Second year - 10 successes

As a group and then as a class we went through 10 things we as graphic design students felt were successful last year. We were split into smaller groups and this is what we came up with - 

- Passed year
- Living alone
- Cooking
- Printing workshops as a whole 
- Developed digital skill 
- Learn how to answer a brief
- Confidence 
- Improved our personal professional practice as a whole
- Improved literacy skills
- Balancing work with uni
- Developed workshop skills 
- Whole process of making a book
- Prioritising briefs and work

After we finished this task we were asked as a group to give the most relevant and concise answers we had down, the next 10 things looked like this. 

- Presentation skills
- Giving feedback 
- Workshops
- Independent studies 
- Research and development
- Understanding time management 
- Working with groups 
- Confidence/motivation
- Theory/context
- Development of your own style

As A task then we were set to write 10 things that you would with to improve on this year. I think some of them with remain the same as I feel I do still need to improve some aspects of that list while i'm on my course. 

- Although last year was mainly for experimentation I would like to still keep an element of experimentation in my work, although developing your own style is an important part of being a graphic designer, I would like to start to experiment with different materials, wether this be in my own time or on set briefs.

- I would like to continue my development of illustrator, I feel this is one of the most important applications for a graphic designer. I have used the programme for years now but I still feel I can improve a lot on what I already know.

- Time management for me personally last year was quite a big issue, I need to be able to prioritise different briefs for when they need to be handed in. I felt at some points last year this got away from me and I would find myself doing my own work rather than work connected to the briefs that had been set.

- Research and development of my ideas was always something I was told I need more of. On some briefs last year I developed my ideas really well I thought but on others I didn't  I find it very easy to come up with one or two ideas and just go with them, but in reality I would get a much better end result if I were to explore the different possibilities before I go ahead and start creating final pieces. 

- Presentation is something I feel I need to improve on but more in terms of preparation, I don't particularly feel too nervous when Im presenting some work but I feel I could improve on the preparation I do prior to the presentation. 

- In terms of group work I feel I would benefit in many cases from collaborating with different people, last year if the option was their I would generally choose to work alone. I would like to try work in more groups this year. 

- I would like to work on the finish of my final out comes this year, I feel last year a lot of my work lacked the finish I desired, this Is something I want to continually improve on all year.

OUGD504 - Summer Brief

Research into things that interest you out of these 3 categories - 

Invention/discovery

Hobby/interest

Person/place

This was my initial research that I made some notes on to decide which subject I wanted to take further

I started by researching into an artist I recently came across who really inspired me to try to do some work in the way he did it, He is called Hal Lasko and he's a 97 year old, legally blind artist. He can see just not very well. He uses MS paint to create his work using pixels to create some really detailed work. 

I was really impressed by his work and the story how he came to do this sort of stuff. He was bought a computer by his son and when he found paint on it he never stop creating images. He originally was a typographer back in the day so he comes from quite an artistic background. I found a video that explains a good majority of his story. 

Hal Lasko - Pixel Painter

Im interested in music so when I find something that incorporates art and music i really take an interest in it. When I was on the internet I came across a video of sine waves being put through water to create crazy shapes on the basis of the size and shape of the wave. Ive seen similar stuff like this before using water and light to make the water appear suspended. 

sine wave through water

water suspended by strobe

The next artist I chose to research was a sculptor called Ron Mueck, Ive known about this guy for quite a while now and I would really like to go see one of his exhibitions. He creates these really big ultra realistic sculptures mainly of the human form. His sculptures are truly amazing when you see them. 

I found a video which explains the whole process which although very difficult is a relatively straight forward and simple process, Its the scale and detail that he puts in his work which is the truly amazing part.

Making of the baby

Ron Mueck exhibition

I started looking at a bit of technology because this is something that interests me quite a lot. I found pretty recently some technology that is being developed to basically create an invisibility cloak by way of using mirrors. It says, have designed an invisibility cloak that can temporally hide objects for an indefinite period of time. I dont particularly understand the technology but it does offer something relatively exciting. I like researching new technology that is being developed, 3D printers were something I have found very interesting in terms of the endless possibilities. They can print almost anything and in the future in almost any size. There are plans to construct a lunar base on the moon with the aid of 3D printers.

invisibility cloak

Li Hongbo Is the person I selected to focus on from my initial research, I really like the way he uses paper in a completely different way. The sculptures he creates have a very solid and rigid form that can be transformed in a way you wouldn't expect. I have always been interested in paper artists who use the medium in a completely different way. That was initially where my interest come from. 

The best way to get a grasp of what he does and how he does it is to watch a video of him in his workshop, He explains the origin of what he does and you get to see his work in motion.

Li Hongbo - out of paper

I like how He had a real interest in paper due to his job working with paper, In the video he talks about how selecting the right paper was a very important thing for him. He also talks about how he first came across this technique and how he replicates the concertina of the paper. I like Li Hongbo's ambition to further experiment with paper, he says until he has explored all possibilities.

Li Hongbo was Born in 1974 in Beijing. He was formerly a book editor and designer which is interesting because its not too far off some of the work Ive done on this course.  Working as a book designer and editor he became very involved with the choice of paper this is where his original obsession came from. He found himself fascinated by the intricacies of the traditional Chinese toys and festive decorations known as paper gourds, these are made from glued layers of thin paper, which can be stored flat, but then opened to reveal various shapes. Similar to a installation piece he did, pictured below.

I feel a lot of my research is based around structural sculptural pieces I feel this is a direction I would like to explore with my own work. Perhaps by experimenting with different materials because I feel one of my strengths that I never really explored last year is building things.

I felt the feedback from out crit went ok, a lot of the feedback was similar in the sense they would have liked more facts on Li Hongbo, a bit more on his background and how he came to be.

OUGD 402 - If you were a...

If you were a book what would your subject be and who would read you?

I think I would be a book on electronic music, People who would be interested in the subject would be the ones reading it .

If you were a package what would you contain be and who would open you?

I would be tightly sealed jam jar that contains dragons gold. only the strongest and mightiest beings could open it.

If you were a shop what would you sell be and who would buy it?

I would be a an antique shop that only dealt in very specific antiques, the people who would buy from me would be guys looking for my very specific antiques.

If you were a poster what would you promote and to whom?

I would promote a super underground night called 'triangle', only the coolest of the hipsters would come

If you were an exhibition what would you show and where would you show it?

I would be a minimalist installation exhibition that would only display Daft punk memorabilia, the location would naturally be in rural Australia in a little know town called WeeWaa

If you were a leaflet what information would you contain and who would read it?

I would be a leaflet containing information on the most recent sunny days in England, people could read it and look back on the good times.

If you were a sign what would you show, to whom and where?

I would be a sign to Manchester that could be placed any where, so people know where to go at all times.

If you were an App what would you do and who would use you?

I would be an app that would give you access to the security cameras on the Manchester Metrolink system, having this would mean you would never get caught by the met guys and slapped with a hefty fine. Everyone would use it.

If you were a blog, what would you be about and who would follow you?

I would blog about something obscure and funny like this blog Kim Il Jong dropping the bass. People who would follow me would be anyone up for a laugh.

If you were an event, what would it be and how would you promote it?

I would be an event for the biggest house party in the world, I would promote it with some kind of banner on the moon for half the world to see at a time. 

What is Graphic Design For - OUGD402 PPP1

1.

Way finding design could quite simply mean design to help some one find there way, so this could include road signs or maps.

http://www.holmes-wood.com/
http://www.biesek.com/
http://www.wolfstrome.com/
http://www.healthdesign.org/
http://www.medium.com/

2.

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/50-beautiful-and-effective-package-designs/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/06/02/beautiful-and-expressive-packaging-design/
http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/about-design/types-of-design/packaging-design/
http://www.packagingoftheworld.com/
http://www.boredpanda.com/creative-packaging-designs/

3.

https://www.apple.com/uk/

http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/

http://www.nike.com/

http://www.ibm.com/uk/en/

http://www.redbull.co.uk/

4.

http://www.purepublishing.co.uk/

http://www.nozine.com/

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/

http://www.owtcreative.com/

http://pushpinzines.co.uk/

5.

http://retaildesignblog.net/2013/03/03/truf-self-promotion/

OUGD402 - It's up to you

For my It's up to you brief I decided to go down the route in the way that I felt best represents me and my style. I chose to base my product around illustration as its something I haven't really explored much this year and its something I enjoy doing.

In my pack I want to include business cards and a bit about me, all in one relatively small in size, probably about A6 so its easy to handle. 

Some of the artists I was looking at for my research were very illustrative and I took inspiration from some of there work. 
I looked at Joakim Ojanen who is an illustrator I have looked at in the past, I liked this idea of a long fold out sheet of paper that has a flowing illustration on that almost in some respects tells a story. 

I like his style of drawing and the weird characters he creates, I wanted to use a similar style of character drawing because I feel a realistic illustration style might not work how I want it to.

I also looked at Andy Rementer who is an illustrator who I've followed for a while, I like his simple style and use of pretty soft colours.

I like the colours he uses something that I would like to try and replicate on my final piece, I also like how the scenes work in the pictures he draws. 

So Me is a similar artist to the ones I've been looking at, his style although looks similar is quite distinct in other areas, for example the much bolder use of colour. 

I have decided on producing a long strip of illustrations on the largest standard size I can go to which will be A0. I want to concertina the pages so it will fit neatly into the pack.
For the actual fold out sheet I want to include the things I've learnt over the year and also include my experiences of uni life. I feel these are just important to the information pack so it effective communicates me as an individual.
Things I feel its important to include are the things I have learnt at uni mainly concerning the theories, I feel these are the fundamentals to graphic design and I something that I have found most useful.

Theories -
Typography 
Colour theory
Layout and the Fibonacci sequence 

I also want to Include other aspects of the course like illustration, blogging and software design. 

I want the illustration to flow together as one long picture so between the aspects of the course I want to involve experiences Ive had at uni, like going out, my students halls, drinking ect... 

I started by drawing out a grid on landscape A2 paper, two of these sheets roughly equal an A0 sheet of paper.       I drew boxes to help give me a guideline to see how the images would fit within each frame.

I started to draw out how I wanted the images to look, usually I wouldn't draw the illustrations out first in pencil because the images take on a different more refined look. This time though I wanted to get the flow of the drawings right and I also wanted to give the end result quite a clean look to it.

As I drew more onto the sheets I could experiment more with the pencil drawings, I felt there was a lot of blanc space so I filled it in with patterned illustration, I wanted the it to feel quite hectic rather than using negative space in the image. 

These are the final designs I sent off to print, On screen the colour, I think works pretty well but I will have to wait until the actual print arrives. I want to make a few different versions to see which work the best in the pack. 

This is a mock up i made of the pack, Ive concertinerd the A0 lenghth illustration so it fits neatly in the pack, I made the outside out of 28.5cm sheet of card that folds in on its self to give a flap to put the business cards I created.

This is the design I created for my business cards I went with something similar to the style i did with the fold out image except this time I used a much more structured layout to relate back to the grid work we did with Phil earlier in the year, I think it works well with the fold out page. 

Like the fold out poster I did three separate versions

For the outside of the information pack I designed a cover, I wrote my name on the front in a similar style to the inside to be in keeping in the design

For my hand in I have to use a mock up I created because the prints I sent off for haven't arrived in time, I feel the production is quite essential for this brief as it is reflecting you as a designer so my final result as its stands isn't as well as I could have done.