End Of Module Evaluation

This module has been a unique and interesting one for me as it has caused me to think about and consider things in a different light. It has opened my eyes to the world of individual practice whilst also teaching me a lot about myself. I feel it has opened up many possibilities for my future.

At the beginning of the module I struggled to get into the sessions and almost felt it was a 'waste of time' to sit and talk about time management instead of getting on with the actual work! But in the end I have realised just how beneficial these sessions have been to me and they have really helped me organise my time better.

For my A2 research poster, I focused on my hatred for the printing system and used this to create an almost 'rant' style poster in which I tore the system apart! I designed it with printing/computer glitches in mind which is where the visuals/patterns came from. I enjoyed creating this piece as it was nice to really let loose and have a moan about all my problems and issues!


For my self branding, I found it extremely hard at first to try and get into the project. I was embarrassed in a way to create my own identity as I didn't want to be see as 'bigging myself up' in anyway, and I also wasn't keen on focusing on my qualities. Finding out what people thought of me was eye opening but eventually formed the basis of my self branding and helped provide the content for what I was working towards. I was happy with my overall self branding for now, but I am aware this will change and adapt over time and through the years spent at LCA!

My design strategy presentation required a lot of work and reflection on the past 9 months - it really made me think about what I have learnt and how far I have come. It was nice to reflect on the ups and downs of the year and I have come a long way. I feel more grown up and developed as a designer, but again I am aware there is still a long way to go and I will be growing and evolving as a person throughout my time on my degree.

In conclusion, the main thing I feel I have got from this module is self-confidence - I have developed my presentation skills, learnt more about myself as a person and become more organised as a whole. I am looking forward to Personal and Professional Practice sessions in the future and seeing how much more I can grow over the next two years!

Art From Non-Art Submission

We have had a talk from Dan, who introduced us to the 'Art from Non-Art' exhibition.

"‘Art From Non-Art’ is a collaborative exhibition celebrating appropriation within the arts, specifically the medium of collage. The title of the exhibition refers to the act of appropriating pre-existing objects and images with little or no artistic value and transforming them into an individual piece of art. Applicants are encouraged to use both traditional cut and paste methods and/or digital manipulation along with any other medium they see fit.
There is no set subject matter for the designs, the only criteria is that all designs must incorporate appropriation  in some form."

He recommended a few different collage artists to us:

- Beth Hoeckel

- Hort

- Robert Rauschenberg

- DR.ME

- Ill Studio

- Louis Reith

- Ellery James Roberts

- Leif Podhajski

- Mat Maitland

- Richard Prince

- Ventral is Golden

- John Stezaker

I have chosen to submit a collage I created a while ago in connection with a previous project. The piece is called 'Daddy Long Legs'.


I like this collage because it is quirky and fun!

Design Strategy Final Presentation

For the final presentation of the year, I chose to design this in the same colours used in my self branding. This helps create a sense of continuity and again reinforces myself as a brand.

I used a formal and chatty tone throughout the slides, using abbreviations and lots of punctuation to add a casual element. I felt this reflected me as a person and also helped me to present in a less formal way!

I included lots of imagery and elements of humour to keep the audience engaged and laughing (hopefully!). I felt this was successful as people did actually find bits of it funny (shock) and it made me feel more at ease when presenting.

I wasn't as nervous doing this presentation as I had already had practice with my self branding presentation so I knew what to expect.

Overall I felt the presentation was a learning curve and I actually learnt more about myself whilst creating it. I have really enjoyed the PPP module as a whole and feel like it has definitely helped me think about my own personal practice and how I can develop this during my time studying at LCA.

Who am I as a learner?
- Unorganised
- Put things off – overestimate my time – always think I can get more done in the time I have
- Find it hard to do things without pressure – have 3 weeks, leave 2 weeks
- Hard to balance everything – go gym, cook tea, clean room (OCD), shower etc

Who am I as a designer?
- Discovering style more – like colour!!
- Futura Heavy Oblique
- Clean design
-Experimentational
- Least favourite project – logotype/wayfinding
- Favourite projects – object/current brief


Current aims and ambitions (affected over past 9 month?)
- Want to learn how to develop work more – find it hard to go through process
- Pick idea and run with it – need to stop
- Always visualize end result too soon – want to enjoy design process more and stop stressing!Over summer and for level 5
- Over summer want to be more observant – document things that I see, drawings, make notes and take more pictures of things that inspire me
- Start up freelance business – take on small projects for a bit of cash, try get my name known
- Read up more on design theory etc/books
- Level 5 want to explore other styles more – want to break away from usual style and push out of comfort zone – develop myself as a designer

Learnt and want to learn?
- Learnt that contemporary design is timeless- modernism/Bauhaus – will always look modern and contemporary
- Want to learn more about moving away from the norm – breaking barriers, challenging rules and typical style

Mistakes made and what learnt from them?
- Not spending long enough developing ideas – jumping into final idea too early
- Learnt to slow down – research more – even if I like an idea, put it to one side, keep exploring other avenues
- Will affect my future development by making my projects more well rounded, fully explored and exhausted before refined – better project/ideas

Strengths and how to develop further?
- Colour palettes for stuff – teacher at GCSE – good eye for colour
- Develop further how? Look at type more – want a good eye for type too – want to explore how different typefaces have different effects

Weaknesses and how to address these?
- Deffo time management – always get stuff done but find it hard to do knowing I have more time – not one to leave til LAST min but would like to be more motivated towards beginning of a project
- Address this by planning time more efficiently – look at exactly how many days I have, calculate how long things will take, count down days to deadlines

Enjoyed and why?
- Being surrounded by other graphic designers – looking at other people’s work – inspirational
- Helps drive ideas forwards – want to be as good as other people!!

Disliked and why?
- Too many things going on at once – CANNOT split time between, always spend longer on one than other, neglect ones etc. Like spinning too many plates/juggling. Would much prefer to do them all separately one at a time
- Affects my ambitions because makes me doubt myself – can’t do it now – how will I cope in future? Scares me regarding freelance work. Brain can’t cope!!!!!

Want to get from this year?
- Wanted to develop knowledge of contemporary graphic design – deffo achieved this – better aware of what is contemporary and what is tacky – feel more grown up!

Discovered that wasn’t expecting?
- That graphic designers are constantly juggling things – I thought they took on one project at a time!! Realised what a heavy time consuming job it is – not easy!

Decisions making about future?
- Not sure about freelance work – stressful, not getting paid, not enough jobs, juggling too many things
- Would feel safer working for company – mention Mamas and Papas? Perhaps do freelance as small job on side

James Springall

"James Springall is a collage artist based in London. His work is made by hand using found materials. 

Artist statement (retranslated from the Chinese)

For James, the collage significance is to keep the existing image, but give them a new identity, and at the same time trying to create a sense of violation and messy, so the audience can feel the difference in work and sense of fun. Because itself is a "storage mad", a collection of many old magazines, until when the reservoir needs to lose too much, he realized that these seemingly banal publications are actually treasure, buried a lot of interesting photos can be used as a creative raw materials. So, is this use of old magazines and glue a pair of scissors, James began his collage."
I love this collage series by James Springall. His work is very varies and this particular series is quite different to his usual style of work. I love how all the pieces are tied together by using the three coloured lines across each photograph. I think it is clever how he has also used these to conceal the woman's identity (her eyes) and also and 'explicit' parts of the picture (nipples etc). I am really excited by this as a visual effect and would love to experiment with something similar within my own work.

Camille Walala

"Camille Walala is a purveyor of powerfully positive digital print. A graduate in Textile Design from the University of Brighton, her namesake brand was established in East London in 2009, where she continues to live.

Recent work has seen her progressing from her popular textile based range to include Art Direction, Interior Design and a continued love affair with popup restaurants, where her love for food and design are brought to life.

Influences include the Memphis Movement, the Ndebele tribe and Optical Art master Vasarely alongside the simple desire to put a smile on people’s faces.

Her signature Tribal POP style present a boundless energy that work perfectly for show-stopping and social spaces - “the bigger the better”.

Clients include: Nintendo, XOYO, Koppaberg, Bompas&Parr, Darkroom, Barbican Festival and Land of King."


Camille Walala's work is something that really inspires me. I love her use of bright and bold colours and I think it makes her work eye catching and engaging. Her use of patterns and texture remind me of stereotypical 1980s style patterns, which I love! I would like to use this style within my own practice more as I think the crazy retro feel is fab and would add a fun element to my work. 

Studio Feixen

"Studio Feixen is an independent Design Studio based in Lucerne, Switzerland that creates visual concepts. We focus specifically on nothing in particular. Whether it’s graphic design, interior design, fashion design, type design or animation – as long as it challenges us – we are interested. We work internationally with clients like Nike, Google, Reebok or The New York Times as well as more locally with institutions like Wanderlust or the Nuits Sonores Festival in France, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Südpol or the Luzerner Theater."


I came across Studio Feixen on Instagram via some other design accounts. I am now obsessed with their work! I love their use of colour, especially as colour is something that really excites me. I like how they work in a variety of different styles but I am a particular fan of their garish pop-art style pieces and would love to create something similar to this within my own work.

Lizzie Gill

"Lizzie Gill is a mixed media artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Her work explores themes of retro Americana in a contemporary context. Through a variety of mediums she illustrates a time warp, composed of everyday life, human agency and the disingenuous. The disingenuous nature of her work pertains to one’s ability to mislead through dress, speech or manner. Growing up in the digital age, this deception is often conducted behind a series of computer screens. Her work is a nostalgic look at both the American past and innocence with a twist, prompting one to question their sense of time and culture. Not everything is ever quite as it seems. Lizzie is the co-founder of the Brooklyn Collage Collective. The Collectives goal is to bring attention to the medium of collage through an ever growing and dynamic group of artists who display a wide range of materials and styles."

I love Lizzie Gill's work. I came across her on Instagram whilst looking at collage artists and became fascinated by her pieces! I love how she uses a mixture of collage imagery with analog drawings and cut out shapes. This mixed media combination creates a fabulous 'crash' of elements onto one piece of paper - something I find really interesting. I love the colours she uses and would love to use similar schemes within my own work. I also like the idea of working with mixed media and moving away from entirely digital graphic design!



 
                                                   

Fontsmith FS Sally Triestina

 "Influenced by original Italian typefaces, Astrid chose FS Sally, which she describes as “a beautifully crafted, elegant typeface that closely reflected the ones used by my father”. FS Sally is a slender serif typeface with an adaptable rhythm. “We also thought it would be the best one to create a high contrast in type,” elaborates Astrid. From there, Astrid and her senior designer Igor, coincidently also from Trieste, began to draw. “We did everything by hand which we normally do with all of our projects, suggesting ideas to Fontsmith with pencil and paper.” The idea was to merge two typefaces, representative of Trieste’s split personality in both architecture, its natives and Astrid herself. FS Sally showcases a gentler side, attenuated against a bolder font, portraying the block letters from Astrid’s father’s archive. “We started to really look at the typeface in detail,” says the designer, “we looked very very closely to decide the perfect cut to create a high contrast typeface”. The process from this point mirrors the way Fontsmith tailor their fonts through Brandfont, “a ping pong game in-between us and them,” Astrid describes. Jason Smith, Fontsmiths’ founder explains the approach to the brief similarly, “The process was really collaborative with a lot of back and forth. We were open to their ideas and they were open to ours so it was a really enjoyable process.”

To accommodate Astrid and Igor’s original sketches Fontsmith’s Senior Designer Fernando Mello adjusted FS Sally Regular, increasing the contrast, “to make it closer to the Modern style,” Jason explains. “He then needed to redraw the top serifs, making them a bit longer and more in tune with the higher contrast. The new modified version of FS Sally Regular was then spliced with the Bold version around the midline and the kerning adjusted. Importantly, not all the letters worked first time round so we had to make subtle changes to the design. For some of the letterforms we provided two alternatives so Astrid could discuss which one she preferred. We also extended the character set to include math symbols and punctuation to make a fully functioning typeface.”"

I absolutely loved this typeface by Fontsmith, and it caught my eye as soon as I saw it on their Instagram. I think the quirkiness of the font is really interesting and I haven't seen anything like this before. It obviously wouldn't work as a copy typeface but would be nice to use as a display typeface! I think it could fit into quite a lot of projects as well as adding a fun and lighthearted element.

Charles & Isla End of Year Show Branding

-Feedback harsher from working professional.

-Fulfill need of the client first and foremost

-Engage visitors

-Create something we're proud of,

-Innovative, creative, eye catching.

-Looked at previous LCA shows - minimal clean design. Corporate? Too clean - not art collegey - not everyone clean and minimal, everyone different - does not represent college as a whole

-Looked at photography and clean type - middle ground between what you want and what LCA will like.

-Too literal using objects - don't want something too obvious

-Name needs to connect to visuals/idea.

-Conceptual design rather than literal.

-Student centered. Creative communities. Critical thinking. Professional. Progressive.

-Everything you put in needs to have concept behind it. Can't just put in because you like it.

-"Extraordinary" - straight to the point, bold. Experience, people, ideas, fun, memories, work.

-Hierarchy of information - what goes where.

-Take risks - go for something people will remember. Weird and out there.

-Colours - brand guidelines - why and what reasons.

-Mock up ideas to help people visualize.

-Show how to work in different concepts.

-Nike Air Max Day Adverts.

Talk from Studio Build

We have had a talk from Leeds based creative agency 'Studio Build'.

'Build is an award-winning creative agency with an international reputation for creating strong visual narratives. Utilising art direction and graphic design, we create brand identities, websites, packaging and books for design-led clients around the world'.

Build have 26 years experience in the industry. They talked about how music has helped shape their design and is a massive influence in their work. They discussed how they used to love Iron Maiden and was first introduced to graphic design by looking at heavy metal album covers. They said that graphic design wasn't a popular thing when they were younger, and that it was known better as 'commerical art'. During school, they were given a 'rapidograph' which was a rotoring pen, a tool used by graphic designers before computers came about. They said they did lots of work with Letraset and had their own catalogue with a variety of different typefaces inside. They stated their favourite typeface was 'Calpyso' - which they now described as extremely tacky and horrible!
During a Foundation course at Scarborough they discovered that graphic design was their passion, and went on to do a OND in graphic design at York.

Top Girl Studio

I have come across this graphic designer on Instagram who I just love! She refers to herself as a "girlboss" and most of her work is based around feminism, which is obviously a huge issue in today's society.

I find her work really interesting and the pink theme is fab! I will definitely be using her work for inspiration in the future.

36 Days of Type

"36 Days of Type is a project that invites Designers, Illustrators and Graphic Artists to express their particular view on letter and numbers of our alphabet.
36 days of restless creativity, where participants are challenged to design a letter or number each day, resulting an outcome of the ability to represent the same symbol from many different perspectives.

A project that aims to be a space for creation around typography and its endless graphic possibilities."



I thought this project was really interesting and it is something I followed whilst it was ongoing. I just loved how something as simple as one letter or number could be portrayed in so many different ways.

Typesetting Submission

Typesetting

"About the project:

The aim of this project is the creation of an archive of publicly sourced images of found typography in the Leeds area. 

Images will be selected based on the criteria set out in the FAQS and as well as forming an archive they will be used as research material to aid the development of an open source typeface.

Is it possible to extract an essence or vernacular from such images?

The resulting typeface will be used to create the identity of ongoing type-based projects."



For this project I have chosen to submit this image I took:



I really love this graffiti and when I came across it I just had to get a quick snap! I love it's simplicity - there are no decorative features with this graffiti, just simply the text "cheer up leeds". I just love how the words almost make you crack a smile! I also think it's very much like something you'd see on tumblr..

Gallery Visit: Yorkshire Sculpture Park

I visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see the KAWS exhibition.

"KAWS is an American artist and designer who paints, sculpts, and creates toys. Pop Art and culture permeate his cartoonish figures—such as his Disney-esque Companion—which bear a resemblance to Takashi Murakami’s illustrations. Born Brian Donnelly on November 4, 1974 in Jersey City, NJ, KAWS worked in animation after graduating with his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Having started as a graffiti artist in New York in the early 1990s, KAWS reworked advertisements in his distinct style to acclaim. His work can be found in the collections at the High Museum, Atlanta, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Rosenblum Collection in Paris. Continually blurring the boundaries between fine and commercial art, he currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY."

     

                         



Below is my favourite piece from the exhibition, "Accomplice (Pink)". This piece really caught my eye and I think that was because of the colour - the pink really stood out against the other sculptures! I really like the cartoonish style that KAWS specialises in and this is something I could look cool combined with a piece of contemporary graphic design work. 

Self Branding

To kick off my self branding project, I began to note some initial ideas down. I recorded the words my friends and peers used to describe me and decided to use these as a focus.

A lot of people said I am down to earth which is something I quite liked. Using this as my main inspiration, I decided to look at potentially using natural earthy tones, and perhaps even some earth imagery.  I thought about using a little bag of soil as my business card - a metaphor for being 'down to earth' etc.

I also thought about including the Yorkshire dialect in my self branding to highlight my proud Yorkshire roots!! Phrases such as 'a reyt gud designer' or 'nowt I can't do' would create a friendly and approachable tone. It would also add an element of humour to my branding which would never go amiss!

I started thinking about brand names, such as 'The Bronte Brand', 'brandBronte' or 'bronteBrand', although I quickly moved away from this as I felt it was too impersonal and corporate.


 


Eventually I decided upon a simple 'Bronte Webster Designs' - whilst this is plain, I felt it was nice and personal and made me seem more approachable as a designer. I wanted my logotype to include just my initials 'BW'. I started with some quick initial sketches of this, playing around with layout and how the two letters could work together.




I converted these sketches into a digital version, and decided upon the capitalized 'BW' with the 'W' in reverse, in order to fit together nicely in an oblique typeface (Futura Heavy Oblique). I picked this typeface as it is my favourite and I use it for everything!




 I chose these earthy tones to work with in order to allude to the idea of my down to earth personality.



I then started to play around with my chosen logotype with these colours. I really like the peach background with orange text, so chose this as my final design.



To go with my friendly and approachable tone, I wanted to include a basic smiley face as my logo. I am a massive fan of the classic yellow and black smiley face, typically seen as a sticker and popular in the 1990s. I chose to use this but in my own brand colours.




My pay off:

'down to earth designer'

My description:

'i’m a reyt good creative thinker from yorkshire and i’m passionate about graphics, grapes and my grandma. i think colour is fab and projects make me v giddy. hit me up if you wanna make some #ART togev !!'

I chose to keep my pay off and description in lower case and with improper English in order to keep a casual, chatty and friendly tone. This also reflects the way I text and my personality so I really liked this informal element.

I placed all my chosen elements together to create two different business cards. The first card is simply my brand name and logo on a standard business card size, a little thing to remind people of who I am and my identity. The other design is a circular shape to fit the smiley face, with my social media and contact details on the back.



I created a few different mock ups to show how my self branding would work in different contexts:





The Presentation:

I was very nervous for the presentation, especially when I arrived on the morning and discovered I was presenting to most of the group rather than the small group of 4 or 5 like I had thought! Getting up was nerve racking and I was sweating like mad but I eventually relaxed into the presentation and felt it went quite well!

DR.ME Workshop

In today's workshop with DR.ME, we had to create a short gif using collage materials based on a word we were given.

Mine and Lucy's word was 'cabal'. The word has a few different definitions, from 'a secret political clique or faction' to 'a clique, as in artistic, or literary' to 'a group of people who plan to take action'.

Looking at our source material we had to create the collage, we decided to create gif based around parkour and the parkour community/group.

We used a variety of different scenes and placed them together in one long strip. We then took a small man who we had found photos of in an article about parkour and cut him out, arranging him so he appeared to be jumping through the scenes. We took pictures of the man at various positions in order to create a sequence.

Overall we were really happy with the final result - the gif looked effective and it appeared as if the man was taking a long jump through the different settings!

Reflective Practice Poster

We were asked to create a poster reflecting on what we have learnt from our time so far at university.

It had to include 2 things we have learnt, 2 things that have engaged us, 2 ambitions for level five and 2 things we have not enjoyed.

I decided to base my poster around printing and how much of a problem I have with it!

Two things that I have learnt:
- Printing is expensive
- You ideally require a lottery win to pay for printing

Two things I have been engaged by:
-Free printing credits every term
-My mum's donations to printing credit money

Two things ambitions for level 5:
- Save as much money on printing as possible
- Be able to afford printing credits without worrying out my general welfare

Two things I have not enjoyed:
- The printing prices
- The amount of printing required


I wanted my poster to be sarcastic and humorous - and to reflect how much whinging I have done about printing prices!

I chose to use a printing glitch background that I create from shapes and lines in Illustrator. I wanted this to represent all the trouble I have when printing and the things that go wrong. I chose to use a garish colour scheme of bright yellow and pink to allude to a feeling of discomfort and distress.

I placed the text in simple type (Futura Heavy Oblique) across the poster in lines, to demonstrate how serious and straight to the point my views are on the matter. I wanted it to come across as very blunt and linear, as if I am that angry with the printing situation that I am listing my complaints in a robotic manner.

I also included text in the background that says 'this print cost £3'. I included this not only for the humorous element but to also highlight just how much creating the document cost. It adds a bit of irony to the situation!

Overall I really liked my poster and thought it put my point across well. The one thing I would change/add is all the discarded print pieces that I had from trying to print the poster when it went wrong!