This week we're starting to develop a frame for the web experience which the collection will ultimately be packaged as. In addition, we've begun typing up textual content to fill the pages of the web experience as needed. Catie is researching and developing content on personalities, while I've been sketching out some possible directions for the introduction, disclaimer, etc.
We're also working to establish a working voice for the content of the website. As Emily is a police officer, we want there to be a good measure of professionalism in the site's voice. My initial work with the introduction proved to be a bit too formal, perhaps. Eventually Catie and I will have to merge our collective writings together and massage them to get a unified tone throughout.
Initially we were planning to produce a book of some kind to satisfy the "physical artifact" segment of the packaging phase. After a discussion with Eddy this morning, we decided that a variety of merchandise items (t-shirts, hats, bags, etc) based on the IN SIGHT brand might be a more relevant solution. The possibility of a small booklet or pamphlet that references the site still remains.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Phase 4 Presentation
This past week Catie and I have been further developing the working identity for our collection, trying to fine-tune it and get it as close to finished as possible. We are close, although there may still be some more adjustments that take place in the near future.
Today's "round table" crit went well. I was pleasantly surprised to receive solid, professional feedback from certain classmates. There were some conflicting opinions on our type choice for the logo, and some comments regarding our working color palette. We made some minor tweaks to our colors after the fact, as well as experimenting with some alternate color options for the logotype.
For Tuesday we will need to sketch out some ideas for our two chosen methods of delivery. The primary method will be an interactive web experience, while the secondary will be a supporting pamphlet. (We discussed the possibilities of making a book and agreed that a book might become outdated too quickly for a collection of this nature.)
Our collection itself still need to be completed. Hopefully this can be accomplished over the weekend as well.
Today's "round table" crit went well. I was pleasantly surprised to receive solid, professional feedback from certain classmates. There were some conflicting opinions on our type choice for the logo, and some comments regarding our working color palette. We made some minor tweaks to our colors after the fact, as well as experimenting with some alternate color options for the logotype.
For Tuesday we will need to sketch out some ideas for our two chosen methods of delivery. The primary method will be an interactive web experience, while the secondary will be a supporting pamphlet. (We discussed the possibilities of making a book and agreed that a book might become outdated too quickly for a collection of this nature.)
Our collection itself still need to be completed. Hopefully this can be accomplished over the weekend as well.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Continuing Phase 4
Today Catie and I reviewed our list of potential names, as well as some respective logotype ideas and visual system process work. The name we were working with (Head Shots) ended up being scrapped as it was pointed out that such a name could have seriously controversial implications. We have since returned to the drawing board and begun generating some more names. Ideally we want a name that hints at the nature of the collection without spelling it out. It should be catchy, but not campy (which is a difficult line to walk, especially with margins of subjectivity).
After experimenting with a variety of iconic artwork, we're considering a more restrained visual system that focuses primarily on use of color and type treatment. Our immediate goal is to zero in on a name to work with, enabling us to build the logo and visual system around the name.
Another presentation is due next week. I do not intend to drop the ball on this one.
After experimenting with a variety of iconic artwork, we're considering a more restrained visual system that focuses primarily on use of color and type treatment. Our immediate goal is to zero in on a name to work with, enabling us to build the logo and visual system around the name.
Another presentation is due next week. I do not intend to drop the ball on this one.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Beginning Phase 4 - Collective Curiosity
Over the past week Mike and I have been collaborating on the Curiosity phase of the project. We got together over the weekend and drew some sketches which we periodically compared, elaborating on each others' ideas. We came up with several word associations which we are now trying to link with the name generation. This part will take some time since we don't want to be too literal but we also don't want the name to long and complicated. We keep referring back to our mind map with seems to help. We plan to get together again to compare what we will have generated independently for the Name Generation and Logo Sketches. From there we will combine our ideas and see what our results are.
Mike got his hands on a few more bullets bringing out count up to about 65, with a few more on the way. I'm still trying to get a hold of a friend (we keep playing phone tag) who has a few guns and ammunition. We will possibly have to visit a few more gun stores outside of Sarasota to expand on the collection (we've visited the 2 main gun stores in Sarasota already).
As for our future visual presentation, we discusses creating a website where some of the information will be public while more detailed and extensive information will be made private for Law Enforcement and high ranking officials. If we went this direction, the private aspects will have be created in a way that the information will be worth protecting (this might be difficult, but we will experiment and see what our results are). But since we are not yet reached that level in the game, experimentation will have to do.
Mike got his hands on a few more bullets bringing out count up to about 65, with a few more on the way. I'm still trying to get a hold of a friend (we keep playing phone tag) who has a few guns and ammunition. We will possibly have to visit a few more gun stores outside of Sarasota to expand on the collection (we've visited the 2 main gun stores in Sarasota already).
As for our future visual presentation, we discusses creating a website where some of the information will be public while more detailed and extensive information will be made private for Law Enforcement and high ranking officials. If we went this direction, the private aspects will have be created in a way that the information will be worth protecting (this might be difficult, but we will experiment and see what our results are). But since we are not yet reached that level in the game, experimentation will have to do.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Phase 4 : Exercise 1
A PDF of Exercise 1 can be found here.
As Catie and I collaborated over the lists of words and values that make up the type/rationale of our collector, as well as the physical and emotive characteristics of the collection, it struck me that there is something of a paradoxical dichotomy in the nature of the collection itself. On one hand, it presents factual information in a scientific and organized fashion. On the other hand, however, the collection also contains a base of largely theoretical/hypothetical information. (Behavior patterns are never absolute as there are always exceptions and overlap.)
It's my feeling that the visual system and 'voice' of the collection should remain controlled and somewhat neutral to reflect Emily Pearson's training and professionalism as a Law Officer. However, there will need to be some disctintion established between the cold hard facts of the bullets and the perceptual analyses of the behavior patterns and personalities. This section of the collection "package" (at least the web/interactive version of it, anyway) could include a forum/blog supporting ongoing intellectual discussions relating to various perceived patterns. Again, as maintaining and administrating a totally public forum of this nature would be a headache, especially for one working full time and attending school, I'm leaning towards the idea that the site should be set up on a semi-restricted basis. (How to actually pull this off in the physical execution of our project is something we will have to discuss with Eddy and undoubtedly read up on, as neither Catie nor myself are exactly wizards in Dreamweaver at present.)
The attached PDF file summarizes where we stand in terms of classifying our collection/collector thus far. Hopefully, some initial sketches for visual system development will make it up here by tomorrow evening.
That's all for now.
As Catie and I collaborated over the lists of words and values that make up the type/rationale of our collector, as well as the physical and emotive characteristics of the collection, it struck me that there is something of a paradoxical dichotomy in the nature of the collection itself. On one hand, it presents factual information in a scientific and organized fashion. On the other hand, however, the collection also contains a base of largely theoretical/hypothetical information. (Behavior patterns are never absolute as there are always exceptions and overlap.)
It's my feeling that the visual system and 'voice' of the collection should remain controlled and somewhat neutral to reflect Emily Pearson's training and professionalism as a Law Officer. However, there will need to be some disctintion established between the cold hard facts of the bullets and the perceptual analyses of the behavior patterns and personalities. This section of the collection "package" (at least the web/interactive version of it, anyway) could include a forum/blog supporting ongoing intellectual discussions relating to various perceived patterns. Again, as maintaining and administrating a totally public forum of this nature would be a headache, especially for one working full time and attending school, I'm leaning towards the idea that the site should be set up on a semi-restricted basis. (How to actually pull this off in the physical execution of our project is something we will have to discuss with Eddy and undoubtedly read up on, as neither Catie nor myself are exactly wizards in Dreamweaver at present.)
The attached PDF file summarizes where we stand in terms of classifying our collection/collector thus far. Hopefully, some initial sketches for visual system development will make it up here by tomorrow evening.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Process Update - Week 3/4
We began the fourth week of class with presentations about our collections. All in all, I'd say our presentation went well, although in retrospect I do wish I had done more to format the document specifically for the presentation. Ah well, as this is only the first of what Eddy says is to be several, there's opportunity for improvement next go around.
A copy of the PDF for our Synth Document/Presentation can be found here.
With the next phase of the project underway, we're pretty solid on our collection persona and concept, although certain aspects of it feel like they still need work. At some point I'll have to get around to photographing the rest of the bullets and adding classification data for future reference. In light of Eddy's thoughts on a probable second avenue of packaging for the collection, I had the idea of a book of some kind. (The obvious advantage of a website over a book is that a website can be kept up to date, whereas a book will slowly become obsolete from the moment it's printed.) In a way this reminds me of the steps we took last semester for our Sense of Place packaging, albeit this is a much more complex and in-depth subject of focus. In the same token, the packaging will be a more complicated process as well.
So far the collaboration aspect of the project seems to be going well. We'll need to discuss things further as we start developing material for the Visual Language phase. Conveniently enough, we had already started some word lists back when we were still attempting to decide on which collection to go with. These could be a good starting point for developing further, more specific lists about the collection now, after everything we've established about it.
Today feels like a Friday for some odd reason.
A copy of the PDF for our Synth Document/Presentation can be found here.
With the next phase of the project underway, we're pretty solid on our collection persona and concept, although certain aspects of it feel like they still need work. At some point I'll have to get around to photographing the rest of the bullets and adding classification data for future reference. In light of Eddy's thoughts on a probable second avenue of packaging for the collection, I had the idea of a book of some kind. (The obvious advantage of a website over a book is that a website can be kept up to date, whereas a book will slowly become obsolete from the moment it's printed.) In a way this reminds me of the steps we took last semester for our Sense of Place packaging, albeit this is a much more complex and in-depth subject of focus. In the same token, the packaging will be a more complicated process as well.
So far the collaboration aspect of the project seems to be going well. We'll need to discuss things further as we start developing material for the Visual Language phase. Conveniently enough, we had already started some word lists back when we were still attempting to decide on which collection to go with. These could be a good starting point for developing further, more specific lists about the collection now, after everything we've established about it.
Today feels like a Friday for some odd reason.
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