End of Module Evaluation - Reflection

In this module I have had to look at myself in a very different light which I have never had to do before; however I think it has made me realise who I am as an individual and also what I want from life and how I am willing to achieve this, including my goals for the foreseeable and near future.

Although I have found it quite hard at times, I actually managed to enjoy it eventually and embrace having full reign and being able to bring all my own interests and inspiration to create something I am extremely proud of and that I think represents me perfectly.

 My A2 research poster, I decided to illustrate the whole thing and use no text, as this is something I have missed doing since being at uni, therefore I embraced the opportunity to be able to incorporate something I love doing into my work.

 My Self Branding, was very different to others which I was quite nervous about, as I branded myself along the lines of teaching design to children, which fits in with my ambitions to become a teacher. I really enjoyed researching into what children think colour and Graphic Design is, and also their feelings about art as a subject. Their responses made me laugh and became very useful for my design decisions; also it made me realise how much art and creative subjects have an effect on their lives, and further implemented my view that art and creative subjects are just as important as academic subjects.

My design strategy presentation was actually something I am most proud of, out of all my work I have created since being here, I believe my idea was very original, and made it easy to include everything into my presentation. I enjoyed being able to reflect upon my time here and it made me realise how much I have changed, experience and how far I have come in so little time, both within the design aspect but also the social aspect of university.

My presentation skills have also improved greatly, as I used to be extremely shy, however I felt it was easy to present my ideas and presentation without any nerves or tripping up on my words or being embarrassed.

In conclusion, I have really enjoyed how this module has allowed to me to be experimental and also discover myself as both a creative and as a person in general.

Self Branding Presentation

Design Strategy Presentation

Lo Siento

One of the studio visits when we were in Barcelona, we visited Lo Siento. Which is a studio based in the centre of Barcelona, I was extremely interested in their work, as it was very different to other studios such as Two Points or Hey Studio. Most of their work was sculpture, 3D and made out of paper. the best part was that all of their work was displayed on show, and they allowed us to freely look at and touch everything. Also something which I found very interesting was their studio space, it was very open; and then they had an upstairs loft area, where all the work in progress was found. 

  They're work was very interesting and definitely some of my favourite pieces of graphic design; especially so their business card which were each printed and create uniquely, therefore each was individual, they were each printed using different techniques and a stencil. 

  What I really admired was that they made all of the objects themselves, and had many different skill sets including all different techniques such as laser cutting, paper cutting. On of my favourite pieces was a vinyl record sleeve, created from a very intricate portrait made from paper cuts, which seemed very delicate. They were also kind enough to give us each a piece of one of their pieces of work, the above packaging for a brand of olive oil, which now lies pride of place on my shelf. 

Bros Mind

Another studio we had the pleasure of visiting was Brosmind, which was definitely my favourite. It was a studio owned by two brothers, they're main strength was illustration, and it was interesting how they told us that they would share a commission and each have a go at drawing sections, and then one would colour and one would outline.

 What I admired both about their work was the wide variation of 3D and many applications they applied their work to from notebooks to vinyl record sleeves, to cars. They try to build all their own things as much as possible, they created a pedal car which they built and designed themselves, which could then be used by visitors to their exhibition as they pedal around in a car with their designs on and a car deigned by them specifically.

One of my favourite pieces was the characters seen above of vegetables, which they had initially illustrated for a restaurant over in America for wallpaper, but now they are beginning to create characters for a table football table. They said it was amazing to see their drawings brought to life, and made in a 3D format and especially as they looked so cute!

 One of the thing that stuck with me, is they told us that the most important thing is to carry on doing work for yourself, even if it takes years to finish a project; always carry on a side project just for you, otherwise you may lose the love and passion you had in the first place.

Finally, the project they were focusing on at the time we were there was an exhibition in their home town celebrating their success. They had created little push bikes, which had a built in speaker which would take people around the exhibition and explain and describe the work as it goes around, creating an interactive experience. Another really amazing project was a game they had started to create, a basketball game, including themselves as characters.

 Similarly to Lo Siento, it was amazing to see what graphic design can be applied to, and not just see computers and digital designs, especially so with Brosmind, they literally placed their illustrations on anything and everything.

Barcelona

Barcelona was one of the best experiences of my life so far, it was amazing to experience the culture and all the inspiration for deign and life in general that was available there. We literally explored the whole city and went everywhere we could, we visited Park Guell, which was amazing to see the work of Gaudi and the amazing colours and tile work which was available to see there. The many parks we visited were amazing and held beautiful fountains to take pictures of.

  I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful architecture which was everywhere you looked, even on the tiles on the floor, everywhere you walked was intricate and amazingly detailed. We also visited all of the famous sights, such as Las Ramblas, Sagarade Familia and the Arc de Triomph, which we actually just came across by accident.

 The best part of the trip was the studio visits so far, they were so inspirational, and the work was amazing, I would love to have kept more of it. It was so lovely of the to let us come and visit and intrude on their work spaced and explain to us their design processes and how they got to where they were. It was very interesting to see that there is no limit to what graphic design can be.

Collage Workshop

Today we had a workshop with duo Graphic Design studio, Dr Me. They have previously given a talk, which was extremely interesting in the way they work, using collage. However this time, we got to try it ourselves.
We were each given a word, mine was 'tea'. Then we were given a brief to produce a 10 frame collage and then to produce a stop frame animation, short video or gif.
Our initial ideas, were to produce a pouring teapot, tea bags, or another view on tea of food, a plate being eaten.
The final idea that was developed was the idea of tea leaves, being made into a tea bag.
Below is our final gif.
It was really interesting and fresh to create work in a different way and using different materials and techniques. Combing both digital and hands on processes.
The new techniques that I have developed and gained from this workshop, will become extremely useful in approaching Studio Brief 2, and will mean I will not limit my ideas, which will mean much more interesting and unique ideas will be developed. My work will then have much better concepts and engaging designs.





via GIPHY

Build

Earlier today we received an interesting talk from Graphic Design Studio Build, specifically the main founder, Michael C. Place. He spoke about how he first got interested in graphic Design and his journey from then to present. He started off doing technical drawings, interested in architecture, however he was interested in music, specifically Iron Maiden and the designs and type used on their albums and vinyls really interested him. He also shared with us his interest into Letraset, which I found really interesting. He shared with us many names of designers we should look up and who have inspired him, including, Neville Brody, Rod Clarke, Vaughn Oliver, Trevor Jackson and Ian Anderson. Michael is a firm believer in bringing in your own interests in to influence your design work, he also believes that you don't necessarily have to be the best graphic designer you just need to be passionate about what you love and have interests, as this is what creates better design work in the long run. He previously did work experience with The Designer's Republic in Sheffield, before moving down to London. He is also a passionate about young designers setting up away from London specifically in the North, he believes that London is not necessarily the place to be and Places such as Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield are becoming much more productive and heavy within the design industry and are much better creative places to live. Michael believes that Graphic Design is an extremley hard job to keep up with and work within the industry, however the work you produce and feedback you get makes it all extremley rewarding.

Dr Me

Dr Me are a duo who graduated together and decided to set up their own studio, their name is an acronym of both of their initials. They mainly prefer to make stuff by hand, specifically collage. Recently they undertook a project where they made 365 collages for each day of the year, then went to sell them on. Names they told us to look into were, Pentagram, Neasden Control Centre, Mike Perry. They recently produced a book called Cut That Out, which explores several different designers and studios who use collage for innovative solutions to design.

Louise Lockhart - The Printed Peanut

Business Card Development

Above is my business card development and designs shown in different colours and designs, I explored many different colour choices and designs., However I decided that a range of different colours worked out best. Also the illustrations placed on the back and only having text on the front, made the card a lot easier to read and understand.

Application 03 - App/Website

The website follows the concept of a brand that is suitable and aimed at both adults and children, therefore the same colour scheme and imagery has been used throughout. Also interactive pages have been added, to engage younger children, allowing the website to be appropriate to all ages. The cursor has been replaced by a pencil, to continue the theme of creativity and design.