Yorkshire Sculpture Park University Project

Press Release

2010-03-11T16:24:00.001-08:00

For Immediate Release

Blind to Touch Sculptures and Sleepover at the YSP
As part of a new initiative for their ‘Friends of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park’ Scheme

YSP are encouraging families with children who have blind/partially and able sighted children to the park, to pave the path for a new and exciting way to experience the park and sculptures through the sense of touch.

The Sculpture Park will be hosting a sleepover event for seven to twelve year olds, on 24th July 2010. The children will partake in a variety of tasks, which will see the siblings work together to complete tasks and share their own individual experience of the park, based upon their sense of touch.

The aim of the event is to break the barrier between siblings who are unaware of each other’s sight differences; activities aim to help the children work together to complete tasks, and share their own individual experience.

Activities at the sleepover include on arrival at a meet and greet with a barbeque and giant lawn games. Other activities include Chinese lantern decoration and release later in the evening before sleeping in the underground gallery. Also, a light and shadow puppet show in the underground gallery will provide a sensory experience for both able sighted and blind children to enjoy.

The main feature of the event is to allow the children to touch the sculptures that are normally off limits. As part of their membership with the park, members are given the privilege and benefit of being able to have a more personal relationship with the sculptures.

The sleepover event is a free opportunity to children of families who are members of the ‘Friends of the Sculpture Park scheme.

Join the ‘Friends of the Sculpture Park’ scheme now to not miss out on this spectacular event.

We are available for interview through Brent Hardy-Smith, Communication Design Course Leader, and John Ramsdin, the Public Relations Officer, both contacted through the University of Huddersfield.

Definition of Friendship

2010-03-11T16:21:00.000-08:00

Friendship is a relationship/bond between two people; they have things in common and enjoy each other’s company. In relation to our target market the relationship between the two siblings may be slightly different to those without visual impairments.

If the visually impaired sibling has been blind/partially sighted from birth then the relationship between the two siblings may be a more pleasant one; whereas if the visually impaired sibling suddenly lost their sight, there may be a slight grudge between the two.

A blind/impaired child will create friendships from merely being with other blind people and observing how they handle social situations. Social events are a great way to enable this to happen. In relation to our target market, social events with their siblings will help create a friendship with each other.

Our aim of creating a friendship scheme for one able sighted child with at least one visually impaired/blind sibling is to enable the two siblings to create a bond (friendship) between each other and to also allow the able sighted child to experience what life is like for their visually impaired sibling through events such as blindfolding activities etc.

Katie

Final Product Designs

2010-03-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

We have a range of 5 products that we hope will benefit visually impaired, blind and able sighted children through touch, sound and sense.

Chocolate Mould:

There will be 2 types of chocolate mould, one with raised text and one with raised braille. The chocolate mould will also be a great activity for the children to do at home.

The chocolate mould will cost around £4.

Music Box:

The music box will come with either a name engraved or a name translated into Braille. Music is a great sensory experience for visually impaired children and also a great toy for able sighted children.

The music box will cost around £3.

Light Box:

The light box will come with pens so that the children can decorate it. Light is also a great sensory experience for visually impaired/blind children and the light box will also be a fun product for the able sighted children.

The light box will cost around £10.

Paint Palette:

The paint palette will consist of 2 contrasting colours so that the paints can be easily recognised by the visually impaired/blind child. This will also be visually striking for the able sighted child. The paint palette will also have a shallow water dish in the middle this will hopefully prevent spillages of the water dish.

The paint palette will cost around £3.

Chinese Lanterns:

The Chinese lanterns will come in pairs with pens so that the children are able to decorate them. This will prove a great activity for both the children, as they will be able to let their lanterns off at home with adult supervision.

The chinese lanterns will cost around £15.

We also have a range of 3 novelty products.. Which are:

Keyring:

Bookmark:

T-shirts:

We think these are easily affordable items that the children can take home as a souvenir of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

All of the products will be available to buy from the ysp shop and the etsy online shop.

Katie

Final Point Of Sale Design

2010-03-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

The final designs for our point of sale display reflect the design for the cover of the sketchbook. We have also used the same bright colours used on the sketchbooks on the POS so that it hopefully stands out to a visually impaired person. Something that could also be done with the POS is to make areas on it textured like the sketchbooks to further reflect the design and to also add a sensory element to it.

Here are the final designs

And also an idea of what the POS would look like in the YSP shop

Liam

Etsy Shop

2010-03-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

Here are our product concepts on display in an Etsy shop.

Liam

Final Sketchbook Designs

2010-03-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

Here are our final designs for our sketchbook range to be sold at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park shop and our Etsy online shop.

Like I outlined previously, the sketchbooks consist of a simplified version of a sculpture in the YSP. So it is visually and textually appealing we did the design in textured paint so the visually impaired/blind child can feel each individual shape that make up the sculpture also it would be available in 5 different bright colours which include:

Pink

Green

Red

Blue

Purple

It would therefore be appealing to both the visually impaired/blind and able sighted children as it is brightly coloured which the able sighted would benefit most from and its textual which both able sighted and visually impaired could appreciate and could interact with the sketchbook. Its a fun, colourful and functional design which still relates to the YSP.

The Design consists of three layers using three stencils:

Layer 1: Layer of black ink

Layer 2: First layer of textured paint in darker tone of colour

Layer 3: Second layer of textured paint in lighter tone of colour

Incorporated within the design is also raised/embossed braille which says 'Yorkshire Sculpture Park' for the blind/visually impaired and also the YSP logo in the top right corner for the able sighted.

Amy B.

Our Online Advertising Campaign

2010-03-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

For our advertising campaign we have decided to use a few different types of online adverts, which will include flash banners which can be used accross the internet, social networking websites, sky scraper adverts, and also blogs and forums.

Below are the main flash banners that we will use. Each use a high contrast as we hope that a blind child will be able to get an idea of the advert, the high contrast will also grab the attention of the able sighted children too. All typography and images are hand drawn which creates a childlike appearance and therefore hopefully appeal to our audience. The banners are flash, however Blogger will not support flash so here are some screen shots:

Advert One - Floating YSP chineses lanterns move from the bottom to the top:

Advert Two - The wrapped box shakes side to side as if something is waiting to get out:

Advert Three - The fun character moves from the left to the right of the screen:

Another type of advertising that we will use is social networking, such as Facebook and Twitter as both of these sites allow you to create an account where you c

an post news and updates and people can choose to join up to see your updates.

Facebook also uses sky scraper adverts down the side of its applications which relate to the users demographics so this is also something that we will use, as you can add a description under your image so the audience will know exactly what you are advertising. Below is an idea of the skyscraper advert we would use, and beneath that you can see it in context.

Finally we will post our poster and banners on forums, and ask blog owners to pass these on as this will be a very cheap and effective way of advertising.

Online Advertising Research

2010-03-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

In the 21st century there are many different ways to advertise online such as social networking advertisements, online viral videos, online banners, forums, blogs and google. Advertising by social networking is growing quite significantly as do the sites themselves.

One of the most popular ways of advertising has to be online banners. They can be used on any website that will sell you the advertising space, so you can pretty much advertise anywhere. Online banners grab your attention from their visual appearance, as they are much more exciting that forms of advertising such as adwords. Moving and interactive banners are becoming much more frequent as technology continues to advance. Below are a few examples of online banners:

Websites such as Facebook offers many opportunities for advertising. One of the main forms is by simply selling space to advertises, which allows them to place their adverts down the right hand side of pages, usually while the user is using the Facebook applications. This type of advertising is known as Sky Scraper Advertising as the adverts are usually stacked in a vertical line. Personally I find this advertising very successful as the adverts usually relate to what you are looking at, or your demographics due to Facebook having your details, so I have often been tempted to look at the adverts content.

Another way of advertising through Facebook is to create a group or fan page which allows people to choose to join or become a fan. Once they are associated they will then see any posts you create in their home stream. For example the Yorkshire Sculpture Park currently has a group page, from that they post updates about exhibitions and general information about the park, and then if you are a part of that group you will then see the updates on your Facebook homepage. This is much more personal as the people who have joined the group have an interest in the content. However if you do not have many people who have joined then not may people will see your posts.

Twitter also offers a couple of different ways to advertise. One way is basically advertising spam, if you post something on twitter you are automatically inviting advertisers as they can search for certain words within tweets and then respond to you offering a solution to your problem. However this is not very personal and can sometimes be ignored completely. This is shown below:

A much more personal way of advertising on twitter is almost like word of mouth. If you want something advertised then you can basically ask people to retweet your message, or hint at this and some people will. If your tweet is retweeted then the retweeters followers will all see your message too. This is very personal as you usually follow someone that you find interested in and therefore you will read the tweets no matter what the content is. This is shown below:

A different way of advertising is to use google adwords. Google adwords works by putting your link in the sponsored links section in the search results and charges you per click, so can work out very cost efficient as you only pay when you get traffic to your site. The sponsored links appear either down the right hand side or at the top of your results highlighted by a yellowy orange box. This is shown below:

Blogging is a very current way of advertising and is very similar to magazine advertorials as they are written from a personal angle so that you may not always see that what you are reading is an advertisement. There are many blogs that would willingly write about your product or service if you asked, as long as your content related to the rest of their blog posts. This can be a very effective and cheap way to advertise your product or service. Below is an example from the blog "We Love Creatures", where an artist is being promoted through the bloggers own interest, however you would not see it straight away and think 'that is an advert'.

Advertising through forums is also another cheap and effective way of advertising. Most people use forums to look for advice and help, or to focus on a niche interest, and therefore you can easily target your direct market by creating a post about your product or service that would appeal to them. For example we could post our idea and concepts on the blog below as it relates to people with reduced vision. The readers of the forum may then pass this information on to other forums, social network sites, or by word of mouth to others who share the same interest/problem.

Another type of advertising that is becoming increasingly popular is online viral videos. These work really well as they often look like they have been created by a creative individual by the good of their heart rather than blatantly advertising their product or service. These viral videos are often very humorous, creative or strange to grab their audiences attention from the beginning. Two very successful viral examples are shown below:

Online Shop Research

2010-03-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

There are a few different and very easy ways to quickly start selling products (and services) online. The 3 that i came across were Big Cartel, Etsy and Folksy. Each of these let a user set up an account and a shop front to start selling straight away.

Big cartel, to me, seemed full of clothing more than anything else. It also gave a very professional looking shop front if you were competent with HTML coding. Compared to the other two shops (etsy and folksy) Big Cartel gives the impression that products are mass produced (most of the time to a high standard) rather than hand made. When listing a product on Big Cartel you pay nothing and the account is also free making it a really cheap way to sell online.

Folksy had much more of an emphasis on hand made and crafted products. Rather than having a very polished shop front like on Big Cartel, Folksy is much more simple and easier to understand anyone not very good with internet programming ect. All prices on Folksy are given in Great British Pounds.

Etsy is very much like Folksy as it has a large emphasis on hand crafted products. Etsy is more than likely the inspiration for Folksy, as much like Folksy is has much simpler shop fronts that would be easy for anyone to set up. Unlike Folksy all prices are given in US Dollars. When listing a product on Etsy you pay a small fee to list it much like Ebay.

Taking into mind the ethics of the YSP and our products that we have designed the best shop format to go for would be Etsy due to the Handmade products it sells and its huge popularity. The only downside to be seen is the fact that it uses US Dollars and the YSP is in the UK although when going through to check out they do offer to convert it to Great British Pounds.

Liam

Initial Product Sketches

2010-03-07T05:13:00.000-08:00

Product 1:

Chocolate Mould

Product 2:

Paint Palette

Product 3:

Music Box

Product 4:

Moodcube/Light box

Product 5:

Chinese Lantern

On top of the five products above we also have designed a few novelty products that are aimed towards out target market

Product 1:

Bookmark

Product 2:

Keyring

Product 3:

Wristband

Product 4:

T-Shirt

I will post the final designs soon.

Product Reference Imagery

2010-03-07T04:54:00.000-08:00

Product Ideas

Mood cube/Light box

http://s3.amazonaws.com/tc-photos/10328/product/standard/3662.jpg

http://mocoloco.com/upload/2007/02/ridgely_light_box_table.jpg

http://www.ledlightbars.org/images/52mm-led-mood-light-cube1.jpg

http://lightedice.com/images/mood_cube.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416KR42Y8TL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

Music box

http://www.iambo.com/blog/archives/ghibli%20music%20box%201.jpg

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44498000/jpg/_44498795_blindart3.203.jpg

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/6f/9/AAAAAvu5mTMAAAAAAG-Ymg.jpg

Chinese Lanterns

http://www.bestskylanterns.co.uk/images/1Lantern-White.jpg

http://image.dhgate.com/upload/200912/87/ff8080811c2283e8011c271eda051cb9/productimg1261327119920.jpg

http://www.inspiredbychocolate.com.au/product_images/AO091/Chocolate_candy_mold_AO091.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FoKnuiv59YU/S0RdZzE9ftI/AAAAAAAAAjY/BF4aNdGe8-o/s400/Chocolate+Mould+technique+003A.jpg

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/90/b/AAAAArC0KSMAAAAAAJCwnA.jpg

Paint Palette

http://www.cutpriceartsupplies.com/merchants/store8100/item_images/item-graphic-store8100-image25.jpg

Novelty Item Ideas

T-shirts

http://braillebookstore.com/jpeg/alphashirt.jpg

http://rarebirdfinds.typepad.com/rare_bird_finds/images/2007/07/23/bitty_braille_infant_boy_30.jpg

http://www.primitivestate.com/images/ps_examples/Braille.jpg

http://www.csb-cde.ca.gov/Images/Got%20Braille%20t-shirt%20front.JPG

Wristbands

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41117000/jpg/_41117698_wristbands_getty.jpg

http://www.carinacharms.com/dev/images/items/OneWhiteWristband.jpg

http://strawgrasping.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/livestrong_wristband.jpg

http://braillebookstore.com/jpeg/kidsband-cool.jpg

http://www.siliconebracelets.com/images/embossed/embossed-bracelets.jpg

http://www.abctx.org/images/bracelets_b_w.jpg

Keyrings

http://bermudalinens.com/images/KR-204.jpg

Bookmarks

http://www.braillebookstore.com/cart.php?Action=ViewPic&Pic=bookmark&Tit=Braille%20Bookmark

http://www.silvergallery.com/cat-images-lg/em-717-lg.jpg

These images should help me develop the product ideas.

Katie

Point of Sale Display

2010-03-03T02:15:00.001-08:00

We wanted the point of sale display to include the same themes as the sketchbook so they match and compliment each other but also to be practical enough to display them effectively.

So our initial idea is, like the sketchbooks, to use one of the sculptures from the YSP and have it built up like the sculpture but made out some sort of strong sturdy material like cardboard. The particular sculpture we have chosen is the one on our blog header.

This is a quick sketch of how it may look, as you can see in the image there are plenty of clever little slots and compartments in the structure for the sketchbooks to fit in and be displayed. As in the sketch the circle in the top part of the sculpture has a circular hole where we could put the YSP logo onto it. Although not sure of the idea yet but to make it more texturally and visually appealing to the visually impaired and the able sighted children the outlines of each section of the sculpture could be outlined with brightly coloured lights. Also another idea is, again like the sketchbooks, to make the surface of the point of sale display to be filled with lots of different textures that are brightly coloured in the 5 colours we chose for the sketchbook designs.

Will upload the final idea for the point of sale display soon.

Amy B.

Sketchbook Experiments

2010-03-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

I did some experiments for our sketchbook design. In the previous blog I outlined the basic ideas that our sketchbook will include, to recap it will be a textured simplified version of one of the sculptures in the YSP using textured paint and it will also have ' Yorkshire Sculpture Park' embossed in braille and the YSP logo in the top left hand corner.

These are the initial experiments/ideas for the 10 sketchbook front covers. I experimented with different colours to see which one would suit the colour of the background but also appeal to the visually impaired and especially the able sighted children. To create the shapes of the sculptures I used stencils made out of cardboard. I mixed the paint with salt which gives it a ruff texture to touch, I tried out using different amounts of salt in the paint and found the more salt the better the texture although after drying the salt it did tend to rub or simply fall off. Therefore we decided that a layer of glue over the top would seal it and give the sculpture a glossy touch. On the front sculptures in purple I used two layers of different coloured paint which the team seemed to like the best. I also used a variety of brightly coloured textured paint for one sculpture and the other I used varieties of the same colour.

Experiments:

We decided to take this idea forward. We liked the purple sculpture with the two tones and two layers with the ink outline and so we decided this was the most visually appealing and textually appealing.

This braille was done with a pen on the back of the sketchbook, it does emboss and you can easily distinguish between each dot however it was very difficult not to press too hard and go right through the page. So i need to do some experimenting with different tools.

Braille on front of the sketchbook:

Braille on back of the cover:

So we are going to do 5 different colours so 2 of the 10 sketchbooks will have the same design on them. We have decided on these colours:

Purple

Red

Pink

Blue

Green

Each colour will have two tones, a darker tone for the bottom layer and a lighter tone for the top layer. I will take the following steps to create the sculpture:

1) Layer of black ink and leave to dry (stencil 1)

2) Layer of textured paint on top with darker tone and leave to dry (stencil 2)

3) Layer of textured paint on top with lighter tone and leave to dry (stencil 3)

I have cut out three stencils in order to do this the same on each sketchbook. The stencils get smaller as for each layer so it shows underneath.

Three stencils we are going to use:

Will upload the 5 finished sketchbook cover designs soon.

Amy B.

Press Release Research

2010-03-02T05:51:00.001-08:00

The press release is a key part to any brief, in order to sell it to a client. Research into good and bad ones will shed light on how it should be written.

Examples of Good Press Releases

http://www.intervarsity.org/slj/fa03/release.jpg

Both examples are straight to the point, very simple and not boring to read.
Both identify all main aspects of the event, and support and enhance the event, and with past reviews for the first example.

http://www.wisewomencommunications.com/samples.htm

Examples of Bad Press Releases

http://www.michiganpress.org/images/

Although very informative, the passion about the contest is very low. The release reads like instructions.
Wouldn't be very appealing to a client because of its bland content.

http://harwoodp.people.cofc.edu/NewsReleaseLibrary.jpg

Lacks interesting vocabulary, the copy is placed together very tightly, so is harder to read; than if double spacing was used between paragraphs.

The press release should be at the standard of the first too examples, and exclude any bland copy and block paragraphs. It has to grab the attention of the reader and keep it.

Amy W

Sleepover Activities

2010-03-02T03:53:00.000-08:00

Meet and Greet Barbeque and Games

Friendly atmosphere, bright and colourful. Range of lawn games and bonding activities.

http://funtaseett.com/decor/childrens_parties.html

http://www.waterfrontdreamproperty.com/farm-status.php

http://www.wills-mill.co.uk/products.html

Giant Jenga - This is an excellent garden game, having a set at home it's a fun competition game; this would allow the children t

o work together. (Source, own photo)

Giant Snakes and Ladders

http://www.facepocalypse.com/tag/game/

Giant Connect 4

http://nerdapproved.com/misc-gadgets/giant-connect-four-game/

Giant Noughts and Crosses

http://www.jaqueslondon.com/games/garden/garden_3d.php

Lantern Decoration

http://www.escapefromamerica.com/2009/12/christmas-around-the-world-expat-short-stories/

http://lucept.com/2009/08/

http://www.craftideas.info/html/black_cats_lantern_b.html

Shadow Puppet & Light Show -Video examples of sensory and visually pleasing light displays both the blind children and able sighted children can enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/udronotto/

http://www.menkind.co.uk/gifts-and-gadgets-c112/lighting-and-lava-lamps-c13/lighting-c14/laser-stars-projector-p110034

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5yvvNFoBSY

These activities are those stated in the itinerary, and are examples of how they can be represented. The barbeque could have a certain child friendly theme; the games would encourage the blind and able sighted children to work together. And the examples of the lanterns above show how diverse they can be decorated.

Amy W

Camping In The Moonlight

2010-03-02T01:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a concept poster for our proposed launch event, this would be printed and displayed in the main entrance hall in the park. Also a similar poster with more information could be created to post onto online forums and blogs that offer help and information to parents with both blind/partially sighted children and able sighted children. A black and white poster could be printed and left in the park for children to bring home and colour in.

Shadow Art

2010-02-25T11:38:00.001-08:00

Shadow Art is a concept I have recently come across while brainstorming ideas for a different university project, and I thought this would work quite well at the launch sleepover event. This could be incorporated into the light show, and would allow the children to create their own shadow art using large projectors onto the main buildings or sculptures themselves. I am hoping that the contrast between the bright lights and dark shadows would be visually appealing to both children as we found out as a group that contrast plays a hugh part in the lives of visually sighted people. Some examples of this are shown below.

The above four images are credited to udronotto of flickr.

The last four images are credited to Tim Noble and Sue Webster

Danielle

Blind Photography

2010-02-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

When looking for images for a visual library for our target market, I came across something called blind photography where blind and visually impaired individuals take photos.

Firstly I found this man called Pete Eckert, a blind photographer who before being blind was a sculptor and only became interested in photography after becoming blind. Here are a couple of his photos and quotes found on his site that explain in his own words what the experiance of being a blind photographer mains to him; http://www.peteeckert.com/

SVELTE:

“What I get out of taking photos is the event not the picture. I do the large prints to get sighted people thinking. Talking with people in galleries builds a bridge between my minds eye and their vision of my work. Occasionally people refuse to believe I am blind. I am a visual person. I just can’t see.”

LOOKING OUT:

SALOON:

KITCHEN:

“I am not bound by the assumptions of the sighted or their assumed limits.”

STEPHANIE:

"I am trying to cut a new path as a blind visual artist. Sighted people don't help me make the art. They do give me feedback before I do the final large prints. I shoot the image, develop the film, and I do the contact print. I do what I call sample prints. There is a clear dividing line. I need the feedback loop to afford making large final products. I could cut sighted people completely out of my process. I could do a write up about the event of taking the photos. The negatives, contact sheets, and write up about the event could be the final product, but I like doing the dramatic large prints better. I want sighted people involved. It is a good bridge between the blind and sighted. I want to be included in the world and accepted."

FLAME:

COFFEE:

I also came across this site; http://www.theblindphotographer.com where two photographers called Kfir Sivan and Iris Darel-Shinar not blind or visually impaired themselves hold a workshop for nine Israeli blind and visually impaired people who have a interest in photography. They have also had an exhibition called 'Exposure to light' at the National Gallery Bangkok exhibiting some of the photographs taken by them.

"Blind people who take pictures may sound absurd or strange because we tend to associate photography with light, vision, focusing, looking at the result, etc. However, our experience of the past years has exposed us to another aspect of photography; this is photography lead by imagination, sentiment and all four senses (vision included)."

Heres a few examples of photos taken by some of the Blind photographers:

I thought this information and site might be quite useful for our event. When Katie mentioned a photography task during the sleepover, where the blind child and the able sighted child gets blindfolded. Then they could take a picture of anything they wanted to, something important to them or a loved one or even their sibling/friend and develop it.

Amy B.

Sketchbook and Event Development

2010-02-16T04:01:00.000-08:00

Sketchbook

One main aspect of the group discussion was the sketchbook, and how the embossed sculpture would be imposed onto the cover. Matthew, whose a printer and a regular assistant on the Conceptual Studies module, gave an insight into how the process could be changed and the cost. The previous weeks meeting lead Liam to ring the Block Shop, who provide blocks for different types of printing and embossing, a quote for an A4 magnesium block came back at £54; in comparison to what Matthew would quote, (at £120) this is very cheap. However, £54 was just the price of the block, not including the embossing process. Matthew also stressed that there weren't any facilities on campus that would allow us to do this; unless we used the Universities daisy press, but this may break the block if the pressure is too high. Also, if the ten sketchbooks were to be produced in this way, it would mean they were very expensive, taking in mind the price of materials.

Matthew also pointed out that the children we are targeting, those aged between six and twelve, do not have the the sensory sense of touch fully developed at that age, as their brains are incapable of picking up and interpreting an embossed object, they develop this when they are older. Instead of the magnesium block, Matthew also showed us how the same embossed effect could be achieved using a blunt object, such as a key; with a spongy surface under the sketchbook, then rub the design into it. We decided against this, as it doesn't show up very well, and isn't very visually appealing.

However, Amy (who has the task of the sketchbooks) can do the braille on the sketchbooks this way; by doing it on the reverse side, and imprinting the braille backwards. As a consensus, we have decided to use textured paints for the sketchbook, and will research which are most successful. This method was our original back-up, and is the cheaper option, allowing the sketchbook to appeal to a wider market in terms of price. (The price is yet to be determined, as the materials and processes are yet to be decided. The paint will need to be at least 3 mm thick in order for the blind and visually impaired children to feel it, this is also the case with the braille. Matthew quoted £150 if the sketchbooks were to be printed commercially with the textured paint, this proves too expensive for what we're doing, and weren't able to gather funding for it.

We have decided that we will do the sketchbooks by hand, this will be a cheaper process, however, if the sketchbooks were to be mass produced, this would be time consuming and the price would rise. We are going to experiment with textures in paint; like Liam's experiment with salt. Also, for the sketchbooks, we will produce them with different colour designs on the front, so they are visually appealing for the able sighted children, and the braille will be highlighted so it can also be seen. Amy would also like to transfer the designs onto the sketchbooks so they are all the same and will be less time consuming.

We also discussed the pricing of the products, and because most of them are based on existing products, we will research into competitive prices, and come to a decision that way. Existing Chinese Lanterns usually come in packs of three, priced around £15. We propose to sell them in pairs, and include paints or other materials to decorate the lanterns with. The light box/mood cube would be priced around £5, because of the electrical element of the bulbs/LED's inside, and the novelty items would be priced quite cheaply, based on those that are at every museum and amusement park in the UK. For our online shop mock up, on Etsy, we need to convert the finalized prices into US $.

Event Schedule; would take place in the Summer months to take advantage of the long hours of daylight, and warmth; and at a weekend.

Arrive at 6.30pm (the park closes at 5pm to the public in the Summer season, this slot will allow time to set up for the sleepover.) Leave at 9.30am, before the park opens at 10am to the general public.
6.30pm - 7.30pm, there would be a meet and greet, so the children can mix with others, and build on familiar ground, this would be accompanied by a barbecue and outdoor games, possibly giant jenga, however this will need to be researched for the blind and visually impaired children.
7.30pm - 8pm Lantern Decoration and the start of the Light Show
8pm - 8.20pm The Touchable Sculpture Tour (This allows time for the lanterns to dry in time for the release later.)
8.20pm - 9pm Release of the Lanterns and other games, (may take place indoors.)
9pm Stories and bonding, before going to sleep. (This has the older children in mind, because they tend to fall asleep later.)

Because of reading week next week, (22nd - 26th Feb), some members of the group will not be available, and so we will all keep in contact via email and other online facilities; however individual tasks shouldn't be interrupted.

Amy W

Launch Sleepover Event, Current YSP Activities, Concept Presentation and Group Discussion

2010-02-09T04:13:00.000-08:00

Having discussed which aspects of the brief each team member would under take, I have been given the role of event management and also writing the press release.

To start of my research into the sleepover event, I researched museums that have already hosted sleepovers on the past, that we're advertised in the Yorkshire area. One museum that was mentioned in the target market research was the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, who held a Halloween themed sleepover event back in 2006, with the joint celebration of 'Celebrating 10 Years in Yorkshire'. Because the sleepover was hosted some years ago, research was hard to come by, however I found the advertising agency that devised the campaign, HMA Digital Marketing.

http://www.inclusivethinking.com/Portfolio/Olderfavourites/RoyalArmouriesMuseum.aspx

The event was named 'Spooky!' and was spread over a number of nights that were in the school October half term. Some of the sleepovers were either for children or adults, so a variety of people would pay to visit. (Back in 2006, the museum had a paid entry, today entry is free, coming from historical society funding.) Activities at the sleepovers included; 'Children's Horror Maze, Execution Chamber, Ghostly Tales, Fire and Demons Horse Show' and of course the spooky sleepover. (Images courtesy of 'HMA Digital Marketing' from same website as stated above.)

HMA Digital Marketing also included a description of the activities that were on offer for both children and adults, and their campaign contained the two different themed events. They state that the events were 'outstanding with the amount of visitor numbers exceeding expectations, and all event reaching full capacity'.

In relation to our niche target market, if these events were very popular with exceeding numbers of attendees, our sleepover at the park could be equally as successful. With sleepovers among children and teenagers being an exciting aspect of socializing with their friends, this would prove successful for the able sighted and blind children, as they will all be partaking in the same activities and have privileges that those who didn't join the friend scheme would have; like attending the sleepover.

Another institution that also hosts regular sleepover events in the Yorkshire region is the National Media Museum in Bradford; having sleepovers being held on 30th April-1st May, 14th-15th May and 5th-6th November 2010. Their appeal to children is them being able to 'Explore the museum galleries after closing time! Come face to face with a Dalek, watch an amazing IMAX film, get up close with Wallace an Gromit and join in loads more fun activities. You won't be counting sheep! Come take part in this exciting overnight adventure - it's an unforgettable experience for all ages. All groups are welcome, large or small.' From this passage from their web page about the sleepovers,

(http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/sleepover/ho

me.asp) this come across that they are targeting children who have a passion for media and television, but also they target groups like the Brownies & Cubs, and allow birthday parties and groups of friends. A typical sleepover at the National Media Museum was posted on the museums blog, http://nationalmediamuseum.blogspot.com/2009/12/sleepover-fun.html. On the website, they also state all of the health and safety aspects of the sleepover; targeting children between the ages of 6-12 years old, and all must be accompanied by an adult; with five children to one adult. They include PDF links about the safety aspects, Sleepovers FAQ PDF, Public Liability Insurance 2009, Risk Assessment Information for Teachers and Group Leaders PDF.

All the aspects that the National Media Museum have provided would also be put in place for the event at the park; as a group, we decided that the age range would be from 7-12 years old, but this maybe flexible if some older or younger children are interested in the sleepover.

Because both the National Media Museum and the Royal Armouries only had the galleries to sleepover in, the areas for the event at the Sculpture Park could be one of many, because of the diverse space and themes of the sculptures, however health and safety are a big aspect of the area which is chosen. Current ideas include:-

Outside the Underground Gallery, where Peter Randall-Pages work is currently being exhibited.
Inside the Underground Gallery or in the Visitors Centre.

These ideas, in the groups opinion are the safest options in terms of keeping all the children together, room for activities and easy access for food and toilet facilities. (Images below of the proposed sleeping areas from http://www.gallery.jontywilde.co.uk/prp/jw/content/_MG_7001_1_14_large.html , official photographs of the Peter Randall-Page exhibit currently at the Sculpture Park; as own photos were prohibited in the exhibit.)

In terms of activities that will take place on the sleepover and the possible weekend club; this could be an extension of the Sculpture Parks current art, craft and design projects, that are available to groups and school parties, and are National Lottery and Heritage Funded.

The park's current and on going projects in the park are both community and education (schools and colleges) based, with the projects supporting the National Curriculum for Art and Design. http://ysp.co.uk/view.aspx?id=32. The park work hard to bring the community together, and have stated this in the text on their project page. 'As part of YSP's ethos and commitment to access to the arts for everyone, cultural diversity and social inclusion, these projects have supported work, residencies and long-term partnerships with schools, community organisations, local authorities, arts organisations and galleries.' The park already work with a range of councils and charities, if we're going to encourage people to the park, we need to get a charity or organization that supports blind, visually impaired and able sighted people, this may take the form of the charity BlindArt that Amy B researched thoroughly. The park also have sculpture courses, which have recently extended their range of techniques due to high public demand, which include bronze casting, stone carving, metal work and wood carving. In terms of accessibility for the visually impaired and blind, these types of workshops would be very challenging and maybe not possible, because of the dangers involved.

In terms for the sleepover and the activities that will be available, they need to be discussed with the group; but will probably be based on arts and crafts, and possibly quiz's about the park. In conjunction with this, the activities need to enable the able sighted and blind children to bond together during the activities, so they can represent their relationship with the sculptures as well as the park.

Group Meeting and Discussion before Concept Presentation on 2nd February 2010

With the product concepts, as a group, we all came up with ideas we all thought would be appealing and suitable for the park and the target market. After discussions on each of the products presented, (which are viewable on this blog by each individual group member). After our discussion we agreed on the following product concepts, that would be brought to the concept presentation to be reviewed and assessed by the course leader and other lecturers.

Katie's idea for a braille and writing chocolate mould, that would be an activity to be done at home, which both the blind and able sighted children can do together.
Liam's idea of self decorated Chinese lanterns, which would be part of an activity at the sleepover, in which they would be released when it got dark.
Danielle and my combined idea of a mood cube, in which it could be drawn/embossed on, in either drawings by the child or braille, which would be inverted.
Danielle's paint pallet idea, that stops the blind and visually impaired children from knocking the paint and water pots over, and they would be coloured vibrantly, so it appeals to able sighted children too.
A music box, an idea by Amy B. Based upon a small music box that works on a wind up system, using the traditional prongs and cylindrical needle format. This would have the child's name on, either in braille or writing.
We are also going to include novelty items in our range, (like those that are 'standard' in museum and the park's gift shops.) Katie thought of incorporating braille into key rings, t-shirts(which with later discussion, talked about how electronic lights can be incorporated into them, and are raised because of the circuit used to power it), and bookmarks, among other possible items. (Katie is designing and presenting our product ideas, as her role in the group.)

We also discussed the activities and features of the event, we all contributed and bounced ideas off of each other, can came up with the following:-

Arriving at the park at around 6pm, and leave at 10am the next day.
On arrival, after settling and a briefing, there would be supper, this could be a barbeque.
Activities could include a tour of the park, and given the privilege to touch the off limits sculptures, for example those by Peter Randall-Page. The lanterns would be decorated, and depending what was used to decorate them, left to dry, until dark, when they would be released. Depending on the weather, the activities may take place in/outdoors. Other activities may possibly include, (further discussion needed), blind photography-where the able sighted child is blind folded and experiences the feeling of being blind. Light display-this could take place in/outdoors, depending on how the children would interpret this. Bonding exercises related to art.
The children would sleep indoors, as a safety aspect, and so they feel safer and are closer to facilities if needed.

The sketchbook design needs to be easily reproduced, so nothing complicated.We could use embossed images for visual and touch appeal, as well as using braille and writing, or textures as Liam demonstrated in one of his concept ideas. As a consensus, we decided to use an embossed sculpture as the theme of the sketchbooks, or if embossing isn't possible, use textured paints or materials, the YSP logo would be incorporated, as well as braille and writing.

After our concept presentation, of all of the ideas above, we were given constructive feedback on our ideas and performance. We were all nervous, but knew our work and were able to deliver what our project was about. We were giving the following feedback:-

We have a lot of useful research, and know what each member of the group has discovered, and incorporated it into our own research and development, however we lack the confidence and passion in order to sell a concept. This will be improved for the final presentation.
Maybe allow the children to touch the off limits sculptures, as a perk for the blind and visually impaired children, as they cannot appreciate the sculptures through sight. And maybe widen the target market to worldwide, as people come from all over the world to visit the park; the friendship scheme would be more valuable to them if international blind and visually impaired people were involved.
All children should be included in the weekend club, but still include the bonding exercises for the children. (As inspired by BlindArt).
Research a charity that supports blind people and their artwork, National Library for the Blind and their Moon project. And they would be happy to do any braille for us.
Possibly keep the parents out of the sleepover, so the children can bond more on their own grounds, without having interfering parents.
Maybe have the friend scheme peer led?

After this meeting, we came away very happy with our performance,having been giving positive feedback, and criticism that we can work on and improve.

Latest Discussion on Tuesday 9th February 2010

This meeting was very short, as very little needed to be discussed;as all of our roles have been decided. After much confusion and pondering, after some inspiration from songs, we are naming the event, Camping in the Moonlight - Experience the Park After Dark. We feel this is a friendly title, and appeals to the target audience because of it's association with the night time and the dark, and camping is usually an exciting experience for all children. For our POS concept; going on the same idea of using the sculptures on the sketchbook; we would use an existing sculpture as inspiration as a POS. It would be a scale model that is free standing, with a 360 degree angle so the sketchbooks can be accessed at all angles in the gift shop. We would integrate sensory aspects such as textures and possibly lights. We also need to take safety aspects into account, it has to be lightweight, and have easy assembly.

Amy W

Initial Ideas for our Sketchbook

2010-02-03T06:05:00.000-08:00

In our last Group Meeting we discussed our concept ideas and agreed what products we were going to choose, the event we were going to hold and our sketchbook design. I was given the task of refining our idea for the sketchbook and finishing our final design. In consideration to our target audience, it was important that the sketchbook design appealed to both visually impaired children and able sighted children so it had to be textual but be visually striking.

Our idea is to take sculptures from the YSP and use them as a simple design. We are hoping we can emboss the design so the visually impaired child can feel the shapes of the sculpture, if this is not possible then we were thinking of using textured paint. Experimenting with how to use the textured paint will be important to get the best results so maybe trying out printing with the textured paints. I was thinking also that it would be visually more striking and interesting to able sighted children if the sculptures were done in a variety of bright colours, however i still need to experiment with colours first to see if this will work and not take anything away from the original sculptures. The sketchbook will definitely include the YSP emblem for the able sighted then 'Yorkshire Sculpture Park' in braille for the visually impaired children.

These are the initial sketches I did:

Will start experimenting and upload more designs soon.

Amy B

Research for Products and Events

2010-02-01T13:56:00.000-08:00

While researching for entertainment for visually impaired children I came across this website: www.blindchildren.org/ which suggests ways of adapting sports so that visually impaired children can join in too. A few of the suggestions were to use larger balls for the sports, or lightweight balls. One idea for a game to play with the balls was throwing the ball against a wall and trying to catch it on its decline, or after it had bounced. This gave me the idea of creating a ball that made sound on impact by having an item such as bells inside, and therefore the visually impaired child would have a better idea of where the ball was. I also thought that this could be a bonding activity for the visually impaired child and able sighted child, as they could play the game as you would play squash.

Another website that I came across whilst still researching entertainment for visually impaired children was www.kinderart.com which had plenty of interesting ideas for both visually impaired and sighted children to enjoy. A few ideas that I particularly liked were; play with clay, crayon resist, and also leaf by leaf.

The play with clay idea basically is like clay lessons, teaching the children how to use clay, and make their own clay creations. I thought that this would be interesting for both children as clay is very easy to use and relies heavily on the touch factors. This could be a great idea for a workshop idea that could happen either monthly or seasonly, and would only be available to the children who were friends of the park.

Crayon resist is the idea of colouring a piece of paper in crayons and then painting over the top in black paint, as this creates a huge contrast I thought that this could be another bonding exercise for both children. Also this exercise does not require any ability as the pieces do not have to be precise.

Finally the leaf by leaf exercise is the idea of colouring in leaves on a stencil which get cut out and added to a huge illustrated tree trunk. This allows everyone to work together on the same project, also the visually impaired children do not need to worry about staying in the lines as the leaves will get cut out after anyway. I feel like this is another activity that could happen in a bonding workshop.

I also came across a football league for the visually impaired, which can be found here: www.visuallyimpairedfootballleague.co.uk. However this league is only for 16s and over and therefore the niche market we have chosen would not be able to take part, also you must be registered as visually impaired to play. However the YSP could have its own mini league for both children, and could use the bell ball I suggested earlier, as to be fair the teams would have to have an even amount of partially sighted and able sighted children.

The football league idea also gave me an idea to hold a sports day for the children with such games as the three legged race where the visually impaired child would be guided by the able sighted child, or the egg and spoon race but using larger items instead of a small egg and spoon.

Finally I found this website www.babyshopmagazine.com which has great ideas for what sort of toys you can find for your visually impaired children such as toys that emit light, toys that make sound, and toys that are textured.

My initial ideas for products are:

the ball that was mentioned prior,

a customisable lamp, white plastic box shade that can be drawn on to create contrast,

high contrast paint palette, I got this idea from the link that Katie posted to www.lowvisionart.org as mentioned in this article is the fact that low visibility artists need contrasting palettes and most art shops only sell plain white palettes. Also the bright colours would appear to able sighted children due to their fun appearance.

Danielle

Product and event research/ideas

2010-02-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

http://tiny.cc/4DCCi

http://tiny.cc/Dj6f1

Above are two products I found that are currently marketed towards blind children. The second is more relevant to the art theme and could be a really good, cheap idea as a product that both the visually impaired child and the able sighted child could use. As they are a product readily available it would only be a case of designing packaging for them which could possibly be YSP branded.  

Something that I really like the idea of is adding a scent to art materials such as paints, markers, clay and pens. Using the scents the visually impaired child would be able to distinguish colours for the able sighted child it would add a further element of fun to the product.

Another possible idea is to have a pre-made or a DIY, customizable sky lantern. It would be a relatively inexpensive product that both a visually impaired child and able sighted child could get involved in doing together. This could then be released under adult supervision. This is what i mean: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/photogalleries/worldpictures-6/images/primary/090420-05-paper-lanternsbig.jpg

I also read something that didn't dismiss what sight is left in a visually impaired person. It talked about colouring things with really bright colours that have a high contrast as this can often still engage someone who is visually impaired. It also talked about them being able to engage with light so this could possibly be an element that is incorporated into the products.

 Couple of final ideas, one is to have wooden letters that also have the Braille on them so they know what letters are which. With these the able sighted child could just ignore the Braille and play as normal and the visually impaired child would have a better idea of which letters are which.

Lastly, this could be a product or an idea to use on the sketchbook, we could mix fine and course sand with paints. This would give a good texture when dried and also could help differentiate colours when dried. This could be sold pre mixed or as a pack containing different objects to add to paint achieving different textures. 

With regards to events/art classes I found a little bit of text on a site that explains using newspapers and glossy magazines, as they are so different in touch. It is a very simple idea that can make use of used/recycled products making the activity a cheap one to run.  

Link here: http://www.brighthub.com/education/early-childhood/articles/35204.aspx 

With the idea of camping that was brought up i though that if were to go ahead and use this then incorporating interesting lighting or objects like balls that light up may be interesting for the visually impaired child, especially in the dark. On top of that the sky lantern products could be customized and released on mass which I think would be something really exciting for all the children.

Liam

Research for Concept Products

2010-02-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

As a group, we came to an agreement that we would all think of five concept product designs, either from inspiration from the visit to the park, or development from existing products that would be suitable for our target market. All the group ideas will then be collated together, and five final product concepts chosen.

My first idea came from the current sculptures at the park; as one limitation for blind and visually impaired people and children is that they cannot touch such big sculptures, and therefore not appreciate the size of them. My idea is to create scale models that are made from the same material as the original sculpture or something similar. This would then allow the blind children to have a relationship with the sculpture, and this may prove more emotional as every contour can be felt. This will also be appealing to the able sighted children, as they can have their own miniature version of the sculpture, and possibly have it as a keep sake.

My second idea originated from the modern mood cube; which change colour, and provide a soothing atmosphere or a night light for children. Having read and know of how visually impaired and blind children use sensory rooms as part of retinal stimulation, this would be ideal as something to keep them occupied. I branched further by thinking that the material could be malleable, so it can be moulded with etches. This could take the form of inverted braille, or pictures drawn by the children. This would be ideal for both children, because of the visual and touch senses.

Again, going on the theme of touch and materials, I took inspiration from the sculptures and the materials they are made from. One idea came from using a material swatch, like that used for fabrics, and this would contain the materials of the sculptures so if the sculpture is untouchable, every one can learn what it's texture is. This may prove difficult as it may become heavy. However, I thought of a sectioned tray, like a trinket box or workshop draw. This would be about 20 cm square, and split into 5 cm squares. This would contain the material samples, with their descriptions in both writing and braille so both children and parents can tell which is which.

Taking inspiration from Amy B's research into BlindArt, I thought products could be both visually and touch appealing, with diverse contrasting materials, like the pillow above contrasting soft fabric with hard metals. And within the product would have a hidden message, this would be an object like the heart, or a message in braille, or representations of the sculptures. The colours could be of a psychedelic nature, so they require another take on the on the picture that is imprinted on to the product, however this would only appeal to the able sighted child. Material textures would need to be widely researched for this product so they are suitable.

Sources from top

'Amazing Barking Spider', (2009), 'Molecule Man 1+1+1' (online) http://www.amazingbarkingspider.com/sculpturepagepics/parks/pictures/Yorkshire%20Sculpture%20Park/jonathan%20borofsky%20molecule%20man%201+1+1%201.JPG

Accessed 2nd Feb 2010

'Led Light Bars', (2009), '52mm LED Mood Light Cube' (Online) http://www.ledlightbars.org/52mm-led-mood-light-cube.html
Accessed 2nd Feb 2010

'Glover Bros' (2009), 'Fabric, leather and vinyl' (Online) http://www.gloverbros.co.uk/Fabric%20leather%20vinyl/01_fabric.html
Accessed pn 2nd Feb 2010

'The Little Workshop' (2009), 'Sliding Drawer' (Online)
http://little-workshop.com/Special.htm
Accessed on 2nd Feb 2010

'BlindArt' (2006), 'Outrageous:Love Locked, by Lynn Cox.' (Online) http://www.blindart.net/gallery/2006/gallery/6
Accessed on 2nd Feb 2010.

Amy W

Research for Blind artists/products and events

2010-02-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

I decided to research into artists who are visually impaired, but are successful in the world of art. Also places that welcome people who are visually impaired and take measures in helping them to have an experience as good as those who aren’t visually impaired.

I have also researched into events that people with or without visual impairments can take part in. Also artwork that visually impaired people can interact with.

Firstly I came across a Turkish artist called Esref armagan, who was born blind. He paints using his fingers and blow dry’s the canvas between colours to avoid smears. He made a painting of the Volvo S60 before anyone else outside Volvo Cars had seen it

He rubbed his hands along the vehicles exterior, rendered sketches and then painted.

He quotes “Feeling around with my fingers completely erased my blindness, it’s as if I can see like everyone else”.

www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/automobiles/13BLIND.html

www.armagan.com

Another artist I came across was ‘Barrie Goodfellow’ he is a registered blind and deaf artist. He was born with bilateral glaucoma, retinitis, pigmetosa, acute myopia and hearing defect.

+ He does talks at blind clubs and schools

+ He has a paint guide

+ Examples of his art work

www.lowvisionart.org

The Next artist I came across is Jan niedojadlo. He creates large sculptures, which challenges us to use the senses beyond our sight.

“The Sculpture of Jan Niedojadlo Challenges the assumed and traditional notion of artistic engagement. In his large-scale pieces, Niedojadlo invites us to use a range of senses beyond our sight alone. The works are constructed from a variety of recycled materials, including foam, rubber and carpet and incorporate subtle effects of lighting, sound and smell. These gigantic sculptures are often, though not exclusively, inspired by natural and biological forms. Uniquely, visitors are encouraged to enter the sculptures, to fully immerse themselves within these distinct 'other worlds' and experience the sights, sounds and smells within. Niedojadlo describes his work as 'art to viewed on your back - and not just with eyes and brain - but experienced with your whole body”.

- http://www.podules.org/index.html

I thought the idea of this artist work would be a great idea for a workshop for people with visual impairments, get them involved and experience sounds, smells and textures.

The last artist I came across was a lady named SallyB – Tactile colour. “She creates touchable fabric interpretations of master works, bringing the 2D art world directly to the hands of the viewer”

Her project began as a way to bring artwork to the blind/those with low vision. Art making process named ‘B-Code’

The B-Code assigns 8 colours, 3 primary colours, 3 secondary colours, white and brown. The images that are sewn in the B-Code are assembled like a quilt where textured fabrics are sewn over battling and anchoring the cloth. The density of batting varies based on the darkness and lightness of the colour presented.

Sally hopes the B Code will help to bring works of art to the visually impaired.

I thought this could be a good idea for a workshop for kids at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park to get involved in, it sounds fun and enjoyable!

http://uas.osu.edu/exhibition/tactilecolor

Another aspect I chose to research was places where visually impaired people can go and experience art without being discriminated by gallery staff. Many galleries don’t let people go too near paintings and you are definitely not able to touch paintings. So I thought I would look and see whether there are any places that take any measures in helping the visually impaired gain a better experience when visiting galleries.

I came across 3 places:

+ Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York City (Not exactly ideal for British residents.)

This museum provides Braille labels, large print booklets, verbal imaging tours and a collection of objects that can be touched.

http://www.metmuseum.org/

+ Museum of Modern Art – Also New York

This museum provides large print Braille, descriptive booklets and a touch tour of selected artworks.

http://www.moma.org/visit/index

+ The Art House – Wakefield (18minutes/7miles away from The Yorkshire Sculpture Park)

This venue offers workshops and courses for the visually impaired as well as those without.

6-week course where you learn a range of drawing processes, colour, pattern, texture, scale and style.

They believe “Art is for everyone, not just for people who can see”

http://www.the-arthouse.org.uk/view.aspx?id=3

Thinking of event ideas I came across this website:

www.seeingbeyondsight.org

They hold an event called ‘Seeing beyond sight photography challenge’. They ask you to pair with a friend and take turns with a blindfold and camera and try to complete as many tasks as possible.

I thought this may be a good event idea, because if we are targeting the visually impaired and an able child then the able child could be blindfolded and given tasks to get a feel of what life is like being visually impaired.

Other events could be verbal descriptions of paintings and maybe a workshop where there are Braille interpretations of paintings.

I have also researched into possible products we could make that would benefit the visually impaired, or products that were already available but not really adapted to suit people with visually impairments.

Some products I came across were on this website:

www.braillebookstore.com

They have products such as;

- * Braille calendar (we could maybe adapt this and have photography of The Yorkshire Sculpture Park within with Braille interpretations of the scene.)

- * Wristbands (The Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Braille)

- * Braille chocolate mould (We could maybe design a scene from The Yorkshire Sculpture Park out of tactile patterns)

- * Bracelets with a shaped Braille charm

- * Braille magnet (Again with an image made out of tactile patterns of The Yorkshire Sculpture Park)

- * Braille bookmark

- * Braille t-shirts (T-shirt saying The Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Braille for example)

- * Tactile board games

- * Braille board books

- * Braille card games

- * Postcards from The Yorkshire Sculpture Park with Braille incorporated

- * Paint pens that create lines that you can see and feel

- * Braille greetings cards

Katie

Research for products and ideas for our Target Market: Art for the Blind

2010-01-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

I started the process of researching for our Target Market to gain knowledge, inspiration and ideas for products, events and designs for the sketchbook. We discovered this site called BlindArt; http://www.blindart.net/ and so i thought that would be the perfect place to start.

BlindArt;

Celebrating art for and by the visually impaired
and challenging perceptions of artistic vision.

BlindArt is a charitable site/Organisation which brings art to those who are visually impaired by holding workshops, events, exhibitions etc. BlindArt have a permanent collection exhibition at the Royal Collage of Art, Hereford, by artists who are visually impaired themselves and artists who direct their art to the visually impaired. A lot of this work is donated by the artists. BlindArt also work at schools with children and aim to bring together both sighted and visually impaired children and for them to enjoy art equally and learn each others responses to art work.

4Sense and Sense2sense education projects paired together visually impaired children and sighted children to produce artwork that was both visually striking but also a textual journey so everybody could take something from the artwork. This I thought is great idea in relation to the idea of our event, pairing siblings so they can create a piece of artwork together at a workshop with artists/artist who are visually impaired themselves or specialise in blind art.

http://www.blindart.net/events/31-sense

http://www.blindart.net/events/32-4sense

I explored the artwork on the site and some particular pieces gave me some ideas for the project.

'Musical Hirst' by Alexandra Concil-Lacoste

This gave me the idea of making small circular wind-up boxes as one of our products as this would appeal to both to able children and especially visually impaired children. I also got some ideas for making different textures for either the sketchbook or products. Could make sculptures out of found media like in the YSP, twigs and branches like this piece:

'Growth Patterns' Susan Ward

Repeat textured designs like these pieces;

'Harlequin 2' by Janet Payne

'Purple Haze' by Kuldeep Malhi

I thought a really good idea would be to use paper mache either at the workshop event or on the sketchbook design/products, children normally have used this media at school or at least I did; like this piece;

'Atlantic Sunset' by Catherine Fenton

Can make really rough textures with acrylic and oil paints like in this piece;

'Bronze Age' by Michael Cahillane

Paper made sculptures, scrunched up and shredded like in this piece;

'Pompom' by Zara Hamid

I found this interesting article by Kathleen Lang;

http://www.artagogo.com/commentary/artforblind/artforblind.htm

 ‘You can never replace the lack of vision, but you can try to enable participation as much as possible. If you and I visit a botanical garden we will not experience it in the same way. I will be influenced by what I touch, smell and hear. My inner image will be different from your’s. But noone can say that my experience will be so small that it doesn’t matter.’ 

Tiina Nummi-Södergren, Head of the Swedish Association of visually impaired;

http://www.standards-schmandards.com/2006/accessible-art/

Amy B.

Choosing a Niche Market

2010-01-29T03:33:00.000-08:00

Now all members of the group have visited and posted their views about the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and generated ideas for possible markets, we have met and discussed extensively about each.

Because the brief specifies we have a concept presentation on our next Conceptual Studies lecture, we agreed on a list of points that must be completed by then.

To have identified a niche target market for the project
Have concept ideas for a minimum of five products that will be for sale in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park Shop.
Have generated the ideas of what event will accompany the brief and the target niche market
Possibly have identified an artist/designer influence for the sketchbook design

We all had similar ideas of markets we could target, we started with the main market, and as the discussion became more in-depth, with idea generation ‘bouncing’ off of one another’s ideas, we made the original market niche. Each target market idea is set out in the following structured format.

Potential Target Market Idea # - (Identified Market)

How the park would appeal to them; identifying any current issues that may be stopping of restricting their visit, and suggest what procedures could be put in place to persuade them to take part in the Park's Friend Scheme.Or identify aspects of the park that could be improved so they would appeal to the market, and they would like to join the Friend Scheme.
Start to identify niche markets from the main idea; these ideas are argued to make sense of which niche market would best suit the brief and ideas already generated.
Ideas for the products that would be produced to appeal to the niche market, and a concept idea of an event for those who join the Friend Scheme. These may also include ideas for the sketchbook.

Potential Target Market Idea One - Dog Walkers

A common observation was that the current route that allows dogs in the park is very limited, and doesn’t give a good representation of the collective sculptures in the park, and also those that on limited viewing and pieces by renowned artists. Propose a better dog friendly route, or provide more routes that are in varying distances and feature different parts of the park that include the popular and limited exhibit sculptures in the Park. On observation of the visitor centre, they provide water bowls outside; however it was discussed that they wouldn’t let their dog drink out of the bowls in fear of cleanliness. Also, if a visitor was alone on their visit to the park, and wanted to visit the shop or restaurant upstairs, there is nowhere to leave their dog so they can go inside; their only option is to leave them in the car, and this can prove dangerous. (Overheating cars causing dogs to die, and some pine after owners, causing noise.) Another observation came from an overheard conversation from other visitors at the park when Katie and Amy B visited. ‘…at least they’re on leads’ and ‘...they shouldn’t be allowed here at all!’ This poses a question on how the general public see the access of dogs in the park; this may also have been a benefactor when the dog route was constructed; so the dogs didn’t deter other visitors.
Target members of the Kennel Club/those who leave dogs in kennels when on holiday/rescue centres. As theses sources are always in constant contact with the members/users, and advertisement could be in the form of an advert in a weekly/monthly newsletter. Possibly target artistic dog owners who are interested in sculptures but deterred because of limited dog access, or the Friend Scheme could have an event which let their dogs produce artwork? Those who own rescue dogs, or possibly even define a specific or exotic breeds (i.e. Springer Spaniels as they are used a lot in rural areas as gun dogs, or Malamutes that aren't usually seen in a rural landscape in Yorkshire.) Or possibly target dog owners in a specific location. A problem with this is that the park maybe limited to the routes possible in terms of the sculptures, as the park have to protect them; even though owners are asked to keep dogs on leads, from other observation some weren't, but were well behaved. If other routes were produced would this be encouraging to dog walkers? Or do they just use the park as a place to walk their dog?
Event/Friend Scheme Privilege Ideas - Art made by the dogs in different forms and materials, similar to to the methods used by dolphins, otters and elephants. a tour of the park with their dogs, but only available on the Scheme. This could also stem to allowing Friendship Scheme members access to all areas in the park,(but not in the buildings, but maybe provide somewhere to leave dogs for all owners.) However, this poses a question, would owners actually pay the fee to do so? And constant monitoring of those on the Friend Scheme are those who are walking their dogs in all areas? Normal visitors may start to do so if they do not know about the Scheme. Product Ideas - Based on the current trend of dog clothing, an owner and dog clothing range could be produced; coming from Liam's idea of matching ponchos; this would be appealing because of its comic value, and for those owners who want to be clothing coordinated with their dog. Idea stemming from the dog artwork produced at the event, it could be photographed or easily replicated and sold as gifts? Other ideas include themed dog accessories, and would only be available at the Park.

Group Consensus Decision - This idea is very limited as to how dogs can be integrated, its more about the dog than the owner, the dogs do not look at the sculptures! The park also have a loyalty to general public in terms of safety, that's if dogs were allowed in all parts of the park. Idea declined.

NOTE: As this process was time consuming, we decided to cover the major aspects and argue each so it was less time consuming; then with which ever niche market is chosen, we will begin to discuss and research further.

Potential Target Market Idea Two - Cancer Sufferers

The park provides a safe, relaxing and enjoyable day out for cancer sufferers because of the tranquil setting and the leisurely walking route; the park provides time away from hospital/hospice, in which they can enjoy with friends and family. Those who do not have their cancer terminal or are easily treated, but still exhausted by the treatment, they can become a friend of the park and have fund raising days for their cancer charity? On my visit (Amy W), I came across the chapel that belonged to the Wentworth Family, in which I found graves of other people, and those who loved the park and wanted that to be their final resting place; if on the Friend Scheme they came to love the park, through regular visits, they too may want to be laid to rest in the chapel grounds. This would also provide the family and friends of the sufferer a place to remember the good times that were had at visits to the park.
A definition of age, type of cancer and whether the cancer terminal or not, are aspects to discuss. Cancer charities that focus on child suffers are widely publicized for their scheme where the children go on day trips to places for a break from treatment; so we would target adults, for those who are interested in the park. Activities/workshops could be organized so that the friends would produce artwork or other products could be kept for personal memory or auctioned off for charity? In terms of if we target terminal or non-terminal sufferers, we could appeal to both so there is a constant stream of Friend Scheme applications, because people are diagnosed with cancer on a daily basis.
Event and Product Ideas - Monthly/Annual Events could raise money for adult cancer charities; maybe sponsored walks around the park, art auction, or other forms of fund raising that would relate to both the park and the sufferers. Memorial trees/sculptures or sponsored benches could be part of the Friendship Scheme for an added cost if the relative dies. Products could include photo albums and other memory triggering items that the sufferer and relatives could buy, so they can remember the times they had at the park. And those whose relative died from cancer can look back on when they had happy times away from pain.

Group Consensus Decision - This idea is very wide and hard to define in terms of adult cancer sufferers, and there are already schemes existing that provide privileges and products like the ones discussed. Idea declined.

Potential Target Market Idea Three - Parents with Young Children

The park can prove to be a very cheap day out, spending a minimum of £4 for car parking, and there are picnic facilities that are ideal for families. This is in comparison to other family orientated attractions in the Yorkshire area, where a family ticket can cost on average between £30 - £40. The children will be able to have an innocent relationship with the sculptures, and play amongst them, whilst parents/guardians can relax in the calming atmosphere. The walking distance and terrain may be difficult for parents, as the children may get tired, and the park that is situated across the lake is not buggy friendly. As in term time families will only visit at weekends, would they be willing to pay the Friendship Scheme fee?
As children are at school and parents are working during the week, the weekend would have to be most appealing; we could target single/widowed parents/guardians/relatives with children; however the joining fee maybe too much money and not effective if they do not visit enough during that year. So an idea of a weekend children's club would be ideal, and the membership fee would still be effective, (so targeting all varieties of families would be possible). The club would be art and craft based, maybe working with artists and sculptors to create work they can take home with them. The sketchbook could be a design portfolio for generating ideas whilst at the workshops, and they could design their own front cover based on their personal liking of art or inspiration from the artist/sculptor. The club could provide respite for parents, they could visit the park without having to worry about the children and have time to themselves. Or it could just be to give children something to do on a weekend so they are not on computer games/consoles or bored?
Event and Product Ideas - For the club, the funding for it would either be from a higher fee for the friendship scheme or other funding, for example through Lottery Hertiage. But otherwise, the workshops could be similar to those the park already holds for school visits. One idea I thought of was inspired by the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, in which one Halloween they advertised that children could sleep in the museum for a medieval themed Halloween party. In terms of the club for the kids, this could happen on an annual basis, and be the highlight of the year, the event everyone looks forward to. (This may require parental supervision, due to the age of some of the children and health and safety). The children would camp out in the park, among the sculptures, and they would have another experience of the park at night. A place they could camp would be in the Skyspace, then they can feel the real benefit of what the sculpture is for. Products for sale could include activity packs for children who aren't on the friendship scheme, and this may encourage them to join. Prints of the children's artwork that may sell, and again influence others to join. Novelty products, other than the branded ones now, i.e. Yorkshire Sculpture Park pens, pencils etc. Again, the sketchbook could be used in the club as a design source for the children.

Group Consensus Decision - We all agreed that this idea was a plausible one, and are interested in the cap out idea. It is lacking some aspects that would be key to the live brief. Idea plausible.

Potential Target Market Idea Four - Blind Children

As the Sculpture Park relies mainly on sight of the sculptures to have a relationship and emotion, we want children to be able to use touch and sound to achieve the same thing. The main problem is that many of the sculptures are so big that blind children would only be able to appreciate small areas of them. We also propose that visually impaired children are included, then they can share their experience, emotion and relationships with the sculptures together. The park already has a route that includes sensory aspects, such as sculptures and flowers, but we want to make it more personal to the individual, as not many families with visually impaired children would consider the park with out reading the website, http://ysp.co.uk/view.aspx?id=9. We also want to use the natural elements to stimulate sensory action, like electronic sensory rooms, through maybe commissioning an artists to incorporate light and sound. The blind children will be limited to being guided around some aspects of the park because of the terrain in which the park is situated.
In terms of a niche market, we could like to market families which have at least one visually impaired child and one able sighted child. We want to encourage a bonding process, so they can inform one another of what the other is experiencing. Maybe provide a plaque by the side of each sculpture that tells the children what to do, and how the exercise would work.
Event and Product Ideas - An idea for an event would be to hold a workshop in which the children would produce work inspired with their experience of the park. And possibly have the current and permanent sculpture sculptors and artists there to help them have a full understanding of what their sculpture was about, and help guide them to make a piece of work, in what ever form, to be one that enhances a relationship. Products would be focused on both visual and sensory aspects, so they appeal to both able and impaired sighted children. Research into blind art took place in the discussion, Liam found BlindArt, a site that publicizes art that is appealing to our target market,http://www.blindart.net/. These will probably take the form of hand sized objects that contain a few textures and colours, with having no right or wrong representation of what they are.

Group Consensus Decision - We like this idea very much, along with the idea for the children's club with the target market with families with children who need a weekend activity. So we came to the decision to mix the two; as this will prove to be both a challenging and interesting niche market to target.

Chosen Niche Target Market - Families who have at least one visually impaired/blind child and one able sighted child (this excludes those who wear glasses), from the Yorkshire Area. Who are looking for a weekend activity club for both children, in which they can bond and create art inspired by the sculptures at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

We aim to:-

Provide bonding exercises for the children.
Keep the camping idea, as this will be a big advantage, and provide appeal to the Friendship Scheme for the children. This could be advertised in hospitals and through charities for blind children, and want to include able sighted siblings. (An age limit on the camp out was agreed from the ages of 7-12 years, however some older children maybe interested.)
To organize an event which will publicize and celebrate the club, and encourage others to join the Friendship Scheme and have other children joining the club.
To encourage the visually impaired/blind child and able sighted child to work together to produce artwork inspired by the sculptures.

Now we have established a niche target market, as a team we are going to individually research the aspects of the market, and bring together our ideas ready for a concept presentation on Tuesday 2nd February 2010, with the criteria we agreed at the top of this blog post. Each member of the team will propose ideas for the market, and post their research.

Amy W

YSP Visit Three: Part Two - Sunday 23rd January 2010

2010-01-26T14:52:00.000-08:00

Me and Katie went to the YSP on Sunday 23rd January. I've been to the sculpture park before with school a couple of years ago and had few but good memories of that visit, so I was interested to see how much I remembered and how much it had changed. My memory was triggered straight away when me and Katie along with the dog approached the Main building/gallery which looked exactly the same, I love the building with its modern design and the approaching grid walkway. It somehow sets off the surrounding views of the rest of the park which you can sit and view inside and outside the gallery, when me and Katie sat down for lunch outside you notice how quiet, tranquil and peaceful the park is. This would appeal to many people who are looking to get away from normal life and routine or to get away from something bad like an illness or a impairment and to have a different experience which the YSP can provide.

It was very difficult to explore the gallery and the shop when dogs were not allowed inside and so we had to take it in turns to go into the gallery which meant we couldn't take a long time as one person was left outside with the dog. This wasn't the only limitation for dog walkers, dogs were also not allowed off their leads anywhere in the park which I thought defeated the point of a dog walk as I have dogs myself and at some point they love abit of freedom to run around off the lead. I heard a older woman say 'at least they have to keep em on leads' referring to the sign at the entrance so I suppose I can see why the YSP has the rule because they don't want to alienate certain people who want to visit the park who don't like dogs. When I looked at the map I discovered dogs were also not allowed in the gardens at the top end of the YSP and there was a very short and limited dog route which actually goes around the gardens itself. However I did see quite alot of people taking their dogs for a walk, but I didn't see these people exploring all the areas and the exhibition in the gallery or the sculptures as it makes it impossible to do so with a dog.

As we entered the park it soon became apparent that suitable footwear was needed to be able to explore the sculpture park to its full potential, it was extremely muddy underfoot. Katie's unsuitable footwear meant she couldn't carry on and so I tried to explore as many area's as possible on my own. As I explored some of the different areas of the sculpture park I saw many people of different types and ages. I saw many families with young children, quite alot of adult couples, one couple looked like they were on a date as they walked out of the gallery. As I was looking at the Henry Moore sculptures I even saw a band of young children with two males having a picnic on one of the massive logs in the park enjoying the views and also what looked like mother and daughter having a good chat on a bench that went around a tree trunk.

Another thing I discovered was many of the sculptures were textured and provided a different experience when touched so this would be a great opportunity for visually impaired people to have an experience with the YSP too. To add to that point, I also found the surroundings and areas a sensory experience. For example, when I crossed over the bridge where the lake and river was and up into the wooded area I could hear the sounds of rushing water, the smell of wet wood, birds tweeting in the trees and twigs snapping underfoot.

Overall the YSP provides a totally unique experience to the individual and I found it different to the first time I went but not in a bad way, it felt like I was discovering old memories but making new ones too as the park had changed abit since I had last been. I can see how it has the potential to appeal to many markets, be very rewarding for certain people and for any person who visits it to take something from it.

Amy B.

YSP Visit Three - Sunday 23rd January 2010

2010-01-26T14:43:00.000-08:00

Amy B and I chose to visit The Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Sunday 23^rd January. We were the last people out of our group to visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

We decided to go on the Sunday as we thought it would give us a different perspective of the range of people that go there, as people work during the week and also on a Saturday, so therefore Sunday may be a day where all the family may decide to go.

I also chose to take my dog with me, to try and get some kind of idea of the experience dog owners may encounter.

As it turned out, Amy B and I encountered 2 completely different experiences, because unknown to me, the ground was very muddy and I decided to wear the most inappropriate footwear – open shoes. This made it very difficult to walk very far as I was sliding and slipping everywhere. However, Amy B was more equipped than me and wore boots! So my experience around the park lasted about 10 minutes.

I waited near the main building whilst Amy B took some photos of many different sculptures, whilst waiting I began to think about the pros and cons of bringing my dog with me.

The very place where I was sat was obviously a place where people can sit and eat their lunch with their dogs present, as there were about 2 tables were people were sat with their dog. The only other place where you would be able to have your lunch with your dog present would be the picnic tables around the park. These areas are all good and well if you are happy sitting outside. The picnic tables would be ok – when its good weather and the area outside the main building would be good when it’s raining as it has a shelter.

One thing I didn’t like about having to stay outside (whilst Amy B was taking pictures around the park) was the fact that my dog and I were so cold. Another downside would be that there was nowhere that I could take my dog off his lead, to let him exercise. Lastly, the biggest downfall of taking my dog with me was that I couldn’t experience inside the gallery (as only guide dogs were allowed and also Amy B and I couldn’t go in together. The only way we could go inside was if we went in separately, but I didn’t want to be too long, as it was really cold outside.

If a dog walker were to come on their own, they would be restricted as to where they can walk, where they can go and where they can eat. If they wanted to experience the galleries, shop and restaurant then they would either have to leave their dog tied up outside, or leave it in the car, which personally I wouldn’t like to do.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park did however provide water bowls for your dog and a designated walking area around the park. This helped me realise that I don’t think dog owners would be a successful niche target market to choose.

As I was sat outside with my dog, I was taking in the scenery and atmosphere. There were quite a lot of families around, parents and children, families of 3 generations, groups of people who had met at the park and were going around in groups, keen walkers and many people walking their dogs.

It started me thinking about another possible target market – Teenage cancer sufferers and their relatives. I thought a trip to The Yorkshire Sculpture Park would be good for that particular market because it was so peaceful and tranquil which would be relaxing for them. It could also be a place where their relatives would like to go one day, to remember the happy memories. The products I thought would relate to that certain target market would be photo frames, scrapbook, photo album or bandannas etc. Fundraising events could also be arranged to raise money for a charity for the type of cancer they were suffering from, or to run an event in memory of a loved one.

Even though my visit to The Yorkshire Sculpture Park didn’t last very long, I’d like to think I got quite a lot out of it. I aim to go again before the week is out (without my dog), so I am able to experience all the different sculptures around the park and also the galleries and exhibitions I didn’t get to see.

Katie

YSP Visit Two - Friday 22nd January 2010

2010-01-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

Myself and Danielle went on the second visit to the park, again on a term time weekday, however we went on a Friday and stayed until almost closing time which we thought would give new visitors time to show up who usually work during the week but finnish around midday on a Friday. This visit to the park was the first time for both myself and Danielle which meant that we did not know what to expect when we saw the park, and we were both pleasantly surprised by the modern building you are first greeted with. Before entering the main entrance we noticed this sign:

Before visiting the park we thought this would be a great place for dog walkers to come either alone or with their families for a day out, however we quickly realised that this was not exactly the case as their were restricted routes for dog walkers which didn't allow you through the indoor sections or near the gardens either. Therefore if you had come alone then you would not be able to visit the exhibitions, cafe or shop at all, unless you wanted to leave your dog tied up on its own in the carpark that is. However the sign states that there is over 350 acres of land that your dog can access when on a lead, and we also noticed water bowls laid out down the side of the main building, so if sculptures are not really your thing then this could be a great place to walk your dog.

As we had never visited the park we had no route planned out for the day so we ended up taking a similar route to Amy, starting with the shop, then to the Rob Ryan exhibition, and then to the Peter Randall-Page exhibition. The shop was quite different than expected, we were expecting more generic items for a souvenir style gift shop such as keyrings, pens, postcards etc or that other gifts would be aimed at sculptures rather than general art. These sort of souvenir gifts were available but the shop also sold items such as furniture, children's toys, artists books such as 'Pens are my friends' by Jon Burgerman, jewellery and plushies. The majority of the gifts were quite pricey such as a bar of chocolate for £3.25, which gives the impression that people who shop there have quite a lot of money to spend.

As mentioned we then went on to visit the Rob Ryan exhibition in the upper space which was smaller than expected and also not the sort of exhibition that we expected to see at a sculpture park. We both found this exhibition very inspiring, and liked the way that Rob Ryan works with his paper cuts. We agree with what Amy thought about this exhibition and who it would attract, however we also think that it would attract a younger audience too as we know quite a few students around a similar age range to us who are fascinated with his work. The fact that the price list was available connoted that his work was for sale and again emphasised the fact that the current visitors of the park are quite wealthy with one of his pieces of work costing £8000.

Next we went to the Peter Randall-Page exhibit, unfortunately his work exhibited indoors could not be touched or photographed. We both found this work very fascinating, especially the shear sizes of the sculptures. There was also a section of the exhibit where his sketches were kept, which we felt helped to add a more personal level to the sculptures as these show what Randall-Page wanted to achieve. There was plenty of staff around this exhibition who were willing to talk to you and explain more about the sculptures which seemed very popular with the older visitors.

Finally we took a tour around the park to see the outdoor sculptures which could be both touched and photographed. We feel that this section of the park could appeal to a lot of different people as the sculptures were all created in different styles so there was something for everyone. We did notice that the majority of the sculptures were very textured which could be very pleasant to someone who is visually impaired and relies on their touch and sound senses.

Overall we feel that the park has potential to attract any group of people with the correct marketing and advertising. However the majority of people who were there (which wasn't many due to the downpours that occurred most of the day) were 50+ art enthusiasts, a few dog walkers and a group of Japanese tourists.

Liam

YSP Visit One - Thursday 21st January 2010

2010-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

As a group, we came to an agreement that we would all visit the sculpture park on different days. This enables us to gain a wider perspective of the park in terms of current visitors and our personal representation of that particular day. As I visited on a term time weekday, I predicted that the park wouldn't be busy, due to parents working and children at school, this hypothesis rung true.

First impressions of the park were a lot different from those I had from when I last visited with school back in 2003. The park has obviously been renovated with a modern style, and this is first made obvious by the visitor centre that is situated by the car park.

The modern structure and the steel walkway containing the names of people would appeal to a wide range of markets, as in the current design movement, modern contemporary designs are sort after. This is a very different view from seven years ago, when the park seemed to have a traditional feel, that appealed to older art enthusiasts.

As a first impression, I am very impressed on the improvements that park has undergone.

I made no plan on where to visit first, as I wanted to behave like a natural tourist. This meant I visited the exhibition of Rob Ryan's work. Having no real previous knowledge of his work, his exhibited work is extremely impressive; and this was made obvious with his work presentations in the entrance of the visitor centre and his first even vinyl window design, as seen below.

Observations and my personal relationship with his work gave me the following ideas;

His work appeals to traditional art enthusiasts, with his use of hand crafted techniques and relation to textiles, as seen in the red canvas piece above.
The work gives an impression of the 'Hippy' era of the 1960's, which many people who experienced that era may still be interested in. This impression also comes from his use of typography in the pieces; by the way he expresses free love and emotion. Or his work maybe appealing because of its simplicity, easy viewing and understanding.
On observation of a price list of the pieces for sale gave an obvious inclination that people would visit the park because his work was for sale, and those who really idolize his work would be willing to pay up to £8000, which is the price of the black hand crafted piece, that is the second photograph above.

My second exhibition viewing within the visitor building was that of renowned sculptor Peter Randall-Page. Having researched his work during GCSE, I am genuinely interested in his work, in relation to his influence of organic forms. His work, in my opinion would appeal to large scale, and some small scale sculptors, because of his use of a range of building materials and techniques. With Randall-Page's work on exhibition, his pieces from exhibits in the past were not allowed to be photographed, but they are breath taking, and his passion and enthusiasm for his practice is truly inspiring. All of his pieces are of a large scale, and require you to really engage in the piece, and make you think on how these pieces were even made, as some have the height of a large Victorian room. However, the dynamics how he figured out to make these sculptures is revealed in the last room of the indoor exhibit...

During the viewing of the last room of Randall-Page's exhibit, which contained the Marquette's and sketchbooks he produces for each commission, that proved very useful, and shows his careful development, and mathematical skills in how he erects such large sculptures, the staff attendant in the room was talking about the project. He talked about how the students were visiting off their own back for research into the project, and after some students explained the brief to him, he agreed that the park's friendship scheme definitely needed revising! However, he criticized the fact that University of Huddersfield students were conducting the project, and not the students from the local Wakefield College, that have a foundation graphic design degree course. None of the staff were informed of the liaised live brief with the park, and it took student intervention to explain their visit.

As an overview of Randall-Page's exhibit, including the pieces that were situated outside and open for photography, they are very visually appealing, especially because of his use of hand carving, and use of range of materials, which can be seen in the photographs above. In relation to a target audience, I think it would appeal to a wide market, because of the organic form and the textures of the materials, that children and partially sighted people would find appealing.

After viewing Ryan and Randall-Page's exhibits, I began the route around the park. In observation of all of the sculptures;

Use of a variety of metals, wood and stone in the outdoor sculptures, with forms ranging from traditional hand sculpted, to modern/contemporary design that are clean cut. All of the sculptures can be related back to the artist according to their influence and practice, as well as the era they were made in.

NOTE: The day of the visit was quite cold and wet due to the recent heavy snow, suitable shoes would be strongly advised because of the terrain and muddy ground.

The outdoor environment appeals more to the older generations, who enjoy country/terrain walking, or are interested in bird/wildlife watching. The park could also appeal to those who partake in the Duke of Edinburgh scheme for their orienteering task. The quiet and peaceful environment could appeal to couples for a 'romantic walk', or just a day to themselves for time away from children.
One aspect of the park other students and myself have noticed that may affect the experience of visitors of the park; is the attitude some of the staff have, as some people found them to be slightly snobbish and sometimes rude.

So far in the visit, I have come across the following visitors, the very few that were there all day!

Artist/Illustrator
Older members of the public, who like or are involved in the art and design industry, or have an interest. Or those who wish to have a scenic walk
Countryside walkers, some with dogs. This poses a possible niche target market, maybe the friends of the park could have their dogs create artwork, similar to the work that is done by otters, elephants and dolphins.
Research students, however were not suitably dressed, i.e. shoes that were not suitable to be walking round the park in. Because of the location of the park, it tends to get muddy in the majority of places and on routes to sculptures.

I also took the time to have a relationship with other artists sculptures in the park, and found them to have a calming influence, and just to stop, look and appreciate the piece, without having to worry about time. I have chosen the spotlight sculptures of the park; the first that really caught my eye was James Turrell's Deer Shelter Skyspace. (All information included in the written information that follows is from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park website www.ysp.co.uk)

Turrell's Deer Shelter Skyspace is a space within the deer shelter which is plain apart from a square hole cut from the ceiling, in which you gaze at the sky. The aim of this piece is to observe how light affects the piece at different times of the day, and to enhance your view of how the view of the sky changes through the day. I personally found this piece to be thought provoking, because of its exterior; as it is an 18th Century Grade II listed building, and the internal space is made of concrete and formed in geometric shapes.

Although this Chapel isn't a sculpture in the park, it is in keeping with the history of the landscape, and the estate it belongs to. The chapel was personal to the Wentworth family, dating back to the 18th Century, and has beautiful exterior, although at the time of the visit is was locked up, it is regularly used for exhibitions.

This particular piece has to be the strangest in the park, as I walked round the corner to keep finding more and more of these hay bale type objects. This Summer Field Sculpture series by Helen Escobedo, help create the illusion that the mesh cylindrical rolls are floating on the grass, however this also depends on the light and weather conditions. At first this piece appears very strange, however it adds colour to the rural landscape, and a lot of investigation on a personal level; in order to find out what the sculpture is about. An idea from a group member of encouraging blind children to park would allow them to investigate this piece with touch and sound. However, only the outdoor sculptures allow touch, and this may also pose a problem with the sketchbook design.

As a long enthusiast of Andy Goldsworthy's work, as discovered on my visit back in 2003, I always engage heavily with his work. With this piece being at the very top of the park, 2km away from the visitors centre, the walk and terrain was definitely worth it! This piece named 'Hanging Trees', is in a set of three on the border of the park and farm land. It consists of fallen trees being built into a dry stone wall; with individual branches being neatly built into the wall. With each of the units consisting of a 4 foot wall, and an 8 foot drop, it allowed you to really appreciate the effort and organisational skill that must have taken place for these to be made possible; and how did they build them in the first place! I love Goldsworthy's work, because of this use of the organic form and material, and traditional building techniques. This piece would appeal to modern design enthusiasts for its simplicity and use of colour.

The last sculpture I observed was Winter/Horbelt's Basket #7. Oxley Bank. This two-storey building provides shelter, rest and an amazing view of the landscape, which is enhanced because of the double steal mesh, that obscures the eye, because of the curve of the building. But it allows you to view the landscape in another light. Although, the route to this piece was far, it was well worth it once reached, however it is obvious having a target audience that is physically and visually impaired would not be possible, because of the steep terrain and the distance.

Park Evaluation

The park has a representation of traditional meets modern design, but flawlessly integrating into the rural countryside landscape. The extensive walking in the park can be limited to the visitor centre side of the lake, however, this means visitors would miss out renowned artists work. Also, there is very limited access for disabled people and those who are less able, due to the terrain. But overall, the park provides a brilliant day out, having spent 5 hours there.

Ideas for Possible Niche Markets to Target.

Artistic dog owners-by becoming a friend of the park, they can be part of a new collective that allows their dogs to create artwork. Although further research into this market is needed, and needs to be refined further.
A scheme to engage walkers in the park to get involved with the routes they take, for example a tree they could attach personal memories/feelings etc about how they feel whilst walking and the sculptures they encounter, and the relationship they have with the park. This could relate to the sketchbook, that a personal experience of a walker could be the focal point of the cover design.
With inspiration coming from Turrell's Skyspace, to have a market that appeals to children with sensory difficulties, and those who already use sensory rooms to stimulate their eyes. Instead of using electric lights, they could be stimulated by the sounds of interacting with the natural light, and commissioned sculptures that enhance light and sound, or use objects to get sounds from existing ones.

After all of the members of the group have reflected on their experience of their visit, and generated ideas, we will discuss which market we wish to target; and will refine it into a niche market that would be marketable. And also, the other attributes of the brief will also be discussed.

Amy W

Note: In terms of the friendship scheme, my personal definition of friendship is one of trust and emotion. You have an emotional attachment to something, and you can get a response or source of release from it. The relationship allows you to grow as a person.

Welcome To Our Blog :)

2010-01-25T06:34:00.000-08:00

This blog is run by five first year students from the University of Huddersfield studying on the course Communication Design, formerly Creative Imaging. The purpose of this blog is to help us gather and present research for our University live brief based on finding new friends for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Our group is made up of one advertiser; Amy Whitworth, two graphic design students; Danielle Complin and Liam Hodgeon, and also two illustration students Amy Birkhead and Katie Porter. We are hoping that our mix of disciplines will come in handy during some part of the project :)

To start our research we decided that the best place to begin would be to visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park so that we could get a good feel and knowledge for what is there and what is available to the public and friends of the park. We thought that the best way to go about this would be to split the group up and go on different days to see if different ranges of people visited on different days.

The first visit took place on Thursday the 21st of January, the second on Friday the 22nd of January and the final on Sunday the 24th of January.

The findings of our visit, and our initial ideas for new friends of the park will be posted soon so watch this space!

Bye for now,

Danielle :)