Publish & Be Damned

Correlations of The Research

Albums

The concept of interaction between fan and album seems to be the running theme of the three music based items on the list.

Hipgnosis used gatefolds that would allow for more artwork and/or lyrics to be included on the sleeve, and their photography would relate directly to the lyrics that were on the album. Their Wish you were here concept of having a cover that you were to tear off added a layer of interaction, in addition to a broader nod to the album; the multi layered textures of the music were perhaps in their minds.

Peter Saville and Ben Kelly's design for the 1st OMD sleeve chronologically came next, a similar idea, again something that immediately stands out from other album sleeves. This takes the idea of a cover for the album one step further from Hipgnosis's wish you were here sleeve; the cover was a die cast cut grid cover that would house the album itself.

Beck's The Information takes this idea of interaction further yet again; the idea of customising your own album sleeve with the included set of stickers means every fan's album will be different and unique, that is apart from graphic designers of course, who will all keep their copy pristine and unopened.

This idea of moulding an object to an individual's needs is carried forth into the Theory of the Derive.


Cultural Trends

The way in which I have interpreted the Theory of the Derive can be seen in my research section earlier; a fold out bed which moulds into a wall; the inside of a caravan which the user customises daily for different uses- a table and couches for lunch which can be put away and changed for sleeping; a 3 in 1 pool table which also has snooker and table tennis facilities. Essentially anything which the individual owns which is mass produced, but is individually customised.

In a similar way, the Oblique strategies cards are intended for universal use but can be interpreted on a very personal level.

The idea of the 'Exquisite Corpse' usually involves one user creating, then passing on for the next to continue the creation, without necessarily knowing the starting point, and so on. Eventually this leads to a mish mash of creations, that will either be nonsensical or charmingly successful.

Life Size interactivity
The idea of many people joining together for an uncertain purpose is how life started for Flash Mobbing. Now used for political and social benefits, the idea that technology can clandestinely unite strangers en masse is still a key part of what Flash Mobbing is all about.

Performance and interaction unite the two Biennial exhibitions; Shilpa Gupta's FACT video exhibition, and the Independents' Biennial exhibition; LIGNA:Transient Radio Laboratory.

The use of technology in both links neatly to the interactive games from both the modern era and the recent past.

Gaming: Web Based and Arcade

Pong was the mother of all video arcade games and it is its simplicity that makes it both enjoyable and addictive.

NoodleBox, designed in 1997, contains simple games and animations that can fill five minutes in a day. This is appears to be an homage based on the game play of games like pong and tetris.

Buro Destruct have a similar game on their website, that encourages users to fire a small ball from the header bar at the type above.

Their Buro Destruct Designer is perhaps the most benign of the interactive games described here, but the most visually arresting of all.