Caroline's Blog

Year 2 Evaluation

2009-06-09T12:38:00.000+01:00

Wasn't sure where to put this so I've posted it here as well as design practice blog and domain blog.

1. What skills have you developed through this year and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
Over the past year I feel that my skills involving type and layout have vastly improved which was my main aim for this part of the course. Doing the type module was a particularly important part of my development in these fields. I have applied these skills very effectively in all of the briefs I have undertaken since the completion of this module. You can definitely tell the difference in my ability between the publications I designed in the design practice module from the things I was doing in the design for print module.

I also managed to improve my illustration skills although I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I cannot draw very well. I had to draw a lot of storyboards for the design for digital media module and I did quite a few illustrations for my growing vegetables booklet. I definitely would consider illustration to be one of my weaknesses but feel that I have successfully developed my skills in this area and have vastly improved from last year.

The O2 collaborative brief I did with Emma was also important in terms of my development as a designer. The construction of our device was very process driven. I further developed my skills in screen printing and learned how to set up artwork to be laser cut as well. It also made me feel more comfortable when it came to negotiating a brief with another person because we had to make sure we were both happy with where we were taking the brief and what each of us was going to contribute.

2. What approaches to generating work and solutions to problems have you developed and how have they helped?
I think that working through many design sheets has helped me to get down all of my ideas and explore them before moving onto something else. In the past I would probably just have brainstormed an idea and left it there. Research has been an important part of the design process for me. The research I undertook for the good project and the gardening project really helped me to develop the work well and in turn, generate more ideas as to what I could do with a brief. Talking through my ideas with my peers and tutors has also helped with problem solving. Especially when the laser cutting went a bit wrong during the O2 brief, if we had not talked through everything properly and rationally, it could have gone horribly wrong.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I think that my strengths do lie within typographic and layout design. Next year I’m hoping to carry on with more publication design and am hoping to spend the majority of the time playing with type and layout on booklets, leaflets, magazines, posters and more. Because of this, for my work placement I applied to lots of design companies that deal with the design of this kind of literature. I have now hopefully gotten a place at Purpose in London. I feel that I come up with strong ideas and concepts quite swiftly which means that I can move onto fully researching a subject and developing designs with minimal fuss.

I feel that there is a strong correlation between my portfolio of work and my ambitions as a designer. Most of the things I have included in the portfolio demonstrate my abilities in publication design and how well I can manipulate type and design layouts. My portfolio is also very colourful which I think reflects me as a person and my eye for design.

My interest in layout design led me deciding on the topic of grids for my dissertation. I plan to look at whether they are relevant or redundant. My proposal is based around the question ‘is design ruled by the straight line?’ and will be examining how people adhere to or rebel against grids looking at all forms of design from city planning and architecture to painting. I admire the work of designers such as Josef Muller-Brockmann and wish to gain a greater understanding of the use of grids in all forms of design. I have already completed a module in typography which has helped to further my interest in the subject. Much of my work in the Design Practice module has been focused on publication design and so I have had to work mainly with grids and type. In the third year I wish to carry on with designing booklets, magazines etc. and so will again be working mainly with grids and type meaning that I will be able to use any contextual research I do for my projects as research for my dissertation.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how could you exploit these more fully?
I feel that I can manipulate body copy well. In the type module I learned about fitting copy into a grid and making a viewer want to read lengthy bits of text. I now know about the importance of line length, point size and leading in the development of a successful layout. However I feel that I could be more experimental with type and if I were to design more display style type work that would be beneficial to me as a designer.

Illustration is probably my major weakness but its not really relevant because that is what collaboration is for. I do feel that my skills in the area have improved somewhat but it is not something I will be pursuing in the future.

Time management is also something I feel that I need to work on. I used to think I was really organised as I am always punctual and in attendance and on top of my work. But doing more than one brief at a time during the design practice module showed me how much more I need to organise my time so that I can complete the work to a high standard as well as have a social life.

5. What will you do differently next year?
In future I plan to keep an up to date diary and blog every day to make sure that I am working at a good pace. Next year I plan to focus on publication design and will aim to do that for the majority of the time. I think I need to look at more contemporary practice as that is something that I have not done as much this year. However I have bought my own domain and have set up a new blog on there for next year. I will be updating it throughout the summer with my own personal work as well as anything that catches my eye.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
Attendance: 5
Punctuality: 5
Motivation: 4
Commitment: 4
Quantity of work produced: 3
Quality of work produced: 3
Contribution to the group: 3

carolinehenson.co.uk

2009-04-07T15:36:00.004+01:00

Today I bought my own domain name and web hosting so I can have a proper online portfolio. I've still got to wait another day for it to be properly activated but after that I'm going to set up a new blog on there. It's been fun blogger but with any luck this is adieu.

End Of Module Self-Evaluation: Design For Print

2008-11-25T13:30:00.009Z

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have learned how to manage the colours of print work properly to ensure I can print the colours that I want. I have researched the potential of different colour modes and looked at contemporary practice using these to gain inspiration for my own designs. I now understand what each of the colour modes can do and how I can use these to further my future work. I used this work to create a set of 6 A3 spreads and think that I have applied the principles of what I have learned to these spreads in an effective way.

I also developed skills in different print processes including screen printing and letterpress - something I have wanted to do for absolutely ages. Unfortunately the direction that I took my 'good' project in, as well as a lack of time, meant that I did not include the use of these processes. I did however learn about lots of other types of printing, such as offset lithography, pad, gravure and flexography. These processes tend to be on the costly side and due to the facilities available at college, I only had access to CMYK printers. My work for the good project focused on the use of litho for my leaflets and boxes, and flexo for the production of my foil sachets. I could only mock-up on Photoshop what these sachets would look like. Despite not being able to actually use these two printing processes I feel that I have fully understood what is involved in printing with them, what they can be used for and how costly they can be.

I found learning about all the different parts of print processes to be really interesting. Things such as Pantone swatches, foil blocking, varnishes, embossing and stock are the really fun parts of printing. These are things that I can now consider using in the future to improve the quality and professional finish of my work.

2. What approaches to generating work and solutions to problems have you developed and how have they helped?
Understanding how printing works has meant that I know more about the possibilities available to me when generating work which in turn means that my work no longer has to be limited to the CMYK inkjet printing that is so readily available within the college. I have done a good deal of research which helped me to develop my work and sometimes given me restrictions to help focus my ideas.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I can work well with colour which is something that many designers struggle with. I like to come up with a few designs and experiment with them fully by tweaking it slightly until I come up with the best outcome. This means that I find it easy to create thumbnail sheets of designs which are so vital to design. My production skills have improved greatly from what they were last year. When I get started on work I can produce designs at a rapid pace and this is an important skill in design practice. My primary and secondary research have been quite strong in this project and have heavily influenced the outcome of my project. I really enjoy research driven design and feel that I can respond well to it.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how could you exploit these more fully?
I need to make sure that the finish of my work is complementary to my overarching concept. I felt that my packaging was a lot better than what I had produced in some of the projects we did last year yet I am just awful at hand rendering things. Perhaps I should stay away from packaging design in the future. I also felt that my idea development was sub par in this project. I found it really difficult to come up with something that could promote the health benefits of mint effectively and I think I just went for something that was obvious. Normally I feel that my ideas and concepts are the strongest parts of my work and I experiment more to get the maximum amount of development before creating a final outcome. But it just did not happen this time round. I think if I had time managed more between the good project and the colour project, this would have been rectified. This probably had a lot to do with the start of the year when I felt like we weren't doing anything when really I should have been working hard from the beginning. I also am not fond of long briefs such as this. I prefer to spend ages doing intricate research and then spending a short time actually solving a brief.

5. Identify five things that you will do different next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1. Create a time management plan at the start of the project to give me some idea of where I should be with a project at any given time as well as working harder from the beginning.
2. Experiment more with printing processes by actually using them and not just mocking up things using Photoshop.
3. Make sure I have enough time to make full use of the different printing facilities.
4. Develop my designs further to suit each element of a project, rather than sticking to one style.
5. Think harder about the concept and come up with something more innovative in order to create something better than just packaging.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

Attendance - 5
Punctuality - 5
Motivation - 5
Commitment - 4
Quantity Of Work Produced - 3
Quality Of Work Produced - 3
Contribution To The Group - 3

Hard Times Indeed

2008-11-20T21:00:00.000Z

A humorous take on the cost of printing things professionally from Because Studio. This was a self promotional print produced using a Gocco screen printing machine. Loz Ives has a lot of other cool prints on his website.

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Now playing: Patrick Wolf - Land's End
via FoxyTunes

Boards & Final Crit

2008-11-19T15:22:00.003Z

These are the mock up boards I presented in the final crit. They were quite rushed but got the basic story across. I got a lot of helpful input so I can improve them for the deadline. A lot of what my boards contain depends on my final outcomes so really I just need to get on with printing and photographing them. I basically need to condense things down a lot because some of the stuff I had included was just padding.

Peter & Paul

2008-11-17T15:38:00.004Z

Peter & Paul are a partnership based in Sheffield and they have some really gorgeous print work. That is all.

Office

2008-11-16T15:42:00.003Z

Every year, the design agency Office create a really nice Christmas card to send to their clients and friends. I especially like this year's golden owl one. It’s incredibly beautiful with a gold offset print, 2 colour gold foil and embossed details. It's weird how this Design For Print module has made me really appreciate print work like this.

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Now playing: Queens Of The Stone Age - Like A Drug
via FoxyTunes

As Real As It Gets...

2008-11-15T15:23:00.002Z

I love this advert for the new Adobe Creative Suite 4. It was created by Bates141 Jakarta as a promotion of the new product at software-asli.com (some crappy site, I wouldn't bother visiting it). Theres some more pictures of the construction process here. I can't wait for it to come out!

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Now playing: Claude Debussy - Clair De Lune
via FoxyTunes

POS Mock Ups

2008-11-14T12:34:00.000Z

These are some of the nets for display boxes that I found in some books in the library. I mocked up a few of these to see which would work for my product and wouldn't be too difficult to make. I wanted something plain, that I could make my own by adding my brand identity to.

These were the best looking results from my mock ups. I have decided to go for the 2nd one with the sloping sides as this would allow you to view more of the sides of the product boxes.

I tried a few colour ways and decided that I like this stripey design that would give you the positioning of the boxes in order of strength. When I did this, I got the light green and the dark green the wrong way round but its just a matter of fixing this in Illustrator and then I can add my identity.

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Now playing: Interpol - Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down
via FoxyTunes

Sachet Mock Ups

2008-11-12T16:41:00.001Z

These are the two styles of sachet I showed in my crit today. Everyone seemed to prefer the coloured foils so I'm going to use this for my final design. As these would be printed using flexography this is the closest I can get to the final product.

NOM NOM LETTERPRESS!!!

2008-11-06T21:46:00.003Z

I have been waiting to do this for practically a whole year now and today we finally got to do it - LETTERPRESS! We only got to do 7 prints of our name and blog address but it was so worth the wait. I loved every minute haha. I chose to use 18pt Clarendon Bold but due to the length of my blog address I had to use size 30 leading.

A basic synopsis of how to use letterpress:

1. Choose your font, get a composing stick, add the correct length of leading and hold it in place using the anchor.

2. The bottom line is the top printed line. Work from left to right and then fill any extra space with quads, thicks and thins. The notch on each piece of movable type indicates the bottom of the letter so this should be facing upwards.

3. Add another layer of leading and do the next line. Use middles as spaces between words and use thins next to punctuation (except in web and email addresses). Add a final layer of leading.

4. Get a frame, work out where you want your text to be then fill top with furniture. Add your text and fill with more furniture. Put the screw ones at the ends to make it as tight as possible.

5. Use two bits of padding before the frame in the press, put the frame into the press and pack to the metal bar. Again use the screw furniture to make it tighter. Ink the plate by lifting the trip switch and roll over the plate. Put the trip switch back down.

6. Behind the sheet you want to print onto, place 3 sheets of newsprint and 1 of tissue paper. Put your foot on the pedal, feed the paper and release the pedal.

7. Turn the handle with one hand and guide the paper through with the other. Take out your print at the end and return the roller to the start.

8. When done use a cloth and white spirit to clean the type. Then use a dry cloth to dry them. Put back the frame and furniture and return the type to the box.

Neil also said we can change the ink. I really want to do some white ink prints on brown paper but I may buy some of my own movable type first, the selection at Vernon Street was really quite small and I want to do some massive prints. Looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of time down in the print room.

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Now playing: The Strokes - Is This It
via FoxyTunes

Colour For Print Final Spreads

2008-11-01T21:51:00.012Z

Can't believe I haven't uploaded these yet, whoops!

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Now playing: Smashing Pumpkins - Plume
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Crushed

2008-10-30T18:43:00.002Z

A few months ago in the gym I saw some posters for lastminute.com and have been trying ever since to find out who designed them. At last I have discovered that Crushed are responsible. Crushed is a design agency based in Brighton and I really like pretty much everything in their portfolio. Looking through it has reminded me of things that I have seen and liked but never knew who did it before, like some of the packaging they did for Asda own brand biscuits and soup. I think I might just apply here for some work experience next summer...

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Now playing: Ladytron - Seventeen
via FoxyTunes

English Language

2008-10-29T14:08:00.004Z

A sweet poster created by Michael Ciancio about the lack of diacritical marks in the English language. These are a range of accents and other symbols which indicate that the sound of a letter is modified during pronounciation. These are rare in English but relatively common in other languages. Often the only time we use them is when writing borrowed words such as café. Many standard fonts include some letters with the accents already positioned above or below them but sometimes you have to create them yourself. To do this you can position the diacritical mark after the letter and then kern it back until it is in the correct position.

I found this interesting because I have spent quite a few years learning Spanish and even did it for my elective last year. I would quite like to work as a graphic designer out in Spain some day, so this knowledge could be quite important in the future.

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Now playing: Lindsay Lohan - Rumors
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Typeworkshop

2008-10-28T23:04:00.004Z

I really enjoyed Thursday's session on typography where we tried to find an appropriate font to convey different feelings. I'm definitely carrying on with it for the elective module. I'm looking forward to starting my type journal tomorrow! I found this website which is a really helpful reference site for designing and utilising type. I think its because all the images are hand rendered, it makes it more interesting to look at. Well it is for me anyways.

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Now playing: Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock And Roll
via FoxyTunes

The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes

2008-10-27T19:18:00.009Z

Today I went to the Design Museum in London, not because I was particularly interested in the designers exhibiting there (I didn't even know who they were!) but because I know that they always show some interesting work there and for a fiver who can complain? The main exhibition was of the work of Alan Aldridge - 'The Man With The Kaleidoscope Eyes'. Aldridge is a self taught illustrator and designer who is responsible for some of the most striking images of the 1960s and 70s. A great deal of his work is very psychedelic, especially the work that he did for The Beatles. He started as an illustrator for Penguin Books and then set up INK studios in 1968 where he became a star in his own right due to his client list which included Elton John, The Beatles and The Who. Infact it was claimed that the breakup of The Beatles that acted as the catalyst for Aldridge to channel his work and inspiration in new directions.

The exhibition was interesting as it documented his progress from pen and ink drawings into fluency in digital techniques. But to be honest it wasn't really my cup of tea. A lot of it was pure psychedelic illustration which doesn't really speak to me personally. I did however like the more type based creations. That showed that Aldridge really understands how type works and he recognises how important that is for all designers, even illustrators.

These were my favourite pieces in the exhibition.

Also at the museum was a display of some of Patricia Urquiola's work. At first sight, I just thought 'plates... that's great...' but upon closer inspection I began to appreciate the work put into her designs. The way that the moulds for her plates, cutlery and bowls are made allows for patterns to be engraved or raised above the rest of the surface. You can also see the design process she goes through as lots of the bowls had the patterns just printed out onto paper and then stuck on to get a feel for the position and for her to take the exact measurements. The intricate geometric patterns on the surface of the ceramics were really intriguing.

On the middle floor was the Design Cities exhibition which was pretty crap. It basically showed some random objects catagorised by which country the designer came from. Blah. Oh wait this was good: Giovanni Pintori's Tetractys poster

Then I went shopping and bought some rather lovely books which I'm going to read this week:

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Now playing: The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
via FoxyTunes

True Blood

2008-10-26T19:06:00.003Z

I have recently started watching the new TV series by the creator of Six Feet Under, Alan Ball, entitled True Blood. It's based on some novels by Charlaine Harris and is about vampires in the southern states of America. I highly recommend it! Anyways these are the opening credits. I really love the cinematography, showing the more sinister side of the Deep South.

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Now playing: Catatonia - The Ballad Of Tom Jones
via FoxyTunes

This Is Sussudio...

2008-10-25T19:13:00.002+01:00

Genius! A billboard playing on the business card scene from the fantastic piece of cinema that is American Psycho.

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Now playing: Alkaline Trio - Stupid Kid
via FoxyTunes

Screenprinting!

2008-10-23T21:27:00.002+01:00

Yesterday we had an induction at the Blenheim Walk print facility. Learning about the channels and their use in screenprinting was really helpful but otherwise I'd already had a good refresher at the end of last year when I screenprinted onto pillowcases and throws. We got to choose the colors and do two of of the channels for two different prints. We only had enough time to do so many prints so I was left with the yellow and brown one looking a bit shoddy. The green and yellow is cool though. I think I want to experiment with separating the colours channels and messing up the registration a bit more but maybe not for this project.

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Now playing: Interpol - Slow Hands
via FoxyTunes

First Things First - My Views

2008-10-22T20:51:00.003+01:00

Last week in Critical Studies, Richard introduced us to the First Things First manifesto and then yesterday in our PPD session we looked at it again and were posed the question 'what is your price?'.

First Things First, in a nutshell, says that we as designers should not waste our talents doing commercial projects. Instead we should be working towards a far greater purpose. After speaking to several people in the class I think I am in the minority because I am completely against the things outlined in this manifesto. I believe that what the manifesto dreams up is idealistic, preachy and polemic. It suggests from a very naive Marxist standpoint that wage labour isolates us from our core selves and that we should seek out more 'rewarding' projects, a concept not too different to the pro-bono work that lawyers, doctors and cosmetic surgeons carry out.

The authors of the piece in both 1964 and 2000 seem to think of advertising as a debased or perverted form of design and this whole manifesto is just an implicit attack on the subject. Their elitist viewpoint is typical of people who have already earned some money and gained a reputation as a designer. Just because they have had some success, they think that they can do whatever they want and look down on us lot who are just starting out and do have to earn a living by 'flogging crap'.

My price is high but whatever company I work for will be able to afford it. If the BNP were to offer me money to design something for them, I would take it. We cannot afford to be picky. Just because you don't like something is not a good enough excuse not to take a job. For example I hate fish but I would still work my arse off to design something to help sell fish if they were going to give me the job. Michael Bierut wrote a very interesting essay on this manifesto and he wisely commented that "the greatest designers have always found ways to align the aims of their corporate clients with their own personal interests and, ultimately, with the public good'.

Designers and design students need to remember that this is a job. We spend 4 years studying design so that we can earn money, live comfortably and buy the things we want. If you had all the money in the world, why would you bother working at all? Surely you would go lay on a beach somewhere and enjoy your short time on this earth. Life is too short to worry about ethics. Some people might say that if all you want to do in life is earn money, why not do something far more profitable such as prostitution? Well frankly I don't want to sell my body, I want to sell my talents as a designer. Design is something that challenges my brain, keeps me engaged with the world and channels my creativity. If I wanted to be a prostitute I wouldn't be wasting valuable street time writing this blog!

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Now playing: Slipknot - (SIC)
via FoxyTunes

First Things First Manifesto 2000

2008-10-21T20:50:00.000+01:00

We, the undersigned, are graphic designers, art directors and visual communicators who have been raised in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable use of our talents. Many design teachers and mentors promote this belief; the market rewards it; a tide of books and publications reinforces it.

Encouraged in this direction, designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell dog biscuits, designer coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, butt toners, light beer and heavy-duty recreational vehicles. Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design. The profession's time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential at best.

Many of us have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this view of design. Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact. To some extent we are all helping draft a reductive and immeasurably harmful code of public discourse.

There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills. Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention. Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes and other information design projects urgently require our expertise and help.

We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication - a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design.

In 1964, 22 visual communicators signed the original call for our skills to be put to worthwhile use. With the explosive growth of global commercial culture, their message has only grown more urgent. Today, we renew their manifesto in expectation that no more decades will pass before it is taken to heart.

Signed:

Jonathan Barnbrook
Nick Bell
Andrew Blauvelt
Hans Bockting
Irma Boom
Sheila Levrant de Bretteville
Max Bruinsma
Siân Cook
Linda van Deursen
Chris Dixon
William Drenttel
Gert Dumbar
Simon Esterson
Vince Frost
Ken Garland
Milton Glaser
Jessica Helfand
Steven Heller
Andrew Howard
Tibor Kalman
Jeffery Keedy
Zuzana Licko
Ellen Lupton
Katherine McCoy
Armand Mevis
J. Abbott Miller
Rick Poynor
Lucienne Roberts
Erik Spiekermann
Jan van Toorn
Teal Triggs
Rudy VanderLans
Bob Wilkinson

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Now playing: Saves The Day - Anywhere With You
via FoxyTunes

First Things First Manifesto 1964

2008-10-21T20:46:00.003+01:00

We, the undersigned, are graphic designers, photographers and students who have been brought up in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable means of using our talents. We have been bombarded with publications devoted to this belief, applauding the work of those who have flogged their skill and imagination to sell such things as: cat food, stomach powders, detergent, hair restorer, striped toothpaste, aftershave lotion, beforeshave lotion, slimming diets, fattening diets, deodorants, fizzy water, cigarettes, roll-ons, pull-ons and slip-ons.

By far the greatest effort of those working in the advertising industry are wasted on these trivial purposes, which contribute little or nothing to our national prosperity.

In common with an increasing numer of the general public, we have reached a saturation point at which the high pitched scream of consumer selling is no more than sheer noise. We think that there are other things more worth using our skill and experience on. There are signs for streets and buildings, books and periodicals, catalogues, instructional manuals, industrial photography, educational aids, films, television features, scientific and industrial publications and all the other media through which we promote our trade, our education, our culture and our greater awareness of the world.

We do not advocate the abolition of high pressure consumer advertising: this is not feasible. Nor do we want to take any of the fun out of life. But we are proposing a reversal of priorities in favour of the more useful and more lasting forms of communication. We hope that our society will tire of gimmick merchants, status salesmen and hidden persuaders, and that the prior call on our skills will be for worthwhile purposes. With this in mind we propose to share our experience and opinions, and to make them available to colleagues, students and others who may be interested.

Signed:
Edward Wright
Geoffrey White
William Slack
Caroline Rawlence
Ian McLaren
Sam Lambert
Ivor Kamlish
Gerald Jones
Bernard Higton
Brian Grimbly
John Garner
Ken Garland
Anthony Froshaug
Robin Fior
Germano Facetti
Ivan Dodd
Harriet Crowder
Anthony Clift
Gerry Cinamon
Robert Chapman
Ray Carpenter
Ken Briggs

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Now playing: Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
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Don't Panic: Machine

2008-10-14T20:58:00.004+01:00

So our latest brief was to come up with a poster suitable for entry into the Don't Panic poster competition working to the title of 'Machine'. My first attempt was focused on reasons why you would panic if something went wrong with a machine. A frayed wire worked well as all machines rely on power. But the image wasn't that great.

Next I thought about what would happen if cogs couldn't quite meet. In the crit people seemed to like the colours and design of the piece but the message wasn't clear enough.

Then for my third and final attempt I decided to rework the concept of the 2nd piece into a more cohesive image. A broken typewriter where the letter 'n' doesn't work.

I'm happy with the piece now but still no votes as of yet, surprise surprise. I hate this competition and all that it stands for. You only get chosen if you're a great illustrator. Even the best typographic design ever created wouldn't get picked.

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Now playing: Beck - The New Pollution
via FoxyTunes

Jason Munn

2008-10-03T11:06:00.001+01:00

These are some beautiful prints done by Jason Munn who is the man behind The Small Stakes website. The site also has tons of other posters for some great American indie bands. A truly great printmaker, in my opinion.

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Now playing: Smashing Pumpkins - The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)
via FoxyTunes

More prints

2008-10-02T10:47:00.004+01:00

Some more examples of different colour modes used in print: This is a very nice Gocco duotone print by Magic Jelly. They have done lots of cutesy style prints which are available from here.

These are the duotone black and red prints available from If You Could back in January. Each month they release 2 prints - one by an established designer and one by an up and coming.

More duotone action from the designer Chris Thompson. It was produced to showcase the viscom graduates from Glasgow School Of Art back in 2007.

THIS IS Studio are responsible for this greyscale poster on yellow stock. It is an offset litho print from an exhibition at Dazed and Confused. The show was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dr Duncan MacDougall’s claim that the human soul weighs 21 grams. The posters account the various reactions and triggers to 21 grams of forgotten matter from their studio floor: the inherent soul of the studio.

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Now playing: Vincent Vincent And The Villains - I'm Alive
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Year 2

2008-09-30T16:51:00.005+01:00

Wow I haven't blogged in a long time! I did want to but my internet connection, tv and phone line all died and because Virgin are idiots I couldn't do anything about it, apart from sitting in McDonalds for an hour at a time. Not the best thing to do with a Macbook Pro in SE London. Well anyways, back at colegio now and I'm ready to blog. We've been looking at different forms of printing. I found these examples for each variety.

CMYK - This CMYK girl was created by Miles Donovan, one of the co-founders of the Peepshow collective. The vivid use of stencils and spray paint on CMYK Girl is typical of Miles Donovan's simple yet evocative approach.

RGB - This is a triptych by Melvin Galapon called Clarity. The embossed symbols within the busy striped print are a good exploration of line.

Spot Colour - These business cards have been printed using a specially mixed metallic ink. I also love the embossed effect given by the use of letterpress.

Greyscale - Guillermo Brotons is the designer behind this sheet of smiles. It depicts the mouths of the 48 students on his MA course and on the back are the languages that they can speak.

I'll upload my mono and duo tone laters.

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Now playing: Le Tigre - Deceptacon
via FoxyTunes

What Is Graphic Design? - Buzzit

2008-06-06T11:46:00.000+01:00

To me Graphic Design is the culmination of information and aesthetic. The job of the graphic designer is to interpret and change information so it can be related to through a visual approach. It is all about problem solving in that you have to constantly think about your audience. Who are they and what can you do to help or hinder their understanding? Because of this appropriateness is key. There is no point doing something simple if your message requires work to be decorative and vice versa. No matter how nice something might look there is simply no point to it if it does not communicate effectively. Design is not about making something look good, it is the basis for everything. You cannot escape it and it is far more important than most people will ever realise.

What do other people think Graphic Design is?

"Graphic design is the paradise of individuality, eccentricity, heresy, abnormality, hobbies and humors." - George Santayana

"Typography has one plain duty before it and that is to convey information in writing. No argument or consideration can absolve typography from this duty." — Emil Ruder

"If you remember the shape of your spoon at lunch, it has to be the wrong shape. The spoon and the letter are tools; one to take food from the bowl, the other to take information off the page... When it is a good design, the reader has to feel comfortable because the letter is both banal and beautiful." - Adrian Frutiger

"To me designing has never been a job or profession. It’s a way of life, like a priest or rabbi." - Ephram Edward Benguiat

The following pieces of work help to sum up what graphic design is to me. Every piece communicates a clear message, there are no flippant pieces that just look nice because in my eyes that does not constitute graphic design. Like most people I appreciate good aesthetics but for me message is the number one priority.

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Now playing: Duran Duran - The Chauffeur
via FoxyTunes

Speaking From Experience

2008-06-05T12:48:00.000+01:00

This is my final resolution for the Speaking From Experience project. I'm really quite proud. The first part is a little kit. It comes in a box with a booklet detailing what to do with everything. It includes ear plugs, a CD of soothing music, lavender oil, sleeping pills, caffeine pills and an eye mask. Outside of the box there is a pillow and a blanket to make sleeping in the studio a comfortable experience. The kit is intended to fit into a locker so that it can be kept handy. People seem to really like it, a lot of the second years have commented on it. It was a lot of hard work but it I think it really paid off.

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Now playing: Lightspeed Champion - No Surprise (For Wendela)/Midnight Surprise
via FoxyTunes

Si Scott

2008-05-28T16:05:00.004+01:00

Well I just got back from doing my PPD presentation and I'm quite happy with how it went. I just hope I didn't come off as too much of a ponce! It was really interesting to see everyone else's work again and that most people were in the same boat as me in terms of development. Also of note was how about half of the people presenting today had Si Scott's work as part of contemporary practice that they like. Well heres where I'm going to be controversial. I can see the merits of his work but its all quite boring really isn't it? Ooh heres some text, ooh heres some swirls, isn't it pretty(?!) I fail to see anything of note being connoted by his designs or why half the group were bumming him today. I thought graphic design was supposed to be about more than just making things look nice?

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Now playing: Slipknot - My Plague
via FoxyTunes

From Keetra

2008-05-20T13:17:00.003+01:00

For my speaking from experience project I am designing a set to help next year's graphic design students to sleep in the studio. This will include a throw, pillow and sleep eye mask. I found these duvet and pillow designs on Keetra Dixon Dean's website. Although I like the idea of screenprinting people onto bed things my work is going to be primarily typography based (and the people remind me of Tony from Skin's bed). Therefore I especially like the duvet, it gives a message of reassurance - something that would be nice for students just starting university.

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Now playing: Lightspeed Champion - I Could Have Done This Myself
via FoxyTunes

The Artist's Survival Kit

2008-05-18T18:59:00.005+01:00

Keri Smith is the creator the The Artist's Survival Kit which is a set of cards that I think would be of great use to all artists and designers. They are designed to help you when you're feeling shit about your work. Some parts are serious and some humorous but all of it is actually very useful. There are some handy pointers on how to handle rejection, a great list of procrastination justifications and my favourite is the statement of worth card - something I might try out in the near future. Some simple illustration and typography typical of Smith's work offsets the concept nicely. Best of all its free and you can print it out from her website!

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Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - Me, I'm Not
via FoxyTunes

James Joyce

2008-05-17T19:26:00.006+01:00

I love these pieces by James Joyce. I find the bright colours and clean lines really appealing. The way in which he mixes typography with illustration is really quite elegant in a lot of his work. He also helps to run a monthly club night in London called 'It's Bigger Than' for which he designs the stunning flyers.

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Now playing: Art Brut - Late Sunday Evening
via FoxyTunes

Ryan Todd

2008-05-16T19:40:00.003+01:00

A common theme that I'm finding in the work I put up on here is that a lot of it is very witty. And Ryan Todd's 'Word And Image' project is no exception. The links between the words and pictures are very obvious but it has been compiled in such a way that it lends wit and innovation to the book. It features more simple type and illustration. The day-glo orange stock is also rather lovely.

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Now playing: ABC - The Look Of Love
via FoxyTunes

Random Videos In The Studio

2008-05-15T19:41:00.004+01:00

First off I had to post this video made by Jane and Jonathan starring me! It's quite possibly the funniest thing ever.

I also found this website that allows you to make stop motion animations using your webcam. Check out the recent videos page for some cool inspiring animations, but beware of the porn! I think this could be a great tool for making some quick videos when working on projects. Nevermind being helpful, heres me and Jane with beards!

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Now playing: Maxïmo Park - A Year Of Doubt
via FoxyTunes

Extraordinary Mind

2008-05-12T20:53:00.003+01:00

Although it strongly reminds me of David Shrigley's work, I like the stuff that Andre Jordan has on his website. He might just be totally ripping Shrigley off, but you can never have too many witty, simple, black and white illustrations and typography I say.

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Now playing: Status Quo - Pictures Of Matchstick Men
via FoxyTunes

1984 Calendar

2008-05-10T12:15:00.001+01:00

This is the calendar I created for the year 1984. I decided to make the cover reflective of George Orwell's dystopian view of the future in his novel. The introduction page is transitionary and the pages for each month celebrate one of the nice things that happened in that year.

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Now playing: Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
via FoxyTunes

Changethethought

2008-05-09T21:02:00.002+01:00

Changethethought started in 2002 as a portfolio for the designer Christopher Cox but has since been transformed into a brilliant blog and resource site. The work posted by the team is absolutely stunning! If I were to post everything that I like on that website then I'd be here all day. So here are a select few pieces that get my creative juices flowing:

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Now playing: Malice Mizer - Ma Chérie
via FoxyTunes

Life Of Riley

2008-05-07T20:09:00.002+01:00

We've been deconstructing grids, layout and type - some of my favourite things. The final piece we had to do was deconstruct a magazine article and give it a better design to make the readability a lot easier. I chose to do a double page spread about the actor Sam Riley who was recently in the film Control as Ian Curtis. This is the original in AbsoluteLeeds magazine:

And this is what I came up with:

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Now playing: Air - Playground Love
via FoxyTunes

Grids

2008-05-05T20:45:00.002+01:00

I really like these posters for the film 'Your Daily Bread'. While I'm not sure if they work that well as posters, they are great examples of grid and layout, which we are doing some workshops on at the moment. I like how the pictures have been colourised, it gives it more uniformity and is a great effect. They were created by the Swiss designer Alexandre Guignard.

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Now playing: Twisted Charm - London Scene
via FoxyTunes

100 Lists take 2

2008-05-02T12:09:00.002+01:00

When I posted my book of 100 lists before it was very rushed because I needed to finish it for a final crit. I was disappointed with the result because of the amount of work I had put into finding the appropriate visual language for each one so it would be convincing. I've only just managed to get round to re-making it and this is how it turned out. I'm a lot happier with it now.

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Now playing: Foals - Balloons
via FoxyTunes

Sign Language Matchbooks

2008-04-27T14:26:00.004+01:00

A rather charming set of matchbooks found on the street depicting sign language hands. I love how detailed they are for such a small method of delivery. I also really like the idea of using matchbooks as a way of communicating. Having spent the last couple of weeks designing identities for a hairdresser and a bird flu awareness campaign I've had to make loads of business cards, mail outs etc. and I wish I'd thought of designing a matchbook. Maybe next time, eh? These were made by the American designer JK Keller who has a multitude of great projects on his website.

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Now playing: Smashing Pumpkins - Eye
via FoxyTunes

Heartsrevolution

2008-04-26T15:53:00.005+01:00

Kate Moross does it again! This time shes a VJ for the band Heartsrevolution. They recently put out this EP on Moross' Isomorphs label and the design is absolutely divine. For £20 you can own a 10” candy floss pink vinyl contained within a debossed laser foiled matte sleeve with a neon inner print. Having learnt a lot about choosing the right stock recently this just seems yummy. And it only fuels my desire to learn letterpress/embossing/debossing. IT WILL HAPPEN!

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Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - We're In This Together
via FoxyTunes

Avian Flu Awareness

2008-04-25T17:04:00.004+01:00

This week the brief was to spread information like a virus choosing from a list of topics. Me and Gemma chose to 'tell a lie convincingly'. We felt that in order to be convincing, a lie needs some kind of truth behind it so we made out that bird flu had hit West Yorkshire. The scary thing is that everything we wrote was the absolute truth and the only lie was that it was in Leeds. We made a set of posters, a leaflet, a website, stickers and a business card. We then took these out to the public to try and spread our message. This was really enjoyable and showed us how important it is to properly contextualise your work.

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Now playing: The Cardigans - Carnival
via FoxyTunes

Who Tall Are You?

2008-04-22T15:45:00.002+01:00

A clever new way of measuring your height. Instead of using feet and inches or centimetres, the Who Tall Are You mirror lets you see which celebrity is the same height as you. Designed by Ismaril Wells and manufactured by SUCK UK who have loads of cool products on their website, including a USB stick mixtape and glow in the dark spray paint!

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Now playing: Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man. - I Am The Future
via FoxyTunes

Shadowplay Studio

2008-04-21T15:42:00.004+01:00

I really loved the movie Juno and I finally found out that Shadowplay Studio did the animation for the title sequence. They also uploaded an album on flickr showing how they did it all by hand.

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Now playing: Queens Of The Stone Age - The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret
via FoxyTunes

Form

2008-04-20T15:41:00.004+01:00

I've been looking at Form's collection of branding and it is truly amazing. Really colourful, beautifully clean work with nice typography. Definitely makes them stand out as branding innovators.

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Now playing: Biffy Clyro - Asexual Meat Kitchen
via FoxyTunes

Kyle Bean

2008-04-19T15:08:00.000+01:00

Kyle Bean is currently studying illustration at the University of Brighton but he already has a really impressive portfolio. Theres all kinds of interesting pieces dealing with illustration and typography but what really caught my eye was 'The Future Of Books'. He made this from an old book bought from a charity shop. I think the light/the whole thing really is so impressive.

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Now playing: Basement Jaxx - Plug It In
via FoxyTunes

Hairdresser Mail Shot

2008-04-18T14:39:00.004+01:00

Totally loved this project and am very pleased with the outcome. People seemed to genuinely like my graphic device and the interactivity of it. Yay.

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Now playing: Marilyn Manson - The Fight Song
via FoxyTunes

Envelopes

2008-04-17T23:23:00.003+01:00

Some interesting ideas for envelope design. I especially like Jamie Wieck's project on how the Queen's head could be put to better use.

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Now playing: XTC - Making Plans For Nigel
via FoxyTunes

Business Cards

2008-04-16T22:55:00.008+01:00

One of the things we have to produce for our current brief is a business card so here are some designs I like.This is a growing business card by Jamie Wieck. I think its really effective as it would serve its purpose of staying on a desk. Wieck says:

"For this project I set out to design a business card that a prospective client would want to keep on their table rather than in their pocket.

The result was a business card that worked like a miniature house-plant, growing alfalfa or cress when dipped in water - a business card for 'another bloomin' designer'.

The logo was also cut into a 'seed stencil' that allowed the logo to be grown on either earth or lawn; on uncut grass, the message would remain hidden until the area was mown".

Business card for a personal trainer printed onto a stretchy material so clients have to work to get the details.

Nice use of debossing, a regular feature of business cards. I really need to learn embossing and debossing and just letterpress in general! I love the way it looks, so much nicer than computer printing.

A good example of a two tone design which is what we have to stick to.

And to finish, here is the famous business card scene from one of my favourite films American Psycho.

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Now playing: Morrissey - We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
via FoxyTunes

Posters For My Book

2008-04-11T15:20:00.003+01:00

These posters were designed to highlight the juxtapositions within my book. I tried not to give too much away so that people would hypothetically still want to purchase it.

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Now playing: Maxïmo Park - Kiss You Better
via FoxyTunes

The Daily Grind

2008-04-10T00:58:00.005+01:00

Vicky Simmons and Pedro Meade are the creators of these great posters placed in those newspaper stand things in central London. As someone who always reads these things because I'm a poor student who can't afford newspapers, I really appreciate these. This is what Vicky Simmons says about these pieces:

"I worked collaboratively with Pedro Meade to change a space that’s constantly observed and acknowledged, but often overlooked. The Evening Standard headline boards set a tone for the day and convey a message and state of mind to passing commuters. They are a physical manifestation of the news, which is updated regularly throughout the day, and are one of the fastest changing print media in our environment.

Our aim was to engage the audience with humorous and interesting headlines that are never given the prestige of front page news. We want our alternative news headlines to make people smile, to turn heads and provoke thought. The posters are aimed at commuters and passers by, who make daily journeys into London and who are regularly exposed to the boards".

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Now playing: A-Ha - Take On Me
via FoxyTunes

Seismograph

2008-04-09T20:49:00.002+01:00

Manchester Met graduate Hugh Gummett is the creator of this typeface. I really enjoy the use of line and the random Alyssa Milano quote.

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Now playing: Patrick Wolf - Ghost Song
via FoxyTunes

If I only knew your name...

2008-04-08T17:04:00.003+01:00

Great new video for the song 'Young Love' by Mystery Jets. Its ever so charming and fits the song perfectly. I love the subtle use of typography. Heres what the director James Copeman had to say about it:

"I had a lot of contrasting ideas: retro performance video, synchronised swimming, split screens and typography.

Then my friend Dan Sutherland showed me references from a mood board. One of the images was of a guy lying on the floor shot from really high up. It made think. Blaine the lead singer has difficulty walking without crutches. This way the the whole band could move and dance and perform together.

At first I only intended to see the band members, and tried to avoid seeing the 'helpers'. But when it became obvious we would see them I decided to give them more of a role, like dressing the set, or even holding instruments and mics for the band.

A welcome side affect of shooting down on the floor was the band members and Laura couldn’t see us, so they relaxed infront of the camera and started to be silly and have fun, and I was able to capture a really natural and fun performance from them".

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Now playing: Mystery Jets - Young Love
via FoxyTunes

100 Lists

2008-04-06T15:31:00.002+01:00

So I finally completed my book of 100 lists and this is how it looks:
It comprises 100 juxtaposing lists where the majority are pretty normal things like shopping lists and to-do lists. However these are interspersed with more controversial lists such as a list of local schools being placed next to a list of known sex offenders.

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Now playing: Albert Hammond, Jr. - Blue Skies
via FoxyTunes

Words Are Pictures

2008-04-04T21:04:00.003+01:00

Craig Ward has some absolutely stunning work. I particularly like the set of Russian dolls that illustrate the story of the old woman who swallowed a fly.

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Now playing: Smashing Pumpkins - Clones (We're All)
via FoxyTunes

The New Coin Designs

2008-04-03T22:36:00.006+01:00

I'm sorry but this is utter wank. I absolutely hate it. Matt Dent is officially on my shitlist. Okay, I'll admit that its a good concept, but what is actually shown on each coin is fucking ugly. When I receive one of these new coins I will be filled with complete and utter disgust.

And people thought that the 2012 London Olympics logo was an atrocity?

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Now playing: Yourcodenameis:Milo - Iron Chef
via FoxyTunes

Grow Your Own Serrano Chillies!

2008-03-27T20:41:00.000Z

Today was my sister's 24th birthday so we decided to go to Wahaca for her birthday meal. It's a Mexican restaurant in Covent Garden, London that has some seriously gorgeous food. ¡Especialmente los churros con chocolate, mmm... me gustan mucho! Instead of matchbooks they give you cute little pink and turquoise packages with 5 sticks and chilli pepper seeds inside. Brightly coloured, simple typography and delivery, what an awesome idea! Behind the sticks theres even a recipe for salsa verde. The restaurant interior is also really nice, as are their menus and website. I can't recommend their food enough!

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Now playing: Bright Eyes - Four Winds
via FoxyTunes

Aleksandr Rodchenko: Revolution In Photography

2008-03-21T18:16:00.005Z

So yesterday I posted about all the stuff in the 'Laughing In A Foreign Language' exhibition and just upstairs was what I had came for - the Rodchenko exhibition! It focused on his photographic work but they also had loads of his posters, books design and general letterpress deliciousness. It really helped to give me an insight into his work and way that Constructivism emerged after the Russian Revolution in 1917. I've looked at countless pictures in books and on the internet of his famous photomontages but everything was even more interesting in the flesh. You could clearly see the layers of images in the photomontages, the imprint from the letterpress and the marks left from the gouache. Also some of the pieces were a completely different size to how I had imagined. A lot of the Constructivism books I've looked at had printed his book covers as A4 pages but they were absolutely tiny! For some reason this made me like Rodchenko's work even more. These are some scans from the exhibition guide I bought at the gallery. They explain really well about his move from design to photography and exactly why he did what he did. I even bought a postcard of his well known 'Books' poster yay!

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Now playing: F. Lunaire - Quantum Physics In The Sink
via FoxyTunes

David Shrigley

2008-03-20T18:01:00.003Z

Most people know David Shrigley's work but this installation covered two massive walls so it was pretty impressive. It was just a load of print outs of some of his hand rendered text and illustrations.

"Shrigley is known to countless fans for the quirky vignettes with goofy drawings and maladjusted aphorisms that have appeared in newspapers, magazines and his own books. Insisting that hes 'not really interested in telling jokes as such; most of the time I'm trying to be serious. For me everything has to have some kind of humour to it because that's the way life is. It's funny and its sad and bad at the same time'."

I particularly liked this poster for the barn dance. It's on Sunday at 8pm in the barn btw. Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of my favourite piece. I really wanted to print it out and stick it around my flat. It simply said:

'Dear neighbours,
Please keep the fucking noise down
you inconsiderate bunch of stupid cunts.'

If I wrote it out again, it might seem rude haha!

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Now playing: Franz Ferdinand - Tell Her Tonight
via FoxyTunes

Doug Fishbone

2008-03-20T17:51:00.001Z

Doug Fishbone's videos were some of the funniest things at the exhibition. They really appealed to my sense of humour, which is probably quite dark haha. Two videos were shown - 2004's 'Everybody Loves A Winner' and 2005's 'Towards A Common Understanding'. The videos are entirely made up of a sequence of images with Fishbone talking over the top. The full length 'Everybody Loves A Winner' is more like 8 minutes long but this 3 minute preview is a pretty good excerpt.

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Now playing: Smashing Pumpkins - Dross
via FoxyTunes

Matthew Griffin

2008-03-20T17:42:00.001Z

Two pieces by the Australian artist Matthew Griffin - 'I'm Waiting' and 'Life Should Be Resolving' respectively. Crisp, clear and colourful photographs with text spray painted over them. It took me a while to realise that it was spray paint, in the photos it really looks like a paper cutout but it looks good either way. In the gallery these two featured as part of a whole wall designed by Griffin. The wall was also spray painted onto and the photos were hung on top of this.

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Now playing: Prego - Waiting Minds
via FoxyTunes

Candice Breitz

2008-03-20T17:32:00.005Z

'Aiwa To Zen' is a video piece created by the South African artist Candice Breitz. After visiting Japan she realised that she only knew really simple words, the majority of which were already well known to foreigners, and brand names. She uses some friends from Japan to act out a random story but the things they say are made up from the words she knows rather than actual Japanese. It was really funny and well put together. The context in which you view it is very important too. Instead of the normal seats found in the video rooms of the gallery, they have installed a traditional Japanese floor with cushions and you are encouraged to take your shoes off to watch the film. You can download it from her website here. Sega, Aiwa, Pikachu!

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Now playing: Idlewild - Love Steals Us From Loneliness
via FoxyTunes

Martin Walde

2008-03-20T17:26:00.004Z

This may look like an ordinary door but this is actually Martin Walde's 'The Key Spirit'. Walde likes to create installations that become situations in which the viewer is an active participant and he certainly manages to do that with this piece. There is only a pile of keys on the floor, the door and the sound of a cat sadly meowing behind it. It makes you want to interact and rescue the cat but theres so many keys. Really effective use of sound and a clever idea for an installation.

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Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - The Big Come Down
via FoxyTunes

Laughing In A Foreign Language

2008-03-20T17:15:00.005Z

Today I went to the Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre in London for the Aleksandr Rodchenko exhibition. More on that later. Luckily my 5 pound ticket also gave me access to another exhibition called Laughing In A Foreign Language. This was basically loads of humourous pieces created by artists from many different countries. I really liked a lot of the stuff on display so it was definitely worth going.

One of the first pieces I saw was by a Chinese guy called Jun Yang. In 2004 he created this set of pictograms called 'X-Guide'. These pieces illustrate appropriate codes of Western behaviour for foreigners. But at the same time there are deeper ironies at play: while designed to enable us to communicate regardless of nationality, race and age, pictograms used as public information symbols are highly culture-specific and can often be misunderstood. Here, in order to make everything absolutely clear, the pictograms are accompanied by captions in English, though English-speakers presumably should not need these pictograms instructions.

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Now playing: Pretty Girls Make Graves - This Is Our Emergency
via FoxyTunes

One Day In Venice

2008-03-09T14:16:00.004Z

Finally! I found some pictures of my favourite book from the book fair! This is a book called 'One Day In Venice' by Francis Van Maele. I was actually considering buying a copy, until I saw the £30 price tag. I guess that wasn't so bad, some people were charging £170 for some folded up piece of newspaper! Printed by Redfoxpress in Ireland.

It really captures the feel of the place and I love the use of scanned paper, handwriting and stamps - which also form the basis of my book of 100 lists.

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Now playing: Beck - The Golden Age
via FoxyTunes

Nicola Dale

2008-03-08T13:45:00.004Z

I had poke around some more websites of the artists who took part in yesterday's book fair. It's hard to find pictures of the more interesting pieces but this is another book by Nicola Dale called A Secret Heliotropism. Its really quite different to the other book I posted.

"As flowers turn towards the sun, by dint of a secret heliotropism the past strives to turn toward that sun which is rising in the sky of history.' (Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History)

In 'A Secret Heliotropism', I have made a visual analogy for the constantly shifting way in which we understand events in history. My understanding of Benjamin's idea is that our view of history changes depending on our position - geographical, political, moral or philosophical. Just as a flower follows the sun round the sky, so we too change the meaning of historical events to suit ourselves. Because my piece is about time and memory, it has its basis in appropriation. Not only is my starting point Benjamin's quote, but the work itself has been created from a found history book. Over the course of a year, each of the 320 pages have been painstakingly hand cut into a leaf pattern so that the leaves (pun intended) stretch out from the book towards a source of natural sunlight, as though the book itself were growing and changing in the same way history does".

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Now playing: Les Incompétents - Kriss Akabusi
via FoxyTunes

Contemporary Artists Book Fair

2008-03-07T13:39:00.010Z

Today I went to the Contemporary Artists' Book Fair at Leeds University. There were some really interesting things on display. I loved the tiny books created with such intricate and delicate paper engineering. It looked really simple but its something I just can't get my head around. No matter how hard I try I am terrible at manipulating paper. Therefore I'm going to make a traditional bound book for my 100 lists. It is the content that needs to be the focus, not the mechanism of the book. Anyway here are loads of books that I liked the look of at the fair today.

A Book Of Small Things by Becky Adams.

Peeping Through The Corridor by Jessie Chorley.

Cuckoo Song by Nicola Dale.

Memory by Angela Davies.

Precious by Heather Hunter.

The Black Hole by Diane Jacobs.

Scrambled Sayings by Catriona Stamp.

Kie-Kie Book Series by Alix Swan.

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Now playing: The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
via FoxyTunes

Tenori-On

2008-03-04T18:17:00.005Z

OMG SOMEONE GIVE ME 600 QUID SO I CAN BUY THIS!!!

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Now playing: Art Brut - Pump Up The Volume
via FoxyTunes

Good Shoes

2008-03-02T15:01:00.002Z

A couple of videos by the band Good Shoes for the songs 'All In My Head' and 'Never Meant To Hurt You'. The first uses the idea of a Victorian zoetrope/kaiserpanorama to create animation through photography whereas the second is more traditional in the sense that it takes the form of illustration.

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Now playing: Fiona Apple - Across The Universe
via FoxyTunes

Anne De Vries

2008-02-29T14:51:00.004Z

Two pieces by Dutch designer and photographer Anne De Vries. Both were completed last year and are called 'Game' and 'Eye Candy' respectively. I really love the wit of 'Game' and the use of colour and paint in 'Eye Candy', but its making me hungry...

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Now playing: My Chemical Romance - Vampires Will Never Hurt You
via FoxyTunes

Etsy

2008-02-28T14:42:00.000Z

Etsy is a website where you can buy and sell anything that is handmade. A lot of people on there have recycled objects, paper and random junk to make some quite innovative books. The user Erinzam created these designs from cardboard packaging, a map and a cassette tape respectively.

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Now playing: Interpol - Slow Hands
via FoxyTunes

The Enlightenment

2008-02-27T14:22:00.004Z

The Enlightenment is a lamp designed to look like a book by Dutch company Studiomeiboom. I like the way that they think and I think this is definitely something that challenges what is meant by a book. This is what they had to say about their product:

"There are a lot of books about the Enlightenment, but none of them actually provide light. Studiomeiboom has combined this idea into a lamp which is in the form of a book. Not a heavy book, a light book. Not a book of absolute truths. It is, however, a book which sets you thinking but which does not tell you what to do. A book which will not only help you in dark days but other people as well."

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Maxime Delporte

2008-02-26T14:09:00.005Z

A very playful comparative study between feet and serifs by Belgian designer Maxime Delporte. He even has photos of feet wearing socks to highlight our own 'serifs'. Theres loads more interesting takes on typographic design at his website.

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Revolution In Photography

2008-02-24T16:28:00.004Z

For Critical Studies I decided to look at Constructivism in response to the 2nd question "Choosing a particular period between 1800 to the present, in what ways has graphic design or design practice responded to the changing social and cultural forces of that period? Focus on two specific examples".

I've had an interest in this artistic movement for a while now, so I'm happy to write an essay on it. As I was reading through Grafik magazine last week I saw an advertisement for the new Aleksandr Rodchenko exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London. Luckily its on until April so I'll be able to visit in the Easter holidays.

"Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) was one of the great figures of early 20th-century avant-garde art, and also one of its most versatile practitioners. After gaining an international reputation as a painter, sculptor and graphic artist, Rodchenko turned to photography in the early 1920s, convinced that it would become the artistic medium of his era. Whether making individual portraits, studies of modern architecture and industry, or pictures of mass demonstrations and entertainments, Rodchenko infused his images with a startlingly dynamic point of view that influenced the growth of an experimental aesthetic in European photography of the late 1920s and 1930s.

Featuring approximately 200 original prints and photomontages, this exhibition traces the development of Rodchenko's photography over a period of two decades. Pioneering a new vocabulary of bold and unusual camera positions, severe foreshortenings of perspective, and close-up views of surprising details, Rodchenko's photography balanced formal concerns with an interest in the social and political life of the Soviet Union."

Can't wait!

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Liz Zanis

2008-02-22T17:33:00.003Z

A lovely little book by Liz Zanis called "Male Friends." The brown envelope is about 2 and a half inches wide and holds a silk-screened concertina book. It’s a very short story told in first person about a bike-riding postman’s son who throws love letters over the hedge to the narrator.

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Damien Poulain

2008-02-21T17:23:00.003Z

These are some pictures of Damien Poulain's Colours Notebook.

"Colors magazine (in collaboration with Reporters Sans Frontieres) sent to individual people and various organizations all around the world a copy of a blank Colors magazine to be filled with their own stories, photos, etc... a unique notebook.
I've used the emptiness of this notebook to remove some space on each layers to reveal its physicality and its depth, from the cover to the end... I then left a final note on the last page:

26 LAYERS GOING THROUGH A GROTTO WHERE LIES NOTHING THAN THE END OF IT."

Quite an interesting way of putting a book together I think. I especially like the use of layers, something that would make you want to continue through a book, so something I should bear in mind during this book of 100 project.

The presentations today went well but people preferred my list of words to all the stuff I did in Cornwall. Well that was a waste of £150 then. IDK, I like lists.

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Tate St. Ives

2008-02-18T17:02:00.004Z

As I already mentioned I visited St. Ives for our current project last week. One day I visited the Tate and the Barbara Hepworth sculpture garden. It was cool reading the plaques with information about her life and how it mentions LCAD! The garden was pretty but I wasn't too keen on the actual sculptures. Much more exciting was the Tate gallery. Loads of boring fine art but there was an exhibit called 'Hugh Stoneman: Master Printer', which had loads of really cool prints. I'm really interested in photogravure now, thats definitely something I need to learn more about. I also really liked the wall pieces by Hamish Fulton. Some of the type in his work is really simple and gorgeous.

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100

2008-02-15T16:46:00.003Z

I went to St. Ives and Penzance for reading week. I collected scones, grease marks, grains of sand, tea stains and words I like the sound of.

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Timelines

2008-02-10T15:34:00.001Z

Here is my final resolution for the timelines brief:

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Manetone

2008-02-01T19:00:00.000Z

This is Tim Fraser Brown's "reproduction of Édouard Manet's 'Bar At The Folies Bergere' made entirely of old Pantone chips. Over 5,000 unused chips were painstakingly colour matched and and stuck down over four long nights, and acted as centre piece for a boozey party in our design studio".

After colouring in and stamping over 120 pieces of card for my set of timelines, I feel like I kind of understand how he must've felt whilst making this. It looks so good, though I might just like it because of it's title...

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Tamara Shopsin

2008-01-31T16:51:00.000Z

Haha! Tamara Shopsin is very witty.

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Keep Calm

2008-01-30T16:40:00.000Z

Douglas Wilson designed this set of posters for Keep Calm, an online gallery where you can order some really nice prints with inspiring mantras written on them. I'm doing travelling for our project and while I rejected the use of maps for my timelines, I really like how Wilson has used them. It gives a really clear message delivered in a clever way. They're only £22 as well, I might just order one.

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Jennifer Daniel

2008-01-29T16:30:00.000Z

This is Jennifer Daniel's one-page portfolio of editorial illustrations and information graphics. I'm sure most people in the class will be glad to move away from graphs now. Hence why I've chosen a completely different kind of timeline for my final set.

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Kate Moross For Topshop

2008-01-28T16:14:00.000Z

Last weekend Kate Moross (the graphic designer, not Moss!) launched her collection for Topshop by drawing a massive illustration in the window of their Oxford Street flagship store. While the designs on the clothes are not some of Kate's best work in my opinion, the window display was spot on.

She even designed 50 envelopes containing some goodies (including a Sharpie <3) for the first people to buy pieces from her range. Shame, I wish I could've seen her in action. Hopefully it will still be there when I go back to London.

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Metronomy

2008-01-25T13:56:00.000Z

This is latest video by Metronomy for their song 'Radio Ladio'. I saw these guys last year at The Cockpit when they supported Foals and have loved them ever since. Considering we've been looking at colour a lot lately, I think this is more than appropriate. Directed by Daniel Brereton and art direction from Colin Henderson.

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Chrissie Abbott

2008-01-24T13:38:00.000Z

Rather lovely typographic design created by Chrissie Abbott in response to last year's smoking ban. I saw this and went to explore her website where I found some even more interesting pieces.

Theres some really cute and funny designs. I might try out something similar for our Photoshop brief.

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The Gardens Of St. Benjamin

2008-01-23T13:25:00.000Z

The Gardens Of St. Benjamin is the online portfolio of Benji Holroyd. I really like the use of colour and pictogram in his designs for Monty Patheridge Landscape Gardens. Really simple but very visually interesting. The typographic design for the window of The Leaf Tea Shop reminds me of the tea towels designed by Emma Bridgewater. I love Bridgewater stuff. All my crockery and cutlery is from there.

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OMFG!!!

2008-01-22T21:05:00.000Z

Omg omg omg omg! My lovely mother just bought me a Wii! I am so happy! I cannot wait to go home and play it! I am mostly looking forward to reliving my childhood Sega loving by playing the new NiGHTS game.

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Spring Snow

2008-01-20T16:54:00.000Z

James Goggin was commissioned to design a 'translation' of a Japanese book with Alison Turnbull. The result was this - 'Spring Snow'.

"For the project, Turnbull collected all the colour descriptions from Yukio Mishima’s novel 'Spring Snow' and annotated them as a series of colour charts.

Designed in the traditional Japanese novel bunko format, ‘Spring Snow -— A Translation’ is exactly that: a visual translation of Mishima’s text ordered by colour. Novelist Tony White wrote a psuedo-fictitious introduction for the project which was in turn translated back into Japanese".

Last week's colour workshop made me realize the impact that just colour can have - something that is clearly shown here. I think this 'translation' is really innovative and it becomes more interesting because of the meaning behind it.

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HistoryShots

2008-01-19T15:49:00.000Z

One of many interesting charts from the HistoryShots website. I think its a great example because of how visually intriguing it is as well as being incredibly simple. On their website you can view the chart interactively so you can zoom in on all the little details like the name of the space crafts and which countries took part in the moon race. Each section of space is colour coded so you can clearly see how far each one got before they failed.

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Dan Collier

2008-01-17T15:38:00.000Z

Some photos of Dan Collier's book Typographic Links. It is a collectible hand-sewn publication, which maps interesting links and connections through the world of typography. The aim was to create a book and accompanying poster that took a light-hearted look at typographic practice. Thread is used to create three-dimensional hyperlinks that guide the reader through the pages of the book.

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Juan Pablo De Gregorio

2008-01-16T15:30:00.000Z

This colorful infographic is part of a delightful set produced by Juan Pablo De Gregorio to illustrate a monography on the Centre For Mathematical Modelling (CMM) - part of the University Of Chile. The series of infographics were placed throughout the brochure to illustrate different themes. Most executions within the set are conceptual drawings with no depiction of real data. They are, however, highly innovative and inspirational.

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Ian Dapot

2008-01-15T15:22:00.000Z

"A series of posters based on mapping the relationships between cited authors and referenced ideas in Jane Bennett's essay, 'The Force of Things: Steps Toward An Ecology Of Matter, in order to generate an image of the conceptual territory of the essay and each work cited."

As Ian Dapot explains: "This work came from an interest in how ideas get from one place or person to another. I began by creating an Adobe PDF of Bennett's essay and spreading each page over the surface of the poster. I highlighted the name of every author cited in the text and connected each reference, through line and/or areas of color. I tried to demarcate the territory of each cited author or work to show how Bennett's thinking and arguments were constructed. I tried to clarify the connections between each author and make reference to the visual language of maps. I then worked on a typographic layout for the title and masked off the intersections of the connections and the typography".

From Ian Dapot's website

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Good Magazine

2008-01-14T15:15:00.000Z

All from Good Magazine

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Sulki & Min Choi

2008-01-12T14:43:00.000Z

All from Sulki & Min's website.
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Last Day Of Term whoo!

2007-12-13T20:04:00.000Z

Time for crimbo hols then! I'm actually quite excited about doing the christmas brief. I can see myself sitting in front of my computer playing video games all day while my family are at work so this will give me a good excuse to go places and record my travels. I might even start by taking photos on the train home tomorrow.

I'm also going to see an art exhibition tomorrow by Noel Fielding of The Mighty Boosh. He's displaying some of his surreal paintings above Maison Bertaux which happens to be one of my favourite patisseries in London. Noel and cake is a good combination.

Heres the photo I took for our last brief of the term. The one week I wanted it to rain, it didn't, which made my concept a lot harder to pull off. I am really happy with how it turned out apart from just plonking the text on a piece of paper. If I had actually transferred it onto the t-shirt I think I would like it a bit more.

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Dexter!

2007-12-01T11:59:00.000Z

OMG I've just started watching this amazing TV show called Dexter about this guy who works as a blood splatter analyst for the police but by night hes a serial killer who kills serial killers. Its so addictive and Michael C. Hall is just great as the title character. He was so good in Six Feet Under too (another programme with a beautiful title sequence). So anyway here are the titles for Dexter - they reflect his existence so very well.

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Packaging

2007-11-09T19:48:00.001Z

Been looking at packaging this week for our message & interpretation brief. I've come across so many inspiring designs, most of which are in my sketchbook. I thought I would post this one as its just really cute. Dinobytes Candy packaging by Elsa Chaves. Its a simple concept of just dividing an image between four boxes but it works really well as you can reconstruct it to show a different dinosaur. I might experiment with something similar. I've had loads of ideas this week and now its just a matter of exploring them to figure out what works best!

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Font Clock

2007-10-31T15:04:00.000Z

Font Clock is a 21st Century take on the British 24 hour clock design icon. Twelve different fonts are printed within the mechanism of the clock providing a random, mixed display of graphic language within a simple timepiece. It was created by Sebastian Wrong who had this to say about the piece:

The essence of the idea is the twelve fonts, all chosen for their design strength and individuality and all of which are twentieth century apart from one, an English 18th Century script. In theory, all given points within the annual time cycle, all the fonts will run together for 5 minutes.

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