Hi and welcome to my blog.
I am a student at the University of Arts London College of Communication and am completing my BA Hons in Graphic and Media Design. I would like to share with you my response to my final major project entitled Transformers and would be grateful for your thoughts and any comments about my work.
What is this project about?
My brief was to:
Take a creative piece of work that is successful, powerful and evocative which already exists in a sturdy media format, and place it into a new media format. Develop the original representation of the content in order to transform the original into a whole new piece. In order for you to capitalise on your destination media and fulfil the potential of this opportunity, you must analyse and understand it's strengths and weaknesses. The outcome will also depend on your initial choice. Work with something that genuinely stimulates and inspires you. Your objective is to communicate the piece in ways never before seen, and allow a viewer to observe and induce from new perspectives.
I chose to take the film of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech. It is an iconic and passionate speech that is still widely recognised some 58 years later by those famous four words "I Have a Dream". It was a hugely successful speech containing metaphors, emotive language and repetition of words that were collectively responsible for bringing about change in racial equality and human rights.
Here is a link to the You Tube film footage of the original speech given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.
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My aim was to 'transform' this film into a visual representation of the entire speech without words, audio or footage from the film. I wanted to convey the message of equality which was the purpose and objective of the speech. I explored how equality can be explained visually and was surprised by how many ideas related to numerical language, a series of combinations and mono-colour.
Developing these ideas further I brought together combinations of numbers and mono-colour in the form of binary codes. Each letter of each word consisted of an 8 digit code made from 0's and 1's. Taking the 1,666 words contained in the speech I converted them all to binary numbers producing 68,229 separate 8 digit codes filling 14 pages of A4. Here is the first page as an example.
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| First Page of Binary code of King's speech |
Binary Image
Binary numbers can also be converted into a binary image, where in the binary language 0's are represented by black squares and 1's by white squares. This links to my idea of mono-colour and to the content and purpose of the speech; equality. In order to view the image it needs both the black and white squares to work together and they therefore have equal value.
Collaborating with Computer Programmer Eric Barwell resulted in the production of a programme that was able to convert the numerical binary code into a binary image. Below is the resulting visual image which contains Martin Luther King's entire I Have a Dream speech.
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| Image showing Binary code converted to black and white squares |
The 21st Century Voice
Exploring other mono-colour coding I was interested in data matrix codes. These are 2d codes which can be created and then deciphered by others by using the relevant free application which can be downloaded to a mobile phone. Each code can represent up to 60 words.
I thought that it would be interesting to try to take King's speech and convert it into this 21st Century medium. These codes when scanned individually convert back into the written speech or even a link to the original video itself. I created a set of 40 data matrix codes which are displayed together as piece of visual/graphic design in their own right but all can be scanned to reveal the words of the original speech which helps the viewer to engage with my work.
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| My 40 Data Matrix Codes (reading left to right, top to bottom) |
As the original speech was an address to the mass public I decided that I too should share my transformation of this iconic speech with the public in true 21st Centruy style via this blog!
Give it a try
Since producing this work I have seen more and more data matrix codes appearing, mainly for advertising products and services. Like mine they can all be read by downloading an application for a phone that has internet access, which app depends on the type of phone you have and they are available free from:
Bee Tagg
SCANLIFE
Quick Mark Reader
Semacode
2d Sense Platform
KAYWA Reader
Neo Reader
UpCode Reader
I - nigma Reader
Here is an example for iPhones:
Here are my 40 data matrix codes transforming Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech - give it try and let me know what you think!
The 2d data matrix codes can be photographed and scanned digitally from screen, for best results they can be printed!
And... finally the code that links back to the video footage of the speech in 1963.
Thank you for your interest in my work, I look forward to your comments.
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Emma
This is cool Emma. I can see how your final image clearly relates to the brief you had. I like the design of the 40 data matrix codes and it's really great that they can be interactive too!
ReplyDeleteI really like the way that you have taken the original film from nearly 60 years ago and transformed it into a way of communication that is very cuurent. Your explanation of how you arrived at your final design helps me to understand the ideas and links that you make and how they all come together. I agree that it's even more interesting because I can 'connect' to it and it transforms again into something else.
ReplyDeleteThis is truly inspirational and very emotive. The fact that the black and white squares are both needed equally, to create the link back to the initial speech is a fabulous idea. You definitely were ahead of the game using the data matrix codes, as they are now widely used on TV and other adverts.
ReplyDeleteSome nice ideas, visionary towards a future where this will be common while projecting the past.
ReplyDeleteLovely.
Wow! amazing, really creative
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to mix old and new with black and white! A very good mix of technologies and what a brilliant man to base it all on!
ReplyDeleteI love how you have still managed to display such equality by using a modern medium, despite the lack of actual words; I can imagine if MLK were an artist today he would understand the compassion. I also love that you have given the viewer the ability to interact with the work. Finally, before reading what your project is about the viewer may be feel very detached from it all; however, this ability to interact with your work allows for an almost intimate connection. Great work!!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have believed that it is possible to convey this speech without using words or images and still get the message across. Not only have you done it but you have done it well. In a world where so much has already been done I am surprised an inspired by new creative ideas such as yours.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your brief, I was expecting to be presented with a more graphical approach that would illustrate the speech (perhaps a form of typography), but the different forms of code were definitely a great choice - especially the combining of black and white. It's an extremely creative way of taking something from the past into the future and you have done it very well. The fact that people can be interactive with your design also makes it a great piece.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant work done here. A very clever idea which I think has turned out truly brilliant. The use of one of the most inspirational and important pieces of history turned into art that represents the modern day. Really enjoyed reading this work and the interactive elements that are combined with it, very well done.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting and unique way of showing this speech without words. Brilliant!
ReplyDelete