Dryden Goodwin.
Exactly the style of work I aspire to produce.
Nature is really delicate and intrinsic when you consider the weight and texture of city buildings compared to that of trees, water, flowers. I’d like to pay attention to natural forms for this last project, but just in case I don’t, I took some bark and scanned it in as a reminder!
There’ll come a day in time where I’d like to say I’ll be able to afford an original Rolex like this; leather strap, automatic, gold/rose gold dial, mint condition. Just like there were times in the past where I’d hoped to be able to do this and that - swim the Channel, buy myself a smooth film SLR and digital SLR - however out of reach they seemed, they were achievable and became personal little achievements. I don’t mean to go on and on, but the realisation in my materialistic wants and needs have developed quite lavishly over time, and this I know is not purely due to growing up beyond the dream of new Barbies, cuddly toys and Lego. This is about the fusion between the consciousness of good design and the etiquette of style.
Studying a degree in graphic design has become far more than producing smooth branding, posters, publications, exhibitions and so on - it’s evolved into a way of seeing and a harsh lust for opulent living.
To be continued tomorrow… just you wait.
Year 1 almost done.
How do I even begin to summarise a vast amount of time that has gone by at the quickest of speeds? Where did it go when I swear it had just started. I mean, only two weeks ago I was in Rachel’s Imaginary Cities workshop when it felt like just a couple of months ago that I was in her Colour workshop at the beginning of term. Time flies whether you’re having fun or not, but regardless, I’ve noticed how much more I need to embrace each day on the course. Despite my spirits sinking lower than my body did after hearing about our first GDF PDF project brief, my impressions of the course have changed vastly! I enjoyed the workshops, disliked the GDF PDF and the one week project, but from then onwards I found the briefs in all respects - GDA, PPD and VCT - to be thoroughly refreshing and engaging.
I’ve gone through the year swimmingly without any trouble or concern, but something I haven’t considered fully is the use of the facilities on campus. The tutors always emphasise how useful they are and how we need to make use of everything surrounding us, but for one reason or another (mainly panicking that a technician would tell me off for not remembering how to do something) I haven’t done that!! And I’m kicking myself for it. We’re in the final weeks of our final project now, and after I’ve sent the link to my blog in the morning I’m taking action on what I’m writing here, going into uni and booking myself in for print rooms next week.
This is what I’ve found has held me back at times this year - doubt. When I’ve had a big idea or a desire in a project, the skepticism about whether I am allowed to do that has held me back. Last year on my foundation I spent the last few months in the screen-printing room most days after finding myself an induction, and found every minute spent in there priceless. I felt like I had found my skill; my flair. I think because of the unfamiliarity I have with the huge amount of people using the same print rooms at LCC, it was somewhat intimidating mentally, even though in reality who really cares who’s printing next to you as long as they don’t ruin your work with their clumsy hands? Friends in higher years have helped me realise this: simply through their exuberant and jaunty personas I realised that there’s nothing to be reluctant or restrained about if you want to do well - just have the right f*ck it attitude and go for it!
On that matter, this mentality has helped me be bold and ambitious in various aspects of the course this year… sadly my blog is not quite one of them, yet!
- When we had to create a PDF or website portfolio for PPD, I had absolutely no idea about website design or construction, and to be really and truly honest, the idea of sitting around on web design software sounded brutally dry to me. BUT I had had enough of PDF after PDF to be very frank and really wanted to be able to give anyone a web page to go and visit. So I sat through David’s classes and listened intently to his fast-paced clicking and instructing then went home and read more tutorials and instructions on how to make stuff shine in Freeway Pro. Fair to say not one minute passed where I thought it was “dry” or boring, especially if I was hungry for more knowledge on this seemingly unpopular software, and I now have a website that may need a few changes to make it sleeker, but still feel proud in being able to say I made it myself.
- I very recently applied for internships over the summer - very, maybe too ambitious ones. Throughout the industry project with Hato Press, my favourite project this year thus far, I understood how much I enjoyed art direction and publication right down to the little neeky things like appreciating truly great paper stocks and binding methods. With that in mind, I applied for three art/design/culture magazines and one design agency (NoDaysOff). However likely or unlikely it may be that I’ll get any work experience with them, it doesn’t hurt to try does it.
It was also whilst researching places I’d like to intern with that made me discover what I was interested in pursuing as a creative practitioner. I already knew before I came onto the course that illustration is the aspect of art & design that sets my mind and soul alight, and digital graphic design was something I wanted to improve and do well at. However there was no minute field of design that I was certain on. Researching work experience and our Hato Press industry project pointed me in the right direction I think, towards advertising and art direction for magazine publication.
Although I initially wouldn’t have written a statement like this when we first started Visual Cultural Theory, it’s fair to say that I’ve really enjoyed VCT and Michael’s jolly, enthusiastic lectures. I like the written element of the course almost as much as image making and creating “nice-looking” things - I believe it’s important to create “nice-sounding” writing too, as well as having a broad knowledge of current issues and events happening within the design industry at the moment.
As far as key influences go, my stimuli have differed over the course of the year. It’s really a shame that when I look through this blog there’s no definitive way to prove that (even though I write/draw every single tiny thing down in my sketchbook), but I recently went through a little spot of self-analysis, as I think it’s quite important to make an appointment with yourself and check up on your insides to make sure they’re still okay. On a daily basis I do however browse through different blogs and websites in search of new graphic artists, designers, books, articles and films that make my head tick, the memorable of which are Ross Gunter’s ’Bridging The Gap’ posters, Ellen Lupton’s ‘D.I.Y. Debate’ and Steven Heller’s book, ‘Graphic’, which I own at home and constantly refer to.
I think as far as my work flow pattern and blogging habits are concerned, I need to start scanning my book or findings in frequently to blog it and track what ideas are going through my head, and stop idealising a perfect idea before jumping into it. Due to being so precise and careful and thinking too much about every stupid little detail, I’ve found myself struggling at times in keeping my work tempo aligned with project tempo, which is something that needs to be addressed now or never. The last thing I’d like to do more of is design competitions! After the design visit to YCN on Wednesday, I see it is never too early to enter and the possibilities are so great!
To wrap things up and stop blabbing, the fact of the matter is that I have honestly really enjoyed this year, even if there were small snippets of it where I was questioning whether I was gaining or losing knowledge, and look forward to finishing the Final Major Project and stepping into the second year striving to discover the key to success and an A graded project.
This afternoon I attended David’s bookbinding workshop despite having learnt much about bounding in the industry project last term with Hato Press, where me and Mihal made a perfect bound book called ‘Private Moment’, which you can refer back to by clicking here!
ANYWAY, despite already having some knowledge on binding, I found it very rewarding attending this workshop; we covered saddle stitch binding, french fold bolt binding, staple binding and perfect binding. It’s always satisfying leaving the studios with something crisp and tactile to hold onto, look at and be content with :)
Fernando Volken Togui.
I saw this print in YCN the other day at the studio visit and it kept catching my eye even though this type of illustration doesn’t generally appeal to me, and the rest of Togui’s work is not really to my taste (sorry Togui!).. there must be something in the construction of pattern or colour scheme in this though. I feel the need to post this, whatever it may be about it that makes it so important.
Wednesday May 16th I went on two studio visits along with Maddie and Laura:
Europa, up in Hoxton, and YCN (Young Creative Network), just off Old Street.
To tell you the truth, I really liked the work of Europa when I had a browse through it online before visiting the studio, but didn’t know how to react to their “studio” because it looked like a low-ceiling kitchen on the ground floor of an office block, and the worst part was how tall Rasmus, the designer hosting the visit, was. And there was only one desktop mac and one macbook between three of them? I’m not sure how that works or if I’m mistaken but I was just surprised at the high standard work they were producing from a little space and computer.
YCN blew me away. Zoe talked in such detail about every aspect of the company, which left little space for questions, as effectively they’d already been pre-answered in her speech! I felt positive, quite content and almost slightly reluctant to step out of their studios. The studio design was impeccable from top to bottom and their motives inspirational and endearing. Enough said!
Natural forms, light and flowing waters stimulate my art work the most, architecture following closely. I had a long think about this last night, almost self-evaluating my practice.
I feel invigorated and enriched with an abundance of detail to study and generate visuals from. I like picking out the little shadows and fluid curves or tilting my head at a different angle to see what will come of it. I rotate photos the “wrong” way round to try to undo the preconceived image in my head of say, a portrait or a city skyline.
Recently however, I’ve been finding that it’s primarily my art/illustration work that can still be influenced by this, whereas my graphic design influences seem rather robust, angular and very industrial. I find myself interested in truly horrific-looking buildings, the council estate opposite my flat, repetition, LIFELESS MUNDANITY, washed out signage, typography from the early 1900s. WHY. Hardly sure as to whether this is because it could be possible to be drawn in by different sources when creating different work, or whether the move from the seaside to the city has changed it all.
If I were a guy, Tommy Guns would have to cut my hair.
Look at that classy gentlemanly design.
Reblogged from my other blog.
(Source: bareblabbing)
VCT ARTICLE REVIEW!
The graphic design industry is ever expanding, so are the abilities of the individuals working within it. It seems currently that if you’ve got the money, or an alternative method of acquiring the latest Adobe suite, you can call yourself a designer. With the professionals’ jobs at stake, Ellen Lupton assures us that this is not necessarily the case in ‘The DIY Debate’ (Lupton, 2006), a valuable part of our research. She states very clearly, that owning a copy of Adobe makes one a designer just as much as owning an airplane makes one a pilot. In spite of this raw truth, Stephen Heller panics that DIY design is deteriorating the calibre of graphics and the authority of the designer; diminishing jobs as the public are learning to do it all themselves. These two outlooks on the DIY crisis, as well as various online opinions from other concerned individuals, helped us in forming our collective take on the topic and the formation of our article. Stephen Heller’s “Not Bad, But Not Great” article was also used to compare and contrast the views we held on the matter, and provide us with the soothing notion that despite DIY designers existing, much of the design today cries, “uninspired mould,” and lacks the ‘flair’ and the heart that a passionate designer exerts.
As a young individual studying graphic design and communication at degree level, producing a written piece of work on the issue of what defines professionalism and amateurism nowadays is something that simultaneously stimulates my awareness of the matter and remains very applicable to my practice. For this reason, getting wrapped up and carried away in the matter whilst writing the debate was very easy. I played a key role in collecting research for both sides of the topic, developing the first article draft and questioning our place in the design world. The more I researched, the more thought I put into my role as both a designer and a student. I questioned my status in the industry – whether by the end of my degree, I would be classed as a professional or an amateur. After all, do we not go to university to become professionals in our field, so as to stand out beyond the DIY clones? This was exactly my take on it until I realised how easy it is to attain similar skills through the abundance of tutorials, forums and workshops online, some of which are lead by individuals with jobs in the design field – professionals! Though however saturated the industry is becoming with DIY designers that think they’re as good as those with an education, I firmly believe that a professional derives from an educational background of professionals in order to learn the discipline of being a designer, develop their flair and enliven their work with their passion. Otherwise, what more are we than design robots producing work that is, “Not bad, but not great”?
Another of the series of pieces I created for the extension task from Rachel’s Imaginary Cities workshop.
These Louis V shoes are beyond words. I have a tendency to overbuy shoes sometimes, more precisely I mean trainers/sneakers. There’s something ever so satisfying about cleaning, wearing and buying them. The best part about a them is their personality: trainers have different personas, but generally their way of living is not quite as tight, prim and proper as say, a court shoe or a brogue. The can provoke an ethereal comfort, laidback attitude and easy living. Colour swatches; fabric swatches; sole height and material; lace material; toe shape - it’s all very much comparable to our faces: eye distance, eye size, forehead size, skin pigment etc etc. There’s definitely an art to trainers, and buying a pair with the attitude suited to your person bodes well for times where the shoes can speak on your behalf.
Not sure whether I am elaborating myself seamlessly on this one because the point is clearer in my mind than typewritten, but just watch next time you’re on the tube, bus or wherever; look at people’s faces, what they’re doing and wearing, gather their auras, and see how that compares to the style, cut and colour of their shoes.
