Week 8 - Design and Critique

Tramaine Berry
Mar 14, 2021
22 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2023

This week, I am going to deliver the final draft of my 3,000-word visual culture essay and consider production, launch, manufacture and promotion of my editorial. In terms of launching, I am going to look at kickstarter campaigns and high profile product launches for inspiration.

RESEARCH //

Lecture with Darren Wall

This lecture was an interview with Darren Wall about how to develop and launch a publishing company, identify and communicate a potential audience, and analyse the innovative print and digital production techniques used within the printing industry.

From working with publishing companies enabled him to recognise the business side of running his own publishing company, which involves manuscripts, design, commercialism, deadlines, production and cost.
Costs impacted the type of design he was doing because the music industry was having lower budgets.
Reading Only Memory company.
Social media being used to promote.
He doesn't think about the design of the book, instead he looks at the format of the book and how the audience might respond to it. What is the consumer's journey? I enjoy how he keeps referring to his book as a decorative object that you would want to keep in the house for as long as possible.
Collaborates with team members remotely using Slack. Reminds me of how I used to communicate ideas with my marketing team using pallet's shelf layout. I find that Slack doesn't allow me to organise more than one project in comparison and there isn't enough notifications.
Make sure you build a team that has the same enthusiasm for your subject. He mentions there is a lot of trust involved and he needs to organise the independent team of individuals, which I think I have struggled to do. In order to create a launch team, I need to develop a backbone and try not too passive. He also mentions that he works with different printers because he wants them to be passionate and develop conversations about the project.
Crowdfunding brings a lot of pressure to the creative process because a group of people are relying on you and expecting you to deliver, but Wall advises not to worry too much if the final book is late (just keep people in the loop). It gives you the freedom to not think about how the book is going to be presented online and you don't need to change the book cover to fit in with promotional stickers. This reminds me of how Andrew Sanigar talked about publishers asking the designer to compromise or change the cover of the book. And you make more money from doing your own publishing, and you have more control over how much you want to spend on the materials for the book. It also allows you to test out the project and see how your audience responds, he recommends going to a publisher only after you've proved your project works.
Launching a campaign is time consuming and doesn't have specific hourly slots due to the campaign being global. If I were to launch my fictional campaign, I would make sure to do this when I have time off work. How long does a campaign last?
Don't be too precious about campaign, just make sure the idea is communicated clearly; audience responds to the idea. And stay in contact of the people that have supported the book before it's made, and mention them in the acknowledgement page.
You need to pay licence fees for a book?
Speak to studios about publishing process.
He designed the book for himself, which makes sense being he has chosen a subject that interests him. What this has taught me is to find like-minded people. One way I would do this is by reaching out on LinkedIn because this is a platform that I use to find people with similar interests as me.

The collaboration between Darren Wall and Racheal Dalton resulted in combining Racheal's interest of bookmarks that came with Victorian books with Darren's gaming interest by placing emphasis on video games having hidden features. It was interesting to hear that only small printing companies would want to do this bookmark project because it requires more prototyping and testing out different methods of production; however, I suppose this is due to having less clients and being able to spend more time on each project. He sees smaller publishing companies as the future.

So you want to Publish a Magazine?

Chapter 6: Getting it out there

Based on the Pros and Cons between distributing professionally and doing it yourself, I think it would be better to start off with professional distribution and then do it yourself later because I would want to build an audience first. The shelf magazine went from traditional to independent distribution by building up a network of contracts, indicating these contacts were not available during traditional distribution.

Although, my marketing experience has given me some knowledge on how to reach out to an audience, and it would be better to have more control over what percentage of the kick-starter budget would be used on different stages of production.

I think feeling copies at a discount is a brilliant way of getting money straight away, enabling you to work on another project. I also like the idea of putting my book in the pre-ordering sector because it would give me a realistic idea of how many copies are needed and it would contribute to the costs of production. Recommended e-commerce services include PayPal, Stripe and Big Cartel.

I am in love with the illustrative typeface on this magazine because it feels similar to my own style. Gym Class by Steven Gregor is a completely independent magazine in terms of distribution and production, so it would be really good for me to reach out and ask him some questions. I am very interested in the 'do it yourself' approach to subscriptions.

Because of the title 'Gym Class', the magazine is placed next to weightlifting magazines. There is a sense of irony there because the purpose of the magazine was supposed to be for the people that were always picked last for gym class - an 'anti-man' magazine that doesn't follow stereotypes. It was a magazine about magazines.

In 2016, Gregor uses his editor's letter to explain he can't afford to keep losing money making his editorial in his spare time. The podcast below describes his experiences of running his magazine whilst doing his day job as a freelance art director. He mentions the magazine starting off as a £3 zine, which in his opinion was the most successful period because it was affordable to both consumer and himself; the £10 price was a barrier and reduced the accessibility for consumers. He mentions selling every copy at ten pounds breaks even with no profit, however, I think when you consider he was only doing two magazines per year, I think his issue might have been the fact that the magazine wasn't thick enough for consumers to so the value for money. The magazine 'heads for snakes only published once a year but was able to charge more with over 100 pages. This being considered, I think magazines are starting to be compared with book prices because books provide you with more content for a similar price. An obvious factor would be technology offering cheaper alternatives.

In 2019 Gregor made a come-back by changing his format to affordable zines. One thing I've noticed is how he has taken away the colours, which reduces the cost of printing and sets the cover price at £3.20. He also seems to be more playful with his layout and uses illustration over photography, which I find more appealing because I feel more drawn to the publisher's personality. The pages have now doubled to 32 pages but in a smaller format, making the piece feel like it has more content as well as being more portable to travel with.

One thing that I am confused about is why he aimed at distributing to a store when his magazine was based on what is essentially design based. Angharad Lewis (the author of 'so you want to publish a magazine') started his own publishing company because he knew his books wouldn't sell and his target audience wasn't looking in book stores, which are many design students. By selling online, he became more accessible to his audience and he saved money on distribution. I also think that by placing a book or magazine in a store, you are leaving yourself exposed to comparison between competitors - when consumers click on an advert, they are directed straight to the product without other competitors being in view.

Look at Offscreen's blog; talks about finances and magazine process.

Chapter 8: Money talks

Perdiz magazine was founded by Marta Puigdemacs, who has used he own savings to set up her own publishing company. There are suggestions that the publishing industry is difficult to get a profit from, making me think the business would be better as a part-time job - a but like how this course is structured to enable me to earn full-time income.

One of my old tutors Tim Donaldson published his book 'Shapes for sounds' during his lecturing career, so it would be interesting to see what his advise would be. I have done fundraising campaigns before, but Im not too sure how I would feel about raising money for me because I see myself as independent.

As far as planning money goes, I usually ask my sister to help me with figuring out costs because she is currently an accountant.

Advise from a printer

Pages need to be a multiple of 8 or 16, but 16 is more cost effective.
Send the printer the magazine in progress because the printer could advise you on the page sizing and pick up on things that need fixing.
Make sure there is a 3mm bleed on the pages.
Mixed paper in magazines are trending, so I need to start thinking about he textures being used for my slave trade article and which printers would be able to print on my chosen materials. It does contrast with Steven Gregor's approach to magazines because in his experience, consumers are more drawn towards cheaper alternatives, which effects the thickness and texture of the paper dramatically.
Single pages are usually best to supply the printer.

Chapter 9: Launch and Beyond

Peter Bil'ak from 'Works That Work' magazine raises an interesting point. He mentions consumers becoming interested in how the food industry operates, so why are there no queries about other industries? Last week, I looked at a magazine that stated how an image of the office on social media would be damaging to the brand. This magazine tries to get their audience involved in showing what's underneath the surface of a magazine.

The social distribution method has been used not make money but to gain access to new and unknown audiences and create a sense of community. It reminds me of network marketing and how people would become a local resource on the products. When I think of magazines and this social method, I think of the high street sellers that I tend to avoid. So the idea of putting this method online and recommended by a friend feels more trustworthy and convenient.

Bil'ak is the last person to be paid for magazine work, however, he runs a studio and earns an income from other projects. For me, this has confirmed my intentions of doing the magazine as a part-time job.

Chapter 10: Growing up

Growing too fast is bad because you have to sustain this. Starting slow allows you to learn at a comfortable pace and you have time to improve the way you approach your magazine.

WORKSHOP CHALLENGE //

In this week's workshop challenge, I am going to research and analyse methods to launch, fund, market and promote a piece of self-publishing, which will be summarised in 100 words. And create a final draft of my 3,000 word article with a front cover, chapter opener, two double page spreads, and a back cover included in the design.

Change in article layout

Due to my idea of events placing a role in the existence of the flag and this being replicated through the flag's opacity, I think it would make sense for the essay to be structured in a way that navigated history in the correct order; at the moment I am comparing different time zones with each other, and I don't see how this would make sense with my idea.

Another barrier to get behind is the back cover, which requires me to include my editorial proposal of Emidy's story. My research has moved from Emidy to British slavery, so I am going to start off with introducing Emidy (so the audience isn't confused on the topic) and then move onto the beginning of slavery.

So, the layout of my essay is going to be : Middle (Emidy) , Start (Romans), Middle (Slavery), and Ending (Abolition and beyond). This would influence the colour layout of my book.

It would be interesting to see how I use the chapter names to influence the content layout.

Production plans

In order to make my production process more affordable, I am planning on inviting on a HP envy printer, which according to Mollie Baker from Quirky Gerry is affordable and is able to print on 300gsm card. As well as providing high quality print and enabling me to create cheap mock-ups, this would be an asset to my greeting card business.

HP Envy 6022 Wireless InkJet Printer - £69.99

A4 printer - There will be a barrier in terms of book size
Up to 300gsm
Scanner
1200 x 1200dpi print resolution

Draft 2

Emidy’s Story

Joseph Emidy was born in West Africa in 1775, captured by the Portuguese at the age of twelve and enslaved in Brazil; the population growth of Brazil required more labour for food production and cattle ranching. His master taught him the fiddle after recognising the boy’s love for music, leading him to play the violin for the Lisbon Opera, Portugal. However, after being heard by British Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, Joseph was kidnapped and forced to entertain British sailors for seven years before being abandoned in Falmouth at thirty years of age. According to William Tuck, Emidy had been plied with liquor, leaving him in no condition to realise he had been taken away from his home. Pellew was so worried about Emidy escaping that he was permitted from going on shore. Later in his life, Pellew was credited with destroying the Brazilian slave trade in 1851 by attacking Algerian ships after a treaty for the end of Christian slavery was not accepted.

Joseph Emidy spent the last 30 years of his life as a teacher, composer and violinist. Even though Cornwall was more tolerant over Emidy’s skin colour compared to London, this was only overlooked due to his musical talents and his mannerisms; he was advised by London music critics to stay away from the capital’s music circle. He also married a local white woman, Jane Jennifer Hutchins.

James Silk Buckingham was a Cornish-born anti-slavery politician, who was also Emidy’s student. Buckingham lost contact with his former teacher after Emidy moved to Truro for his music career. Travel was not convenient in Cornwall and the Falmouth railway had not been built yet, making the community very isolated. Truro was becoming known in high society as ‘the London of Cornwall’ due to more people investing in the mining business with mining methods improving.

Joseph Emidy is buried in Truro’s Kenwyn churchyard 1835 at the age of 60, and although his music has disappeared from history, his legacy has recently inspired several projects. For example, the Cornish playwright 'the tin violin' by Alan M Kent retells Emidy's story, however, instead of refering to the violin the Navy stole from the Lisbon Opera (along with Emidy), he uses a magical tin violin that was made by a miner. The Emidy Project by Anglo-Nigerian also tells Emidy's story, however, this is achieved through dance, film and music to place emphasis of Emidy's experience and trigger emotions.

Pre-slavery

Racial intolerance in Britain wasn’t always bad. According to Professor Mary Beard, the first recorded African community in Britain was recorded in the 3rd Century, located at Cumbria’s Aballaba fort where Emperor Septimius Severus (a man of African heritage) strengthened and rebuilt the wall. Romans did have slaves, however, they did not have negative ethnic stereotypes as most slaves were obtained in the defeat of enemies because this was a way of humiliating the enemy. Some people from African origins were slaves, however, others were workmen, travellers or traders. Marcus Terentius Varro would keep a journal of the slave market, which talks advises buyers to not have too many slaves of the same origin because each origin had specific characteristics suited for specific roles: for example, someone from Gaul (France) would be most suited to being a herdsman because their tribe lived in an agricultural society.

The medieval times started representing the three wise men as three different Christian continents of Europe, Africa and Asia. Unlike Emidy's portrait, this portal isn't about exclusion but of unity. Africa was seen as a land of riches, inspiring the British to reach its shores.

Catherine of argon brought multi-racial culture in 1501. John Blanke arrived with Catherine and was employed as a trumpeter for Henry VIII, and was successful in asking for equal pay. By divorcing Catherine, Henry VIII was excommunicated by the Pope and broke away from the Catholic Church, leading up to the creation of the Church of England. During this time, William Hawkins was appointed as Lord Mayor and made the first English expeditions to West Africa.

Africa and Britain used to have a brilliant trading relationship. Elmina was built as a trading centre, where local kings would trade the nation’s gold in exchange for luxury goods such as guns, iron, cloth and beer. The book of Richard Hakluyt's Principal Navigations talks about John Los taking 5 African men back to England where they learnt English and was told to act as interpreters for future negotiations- returned home a few years later.

In 1562, Sir John Hawkins (the son of William Hawkins) took 300 Negroes and sold them into slavery, becoming the first English slave trader and demonstrating humans were as precious as gold. Queen Elizabeth funded the second expedition.

Slavery: 16th Century

Britain was one of the most active slave-trading countries, trading over three million people between the 16th and 18th century. Elmina was repurposed as a slave trade and Bunce Island became a slave fortress that would imprison slaves until they were shipped. Slaves were often examined by buyers as if they were cattle, and the owners would brand slaves of all ages by burning RAC onto their chest. The RAC stood for Royal African Company, although it started off as the Royal Adventurers when King Charles II granted a charter to a group of men, hoping to expand the slave trade.

Cornwall took part in the slavery. In fact, Truro was called Caribbe Island or Cribby Island by the end of the 1600s, which was derived from the Caribbean due to the large number of slave ships docking in the city’s port.

Thomas Corker of Falmouth was a slave owner and Royal African Company agent in 1684. He married an African princess

Edward Colston was the deputy govern of the Royal African Company during the 17th century, who's statue was thrown into the Bristol waters during a protest called Black Lives Matter 2020. He was responsible for 100,000 people being sold into slavery, which funded the schools and churches of Bristol.

Sir Rose Price made his fortune from sugar plantations in Jamaica. Records show that his slaves were beaten and neglected, often dying young. He owned the Trengwainton Garden in Penzance, which is linked to the lives of the slaves.

During this time, Falmouth was known for mixed religion as the Fox family created ‘the Quaker’ in 1670 and a Jewish community settled in the 1740s. The Quakers believed everyone was equal in the sight of God, contrasting with the Church of England associating dark skin to ‘evil’. Ironically, the Portuguese baptised their slaves and the British saw the slaves as less of a threat if the slaves would adopt British mannerisms. Additionally, the slaves who were baptised because they thought becoming Christians in England would free them until the British Lord Chancellor pursued personal slaves being brought to England would remain slaves.

In 1752, a slave-born ten-year-old named Francis Barber became part of Dr Samuel Johnson’s household. Johnson was a writer and lived at the centre of London with an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 black people living in Britain. Francis was featured in the painting 'Yung Black', becoming the first black person to be featured as the main subject rather than as part of the scenery; contrasting with Emidy and Belle’s portrait. Johnson became a father-figure and gave Francis his fortune. Francis married a white woman and started a family as a free man.

Cedric Barber is a descendant of Francis Barber who has written a book 'Slaves, Sinners and Saints' after his discovery of his African heritage. His book was referenced in Michael Bundock's 'The Fortunes of Francis Barber'.

Abolition: 18th Century

John Wesley was a key figure in the abolitionist movement and founder of Methodism. John Wesley suggested this boycott of sugar, although there was an exception when it came to sugar in Cornish pasties. John Wesley became interested in slavery when he went to the British Colony of Georgia in America 1736, where he saw the conditions that slaves were living in and how they were treated. 40 years later he wrote a pamphlet called ‘Thoughts upon slavery’ (extract can be seen on the website).

Virginia created a law that made people born in England a permanent slave if their mother was a slave. 1660s. Slavery was not part of English law because it contradicted ideals of British freedom.

Granville Sharp is a British biblical scholar and musician that launched a movement that would influence other campaigns against slavery. This all started after he came across a teenage black slave named Jonathan Strong who was left for dead after being brutally whipped on the streets. The boy was cared for and given a job as a chemist in modern terminology, however, his old master saw him recovered and hired slave catchers to hold him in prison after failing to reclaim him as his property. Not being a lawyer, Sharp convinced the sailors to give Strong a court hearing and defended the boy's innocence in front of the court. The historian Christopher Brown called Sharp Britain's first abolitionist.

In 1761, there was illegitimate bi-racial child named Dido Elizabeth Belle, whose father was a British admiral named Sir John Lindsay and their mother a former slave. Dido's mother was still enslaved during Dido's birth in America but was freed once the child reached 12-13 years of age, and in-between this time Lindsay had captured several foreign slave ships and brought them back to England. The 2013 film 'Belle' was inspired by this British legacy, which captures the struggles behind being too high in status to live among other people of colour and juggled by fellow aristocrats for her skin colour. The 1779 painting of Dido next to her white cousin are intended to be equal by not presenting her as a slave or servant, however, like Emidy's portrait (1805) there is still a high contrast between the two by presenting Dido with a turban and a basket of exotic fruit. According to English Heritage, Dido's great uncle Lord Mansfield was Lord Chief Justice, examined the legality of the slave trade and made sure to protect her rights to be a free woman in his will.

Lord Dunmore promised freedom to all male slaves that had escaped American plantations to join the British army. During this time, the 1775 Revolutionary war had started due to tensions between the British and colonists. Congress excluded slaves from enlisting in the army, however, they later promised freedom to those that enlisted out of fear they would join the British. Many slaves would take advantage of the chaotic events, and freed themselves by risking their lives, but those that survived the war received fifty-dollars to start a new life. Would slaves buy the freedom of other slaves?

In 1787, 441 poor black people and their white wives exported to Africa. Frank plague. Crops would be an alternative to slave trade. Most settlers had died.

Minstrelsy was an anti-slavery act in 1832, but also had racist connotations once it was transformed into the Black & White Minstrel show in 1957-1978. Attempted to make African culture public. 1968 attempted a show without makeup.

1838 slavery in the British empire was over. Other European powers didn't follow their example. In 1808 to 1860, Royal Navy created a special force to protect British slave ships but was transitioned into a force that intercepted slave ships to free Africans onboard. Over 150,000 liberated men and women.

In 1850, as the abolition of slavery was under-way, Captain Forbes received a captive girl named Sara Bonetta along with other diplomatic gifts from the African King Gezo of Dahomey. Queen Victoria adopted the young African girl as a social experiment, showing the British public that Africans have the capacity to be civilised and educated during the abolition of slavery - even though Dido had already become an example of sophistication, she was classed as half African and half British.

Anti-slavery Britain was economically dependent on the southern states of America's slave-grown cotton, providing seventy percent of raw material for Britain's Industrial Revolution; an industry that moved from weaving and spinning wool towards factory production lines. Lancashire provided cotton with an ideal climate, preventing the cotton fibres from splitting. However, Britain's reliance on the stability of other nations took a downfall during America's Civil War as the southern ports were blocked by the Federal Navy and cut off the supply of raw cotton to Lancashire. As a result, mills were closing and left many people unemployed and poverty struck. England was a major textile producer that exported across the globe since the 1770s and accounted for one fifth of the employment sector and source of income. Southern states of America were shocked to see England not fighting the war alongside them - this would mean England would need to support the act of slavery. Despite hardships, Britain responded by supplying the Northern part of America with tools to make guns, ammunition and ships.

During the same year Abraham Lincoln became president, the Civil War between the north and south American states began in 1861 as attitudes towards slavery differed. The southern states mainly relied on the farming industry and the labour of African slaves, however, the northern states were well established within agriculture and manufacturing industries, so they were more inclined to the abolitionist movement. Additionally, due to the northern industries specialising in manufacturing, they had more factories to create supplies to win the war. Lincoln freed all enslaved people in the rebellious states at the start of 1863.

Britain was he first to colonise Africa in 1870 because they needed resources for manufacturing such as gold, salt, rubber, ivory and gold. As a result, Africa is left poor with less resources to build homes due to a lack of natural resources. The colonisation took place mainly across the east side of Africa.

War & 20th century

In the 1920s, it is clear not much has changed as Leslie Hutchinson became the era’s acceptable face of blackness due to his musical talents. The only difference between Hutch and Emidy was the ability to play in London, even though Hutch was the star of the show, he was restricted from staying in the hotel he sang in or walk through the front door - sometimes his charm would enable him to combat these barriers as he befriended the hosts. Hutchinson was a Black musician from the West Indies who was noticed for his piano and vocal talent. He had affairs with both men and women, however, one affair in particular with a wealthy white woman named Edwina Mountbatten damaged his career as the royal scandal closed influential circles from him; he was never asked to perform at a Royal Command Performance, newspapers would refuse to publish his name and several theatres refused to book him.

The Pan African Flag was created in 1920 by Marcus Garvey, approved by the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in America. This was a political act because Africa didn't have a flag during this time, and this represented an activist movement for national identity. Red symbolised the blood of African people and the people that fought for liberation. Black represented their race. And green symbolised growth of Africa. Before the flag was created, the minstrels created a song in 1900 regarding the importance of having a flag and how Africa had none to represent racial pride, which inspired Garvey to create this flag. Since then, all African flags have been inspired by the colours of this flag.

Contrasting with the Roman attitude, Jim Crow laws were being introduced to Britain for the first time after America’s segregated soldiers were transported onto the English WWII campsites. Ironically, this law was named after a Black minstrel show character that was purposed to abolish slavery. Segregation emerged in America 1820s in response to racial anxieties in urban public spaces between black men and white women. According to Anothony Burgees, Bristish citizens didn’t share the same racial attitudes as white American soldiers, ‘one thing I noticed here and which I don’t like is the fact that the English don’t draw any colour line’.

Between 1948 and 1971, Britain was short of transport, postal and hospital workers after the second world war – mainly jobs that were low paid and hard in labour. The people from the West Indies had to pay twenty-eight pounds and ten shillings to get onboard the ship, which the average man didn’t have because those that wanted to immigrate to Britain were jobless and looking to start a new life. Mass migration for the commonwealth wasn't expecting people from the West Indies to be black people, leading the Union to deny British identity to them. The Home office kept no record of this generation and many children were labelled as illegal immigrants rather than British citizens, losing their right to work or live within the UK. People were detained or deported during the time of Brexit, however, each individual later received compensation in 2019 with granted citizenship.

Africa finally gained their independence in 1950s after years of colonisation, however, Britain still has control over Africa's mineral resources today through mining companies situated across Sub-saharan Africa.

2,867 words

How do I gain primary research?

Looking at how my research has developed into a timeline, I wold like to gain some modern perspective on the British African slave trade by asking people to read my essay and discuss how it links with today's Black Live Matter.

I was originally going to ask Falmouth students from African heritage, but I am worried this would be too insensitive so I have opened up the discussion to many ethnic groups. And to make sure I receive enough responses, I have posted on LinkedIn, Facebook ( my account, Local Falmouth and the university's Penfession group), and the Ideas Wall.

Because this subject is sensitive, I am glad I studied different news papers and developed a tone of voice that is neutral and un-opinionated; this will enable me to share my article without offending anyone and add a variety of public opinions to my article.

I wonder whether this would be a good marketing strategy? What if there were an exhibition were people read the article and write down their thoughts? The 3,000 essay would act as a section of a bigger piece.

REFLECTION //

My research has informed my intentions to look for small printing companies and see whether they have enthusiasm for my project because they are more likely to explore different methods and exchange ideas. As far as money goes, I am planning to use my accountant sister to help me. I think treating my article like this course would enable me to earn full-time income whilst doing this article 25 hours a week; it is difficult to earn a living within the publishing industry.

I think magazines are being compared with books in terms of how much content they are able to provide for the same price, which is why I don't want to rely on the magazine as my final format. With a book, you have no expectation on releasing further editions and depending on the content of the book, people are willing to pay more for it, which is why I need to provide information that will be valid for a longer period. I also think distributing online would make me more accessible to a target audience, and the price of my book wouldn't be as expensive when I'm saving money on distribution.

During the peer critique session, we discussed how we are coping having the Ideas Wall move from 3 groups into one whole group, and we all agreed that having one group is too overwhelming. We felt having two groups instead would be more logical and encourage more interaction. Additionally, none of us know each other, so it might be worth suggesting social online gatherings at the end of the module. I didn't receive any negatives or any form of constructive feedback during this session, although someone did like my idea of turning my book into a functioning flag - I think more feedback would have been received in groups of 5 or 6 rather than 4. I was very interested to see Katy's take on her town, using the grid system to represent the structure of the greenery - I suggested looking into art nouveau to inspire the typography. Cat was interested in architecture and tapestry, which I suggested to have wiring underneath to play with form. And Romina was looking at Falmouth myths, so I am curious to see how much information can be gathered on a fictional piece such as this.

Apart from figuring out how the structure of my writing will influence my piece visually, I can't say this week has brought me much joy because I've been spending most of this week writing rather than doing the design work. I find that writing in my blog comes natural now, however, due to the writing style being structured and condensed, it feels like a tedious task. I would have liked to add another chapter and talk about the recent social movement 'Black Lives Matter' because there is a story on a slave owner's statue being thrown into Bristol Waters by protesters, so it would have been an opportunity to interview some people and gain some primary data rather than relying on secondary sources.