Design Context Progress Statement

Rationale

Within the Final Major Project I aim to work as professionally as possible. To me this means: quick turn around of work, consideration of audience and context, appropriateness and legibility of fonts and imagery and environmental and social accountability.

I want to create work that is ‘real’ – work that is useful in its own right or answers some kind of need as opposed to work that main purpose is to develop my design skills. However, while I want my outcomes to be ‘real’ and ‘professional’, this may be the last chance I have to experiment relatively risk free, and I intend to capitalise on this opportunity.

I also want to try and get an idea of where exactly I fit in within the graphic design industry. Although I intend on getting a job in a design studio as soon as possible after I graduate, I fully intend to set up my own practise a couple of years down the line. My Final Major Project could be a good chance to get in touch with other designers to inform my practise (but also as an excuse to show people my work).

Subject / Theme / Design Disciplines

The theme of my FMP is design for social change.

The primary discipline I am looking at is educational design – providing information in an objective way to help to dispel rumours and break down the system of ‘the other’. The secondary area of design I want to look into is advertising/persuasive design, as facts are often not enough; to convince people it can help to adopt the techniques of commercial design/advertising, using the “realm of fantasy”.

Contextual references / Designers / Studios / Companies (specific)

Primary Designers/agencies
Ultimate Holding Company
thomas.matthews
Neo Creative
Advocate
World Studios
The Ethical Graphic Design Company
Another Limited Rebellion
The Paper Crane

Secondary designers/agencies
Sagmeister
Carbon Creative
Thompson
Frost
Fudge
Crave
Tea Cake Design

Contextual References
Tabloids – Express/Sun/Star/etc.
Move our Money (Sagmeister)
‘It takes 40 dumb animals…’ Campaign (David Bailey)
Heathrow Map / Climate Camp (UHC)
Watermarks project
Amnesty International
Oxfam
Ctrl.Alt.Shift
Make Poverty History
Comic Relief


BIBLIOGRAPHY / JOURNALS / ARTICLES / TEXTS / ON LINE REFERENCES etc.

Books
Good – Lucienne Roberts
Design for the Real World – Papanek
Conscientious Objectives - Zappaterra and Cranmer
Design for Society – Nigel Whitely
Advertising Concept Book – Pete Barry
Dataflow - R. Klanten, N. Bourquin, and S. Ehmann
Envisioning Information by Edward R. Tufte
Irrationality – Stuart Sutherland
Things I have learned in my life so far – Sagmeister
Sorry Trees – Frost
Design of Dissent – Heller
Guerrilla Advertising - Gavin Lucas and Mike Dorrian
Citizen Designer – Heller and Vienne
100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers – Plazm

Magazines
Creative Review
Adbusters
IDN
New Statesman

Websites/blogs
Another Limited Rebellion Blog – alrdesign.com
Ctrl.alt.shift – ctrlaltshift.co.uk
Knowmore.org
Graphic Alliance - graphicalliance.org
idUnited - idunited.com
Form Fifty Five – formfiftyfive.com
Type Neu – typeneu.com
Design Activism – designactivism.net
Social Change Websites - socialchangewebsites.com
Social Change – socialchange.org.uk
Wikipedia