Through the ‘Visual Research Practice’ of observation, collecting, studying and exploring a subject, topic or theme, this will contribute to a deeper understanding of the subject

"Research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge.”

By Martyn Shuttleworth

Research is an investigation into your subject, topic or issue, where you explore, enquire, define, data and information, analysing and reflecting upon what you carefully selected, to develop and progress ideas further,to gain knowledge into the subject your studying. The more in depth research you do in your subject, the more knowledge and understanding you will have.

The video above of Ginette Caron's notebook, is a great example of collecting and collating different types of medium, to help gain a deeper understanding of the subject . The creative process of  'Visual Practice' can help stimulate different ideas, by drawing, creating pictures, diagrams, illustrations, and imagery. By exploring one idea, it can stimulate another, evolving different concepts and ideas throughout your project helping you explore these notions further and gain more in depth knowledge of the subject.  

http://mariondeuchars.com/index2.html

Marion Deuchars is another example of a visual communicator that uses the visual practice process, where his work is rich with observations. Deuchars's records his ideas travelling, encounters with people, and behaviour of people. The way Deuchars's records his surroundings helps stimulate different ideas, and feeds different ideas through the ongoing process of enquiry. This helps explore the subject further making his ideas a lot richer. He will constantly reflect upon his ideas, analysing and questioning how it communicates the message, and exploring different ways to problem solve the question. 

In order to research successfully, you have to be aware of the problem solving question you are going to investigate. Then collect date to answer the question, and finally present an answer that solves the question. Following this method will help you increase a better understanding of the subject.

When researching for a current project, it’s an ongoing process, where you constantly explore, enquire different ideas, and investigate different ways of communicating, then reflect and evaluate your different notions justifying what works, and what doesn't. Research should be an ongoing investigation of finding different ways to answer the question, and an essential part of problem solving, to provide a responsive answer.

There are two different types of research, which are known as Primary research and Secondary research. They both differ in the way you conduct them. Both of these methods play a major part into the journey of finding a solution for your question. 

Primary research is where you collect it for the first time, as the particular direction your researching doesn't exist, as nobody has ever researched into that current topic, issue or subject.

Advantages of Primary research;

• Accuracy and reliability,as you've conducted the research yourself you know it's going to be precise. 
• Research isn't outdated, as you have done it recently before collecting the information and collaborating it in your design work. 

The main disadvantage of primary research;

• Time consuming, as you have to define the problem you are solving, and analyse the answers given.

Secondary research is where it already exists and has already been collected. It is relevant to the current topic or issue by other organisations and publications. 

Advantages of secondary research;

• Easily accessible
• Inexpensive  
• Makes you aware if any potential difficulties in the subject you are going to study. 

The main disadvantage; 

•  the data or information is gathered from an unknown source may not be reliable, or might not be current.

Through the use of visual research practice, observing, gathering, and exploring a subject in depth, will help you gain a further understanding of the subject and develop your notions further until you have found the solution that provides the best answer for your topic or issue.

An understanding and knowledge of ‘an Audience’ should enhance and focus the communication

When carefully selecting your target audience, it is essential to take into considerations of the age, gender, interests, occupation, and the social economic class of your audience. In order for your design work to be understood, and have an influence on your selected audience, these factors must be explored, to help you gain a deeper understanding of your audience for your work to be successful and communicate, delivering a memorable message.

For your design to make a strong connection with your audience you have to make sure you are aiming your work at a specific audience. If you have a general audience, it will be too broad, as people have different interests and preferences, it won’t appeal to a general audience, therefore it won't be effective in communicating a message.

By understanding and justifying the answers of your questions aimed at your audience, this will help you choose the right direction of how to code your design. You will have gained a deeper understanding and knowledge of your particular audience, which will lead to a successful message in your design work. You can code your design through the use of typography, photography, illustration, layout, and television. These different elements will vary on how effective they are depending who your audience is aimed towards. Your target audience will decode the message within your design, and act upon it, if it’s successful. If the design has an impact on viewers, it has to change your audience’s behavior, in order to be effective. If viewers haven’t acted upon the design work or if it hasn’t had an impression on the audience, then the message was unsuccessful and shows you lacked an understanding of your particular audience and need to gain more knowledge with what interests and engages your selected audience.

' You wouldn't start a night like this, so why end it that way?'

This advert created in 2008 aimed at 18-24 year-olds, to make them aware of what binge drinking can cause, making it clear it doesn't only affect your health, but you can cause yourself harm drinking excessively.

The series of TV images reveals young adults acting violently, and injuring themselves. The use of showing young people in the advert, is to communicate with the target audience (18-24year-olds). By making it personal to the target audience, immitating how young adults behave, it makes viewers see the connections of their similar behaviour of how they act when they are under the influence of alcohol. 

This campaign has been communicated effectively, due to the in depth research and knowledge into the target audience. By observing young adults behaviour and gathering information of what adults do when they're intoxicated, it has produced a campaign on such a personal level, by collaborating everything young adults do, it connects to the audience. As a result of communicating effectively to the audience this advert will have an influence on young adults to change their behaviour, and learn to know their limits, before they cause harm to thereself.

Relationships developed from existing forms of historical culture

http://stendekkk.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/cottingley-fairies-hoax-admission-only.html

With the photograph taken in 1917 of Elsie Right - Cottingley Fairies, this was one of the most famous debatable photographs taken. For decades people were mislead to believe the Cottingley fairies were real. Eventually Elsie Right confessed that the fairies were hand drawn and cut out of paper.

The photograph was taken during the war. Where in that era, the fairies were drawn to the idyllic visual fantasy of their idea of a fairy during those times they lived in. In some way I believe the fantasy of the fairies gave meaning and reflected the emotions they felt through the war. Perhaps, the idyllic fantasy of fairies was created to give people hope and faith that the fairies were real, representing what people felt and giving them the hope to carry on through the war, believing anything is possible and they would get through the war.  

This idea and concept of fairies has been re-contextualized throughout the years through different mediums. In order to give meaning and connect to the current audience, the idea has been reshaped and developed to present the contemporary design in today's society for the context and audience each extracting the elements that portray a fantasy of fairy from Cottingley Fairies. 

http://www.glogster.com/emerald09/tinkerbell-and-friends/g-6mpjgrc2qng0hopuub2ama0

You can see the relationship between Cottingley Fairies and how Walt Disney has been influenced by historical culture, by developing and reshaping the concept into a playful way, it's aimed towards children in a contemporary design to give a meaning in their culture. With all the photographers and designers who have reproduced and re-contextualized the concept of Cottingley fairies, they have showcased it in the current times there living in, through the current contemporary style that was in trend at that time, to give representation of that era.

Pastiche Synchronicity Or Conceptual Appropriation reworking the idea

Many practitioners produce pieces of work that sometimes have a similar concept, or designers re-contextualize other peoples ideas and concepts.

When you mimic and imitate many elements of a practitioners known piece of work, this is called Pastiche. Personally, I see this to be copying. It's taking most of the elements of a practitioners work, and reproducing the design, there's no development with the concept and drastic changes to make it differ from the original idea.

(Above showing painting by Leonardo Da Vinchi)

http://www.monalisamania.com/art.htm

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinchi, is one of the most reproduced art work of all time, done in different types of mediums. Above is an oil painting done by Richard Krause, where it's clear the artist has imitated the artwork closely making slight changes.  

Synchronicity is two or more notions coincidentally created, without being aware practitioners have synchronised the same ideas that are unrelated. This could happen when designers potentially have the same thought process about a direction there exploring. Whilst developing there ideas they coincidentally come up with the same concept, having no intention of copying, and are unaware someone has thought of the same idea already by chance. 

Conceptual Appropriation is where a designer is influenced by a practitioner, and imitates there work to a certain extent but reshapes the idea in their own style to re-contextualize the design by extracting specific parts of the design and adding their own twist on it, to make their work differentiate from where the designer was influenced from. "It's not where you take things from, it's where you take things to," it's about how much you take elements of the idea, develop it in a different perspective and adapt it to the audience your aiming at. Conceptual Appropriation is used by many designers to enable them to develop there own ideas further by being influenced with different aspects of practitioners designs.

http://www.noblahblah.org/?tag=si-scott

This is an example of Conceptual Appropriation, where I was influenced by Si Scott with the use of his own detailed pattern to create a visual outcome. Here I have taken the concept of using a pattern to create a visual image, but I have illustrated and developed my own pattern in a much less detailed way, differentiating my art work in comparison to Si Scott.

Overcoming Mindsets

http://www.christophniemann.com/

In order to overcome conventional mindsets, you have to free yourself by tackling the ordinary routine and habitual modes that practitioners use. By using Practitioners ordinary approach of thinking towards their design work, it will lead to assumptions of their work making it predictable, eliminating the element of surprise in their own design work. In order to have an element of surprise in your work, you have to push boundaries and break the conventional rules, by exploring techniques and ideas out of your comfort zone to reach creative outcomes. 

To overcome mindsets there is a three step process to achieve the creative thinking;

1) Think about what boundaries you are going to test, what rules are you going to break.

2) Find ways to challenge or change the rules by questioning your ideas, how could you explore this idea in different ways, find other ways of making marks for instance.

3) Be playful and experimental, trying to avoid assumptions of your outcomes in visual language, by not using conventional symbols that are usually selected to represent a response.

Christoph Niemann demonstrates he doesn't use a conventional thinking strategy, and always explores ways he can deliver a message in an unordinary way creating that element of surprise. By using this tactical method, it engages viewers, and makes Niemann's work unique in it's own way, as the practitioner has explored a vast amount of different ways to deliver a message so it's memorable, by breaking the conventional rules in exciting ways. By studying Niemann's illustration's it has inspired me to gradually adjust my thinking methods, by always critically analysing my work will help me question how I could challenge and break boundaries to make my work original, differing from the conventional methodology. This new way of thinking will help me adopt a fresh new attitude towards my work helping me develop my creative thinking.

Managing A Creative Environment

http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/17-designers-you-should-know-and-their-workspaces

Being surrounded in a creative work place, with collections of artefacts that reflect on what you’re personally interested in as a designer, will help stimulate and broaden your ideas as a practitioner. As an individual your creativity is influenced by your surroundings and working environment. 

The variety of culture and tradition that you are surrounded by will help you combine different elements from diverse culture to create innovative ideas. As your working environment can have an impact on your design work. I personally think it’s essential to utilise books, objects, and any visual material that you collect. This can potentially stimulate different ideas within the direction your currently working on. Again helping you create memorable unique designs as you explore your ideas in many different ways, such as by letting yourself be influenced by your environment and surroundings.

Building a reservoir of visual materials that you will find stimulating and beneficial, will make you be selective of what you choose. This will make you question and justify what you find intriguing about individual visual pieces. This process of classification will help you understand the elements of design you appreciate and select what you want to take forward with you in your work to inspire your design ideas to progress further. 

When reflecting on all the visual material you collect, it gives you an understanding of your personal interests and by being surrounded with all of the visual material you collate. You can use it as a stimulus to trigger new exciting concepts through a variety of different cultural aspects and your selected visual material that you find influential.