Graphics Pathway Week

[Authors Own, September 13]

I throughly the Graphics week in whole - for me this week challenged me to look and practice beyond my comfort zone in graphical design, meaning that all the work done throughout this week I wouldn't normally of done, which has highlighted many different design aspects to me.
This week I think that the creative and unusual character/ font design has work really well, I think its very simple yet very creative - in which every method provides a totally brand new font concept, this method of experimentation allowed me to come up with various font concepts quickly, which in the case of graphic design and its intense and short deadlines, could be very useful.
The most successful element of the work in my eyes was the collage I created, it gave off a sense of high fashion and was compared and linked to high end designers like Givenchy and Balenciaga by my colleagues. It was the most successful to me as its sharp, unproportioned look gives off a very edgy yet strong image that can be easily identified and could be used as part of recognisable brand image for an advertising campaign. Moreover the character/font creation was the task of the week that surprised me the most - its simplicity and accidental nature of method is really helpful, something I would have never done before. If I had to choose anything that I would have done differently it would have been to work on my final exhibition poster using the computer - even though I purposely forced myself to not use photoshop or any other editing software - as I wanted to steer myself away from 'the norm'; however in this case I believe using the PC would have given me a much more 'finished' and professional exhibition poster. To prepare for next week I will firstly go into next week with the same willingness to try out and push my creative limits by method that might seem strange. I will also try to put into practice  any relevant skills learnt from this week into next week to further develop my work.

3D Pathway Week

[Authors Own, September 13]

[Authors Own, September 13]

The 3D week has been extremely enjoyable, at first I thought that I would find this week quite tricky when building creative structures in a short time period that also adheres to the task brief and other tasks set as I have not really had any practice or knowledge of the '3D world' - however Geoff really allowed me to challenge common design ideas and to really stretch my methods of coming up with a new idea - which I believe has had a positive effect on my work!
A task that was set for us on one of the days proven to be really helpful in my creative thinking; where Geoff got us to start of our design ideas with simple starting points for example a series of lines, in which we had to create the plan view of a shopping centre; that particular task really highlighted the fact that I shouldn't always start with something that is the 'norm' but try something wacky and see what you can make out of it - which in this case served me well.
Furthermore when completing the main tasks of each day, shown through the slideshow of images above, I think I successfully carried them out whilst stretching my creativity. Surprisingly, although I found the spaghetti structures the most difficult to complete - it was the task I mostly enjoyed and felt satisfied with as I began to see the structural potential it had to possibly become a real life building - once worked at. I also really enjoyed working alongside my classmates, especially on the large bridge task, as not only was I able to see how others work and think creativity but I was able to collaborate and we were able to highlight and use each others strengths to complete the task - which in the real world would be a highly successful skill to possess.

Gerhard Richter: The Cage Review

[Authors Own, September 13]

The Gerhard Richter exhibition shown in London’s Tate Modern ‘Transformed Visions’ room 11 on level 3, curated by Mark Godfer, consisted of the ‘The Cage Paintings’; 6 oil on square canvas based paintings which together make a coherent group, which are named after the American Avant – Garde music composer John Cage.

Richter, born in Dresden 1932, is an art academy trained significant contemporary artist. In 1961 he migrated to West Germany to study in where he became interested in Avant –Garde where he became to collaborate with fellow artists such as Konrad Lueg. As time went on he began to really speak through his art in which he would started to challenge societies views and use societies issues and events to help inspire his work.

Cage, an American composer, born in 1912, was known as one of music’s most influential composers of the 20^th century and became of the leading figures of the post war avant-garde. His music spoke volumes and meaning, which really reflected in the figurativeness of the Cage paintings (Bernstein, 2001). In both Cages and Richter’s work I believe the artist leave the meaning of their work very open, leaving it entirely to you to find meaning and almost scan for something that reminds you of a certain ‘thing’ that will link to a fugitive meaning that may even be linked to the title of the work, which in this case is caged.

When initially walking into room 11, where the paintings are displayed, I felt someway captivated by the paintings electrified and pulsating colours and brush strokes. I quickly saw the link between each painting through Richter’s artist method and choice of colour palette, in which I personally enjoy looking at. By having each painting positioned separately around the room, 2 on each wall, gave me the feeling as if I was being charged, the splashes of colours in each painting for example the reds, yellows and blues, really brought the room to life and highlights the movement in each piece, whereas the grey tones really help to illustrate the movement between each piece; linking each painting together. For me I get the message that Richter is trying to put across a message to us as designers of our own that we shouldn’t always get caught up in trying to make our work like other designers/ artist that we look up to – he wants us to be brave and try out new things, not to be scared if we make a mistake and take it as inspiration or see it as another path that we could go down with our work. More profoundly I believe that he wants us to be inspired by what happens in our everyday lives and our interests and let it influence and reflect in our work both visually and emotionally; which I believe I need to start to practice to help develop my work. Living, learning and working in London; experiencing the great range of cultures, lifestyles and overall atmosphere of city life can be easily related to the cage paintings and the concept be applied or serve as inspiration for future projects. Gerhard Richter’s cage paintings inspired by music has really inspired me to create a response to the artwork as a keen lover of music myself, in which I can easily see myself combing other mediums of art like expressive dance or even drama. Lasting I would like to leave you with this quote from Richter when he was asked if he always thinks about how to make a timeless object.

“ Its not that I’m always thinking about how to make something timeless, it’s more of a desire to maintain a certain artistic quality that moves us, that goes beyond what we are, and that is, in that sense, timeless.” (Richter, 2008)

Bibliography

Gallery

Tate Modern, Transformed Visions Gallery, 2013

Book

Bernstein, Hatch. (2001) Writing through John Cage’s Music, Poetry, And Art. USA. University Of Chicago

Richter, Gerhard. (2008) Panorama. London. Tate Publishing Limited

New York City Memory Poster

Software skills day:  New York City Memory Poster 

Containing (At Least) : 

- 1 Edited photo using Adobe Photoshop 

- Altered text using Adobe Illustrator 

- Copy describing the memory 

[Authors Own, September 13]

Here I created a poster using various Adobe software to reflect my memory of visiting 

the 9/11 memorial site last year. Creating this poster was fairly straight forward as I was familiar 

with the Adobe software that we were asked to use, apart from Adobe InDesign, in which I learnt valuable tips and tricks to help me as a designer for future problems like printing settings for print work or whether its for the web along with its resolutions - vital information that can make a big difference to my work in the future.
In the posters title text, I edited in Illustrator, I was aiming to embody the tall skyscraper effect that the new york skyline is famous for. The most important aspect of the title that I tried get across is what i did with the letter 'T' in 'CTY' where I almost shaped the 'T' into the silhouettes of the two twin towers, which is reflective of my memory represented in this poster. The high contrast along with the black and blue colours used were to show the gloomy yet inspiring feeling I felt whilst at the memorial site. 

Empty Filled Cups: Timeline

Empty Filled Cups

Timeline

[Authors Own, September 13]

The story behind it

_________________________________

At first looking at my timeline you may think its just photograph of cups with water filled to different levels of each cup, but behind this image is my interpretation of a timeline made up of this weeks events.

If we start with the cups, I used clear plastic cups and positioned them side by side in a straight line to illustrate to the viewer that although each cup, that represents each day of the week, are separate they are part of the image as a whole, so clear comparisons of each day can be made through the water level in each cup; The link between each day is also highlighted in the cups 2 rows of design. When positioning the cups I thought about how close together I should place them to reflect how I felt during this week, and decided to position them quite closely together as I felt that the week felt very fast moving, each day I would think about what we would be doing the next day, when I came home from the sessions would carry on working on what we had been doing that particular day or preparing for what’s ahead; which is represented in the tightness of the cups, where I felt like somehow each day was connected to each other in some way.  The water levels are representative of how much I felt comfortable and content in each day. In the timeline it is shown that on Monday for example that the water level is quite low, below the halfway point, this was due to me being nervous and not knowing anyone, which the darkness and deep grey colours signify in this case. Looking within at the rest of the remaining cup you see a bright streak of white on the right hand side, which represents my excitement and energy that is carried away with me after the days events; making new friends, the feeling of moving into university and so on. As the days go on the water levels vary, on Tuesday I felt quite comfortable, although I had an self directed study day, thinking about the university and the previous days events really helped me to feel more content. This is shown through the lighter shade of the water and again the luminous white steak on the right hand side of the cup. Wednesday is probably the most significant day of this timeline, on this day we had a trip to the serpentine museum and V&A where through art, represented by the bold red strike of paint, I began to feel much more elevated and sated with being apart of the course. It was on this day where my excitement really began to kick in both for my course and generally university life as I met many other faces from not only my class but from other classes. This excitement and wonderful feeling is represented through the lighter shade and brighter streaks of white that runs through the cup. On Thursday, I had a self directed study day however the excitement still rang loud however I began to miss being in university and working with my friends, shown through the water levels. By Friday I felt fully comfortable in both work and social elements of the weeks events.

Moreover I chose to edit the platform in which the cups are sitting on very dark with reflections of the cups within it to almost embody water like atmosphere and texture to imply a that the week has almost been like floating on water – you have to be very cautious and balance your feelings out equally so you don’t end up drowning.

The typography in the image were the days of week, similarly to the water levels in each cup, the tracking and size of characters represent my creative journey throughout the week; the tighter the tracking of each character and the larger the character size illustrates my creativity satisfaction level I believed I have reached and my overall mood, which can see that throughout the week that I felt my creativity has developed through the various sessions and my overall feeling about the course has become even more positive! 

BLADE RUNNER

Here is some vector based designs I created, using iconic blade runner visuals, that could possibly go on wrapping paper or even Film merchandise like t-shirts, bags and cups.

V&A

[Authors Own, September 13]

Memory Palace was probably the most surprising exhibition visits so far although we wasn't allowed to take any photos or do any sketches within the exhibition - the idea behind it interested me the most and gave me ideas for future projects - by fictionalising your story, or in my case - my memories, could give a very interesting spin on my work. I liked the idea of the glossary that came in the Memory Palace booklet - it almost played the 'bible' role for the fictional story, where the audience of the exhibition are taken into the world of the writer and are lead to believe what the writer thinks.

SERPENTINE

[Authors Own, September 13]

[Authors Own, September 13]

[Authors Own, September 13]

The Serpentine Gallery gave me the chance to experiment with different mediums and angles, I did enjoy experimenting with the light and structures that the serpentine offers.
Whilst at the serpentine I wanted to experiment with the various moods and feelings that video and photography could trigger using the the scenery and the serpentine structure. The light glares fascinated  me on this particular trip - reminding me of some of the scenes in 'Blade Runner', only this time with the glare effect i captured in the GIF I created and the videos recorded, the effect has a happy, more optimistic feel to it, whereas in blade runner they use glares to create a much more gloomy and mysterious atmosphere, shown in the images below.

DESIGN MUSEUM

[Authors Own, September 13]

I found 'The Future Was Here' exhibition very interesting as it allowed me to think of design in a whole new way and highlighted the many different methods used to create products and designs used around the world. More importantly it has shown how design is moving and developing in the world and how an individual has the power to create and alter a product by themselves.

Mass production will fade out as individuals seek to customise products - people want there products to become much more personal; making their products more special. 

I throughly enjoyed talking with the in house staff, who encouraged me to constantly try out and  research into methods of design. I was inspired by the visit and will allow the inspiration to reflect in my work. This visit will also allow me to think about how my work could develop and how I can maybe incorporate customer interaction into my work.

The Burial

[Authors Own, September 13]

10 ITEMS

[Authors Own, September 13]

Reflecting back on this task, I throughly enjoyed searching and selecting ten items that reflect me as a person and the treasured memories of my past and present. When drawing the ten items I was slightly uneasy, as I don't believe that drawing is my strongest point. However on the other hand I felt that this task not only got me back in the habit of sketching after a long break, but it has also improved my skills as I want to advance my skills moving into uni. Fellow students have seen these sketches and have given me positive feedback, alongside some constructive criticism which has not only allowed me to see where I could improve but highlighted the many different methods I could of used to capture the memory in a much more interesting  and meaningful way for example collage or even photography  which I could now use in future work. I think the 'outline effect' used in Memory 1 were successful as I wanted to keep it simple yet effective.  I also think I begin to become more comfortable with shading to give the picture life / a 3D effect. Furthermore I did find starting/ scaling my drawings quite difficult at first - as the proportions were too large or small at points - this problem cost me quite a lot of time; to avoid this problem in the future I need to just keep practising on a day to day bases so the skill of drawing almost becomes second nature.

In this blog I will explore and create a personal reflective log of events during my foundation within the theme of memory.