Kat Speaks blog

Neil Lancaster - Major Project Feedback

2010-05-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

I have been emailing Creative Director of Mccann Manchester design. He asked me to keep in contact about my Major Project brief as I took on different ideas. The ticket dispenser idea came to me when my mum broke her arm and I was waiting with her in the fracture clinic and we had to take a ticket. It just seemed a bit surreal, as you usually take a ticket in delis or in shops.

I then emailed Neil with my idea and received really good feedback.

Here is the contact report:

Hello Neil

I thought I'd give you an update with how I'm doing with my Project. I won't lie I have found it tough, and since last speaking to you I have kept the 'Huge Savings' sale poster idea on, but have tried to think of different ideas.

I first used analogy, tried to link organ with car parts. I managed to link each organ to a car part, with the hardest being linking the pancreas with a duel action car pump. Then putting with each car part a strapline saying how it works, because it function worked similar to that of the organ in the human body. I showed this around though the response wasn't great and the 'Huge Savings' idea was preferred.

I've racked my brains for more ideas, but if I was to do the 'Huge Savings' idea I had to do it as an event so it fit the context. After a few presentations the feedback was mixed, the students on my course really liked the idea and kept supporting me to push on with it. However, I've shown the idea to different designers, and it isn't that popular at all as it didn't persuade them to be an organ donor. Therefore a few days ago I decided to drop it.

I've been working through the day and night to come up with something, as deadline is just a few weeks away but I know I can do it. The idea I have attached has also had a good response, but also has the 'image and line' combination that I remember you saying works well.

If you have the time, I'd be so grateful for some feedback. This is the idea I am going to be putting up so I won't be dropping it, however, I want to do my subject choice of organ donation justice and produce something that will get a good public response. I really need to improve my art direction and try and let go abit, I have even thought of perhaps having real tickets coming out of the poster so the public can interact with it.

Kindest Regards

Katherine Speak

BA Hons Graphic Design Level 3

Stockport College

I love your Dispenser idea. It's a brilliant visual device. It says
such a great deal about the obscene waiting in line for something to
keep me alive.likening it to a bloody supermarket queue.this is
exactly the kind of irony we were talking about. You are now at a new
point in the road. This is why God created copywriter/art director
teams. You need a great line to go with it. Great ads/ posters have
lines which kick against the vis, go somewhere else, take the rip out
of the image,tell u something extra. Try and spend time with
alternative lines, worry it to death. Tip. Try andcontain the
line,words onthe end of the dispenser. Brevity.ask other
people,interrogate,you've got a great idea K!
Sent from my iPhone

thanks Neil, your advice has made me more confident with the idea and I am going to try and come with a great line to do the image justice! I'll let you know how it goes

Katherine

Lonsto - Queue management company

2010-05-07T02:41:00.000-07:00

My idea for the major project - Organ Donation - swiftly changed to the idea of waiting. The organ donation queue is the most extreme and dangerous form of queueing though not alot of people know it. Over 10,000 people are currently waiting in this queue and 3 people a day die whilst waiting. One of my ways to show this is to use a ticket dispenser to dispense tickets that show the extremity of this by showing a number in the 10000s when someone takes it.

I wanted it to look as real as possible, so nothing else will do apart from an actual ticket dispenser. I also knew I would need good photography and so I got in touch with Lonsto (Lonsto.co.uk) a company that sells products to enhance queue management.

We were in touch for quite some time discussing my project and they were very helpful, and sent me lots of good photography of their products.

We then continued to discuss how I could purchase a dispenser from them, as it was only companies that had accounts with them. They seemed interested by my project and so came to arrangements on the price, and they also threw in some tickets for free!!

Maya Patel from Maya By Design

2010-05-07T02:32:00.000-07:00

One of the places I visit regularly is Loughborough in the East Midlands, and as I like the area and have a good network of friends there I decided to try and get some visits in that area.

Maya By Design was mentioned on the website 'the best of Loughborough' (www.thebestof.co.uk) and so I emailed them to see if they could see me.

Here is my email:

Hello Maya By Design

I'm a Graphic Design student at Stockport College currently studying in my final year. I have been visiting many studios in Manchester, London and even New York to receive feedback on my work. I visit Loughborough quite regularly to see friends and thought it would be a good idea to visit a studio next time I'm there.

I saw this on "the best of loughborough" and I have just been looking at some of your work on your website. I especially like the Doors Opening design as it uses symbols, which I like to use in my work too. My work has developed quite well over the years whilst being at University, it used to me more just how it looked visually whereas now I try my best to solve the solution with the best idea.

I'll be visiting Loughborough again on the 6th April for a few days, so I was just wondering if I could spare 10 minutes or so of your time whether I could show you my portfolio to receive some feedback?
Regards

Katherine Speak
BA Hons Graphic Design Level 3
Stockport College

Maya Patel emailed back:

Hi Katherine,
I'm so sorry for the late reply, my work load has been very hectic.

I would be more than happy to meet up and have a look at your work the next time you are down this way.

Wish you all the best,
Maya

And so I intend to visit them when I am next there!

Kate Tulip - Placement Enquiry at Tigerprint (Currently waiting for reply)

2010-04-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

After Mick Greers talk today, I decided to take his advice immediately and contact TIGERPRINT as they were offering a two week placement, so I thought I'd pop this in my blog anyway.

Hey Kate

I am studying Graphic Design at Stockport College in Cheshire, graduating in July! I have 2 weeks left until the deadline for all modules, but whilst working away trying to get everything done I decided to have a break and look at some agencies' websites.

I stumbled across your website just by chance and have been looking at it for quite some time, and noticed you organize placements for creatives wanting to know more about the industry.

Just to give you a very brief explanation of what I'll be doing over the next few months:

My deadline is the 7th May, and then after that the next month is combined of getting things ready for the graduates exhibition.

I have an interview for a year long placement in June that I think, if I get it, will start on the September, so I was just enquiring as to whether I would be able to apply for the 2 week placement at Tigerprint? or come and show you my portfolio?

Kindest Regards

Katherine Speak

BA Hons Graphic Design Level 3

Stockport College

Anna Turner from Saltmine Creative Company based in Dudley. Interview!

2010-04-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Anna

just wondering how the plans for the Graphic Design Year out programme are going?

I finish in approximately 6 weeks and starting to see what placements are out there so thought I'd just enquire again.

I have recently just finished a project designing a window for Ted Baker as part of a YCN competition brief, and I am very pleased with it so have attached the file incase you would like to take a look. Me and my work partner Sophie were asked to design a window to show Ted Bakers Autumn collections, and they didn't want to see any designs with leaves like you see in alot of windows around Autumn. They wanted to see quirkiness with a British feel to it. Therefore we did 'Blown Away by Ted Baker' with the mannequin looking like it is being blown away in the window, with an animation in the background showing objects being blown across the screen including a tea party and a cow. The customer would be blown by fans as they entered the shop to involve them in the sequence.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Katherine Speak

Hey Katherine

Thank-you for sending those documents through. I'm sorry for the delay in replying and the amount of time you've been waiting!

I do have some good news though. I have been speaking with our Creative Arts Director and we would like to invite you for Interview on the 10th June.

Let me know if this date is OK and I will then send you some more information, on the time of your interview and what you need to bring!

Thanks

Anna
Year Out Co-ordinator
Saltmine Trust

Hey Anna

Thats great news! Yes more than happy to receive the extra information on the interview!

Thankyou

Katherine

clever advertising

2010-04-15T13:54:00.001-07:00

Just a few ambient pieces that caught my attention!

Mick Greer

2010-04-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today, Mick Greer came in to to talk to us about graduating, getting jobs and how to go about it. Mick studied Graphics at Blackburn University, although after graduating got into Advertising and from then on became an award winning Copywriter.

Involved in copywriting is looking at the text that goes alongside the image or art in a piece of work, and making sure its placed and is used correctly. This means that Mick also works alongside Art Directors and Designers.

He raised the issue that when students graduate, there are too many graduates and not enough jobs. So that is why it is important to do something different that creates an impression. He kept revisiting the point of how important it is to be tenacious and passionate, and to build relationships up with many designers is a must.

When getting the placement, you have to make yourself invaluable, and to 'work on the shit that noone else wants to do.'

There is a myth that students think designers should see the finished article, when they go to visit them. When the truth is, designers want to see intelligence and ideas that they can nurture. So rather then producing the finished article, the piece of work can get to a stage where it can be understood then move on to the next project.

I found the lecture very honest and compelling. It seemed that Mick didn't tip toe around our feelings and gave advice without bullshit. With this in mind, I decided to show Mick my work for my Major Project.

My Major Project is to persuade the general public to be an organ donor if they are not already. I planned to do this through a poster campaign, however, my path led me to creating sale posters reading 'Huge Savings' and 'Massive Reductions', with a catchy strapline for instance 'whilst stocks last' to bring the idea together. This idea had mixed reactions, with many of my fellow peers liking the idea, whereas the response from designers in the industry was different and this made me not to sure about the idea. Therefore, alongside this concept I produced another set of posters - A ticket dispenser and a bingo ticket with the strapline '3 people a day die because there number didn't come up.

Mick looked at both ideas and gave me his honest opinion, which was that the Huge Savings idea wasn't working. The critical advice didn't dishearten me, I realized I had 2 weeks to put together a new idea, but my work is going to be viewed by designers in the industry and so I want to do the best I can to succeed and impress with a really good idea.

My works cut out but I believe it can be done.

Print Finishes

2010-04-15T09:40:00.001-07:00

I am coming to the last few weeks of my project, and have completely changed the direction I am going with my work.

These are the very first mock ups of the idea that I am going to do.

The idea is focusing on how people who are waiting for an organ donor have to wait, and they might not even get an organ.

As I have only 2 weeks to produce the finished piece, I am starting research into different ways to print so I am ready to sort it when the time comes.

In Computer Arts Magazine July 2009 (pages 48 - 51) it shows 15 treatments you can use on your work to give it a great finish.

The different treatments are:

Die Cut - Simply the process of cutting and shaping.

Varnish - Applied to work to protect scuffing and enhance visual effect.

Spot UV - Ultraviolet varnishing that really lifts colours out.

Emboss - Creation of a 3- dimensional design.

Deboss - 3 - dimensional images by depressing the print.

Silk - screening - Brings a unique aesthetic to print work.

Foil Blocking - Involves a coloured foil being pressed onto the print.

French Folding - A combination of horizontal and vertical folds.

Flock - Expensive. Printing in adhesive rather than ink.

Overprinting - Printing colours over each other so they interfere.

Holographic foil - To emphasise other colours around it.

Mirror foil - Applied as a hot foil.

The one that appeals to me is the varnish finish, where it will enhance my poster prints when they are completed.

www.Toxel.com

2010-04-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

The website Toxel.com is a site I was introduced to by a fellow peer at University. As soon as I accessed the site I knew I was going to be on it for a while. The first image I saw was 'Costume made out of mirrors' that I instantly thought was unique and probably amazing to see in reality.

As I scrolled down and noticed 'Popular Posts' where there would be more of this stuff, I knew I wanted to see if they had examples of unique billboards.

Fortunately they did, and so I spent a good while looking at all the billboards they had to show. Here are some of my favourites:

The Economist Billboard

Nike Billboard.

I think this is clever however I would probably run right into it!

The Slingshot Billboard

IKEA Billboard

Miele Vacuum Cleaner Billboard

Formula Toothcare Billboard

I really recommend this site for anyone creative to have a look at.

Typography Research

2010-04-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

I have always been curious about typography. How it works, what it works with best, which typface to go with a certain medium, the list goes on and on.

Over the past year I have used 'Rosewood' with shop windows, 'Helvetica Neue' on posters, and 'Goudy Sans' with punctuation. I still think I need to study more with type. Here are my favourite examples of great use of typography.

www.graphicdesignblog.org
www.alexbinetti.files.wordpress.com
www.graphicdesignblog.org

www.ilustrasiaurora.co.cc

www.blog.blastyle.com

www.gentlepurespace.com

www.images.trendhunter.com

Practitioner Report - Mike Rigby and Craig Oldham

2010-04-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

When deciding which two practitioners to compare and contrast, I decided to think of the two designers I had met that most stood out for me, and that I took the most away from.
Mike Rigby is a Graphic designer who came in to speak to all students and to give us a few words of wisdom about his life and what we should come to expect when we leave University.
Designer Craig Oldham from Manchester based studio ‘Music’ who had not long been out of University said me and a fellow student could come and visit him as part of our research for our Journal, but as well as answering our questions he gave us advice on how to be successful once a graduate.
I’ll begin by stating the main opinion that both designers share. Mike Rigby says “Graphic Design is a job, a designer is a lifestyle choice” and Craig Oldham said something similar “Being a designer isn’t it’s a lifestyle”. This should set the scene in the students mind that if this is what they definitely want to do once they are a graduate then this is the outlook that they should have on their career choice, if they have not already. They both also share a very honest approach to the graphic design world, by speaking out to students informing about the dos and don’ts and what qualities you need to show, including motivation and determination.
Mike Rigby’s lecture was more about his experiences after graduating, for instance where he went and what he did. He explained that ‘Doors opened when taking a break and going abroad.” Whereas Craig speaks about tactics to use when in the experience, to make it go the most successfully.
To go abroad and study sounded like the most appealing advice that I took out of a lecture, however, this is something that I might consider doing after getting experience. Craig gave more tips on how to get the placement in the first place. He said to "always accept criticism and never praise.” When interviewing Craig Oldham, I asked him what his favourite piece of work was. He answered saying that there wasn’t one, and he was never satisfied because after it is printed and sent back to the client, there is always something he spots that might had made it better, for example “What if I had done this in blue?” I think I have to disagree with this just by being a student and nearly graduate. My point is if I went into a placement and everything I did I thought ‘this is not good enough’ it might give off the wrong impression to my employer that I have no self belief. However, Craig is a top designer from a top company and so having this outlook might produce the best work. So when I next speak to Craig a question I will ask is what he thought about his work as a graduate. Another issue Craig touched upon was how important it is to make contacts and build bridges as soon as you can. I have tried to do this and glad that I have received much advice from designers, and that they have said to me to get in touch if I need more help or advice.
I have learnt a lot from portfolio visits, and also my confidence has grown as it can sometimes be a very hard thing to do. Craig says, “Portfolios will be most subjective thing you will ever design”. This fact tends to be true, in the way that on most visits there will be certain elements that designers will pick out. Even though this can sometimes appear tough to hear, it is essential if a graduate is to enter the real world. Clients will be critically analyzing work produced all the time, so it is important to be ready for it.
Mike Rigby said a popular part of his portfolio was the packaging he designed for Underlay. He said that it was tough at first, but then quoted Ray Gregory by looking at the brief and thinking “What is it I have been asked to do.” Eventually he thought that, to sell something invisible, make it desirable. He showed the carpet off by making it visible through shapes; with an accompanying line to bring the idea together as a whole.
Underlay Packaging By Mike Rigby

My favourite piece of Craig Oldhams/Musics work is the ‘No Way Through’ poster for Ctrl Alt Shift. Craig said he sees just two elements that combine together to create Graphic Design. These are ‘Logical’ Design and ‘Emotional’ Design. In Craig’s lecture I remember him describing himself as more emotional, this piece of work though at first appearances looks to be a more logical answer to the brief, it turns to more emotional thinking when the viewer follows the maze round with a pen. It would then spell ‘No Way Through’.

www.designbymusic.com

Placements are such an important part of the process to access the Graphic Design world it is mentioned almost in every lecture I have been to. Mike Rigby says, “Placements ‘speed you up’”. You get involved with real projects, networking and free nights out. Going out with fellow co-workers and being sociable is key to getting to know other designers. He also believes that it is important to have a life outside of design too. “The more interesting life is outside of design, the better at design you will be.” This outlook is also shared by Craig Oldham, “Let external forces inspire your design work.” I believe this is so important, as many of the best ideas come to me when I am usually doing something else, whether that is walking or socializing with friends, the idea will sometimes just pop into my head. They also both encourage students to develop self-initiated projects, where these external forces will encourage more creative ability. I think this will be my first port of call when I become a graduate, and have more time, I plan on constructing my own self-initiated briefs. At the moment it is quite difficult juggling quite a few projects at a time that are going to be graded eventually.
The advice from these two designers has been very valuable, I have spoken to Craig Oldham on quite a few occasions and found his advice something to be kept in mind. I only heard Mike Rigby speak once in hids lecture however to know more about his experiences in graphic design and abroad would be enlightening and so I hope to be able to hear more of his stories in the future.

Word Count: 1038

Issues and Practices

2010-03-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Are there too many Design Graduates? When design students graduate from University, what do they do next?

It is clear from the many lecturers that have come in to speak to us at Stockport college, that it is difficult to get into the graphic design industry once graduated. On http://www.targetjobs.co.uk/ it says "Approximately 70 per cent of graduates in the field do not pursue careers in art and design, according to UCAS figures – partly through choice, but also because the supply of graduates exceeds the number of jobs available." Even though this is the statistic, I think if your heart lies in the industry then through motivation and determination will get a graduate into this industry. I think this only by meetings with top designers who have been there themselves, and who have succeeded.

I am currently 5 weeks away from the end of my degree course, so if not already, it is getting to the time where organizing placements should be my first priority. It was when listening to a lecture given from Dave Sedgwick from 999 at the start of November '09 that it was starting to become clear that it was very important to research as many design agencies as you can whilst still in University, and keep a diary of your progress with each one...and that this diary was to be shown to no-one! I thought this was a good idea as the end of University comes quick, and starting early will make the time between graduation and getting a job a shorter amount of time. It also says on http://www.targetjobs.co.uk/ that "Although the work may not be exactly what you want to do, this can prove your dedication to the field, give you a valuable understanding of how the industry works and be a great way to make contacts who may be able to help your career in the future." And so it is important to take on any task if it involves getting experience in the industry, any opportunity to get 'the foot in the door'.

It makes me think how many of the designers that came into speak to us decided to research and look around before graduating too. I remember when meeting Anthony Smith from Manchester based studio Music for a Portfolio visit at the start of my final year, he said that it took him almost two years to get a job in the industry. Alan Cocks from Graphic Design agency Dust based in Sheffield said that between graduating and getting a graphic design job he was a night auditor for two years. I guess what springs to my mind at this point is how do these top designers presently working in design agencies stay focused on what they really wanted to do as so much time went by? Alan Cocks said that even though he did sometime completely different for a long period of time, he still read design books every night that he audited at the hotel. Anthony Smith as well as fellow Music designer Craig Oldham believed in self anitiated projects during the break between graduation and getting a job. I think the problem with self anitiated projects during University time is that I felt like if I started one, that I couldn't put all my heart and soul into it as I had various other projects on at the same time. However, once graduated I think I will actually quite enjoy the gap from this time to getting a job, as it means I can finally do things like this with all the free time on my hands.

It could be that the time between graduating and getting a job is used to figure out exactly what you want to do. Graduating in a particualar medium is one thing but using it to the best of its advantage is another. Take for instance Lauren Moriarty, graduate of Loughborough University. She said when she left, she did not like to be 'pigeon holed' into one medium. Graduating as a Textile Designer, she said her interested also lay in, amongst other things, Product Design and 3D Design. And so this opened up her options to many for areas of the creative world, eventually deciding to go freelance instead because this worked out best for her.

I believe in the statistic, that nearly three quarters of students that graduate in design don't go further into the industry, however, it is all about to do with attitude and the way you think about it. I think everyone is going to get rejected at some point, but its whether you do look at it as rejection or as a learning experience. If seen as an experience, then the graduate will be encouraged to learn more, and then try and try again until eventually they have succeeded. There isn't enough jobs for all graduates, but there is for those who really want it.

Word Count: 803

Direct Mail and Guerrilla Research

2010-03-15T03:35:00.000-07:00

I am up to a stage in my Major Project on Organ Donation where I feel like I have the idea, it just needs to be taken now in different directions to work. Before I started to think about this, I felt like I needed to look at the many different great and unique examples of direct mail and guerilla there are out there. Here are the best examples I have found:

Alan Cocks - Graphic Designer

2010-03-11T07:31:00.001-08:00

Alan Cocks is from Graphic Design Agency 'Dust' in Sheffield. He says it is made up of 2 people, and then the rest of the group flow in and out.

Alan was a student at Stockport College in 1992/1993 studying Graphics HND. After 2 years at Leeds studying further design, he became a night auditor at a hotel for 2 years. He said even though he was out of the design world for a few years, he still kept up to date with the industry by reading whenever he was on duty.

It was clear when Alan started showing us his work that illustration plays a big part in their industry. The also experimented with photography, and said they usually worked the graphic design around the shape of the photograph.

Some of the first pieces of work he showed us were for Old Trafford. The illustration of showing footie scores on a map of the United Kingdom weren't too different from one of the projects we did back in first year. This was the process of mark making to create something visually appealing.

Manchester United/ Treble Suite Installation. (http://du.st)

The piece of work that particularly stood out to me is the Dairy Milk 'Marvelous Creations'. I think the machine like illustrations are very unique and make each packet look aesthetically pleasing. I look forward to seeing it on the shelves in the future.

Lauren Moriarty

2010-03-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

Lauren Moriarty is a 3D Designer, but does not like to be pigeon holed into one category so is also many other things such as a Textile Designer and Product Designer.

Originally from Loughborough University, in her final project she experimented with different materials, including rubber. She graduated as a Textile Designer but didn't know if this was really what she wanted to do.

She started to experiment with the material she had used in her final project, and began making such things including pillows and lights.

Geometric Structure Cushion (http://www.laurenmoriarty.co.uk)

Noodle Block Light (http://www.laurenmoriarty.co.uk)

Lauren said she sold quite a few of these, but doing this everyday got a bit boring and she wanted to create something new. However even though she wanted to do this, she felt a bit guilty about being bored.

She said when she came up with new ideas, the people she sold them to sometimes had limitations. Though if she believed in her idea she would try to get it across, and usually there was a compromise. In her ideas she liked to react to customer feedback whether it was conceptual or commercial.

In her lecture she mentioned something that I thought was great to any creative person that wanted to go in a similar direction to Lauren Moriarty

"Challenging Assumptions

Being receptive to new ideas

Recognizing similarities or differences

Taking risks

Building on ideas to make better ideas

Looking at things in new ways

Taking advantage of the unexpected

Taking chances"

Dye Holloway Murray Design Studio

2010-03-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

DHM are a Design Studio based near Soho in London. On Tuesday 2nd March we had organized a portfolio visit with Fran from DHM to receive feedback on our work.

Before we went to visit them I took a look at their website www.dhmlondon.com. I think my favourite piece of work is the work for Urban Fresh. I love how the type is written by hand and in Caps and underlined and centred, and that there is so much negative space surrounding it. And that the image accompanying it is illustrated, it just gives the whole thing an organic and natural feeling about it. I really enjoy viewing and experimenting with negative space and the whole 'less is more' concept. I believe that when I walk down the street and there is a billboard with a lot of white space and then the primary image set somewhere on it, that I take a longer look to understand why it is set out that way.

When we first entered the studio it looked very professional yet still casual and a relaxing atmosphere. We went into one of the studio rooms to speak to Fran and her work colleague, and we started going through our portfolios.

I got similar responses for my poster for Manchester Literature Festival and my TED Magazine spread, and they thought the ideas were sweet. I think these two ideas will be solid pieces of work to keep in my portfolio to show designers in the future.

I showed them my Tolerance work, as this is something that is still to be refined. They looked at it carefully and agreed with me that it needed something so the idea could be noticed sooner. Fran suggested that maybe the idea would be shown better in quick animations that would appear either as advertisements or on websites. I think this has been the most helpful advice, that I will suggest to my co-worker Mike, and we can start putting this idea in different formats. Another suggestion was using direct mail and leaflets to show the 'count to ten' concept, though I think this needs a lot more further thought.

The visit was very helpful, and it was made alot more endearing by the way the design team at DYE spent time and were very enthusiastic about our work.

Shell Suit Zombie 1/3/10

2010-03-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

On our first night in London we went to The Cross Kings Pub. Shellsuit Zombie awaited us with the aim of (if we were thinking we were not keen in entering the industry) to bring the desire to gain entrance to the industry back to life.

It wasn't what I expected, it was alot better. I found the whole informality of it really my idea of a good lecture, and I still believe after a few alchohol beverages the brain is fuelled to be more creative.

I thought the whole concept of Shellsuit Zombie was a great idea, as especially final year students who are going through the most stressful times to finish the degree, need something like this to kick start the system.

The Creative Face-Offs were really fun and I think its the first time I've given a presentation without going red in the face and not being able to breathe out of nerves. The two issues we were pitching were Peter Stringfellow sponsering World Peace. I think one of our best ideas was incorporating a dancing girl on a pole with her feet in the air, into the World Peace Sign.

I hope to see more of Shellsuit Zombie in the future, perhaps at D&AD New Blood.

Dan Warner -Red Brick Road

2010-03-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday 2nd March we visited Red Brick Road design studio. It interesting to see how completely differently set out each studio we has been to visit is. When we walked in there was just a very vast space, with one large long table in the middle where a few groups were having discussions. It seemed like the ideal environment for hustle and bustle of design studio life.

I had looked at the companies work prior to the visit and really enjoyed looking at the Tesco campaign and how it was created through different mediums. I am always interested in ambient/guerrilla so enjoyed seeing that they had used this in it. (www.theredbrickroad.co.uk)

I think the home-made nature of the sign instantly reminds the viewer of times when they have driven on a country road and seen a farmers home-made sign on the side of the road. I think this particular concept they have used is humourous and will encourage people to take the next left if indeed they did need milk.

We spoke to the copy righter of the company Dan Warner, and showed him our work. The meeting had to be quite brief as the studio looked rather busy and we didn't want to keep him too long.

I showed him my Tolerance Awareness work to see if he could help with a way I could refine it even more. One of the things he mentioned was that it needed something that made him understand the idea in a few seconds, rather than in a few minutes. He thought instead of the type being on both sides, it would like neater and more together just one one side, but apart from that it was a hard one to solve. I was very grateful that he shed some thought on the matter, as I didn't expect alot of feedback due to this particular brief and my concept being difficult to solve. This is the Tolerance work so far:

Studio Special

2010-03-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

Studio Special is an award winning creative design studio based in Farringdon in London, and we were given the privelage to visit them on Monday 1st March.

David Lovelock took time out to talk to us about our work in detail, so for that we were very grateful.

We showed him examples of our work, and because he has been working with typography and has lots of experience in that particular subject, he enlightened us on a few things including how important it is to make sure everything is right when using typography in print. The subjects he brought up were balance and kerning, as because he observes typography everyday, he noticed little adjustments to be made instantly. I tended to use home made type or bold headlines and not so much body copy and so there wasn't much for him to correct.

When showing him my work for The Manchester Literature Festival he said he liked the bracket that was turned up to represent a book. This idea is one that does well in quite a few portfolio visits, so it was good to know that someone so deep in the field also liked it. Here is a reminder of that piece of work..

I also showed David my current 'Tolerance Awareness' work which is still work in progress, as I have found the brief quite difficult and know it is not quite there yet.

He said that the colours worked really well together, and that 'public displays of affection' was his favourite which is interesting because it seems to be either the most liked or one that doesn't work. The Tolerance still needs working on, as it is still taking viewers quite a while to understand the concept, and as David Lovelock said just needs that extra element to get the idea across. You can view the Tolerance work on the visit with Red Brick Road post.

Ovarall a successful visit!

Magpie Design Studio

2010-03-04T07:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday 1st March myself and fellow Uni friends went to visit Magpie Studio.

Magpie studio are a London based design studio that focus specifically with illustration. All their work communicates solely through colour, line, shape, pattern, form and space and style. They believe that design is more than just a job, its a responsibility. Magpie have been around for 2 years, with a few members originally from the studio 'Hatrick'.

When we arrived at the studio we were greeted with a warm welcome and cups of tea!

Ben began by showing us Magpies work.

From what I could see from their work, they used Art and Design to represent people, symbols, colour and photography. I especially liked the Creative Magazine where the the sun was cut off to create the 'C' and the book for London's Local Printers where they used Cockney Slang. I like to really work at a project to get the right solution and idea so it was enjoyable to see the many great ideas they had come up with for each project.

I think one thing I came away from the studio was knowing that its important to leave something behind next time. So in the coming months I plan on creating a name card or a miniature book so the designers can get back in contact easily if they like my work. Magpies own business cards were designed as a small briefcase and it opened up to reveal all the information. There was even little detail for the ring binders.

Neil Lancaster - Mccann Manchester

2010-02-08T14:20:00.000-08:00

Through family I was given the opportunity to get in contact with the Creative Director of Mccann Manchester.

Hello Neil,

I am a Graphic Design student at Stockport College and currently in my final year. I was given your email by my mum, who is currently attending sign language classes where I believe she met your wife and then my degree came up in conversation. I haven't been told alot about the studio you work at but I have been told that you are Creative Director, so I feel very privileged to be kindly given the opportunity to get in contact.

I have just been browsing through the 'Mccan Manchester' website and came across the Social Marketing section, and I am very interested in the part where you say how you 'influence behaviour for good'. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to become a student in Graphic Design in the first place, I wanted to change peoples opinions for the better through good ideas and design work.

For these last few months of my degree, me and my fellow students have been asked to create our own briefs, and then see them through with posters, editorials, or however we wish to execute the idea. We were advised to base our brief on what we are passionate about and what we would like to be part of when entering the industry ourselves.

Therefore, I wanted to base my brief on something that I think is an issue, and would like to change peoples attitudes towards it. This is to create an advertising poster and editorial campaign to encourage everyone to register as an organ donor. I picked this topic as, when researching into it, the facts were quite surprising, and because I am an organ donor myself I became very motivated by it.

When I showed this brief to my tutors, they were impressed, however thought it was a hard brief. I am very determined to see it through and come up with something that will change peoples attitudes for the better. I have attached the brief to this email for you to take a look at if you have time.

I guess this email was just to introduce myself, and to tell you a bit about what I am doing at the moment. I am also currently putting together my portfolio, that eventually, if you had the time I could possibly show you in the near future for some feedback?

Regards

Katherine Speak

BA Hons Graphic Design Level 3
Stockport College

Hi Katherine,

Thank you for our email. Organ donation is a great thing to work on. It’s a pity we don’t do as some other countries do, where everyone is automatically put onto the national donor list, then, if you don’t want to be on the list, you just express your wish to be removed and that’s that. No waiting lists! As it is, you’re working on a very worthwhile thing, of course. I’m on it – I don’t know anyone would want my liver though. Anyway, come and visit us here when you get some free time. I can introduce you to some of the more graphic design people. You might want to come in for a few days at some stage.Now is not a great time as we are having redecoration at the moment on top of everything else. Keep in touch and we’ll work out a time for you to come in. Hope all goes well. Best wishes, Neil.

Neil Lancaster
Creative Director

Thank you Neil, I am currently updating my portfolio so when that is finished I will get in contact again to see if I can visit and see if you might be able to have a look at it for some feedback? And also to see the studio that you work at, I will be very excited to visit and see designers putting their ideas into production. I am also currently researching and coming up with my initial ideas for the organ donation campaign so would I be able to email with my progress on that? I have been told by my tutors that I have created a very hard brief to tackle as the idea will have to be spot on for it to work, but I have been researching especially into Saatchi and Saatchi and I think with hard work this brief can be solved.

Katherine

David Lovelock - Studio Special Design. Contact Report

2010-02-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone at Studio Special Design

I'm currently attending Stockport College in Cheshire, and at the moment I am in my final year studying Graphic Design.

As part of our degree, we are asked to get as much feedback and experience as we can with other graphic designers in the industry. As I have been doing this since level 2 I am keen on visiting designers from all over the country to get as much feedback as I can, and I have found it all very enlightening.

From Monday March 1st until Wednesday March 3rd me and a few fellow students will be visiting London to see if we can learn from designers in the industry.

I came across your website when browsing through sites about Farringdon, as this is an area we will be visiting. When looking at your website I enjoyed reading about the companies interests and what you are looking forward to. I especially liked the 'Vivid' work that caught my attention, I think the colour works really well with the typography.

When we visit the area we will have our portfolios with us, and so I was just wondering if you had the time , if you could spare 10 minutes or so, to look at our portfolios and perhaps give us a bit of feedback?

I understand you must be very busy so would be very grateful for your time. I will be travelling with 2 other students, and we'd all be delighted to have our work seen by proffessionals.

Regards

Katherine Speak

BA Hons Graphic Design Level 3
Stockport College

Hello Katherine

We are such a small studio - but happy to look through your work... either yourself and at a squeeze, one other.
The only time suitable would be at 5pm on Monday the 1st or Wednesday the 3rd of March.

Let me know if this works for you.

Best Regards

David

That's great! We will be arriving in London at around 12pm on Monday so 5pm in the evening on that day will be perfect. Thank you.

I'm travelling with two fellow design students Michele and Grace, I'm not sure which one would like feedback but they can sort that out between them, but I think it would be valuable for them to hear what your comments will be on my work, so would it be okay for us all to visit?

Regards

Katherine

Hi Katherine

Ok for Monday... it will be a squeeze if all of you turned up - but I'm sure it will be fine.
There is only 3 of us in a tiny studio - but I guess it will give you a good idea of a small creative studio.

Regards

David

Thank you, we are all really looking forward to visiting the studio. I am very grateful for the time as I understand you must be busy. Shall see you at the studio on the 1st March at 5pm.

Best Regards

Katherine

What does everyone else like? Ad campaign research

2010-02-02T08:01:00.000-08:00

Recently researching ad campaigns and coming to my own opinions on which caught my attention and why, I suddenly was curious to what ads were noticed by other people, whether it was print, TV, guerrilla, anything. I asked around to find out.

Dane - “Quite an iconic English image and works well with an iconic English brand, looks really thought out. And I like meat.”

Colmans ‘Proper Mustard’ by Karmarama
“Colman's uses a meat-based mock-up of the famous First World War army recruitment poster featuring Lord Kitchener in its new ad campaign.
Colman’s is targeting males to persuade them that its mustard brand is the best accompaniment to meat.” (www.campaignlive.co.uk)

Jenny - "I just basically imagined what everyone went through behind the scenes of making it - plus its different and makes you ask the question is that real? have they done that digitally? ... when i found out it was for real, it gave it that extra charm!"

TV Ad - The Fallon London

Matt - "Even if you don't want to admit it, you do end up like that at the end of the night sometimes, so it makes you want not to be like that."

Mike - "because they were different, and surreal"

VW Jetta "Big Day" wedding commercial

Grace - "thought they were quite funny. its unusual to see eggs committing suicide... and the strapline works well with the ads, think its ul miss them when there gone or something."

Andy - "the idea was not to forget your butter when u make jacket potatoes and things like that, and they all had yellow post-it notes on the food instead of butter, but they looked like butter at first glance"

Lurpak Brand. From D&AD Annual 2003 pg 58. BMP DDB

Mccan Erickson - “Coffee isn’t my Cup of Tea” – www.mccan.co.uk

2010-02-02T07:19:00.000-08:00

Mccan Erickson are “commited to creating the perfect blend of creativity, effectiveness and innovation that will help grow the brands in our care.” They pride themselves to get the right advertising solution for all their Clients’ brands. (And along the way we quite like to have some fun doing it.)

Cultural Connections

This is a philosophy that Mccan Erickson use. It is an idea that plugs a brand into culture. They are ideas that cause a reaction and make a brand relevant in peoples’ lives.

MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres)

MSF are an independent humanitarian medical aid organisation. They are committed to providing medical aid where is most needed, regardless of race, religion, politics or gender. “Our new campaign shows fading photo imagery of MSF medics to demonstrate how thinly the staff are stretched and breadth of work undertaken.” (www.mccan.co.uk)

Heinz Salad Cream

This advertising campaign won awards including a Gold and Silver Epica, and ran this campaign over the summer of 2007. They say on their website (www.mccan.co.uk) “The iconic Salad Cream bottle takes the role of the sun, graphically illustrating how the sauce brightens the food below.”

Heinz Tomato Ketchup

“‘Sliced bottle’ and Bottle Botttom’ ran as a poster and press ads from May 2007. ‘Sliced Bottle’ was a multi- award winning, scooping an Epica, a Gramia, a FAB, and Campaigns Best Poster of 2007.”
(www.mccan.co.uk)

Shreddies Charles – “Knitting Nanas”

I didn’t know Erikkson Mccan made this advert so I was pleased to find it on the website as I think this advert was unique and a great idea when I saw it.

Advertisement Campaigns

2010-01-25T14:00:00.001-08:00

As part of our Major project for the final year at University, we are asked to create our own brief. When creating the brief, we need to bare in mind that whatever we decide to do, it has to be something that we want to focus on when we enter the industry after graduating.

Something that catches my attention and that I admire are advertisement campaigns, on issues that are big in the present news or from the past. I find it remarkable how if this issue is advertised well, then it can change someone perception of it instantly and even change their opinion of it.

I think, to be able to do this would be a challenge but I'd very much like to achieve it. Therefore, I have chosen to use this as the foundation for my Major Project.

Saatchi and Saatchi

http://www.itsyourlifefoundation.org/anti-smoking_posters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/24/joe-calzaghe-bullying

Mike Rigby - Words of Wisdom - 26/11/09

2009-12-01T04:43:00.000-08:00

Mike Rigby is a Graphic designer who came in to give us a few words of wisdom about his life as a graphic designer and what we should come to expect when we leave University.

What stood out straight away to me as he showed us his contents page was that he was going to discuss his experience of taking a break and going abroad, and how that opened more doors for him. I think this caught my attention as this had been a decision I have been thinking about, whether to travel first or get experience first, and this lecture to some extent answered my question.

Another part of the talk that stood out for me is the way he described being a designer, that it wasn't a job it was a lifestyle choice. And I remembered I had heard this somewhere before, Craig Oldham from Music had said this before in his talk, which is also mentioned in my blog.

Mike talked to us about placements, and how they 'speed you up'. This is by working on real projects, networking and going on free nights out! He mentioned going out and being sociable is key to getting to know other designers. Advice that I think went down very well!

It was when Mike was talking about what he did when he first received a brief, then using a quote from Ray Gregory he said "What is it that I've been asked to do?" then something clicked. He showed us examples of briefs he was given as a student then what he did to answer them.

He said the brief was to come up with a different design to sell underlay. "So how do you sell something invisible?" he said. Make underlay desirable. And then thats when he thought of the heart packaging.

It was then after the lecture that I had a look at both my Tolerance and Ted Baker briefs and things that hadn't stood out before suddenly became apparent!

I really enjoyed seeing where he had been abroad, I hadn't really been to a lecture before about graphic design where they also went into detail about their travels and where they'd been, Thailand, New Zealand and such places are where I have been thinking about traveling too so it has encouraged me to stick with that plan.

He also encouraged us to create self initiated projects, as being a designer is a lifestyle.

But he also mentioned that it is essential to have a life outside design too,

"The more interesting life is outside of design, the better at design you will be." - Mike Rigby

Tolerance Research and Idea Development

2009-12-01T04:14:00.000-08:00

For the Tolerance and brief, me and my work colleague Mike wanted to develop one of our ideas that we hadn't cracked yet we thought the concept worked. A reminder of the tolerance brief is that Manchester City Council want to have a month long festival and have the meaning of tolerance promoted to the people of Manchester. We came up with the concept 'count to ten' where when ones tolerance is tested, sometimes counting to ten is a technique people use to calm down. We thought about how we could portray this visually, and so this is an idea we came up with.

We didn't think this was really showing what we wanted to say, and additionally it could be made visually better. We also wanted more versions of it to relate to different situations people had to tolerate. It was proving difficult and so we decided to raid the library for inspiration. This is where I saw this work in the D&AD annual 2006. This is just a sample of 5 posters that were created from 10. To view the other five then they are on this website http://awards.dandad.org/2006/categories/prsa/press-advertising/09194/words-come-alive

D&AD Awards 2006
Words Come Alive -
Press Advertising / Newspaper Press Advertising Colour

Typographical elements had been used and in-distorted in anyway to show an idea. The strap line linked to the Typography symbols brings the idea to life. This made me think that we could use this technique, and make our posters as simple as posters and edit the strap line to bring the idea to life.

With this is mind we designed a series of posters.

These ideas still need to be simplified and edited, for instance the Clock may need a re-think as it additionally uses the numbers 11 and 12. But through research we have been able to push the idea further and find direction with this concept again.

Ted Baker and Stop Frame Animation Research

2009-12-01T02:56:00.001-08:00

A brief I am working on currently with my work colleague Sophie is a campaign for Ted Baker for the launch of their Autumn/Winter collections.

As part of the campaign the store windows should be used as the primary vehicle. What the brief is asking for is something to grab peoples attention, and by this we could even ignore the fact that it is Autumn completely. It needed to be scale-able, simple to understand, must capture the British sense of humour and project Quirkiness.

One of our main ideas was to use British idioms, that we thought are British, Quirky, can be made strong visually and can specific idioms can be linked to weather. Initially we began visualizing such idioms as 'Raining cats and dogs' 'A penny for your thoughts' and 'Bakers Dozen' , but this lead onto another idea. 'Blown Away' by Ted Baker.

The idea was to have mannequins in the shop window but have them on a slant, infront of a huge fan (that would be hidden) to show them fighting against the wind. The clothes would be blown so the viewer can also see the inside of the garment, something you usually wouldnt see on static mannequins.

In the Background we thought of having a projection of things blowing in the wind. Either a shopping trolly, an old lady, even someone on rollerblades with a newspaper in their face. We thought this would be something humorous to add to the window, and the viewer would be more inclined to stick around and see what was going to blow past next.

This lead on to even more research and ideas as to how we could present this, and the technique of stop frame animation presented itself. Making something blow naturally across the screen proved tricky in filming, and so with research in to stop frame animation this seemed like a really interesting concept that seems like it would work well with our idea.

We decided to research into campaigns and performances that had used stop frame animation so we got a better idea of what to do. Here are some of the things we found. I find all of the se remarkable and mind boggling as to how much time it would had taken to stop-frame each one. It still seems exciting to have a go at doing this ourselves.

"Get out and play" 2008 - The Human Snake

New ad by Big Yellow using stop frame animation. Directed by Dougal Wilson. Animation Director Drew Lightfoot. Agency CHI & Partners.

Norman McLaren's famous Acadamy Award winning stop action animation from 1952.

Human Skateboard by PES. Directed by PES. Commercial for Sneaux Shoes. Advertising Agency: Margeotes, Fertitta & Partners, New York.

Osbert Parker. Film Noir (excerpt, short film 2005).

Tracy Kendall

2009-11-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

When first starting the Ted Baker brief and we realized one of the issues to be taken in mind was to make use of store windows in our campaign, was to do some research into how to make good use of wall space and decoration.

On www.tracykendall.com it says "Tracy Kendall creates new and innovative wallpapers using hand techniques and modern technology to expand the vocabulary of possibility for wall coverings. The wallpapers are all starting points, often from elements already within a room or space, and convey a strong design concept, one which interact with an interiors identity, but without dominating it."

Here are some examples of Tracy Kendalls work

Graphic Design and Surrealism

2009-11-17T09:23:00.000-08:00

For my new project that I am working on with my work colleague Sophie is a brief for Ted Baker to design a campaign but primarily focused around the store window, and that extends throughout the rest of the store. As Ted Bakers sense of humour is quirky and strives to be different to other retailers, I feel like this project needs a surrealist spin on things.

To help me with this I have researched into quirky surrealist graphic designs that I have found on the internet.

Mas Pelas by Jerico Santander from http://www.designflavr.com/Mas-Pelas-Jerico-Santander-i450/

The Octopus World by Heri Irrawan from http://www.designflavr.com/The-Octopus-World-Heri-Irrawan-i1277/

Gold Leaves by Richard Roberts http://www.designflavr.com/Gold-Leaves-Richard-Roberts-i946/

Florin from http://abduzeedo.com/daily-inspiration-217

Longo from http://abduzeedo.com/daily-inspiration-217

Barbour Design, New York

2009-11-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday 11th November me and my work colleague Grace went to visit Barbour Design in New York City.

Grace had previously emailed and talked to the company founder, Ava, and had organised the visit for this specific day at 3pm.

As we walked into the studio I was first amazed how professional the studio looked, so I knew this was quite an upbeat and busy design environment.

When we met Ava she was very friendly and interested to see what we had to show her. I introduced ourselves and said where we were from and what we wanted to get out of the visit, and how important feedback on our portfolios was.

And so Ava began by looking through my portfolio, and seemed pleased with the work she saw for Manchester Literature Festival and Ted Magazine. Also she asked about the process for 3 men and a Wardrobe and the idea behind the end sting for Black and Decker.

However she found it hard to comment on my animation for murder she wrote as it wasnt clear what was going on, and I have found this with other visits so I think it is time to take this piece of work out.

The feedback was also positive on Graces portfolio and so we found the visit very successful.

After we showed our portfolios Ava showed us around the studio and introduced us to her work colleagues. She also gave us advice on our CV, as she herself had viewed many CVS in her time at Barbour and said to us that spelling and also the design of the CV was very important. It needs to capture your personality so she can have an incling on who she is going to interview.

Kenneth Funk from Coffee Cup Design, New York

2009-11-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday 10th November me and Grace decided to give Kenneth Funk a call and see if it was okay for us to come and visit him. He was very friendly and pleasant on the phone and so it was easy to not get nervous about visiting our first designer in New York.

We arrived at the door of Coffee Cup Design Studio on the 10th floor. When we first walked in and greeted Ken he was very friendly and seemed happy to see us. The studio was small but the space was used well, with shelves upon shelves of design books and several files which we later discovered was full of typography. Ken said he had over 5000 fonts.

He was very interested in our course and what we were up to. He discussed his early career and his design work before computers were invented as he had been in the business for over 20 years. He described the way he had to cut out each individual letter for the Type work and then when sending it to print, he wasn't just as easy as converting it to PDF and clicking a button. To send the final print with colour to the client the piece had to be divided into 4 negatives with each of the colour combinations 'C' 'Y' 'M' and 'K'.

Since computers were invented and the competition increased, he says it is harder for him now. However, we asked what he was working on at the moment and the brochure he is working on appeared impressive.

When we showed him our portfolios he was very impressed with our work and the ideas behind some of the content. There's a few things in my portfolio that I seem to be very proud of to explain to anyone who views it, this is the bracket in my 'Manchester Literature Fesitval' poster that resembles an open book, and also my TED magazine that rolls up to resemble a magic wand. So I think it is safe to say I am definitely keeping these pieces in my portfolio. However, my animation piece is more illustration based and lacking in idea and I find that it is hard for anyone to comment on it, so I think this is going to be taken out of it.

At the end of the visit Ken suggested places for us to visit in New York whilst we were there. These were a Type Designers Club, a studio called Number 17 and the oldest pub in New York located on Greenwhich Street. As time went so quickly and we didn't get round to doing any of these, I still am very keen to get in touch with Number 17 and also research Ed Benguiat who Ken said he saw once speak at the Type Designers Club. Benguiat designed the logo for the 'New York Times' and the logo for 'NASA' that is on the side of the space shuttle.

Ovarall a very relaxed and successful visit, and me and my work colleague Grace plan on staying in contact with Ken in the future.

The Logo

Kenneth Funk and Grace

Container Plus

2009-11-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

Container Plus are a collaborative company whose aim is to problem solve. And one of the founders of container plus is Louise Vormitdaag who came in to talk to us about how it was formed, what they do and advice and tips as to how to come up with the great idea.

In the talk I was sat next to one of my really good friends who is studying moving image, but we had recently decided to work on a brief together which was to design a campaign including a design for shop window for Ted Baker. Ironically as Louise started her talk she said how her company started out in the beginning, herself and her good friend Nicola illustrated a window of Selfridges, and it is from this they realised they worked well together.

As she discussed their projects, it became clear that they worked well with sets as well as illustration, and the visuals were amazing. I especially liked the work they did for the Volkswagen Car Launch where they were given 4 rooms in a house to design themselves, and she said it was "a 360 degree experience."

She also said something that I feel is very important and it is something I try and do, it is always to try and be nice to the people you work with, and they will help you out when you need it.

The process she discussed when they created their project 'Evil Twins' is something I have noted down and I think me and my friend are going to use as inspiration for our project.

She said to firstly create a story/concept and then that can be taken to any scene such as a park. Also its the use of sets and props that made me think this is the perfect way of thinking for our project. And that photographs and sets can be edited and changed on photoshop and so it is never limiting.

What became apparent in the talk was how important it is that you test a collaboration before you're committed to it. Louise and her team realised that is was 3 people they found a good combination, and then have assistants who help them.
This way by using techniques as simple as just having a conversation led them to their great ideas.

After the talk me and my friend wanted to learn more, and ask for some advice on our window display project. We discussed with Louise our process, and she agreed it was a good idea to come up with the story/concept then go along with whatever comes from that. I think we had started to discuss how we were going to present an idea whereas we shouldn't really had been doing that already. Additionally Louise stated to treat the Window like a stage, and imagine the performance that is going to take place on that stage... "how are you going to use the space? are you going to stick anything on the glass? is there going to be something there that involves the public like an event?"

She also kindly gave us a list of artists to research that might help us out.

Ovarall a very informative and entertaining talk with a very positive outcome.

Dave Sedgwick from 999

2009-11-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

At the end of October Dave Sedgwick came in to Stockport College to talk to us about his process in getting a job and shared a few tips as to how to become successful in this.

From listening to Dave it started to become clear that it was very important to research as many design agencies as you can whilst still in University, and keep a diary of your progress with each one...and that this diary was to be shown to no-one!

And when it was time to visit each agency with a portfolio, it was really important to take each comment with a pinch of salt, as some designers are going to love it, and some are going to hate it. Dave mentioned that one company even said he 'needed some Yorkshire pudding packaging added'.

This was Ironic as he actually got a placement with this company later on. He outlined the important issue that if you work hard, you will be successful, as that what he did and managed to get jobs with big company's such as LOVE and Dinosaur.

Even when it didn't work out with these places, he gained confidence from the experience and new skills he had learned and eventually through work that he freelanced he managed to gain publicity and build up a client base. He stressed that in the end 'it is all about who you know.'

Dave additionally gave us tips and advice about how to get a job. What I learnt was to not contact a few agencies I liked but to get a list of agencies and call and enquire about who to send CV'S, PDF'S and emails to, and email as many as possible. When you go for an interview he mentioned to perhaps leave a 'leave behind' before you go, which did not occur to me before to do but is a really good idea.

From learning and hearing from designers coming in to talk to us I always noticed how they stressed the point that it is definitally hard work to get a job and Dave even said one post graduate he talked to had 32 interviews before she got a job!

I came away from this talk with the desire to get list after list of contacts and with more determination than ever!

Contact Report: Kenneth Funk from Coffee Cup Design, New York

2009-11-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

Hello

I am a student currently studying Graphic Design in my final year at University. I'm a part of Liverpool John Moores University in England but where I actually attend is a college in Stockport, Cheshire. As I am in my final year, it is important that I travel to as many design agencies as possible with my portfolio and receive feedback so it helps me to improve on my design skills for when I graduate.

From the 9th to 13th November I'll be visiting New York. Me and my friend Grace, who also attends the college, intend to visit as many agencies as possible with our portfolio whilst we are visiting the city.

I have been having a look at many design agencies websites that are in New York on the internet and yours caught my eye. I was browsing through some of your work and I especially liked the typography for 'Mad 28' where I think it fits well with the context, and also the set design for 'classic sofa' is really eye catching.

I understand you must be very busy but I was just enquiring whether if you had 10 minutes to spare between the 9th and 13th of November, could me and my friend visit you with our portfolios?

Regards

Katherine Speak

BA Hons: Design and Visual Arts: Graphic Design
Stockport College

Hi Katherine.. Thanks for your compliments on my ad designs and you're more than welcome to stop by.. give me a call when you're in town.. Kenny Funk

Coffee Cup Design Studio

Thanks Kenny Funk
I shall probably give you a call sometime on Tuesday 10th November to organize a visit

Speak to you then

Katherine

Guerilla Advertising

2009-11-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Definition: "Unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources."

This is something I have considered and answer to both of the briefs I have chosen this year, firstly

Tolerance: We had to convey the meaning of tolerance through any medium we wanted to promote Manchester Literature Festival

and

The Body Shop: Create an unconventional brand campaign for The Body Shop

It was after torturously trying to think of ways to crack these briefs through guerilla advertising that it came apparent that it was going to be very difficult. In the end we used Typography for the Tolerance brief:

and one of the ideas I had for The Body Shop that I used guerilla advertising for was this billboard...

However this had already been done by "Denver Water" as I was trying to think of other ways to use the strap line "We just use what we need", but before I decided to take it further I decided to research just in case...never mind!! Here is Denver Waters Guerilla Advertising created by Sukle Advertising & Design

Here is some more Guerilla Advertising that has caught my eye

found on: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/08/guerrilla_ads/source/6.htm

by Canadian Company: Rethink

Phil O'Shaughnessy - London Interior Design

2009-10-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Over the summer, I've been talking to many people at family events about my plans for the future, and my hopes of getting into the design industry. This has helped me get contacts as it turns out, a few members of my extensive family know people in the design industry. My cousins' wife introduced me to Phil O'Shaughnessy, an interior designer from London. And I have found his emails very helpful, and has said he may even help me get more contacts elsewhere!
Here is the contact report:

Hello Phil

Its Katherine here, Helen and Ben said I could contact you with any enquiries I have. Thanks for helping me out.

I am currently in my final year of my degree course at Stockport College, and it is obviously quite important that I start to look into the industry and seek out as much contact and advice I can. I spoke to Helen at a wedding about my future and she mentioned your name, and so I hope you don't mind me contacting you for a bit of advice.

I am currently writing a Journal that is marked at the end of the year and goes towards my final degree mark. I can choose any subject for this Journal, so I decided to go with something I am most interested in, and also how it can help my practice in the mean time.

The subject I have chosen is 'The creative process'. Since studying graphic design I have always thought about what it is that makes graphic designers think of the one great idea that cracks the brief. I, myself have found it sometimes an almost 'torturous' process in my quest for the great idea that gets a 'wow' from the audience.

I was just enquiring, as to whether you have a creative process yourself?

Here are some questions I have put together, and when you have the time I would be very grateful to see how you find your way to the great idea?

What are your first steps…when you first given a brief?

What motivates you as a designer? Do you have particular historical, social, contemporary interests?

Does the interest in these designers/canons/themes sometimes get in the way of searching for something more ‘off the wall’ or do you strive in searching out less known, perhaps more individual talent?

What emotions do you go through within the creative process towards the great idea?

Do you consider every idea from your team? Even if it is really silly, do you still see the potential or just knock it on the head straight away?

When a stop-gap occurs, how do you solve it?

What is your plan, is there structure to achieving the great idea?

Are you not satisfied until you get a ‘wow’ from the viewer/audience?

Do you edit/change your creative process depending on the deadline?

As a creative director/team leader, do you decide what ideas to develop or is this a group decision?

Thanking you in anticipation

Katherine Speak

Hi Katherine

No worries about helping you out. I think it is important to pass on any help I can to younger designers – it was not that long ago when I was coming into the industry.

What are your current plans with regards to career path/ moving towards employment and do you have any preconceived ideas on what you think life in the graphic design industry will be like?

I don’t actually work in the graphics industry but I head up our London interior design studio and study a lot of graphics for the purpose of working with clients for branding purposes.

When talking about a creative process I think it is more important to have certain disciplines and to keep an open mind, as different briefs may require different ways of approaching them.

I’ll print off the questions and take a look at them over the weekend – it’ll be good to take a break from the grind and go through them properly and I’ll get back to you early next week.

I think this is a useful exercise for me to go through and may even highlight areas that could be addressed in our internal creative process. Who knows - watch this space.

How many contacts do you need to make for your Journal. I am pretty good friends with quite a few graphic designers and could look into getting them on board too if you want? One of my friends from outside work runs her own graphics company. She’s getting very successful in quite a short space of time (clients include NME, Ted Baker and she writes for Computer Arts Projects). I can ask her if you like, although her answer will undoubtedly involve sitting down at her Mac and listening to Hot Chip all day whilst drinking Red Bull... and playing with her dog.

Cheers;

Phil

Hello Phil

Thanks for getting back to me. In fact, I've just been for an interview with a graphic designer in Manchester who is part of a design company called 'Music'. It is very interesting to find out each designers own unique work process, so yes if you do know other graphic designers I would be very grateful if I could contact them with some questions?

When I finish my final year I plan to try and visit as many agencies as possible with my portfolio, and hopefully a placement will come out of doing that. I am especially interested in advertisement campaigns, but to be honest any kind of agency that designs book covers, posters, billboards, or anything like that I'll be interested in joining.

I went for a few portfolio visits last year where I visited 'Music' and 'LOVE creative', which are based in Manchester, and whilst I was waiting to talk to a designer I took in the surroundings and the way people were working, and it appeared to be quite calm and collected. I remember when visiting Music, one of the designers said they sit down, discuss the brief and then crack on with it and then when the work is done they celebrate with a few drinks in the Northern Quarter. It all seemed like a happy and positive atmosphere that I feel would suit me well! I think I need to visit more agencies and designers so I can get a better feel of what it would be like to work in the industry, so that is my aim for my final year.

I liked what you said about keeping an open mind about briefs, the designer I have just spoken to today said he gets his best ideas when he is doing little tasks such as the washing up or getting the bus home. And even in his sleep!

I'm glad my questions are going to help you look at your own creative processes, I will be finding about so many - I'll be more than happy to email you my final journal once its completed, that will be sometime around next January.

It would be very helpful if you asked your friend who runs her own company, she sounds like a very interesting person and I'd like to hear what she had to say! And also if red bull helps her with her own creative process? ...I may have to try that myself.

Regards

Katherine

Hi Katherine

As promised please see below for my responses to your questions:

What are your first steps…when you first given a brief?
Depending upon what format a brief takes will shape my first steps. If I receive a written document as a brief I obviously take that away and go through it with a fine tooth comb. Alternatively, if I receive a brief through a meeting I will generally take notes and ask any necessary questions to clarify any unclear points and take this away to write up as a brief. Once I have amalgamated a brief I will go through it again with a fine tooth comb. This process is essential, and I think it is one of the most vital skills that designers must come out of uni with - how to dissect a brief.

I will look for leads on a project and assess all of the clients needs, but I will also look for any faults in a brief. A client is not trained in the logistics of design and will usually have points in their brief that just won't work - this is what they pay for. We always have to outline the clients main goals so that whatever the final scheme is then we have to be confident that we fulfill the original objectives from the client whether they realise that what the objectives are or not.

For us it is vital to understand how the client works and so once we have dissected a brief it is always important to compose a series of questions from the brief and meet the client to discuss them and gain a thorough understanding of the client and their processes/ brand/ people. It is usually good to have this first meeting on site so that we can always obtain a site survey and study all the restrictions/ opportunities of the site - sometimes they can be the same thing.

Once all of this information is put together the fun part of sketching can begin.

Another point is that we always endeavor to get the client on side and a successful project is usually represented by building a good social relationship with the client and so we have an informal, friendly and fun approach with all projects.

What motivates you as a designer? Do you have particular historical, social, contemporary interests?

I am motivated as a designer by a social responsibility. As a creative industry, designers have the power to change or at least enhance peoples lives and so I believe that everything we design has to be the best we can make it for the benefit of all people involved. Bad design just isn't acceptable as I see it purely for capital gain with no benefit to others what so ever - and it usually damages the environment too.

I also believe that good design should be available to all, not just for the wealthy and so I usually aim to design environments for socially ambitious projects.

Does the interest in these designers/canons/themes sometimes get in the way of searching for something more ‘off the wall’ or do you strive in searching out less known, perhaps more individual talent?

I do not believe that a design should be off the wall, nor do I think a design should be conservative. The only option is that a design should be right for the client and engage all of the stakeholders. If it fulfills this criteria, design can be as off the wall/ conservative as it wants to be. As long as a designer can do this and are not ego driven then I will have faith in them.

What emotions do you go through within the creative process towards the great idea?

I always work and work and keep on working on a design, to the point of obsession. If an idea is great I will push it to maximize its potential. The process usually goes from a joyous obsession through exhaustion to almost a point of hate were I never want to see it again, but then it all comes together and I see why I originally loved it, and so I am happy again.

Do you consider every idea from your team? Even if it is really silly, do you still see the potential or just knock it on the head straight away?

As design team leader I will always consider every idea of the team. I am responsible for the growth of my teams' skills and all of them have to be happy, confident, and feel valued within the team. It is also important that this team does not just involve the designers. We always use people from all aspects of the business to design including admin, procurement, project managers and designers - everybody thinks differently and will all bring something different to the table and the smallest of ideas can often be the key to unlocking a scheme.

One process I employ at the start of a process is something I call a 'sketch off'. We all take away the brief and depending upon the scheme we get between 5-10 minutes when we must have to sketch out a solution to the scheme. After which we all come together and take it in turns to formally present our ideas. Everybody must present something and everybody must crit. After this we repeat the process a few times and the best ideas are usually developed through to something quite tangible at even this early stage. More often than not the really silly ideas are quashed by the team as a whole at this stage and if a silly idea makes it through this process then they can often turn into something brilliant.

When a stop-gap occurs, how do you solve it?

To stay creative ensure we do a number of things:
- Have fun
- Keep up to date with what the industry is doing
- Work like a trojan

If we need a break we often go and play table footy (minimum of a few games every couple of hours). I usually spend a couple of hours a day researching. I will use the internet for design websites like designboom, dexigner etc; we subscribe to a number of design mags that everybody must read and also I go to the library.

No matter whether we have a blank or not we must always keep working. If we can't push an idea past a certain point, put it to one side and work on something else. A solution to a problem can come from anywhere so to keep an active design brain will eventually solve any problem. But to sit back and hope that a solution will come means that you will get nowhere.

What is your plan, is there structure to achieving the great idea?

For me the only way to achieve a great idea is to truly understand what you are designing for. If you have thorough research then the right solution will be evident.

Are you not satisfied until you get a ‘wow’ from the viewer/audience?

First and foremost I have to be confident in the idea before it goes on site. No point spending money on something that I am not satisfied with. More often than not a client cannot read technical drawings that a designer can and so a degree of trust has to be there from the client. I will present the scheme to the client in a manner they can understand so that they are happy. I see a successful project that not only makes the client happy but many other things. However, I am not usually satisfied until the client has been in the new environment for at least 3 months and realise the full functional benefits as well as the aesthetic beauty of a scheme.

Do you edit/change your creative process depending on the deadline?

For me it is more important to manage deadlines properly. It is more important to get things right than to attempt to squeeze a scheme out in too short a timeframe. If you understand your process then you will know how long a project should take and as long you are clear with the client from the offset then a deadline is usually manageable to meet.

As a creative director/team leader, do you decide what ideas to develop or is this a group decision?

I believe that the whole team has to be on board. Its no fun to have to work on a project you do not believe in. If you do this you soon end up with an unhappy workforce which inevitably produce worse work than a happy workforce. However, through the process of the sketch offs we usually come up with a scheme we all believe in.

One point that is important is experience. Having worked in the industry for longer than a lot of my team I can usually see fall downs that they can't. I will always point these out if present in an idea, but I will always give them the opportunity to counter my points as they could quite easily have foreseen these issues and produced a solution that I have never thought of. This is also a 2-way system, as I have to present any concepts to them and more often than not they will gang up on me and point to any failings. But I find this is the most productive way of working for the full benefit of the team. The team is everything and we are more like a family than colleagues and so must be looked after like a family on both a professional and social level.

Good luck and I hope this is helpful to you.

Phil

Craig Oldham visit

2009-10-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

As part of our Journal work, myself and Mike went to visit Craig Oldham at Music Studios. As we are studying the Creative Process we decided to interview Craig about his own individual Process to finding the right answer to the brief. After a while the meeting did not seem like an interview, more like a discussion, and so I guess thats why time flew by! What Craig had to say was very helpful and informative. We found out things that we did not know previously, so I guess we have got to know the design industry better, and I certainly know a bit more of what to expect of that world when I enter it. We recorded the whole conversation, and so I am going to take quotes of what he said that I can compare with other designers outlook, and it will help me come up with a steady conclusion at the end. A few things that stood out for me in the interview, was how Craig explained his passion for design....in books, on album covers, posters etc. Furthermore, when his work is acknowledged by the public, for instance he designed a poster that was placed around Manchester. He said he enjoys seeing or hearing of people taking down the posters and 'nicking' them, and making them into T-shirts where they sold out. At the end he even had time to give us answers to our questions on portfolio queries. Here is the contact report:

.....

Hello Craig

Katherine here! I'm a student at Stockport College in my final year of my graphic design degree.
I remember when you came to talk to us about your experiences when leaving uni... that talk still stays with me now as the most honest and also probably...the one that contained the most expletives, but it was about time us students were told how life after uni really goes!

So anyway onto my enquiry...
I am currently writing a journal about 'The creative process', and the path that all designers lead to get to their great idea, one that gets a 'wow' from the audience. I am specifically aiming at the ideas behind advertisement campaigns, that I feel I am more interested in.

I have been recently working with Mike Mara, who I know is doing something similar, and is visiting you on Thursday with some questions.

As we have just finished our recent project and found we worked well together, he came to me with the questions that he had constructed to ask designers when he visited them. Together we edited it down so we had a solid set of questions.

One of our ideas recently, whist working together, was for me to come along on Thursday with Mike, and possibly sit in on the interview if that was okay with you? and maybe ask you a few extra questions myself that are specific to my theme?

Regards

Katherine

Hello Craig.

How are things? Are we still ok tomorrow for 2pm? I have been working with Kat Speak on a project to promote a tolerance festival and we have made a good team.

If its not to much trouble, may I bring Kat with me for some questions tomorrow? As the past four weeks have involved our ideas target the same brief, our journals have gone in a similar direction and it would be great if she could come along.

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Take care and thanks again.

Mike

Mike,

Yeah of course she can come.
I did receive Katherine's email, just hadn't had chance to reply (sorry), but if she has some questions then great.
See you both at 2.30pm.

Kindest.
Craig.

Hey Craig

Thanks for meeting with us today, it was very informative and a big help. We got everything we needed and now we can continue to write our journals and study the creative process.

I'll email you mine when its finished, should be sometime around next January.

Regards

Katherine

Katherine, hello.

Thanks for the email. It was great to meet you, and my pleasure.
If there's anything else you need you know where I am.
I'll look forward to reading your journal.

Kindest.
Craig.

Danny Jackson from CBBC

2009-10-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Danny Jackson, is an animator and comedian who is currently one of the lead writers for "Iain and Hacker" on CBBC.

I have been emailing him for advice on briefs if, at any time, I have been struggling and find myself at a dead end. His 'off the wall' humour and 'say is at he sees it' attitude has helped me in my journey to finding the great idea.

As this is the main topic for my Journal, I have also started to ask him about his Creative Process.

I will keep you updated with our email conversations here.

Katherine Speak to dannyjack
show details Sep 28 (7 days ago)
Hello Danny

(I am going to put this email in as a contact report on my blog to someone in the design industry so it might be a bit more formal then I would usually have done it ha)

By the way can you remind me of what the programme is called that your working on at the moment with the BBC?

Okay so firstly I'll let you know what I am doing at the moment.

The brief that I told you about at the wedding, thats called 'Tolerance', I think I've got an idea that me and my design partner are working on. We thought of the strapline 'It's not always as simple as counting to ten' because that is what people have to do when they are tolerating something, but in most cases it doesnt work. So we thought we would use numbers in our design to get our idea across...I'll attach our poster for 'queue jumping' and if you could tell me if 1) you get it and
2) if you have any suggestions?

Secondly, I am writing a Journal towards my degree. I have chosen to write about 'The creative process' that every designer has to go through to reach the great idea that gets a 'wow' from the audience. As someone in the creative industry, have you got a 'creative process' that helps you achieve the goal you have set out to do, either in your animation or comedy?

For eg a graphic designer may need to brainstorm as soon as they get a brief, then discuss it for a while, then perhaps ask themselves a few selective questions to try and conjure up a few ideas....

Anyway I hope all that makes sense?!

Looking forward to hearing your answers

Hope all is well

Katherine

danny jack to me
show details Sep 29 (6 days ago)
Hi Katherine,

Nice to hear from you hope you and your bro are good. Since it's a formal email, ive put a suit on, hope that helps :)

The programme I'm working on is called "Iain and Hacker" on CBBC, I'm one of the lead writers.

First off I like the look of your poster, I'm still a little confused as to what it is your poster is for and the specifics of your design brief probably because of all the chaos of the wedding. Are you designing a poster for que jumping in relation to tolerance or just a poster about tolerance in general? If so what specifically are you trying to say, aim for something original yet simple and try to have a solution, if your point is its not always easy to tolerate people then you could be advertising for talk to frank or the samaritains, the idea being you want to offer support to those who are angered easily and let them vent their frustration in a constructive manner. If you come at this from an opposing angle to everyone else you stand out. (If you can back it up).

In terms of suggestions make your message as short as is physically possible, ppl retain so little so short and simple is always best, a slight modification could be; "It's not as simple as counting to 10". Having said that you should try to create an image that communicates everything without words (words are fine but have an image that doesnt need them to strengthen your point and make your poster iconic), your text is very small and people passing by may only see your image. Imagine you're a passer by and see this poster on a wall having no prior knowledge of its message, would you fully grasp what you are trying to say?

Think about choice of colours, reds are quite angry colours so thats good if you want to convey frustration. But simplicity is always key, think about the posters that have stayed in your mind, a big one going round london is dead simple, i've attached it for good measure, the reason i think it works is its simple and powerful, they've also taken the widely recognised idea of ppl asking questionaires with yes or no specific answers i.e "do you shop here often?" and applied it to a philosophical debate, its thought provoking, original and powerful, the fact they'v left boxes to tick invites you to participate mentally in the poster, would a question be better than a statement? Something to think about... get them talking, debate and controversey! Ooohhh....

I like how you have used the symbol of male and female toilets, taking recognisable symbols and twisting them is a great tool because people already have those images burned into their minds, its a short cut to communicating your point.

Hope this is useful and feel free to email back explaining your brief a bit more to me,

All the best,

P.S: If you want to gain extra marks by editting what im saying or you want me to write you a lovely report or whatever that's fine!

Danny Jackson

Katherine Speak to danny
show details 7:32 PM (50 minutes ago)
Hey Danny

Sorry for the late reply, after I received your email I went into college the next day and showed it to my graphics partner Mike, and it was very helpful indeed. Helped us come up with some new ideas. I designed 'To love or to hate. Tolerate' and 'Treat others...' and Mike designed 'Tolerance' with 'race' reddened out though we didnt use that one in our final presentation.

Thanks for your time to look and give me advice on our 'tolerance' brief, in the end I think we did very well.

I was just wondering though if I could ask you a few questions about something else? I am writing a journal towards my degree and its all about 'the creative process'. This is the process designers/ animators/ illustrators etc go through to come up with a really good idea.

If you had time to ponder on it I was wondering whether you could describe your creative process?

For example, your work at the moment... do your team leaders or creative director state what the aim is and you then have to think about the idea, and how you will get to it. What is it you do, and what is the routine you have that takes you to the great idea?

Who decided what is picked?

Is every idea taken into consideration?

If that doesn't make sense or you want to explain more about it then just let me know.

Thanks for your time so far :)

Katherine

Hi Kat,

Here you go!

The Creative Process

What are your first steps…when you first given a brief?

Generally there's a big brainstorm where we all throw ideas out, the writers tend to come to these meetings with ideas prepared already

What motivates you as a designer? Do you have particular historical, social, contemporary interests?

Generally motivated by social injustice and talking animals, it's a weird mix, I also find its really important to do somethnig original yet accessable to an audience.

Does the interest in these designers/canons/themes sometimes get in the way of searching for something more ‘off the wall’ or do you strive in searching out less known, perhaps more individual talent?

I think its important to have a balance but never write anything you don't believe in, its about making your ideas accessable, I also think you can and should take most briefs in your own direction, this is art after all, we're not typing up memos.

What emotions do you go through within the creative process towards the great idea?

I get giddy then anxious that I'm not good enough to write it, then cross with myself then write it out of fear of a looming deadline, usual stuff really.

Do you consider every idea from your team? Even if it is really silly, do you still see the potential or just knock it on the head straight away?

I try and consider every idea, if we have a situation where everyone disagrees we consider who has the most experience in that area and they get the final say. we also talk about how important it is to seperate the idea from the ego.

When a stop-gap occurs, how do you solve it?

Group meeting where we offer each other advice/ throw biscuits things at each other

What is your plan, is there structure to achieving the great idea?

Deadlines, regular meetings, structure over who gets the final say on certain areas of the work; writers get final say on writing and the animators on the art.

Are you not satisfied until you get a ‘wow’ from the viewer/audience?

Yes that's right, comedians need a lot of attention

Do you edit/change your creative process depending on the deadline?

I try to, although sometimes we're overly ambitious, I currently have 4 days to write a short film from scratch in my spare time... it's not gonig to work

As a creative director/team leader, do you decide what ideas to develop or is this a group decision?

It's a group decision, we all have to be happy with an idea

MINIMALISM by Living Room Pictures

2009-09-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

The most fantastic thing I have seen this week, an advertisement for 'Mini'. This whole feature, appearing to be created in 3D however is actually made in stop motion. The story behind it is 'a breathtaking race between David Against Goliath'. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76mErv__Nqw) directed by Jochen Hirschfeld with animation by Weirdoughmation in Germany. Agency is Webguerillas and production by Living Room Pictures. (http://www.stashmedia.tv/?p=4840) I watched this after a friend had told me about it, wonderful piece. My favourite parts are at 28 seconds when the marker is getting ready to chase after the pen and the ink decreases to symbolise a car using up petrol, and at 46 seconds when it turns into a scene from the 'matrix' when the pen dodges the falling marker.

Tolerance

2009-09-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

A new brief issued on the 7th September '09 .... named: Tolerance

Involved in this brief is to find a way to promote tolerance for a Manchester festival. As this covers a broad spectrum of issues it is easier to focus on little, less serious issues of tolerance that could had a comical appeal.

That is when I remembered a particular scene from the film 'About Schmidt', where Warren Schmidt decides to sponser a child "Ndugu", and writes him a letter.

In this letter (at about 3 minutes into the film) Schmidt introduces his wife ... and all the things he has had to tolerate from her through their married life.

They are only little things, but sometimes it can be the littlest of things that can be the most irritating!!

Pinhole Photography

2009-06-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

Looking back 3 years ago, when I first came to Stockport college and beginning the Foundation year, there were 5 weeks where we were given the chance to get involved with each subject before we picked the one we wanted to study. These subjects were:

Photography
Visual Communication
Textiles
Fine Art
3D

My favourites of the five were Photography and, of course, Visual Communication that I later decided to pick.

Even though I didn't pick photography, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and the reason I did so much was all down to Pinhole Photography.

Involved in Pinhole Photography is combining a cardboard box with a piece of negative paper placed inside of it, facing cardboard with nothing but a pinhole in it, covered by tape to secure the light.

Exposing the paper to light for a certain amount of time will create an image on the paper. Careful not to expose it for too little or too long expects alot of practice, but when getting it just write the results are an accurate image appearing on the paper when processed.

I remember vividly enjoying this time in the first 5 weeks, and enjoyed working as a team.

When I picked Visual Communications, and then after that choosing Graphic Design as my pathway for a degree, I did not expect to use Pinhole Photography again.

However, in first year the chance came up again, and we were invited back to photography to use pinhole photography with our graphic design work.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, and these are the results

I hope to use this technique sometime in my final year.

The Notebook (the summer project not the film!)

2009-06-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

Summer Project '09

"Don't don't. Do."

And I intend on doing just that this summer.

When I first received this project it didn't hit me at first just how much this could possibly suit me and my lifestyle.

I've tried to keep a diary before, but it never worked. It lasted a week and as I would keep it at home, intending to write in it before I went to bed, but as I remain restless until my head hits the pillow I just fall straight to sleep.

And so when receiving this project I decided in the same day to make some changes, firstly...

1) to buy a top market notebook from Paperchase
2) to buy a bigger bag to carry it in

and I did just that..yesterday.

As one of my personal dislikes is to remain static throughout the day and feel like I'm wasting the day.. and biggest likes is to go out and see and meet as many people and places as I can, I began to discover a sudden urge to start writing things down that I realized were important parts of my day.

I sometimes get confused as what to write in my notebook, so I look at the brief again..and in particular this paragraph:

"Consider the notebook as an extension of your mind and of your studio. If the notebook is with you all the time, you can afford to be a little unfocused. Later on you'll look at what you wrote and saved and drew and you will realize that without even trying, you created a time capsule that is, itself, a manifestation of what mattered."

It has only been one day since I started it, so I will share a few parts that I have written so far with you.

This includes a visit to The Trafford Centre Tea Dance that involved watching older couples dance around the stage to jazz, while we ate. And at 6.15pm my friend said
"I can't imagine being that old and being in love."
As having parents that are lucky enough to be in love and will be for quite some time (well..forever), I replied
"It can happen, but I think sometimes you have to be very very lucky."

Later on that night, at 00.05 am I quote from the film 'P.S. I love you' where Daniel Connelly says
" We are so arrogant arn't we, so afraid of age that we do everything in our power to prevent it. We don't realize what a privelage it is to grow old with someone."

So I feel that this answered my friends earlier comment, and would not been able to make this link if I hadn't written it down at The Trafford Centre.

I can't wait to make more links and realizations throughout the remainder of the summer.

The Spirit

2009-05-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

I remember quite a few months ago me and my friends went to watch 'The Spirit'. Even though the story wasn't the best and a few of my friends weren't fans, a particular scene from the film has long since stayed in my head.
I really liked when 'the spirit' was running over rooftops of the city, and that mostly everything was black apart from his red tie.
I think, for me, I appreciated the way each scene of the film WAS like a comic strip. Each angle was taken so if it was screen shot, it would look like it had just come out of a comic strip. And I thought that was very clever.
So The Spirit..I salute you!!

Contact Report: LOVE

2009-05-08T05:09:00.000-07:00

At the end of my meeting with Adam Rix, he asked me to stay in contact for when I had any more further questions or enquiries. I decided to email him to invite him to view my blog. Here is the report.

Hello Adam

Just a quick email saying thanks again for your time on Monday, I appreciate it as
I know you must had been busy. I have just updated my blog with my portfolio visits
so if you would like to view it, the link is http://katspeak88.blogspot.com/

Regards

Katherine

Hi Katherine,

No worries - I'll take a look at your blog. Feel free to send anything / any questions etc.

Good luck with everything...

Practitioners report - Music and Fake ID

2009-05-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

The first practitioner I am going to look at is Music, a Graphic Design company based in Manchester. Music have been an independent Graphic Design company for one and a half years, and at Stockport College we were lucky enough to receive two visits from them. The first visit was from Anthony Smith who started his talk by giving us some information about what he did after he left Bolton University in 1989, and because of the recession he explained it took him a year to get a job in Graphic Design. This gave me a better idea of what to expect when I leave, that it may take quite a long time to get a job in something I want. I found the talk overall was very down to earth and honest, and Anthony had brought in work at the end for us to look at, which was different from any other lecture as previously we had just seen work on the big screen.
The second visit from Music was from Craig Oldham. He started his talk off with a 'parental warning' on the screen saying that he is going to swear, but “that is just how it goes” he stated, so I knew this talk by Music was going to probably be even more outgoing than the first. Craig had not been out of University for that long, so he wanted to give us an outline of facts of what to expect when we did leave. He explained that he could just see two words explaining 'Graphic Design' and these were 'Emotional' and 'Logical'. Things like logos for toilet doors and symbols are logical, whilst practitioners such as David Carson are emotional with their work.

This leads me on to my second practitioner I am going to discuss, Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees from Fake ID, who are in my eyes without doubt emotional designers too. Currently in its tenth year, Fake I.D. has produced a diverse range of work, recognized in numerous books and magazines, including commissions from Aiwa, Anthropologie, COLORS and Emigre. Stockport College was privileged to have these designers come and visit us, for a 1-day workshop and a lecture/performance. Working with Yvan and Joshua on the project named LSTN (Line, Sound, Text, Noise) made me realize that these designers were in fact more emotional in the work they produced. In the talk they delivered they discussed some of their ideas, and that some of the work they produced was '4th wall' between audience and performance, and breaking this ‘4th wall’ would create interaction between audience and performance. One of the memorable quotes I can remember from the talk was when Joshua described some of the things that occurred when they started designing saying, "The line between Art and Life disappears".
This results in creating a link between these designers, and the designers at Music. Both agencies undertake independent projects. I remember when Craig was showing us his work he showed us a typeface that he had created independently and not for any company but just because "it was in my head, so I put it down on paper". He then went on to say something quite inspiring, which was "Graphic Design is a job. A designer is a lifestyle choice." Therefore it shouldn't be something you do it should be who you are. And I’m sure Yvan and Joshua at Fake ID would agree. Their whole lecture was not about their work, that they said "you can view that anytime on our site". The 'performance' was something I had not really seen before, and it was a good way to end the year off by seeing something different. It was another independent project that they shared with students that could be used as inspiration for commissioned work.

Hearing what these practitioners have to say has enlightened me and even changed the way I think about my own work. I have always found it difficult in past briefs to organize images and type on a page so it looks dynamic, you could say in a similar way to the works of David Carson. Sometimes, I have found that I cannot place something in a peculiar way, as it just doesn’t seem logical. However, after Craig’s lecture I realized that I was perhaps in fact just a logical designer, and more of a problem solver. That is just in the design process though, I am quite an imaginative and emotional person, and my work has sometimes even been described as ‘surreal’ for instance in conceptual studies, I think it is just when putting pen to paper my logical thinking takes over.

As both design practitioners each do independent studies as well as commissioned work, this has made me want to begin my own projects on the side. I think this would be a good idea as it shows that you’re not just doing it as a job, it is because you enjoy it.

When I went to visit Anthony at the Music studios he asked me what I would like to see in a piece of Graphic Design, and I replied that I like to see a great idea, one that get a reaction from the viewer either emotional or comical, and he agreed. Fake ID was similar in what they wanted to see from us when we started the workshop with them. The brief was to write a narrative accompanying an image, and at first I was just seeing the image and almost started to describe it. However, this wasn’t what they wanted to see and told me to take what I was seeing at the moment, but pushing it further, perhaps even rewinding and imagining a beginning to the story that I was currently imagining. With this is mind I started to think of more ideas, and it had great results. The idea I created was something that would not have been thought of if it had not been pushed, and so this is a process I am going to apply to my work in the future.

(1013 Words)

FAKE-ID Workshop

2009-05-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

On Thursday 30th April Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees from FAKE ID came to visit. I quote from their website www.wefakeid.com/lstn

"In May 2009, the second workshop will investigate the 'voice-over' as an invisible yet influential communication device, to be conducted at Stockport College in Manchester, England. Sonic experiences (audio books, cinema soundtracks, mobile media, podcasts, real-time announcements, vlogs, and voice-activated technologies) are increasingly augmenting our lives. Participants are challenged to script, perform and record a voice-over for contemporary life."

And so our class divided in pairs, and we were each given a picture. And with this picture we were to script a two minute voice over that influences what is being seen according to what is being said.

Myself and my Uni work friend were given a picture of countryside and country road, with a billboard in the centre right saying 'Hell is Real'.

At first we did not quite know what to do with the image, but as soon as my Uni colleague said "news reporter" an idea came into my head.

We then started to script a helicopter report covering a crash that had just taken place below them, on a country road. And how it unfolds.

It didn't take long to write the script, I think you have just got to let go and imagine your there, and then the words just write themselves.

Here is what we came up with (read in "panicked news reporter voice"):

"Thanks everyone there in the studio

From what I can see from up here there is what seems to be a rather large shipping lorry that has overturned and is now in the middle of the road and this seems to be the main course of the hold up on the A623…

We have just heard from witnesses on the ground that have said that a Nissan car was weaving in and out of traffic, causing cars and the lorry to steer out of the way …and from what I can see the chaos created is ...there is just wreckage and an outstanding quantityof cars either overturned or mounted on top of each other, prayers with the families of those involved with the collision..

Reports are coming in that the lorry itself was travelling at great speed which caused it to overturn that caused the consequences of the crash, the crash itself has caused major delays and a back log of cars for what I can see from here…stretches miles back

As this is the main Highway leading into the next state there have been reports that several of the cars in the backlog havelooked for their own diversions, possibly in order to get away from the hold up, but please if you are listening to this report then we advise you to stay in your vehicles and STAY WHERE YOU ARE. If you know of friends and family that may be involved in the crash then ring 0800 900 300 and we will give you news as it comes to us

Emergency services are on their way to remove the lorry and let the traffic continue by.

Breaking news! We are hearing of people running away from what looks like a tank exploding in the middle of the chaos area, we do not know how this started we ….we remind you if you are not involved in the main crash site to stay where you are, do NOT take diversions just yet we do not know whether you will be safe

This really Is a quite horrific crash and we will keep you updated with the news as it comes, back to you in the studio…"

I think what I most got out of this workshop were several things. I learned to
1/ Think outside the box, don't describe what I see describe what I see around it.
2/ Script writing - imagining I am there, therefore what I would say.
3/ Performing the script. Not an actress but felt like I did the script justice!

A very educational and enjoyable day!!

Talk by Craig from Music

2009-05-04T07:51:00.001-07:00

As I look at my notes, I have written three quotes from Craig that I didn't write together with the rest of my notes, so I think out of everything Craig said these three quotes stood out the most for me.
The first one is

"Always accept criticsm and never praise"

The second

"Let external forces inspire your design work"

And finally

"Graphic Desin is a job, a Designer is a lifestyle choice"

It was great to hear from someone who had not been out of University that long, but who also would be honest with us students, even if sometimes very honest, as to what we should expect when we leave.

I really enjoyed listening to his 12-step approach and I made a few notes.

1/ What is Graphic Design? The two words that Craig said he thinks IS Graphic Deisgn is Logical and Emotional. And I agree. As to which one I am, I know the emotional one appeals to me more as I would think of myself as quite an emotional person, though I can't help thinking Im more logical in the work I deliver. Perhaps I am just a bit of both.

2/ Strengths and Weaknesses.
I think one of my strengths is my imagination, and I'm learning not to ignore it when I think an idea is too much. My Weakness is typography, and making it look dynamic on a page. But I'm learning!

3/ Your portfolio being the most subjective thing you will ever design.
Yes I agree, and as mine currently stands with most of Craigs "Pet Peeves" (people holding up posters, lots of type) I made changes to that last week - hardly any type, no people!

4/ Placements - why you should and why you shouldn't.
This is what I was worried about, but since visiting Music and Love I'm not so worried anymore. I make cups of tea at my current place of work, they are very popular! Score.

5/ Make contacts/friends/Build bridges.
Before I met Music in their studio I was slightly anxious and wasn't sure what to expect, but I found walking around Manchester with no phone and A to Z stressful but...I enjoyed it? Starting to realise that I'm enjoying the stress and that has surprised me. Also asked Anthony at Music for contacts that lead me to Adam at Love and I'm enjoying meeting new people.

6/ Never Blockade Ideas, ask people. Be open.
I've started doing this more since Craigs talk, and it works!

7/ Record things. 3rd quote listed above.
I don't do enough of this, but plan on changing that very soon.

8/ TRIAL AND ERROR.
I have much experience in this area. Must..keep..going..

9/ Things are happeing all over the country in Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Cornwall, Birmingham, NOT JUST LONDON.

10/ Design is 20% of your job.

11/ Let life inspire you design.
Craigs 5 stages I plan on putting into practice.

12/ Work hard and be nice to people.
I'm a nice person..and I want to give all my all to Graphic Design once I leave University.

I definitely came away from this talk with a better idea of what to expect and the best way to act when first working in an agency. I also came away from the talk with a quick intention to fix my portfolio as soon as possible, cloning hands holding my posters and getting rid of type came to mind!!!

Species of Spaces

2009-05-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

On the 21st April 2009 I was given a 1-day brief and some accompanying reading material, and we were asked to go to an environment and record through writing the everyday of that environment.

The destination I was given was Stockport Central Public Library, and so for an hour I sat, observed and recorded my surroundings. I realised that even though there wasn't alot going on, I started to question and look further into the few things that were taking place, for example: why are the receptionists talking loudly when its a library? and why do those women get to have cups of tea, are they special members? I wonder how long these people have been here for? and so on.
Here is what I came up with:

"As I walk in I smell the type of scent you smell when you walk into an old building, like a murky wood smell. Then I enter the second door and I can smell the paper, a new book smell. I see shelves upon shelves of books, some shelves positioned at a perpendicular angle. The library is not quiet. I can hear typing from people on the computers and most of them are young. I think that they are students. One is looking at a website with images of cars, the other is writing an email. Who is he writing to? He looks in deep thought, I think it might be of some importance but then he briskly switches to Facebook. An older looking gentleman next to him is on Facebook too so it is not just us youngens then that use this site.

The receptionists are loud – I thought they are the ones that are supposed to keep us quiet. They look happy and one of them just cracked a joke. There are a group of women behind me who are in deep discussion about a woman who “followed him round for years”. They are discussing a novel, however, this quickly switches to poetry. Their table is covered with books and pots of tea. I really want a cup of tea. Books and tea are a classic combination. It is good they have met and are doing what they are supposed to be doing and talking about what they are supposed to be talking about. If it were myself I would probably stray away and take the opportunity to discuss my current life predicaments. The man who was on facebook has now left, whereas the girl has stopped looking at cars and is now playing Tetris. I wonder why she is here; perhaps it is how she relaxes. Or is she avoiding being somewhere else? Why is she not playing Tetris at home?

I’m sat on quite a comfy turquoise sofa in the far right corer of the library. I am surprised this part of the library is not already in use as it is the comfiest part of the library, yet there is nobody using it apart from me.

I have just noticed a CCTV camera to the right high up on the wall, watching me. If it is to make sure no-one puts there feet up on the table or to check that no-one is behaving in a weird way, then thats it, I’m sussed. A security man walks past me and gives me “what are you up to” look. I’m observing - but maybe I should take my feet off the table.

I thought there would be more books in this area but there are only a few shelves, most of the books are in the far left side of the library but most of hidden from view by the ark shaped walls. Even if everyone was quiet you would still be able to hear the traffic outside, it sounds like a bus or some other kind of diesel-fuelled transport has just pulled up by the traffic lights right outside the window. The windows are big and divided into smaller square windows with a circular window in the top centre. They all look the same with the exception of one that has a stained glass window, with a colourful design. I think at first it looks like some sort of fish, perhaps a sting ray but then I realise it is a Viking boat, how you confuse a boat for a fish I do not know. Why don’t the other windows have stained glass in them? Perhaps it costs a lot of money.

Opposite me there is a set of double doors, what makes this door stand out is the gigantic hand painted image of the Jurassic park logo. However, you cannot get through these doors, as there is a sofa in the way. I wonder what is in that room. The doors look old with a thick wood panel around it and I think it looks more like a walk in wardrobe than a door.

This library is colour co-ordinated, the carpet is turquoise as so are the sofas, and so are the signs, whilst the walls are cream and light blue. These colours are peaceful – perfect for a library.

I look to my right at the bookcase and there is a book that every library should not be without, whoever heard of a library that did not have Harry Potter?"

Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers

2009-05-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

I read this book in one day (Bitches Bimbos and Ballbreakers by the Guerrilla Girls)
It is very entertaining and funny and I did not even realise that there is always some sort of female stereotype that women are going to have to live up to...or live down.
The Guerrilla Girls posters that sometimes include taking well known 15th century paintings and distorting the faces with a gorillas face, appear in well-known American magazine such as the New York Times and Vogue and protest their part by trying to re-invent the 'F word' (feminism).
Their work uses examples of post-modernism by disregarding graphical distinctions between high and low culture. Their posters probably broke all the rules of posters in the 80s by consisting of bold type with lack of visuals, however, this technique made the viewer uncomfortable, resulting in attention being drawn to the point. (Poynor, 2003, page 157)
Here are some examples of posters that would appear around cities where protests would take place.

Editorial Design, Compostition and Layout

2009-05-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

This page from Zembla designed by Vince Frost is an example of design at a conceptual level, where it plays with scale and typographic symbols. I can relate to this piece of work with my poster for Manchester Literature Festival where even the most simplest transformations can create a big impact.
In my poster I used the bracket symbol to represent a book shape.

My poster for Manchester Literature Festival

Zembla by Vince Frost

Here is the Spread I designed for the TED Magazine brief.

Even though I was happy with my spread, I still thought it could be made to look even more dynamic in its presentation. I think next time, a good inspiration for me would be Neville Brody. I quote from Brody "Each design replaces harmony with a vital edginess, but remains legible and accessible" (Editorial Design, 2007, page 107)

*Insert Brody Spreads*

Portfolio Visit: Love Creative

2009-04-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

Luckily when I left college to visit Love Creative in Manchester I had given myself an hour and a half to get there, as for some reason when making the trip from Manchester Piccadilly station to Market Street I subconciously decided to keep walking to Deansgate, walking far past High Street that Love creative studios was situated on. I think I was too busy thinking about the visit and what I was going to say.

After backtracking (alot) , I found myself outside number 65 Highstreet, and luckily someone from LOVE was on his way in to the building, therefore he showed me where to go and told Adam Rix that I had arrived.

The studio was amazing, I sat on leather sofas oppostie the reception desk, observed the wide variety of fruit on the table infront of me but decided against helping myself to it. The receptionist was very friendly and as I waited for Adam and was looking around I began to feel slightly overwhelmed by the colourful studio filled with the hustle and bustle of designers answering briefs. I had researched and read about quite alot of LOVES work so it was great to witness the ideas being put into action.

Adam came over with a friendly smile and way about him so I felt chilled out already, and we went round the corner to another seating area.

I began by reading my portfolio, going through each idea briefly. Then after that Adam went through my portfolio and each idea one by one and said what he liked and what could be developed a bit more. One of the ideas he thought could be refined was the British Postal Museums logo, so I plan on refining it then emailing it back to him for more feedback. Adam said he especially liked the 2 men and a Wardrobe poster and the TED magazine rolled up to visualize a magic wand.

At the end I asked him about placements and staying in contact if ever I needed anymore guidance and direction and he said that was fine, and so I plan on emailing him very soon. Overall I found the experience has made me believe that this is definitely the career choice for me and that I am passionate about graphic design, and that I am going in the right direction. Each portfolio visit has left me with more contacts and has helped me build bridges for the future and also in my work.

Here is the updated portfolio that I showed to Adam Rix at LOVE.

Contact Report: LOVE

2009-04-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

At the end of my portfolio visit with Music, I knew that it was important I visited other graphic design agencies as the feedback I had received from Anthony had been very helpful. Therefore, I asked Anthony whether he knew anyone from either LOVE or The Chase. He said he did and that I should email him with my query and he would email back their details. Here is the contact report of this:

My email in White
Anthonys reply in Yellow

Hi Anthony

Just managed to make it back home to send you an email! Thanks for taking
the time to talk to me on Friday - it was much appreciated and found it very
helpful and enlightening. I remember I said my portfolio was a 'work in
progress' and thank goodness it was as I've noticed some spelling mistakes,
I'm sure you noticed them too, I'm getting a page reprinted.

I also mentioned at the end of our meeting about visiting other agencies and
if you knew of anyone that I could email about visiting them with my
portfolio - LOVE and The Chase were two that I would like to visit if there
was anyone there you knew of that I could write to?

Thanks
Katherine


Not at all, it was good to meet you.

You could try Adam Rix or Simon Griffin at Love,
Adam Rix <Adams email insterted here>
Simon Griffin <Simons email insterted here>

Or Craig here in the office mentioned the two people below at Chase
Manchester below:
Lise Brian: Lisa Brians email address
Steve Royle: Steve Royles email adress

regards


Anthony 



After reading this I decided to email Adam Rix at LOVE as I had been
on their website many times and thought it would be amazing if I got
the chance to visit them.

And so I emailed Adam, and 5 minutes later he replied! Here is the contact
report with Adam from LOVE. 

Hi Adam

I am a Graphic Design student from Stockport College currently in my second
year. At the moment we are trying to gain as much experience as we can by
talking to people in the graphic design industry and taking our
portfolio in to see designers for the experience and if possible even
some feedback on our work.

Last Friday I went to visit Anthony Smith at Music and I found the
experience very helpful and enlightening and he said I could try
writing to you to see if you would be able to spare 10 minutes or so to
look at my portfolio?

I have been looking at the Love Website and the MOSI Brief and Idea
was my favourite, especially the advert where people were standing in
the way while you were trying to watch the screen then the T-REX
silhouette comes and eats him up! Each Brief I read I was always intrigued
as to how it would be solved and I really enjoyed browsing your website.

Therefore I would be very grateful to have someone at LOVE look at
my work.

Thanks

Katherine Speak
Design and Visual Arts: Graphic Design Level 2
Stockport College


Hi Katherine

That would be fine by me. When's good for you?

Adam

How about Friday sometime in the afternoon?

Katherine

Aah, sorry should have said - any day except Friday! I'm doing portfolio
surgeries at Manchester Met.

Pick a date and time next week, there's nothing pencilled in just yet.

A

How about Next Monday 27th April? It's a private study day so can do anytime in the afternoon?

Katherine

That sounds good. How about 2.30pm?

I got a "mailer demon" email back so I don't know whether my reply was sent so I'll just write it again just in case.

Thats great for 2.30, thanks!

See you then

Katherine

Portfolio Visit: Music

2009-04-23T04:14:00.000-07:00

On Friday 17th April I travelled down to Manchester armed with handwritten directions and A to Z to try and find the Music studio.

As I had just recently dropped my mobile phone in a mop bucket and was not the most map-orientated person, I knew if my directions and map failed me then I'd have to hope and pray that there were phone boxes in the Northern Quarter if I got lost.

Luckily, the only wrong turn I had taken was at Oldham Street, so at half 4 on the dot I rang the bell for the 2nd floor and I got buzzed in to go and meet Anthony on the top floor.

As I entered I shook Anthonys' hand and he offered me a beverage and I asked for water. He showed me to the sofas and said he wouldn't be two minutes, and Matt came over and apologized for the "mess", but he needn't have to I was grateful that they had given me the time to come and see them.

I looked around and checked out the studio, it was very modern looking and comfortable. I noticed on the table the most recent issue of 'Grafik' that I had purchased myself just a few days ago.

Anthony came over and asked me what year I was in and I said Level 2, we then discussed Level 3's idea for the bus. We also discussed his lecture. I said how it had been one of my favourite lectures because it was very down to earth and helpful and I especially liked at the end he had brought in his portfolio and work to have a look at.

He looked through my portfolio and I explained my pieces of work to him. From the feedback I received from Anthony I knew I would have to make my portfolio bigger, and clearer. When commenting on my individual pieces of work Anthony gave me helpful hints of to how to make certain aspects of my work better for example; refining the logo for 'British Postal Museum'. He also pointed out elements he liked including the TED magic wand idea. He asked me what I like to see when I look at other peoples design work and I explained how I like to see a clever idea that gets a smile as a reaction and he agreed.

At the end of the meeting I asked Anthony about how they worked on a brief when they first received it. He said that 2 or 3 of them first sit and discuss the brief, or they might think about it individually first then discuss it. He also explained that he finds it better working with other people for both the working side and the social side, as you can bounce ideas off each other and then when a brief is won they all go out for drinks and celebrate. After leaving my first portfolio visit with Music I realised that if I pushed myself I can think of those clever ideas that I like to see in other peoples work, and this was definitely the career choice for me. It also made me want to see many other companies because I found the whole experience enlightening.

This is my first work in progress portfolio that I showed to Music.

Contact Report: Music

2009-04-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

Before Music came to speak to us at Stockport College, I had already emailed them but that was to the general email adress that was given on their website. After the lecture that I really enjoyed, I knew I would have to find some other way of getting in contact so I decided to email Anthony. Here are the emails that show how I got a portfolio visit at music.

From: <ktspeak@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:37:57 -0400
To: <anthony@designbymusic.com>
Subject: Stockport Lecture

Hi Anthony,

I emailed hello@designbymusic.com yesterday after your lecture but I've been talking to one of my fellow students and she said I'm probably best emailing this one instead - I hope you don't mind.

I thought your lecture was excellent and it is probably one of the best ones I've been to while attending Stockport college. I found it engaging and down to earth and I really liked how you brought in your own work so we could have a look at it at the end.

I stayed behind at the end of the lecture to find out more about your work but I took a bit too much time about it and before I knew it, it was time to leave you to get back to work! I was interested in the font you used for the Manchester City work and also the typeface that you used in the portfolios. I thought it worked really well so I just wanted to know which type-face you used in your portfolio as I'm in the middle of creating mine at the moment and I liked the type you used in yours.

I remember you said that you were not taking anyone on for placements at the moment but I was wondering whether if you could spare 10 minutes or so I could come to Machester and show you my finished porfolio so I could receive a bit of feedback?

Thanks,

Katherine Speak

BA Honours Graphic Design Level 2
Stockport College

Hi Katherine

Thanks for your emails.

I’m so glad it was of some use.
By all means, come over with your portfolio.
I’ll try and get back to you early next week with a time but if you don’t hear do email/call again to remind me mon or Tuesday.

Oh, the fonts I my portfolio were (if I can remember) Stymie and Rockwell (both slab serifs).
The headline font on the Man City stuff is Helvetica Neue – Black 95 and Bold 75.

Have a good weekend.
See you soon.

Anthony

---------------------------------------------------------------------

From: <Ktspeak@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 13:45:04 EDT
To: <anthony@designbymusic.com>
Subject: Re: Stockport Lecture

Hi Anthony

Thanks for replying to my last email, I'm really pleased that you will have a look at my portfolio sometime.
I would had replied earlier but I have just moved out and we havn't got the internet yet and as we are on the Easter break now I have to come back home to use it every now and then.

Im planning on going to Stockport college tomorrow to hopefully finish off my portfolio as the servers have been down so I've not managed to do it yet.

I will probably give Music a ring sometime to see when would be the best time to visit if thats okay.

Speak to you soon

Katherine

Hi Katherine

That’s fine. How about next Thursday (16th) to come in to the studio? Say 4.30?

regards

Anthony

---------------------------------------------------------------------

From: <Ktspeak@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 13:58:28 EDT
To: <anthony@designbymusic.com>
Subject: Re: Stockport Lecture

Yes thats great!!

See you then

Katherine

Hi Katherine
Sorry can you remind me when I said? Not sure if I said Thursday, and I’ve just noticed that I’ll be in London that afternoon.

Cheers

Anthony

---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------

From: <Ktspeak@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 04:55:47 EDT
To: <anthony@designbymusic.com>
Subject: Re: Stockport Lecture

Hi - you did say Thursday 16th at 4.30pm. I'm working all that week but I could get time off for another day if needed. If not next week, any time the following week would be great.

Thanks,

Katherine

How about Fri 17 at 4.30?
Or I can do the following week if it’s easier?

Thanks Katherine

Anthony Smith

---------------------------------------------------------------------

That's fine. I'll see you Friday 17th at 4.30.

Thanks,

Katherine

"Beyond the Canon" - Eye Magazine Vol 17 Summer 2008

2009-04-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

This article written by John L Walters has outlined the importance to notice the difference between nostalgia and history - that is looking into the past for inspiration for work. He discusses the difference between the two; history being looking to the past for inspiration whilst nostalgia is having an obsession with the past. The "Canon" consists of "landmark" artists such as Neville Brody, David Carson and Saul Bass, but the article is putting across that whilst these great designers are iconical in their individuality, their ideas and techniques are repeatedly "recycled" in students and graphic designers work. And suggests shouldn't the more neglected artists who don't appear in books and articles that often be used more as an example of a movement.

Walters' article has inspired me to look at other artists that are not so well known but perhaps are just as inspiring in their ideas as better known artists. Examples of these artists I have looked into I have written about already in my blog including Mario Sanchez and Alberto Seveso.

"Creative Futures" - New Talent

2009-04-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

It was when reading an article in Creative Review that I realised how many successful people in the Graphic Design/Advertising industry had started out thinking they wanted to do something like that at a very early age, and I could relate to this.

At the beginning of the article about Samuel Akesson and Tomas Mankovsy they say how when growing up growing up they "wanted their future jobs to involve something creative" (Creative Review. 2008. page 52)

I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do but I always used to tell my parents and teachers when I was young that whatever I did, I wanted it to be something creative. I've always loved colour, and in primary school took every opportunity to design posters for discos, fairs and functions and knew that this was going to be something I'd always want to do.

I also liked how they mentioned on page 54 how they said in Advertising you can have bigger ideas - with thoughts that start with "Wouldn't it be cool if..." and I think this is a great outlook and way to think when trying to think of a new and unique idea. This is something else I related to in this article as in my Uni work my ideas usually come from thinking .. "to do this would be quite cool!" however, sometimes I have felt some ideas ideas are too outrageous but as Akesson and Mankovsy did not let that get in the way the article has also taught me to have better self belief and confidence in my work.

One of their works I thought was brilliant was their advert for Sony, which saw "128 musicians assembled to play a composition by Peter Raeburn, unusually where each musician played just one note, meaning that the piece required 32 guitars and 32 drums, along with a multitude of other instruments" (Creative Review. 2008. page 54)

Rick Poynor Lecture at Sheffield Hallam University

2009-03-18T05:51:00.000-07:00

"I'll be your mirror: A critical look at the design monograph"
Rick Poynor

Rick Poynor is a design historian and and founder of Eye Magazine and I had the privelage to see him speak at Sheffield Hallam University.

Here are some of the things that he had to say when critically analysing editorials and spreads created by other designers.

He says he sees a monograph as a 'problematic editorial idea' and that monographs are arising many questions and asks the question 'Are monographs a good vehicle for critical analysis? And continues, on a whole, no as it depends on the editorial thinking and design thinking.

His talk was divided into chapters for analysis, and here are few of the notes I made:
1) The Art monograph as a model.
The first few spreads that we saw it was clearly visible that they were more presented for function rather than design. It was clear we were seeing a presentation of the progression of dynamic design on a page.

Bill Viola Exhibition Catalogue for the Whitney Museum of American Art. Front cover. Des. Rebeca Mendez

2) The monograph of self interpretation.
The design of a book is a self regarding project to undertake - like a mirror. David Carson is a classic example of self interpretation, using type as a material to play with. It may look aesthetically pleasing but does not show subject and purpose of a magazine.
Poynor says that he thinks Sagmeister are current stars of today and that Die Gestaltung Verlag like to take chances on young designers producing monographs.

3) The monograph as self documentation.
Document work has great thoroughness and clarity, or should have this anyway. Paula Scher is not an experimentalist and produced 'Make it Bigger', which is a great example of self documentation. You start to feel what the work is like. Clear and intelligent.

Paula Scher "Make it Bigger".Princeton Architectural Press.

4) The monograph as independent study.
Some spreads can look old fashioned and plain. Poynor suggests the use of smaller books, as they're less expensive but still get the point across. They are small impressionistic overviews and are working commercially.

5)The future of the design monograph?
Poynor says the time that is put in to create a monograph is no worth the money that is given for it. If it is not a success then publishers lose money. He expresses how he thinks Irma Boom is a strong and determined designer. Abstract details do her immersive quality, and is a justification in an Art book.
Otto Trueman, Spread of pages. Des. Irma Boom.

In a monograph it is important to strike the balance between editorial purpose and design as an expression. Wim Crouwel designer gives an example of a good monograph, with two big images and then a smaller one to reinforce the point.

What have I learnt from this lecture?

That it is very important to get it right when it comes to designing monographs. When creating editorials and the subject and text should be clear, then it should not be messed with too much. By Poynor showing examples of successful monographs in his eyes as well as the not so successful ones, it has given me a better idea of what to do next time I design an editorial or spread.

Mario Sanchez

2009-03-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Mario Sanchez is a young artist, born in 1985 he says on his website (http://aegis-strife.net) "I am young, but I'm not stupid)
A fine arts graduate, he currently lives in Spain and studies illustration, he is well-known for his photo manipulations.

He uses a variety of different mediums, like for example digital painting, vectors or 3D. Sometimes he starts work on Analogue formats and finishes them in digital, or vice versa.

"His habitual line features hyper realistic together with surreal and contemporary dark art touches" (http://aegis-strife.net)

I'm a big fan of surrealism, and Salvador Dali. So when I came across Mario Sanchez' work on www.smashingmagazine.com I instantly became a fan. I could look at these images for hours. I think when I go into the graphic design industry I will probably use surrealism as an inspiration, and I would look back at artists like Sanchez as an influence on my work.

"The Carnival is over." Happiness leaves a wasteland.
"Monument of Non Existence" collaboration with Oana Cambrea

Reality Clash.

Alberto Seveso

2009-03-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Alberto Seveso is an Illustrator/Graphic Designer from Rome, Italy. I like how on his website ( http://www.burdu976.com/?page_id=2) on the "about the artist" section he says "Does not really matter who I am or where I come from, the world has no borders. My illustrations speak for me." I find this strange but appealing as he is basically saying it is not about him, it is about the work. It makes me think that he is very passionate about his work and fills it more with a mysterious vibe. Here are examples of his work, I think they are amazing.

A me mi piace la gnocca!

Design Practice Project

2009-03-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

The project that accompanied the Blog for Design Practice was a 5 week project that involved team work and logo design and application.

Initially we had to think of an event and location that had strong visual imagery and combine the elements to create a logo.

We decided that our event but be a British Blood Drive, as we knew this had been a big thing in America and the UK did not have this, however people did Give Blood but on the website (www.blood.co.uk) they say there is still great need for people to give blood.

Our location we decided would obviously be the UK, however being an ambitious and vast location we thought we could make it work.

The logo took a lot of time, and we came up with many different versions. We decided on the Union Jack with the red missing (representing no blood), but then we decided to keep a bit of red in at the bottom to show that there is blood, we just need more of it.

Here is the logo development:

When it came to applying the logo to different types of medium, we researched into artists work and gained inspiration from an artist called Felici Verini who painted shapes on walls in different places so at a certain angle it would visually look like a whole shape.

We then started to design billboards that would show the meaning behind the logo, which was to show the Union Jack filling up with red (the blood). Our idea was that the billboard would change depending on how well the blood drive was going.

We then were trying to think of ways to develop the campaign even further, and decided that as this is the British Blood Drive then we could use British icons to get our point across. These included the red bus and British roads, we thought these worked the best.

Applying the Blood Drive idea to merchandise would involve a clever idea so we didn't apply it to everything and push the idea too far. We tried many things including guitar pics, memory sticks and mugs but I feel the 'Blood for Life' printed on a 'Bag for Life' was by far the strongest idea.

I found the whole project tough but rewarding. In the final weeks of the project we had pitch our ideas in the style of a formal presentation, that was assessed. As public speaking is not my best area I found that the more I do the confident I am doing them, and I felt a massive improvement in the Blood Drive presentation. If I could go back I would take certain ideas out that I felt pushed the campaign too much and also develop and refine the logo - which I still plan on doing when I have the time.

Studio 8

2009-03-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

Studio 8 is an award winning independent graphic design company based in central London. They are one of the graphic design companies that I have researched into on the Internet (www.studio8design.co.uk) and whose work has caught my attention the most. When looking at their work I don't just see clever ideas but visually the work looks strong and dynamic. Here are a few examples of my favourite pieces that they have created...

Asked to recover the critically aclaimed 'The Art Atlas'
Posters created named 'Breathe' to raise awareness of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Studio 8 commissioned to design an annual report of 'Circus Space' in 2006

True North

2009-03-03T03:08:00.000-08:00

I wrote to True North, and I'm really glad they found time to write back to me.

My Email -

To True North

I'm a Graphic Design degree student in my second year, and I'm really interested in going into this area when I leave University. I was looking through many design companies websites and I came across yours. I found myself on it quite some time checking out your recent work, and I really liked your ideas and visuals. I was just wondering if you could answer some questions when you've got the time just so I have a bit more of an idea what to expect from the design industry for when I leave University.

1) What are you looking for in particular when browsing through portfolios?

2) What are you looking for in particular within the person that is showing you their portfolio?

3) How many people work for your company? Is it quite big or small?

4) Do you take on people for works experience placements or would you prefer people who come to you who have already had a placement?

5) How do you go about coming up with the idea that works? Do a group of you brainstorm together or do you go off individually then come back with what you all have and discuss it?

Thank you

Katherine Speak

BA Honours Design and Visual Arts: Graphic Design

Stockport College

Their Reply -

1) What are you looking for in particular when browsing through porfolios?

Great Ideas, ability to rationalise your work.

2) What are you looking for in particular within the person that is showing you their work?

As above. I want to see a personality and a point of view or opinion.

3) How many people work for your company? Is it quite big or small?

Medium sized - about 16 people.

4) Do you take on people for works experience placements or would you prefer people to come to you who have already had a placement?

We do take on people with placements.

5) How do you go about coming up with the idea that works? Do a group of you brainstorm together or do you go off individually then come back with what you all have and discuss it?

Bit of both. Depends on the time and the project.

alan.

Alan Herron

Creative Director

Fourways House

57 Hilton Street

Manchester M1 2EJ

www.thisistruenorth.co.uk

Design - its taking a hold.

2009-03-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

Since starting the degree, I got told on various occasions that Design should be your passion, doing it as a degree subject and it being a potential career choice should mean that you should see it everywhere, you should start to notice it in magazines, books, on the television. Everywhere you look you should be taking it in, embracing it!
Im going to be honest..this never really happened to me up until a few weeks ago.

Everytime an advert comes on the t.v. I immediately imagine how the art directors and producers discussed, then went on to come up with the idea. All the hours/days and even weeks of brainstorming... and then how they might have pitched it to the company.

Then I saw this advert for cadburys, and wondering how they must have pitched their idea.

"So there are these kids..."

HOW THEY PUT THIS IDEA ACROSS WITHOUT SOUNDING JUST A BIT LOOPY MAKES ME THINK THEY MUST HAVE HAD AN IMPRESSIVE PITCH.

Its an advert you either love or hate, but as a concept I think is one of a kind, I think it works.

Whilst on the subject of clever typography...

2009-03-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

As I've just mentioned, Glorious used tools and appliances to create a font that they used in the campaign 'Make me C'.

I was on Googles search engine and noticed a change..and are now using cartoon characters for their typography!

Cool eh!!

Glorious came to visit

2009-03-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

On 26/2/09, Glorious, a award winning design company came to visit and showed us their work. They have done work for the Tate and North West Enquirer. I liked all their work, and these works in particular stood out to me.

Karl's Barbershop

The owner of one of Manchester's last traditional gentleman's barbers wanted something special when celebrating 40
years in business.

I thought this guerilla/ambient media was a really good idea, when you pulled it out the part in the middle looked like it was spinning, like the symbol that is placed outside a barber shop does.

The font for 'reddog' caught my eye. It shows that to create a successful logo it does not have to use professional typography, you can just place an existing font in illustrator and draw around it, to create this font

and this logo

Lastly, their 'Make me C' campaign using typography out of tools and appliances I thought was really impressive. The typography is unique and each tool for each letter really works, here is the logo that Glorious created.

My first reply

2009-03-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

Today, I sent off several emails to design companies that had caught my eye whilst browsing through their websites.

Even though the reply I got back from 'Like a River' was short and sweet, and didn't answer my questions, it was still a reply. So Im putting it in my blog!!

To Like a River

I'm currently in my second year of a Graphic design degree course at Stockport College, we have just finished a corporate identity project that involved creating and developing a logo then applying it through advertising and guerilla/ambient media etc. I have been looking at your website and I enjoyed looking through your work.

As the Graphic Design world is the area I would like to go into when I finish my degree, I was just wondering if you had some time to spare, you could answer a few questions, so I have a better idea what to expect from Design industries when I leave.

1) Do you look for something in particular when browsing through porfolios?

2) What are you looking for in particular within the person that is showing you their portfolio?

3) Do you take on people for works experience placements or would you prefer people who come to you who have already had a placement?

I'd also like to ask a question about tackling a brief, as sometimes I can sit for several torturous hours brainstorming and still not being able to crack the idea. How do you go about coming up with the idea that works? Do a group of you brainstorm together or do you go off individually then come back with what you all have and discuss it?

Thank you

Katherine Speak

BA Honours Design and Visual Arts: Graphic Design
The Reply

Hi Katherine
Thanks for your enquiry.
Best bet is to liaise with Steve Jones as every now and then we arrange for a group to come in from Stockport and that seems to work out ok for everyone.
Ta Rob

On 2/3/09 15:00, "ktspeak@aol.com" <ktspeak@aol.com>

----------------------------------------------
Like A River Brand Agency
1 Alpha Place, Jordan Street, Knott Mill,
Manchester M15 4PY.

Pictograms

2009-02-05T06:34:00.000-08:00

"Maximum Meaning, Minimum Means." - Abram Games

Pictograms are simplified or stylised pictures of people or things. Its aim is to increase the efficiency of the communication of a picture, in this instance someones face, by achieving a physical likeness with the characteristics and eccentricities.

For mine I drew myself and Abz. As well as Abzs head scarf that is iconic I thought that her eyes stood out as well, so I came up with this illustration.

With my own face, I thought the characteristics that stood out the most were my chin and my lips, so I came up with this.

However, I thought that each picture could be simplified even more. I thought with Abzs picture I could change the type of brush I used on illustrator so it looked less 'drawn'. I also thought I could take her eyes away and you would still be able to tell it was Abz.

For my picture, I thought I would add more block colour as it looked too much like a line drawing. I also decided to take away the lines that made up the shape of my jaw, as you could still tell it was me with my hair and my lips.

Thoughtfuls' Guide to Pitching

2009-02-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

As part of our design practice me and my group have to present our work and pitch our chosen ideas to people. As this is quite new to us Thoughtful came and talked to us and gave us a few handy hints to deliver a successful pitch.

I think it is important to remember that the Advertising buisness is exploitive and THEY tell YOU what to change, which I think would be quite difficult when you've spent weeks working on an idea that you personally really like.

Additionally, pitching is not a competition, it is a way of getting closer to your client.

Something that I think I will definitely have to work on in the near future is to ask more questions when I am presented with a brief, even if I don't have any particular question in mind. This shows the client that I am interested in what their company and what they are asking me to do.

Some more key information I thought was important was:

1) Do a Cover sheet

2) Break your ideas down

3) Show how it is flexible

4) Rehearse presentation and make shaw it is flawless

5) End with a Thankyou

6) Be ready for questions (Do your research!!)

Graphic Design: Fine Art of Social Science?

2009-02-04T05:06:00.000-08:00

In a critical studies debate on 28/1/09 we discussed whether graphic design was a fine art or social science using a text by Jorge Frascara as a source. By reading what Frascara had to say and by taking it in objectively I came up with these points:

1/ To be a good graphic design is has to be appropriate to the context and communication in all areas.

2/ Graphic design should be discussed in all visual styles, not just posters and books.

3/ Graphic design needs to communicate with the public with its ideas and issues, it should not just aesthetically please.

4/ Modern avante guarde typography is an example of how typographic deisgns during this period were more abstract and aesthetic that communicating its ideas and being appropriate.

I came to the conclusion that in order to succeed in its aim and communicate ideas then Graphic design is not or should not be a Fine art.

Barcelona movies

2009-02-04T04:17:00.000-08:00

In November 2008 we traveled to Barcelona on a University trip. As well as taking in the sights and exploring the City we were set a task to embrace the Spanish culture by making several short movies of what we observed if their culture whilst there.

On my first evening in Barcelona me and my friend Grace decided to walk to the Docks. When we got there the scenes were picturesque as the sun was just about setting and the hundreds of yaughts created a breathtaking sight. This seemed to be the perfect subject matter for my first movie titled 'The Docks'. Over the next 4 days I made return journeys to the Docks to see what different aspects of culture I could film. The cable cars would be a big part of the Barcelonian culture as there were two transporting people to places all over the city. I felt the ending scene of 'The Docks' captured Spanish life perfectly as a woman watches her child play with the birds, and to my eye it looked like this was something they might had done often.

For my second movie titled 'The market and the museum', I used these two places together as certain things that caught my attention from the museum could be linked to things I observed at the market. For e.g. The head made of fruit and the fruit market. The very surreal museum that we had visited (that I cannot remember the name of but it was near the Docks!) began by a walk-through wardrobe that led into a wide hallway that had a variety of random and strange objects on tables. This also linked with the market as it held many stalls with a variety of different spanish foods of all different textures and colours.

My last movie had no backing soundtrack as I thought it did not need one. The movie shows a very surreal street act, one of many, however I thought this one was the most surreal. I cannot really explain what it was about, but it was very entertaining, so I think I will just let the movie do the talking for me. Enjoy!

Fudge

2008-12-09T06:57:00.001-08:00

What I had learned from this talk is a good way to go about getting the best ideas and concepts when receiving a brief.

Fudge said that when they received a brief they did things in this order:

1) Project scope and evaluation
2) Research and analysis
3) Naming solution
4) Design concept
5) Design development
6) Design application and artwork

Being not the most organised person, using this order or work will probably make it easier when working on a brief.

Tal Rosner talk

2008-12-09T04:11:00.000-08:00

"Calm down, what happens happens mostly without you." - Albers

I think one of the most inspiring talks of this year was by Tal Rosner, and was certainly a great turn out as there was even no room on the aisle steps to sit on!
From hearing that this Bafta award winning graphic designer was going to come and talk to us it was definitely something not to miss.

I had never really come across a graphic designer that was motivated so much by rythm. As Im also a big fan of music and percussion I liked the guy already!

His knack for rythm made him want to 'translate my works into moving image'.

Using the Stravinsky concerto for two pianoes Rosner created a wonderful moving image collage with 2 screens that emphasied movement and rythm by showing trains and bridges shaped and moved to create a pattern.

This is another of Rosners works called 'Future of Sound' by Tal Rosner and Sophie Clements.

Tal Rosner also designed the beginning of the channel 4 programme 'Skins' from 2005 to the present.

He uses his style to create a dynamic and visually eye-catcing opening title sequence.

Introduction to design practice

2008-12-02T02:55:00.000-08:00

blog starts today: 2/12/08

Looking forward to '09 where I will be interacting with and visiting design companies.

Decided to celebrate my first blogging by showing you my favourite title sequence that I've seen in '08.
Taken from 'Stranger than Fiction' 2006, created by MK12.