In this journal I react and reflect on my most significant posts, those that best represent the process of my work and which instigate the most interesting reflections. Each section is linked to the post it reacts to.
Index:
- How did I get to the world I want to see
- Worries and uncertainties
- Gamification
- History research/Art history research
- My anecdotes
- The first intervention
- Mapping Venice
- Intervention journal summer
- Intervention journal autumn
- Breakthroughs
- Experts
- Conversations with stakeholders
- App design
- The festival piece
How did I get to the world I want to see:
When I started thinking about what worries me in the world, I immediately considered Venice. Being Venetian, to me, this city is a book where stories of art, history, and culture come together for people to share and experience. Although many pages were written in its glorious past, the surviving population keeps adding to the work, trying to keep it afloat for future generations.
Venice is much more than what appears on the various social media, mainstream guides, or the first page of google images. Despite all its underlying problems, and there are many, the Serenissima keeps on living. Many aspects of Venice worried me other than that the one I ultimately opted for (tourism), including the rise of sea levels.
The latter is a consequence of global warming and, thus, a worldwide phenomenon, which operates at a scale way beyond what I thought I could ever affect. I did not feel comfortable tackling such I huge subject, I could not see what I could do to improve the situation and maintained that there are plenty of people way more qualified than I to deal with this. However, in retrospect, I have learned that you can always have an impact as minute as it may be.
Furthermore, I was asking the wrong questions such as: How can I prevent excess water from flooding the city? Instead, I should have led with something like: How can I help minimize the damage? The subject would have immediately become more approachable.
Consequently, I decided to explore the damaging consequences of tourism, which I felt I could have more impact on. Mass tourism is something I have experienced all my life, I have witnessed first-hand the negative impacts it has had on the city as it increased through the years. I think I can pinpoint exactly when my younger self realised that it was a threat to the Venetian culture. My mom used to take me to this little clothing boutique, where they sold high-quality Italian products. We knew the employees quite well so it was nice to visit them whenever I was in Venice on holiday. However, when I returned the next school break we went back to the boutique only to discover that it had been replaced by a commercial candy shop chain, which has spread across the city like wildfire these last couple of years.
This experience put things into perspective and I realised that local businesses were not the priority, tourist attractions were. Thus, I became more attentive to the topographic changes, which adapted Venice to the needs of the tourists while disregarding those of the locals. When I got older, I took an even deeper interest in the subject and worked with a non-profit organisation working towards the preservation of the city (We are Here Venice). There, we fought against the crew ships which threatened the city’s delicate infrastructure, while polluting the air and the fragile lagoon. My time there solidified my understanding of Venice’s problems and showed me that there was space for change.
Therefore, I felt more comfortable choosing mass tourism for this project, while knowing that it is an extremely complex and controversial subject. Of course, I knew that I could not eliminate mass tourism. Tourism, in general, has many positive aspects such as cultural exchange and the flourishing of economies, however, it can be poorly managed, which is when mass tourism becomes damaging. Tourism should help preserve and strengthen host locations but never to the detriment of the locals’ well-being.
When I started this project I had various worries and uncertainties that I knew I would have to face. I worried I would not manage to bring anything new to the discussion, to merely repeat what had already been attempted.
Moreover, due to my shyness and occasional lack of self-confidence, I was terrified to contact people and tell them about the project. I did not want people to judge my work and find it uninteresting or useless. I had to make a big effort to overcome this mental block and get my ideas out there, even when they were met with doubt. This reluctance to communicate was also linked to fear of being illegitimate, to not fully having the right to get involved in Venice’s affairs. This originated from the fact that as I did not grow up there, I sometimes feel like an outsider.
However, I met really supportive people along the way, which helped legitimise my ideas and gain confidence. Although it was difficult at the beginning, I had no options but to start sharing and little by little, as I got used to vocalising my ideas (a little bit like learning a script), which were being refined by interventions, research, and conversations, I became more accustomed to it.
It would be nice to be able to say that I am cured of this difficulty, but it is an ongoing battle. At the time a surpass such block I feel happy and proud but I quickly forget that I am capable of doing it. The answer would be to never stop.
Finding a balance between technology and reality was also challenging and still is. Following primary and secondary research I came to the conclusion that an app would be the best vessel for this project, which I predicted would make it more challenging to promote authenticity while relying heavily on technology. The point is not to have people walking around the city with their eyes fixated on their phones. The aim is to create an immersive exploration of the city. I still wonder if it is the best way to process as, paradoxically, I am an advocate for being less dependent on technology. I do feel it is contradictory to promote authentic experiences with more screen time, but I find it really hard to “disconnect” from the world we are living in. Maybe I chose the easy way out by heavily relying on technology… if in-person interactions had not been reduced by the pandemic I may have tried to develop something more rooted in the real world.
Finally, as I come from an academic background, I worried about app-building. When I started this project I knew nothing about creative software and coding. Fortunately, I contacted experts in the field who agreed to help me. While I am writing this journal I have just started the app creation process. I have many questions and uncertainties, but am really enjoying the design process and creating visual models of what the app will look like.
I wanted to explore gamification because it seemed like a good way to make tourists more interested in the history and culture of the city while engaging with it in a more entertaining way. It is a classic example of learning while having fun. It was interesting to learn about the different elements that turn a normal experience into a game.
I was also really interested in augmented reality to bring to life aspects of Venice, which had decayed or disappeared. This lead me to research photogrammetry and various apps that offered this feature. At this point, I started to get a little ahead of myself, wanting to create a scavenger hunt type of game, which would include interactions with locals and cultural institutions, a very complicated narrative and app design, and the assembling of a knighthood supposed to bring together Venetians and tourists.
Looking back, it would have been really fun to develop what I had in mind if I had more time and a team of people to help. I had a very detailed vision of how the game would work and of the narrative that would have tied it together. I wanted the story to parallel Venice’s current situation even if it was set in another era, which would have educated the tourists about the problem without coming across as preachy.
Through the story of the ghost of a murdered merchant, a cursed object, and a knighthood, I wanted tourists to feel like they had a stake in Venice, and that they would join the fight for its preservation.
A better format for this idea would have been a straight on video game with a clear quest and characters (not something realistic to create), or an elaborate real-life/role play game event, where actors are hired to re-enact the story and help players throughout the adventure (again the scale was too big).
However, I was so sure about the direction I wanted to follow that I mistakenly jumped into it before having done a sufficient amount of research and testing. When I got to Venice, I realised that my expectations were unrealistic and that I had to re-adjust my project to finish the course with something presentable.
Furthermore, there were various aspects of this game that could become problematic. For instance, playing a game that involves excitement and time constraints may have distracted tourists from the city’s history, while perhaps causing inappropriate behaviour in places where respect must be shown (ex: churches, museums). Keeping all this in mind, in addition to various other factors, I decided to change how I was going to use gamification. Instead of telling users where to go and what to do while unambiguously playing a game, they would, instead, be able to walk around lead by their explorative instincts and will be rewarded by information charged notification whenever they drift away from the tourist routes, which will help them learn more about the city. I realised that, sometimes, less is more and do not necessarily have to come up with something huge in order to have an impact. My previous interactive scavenger hunt idea was stressing me out and felt like it would crush me. Hence, I went for something more manageable but, which still has something to bring to the table, hopefully. Putting too much pressure and one’s shoulders is not necessarily productive nor the catalyst to one’s best work.
History research/Art history research:
Since my project heavily relies on history and culture, I had to have a good understanding of Venice’s history. I did a lot of reading to absorb as much interesting information as possible. I had the opportunity to learn a great amount about Venice, which inspired me even more and made me feel closer to my roots. There is a particular medieval tradition I came across, which profoundly touched me “The Doge’s marriage to the sea”. Indeed, when a new Doge (ruler of Venice) was appointed, he was to sail into the Adriatic, pray and throw a ring into the water to symbolize the union between the city and the sea.
I find this tradition very poetic and a perfect representation of Venice’s fusional relationship with the sea and the lagoon. This is the sort of anecdote that I want to share with people, to convey that there is much more to Venice than Saint Mark’s square and the Rialto bridge.
When it comes to art history research, when I still wanted to build an interactive narrative-based game experience, I thought to provide the history of certain art pieces, while “hiding” clues within them in order to feed the “scavenger hunt” game.
As I am passionate about art history, I was very excited to use the contents and history of some Venetian art pieces to enrich the narrative and create an adventure. Thus, I looked for specific details and symbolism in the artworks that could be somehow linked to the rest of the, although I was not sure which locations were going to end up on the tour for sure.
I am a little sad that in the final rendition of my project there will not be any detailed explanations of important artworks as the app is meant to encourage tourists to enter cultural institutions, not showcase everything that can be found within. Furthermore, it would have been impossible to explain every single piece of artwork from every stop on the map.
The history/art history research is what allowed me to write some of the anecdotes that appear on the map. These are the sort of things that tourists will read when they receive a notification. The anecdotes are organised into 3 main categories: the anecdotes that refer to specific elements of Venice’s topography ex a church, the ones that are about random facts about the city’s history, and finally nudges to visit certain artisan shops.
They evolved throughout my interventions as I got feedback from my stakeholders. They started as quite dry and bulky pieces of text to more engaging and easy-to-digest messages for the users. Initially, I found it challenging to make the anecdotes accessible, interesting, and engaging. I wanted to keep everything in instead of filtering out information. I finally managed to make them sound more narrative-like instead of a mere retelling of facts. Having my stakeholders read them out loud really helped me with this as I could see what was boring, poorly structured, or incomprehensible.
Furthermore, the number of anecdotes increased as experts and locals advised me to add new places and interesting histories. I had the opportunity to exchange many times with a Venice historian, who helped me find unique features of the city, such as the various houses composer Vivaldi lived in throughout his life. Although my time with this expert was extremely valuable, it would have been interesting to have contacted more historians to get additional perspectives, ideas, and advice to complement my research.
Reflections about tourism:
(This a stand alone section, which reflects on some of the the reading I have done, which can be found in my bibliography, and the experience I have acquired).
I have a much better understanding of tourism now than when I started. I combined my primary research, personal experience and secondary research to form my opinion ,and reflections about the subject. I series of authors have greatly helped me in my research. For instance, Erik Cohen’s paper title titled The Sociology of Tourism: Approaches, Issues, and Findings (1984) conveys some very interesting views.
The author talks about ‘staged tourist spaces’, where the staged authenticity of a location prevents mass tourists from experiencing real culture. This idea is perfectly reflected in Venice where routes are highly manufactured and adapted to tourism, overshadowing expressions of the true city. Moreover, Cohen references MacCannel’s conception of tourism as the modern equivalent of a religious pilgrimage. The idea is that people need to travel elsewhere in order to witness marks of authenticity, which they believe their culture does not possess, and which have become sacred.
I find this idea fascinating in a world where we tend to romanticise other people’s lives, especially through social media. It is true that tourists idealise host locations and sometimes believe they will find what they lack in their life or themselves on their journey. Could this mindset be facilitating making excuses for why we are not happy? I can see why it is easier to observe other people in the hopes of experiencing positive realisations such as an epiphany, rather than looking inward and making changes in our lives/reality.
I am not trying to say that escapism is wrong, or that praising other cultures and locations is problematic, I do it all the time, but believe that it is important to appreciate what we have and see the beauty and authenticity that surrounds us.
Although it can be destructive when badly managed, tourism is vital to the well-functioning of the world economy. It has contributed to the survival of certain cultures and keeps bringing people together by broadening their horizons. However, there are types of tourism that are more beneficial and respectful than others. In Venice, cultural tourists represent the smallest percentage of tourists and yet are the most profitable group by far. Of course, most spend one or more nights in the city and thus spend more money, but have an appreciation of the city that is usually not present in day tourists.
It is common that host locations are perceived by day tourists as movie sets, facades that do not have any deeper levels, or that only exist for tourists’ benefit. They come with the intention of seeing marks of culture without truly engaging with it. Most artisans and locals I spoke to conveyed that there was a true lack of curiosity and sometimes respect in that particular group. It is undeniable that there is a wedge between tourists and locals although they depend from each other.
Consequently, through this project, I wanted to transfer some of the traits found in cultural tourists to day tourists. Perhaps it is very presumptuous of me to want to make this change, but it is my way of trying to revalue some of the tourism in Venice. Inspire a group to seek more, instead of settling for less. It would also be wrong to assume that everybody can afford cultural tourism or even know that cultural tourism is an option, but there is always hope to encourage someone towards that direction.
I believe that tourism becomes damaging and too invasive once the topography of the host location dramatically changes to benefit the tourists, for instance replacing local shops with cheap souvenir shops. Of course, local municipalities and governments are the ones to blame for poor tourism management, while the tourists should become more aware that their presence affects the places they visit and, thus, act in consequence.
When I did this first intervention I was still exploring the interactive scavenger hunt idea so I decided to design a fake website that outlines my game idea. The imaginary platform was called “Knights of Venice”. I had designed 6 detailed pages to showcase my idea. Although I think the execution was quite good (for a non-designer), as mentioned before, I was too quick to jump into this sphere, I had built an entire world without doing the proper testing first or considering other options. I had complete tunnel vision. Although at this stage, I should have kept an open mind, I don’t regret this intervention as it helped me see certain limitations and I genuinely enjoyed creating an adventurous and magical game.
One of the reasons I was so attached to this version of the project was because of the “Knights of Venice”, which were an order from the past that appeared in the narrative. The aim was that people who played the game would have the opportunity to join them and somehow get involved in the preservation of the city. This idea came from primary research where I found out tourist psychology. A way to make tourists respect the host location is to make them feel like they have a stake, that they are involved more than an ordinary tourist. Hence, making them knights of the city would have been a fun way to include them further and perhaps inspire them to come back. This is a layer that the current iteration of my project does not tackle as well, which is a shame, but I was forced to make decisions, it is impossible to fix everything.
I am genuinely interested in the local-tourist dynamic and wish it could be improved, indeed in Venice, there is a lot of animosity between the two groups, which only fuel the fire.
Finally, the “Knights of Venice” were inspired by the knights of the order of Saint Mark, which was the only knighthood in Venice. It was dismantled in the 18th century when the Republic of Venice fell. I wanted to bring back some of their story to life and create a sense of community in the city.
Mapping Venice was a key component of my project, as I needed a good understanding of the areas I wanted to explore. I started the process online while still in London and created various routes containing landmarks that I considered to be off the beaten track. Although this helped me learn about certain places, when I arrived in Venice, I realised that the routes did not translate well in real-life. It was a little stressful at the time because I felt lost and struggled to conduct interventions because everything looked different from my online maps. However, it made me understand that ground research was going to be my best friend. The explorative part of the project thus began.
It is quite interesting to see that what I did in order to gather all the information for the app, is exactly what I want the users to do…explore. I walked at least 15 km every day and made my way through back allies, forgotten squares, and hidden gems. It really was the best part of the project. I discovered a side of Venice that I never expected (and I have visited the city thousands of times). It was a lot of work, long days, note-taking, picture taking, getting lost sometimes, but ultimately, the more I spent time in the streets the more I felt connected to my roots.
Most of my interventions during the summer involved taking stakeholders around Venice. It was lovely to share my research with people, especially when they were discovering the city for the first time. I was nervous before each intervention because I wanted to create a suitable experience for those who took the time to help me with my project, I was also seeking their validation and could not bear to disappoint. As I accumulated interventions, I realised that it is normal to have things going wrong, especially in the early stages, as those instances made me learn the most. It was not necessary to put so much pressure on myself and I finally started to enjoy the process.
I think that the interventions helped my project evolve positively, as it started as a very complicated augmented reality game experience and became something way more manageable, which could still have a meaningful impact.
Interacting with different individuals, I learned a lot about what people look for in a tourist experience. Travellers like to feel special like they are part of a secret club that will give them access to special information. They also often need a little nudge to get out of their comfort zone and explore certain things, especially when buying a ticket is involved. I think that in a city like Venice one becomes overwhelmed by its surroundings, too many stimuli, and confusion brought by a unique environment, which are intensified by time constraints, particularly the problem of day tourists.
I kept a note of all the recommendations given by stakeholders, some featured on the app, but ultimately, I had to keep in mind that it is impossible to please everyone. Although taking into consideration people’s feedbacks is extremely fruitful to a project, the risk lies in losing its original essence. Thus, it is key to compromise. For instance, the first time a stakeholder mentioned developing an audio version, I was a little on the fence about it, as the stakeholder was suggesting that she would walk around with her earphones on at all times. There was something a little off about discovering Venice by being disconnected from its sounds. However, this idea kept coming up in people’s suggestions and I started warming up to the thought. It is true that being able to look up at a structure while receiving vocal information about it is a good way to immerse oneself. It is not for nothing that museums use audio guides…
On the other hand, a “nudge feature” was suggested to me in case users were struggling to find the right spots with anecdotes. I decided not to add to my list of possible features as it went against the principles of my project. I did not want people to keep their eyes on the map at all times trying to find the stops. Having a “nudge feature” would suggest that the app works like a Gps, which it does not. One is supposed to follow their explorative instincts and be rewarded with an interesting piece of information for it. There is no set route, one must walk freely.
There are many ways I could have improved these interventions. For instance, most stakeholders had already quite a prominent interest in culture and history, what if I had tried them on someone less inclined to be interested in these things, would my anecdotes be accessible to them? Would they be bored and skip all of them (or at least the longer ones?). Furthermore, testing my interventions with a greater number of people would have been a great way to consolidate my findings. For instance, I could have been bolder and have created a filmed event with a group of people to see how the idea works with assemblies. It is a shame I did not think about it this summer, although I suspect that my shyness may have prevented me from going through with it.
Over the summer I also worked on a different style of intervention, which was movie-based. I worked on the creation of a promotional video to see how a wider range of stakeholders reacts to the idea. There were various elements to this media that I was not familiar with: filming, editing sound, and image etc. Luckily I was helped by a friend (for filming) and by a designer (for editing). I am glad to have chosen this format as I was able to acquire new skills (how to use aftereffects, how to structure and advert), moreover, it was lovely to learn how to translate the beauty of the city onto film. It also allowed me to solidify the relationship I had with a couple of artisans as I asked them if they could demonstrate some of their craft for the camera. We talked about my project, about their experience as Venice artisans, about tourism etc. It was incredible to see the traditional technique to make Venetian paper and to see that despite the difficulties, these people are passionate about what they are doing and hold on tight to their craft.
I was happy to see that the video was well received by the stakeholders, which understood the idea most of the time. It was very encouraging to see comments saying that the app should be applied to all historical cities, although I think that it is most compatible with mainly pedestrian environments.
Most of the criticism came from the quality of the video, writing difficult to read or lacking some aspects are more professional productions. If I could do it again I would make the production more professional, dedicating more time to the planning and getting people with movie-making experience to help. I would also get someone to replace me on the video as I did not particularly like being filmed.
This may be something I should work on as, for some reason, on some level, I did not want my face to be associated with the project. This must come from my shyness and preference to remain discreet and work behind the scenes. Wishing to distance myself thus from my project was a way to protect myself from people’s judgement, especially if I fail. Therefore, it is key that I keep working on my self-confidence and stop fearing to endorse my ideas. I am happy that I made efforts in that regard and feel like there is an improvement since the start of the project.
There was one comment left by a stakeholder, which reinforced doubts I already had and which have also been expressed by my tutor. The remark is that If the app becomes popular, it may attract too many people in the quiet areas, which will become crowded making the selling point obsolete. This scenario is in the eventuality that the app becomes extremely popular and that most day tourists decide to use, which is very unlikely. In Venice, there are tour apps where users can see what sort of museums are around, that does not mean that said museums are overcrowded with people, on the contrary, most are quite quiet. The aim of the project is not to make everyone visit these under-explored areas but to inspire a few people to seek a more cultural way of experiencing the city. The success of the app will not be measured in numbers but whether a user has gone through the city in a way that they would not normally have (away from the tourist routes) and learned something about Venice.
But if we go along with the hypothesis that tourists in great numbers will migrate to the areas advertised by the app, their number will spread out more evenly throughout the city, which means that the usual tourist routes will become more manageable and there may be more space for authentic experiences to reclaim the spaces that had been taken by low quality and inauthentic experiences.
This was my final intervention where I wanted to test design ideas for the app with my stakeholders. I wanted to see with them what the map of Venice could look like and whether there should be an option to choose a “recommended route”, which came up a few times over the summer.
I was able to see what colour palettes they enjoyed the most for the app, but I also got pointed out by my tutor that I may have unintentionally manipulated people’s answers by having the answer I wanted appear first on the page. I knew I wanted more people to choose the “explore Venice freely” option as my project revolves around the idea that free exploration is more compatible with Venice’s urban landscape. The “recommended route” option I was sceptical about because it goes back to the concept of the controlled route which I moved away from. Therefore, the design “Explore Venice freely” came first, which may have influenced the participants.
I really wanted to stay true to my core idea and not start having some additional options that went against in order to attract more people or to make the potential business idea somehow more profitable. I will try to be more scientific in my future endeavours.
I think it would have been nice to test more elements of the app design like the overall colour palette of different styles of logo. Nonetheless, the intervention helped me see that the current palette was quite cold and boring. Therefore, it gave me the idea to find colours that would authentically reflect the atmosphere of the city, which I talk about in more detail in the app design section.
There were several instances during this project, which helped me move forward in a significant way. The most interesting part is seeing how it has evolved. Indeed, it started as an interactive narrative-based game with set routes to transition into an exploration-based app. Many factors made me change my mind such as: wanting to address too many issues, tourist time constraints, logistics, difficult Venetian and tourist involvement etc.
There was one particular interaction, which made me question everything and pushed me towards the version of the project that exists today. I approached a group of artisans that work in the same shop to present my project to them and see if they would be interested. Unfortunately…. or fortunately they were not, and had quite a defensive reaction to it, as they seemed to have an aversion for day tourists or for tourists that come into the shop without buying anything. Although I understood how irritating crowds of people can be, especially when they lack respect for the locals and the city, I found them incredibly snobbish about their craft. They were only interested in people that spend in their shop and not about those who had questions about their craft. They had absolutely no concept of sharing, which was enhanced by the fact that refused to plan workshops because they did not want to interact with people.
At the time, this was extremely disappointing to me as they were the first artisans I spoke to. I felt like I was being talked down at during the entire interaction and left completely discouraged. However, it revealed to me that I was putting too much pressure on myself and highlighted the problematic elements mentioned previously. However, instead of moping I worked on finding a solution as soon as I got home. I must admit that I was not against the idea of finding a way to minimise people’s direct involvement, which was central to my previous version.
I kind of wanted to help the city without necessarily needing to ask for permission or to spend too much time and energy convincing everyone I wanted to get involved to be part of the project (locals can be very difficult). Furthermore, since I was now questioning everything, I realised that by creating routes, I was mirroring the system of the tourist routes, which I was trying to avoid. Hence, I started exploring a non-linear alternative.
Luckily, I did find some supportive artisans as well, which helped consolidate my primary research by sharing their personal experiences with me and to practice presenting my ideas to other people. Talking to people was the best way to gain confidence and to improve how to convey ideas. As at the beginning of the adventure I was more comfortable talking about my project in English since this is the language I used to frame and structure it, on a few occasions I must have miscommunicated certain things while conversing in Italian. Two experts were under the impression that I wanted to get rid of or control mass tourism, which is absolutely not the case. I found that when I use strong words with certain people (mass tourism, unprofitable, problematic etc), they develop an extreme perception of what my project aims to do. Perhaps I should have been more measured with my words, however, I still find it important not to dilute the message trying not to sound too radical.
I understood the importance of ground research and how key it was for me to be in Venice while working on this project. Although I have been to Venice many times, I investigated areas that were not familiar to me, which often made me get lost. Relating the loss of the physical self to the one of the researcher, I found the significance of such a feeling. One needs to lose one’s bearings in order to discover something new and exciting. I am, therefore, grateful to have experienced moments of confusion in the city and my project. This made me consider new approaches, ideas, and places, which may have remained hidden from me had I not been so disoriented. For instance, I would not have found most of the artisans that appear on the app.
I was very fortunate that all the experts that I contacted made my project grow in one way or another. Although sometimes scary, talking to stakeholders helped validate my work and add crucial elements that I would not have been able to provide on my own. For instance, I am indebted to the experts that helped me with the technological side of the process as my experience in it was very limited. I was taught adobe illustrator, photoshop, and AfterEffect by an architect, which I used in my last interventions to create design options, in my app promotion video, and to give visual support to the software engineer helping me develop the app.
I also attempted to learn to code and to use Unity game design software, which I found very interesting but completely draining and similar to learning a new language. Nonetheless, it showed me the work that goes into each digital project, which is immense and I definitely found a new appreciation for those that belong to this sphere. In the beginning, I thought that by learning game design basics, I could make the app myself, but it was too difficult for me and the time-constrained did not help. I had to learn how to delegate. I was relieved to find a software engineer willing to help me. I was able to focus more on the design, which is an aspect I really enjoy, while the development was done by a professional. Fortunately, I also had the opportunity to get involved by completing small tasks to speed up the process, such as recreating the map I had imagined on a software compatible Unity game design software.
I also spoke with local experts, which had a good knowledge of Venice’s inner workings (a city planning councillor and a university professor). Although one was incredibly pessimistic about Venice’s situation, as he has witnessed how any attempts to install change failed, which did not really help me feel confident about what I was doing. I found that there are many people in Venice who have lost hope of seeing it rise again, especially the older generations, who are stuck in memories of the past. It is difficult for them to visualise something better for the future, which really saddens me. Fortunately, there are some young people who try to find ways to keep the city alive, including a non-profit called Venice Calls. When I was in Venice, I was supposed to have a conversation with its founder but it did not end happening, which is a shame. It would have been really nice to associate somehow perhaps, although it is too late now to achieve something meaningful before the deadlines I think I would still like to contact him after the course finishes to see if we can work something out together.
The travel agent and the historian I contacted gave me some new material to explore for the app and made me appreciate the city even more thanks to their knowledge. It was lovely to see that although they live in the city all year long, they still look at it with wonder and amazement. The historian had an analogy for Venice that will stay with me forever. She said that Venice is like a rock star who has already proved everything and does not need to put much effort into their looks, as people will still be entranced by their music and their persona. Here she refers to what the Romantics in the 19th century loved about Venice, its architectural decadence. As long as the building does not fall into pieces it is ok to have a little paint coming off here and there, it is now part of the citie’s personality. I agree with this image, although I do not think we should only rely on what was established by its glorious past, but instead look at ways to optimise it and bring new opportunities to assure a more dynamic future. Let’s just hope that this Rockstar has many more centuries to go.
Conversations with stakeholders:
These one 2 ones were my preferred mode of gathering information as it is a good way of getting honest opinions and widening one’s network. There were all done in real-life, which after months of Covid was refreshing to see people. I have to say that I am very proud of this section as it really forced me to get out of my comfort zone to go talk to strangers. Each time before setting out, I did feel nervous but after the first interaction I felt more comfortable and the rest scared me less.
Here as well, I did have an unpleasant conversation with a museum manager who did not like me asking questions about how the museum was doing. The lady was extremely condescending and basically told me to go through a long and complicated process to get information. Her reaction surprised me because I was having very informal conversations with the staff and was not trying to get specific numbers or compromising statistics. Thankfully, this was the last museum I was going to approach so it did not scare me from contacting other cultural institutions. What I did learn from this is that I could have gotten some more reliable information about the museums I visited, if I had gone through a more formal process (if they had been willing to share their data with me). At the time, I liked the idea of being spontaneous and getting information quickly, which works, but it would have been good to also have contacted people higher up.
These conversations also confirmed that the app could be beneficial for many stakeholders (tourists and locals) as they both confirmed some ideas that I had researched and tried to impact with my project. For instance, some of the tourists I interviewed were loving Venice but were a little overwhelmed and unsure of where they should go and what they should do. Most also agreed that their ideal tourist experience does not include any other tourist but them, which parallels what I am trying to achieve (encourage people to see what is less mainstream).
I must admit that when I visit a place I tend to wish there were less tourists around and less low-quality targeted businesses (although I understand they make the livelihood of many people). Because of my Venice experience, I recognise very well unauthentic tourist attractions and it puts me off. On the other hand, I understand that sometimes finding familiar places in foreign countries such as a cafe chain you really enjoy, can feel reassuring, however, it is wrong to completely change the topography of a location to benefit the tourists as this truly affects authenticity. A balance should be maintained and local businesses should be prioritised. Venice is too reliant on tourism, it should expand its horizons and explore other ways to make a profit such as education, environmental study, start-ups etc.
I am currently in the process of developing the app (OffzTrack). I have been enjoying the design process as it allows me to explore a side of creativity that was absent in my academic background. Having had to research other apps for inspiration, I have become more appreciative of the design work behind them. Since we use our phones so much nowadays, it is like we are living through the eyes of people who are designing our lives. Everything is made to be efficient, accessible, aesthetic.
These thoughts take me back to (worries and uncertainties) where I question whether relying on technology is necessarily the best way of promoting authenticity. I tend to find apps quite dry and feel conflicted about adding to the lot, it feels like there are already apps for anything and everything. It is quite overwhelming. Anyways, this research helped me understand how to structure my app.
I got the opportunity to further practice my adobe illustrator skills by creating a mock-up of what I am envisioning the app to look like. It was not easy coming up with something comprehensive and intuitive as I tend to over-complicate things sometimes. I also questioned the colour palette that should be used as in my previous interventions I went for a dark purple and white, which I cannot really justify and find rather cold.
When it comes to any visual representation, colours are key and I wanted to them convey Venice’s authenticity. Thus, I chose the 5 colours that best reflect the city as they can be found anywhere. I really think it injected life into the visuals and made me more excited about the development of the app. Using colour is a little intimidating as whenever I do something creative such as drawing, collaging, photography, I prefer to stick to black and white. It always felt like emotions were emphasised because of the harsh contrast between the two colours, and felt uneasy when having to use a wider palette. However, this project needs to appeal to many different people, and I wanted to create warmth, which is not compatible with my usual style.
Having someone to help me develop the app is greatly appreciated and teaches me how to collaborate with someone. I need to be on point and provide any information he requires and be to communicate what I want efficiently. I also need to learn how to manage my expectations and accept what is feasible, especially when the process is going a little slower than I would like it to. I am quite organised so I can get frustrated when it is not always reflected in the people I work with. In this case, I don’t have much control over the tech side so I must make my peace with it and I do what I can to keep it all going while maintaining a good work atmosphere. I feel the best when I can help on the tech side because it I feel more useful and productive. For instance, I learned how to use a new map design site to recreate the map I had imagined on adobe illustrator.
Working with audio gives an entirely new dimension to the project. Adding an audio version to the app had been advised by numerous stakeholders throughout out my interventions. I chose an English native speaker to lend his voice, as we had previously worked together. I think it was a great choice his tone really brought to life my writing, however, I had an interesting conversation with my tutor about the possible lack of authenticity in not having a local speak the texts. I completely understand the reasoning and would have loved to have a local get involved, however, language gets in the way. Indeed, when one is conveying information, the diction needs to be very clear especially since it must be assumed that some of the people who will be listening to the recordings will not have English as their first language. Unfortunately, most Venetians do not have a good enough level of English to carry out this task. Furthermore, I was looking for someone who had experience in theatre or media to make the intonation sound more professional. In the future, it would be wonderful to have locals record their own suggestions for users, perhaps in addition to the main recordings as a more informal piece of advice.
Following my last meeting with the software engineer, I can see that things are really coming along. He recreated almost perfectly what I had designed, which I am very grateful for. I can see all the months of research and conceptualising coming to life and it is reducing my stress levels.
As it is a prototype, there are a few features that I had imaged that will not appear on the app. For instance, being able to take a photo at the geolocated spot and share it on the app, to create a spirit of community and to increase the fun. Furthermore, the setting page will not be as detailed as I would have liked, with options to enable and disable notifications but for the purpose of this project, what I will deliver will give a clear idea of my thinking process, and aim.
I was told by the engineer that installing the geolocation feature to this prototype would take longer and would need further on-site testing (in Venice). Therefore, for the sake of this “first attempt”, we came up with an alternative. We can move a virtual character with a joystick, the character hovers over an icon and the anecdote appears.
Although it is disappointing not to finish the course with a perfect product, this alternative is still a good compromise for now as it mimics the initial geolocation plan while allowing the app to work everywhere, not only Venice specifically. It will make testing easier.
On a more positive note, the engineer I am working with had some really good design ideas to make the app user-friendly, like having the logo and the explore button gradually fill up on the loading page.
He also came up with the idea that in the archive the anecdotes that have already been seen by the user should be discoloured to make it more obvious. Since he has this technical knowledge and knows what can be done, he has an eye for these details. This is why it is fruitful to work with people from all sorts of backgrounds and not to be scared to reach out to experts, they can really help.
For the festival I wanted to create something artistic and mature that accurately represented my project, knowing that we were encouraged to showcase the process and emotion found in our work. I’ve always been fascinated by maps and how they unnaturally define what belongs to whom and establish differences amongst people while paradoxically mirroring the body’s blood vessel system as if they were alive. In the past, I have created several collages with many different types of maps, which emphasised chaos, confusion and dream.
It is only while writing these words that I realise how much my captivation of maps has shaped my project, there is at one map in every single blog post and I have spent countless days walking around Venice trying to map it. Although they help us clarify the world, I believe them to be unidimensional, showing only what they want to show, controlling one’s experience from their sky view. It is super ironic for me to say that since I am still exercising control over users telling them what is worth noticing, even though there is a very humane sort of research behind this advice….
But it is precisely because maps do not show everything that one has to explore for themselves and interact with their surroundings, which is also what I am trying to promote. I think there is a strong duality in everything that we do and perfection is impossible to achieve even with the purest intentions.
Therefore, for the festival piece I wanted to reflect some of the chaos found in maps while conveying the different categories in the app, which highlight the culture and history that exist beyond the tourist routes. Designing different layers seems to be a good way to show different elements that can be looked at individually (interesting but chaotic) or as a whole (a map of Venice).
Thus, as part of the physical show, I would like to exhibit an installation comprising 3 parts:
- A stylised version of the tourist routes printed on a white piece of paper
- 5 layers of transparent sheets (each with a different design) that will hang or be held in front of the map
- A screen showing a demonstration of the app
I am thinking of having each layer (minus the piece of paper with the routes) display a piece of the city free of the tourist routes to symbolise how much more Venice has to offer. It is also a way to fragment the city to show that it is chaotic, complicated, and not so easily mapped. To enhance the feeling of discomfort, I would like the tourist routes to look like cancer plaguing the city, which is quite extreme but is how many locals, myself included, view the crowds. This image goes back to the idea that maps can have a strange organic feel to them, which can mirror implicit and explicit problems.
This is also why I wanted to work with black and white (plus see-through) as the contrast between these colours is really good for conveying emotion. Furthermore, since I am also thinking about adding elements of old Venetian maps to the layers, these colours reflect quite well the aesthetic of some old monochromatic prints.
Superposing elements of old maps, which also relate to the categories on the app, is a way to parallel the old and the new. It shows that Venice is still looking after its history but at the same time developing its future, finding new ways to channel tourism by making history and culture more accessible.
I have a pretty good idea of how everything is going to look like, but the real difficulty is how I am going to display this installation, which is detailed in the blog post.
To represent the church category on the installation’s layer, I thought to trace bell towers roof designs. The idea is to refer back to places of worship without being too obvious and cheesy, but creative and authentic. With an architecture software I was able to collect sky views of Venice bell towers. There is something beautiful about architectural shapes viewed from the sky. They can create forms and patterns, which we would not suspect just by seeing them from the ground. Their aesthetic interest encourages me to add them to the piece as I would like each layer to be intriguing as an individual, as each category has its own elements making it unique.
Then, to symbolise the historical fact category, I decided to add old-styled ships to the layer, as on vintage maps, Venice was mostly represented with countless ships, boats and gondolas in its lagoon. These elements are a staple of Venetian culture and reflect the information shared by the historical facts on the map. Indeed, ships highlight Venice’s supremacy over the sea, its mighty empire, its trading power, and its life and dynamism. It is a way to show how much there is behind the Venice we know today.
For the legend category, I wanted to add something mystical that can also be found in old maps. As sea monsters are sometimes represented in cartography, I thought that I could add one to my interpretation of Venice. I just had to decide what sort of creature. Remembering that one of the legends featuring on the app is about a mermaid, I decided to go with that. I like the idea of having a character from one of the stories I research to make an appearance on the installation as it ties everything together quite nicely. I just hope that having such elements won’t make the final product too cheesy or inharmonious as I am combining different styles.