History Of Dunstable Secondary Research

In groups of three we researched the history of Dunstable. We looked in Dunstable's library and found books and files about the history. We then took some photos of this information and some areas of Dunstable that were featured in this research.

History Of Dunstable Secondary Research - Internet

Here is some research I did on the History Of Dunstable. I highlighted in red things that contributed to the decline of Dunstable and also what increased footfall. These highlighted sections will influence me on this project.

Roman settlement

There was already some form of settlement by the time that the ancient Roman paved road (now known as Watling Street, and in the Great Britain road numbering scheme the A5) crossed another ancient and still-existing road, the Icknield Way. 

A map of Dunstable from 1944

The Romans built a posting station and named the settlement Durocobrivis, which survived until their departure from Britain. The area is most likely to have been occupied by Saxons, who overran this part of Bedfordshire in about 571 AD.

Medieval times

Until the 11th century this area of the county is known to have been uncultivated tract covered by woodlands. In 1109 Henry I started a period of activity by responding to this danger to travellers. He instructed areas to be cleared and encouraged settlers with offers of royal favour. In 1123 a royal residence was built at what is now called the Royal Palace Lodge Hotel on Church Street. The King used the residence as a base to hunt on the nearby lands.

The Dunstable Priory was founded in 1131 by the King and was later used for the divorce between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, which led to the establishment of the Church of England in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church. The same year the town granted a town charter to the power of the priors.

In 1290 Dunstable was one of twelve sites to erect an Eleanor cross recognising Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I, whose coffin was laid close to the crossroads for the local people to mourn the dead Queen. The coffin was then guarded inside the priory by the canons overnight before continuing on to St. Albans. The original wooden cross has long since perished but a modern memorial remains.

17th century

Bedfordshire was one of the counties that largely supported the Roundheads during the English Civil War. Nearby St Albans in Hertfordshire was the headquarters of the Roundheads, and troops were occasionally stationed at Dunstable. The town was plundered by King Charles I's soldiers when passing through in June 1644, and Essex's men destroyed the Eleanor cross.

The town's prosperity, and the large number of inns or public houses in the town, is partly because it is only one or two days' ride by horse from London (32 miles (51 km)), and therefore a place to rest overnight. Towns like Stevenage on the Great North Road benefitted from the same effect, and of course similar settlements all over the rest of the country. There are two pubs which still have coaching gates to the side: the Sugar Loaf in High Street North, and the Saracen's Head in High Street South. The Saracen's Head is a name often given to pubs frequented by knights of The crusades. It is considerably lower than the road to its front, witness to the fact that the road has been resurfaced a number of times during the lifetime of the pub.

19th century

Dunstable's first railway opened in 1848. It was a branch joining the West Coast Main Line at Leighton Buzzard. A second line linking Dunstable with Hatfield via Luton opened in 1858. Passenger services to Dunstable were withdrawn in 1965, but the line between Dunstable and Luton remained open for freight traffic for many years.

Dunstable was a significant market town, but its importance diminished as the neighbouring town of Luton grew.

20th century and after

The 19th century saw the straw hat making industry come to Luton and a subsequent decline in Dunstable, to be replaced in the early 20th century by the printing and motor vehicle industries, with companies such as Waterlow's and Vauxhall Motors respectively. The new Bedford Dunstable plant came into production in 1942 to support the British Army in World War II. It continued commercial truck and bus until 1992. But with the closure of the main factories and the decline of manufacturing in the area, this distinctiveness has been lost.

Shops were concentrated along High Street North/High Street South (Watling Street) and in 1966 the Quadrant Shopping Centre opened. By the 1980s, Dunstable town centre was a very successful shopping centre featuring major retailers including Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, Bejam/Iceland, Boots, Halfords, Co-op department store, Argos, Woolworths, very many independent specialist shops including Moore's of Dunstable, and free town centre car parks to attract shoppers from outlying villages, resulting in a thriving retail town centre significantly larger than would be supportable by Dunstable residents alone. Additionally in 1985 the Eleanor's Cross retail area was developed to cater mainly for smaller shops.

With the rise of out-of-town retail parks, as with many other market towns, the town centre has suffered a decline in trade – Sainsbury's, Tesco, and Halfords moved out of the centre to newer larger premises with free parking, whilst the town centre car parks all started charging. Waitrose closed, and fewer independent shops remain due to the drop in foot fall and rise in costs. The Cottage Garden Flower Shop of Chiltern Road, established in 1898, is believed to be the oldest independent retail business still trading.

More recently, major retailers Asda, Wilkinson, and Aldi have opened stores in the town centre, and Iceland, Boots, and Argos remain.

What Have I Learnt So Far?

So far I have learnt why Dunstable is in decline and how the people of Dunstable think it could be improved. I did this by making and giving out a questionnaire to people in Dunstable and taking photos of Dunstable with my group. I have also researched into what Motion Graphics is and looked at existing motion graphics and artists that specialise in this area. This has all given me a better understanding of the brief, and ideas for my designs.

Andrew Gill

Andrew Gill
Andrew Gill is an award winning graphic designer based in South London with experience creating for print, screen and specialising in motion design. 

Here is a video he made for Hitachi. http://vimeo.com/57285925

I like this video because it uses simple shapes and movements. This gives it a very modern feel. Also the balance between bright colours and plain colours like grey is very effective because the bright colours are eye catching but the grey's and black's keep it looking professional. I also like that its like a story. The audio and visuals are in sync so when the information changes the visual story moves on as well.

Here is a video he made for Fairtrade. http://vimeo.com/21839997

This video is very similar in the fact that it uses simple shapes and movements and a balance between bright colours and achromatic colours. I noticed the information isn't part of the audio but part of the visuals. This means the visual message is twice as effective as the illustrations and typography support each other. It also means you pay more attention because you have to read. The audio is then just music in the background that suits the message that the video is putting across.

Jonas & Francois

Jonas & Francois
Jonas & Francois are a directing duo from France. They were studying art at college when they started working on their first video for Kavinksy's 'Testarossa Autodrive'. They initially wanted to hand draw all their illustrations as they felt it looked better, but slowly began to integrate things into 3D. They worked for Ed Banger and made the video for Justice - D.A.N.C.E. This caught Kanye West's attention who then wanted a video in a similar style. The video they made for him was Good Life. http://vimeo.com/23472351

I really like this video because it is very colourful and exciting. I like the mix between colour and black and white. For example all the animation surrounding Kanye West and T-Pain is in colour yet they are in black and white. I also like the use of typography as well as illustrations which match the song. Once again I think the link between the audio and visuals make it successful and relevant. For example when the lyric says 'watch the money pile up' the animated type reading 'money' on the screen grows in height.

Another video directed by Jonas and Francois is the Toyota advert. http://vimeo.com/29473802

I like this video because it features animated characters amongst a real scene. This contrast is unique and quirky. Also the animations are bright and colourful making them eye-catching. I like the way the animations were used to help advertise Toyota, much like how I will be advertising Dunstable. To do this the animations were used to attract the attention then the focus went onto what was being advertised.

David Wilson

David Wilson
David Wilson is a music video director and artist. He is represented for Commercials and Music Videos. David Wilson was born in Yorkshire, raised in Hertfordshire, and spent his teenage years in Somerset. He attended higher education in Brighton, spent 2007-2013 in London, England and is now an LA-based director and artist. 

His most famous piece of work is his video for Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know. http://vimeo.com/69107547

"When everybody has been waiting for new Arctic Monkeys material for so long, it's only fitting that the visuals be something special. So naturally, the Arctic Monkeys brought in David Wilson, skilled animator and expert in mind-bending, borderline hallucinatory cartoon imagery to create a video for their eagerly anticipated single 'Do I Wanna Know?'. David's latest video doesn't merely accompany the track, it forms an inseparable and particularly mesmerising part of the music itself. Taking his skill for interpreting a track through surrealist and seamlessly flowing animations up a notch by, paradoxically, limiting his ingredients to simple lines and a handful of colours, he uses the track's baseline as the foundation for an infinite dimension where choreography, drag racing and illustrative sound waves happily coexist." - http://www.colonelblimp.com/a/2723

I really like this video as there is more than meets the eye. Each coloured line represents different instruments. For example yellow lines move in beat with the drums, white lines move with the vocals, and blue and red represent bass and guitar. All the lines move in time with the music and flow fluently.  I also like the smooth transition from black and white, to the introduction of colour, then back to black and white. I think the balance between simple sound wave lines and actual illustrations is good because if the whole video was just the moving sound wave lines it may become repetitive or boring.






Another piece of his work is another music video, this time for Tame Impala's 'Mind Mischief'.     http://vimeo.com/57946935

"Remember high school? Remember the never ending lessons, the all-consuming crushes, the deep fascination with the opposite sex? However long ago it was, it's a time everyone gets a little wistful about.

In his potent new film for Tame Impala's 'Mind Mischief', David Wilson revisits those curiosity-filled days of adolescence, viewing them through a nostalgic and psychedelic lens. It's a film in two parts that explores the magic and mystery of a teenage crush, revolving around the mildly explicit student/teacher fantasy of a wide-eyed schoolboy (played by the breakout star of cult film 'Son of Rambow', Bill Milner).

Illustrating the song's theme of 'mind mischief' and inspired by the deep, retro bassline, the film marries the band's opulent and dreamy sound with equally dreamy imagery. Tension is slowly built with misty, lingering scenes of a 70s-era classroom, before taking a cosmic trip through the boy's imagination and into his animated retrofuturistic fantasy. Using his unique talent for turning the familiar into the sublime, David has further developed his extraordinary blend of live action and animation to produce a video that captures the abstract notion of desire in magnificent – and only slightly NSFW – visuals." - http://www.colonelblimp.com/a/2309

I like this video because it changes from real life to animation during the video. Lots of bright colours are used which makes it exciting and keeps the audience interested. Once again the video links well with the music and the animations move in time. I think what makes this video successful is this link. The song is quite dreamy and so is the animation which makes them match so well.





For more of his work visit his Vimeo account, personal website, and biography on the production company ColonelBlimp's site.
http://vimeo.com/thisisdavidwilson
http://thisisdavidwilson.com/
http://www.colonelblimp.com/d/davidwilson

What is Motion Graphics?

Motion graphics are graphics that use video footage and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation, and are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_graphics

Survey & Results

For primary research we made a questionnaire that we can ask the public to fill out.

1.       Gender :   

Male

Female

Don’t wish to answer/ other

2.       Age range:  

10-15

16-25

26-35 0                    

36-45                     

46-55                       

55+

Don’t wish to answer

3.       Do you live in Dunstable?  

Yes                                                

No

4.       If yes, would you still choose to live here if you had the option to move?  

Yes                                                                                                                                   

No

5.       If no, why do you come here?  

Work                                                        

Study                                                        

Socialise                                                        

Leisure                                                        

Pleasure

6.       Where do you usually go when visiting?  

Food shopping                                                                          

The Grove                                                                         

Other Shopping                                                                          

Go Bowling                                                                          

Sports Centre                                                                          

Banking                                                                         

If other please specify

7.       Do you think Dunstable is in decline?  

Yes                                                                       

No

8.       If yes, how could it be saved?  

Shops                                                       

Café/Restaurants                                                       

Markets                                                       

More Night clubs                                               

Youth clubs                                                      

More sports clubs                                                       

Child related activities 

9.       What type of advertisements appeals to you?  

Poster                                                                                    

Flyer                                                                                    

Newspaper                                                                                    

TV Adverts                                                                                    

Internet                                                                                    

Bill boards

10.   Would you respond to a viral advertisement concerning your local community? 

Yes                                                                                                                                     

No

11.   Do you prefer to shop online? 

Yes                                                       

No

These are pie and bar charts to represent our result from our questionnaires.

Primary Research

 This is Grove Park. It is a very nice place for people to go with children when visiting Dunstable. Its kept clean and tidy which is one of the reasons why its popular. It makes Dunstable a more appealing place to visit. There are some iconic art pieces in this area such as sculptures and mosaics which mean a lot to the residents of Dunstable.

This is the bandstand in the park which was a good idea at first and was used often but is no longer used for what it was built for and sometimes gets vandalised. It would be a good idea to restore this as it would attract more people to the park and uplift Dunstable.

This is the Grove Theatre. Its a place where members of the community can socialise. There is a Theatre, Restaurants and a Nightclub available which makes it one of the highlights of Dunstable. There is a family Restaurant/Bar named The Gary Cooper which is part of The Grove which is a popular attraction for socialising.

 This GoBowling which is a good family friendly establishment that attracts many people from Dunstable and surrounding areas for multiple reasons such as bowling,  sports bar, arcade and food.

 These are empty shop units in and around the Quadrant in Dunstable. These prove that Dunstable is in decline and the footfall is low. Empty shops don't look attractive and put people off shopping in that area which leads to more shops closing.

These dirty alleys are an eyesore and bring the community down. They could be used for exhibiting art. 

Although the Dunstable Conference centre is supposed to be an iconic building, as it used to be quite a popular venue (theatre), it is now a boring, unattractive building.

 Dunstable's market is very small with only a few stalls. This shop has recently opened, suggesting that the owner feels that more markets would increase footfall as it is a gap in the market.

Dunstable can be very grey because of the buildings but simple decorations like flowers look bright and uplifts people. Placing them around town would make it more appealing for shoppers and visitors.

 This sign is welcoming and friendly. It provides useful information and advertises upcoming events. 

Grove Corner is a small youth club just outside Grove Theatre. It is a place where young adults who are not in education can go to socialise. This is a good idea because it gets them involved in the community and keeps them from being out on the street or getting into trouble. 

This photo is an example of how run-down Dunstable is and puts people off of coming here.

It could be refurbished to become more appealing to shoppers.

 This is a really iconic building in Dunstable, as it holds a lot of history for the town.

It's been in use since the 18th Century; even though it is one of the oldest buildings in dunstable it is still being used to this day as a family pub. 

 This supermarket was built where the town hall was. Despite this being an iconic building, the supermarket attracts lots more people and increases footfall. This shows that shops increase the footfall and attract more people. On the other hand, this supermarket could be the reason that the market has declined.

Dunstable library blends in with the rest of Dunstable architecture, as it looks quite grey and boring. This means people don't notice it's a library. To make it appeal to all ages, they could add graphics, colour and more interesting architecture to draw in more members of the community, therefore increasing the footfall in Dunstable.

Central Bedfordshire College is being reconstructed into a new and exciting building which will increase the amount of students that choose to enrol there, increasing footfall.

This is the University linked to the College and as you can see it's a modern building which is more visually appealing than the college above.