Above are two responses to a set brief asking the class to respond to a selection of found words both with a found image and a 'made' or 'created' image, below is an initial written response that I noted down after completing the work:
'In both pieces, I wanted the word or phrase to add a sense of meaning to seemingly meaningless images. However, this implication of meaning is far more important than the real provenance of the images. The work needs to be abstract and contemplative, designed to intrigue rather than describe or dictate.
By cropping the image at the top into a circle, the whole image is deliberately obscured, whilst conversely the idea of a circle suggests something holistic and complete, a kind of visual contradiction, or even irony.
This inserts noise, or entropy into text and image, perhaps obscuring the prime responsibility of graphic design in communicating a message in its simplest, most direct form. This might be a contradiction beyond the needs of graphic design, yet, by deliberately manipulating this idea of noise, we can persuade the viewer to engage on a number of levels with the work, to consider what they are being shown, and question it, beyond the simplicity of an initial response.
Furthermore, the work itself is deliberately as minimal and direct as possible: I was interested in giving the pieces a sense of authority, or 'correctness', that is suggested when no other supporting details are included. This then can be manipulated by the apparent contradiction, or vagueness of the text.
The withholding of information from the viewer should be handled with care however, as it seemed that, when shown to the elective group, although the initial response was positive, there was a risk of complete disengagement as we all struggled to extract any sort of meaning from the pieces.'
(Images: Author's own)