So far as part of the exhibition preparation, we have put together the boards to display our work on, painted them white, painted the edges of the boards white, cleaned the clamps, and painted the floor. It’s really interesting and exciting to see how the exhibition space is coming together. The work will look so much more professional and will really show off everyone’s talents with such a professional looking exhibition space. I have also been given my place to display my work which I think is a nice area as my posters will be able to be seen straight on, as well as to the side (to see the 3D type, etc). Also there is a socket right behind my boards, so I will able to plug my lights in there to backlight my posters. I like my area, but will have to see how it looks when everything is put together, and also if my work works well with the work around it.
As part of my project, I have also taken some photos of my 3D type in interesting ways and added these to my photo book. I thought it was important to explore the letters from all angles and this is how it will be able to be viewed in the exhibition. They look interesting and unique and actually remind me a lot of Viktor and Rolf’s work.
I also had a look at my ‘mould’ experiments, where I had put yoghurt onto the words ‘ugly’ and ‘beautiful’. Unfortunately, hardly anything has happened, and so this hasn’t worked as well as I thought. I think I will just have to forget this idea as there isn’t much time left and it isn’t really needed as part of my final pieces. However, in the future, I will allow more time to make changes to something which doesn’t appear to be working and to find new solutions.
I have also chosen my final designs for the logo, letterhead, business card and fact sheet. I had to make a few changes (such as changing the contact number, to a ‘free-phone’ number), but I feel that they are how I want them to look now. I will need to get these printed to see if they need any further adjustments. I’m not sure if these will be displayed at the exhibition, but I will need to print a few copies of each in case they are.
I’ve decided to go with the logo which has the organisation name, ‘Sticks and Stones’, in the centre of the hand instead of underneath, because after asking, most people seemed to like this one best. Although I like both, I still feel that perhaps the logo works best with the writing underneath as it makes ‘Sticks and Stones’ easier to read. However, I do understand where the other opinions are coming from as perhaps the hand is too busy with all the other writing in and this needs to be broken up, and that this makes the logo more interesting. Ultimately, I went with this design and the opinions of others over my own, as the people I asked were my target audience and so I am trying to appeal to them. I would say that this was a ‘professional’ decision, and is a useful experience for the future.
Also, I have bought all of the LED lights, frames, acetate, etc, to put my final posters together and to give them a backlight. Although I haven’t assembled it all yet, it seems so far that it should work quite well. The LED lights should work quite well to give a bright white/blue light, and also they emit very little heat, but last a long time, which is appropriate for the exhibition. I will also need to attach some material and frosted sheet of plastic to diffuse the light in order for the effect to be like that of a backlight rather than shining out of the poster.
Thursday 26th May 2011: We have now gotten to the point where we are able to start putting our work up for the exhibition next week. I was able to put my work up yesterday after some deliberations of how to best go about this. It was quite hard trying to figure out where to place my posters on the boards as the LED lights wire connects the posters, and so to pick one poster up, someone else needs to hold the other poster too. After some help, I eventually decided on where to place my posters and made markings. The next issue was deciding how to best hang them up. It would need to be on something strong enough to hold the posters (as they are heavier than just paper on its own), but small enough to not stick out the back of the board. I asked for some advice and came back the next time with some picture hanging fixings which could be hammered into the board. It was quite hard trying to get these into the board as they kept bending backwards and then wouldn’t go into the board any further, but eventually I was able to fix these to the board properly. I then hung my posters on these using the picture hanging wire, which I had attached to the back. These fixings seemed to hold the posters strongly enough and they work well. I then had to figure out where to place the wire, etc, to keep my space neat and safe. I used double-sided tape to stick the wires in place, which I then covered with masking tape, which I then painted white. I went on to then patch up any parts on my board, which needed white paint, and I then used a spirit level to check that my posters were straight. I also asked for opinions and people said that they appeared to be straight and level. My only concern is that perhaps they are slightly too high (I was given advice on where to place them), however, they are easy to read and still work well, so this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
I am pleased with how these look. I have also asked if my letterhead, business card and fact sheet (and perhaps my sketchbook, etc) should be displayed, but I will wait to hear back on this.
Overall, this project has been a really interesting and exciting learning process. I have learnt many new skills, improved previous knowledge and skills, and it has reinforced the importance of constant evaluation and the value of asking for opinions, etc. I am pleased with my development work and final outcome. I hope that others like my work and can see how bullying is and how important it is to minimise this as much as possible by helping both the bully and the victim.
