group project, mapping ideas

Mapping ideas

We first started by collecting words that represent the experience when playing the gaiss game so the words were
Challenge-tough
Funny- start laughing as a group because it’s difficult to get it right
Traditional
Outdoor
Frustration
Competition
Group aspect- several people share the fun


Then we started analyzing three different words that mostly highlights the meaning or the essence of the game and the experience

Challenge- the more it’s tough the more they want to try playing to reach the level of satisfactory
Traditional- importance, revive, timeless game functional don’t need a lot of stuff simplicity, priceless, role model, familiarity
Funny- laughing at a loser when breaking the rules the fun of picking on someone when losing


Based on that we had the idea of stop motion as a medium because it’s a step by step game and in a sequence we wanted to show challenge but we were falling in the mistake of being too pragmatic our plan was to show a foot and a rock going forward but loosing then needing to go back again to step one to show challenge and difficulty


After seeking advice knowing that a persuasive video could be more targeted to the young children audience whereas the poetic communication is often for older people meaning the parents for such a game we wanted to show difficulty and challenge to the children temping the to try it by showing the struggle of a girl playing and inviting them to try the challenge

We came up with this idea considering our time limitation before that we want to have another concept of a stop motion of the person playing but transitioning to different location from past to future to tell them that it could be played wherever whenever

Final project

With the final due, i still refined, tuned some of my icons like the finger nail, the spray in order to simple and yet to be more effective in communicating.
My choice of typeface:
Initially it was very difficult for me to understand which typeface reflects the same quality as my icons. After understanding my system more clearly, i was able to point a few things such as the bold black parts in my icons, the thickness and straight edgy feel of my icons. Henec i chose a typeform which has a heavy bold look to it and its more geometrical and sharp edge.
Placing in context
it was a difficult challenge to place in classrooms of VCU because the classrooms are usually very busy and messy. Furthermore, i didnot wanted something which would add further to this messy look or be an obstacle to the remaing open space. Thus i chose to place the signs where the objects are place so that the students can see and realize whenever they are dealing with a particular equipment in the classroom. As for the bathroom, i decided to put it on the wall, next to the taps.
Research:
However i would just like to add, that i did a little bit more research of placing the signage in context, and constantly referred to this book; Signage Design Manual by Edo Smitshuijzen and Pictograms Icons and Signs, A guide to Information Graphics by Rayan Abdullah and Roger Hobner.
I learnt the different ways of placing sign, for example suspended sign from the ceiling is basically to how direction. Projecting sign can be placed in corridors when there are a lot of doors and you want to direct someone to something. And placing it on the wall, where the problem occurs.
I also learnt about how the eye reads the eye from a particular distance. hence affecting it visibility and scale.

Experimenting with Colors

For the color experimentation, i began from taking inspiration from my mood board and the clrs around VCU. I practiced getting the exact color by learning the pantone color book. However later i realized that in order for the signs to communicate well in the environment it should build up contrast, so its visible, has a contextual language to it. First i was using 4 colors in one icon...pink, black gray, white. However later i understood, that its just gonno blend with all the colors around VCU. Thus i tried something more subtle yet that contrasts with the VCU colors; gray and black. And i felt that gray suited.

Refining

this is what i have after the last critique. i have tried my best to establish a system by having a zoom up of the problems and also balancing it with the black and white spaces. i have somplified qute a few of them and erased excessive details. However the type is still not revised and i have to still look for more expressive type.

experimenting

so the next thing i did was trying icons and refining it in order to get the communication cross.
since the band aids did not work so well, so i took a start from showing how the garage bag, the blade cuming out of it and pricking a hand. But after the critique i realized this was not following my system.
the glue on the floor. i tried to show more zoomed up of it by showing more of the sole, trying to follow the system of showing a very close up of the cutting marks on the table. after the critique i realized that the shoe showed a lot of details in comparison to th rest of my icons and so it needs simplification.
now instead of my toilets i now tried to show the icon of showing electric danger, hence i showed bare open wires. in this the diagonal of the wire follows the system of the same way my cutting marks has a diagonal of the table.
Now instead of showing the printer i now concentrated towards just showing papers scattered around, however according to the critique this looked more like an organized pile of papers
And lastly since my water tap and droplets were all solid color, i tried to experiment more with the lines. however according to the critique this no longer showed a tap and instead looked like an open shower.

Developing a system

since my previous attempts were not applicable to the mood and place, ie VCU. I now tried by having just indexes of my problems, so that it is more in reponse to my audience whichare basically designers. Yet my challenge was to communicate these indexes well which wouold answer the problems
for example :
the spraying glue on floor. instead of actually showing the spray can used on floor, i tried by showing only the shoe stuck on to the glue on floor.
the throwing of trash on floor. instead of having a hand dropping trash i now just thought of having crushed paper fallen on the floor.
the the cutting on table. instead of showing the exacto knife and hand i simply traced the marks on the table.
disposing of the exacto blades. since i felt tha a cut is an index of this, i showed blood and bandaid. yet not convinced if this communicates well.
wasting printing paper. i showed papers just cuming out of the printer. yet here i felt i wasnt just following my system which was not to show the object that is the printer.
the spraying in classrooms. here i showed the spray all in the air.
the extra ones: i thought of closing the taps properly. here i just showed water droplets from the tap.
and then i thought of doing the toilets. putting just straight geometrical figures so tha not a lot of detail shows and it is in correspondence with the other icons. but still doubtful about it

The critique

After working on the first icon, i tried developing a system for all my icons. I chose each icon to have a object and an index, since the first one i started with included the cutting knife(object) and the marks(index). I also decided not to include a lot of other information and tried cropping it with greater emphasis on the object. i also included a hand in all my icons.

The Critique:
The critique in the last class was beneficial for me. Since VCUQ is a design school, the critical response i received was on the fact that my icon designing was not suitable to represent the space and people. Thereby, now i have the challenge to develop something, which is simplified, communicates well, balanced, has a system and yet represents the mood of the place.

icon: problem 1, cutting marks on table

For the problem of having cutting marks on table, i initially started by looking at some of the photographs which i used in the previous phase. And i discovered that the Exacto knife is very commonly used on the tables without using the cutting mat. Hence i started by first examining the exacto knife..but since exacto knife on its own just being a tool doesnt convey much, for example it cud just refer to as not to cut with this . Hence i then took the marks on the table n traced them. Then i felt that since it is still not clear, so i traced the actual photograph in which the blade is being used on the table.
Since my mood board was based on preciseness and square rectangular form, i have tried to simplify my icons and make it simple geometrical kind.
Since my icons says :not to use the cutting knife on the table as it creates marks, i will have a stroke from left top to bottom right which means NO.
I also tried abstracting it with not being very literal by just showing the exacto knife the cutting marks and the circular part which is part of the furniture, the tables

I am now posting how my final problems look. i had first collected a lot of pictures to convey a problem, dealing with the idea of macro and micro. But then after the class critique and discussing with the teacher, i realized that even three pictures when placed next to each other (keeping in mind the knowledge of semantics), my problem was very clear.
hence i will post pictures of few of my problem.
System:
My 3 photographs for each problem are based on a system. The first photograph is a zoom in of what is creating the problem; the second photograph is a zoom out of the environnment in which the problem is created and the third picture shows again a close up of the problem. Hence when placed next to each other, one can clearly get a feeling of the space in which the problem is created.

Class Discussion analysing problems at VCU

Thoughts:
Looking for problems was initially difficult for me since I am so familiar with the place, but gradually when i kept aside the things which we have accepted as a basic norm, i found quite a lot of problems which deal with how the people interact within the space and how people interact with the space plus the objects in space.

Visualize:
I started visualizing the problems keeping in consideration my audience, which are students and teachers. Hence my pictures first set up the environment or the area of the problem and then move to closer shots of it ie i m dealing with macro n then micro.
so i have visualized my first problem as the students use the toxic sprays (like adhesive spray) in class. this is very harmful to be done in an enclosed area, where there is no ventilation and cause breathing problem and other defects for the students as well as the teachers.
Second problem which i have observed is wasting a lot of paper and throwing on the floor. For this i have actually shown a student who is working, cutting paper and then just simply dropping it on the ground, and not using the dustbin.
Third problem is that all the students face a difficulty with the printer. And this problem is created by themselves only which could definitely be amended. So in this one ill show how students just print unnecessary copies and leave it for printing. this causes a problem for other students coz the printer is always jammed our broke.
Fourth problem is the usage of sticky sprays on the floor or tables without putting a scrap paper underneath in order to protect the surface below. Hence if it is sprayed on floor, it gets really sticky and then others student have difficulty in walking and as the shoe sticks to the floor. Even on the table, it gets rough and sticky n then other students work gets destroyed.


the first problem: using sprays in side classrooms
System:
The system i have created to visually represent these problems is in the form of a story incorporating the idea of macro and micro.
For the photographs on these problems please follow the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34699106@N07/

Group discussion:
My group members were Jo and Fatima B. This discussion gave me a lot of feedback in terms of if my pictures or my photographs were able to convey the message. Most of my photographs were easily understood except one or two instances which they adviced me to show more exaggerations. And we all together came up with ideas what problems they have also faced like leaving equipment and personal stuff left attended gets lost or stolen; and how many students do not protect the furniture in the classrooms for example not using cutting mats.
Thus i will now work more on these problems and have better visual representation of my ideas and thoughts. (Fatima Buksahisha, Jo, Khadija Safri, )

Khadija Safri, VCU

My place is VCU, hence for the second project i have noticed some problems in the space. These problems are actually related to how the students interact with the space and also what equipments and materials they use according to their works.
Thoughts:
Wastage of material, paper cardboards, all thrown on the floor.
Unnecessary equipments and cartons dumped in the corridors.
Usage of toxic glue sprays, in enclosed classrooms.
You may like to have a look at some of my phase 2 photographs
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34699106@N07/sets/72157613147200635/

Khadija: Process

This is my process. I am showing here how i came up with up my final poster. These are images cropped in order to show the details of what one sees around vcu.
>I initially divided vcu in to several categories:
student: qatari and non qatari
texture: shadows, tiled floor, majlis, painted glass
type: vcu logo, boards for direction, signage, arabic type
place: indoors, corridors, architecture, patterns, door handles
color: yellow, white, orange, purple
departments: interior, fashion, graphics
materials: ruler, cutting knife, paint, measuring tape, books, sewing , manequin, laptop
student environment: mugs, messy scattered, moise, high heels

Thoughts:
After looking at all my pictures i realized that there are some similarities in the equipments used in all the three departments. The work done in vcuq all depends on the process, craftsmanship and being precise. Hence from here i took a new way to design my poster: being precise. However i could not ignore the fact that students around vcu make this place vibrant, colorful and very chaotic.

Visualize:
i started to take a lot more closer details of things which establish the mood and atmosphere of vcu: colorful. Also i took pictures of things such as grids, rulers, measuring tapes which are very important in presenting the art work here at vcu. http://www.flickr.com/photos/34699106@N07/

System:
Initially i thought of having a linear composition to emphasis on the measurement and preciseness, but then as it did not describe the colorful and chaotic atmosphere of vcu, i tried by putting images next to each other and creating a collage. the colors most importantly in the background would emphasis on the corridors of vcu, so one can really imagine how vcu looks like when he/she enters the space.

Khadija Safri, VCU

I first began my process by just randomly taking pictures around VCU(my space). As per my collection, I realized that being an art school, all the departments have a great emphasis on crafts and how a work is presented. Hence we use like a lot of equipements and marks just in order to be precise and accurate.
So while designing my poster, i narrowed down my concept to being "precise within an art school which is vibrant and full of creativity". Thus, i then cropped my pictures to details which establish the sense of place ie vcu and also present my concept.