Week 09: Message vs Medium
This weeks challenge is a real creative task to translate something about your location into visual form. The task asks you to:
Communicate an emotion you perceive about your city or location is about. Take the word and use an appropriate material, form or medium - 2D, digital, 3D or immersive.
You may choose to communicate the word directly or you may choose to create a juxtaposition, if there is a contradiction or tension, eg New York is tense.
Upload your thoughts to the ideas wall, with a link to your blog demonstrating further reflection.
Workshop challenge week 09 - Inspiration and research
For my workshop challenge this week, I have chosen to create a ‘Lenticular display’ that transforms my emotion ‘curiosity’ connected to your home town ‘East Grinstead’ in visual form.
My research led me to my local museum, where there are two permanent displays celebrating the work of Sir Archibold McIndoe and his pioneering reconstructive surgery on WW2 burn victims known locally as the Guinea Pig Club. To help their social rehabilitation, McIndoe appealed to the people of East Grinstead to welcome the disfigured Guinea Pigs into their lives. He encouraged the men to go into the town, and they soon became a regular sight in the local shops and pubs. As people got to know the Guinea Pigs it undermined the long-held belief that disfigured people should be hidden away.
East Grinstead residents went out of their way to accept the Guinea Pigs and this is the reason why the town became known as ‘The Town That Didn’t Stare.’
So the lenticular will display 2 sides. Look, and don’t look. One displays the slogan reminder that East Grinstead was ‘the town that didn’t stare’, and the other side shows a close-up of the pioneering ‘Guinea Pigs’ facial reconstruction and plastic surgery.
The horrific injuries of WW2 burns victims known as Guinea Pigs
Pioneering surgery at Queen Vic Hospital, East Grinstead
The basic operating theatre at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead
Guinea Pigs were encouraged to mix with the town for social rehabilitation
East Grinstead museum has a great exhibition about how the Guinea Pig Club developed
Lenticular Street Art by Roa
Research - Getting the message across loud and clear
While looking at all the various Lenticular compositions, I came across a piece of street art by an artist called Roa painted this amazing artwork on Curtain Road, London. Again, depending on the angle you view it from, the art shifts from an etched style cleverly illustrated rabbit to the interior of its circulatory system. It’s incredibly eye-catching and at the larger size, they capture attention.
Reference
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/04/lenticular-street-art-by-roa/
Workshop challenge wk 09 - Lenticular signs
Research - How to get across a message in multiple forms
I started exploring different creative ways you can get messages across and I found an advert for the Midwich Cuckoos for Sky incorporating Lenticular displays. They had incorporated dynamic images as a lenticular print as part of their marketing campaign and was the first time multiple synchronised panels have been used across global bus T sides to achieve this standout spooky visual.
The effect is stunning and I looked into more styles using Lenticular signage. This is a different method from the version I was going to create, where a stage of photos where created
Research: Lenticular examples
What is a Lenticular?
Overview: A lenticular wall display is a custom sign fabrication utilising a concept that has origins as far back as the 16th century when they were referred to as “tabula scalata” or “turning pictures.” Now in the 21st century, the basic principle of lenticular displays remains the same.
I decided to base this week’s workshop challenge on the form of a Lenticular sign which typically oriented vertically to allow for the image to change as the viewer moves from one end of the image to the other.
Research: Methods and development
Overview: I started my development by deciding what the two images should be. I realised they need to contrast, otherwise, it would be hard to differentiate between the two. I loved the quote ‘the town that didn’t stare’ so this would be my typographic solution on one half, and as all the photographic images from this era were in black and white, I made my typographic solution a bright yellow background so the contrast was clearly visible.
I decided to create my lenticular on A3, so divided the final size by how many folds I needed to create. I tried a few different variations of fold width to work out how many ridges showed off the image best.
Timelapse of collation of prototype
Reflection: I really enjoyed this task, especially as the local museum were so helpful and approached the Queen Vic Hospital archives to source the original images and give me permission to use them for this project. This project seems wasted in A3 size and I would love the opportunity to produce a larger version.
Resources:
The Town that didn’t stare exhibition - East Grinstead Museum
https://www.eastgrinsteadmuseum.org.uk/exhibition/rebuilding-bodies-souls/
https://londonlifewithliz.com/2019/06/02/east-grinstead-the-town-that-never-stared/
Guinea Pig Photo credits to
Queen Victoria Hospital/East Grinstead Museum
I tried a different photographic image but I felt there were too many people in the photograph so decided to try it focus on just two Guinea Pigs
Workshop Challenge - Final Version
I tried a couple of prototypes with different fold widths
Working out the best fold width to make the most of the image
This week's question: How can a message be enhanced through the medium in which it is implemented?
I think the task this week shows that the medium through which a message is visually communicated plays a crucial role in how it is perceived by the audience.
It’s important to remember that by enhancing the message by creating a more memorable visual experience for the audience will have a greater impact. For instance, a message communicated through a virtual reality experience can create a lasting impact on the audience, as it provides a unique and immersive experience. Similarly, a message communicated through a creative medium such as music or art can resonate with the audience and leave a lasting impression.
As a result, the choice of medium can greatly enhance the effectiveness of taking the information in and it is important to consider how this can be visually communicated more effectively and leave a lasting impression on the audience. My challenge could have been easily communicated in poster form but wouldn’t have been as interesting or memorable.