Stephanie Jin’s cross year studio Manifesto! offered an opportunity to reflect on how my practice has developed since I started at CSM. The workshop felt aptly timed within the course calendar, as I have been taking time to critically reflect on what I have learnt during Unit: 1 Methods. The manifesto I produced during the cross year studio was a reflection on my understanding of my own positionality. I decided to illustratively convey my manifesto, rather than leaving it purely textual. It drew inspiration from Mill & Jones (2019) Exile’s Letter in both form and colour palette.
My interest lies at the intersection between graphic communication design and architecture. Prior to this course I had not considered how that may materialise into a critical practice.
Throughout Methods of Investigating and Methods of Cataloguing I applied my architectural skillset onto the field of graphic design, with an impetus to communicate complexity through mapping. This cultivated a wider interest in the practice of social cartography, which I hope I can revisit in the future whilst studying at CSM.
The first two briefs primarily investigated architectural mapmaking as a graphic design tool. To further entangle the two disciplines of graphic design and architecture, I decided to translate an architectural theory onto a graphic design process during Methods of Translating. This was a pivotal moment in the development of the position of my practice, as I visually illustrated practical methods to intertwine my interests.
After tentatively exploring my position as a designer in the first term, I began to break down the defined boundaries of graphic design and architecture within the Methods of Iterating project. Through the process of bookbinding conventional architectural drawings, the line between graphic design and architecture became even more blurred. I started to consider the disciplines as indistinct; I lost the ability to discern where graphic design finishes and architecture begins.
The Methods of Contextualising project aided the consolidation of my position as a designer. The speculative world building reflected my new-found understanding that architecture and graphic design are one in the same: where both disciplines are acts of world building, construction, communication, placemaking and speculation. I look forward to consolidating, warping and reimagining my position as a designer next semester.
Reference List:
Mill, A. and Jones. L. (2019) Exile’s Letters. Oslo: Mill & Jones.
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