Creeping Secrets and

So after my review and feedback with my tutors, I started to explore new ideas and thoughts in the context of locks and movement. Talking with my tutors helped me further my idea in locks and now I have moved onto the concept of locking away secrets or how secrets never die and always come out in the end. I firstly began with looking at what retains and confines secrets and developed them into conceptual ideas. I explored how secrets are locked away in journals and diarys and how there are certain things people may never know about us although some secrets may leak out that we never expected.

My first conceptual idea was to create a journal made of ceramics with lock interior(top left-hand corner photograph) inside of it which would cover certain sentences and block the view of secrets to the audience. I then explored the idea of the larynx ie the voicebox containing secrets untold. I hope to further this concept and to produce a ceramic piece which i have sketched and planned for at the moment. I also decided to set myself the task of collecting anonymous secrets and fears of art students in this college as a part of this project. I created a poster to request these secrets and produced a box for which the secrets and fears should be placed in anonymously. I placed this box and poster on the notice board by the canteen and in the first year area. My plan is to produce a stylized ceramic larynx in the form of a vase with chalice embellishments( to show the sacredness of secrets) , lined in the inside with fears and secrets. The larynx itself locks away secrets that may never be told. My plans are all ready for delving into the production of this piece, I just have to gather the necessary materials and equipment.

The project which I currently finished was a piece inspired by light and typography. On Sunday morning i captured an image of an old journal with the sunlight coming through the blinds onto it. This image really inspired me as it reminded me of how secrets leak out, so i decided to draw a detailed image of the photograph in black pen on white card. I knew i was going to progress this image into a 3d format to show movement in a visual sense but was not sure until Mondays lecture on typography really grasped my attention and inspired me. I love the idea of art being created with letters as it adds another dimention of meaning to the piece. 

My idea of secrets leaking out of this old journal turned into the concept of secrets creeping out like old weeds that come back to haunt someone. I found this concept more interesting as many people have already produced flowing typography imagery that deals with the movement of water. I thought the idea of secrets creeping was more suitable, it also reminded me of the black and white photograph I have taken of the journal with the sunlight creeping onto it. I researched different types of garden weeds and found a weed that grows through stones which i found visually beautiful. I went through a process of deciding how i would create my typography to symbolize a weed structure

 I used the programme Microsoft Word for creating the typography. I choose to gather the beginnings of secrets which i had found on a website that anonymous secrets are posted up onto. I didnt want to write the hole secret as my concept wouldnt have come across as clear as there was a lack of space for writing. Heres a few of the decisions i had to make in creating the piece of the programme.

• Font style
• Font size
• The condensement of the font
• The colour of the font
• Font outline and fill
• Font background colour or colours in my case
• Word spacing
• Indentations
• Page Orientation
• Paragraph spacing
• Page margins etc..

As i have my ECDL certificate i found working with Microsoft Word to be quite straightforward.
Creating the winding and overlapping weeds was also straightforward.

1. I firstly cut out the sentences of different shades of green.
2. I then glued 2 sentences together with the writing facing outwards
3. I glued the inner section of the double-sided strips and twisted to make a straw shape
4. I then cut the endings in a leaf like structure

In the process of making this weed typography structure i made sure the writing was visible to the viewer and that they were easily read. Overall i was quite happy with the resulting work.

 The lecture on typography inspired me so much that I went hope that evening and photographed the diversity of typography found in my kitchen. I just love the variety of fonts and colours used to convey the products messages. It shows just how high-class the product design industry is these days.

 The use of lettering to create imagery is just so fascinating!

Until next time

-Theresa