Lose control...final panic work

My final 'panic' piece, printed, mounted and ready to exhibit!

PUSH printing

Today I went to a printing seminar with 'Push printing,' a printers based in London. It was an extremely useful talk and made me realise more how much I do love printed design, being able to touch the work for me makes it so much better. It is so true that the choice of paper stock can really change the whole feel and look of the work and if chose correctly, make it look much better.

Marisa talked us through the whole process of taking a piece of design to print including how a print specification should be written. She had brought along a massive selection of work they had printed and there was some really great stuff. Just by the way a piece of work is printed it makes you want to pick it up and look at it. She discussed the terminology used by printers and although some of it did sound a bit confusing a lot of it is just how it sounds for example: 'centre sewn' simply means the document is sewn down the centre...really not that confusing! Other common phrases printers use are:

• Perfect Binding - where the spine is glued
• exposed binding - there is no cover - the spine is exposed and allows the document to lay flat when opened, there is no restriction when you open the book.
• saddle stitch - stapled down the centre fold (I don't know why they don't just say stapled!)
• side sewn - sewn at the side
• centre sewn - sewn down the centre
• self cover - the document has no finishing - there is no outer cover - this works well with a light paper stock where the same stock is used throughout the whole document.
• duplexing - glueing two boards together - provides a rigid finish and is used a lot for invitaions

How to write a printing spec. correctly:

• give the work a title
• pages - eg: 4 page cover + 32 page text
• size (say in mm)
• how you want it printed - eg: 4 colour print throughout
• paper stock - for the cover and inside pages
• any extras - eg: folied, laminated, perferated etc.
• finishing - eg: perfect bound, saddle stitch etc.
• delivery
• quantity
• list any alternatives - for example how the price would alter if you wanted more foiled lettering etc.

A few examples of their work...

It was great to hear about the otherside of the design process, which is just as important as designing the piece itself. We were given a good insight into the whole printing process which I am sure is something I will have to deal with when working in industry. Overall a very useful seminar!

The dictionary story...

I received my copy of Grafik magazine through the post on Friday, and found a really nice article in there, discussing a piece of work by Sam Winston titled "A Dictionary Story." This fits perfectly with my main topic at the moment looking at language and how it can be displayed visually thus this has proved to be a great research reference. The book shows an illustrated story in which words from the dictionary come to life and take on human characteristics. It is a very playful book, playing with the need to achieve legibility and also have a strong visual aesthetic and finding a great balance between the two. The book takes the format of a dictionary and applies it to a fairy tale, making the boring dictionary much more interesting visually, as words escape from the traditional constraints of sentences and lines, escaping the regiment of the dictionary format to unfold as a new story.

Lose control...

My panic exhibition piece - continuing my initial idea that I used for the branding I decided to develop this further incorporating type into the graphic....

Titled lose control, the piece is based upon the idea of when you panic or have a panic attack you lose control. The concentric circles used show a very regimented graphic - a series of circles equally spaced which require a sense of control - as you reach the outer edges there begins to be a build up a words (accounts of how people feel when they have a panic attack - trapped, constrained, irrational, the need to get out), gradually reaching a point of 'chaos & panic.' A tangle of words and lines, distorted and erratic...out of control.

I decided to use the quite simple colour palette as I wanted the graphic to be the main focus and feel it stands out well on the dark background. I did however use one bright accent colour on the title of the piece at the bottom of the design - highlighting the 'O' in control as it is a different typeface a much looser, script type - different to the other words...breaking the rules and possibly being out of control!

Lovely ♥

If I ever have my own design studio, I want lovely things like this on the walls...

Portfolio presentation

This morning I had a portfolio presentation with Ian Anderson of 'The Desingers Republic.' I have to admit I was quite worried about going after hearing about Ian being 'very straight to the point' with his opinion, but it was actually a really helpful presentation. We each had the chance to present the work in our portfolios and then received feedback about the way we presented. Ian gave us individual feedback on our presentation skills and the way we 'came across' talking about our portfolio of work. It was good to get the chance to talk to him about his opinion on the way we presented and also other general points about portfolios and interviews.

Although I feel confident about the work I have produced, making presentations is not one of my strongest skills, and I do get nervous when I have to speak in group presentation situations. I know what to say about my work, I'm the person who designed it, so I know everything about each piece that is in there but sometimes the nerves can get the better of me and I may not say everything i had planned to say! I guess this will only get better the more i do it, and I am sure there will be a lot of practice in interviews and portfolio presentations in the future.

The feedback I received from Ian was to slow down when I am presenting as I did talk a bit too fast! But overall the way I presented my work, myself and the layout of the portfolio is working well. Ian said the layout works well with my style of work and all the work "fits" together showing that I have a style, if he hired me and I started on Monday he would know what type of work I would produce for him.....hopefully this is s a good thing??!

Ian gave us some other really useful advice about making presentations;

- script what you are going to say -- not word for word, but think about what you need/want to say about each project...what are the main points that I need t get across?

- don't talk too much about each project - say what the brief asked, what I produced and how my response met the requirements. Keep it short and to the point...don't waffle!

talking about how many projects a portfolio should contain, Ian said an ideal amount is about 5 projects - no less.

• the 1st project should be the attention grabber - the one that looks really good!
• the 2nd should be quite an academic brief - something where you really followed and understood what the brief was asking, and show that you can explain this.
• the 3rd should be the biggest project - one with lots of supporting work, which shows that I can understand big projects and really explore and experiment with them over quite a long period of time.
• the 4th should be something really experimental - what I like to do!
• finally, the 5th should be the most memorable - one that people can remember you for, you should be relaxed and able to speak easily about it.

All in all it was a really helpful session and hopefully I can improve for the next time I need to present!

D&AD's easter treats...

Yesterday I held an easter fundraising stall along with some of the girls to raise money for our degree show. We sold lots of lovely easter treats and managed to raise £121.00 which is a good contribution towards our £3000 target! So all in all it was a successful, fun day!

Meeting the Mayor...

As a thank you for the work Helen, Emma and I did on the student safety campaign, we were invited to meet the Mayor of Manchester and the Chief police constable last Friday. It was a great experience and it was nice to see appreciation for the hard work we put into the campaign. It was also good to hear that crime has come down a third this year already....wether our campaign has anything to do with that we do not know, but it would be nice to think it has helped! We were each presented with a framed letter from Peter Fahy the chief constable. This is great to use as a reference for the future and also something for us to keep. We were also given a framed image of one of the posters from the campaign which we have given to the university. Overall the whole campaign has been a great experience for us three, and although it's not around as much as we would like, the artwork is being used for the next couple of years and will hopefully continue to make an impact!

sitting in the exact seat where the queen sat!

signing the visitors book

Panic?!?

A great opportunity has come up for us as a year group, to hold an exhibition at NoiseLab in the town centre. A brief has been set and I started experimenting with a few ideas which I will post soon. Alongside this there was an opportunity to create branding and promotional material for the exhibition, all of which is based around the theme 'Panic' - a hint to how we will start to feel very soon, rapidly nearing the end of our course.

So I thought I would have a go at creating a brand identity and promotional material for the exhibition...even if it doesn't get picked, it is another finished brief for my portfolio and review! Having a quick turn around time and not wanting to spend to long on the project, I spent a few hours brainstorming ideas and doing a bit of research and quite quickly, decided on an idea. Being aware of the quick deadline I chose my best idea and have just run with it...not normally something I would do but it hasn't worked out too badly! Overall I have spent about a day and a half producing the work and I am quite pleased with what I have managed to produce.

Keeping in mind that the exhibition is a celebration of our work as a course, I didn't want the branding to be too specific to any one discipline, and hopefully I have created a graphic that reflects the theme without being too obvious. My idea and concept is based around the idea of panic leading to 'losing control.' The graphic I have created, uses concentric circles, these are used to represent the idea of being in control, the circles are evenly spaced and sized and give the idea of control. As the circles reach the outer edges they begin to become more erratic and distorted, and thus become 'out of control.' I chose the colour palette based on colour's picked from the current Art School branding...purple being the colour used to highlight Graphic design on the homepage.

Invitation

Flyer variations

Poster - layout alternative

I also tested the design in a range of other different bright colours, so could be used as a variation...print a set of flyers and invites in a range of different colours? I also think the graphic could work nicely on its own within the exhibition space.

London born, London Bred, until I die and then I'm dead...

Continuing our lecture series, we had a great lecture today from graphic designer Morag Myerscough. Morag

set up her own cross disciplinary design practice, Studio Myerscough, in 1993, and over the last thirteen years she has worked with some of the most respected, design-led companies in the UK. These include The Barbican Centre, Derwent Valley (Tea Building Signage) the Design Council, Formula 1 2006 exhibition and many many more.

The integration of design and its environment is central to Morag's approach. When working on a brief Morag becomes totally engrossed in the subject, she knows everything about it, and this helps in her understanding of how to tackle the problem and come out with a fantastic solution. Morag does not have any limitations to her designs, if she has an idea in her head, she will find a way to do it! I love her approach to her work, the attention to detail and the passion she has for it...this definitely shows as she has a studio and gallery in her house! now thats dedication! Morag takes quite a different approach to many other "graphic designers" and works a lot with 3-D models to see exactly how the exhibition space is going to look, whilst always making the exhibitions as sustainable and recyclable as possible, considering the choice of materials and how they can be re-used in the future.

Morag was very honest about her career to date which was good to hear, sometimes collaborations are not always successful and it can be best to part ways, however....working with the right team and collaborating with all kinds of different people allows you to spark ideas off each other....you don't have to be able to do everything yourself!

One of my favorite pieces from her collection of work was the London poster pictured above. Morag has an incredible body of diverse, vibrant work, some of which is pictured below...

As always it was the typographic work that I really liked, and Morag showed how this can be taken into exhibtion spaces and almost beaome a piece of art in itself. She told us how she find's inspiration everywhere and loves consuming and observing things.

I think this shows how design does become a part of your life, and not just a job!

New brief..."panic"

Nice work...

New projects...

I can't actually believe how fast this term is going....life as a student is almost over!! Athough I feel I am ready to leave education the thought of it really scares me....for the first time I don't know what I am going to be doing come June when we finish this course. I have no school or university to come back to in September...what a scary thought!

So I have been busy working away on my next set of briefs - as I previously posted my new brief is a celebration of language in it's local forms, accents and dialects. Coming from Yorkshire this is was my initial choice of dialect to work with, below are my experiments and final piece for part one of this project. My initial intention was to have this as a short brief however there is so much to explore and experiment with within the area of language and communication that it has now turned into to a much bigger project of which the second part has begun...

Variaitons of words and phrases in different dialects - it means the same thing however you say it, but there can be many variaitons.

Playing with the legibility of the words - when people speak in their 'local dialect' it can be be very difficult for people from other areas to understand what they are saying - the illegibility of the phrase below helps to express the idea of misunderstanding and difficulty in interpreting a message.

Overlaying variations of words and phrases - each colour used represents a different dialect, however they all mean the same thing.

Along with many more experiments, the piece below is my final piece for part one of this brief - "A celebration of the vernacular of York.sha!" I have recently designed packaging for this double sided A3 poster, and see it being sold as a kind of souvenir of yorkshire - so in shops and places around the yorkshire area. I love the chance this brief is giving me to be more experimental with typography...I have definitely realized this is the area of working in which I love most...