About a week ago an E-mail was sent round about Bespoke Design, a talk that will take place in the lecture theatre on June the 5th. The talk will be by various people working in the design and marketing sections of bike companies or companies whose market is based around people who are into cycling.
I have a friend in Sheffield who does a foundation degree in Graphic Design, who is massively into cycling, and this talk is something I've told him about and he's really interesting in attending. I enjoy cycling myself, but I'm not really massively into it, but still I think that this talk will be interesting because of how I hope it will give me an idea of how graphic design sits along product design in the commercial world.
This is a talk that I definitely hope to attend.
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Studio Brief 2 - Outcome
Today I printed and produced my information pack, below
shows the printed folder itself.
There were a couple problems with the printing of this.
Initially I wanted to print on thicker stock to make it a bit
sturdier, but the printer didn't like the thicker stock, as
shown below.
Also, I didn't take into account that where I would be cutting
slits in my folder may have text on the back of it, which presented
be with a problem for production. I got round this by sticking
a bit of paper on the inside for the postcards to sit in rather
than a slot.
The postcards themselves were fairly simple to produce,
however, I very incompetently printed them too big, wasting
a lot of time, a few resources and a bit of money. I used
these as test prints though to decide which style I would use
for the actual product.
I found that at the size I had printed them, the double sided
print on coloured stock was quite flimsy, but then after I'd
chopped a spare bit down to the size that they would be for
the actual print, they were ok because the reduction in size
had made it sturdier. The ones mounted on black card were
more appropriate at this size, but would be quite fiddly to
produce at a smaller size, as well as it being difficult to
produce them accurately.
The final pack looks like this.
I'm really happy with what I produced. The only thing I'm a bit unhappy with is the choice of stock for the folder itself, which I wish was thicker, as the folder isn't particularly sturdy at the moment. But other than that, I think I achieved everything I set out to achieve.
Monday, 12 May 2014
End of Year Presentations - Reflection
Reflection
In todays presentation I spoke about how my relationship with design had developed since the start of the year. I spoke about where I'd come from in terms of the creative field before uni and how my relationship with designed has changed from there, with particular references to events during the year.
I feel that my presentation didn't go very well, as I was very nervous, partly because I went first, and so went through my presentation quite quickly, without really going into much detail or justifying what I was saying. I was also quite nervous because parts of my presentation were myself expressing my very negative thoughts and feelings about the creative fields and the stereotypical people within them, and I was scared of offending people or sounding hypocritical given I'm on a Graphic Design course.
I had rehearsed at home a couple times roughly what I'd planned to say, and so I do feel quite a lot of regret about not saying it. To compensate for this, I'm writing a rough idea of what I planned to say below.
What I Would've Ideally Said
When I was thinking about this presentation, I wanted to focus on something that has changed drastically about me since the start of the course. I thought the best thing to concentrate on was my relationship with design and my opinions on it. This is because I never really used to have any opinions because of how I got into design.
I started doing a creative subject seriously in Y9 when I chose to do photography to avoid having to do Music and Drama, two subjects my former academically-based self hated. I didn't have any particular interest in photography and still don't.
My interest in the creative subjects started a while later when on a trip with photography to the Tate Modern in London, where one painting inspired my interest in the creative fields. The painting was Gerhard Richter's Abstract Number 439. I didn't know why I liked it and still don't to this day, but there's something about it that inspires me. This caused me to pick photography, art, and graphics as my GCSE choices.
Throughout my GCSE's it became clear to me that graphics was where my skills lied within these three subjects, and alongside my particularly strong grades in maths and physics, at this point I wanted to become an architect, something backed up by my interest in Lego and K'nex as a child.
From here I picked Maths, Physics, Graphic Design and ICT for my A Level choices. However, within a few weeks I'd established that the A Level I was enjoying the most was Graphics by far, and when I discovered that Architecture was a 7 year course at uni, I knew I would do graphics instead. I suppose all along I only really got into graphics through a lack of other options for me, which is why I didn't really have any opinions on it until I came here.
When I first arrived I was very excited about the enormity of what I was about to do, in my second year I'd only had 8 other people on my graphics course, so walking into uni and seeing 50 other people on the first day was hugely exciting. This soon turned to fear though because naturally I was worried about not making new friends or finding people I had stuff in common with.
From very early on in the course I was quite intimidated by some other people on the course's knowledge of typography and software, and I felt less than useless in comparison, and was worried that I shouldn't be or didn't deserve to be on the course. But at the same time I was happy that I was going to get the chance to learn about graphics and improve my skills alongside others who were doing the same. I quickly got into the graphic designers lifestyle and tried to help myself learn as much as I could.
I went back home for Christmas though, and after spending 3 weeks with my usual bunch of friends and back in my own lifestyle, I realised how much my life had changed and how much graphic design had changed me. I was thinking in a much broader context than I previously had done such is the nature of the course I'm on. I felt that even after being away just 3 or 4 months I no longer fitted in at home because of how I changed, and I hated this.
It made me realise that I didn't want to be the sort of stereotypical graphic designer that I was trying to be. More importantly, I didn't want to try to try to be that person either. I realised that I didn't mind that a company had a bad logo or branding, and that all that meant was that I appreciated good branding more. I didn't want to be that guy who went into Clas Ohlson rather than Wilkinsons just because it's Swedish with a prettier logo. I realised that the main reason behind me liking Graphic Design was because it gave me reason to be creative, rather than the reason being creativity itself, and I think this is why I'm a bit sceptical about going to exhibitions. The exhibitions I've been too, Leeds Print Festival and Dialogue both showed design out of context, I feel like exhibitions turn design into art, and I don't like that. I appreciate that they allow you to see more of whats going on in the world, but I really dislike the idea of design exhibitions. I found the trip to the print factory much more useful and valuable.
Reflecting on my first year at uni as a whole though, it's re-affirmed in my head who I am and how I enjoy spending my time, something which I was questioning over Christmas. It's also made me realise that to be successful in design I don't have to be that stereotypical graphic designer, because that's not the sort of life I want to lead. I think most importantly though I've realised that I'm quite a strong-willed person, much more than I ever gave myself credit for, because I think if I did have to fit that stereotype in order to be successful, then I'm adamant that I'd rather be unsuccessful. There is a quote from Albert Einstein that sums up perfectly my attitude to design, and that is.
"In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must, above all, be a sheep".
My Thoughts On Everyone Else's Presentations
It seemed to me that there were a lot of occurring themes throughout many of the presentations. A lot of people talked about how their skills as a designer had improved over the year, something which I didn't feel the need to talk about as I'd like to think it is obvious that I've improved. Many people also spoke about poor time management and having to rush work as deadlines and module hand-ins approached, and I was surprised to hear this, as I've never found time management a particularly difficult thing to consider. The same is true of budgeting money.
The most interesting thing of all though is that about half of the group spoke about their plans to travel in the summer, be it to the traditionally design-orientated cities like Berlin and New York, Europe in general, or even further afield to places such as Hong Kong and Bangkok. They spoke about how they want to learn about and experience different cultures. This is something that I have no desire at all to do.
In a way, other peoples presentations made me think about myself even further. I'm aware that different cultures exist and have experienced a few as I've been to various other countries for holidays in the past. I always find myself missing England however, and the culture we have here in Yorkshire especially. Frankly I have no desire to "experience another culture" ever again. If I chose to go abroad I'd pick a predominantly English-based holiday resort because I enjoy the culture we have. It may make others happy or excited to experience another culture, but I'm not a particularly excitable person, and am at my happiest when I'm consistently feeling content, something which has never been an issue whenever I've been in Yorkshire. I can't ever seeing me leaving the county permanently, and if that limits my opportunities as a designer then that's just something I'm going to have to accept.
In todays presentation I spoke about how my relationship with design had developed since the start of the year. I spoke about where I'd come from in terms of the creative field before uni and how my relationship with designed has changed from there, with particular references to events during the year.
I feel that my presentation didn't go very well, as I was very nervous, partly because I went first, and so went through my presentation quite quickly, without really going into much detail or justifying what I was saying. I was also quite nervous because parts of my presentation were myself expressing my very negative thoughts and feelings about the creative fields and the stereotypical people within them, and I was scared of offending people or sounding hypocritical given I'm on a Graphic Design course.
I had rehearsed at home a couple times roughly what I'd planned to say, and so I do feel quite a lot of regret about not saying it. To compensate for this, I'm writing a rough idea of what I planned to say below.
What I Would've Ideally Said
When I was thinking about this presentation, I wanted to focus on something that has changed drastically about me since the start of the course. I thought the best thing to concentrate on was my relationship with design and my opinions on it. This is because I never really used to have any opinions because of how I got into design.
I started doing a creative subject seriously in Y9 when I chose to do photography to avoid having to do Music and Drama, two subjects my former academically-based self hated. I didn't have any particular interest in photography and still don't.
My interest in the creative subjects started a while later when on a trip with photography to the Tate Modern in London, where one painting inspired my interest in the creative fields. The painting was Gerhard Richter's Abstract Number 439. I didn't know why I liked it and still don't to this day, but there's something about it that inspires me. This caused me to pick photography, art, and graphics as my GCSE choices.
Throughout my GCSE's it became clear to me that graphics was where my skills lied within these three subjects, and alongside my particularly strong grades in maths and physics, at this point I wanted to become an architect, something backed up by my interest in Lego and K'nex as a child.
From here I picked Maths, Physics, Graphic Design and ICT for my A Level choices. However, within a few weeks I'd established that the A Level I was enjoying the most was Graphics by far, and when I discovered that Architecture was a 7 year course at uni, I knew I would do graphics instead. I suppose all along I only really got into graphics through a lack of other options for me, which is why I didn't really have any opinions on it until I came here.
When I first arrived I was very excited about the enormity of what I was about to do, in my second year I'd only had 8 other people on my graphics course, so walking into uni and seeing 50 other people on the first day was hugely exciting. This soon turned to fear though because naturally I was worried about not making new friends or finding people I had stuff in common with.
From very early on in the course I was quite intimidated by some other people on the course's knowledge of typography and software, and I felt less than useless in comparison, and was worried that I shouldn't be or didn't deserve to be on the course. But at the same time I was happy that I was going to get the chance to learn about graphics and improve my skills alongside others who were doing the same. I quickly got into the graphic designers lifestyle and tried to help myself learn as much as I could.
I went back home for Christmas though, and after spending 3 weeks with my usual bunch of friends and back in my own lifestyle, I realised how much my life had changed and how much graphic design had changed me. I was thinking in a much broader context than I previously had done such is the nature of the course I'm on. I felt that even after being away just 3 or 4 months I no longer fitted in at home because of how I changed, and I hated this.
It made me realise that I didn't want to be the sort of stereotypical graphic designer that I was trying to be. More importantly, I didn't want to try to try to be that person either. I realised that I didn't mind that a company had a bad logo or branding, and that all that meant was that I appreciated good branding more. I didn't want to be that guy who went into Clas Ohlson rather than Wilkinsons just because it's Swedish with a prettier logo. I realised that the main reason behind me liking Graphic Design was because it gave me reason to be creative, rather than the reason being creativity itself, and I think this is why I'm a bit sceptical about going to exhibitions. The exhibitions I've been too, Leeds Print Festival and Dialogue both showed design out of context, I feel like exhibitions turn design into art, and I don't like that. I appreciate that they allow you to see more of whats going on in the world, but I really dislike the idea of design exhibitions. I found the trip to the print factory much more useful and valuable.
Reflecting on my first year at uni as a whole though, it's re-affirmed in my head who I am and how I enjoy spending my time, something which I was questioning over Christmas. It's also made me realise that to be successful in design I don't have to be that stereotypical graphic designer, because that's not the sort of life I want to lead. I think most importantly though I've realised that I'm quite a strong-willed person, much more than I ever gave myself credit for, because I think if I did have to fit that stereotype in order to be successful, then I'm adamant that I'd rather be unsuccessful. There is a quote from Albert Einstein that sums up perfectly my attitude to design, and that is.
"In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must, above all, be a sheep".
My Thoughts On Everyone Else's Presentations
It seemed to me that there were a lot of occurring themes throughout many of the presentations. A lot of people talked about how their skills as a designer had improved over the year, something which I didn't feel the need to talk about as I'd like to think it is obvious that I've improved. Many people also spoke about poor time management and having to rush work as deadlines and module hand-ins approached, and I was surprised to hear this, as I've never found time management a particularly difficult thing to consider. The same is true of budgeting money.
The most interesting thing of all though is that about half of the group spoke about their plans to travel in the summer, be it to the traditionally design-orientated cities like Berlin and New York, Europe in general, or even further afield to places such as Hong Kong and Bangkok. They spoke about how they want to learn about and experience different cultures. This is something that I have no desire at all to do.
In a way, other peoples presentations made me think about myself even further. I'm aware that different cultures exist and have experienced a few as I've been to various other countries for holidays in the past. I always find myself missing England however, and the culture we have here in Yorkshire especially. Frankly I have no desire to "experience another culture" ever again. If I chose to go abroad I'd pick a predominantly English-based holiday resort because I enjoy the culture we have. It may make others happy or excited to experience another culture, but I'm not a particularly excitable person, and am at my happiest when I'm consistently feeling content, something which has never been an issue whenever I've been in Yorkshire. I can't ever seeing me leaving the county permanently, and if that limits my opportunities as a designer then that's just something I'm going to have to accept.
Thursday, 8 May 2014
Studio Brief 2 - Content and Inspiration
In my presentation I want to speak about how my first year at uni has taught me more about myself and who I am. Since arriving at uni and meeting people from different parts of the country and different parts of the world, it's given me a renewed sense of national pride. This is something I want to reflect.
I will take some sort of influence from the Keep Calm and Carry On posters, which are, in my opinion, the best examples of iconic British design.
I will use quotes from famous/important figures in British history that reflect my attitude to my personal life and how I approach my work. Not only will this re-enforce the British theme, but it will make people think more creatively/open-mindedly about why I've used that quote (something which I've learned to do better this year) rather than me using my own words, which would be a lot more obvious and self-explanatory.
I will take some sort of influence from the Keep Calm and Carry On posters, which are, in my opinion, the best examples of iconic British design.
I will use quotes from famous/important figures in British history that reflect my attitude to my personal life and how I approach my work. Not only will this re-enforce the British theme, but it will make people think more creatively/open-mindedly about why I've used that quote (something which I've learned to do better this year) rather than me using my own words, which would be a lot more obvious and self-explanatory.
Monday, 5 May 2014
Studio Brief 2 - Idea
Idea
I want to create something that reflected the unconventional way in which I’ve gone about my work this year, as
well as something that reflected how my ability to think more open-mindedly has
been improved by PPP.
By using quotes I think
that it makes people think more about why I chose that quote, rather than using
my own words, which would be a bit more self-explanatory. Something I wanted to
avoid. I want to find a way that I can combine the quotes to show a bigger picture, which I want to do in an interesting and engaging way.
In terms of design I want to produce something that only uses text as it's something I've not attempted this year yet other than in the very first module for a poster, and I think my design skills have come a long way since then, and I feel this would be a good way to demonstrate this.
In terms of design I want to produce something that only uses text as it's something I've not attempted this year yet other than in the very first module for a poster, and I think my design skills have come a long way since then, and I feel this would be a good way to demonstrate this.
Friday, 2 May 2014
Pressision Print - Visit
This morning we went to visit Pressision, a printing company based just outside Leeds. We were shown around the facilities and it was explained to us how print has evolved with technology over the years, as well as how some of the more popular production methods work. The first thing the guy showing us around said was that it was only quite a small, family-run company, and given this I was very impressed/surprised with the size of their company and what they could do there, but this is probably an expression of my severe lack of knowledge on the print industry.
Above are the big CMYK rollers that produce a lot of their commercial printing. Images or files that they print are separated into the 4 colours, each of which has a plate produced, the plates are then printed on top of each other using their corresponding inks to produce a full-colour image.
Like I said earlier, I was surprised at the scale the company worked at, they even had folding and stepling machines, something that I imagine saves a massive amount of time producing things like books and information packs such as what they were producing in the photos. The speed at which the machines worked was ridiculous.
Amongst the other processes they did were foiling and embossing, as well as various different finishes of paper. At the end they showed us an experimental project they were working on, which involved changing the magenta ink to a lighter orange but following the same CMYK printing process, and how that gave the images a brighter feel to them.
All in all I enjoyed the visit and found it really eye-opening as an experience. It's really shown me the size of the print industry given that Pressision considers itself to only be a small company. The mind boggles at the potential size of bigger printing companies.
Above are the big CMYK rollers that produce a lot of their commercial printing. Images or files that they print are separated into the 4 colours, each of which has a plate produced, the plates are then printed on top of each other using their corresponding inks to produce a full-colour image.
Like I said earlier, I was surprised at the scale the company worked at, they even had folding and stepling machines, something that I imagine saves a massive amount of time producing things like books and information packs such as what they were producing in the photos. The speed at which the machines worked was ridiculous.
Amongst the other processes they did were foiling and embossing, as well as various different finishes of paper. At the end they showed us an experimental project they were working on, which involved changing the magenta ink to a lighter orange but following the same CMYK printing process, and how that gave the images a brighter feel to them.
All in all I enjoyed the visit and found it really eye-opening as an experience. It's really shown me the size of the print industry given that Pressision considers itself to only be a small company. The mind boggles at the potential size of bigger printing companies.
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Dialogue Exhibition
Last night I attended the opening night of Dialogue, an exhibition from two LCA Students who go by the name of Yoke (more here).
The idea was that people would submit screen printable work to them that they believe reflected communication to them. One persons work would then be screen printed on top of another persons work, thus bringing creative people together and giving a new way to start conversation between people.
I think the idea was excellent. However, I noticed that the work wasn't labelled with the names of the people who created it, which seems like a bit of a flaw to me, as that would've made it easier for people to talk to each other.
Whilst the work on display was massively varied because of how various people had interpreted the brief, I find it difficult to call the work "design", and more "art" because of how it was displayed in a manner where it's only use was to be seen.
This being said, there were some really nice pieces of work, and I think it demonstrated the difficulty in trying to balance a concept with the aesthetic, which was the main thing I took from the exhibition.
They had also produced some postcard sized prints that people could takeaway. I picked up the two below, as they made sense to me in terms of the brief, as well as looking nice.
The idea was that people would submit screen printable work to them that they believe reflected communication to them. One persons work would then be screen printed on top of another persons work, thus bringing creative people together and giving a new way to start conversation between people.
I think the idea was excellent. However, I noticed that the work wasn't labelled with the names of the people who created it, which seems like a bit of a flaw to me, as that would've made it easier for people to talk to each other.
Whilst the work on display was massively varied because of how various people had interpreted the brief, I find it difficult to call the work "design", and more "art" because of how it was displayed in a manner where it's only use was to be seen.
This being said, there were some really nice pieces of work, and I think it demonstrated the difficulty in trying to balance a concept with the aesthetic, which was the main thing I took from the exhibition.
They had also produced some postcard sized prints that people could takeaway. I picked up the two below, as they made sense to me in terms of the brief, as well as looking nice.
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