Digbeth Concept and Idea 2

To me all, I knew about Digbeth was the Custard factory, it was the pinnacle of Digbeth. Other then that. I felt Digbeth had nothing else to offer. I was right but also wrong, what I mean is that Digbeth is largely known for its huge scene in the arts and media field from the Custard factory. However wrong in that it has nothing else to offer.

I came up with my second idea from an article I found on Digbeth is good called Wasted Digbeth. This article highlighted areas in Digbeth that were empty, abandon or wasted. I thought this was very interesting. The article talked about how Digbeth had a lot of potential for redevelopment and how these buildings and areas were waiting for something to happen.


I researched more into Digbeth as I wanted to find out more about this problem. As I research into this problem I found out about some of the proposed projects and facilities that were planned to be designed.

Wasted Digbeth

On the Digbeth is good website I found this map which highlighted the areas in Digbeth that where either abandoned, waste it or empty.

 As you can see the Map highlights a lots of area to have been wasted and abandon however with the would not be able to go to all these places so that the map below shows the eight places we plan to go. 

Attached to this map there was also a brief description of what had happened to these places. Why they are in this state and what they where previously used for.

Digital Animation (Collaborative project)

Along with our collaborative project with the landscape architecture department. We also have a second collaborative project with the Illustration, Graphics Design and Photography Department.

The Project - We have been given the task to develop a strategy for an integrated advertising campaign, including an animated TV AD based under the umbrella theme "Hydration".

Sounds challenging well it is, however as an animator my main contribution to the group will be making the the animated ad. However I would try to help as much as possible in the developing stages of getting a concept and a strategy for marketing.

I am partially excited about this module as I would be working with a range of other visual communication department. I am hoping to gain a lot from my peers as this practice will enhance my teamwork, negotiation and understanding of complimentary practices.

Digbeth Concept and Idea

Okay, so coming up with ideas for the Digbeth project. Well after going out there I came up with a number of ideas for what we could do, some good and some not so good. One idea I came up with was to show two sides of Digbeth. This idea was inspired by a few of the pictures we took. 

The concept was to show Digbeth in two different ways. The gritty, rough side of Digbeth and the new vibrant and lively side of Digbeth. What I wanted to highlight was the two contrast views of Digbeth being an old rundown district against it being a lively media hub.

I discussed this idea further with my group,and we worked on it to make it better and came up with a few more ideas, such as showing how Digbeth life is at night and day. Although we thought the best path to go with this idea was to explore the contrasting architecture in Digbeth, the old Victorian architecture in contrast to modern and contemporary architecture.

Two contrast architecture of the building

  Old building now a library.

 new building

 
 
Brief Plan
 
As we progressed with this idea we now started to discuss how we would structure this it. We had an idea what we wanted to be in our film such as graphics information and narrative.

How we would attempt to do this would be like a journey, first starting outside Digbeth we would travel into Digbeth  stopping at key landmarks and reviewing them with graphics and information about the place, a narrative would be guiding the viewer through. The old historic buildings would be shown drawn sketchy Oppose to the more new modern buildings which would be done with ones and zeros  symbolising  the growth in technology or tron like with lights and effects ( however we had not yet decided). What we hope to achieve from this film, is to have highlighted the different architecture in Digbeth giving the viewer some information about the place and how it makes it unique.

Reference images of style

 Drawing

 neon lights

 ones and zeros

Digbeath on the Map

After going to Digbeth I decided to do a quick search of Digbeath using Google maps. To find out some of the key places in the town.

The key places that were shown were the Custard factory, Bull ring, Market Tavern, Curzon Street Tunnel, The Rainbow (club), Birmingham coach station, Eastside Projects and South Birmingham College.

Digbeth in Pictures

After being given the brief, we decided that it would be good for us to go down to Digbeth and and get a look of what Digbeth was like. The walk from the BIAD campus to Digbeth was around 10 minutes. When we reached, the market and Cathedral (St Martins Church) I was told that we where in Digbeth. The Cathedral was the furthest I had been before.

We decided to go further into Digbeth before we would take any photos. Wondering around Digbeth we look for anything interesting that we could build an idea and a theme around. What we found was some really cool imagery of graffiti, buildings, cars and bridges. Below are some of the best pictures we took.

Research into Digbeth (Heritage)

One of the first things I decided to do was research into Digbeth, and find out a little about its history. As a knew very little about Digbeth, other then the Custard factory. I was hoping by researching into Digbeth's history. I would gain some new ideas learning about Digbeth's  past. 

Widely regarded as the birthplace of Birmingham "Digbeth" was 1st settled upon in the 7th century by Beorma, who is alsothe founder of Birmingham which is Anglo-Saxon for Beorma's  home. The area where  there is a crossing on the River Rea  was the birthplace of what became the city. Historically the land to the west of the river was in the parish of Birmingham. This is Digbeth. The land to the east was in the more significant parish of Aston and is called Deritend. 

It is believe that Digbeth was originally called "Duck's bath"  in reflection of the water supply in the area, it has also been suggested that it came from Dragons breath, referring to air pollution during the industrial revolution.

During the late 19th century Digbeth had become one of the poorest areas in Birmingham. Poor quality houses, many of them in courts of back-to-back tearraces, were interpersed with industry. These  houses would later be demolished. People were moved out of  inadequate housing and the district was redefined as an industry zone.

Westley's 1731 map of Birmingham.

Narrative Construction, Adaptation and Interpretation

My first project in 2nd year is "Narrative Construction, Adaptation and Interpretation", For this task we would be working with the landscape architecture students in a group of three  consisting of one architecture student and two animators. The brief for this assignment was to create an 4-5 minute animation piece centered around a place in Birmingham called " Digbeth", as the brief for this task was pretty open this would give us room to experiment and create something that is hopefully new and original.