Common Wealth
A series of maps created for Brighton
A series of maps created for Brighton
Common Wealth is a psychogeographical treasure hunt based in Brighton.The name is taken from a piece of writing by William Morris, its literal translation is ‘a political party founded for the common good’. To reflect Morris’ influence, I chose a typeface that manifests craft and socialism: Gill Sans. The Common Wealth brand identity incorporates a piece of Morris tapestry in the design, echoing the notion of stories being woven throughout the walks.
For each map I selected a type that was suited to reflect the 3 different time frames of the walks: past, present & future. I selected the colours to add further depth and meaning to each map. Purple was chosen to reflect the decadence and regal history of Brighton, Green was chosen to reflect the current political party and more broadly issues of environmentalism that are associated with the city, and red for Socialism and the future of Common Wealth.
To express, graphically, the layers of research and different histories unearthed on the walks, I have created layers of stories using sheets of tracing paper; making the text almost transparent. In each map a new story unfolds upon the tracing paper.
The challenge with the printed maps was to create a way of focussing on an area of the map in the same way an ‘on screen’ zoom works. I solved this by creating a typographical zoom; making the type bigger and a different colour in the area on which I wanted the participant to focus. It works like a magnifying glass.
The App demonstrates that Common Wealth can work on different platforms, and participants can interact with it in different ways.
For each map I selected a type that was suited to reflect the 3 different time frames of the walks: past, present & future. I selected the colours to add further depth and meaning to each map. Purple was chosen to reflect the decadence and regal history of Brighton, Green was chosen to reflect the current political party and more broadly issues of environmentalism that are associated with the city, and red for Socialism and the future of Common Wealth.
To express, graphically, the layers of research and different histories unearthed on the walks, I have created layers of stories using sheets of tracing paper; making the text almost transparent. In each map a new story unfolds upon the tracing paper.
The challenge with the printed maps was to create a way of focussing on an area of the map in the same way an ‘on screen’ zoom works. I solved this by creating a typographical zoom; making the type bigger and a different colour in the area on which I wanted the participant to focus. It works like a magnifying glass.
The App demonstrates that Common Wealth can work on different platforms, and participants can interact with it in different ways.
