Abundance of Postcard Samples

WHAT DID I DO TODAY?

I began my day flicking through Illustratio Play (Victionary) for ideas and then sketching them out.
I also got out maps of different areas in London and asked Grandma what she thought of them and what she thought of London generally.


I looked back on the list of collections of postcards I could possibly make and began to find materials to make them etc.

I made a 'some' samples for collections:-

• "Thank Fuck I Am In London" with images of Japan from today's newspaper.
• The Grass is Greener - with images of more beautiful places than London and also with the keyboard key "Esc" to imply wanting to escape London. 
• "Don't Bother With..." - I began to explore what places on the tube map weren't worth exploring, asking people for feedback on this. I crossed the places worth going off the map, leaving just the ones "not to bother with".
• "Area Stereotypes" - I simply marked on the map the kind of person you'd find, stereotypically, at that station.  I followed this on to a blanked out tube-esque map on which I marked 1) the things I saw in Camden; Clapham Common 2) the multitudal ethnic groups in London 3) Youth Subcultures
• "Fill in the Blanks" - a blank tube map, inviting the viewer to try to name them. Other approaches came from this experiment like it showing that the tube map is so hard for foreigners to understand that it may as well be labelless.
• "Would London Be London If...?" - Posing the question, if its skyline was different, with another country's building - would London still be London? 
• "Amusing Anagrams" - where I experimented with anagrams of tube station names that I had found in The London Collection (Think Publishing). I retouched the Turnpike Lane sign to say "Internal Puke". I also made my own anagram of Tower Hill ("Litl Whore").
• "What Makes You a Londoner?" - Looking at foreigners who wear and support the Arsenal t-shirt. 
• "Londoners Have Bad Teeth" - A picture postcard that shows my dad's (bad) teeth.
• "Tube Go-ers" - Sketches I have done over the past few months of people on the tube. 
• "Mundane London" - Images of a stripped billboard and an graffitied alleyway and a sodden newspaper. 
• "Puzzle Pieces" - The idea of having many postcards that you collect of different areas to make a map. 
• "Weather Affects" - These read 'Weather Was Sublime. Had a Great Time." and "Shitty Weather. Shitty Time"
• "Tea Underground" - Londoners like tea. Londoners travel. So I made the London Underground symbol from a cup, tea bag and water, and a spoon of sugar resting on top.

WAS THE EXPERIMENTATION SUCCESSFUL?

Yes, I really benefited from seeing the range of ideas I had for collections in front of me. I think it will really help me when it comes to asking for feedback and advice on which collection to create as I will have something tangible to show. It helped being at home while doing this as I had ALL of my materials (I collect papers, books, maps, pens, etc) which I had at my fingertips. Glad I didn't go in to the studio as I would have had to lug it all in!


WAS I PRODUCTIVE?

Even I can't believe I did this all in one day! I knuckled down and saw results. I really enjoyed it though, which is definitely why I managed so much.

WHAT CAN I TAKE FROM WHAT I LEARNT?

It definietly pays to visualise your ideas. Trying to produce something you've thought of allows you to realise the problems it could lead to, like low feasibility and low effectiveness.

HAVE I DOCUMENTED MY EXPERIENCE?

Yes I've gone through and labelled each postcard idea and put any ideas that could lead from it and different approaches to it.  All the postcards are tacked into my sketchbook.


IS THERE A DIRECTION MY PROJECT IS TAKING?

By reading what I've done today, there are many tangents it could take.  I've identified that they either show London in a negative or positive way (or both), are education, are humourous or interactive. (These of course cross over in some areas).


AM I ON TRACK?

Yes, I've experimented a lot today by visualising with type, drawing, photo manipulation, collage, image. I now have a range of ideas to work from and wittle down by getting feedback. I can go on to the "Finalisation" stage confident that I have tried and tested many options.