Here is a link to my Wordpress blog ,

http://cml922013.wordpress.com

And also a link to my Pintrest visual Blog for the Unit X project

http://pinterest.com/clairemarielong/unit-x/

I used Pintrest to record all of the different elements which inspired my idea. It was my mini visual blog.

http://pinterest.com/clairemarielong/hybrid-project/

My Brand Identity

I felt it was crucial to create a strong brand to support my hybrid.

An element which I felt vital to exclude from the brand name was the term‘clinic’. Clinic has a quaility which imediately creates a cold and impersonal atmosphere. I want my hybrid to be personal and welcoming. Tivoli is the name of the small street behind the building so I chose to use it due to its link with the original site.I felt that it was important to incorporate a strong english name into the brand too.  I decided to use “Burton” in reference to Sarah Burton head designer at Alexander McQueen. I chose Sarah Burton due to her links with Manchester.

I feel that the result is a smart prestigious classic brand which fits in perfectly within the surroundings of Spinnignfields. 

The scissors which adorn the logo are a subtle indication of the hybrid which would occupy the space. The scissors on the left are dressmakers scissors and the scissors on the right are medical scissors. 

I chose to create a hybrid which focused around the issue of body image. Originally I had chosen to contrast the tailor/seamstress with an eating disorder clinic, however i found the subject dark and upsetting. So then I selected a cosmetic surgery clinic instead as I felt that the quantity of people having cosmetic surgery is increasing and I felt that possibly some of these patients may be opting for surgery to quickly without considering the other options. Also one could suggest that the mass production of clothing is contributing to the growing issue of young people hating their natural body image. 

When I was researching into the are of mass produced clothing I found myslef constantly returning to the same question “if every individual body is completely different why do we force ourselves into standard sized items of clothing?’. Up untill the 1945 when rationing was introduced into England poeple often had their clothes tailor made or had the skills to make/mend their own clothes.This resulted in clothing which fitted the clients body perfectly and consequently helped them feel more confident in their appearence.

I want my hybrid to provoke body confidence in its clients. By offering both non invasive  and invasive solutions to enhance their personal  confidence. I want my hybrid to be inclusive of both men and women of all shapes and sizes.   

A Brief History of the Building 

The grade II listed building was constructed in 1896. The building is divided in to two semi detached properties. No.184 was formerly the Inland Revenue office and No.186 the High Court Registry. It was given its current grade two-listed status in October1974. The building was used as a County Court up until 2007 when the courts moved to the new Civil Justice Centre in Spinningfields. The area in which the building is situated encompasses some of Manchester’s most iconic buildings including John Ryland’s library, Barton Arcade and the Beetham Tower. 

Today we spent the morning adding our finishing touches to our space. And then we prepared to open the whole space to the public. We were pleased with our contribution to the 2nd floor space and felt that our interventions worked cohesively with group 1’s coffee bar and tables .

Today we concentrated on finalising our photo board and choosing the music and videos that will accompany our interventions within the space.

We began by finalising our Photo boards this entailed writing the hashtags and lyrics on and cutting the holes for people to put their faces and finally mounting them on to the wooden frames.

We were also give the task of designing the display for the 3rd floor window. We projected an photograph of Tims face on to the wall where Maria sketched out the outlines of his face on to two pieces of foam board. We wanted the window display to be simple yet dramatic so we decided upon silhouette style, we also wanted to project a video through the piece. We cut out the sections of the drawing which needed to be removed for the video to show through. We then made a frame to go around the foam board as it wasn’t quite wide enough to fit the large window frame made this with grey card which we then painted white. 

We began to collate music videos of the Charlatans and Tim’s solo work to accompany the interventions. 

Today we started by finalising our ideas for the 2nd floor space. We collected the materials we would need for the next few days and began to experiment with our ideas.

We were originally going to build frames out of the wood to hang the art work on however when we went to search through the material pile we came across two chrome clothes rails which are the perfect shape for our frames. So we decided that instead of using wood (which other groups needed desperately) we would utilise these rails to save the materials for the other groups.

One of our ideas for displaying the artwork was to place wire from the high window ledge to the other window ledge opposite. Then we had planned to hang the artwork using bulldog clips. However we were unable to do so as we are not allowed to attach any structures to the walls. So now we have the chrome railings, wanted to create screens which will guide people throughout the space whilst also viewing the art. We chose thread to weave through the metal frames as the strings will provude more spaces to hang the art work on.

These are the photographs of today.    

Our project is to design a space inspired by local musician Tim Burgess.The space must showcase his work and support his new coffee venture in support of the David Lynch Foundation.The aim of this project is to create a space with a meaningful visitor experience.

Yesterday we were divided into three groups a mixture of first and second years each group was allocated one of the buildings three floors. I am in group Three and we were allocated the top floor which is the largest floor in the building.

We set about think of potential ideas for the 2nd floor space. Below are the notes I made during our group discussion.

We decided that we wanted our space to express Tim’s persona during the early days of The Charlatans. We felt that this space should have music and music videos art work to give the a sense of the excitement and energy that surrounded the band when they started out.

A feature which stood out to all of us in the group was the importance of Tim’s hair. Over the years he has sported lots of iconic styles. We want to incorporate this element of his personality into our design as it is a key feature of his individuality. We came up with the interactive idea of making a Photo Board with a graphic style sketch of Tim’s hair where people can get their photo taken with his hair!

After Lunch all three groups got together to discuss their ideas for the other two spaces. Unfortunately the the building is smaller on the ground floor than it is at the top and this meant that the original ground floor location for the coffee shop was too small. Group 1 & 3 are now working on the 2nd floor and group 2 are working on the 1st floor.

Below are two of my  watercolour perspectives which give an impression on the way in which the interior will look. I think that these sketches give a good representation of how i want my space to feel - refined, sleek  and masculine but in a more sophisticated elegant way to the look that is usually associated with boxing.