Creative/Practice
Illustration, to me, is a narrative. I'm a big fan of storytelling, whether through books or animation, and was the main inspiration for pursuing a career in illustration. I was aiming for a childrens book style, however with the skill shown in these images, I'd say I would really need to experiment much more with gouache and compositions, and to be more delicate with my brushwork, if i want to achieve similar executions as Bove's.
Creative/PracticeSCI-FI from Gemma Aylward on Vimeo. THE SUN from Gemma Aylward on Vimeo. THE SUN FULL from Gemma Aylward on Vimeo.
Attending the film workshop, run by Pablo, I discovered new editing skills with Adobe Premiere Pro. I struggled with the narrative with these videos because although I had a vision and direction I wanted, the clips I chosen beforehand didn't work well together to build one. I tried to get the most out of understand the software and creating certain effects based on timings of the music with the timing of the video clips.
Practice ResearchBecoming more interested in playground design, I wanted gather visual research how current playgrounds are compromised in Norwich's Public Residential Areas. One aesthetic they all followed was the equipment was colourful and engaging, however the one I loved the most out of them all was "The Jenny Lind Playground for Children" (The last of the series of images above).
This playground probably had the most space compared to the other playgrounds but it worked really well within it's location. The playground backed onto a field one side and the other by basketball court, and these were encased into a rectangle shape by roads either side. I think what works about this playground is that it uses a various of materials compared to the others I visited. For the ground it combines chippings, soft tarmac?, grass, mud and sand. Then for equipment it uses the landscape as well as man-made play equipment. It incorporates the mound for the sliding equipment and a tree-covered area with rocks centered in the middle, then there is a just a lone log to be climbed upon. The playground uses both man-made and the natural landscape/materials to create a real sense of outdoor play. The only thing this playground doesn't offer is the idea of "loose parts" which I can understand as to why. All these playgrounds don't offer loose objects (except for maybe tree's surrounding the playgrounds) because the public element of the playground can't offer "loose parts" due to possibilities of theft or perhaps vandalism. Or could there be a way a public playground can offer "loose parts" for play? Report ResearchThe Importance of Imagination, Creativity and Play in Child Development I’m investigating the importance of imagination, creativity and play in child development. I believe that I shall write my report as an industry report to learn what is actively being done for child development currently. My reasoning for this subject is because I want to understand what children need to develop within our world as they are my preferred target audience. Imagination Children are still learning and adapting to the world around them using their curious minds, meaning that children are still experimenting with the boundaries of possibilities and impossibilities. The use of their imaginative minds encourages their creativity further and therefore improves creative thinking and problem solving. "In Kirsty Thompson’s classroom at the Iona school, the children don’t even have any ready-made toys in the room. They have to use their imagination to make what they want. Here boys and girls are playing together, rather than self-segregating, to make towers from wooden blocks and to play dressing up with cotton and woollen sheets." Manzoor (2016) Creativity The use of creativity allows children to use their freedom of exploring, experimenting and taking risks into becoming innovative and learn to toggle between possibilities and reality. Creativity allows them to develop their ideas, that they’ve established through their imagination, for external use to share with others, either visually or through play. “Creative people have new ideas, but this doesn’t make them revolutionaries. It means they are using their adaptive human intelligence. Seeing new ways of doing things is part of intelligent behaviour. It is central to creativity. Creativity is a high-level aspect of thinking because it shows depth of:
Play Learning through play is hands-on approach to discover about their surroundings and experiment with its potential. It allows the child to use their creative and imaginative minds in the circumstances that they’re needed. Play also contributes to the social aspect in child development, learning how to socialise and interact, as well as empathy. "In 2012, a review of more than 40 studies highlighted the relationship between play and creative problem-solving, cooperation and logical thinking. Research by Edward Fisher also found that play can enhance early development by anything from 33% to 67% by increasing adjustment, improving language skills and reducing social and emotional problems. This has positive implications for both educational development and everyday intellectual life." Oldfield (2015) I want to conclude with how important imagination and creativity can lead to effective-learning play which then feeds back into ideas about the world as they develop throughout their childhood. Ackerman, D. (2000) Deep play. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Barnard, J. (2006) The nesting instinct. The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/apr/15/familyandrelationships.family3 (Accessed: 28 May 2016). Bruce, T. (2011) Cultivating creativity: For babies, toddlers and young children. 2nd edn. London: Oxford University Press. Hinsliff, G. (2016) Education needs a Lego moment – more fun and fewer pointless targets. The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/06/education-lego-let-our-kids-be-kids-protesters-sats> (Accessed: 21 July 2016). How children learn through play (no date) Available at: <http://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/toddler-preschool/learning-play/how-children-learn-through-play/> (Accessed: 24 June 2016). Huizinga, J. (2016) Homo Ludens: A study of the play-element in culture. United States: Angelico Press. Manzoor, S. (2016) Could Steiner schools have a point on children, tablets and tech? The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jun/14/steiner-schools-children-tablets-tech> (Accessed: 21 July 2016). Meng, T.K. (2016) Everyone is born creative, but it is educated out of us at school. The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2016/may/18/born-creative-educated-out-of-us-school-business> (Accessed: 20 June 2016). Oldfield, E. (2015) Playtime is crucial for a child’s development – cut it at your peril. The Guardian. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/sep/17/playtime-child-development-learning-cut-at-peril> (Accessed: 28 May 2016). Robertson, S. (2013) How thinking like a child can impact innovation. Available at: <http://www.ideastogo.com/the-science-of-imagination> (Accessed: 21 April 2016). Severance, A.D. (1919) ‘Play in education’, The Lotus Magazine, 10(3), pp. 116–117. doi: 20544087. The Secret Life of 4,5,6 Year Old. 1-7 (2015) Channel 4. [Online] Available at: <http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-life-of-4-5-and-6-year-olds> (Accessed: 3 April 2016) Ward, L. (2016) Children should learn mainly through play until age of eight, says Lego. The Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/15/children-learn-play-age-eight-lego (Accessed: 21 April 2016). Creating this presentation gave me a clear view on how I need to structure my report. It's my first attempt at using quotes from my readings of how to use them to structure and write my report. It became clear that I'll need to focus on imagination, creativity and play and how all these three work together to help a child develop.
Feedback from the session crucially highlighted that I was talking about imagination and creativity through the lens of play in child development, and that this is the angle i should take my report further. Research for Both2006 Structure Mrs Tinik had idea of using inside of carpet. The Class upholsted the structure ourselves. We decided on choice of keywords to use such as: Community. Used paints and permament pens to cover the walls. Mrs Tinik gave direction but found it was important as Year6 Children that we were given full control of the project including of mantling and designing. Used as a picnic space. Miss Pritchard and Mrs Antoniou– Reception Focus on Communication and Language Children are allowed to be expressive and innovative. Telling of their stories – Feeds into how they write Talking and Acting – Using signs and symbols (visual and kinesthetic) to understand words. Act out before writing a story. Learning the Patterns of Stories. Role play areas to invoke different play scenarios. Small World – Area to create their own worlds, in control of the story. Model play, Construction Area – Scenarios started of as builders but developed into an obstacle course. – Shows adaption of one environment into another. Weekly Themes – T for literacy and 6 for numeracy. Classroom split into maths area and literacy area. Use of objects, shapes, colour and tactile learning throughout the week to repetitively embed the understanding. Given a range of activities in each area to choose from and take the initiative to move onto the next activity – independence. Still having to learn their gross motor skills before refining detailed motor skills such as fingers. Children who attend the school are from deprived areas, leaving their development behind the average. After starting school, they begin to develop quickly with those on average. Social aspect of school peers helps encourage development. As both my target audience and child development progression are in Schools, I felt it was really important that I visit a primary school and ask some questions.
I wanted to visit my primary school due to a past project when I was in Year 6. The whole school, took part in this project where each class had to work together to build an outdoor "structure". I couldn't remember much of the process of our class's reasonings for the structure. What intrigued me to remember about this project was because it involved the class working together like a community, and that we, the children, took control of the design and construction. Whilst at the school I had the opportunity to speak with other teachers who taught the reception year. I hadn't even thought about how much consideration goes into teaching plans with skills for child development. It was good to be aware about the importance of gross and fine motor skills, as important as it is to learn and broaden the mind, being able to do things physically is just as important! I really found the compositioning of certain areas interesting as well. A lot of the outdoor play was cheap simple items that got children playing. Inside was clearly labelled for simplication for the class tasks as well. The seperation of areas of learning was good to see because it was about giving children clarity about what the spaces can be used for in retrospect. As important as it was to see the classrooms layout, I'd love to be able to see how the children use and behave within the space. Hopefully I'll be able to return during school hours and be able to witness child development happening in the classrooms. Creative/PracticeUsing purely sweet wrappers (cellophane) and torches, I wanted to see how effective the results were of multiple coloured shadows. These images above are unedited and I think the effect works rather well. I was quite surprised by how many people asked what the object was as it was just a toilet roll I had near me at the time. I found that interesting because it transformed and obscured the object into some new and unfamiliar to people, which I'd love children to try for themselves. They could use themselves or random objects to experiment how the light percieves them. Very similar to how we viewed the objects in the Wonderlab; where the light changed between the three colours (red, blue, green) and some objects were clear to see in one light compared to another.
Creative/PracticeInspired by the lightboxes in the Wonderlab and from use in Vivid Sydney, I wanted see what the cellophane sheets were like ontop of one. Through experimentation, the more layers built up the colour black and certain colours created others; i think this is a fun way to learn about the colour wheel through objects an alternative than by mixing paint; although that too is a good way to learn about colour mixing. Whilst doing this it reminded me of Mattise's The Snail collage. The idea of creating a familar image through raw shapes and colour. Creative/PracticeIn response to my thoughts in the previous post, I created these glasses using acetate sheets and cinema 3D glasses frames. Out of the four colours, the most effective on changing the perception was the red and blue frames. They were more vastly saturated, however I do like the green and orange as well because they remind me of certain situations such as Green - Night Cameras, and Orange - Sepia, Old, vintage photograph look.
The red and blue really changed perspectives on certain objects of the same colour. A red cap was invisible under the red frames where as in the blue frames it appeared nearly black, as if to say white and red objects under the blue frames transformed to blue and black objects. The only problem I have with these glasses is that the acetate isn't very securely fitted in the frames, it only requires one push from a finger to release them out of the frames, and with children I feel like this could be an easy accidental occurance. Creative/PracticeExchanging each other's work and ideas, I think the reader group fell in love with the idea of the glasses in terms of the workshop part of our exhibit/installation.
As a reader group, our main focus was social engagement with the public, gathering results to input to our practice. We immediately started playing and experimenting different techniques of how to develop a workshop, and what can we achieve out of the workshop in terms of screening and publication. We settled on just the red and blue as to simplify choice of colours, and these two were the most saturated. Creative/PracticeUsing my InDesign skills, I wanted to create a similar effect like Sciullo for the poster design. I went through many designs on InDesign but I found that they all lacked the fun element of our workshop.
To incorporate the life of the workshop, I used the cut shapes to try and spell out the words. It was a similar task of the workshops, using the individual shapes to interpret a word, but literally a word. To bring these newly formed words into InDesign, I gave my best shot at practising the use of Illustrator and it's pathfinder tool. I'm really pleased with the effects I achieved by using shapes instead of standard typefaces. It believe these designs harbours the same element of design in the workshop and I hope the rest of the group would be pleased with it as a method of advertising. |
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