DIASPORA

Diaspora is a display font representing Italian immigration to Scotland between 1880 and 1920. Indeed, a diaspora emerged to such an extent that the Scot-Italian became recognisable as a fully fledged persona encompassing characteristics of both cultures. Therefore, Diaspora expresses the hybrid identities of Italians who immigrated to Scotland. This is translated by the addition of seven alternates for the letters A, E, M, N, T, U, V and W. To underline the concept of immigration by the means of type-design, the traditional and iconic aspects of lettering from both countries are emphasised. While having their own characteristics, Diaspora’s letters are designed on a single basis structure, helping to create a harmonious set. Each user can develop their own identity of the font using alternates. Diaspora is available on request through our type-foundry website: [www.goodeggstypefoundry.com](www.goodeggstypefoundry.com); or you can drop us an email to [hello@goodeggstypefoundry.com] (mailto:hello@goodeggstypefoundry.com)

GOODEGGS GROTESK

GoodEggs Grotesk is the institutional font of the homonymous type foundry. Designed with Alessandro Prepi, the type is once again the result of a deep research of the two designers. The project is inspired by the typeface Venus, released by Bauer, 1907-1914.
If on the one hand the font follows the characteristics of a grotesk Apolline and Alessandro had their own take of a grotesk adding the foundry's personnality and principles to it: serious with a touch of friendliness. Letters are designed following the counterparts which are rounded like an egg. Therefore all letters kept friendly curves while still having a modern/neutral grotesk style.

WORLD’S KITCHEN

A cookbook gathering recipes and the stories behind them from all over the world. Sharing food and recipes seems to commune people together. This idea is translated into a visual object allowing the reader to discover a culture through its cuisine and directly from a native. Additionally, the book unfolds an array of statements. Stories in the books are generally shared by people away from home either permanently (migrants), temporarily (students) or indirectly (migrants’ children) showing how the migration of people enriches countries. The memories shared around the recipes shows how cuisine is a way to (re)connect to our roots and to feel like home. Food has the power to hold memories as is exemplified by Proust’s madeleine.

FIESTA!


A modular display font for parties’ posters.

DIASPORA SPECIMEN

Designed with course mate Alessandro Prepi, the specimen is printed on newspaper paper on a tabloid format creating a direct connection with their research. Indeed, the two designers researched extensively through library archives, and newspapers were a focal point. The specimen presents the whole project, from the story it tells, to the technical parts of the font right through to examples of the font in use.

diaspora-specimen-2-lo

diaspora-specimen-3-lo

PAUSE OR PAY CAMPAIGN

Media bias and Polarization. Part 1 Face posters

Media bias and Polarization. Part 2 Hong Kong book

Since March 2019 there have been a series of protests in Hong Kong. And media outlets provide very disparate narratives of their motivations. Because of these reports many people's opinion on these protests have been extremely polarized. The book collects news headlines from Pro-China media and Pro-Protester media throughout the protests offering readers an opportunity to make a comparison with different depictions of the same subject. At the same time, it highlights the influence of media and its role surrounding controversial events causing polarization.

Photo book (Material experiment)

This photo book is an experiment which trying to the possibility of physical books. Compare with digital reading, different books can provide readers with different touching feeling by their material. As the most important sensation of human, I think touching could be an interesting factor to be considered during the book design and helps the emotional expressing. I made my photos in this photo book. The photo that I selected was taken at the moment that I felt depressed and lonely. I hope the book itself can also show the fragile inside of me. I made plicated foil cover board as the book cover and use very fragile tissue paper inside. The contrast of touching is conspicuous which can prompt reading experience and expressing the emotion.

Photo book (Material experiment)

The project was an exploration of the possibility of physical books. Compared with digital reading, physical books provide readers with different material experience. Touch could be considered the most emotional sensation of a human being and I believe touching is an essential factor to be considered during book design to help the emotional expression. The photos selected were taken at moments I felt depressed and lonely and the book aims to convey a fragility inside of me on those occassions. The foil cover board cover and the use extremely fragile tissue paper gives a contrast when handling prompting an unusual reading experience and expressing further emotions.

Photo book (Material experiment)

Science Fiction Editorial Design

“Black Box” is a science fiction short story by Jennifer Egan. The story is in the form of "mental dispatches" from a spy in the near future and was emanated on Twitter meaning each chapter is very short due to the platform’s limitations. The project was an exercise in both matching layout to features in the story with only black and white printing applied to convey tension and coldness throughout the story and the choice of decoration and illustration helps provide an immersive reading experience

Science Fiction Editorial Design

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Face

AI_Face examines the consequences of Artificial Intelligence on our perception of beauty.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Face

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Face

Vaporwave

A coming of age story for generation Z.

Adolescent Girls

A series of images reflecting the trials and tribulations of life as a teenage girl.

Lion Grove Garden

A comic book inspired by the stories behind the famous Chinese formal garden.

The Stories behind Lion Grove Garden

The Empty Vessel

The Empty Vessel series, a collection of representational vessels, visualises and embodies the way grief takes from the individual and how we build around the space left behind. Clean white architectural forms become projected aspects of self, deemed appropriate for outside consumption. Inside an absence is present. The absence is the embodiment of grief, carried internally, its weight becomes perceptible in the physicality of the vessels. These corporeal forms become the embodiment of self creation in the face of the void. As empty vessels we traverse the spaces we occupy as representations of formed bodies. The ceramic forms relate to one another, standing alone but remaining interconnected in their expressions, just as grief isolates the individual whilst injecting them into a fundamental shared aspect of the human experience.

The Presence of Absence

The Presence of Absence collection continues on from The Empty Vessel series. Following the journey of moving past grief and the absence left within. These vessels have complementary forms that slot together, completing the exterior and creating a whole form. Striving to create a perfect aesthetic resolve, painting a mirage of a formed and complete psyche. The absence that grief maintains as a presence in our psyche, extends outwards and has not only emotional implications but also material and social ones. The void reshapes and redefines our reality. As individual pieces each still occupy the role of The Empty Vessel but when put together they contain the absence within, allowing their external qualities to find a full form. The addition of the blue tubular appendages reference the unaffected personality, the raw emotional state of the individual. They hold close in embrace the exterior of the white slab vessels. They act in support of the affected form, adding a further dimensionality to the perceived complete object.

hannah-m-1

As part of the developmental stage a series of experiments were carried out to explore the creation of content through emotional engagement, intending the designs to be emergent not prescriptive. Material and visual experiments were utilised to push the themes of physicality throughout the work further. They maintained a degree of form to continue the idea of a present absence. A high degree of abstraction was involved in the design, to retain some ambiguity and a vague suggestion of the ideas. This allows the viewer to shape their own emotional response to the pieces more freely without outside dictation.

hannah-m

DIASPORA TYPEFACE


Diaspora is a display font exploring Italian immigration to Scotland between 1880 and 1920. A diaspora emerged to such an extent that the Scot-Italian became recognisable as a fully fledged persona encompassing characteristics of both cultures. Diaspora expresses these hybrid identities of Italians who immigrated to Scotland. This is translated by the addition of seven alternates for the letters A, E, M, N, T, U, V and W. To underline the concept of immigration by the means of type-design, the traditional and iconic aspects of lettering from both countries are emphasised. While having their own characteristics, Diaspora’s letters are designed on a single basis structure, helping to create a harmonious set. Each user can develop their own identity of the font using alternates. Diaspora is available on request through the GOODEGGS Type Foundry website: [www.goodeggstypefoundry.com](www.goodeggstypefoundry.com); or you can drop us an email to hello@goodeggstypefoundry.com

GSA PROMENADE 2018


Poster and catalogue produced for the final showcase of The Glasgow School of Art’s MDes Fashion + Textiles course. Produced in collaboration with Orlando Lloyd, the design seeks to focus on the exhibition but communicate additional elements including the process behind garments and designers that are closely connected to the course.

OK BOOKLET


Publication project using written works from German visual artist David Roeder. The brief required the design of an affordable publication that could accompany the artist’s exhibitions. Employing extreme care of the books typography, the rhythm of reading and above all the use of different layouts, the project is a sober but captivating publication outcome.

GOOD EGGS GROTESK


GOODEGGS GROTESK is the house font of the homonymous type foundry. Designed with Apolline de Luca the type is once again the result of a long research project between the two designers. Inspired by the type Venus, released by Bauer 1907-1914, the font follows the characteristics of a grotesk whilst adding the foundry’s personality and principles: serious with a touch of friendliness.

MY PERVERT ABC BOOKLET

A trashy take on the designers classic alphabet book investigating the theme of pornography and perversion. While being ironic and playful, the book investigates hidden anthropological elements. Each letter of the alphabet represents one of the most extravagant categories of online pornographic videos. The letters are designed to have a connection with the category or images to which they refer and all the images are strictly derived from screenshots of existing videos. All elements and materials used are designed to highlight aspects of the concept and are the result of a process of playful and intuitive experimentation. Browsing the book, the reader could be intrigued by the categories they discover and in finding the connection between the design of the letter and the image and/or category. Get your copy at [GOODPRESS (UK)](http://goodpress.co.uk/design-graphic-design/my-pervert-abcbooklet- by-alessandro-prepi-sot)

DIASPORA SPECIMEN

Designed with course mate Alessandro Prepi, the specimen is printed on newspaper paper on a tabloid format creating a direct connection with their research. Indeed, the two designers researched extensively through library archives, and newspapers were a focal point. The specimen presents the whole project, from the story it tells, to the technical parts of the font right through to examples of the font in use.

diaspora-specimen-2-lo

diaspora-specimen-3-lo

Throughout 2019, millions of young people took to the streets to protest for their right to a future. No other year has seen such a rise in awareness on the topic of climate change, with the issue being brought loudly to the foreground by public demand. From February 2019 to early 2020, I documented the climate strikes in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, and Italy, working closely with the organizations as a volunteer photographer. I focused on the stories as much as on the photography, aiming to crystalize my personal experience of the events by writing in the same way I was doing with the images by shooting. The result is a detailed, firsthand reportage where images and words are tightly connected, currently waiting for a space to be published.

FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE - Turin, October 2019

Die-in in Turin, Italy, October 2019. Young people lie on the ground of Via Roma, while a passerby cyclist stops among the bodies and tries to figure out what is happening. A young student walks back and forth in the street reading a Fridays For Future pamphlet with a megaphone. A mum is lying side by side with her two kids, the youngest being barely 3 years old. They check on their mum once every few seconds, then check the others. They’re excited, but they try to stay serious. ‘Like this?’, they ask. [Continues]

BLUE WAVE 2 / ARE WE NEXT? - Glasgow, March 2019 / February 2020

Left: On Leap Day 2020, XR Glasgow organized the secondo Blue Wave event of the city. Silent as the rising sea levels, step by step, centimeter by centimeter, just like water does, the Blue Brigade walked slowly from the bridge towards the people gathered in the Clyde Amphitheatre. Then proceeded leading the march through the city center of Glasgow, all the way until Buchanan Street steps. Right: Kelvingrove Museum, 3pm. Kids and parents together under the gigantic skeleton of Dippy the Dinosaur. Grandparents, too. To the sound of a violin, the signal, everybody lay on the floor. Under Dippy's skull, several kids turned around and around holding a sign reading: ‘We Are on the Midst of the Sixth Mass Extinction’. They were silent, the kids. Many were dressed as animals, or with animal masks. Some had dinosaur toys. They lay down for about twenty minutes, holding signs and banners on their chests. The banners were reading: ‘Are we next?’ [Published on The Guardian]

INTERNATIONAL REBELLION II - London, October 2019

“He had been playing since it all started when they began moving everyone out of the road. When the arrests began he didn't stop. One song after the other, he was accompanied to the sidewalk on one side just to turn back at the last moment and head to the opposite side, back and forth from where the people sitting on the road were waiting to be arrested. A bright sunny day in London, and in the middle of the road he was cheering everyone up, and making the police desperate because who wants a violin to stop playing? Back and forth, eyes fixed on something only he could see, and a rejuvenated smile every time he paused and people clapped for him beyond the police line. Making his difference, one tune at a time.” [Continues]

HOLYROOD REBEL CAMP - Edinburgh, June 2019

In June 2019, despite Scotland’s PM Nicola Sturgeon declaring the climate emergency, the Scottish Parliament set the country’s target date to become carbon neutral in 2045. According to the IPCC report, radical change is required before 2030 in order to avoid massive ecological disasters. I spent four days camping in front of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh with Extinction Rebellion, documenting the actions aimed to raise awareness about the inadequate climate bill and the climate crisis.

HOLYROOD REBEL CAMP - Edinburgh, June 2019

“The truth is, there's a new generation rising. It's a generation that is openly questioning the rules that have been set by culture and tradition because these things belong to borders, and they are questioning borders, too. A generation that recognizes its privilege in being born on the lucky side of the planet during the climate crisis, a generation that is willing to give up commodities for equality, and maybe it's not ready to do so, but it will. [...] A generation that understands the importance of saying no, that is often at least bilingual, that's given up trying to explain itself to the adults but has not given up the fight for the world they’re going to inherit from them. You'll find them in the streets, chanting. You'll try and make them feel stupid, to humiliate their naïve goodwill, you'll chatter about their hypocrisy. Game-changers, they are. Because they will listen instead of getting angry, and they'll be ready to correct their mistakes if you're right, and they'll do better. Then they'll look at you and ask: and you, how can you help us?”

INTERNATIONAL REBELLION II - London, October 2019

Left: Central London, 6am. As part of the strategy or peaceful disruption, XR activists occupied public parks and organised well-structured campsites, with an open kitchen, toilet area, regenerative zones, and assembly tents. Stewarding was coordinated by Extinction Rebellion, while additional police force was monitoring the camp. Right: A teenage girl in the process of being arrested during the protest in Millbank, central London. XR activists are educated on their rights, as well as in non-violent behaviour in case of arrest, before taking any kind of disruptive action. Refusing to move means having to be physically handled by police when carried away.

INTERNATIONAL REBELLION II - London, October 2019

“They already had everyone move from the road except for those who were staying knowing that they would get arrested. The crowd was singing from the bank of the Thames beyond the police line, when this mother with two children passed through and they run straight to him. Police were busy removing the locked on people from the caravan a few meters away. They had their moment there, in the middle of the road right in front of the tower. I thought about getting closer but I didn't want to listen. That was a private moment and all the press was already filming them from the front. So after this picture I put my camera away and just observed from afar. Eventually the mother came and took them away. As they were leaving, sun shining on the concrete, I see the younger one turn from his mother's arms. Slowly, silently, among all the noise and rush, he blew a kiss to his dad and waved. It was the first moment in five days I had to stop and find my balance again.” [Continues]

INTERNATIONAL REBELLION II - London, October 2019

Protesters gather in front of the BBC headquarters in central London. A spontaneous rebel assembly takes place, with people from the public taking the microphone and speaking to the crowd. Among the speakers, a former policeman introduces his thoughts with a candid assertion: ‘Some of you may think it is strange to have a police officer involved, but a big part of our job is protecting people’. Accustomed to my home country’s history with police brutality, XR’s relationship with police, regularly questioned within the movement itself, interested me deeply. [Continues]

INTERNATIONAL REBELLION II - Bank Junction, London, October 2019

“It was just a little girl, playing. People watching her with a smile. I took this picture when she finally stopped running, laughing. ⁠⁠Then you zoom out, and you see people sitting on the ground on tarpaulins, jackets, cardboard. Zoom out, and you see a roadblock, women and men standing up under the rain, holding banners. One reads, climate struggle = class struggle. There's some singing and someone passing home-baked biscuits around. Zoom out, and there's a city with some disruption going on. A few points where the stream is disturbed, there's honking and some shouting maybe, all these busy lives protesting because they're late, oh they're going to be late. And you zoom out and you see a country busy sorting out a mess that someone wanted and someone else didn't. Pick your year. It could be any, right? But you zoom out, and it's not something you've seen already. Outside the country, up north, ice melting and the oceans growing higher. Draught south and people fleeing, their feet on burning sand, hot air exasperating survival, as if famine and war didn't do their job anyway. You see a big white animal, thick skin and a horn on his nose and that breath he takes, that's the last. And after him a bird, then a swimming creature you don't know the name of, and another bird, and another, and another, and you're there, watching. Zoom out at last and you see a planet spinning and a mass of smoke covering south America because oh, you don't want to see. You really don't want to see. ⁠You stop. Maybe you panic. This is too big, right? Just too big.⁠ But then you zoom in. And when you zoom in, it's just a little girl, laughing. And you remember who you're doing this for. And you roll up your sleeves, take a picture, and get back to looking for solutions. Whatever it takes.”⁠

THIRD GLOBAL STRIKE - Glasgow, September 2019

A group of school students lead by a young student playing the bagpipe joins the crowd in Kelvingrove Park for the third Global Climate Strike. About 12,000 people participated in the strike, an impressive number if compared to the few hundred of the first strike in February. From Kelvingrove Park, strikers (families, students, elders, workers) marched through the West End and all the way to George Square, in front of the City Council. The youth strikes in Glasgow are autonomously organised by students under the age of 18, who plan the route, the actions, stewarding and police liaison, speeches, and so on.

SCHOOL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE - Glasgow, February 2019

Since the very start - the now famous ‘Skolstrejk för klimatet’ banner - young people declined the use of a systematic set of visuals and started designing their own banners, placards, and wording. The results fascinated the whole world for their straight-forwardness, wit and very often clever sarcasm. Although the best examples of the strikers’ creativity can often be found in the most simple designs.

How to talk about plastic in a guiltless way? How to adamantly refuse it without being judgemental, how to expose our misusing it without the use of shame? ‘The Age of Plastics’ is a campaign for an imaginary exhibition held in 3048, in a world where plastic is part of a faraway past and its use has to be guessed.

THE AGE OF PLASTICS - MARINE HUNTING DEVICE

The year is 3048. All plastic production was stopped on Saturday 22nd, February 2020. In 1028 years, the world has changed. Humans survived, but they have little knowledge of how society used to be. They have to guess from what remained. Mostly... plastic.

THE AGE OF PLASTICS - CAMPAIGN

An awareness campaign providing the context of an imaginary exhibition to show plastic under a different light. Giving up the way we are used to think, we are invited to have a second loot at it with the curious eyes of a plastic-less version of this same planet.

THE AGE OF PLASTICS - PLACEMENT

Placed where people have time to stop and read: bus stops, subway boards. Shared online as a form of storytelling, creating expectation, desire to discover the next common object as described by these unbiased people from the future. Exposing our irresponsible use of it, but without blame, without shame. Starting the conversation.

THE AGE OF PLASTICS - STORYTELLING

A campaign offering the audience a vision of the world where plastic is seen for its remarkable features and not only its terrifying quantity. Based on a solid research, all the objects chosen are classified for their real composition, and all the facts mentioned or suggested are taken from true statistics.

THE AGE OF PLASTICS - AIM

Telling a story: what’s the real value of the things we are used to throw away. Suggesting that common objects are used by common people. Thus, it is from common people that radical change can be ignited.

bartolucci-leda-19

As a graduating student at the Glasgow School of Art, I would like to state my support for the Pause or Pay Campaign. Pause or Pay was established to unite studio-based courses and highlight to our HEIs and the UK Governments that the mitigations for our issues due to the pandemic are not yet enough. Find more at ​www.pauseorpayuk.org​ / @pauseorpay

Mask Design in Peking Opera

The iconic masks of the Chinese Peking Opera use colour and pattern to imply characters' various personality traits, such as connotations of benevolence and malevolence. Using the same methodology, masks of well-known political figures have been approached and reconfigured to create new portrayals alongside characters from the novel Boule de Suif: Donald Trump, Kim Jong-Un, Vladimir Putin, Jacinda Ardern, Nicola Sturgeon, Mrs Loiseau, Boule de Suif and Thor.

These masks are depictions of famous political figures Donald Trump, Kim Jong-Un, Vladimir Putin, Jacinda Ardern, Nicola Sturgeon.

These masks are descriptions of the famous character Thor and the short story Boule de Suif (English: Butterball) by French writer Mopossant and the heroine Butterball.

Font Design of Grim Reaper Culture

Using dreams—specifically my own surrounding death—as a starting point, a font was based on the Grim Reaper and its surround cultures. Elements of the font are constructed from the death culture in various regions and cultures and their narratives about death.

Manual Pop-up Book Design About Dream

A three-dimensional and interactive publication based on a story constructed by a friend and their dreams.

Shenzhen Urban Villages Project - Booklet

Shenzhen is one of the largest and fastest-growing city in China. Shenzhen had a population of only 310,000 in 1979, and now the number has reached 20 million, showing a 65-fold increase, while Shenzhen's GDP has increased by 12000 times from 196 million in 1979 to 2.4 trillion. Yet, in 2019, the largest urban village in Shenzhen was demolished through a renovation project. As the city is now rebuilt and restructured, will the urban villages survive? A lot of people come to the villages and a lot of people leave; it is a transient space. Whilst living in the one of urban villages in Shenzhen for two months, I took photographs, spoke with others living there and recorded daily life. Some told me they would go home this year, and some said they wanted to earn more money and stay for another year or two. Many people come here searching for something. High house prices make the majority of outsiders choose to live in urban villages such as this. While the location is excellent and the prices cheap. the houses in urban villages have very little living space and the environment is very poor. I wanted to know why people come here and what are their dreams. My publication acts as a document for the people I met in a small corner of the urban village.

Shenzhen Urban Villages Project - Drafts and Sketches

My exploration of using different materials and narratives in Shenzhen Urban Village Project.

The 13 Rooms Projects

During the two years I have lived in Glasgow, I have been to the rooms of many Chinese friends. Whilst we live in similar student apartments, each room is very different showing the inhabitants character, hobbies and life state. These rooms carry important social function. Access to a individual’s room can be a more direct and in-depth understanding of a person. I chose to depict Chinese student to explore the Chinese student living experience, which starts from the first day to the end.   Before the COVID-19 situation become truly serious, I visited the rooms of 23 Chinese students, interviewed them and made some observe drawings of their rooms. It helps me build up a connection with others. A lot of Chinese students don't integrate into the local study and social life, I questioned many Chinese students about their lives and social situation, my finding showed that most want to communicate with international students, but there are many individual and complex reasons stopping them from sharing deep feelings and emotions.   Now, many Chinese students are no longer residing in Glasgow and have returned to China making it difficult to continue my research. I hope this project can be a small bridge to share some of the emotional stories of my Chinese student community. While this project has not been completed, the drafts and story line continue to be developed. Here is a selection of works in their draft stages. As the project develops I will update this website page and its contents.

Daily Window View Observation

In the last two months, I have been isolated in Glasgow alone. As we’re all unable to go outside, I can only draw the views outside my window. I watched the sky and buildings, and I found the clouds and sky are never same, they are changing every moment and each day, I record them. I seldom watched the same scene again and again hadn’t realised these daily and very simple things could be so beautiful. Drawing these views has immersed me in peace and removed my anxiety. I hope to draw these views and record this special moment, when I return to China, I can also take this memory home. And I do hope to share it.

Drypoint Experiments

In these drypoint works, I explored the possibilities of changing the texture of the works, which can make a special atmosphere. May 2019

Collage Works

Selections from my quick and improvised daily collage work, July 2019

Digital Drawings

This part includes a little series named a little lonely man and my exploration of narratives using screen-based colours.

Sketchbooks

Selections from a series of sketchbooks, 2018-2020

01. Am I a Graphic Designer?

Research on the conceptual pillars of graphic design, documented in form of an 8,000 word essay that includes an interview with the GSA Com Des professors. The information collected from the interview was transformed into ‘data sculptures on wheels’, visualising each of the interviewee’s opinions on contemporary graphic design. The data was placed on wheels to allow for interactivity usually only reserved for digital spaces. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

02. ‘How Motivated Are You?’ Installation

A data installation consisting of a series of helium balloons positioned in space and colour-coded to convey information. Participants were asked to report their daily motivational levels scaled 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) for 10 consecutive days. The data was translated into helium balloons communicating the given values both through their color and position in space. A postcard decoding the data values was given to the audience. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

03. 3D Data: What Are You Afraid of?

A didactic, interactive information design piece consisting of an infographic board, three-dimensional representation of data made out of wood, and an instructional booklet designed to lead the audience through the exercise. The 3D Data project is an inquiry into the field of information visualisation, aiming to translate data into a physical object you can interact with and learn from. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

04. Alphabetic Kanji

A typeface that re-imagines the Latin alphabet into a logographic-alphabetic hybrid system, communicating meaning both through individual letters as well as the unique shapes that they create when combined into words. The project was inspired by the Japanese Kanji as well as Korean Hangul script. The typeface design was based on the traditional ‘shoji’ door grid, thus later translated into wooden sculptures. Developed as part of the exchange to the Tokyo University of the Arts. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

05. ‘Com Des Salon’ Poster Sculptures

A sculptural poster series developed as part of the research into the effect of three-dimensionality on the traditionally two-dimensional field of graphic design. The posters are made out of over 500 laser-cut acrylic pieces that were hand-assembled and manually attached to painted wooden backgrounds. The topic of the posters are the ‘salon’ meetings that the Com Des Master’s students have organised to exchange ideas. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

06. Data Objects

A series of found product design objects that were transformed to express the functionality of graphic design by communicating data through their form. Each object was altered through color and typography to inform the viewer about statistical information, helping them imagine outcomes and possibilities of the data shared. The objects were measured, marked and spray painted manually. The typography was vinyl cut and applied by hand. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

07. Sculpture as a Written Language

A series of typographic sculptures that communicate meaning through their form, based on the Japanese logographic Kanji written language. Building on Joseph Kosuth's 'One and three chairs' & Eric Ku's 'CHAIR', the project uses the form of product design to express communication design, translating meaning of Kanji characters beyond Japan through their appearance. The work was developed as part of the exchange to the Tokyo University of the Arts. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

08. TYPE AS SCULPTURE

A series of sculptural typographic work that aim to visually express abstract thought processes often employed in design thinking such as ‘ideation’ or ‘streamlining’. The sculptures were created by laser-cutting wood into letterforms, and manually assembling them into abstract narratives. The created objects continue on the exploration of ‘type as image’ by using the unique interaction of sculpture and space that changes with different viewpoints to tell a visual story. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

09. HOW TO RECOGNISE FAKE NEWS

A series of isometric Kanji illustrations that follow the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions' guide to recognising fake news, developed as an homage to the Japanese designer Shigeo Fukuda famous both for his activist designs, as well as his love for optical illusions. Each keyword was translated into Japanese, illustrated using an isometric grid and paired with an abstract illustration connecting the elements into a whole. Developed as part of the exchange to the Tokyo University of the Arts. For more project details and images, please visit www.zzzzarko.com.

The Dick Pic Project: Submission Cards

41% of British women aged 18-36 have received an unsolicited dick pic.1 Through open submissions over the past two years people have been sharing their stories, experiences, and images of cyber flashing, which have been retold and represented through explorations across different media. The project aims to create discourse around this rarely discussed yet prevalent issue, as well as providing a platform for victims to take ownership of their harassment. 1 Smith, M. (2018) YouGov: Four in ten millenials have been sent an unsolicited penis photo

thedickpicproject.com

The website functions as a platform to show all the images, stories and animations made throughout the project, whilst also having sections that provide practical information and direct victims to support services. The design of the main page bombards the audience, playing on ideas of consent. Although the content warning is clear, when exhibited at GSA in October 2019 the work still caused controversy and was censored by senior management. Surprisingly for an institution where one of the core values is ‘disruption’, the project has often faced knockback from staff, who have encouraged a more metaphorical approach. This has called into question how much influence the male gaze still has on today’s society – even within the art school.

Penis Etchings

At the start of the project the images were developed in different media, considering whether presentation of the work through traditional methods of making would elevate the subject matter. Throughout the project theories of art and pornography were examined and challenged, both from the artist herself and her wider audience. Etching and printing the unsolicited dick pics immortalised them from throwaway, transient images into works of art. The traditional and highbrow status of the medium instantly elevates the work. Working on small individual plates allowed multiple images to be printed alongside each other, alluding to a carefully curated photo frame.

Penis Stitches

The embroidered pieces draw instant connotations with feminine and tactile craft: the soft threads and muted colours encourage the viewer to touch the work, and create a tension between the message and the medium. Unsolicited dick pics are often sent via social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, where they disappear once viewed. In contrast to this, the permanent and labour-intensive processes of etching and embroidery preserve what we can assume were intended as temporary records of sexual harassment.

On The Bus

Taking the work back into the digital sphere referenced the origin of the photos, as well as creating a digital campaign. On The Bus is deliberately made to be viewed on a phone – the same device where images are usually received. Instagram has regularly censored the project work, even though it isn’t in breach of the community guidelines. This is part of a wider issue that sees the platform dictating what sexual content is deemed ‘appropriate’ based on patriarchal ideals and misogyny. Interestingly, there are rarely consequences for the men sending unsolicited dick pics via the platform.

Unsolicited Sketchbook

Drawing was always the starting point throughout the project, with sketchbooks acting as an archive of all the submitted images. Friends and complete strangers shared their varied stories with complete honesty, trusting in the artist as confidante.

Flesh Vases

In her stand-up act ‘Nanette’, comedian Hannah Gadsby discusses Pablo Picasso’s misogyny, deriding his cubism as “putting a kaleidoscope filter on your dick; painting flesh vases for your dick flowers”. After initially considering what these would look like through a series of drawings and prints these ceramic “flesh vases” were made. The forms represent conventional Western beauty standards, with the male vase deliberately larger and more dominant. By removing the head, and turning the body into an inanimate, functional object, the human form is reduced to purely aesthetic qualities.

Zwischen Tag und Traum

Illustrations for a publication based on a text by artist David Roeder.

Forgotten: Royal Park Primary

Royal Park School was bulldozed by Leeds City Council in 2014, after almost a decade of campaigning and fundraising to turn it into a community hub. The space has been empty ever since. The work aimed to challenge the traditional ideas of a comic, and see whether it could successfully function without the inclusion of any characters or written narrative. The use of repetition and aspect-to-aspect transitions act as visual prompts for the reader to infer their own meanings and storyline.

Pause or Pay UK

As a graduating student from GSA I would like to state my support for the Pause or Pay campaign. Please read their full manifesto on their website: pauseorpayuk.org

Cyber Sexual Harassment

Cyber sexual harassment is a topic that is extremely common but generally ignored by the wider public. It may seem easy to dismiss as something relatively harmless and without consequence, but the feeling of disgust when experiencing harassment is indeed true. The four booklets draw on four real experiences of sexual harassment on the Internet. By using a distinct visual language to express the negative impact of harassment, the work reflects social realities and engages the audience through empathy.

The Shift in Perception of Women in Chinese TV Series

Given that Chinese television dramas reflect the collective consciousness and mainstream values of Chinese society. This project aims to explore how female characters are perceived and how they evolve under different social, cultural, economic and political norms. Particularly what is deeply entrenched and what is considered the female ideal.

Xiao-Nan-06

“Black Box” is a science fiction short story written by American writer Jennifer Egan. It was published in an unusual serialized format. Over 9 days from May 25, 2012, a series of tweets were posted on the Twitter account of The New Yorker magazine. Visually, the layout and use of numbers is unusual, referencing poetry more than prose.

Kidult

We are now in an infantilized society. People no longer regard "wisdom" and "mature" as the goals pursued by adults, but indulge in the illusion of being a cute baby forever, and practice this fantasy in life. The "old" generation can't understand us, the times are constantly subdivided, the density of the generation gap is getting bigger and bigger, adults refuse to grow up, and with the constantly updated secret language, we only have the same generation (each is a kindergarten level student) Communicate. I want to ironically express the absurdity and horror of Early childhood society, and letting people reflect on the terrible consequences of this.

Arguably, we are now in an infantilized society. People no longer regard the pursuit of “wisdom” and “maturity” as goals, we indulge in the illusion of being a cute baby forever, and practice this fantasy in life. The "older" generations can't understand us, the generation gap is getting bigger and bigger, adults refuse to grow up, and with our constantly updated secret language, we only have the same generation (each is a kindergarten level student) to communicate with. I want to ironically express the absurdity and horror of a society based in early childhood and question the terrible consequences of this. 

Fanzines

In the project Fanzine, I tried to compile 6 independent bands in China into zine and made 6 booklets. The desire is to exchange Chinese independent music culture with British culture. At the same time, explore the visual language expression of music in graphic design.