Working Through the Middle Sections and Trying to Strengthen the Argument
This week has been a continuation of drafting the Critical Report, and it has definitely been the most challenging part so far. Now that the introduction and methodology are in place, I have been focusing on the main chapters, especially the sections on language, identity, decolonising design and phonetic typography. These are the heart of the argument, so I wanted to make sure that they are clear and link together properly. What I have found, though, is that writing these sections takes much longer than expected because every paragraph seems to open up another idea that needs explaining.
The biggest task this week has been trying to keep the writing consistent in tone. I noticed that some parts sounded too descriptive, while others were too academic, so a lot of time has been spent rewriting things to make everything feel balanced. The research by Hall, Tlostanova and Crystal has been really helpful, but bringing their ideas into the writing in a way that feels natural has taken a lot of trial and error. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a draft and that it will be shaped again later.
I also spent time working on the section about modernist neutrality because this needed to link properly to my later discussions about expressive typography. Designers like Müller Brockmann, Vignelli and Experimental Jetset helped anchor this section, but I still feel like I am working out how much detail to include without going off track. It has helped to keep referring to my original research question, because it reminds me that everything needs to tie back to why dialect matters visually.
Another challenge this week has been trying to stop myself jumping ahead to the conclusion or the practical links. When I feel stuck in a paragraph, my instinct is to move on and write something easier, but then the structure starts to get messy. I have tried to stick with one section at a time, but it has made the writing feel quite slow and uneven in places. I know that this will improve once the full draft exists, but at this stage it feels like I am constantly stopping to adjust the order of things.
Even with the difficulty, the report is definitely moving forward. I am beginning to see where the stronger parts of the argument sit, and also where the gaps are. A lot of this week has been about shaping the flow rather than finishing clean sections, but it has helped me build a clearer picture of what the full draft will eventually look like. I expect that Week 13 will be more of the same, but I am hoping that next week will give me a complete draft from start to finish so that I can finally see the report as one whole piece rather than lots of separate parts.
LSJ DESIGNS 
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