3-6-5 Project, Amy Style

So, we've all seen/heard of examples of different types of 3-6-5 projects, photo-a-day, sketch-a-day, a collection-a-day, etc. etc. I've always found it really interesting and amazing that people are able to maintain the discipline to keep their projects going all year. Inspired by the various unique 3-6-5 projects I've seen, I've decided that this coming year I will begin one of my own. I've been thinking about what I want to do for the last few weeks. I didn't want to do just a general photo/sketch a day because I find that the most challenging part is figuring out what to take a picture of or what exactly to draw. That can lead to images of mundane things like your dog every other day, or spoons sitting on the table. I'm sure your dog is cute and the spoons do look interesting, but I just don't feel the meaning in that. I'm also a big "theme" person, so I wanted my project to be more specific. This is what I came up with:

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a VERY obsessive nature. When I find something I like, I REALLY LIKE IT. A LOT. This past term I discovered one way to take an obsession and turn it into something useful (instead of something that just distracts me from other important/necessary things). In the year 2012 I will document one obsession for the day and accompany it with some kind of creation. To keep myself on track and guided I've come up with a few rules.

Rules:
1. One obsession per day. This can be as general as "cats" or as specific as "the dress Betty Draper wore in Episode 3 of Season 2 of Mad Men".
2. I must tweet about the obsession. This will require me to express myself in at least a sentence or two.
3. Each obsession must be accompanied by something visual. This can be a photograph, vector illustration, collage, sketch in my sketchbook, word-web, etc, etc. The whole point of this project is to exercise my creative muscles and express myself visually.
4. I can't repeat any obsessions. At the end of the year I want to have 365 different ones!
5. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!

Here it is

Wow, no update in almost a month? You are great at running your blog Amy! Sarcasm and the 3rd person! My brain is clearly fried, but here is why!!! I've mentioned before that I took Information Design this term, and let me tell you, it is TIME CONSUMING! We all did a term long project of our choosing. The only requirements were that we picked a topic and included 8-10 levels of information. Other than that you could literally do ANYTHING you wanted. So I decided to take my Nirvana fandom to the next level and just do all my projects, including this term long, on them. I made a fan tour guide/kit called The 8 Fold Path to Nirvana. Collateral included a map/brochure, interactive travel journal, buttons, and postcards, all housed in a custom made box.
More Photos Here
Why Info Design is so time consuming:
You are taking on both a creative and intellectual endeavor. In fact, you are taking the two and combining them, but also combining them in a way that is hopefully comprehendible by the "general public". This term I've learned to fully immerse myself in a project in a new way. Not only do I need to really just know what I'm trying to make, but I also need to become some level of expert on it. Researching your subject, researching other subjects that are similar, researching styles that match your vision, etc., etc. You have to find your prospective and accurately portray it visually and clearly. It is definitely challenging. I've found that I really appreciate info-graphics and find them fascinating, but perhaps they aren't my forte. Clearly articulating information visually is difficult (very difficult for me!) and I think, a gift. I'm sure with more practice I'll get better at it, but I still feel like maybe it isn't what I'll be doing for a job.
Something I did find I enjoy is making little interactive booklets. I love the idea of taking one single subject and packing a bunch of fun factoids and interact-ables about it into a mini-sized booklet!

Winter Break Plans: Have fun listening to Notorious B.I.G. Pandora, collaging to my heart's content, making interactive Scout Books, reading more rock star biographies, sleeping, etc.