Samson.D.ICA

PART 2: ICA – THE INCOMPLETE ARCHIVE

The brief on this project was to create a greater level of visitor engagement at the ICA.

Quite close to the beginning of the project it turned into a group project alongside Nic and Toby, this was because we felt we could all give each other feedback and push ourselves harder.

01 — Research02 — Analysis03 — Experimentation04 — Subject Knowledge05 — Technical Competence06 — Communication & Presentation

RESEARCH

One of the first forms of research we took part in was to ask fellow students their perceptions on the ICA. Few people it turned out knew much about it at all. Only one or two had ever been there.

This method was expanded later when we created online surveys, this however got a very poor response. We also were told by Sarah we couldnt really survey the staff due to potential cuts coming up soon.

From the responses we did get however, combined withour own observation we managed to get a loose understanding of the core audience. Artists, Students and Tourists seemed to be the core.

RESEARCH: QUESTION TIME

Field Research

Selecting the IDEO method cards we felt were most appropriate for the project, the team all went out and did research at a variety of cultural insitituitions. Including the Barbican, Whitechapel Gallery, Science Museuem and others.

RESEARCH: METHODS

One of our primary methods was to use the IDEO method cards, selecting the ones we thought were most relevant. Such as Fly on the Wall and Behavioural Mapping. We then decided to carry these out in a variety of cultural institutions.

RESEARCH: OUT & ABOUT

A major benefit of working in a group was that we could cover far more ground in the same time, pooling together our resources.

We made several trips on foot to various cultural hot spots, documenting as went.

RESEARCH: OUT & ABOUT

One interesting thing we kept coming back to was the concept of user generated content. We saw it as feedback walls with bits of paper, also as an organic growing book in the Open Books exhibition at the RCA and as a recorded voice booth at the British Library.

RESEARCH: PRINTED MATTER

On our journeys into the wild we came across an epic amount of printed matter, flyers, posters, booklets etc. This was all scanned in and documented as part of the research we conducted.

This hoarding infact seems to be mimic where our project ended up heading in the end...

Plowing through the printed matter we liked seemed like a good way to spend some time.

It certainly uncovered some of the ideas that would later become central to the project. Such as the Camden Arts Centre collectable sheets.

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS: THE SPACES

We spent a fair amount of time taking notes and collecting information about the people in the spaces we visited.

What we discovered was that most people charge around a gallery taking seconds to look at each picture, mostly in complete silence.

Some people dont even go into the main spaces, they just head to the shop and leave, a safety tactic perhaps?

ANALYSIS: CASE STUDIES

Splitting the case studies into three, we all undertook more thorough case studies on the projects we found most interesting. It ended clocking in when combined to around 100 pages, a lot of very interesting content from all over the place.

This was later reduced down into a new layout for the hand in, clocking in around 50 pages, even with added content. Much more manageable. Nic has since added a few more case studies specifically about the ICA, something we had missed out before.

What was it?

An exhibition exploring how we show and interact with a book on show. It explores the use of a book in a public environment rather than in a more convential private sphere.At the very heart of it was the idea that books should not be exhibited as dead containers of information, but as a living object. The books in the exhibition were curated by Sophie Demay and Charlotte Cheetham.

Facing Pages

James Langdon and Stuart Whipps were exploring the book as an in-herently binary system. Their piece took two facing pages from a range of publications projected on to the corner of the gallery space.

48 Books

Fraser Muggeridge displayed his studios piece which was a series of books, where the content was se-lected from 48 books the studio had designed from 2001 onwards.

arriVing

fairly discreet banners outside the museum simultaneously advertise that the museum is free to enter, while making a plea for donations.

the recent rebrand by johnson banks is pushed to the fore, as visitors encounter a series of large posters and helpers at free-stand-ing information kiosks in the long foyer between the entrance nearest the adjacent underground station and the entrance to the museum.

donation modules also flank the exit, posing a final question—’love science? keep it free, please do-nate what you can.’

personal greeting

this large-scale poster welcomes visitors personally as they enter the museum. the figure may be waving in greeting at the visitor, or it may represent the visitor, reaching out to accept the greeting.

either way, the word hello and friendly gesture of an open palm are sure to be universally under-stood by the venue’s diverse inter-national audience.

touch screen consoles

touch screen consoles are in abundence at the science museum. find information on the location of exhibits or provide feedback on your experience, available in a range of languages.

again, visitors encounter several of these in the foyer before even entering the mueum.

Camden Arts Centre: File Notes

designed by James Goggin and Sara de Bondt.These

individual ring-stapled A5 booklets accompanied the 2004

programme of events. Cheaply produced with a range of

paper stocks and inks, these can be collected and collated in

an accompanying ring binder.

EXPERIMENTATION

EXPERIMENTATION: AS A TEAM

The process of of working in a team produces totally different responses than if you had worked alone. A very simple example was trying to formulate a name, we had a loose concept of where we might go and then just sat and played with the letters ICA, until we found something we liked.

This same process was followed through when we were looking/editing typefaces or as I coded the website. In this manner it grew organically, as each of us did the particular task we were working on.

We concentrated on gathering a series of visual inspiration that brought about the feeling of an archive or time passing, such as train boards and old operating systems.

EXPERIMENTATION: TYPOGRAPHY

Early on we decided a monospaced typeface would be most appropriate, due to its connotations with old computer print outs and archives in general. From a giant list of potential candidates, it was reduced to T-Star Mono. However some of the letters were a bit weird, so were redone.

One thing we wanted to do was create strong visuals out of typography only, it was to act as a secondary brand to the ICA not as a replacement, so it had to be quite simple. Our logo would be a wordmark only.

incompletearchive

EXPERIMENTATION: WEBSITE

The website was heavily influenced by the visuals we had been showing each other. One which stuck out was that of the old Mac OS. With its bitmapped shades rather than gradients or colours. Then we also came across websites doing a similar thing.

So a basic version was drawn up, where elements could be dragged around the screen. It was pretty basic, but it was enough to excite the guys. So we took it futher, embracing the drag and drop as one of the main visual features.

We tried out a variety of controls and ideas, such as an infinite website that changed content depending on you scrolling up or down. We also tried it with all of the content on the page at once, although this was pretty chaotic.

SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE

SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE: ICA

The most important aspect of this project was to understand the ICA itself and more generally cultural institutions in and around London.

We achieved this very well I think, with three seperate trips to the ICA and many more to other places. We got a good feel for what its about, the people that go there and potentially what needs improving.

SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE: BOOKS

We spent a considerable amount of time looking at various sources of inspiration for this project. A few selected titles are; Supergraphics by Unit Editions, Exhibition Design by David Dernie and for a bit of contemporary design I Love Futura by Victionary / Twopoints.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCE

TECHNICAL COMPETENCE: WEBSITE

Although not fully operational, the website comes pretty close, with various animation techniques, draggable boxes and sliders. In the background of the website is a timer of current or past activitites. Clicking on any item will pull out more of the same time of post, all windows being placed randomly.

A relatively high level of competence with Javascript programming is needed to achieve this website.

It can be viewed over at ica.danielsamson.com

TECHNICAL COMPETENCE: TYPOGRAPHY

Although I didnt take part in altering the typefaces as such, I did observe Toby working and now feel I have the confidence to do it myself. Previously the complex interface has put me off getting my teeth sunk in. abcde

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COMMUNICATION & PRESENTATION

nathaniel mellors: ourhouse dailyclient 9 dailyconfessions dailybafta:gareth edwards 16/03birds eye view: bloody women 16/03art & animism 17/03ballast 18/03play/works making real 19/03radical publishing culture now 19/03civic life 20/03

nathaniel mellors: ourhouse dailyclient 9 dailyconfessions dailybafta:gareth edwards 16/03birds eye view: bloody women 16/03art & animism 17/03ballast 18/03play/works making real 19/03radical publishing culture now 19/03civic life 20/03

week 05 week 05

>> contribute to the incomplete archive below, online at ica.org.uk/icarchive or via Twitter

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16——20/03 16——20/03

nathaniel mellors: ourhouse dailybafta:david hego 09/03bev: rosa luxemburg 09/03the little richard story 10/03haunted soundsystems 10/03culture now 11/03bev:tiasa 12/03bev:orgasm inc 12/03bev:equals on film oxfam gala 13/03

nathaniel mellors: ourhouse dailybafta:david hego 09/03bev: rosa luxemburg 09/03the little richard story 10/03haunted soundsystems 10/03culture now 11/03bev:tiasa 12/03bev:orgasm inc 12/03bev:equals on film oxfam gala 13/03

week 04 week 04


name

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09——13/03 09——13/0316——20/03/2011

HonourBayes Hm any1 fancy this?RT @ICALondon Free talk this Friday lunchtime with curator Andrea Schlieker & artist Cornelia Parker http://bit.ly/iiTVtb













COMMUNICATION & PRESENTATION: PRINT

Throughout the development of the project we had thought that it would be a nice idea to add a printed element to the concept. This leaflet is intended as a weekly record of the ICA’s activity. The printed version was designed to work within a strict template but hopefully maintaining some of the flexibility of the website. It has a slightly odd feeling to it as it designed to look like the website, but it is done in a professional manner.

This would be produced on a weekly basis, inhouse on laser printers for maximum cost and minimum effort. The paper could be pre-perforated and bought in bulk, the holes at the top with which to mount it would be done with a holepunch.

COMMUNICATION & PRESENTATION: WEB

The website was the cornerstone of the whole project, being the point where the user generated content such as tweets and flickr images came through. I think we achieved a professional looking website, that shys away from current web trends, but is still usable, if not a little quirky.

COMMUNICATION & PRESENTATION: ANIMATION

The animation was the final part of the project, a flash based projection that would emulate certain parts of the website such as the countdown timer and the tweets.

Toby did a very good job at making it feel like a train station deperature board. Especially with the use of the customised typefaces.

It would ultimately be projected into the ICA space, onto walls etc. This acts as temporary signage that can be turned on or off when needed.

I have included this as a seperate file due to general failage with PDF’s and video.

CONCLUSIONS

This was probably the most fully realised and successful project I have done on the FdA so far. Working in a solid team where everyone brings something to the table was great. I would happiliy work with both of them again.

I think the project comes out very good from the process too, so not only enjoyable but successful too.

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Samson.D.ICA