EverythingAbout One

Thing:

Peanuts

Everything About Peanuts:Contents

Navigating around 4 final pieces and months worth of research surrounding the subject of peanuts.

04 - 24

25 - 28

Photography& Illustration

Research

29 - 30Concept Map

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31 - 34Miniature Books

35 - 44Posters

Peanut Chair45 - 58

Initial Ideas:How I Chose My

Project Theme

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Here is a condensed list made at the beginning of this project, as I carefully decided what was going to be the theme for the first module, of my third year Graphic Design degree. I wanted my focus theme to be small in appearance and also something people don’t have common knowledge about.

I ultimately chose peanuts, as they are something I eat most days and enjoy doing so. This personal affiliation made me think about how little I know about the peanut, and like anything could there be more than meets the eye? A challenge that I knew was going to be difficult, particularly with limited first hand resources to farming grounds in this country, but a challenge I was eager to take on.

Form, Function & Effects:What Is It?

Before I did any other research I needed to learn about the basic fundamentals of peanuts. These facts whilst giving me a good base knowledge on the peanut, could hopefully start branching my research off down more interesting routes and also help inform design decisions later on.

Why Are Peanut Allergies So Common?

Their are many theories, most which blame an over active immune system. “We have done such a good job of eliminating the threats that the immune system is supposed to manage, that it’s looking for something to do,” says Anne Muñoz-Furlong, CEO of the non-profit Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. Parents feed their kids more handy

snacks these days, she says, and many of those contain peanuts or their derivatives. We’re bombarding the immune system with these (food-based) allergens, so it’s attacking those instead.” Indeed, food allergies in general are on the rise.

But peanuts seem to trigger especially violent immune reactions. This might be because they contain several proteins not found in most other foods, posits Robert Wood, an allergy specialist at Johns Hopkins University, and the structure of these proteins stimulates a strong immune response.

Research suggests that roasting peanuts, as American companies do, might alter the proteins’ shape, making them an even bigger target. Allergy rates are lower in China, where it’s customary to boil peanuts, which damages the proteins less. (It’s worth noting, though, that China is also more polluted, so people’s immune system might be concentrating on traditional threats.)

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Leaflet

PrimaryBranch

MainStem

Peg

Soil

Peanut

Roots

Runner Peanut: Attractive uniform kernel

Virginia Peanut: The largest of all peanut varieties

Spanish Peanut: Small with red-brown skin

Valencia Peanut: Three or more small kernels with bright red skin

(Left) Gaining an understanding of the form and function of this small food source was another piece of basic information I needed to obtain. I knew the peanut plant grew in a similar way to potatoes, which was intriguing as it’s as if the plant has been designed to protect its precious produce.

All this information I was gathering at this point was helping expand my knowledge, more than anything this theme of scale was becoming more prominent.

Species & Anatomy:The Peanut /

Goober Pea /

Groundnut

The sub-title here shows three of the peanut’s names/nicknames that are used around the world. Learning of these names allowed me to look into their origins and reveal more rich data on the peanut. However this will be explored further along in the publication. It was important to gain more knowledge on the different types of peanuts in circulation. All of which have different properties and appearances because of where they are cultivated in the world.

Nutritional Value

Peanuts are rich in essential nutrients. In a 100g serving, peanuts provide 570 calories and are an excellent source (defined as more than 20% of the Daily Value, DV) of several B vitamins, vitamin E, several dietary minerals, such as manganese (95% DV), magnesium (52% DV) and phosphorus (48% DV), and dietary fibre (right table). They also contain about 25% protein per 100g serving, a higher proportion than in many tree nuts.

Positive: Malnutrition

Peanuts are used to help fight malnutrition. They are used to create high-protein, high-energy and high-nutrient peanut-based pastes developed to be used as a therapeutic food to aid in famine relief. The World Health Organization, UNICEF, Project Peanut Butter and Doctors Without Borders have used these products to help save malnourished children in developing countries.

Negative: Reactions

Aside the potential allergic reactions already discussed on the previous page, peanuts must be eaten in moderation like any other food. With dry and oil roasted peanuts amounting to around 170 calories per ounce, weight gain is an issue if eaten excessively.

Rumour: Super-food

Peanuts supply the body with Vitamin D, which is said to prevent brain fatigue. They’re also said to give the brain 30 minutes of serious thinking. They also not only have more protein, but also more niacin, folate and phytosterols than any nut and contain over 30 essential nutrients and phytonutrients.

Nutrition:Positives, Negatives

& Rumours

The peanut is commonly known as a ‘super food’ for its nutritional attributes, but how true is this?

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26%

17%

2%7%

48%

Protein

Carbohydrates

Fibre

Vitamins & Minerals

Fat

Nutrition Diagram

The diagram illustrated below shows what a single monkey nut contributes to a human body. The fat content here looks high, however the fact they are natural fats and not saturated means that they are good for the body in moderation. Also the protein attributes to over a quarter of its nutritional value. There’s something really interesting about why certain foods have different benefits to the body. The fact something so small can help the human body become stronger and gain muscle mass with its high protein is truly fascinating.

The people who talk in this documentary really do show a love for farming, reminiscing about their childhood memories of helping their parents on the farm and eating the fresh peanuts off the back of the truck. They also talk about the freedom of the job, saying that they couldn’t be stuck at a desk all day and would rather be outside putting in a hard graft with a community they feel valued in.

However away from the community of peanut farmers there was also a very questionable system with payment from year to year in the industry. The whole system is based on ‘supply and demand’; this means that it all depends on the market each year as too how much money the farmers get paid. The table on the right titled ‘Peanut Contract Prices’ shows how much this differentiates from year to year. It’s surprising how the globalisation

of the peanut trade was actually detrimental to somewhere like Halifax, which used to be a hub for peanuts. The addition of more

modern farming equipment and bigger acres means that there is now half as many peanut farmers and peanuts farmed in Halifax as a result. This is likely due to more farms elsewhere which are easier and cheaper to source from.

Farming is an obvious initial point of research but this highlighted areas of information that would help shape the project.

Farming:Growing Peanuts

In Halifax County

My next point of research was to look into real people who make a living off this industry. I found a documentary titled ‘Growing Peanuts In Halifax County’ which is based on the small farming community In Halifax (USA).

I realised quickly that my agricultural research would have to be attained from secondary sources, as the peanut is mainly grown in other countries abroad. The UK unfortunately doesn’t have an ideal climate for the crop. My research showed America’s supply and demand for the legume is astronomical; maybe this is down to the countries deep affiliation through history with the legume.

Peanut Contract Prices2011 - $600/ton2012 - $700/ton2013 - $540/ton

(Above) Data from the documentary showing the large fluctuation in yield prices for peanut farmers.

Pre-Farming

Peanuts were initially fed to livestock and used by the poorest of social classes (pre 1809).

Bi-products of the legume used to feed livestock include peanuts, peanut meal, peanut skins, peanut hulls, peanut hay, and silages. Peanut hay is the most nutritious and popular among farmers.

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Top 10 Producers of Peanuts In 2008/2009

Production (Million Metric Tons)

14.36.252.341.551.251.000.850.710.580.50

Country

ChinaIndiaUSANigeriaIndonesiaBurmaSudanSenegalArgentinaVietnam

(Left) Data showing just how prolific China is in production, even when in comes to more unknown sources like peanuts.

%

73% 18% 7% 2%

(Left) Peanut bushels being farmed by machinery.

Country

AsiaAfricaNorth AmericaSouth America

Continental Production Statistics

Origins Of The Term ‘Goober’

In 1809 West African slaves brought the goober peas (peanuts) to America with colonial slave traders. The Slaves were believed to be from Congolese descent.

They spoke ‘Bantu’ in West Africa and their word for peanuts was ‘Ngumba’ (GOO-bah), Southerners heard the slaves using this word and began calling peanuts, goobers also.

Slavery:History Of Origins

America has had a long history in slavery, as a lot of states businessmen took advantage of the cheap work force in order to benefit them. However when Abraham Lincoln tried to abolish this exploitation, a lot of the southern states banded together to fight against him doing this. This is further explored later.

(Above) U.S. Map showing free (blue) and slave (red) states as of 1850. Green line is the 1820 Missouri Compromise Line, which outlawed slavery in all future states (grey) to the North and preserved the peculiar institution to the South.

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Illustrating My Sections

At this point I’d started collecting numerous interesting facts surrounding peanuts and collating them into a time line. Here are some of the options I illustrated from this particular section of whatever I went on to produce. Illustration gives me a quick way of telling the story associated with it and hopefully intriguing the viewer enough to make them read the supporting information.

Figure 1 shows how the Boll Weevil has been glorified. Figure 2 shows the chain reaction of the peanut being planted from its actions. And finally figure 3 shows the crop it destroyed. As you can see I experimented with several styles but eventually picked figure two as I feel it’s simple and tells the most interesting story without being too literal.

Another example of Alabama’s profound appreciation to the Boll Weevil, which reads:

In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama’

Slavery Aftermath:The Boll Weevils

Contribution

To Peanut Farming

The Boll Weevil was responsible for forcing farmers in to replacing any cotton crops with peanuts in 1914. This is something that in turn proved extremely profitable in the long run, as the peanut plant proved a much more manageable and predictable crop for farmers to grow.

The cotton trade was strongly supported by the slave industry in Southern American states. Something that became unmanageable when Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery after the American Civil War. Alabama celebrated the insect by erecting a statue in appreciation of the decimation of the cotton plantations. This is the only known celebration of a pest in the world.

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

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Explosive -

Peanuts can be used as an ingredient for creating nitroglycerin. The acids that make up peanut oil can act as substitutes for some of the acids used in formulating nitroglycerin. As dangerous as the resulting solution may be, you cannot readily create peanut nitroglycerin.

Peanut Shell Charcoal -

Peanut shells do not burn easily. They can absorb vast amounts of heat and even help in cooking their contents. You can then use those peanut containers as substitutes for charcoal. As seen by the product image on the right.

Peanut Glue -

It may not be the most efficient adhesive but it is simple to make. The solution is made up by mixing peanut oil with flour and corn oil. Finally by transferring the ingredients to a frying pan, adding boiling water, and then stirring the solution all that’s left is for it to stiffen or contain.

Biodiesel Fuel -

The diesel engine was originally created for peanut oil. The first engines created by inventor Rudolf Diesel ran on various vegetable oils. Today, using peanut oil to power diesel engines can be futile. You can instead use a large amount of concentrated peanut oil to power biodiesel motors.

Peanut Soap -

Peanut oil is composed mostly of monounsaturated fat. Fat is one of the primary ingredients of soap. Soap fats are responsible for displacing dirt and germs from our bodies, given its thick and sticky base. Peanut oil, for that matter, is thick enough to be a good component of soap.Peanut soap can be made by mixing oil with water, coconut oil, and lye.

Alternative Uses:An Exploration Of

The Peanuts Vast

Possibility Of Uses

The peanut is a tasty snack enjoyed by many. It’s flavour is pleasantly distinct, making it a popular snack worldwide. Unfortunately, many people develop allergies while eating a good amount of roasted peanuts. They are often left thinking of other ways where it can be useful.

The peanut, being a popular food product, has a surprising number of alternative uses. In fact, 18th century farming specialist George Washington Carver discovered over 300 different uses for peanuts. We are currently enjoying some of Carver’s food-related discoveries like peanut oil, salted peanuts, or peanut milk. Unknown to some people, he also found several unusual uses for peanuts. On the right are some of the most interesting byproducts of the peanut.

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(Above) The peanuts vast diversity in uses is one of the valuable commodities that have made it so universally popular in households and manufacturers.

At Tuskegee Carver treated his friends to massages with peanut oil. By the 1930’s he became convinced peanut oil could ameliorate the devastating paralysis that accompanied polio. Peanut oil applied during a massage not only saturated the skin and flesh but also actually entered the blood stream and helped restore life to limbs withered by the effects of polio.

It is not clear just how effective Carver’s massages were in treating polio. It is true that many of those treated testified that he had helped them regain at least some use of paralyzed limbs. The fear of polio did not end until the development of an effective vaccine in the 1950’s. I think this however is a great example of Carver’s caring nature towards his fellow man and his desire to make the world better.

Carver’s Inventions:How George

Washington Carver

Revolutionised The

Peanuts uses

Carver set out to revolutionize farming among poor black farmers. This was mainly by introducing them to the durable and consistent nature of the peanut plant. The peanut plant not only produces a large yield per bushel, but also enriches the soil and therefore any other crops surrounding it.

The ancient Incas (1400 and 1533 CE) used peanuts. Evidence of them making it into a paste like substance (peanut butter) has also been discovered, discrediting modern day inventors of the popular peanut byproduct. As a crop peanuts emigrated from South America to Africa by early explorers and then travelled by trade into Spain who then traded the product to the American colonies.

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Peanut Man

Carver went on to invent over 300 uses for peanuts. His contributions to the peanut lead to his nickname as the ‘peanut man’.

Carver declined an invitation to work for a salary of more than $100,000 a year (almost a million today), to continue his research on behalf of his countrymen.

Peanut Inventions Include:

• 19 types of leather dyes• 18 types of insulating boards• 11 types of wall boards • 17 types of wood stains• 11 types of peanut flours• 30 types of cloth dyes• 50 types of food products

Over 300:What Exactly Did

Carver Invent?

Carver was born a slave, showing another ‘what if’ surrounding the Civil War’s importance leading to the abolishment of slavery. The peanut might not be nearly as popular without Carver’s scientific contributions.

History:Peanuts In The

Civil War

My research into the peanuts past lead me on a very interesting journey, involving one of the most tragic wars in American history (American Civil War 1861-1865). This was a definite turning point in the project, I’d found something with a lot of history and meaning that I’d never expect to be associated in any way, shape or form with this miniature food source.

Clara Barton

As a result of the war being prolonged by the peanut, women started to join the effort. At this time relatively few woman worked outside of home, However Clara Barton, a pioneer nurse aided injured soldiers at the time of the Civil War. This led to her founding the American Red Cross. Before her father died, Clara was able to talk to him about the war effort. Her father convinced her that it was her duty as a Christian to help the soldiers.

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Peanut Rations

Due to scarcity of rations, the peanut started being used in several different forms. The Union was fortunate to have a steady supply of coffee beans. The confederacy on the other hand had blockades impeding their supplies. This lead to experimentation with the resources they had.

Peanut Coffee

1 cup coarsely ground peanuts2/3 boiling waterAdd creamAdd sugarHalf a spoon of coffee

Groundnut Soup

Half a pint of shelled groundnutsBeat wellAdd two spoonful’s of flourMix wellAdd a pint of oystersAdd a pint and a half of waterAdd pepper seed whilst boiling

Cooking:Prolonging A War

The peanut was not loyal to either side of the war effort. It switched its benefactors to whatever side occupied the territory where its crop was being grown.

Lawrence Van Alstyne, Union Soldier -

The biggest culinary problem during the Civil War, for both the North and the South, was inexperience. Men of this time were accustomed to the women of the house, or female slaves, preparing the food. For a male army soldier, cooking was a completely foreign concept. Thrust into the bleak reality of war, soldiers were forced to adjust to a new way of life—and eating—on the battlefield.”

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Verse 1

Sitting by the roadside on a summer’s dayChatting with my mess-mates, passing time awayLying in the shadows underneath the treesGoodness, how delicious, eating goober peas.ChorusPeas, peas, peas, peasEating goober peasGoodness, how delicious,Eating goober peas.

Verse 2

When a horse-man passes, the soldiers have a ruleTo cry out their loudest, “Mister, here’s your mule!”But another custom, enchanting-er than theseIs wearing out your grinders, eating goober peas.

Repeat Chorus

Verse 3

Just before the battle, the General hears a rowHe says “The Yanks are coming, I hear their rifles now.”He turns around in wonder, and what d’ya think he sees?The Georgia Militia, eating goober peas.

Chorus

(Note: There sat the Georgia Militia, is reported in contemporary accounts as underlying the battle of Griswoldville where they fought fiercely. “The Tennessee Militia” is sung instead in some versions. Tennessee in the American Civil War was the last of the Southern states to declare secession. Tennessee politicians John Bell supported it with reluctance, while Andrew Johnson fought it.

Verse 4

I think my song has lasted almost long enough.The subject’s interesting, but the rhymes are mighty tough.I wish the war was over, so free from rags and fleasWe’d kiss our wives and sweethearts, and gobble goober peas.

Repeat Chorus

Motivating The Soldiers:Goober Peas’

Popular with Southern soldiers, this song celebrates a staple of the Confederate Army’s diet, the goober pea or peanut. Its tune was easy to march to and it was sung in Southern regiments throughout the war.

The song celebrated the peanut and helped keep moral high. When finally published in 1866, the composer was listed as P. Nutt.

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Lincoln’s Assassination

Abraham Lincoln is assassinated five days after confederate forces surrenders. John Wilkes Booth carried out the assassination; this was in a larger conspiracy to revive the American Civil War.

This was the first ever presidential assassination. The argument here is that if the war hadn’t gone on so long as a result of the peanuts contributions, then would Lincoln have been murdered in the effort to revive the war? And would history, as we know it today be very different.

What If?:Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the sixteenth president of the United States during one of the most consequential periods in American history, the Civil War.

Before being elected president, Lincoln served in the Illinois legislature and lost an election for the U.S. Senate to Stephen A. Douglas. Nevertheless, his fierce campaign earned him a nomination for the presidency. The first Republican president ever, Lincoln led the Union to victory in the Civil War and ended slavery in America.

Peanut Butter

In 1890 peanut butter starts being prescribed by doctors to patients with poor dental.

Peanut butters inventor is commonly credited to Carver and Kellogg. Neither of which did in fact invent the peanut based product, with evidence being found in 950 B.C. South America.

Around 540 peanuts are required to make one jar of peanut butter weighing 12 ounces. This shows this more modern products need to mass production with machinery.

Timeline To Mass Consumption

1865 to 1870 – Peanut production improves from 200 to 300 %

1889 – 37 states producing peanuts

1889 to 1899 – Yields increased thanks to better farming practises (tractors etc)

1909 – 42 states reported producing peanuts with larger acres

1919 – Only 33 states producing peanuts (reason – globalisation)

1924 – 32 (southern states survive – Georgia, Texas, Alabama)

Mass Market Consumption:A Post War Journey

The peanuts popularity among the many soldiers who served during the Civil War, is believed to be largely responsible for the rapid dissemination of peanut culture in this country after 1865.

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Modern Facts

Two former peanut farmers have been elected as presidents of the USA, Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.

Peanut butter is consumed in 94 percent of households across America.

The average American consumes more than six pounds of peanuts and peanut butter products each year.

Americans eat enough peanut butter in a year to make more than 10 billion peanut butter sandwiches.

Peanut Slang

Peanut gallery - Used to refer to the cheapest seats in theatre. Peanuts -A reference to very little money.

Goober -An unsophisticated person.

Astronaut Alan Shepard brought a peanut with him to the moon. This was part of a promise to a restaurant owner who wanted the first ‘astronut’.

NASA mission control pass peanuts around for good luck. This was reported with the Mars landing, which was a renowned success.

The Industry

$4 billion industry in the USA alone each year. Being a huge contributor to the economy as Americans adopt is as part of their staple diet.

Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter alone.

Delta airlines purchase over 6.9 million packs of peanuts in 2013, showing its popularity as a finger food.

Timeline Of Research:Correlating My

Research

Here is a clear timeline of the peanuts turbulent journey into mass consumption. I tried to shorten these as much as possible so that I can use this timeline in an area of my design work.

Pre 1809 Peanuts mainly fed to

live stock

1809 West African slaves bring

peanuts to America

1861 American Civil War

begins

1861 ‘Eating Goober Peas’, the

peanut song

1861 Southern America

invaded by Union forces

1862 Clara Burton & the

American Red Cross

1865 Thirteenth amendment

passed to abolish slavery

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1865Abraham Lincoln

assassinated

1870 Peanut production

increases by 300% post war

1890 Peanut butter prescribed

for poor dental

1909 42 States producing

successful peanut crops

1916 George Washington

Carver revolutionises peanut farming

Carver goes on to invent over 300 uses for the

peanut

1924 Globalization reduces

the amount of producing states to 32

Modern Peanut Art & Photography: Telling A Story In

My Work

I decided to research people who took the peanut as an abstract art form. I found a man called Steve Casino who took the monkey nut’s unique shape, and size then used it to his advantage for each creation. He’s now created over 100 of these tiny celebrity sculptures that are always presented extremely well. I think this could be an interesting direction to take in making the peanut into something more artistic and interesting. However the sculpture will need to have both substance and style to it for it to work.

Looking back on my research now, this was the beginning of thinking about how to take my research beyond something out of the norm and in to something more exiting.

Some of Steve Casino’s many peanut celebrity transformations.

‘A Nasty Accident’Photographer Nailia Schwarz brings the peanut to life in a more witty form of sculpture.

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Burning peanuts below a test tube of water has been a popular test for recording the legumes impressive energy output. Monitoring the increase in water temperature does this.

It takes around 500g of peanuts to sufficiently power the human body for a whole day.

This is a selection of my photography that made it into the miniature books, each of which telling a story of the peanut in a simple form. The most complex of these is the flag painted peanuts that have been cracked to show the bloodshed in the Civil War. I think this gives a quick and clear message that a viewer can engage with.

Illustration:Enhancing The

Story Visually

Trying to visualise things through illustration is something I’ve always both enjoyed and been comfortable doing. I feel like this design decision will definitely help support any text I use in my work.

In my initial experiments I was trying too hard to be creative with the image and it strayed too far from what I was actually trying to say. By using more obvious visual cues within the imagery I was able to achieve my aim more convincingly. For example ‘p11: George Washington Carver’ on the following page was placed in a stamp, this is accurate as he was immortalised on his own stamp for his contributions to science. However this also shows his importance by being on such a platform, as its commonly used to celebrate royalty and important people in society.

Stylistically I think the dots work well. I read recently in an illustration magazine that people relate to something that can see a lot of time gone into, and I think this is clear in a style like this. However one problem I encountered was when I came to screen print these illustrations the dots were far too small. This meant I had to compromise and image trace them in order to make them print effectively.

P02: Goober Peas Song

P01: Slavery

P03: Civil War Recipes

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P08: Mass Consumption

P05: American Red Cross

P17: Big Money

P14: Boll Weevil

P07: Lincoln

P09: Poor Dental

P11: George Washington Carver

P20: NASA

P15: Super food

P13: Alternative Uses

P10: Farming

P06: Surrender Note

Concept Map:Correlating My

Research

This is a process of condensing research and pulling out any really rich information, along with creating links between them. Its a process that I found time consuming to do when I’ve created most of these links on my blog and in my head already. However its always useful to get everything in one place like this to start picking it apart.

The concept map also did start some interesting conversations surrounding the project with tutors, who really liked my findings around the Goober Pea and the Civil War. This gave the project a really strong focus and gives the work some unique information I felt a lot of people wouldnt know, something I stated early within my aims.

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Miniature books:Why This Idea

Was Reworked

This is an example of the inside of my book, I tried to make the layout very simple as it was difficult to do anything too extravagant at this scale (W:4.7xL:4cm when folded out).

When you take away the brown sleeve (seen on the next page) it reveals a small dotted image that subtlety suggests what the project is all about. This leads to the title page which is again quite suggestive, and then the content and an image telling a story on the area.

I think this process of suggestion it strong as it keeps the viewer engaged. Another subtle element of design here is the line down the center in the middle page. This is to replicate the center of the peanut when it splits in two after taking it out the shell and skin. I’ve kept the colours very natural by using an earth tone swatch, again to stay true to the subject.

Instructions

I wanted to keep the scale of my publications consistent throughout and this didn’t change when designing my instruction manual. I used the 8 box grid from the books to make this consistent with them by carrying over 4 of the grid boxes. The first paragraph is purposely larger so that you can just read it with the naked eye. This paragraph encourages the user to begin using the magnifying glass.

I was keen to avoid any existing branding. However the brand elements of the Planters Peanut was too good to ignore in connection with my project. The monocle and magnifying glass connect so well, along with the time zone of when planters was founded (1906) along with the time zone for a lot of my research.31

This is the print layout of my miniature books and how they were printed double sided. The reason the images on the back of the fold up book are so much larger was to account for printers shifting slightly when performing a double sided print, this accounted for bleed and worked well. The consistent brown colour theme was used to represent the inside of the peanut.

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The Initial Final Concept:Exploring Scale

This section explains why and how this project didn’t quite work out, but also why it was a vital part of my learning and lead to even more exiting work.

My designing process was carefully thought out to replicate the monkey nut as accurate as possible. The peanut is simple and relatively sleek in appearance, something I hope to have replicated in my publications style.

This image shows each different element of my final piece. This includes the pocket magnifying glass, instruction guide, peanut sized book and skin style sleeve, all wrapped up in a peanut styled book. I initially tried to attach the magnifying glass and instruction guide to a piece of string on the outside of my bag but it was too heavy and looked awkward. I decided to instead place the instructions inside the magnifying glass and place them both inside the bag. This made sense, as even if someone picked a book up first then they would then realise they needed the magnifying glass and thus would discover the instructions along with it.

Experience is really important to me in this project, making it hard to sometimes choose between things that look more extravagant or staying true to the peanuts original packaging. I’m referring here to a previous test on a cream coloured material which printed a lot better, however it didn’t look as authentic as the traditional hessian bag. Despite the printing not being quite as effective on the bag, the overall effect/message was much more powerful.

Another part of the experience here is the smell. It was the first thing I wrote down when I opened a bag of monkey nuts as part of my research. I think its finishing touches like this that make the project special. To do this I have left several monkey nuts in my bag so that smell hits you when you first open the bag, this will be nostalgic for a lot of people, which is a great emotion to evoke.

Experimental Methods: Marble Paintings

By using iconography from the civil war and using an unpredictable method, I made these marble paintings with acrylic medium. All of these experiments used the colour palette red, white and blue to replicate the union and confederate flags. I created around 30 of these in the end, as I started to find a style I liked once the painting was scanned in and merged with the type.

Being hands on with materials is something I’ve always enjoyed in design and this process was great for reminding me of that.

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Combining

Painting &

Typography

Here are some of the earlier experiments using the marble effect and combining it with the alternative word for peanut, ‘goober’. I enjoyed experimenting with making such a hands on process still look aesthetically pleasing when put into a digital format.

The posters at the bottom were working well on their own as posters but didn’t communicate a clear enough message. My solution to this was to add all the stories from my miniature books after condensing the word count slightly. This meant I had to make the ‘goober’ element of the poster slightly less prominent but I feel it still worked well.

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+ +

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Marble Poster

The image to the left is the final poster concept I presented from all the marble experiments. I chose this design because of the really nice elements in the marble paint scan that combined with the type well. In particular the overlap of the paint effect from the ‘G’ to the ‘O’ which creates a seamlessly similar sized hole. Its these kind of happy accidents from experimental methods like this that make it worth trying out.

The word goober has been a focal point for this project since it was discovered, purely for its historical reference to the peanut and also as it has an element of intrigue from being an unusual word. The thought process was that by drawing people in with the uncommon word ‘goober’, then they’d be interested enough to read on. In contrast to the other posters, this was one of the most successful as the type had room to breathe, whilst still having that nice overlap. Also elements like the diagonal line were removed for being unnecessary.

Next I set out to seek feedback from peers and tutors on the communication of the poster. This was highlighted as a clear issue, with it not being recognisable as an informative poster about peanuts without actually reading the data displayed.

(Below) Example of the amount of experiments that I did just in the initial stage of this poster idea.

Final Poster Design:Goober’

Exploring a new method is one of the best things about design in my opinion. I think this alone made it worth trying this experimental poster style. I really like how something as simple as experimenting with masks over type has created depth and an overall really nice finish. I feel as if I could now pick this process up whenever I feel like it would provide the nessessary finish to a design outcome.

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Hessian Poster:Experimentation

I acquired feedback on my four favourite posters for everything about one thing. I was finally starting to piece successful elements together, along with thinking about the communication aspect of my work a lot more than I did at the start. The main lesson being that more is not always better and even if I can justify all the elements going into a piece of work, if the viewer cant, its slightly pointless.

Poster One

(Left) This attempts to show the angles in the confederate flag, and also show the tension of the fabric more with the showing of the frayed edges. I don’t think this is maybe apparent enough in the other images in which the fabric fills the area. Another thing I’ve done here is add a subtle confederate flag coloured stain into the fabric with food colouring. I think this is my least favourite of the four as it is a bit too chaotic on the right and looks too much like a Chilean flag, which I think could confuse the viewer.41

Poster Two: Blue & Red Poster

On this poster I put a duo tone effect on my hessian fabric which I screen printed at an earlier date for my peanut bag. Myself and my tutor Fraser had a conversation about what I was trying to achieve with my marble effect, in which I explained it was all about the chaotic past of the peanut. However he explained how this was perhaps too much style without actually relating it enough to the subject, and that the hessian from my bags communicates my message a lot more successfully, whilst also creating that historic link with peanuts a lot better.

I attempted to cause tension on the fabric to communicate this message of war. The duo tone resembles the colours of the confederate and union flags from the Civil War, which I’ve continuously highlighted as key pieces of iconography. However I prefer the rawness of the normal hessian colour.

Poster Three

This was perhaps my most successful poster to this point. However I still think it could benefit from more tension in the hessian element to further relay the message of war. Also the type needs setting better on the left in which I have had critique from tutor a about. I would experimented with this further by making the image less flat. However the lessons I’ve learnt from this have already shown me I can take this project a lot further than a poster.

Once again I found this project at a minor standstill. This was extremely frustrating but I just had to keep telling myself it was all part of the learning process, which was true. I was very aware that this as a final outcome was very safe, especially after putting in all the effort to collect the data accompanying this poster. It deserves a more visually interesting outcome. These thought processes lead me to the next and final part of this book.

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Final A0 Hessian Poster:How This Poster

Inspired My

Next Steps

Final Poster

This was the poster that I felt was working best out of my experiments incorporating the hessian. Also feedback from tutors and peers confirmed this.

The poster had to be blown up to A0 for the type on the left to be legible. I felt the new approach on scale was really working well to be both striking and more practical to interact with.

However in terms of doing all my research justice, there is still the issue of a poster format being far too safe. Also in terms of the poster elements I think the hessian still feels very separate to the area containing body copy. Incorporating the type on the hessian more successfully could combat this. I think as it stands the screen printed type on the hessian is far too tight, but this was the only space I had to work with from the size of the hessian bag.

In conclusion I think these poster experiments have brought my design work closer to my theme of peanuts again. I could see a lot of potential in this hessian approach and the tension concept that goes with it, this would compliment the stories I’d written effectively. I now had a lot of inspiration to let the project fly into something braver and more unique. Another thing I think is imperative to reincorporate back in to the design is the illustrations. I don’t think many people would willingly read through all that type without something else breaking it up.

Inspiration

Here is an example of the inspiration behind the new focus on this hessian material. It has a very natural and almost vintage connection with the peanut. This packaging also has a slightly nostalgic feel because of this.

Another inspiring aspect here was the screen printed packaging. The colours, type and attention to simplicity really made me think of this southern America peanut culture. Design aspects I think id be naive to ignore.

Derek Yates Lecture

Sheffield Hallam put on a Curated by lecture from Derek Yates, who came in to talk to us about his upcoming book ‘Communication Design’. Communication in design is something that I’ve been really interested in since an infographic module titled ‘Tools And Systems’ in my second year. Derek started off with a quote of responsibility on the designer, “We create experiences that alter peoples choices”. This shows you the power that the designer has on the viewer as we look to create things that people engage with and hopefully enjoy.

Derek went on to show us numerous examples of communication design, such as rapper JZ’s Bing advertising campaign for his biography, which went viral in an amazing way, with every major television network covering it. This was because the book was marketed in the form of an experience, by printing pages of his book in places around the world in which the page related too. These page placements were executed really well and what was even more rewarding was the video showing people interacting with the work and smiling as they did.

This form of advertising feels like it actually cares as it goes to new lengths to entertain the viewer and create an element of trust that would arguably not be nearly as effective in a simple printed form. I found this lecture very inspiring as a whole; it made me more positive about more expressive concepts I was considering for this module.

Communication/ Experience Design:Communication

Design, Insights From

The Creative Industry’

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Chen Zhen

As part of making this project more expressive I visited the Tate in London for inspiration. I came across this chair/sculpture with a similar concept and theme to one I was considering. It was interesting to read about the designers (Chen Zhen) rationale. ‘Chen Zhen lived and worked mainly between Shanghai, New York and Paris, and his work reflects this constant shifting between cultures, which the artist calls ‘transexperience’. In his sculptures and installations he typically assembled obsolete everyday objects, particularly old furniture and candles, sometimes in combination with fragments of technology and consumer goods. This work belongs to a series of sculptures made between 1999 and 2000, sharing the title Cocon du Vide (‘empty cocoon’) and featuring chrysalis-like forms made from Chinese abacus and Buddhist rosary beads threaded onto metal frames.”

I really felt like I could connect with this sculpture, which was not a common thing for me with art, I think it possibly had something to do with the fact I was trying to achieve a similar to myself. However from a slightly more Graphic Design based approach I feel like my chair should also serve a certain level on functionality. I feel like as my chair tells more of a literal story than Chen’s it should be incorporated some how with the experience of the chair.

Design Research:Tate Modern Visit

Making Furniture In To Graphic Design:Why & How?

Conversations, going out there and getting things done at this point of the project were more important than anything.

I’ve always had the graphic design in mind with this project even though it seems like it’s taking an entirely different avenue of design. I’m hoping the strong visual message of the chair, along with the typography, illustrations and brand elements will do the talking on a graphical side.

John Bairstow

I have never realised the importance of sharing my ideas until this project, other people’s perspectives are so important when delving into the unknown. Having experienced tutors has been hugely helpful in propelling this project. A very brief conversation with one of the course leaders, Matt Edgar, encouraged me that I was pursuing something exiting here. On top of this he was also thankfully able to point me in the direction of a furniture design lecturer, John Bairstow.

This was another very short conversation but an extremely helpful one. I went to John with a rough sketch of a framework I was trying to achieve, thinking that I was going to be told it wasn’t possible for whatever reason. However instead he was very positive about the idea and printed off this chair he has design himself to the right. Upon reflection this was all I really needed from John to start the project. I initially went into John’s office hoping he’d offer me more guidance or potentially even a student to collaborate with. However now I have finished the project I’m really glad I took this project on myself as I wouldn’t have learned as much if not.

Initial Test

As you can see from the image John supplied me above, the inspiration here is clear. I went into this testing phase with two different peanut shapes in order to give myself a stronger choice on what’s working. These tests were made by laser cutting plywood, then glueing the pieces together. Something I knew would be much more difficult on a larger scale but for now I knew it worked and was hugely encouraged by this.

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3D Rendering & Using The CNC Cutter:Collaborating

With Another

Department

Sheaf Workshops

For the next stage of my project I spoke to woodwork expert Will Tierney. He helped me make the dimensions of my model work. For example in the 3D renders to the right, every other long piece of wood doesn’t fit in between my every other piece. A simple solution to this was to shorten them slightly at the top; this gave the final chair a really nice finish at the top. I was worried that it would take away from the curved peanut form but I don’t think it, I also sought feedback to help confirm this.

The next stage was to cut out a large piece of 18mm plywood on the CNC machine. I went with a more expensive stock of wood, as I knew that several areas of the frame would be visible. I initially planned to wrap the whole chair, however I think a more abstract and tattered finish has helped the message of the chair.

The last thing to do was to etch my timeline on to one of the bottom legs before finally gluing and clamping my bottom bases together. This gave me a solid foundation to start constructing the rest of the chair. Overall construction was a relatively simple task thanks to the slits put into the base and seat area.

Peanut Chair:The Final Concept

This is my final design which all the research and work I did prior to this have led to. The chair is separated into 20 panels that are chronologically ordered in a spiralling motion. The aim of the project was to show how something so small like a peanut could have a huge impact on the world. I also aimed to make the piece an experience for the viewer. This will be done by the viewer interacting with the chair by sitting on it, and then also exploring all the other elements. I also added a condensed time line on the back of the chair to.

Inspirations

After a lot of research and experimentation on this project I realised the importance of simplifying things. This meant that the final outcomes design research was a fairly simple task. As you can see from the image below of the peanut in all its forms and array of natural colours, the end result of the chair is very reminiscent of that true form. The main critique of my marble paint poster’s was that I strayed too far away from the peanuts natural form; so much that it wasn’t apparent the poster was about peanuts at all.

I wanted to present all my research on an object that really connects with the theme of peanuts. I thought about numerous ways to do this but ultimately a chair felt like the best way of doing this in order to create something that suits the theme and challenge myself to learn new things. The chair has unintentionally become a form of sculpture as well just from its striking appearance.

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Conclusion

Initially when I had to keep redoing my final outcome for this brief I became increasingly frustrated. It’s hard when your being told “your not quite getting it”. However I think the cliché its your failures that make you stronger’ has never been more appropriate for me than in this situation. Each avenue I took in this project I learned new things, met new people and feel I’ve imporved a lot when it comes to communicating my research.

My final piece being a peanut chair is a lot more abstract than I would have ever imagined, but I think this is a good thing. When asking myself what I actually want to achieve in design I’ve realised I want to push boundaries of what things can be. This ultimately means that my work will divide opinion more, but I now feel this is good thing, as I don’t want to be doing what everyone else is.

The final design would definitely never be what it is if it wasn’t for these other experiments. The hessian materials likeness to the texture and colour of a monkey nut was not something I initially noticed with the bag, it instead was replicating a sack of peanuts at that point. However It wasn’t till the posters that I saw it in a different sense, this proves the natural progression through final pieces in this project.

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Collage:Working On Top Of

My Photographs

As my photographs are fairly plain, I saw this is as a good opportunity to work on top of these to tell the story of the chair in another way. This will create more intrigue in the chair, however I wouldn’t have it directly complimenting the chair.

The flags are a huge part of the project as they dictated the colour theme and a lot of the content. This made them a fitting addition to my simple collage. As seen on the scans to the right, the distressed theme that’s been used throughout the whole project has again been used here again to help tell the story of war between the two opposing American forces.

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Final Collage

These are four collages that I felt worked the best out of all my experiments. They all offer a quick insight into the stories on the chair’s hessian panels. I tried adding all the different panel illustrations in to the collage, but the message became very hard to understand. I feel like these simple collages communicate in the best way, without over complicating the message.

I considered adding type on top of these collage designs but I feel it might be nicer tor the viewer to start interperating it for themselves.

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Conclusion

A lot of lessons have been learnt whilst doing this project, a lot of hard ones, but most importantly a lot of ones that I feel have been beneficial to me. I’d like to think my final outcome reflects the amount of effort and willingness to succeed in this project. Half way through the project I doubted my decision in picking peanuts and my ability to turn it in to something interesting. However upon finishing and reflecting through all the projects journey in this book, I think the skills, lessons, people and processes make the invaluable to my progress as a graphic designer.