final major project

Evaluation for 'My idea of fun'

This brief was the first brief that I started during my FMP, and was the first brief I have felt could be transferred into the 'real word' as a viable product. In my last module I still worked conceptually, but they were still just ideas – they didn't translate as a tangible thing. ‘I have told myself a thousand times not to be shocked, but every time I am shocked again by what people will do to have fun, for reasons they cannot explain.’ - This is a quote by Isaac Bashevis Singer that appears at the start of the novel ‘My Idea of Fun’ by Will Self. I had a conversation with someone about fun and lack of it when so busy on the course and this prompted me to fulfil this brief. My zines/publications that I worked on previously have been made on inkjet printers and although I wanted to still keep with the low cost information aspect of my practice, this time I thought that it was important that I looked into professional printing.

This brief was also partially influenced by the very first project at the start of second year 'WHAT IS GOOD' – you can see how fun and good are relative and so I wanted to re-define what I personally thought was fun and interesting. The first module in third year made me forget who I was and what my actual interests were and it scared me a little to think that I was just a designer, who designed things. This brief investigates how, even as an enlightened society, we still have this constant need to be entertained, and as access to technology and data is so effective - we are better equipped than ever to create information that expresses histories in the personal as well as the international forum.

I was very precious about this brief because I finally realised how interesting the world outside of the degree can be, and what people around me are doing. There was a lot of design development and I irritated my friends a lot in testing these designs out on them, I just wanted to do the project justice and feel content with the design I chose. 90% of the photography used within this series is my own, as I realised I could be everything – the editor, the photographer, the designer etc. It shaped my strategy for when I leave and has reminded me that I can actually be interesting.