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Image references

Fig.1
Tanamachi Studios, n.d. Andaz 5th Ave Installation. [Image Online] Availible at:
<http://tanamachistudio.com/chalk/oooptarh1n8hu8tvj97kvgop55jhvo> [Accessed 24th
November 2015].
(Andaz 5th Ave Installation, n.d.)

Fig.2
Tanamachi Studios, Ryan Feerer, n.d. AbiHaus Installation. [Image Online] Availible at:
<http://tanamachistudio.com/chalk/w06v3ilie0grrkcmv151xk2mtawqte> [Accessed 24th
November 2015].

(AbiHaus Installation, n.d.)

Fig.3
Lauren Hom, n.d. Mountain/Ital Signs. [Image Online] Available at:
<http://homsweethom.com/filter/chalk/WillLetterForLunch> [Accessed 24th November
2015].

(Mountain/Ital Signs, n.d.)

Fig.4
Lauren Hom, n.d. Welcome/Docklands Signs. [Image Online] Available at:
<http://homsweethom.com/filter/chalk/WillLetterForLunch> [Accessed 24th November
2015].

(Welcome/Docklands Signs, n.d.)

Fig. 5
Hom, L., 2015. Wichcraft Mural. [Image Online] Available at: . Accessed: 8th December
2015.

(Wichcraft Mural, 2015)

Fig. 6
Hom, L., 2015. Namastay In Bed All Day. [Image Online] Available at: . Accessed 8th
December 2015.

(Namastay In Bed All Day, 2015)

Fig.7
Hom, L., 2015. Inking Letters. [Image Online] Available at: . Accessed 8th December 2015.

(Inking Letters, 2015) (Namastay In Bed All Day, 2015)

Fig.8
Mckeehan, V., 2015. Luke’s 2:9 Scripture. [Image Online] Available at:
<http://lilyandval.com/collections/whatsnew/products/luke29scriptureprint> Accessed:
8th December 2015.

(Luke’s 2:9 Scripture, 2015)

Appendices

Appendix A:

Phylecia Sutherland. 2015. Phylecia Sutherland Reflects on Her Work. Interviewed by...Beth
Taylor. [Electronic Correspondence] Location N/A, 19th November 2015.

1. Would you define what you do as craft? Why?

Yes, letterpress is a craft because it takes it takes skill. Not anyone can jump on
a press and expect things to be beautifully printed. Letterpress is craft that is
learned over time and takes a lot of practice,  and the older the press the more
skill it may take.

2. What made you choose to create things yourself for a living?

Mostly I ventured out not due to my creativity, but my need to work for myself.
I don’t do well with being ‘boxed’ in my ideas and creativity limited or stifled
by the agenda of others. Maybe that is because I am creative?

3. Would you say a crafted object such as what you produce has increased in
value in this digital age?

Absolutely. Letterpress itself has had waves of popularity, but those who
choose letterpress know it’s value are willing to pay for it. It is a handcrafted,
slow process and as all things that are handcrafted and tailored to its customer,
you get what you pay for.

4.Why do you think this is?

In terms of stationery, I think many people long to be able to hold things in
their hand, a handwritten card in the mail is always more valuable and more
cherished than an email. Then moving on from just something solid, people
want to see something special. They want to be wowed, see that something has
been created by a human. Letterpress gives that extra bit of specialness that
digital printing does not have.

5. Have you found an increase in demand for your work as digital advances
continue?

Not necessarily. Most of clients know they want letterpress and then search for
someone who does it, there are few that come across the process on accident
and think, “I have to have that”. I don’t think more and more people are out
there thinking, I’m tired of being online, I want letterpress. They may want
paper and pen, but letterpress is still kind of for those in the know.

6.Did you learn your craft from other people, or were you self taught, or a
combination of the two?

I am mostly self taught, and any outside influence is from devouring forums
online for troubleshooting. What’s more difficult is that my press is an old and
very rare press, so even when troubleshooting I would have to filter, discern or
tailor any advice to what would actually work on my press.

7. To what extent do the traditional skills and processes of your craft play a role
in how your practice/create?

The letterpress process influences how I design. For example, taking into
account I have to print one colour at time, registration of each colour needing to
match perfectly. In practice, I test the waters in seeing how different ink colours
appear on different paper stocks.

8. Do you feel the enjoyment of creating contributes to the value of the final
product?
Absolutely. There is nothing more frustration when things just aren’t coming
off the press the way I want. I have a very high standard for my work which is
hard when working with such old imperfect machinery. But when my final
product is perfectly printed, with the deep impression that I aim for, it is a thing
of beauty! I absolutely love it.

9. Do you find a sense of freedom in being able to make a living with your own
hands and skills?

Yes, definitely. I love the freedom of owning my own business and working
from home. I love that I have creative freedom and love the fact that what I do
is so highly valued and respected. I’ve never really thought of myself as a

craftswoman, but I am. I create beautiful stationery on a rare vintage press and
my skills have taken years to attain and I only continue to improve.

Appendix B

Interview with Roger Grech:

Questions:

1. What made you chose this profession?

2. Would you say crafted objects such as those you produce have gone up in
value in the digital age?

3. Do you feel the enjoyment of creating feeds into the value of an object?

4. Why do you think this is?

5. Did you learn your craft from other craftsmen or were you self taught?

6. To what extent does the tradition of your craft play a role in how you work?

7. Have you found an increase in demand for your products as the digital age
continues?

8. Do you find a sense of autonomy in being able to make a living with your
own knowledge and hands?

Recording Method: I have considered recording these interviews with a voice
memo type arrangement but I found that we were in a place where there was a
lot of noise interference which would have caused a lot of issues. Also it is
rather awkward and strange to just ask someone if you could record their voice.
I feel that it could affect what they choose to say and how they say it rather than
them being open and relaxed in the conversation.

Instead I chose to make notes as fast and thoroughly as I can and then reflect on
these notes in more detail as soon as I can after the interview (in the form of a
blog post) so that I don't miss the details of facial expression and phrasing as
much as possible. Also so that I can look at my own role in the conversation

and account for my own influence on the answers and any bias that might be
inherent in the process.

I am not going to directly quote anything Roger said because I think this
interview is more about clarifying and discussing this topic rather than proving
or arguing something. Instead I will write out his answers from my notes with
as little bias interpretation as possible.

1. What made you choose this profession? (also answered question 5 here)
Just the fact that he had a technical mind that wanted to learn more about the
different processes and ways that book binding could be done. Started as a
basic search for a way to present his print work. He learned the foundations of
binding from the book 'introduction to bookbinding'. At that point he didn't
pursue it much further. However, later on the interest developed with a need to
just know more. At this stage the internet and the increasing accessibility of
information came into play allowing a more comprehensive and self lead
learning process.

He also subsequently met the person who wrote the book that started it all, this
allowed him to tap into the huge resource of skill and knowledge that is the
other people and craftspeople in the field. This is a great part of doing
something so specifically skills based; you learn from the different ways
different people approach a design problem.

There is also a huge satisfaction and and ego pleasing  aspect to the whole
thing. You make something and you put a part of yourself into it. You send it
out there in the hopes that people will accept that part of you and when they do
it is the best feeling there is.

value in the digital age? (also answers question 7, 3 and 4 here)

Yes, but these things depend on your market and what they are prepared to pay
for because craft objects are expensive. However, once you get well known for
doing a particular style or process people will come to you for that. And that
puts, from my perspective a greater value in the skill than in the object itself.
But there is definitely a great value placed in craft objects. For how long I don't
know, but it is definitely there. people want beautiful things. Its is an incredibly
emotionally tactile moment when someone picks up something he has created
and connects with it.

From a creatives perspective it is about creating value that can be perceived by
the people you are marketing to. To do this you have to differentiate from other
creatives.


As a Designer Binder Roger also uses skills beyond that of book binding to
separate his work from the crowd. He designs the covers and looks at the
traditional processes and approaches them in slightly different ways. However,
lots of people do this. It is natural to find different ways of solving the problems
encountered so developments are made on traditional processes all the time.
Bringing in other skill sets gained from other areas is natural and happens a lot,
changing the traditional processes but still using them as foundations of
reference.

Being able to implement other skills that would otherwise be done by someone
else allows much greater control over the finished product and control is a
luxury in this digital age of programmes doing things for you.

Appendix C

InterView With Nick Print Project

Questions:

1. What made you chose this profession?

value in the digital age?

3. Do you feel the enjoyment of creating feeds into the value of an object?

4. Why do you think this is?

5. Did you learn your craft from other craftsmen or were you self taught?

6. To what extent does the tradition of your craft play a role in how you work?

7. Have you found an increase in demand for your products as the digital age
continues?


Recording Method: I have considered recording these interviews with a voice
memo type arrangement but I found that we were in a place where there was a
lot of noise interference which would have caused a lot of issues. Also it is
rather awkward and strange to just ask someone if you could record their voice.
I feel that it could affect what they choose to say and how they say it rather than
them being open and relaxed in the conversation.

Instead I chose to make notes as fast and thoroughly as I can and then write out
the responses to each question, from my notes and from memory in a way that
details the areas that can be directly quoted. As I plan each section of my essay
I will then print in what is relevant where. This approach varies from that of my
earlier interview with Roger because of the later stage which my writing is at.

1 & 5. 'It chose me' he came into printing by accident really. He was a
graphic designer and began to hate it, all the working onscreen had him down.
He already had an understanding of the litho print process and a certain amount
of that translates to letterpress. But right at the beginning, it all started with the
DIY punk movement and making fanzines, and becoming more interested in
how they could be made at a larger scale. He liked the "make your own shit"
centre of the punk movement and the empowering enthusiasm of 'just do it'.
This was all against the backdrop of the 80s, an era when you really had to
search things out, no internet to help you on the way. The type was something
that he had around for a while but hadn't been using it, but it was through a link
to an anarchist group in Bradford in 2010 when someone donated a press, they
got together and started the press. Eventually people left and it gradually
became self sufficient.
To start with they just set up at a zine fair and they got a lot of interest from that
with slowly built until he knew he could just do the printing, and he got to
travel all over the place because of it.

2 & 6. "no way to know" a lot of stuff is so immediately accessible that a "lot
of things are losing value". "over consumption is a bad thing" and we are
sucked into buying things by peer pressure and societies ideas of what makes
you happy. The real value is where you believe it to be. For him that is in the
"conversation" the giving back, and being able to "inspire people to do their

own thing", especially through "skill sharing" and involving other people in
what you are doing.
Often it can be quite a risky business, working on your own and then you send
it out biting your nails in hope people will like it.
There is a value that people see in something that is made by letterpress, but the
process is a job nothing more. he loves the process, but it is a means to an end
of communication. Nowadays he ttys and talk less and less about the fact that it
is letterpress, because he wants the content to be pivotal too.
He also make use of polymer plates that are created from digital designs but he
dislikes them because they are less authentic and truthful. He believes there is a
certain store of reusable energy in movable type, you can use it again and again
but with polymer plates, they are so specific to use they can only be used once
most of the time and so "it's dead" made of consumables that are consumed.
Some tools allow for flexibility though and that is just a case of necessity on
commercial jobs. However, a lot of the time it is the limitations of this process
which create an understanding of process and allows for greatest creativity.

3 & 7. Yeah, in two ways. he supposes in economic terms, how long it takes
costed out but also in a less tangible sense. When he produces something, does
he value it and does the client value it? to a certain extent to do so they need to
buy into the craft process and appreciate the time it takes. There is also the
value from his perspective of the understanding of self and work through
slowing down to produce something in such a fast world. It's a challenge and a
battle.

8. Yeah "hands down" a lot of freedom, you can come and go as you please
and meet a load of great people. This is also quite scary because you are
conscious of the time you are spending on each project because the buck stops
with you and everything needs to get done.

Appendix D

critical Journal of Love Rouge Chalkboard Project

September 29th 2015

Today I choose a cafe to approach with a proposal. This needed to be carefully
considered because although chalkboards are very flexible in aesthetic, the
pastel colours and soft outlines can be more easily turned to a soft retro, playful

tone of voice. I found a cafe that very much suited this aesthetic, not only in the
design they already have as part of their branding, but also in their dining
experience; the mix and match crockery and the delicate layered cakes. This
cafe is called Love Rouge and can be found in Headingly along the Otley road.
Because I wanted to approach the idea of doing a chalkboard or them in a
casual and open way, without any pressure, I made sure I ordered a coffee and
cake and sat down in the space for a while to get comfortable and make sure
that they weren’t too busy to stop and talk.
Once I had sat down with the assistant manager, we got talking about my
process and how I usually approach such projects. We talked about the period
of drawing time that would be required and the fact that they would be happy
for me to take up a table for day and make a sort of live illustration out of the
project. We talked about which board it would be most beneficial for them to
have redone and its positioning. Charlie (the assistant manager) felt that the
outside board would be the best for the project, because it was their biggest and
also the first thing people saw on approaching the cafe. We talked about any
content changes and the things that she wanted to be red first on the board. For
example, the word cupcake needed to be prominent because it is their main
stock in trade. I them measured up the board and made a record of content for
the later design process.
In order to better understand their business I spent some time taking
photographs of their interior design and printed material, picking out dominant
colour schemes and styles and other possible reference points for design. I
particularly felt that the decorations on some of their tea sets could be a gold
mine for chalkboard ornamentation.
Charlie and I then talked about the best days to do the board itself and the time
I would need to come up with a design and we settled on a Wednesday in two
weeks (8th).

30th September 2015

Taking the photographs I collected yesterday as a starting reference point I
started bringing together a pinterest board of the aesthetic and inspirations that
make up the Love Rouge identity. Some of the main themes I have found from
this are 1950s aesthetics such as furniture, colours and shapes. These include
simplified stylised block shapes that are instantly identifiable with the 50s era
and pastel greens and pinks. A particular reference point for me was the ercol,
or mock ercol furniture they have used whee they can. Its tapering legs and
simple lean style are iconic and elegant.

I have also spent some time looking at chalkboard artists and how they transfer
a certain style into the chalk medium. I have focussed on Lauren Hom, one of
my favourite chalk artists, because her quirky bright style is closest to what I
want to achieve for this project. In her work I found an interesting use of the
space available on a chalkboard and how the negative space around a word can
be used to make it first on the information hierarchy. ONe thing I have felt on
looking through a number of her designs is that perhaps she sometimes uses too
many lettering styles in one place. Something that I feel will add greater clarity
in communication of word and style is limiting lettering styles to only two and
for this project these should come from the identity of the cafe in question, so
that a cohesive aesthetic is achieved.

5th October 2015

I have spent sometime looking at the images I collected from the cafe and
finding a way to colour match as best I can to the colour scheme inside the
cafe.After an extensive search of craft shops all over Leeds I found some very
cheap chalks that achieved the desaturated pastel blues, greens and pinks that
the interior design boasted.

Also from the photos I took at the cafe I produced some sketches of the logo
type for the cafe. This was fairly easy as the main type was a cursive style with
a continuous line weight and softened terminals that translated well into hand
drawn lettering. The subtitle font that they use on their menus was trickier
because of the increased tracking they used but once it was achieved, it looked
really good and although I think it will pose some issues when transferred to
chalk, it will be worth it for the quirky but sharp touch it adds to an otherwise
rather soft and overly romantic effect of the logo type.

Once I had sketched this on paper I tried it out on my small chalkboard, which
although about the width of the board I am designing for, is only about half the
height. There were a few issues with the precision of the chalks and how they
wear down to an almost flat surface, not idea for sketching. However, I found
by using damp cotton buds I could remove the surplus halk from the edges of
the letter forms to achieve a surprisingly sharp edge. Although not the fastest of
methods, it is fairly effective.

Once again working from the images I collected on the 29th, and the pinterest
board I have since collated, I tried out a few ornamentation styles and shapes to

see how they would take in chalk. Plant based forms were a must but, not
overly complex ones. The 50s saw a lot of florals, but also a lot of
simplification and streamlining. This is what I hope to achieve with my
ornamentation. In large this is done in the transferal of ornamentation to chalk,
only a certain level of complexity and detail can be achieved. However, I found
that leaves could be paired down to a few lines and a little shading with very
little lost of the original effect. The curved vine like shapes I settled on were
easy to shape round typographic content and did not draw too much attention,
but helped direct focus in a subtle manner. The vines following the suggested
flow of the content to be read.
Once I had tried all the separate aspects of the design on my small board I then
went back to paper to bring them together in a proportional reference sketch of
the complete board to be created. This is not only so I can ensure that the
design will work but also so I have something to work from when I am actually
creating the board.

8th October 2015

When I arrived at the cafe they set me up in a cosy little workspace that was
well visible to the other diners and the staff as they went about their business.

A major part to the start of my day was the taking down and cleaning down of
the existing board. This meant a lot of too and froe between my little drawing
station and the kitchen during which much light chatter occurred and I got to
know the staff a little better. As I was doing this I got offered a coffee, which I
immediately accepted and thus started a long procession of lates to my work
station. Each time they would check in on my progress, make appreciative
noises and comment on some detail or another of the work that I had done since
their last visit, always finishing with an offer of anything more than the coffee,
which I didn’t take them up on; greasy fingers near a chalkboard are always a
bad idea.
I worked my way from the top of the board downwards and encountered
problems almost immediately. The board being considerably taller than myself
meant that in order to draw at the top the board had to be leant against the wall
at an increasingly acute angle. Drawing at this odd angle was not easy but at
least it got a few laughs and some light jokes about being short, which only
increased the friendliness of the atmosphere.
As customers arrived it become more of a performance than just a chalkboard.
People watched my progress, talked about what I was doing and what I was
planning for the rest of the board. They became quite engrossed in what I was

doing and I am sure stayed longer to watch. It even got to the stage where there
were small groans and chuckles whenever my chalk snapped. They were really
involved in the process in a way I had not expected.

After seven hours long labour and several coffees, I cleaned up my work nook
and brought the board down to the front of the cafe. The staff gathered to look
at my work and were very positive and lovely about everything. They asked
about preserving the chalkboard and if it should be put out in the somewhat
rainy weather. I suggested that they keep it in for one night to let the chalk
settle and then put it out under their overhang, so that although it might get
splashed now and then, it would be protected from the worst. I also offered to
come back to touch it up if it got smudged and left my card with them so that
they could get in touch for me to do so.

They were very grateful and I left on very good terms, perhaps to return for a
paid job.

Appendix E:

Critical Journal of Dissertation Practical

17th December 2015:

Today was mostly occupied with planning my context of practice practical. I looked at each
type of proximity that I have and continue to explore in my essay, and how I could look to
measure and explore their role in me executing craft practice of my own. Because this was
mostly an exercise in thought and not creation or trial and error, this did not bring me closer
to the object or outcome of the project. If anything I would say that my emotional connection
to it was less because of the academic need to so deeply reflect and analyse the process before
it begins. Hopefully this will not continue once I start the actual design and creation process.

I hem moved on to thinking about and deciding on the quotes that would form the focus of
the chalkboards. This was a much more mentally involved process and one that required me
to empathise with the possible audience, because I was looking at the most communicative
quotes, not necessarily my favourite quotes. Thinking about clear language that would not
alienate a relatively young, non academically educated audience. I also needed to think about
the length of quote for the same reasons, but also because of the placement of the boards in a
transitional space, through which many people will be passing and to be able to read the
boards quickly is important for effective communication. Because these are situation in
which I could succeed or fail to varying degrees, my emotional engagement with the project

immediately increased, simply because I wanted to succeed. Interestingly in this case I would
be succeeding in communicating with my audience, emotional proximity is thus connected to
social proximity.

I then started to consider the design options and ideas that could stem from these quotes and
how the would increase the communication of each board. I considered the typographic
design decisions separately one after the other, but informed by one another. This means that
they are unified in the message that they are communicating but perhaps approach it in
different ways because of the different formats that they need to occur in. This required a lot
of mental picturing and the bringing together of a lot of past knowledge not only about
chalkboarding as a whole but about typography and lettering, as well as visual and image
based communication. This definitely increased my emotional engagement with the project
because it connected me to my past projects and the victories and failures that are part of
those experiences, creating emotion by association.

18th December 2015:

Today I started sketching some options for the lettering style to be used on my first, physical
proximity board. I knew from my idea generation I did yesterday that I wanted to
communicate the idea of ‘the hand’ through the lettering style. To do this I used my large
hand lettering reference book for inspiration ‘Hand to Type’ and drew out each word of the
quote I had settled on in a different style that I thought could communicate the idea of the
hand used in the creation of the lettering. These designs varied from more common
handwriting like styles to the mre calligraphic in form as well as flourished. I found that a
brush pen calligraphic style communicate the movement of the hand in creation really
effectively because of the swooping forms and fluid line weight changes. However, I will
have to go on and experiment with how this style sits with a collection of words. This is the
next step of the design process. Increasingly, I find as I have to make more decisions about
how the board is precisely going to look, I am becoming more involved and emotionally
invested in the project and its outcome. Because it is my decisions and no one else’s how this
board looked in the end is on my shoulders and will reflect badly on no one but me if it looks
bad, this sparks a cycle of sorts which make me want to try harder to make the board as good
as possible and that makes me emotionally invest in the project further. On the other hand
some of these decisions are directed by and outward awareness of audience, and that creates a
sense that the project is not quite as mine as I would like it to be. But using the audience as a
focus and reason for the design decision also gives direction and purpose that the project
needs. Bit of an oxymoron really.

26th December 2015:

Today I took the brush pen calligraphy and expanded it into the first full words of the qute.
To do this I repeatedly referenced my hand lettering book ‘Hand to Type’ to see how
continuity throughout the letters could be achieved. This is something that previously would
have taken much trial and error on my part and many small tweaks and changes. However,
with increased experience I have learned to trust what I think looks right. This creates and
emotional proximity of sorts because being able to do this part of the process well makes me
feel positive and optimistic about the later stages of the project, which leads me to hope that
the board will indeed be good and invest further in the effort to make it so. In contrast to this
I thought that the central aspect of emotional proximity was the bond formed during trial and
error. This stage of the project has shown me that an affirmation of skill in a lack of trial and
error also does this. The relationship of the process of creation and craft to our emotional
proximity to the object seems a much more complex relationship than I originally thought.

Today I also spent a lot of time talking to people about my plans for this project. This was
quite a therapeutic process that helped me clarify areas that worked and identify areas that
needed greater development and explanation. It occurs to me that this is a consistent aspect of
my process, well before I actually draw much. It is a way of filtering ideas through other
people, and cutting out anything that doesn't make people enthusiastic and curious about the
project.

28th December 2015:

Today I did a small amount of experimentation with the details of the lettering style. This
centred around the variable base line that I felt could create a greater sense of animation and
the person behind the design. I varied between doing too much variation on the baseline and
not enough. This repetition of mistakes actually pulled me back from the emotional proximity
of the project. This reminds me rather of a relationship, as if these hints of trouble make you
pull back in case you get hurt by a bad or ineffective design outcome. However, I am getting
much closer to a good resolution for this board but I am also simultaneously pulling away
from it. Is this possibly because once the design becomes, incarnate and physically on the
board then it passes in a way into the ownership of the audience? I guess I will have to wait
and see. The full scale realization of at least parts of the design is becoming a necessity for
moving forward with the project and I think that once this has happened I can begin to be
fully emotionally involved in the project again. This possibly says more about my trust issues
than the overarching experience of emotional proximity for other practitioners.

30th December 2015:

Today mostly comprised of bringing together the final lettering design for the first board.
Most of the work was pretty much already done, just drawing on the small layout thumbnail
and the larger stylistic sketches to create the full work. This is by far one of the more
rewarding sages of the design process, all the fruits of past work have to come together to

create something almost complete. This stage is most rewarding because you are as close as
you have yet been to the finished product and it is exciting and enthusing to see that. This is
particularly relevant to the division of labour discussed in chapter one. If you can’t see the
fruit of your labour, there is very little emotional connection to the object or the process and
the reward is therefore minimal. This clearly outlines that the majority of the reward for
doing these things is emotional; pride, contentment and a sense of achievement. Although the
full chalkboard is yet to be finally produced this sense of achievement is very tangible at this
stage.

Today, work also started, on the second of the four boards. This one to represent social
interaction. In my earlier idea generation stage The decision had been made to draw on the
soft gothic blackletter of the Kelmscott press and the work of William Morris. This is because
it is a William Morris quote and central idea of Fraternity that is being communicated. At
first some of the blackletter forms seemed a bit harsh and I examined them by using a wide
nibbed pen to understand the strokes used to create each glyph and how they are separately
made. This definitely allowed me to feel closer to the historic context and even the meaning
of the quote. The forms the Kelmscott press uses are a softened version of traditional
backletter forms, with gentle terminals and many curved edges. This allows greater legibility
and a more easily read text, an enactment of the equality and fraternity that Morris talks of.
So, through the process I have found temporal proximity as well as emotional. However, at
this stage my emotional connection to the board is yet to be that strong. This could be
because the board is at such an early stage that I have not gone through much trial and error
yet so that proximity has not had a chance to form. In contrast to this I am quite close to the
quote itself and want to represent it well, but this has not yet had a chance to transfer from
pressure and wanting to do it justice to actual emotional proximity.

31st December 2015

Today was mostly concerned with acting on the research that I did on the Kelmscott press
letterforms. I drew from the images I collected and put together the quote for the board. This
was quite challenging because the nuances of the letterforms come from wide nibbed,
blackletter calligraphy and drawing these using a pencil can miss these out. In an attempt to
get a better understanding of these nuances I used my parallel pen to draw out a few of the
glyphs. Specific letters such as o and q proved most difficult because of the variation in line
weight during the bowl. However, the angle at which the nib needed to sit to create these
letterforms seemed odd to start with but within a few sketches I found that my understanding
of the line weight variation had really increased. This deeper understanding definitely has
brought me closer to this specific board and the project itself, in terms of my investment in
the outcome of the project. This process of identifying a problem with the way I approached
the design and then finding a way to rectify this, gave me a sense of achievement in a small
way and once again increases my hope that the outcome of the project will be successful and
fulfil my expectations of my own work.

2nd January 2016:

The main idea that I wanted to communicate with the social proximity board is close
connectivity. I wanted to try and touch on this in a big way in the lettering. So, today I took
the major words from the quote; ‘equality’ and ‘fraternity’ and looked at creating ligatures.
This made the glyphs look a lot like they are growing into and from one another, which is the
perfect active representation of reaching out to one another in social terms. I wanted to
accentuate this further and so looked at using soft pencil gradients at the points of connection.
I am thinking about transferring this to the use of blue and green, outlines in white on the
actual chalkboard. I then took these new connected words and placed them into a layout that
aimed to read well but also allow for the ascenders and descenders of each word. I already
had decided on a kind of calligraphic/plant like style of the ornamentation of this board
because I wanted to maintain this idea of reaching out for proximity and the positivity of such
a thing. Something that I had already seen, and returned to when designing this is the work of
Danger Dust. A chalk art duet that produce incredible work, with a mastery of colour that I
could only dream of. The way they aligned ornamental patterns on their designs was perfectly
symmetrical in the framework but the details varied and provided interest. This is something I
want to achieve with this board. This interaction with other designs in this medium, really
reignited my enthusiasm for this board, it allowed me to see the possibilities and gave me
something to aim for in a way that the isolated bubble of just working can’t. It is strange that
in this situation it seems that the social proximity facilitated by digital platforms leads to
increased emotional proximity with the piece.

3rd January 2016:

Today was rather a mix of different boards. I started with re working the layout of the second
board and doing a very simple general layout sketch of the full board, into which the details
sketches are placed to achieve an idea of the finished product. The angular nature of the
blackletter forms means that positioning one word above or below another is tricky and there
needs to be a level of interlocking shapes to make the layout flow properly. I finally achieved
this today after several tries and the sense of victory was palpable. I also put into action my
notes from the work on dangerdust and their work yesterday. I planned out the symmetrical
layout of the ornamentation on the thumbnail and even where the name and date details of the
quote can sit. This negotiation of similarities between boards makes the project feel a lot
more cohesive. Up until this point, I was treating each board individually so that I could focus
on the message that they need to communicate. However, as I start to look at them sitting
next to one another I feel that the large task of doing them all feels more achievable and more
exciting.

I also started the designs for the third board today. This was a surprisingly instantaneous
process. I think to a certain extent this is because as I have been working on the other boards,
my mind has mulled over the designs for the boards yet to come. I knew I wanted to
communicate strength and openness as well as optimism. I also knew that the glyphs had to
be accommodating of some complex textures because I wanted to have reflective light, or the
representation of it, as the ornamentation of that board. I also know I wanted sans serif all
caps because of the wideness of the apertures communicating openness and the angular
letters communicating strength in their definite and confident lines. This took two tries to get
what I wanted. This is mostly due to past experience and a backlog of typographical styles to
draw on and then manipulate to my needs. I realised that in order for the letters to reflect light
they would need to suggest three dimensions in some way. I knew that the angular glyphs
needed to be angular in their three dimensions. I drew from metal type styles and even
masonry to create ridges down the lines of each letter that could catch the light as if it were
metal signage almost. This ability to quickly decide on and create what I wanted really
brought me closer to the project and also my own process. It allowed my confidence in
myself and in doing so made me fonder of a piece of design, which at least to me, reminds
me of my competence and ability to do what I love. At this point the process seems more
important than the outcome because I have gained both confidence and enjoyment from the
process that may or may not be expressed in the outcomes.

Because the concept of light as ornamentation is so visually dominant the layout of the type
almost suggested itself. The beam of light from the top right corner provides an angled
margin against which to right justify the type in a stepped arrangement. Because of the scale
that the type needed to be drawn at it was impossible to do a complete, all detail, layout
sketch on an A5 page. This makes me rather nervous about being able to accurately recreate
the style and layout when it comes to actually doing it on a board.
Throughout this process I have been talking to, and showing people the work that I am doing.
So far there has been a wealth of positive reactions towards this last design. I wonder whether
this is simply because the people I talk to on a day to day basis are graphic designers, and the
zeitgeist is just for angular sans serif type at the moment? Either way, people seem to pause
and really look at this design in a way they don’t for the others. This is also one of the major
reasons I didn’t keep sketching type; the positive responses from other people told me to stop
here.

4th January 2016:

Today was full of developing the fourth board. I started from the notes I made about the
quote earlier in the sketch book. I wanted a contrast of fonts representing crafts and tradition
juxtaposed with a moderns type representing technology and development. I encountered a
little bit of trouble with the modern type. What was difficult was defining what exactly
‘modern’ type would be. I didn't want the cliche of pixelated letters or anything that would

actually more retro than modern. In type terms a modern font would be one that came after
humanist type styles. This means high contrast line weight and squared serifs. However, This
may not really communicate modern to a non typographer audience. I font this after the first
few sketches I did trying to create a modern lettering style. Then I got thinking about what
people’s day to day experience of technology is. This brought me straight to the smooth
curves and mathematically correct corners of Apple products and how the typographic
incarnation of this would be Helvetica. This was incredibly hard to draw and I take that as a
sign that it is not representative of the hand made in any way. I increased the tracking of the
letters to further communicate the idea of distance in the modern and to contrast with the
connected closeness of the copperplate lettering I was planning for the other part of this
quote.

For the copperplate, I first tried out a copperplate nib for the first time. The distinctive flex
and curve of the line weight variation is created by the nib widening with the pressure of the
down stroke. This hands on learning about the original glyph formation brought me a lot
closer to an understanding of the style and am much better positioned to faithfully recreate
the lettering because of it. When I moved on to sketching I knew the details that I needed to
set out, such as the angle of italics and the flexible baseline. This made me feel much more
confident about the outcome.

I sent out a mailchimp mass email today through the Students’ Union. It was both a heads up
and an invitation to all the HE Students to come and work in the space around me. Although I
doubt many people will take me upon this it is still a way of making people aware of what I
am doing and so make them slightly more open to coming up and asking about it, or not as
the case may be, but either way they were given the opportunity.

I also spent a small fraction of today coating the boards in a layer of chalk. This is called
seasoning the board. It needs to be done so that the acidity of the chalk doesn’t leave a ghost
of the first design behind on the board. People already started to approach me and ask what I
was doing, and were especially interested in the need to season a board, which none had
encountered before.

5th January 2016:

Today I started the boards proper. It took a while to kick things off and get everything set up
and going. Details such as camera positioning and getting hold of a step ladder took most of
the time. There were a few filming issues to start with, centering around the camera
placement because the awkward portrait nature of the boards made them hard to get in frame.
However, once I did get started people immediately started interacting with me, whether it
was a passing ‘that’s great!’ or a longer conversation about my intention for the other boards.
In fact as the day progressed I found people returning to see the progress and give
encouragement. Partially this could be down to the scale of the task, and how big it seemed

especially at the start. THe things people asked really got me thinking to. The amount of
returning people who asking if I got bored doing it for so long had me asking myself the same
thing. What is pleasantly surprising is that I really don’t get bored. I do in fact enter a state of
flow. The calm, repetitive but also challenging nature of the task is the perfect mix that keeps
me engaged for hours on end.A very rewarding and engrossing process.

6th January 2016:

Because the amount of work I finished yesterday (one and a bit boards) I knew I needed to
power through and get a lot done today. This pressure detracted slightly from the enjoyment
of the process compared to yesterday. However, This is a certain satisfaction in just trying to
be quick and effective. In fact I managed to finish two boards today and mark out the last for
work tomorrow. This is slightly frustrating because I didn’t work fast enough to be done by
my deadline but also I think I didn’t allow enough time to actually get the full four boards
done. More people returned to chat today. Many of which I managed to catch on my camera.
Although it is true that some of these people I already know, so the chances of them coming
up to say hi are increased, I would say that perhaps it would have been a fairer test to perform
this work out in the city somewhere or live in a gallery or exhibition space. I would also say
that although I know some of the people who approach me, they still approach me to ask me
about what I am doing, it is still just as valid as social interaction. I would also say that the
presence of the camera deterred people from stopping to chat. Many people would move as if
to come over and then see the camera and decide against it, because they didn't want to run a
shot or anything. Hiding the camera slightly would have helped this but also I wouldn’t want
people to be caught on film when they didn't want to be. The nature of filming is that there
were times when the SD card was full and the battery needed charging. I found that at least
half of all the people that approached me did so when I wasn’t filming, which was frustrating
but I can also see that they didn't want to interrupt, This is one case where the recording
method reduces the material to record.

7th January 2016:

Today was the last day I spent actually doing the chalkboards. I only had one bar left to do
but it was quite a complex one. I had to render a helvetica like lettering style for part of the
board which is a tricky font to sketch at the best of times let alone with chalk. However, the
layout lines that I drew out yesterday for the type really helped and although the tracking of
the letters (increased from the classic) Took a few tries to get right, it looked great in the end.
It also visually has the perfect connotations of technology and the modern, it created the
perfect contrast not only to the earlier part of the board but also to the other boards next to it,
clarifying the point of the quote. As I was writing out the quote I became strangely aware of
being watched for the first time while doing this project. Normally this really doesn't bother
me. I think this increased awareness is because this quote was the only one that could be
perceived as antagonistic or provocative. I chose this quote for that very reason; I wanted

people to question it and think more carefully about whether craft and technology are really
that different. However, it's clear that lots of people in the college work on predominantly
digital platforms and this board could be seen as challenging what they do. In contrast to this
lots of people interacted with me today even though I wasn’t working for as long as on
previous days. I think this is because everyone got used to me being there after two days.
This is especially suggested by the fact that I had the most strangers come up and say hi,
rather than people I already knew. Also there was a surprisingly digital aspect today that I
had not been aware of. People asked if they could snapchat the boards to their friends, and the
images I put up on instagram got a lot of attention. I think this might be interesting to record
as a small aspect of evaluation. I could record the likes of image and the views of the video I
create of the project, just as a way of looking at people's socio/digital interaction with the
project.

Coming to the end of the makig section of this project is a mixed bag of emotions. On the one
hand I feel great to have achieved so much and to just get this huge bit of work done, on the
other hand I always feel that I could have done better and pushed myself more out of my
creative comfort zone. I also feel that I couldn’t have done anything but chalkboards for this
practical, it is what my dissertation is about after all, I helped the students’ Union out by
creating a colourful addition to their space and met some lovely people along the way.

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