Grid System

This is the current grid system which I have devised, not sure that it is really finished

Wayfinder

A few mock-ups of the colour coded system which I've been working on for use instead of page numbers/contents page

Box icons for Matt

immigration text

The Red Squirrel

“I am a little red squirrel.  I used to like it here in England until the grey squirrels came.  Once they raided my whole acorn stash while we were hibernating.  There are not many of red ones left now.  We have a special cage where the grey squirrels can’t steal our food.  I quite like it her but it’s a shame all my friends starved and only a few of us can saty here.”          I am RED.

Eastern European immigrants 
The new additions to the British workforce - the serge of these European imports – the Poles & their mates.   For the last 6 years my part time job during holidays and weekends has been labouring for a builder.   It’s hard work but ultimately satisfying.  Being in that environment you discover whether or not those typical clichés about the building trade are true.  One of the latest talking points seems to b the insurgence of the polish fellas that make the long trip over across Europe & the channel to work for a better pay.  We use the local merchant yard to Nottingham, a firm called Key. About 2 years ago instead of being greeted by the usual shitty local dialect, it was the broken English of an eastern European.  Nice fella, always friendly and a lot more use than some of the dead head tossers that didn’t seem to give a shit. Unfortunately the productive , friendly foreigner wasn’t very popular down on the yard because the rumours of him working for a fraction of the price.  This obviously scared the wits out of the local lads because of the way I saw it was either they pull their fingers out of their arses and became useful for a change or b replaced by an enthusiastic hard working foreigner. Half the price, twice the quality of job.  The irony of it is that instead of finding motivation in the introduction of a competitive edge. They did the total opposite and stood around having a natter about it. 

Getting Out

I want to leave the UK as soon as possible. My future lies elsewhere.   I’m tired of the same old scenery, the buildings, the cars, even the people. People come for a ‘better’ life, promised riches and comfortable living conditions. Is Britain that great? I’ve lived heer all my life and dream of pastures new , am I that different to them?  New York, Barcelona, Marseille, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Los Angeles, Munich anywhere but here.  These place have what I call culture, whereas the culture where I live now is base around reality TV and microwave dinners, manufactured pop music and constantly working to make our lives better, while those who don’t work take the tax money of those who do.  Do the hard working people who come to our great Britain know this before thy come.  Will I find out that my future destinations, economy, communities and culture are just as tainted as that of my motherland?  If so will I come back with a new found respect for this country and it’s little foibles?  Will Britain ever be great in my eyes?

 

Island hopping to birds migration patterns...

Having lived abroad for a large part of my life - wanting home comforts around me - importing what we know. Is this right or should we embrace the unknown.  Or is it a natural genetic need to move about and explore.  Every single one of us are migrators, constantly moving around - whether it be leaving the house in the morning or moving to the other side of the world. Things people, places are constantly coming and going in our lives, all having an effect on us, swapping who we are as individuals. how different would life be if we all stayed where we were born and had all the same -friends/associates through life. Who would we be then? I have lived in Hong Kong - I have travelled the world and I believe the importing and exporting of family/friends/experiences and places who I am today. 

Migration, Importing/Exporting ones self is natural - so should be embraced!

Grass is greener?

Why do we have such a strong desire to leave the country, when so many other nationalities want to live in our country?   Why do we grow so restless about leaving the country? Jet off half way round the world to escape our lives for two weeks every summer.  Brits are so obsessed with escapism we forget to enjoy our own land, own traditions, luxuries, landmarks,  natural resources. 

Ever dreaming of a better life abroad - better weather, food, quality of life. 

 

INDUSTRY TEXTS

INDUSTRY

My land is bleak now we have been banned from the sea. The once great trawlers so courageous and brave now lay in a barren dockyard left to decay. This decay is apparent far and wide as the structure of my town witters inside.
Like a once intrepid fisherman who is now washed up and drunk. This town now struggle stand as it staggers into the night. The import of fish was what made this town grand now it only trades in drugs and violence as poverty and unemployment rear their ugly face.
The seas are bleak if you live on the land. Poverty is rife and the dole is as high as the fish bans have affected my land. The Icelandic trawlers have extended their boundaries forcing the once great Grimsby trawlers to an early retirement. Left to decay in a once booming dockland. This once great town has been left baron and bare due to the laws in Europe which affect the littlest thing.
The once brave and courageous fishermen in which travel the great seas are bound to the social. The ban on fish mean we now deal in cars with the once great docklands being flattened for car parks. With only the privileged drivers now skippering the docks, with its true inhabitants banished its surrounding council estates.

James Willis



INDUSTRY

Import/ Export of materials i.e. Recycling
I find the process of re-inventing/re-using something fascinating. The re-birth of a product that formerly served another purpose goes through a huge transformation. And might even take this transformation over a long time period. Including how many people are involved in this process, the techniques, where the transformation takes place. If this transformation takes place in one destination and then moves to the next. And what is the re-invention? Has this product gone from something with no importance. To a material or product which people/ consumers highly value? Does this transformation take place locally or is this ‘exported’ also? How economical is this process (recycling)? Is it worth all the trouble to reinvent something, rather than letting it be? Why doesn’t a new product take its form from a new material? In an organic form rather than from a pre born substance? Dows this new product still have the integral properties it would have. If it wasn’t produced from a recyclable source. For example, the recycling of paper. As recycled paper does not appear or feel the same as standardized, mass produced paper.

Nick Evans

Hi everyone, hope you're having a good weekend. I'm still missing some of the copy that I need to edit for Monday, so could you please post it on here asap.....

-Red Squirrel story

-Aiden's shipping containers story

-Greig's spider story

-All food stories- International foods/seasonal foods/pizza/recipe/cerial

-Ben's English Pint story

-Import of Flowers story

-Rob Green's Getting Out story

-Nick's Grass is Greener story

-Ellie's Migration story

I intend to edit these tonight so the sooner the better thankyooooou! Sarah x

The Great Little Box Company.com

Box Mock-Up

Just some quick visuals so we can think about what we like, and give our brains a rest from constant imagination!! ha ha (these are only quick roughs)

Copy

Thanks everyone for submitting the copy so quickly!xx

self-contained prospectus (ours will be better)

sex3

I learnt at work a few months ago about how it is illegal to export ‘Rampant Rabbits’ out of the country they are produced. This is to do with the countries more conventional and conservative religions and beliefs.

The funny thing is that in order to enable them to be exported out of the country, the product is given a rabbits face, so that they can be classed as children’s toys.

Adam Champion

sex 2

The essence of life.
Is like the cock exports,
The fanny imports,
The womb exports,
The world imports,
The breast exports,
The mouth imports,
The voice exports,
The mind imports,
The book exports,
The mid explores,
The man exports,
The country imports,
Knowledge exports,
The people imports
Continuous exports,
More people import.

Like exports the earth imports,
Carrots exports,
The rabbit imports,
Gun exports,
Man imports,
Energy exports,
The fanny imports,
The cock exports,
The women imports,
The womb exports,
The world imports.

Alec Doherty

Sex 1 (i hate blog)

There was once a girl named Natalia,
Her parents didn’t really like her,
Her eyes were blue and hair was fair,
And her mind often wandered in the air.

She dreamed of a place that was warm and exciting,
But had no idea it would be lonesome and frightening.

The man on the street said she was stunning and beautiful,
He promised her the world, and he’d be strong and dutiful,
But his face had secrets and something to hide,
It was amazing at first but alas it had another side,

Her new home is dark and she is shown no love,
In fact if she is bad her pimp gives her a shove,
The men are dishonest, arrogant and crude,
Sometimes they won’t even let her use lube.

I don’t know what happened to this young girls heart,
But I’m sure it is more broken than at the start.

Anna Callaghan

Culture No.4

The accepted and the shocking

"Louis Theroux’s recent documentary in South Africa was filmed at a game reserve, where in order to support the animals exsistence the farm allowed controlled hunting on the land. With a Rhino costing as much as US$100,000. Rhino, Kudu and Warthog, among many more, where sustained in the reserve in order to prevent the animals from being poached and leading to extinction, which is a serious problem in Africa with many of the big five. Theroux found the hunting of these animals a disgrace and couldn’t understand why they allowed hunters into the reserve. When the game reserve simply explained that it’s how they afford to keep the reserve running and it’s the African way.”
(Josie Dickinson)

See the Telegraph discussion at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/04/nosplit/bvtvtheroux04.xml


Consider the imports and exports of other countires or cultures, that would shock you, good and bad, something that you simply can’t comprehend but is accepted in another culture.

Culture No.3

Amalgamation of Cultures

“I became so interested in Chinese culture, through a friend of mine, that I joined the Chinese community centre in Chinatown. I was there every Saturday, traditional Chinese painting, playing badminton (Chinese people are sick at badminton for some reason).
It was just a really stimulating environment for me, like a fucking theme park tucked into the west end. Was quite a strange thing to do on reflection, don't think I was entirely welcome, but they couldn't reject me on the grounds of me not being Chinese - Daily Mail would have been all over it.
I think its an entirely natural instinct to latch onto cultures different from your own. Healthy.
People bouncing like particles reacting to each other. Chaos.
Makes you appreciate your own cultural heritage in a new light. Eventually."
(Ben Whitehouse)

Britain in now a more diverse society - ethically, racially and culturally - than ever before. Over the centuries, the contributions of people who have come to live in the UK have enriched the country. Immigration and ties with other countries have resulted in a dynamic economy with more jobs, new ideas and most importantly a richer cultural life.
How does this amalgamation of different cultures within one place work? What do different cultures adopt from our culture and vice versa?

Culture No.2

What is it to be British?

"In this multicultural society, we now have the trouble of deciphering what it is to be British. Unlike pre-world war days when society in Britain was generally made up of hierarchical class systems, the many different communities across the nation can stretch to both ends of the spectrum. It has now become a case that so many foreign ideas and values have infiltrated into areas of society that governing such a country becomes incredibly difficult if one aims to please everyone. Generally the majority vote will decipher the laws across the land, but these are not always in accordance to an individuals personal preferences or beliefs. It raises the question as to where the boundaries lie between our traditional British society and that of other countries"
(Andy Walker)

Culture No.1

Immigration and the changing culture of England

"When immigrants arrive in England should they adopt our ways, our culture? Be informed about English etiquette? Do queue, do smile, do take your hat off indoors, do hold the door open for others, do walk on the curb side of a lady, do cover your mouth when eating, do shake hands, don't eat with your mouth open, don't burp in public, don't greet a stranger with a kiss, don't put your elbows on the table, don't stare at people."
(Rosie Winfield)

Or is English etiquette out-dated, even ridiculous? Does it still exist? How is English etiquette changing, if at all? What contributes to this change? Should we be more accommodating to the change of english traditions and embracing influences from other cultures?

 

urine Pan

"Got, got, got, got, got, not got!" A familiar mantra echoed around schoolyards throughout the nation during the mid to late 70's. In this case it would be 1978 (possibly '77?) & the quest to fill this years Figurine Panini stickers annual was reaching fever pitch (some wags would scribble out the 'Fig & the 'ini').
I liked the smell when you opened a fresh packet – it probably satisfied a slight inclination towards glue addiction without all the mess of the polythene bags & the subsequent brain damage – followed by the expectant shuffle through your 5 potential new charges – although this was drastically reduced by the time you were 'sweating' on your last few 'not gots'.
I needed the Leeds United club crest, I had no shame back then. It was that weird 'smiley' badge, I think it was based on a 'L' shape & a 'U' shape, its better than the one they have now but not as good as the owl they had in the '60's or the embroidered script one they had in the early 70's. Club crests were in gold foil, they were highly coveted. It 'cost' me a Mick Mills (stalwart, mustachioed Ipswich Town full back), a Graeme Souness (dirty, curly perm, mustachioed Liverpool midfielder) & a Southampton club crest (in gold foil, a hotpotch of a red & white scarf with a haloed football above a tree & a white rose, no moustache).

Import Export of clothe from cheap labour in China to the trend from vintage clothes imported from Europe.

 

I once met a man and his wife who ran a vintage clothing shop; the shop was full to the brim with bags, shoes and clothing from the fifties to the eighties and everything in between. “ How come you manage to sell everything for so cheap?” I asked. He told me that there is a lucrative vintage clothes industry based in Europe, he would travel to Germany once a year to export clothes from warehouses, filling a shipping container with old clothes to bring to Britain. for the forth coming year. This is how many vintage shops source their goods, by going over to countries in Europe buying up shipping containers filled clothes. (taken from Matt Penrose)

 

 

The journey an item of clothing takes.

 

Consider where one garment comes from and the journey it had to get to it’s destination. From the raw materials to processing into fabric, shipped to a factory to be made into a garment and transported to the shop where it will be sold where eventually a customers along likes the look of it and decides to take it home.

 

When was the last time you looked at the label where you clothes where from, very rarely is it made in Britain.

(taken from Stephanie Rodrigues)

 

…how about photographing peoples clothes label.

 

The rise in clothes imported from china and no longer produced in Britain.

import export digital files

in computing:

- to import is to transform data into the native file format of an application that one is working with

- to export is to convert a file into a format other than the original format. Once exported, the file can be used by an application that recognizes the exported format. Some applications allow exporting files by specifying the file extension when using the "Save As..." command.

Digital Pirates

This is only in the early stages of being written like everything else but you get the idea. 

The exchange of goods happens not only legally through established distribution channels, but often illegally and more often than not these are illegal products.  Many people knowingly import illegally gotten goods from across the world, not on ships or planes; but down cables. 

Digital piracy is becoming prevalent throughout the online world, which to its "customers" is very popular; although not so much with the copyright holders. The shifting of "goods" around the internet is happening all the time, both legally and illegally. Goods such as software, music and intellectual property are freely exchanged in digital formats among friends and strangers alike; the law is still undecided and debate rages on. People do not see it as a problem; it's not like their stealing it from a shop; or meeting down a dark alley for the latest knock off. Much more likely sat at home on the sofa; ill gotten gains slowly trickling down the wire to be spread on again; as well as personal gains.

Is it theft? How can the worth of a file be proven on an economic scale? Is the worth of the file is based on its size, the length of time it takes to download, or import it from the distributor. Or is it instead decided on the merit of its content. 

Can you actually put a price on something which has no physical value, what happens when it is transferred from the original source where it was created. For example; do the values of a digital file change when it is transferred between physical devices from computer to server, wire, hard disk, usb, CD, computer to internet again. Does it loose something; when you receive something instantly at no cost to yourself and is it reasonable to accept that it has less value. "

Import / Export:

Music Industry by Joss Bibby

The importing and exporting of music used to be a relatively costly process. Due to the internet it is now incredibly simple for people to discover created from people all over the world. The people that make music can now distribute their work with minimal costs and don't have to depend on a record label. This is also speeding up the turnover of music; trends alter in the space of six months, especially where digital music is concerned as it can now be made to quite high standards in a home studio, and then uploaded to the web in minutes. It can then be posted on a blog site and downloaded by thousands of people all over the world.

This means that as music is now more likely to be digital rather than being physical like a record or a CD; people see music as something that is more disposable and less precious. Which for me means that sleeve design and live performance are more important than ever in the music industry.

Thoughts for possible development include:

digital trade, physical trade

Piracy, digital policing, media industry failing to realise potential until recently

ownership

physicality vs. realism 

SPIN

check out the print design by SPIN here : www.spin.co.uk

i think thes style is something we should go for, simple and elegant a lot of their work is

whilst continuing to look bold and fresh

matt