19/02/11 - Getting projects ready for assessment
Have been working entirely on my plane instructions brief today, but I haven’t got much to show yet.
My idea has changed slightly, though I’m still focusing on authenticity and ‘realness’. I realised yesterday (and in fact at our group tutorial on Tuesday) that the blueprint idea was quite an obvious answer, and I think this is why it didn’t excite me. Instead, I’m now looking at giving the instructions authenticity by making them into a collection of notes that appear to be made by the plane’s designer (though perhaps without being as literal as putting his name on it). A notebook format seems where I’m going, with a section at the front that covers the plane’s history with photos, after which will be the instruction steps (x 50), followed by one or a few fold-out worksheet(s) at the back.
I find this idea far more interesting, and have been looking at the following, for the way that sketch and handwriting are combined on the page…
Da Vinci’s sketches…
Johnny Hardstaff’s sketchbooks…
Wainwright’s walking guides to the Lakeland Fells…
A number of other people’s sketchbooks in the Laurence King book called ‘Sketchbooks’…
The first few examples are so detailed and complex that they really draw you in, which is the sort of feeling I want the model-builder to feel when using my instructions. I realise that the challenge here, however, is having this complexity whilst maintaining enough order for the instructions to be followed. I’ve tried to get into producing something today, but haven’t yet reached a feel that I’m fully happy with. The sketching is starting to look alright, now I’m using Indian ink to vignette/shade on top of the pencil linework (giving focus perhaps), but the handwriting is the thing that doesn’t seem strong enough (perhaps just due to my familiarity with my own handwriting though!)
The sketches seem better when the lines are drawn singly and slowly — they seem considered, and when more detailed are more impressive than quickly-made lines.
Douglas’s bookbinding instructions that are in his studio upstairs come to mind actually – for his lovely calligraphy combined with drawings. Course, I’m looking for a more casual, less laboured way of doing handwriting, but these are Douglas’s anyway…
One important decision I’m yet to make is whether I illustrate each and every step or only where it’s necessary due to complexity. Hopefully will get properly into it tomorrow!
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13/02/11 - Dad’s Army arrows
The piece definitely needs to be more expressive and dynamic. Arrows might be an obvious symbol for motion, but these ones from the intro to Dad’s Army came to mind.
Course, those are inspired by battleplans and wartime maps…
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24/01/11 - Thoughts after David’s Project (Design by Numbers)
The task: To build a Guillows balsa-wood model aeroplane sticking closely to the original instructions, and rethink these instructions having gained experience as the ‘user’.
I chose this brief because I was interested in its insistence on us really spending time physically researching and understanding the instructions we were to redesign. I liked the idea that all of us in the class would start with exactly the same experience, and so would be able to relate well to each others’ projects (something that’s hard to do when people’s projects stem from such diverse starting points). I’d also heard much about ex-tutor Geoff Fowle, who wrote the brief, and wanted to see what made his projects so interesting.
It might not look like it in the process pictures below, but the model plane took a whole week to make at the end of the Christmas holidays!— I think most of us were shocked at how complicated they were, and at how much patience children must have had when they used to make them! My plane — a British (of course!) Hawker Hurricane — turned out well. I reckon this was down to the fact that I really did enjoy the experience (despite the unfamiliar amount of patience needed), knowing that it was what my grandad used to do. I also started to see what was wrong with the 1960’s instructions once using them; practical problems like the worksheet (on top of which you pin and glue your model) being printed on both sides for example, and aspects of language and tone that seemed so dated and unhelpful.
The instructions were comprised of an A6-length instruction booklet and the aforementioned large double-sided sheet (depicting reference diagrams on one side, and a side with marks for pinning and gluing).
What I felt was missing, in comparison to the experience sixty years ago, was the link back to reality — and the romanticising of Second World War fighter planes that, ultimately, would have been half of the experience for the young model-builder. I felt as though I needed to inject some authenticity, to inspire the ‘user’ to feel like they were building a real plane. I decided that the art direction of the packaging and instructions should fill in the gap of the last sixty years, to renew an excitement that hasn’t caught recent generations.
Earlier in the week I’d watched the British 1942 film ‘The First of the Few’, which follows the (slightly exaggerated) story of R.J. Mitchell — the designer of the British Supermarine Spitfire, which contributed hugely in the Battle of Britain. With my redesign of the instructions for the Hurricane, I decided I’d like to make the user feel as though they were a builder/designer like R.J. Mitchell — who, himself, was hailed as a hero of the war.
I remembered seeing 1940’s/50’s war-comics, which Paul Rennie also reminded me about, which certainly played a part in capturing a young lad’s imagination at the time. Though the existing instructions were dated, they weren’t intentionally nostalgic. I therefore intended to give the redesign an unmistakeable feel of an old pastime, which I imagine would be an attractive novelty in itself.
Bringing together all sorts of old comics (Dan Dare, Eagle, Buck Danny, Biggles…) and examples of old print, with their faded paper and half-tone shading (along with 50’s-esque Superdry t-shirt designs and work by comic-strip illustrator Chris Ware) seemed to offer hints for designing my instructions.
Buck Danny…
Work by Chris Ware…
Superdry T-shirts…
The brief required us all to make construction notes as we built our balsa planes, and I used up 3/4 of my notepad on this quite easily. These notes proved extremely useful to refer to, as details could have been easily forgotten otherwise. I made a note of how long each task took, of all difficulties I came across, improvisations I had to make, direct criticisms of the instructions or method, and suggestions of better methods than those printed.
Before I began on the design, there were a number of changes that I felt needed to be made to the construction process itself. First of all, I wanted to break the instructions up into clear steps, and for these steps to be grouped together into stages. I felt that this would make the instructions easier to follow, and enable the model-builder to see how far they are through the process. Doing so I tallied up around 50 steps. I also rearranged some parts (red pen) and took away/added some in places that I had found awkward in the original booklet.
I also decided that all of my ’steps’ should have illustrations or photos, so that each step could be fully understood where I’d found it unclear building my plane.
Concept:
I decided that I didn’t want to restrict my instructions to a certain audience, as both teenagers and older enthusiasts would constitute the sort of audience to build the kit. Of the original instructions I really liked the hands-on feel that the A3 worksheet brought to the construction process, and this was something that I felt should stay and in fact follow on to the instruction steps too.
Tying my ideas of ‘authenticity’ and ‘nostalgia’ together, I decided that the form of my instructions would be a number of large sheets that would be rolled up like blueprints. I would have two worksheets that would each look like blueprints and a separate double-sided sheet of instruction steps, which I wanted to take inspiration from the war comics I’d seen.
I also intended to make the language of the instructions more casual and friendly, but to keep certain technical terms intact for the kit to feel ‘real’ and authentic. Another important change would be that the instructions would be separate for different aircraft models, due to the confusion caused by the original kits using one set of instructions to suit a number of different models.
The blueprint sheets were to be printed on shiny greaseproof paper (to save the model-builder having to cover the worksheet with greaseproof paper themselves), and to be single-side printed.
Final crit:
I took the following to the final crit:
The above sheet measures just smaller than A6, and is an attempt to help direct the user — one of my early criticisms of the box innards was that they were scattered and it wasn’t immediately apparent where to start.
The original kit contained all of the balsa and plastic pieces needed and, according to the outside of the box, only required the following extra materials: balsa cement, dope (a lacquer used to tauten and stiffen the tissue covering), workboard, pins, modelbuilder’s knife. It doesn’t mention until reaching the relevant section of the booklet inside, however, that you also need plastic model cement, dope thinner, long pins, wire, paintbrushes, a pencil, a ruler, thin card, sandpaper, a sanding block, a cutting mat, enamel paints (optionally), and scissors. This initial sheet displays my intention for the user to see the required materials straight away. Ideally this information would be on the packaging as well, but I was mindful that the brief asked us to re-design the instructions.
As we had only one week between presenting our finished plane at the interim and presenting our re-designed instructions at the final crit, I didn’t finish the project to a standard I was pleased with. I think I only spent a couple or three days producing, and the illustrations were time-consuming. For this reason, I found myself able to produce only a quarter of the overall double-sided instructions sheet.
Although my choice of colours, paper, typefaces, illustrative style and the colour-overlaying on top all led on from my ideas of nostalgia mentioned earlier on in this post, I don’t think I spent enough time on the design for it to feel interesting or exciting. Furthermore, the blueprint doesn’t feel ‘authentic’ enough to live up to the concept.
Carla helped me make the following summary of everyone’s comments at the final crit… (I think I need to focus most on the ones I’ve made bold)…
- To be more ‘authentic’, maybe make it seem more worn/used.
- Maybe use a larger scale [to make the blueprint idea more extreme]
- Make blueprint more accurate?
- Use dye-line [or cyanotype] printing for the blueprint? Or silkscreen light colour onto blue paper?
- Is the ‘blueprint’/'authenticity’ thing restricting the design?
- Rolling up paper/tube is a good idea. Follow through with it — REALLY DO IT full on.
- Is the blueprint idea age-appropriate?
- You should put the research on comics to good use.
- [Discussed whether Guillows instructions are in limbo between old and new]
- Decide on nostalgia or a contemporary direction.
- It feels restrained — it’s not really fun or expressive yet.
- Perhaps too much type…? Strip it back?
- Stay British for this one, and maybe instructions for other models could follow on from the country of origin too.
- Colours could be symbols — give colours meaning perhaps? Use colours intentionally.
- Type should be more refined too. Don’t use more than a couple or three at max.
Where now:
Now I’ve had time away from the project, I can see that the blueprint and instructions seem quite separate as they are. If I can refine one and make it strong, there may then be elements that can lead onto the other and make them feel consistent. I suppose this could be done with symbols, line style, or consistent compositional elements like title placeholders.
I also think that black and white photography may be more effective than hand-illustration at making the piece feel old. This would be a clear indication, even to a youngster. With this, halftone patterns would be an important area to further explore.
A question I brought up at the crit and that I’m still wondering is: should the instructions be invisible or exciting? I want them to be functional (like those for a household appliance for example), but I’m starting to realise that these instructions should offer more — as it’s the experience itself of building that the user has bought the kit for.
Finally, I want to decide on a target audience; teenage boy or enthusiast? Through doing so, I feel the instructions will be much stronger visually. Perhaps aiming younger by using brighter colours etc (whilst not being condescending in the tone of voice) would not put enthusiasts off…