aspire to enquire

Street bug

I had to walk down West 25th Street in Chelsea, NY nearly every day whilst I was away this summer.

On the last day I did it, I took a look at this signpost right outside the door to Black Frame.

and noticed that little guy! I guess he'd been there the whole time.

Kind of reminds me of Little People a bit, except a little different.

Bless our Union

Dissertation time is well and truly upon me, with a first draft due in on Friday. It's the same day as my CHI application is due in, so it's looking like a busy week ahead. 

Part of what I'm focusing on is whether Students' Unions could, if organised and funded accordingly, act as a new kind of 'Public Sphere' as Habermas first described. 

So as a little bit of highly unscientific research, I put up a little message in my college Library last week. It will literally contribute to one line of text, and although I'm doing a lot of primary research through interviews and such, I felt it would be ok, for this particular point to use this method.

Here's my notice on a whiteboard in the library space:

I asked people to say whether they agreed with one of 5 different statements:

1. I'm aware how my Students' Union is run and managed, and I frequently get involved.
2. I'm aware how my Students' Union is run and managed, but I feel no need to get involved. 
3. I am not aware how my Students' Union is run and managed, but I know where I could find out.
4. I am not aware how my Students' Union is run or managed, and I have no idea how to find out. 
5. I have no inertest in my Students' Union, and do not care how it is run or managed.  

The results, quite frankly, were a little unfortunate:

 

Oh dear.

Someone's even added a new line; 'I feel un-represented by my union' !

We did a similar question when I was at Sussex, and although the results weren't quite this bad, we still went out of our way afterwards to try and understand what exactly the problem was. Is is just information based, or is the problem more that the Union isn't doing what it's students require of it, a more fundamental failing.

Hopefully the research I pull up in my dissertation will provide some sort of benchmark idea that could then be used to asses which it is in UWIC's case: Are we (students) all just really ignorant, or is our Union fundamentally failing us? And does it matter?

Blog Watch

My good friend Matt Redd has recently secured a position as associate producer with Tornado Films, which is fantastic news. We've known each other for around 7 years now. In numbers, that feels kind of long, but the HTML tips emails and long conversations over German beers in Chapter that started it all seem like they were just last week. 

Tornado Films have recently launched a blog, which Matt is contributing heavily too. It's a really interesting read, with input from all the different staff at the young and growing company. 

As a recent MA Graduate and winner of numerous placements and travel scholarships, Matt's passing on insider tips and offering his own insight on script development and all other production matters. I'm sure that over the coming months his personality, dedication and humility are really going to start to shine through and reveal whole parts of the film production process that I had no idea existed or took place.

Read the Tornado Films blog here.

Winter in Cardiff

My new house

The 'small stone cottage' arrived in the post this morning! The idea, essentially, is to modify it to how it might look in 2050. I thought it might be fun, given my interest in this kind of thing, so I'm going to get stuck in and post my progress here.

There's an introduction over on Russell Davies's blog, it was his idea.

And then there's the tumblr

Innocent Prize

I sent a picture to @innocentdrinks the other week which resulted in my getting a small prize. It was a picture of the Age Concern Hats which had just started going out in Sainsburys Central on Queen Street. 

I've started getting into a bit more of this kind of thing - it's fun, and also interesting seeing how these kinds of things run. Hopefully it will give me more idea of digital campaign stuff without me really noticing. I'm going to have a go at Live Guy on Tuesday too.

My picture was rubbish though, definitely not up to Innocent standards.

And it got featured on the Innocent Blog, which is always fun times.

And look what (I'm presuming) Mr Dan Germain sent in return! ...

Thanks Innocent! The brand book will actually be really useful for my dissertation, which WILL be at first draft stage by the end of this week, so muchly appreciated.

I'll try harder on the picture next time.

Alison Czajkowskyj: Final Phase

One of the great things about being at art school is the amazing variety of work you can see going on in other courses running at UWIC. Picking out a few that run here; Illustration, Broadcast Media & Popular Culture, Product Design, or Architectural Technology, probably wouldn't be fair, because the course titles are so nebulous that they don't really do justice to the teaching content, and also, we're on a split site, so all the really funky ones like printmaking, ceramics and such, they all go on somewhere else. They have a better bar too :(

But on my campus we do have Contemporary Textile Practice, a fascinating and diverse course which is apparently one of the few of its kind in the country, and that always puts on an amazing degree show.

My girlfriend Alison is in her final year of BA CTP and has just finished the first stage of one of her major projects.

Titled Final Phase, Alison's project is re-imagining existing and often mundane objects to bring more relevance to contemporary life. 

She's focussing specifically on umbrellas. Alison's explorations of shelter and water brought her to the natural canopies that once sheltered humans from the elements – trees. Over time, these living, natural barriers have been cut back, not only causing a lack of shelter but also contributing to a changing climate, causing increased water shortages. The themes of decay, rust and mould became increasingly important as the boundary between the natural and synthetic was questioned.

She says:

"The umbrella appealed to me because being an object we are all familiar with, most of us own one, they become mundane and are overlooked.  When in fact umbrellas have an interesting history, reminiscent of many architectural constructions, both natural and man-made.  The dome like structure provides shelter and in some cultures is used to construct boats. Historically umbrellas were a sign of status and wealth, often extremely decorative and beautifully embellished.  It is this element of the umbrella I wanted to re develop, exploring the contemporary issues relating to water.  I began to explore the possibility of using an umbrella as a vessel to collect water where there is excess, conserving it for those who are without."

There are a number of materials used, including copper, felt, latex, pewter, cotton and wool. 

Final Phase questions what the next stage in the evolution of shelter will be, perhaps once humankind loses it's opportunity to nurture the natural world back to the situation we found it in. Will our own creations begin to decay beyond our own control? If we survive, what will daily life be like, and what kinds of (anti)technologies will we use?

It's a really beautiful piece of work. Ironically, Final Phase is only Alison's response to the first part of this project, with the next stage encouraging students to delve deeper into the themes they've uncovered, towards their final degree shows next June. If you're interested in following developments, you can follow Alison on twitter through @ali_chi

Explaining myself

It's been a while since I posted anything. School has really stepped up, and the application season is well and truly underway for graduate schemes in London's big advertising and communications houses. So I've been getting my fair share of writing without even thinking of blogging. 

But this answer, that I'm using in my application to WPP, might work for my 'school work' reflective journal category. These are posts that I'll collate at the end of the school year as part of a submission on personal development. I have a bunch of other things to write, and hope to have time to sit down with them soon. Please stick with me!

So anyway, the question was "explain the types of jobs you're considering, and your reasons (300 words)"

I’m hoping to start a creative career that involves research and trend forecasting, so I’ve mainly been drawn towards blogs and events that have featured planners and strategists. They seem like great people, and I love talking about the things they talk about, so I’m keen to work amongst them when I graduate.

By next summer, I’ll have what is essentially a graphic design degree. So if I’m unsuccessful in my fellowship applications, I will explore branding and publishing jobs to see if there are positions I could apply for. At the same time I’ll be hoping to continue internships and work experience in advertising and trend forecasting houses.

I’ve hugely enjoyed the events production and PR experience I’ve had to date. But instead of direct careers in these areas, I’d really like to draw on those disciplines in work that I’m doing in a field like planning or branding, as I mentioned previously.

In the long term, I’d like to use the commercial techniques that I’m hoping to learn to help non-profit organisations reach wider audiences. Some organisations are already starting to do it, and I find it really exciting watching third-sector organisations behave like private-sector companies to achieve social aims, without harming their integrity or values.

More Interesting

As I might have mentioned before, I was able to go along to Interesting NYC while I was there over the summer. It was a far more serious affair than the London Interesting, but no less interesting.

There's good news: full videos of all the speakers are now online! I would thoroughly recommend Grant McCracken, who pretty much confirmed for me that Planning was the way to go, Morgan Friedman, who gives some fascinating tips for visiting new cities, and Scott Ballum, who is only buying products from people he's met. Dallas Penn's funny but serious expose on Bodegas (corner shops) was awesome too. And Dipti Bramhandkar was bonkers.

There was a whole mixed bag of other speakers, none more or less interesting than the next. It's definitely worth clicking through to the 'speakers' page on the website and having a look through.

It's kind of sad though, that they only went up this week, because there's one speech that I'd been hoping to watch again right the way through the Presidential campaign. Charles Rosen's speech about the Democratic Campaign is well worth a watch, even now, just in case anyone needed convincing about the choice that was made. 

You can view all the speakers here.

The Weepies

I don't know if I'm really behind on this one, but I'm loving The Weepies at the moment. They've apparently featured in a ton of film and TV soundtracks, which figures, so they might be bigger in the States. 

Anyway this video, for 'hideaway' is pretty cute, so here you go:

I discovered them through last.fm, which, may I also add, is awesome. I've been using it about a year now I think. At the wrong end of the bell curve on this one too, I know, but if you haven't got yourself set up on there yet and you're in the market for new music, I definitely would. Just download the app and away you go.

Other recommended songs by The Weepies:

Gotta Have you

World spins madly on