#18 - Final Output

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After hours in the studio I came home with all of the materials of my final process. I was left with 20 floating pages of contract that I had to arrange somehow. I decided to go back to my idea of a contract given to you by your human resources department and I hole punched the edge and strung binder rings through it. I wanted to make it an official package and evoke office supplies.

Below is my final package. I am very happy with it. I believe it evokes the concept of a utopian contract and evokes the idea of a nation state using only primary colors like red blue and yellow.

#17 - Final Design File

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To get an overall composition of my constitutional contract I have provided the final design file of it. I tried to combine classical images with modern thick strokes. As you can see the entire file is in gray scale. That is not the way the final output turned out. The Riso printer needs everything in black and white with different variations of transparency because the color is decided by the machine.

#16 - Riso Printing

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After my two introductory courses on how to use the Riso printer I started on my process of printing my final output. I bought paper, I chose the thickest weight to emphasize the contract’s importance as a constitution. I then edited all of my files to the correct format that the printer needs. In the Riso case, I had to export every layer one by one. One color is one layer and the template or “Master” must manually be changed every color and for every new page of printing. In my 20 page contract I made 28 masters and the whole thing took four hours to print. I came out of the process with five copies of every page.

I was pleasantly surprised I did not make an error. However I was kept on my toes because every error cost 1 and a half pounds to re-print. In some cases I smudged my ink but I later was able to remove them with a hard eraser.

I was incredibly careful in the studio because I was reminded of all of the times I worked in the studio in undergrad and had to pay attention to detail in order not to damage any material. Overall I loved being in the studio it did feel like my comfort zone.

#15 - Job Class Logos

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As I restarted my logo research for the job classifications I decided to research logos, or symbols, from history. I specifically looked at symbols used in academia throughout the ages and what I was drawn to was the symbols for periodic table elements.

I liked incorporating these symbols because one of the founding philosophies of Lux Antrum is to embrace the scientific method which was popularized in the Enlightenment era. It advocated that all theories should be tested using existing science and proven so that others can do the same and agree on the outcome. In a modern world filled with conspiracy theories such as the earth being flat it irks me that many people have stopped accepting the scientific method and that there are universal truths tested and verified with science over and over again.

I began exploring the periodic elements and seeing if I could assign meaning based on my 5 parties of job classifications. I quickly found some really good connections. I chose Oxygen for the group of doctors and everyone dealing with humans. I chose gold for the artists for obvious reasons. I chose silver for the literature academics as the more popular element that is the foundation of much of our world. I chose platinum for the production specialists because it is a very common material used for jewelry and other such products. Lastly I chose magnesium for the technology group because magnesium is a common element used in making computers and other electronics.

#14 - Research for Job Class Logos

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One of the first concepts I came up with was the 5 party job classification structure because I thought it would be a cool world to belong to a group of society and be known as specialists in that field. I knew I wanted them to be similar to a sports team or a university with a mascot and logo so I did some research on how to make their logos.

I wanted each group to have more than just a logo, I wanted them to have an associated image or idea that could be a physical representation of their class. My first idea was to assign them elements such as water, the sun, fire, earth etc. I liked that they were all cohesive with one another and they all symbolized being essential to a working environment.

However, I ultimately decided against using these logos and this symbolism because I felt it was too obscure to match up a fundamental earthly element to a job classification.

#13 - Final Output Research

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I began to think about how to print my constitutional contract and I was envisioning using a printing press in order to honor the time period I drew my Enlightenment philosophy from. However I realized since this nation state is born in the modern world and that since I am focusing on a social issue as modern as the modern work force I should use the Risograph printer. I thought it was a symbolic because the Risograph was a printer born for the corporate world but is now being repurposed for art.

Next I went into some deep research about what fonts are the most legible and are most likely for someone to keep reading. I did this because I found it essential that whoever is applying to live in my nation state read this contract and retain every detail. I didn’t want a contract that people glance at and just sign.

Some of the research I found was… A good design means that the typeface is pleasing to look at, yet doesn’t call attention to itself. Typical characteristics of a legible typeface include open counters (the space on the inside of the letters), a large x-height (the distance between the baseline and the top of the letters’ bodies), and generous kerning (the space between the letters).

There’s a big difference between print media, in which the light is bouncing off the letters, and digital media, in which the light is coming from behind the letters. Good typography takes this difference into account.

Additionally I found that a good font requires all of the letters to look differently both capitalized and lowercase.

#12 - Final Output Concept

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During one of my feedback sessions I got the idea of what I wanted to produce as my visual output for this project. I was talking a lot about a constitution and had the idea of designing a constitution for the nation state of Lux Antrum.

However, my idea started to morph because I wanted people to read the constitution and literally sign up that they agree with the nation state’s structure and code of ethics. I feel like if people could do this with their own constitution they would really understand it better. In the U.S. there are many discrepancies of what people believe the constitution says. If it could be digested regularly I feel it would avoid a lot of the confusion and divert a lot of conflict.

So I kind of morphed my idea into a contract. I had the idea of mixing the constitution with a workplace handbook that human resources gives you on your first day of work to sign. I figured since the underscore of my entire nation is to be a functioning working culture that this theme of a workbook would go well with it.

#11 - Name and Logo of my Nation State

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While I was brainstorming about all of the elements of my utopia, I had an idea of making a visual to symbolize everything I just came up with as well as an idea of what to name my nation.

I decided to translated “Lightened Cave” into latin and came up with “LUX ANTRUM”. I did this because for many years Latin was the language of learning and “Lightened Cave” symbolized the enlightenment theory involving leaving Plato’s cave.

Now that I had a name I started thinking of ideas of a visual and came up with this logo found below.

The four triangles in the background symbolize the four pillars of my society; Political, Individual, Economic, and Social. The sun represented the enlightened society with 40 points symbolizing the 40 professions you can choose from. And lastly, the five intertwined black circles stand for the 5 job classification parties that work together to advance Lux Antrum.

#10 - Capitalism or Socialism?

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The last element of my society I needed to design is the economy. Growing up in the United States and having a love of reading history I can’t help but criticize the way capitalism has spiraled out of control. There are major detriments to a capitalist nation. As much as I feel that the grass is greener on the other side in socialist countries, they unfortunately have drawbacks as well. I researched more into people’s trains of thoughts on the matter and found these statistics.

As you can see, the opinions of Americans are pretty much split down the middle. I couldn’t believe it. I thought there would be some difference but it seems the U.S.A. is just as torn as I am myself.

It is because of this research that I decided to make my utopia a middle ground between socialism and capitalism. I believe there is a way to negate the negative effects of each economic system. I have hope there could be common ground.

#9 - How to avoid regression

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During one of my presentations, some of the feedback I was given was that since a lot of my ideas are the foundation of modern society, I should find measures to take in order for my utopia not to be plagued by today’s issues. I wrote a list of a hundred ways to prevent modern regression and narrowed down talking about these.

These are some of the ways in which I will make sure my society doesn’t fall into the trap of becoming what already exists in other nation states.

#8 - Humanism as a fundamental

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Looking through my research on philosophy there is one more era in which I wanted to draw my utopia from. During the Renaissance there was a movement of thought that decided that Christian philosophy was too tough on people. It was impossible for a regular person to live up to the strict scrutiny of everything the Bible told them to be and do in order to be a good person.

Philosophy in turn took a huge step away from religion and came up with Humanism. Humanism refers to a perspective that evolves around human wellbeing and advocates for human freedom, autonomy and progress. It views humanity as responsible for the promotion and development of individuals, espouses the equal and inherent dignity of all human beings and emphasizes a concern for humans in relation to the world. Humanists tend to be strong advocates for human rights, free speech, progressive policies and democracy. They maintain that religion is not a precondition to morality and object to religious involvement in education and the state apparatus. Humans, according to humanists, can shape their own values and live a good and meaningful life.

This is the last philosophical movement I included in order to make my utopia well rounded and somewhere I would like to live.

#7 - Job Classifications inspired by Literati

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I decided to create five job classifications in which 8 careers could come together and collaborate in the same way that the Literati did. I wanted to do this so that people would always be social and entwined and engaged in the betterment of society. Additionally I thought back to my research of the founding principles of the United States of America and remembered George Washington’s advice to avoid a two party structure. He believed two parties would create a massive divide and inspire hatred and competition. For this reason I decided to make an odd number of five parties so that they could never become inequal.

Aside from the Literati this idea was inspired by two Young Adult books including Harry Potter and the Divergent series. I liked the idea of sorting people into certain groups based on their skills and interests and have them work together to support society as a whole.

#6 - Edinburgh's Literati

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In the 1750-1850s of Scotland, there was a philosophical boom as well as a boom in all sorts of learning. Scotland produced hundreds of famous historians, philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, writers and more. Intellectuals would go to scientific academies, masonic lodges, literary salons, coffee houses. People had greater access to printed books, journals, pamphlets.

One of the most interesting phenomena of this period was that there were a group of intellects known as the “Literati” in which academics of all backgrounds would get together and meet and discuss all sorts of interesting academic pursuits. They collaborated and learned from each other and opened a dialogue in which you could be yourself and you could feel free to be wrong. Literati held that progress had to be fought for and we need to preserve them by continuing to fight for them.

I have been inspired by the Literati for many years and I wanted to find a way to weave them into my utopia.

#5 - Research on Happiness in Jobs

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A global poll conducted by Gallup has uncovered that out of the world's one billion full-time workers, only 15% of people are engaged at work. That means that an astronomical 85% of people are unhappy in their jobs.

I found these facts to be very profound. Not only is this just in the country I’ve experienced hating my job in but this is globally. That means that no matter what country you are in you have an 85% chance of being unhappy in work.

People hate their jobs for all sorts of reasons including the day to day responsibilities, the bosses, the commutes, the office politics and more. Of course, the number one reason is the fact that most of us are underpaid.

If you are wondering why don’t you just leave your job, think again. People are tied down to their job for financial reasons including being a guardian to a dependent, lack of resources to switch careers or work for yourself, lack of resources to go back to school and more. In the U.S.A. we only get health insurance if we are employed full time. Taking time off or quitting without a plan in place could cause major issues for your healthcare.

I think all of this is incredibly problematic and I want my utopia to deal with these issues and solve them so that those living in my society will be a part of the global 15% who love their jobs.

#4 - Wealth of Nations

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It would be impossible to talk about the Scottish Enlightenment movement without talking about the Wealth of Nations treatise written by Adam Smith which some credit as the work that invented capitalism.

While I wouldn’t go so far as to say he invented capitalism he did come up with some great ideas.

He believed that in order for a functioning society all citizens must be properly educated. If the lower class fails to get proper education a bitterness will ensue and it will create a divide.

Additionally Smith spoke about how the only way we can be a successful economy is to divide the labor. If one person is too busy harvesting every single material and doing every process involved of making something, there will be far fewer products than if we separate the processes and become specialists.

Perhaps the most important idea Smith has is that after we divide the labor, we must make sure that people don’t get bogged down with a futile task that becomes too redundant. He uses the example of a man making nails. If he makes thousands of nails and is never challenged by his work and never has intellectual curiosity he risks going insane from boredom. Smith advocated we avoid this at all costs.

This is where I was inspired to make my utopia’s “social problem”. I want to solve the problem of people hating their jobs.

#3 - Plato's Cave Allegory

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Although most of the philosophy I am drawing from is from the early modern era in order to understand where THOSE philosophers drew their ideas from you will have to understand Plato.

Plato was a Greek philosopher who lived in the Athens Classical Period. Many of his ideas in philosophy are still in use today but the one I want to talk about is his cave allegory.

Plato’s Cave Allegory is as follows: At the first phase of life, you are part of a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a dark cave, facing a blank wall. You watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners’ reality but are not accurate representations of the real world. The shadows represent a fragment of reality perceived through your senses, while the objects under the sun represent the true forms of objects that we can perceive through reason. The point of life is to participate in philosophy at the state of a prisoner and free yourself from the cave by coming to understand that the shadows on the wall are not reality at all. Finding knowledge for yourself and learning to think for yourself is the point of life. Break free from the cave and become enlightened.

This is a beautiful allegory that I chose to be the founding narrative of my utopia. If we are always aware of how to break free of propaganda I believe we will thrive. If we always are aware of how important it is to seek out and retain knowledge for yourself I believe it could lead to a more habitable society.

#2 - What it means to be Enlightened

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ENLIGHTENMENT IS: first, a mental activity, engaged in by a person committed to the values of truth and validity as the sovereign values of reason. He reflects critically and creatively and, motivated by these sovereign values, goes to the places to which his arguments take him; he is not mentally passive, as are all those who live in the grip of a habit of mind. Secondly, without fear and therefore freely, he places the fruits of his thought in the public domain.

Basically, to be enlightened is to discover education for yourself and to form your own thoughts and to act on them when you contribute to society. I feel all of our modern issues could be solved with proper education and collaboration.

I drew my knowledge from many books but below I have listed everything about Enlightenment I gained from Alexander Brodie’s The Scottish Enlightenment.

#1 - Philosophy is Everything

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One of my main hobbies is reading philosophy. I think it’s an amazing way to learn about the world and about yourself. I believe it teaches you morals and founding principles on how to live your life. That’s why I decided for my utopia concept I want to found my society on the principles of philosophy.

In my mind, philosophical thought peaked during the Era of Enlightenment so that is the period I looked in depth in. I did copious research including reading four books on Scottish philosophy. I’ve listed only a fraction of my research bellow.