multimedia design & research
:: research-led practice :: practice-led research ::
DR NICOLA WOOD
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I have recently started a blog for Kesurokai, a Japanese cultural exchange project I am involved with. At present I am using it intermittently as a diary to help me develop an understanding of the project and am really pleased at how much interest there has been in it. During the main event in August I will use it as part of the documentation of the project. (As a favour to the event organiser I have also designed my first web site in German - an interesting challenge given my very limited knowledge of the language!)
Wikis
Wikis present an interesting challenge for a designer - I was very used to being in close control of how everything looked! With wikis I have learned that the collaborative work they support is far more important than micro-managing aesthetics. I have however learned to manipulate their fairly basic formatting options to produce quite pleasing visual results too. A few recent ones:
Transmitting Craft: the final documentation of the knife making project produced in multimedia format to allow inclusion of stills and video and to make it more widely accessible.
Folding Knives: a public version of the knife making learning resource developed as part of the above research project.
Vacuum Casting: another learning resource developed as part of a research project.
Web sites
My initial design experience came though becoming a self-taught web site designer as e-commerce was first gaining popularity, introducing to the internet several small businesses whose core trade is now generated online. Nowadays I only maintain my own site and these two for my husband...
Robin Wood: traditional wood worker
Spooncarving: green woodworking courses in the Peak District
Video
I love video as a medium. It can show so much so quickly, be absorbing and compelling. However, I have a short attention span and have a low tolerance of poorly-edited video. I want to see the action, not watch a talking head!
I have produced many youTube videos featuring my husband and other traditional craft practitioners which can be seen on my youTube Channel. Here is one which shows some of my PhD work:
