Art Analysis

The Task: For this project you are required to respond to one of the topics or issues presented within Garry Emery’s paper ‘Various Notes’ (PDF).

Your response should include a researched consideration of the issue as presented by Garry. In your response you should include an analysis and critique of how your ‘partner designer’ would respond to the issue. In conjunction with this you may also draw on any other designers or design theorists for their perspective on the issue.

You are encouraged to combine your specific design skills with your academic ability to respond to the topic. Your analysis and presentation can be primarily visual or text but will most likely require a combination. Please make sure to clarify the purpose of any visuals in relation to your position and provide a caption with their orign/ author.

Your final presentation should include:

A clear statement of which topic was selected.
A clear statement of why you chose this topic.
A clear argument, discussion or exploration of the issue, including the diverse perspectives of yourself, your partner designer, and the broader design community.
A clear conclusion.
A bibliography.
Appendices or support documents.
The outcome of the project should be the equivalent of 3000 words. Please contact me if you have any questions or queries regarding your proposed response.
Note: It is essential that you define your topic and scope of inquiry in line with the 3000 word limit.
In doing this I suggest that you:

1. State the topic / question / issue of investigation in one sentence.

2. Outline the argument you wish to present in up to three sentences.

3. List 3-5 key points you wish to make.

4. Identify how you will do that for each point, eg visual analysis / annotated design / historical presentation / other

5. Method – describe how you will structure the report and how text and image may combine to communicate your argument.

I’m happy with a mix of text and image as long as they combine to present a coherent discussion. Mind maps and visual presentations often need supporting text to clarify the intended reading of them, ie the key points you are articulating, as others may not understand them in the way you anticipate.

If you are aiming to communicate largely through design then I would still like to see an absolute minimum of 1200 words in text to frame and clarify what your design work represents.There is no measured equivalence of words and design work, so you will have to be the judge of whether you have done enough work.The use of images created by others is treated in a similar manner to use of quotations – they don’t add to the word count – they only count in terms ofadding clarity of argument and evidence to support statements.

Working through steps 1-5 above should help you clarify your topic and how you plan to tackle it. I am happy to discuss your topic and approach, but can’t review draft assignments. Individual Research Assignment