Books

Final books showing my research & practice from the first stage of the course. I have put all the images on a poster that wraps around the book to make the cover because some images are referred to more than once, which means images are not repeated & the reader can have the images in front of them when they are referred to in the text. The abstract also doubles as a bookmark.

Revealing the Unseen, Unnoticed, Uncomprehended

The Text to Image Issue

The text to image brief asked us to take a quote that evoked a feeling or that strongly related to our practice and represent the text using image(s).

I chose a quote regarding the work of Irving Penn:

"His work reveals to us what has always been there in front of our eyes - only unseen, unnoticed, uncomprehended."

I chose to represent the quote using a sequence of images that would reveal something everyday, something ordinary, something ignored. I have tried to capture the essence of Penn's work in the style and use of black & white imagery. I also wanted to add an extra element to emphasize the meaning behind the piece, i.e. the quote, and make the piece my personal response to Penn's work. This took the form of a flick book, which zoomed out to reveal a radiator valve; an ordinary, everyday object that is "unseen, unnoticed, uncomprehended".

Images in context

Freedom of Speech

Discrimination against women happens in all walks of life, all over the world. Women in Iran, for example, are discriminated against by the law. They do not have equal rights with men in marriage, divorce, child custody or inheritance. Women are even arrested for wearing western-style clothing, which is deemed inappropriate. With these images I am not trying to impose my opinion, I am just trying to acknowledge the issue with the hope that it will become less of a taboo and encourage people to be support women's rights movements and each other.

The black rose symbolizes the death of ideas, thoughts and beliefs. It can also signify a major change or the renewal of physical or mental strength or energy in the future. These images are meant to represent both sides of the coin. I wanted to show the beauty of women; their strength, and their spirit; as well as the beastly side of reality; I wanted to show what some women really face. In the context of a magazine, (fashion and lifestyle) the second images would be obscured by the first, to demonstrate how people will often try to ignore the reality, the beast, and are more interested in the fantasy; the glamour, the beauty. I believe fashion, especially magazines, can be a great medium to express opinions and beliefs, and raise important issues. This is something I will explore further over the next year.

For more information on the subject please visit:

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=11221

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/iran-end-pressure-women-s-rights-defenders-20080827%20

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7457212.stm

http://www.protectthehuman.com/iranwomen

A Dilemma

Magma Books, 22 Oldham Street, Manchester, M1 1JN

I love books, I love artist books, and I love magazines. I also love visiting specialist book and magazine stores. I love it... and I hate it.

I love it because you are confronted with a huge array of creative outlets, often from all over the world. But this is also why I hate it because it leaves me with the dilemma of which one to buy. I experience first hand our mass consumerist culture and market saturation. Which one do I pick, most are of a similar format; portrait, rectangular, just larger an A4, most are of a similar price; around £5 - £6, and most contain, on the face of it, similar content.

So do I go for one that breaks the mould slightly by being more creative with the format; Tank uses a larger format and is ring bound; FreeStyle is circular and comes in a frisbee. Or do I judge the book by its cover and go for the one with a famous model, or actress on the front. The one thats profiling my favorite designer maybe? Maybe I should spend more time investigating the content to help me decide, however, I would be there all day!

In the end I go for the one with the frisbee; its creative, innovative, fun, different, and a welcome break from the norm.

http://www.magmabooks.com/

A separate issue... Beauty or beast?

I noticed this on my walk from the station to uni one day, and everyday since. It makes me smile walking past this small insignificant piece of information, it makes me wonder who else has noticed it, ignored it, answered it. To me it is lovely, to others it could be vandalism. As Vilem Flusser puts it;

"The significance of images is magical".

Irving Penn's work has been described as revealing "to us what has always been there in front of our eyes - only unseen, unnoticed, uncomprehended." This is something I wish to explore, especially within magazine design, as magazines can open up the world to us, make us notice the unnoticed.