Final Piece working progress..

So I'm working on my final piece and I've decided to create little stamps using the photogram technique in the darkroom. I made these little objects to use as photograms and I'm hoping that these will turn out quite nicely.




This is what the outcomes were. I've printed several copies of these so I can experiment with different layouts and presentation ideas. 


stamps as photograms

I did a little work in the darkroom and I like how these turned out :)
  

British Postal Museum and Archive


My visit to this quaint museum and archive gave me a little more insight to the history of postage stamps. To the public, stamps are nothing more than a necessary object needed to deliver messages and information from one place to another, but to graphic designers and artists, it is much more than that.
Each stamp is designed carefully and well thought out. The designer considers the small space it has to work on, the shape and size of the stamp, and the design must be relevant and to date with the current government of the country.

 

 

Postage Stamps

Taking in the idea of the evolution of social networking, the designs of stamps came into the picture.
My tutor suggested to look into postage stamp design as a way to link in all these images I have collected.
So I did some research on the subject and found some interesting information about the textual elements and secret marks placed on stamps so that the designer of the stamp can leave their mark on it.

I also found out there is a postal museum, "British Postal Museum and Archive" so I definitely need to go and visit this place soon. :)

experimenting with layouts..

I like the timeline type idea with this layout.








These lines show how each of these products connect with each other.

collecting photographs


















Collected some images to illustrate how the way we communicate has changed over the years..
Still working on some layout ideas and what process I'm going to put it through.
Perhaps bring in some colour to the modern objects to highlight the time changes..

Small turning point..

A slight change of direction with my FMP, I'm not exactly going to focus on facebook on its own as a social network or even just the Internet.
I remember talking about aged technology and I want to incorporate this aspect to get my message across.
Something like, the "evolution of social networks"...
Communication in:
Speech = talking in person - hand written letters - telephone - text message - emails - instant message - networking sites (facebook) - video calls (skype)
Entertainment = live theatre - black and white tv - coloured tv - projectors - cinemas - 3D movies
Music = live music - radio - vinyl records - cassette tapes - boom boxes - cd players - mp3 files - youtube

some futuristic ideas..

Doing this may not be the best idea..I may have gone a little carried away with the Wall-E idea and a little off track to my initial project proposal..hmm. I don't even know where I would begin to create that t-shirt..but its a cool idea.

Possible Future for Technology?

The animated movie, Wall-E has inspired me with some possible future technology.


The Teletubbies Have Facebook?


I thought it'd be cool to put facebook pages on the screens of the Teletubbies to modernise a fictional character that was already ahed of its time.

Connecting People

So I had this idea to create little cardboard laptops and connect them through wires and string. This would show how everyone is easily connected to one another through the internet. There's friends, mutual friends and friends of friends. The Internet allows us to connect with people faster because you don't have to leave your home, instead we use this thing we call computers/laptops. 




A little mock up of a laptop..

Handmade 3D

Author: Andres Fredes
Published By: Index Book, SL
This book gave me some cool ideas on how I would start to approach this whole 3D paper engineering business. Hopefully I carry this out successfully and create something decent out of it.

Why exactly do we use Facebook?


I did a small questionnaire and asked a bunch of people a few questions on what they use Facebook for; how they feel about communicating through social networks rather than having a direct conversation with someone; and if they use any other social networking sites and why they use them. 
99% use Facebook to share photos and videos with their friends. And most people only have a Facebook account because all of their friends do and do not want to feel out of the loop.
Perhaps this is a change in our society today, having an online identity is almost necessary for your real life social network. It's a way to keep in touch with your old friends and communicate with your current friends as well.
Facebook stalking is also popular as you can secretly see what everyone is up to these days and stay updated with their lives without even talking to them. Sort of creepy.. 

Internet Killed Television?

Internet Killed Television website

This website had some pretty effective images, I like how the television is set up in an alleyway, all beaten up, which suggests that the television is no longer a necessity for entertainment in today's digital age. This makes me want to create a 3D product of some sort and produce something as cool and effective as this.


Everything Ages Fast

This was created by Brazilian ad agancy Moma for a media seminar entitled "Everything Ages Fast".

Taking modern day social networks and applying a vintage style design to it just pushes the point that these technological advances are constantly developing and growing at a rapid speed. Seeing these images really inspired me to look into this subject in more detail and analyse exactly why these social networks have become such a big part of our lives.

Who's Space is it Anyway?


I've started reading this book by Joe Shooman and it's given me some good insight on the topic of social networks and how it is affecting our new way of living. In real life, we may be this awkward, less interesting person because of direct contact with people, but online, by having a few more seconds to think of what to say, we can portray ourselves as someone else who is more interesting and funny.
This book also includes some cool illustrations by Alex Jackson.

Social Networks: Class of 2011


My name is Grace and I am a student at the London College of Communication. 
I've decided to base my final major project on social networks today and I will document my journey on this blog. =)

As Social Networking websites have become increasingly popular in today’s society, many other forms of communication, such as personal hand-written letters are starting to become redundant. For this project, I want to investigate the impact and current trends of social networking websites such as Facebook and YouTube, and perhaps analyse just how long it will last and how long it will take until they are also no longer necessary. With growing advances in technology, staying updated and keeping in contact with your friends and family has never been easier. My aim is to communicate this very subject and inform the spectator about the speed in which the social media is growing. It won’t be long until another website launches and overshadows existing trends; Facebook may be the most popular social networking site out there now, but tomorrow is another day. 

Follow me on my everyday journey as I explore these trends =)