OUGD504 - Design for Print: Concept

After having a workshop at Vernon Street of the different print processes available there, I realised that I didn't know half of the things available beforehand, and it is something I wish I had known in 1st year. It also helped me know limitations of what I couldn't do. 

I decided the problems were:

• It's not publicised at the college what's available 
• The information is not easy to digest in one workshop because there is so much to learn
• Before the workshop, we didn't know what process outcomes/equipment looked like
• We didn't know how to achieve certain looks, or if we could
• Before you know the tutors it's daunting to ask them a million questions
• We didn't know the correct name for processes and what they were or where they were
• We had to organise this workshop ourself which wasn't accessible to everyone in the class
• These are problems throughout our class

So I decided that my target audience would be 1st years, and even 2nd years in the college who wanted to learn about the processes available at Vernon Street. I wanted to aim it more at design and vis com students, rather than textiles and fashion students as I didn't want to focus on fabric techniques as it isn't something we use on our courses.

Here is a spider diagram of my ideas:

After looking at different ideas and thinking of different ways I could incorporate the A-Z of printing into a possibility I came up with the concept of 'A Journey Through Print'. 

This would be easier to achieve because it was hard to think of 26 different processes/equipment/terms and I could make it relate more to certain formats. 

For example, I want to use a location icon as a way to physically show a student whereabouts in the print room a piece or equipment is. I thought if I used a particular process on a printed version of the shape, for example the word 'Emboss' embossed onto it, and hung it above the Hydraulic Press or the acid boxes then it would clearly show a student where to go. I think it is an icon that nearly all young people can relate to as it is used on a lot of digital maps and apps, and fits into the theme of a journey because it is the destination. I would hang it using string and blue tac and take photographs to show how it would be used.

I think this would solve the problem of 

• Before the workshop, we didn't know what process outcomes/equipment looked like
• It's not publicised at the college what's available 
• We didn't know the correct name for processes and what they were or where they were

I would also design the cards in the style of a ticket to show the process of getting somewhere, by learning whats on the cards to progress to the destination. I could design them in the style of a train ticket, boarding  pass or passport. As they would be in a card format, I thought by placing them in the classroom people would be able to reuse them if they had any simple queries, and could use them to have a basic understanding of what's available to do in the print room. 

I think this would solve the problem of

• It's not publicised at the college what's available

This would have examples of each of the processes for people to see

• The information is not easy to digest in one workshop because there is so much to learn

People could refer back to them as they would be placed in the print room for people to use, and they are a starting point for more specific questions to ask tutors

• Before the workshop, we didn't know what process outcomes/equipment looked like

There would be examples of each process so the student would know the process outcome, and the location icons would allow them to see the equipment

• We didn't know how to achieve certain looks, or if we could

Again, the examples on the cards would show the students what is achievable in this print room, as a lot of looks on the internet and in the world can only be achieved in industry

• Before you know the tutors it's daunting to ask them a million questions

These cards will give you a heads up on what to ask further questions about as you will know the process names, what the outcome is etc. 

• We didn't know the correct name for processes and what they were or where they were

The cards will be labelled with the process and will be written in that processs

The last two problems which are:

• We had to organise this workshop ourself which wasn't accessible to everyone in the class
• These are problems throughout our class

These can't be solved through my proposal, but will give all students an opportunity to see what they can inquire about, and ask for specific workshops on.