Context of Practice proposal third year of Graphic Design Degree.

1. BA (Hons) Graphic Design Context of Practice 3 Proposal Form
Make sure you print a copy off for your own records
Name: Beth Taylor
E-mail: bt250877@students.leeds-art.ac.uk
SUBJECTS OF CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH ALREADY UNDERTAKEN
Level 4: Arts and Crafts reflecting the social aspects of the industrial revolution
Level 5: The role of pastiche in modern typographic practice
AIM AND/OR OBJECTIVE OF YOUR PROPOSED C.O.P.3 PROJECT
The role of craft production methods in modern Graphic Design practice.
1. What research needs to be undertaken into the general and specific contexts of your practice?
-looking into the modern commercial processes that traditional production methods are put to.
-The work that is produced from doing so.
-The practitioners that do so and how this changes the design process
-The evolution of these processes.
-The historical contexts in which they came about.
-Why they are still used today.
2. What approach(es) will you take and what processes, methods, materials and tools are to be involved
in research into your practice?
-Interviews and visits to studios and print workshops.
-Practically using the production methods to actively understand them.
-these could include letterpress, monotype, screen print, etching, embossing,
- A large part of this will also be observational, simply watching the production rocesses in the hands of
professionals to help me understand them.
- Wide reading on the theoretical backgrounds of craft.
-These include texts from authors such as William Morris
-Research both on the internet and by talking to people about the contemporary work that uses these
processes.
- Tracking the work of particular studios and how there work sits n contemporary design (combination of
methodologies: interviews, behance, publications and websites.

2. BA (Hons) Graphic Design Context of Practice 3 Proposal Form
Make sure you print a copy off for your own records
3. What preparation or investigations do you need to undertake for your creative practice to take place?
- I will need to make a list of all the studios and professionals that make use of these processes and
organize travel and accommodation if necessary. I will also have to work around their schedules, so
making contact as soon as possible is necessary.
- In order to practice as many traditional craft processes as possible I will first need to make contact
with the studios that have the facilities to do so and get to know them to such an extent that they
would let me go and talk to them and hopefully they might let me watch or even try and participate in
some of their design and production processes.
- When it comes to my theoretical reading I will need to compile a list of the possibly useful texts and
then narrow them down to the most relevant 4 or 5. These will then lead to further reading and a
greater understanding of the theory.
- I will need to do some historical research so as to compile a list of the possible production methods
that could be applicable to this project.
4. What research do you need to undertake regarding who your creativity is for?
-Really my research would be useful for practitioners such as myself. Crafts people that are engaged
with these traditional processes and considering their place in the contemporary creative industries. It
could also be said to be completely relevant to more commercial design studios that want to tap into the
traditional practices that can inspire and innovate in an increasingly digital cultural landscape.

3. BA (Hons) Graphic Design Context of Practice 3 Proposal Form
Make sure you print a copy off for your own records
Primary Sources of Information
1.Description Interviews
Location Various studios that are chosen by the production methods they utilise.
2.Description Practical engagement (using these production methods)
Location Various studios that are chosen by the production methods they utilise.
3.Description Observation
Location Various studios that are chosen by the production methods they utilise.
Secondary Sources of Information
Theoretical literature such as:
1.
Dormer, Peter. The Culture of Craft: Status and Future. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press,
1997.
2.
Risatti, Howard Anthony.A Theory of Craft : Function and Aesthetic Expression. Chapel Hill: North
Carolina University Press, 2007.
3. Sennett, Richard. The Craftsman. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.
4. Websites such as etsy (craft in the modern world)
5. Journals and documenting publications
6. Craft specific books and guides
Perceived problems or difficulties:
-Making contact with a varied selection of studios to give my research a well rounded coverage of the issue.
-Getting the studios to let me in (will the have the time or the inclination)
-The distance that these studios are from home, travel will be a big cost in the primary research phase.
- Ensuring the relevance of this research to modern Graphic Design Practice.

4. BA (Hons) Graphic Design Context of Practice 3 Proposal Form
Make sure you print a copy off for your own records