PPP: May 2012

Monday 28 May 2012

OUGD402 Evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

From the start of the year I have continually blogged everything I am interested in. This process has blogging has allowed me to keep a visual diary of which I can look back on. Just as a written journal I can see the change in my interests, opinions and thought - which is pretty interesting.

From this process I have learnt how to physically blog and format the blog posts. From even typefaces and sizing. This also translate to other blogs I keep which are not college related. I now network on Behance, Cargocollective and Tumblr.

What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

When I was creating the double paged spread which was for a chosen partner (Simon Isles) I tried to mimic what Simon was interested in into the design of the publication. This led me to designing a simple photo based spread with minimal text and editing. The idea was to show him off as a roller blade skater. This design was influenced by a sidewalk skate magazine style. It was hard not to over-design the spread but in the end I kept it really minimal. I don't want to say it but the, 'less is more' idea.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

The OUGD402 module has made me constantly look at current graphic design and has helped me understand what I think I am into from concepts to ethics within design and practice. My work is generally very ethical, which I think is a strength.

I capitalise on this process by continuing to blog design i am interested in. I will continue to have a record of design specific to my interests which I can keep looking back on and drawing inspiration for my own work. I have found lots of new blog I can follow and I hope I can carry on finding more.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

From the OUGD402 hand in a have realise my labeling of posts is a bit sketchy. I will try to label my work appropriately and correctly in the future. This is only a minor amendment to be fair.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

Next year I will have one standard template for every blog post.

I will only try and blog work with the artists names and name of the piece

I will use the techniques of drawing ideas in my own work

Double Page Spread - Simon Isles

Fred's task - Create a double page in spread In InDesign that focuses on your selected partner (Simon Isles).

Set of questions that Simon adapted to suit us. I sent him my answers and he sent me his answers.

I need to go through and check for grammar and spelling. Simon's writing is as bad as mine so he might want to do the same.

Who are you, where are you from and what do you do?

My name is Simon Isles, I am 19 years of age and am originally from Tunbridge Wells, Kent. I am studying graphic design at Leeds college of art & I previously studied a foundation at Brighton & Hove City College

What is your earliest memory?

This is a hard one to come up with but it must be just snippets from kindergarten and my first years at primary school. its difficult to identify the earliest memory. If there is a memory I can just remember it was when the family and I went to America to visit some cousins. I must have been about 4. I remember falling off a sofa and hitting my face on a table, which lead to a huge nose bleed.

Which living person or persons do you most admire? How had he/she influenced you?

I guess there are a few. Being a rollerblader is it very normal to be influenced by other skaters by the way they dress and by the way they skate. If there is are Rollerblade it would be Gabrielle Hyden & Dylan Davis. In terms of music probably Bob Dylan plus some other underground garage rock bands. My earliest influence was my elder brother, he's the reason I began skating and I why I am now studying graphic design, funny that.

If you could bring four people to a secret dream dinner party. How would they be?

I was going to answer this question with four people I would love to meet. But what if they didn't get on with the others! Therefore I am going to choose 4 people that I could have a great time with. These people would be Bill Bailey, Dan Stirling, 70s Lou Reed! & Anton Newcombe

Where would you most like to live. What would you do once you lived there?

I spent a year in Brighton and this has to be the best year of my life so far. The friends I met are now my best friends and I have every reason to go back there in the future to live. However living somewhere like California, Barcelona, or Paris would be a dream come true. I think it would depend on who I was living with. Knowing me I would get home sick after a while!

Would type of design do you want do in the future?

This is another hard question as I am just in the early stages of designing. I would love to get into letter press. The idea of being able to produce decent word from the letter press machine or what ever the machine is called is my number one goal from the course. Apart from that there are loads of things I want to get into. Working for a magazine on an online publication would be great fun. I need to get some work placements and find an atmosphere that is nice to work in. Once I have discovered a perfect atmosphere, then I will be happy.

What other plans do you have for the future?

To skate as much as possible. Its one thing I don't want to stop doing. Even though the course is full on I still try my hardest to find time for it. Even if its raining I find somewhere indoor or in cover. I intend on traveling a lot too. I haven't had a gap year or any lengthy time to do such an activity so that is defiantly on my to do list.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

There are a few. Getting in to this course I consider one. I was offered to skate for one of america's biggest rollerblading industries but despised the skates they sent me and gave it up! No regrets though, at least I am happy on my old skates.

Any last words?

“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.”

Sunday 27 May 2012

Speaking from Experience - Crit Amendments

I made the header which was also an explanation more clear and understandable. I think Finance was a bit confusing. I changed this to Student fiance payments. I also specified graphic design 1st year students.

From the final crit in 'areas for improvement' someone said 'Change the red at the bottom because the numbers are becoming lost' - meaning that the red was clashing with the orange especially when printed because of the printers capabilities, the red wasn't as vibrant as on screen so it was a little lost. I changed the orange to sun yellow.

Someone said that 'If the dates change on the poster, the poster becomes irrelevant' this is true so I made a set of stickers which would accompany the calender and mean that if the dates for student fiance changed for example the user could simply place a sticker on the calender and amend the old date.

Speaking from Experience - Final Crit

Happy with the crit results. In general people agreed that the idea of the calender was a good idea and they visually like the way it looked.

Strengths

'Important concept. good use for it as briefings are the one thing you dont want to miss as their weekly'

'Clearly mapped out information. Starts + ends correctly - Reliable, specific information.'

'Size is perfect'

'Gradient colour works well, legible and clear'

'Thorough research and conventional design'

'Clearly presented'

Areas for Improvement

'concept stamement board needs more work and more details'

'Writing about your secondary research is important '

'Maybe make a way of making the calendar more dynamic so that if a date doesn't change it wont be irrelevant'

'Change the red on top of the orange because its hard to read'

'Include weeks'

'Experiment with gradient, see if colours fit the CMYK more'

Thursday 24 May 2012

Speaking from Experience - Calendar Design

I created this gradient as a point to start. I am trying to use more colour in my work as I havnt experimented with colour that much this year. I was trying to create a gradient with colours which fit the seasons and weather of the year.

I made this white box template in Illustrator and used it as a guide for my dates. Working across two programs. I don't know whether this is good practice but it makes in easier for me.

Here is my gradient from the gradient tool option.

This is the final ready for the crit. hopefully it goes well.

Speaking from Experience - More Research

Oscar Diaz - This calender is amazing. This calender uses osmosis to represent the passing of days. Each day a new date is highlighted with the purple ink traveling through the numbers of the card. Great idea, wish I had designed this.

Just looking at some gradient examples.