My creative outcomes from undergoing the ISTD brief.
MAIN GRAPHIC SCORE.
Implementing my graphic score to showcase further interpretation.
Graphic Notation video essay (in order to comply with the ISTD brief).
These are the outcomes of undertaking the 2022 ISTD brief entitled "Maps". As a Moving Image Design student, this was an intimidating brief because it was targeted towards Graphic Design students. However, I decided to fully indulge in my own interests and worry about the potential repercussions later.
Initially, I focused on music notation as it could be interpreted as a form of mapping. During my research on music notation, I discovered the concept of graphic notation. I didn't realise that applying symbolic values to music was considered graphic notation. Since my ability to read music is limited, this became a standard practice for me.
I then realised that assigning values to music could be considered typography, as it intends to communicate an idea or concept. Although this is not a difficult concept to grasp, I also have a preliminary interest in assigning visual identities to sounds that cannot be visually transcribed otherwise, such as everyday background sounds that we don't consider significant enough to transcribe.
This became a process of translating randomly encountered sounds. It was particularly challenging because there were no visual cues to guide me. I had to record these sounds, reinterpret them by adjusting their speed, slowing them down, reorganising them, and examining the sound waves to identify audio peaks that would allow me to understand the sound enough to assign a typographic value. If I didn't deeply engage with the sound I was listening to, the outcomes would be shallow and unsatisfying.
To exemplify the nature of graphic notation, I wanted to contextualise the typographic values I created within other contexts. This would demonstrate the malleable quality of the notation, similar to how everyday type has limitless applications and cannot be confined to one function.
I also aimed to showcase how the fundamentals of graphic notation can enable anyone to notate their musical ideas, regardless of their musical background or familiarity with traditional notation. As someone who can't read standard notation, I believe that my outcome serves as proof of that.
(Research document provided via google drive.)