Sneaky Raccoon; In-depth Analysis

This typography was made by a Freelance artist; Sneaky Raccoon, who is formally known as Anna Mullin. She is a London based Graphic Artist Designer and Art Director who specialises in Identity design, illustration and typography. Her love for nature and animals comes from being brought up in a green Woodland in North-West Germany and (as she thinks) reflects in the graphic work that she produces. She has previously worked with a large amount of clients such as: Monsoon, Accessorize, Virgin Holidays, Nike, Kidrobot, CNN, Sony, the BBC and Pringles. At the moment she works for Kidrobot and Monorex, creating work for exhibitions and worldwide projects. 

I like this type because she has cleverly created an ambiguous meaning for the word 'not' (two meanings) by using an object; thread. The phrase says: 'forget me not' which means 'don't forget me', but Anna Mullin has given it another meaning by creating 'knots' with the thread used for the typography. In other words she has created a visual meaning of the word 'not' which is a 'knot' in the thread. 

This has influenced me to do a developmental experiment with my phrases about 'home'. After seeing this art piece I decided to make an idea of a type using thread that says 'A House Is Not A Home'. I decided to use this phrase because I will be using the same idea as Anna Mullin has created in the type above, using knots in the thread to emphasise the use of the word 'not'. 

This is the type I made: 

Exam Evaluation

Interpreting the theme   
I interpreted the exam theme: 'Cover and Obscure' as a phrase that means to hide 'something' (depending on what brief you chose) in a strange way. I explored this in a variety of ways; experimenting with different typography; my own handmade experiments; newspaper cut outs of letters, using different materials for example: tracing paper, paper with squares, as well as experimenting different sizes by photocopying my own work, scanning and changing the scale. I also experimented with coloured pencils and created 'directional' lines on the letters 'C' & 'D' with a fine liner.

Once I had completed all of this experimentation I decided on what path I wanted to take for my final outcome. This path was 'food typography' inspired by Vladimir Koncar. As the theme was 'food typography' I decided to use sweets to create my typography, and as well as the theme for the phrases I intended on creating. (Therefore my phrases were created using the meaning of the word 'sweet' for example: 'Home Sweet Home'). I then experimented making typography using sweets and a sweet substance; syrup and made words/phrases such as: 'Sweet', 'Sour', 'Home Sweet Home', ' Sweet as' etc..

 I took a trip to the Photographers Gallery to collect some primary research of artist's collages to add to my ideas for a final outcome. After realising that I will not create a collage for my final outcome I made three initial ideas. The first was was an Oscar Wilson inspired design; a 3D calligram model. The second idea was a Vladimir Koncar inspired design using sweets and sewing pins to stick out of the letters spelling out the phrase: 'Revenge Is Sweet'. Lastly I made a third initial idea, also inspired by Vladimir Koncar spelling out 'Take the bitter with the sweet', although it was a Vladimir Koncar design, the only two letters that I would create with something edible are: 'bitter' with sweets and 'sweet' with lemon pips/seeds. 

Over the course of the project I have mainly developed my first inital idea which will say: 'Home Sweet Home'. My final outcome will be made using the cross-stitch technique with each word on an embroidery hoop seperately. I will use black thread to thread the words into a fabric that I will buy with small imprinted flowers. I will also print black lines onto the fabric, symbolising a prison. This symbolism will also be presented with barbwire that I will place around the edges of the hoops.  

Recording observations
I have recored my experiments in my blog and and sketchbook by writing annotations of what I did, what I used, who influenced me and how I could improve my ideas.

Idea development   
After developing all of my intial ideas at least once I continued developing the first idea as I enjoyed it the most.  

I will choose a develpment of my first intial idea for my final outcome. This is because I have enjoyed exploring this idea the most, with different techniques and materials creating the typography. I have also decided to use my first idea for my final outcome because I think the phrase 'Home Sweet Home' can relate to a wider population than the other two phrases; 'Revenge is Sweet' and ' Take the bitter with the sweet'. I think this simply because everybody lives somewhere and has their own interpretation of what a home is, according to how and where they live. Therefore my outcome will not have a specific target market.


Influences
Unfortunately, The exhibition that I visited; Photographer's Gallery; Perspectives on Collage. However, I have mainly been influenced by Vladimir Koncar for this project has I followed the pathway of 'food typography' after doing experiments influenced by a range of artists. This sweet type is the art piece that had inspired me to focus my typography experiments and outcome on 'sweets', as in the meaning and physically substance/food;

I liked the way that Vladimir had 'written' a phrase about the 'sweetness of typography' with gummy bear sweets as he has deepened the meaning of 'sweetness' in this phrase by using the sweets. Also, he has highlighted the fact that he has created a play on words by using something that is actually sweet to create the typography, as typography cannot taste sweet. 

Final Piece
For my final piece I will make three embroidery hoops, with one word on each; the first one will say 'Home' with a second one below saying 'Sweet' and a third hoop below saying 'Home'. The embroidery hoops will have the words cross-stitched on with black thread onto a piece of flowered material and black vertical lines that I would have printed on the fabric. I will also place barbwire around the embroidery hoops in coils. 

I have decided to use black thread, black vertical lines and barbwire to create an opposite (visual) meaning of the phrase. Therefore I will create a double meaning using typography and imagery; the phrase will say 'Home Sweet Home' which basically means to have a loving home, and the lines, thread and barbwire will represent a prison which is the complete opposite to a loving home. (The patterened material that I will stitch onto also represents a 'loving home' and flowers usually represent/symbolise something 'nice'). 

Conclusion
I found the exam theme quite fun to explore, although I found it difficult towards the begging of the project as I lacked independant work. The lack of independant research that I had made it take longer for me to explore different themes and techniques. However, once I had decided to create food typography after being inspired by Vladimir Koncar, I was able to do my own experiments independantly which broadened my range of ideas for my final outcome. Although at one point I decided that I would create a food type for my final outcome, I developed my first initial idea and decided to create a stitching type instead. I think I will be pleased with my final outcome because my intentions will be clear and it will meet the exam theme; Covert and Obscure. I know this because the phrase that I will stitch onto the fabric will not link with the imagery apart from the flowered material; this is what will allow the outcome to meet the exam themes meaning. 

Exhibition Review: The Photographer's Gallery - Perspectives on Collage (My Primary Research)

In the Photographer's Gallery; Perspectives on Collage (located pn Ramillies Street, London) a variety of artists were exhibiting, such as: Roy Arden, Peggy Franck, Anna Parkina, Batia Suter, Laura Letinsky, Geraldo De Barros and many more.

Pictures I took in the gallery:

Geraldo De Barras, born in São Paulo in 1923, a painter, and founeder of the Expressionist painting studio.

Anna Parkina, a well known Russian artist, who was born in Moscow, 1979 and has had a large amount of exhibitions around the world.

My two favourite collages:

This collage was made by a Vancouver named Roy Arden (born 1957), who has had a very successful career, having his own exhibitions held in different gallery's such as: The Ikon Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery and Galerie Tanit. I like this picture particularly as it seems very strange, due to the fact that he has placed a variety of materials and images with different colours ontop of each one, obscuring each aspect. 

I like this picture by Roy Arden because unlike the other artists work that has been displayed in the gallery, he has created a tactile collage.

My two least favourite collages:

Anna Parkina

Anna Parkina

I disliked these two collages made by Anna Parkina because I didn't understand the subject of the art pieces, therefore I found them quite boring.

Overall I did enjoy the exhibition as it has broadened my knowledge of artistic displays allowing me experiment making collages after being inspired by the artists that had their work displayed in the exhibition. However it has not influenced me to make any long-term decisions on what subjects I will study in University or what career path I want to take, and I will not create a collage for my final outcome.

Written Review of Initial Ideas

1. What are your 3 initial ideas? 
All three of my intial ideas will be handmade.
 

This is my first initial idea that I created using the phrase: 'Home Sweet Home', which is a phrase that I thought of for one of my initial ideas whilst I experimented making typography using sweets. This design involves cardboard as the 3D frame for the writing, as well as for the actual text for the centre of the house. This is an Oscar Wilson inspired design as it is similar to the calligrams he makes, apart from the fact that the phrase was only written once. I plan to develop this idea further for my final outcome. This is because it is my favourite idea out of the three, due to the fact that I can do a wide range of experiments using the phrase, as 'Home Sweet Home' would have different meanings to different people. 

This is my second initial idea that I also thought of whilst doing my sweet typography experiments. Althogh I do not intend on selecting this idea for my final outcome, this is one of my favourite deisgns. This is because it clearly relates to the exam theme; 'covert and obscure'. This is because the phrase is about revenge which is usually seen as something bad, however I used sweets for the typography which symbolises something good. Therefore there I have created a double meaning.

This is the last initial idea that I created, also revolving around the theme of sweets. This is my least favourite idea as the subjective points of it are quite simple; I drew sweets to write the word 'bitter' and lemon seeds for the word 'sweet' I did this because I wanted to make the phrase seem visually obscure and covert as I used food products that would have an opposite description to the word that I used them for.

2. Who have you researched to develop your ideas?
To develop my favourite idea; 'My 1st initial idea' I researched and Sneaky Raccoon and Evelin Kasikov. These are samples of their work that have inspired me to create a type using thread for my final outcome:

Sneaky Raccoon

Evelin Kasikov

3. Have you refined/developed your ideas through experimentation? How?
I have refined my developments through annotations in my sketchbook, inlcuding what materials I used, and my intentions. I have also refined and developed my work by using different materials and changing the pharse used for example: 'Revenge is Sweet' to 'Revenge'. The reasons for this is to make the phrase seem even more obscure and usually to create a double meaning using the word/phrase and object/substance.

4. Have you annotated, in detail, your experiments and developments in your sketchbook/blog and used this information to help you improve?

This is an example of how I annotated an initial idea with information on how I could improve. After doing this experiment and annotation I created this idea: 

5. Which idea has been the most successful? Why? 
I think that my first intial idea and the development has been most successful as I hvae developed it the most. I think I have been able to do this more than I have with my 2nd and 3rd initial ideas because 'Home Sweet Home' is a phrase that can be interpreted in different ways, and objects can be used to that have an opposite meaning to the phrase. For example: barbwire represents a prison which is the complete opposite to a home. 
 
6. Which idea has been the least successful? Why?
I think that my 3rd intial was the least successful due to the fact that I couldn't think of a wide range of ways to explore it. This is because the phrase: 'Take the bitter with the sweet' is quite straight forward and is not a phrase that can be interpreted in a number of ways.
 
7. Which idea do you think you will choose for your final outcome? Why?
I will choose a develpment of my first intial idea for my final outcome. This is because I have enjoyed exploring this idea the most, with different techniques and materials creating the typography. I have also decided to use my first idea for my final outcome because I think the phrase 'Home Sweet Home' can relate to a wider population than the other two phrases; 'Revenge is Sweet' and ' Take the bitter with the sweet'. I think this simply because everybody lives somewhere and has their own interpretation of what a home is, according to how and where they live. Therefore my outcome will not have a specific target market.
 
8. What else could you do to further develop this idea?
To further develop my last development of my first intial idea, inspired by Evelin Kasikov and the development before my last, inspired by Sneaky Raccoon I will do handmade and digital experiments using stitching tutorials. This will help me to decide on what technique I want to use in the exam for my final outcome, although I am certain that I will use embroidery hoops for the display.

Reasons for my final outcome; Contextual Research

I have presented this collection of photos to show how I thought of my ideas for my final outcome.

Definition of 'home' relating to the phrase 'home sweet home'.

I researched 'sweet colours' to show the colours that would relate to the phrase 'home sweet home' if I was using those type of colours for my outcome, which I am not.  

As a contrast I researched 'colours that are not nice' to show  colours that are completely opposite to 'sweet colours' I did this because I want to portray a double meaning for my final outcome, and using colours that do not relate to the phrase will help me do this. 

I researched prison as this is an opposite of a 'sweet home'. Using imagery in my final outcome of a prison will also help me to portray a double meaning, visually. 

Evelin Kasikov In-depth Analysis

Evelin Kasikov who created this art piece lives and works in London as is a the author of CMYK embroidery as well as a graphic designer. She graduated from Central Saint Martins with an Master of Arts in Communication Design and then spent 10 years working in advertising.

She challenges the different conceptions possible of embroidery, using typography and grid systems. Evelin Kasikov's illustrations have be authorised by The Guardian, WIRED and The New York Times. Her art work has also been published in different books and magazines.

The picture above is a simple example of a letter made using the cross stitching technique (made by Evelin Kasikov), that has inspired me to make cross stitching typography using thread on an embroidery hoop. Although I won't make bold letters using thread, I like the way that Evelin Kasikov has created a bold letter by stitching a variety of crosses to make the letter 'a'. I also like the colours she chose as she picked pale colours; pink, yellow and blue, as well as black which stands out amount the other colours.

Final Outcome Moodboard

This is a collection of photos that have inspired me for my final outcome. I have created a mood board with things that are associated with a prison; prison cells and barb wired fences, as well as things that are associated with home; an embroidery hoop and a series of home plaques. I have also placed on the mood board, images of black thread, grey thread and a blend of dark colours to show the colours that I intend on using for the exam.