OUGD405 - Cell Phone Symphony - Day 1

OUGD405 - Cell Phone Symphony - Day 1

The first day on this project for me was not as productive as it could have been; having been set the task of finishing 3 posters, I set down some good ideas for 2 posters but completed neither of them.

Idea 1*

This poster utilises all 11 digits from each of the 10 random phone numbers. Every number was counted and ordered in how often they appear in total. They were then arranged in order from highest to lowest. The numbers 0-9 were placed on the poster and the size of each number correlated systematically to its order on the list of their frequencies. 10 hues were picked for each number as well, ranging from red down to green on the colour chart; the highest digit - 7 - appeared in red, while the lowest - 8 - went all the way down to green. Even numbers appeared in bold whilst odd numbers were in italic. An interesting direction to take this composition would be inverting the colours, printing it off and photocopying it, perhaps warping the characters slightly. A separate layer could be made arranging typography and then the 2 could be combined.

Idea 2

The numbers 0-9 were ordered in a row in the middle of the page and fitted into a grid system with 20 rows going across - Each number was stretched vertically depending on the frequency of how often it appeared. A good approach to this composition would be to print it off and draw on a modular grid. Then cut out all of the modular sections and rearrange them, scan this in and create a second composition with typography. It might be interesting to arrange the typography in a different grid system and see how it interacts with the modular grid system when combined. 

Critique Feedback

I wasn't expecting fantastic feedback in the group critique because of the lack of work I was able to create, and this was true. In general the feedback I got fitted 5 basic themes, these were:

1. Questioning the typeface

2. Suggesting I use physical processes

3. Asking how it represents music

4. Questioning the application of colour

5. Asking the relevance of the numbers and their layout

1. I used Gill Sans for the numbers open my first poster and DIN Alternate Bold for my second. I agree I could maybe come up with more unusual typefaces, however as the numbers only formed the background image, I would have gone on to utilise more unsual typefaces for the type layer.

2. I do intend to use physical processes for some posters.

3. While the work I created didn't have any visual ties to music, I will create posters that do - Not every poster has to have a link to music.

4. All colour used on the first idea corresponded to the frequency of how often it appeared in the ten different phone numbers. These colours did fit within a colour palette.

5. See above*