Good thing is although I have alot on my plate, there is no uncertainty about what needs to be done now (no whole days trying to think of ideas or doing testers) all I have to do is get on with it so I'm not panicking, I've made a timetable which although tight, is manageable and should, if all goes to plan, mean I get everything done and some good stuff to whack in the portfolio.
It was only on Wednesday that I got a chance to start the TED video project as I was getting ready for the laser cutting induction and doing business card stuff. I watched the videos and chose the sound one and immediately started trying to think of ways to communicate it. I didn't realise till the next day that although we have to hand in something paper based, It doesn't have to be a poster or flyer, it can be photographs or mock ups of a conceptual idea, a 3d installation for example. The boundaries were wide open and I set out to try and think of something original which would really deliver Julian Treasure's message about taking control of the sound around us in a manner befitting his cutting-edge ideas.
I got into my stride on Friday and started churning out ideas on how to do this. Some of these were good but unworkable, like the one where I would allow members of the public to take control of the sound around them quite literally by offering them a kind of control panel in an indoor public place which could change the acoustics of a room so that background noise could be made almost silent (by controlling flaps which would open to reveal a fibrous material which would absorb sound for example) or more echoey. Although this would have demonstrated how dramatically a change in sound changes moods and atmospheres, it only offers them the ability to improve the ambience in that particular place and would probably be more of a novelty than a strong, communicative piece. Other ideas were downright terrible but important to think of as they lead to other, better ones.
I've eventually settled on a kind of game in which the user has to root through a paper bag (which I will screenprint a design onto and try make it look cool) and pick out a card, from amongst 24 others with words representing different background noises printed on them (car horns, doors slamming, fans whirring etc) which says 'your focus'. This is an interactive metaphor for how difficult in can be to find our focus in a workplace with loads of accidental background noise. I would supply a stopwatch with which to time this and a smaller bag with just two cards in it (one would say; relaxing bird song or ambient music and the other would be the focus card). Obviously rooting through this one to find your focus will take seconds and after you compare the times it will show that by taking control of the noise around you you can focus more easily. For the last part of the game you will be instructed to write down the times you took on a leaderboard inside the bag which will add a fun competitive element but will also have stats on how background noise affects productivity and tips on how to counter this.
I now have to work to make this look good. I'm imagining this sitting on a staff-room coffee table so I want to make it look quite fun and playful but not overly silly and childish so people wouldn't feel embarrassed about picking it up. Since it's going to be solely typographic I am going to need to think about the typeface I choose very carefully I've been looking at some board games to get some ideas of what suggests playful and fun.
At the moment I'm thinking Cooper black, Futura bold or extrabold or maybe some sort of rounded geometric like VAG rounded.
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