FMP (BA): Research - Oscar Wilde

Taking note of what I have learnt from previous experiences I decided to go straight into researching about the meaning behind the quote rather than just about the person who wrote it. The quote I'm researching in question is "I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I'm saying" by Oscar Wilde.

I had briefly researched into the life of Oscar Wilde during my dissertation but he was a well-known playwright and was extremely talented. He was known for the 'scandal' he caused as he was a homosexual (and homosexuality was illegal in those days) as well as his flamboyant attire.  

Before I carried out my research I did a couple of doodles of what I was inspired by the quote. I wanted to create that quirky appearance to each of my words but for now I just wanted to try and draw as many different hand-lettering styles as possible.

The next day I then looked into the background story of this quote and found out that it was actually from one of Wilde's short stories "The Remarkable Rocket." The main character, the "remarkable" rocket, was extremely pompous and self-important who thought that the Prince and Princess had reserved him for their special occasion (their marriage) but cried so much that he didn't go off in the end. He was thrown away into the mud because of this, but every character he came across was victim of his constant rambling about how important he was and that he was a distinguished rocket and everyone will witness him when he gets set off. He is then found by a young boy who accidently used him to light their fire, and when he did go off no one saw nor heard him apart from the duck who was frightened by his falling stick. [reference]

I created a mind map of all of my research to generate some ideas:

Now I am ready to start doodling!

Reflective & Critical Thinking - Summary

I decided to look at a new quote while I was still working on my Lord of the Rings one because I felt that I needed to go for something different in order to keep being inspired. After looking back at my previous designs I noticed that I have been leaning on the calligraphic side and so my Dr. Seuss design did look a bit out of place so I wanted to create something just to bulk up that fun style just a little bit. Besides, I really enjoyed creating lots of different hand-lettering typefaces so I think this will be a very light and enjoyable project. 

I only did very brief research on this quote as I already knew a little bit about Oscar Wilde's life, and so fully concentrated on the meaning behind the quote. I was originally going to skip this but I learnt from past experiences that this wasn't a good idea and I wanted to create a piece that related as much to the quote as possible.

I am glad that I did do this because I have now been able to generate a lot of ideas and inspiration for the type of lettering that I am going to do. I am going to produce something quirky and fun like I did for my Dr. Seuss piece but (another thing I learnt from before) I am going straight into traditional media and just colour it on Photoshop. I shall do the same method for my other designs to ensure that I am not wasting any time. 

My next step is to now do some doodles and slowly put my design together. Hopefully it wouldn't take me the whole week to do this so that I could go back to my Lord of the Rings quote! 

References: Classic Reader "The Remarkable Rocket" http://www.classicreader.com/book/208/1/, March 14 2014.

Learning Outcomes:
[4] Developed research skills in the area of contemporary professional practice.
[8] Developed their ability to scan and organise data, abstract meaning from information and communicate knowledge in a variety of formats.