Unit two primarily focuses on printmaking and publications as means of graphic communication design. There is an overall emphasis on the human labor of printing to create a more genuine article. In Positions through Iterating I utilize translating as a method by extrapolating markings from a whole image. Iterations were developed through the process of scanning a set of etchings that were created during previous studio work. Translation leads to novel iterations where volume is the main consideration in production in this particular instance. The genuine nature of the original etchings are lost through the process of digitization. Evidence of the labor involved in printing processes become unrecognizable as they take on amorphous forms. Positions through Contextualizing introduces concepts of agency for the designer and autonomy in analog media. It is here where I take a moment to engage with craft as an aspect of materiality that contributes to authenticity.

Over the course of my studio practice, the focus on agency developed from the maker to the reader while focus on authenticity shifts from the image to the publication. My role as a designer has shifted over time to involve the reader in the construction of narratives. This follows the intention of positioning myself as a facilitator of engagement between readers.

Working in the studio serves as a reminder of the physical and technical limitations to analog graphic design, and raised critical questions regarding the processes involved in printmaking. 

My interest in exploring the tension between analog and digital image making processes led me to interrogate destabilizing the image as a means of extending the capabilities of print. 

The aura is intertwined with sense perception and the neurological systems that activate the body. The act of making, and subsequently viewing media, is inherent to humans as a species. 

In the current context, machines are characterized as frictionless, with the general disregard for tactile buttons in favor of responsive touch screens. Smooth surfaces act as a shock absorber of the unstable conditions in which they exists. This applies to resolution as well, since “good design” prioritizes clarity and legibility as symbols for objectivity.

A standardization of computer default settings removes a sense of agency for the designer, and leads their body of work to fit into a set aesthetic and form, rather than emphasizing individuality and personal style. Instead, automated designs takes on the aesthetic of machines: devoid of color, smooth, shiny, metallic. Aesthetic properties such as smoothness and glossy surfaces convey a sense of authority by presented as clean and factual information that is not tied to the designer’s individual perspective.

Re-Printed Matter led me to embrace the impact of the visual language of printing as a signifier for an authentic article. registration marks, thumbnail images, printer glitches and dust, page numbers, titles and captions. Layering these processes allows for the evidence of printing processes to become a visual language.

While craft inherently values human labor, advancements in technology minimize craft by eliminating human imperfections that contribute to variation, and ultimately a sense of authenticity. 

In digital media, the social conditions rely on private creation for public consumption. Meanwhile, the opposite is true of print, where the social conditions revolve around public creation for private consumption.

“craft is always essential to being human” (Margetts, 42). 

During this process, the focus of my studio practice has progressed slightly as I have gone from focusing on infusing flexibility in images, to the publication as a whole and the context in which it exists. “Social conditions” determine where where access and interaction occur and who is involved in production and distribution (Benjamin, 9). 

But, what if designers were to increase the need for interdependence between readers for new interpretations of a set?

Positions through Dialogue begins to explore authority in printing processes and formal conventions of books as a medium. Linguistically, there is a strong association to power structures in printing. This is evident in terms such as the ‘master’ as well as the word authority, in which the ‘author’ is implicit. The typical position of the reader is submissive to the author, who presents a singular path to knowledge. But, this relationship can become more balanced if the reader was given agency in the order they consume the book. 

This sense of novelty is what defines the new reader, who is presented with an abundance of content online, and contributes to a sense of authenticity. I identify the reader as having a baseline level of familiarity with digital interfaces, leading me to focus on short form reading by breaking the text down into bite-size building blocks. How then, can I develop a framework for novel experiences in print? 

The order that each party consumes the material is proprietary to them in that instance

I believe that active participation in constructing these new narratives contributes to a sense of ownership of order and personal value over the publication. But what are the implications of multiple narrators in a single text?

A sense of instability contributes to the “fluctuating conditions of ownership,” of media (Benjamin, 5). Temporal fixity refers to a thing’s permanence, while spatial fixity refers to a thing’s material existence in a space. My practice explores how a complete lack of fixity creates an unstable text. Ownership can be identified as a condition of intimacy. This is determined by the spatial relationship of the reader to the text which establishes a sense of physical closeness and emotional attachment.

Digital media allows for a collective but temporary ownership that exists only within the original infrastructure. 

Authority shifts once the publication enters into circulation, as the reader can control where these offshoots of the book exist outside the container of the book. This outcome views human intervention and engagement as an addition to the book, rather than looking at is as a precious object to be kept untouched, giving it space to become a record of human interaction.

If the text is presented non-linearly, is a direct progression of pages necessary? 

Would these factors provide the reader with agency in terms of how they consume the book? The ultimate goal of the publication’s form is to highlight the value of critical thinking through drawing lateral connections.

How do I reconcile novelty and nostalgia in my work?