Initial Cop 3 Proposal

1.     How important were the political cartoons surrounding the women’s suffrage movement for their eventual success?

2.     This is something I want to undertake as it is a topic I am passionate about and believe there will be a lot of resources on the subject. I have a particular interest in old fashioned posters too.

3.     This will have a political and historical context.

4.     Theoretical Approach 1: Research the designs in favour of the movement and compare the success to that of those against the movement. Approach 2: Undress the style of the posters and why they were particularly motivating for women.

5.     Secondary, a lot of content analysis. Could also conduct a museum trip to see authentic posters from the time in person.

6.     I plan to produce a graphic novel in the style of the suffragette works, similar to Maus perhaps.

7.     Resources – digital print, the library.

8.     Summer reading list: Cartooning for Suffrage by Alice Sheppard, Sex and Suffrage in Britain 1860-1914 by Susan Kent, The Women’s Suffrage movement: New Feminist Ferspectives by Maroula Joannou and Jane Purvis, JOURNAL ARTICLE "The Most Beautiful Suffragette": Inez Milholland and the Political Currency of Beauty, An early supporter of women’s rights (pp. 172-175) – Treasures from UCL (jstor)

9.     Time management: Summer= read, create sketches, do research into historical cartoons. September – write rough outline of essay and begin formulating sketchs for visual outcome. October – Develop essay and visual outcome. November – Finish essay and seek feedback, also attempt a print of the graphic novel. December – Finishing elements and final touches, perfect the essay.

Study Task 7 - Project Statement

For my essay, I was looking at the defining characteristics of collage and its subversive nature; breaking down if collage is defined by its subversives. I began by doing specific reading into the Dada movement as they were the pioneers for experimental collage. I particularly looked at specific member of the movement, Huelsenbeck who believed the best collage artists were passionate and took inspiration from the horrors of war – yet not all agreed with this. It was also argued by Hausmann, who was looked at for his views and his work, that collages are about creating new and fresh compositions, born from war.

Several other aspects of the practice were studied, its use in surrealism, consumerism and advertising. This gave are far more comprehensive view of the medium and use within different parts of society, all showing links to subversion. I particularly focused on John Stezaker’s view of collage, who was a 1970s artist, that suggested collage was an act of violence, defined by how radical the physical act of tearing apart an image is. This was another interesting indication that collage art is in fact defined by its subversives.

The practical investigation was inspired by this as I wanted to fully test if a collage can be made that isn’t subversive. If these techniques and inspiration from violence can be translated in something created by the authority and not the dissenting groups protesting the authority’s regime. The essay helped outline to me the political tone that the collages should take in order to be authentic and impactful.

Final Piece

For the final print a stock was used with a matte side and a rough side, this allowed the design to seem more rough and collaged. The edges have also been torn to indicate this and there are several disorderly pages, communicating the disorder that is required for collages to be authentic. In reality these designs would never be used for a poltical party, but that is perhaps because collage will never be applicable in this situation.

Interesting Printing Error

Interesting style, should the collages have been more subjective like this?

Mock Up

A mock up was made on A4 on ready printer paper. This was useful as it indicated several edits I needed to make on the text. I also realised the printer quality wasn't highlighting the tones of the collages well, so I decided to explore a different stock for the final piece.

Type Experiments

After creating several experimental collages for the publication, type was developed to convey the messages of the collages.

The bauhaus typeface shows an experimental style, matched well for a collage. However the style detracts from the piece.

Using the serif typeface Caslon does appear classic, however it is not bold enough to make a statement.

Using a handwritten style typeface intended to make the design seem more spontaneous, yet it is obvious the type is automated and does not seem spontaneous at all.

Impact could be good to send a strong political message but again detracts from the piece.

OCR std typeface is inspired by David Carson's collage work, it shows the supposed mindlessness and de=disregard for legibility but it seems too confronting to be used in this publication.

In the end Raavi was chosen at the typeface, with large tracking and slightly smaller kerning. This is to seem subtle but considered - as often collages are discussed for their precision as well as their passion.