…I have some more definite direction now for where I want to take the commission. Basically have decided that this is a good opportunity to begin working on a project that I think is really important and have had on the back-burner for some time.

As a graphic designer, I define my craft as communicating information visually. And I think that if you get a choice about what the content of the communication is, that it should be something worthwhile. And that graphic design can be utilised to disseminate important ideas, connect people and provoke thought. I agree with the First Things First manifesto, which was a call for designers to utilise their skills for pursuits more worthy than selling commercial products, and instead turn their attention to more socially and culturally important projects.

There are zillions of subjects in the world that are worthwhile communicating about, so the choosing comes down to personal interest. A big personal interest and fascination for me for as long as I can remember is aboriginal culture, and I have always wanted to learn and experience more.

I grew up in Kew, a conservative suburb in Melbourne, and remember learning a little about aboriginal people and culture in one school assignment. Having never met or seen any indigenous people in the area I grew up in, it felt like I was learning about another country. My knowledge did not improve much in high school, and it wasn’t until I traveled to Darwin, Kakadu and Arnhem Land a couple of years ago that I managed to visit an aboriginal community, and learnt a little more first hand. The really sad thing, is that I am not alone with my ridiculously small knowledge of aboriginal culture – the cultural divide in Australia is huge, and the history behind it is tragic and divisive.

So I would really like to use this exhibition as an opportunity to communicate something that I think is really important, and to try and base it in action.

Aboriginal Australia Map

My first idea was to approach a friend who runs a gallery in an aboriginal community in remote central Australia: with the idea of basing my submission on education about indigenous people and culture. To try to make it a real personal experience, rather than just creating some posters from what I can learn in books. I think there is far too little information about indigenous culture in the mainstream. And I am aware that there is danger in making broad assertions without having an in depth personal understanding myself of indigenous culture. So my idea was to bring it back to the personal – and create an interaction by mail. I would send a little introduction package about myself, with some information about where I come from, my family, my environment, my culture, and make it a really nice personal parcel that is hand made. I would like to include a parcel to return also, for recipients to return sharing some things about their lives also, and family and culture. Ultimately I would exhibit a copy of the package I send, and also the packages received, and would create a thank you poster that would be screen printed and a compilation of what I have learned, and return the posters and images from the exhibition to the community.

Unfortunately with the tight deadline on this project, and long delays on post to a remote community the idea just wasn’t feasible. Bugger. Claire suggested I come to the community for a visit and learn first hand. Hmmmm, that would be amazing, though even that within the time frame would be very tight. But definitely worth investigating further…

I have started working on the Ketel One commission, an exhibition that is asking its participants to respond to the central provocation of

‘restoring craftsmanship to the modern world’

The exhibition will exhibit the process we go through, as much as the actual final outcome… so will be posting my process at different stages here on my blog.

My first consideration is to define my craft, and what direction I want to take their brief in,

as it seems to me there are 2 obvious starting points:

-whether I want to respond to their provocation by putting the emphasis on my craft (which I would define as communicating visually), which would mean I can create anything that communicates visually,

-or literally interpret their provocation by exploring the concept of craft itself and how it relates to the modern world.

So I have decided that for me the more interesting route to take is to do a project that is inherent to my craft: communication. And create a piece of communication that is in line with my design philosophy for Foundry:

“We believe that the value of design lies in it’s potential to educate, aid the exchange of ideas, raise awareness, bring unity, and inform.

We strive to further the endeavour of design. We want to do this by creating clever, useful, and positive design products, and collaborating with others with important, exciting, and ethical agendas to help realise their goals.

We want to create more demand for good design through realising projects that enrich our culture and human experience, and we are passionate about utilising design to facilitate the free exchange of ideas.

We want to work openly, engage in debate, and contribute to creating a design community that demands this.”

The thing is that you have to have something to communicate. So I started to think about communication in general, and more about the provocation itself. I did some google searches, and found an interesting article on craftsmanship called Craftsmanship: the Meaning of Life by Tim Bryce.

I also researched communication itself and found:
Haptic communication is the means by which people and other animals communicate via touching.
Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. The way we perceive time, structure our time and react to time is a powerful communication tool, and helps set the stage for the communication process. Across cultures, time perception plays a large role in the nonverbal communication process. Time perceptions include punctuality, willingness to wait, and interactions. The use of time can affect lifestyles, daily agendas, speed of speech, movements and how long people are willing to listen.
Esperanto (translates to “one who hopes”): a constructed international auxiliary language devised by L. L. Zamenhof. “Zamenhof’s goal was to create an easy-to-learn and politically neutral language that would foster peace and international understanding between people with different regional and/or national languages.”

To be continued…

Just found this stunning work from Alida Rosie, a self initiated project exploring time visualisation using quotes from Slaughterhouse Five. The exhibition titled ‘There is no why’ featured a series of 3D typographic illustrations – beautiful and poetic.

Compilation #1, A selection of projects completed by Foundry

The last few weeks have been a mad push to produce Foundry’s first mini-publication of some of the projects we have completed. It is screen printed, bound, and ready! Each part of the process of making the compilation is done by hand, and though it is quite time consuming I am really enjoying the craft of making them, and decided to do a limited edition of 200 copies. Projects included are paper promotions for Spicers Paper, custom type for Times Two Architects and Made gallery, self-initiated projects including botanical illustrations, the Measure range, and the Time poster series, and an identity project for the Australian Ballet. Thank you so much to all the clients involved for your ongoing support, and providing such great briefs. Available for purchase in our online shop.

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Ketel One Commission

Foundry has been commissioned to take part in a group exhibition exploring the role of craftsmanship in the modern world, to be held at the great new exhibition space Pin-up, at The Compound Interest: Centre for The Applied Arts in Collingwood. The project will be curated by Ewan McEoin, and is presented by Ketel One, a dutch Vodka company that has been distilling for over 300 years and 10 generations utilising old world craft in the production process.

The interesting premise for the exhibition is that they are looking to exhibit each contributors process, and for process to be the central focus rather than the end result. We have each been asked to respond to a central provocation ‘restoring craftsmanship to the modern world’. So I have decided to document my process on this blog, and have attached the brief here.

It’s a tight timeline, with submissions due on April 28, and the exhibition opening on May 26. A much tighter time line than I am used to when I work on my own projects! Generally I don’t give myself a deadline at the outset, until I have decided what I want to do, and then I can start working out some realistic timing. That said, when working with clients the time lines generally are very tight – and I enjoy the energy of it. The difference I think is that it is much easier and more expedient to work within the parameters of a comprehensive brief, with the content provided, than inventing the brief and researching the content, before you can get started on designing. So I guess I am viewing this brief from the outset as a starting point – I have a premise to respond to, and will start by researching and figuring out the direction I want to take with it. I love this part of the process: thinking, scribbling, researching, and choosing from all the possibilities that present themselves by a process of elimination until (hopefully) I find what it is that I want to say. Inevitably with some projects you never quite get to the real heart of it, but I am becoming more comfortable with this too, because what I learn in each project always pays off somewhere down the line. And there is always an element of finger crossing.

The other participating artists, craftspeople and designers are Ewan McEoin (Curator), Aaron Moodie and Colin Tretcher, Andy Gibson and Adam Sargent, Ben Edwards and Juliet Moore, Gregory Bonasera, Geoffrey Nees, Greg Sanderson, James Harcourt, James Watkins, Justin Hutchinson, Matthew Angel, Nick Rennie, Ross Didier, Rory Hyde, Scottie Cameron, Simon Goodrich, Tim Fleming, and Toby Horrocks.