07 | A1 – A2 – B1 stage – Book Research – Plan

It has been nearly a month since the last post. The thesis proposal was delivered and left now wait for February 13th.

I made a list of places to visit (libraries) where you could find information relevant to the project. Therefore spent all week at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation – Art Library in research. Tomorrow will be the last day to draw more notes and organize books from my list. It has not been bad because the location is great and they have really nice books for the research, im amazed.

My work plan as a way to remind me of the time I have available for the project and still the best way to organize myself.

List: (according to my project)

Porto

Centro Português de Fotografia
Museu Nacional da Imprensa
Museu da Indústria
Museu dos Transportes e Comunicações
Arquivo Distrital do Porto
Arquivo Municipal do Porto
Clube de Colecionadores de Gaia
Associação de Reformados STCP

Lisboa

Biblioteca de Arte – Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (?)

hope it can be helpful for someone in the future.
I will keep posting the process.

06 | 1st stage – Proposal Major project

Despite the festive season we can’t stop working. At the moment I’m finishing the thesis proposal to deliver up to 20 January.

To make a summary of the situation, i just collected all the ticket files from the museum.
I’m waiting to get in contact again with the museum in search of some digital file tickets are still missing me in the collection.
Also started doing the capture of video images that will accompany the project. (special thanks to Bruno Carvalho)

Next steps:

– Contact with people related to the STCP printing company;
– Contact the association of retirees STCP; (http://www.ccdtstcp.pt/reformados.php)
– Visit the Porto district File to find more information; (http://www.adporto.pt)
– Visit de Press Museum; (http://www.museudaimprensa.pt)
– Start editing information and make a list of missing tickets.

Take this opportunity to wish Happy Holidays and keep up the good work.

05 | Subject – Diggin’ II

In the last Diggin’ post i suggested some places to go and start collecting information or more relative stuff.
Now im feeling a bit confuse, as always. But i think i’m finding a way.

This week I went to the Museu do Carro Eléctrico, the central Massarelos. There was possible to analyze all file documents.
Maps, social passes, work under the museum and also a fantastic monograph on the full history of the company.
Four hours were not required to analyze everything just so I will schedule another visit in order to visually record all social passes.

At the moment the hardest was decode some information on passes and even the right people who will tell me the route chart of the company. But I have some references, that I will soon put here.

Now this book its a very good reference to start understanding the context of the company.

Historical perspective by Fernando de Sousa and Jorge Fernandes Alves on the development of public transport and its identity in the city of Porto.
Edition hardcover of Transportation Collective Port Company, 2001. 316 pp.

MONTEREY, Guido – O Porto – Origem, Evolução e Transportes – 1971

Network map from 1903 – Porto

I have a lot of information to show but for now i’m using some methods to work with huge data information.

Some curious fact – Stcp had an internal typography of the company from the 40’s
Next step: Scan all the social passes and maps + wait for the feedback information from the museum that i asked.

06| PEDRO ALMEIDA – WORKSHOP 02

Last week we had the pleasure to meet Pedro Almeida that worked with us on the final project for the MA.
In 3 days we focused on some important aspects to define a good way to work with data from our project.

1st day task

– We had to do a visual poster with some topics organized by themes. (only images and topics)

I began by organizing the information starting from one of the most relevant visual references to the subject – the organization of the stcp network (map) and around it put the information on the topic and chronologically.

On the left put all the information for the first pass and the social evolution of identity of the company as of its fleet (transport).
On the right of map put visual references of temporal context.
And below the map put publications – records and historical documents related to the business.

As you can see this temporal graph served to guide me in the organization of information.

Map by: Helena Morais

2nd day task

In the beginning of the 2nd day i decided to mark in red on of the most important lines from step history and add more extra information to the visual arrangement.

After that Pedro gave us some individually advices about each project and helped us with the next step. In my case he defined that doing a diagram was the most important thing, working with some specific topics and establish relations between that information.

So i made a simple list/diagram and organized the information on different chronological way below the initial visual poster.

3rd day task

The 3rd task was to create more diagrams, in this case a textual one, using keywords that helped us following some topics and parameters. For that i decided to explore the diagrams that Pedro made on Sanjo project.

This really helped me refine “final” topics to start working with some data that i had and understand the real importance of some things for this project.

05 | Subject – Diggin’

Finally i have a subject and i’m trying to define how to collect the data.

Collecting data now it’s the most important thing, for that i decided to get in touch with the Museu do Carro Eléctrico. Im looking to collect all the cards since 1895 (i found an older one from 1889 – when Carro eléctrico doesn’t even existed) . After that i have to find a way to work with that information.

Other places i’m looking for information:

– Arquivo Distrital do Porto (Documentos Históricos – Contexto )
– Alfarrabistas ( Chaminé da Mota – Sotão da Tia Becas – José Lopes Gomes Soares)

Some things i really want to find out:

– Place where the cards where printed
– Who worked on those pieces
– Understand the cards composition / esthetic

Next steps:
– Collecting data;
– Writing topics about specific themes;
– Start drawing conclusions

Foto: STCP anos 50 – Porto

04| RUSS BESTLEY – WORKSHOP 01

This week we had the pleasure to meet Russel Bestley that worked with us on the final project for the MA.
In 3 days we focused on some important aspects to define a good subject.

1st day task

– We had to do a presentation focusing and aswering to some questions about our subject:

“Make a presentation covering the following aspects of your Major Project.

The presentation should be designed to last 5 minutes maximum and should be supported by evidence of primary and secondary research, visual examples and concise written and verbal statements:
· Your Field of Study or Context (the subject of your enquiry)
· Its relationship to Graphic Design as either Subject or Method
· The proposed Audience for the work
· The Intention of the work in relation to its Context and Audience
· Your Research Question ”

 

After the presentation with the final Research question, Russel told me that i should be more critical and concrete about what i want to explore.

 – 1st research question –
Understand how tickets can tell the story of the Portuguese graphic designand a way to communicate the collection to the audience as a part of the cultural history.

The next step was trying in 10 words reformulate our research question and show a typographic solution as a poster.
I decided to keep everything very simple, because at that time i was very confused too.
Second Step was doing a visual poster with primary and secondary research, visual examples without text support.

2nd day task

– 2nd research question – (reformulation)

How Tickets tell a story and how they lost identity?

3rd day task

The 3rd task was to communicate three things that everyone knows (or should know) about your subject and three things that i have discovered about your subject (which may surprise or confound expectations)

I decided to recreate the original cards and made like a little game, two face cards one with the visual reference and the other side with the sentence.

Last task of the day

We had to design an A2 poster that summarizes and communicates clearly your Research Question. With no text just images. And a came with this. Decided to do a little “mapping” with the data that i had. Creating hierarchy and groups (by year – pattern – type – photos..)

In the end was very helpful to clarify our ideas. Russell was very sincere about the projects and gave us some orientation. And now i can start to see some progress and less doubts about my subject.
Now, my Research Question it’s more like this:

HOW DID THE IDENTITY OF TRANSPORTATION TICKETS EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS?

(Visually speaking. Trying to tell a story and do some comparisons, contextualize and show some visual examples of that)

03 | Possible subject?

Hi y’all.
I have been looking for a subject since last Pecha Kucha we had.
On the presentation i showed some things that im related to because it will be easier to work with subjects that we love.

1st ideia – Packaging | Portuguese Soaps | Context – History – Packaging – Seals – Patterns

2nd Idea – Packaging | Portuguese Cans | Context – History – Packaging – Seals – Patterns

 

3rd Idea – TYPOGRAPHY|CALLIGRAPHY | Urban language in Portugal (Tags|Symbols|Visual anD Urban Dictionary) Context – History – Relations

 

Actually the 1st and 2nd idea we’re already explored on a MA project and in fact i didn’t noticed that The 3rd idea was my favorite but the most difficult one to work with.
But on my presentation i decided to show some things that i like and collect at home, because and i’m a freak with collecting one day i believed they could be important for a project.

4th Idea
That’s when i decided to show an old tickets collection that i photographed for a project last year, i didn’t used the collection for the project but the pieces were so beautiful and they layout so interesting that i decided to show to everyone what i had.

In fact was the collection from a friend that showed me the beginning of a possible project for my MA.
I’m in love with the potencial of this collection, and i decided to collect more old tickets online and made a board with all of them just to see how they could work together.

 

By now i’m waiting for the Workshop with Russ Bestley to understand if this is the right subject to start my final project.

02 | Diggin’ deeper | Subject

Had mentioned on the last publication here that the most important thing is to find a subject to go deeper and find a way.

In the last list i had:

– Packaging

– Typography / Calligraphy

– Signs

Now i’m going deeper on those subjects, and i’ll keep updating with more information. (visual info too)

____________________________

Packaging

Analysis of the graphic image of the soaps in Portugal (Claus | Ach Brito) | (Confiança) – Context
– History – Packaging – Seals – Patterns

Portuguese Cans  | Visual history (Conserveira – Tricana – Minor – Prata do Mar)

 

Typography / Calligraphy

Relations between the urban language in Portugal | Tags | Symbols | Visual an Urban Dictionary

The influence of urban calligraphy on Typography | Ads – Posters

Signs

Visual analysis of Subway icons in Europe | Organization – Colors – Icons – Comparisons

01| Subject

As you know the first part about a project is when you decide to explore a subject, digging deeper about something you choosed and something you are interested in.

Before all was important to establish some parameters to be easier to me find a subject to work with.

The list below has some of the things that i’m interested:

Packaging

Tipography / Calligraphy

Signs

I’m more into the Mapping thing, find relations, collect data and take some conclusions, i’m more in the visual area. In the end i want to have a visual history that allows people to reflect and find a new way to see some subjects, a way to find relations and being fascinated by the data and the cool information i can work with.

___________________

Inside of these subjects i need to get more specific so for each one i’m going to add more information, that information can be updated with the time, but maybe this is the best way to make my mind clear and organized for the all semester till i find the p̶e̶r̶f̶e̶c̶t̶ subject to work with.

There’s no perfect subject, you make your subject the perfect one to work (trying to keep it in mind)

____________________

– Mood –

| New York conceptual artist Nobutaka Aozaki is exploring the act of asking for directions in his ongoing art piece, Here to There, by gathering a collection of impromptu hand-drawn maps he obtains from complete strangers. |

Year 2

Hi everyone! Welcome to year 2.

Probably this will be the most difficult year i ever had, hopefully my last year at school too.

Now im looking for a subject for my final project and it seems to be a huge problem right now.

If you’re from Year 1 and decided to come here to see my projects from last year, feel free and welcome, hope i can help you with something. I know how it feels being completely lost with a Year 1 project.

I introduce to you my new bff:
Course Handbook | Year Two

But the journey its about to begin so, sit back and relax.

Joana Domingues.