Initial starting point

The outline for this project has been set by university to give a starting point, though it may be developed in any way that I see fit. The project title is "then and now". I can interpret this any way that I like. I must consider the target audience for the project carefully. I should create one large and one small outcome to convey my idea of 'then and now'. Again, this can be interpreted any way that I like. This is a very open brief.

 My initial concept for this project is to explore handwriting both past and present. I noticed a sign that was scrawled in the street that was advertising a pub and I thought that it was awfully rendered. There was no consideration at all to how the sign was written, but it was supposed to attract attention and make people want to visit the place the sign was advertising. In my opinion, because of the way the sign was written, it did the opposite.

I know from knowledge that I already have that in the Victorian era, people used to write in an old fashioned script that used to be a lot more considered. This is the starting point to this project for me. I am going to explore the Victorian writing style and how the Victorians used to write and then I am going to see where this research takes me. I am not sure of how to gauge a successful outcome for this project at present. I will conduct some research and then I will write a more formal brief which will outline a project that I can respond to. 

These hideous signs have been documented in Coventry and in Bath. I find it fascinating that people would want to represent their business in this way. To me, the signs look scruffy and show a lack of care by the business. So, to kickstart this project, I am going to turn all of the imagery that I have collected showing this awful handwriting into a small publication. I do not want to show these images in a good light, I want them to be presented with the same care and attention that went into writing them, very little! In the process of doing this, I am actually paying attention to how the the pieces are presented which is a bit of a parodox, but I do not mind this. I am going to print them onto standard 90 gsm photocopier paper.