MAPLondon

Using both contemporary and historical sources as starting points, in the workshop we explored the possibilities of the map as a graphic medium. Inspired by Grayson Perry's use of a Renaissance visual framework to figure modern-day experiences, I experimented with using Medieval iconography to represent my own idiosyncratic encounters London.

While I found the juxtaposition between historic and contemporary in these experiments interesting, I felt there was more to be exploited in the medium of the map and so visited the 'Magnificent Maps' exhibition at the British Library. This provided me with a number of ideas/concepts to explore further, including:

• A 'map' need not necessarily tell the truth or be geographically accurate

• Rotating text labels through 180 degrees results in a map that is technically accurate, yet strangely disorientating (see Descelier's 1550 World Map)

• London as a literal island (see Stephen Walter's The Island)

• Map as encyclopaedia - featuring prominent social/political figures/events

From these ideas I decided to experiment with a hybrid of Grayson Perry and Stephen Walter, that is, a map that presents London as an actual island but using the visual landscape of the Medieval and Renaissance maps. Further, I then considered the literary trope of the island as an area for subversion of social/political structures (eg, The Tempest, Lord of the Flies, The Beach, etc), and so decided to invert my island such that it was still recognisable as London, but in a disorientating guise.

Following on from this I explored the idea of power and display through the map, experimenting with the presentation of iconic misbehaving Londoners such as Amy Winehouse, Russell Brand, Kate Moss, etc, as peerless royalty and London's true political/financial power figures, eg, David Cameron, Alan Sugar, the Queene as Renaissance monsters, demons, etc. Edmund Spenser's epic Poem The Faerie Queene seemed the perfect source for characters and descriptions due to its own highly allegorical form and historical literary style.

Having planned the style and content of my map of the Isle of London, I just need to work it up as a final outcome!

LondonTYPE

My focus in the Vernacular Type workshop was experimenting with found native typefaces to create vernacular hybrid letterforms.

Although some of these showed promise, after developing the 'spires' type graphic from the stencil workshop, I realised this might make a visually arresting complete typeface, and so opted to pursued this further...

I have since been gathering a variety of source typefaces which might work well with the spires annexed, and the next step is to experiment which works best stylistically and aesthetically...

Instead of the ambigram form of the typeface I used for the outcome from the Stencil workshop, I will experiment using the uppercase alphabet for the 'spires' font family and the lowercase as the 'inverted spires/dripping blood' font family...

TYPELondon

In this workshop we created a map of a small section of London using type, which was then stitched together to create a 'Type-map' of a relatively large area of London:

I found this use of type interesting an inspiring, and began to look further into typographic maps and landscapes.

I then thought about the concept of the typographic portrait, that is, using type as a means of mapping out a face, as used by studios such as Stephan Sagmeister and Music.

I began to explore how I could use the human face and type as a means of mapping the essence of London.

Whilst I initially began experimenting with mapping political manifestos onto the faces of David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg, I decided against this approach for a couple of reasons:

a) I found an existing example of the 3 leaders' faces mapped out in type taken from their manifestos

b) I questioned how much the faces of the 'Big 3' really summed up and captured the essence of the streets of London.

In my monoprint development work I had decided to photograph a number of London's homeless, and it dawned on me that these people would be the perfect way of figuring a map of London - people who were almost synonymous with the streets themselves.

As I mentioned in my development work for Monoprint, I was inspired by the work of B&W studio and their use of stark, direct photographic portraits and hard-hitting, honest real-life stories. I decided to experiment with combining the portrait with the story and so as I photographed the homeless people I met I also interviewed them and discovered their backgrounds, eg, Brian:

"I live in Victoria, been there about..er..16 years? selling the Big issue on and off. I became homeless just because of a bad divorce and mental breakdown I 'spose. I was living with my wife and then it all went pear-shaped; started drinking too much and things just fell apart from there. I was working at the time and I lost my job because of the drinking, lost my flat, 'cause I couldn't keep up with the rent, and my flatmates couldn't put up with all the mood swings and that so I got chucked out of there and ended up roughing it on the street. My plan for the future is to get off the street - I'm waiting for somewhere now at the moment and as soon as that comes up I should be on the move - get somewhere to live and then get a job. That's the dream."

I then took the most pertinent aspects of the story and have begun to experimenting using it in type form to paint Brian's portrait...

Obviously, it needs refinement but I'm happy with the way these type portraits are developing and ideally would like to produce 2 or 3 for my book.

LondonPARK

During our initial stint in the park we carried out a number of the IDEO observation techniques, including Narration, Fly on the Wall and Shadowing to identify some of the potential problems users may have with the wayfinding system in the Park.

Although we did identify slight problems with navigation and the position of signposts across the park, on reflection I decided the navigational systems were adequate and perhaps didn't merit a rethink. As such, I went for a second visit to carry out more research and this time I came away with what I thought may be more useful observations which included:

> Joggers used the park in a very direct way, often jogging alone along the same paths around the perimeter of the park, usually listening to an ipod.

> Recreational users were seldom alone, and often used the park to socialise in groups for eg, picnics, sports.

I then carried out a concept challenge on both my observations and the park in general, which generated some interesting ideas, eg:

> Speed-dating picnic

> Michelin Star picnic

> Random jogging, ie, some sort of system which could generate new, random jogging routes for joggers. For me this had the most potential, not least because variation helps to keep runners motivated and minimises the risk of boredom stopping play. So I developed this idea into a kind of 'jogger's satnav' app; an app for the iphone which would create new random routes for joggers.

I investigated current iphone apps for joggers and discovered that the majority of jogger's apps currently only store routes retrospectively and don't generate new routes, or act as a guide in any way.

Eventually I formalised an app which would create a running route based on the desired starting and end points, (plus any points the user would like to include along the route) and the desired duration/distance of run. The app would then guide the user along the route via a number of different options, eg, audio directions, vibrating wristbands to alert turning points, etc. I also devised a number of different audio modes, from simply music and jogging playlists, to a 'points of interest' feature which would give a brief history of the various features/landmarks along the route, to simply a news option which could stream live news updates to the user as they run.

For my book I now need to create some photoshopped mockup screenshots of how my app will operate, as per the below...

STENCILondon

During the stencil workshop I created a vernacular typeface which features the spires of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. I used as my starting point the typeface Braggadoccio, because its simple block form made it relatively easy to convert into a stencil over the course of the workshop. The stencil graphic was relatively successful at capturing a sense of London's skyline, and I experimented with different print finishes.

It was also noted by chance that when the graphic is turned upside-down, it has the appearance of dripping blood. This set me thinking about creating a London 'ambigram', that is a word that can be read from two different viewpoints; as such I wanted to create a typographic visual that, when read from one angle, would reference London's grandiose, lofty architecture, and when flipped would reference London's bloody past.

I experimented with how the form of a London ambigram might work, before eventually resorting to an 'ambigram generator' website for reasons of speed and convenience, to create the type to use as my starting point.

Once I had this graphic, I annexed the spires of a number of London churches...

before tracing and digitising…

For the final outcome in my book I'd like to design a poster in the style of the recent marmite campaign which changes depending on the orientation of the poster...

So, from one aspect the poster could reference London's lofty architecture, from another the gruesome history behind the buildings...

ICONLondon

In preparation for the icon workshop I walked at evening rush-hour from the relatively affluent area of Bond St, through the popular commercial areas around Regent St and Oxford St, via the cobbled alleys around Carnaby St, through to the seedy backalleys of Soho. I made a note of the prevailing feelings and impressions of each area, along with the frequently used icons and typefaces. I then repeated the journey later in the evening an noted how the feel of the respective areas had changed.

In the workshop we used these impressions and experiences to produce a number of icons which captured the essence of the various of London, which we could use to create a flag for the capital which was a manifestation of our own experiences and feelings.

Ultimately the icons we created as a group I felt were too literal in their interpretation, and so after the workshop I revisited the activity, and attempted to inject some of my own experiences into the graphics. To begin with I focussed on the 3 contrasting areas of Bond St, Oxford St and Carnaby St. I began by collating and analysing the various logos which make up the visual landscape of these areas, and then used these observations to start forming the icons:

The logos and graphics of Bond St are unsurprising uniform in their look and feel, employing a colour scheme of black, white and gold (to a lesser extent) and using either classic, serifs, clean, modern geometric sans-serifs or a combination of the two. In developing this icon, I took into account the imposing, intimidating feeling of the area, as well as it's traditional, conservative roots. The form of the icon developed into a solid black polygon whose shape was Inspired by the angular forms of the Rolls Royces on Berkeley Square, plus castle and flag details which added a sense of both heritage and exclusivity. Further, the nearby saville row provided the inspiration for the stitching which is a nod towards the bespoke experience expected in the area.

For Oxford St I noted that the majority of logos on view used primary colours and simple geometric shapes such as squares, circles and triangles, and used simple, often lowercase, Helvetica-esq sans-serifs. By hanging the icon from a clothes hanger I created a visual nod towards the 'off-the-rack', mass-produced nature of the business in the area, however, i quickly realised at some point I need to capture the frustration caused by crowds and tourists in the area...

For Carnaby St, it became apparent that the visuals were more diverse and crafted, and showed much greater awareness of and attention to typography and colour. Thus I began by experimenting with more specialised typefaces, as well as an irregular polygon shape, which reflects the non-conformist impulse which prevails in the area.

In the spirit of the initial workshop I hit upon the idea of using the icons to create a flag for the West End, but decided that in this case it would be appropriate to include an icon for Soho, and so yesterday went on another research trip, observing the dominant visuals and feelings in the area:

Findings include:

A predominance of Italian restaurants and cafes and therefore Roman names and Classic Roman serifs and cursive sans-serifs:

High density of gay bars - rainbow colour schemes and graphics of naked male torsos

Strip clubs/brothels/sex shops - neon red lights:

Pubs! Traditional pub signage/iconography

Now I just need to work up each icon in order to put the flag together...