Assignment 03
Object Project

Choose an object that resonates with you. It can be anything you like, but should be something that stimulates you visually and critically. You’ll be using this as the pillar of your identity project, so choose wisely. Consider this objects materiality, history, lineage, function, and so forth. It can be old, attached with personal meaning, or brand new.

You will be presenting your object to the class in the form of a scripted presentation or video which is a deep analysis of your object. The following weeks will be focusing on designing a larger project which relate to your object and research.

Timeline

Week 12 — 3.27.18
Research Presentation
Show your research in the form of a scripted presentation with slides, or make a video. Keep your presentation around 2 minutes. Your main goal is to explain how the ideas in your object are expressed through form and/or function. These should be a combination of subjective opinions and objective thoughts. Be as specific as possible, research and present even the most obvious themes and physical attributes (they might not be so obvious to us). Work on forming an opinion of the object, and explain it’s significance culturally and personally. Your presentation can take quantitative form as a traditional powerpoint with comparisons, statistics, interviews and visual collections or it can be crafted as a visual exploration of the object. In both cases, keep in mind pacing, design, sequence, juxtaposition and tone. Your presentation should answer the following questions with thought and critical analysis of your object—
1It’s history
2Analysis of form
3It’s users (past, present and future)
4Associative meanings or other uses
5Cultural context
6Personal significance

Readings

Read Karel Martens piece What Design Means For Me. Also read The World as a Printing Surface by Paul Elliman. Write a 100 word summary of each reading. Email them to me before class and bring your summaries to class printed.

Karel Martens (1939) is a legendary Dutch graphic designer, artist, and educator. He is recognized for his experimental Dutch modernist style, which is marked by clean Swiss typography, repetitive geometric shapes, and static forms.

Paul Elliman (1961) is a British artist and designer based in London. His work combines an interest in typography and the human voice, often referring to forms of audio signage that mediate a relationship between them. His typeface Found Fount (aka Bits) is an ongoing collection of found ‘typography’ drawn from objects and industrial debris in which no letter-form is repeated.