Vol. 02
PILCROW is a juried publication collecting visual responses to design challenges. The concepts below were submitted to the publication for review as single pages and/or spreads. Requirements for submitting artwork to the publication can be found here.
Concept
Reviewing the supplied text and imagery, this notion of taking things out of context and putting them into another began to surface. Specifically in regards to the paragraphs, the supplied text as part of the design problem and parameters, that were chosen as inspiration, I began to wonder how the text was assimilated into its final form.
Process
In an attempt to sort things out, I began by organizing the data and grouping it into columns and sections that had a semblance of similarity; subject, verb, noun, pronoun, adverb, adjective, conjunction, preposition, etc. By drawing a line from the word as it was placed in its column group to its place in the final text as provided, a real sense of randomized selection was visually present. From a readability standpoint, the text was completely nonsensical, very much like spam. Looking closer, I found that even as random as it seemed, there was an inherent pattern, there was subject verb agreement; the same number of nouns as there were verbs, etc., begging the question, “Is there pattern in randomness?”
Conclusion
Going forward with the process, the idea of restructuring data, word, text, visuals – a recontextualizer or data aggregation matrix – and assimilating them into another message became clear. There was a point where as long as there was enough data, it could be recomposed, deconstructed and reconstructed in a seemingly infinite number of ways. The provided compositions are the result, some going so far as to create their own underlying structure and pattern.
Tags: black and white, experimental, graphic design, pattern, process
Daren’s conclusion brings to mind the ideas present in Borges’ short story, “Library of Babel” in that infinite variations of book/text exist (both gibberish, sensical and potential sensical) (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Library_of_Babel)... ultimately what these sorts of exercises come down to, when you try to peal away the scrim of human thought, is bias! This to me is extremely interesting because it gets at the heart of what it means to SEE and UNDERSTAND as humans… what exactly am i speaking of? Juxtaposition. Placing two items, or even two supposed random items, next to each other…. set a human before that juxtaposition and s/he begins (unintentionally) trying to make sense of such combinations… the key word is narrative…
I wonder what this same experiment would achieve, same exact parameters, say ten years later? Would the collective experience achieve similar or same results, or would it be a contextual result, one born out of circumstance; influencing the design decision?