
U - Upcycling
V- Vertical Gardening
W- Worm farming

Deciding, Challenges and Concerns

It's clearly demo book #3 for the win. This project has always been rooted in the green issues, and the book is heavily textile focused anyway - so this leaves me with some freedom to do a few works without. Having the green issue at the heart of this project is the leg I can lean on when this project gets confusing, so I should cut it off. The pink book can happen in the future. Now I feel like I've come full circle on the project and am right back at the second blog post - making green craft projects. Back then it was for the campaign but not its for myself and in a book. However my concerns and challenges are;

- Is a book the right format/could it be 1 part of the project. What is the climate of craft books (Beci Orpin...) and do I have enough time to do a professional job - a lot of time needs to be spent on the projects before the book (i.e. embroidery...)

- Can I complete a list of craft projects to an extremely high and polished standard to look like they were professionally made, photographed and presented?

- How many projects should I attempt? Is this enough for a big book? Can I choose better projects?

- How much writing is involved; I'm not shy of a bit but to get it to a high standard is difficult.

Goals for tomorrow (Friday)

- Rewrite the contents, elaborate on them and edit them to a tentative number. Strengthen them! Add more, remove some... edit edit edit.

- Using white A3 project fold a demo book and layout the pages... see how this feels, reflect.

- Write a draft for the introduction to the book/project

- Plan what project I am going to complete by next Wednesday

- Do a timeline for this whole project, can it work?

Book #3 Demo

The third final book is the little book of Green Livin Crafts - art, craft, designs and imaginative solutions for crafting during a depression, by Adam France. Everything is eco! The contents reads;

1. Crafting

- hanging wall art

- garland

- confetti

- chalk

2. Plant art

- pressing

- sewing

- stealing clippings and growing them

3. Products

- sourcing and making eco products;

- tea towels

4. Gift wrapping

- with newspaper

- with fabric

5. Stationary?

6. Pattern making

- stamps 

- natural materials (rocks...)

7. Sewing

- felts

- embroidery

8. Clothes

- make your own

9. Jars

- top ways to reuse

10. Workshop

- 30 people make a 'xxxx'

11. Dance

- the ultimate free body creation

- photos

12. Xmas

- decoration

- dip dying leaves in gold