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390370 390370 is a publication reflecting on my first year at NUA. I have travelled 390370 meters from my home in Bristol to my new home in Norwich, hence the name of this journal. The journey I have taken has been more than moving homes, its been a personal journey too, helping me explore myself and my working practice further. I hope to show this development in this journal, with my work from the beginning to the end showing vast improvement. I have enjoyed creating this journal and revisiting my old projects, I have also really enjoyed creating a strong piece of editorial design to highlight all of my hard work.
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Contents: 1 - 2 A brief introduction 3 - 19 BA1a 20 - 31 Selection of BA1a Workshops 32 - 55 BA1b 56 - 59 Selection of BA1b Workshops 60 - 63 Personal Work 64 - 89 Visiting Lectures 90 - 107 Inspirations 108 -109 A brief conclusion
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BA1A
I feel progressed well through BA1a. I have quickly learnt how to use InDesign, a programme had never even heard of before starting at NUA, and using these new found skills I have successfully created two booklets, one 8 page and one 68 page. I have also learnt a lot about the effectiveness of typography and how it can be used simply to communicate a complex idea in design. My first two projects took me a while to get to the final outcomes, which is something I will try to improve on next term. I will also try and produce more research to back up my work, looking at individual designers and illustrators as well as more broader design subjects. I didn’t enjoy the workshops this term as I felt that we weren’t given long enough to produce a final outcome. For me personally I don’t feel happy putting something I haven’t enjoyed making or something that I don’t like the final outcome of in my portfolio, as I feel it draws away the projects I have actually spent a lot of time on and that I am very proud of. I think they were useful for learning but personally I would have preferred to include them in my back up work. I really didn’t feel comfortable in my small group as well so this may have been why I didn’t enjoy them as much, I prefer to work with friends as I feel much more productive when I am working in a friendly happy environment. Overall I have enjoyed this section of our term and I am excited to see what’s coming up next.
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ONE WORD POSTER This project required us to create a one-word poster using no imagery or illustration to distract from the meaning of the word. I chose the word ‘Mature’ as after much deliberation and idea generation, I felt it was the strongest and most unique concept I had come up with. Overall I’m pleased with the outcome of my final poster. I found it incredibly interesting creating the type, as I had complete control over the hole placement and the letter widths - as I made them myself. In future I would like to create a
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whole alphabet with this letter form. I found it difficult to arrange the type on the page as I didn’t want to put it in the middle of the page. I decided to place it towards the bottom half, to make it more visually pleasing. I also found it hard creating a background that wouldn’t draw attention away from the type, so I decided to just stick to one colour and a shadow. I looked into cheese packaging to decide the colour for my poster as I wanted it to link directly to the product.
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TYPE COLLECTION Initially, my main two thoughts for my typographic collection was to either create a full alphabet, including numbers and symbols, or a collection based on ‘urban mess.’ The first idea I felt was a bit generic and something that wasn’t very ‘me.’ I also felt that many people may have this idea, and I felt I had already had the opportunity to create my own alphabet in the previous project. The second idea was the one that I decided to go for in the end, as the idea of making a collection based on things that really interested me seemed like more of a personal, productive and beneficial outcome. My first idea with this theme was to photograph mess, for example things like receipts and wrappers, and also things like graffiti tags and stickers that littered the walls and sights of Norwich. On my walk home from this day at university I started to photograph and look around more and started to notice the drain hole covers on the floors, some of these actually had very interesting typefaces on them so I photographed them anyway, even though they didn’t really fit in with my theme.
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I then went on a photo shoot around Norwich and stumbled upon this abandoned car park on New Botolph street, it had loads of beautiful examples of large scale graffiti typography, which I couldn’t help but photograph. At this point, it was clear that my project was changing and moving more towards street type in general, so I decided to change my theme. During photographing I noticed the repetition and I wanted to show this in my collection, so I decided to order the images alphabetically according to the type in the image. After photographing and editing, I decided to try out my first layout idea using square format images. After creating this booklet, I felt like it was way too simple and it wasn’t working for me personally, so I decided to do some more research and this kick started the newest layout idea. After working with this layout I feel my collection was improved vastly, and it also inspired me to include some of my illustration work which I feel added another level of interest to the piece. Overall I am really happy with how this project has ended, and am really proud of my result. This collection has taught me how to use InDesign to a new level and has also taught me how to layout things to a high standard. If I could redo this collection, I would have taken more interesting pictures which could produce more exciting illustrations.
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Type and image booklet It took me a lot of time to decide my subject for this booklet as I had two ideas. My idea was to use the images I took of an abandoned reptile house called ‘Amazonia’ which was literally a shell of its former self. The building was just painted all over in a dark green still showing the outline of the logo. I found the building really interesting as it looked so depressing and awful. I had the idea of using the old trip adviser reviews for the building, and to make the booklet about the false advertising of the internet, inspired by a Mr Penfold exhibition I had recently visited. I had a lot of difficulty in combining different elements of the booklet to create one finished spread, as I’m not usually a big
fan of photography and design used directly together to create a design in its self. I decided to use large letters to spell out ‘Amazonia’ throughout the booklet, and I felt this really helped to create an interesting composition. I had difficulty with the type size and overcomplicating the document. I was advised to use a 4 column grid instead of a 3 in my last crit, and to introduce columns into my text as well. After this, the booklet naturally came together and the outcome didn’t feel cluttered like before. I feel this made the booklet feel more complete, and over all I am very happy with the outcome, but I feel it’s one of my weakest projects so far.
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Word Moodboard This task made us think about creating compositions and using imagery to create a contrast. I used a 50p magazine, and a nicely designed booklet to show a contrast in my work. I used complex words, imagery and colour on the complex board, and the opposite on the simple one. I also made the complex board look busy and hard to read, where as the simple one was easy to look at. Although I found it challenging at first, I enjoyed doing this task as it made me think about showing things in different ways. I prefer the outcome of the simple board, as it has a nice colour scheme and relaxing feel to the overall board. This task made me appreciate collage and made me want to explore it further. It also made me appreciate the differences in magazine design and how beautifully simple some magazines actually are.
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Composition and Materials This task required us to create 9 square compositions, and we had to appropriately name them. I chose to take my inspiration from Mondrian as he is one of my favorite artists. I chose to base my compositions on my flat mates, and my first impressions of them upon moving in. I decided to try and convey different parts of their personality with different shapes, and using things like halves of the same circle in the compositions of the people that got on better together to create a natural connection between the two. I decided to label them with their room number to keep it anonymous. I liked creating these and would have liked to have develop them further on a larger scale.
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Adobe Suite Inductions Throughout the year, we were given the choice to attend Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign inductions provided by the NUA design studio. The sessions were based around our current briefs, and taught us how to use new skills to create the best outcomes for our projects. In particular, the InDesign sessions benefited me the most, as I had no prior knowledge of the application before coming to University, shamefully I hadn’t even heard of it. I learnt many valuable skills I could transfer to my other projects in these sessions, such as the importance of using a grid, the importance of a good margin, and debatably more important, how to create and print a magazine. In the Illustrator inductions I learnt more skills that could be used in my personal work outside of University. I’m a keen illustrator, some of my work can be seen on the cover, and the page pages of this Journal. I learnt many ways to improve my illustrating skills, by learning techniques that would speed up and enhance my drawings. I also learnt essential things
such as the pathfinder tool and the clipping mask tool. The Photoshop sessions were also very useful. I learnt about the blending modes and they are now something I often use in my work. I learnt how to apply my designs realistically to the outside world, such as being able to put them accurately on bus stops and bill boards. I learnt about the work path option, and managed to create this interesting photograph mash up shown to the left, something I would have really struggled with doing before. I have found these inductions extremely useful, and I am very glad I chose to attend them. There was a few I was thinking I wouldn’t attend, as I was pretty certain I knew a lot about Photoshop and I taught myself Illustrator over summer. Looking back, I’m very glad I attended them all, as I have learnt a lot of valuable skills and shortcuts that I didn’t know before. I also learnt a good lesson that you can never know everything about a program, even if you’ve been using it since you were 13.
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Modular Type This group workshop required us to create our own modular type face, in a hand rendered form. My group decided to base ours on Wim Crouwel, one of the greats in modular typography. I liked creating this type, and we found we could create a flip effect, so our type could be viewed upside down as well as its actual way up. I decided to make the type we created into a digital format, and I feel this outcome works better. I like the simplicity of it, and I can see it being on a T-shirt. This workshop really helped me to see how non conventional forms of type are just as important as conventional, and also it showed me how using a type style like this could help me to create a really interesting piece of design.
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Today we were given the task to recreate a typeface we had photographed in Great Yarmouth, but in a 3D form. This was a group task, and firstly we decided on which image we had to recreate. Our chosen image is to the right, we noticed the layers that the typeface had instantly and decided that this would be the main thing we wanted to recreate.
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Building an Image We also noticed the paneling behind the type and the colored lights. We decided that the best way to interpret the layers would be to draw them on acetate and layer them up. We went to a flea market and picked up an old crate, and then we brought some spray paint and some colored lights. We sprayed the box white, leaving it slightly uncovered to add to the grotty feel of Yarmouth, but still representing the white paneling behind the type. We then attached the lights with a glue gun and plugged them in to see what it would look like. We then started to hand draw the type face layers onto the acetate, tracing the original image to get it as accurate as possible. First we started with the back layer of bright orange, then bright blue, then the dark orange
highlights, and finally the detailing on the type in a dark blue. We used paint markers to achieve this result, which allowed us to have bright colors and to be in control of the type completely. We decided to leave all of the layers their original size, as when staggered in the box, the outcome will become more interesting. We attached the acetate to the box with a glue gun, aligning each layer as we went. The final outcome was something I am really proud of, I even sent the image to Palace Skateboard company, as I feel it was very contemporary and something they would like. I like how the original elements of the image are all there, but they are interpreted in a very different, and almost tacky way, alike GY its self.
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The Medium is the Message For the Medium is the Message brief I decided to base my outcome on the BP oil spill in 2010, and the information that ‘More than 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were found injured or dead in the six months after the spill.’ I decided I wanted to try and convey this message in oil, for this I used treacle, and also use feathers. I redid this piece about 3 times, and this was the outcome I was happy with, however I did film a couple of minutes of me playing around with oil in water which turned out to be really interesting, but I felt this made the issue I was trying to address seem beautiful, which it really wasn’t. If I could redo this project, I would of made these into illustrated pieces, and placed the RSPCA or WWF logo onto them and create an advertising campaign. I also might of carried on with the video idea and maybe used something like ‘this isn’t beautiful’ and then state the hard facts.
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BA1B I feel like I’ve really progressed in BA1b. The first term I found extremely difficult, and I was putting in a minimal amount of effort, but this term I have found my love for Graphic Design again, and I’m incredibly excited to move forward to the second year and become even more passionate about it. I feel this term I have actually created my ideas due to not being lazy, for example a piece where I needed to print 120 pages of paper and install them all on a wall just to pull them down. This is something I feel I wouldn’t have done in the first term as I was just cruising through with my basic abilities. I have really enjoyed doing more editorial pieces this term, and I also really enjoyed the 3-week advertising brief. I feel my outcomes have gotten a lot stronger this term, and I have also enjoyed creating them more. I have been doing more work outside of university by setting up a business with my boyfriend selling prints and stickers and making over £200 and 1500 Instagram followers.
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VISUAL IDENTITY For the visual identity brief, I chose the idea society as I felt I could do something interesting with this. Initially, I wanted to create a letter that when pulled out, would change the envelope. I wanted the brain to ‘fill with ideas’ but it didn’t work successfully. I also created a note pad as a business card, as ideas are needed to be written down. I then went on to use a more recognizable motif for ideas, I chose a cog that I had drawn in my pattern. I then decided the idea that these cogs could move on the envelope, in order to open the envelope, as cogs almost move in your brain when thinking. I used this idea to create a motif to use across my designs, making the set of stationary like a puzzle as it all needed to be put together (as an idea often takes many different pieces to be put together.)
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The Idea Society, 2016
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We are an idea-based collective. Our vision is to create projects that bring people, ideas and stories together.
I then went on to develop a logo to represent this and make it stronger, using the ‘o’ as a new placement for the cog motif. I then redrew the cogs to make the logo look more professional and clean and also, it ensured the cogs would work together when turned which was needed for the envelope and the overall concept. I then cut out the cogs from wood, and secured to the envelope, bringing my initial idea to life. I decided I would create a memo pad to go with my stationary set, to bring back the first idea of a notepad needed to write down ideas. I also got a friend in photography to take a set of images for me to use as a set of postcards and for the website of my society. This brings a new level to the work, which I really like. I then got the same friend to shoot all my stationary in an abstract, studio format, using bold colours (that the work lacked) to make my stationary stand out and become more interesting.
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PACKAGING I found the packaging project the hardest out of all the briefs in BA1b. I was really excited when I received the brief, as I never really venture into the conceptual side of Graphic Design. The project took me through a lot of highs and lows as a designer, as I would have an idea and then realize it was completely unfitting to the brief. The chosen route I decided to go down was emotion, and I started to explore the ideas of color and associations, as I felt this was the route I wanted to go down to begin with. I then started exploring the ideas of medicine to cure certain emotions, but it all felt a little
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complex and needed a lot of explaining. I then had a chat with one of my lecturers as I had been told I was completely off brief with my ideas, and he mentioned I could use the phrase “Laughter is the best medicine.� I then decided to use this as my final idea, and create a medicine bottle for laughter. I got a fellow student Jordan Hudson to take some photos of my design, and showing it being used with pictures of someone laughing after they had taken it. I feel I have produced an adequate outcome for this project, despite all the bumps in the road. This was probably my weakest outcome for the whole of BA1b.
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ADVERTISING I really enjoyed the Advertising brief, as I feel my team worked really well together. I was in a group with myself, George Wheadon and Christian Kett and we decided to explore a campaign for social etiquette. We first decided we would do family meals, and the unsociableness of them today, having the idea of creating a Change 4 Life styled stop frame animation exploring the future of family meals. We decided to use a big red button to change the family’s gadgets for their food, making the family have a conversation with each other not their friends and followers on social media. We then decided to create a campaign around this, creating posters, social media campaigns and adverts to go along side it.
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We decided on the hashtag #thebigswitchoff, and the catch phrase turn it off. We used the standard off button symbol to create a smiley face for our logo, to suggest that once the device was off, people would be happier. This also could link nicely to our stop frame animation, as we used a big red button in this and we could change the color of the face to represent the characters in the advert. We then used this motif to make the word ‘OFF,’ our final logo. We decided to create this campaign into an event happening on the 23rd of July in Hyde Park, using the tagline ‘join us for a technology free day, and an old fashioned chat.’ We created a short moving animation which George edited onto an existing billboard to help inform the public of the event, using a character’s hand from the advert switching off the button and the screen would then shut down, glitching to show the date of the event.
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We also created badges, T-shirts and tote bags to help promote the event, using our logo further. We then created social media pages to show how the event would be promoted online using the hashtag #thebigswitchoff as its basis. We then created a set of 3 posters, using the button on the first, Turn it off on the second, and
finally a black screen. These posters worked really nicely as a set as they showed the steps we wanted everyone to take on this day, and they also would catch peoples attention, as its rare you see a fully black poster with a tiny piece of text. We also created a 4th poster, using a no phones symbol just to further enhance our point.
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I feel this project was one of my strongest this term, and our group was really pleased with our outcome. The Photoshop help sessions also really helped us to apply our logo to a lot of different places and make the campaign really come to life.
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I Wish I Had The I wish I had brief really had me stumped at first, as I had come up with a very simple idea, and phrase. My ‘I wish I had thought bigger,’ poster actually turned out to be a really important part of my learning process this year, as it actually made me think bigger. I wanted to make this idea more interesting, so I decided to make it into a sticker and place it into an urban environent to encourage people to look and then ‘think bigger’ themselves. I decided after creating
this, that I actually wanted to use this inspiring poster to create a much more exciting and larger outcome to go along side it. I originally has come up with the phrase I wish I had persevered, which is something I also learnt from. I decided to both persevere and think bigger and create my ‘I wish I had kept going’ poster. After researching into the studio Studio Spass, I had found a concept which would really accurately convey my idea of keeping going. 49
I decided to create an installation of 120 pieces of paper, entitled ‘I wish I had’ which would spell out the phrase ‘kept going.’ The idea behind it was that how ever had I tried to get rid of the idea and the phrase, it wouldn’t disappear, instead it would turn more beautiful as I went along. I really enjoyed creating this installation, and I also got to use the color pink, something I have always shyed away from as a female graphic designer. I felt that this was the perfect time to use it and it created a really interesting outcome. I got fellow student photographer Jordan Hudson to photograph the process for me, and film student Jake Newbury to film it. We all then worked together to create a piece of film to best show the installation process, and also part of the destruction.
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INFORMATION GRAPHIC The Information Graphic brief was also a difficult one. It took me a while to choose the path I wanted to go down with my research but I finally decided on prisons. I started researching into the basic prison facts, then drifted into the racial injustice in the prison system. I then felt that this was too much of a sensitive subject personally to base my infographic purely on, as we were told to use its associations and links to base the design on which I felt would have made It very insensitive. I then started researching into the worlds most dangerous prisons and created a map to show this. I then felt this wasn’t the right direction I wanted to take my work in. I went back to the drawing board and decided to use the original facts I collected, a large amount of factual information containing the incarceration rates per 100,000 people of the main countries in the world. The massive difference between America and the other countries made me want to use this information
more as not many people will realize the difference. I decided to use the information in a bar format, and I had the idea to make them into a prison cell, using a lock to further show this. I then found this exact concept on google so I couldn’t take it further. I chose to flip the bars around, and instead use them as the background to the well known prison ‘mug shots.’ I got a pair of orange overalls and made my housemates pose with a piece of black card, while my house mate Jordan Hudson took their pictures, trying to recreate them as accurately as possible. I then edited on the prison bars and some essential facts to go along with it on the ID boards. I created a set of 3 images, and I think they worked well. If I was to take this idea further, I would have actually created an installation with a selection of facts to hold while viewers could pose for pictures and share them on social media, to spread awareness while having fun doing it.
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EVENT MAGAZINE I was really excited to start the event magazine project, as I had really enjoyed creating my reflective journal up until this point and was keen to do some more editorial work. I decided I wanted to base my magazine around some events that I attend often, and that are a big part of the way I am and the way I dress today. My event was a rave in my hometown Bristol, there is a big subculture and scene around these events in Bristol that not many people know or understand so this was something I knew I wanted to touch upon in my magazine. I decided to shoot the rave on a 35mm film camera with colored film, as this is a format often used by people in this scene, as art and photography are also a big part of it. I felt it also represented the color and the underground-ness of the event well. After taking and developing the pictures, I was relieved to see that they came out really well. That’s the only real disadvantage with film, you never know if the images have been successful enough. I decided I wanted to touch upon the large street wear element in the magazine, also create a narrative with the piece and
introduce the outside views on it. I had a lot to do but I feel I achieved it. Creating a two sided zine, I named it Overground / Underground, the underground being my personal experience and views, and the Overground being outsiders views. These names also worked well as the rave was held Underground, and it is seen as quite an underground scene. I decided to use a lot of white space and minimal text in the underground section, trying to use my inspiration from street wear magazines, and the overall minimal aspect of many street wear brands. I tried to make the Underground section appear busier and cluttered as it went on, to demonstrate the busyness of the actual event. On the Overground side, I wanted to make it more like an actual magazine, almost reporting the subculture and event that could be seen overleaf. I kept this layout stricter and stuck to my grid a lot more. I used an article from Vice Magazine in 2016 for my text on this side. I also printed stickers and made more of a play on the street wear element and the name of the document, by combining two rival street wear brands to create the overground and underground train symbols in London. 55
Inside Out For the Inside Out workshop, I decided to turn a handbag pompom ‘inside out’ and attach it to couple of rubber ducks. I wanted to turn the rubber ducks inside out, but they were virtually unrecognizable so I left them as they were, but instead chopped off their heads and wings. I then attached everything to each other to create a strange fluffy double headed duck figure. I feel it has a bit of a voodoo doll vibe about it, mainly due to the string wrapped around it. I enjoyed doing this workshop but I didn’t understand its relevancy to the current brief we were doing. (I also got lots of fluff everywhere!)
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Collections The collections workshop involved us bringing in 30 things we owned and arranging them in an interesting order and photographing them. I think my collection would have been better if I had brought in one of my actual collections, instead of 30 random things.
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‘It’s a Mash Ting’ It’s a Mash Ting is a company I set up with my boyfriend. We both sell our prints, art and stickers on a Big Cartel website, these are some of the illustrations I created. The concept behind our brand and style of illustration is to ‘Mash Up’ the well known characters of the typical English childhood, with the fashion and subculture we relate to today. We have had a lot of orders on our artwork totaling around £200, and we have gained a good following on social media networks such as Instagram and Facebook. We are planning in the summer to start releasing a T-Shirt range. Illustration is something I really enjoy doing, especially when its of this style so I felt it was important to include this in my Reflective Journal, as its been a big part of my learning process this term. 61
April Hyde Collections This was an identity project I did for April Hyde, a Fashion student in her third year at Cardiff University. Her collection is a glamourous evening wear range, and the brief she gave me was to produce something ‘simple, feminine and elegant.’ I decided to use her initial A to create a tree motif which could be changed for the Spring/Summer collection, and the Fall/Winter collection. I chose to have a full tree, and a tree that was shedding its leaves. We decided we wanted to use a gold foiled effect, so I decided to incorporate this into the business cards and tag labels, creating a nice glamourous simple effect. I then decided I wanted to switch the colors depending on the seasons to add
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more of a contrast, so I decided on a autumnal scheme of plum and black, and a summer scheme of white and turquoise. I was worried originally that April would have wanted a more neutral color pallet, but I think seeing it changed her mind. I used templates from Graphic Burger to place my designs into context, helping her to visualize the brand even more. I’m very happy with this outcome, but it is something I wish I had more time to spend on. We were both balancing this identity branding along side our other studies so it was hard to dedicate a lot of time to it. Its something we will work further on in the future together, something I’m excited for.
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TURNER DUCKWORTH Turner Duckworth came in to speak to us about their design practice. This lecture really inspired me and reminded me to try and not fit in any boxes with my design, which is what I had been subconsciously doing up until this point. My strengths and interests lie in packaging and branding so this lecture was really useful for me. This
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lecture also reminded me of how hard I need to work to achieve my goals in life of being an award winning designer. I found the lecture very inspiring and it really reminded me of what I want to do with my life and my career. In the lecture they gave us some helpful tips:
1. Live the brief 2. Make it rewarding 3. Stand out 4. Work hard 5. Be nice 6. Go further
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Thank you for such superlative work and for opening the Company’s eyes (yet again) to how brilliantly inventive design can move business and build brand.
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Pio Shunker, Head of Integrated Marketing, Coca-Cola North America.
Coca-cola My favorite part of the lecture included their Coca-Cola rebrand which was something I noticed straight away when it came out, but I just never thought to look into who had actually performed the rebrand (In future I will remember to look into this if I see something so ground breaking!) I loved how they stripped coca cola back to the simplicity that came with the brand, and also all the clever branding ideas that came with it. I loved how they used the bottle shape and the iconic Coca-Cola ribbon to create loads of motifs and further packaging. They also created a lot of packaging for different seasons and events, such as the Enjoy Summer campaign, the London 2012 Olympics and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games which added a lot more interest for me personally. I also liked the burger king rebrand they spoke about. I found it so clever how they used so many elements in the rebrand but it all felt so similar and simple. I love the overlapping burger prints on the bags and the clever chip motif, also the illustration style that was used throughout. I also loved the dripp coffee prints and the ideas that came with those.
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Metallica I wasn’t as keen on the Metallica branding, as it isn’t my style of design, or music for that matter, but I thought the overall concept was clever and my favorite part of that was the cut out album which made the design look 3d. I felt this added a whole new level to the work that I really liked.
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Play with people’s perceptions, and emotions. Neil Hedger, Founder, Distil Studios.
DISTIL STUDIOS
Neil came to talk to us from Distil Studios during the lecture programme. He taught, and talked to us about how he believes that design is more than an art, its mind play. He told us how he tries to unlock associations and ideas with his practice and tries to make things more emotional than just surface graphic design. He also told us that though ideas and thinking are important, they are not just what goes into graphic design it is much deeper than that.
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Neil started the lecture by talking about childhood associations, and how the Mr. Men were a big memory of his. I remember them being a big part of my childhood, I think I read every single one and watched the shows! Looking back at the covers of these books, they are actually a really simple, nice piece of design. As a young, aspiring Graphic designer I’m sure I must have appreciated this and this was probably why I liked them so much! He said it was important to think back to things that have shaped you as a person when designing, as they often influence the way you think.
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Springs Smokery My favorite part of work shown by far at the talk was the Springs Smokery rebrand. They found the USP of the product, the fact they used real Sussex oak wood, and used the charcoal remains at the Smokery to create interesting patterns and designs to go on the packaging. They used a simple font so as not to over power the large idea behind the rebrand.
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They then commissioned a photographer to shoot the salmon in an interesting way, bringing in the feeling of the Smokery and the country side to round off the final idea. I loved how clean the design was in comparison to the idea and the materials used, and also how it could be applied to many different things related to the company. They also rebranded the partner butchery using the same concept, except using the stripes from a butchers apron this time.
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I also learnt in this lecture the importance of great photography for a product. The images produced for the Springs Smokery rebrand took the product to a whole new level, and also introduced colour, an element missing from the rebrand. They wanted to strip back the cooking process of salmon, and create more than just typical food photography.
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F1 Pitstop Restaurant The next project shown was the rebrand of the F1 Pitstop Restaurant. Originally a dull space with the focus being on the racers for the team not the workers behind them, Distil saw the opportunity to link everything behind the victory’s for the Mercedes team. The main inspiration was the racing track diagrams and the Simulink models used in the designing of the cars. They used these two to create a large piece of design tying in all elements of F1 racing. The large scale model included TV’s, mounted car parts, posters and moving diagrams.
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& STUDIO SUTHERL&
Jim Sutherland, former founder of Hat-trick came in to give us a lecture on his work. He spoke about 13 different projects he had worked on, from printing letter press to competitions to editorial. He even helped rebrand NUA! It was hard to single all the brilliant work down to my 2 favorites, as I enjoyed them all, but I have tried!
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The Graphic Lexicon The Graphic Lexicon is a book designed by Jim, published by Sutherl&Bard. It’s a publication explaining the stories behind English words, how the words have been constructed, and how syllables have come together over time to create new meanings for words. The book itself is a beautiful piece of design, using mainly red and black for its colour scheme. He included quirky illustrations to best demonstrate the words and their origins. This adds a really nice feel to the final piece, as along with the letter press process used to make the book, it gives it a nice handcrafted feel. Jim created large page spread sheets to showcase the book and by overprinting the title of the exhibition on these, it gives an insight into what the book was about without revealing the whole thing. I really liked the outcome of this project and the book is something I would like to purchase.
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The Gastronome’s Bible The gastronomes bible is a publication that launched in January 2016. It’s a ‘indispensable guide for food lovers who travel,’ and it was published and designed by Sutherl&Bard with a collaboration from Scott Perry. I really liked the concept behind this, as for every meal they ate, they photographed their knives and forks crossing like a traditional Christian ‘bible’ cross. They then combined this with illustrations created by Jims wife and a solid color scheme for each country to create an interesting publication. 87
INSPIR 88
RATIONS This section will cover some of the many things that inspired me throughout this year, including designers, publications, and gallery visits. I think a really important part of learning is first hand research, and reading books, researching designers and going to shows and exhibitions has really helped me to learn this term.
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BranD Magazine BranD Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine, it covers a range of communication design including visual art, advertising, product design, interior and architecture and lastly graphic design. I originally brought the magazine due to its striking cover design, but through further inspection its actually a beautifully designed magazine with incredible examples of the above. The magazine includes cut outs and different paper sizes which makes it intriguing to read, and just really beautiful overall. My favourite projects and designers I discovered from reading this book were Splitz Popsicles by Wylee Sanderson, Memphilextric by Noelia Lozano and the TB Berlin Guide by Lobulo Studio. I loved the colour and contemporary feel of the Splitz Popsicles, shown in on the page overleaf, and the nice contrast of the simplistic type to the bold pattern and colours.
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I love the abstract feel of the artwork by Noelia Lozano, which was created for an online campaign called #midiseùomini, in which 13 illustrators and designers were asked to create mini models. I love the playful colours used in the image shown overleaf, and the repetitive style of the piece. I also love the playfulness of the TB Berlin Guide illustration design piece, it’s a really interesting way to represent the food guide pyramid, usually a boring infographic, shown overleaf it has been brought to life. I loved looking at this magazine as it showed me many different styles of design, and it also acted as inspiration for this journal due to its minimal but alternative design. This is a magazine I will be hopefully subscribing to, as even though its expensive its incredibly inspiring and interesting.
Splitz Popsicles
Memphilextric
TB Berlin Guide
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A Smile in the Mind A Smile in the Mind, witty thinking in graphic design, is a book containing 40 years of ‘witty’ design from over 500 different designers. It was recently revisited, updated and redesigned by new co-authors Greg Quinton and Nick Asbury. I found out about this book during a lecture from The Partners, and decided to buy it that night. It’s a really inspiring book containing many cleverly designed projects. Its incredibly useful as it offers inspiration and a guide to wit so it can teach as well as inform. The project I
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liked the most during reading this book is the ‘Surreal game of peekaboo for the Silo Theatre 2013 season.’ It was designed by Alt Group, New Zealand in 2012. I really like the intimateness of the poster shown to the right, represented by the soft tones pink and the sections of a revealed women’s body. I also really like the contrast between this and the hard black typography running down the side. It really doesn’t distract from the poster but as the same time it adds a nice contrast.
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Mr Penfold, False Advertising Over my time in Norwich, I have regularly visited the Moosey gallery, where a new exhibition is being shown every two weeks. Earlier in the year, Bristol based artist Mr Penfold held a show there. Being from Bristol myself, and knowing the art scene that is popular there I knew this was worth a visit. Penfold mainly uses a graffiti style in his work, usually tagging and creating work for all the public to see on outdoor spaces. He has also worked in sculpture and graphic design and has been involved in marketing campaigns for Smirnoff and Microsoft. I am a real fan of the bright colours and the illustration style he uses. The exhibition he was holding at the Moosey gallery was called ‘False Advertising.’ Penfold decided to name it this as he felt that by painting these cigarettes in this interesting way, he was actually promoting smoking and ‘falsely advertising’ it, as that wasn’t his true intentions originally. It solely focused on the ‘iconic image of the cigarette,’ trying to look further than the habit itself and to look into the actual imagery of the cigarette, and the design behind it. The idea behind this imagery came from a mistake made when Penfold was drawing abstract shapes and could then see a cigarette shaped image inside this old piece. He then became fascinated with the different colours and the shapes that a cigarette could create. In an interview with VNA magazine he tells us he thinks that the cigarette is an ‘timeless, classic piece of design,’ which I personally agree with, and its something people don’t really notice or think about much.
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The image to the right was my personal favorite from the exhibition, as the colors are so vibrant, and the composition is so interesting. This was also the image used to advertise the exhibition and it was plastered and posted around Norwich and the internet before the exhibition began. I also loved the way Penfold used the materials as all of the pieces were hand drawn and they were so precise and neat, even though the materials that he used usually create a really messy outcome if used in a different way, it made me think ‘graffiti done beautifully.’ I will definitely look out for further work by Penfold, especially on visits back home to Bristol!
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I really liked this exhibition, and I feel like I have gained a lot from going to visit. Its taught me to look at every day objects and items and see the beauty in them, sometimes a really iconic and amazing piece can be based around the simplest of things. I also loved the vibrancy of the work and the abstractness of the shapes made each piece so similar but extremely different at the same time. Personally I love the color combinations he has used to represent the cigarette, as they are bright enough to be related to the work he has previously done, but they are such true representations of the actual colors of a lit cigarette. The pinky orange that has been repeated through the pieces is something I have noticed myself when looking into the end of a cigarette, and I never would have thought to use that color so accurately and beautifully. Mr Penfold is someone who since this exhibition has really influenced my work style, for example, the cover of this journal was mildly inspired by him. I really like his unusual style of illustration used in his other pieces, one of which is shown to the left, and his clever compositions and illustrating in this way is something I’m keen to get into.
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Muretz, After Midnight The After Midnight exhibition by Muretz was something I was really eager to attend. Muretz is a street artist who grew up in Sao Paulo. He was exposed to graffiti and street art from a young age, and this is why he chose the path he did. Studying at Central Saint Martins, he discovered the art of illustration, and this is now something he regularly explores. I really like his work, due to the strange, dark themes he has running throughout; but also his work seems very peaceful and happy at the same time. When I visited the exhibitions opening night, I watched
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Muretz hand paint a mural on the wall, I went and spoke to him about his work and his education, and also showed him my own work. Watching him create his work made me really keen to not forget about my illustrative work I do outside of university, as it really is a unique talent that many don’t have. It also reminded me of the days where I used to paint, something I used to really enjoy but don’t have much time for anymore. I will try in future to continue with things I love alongside the course that I love, something that Muretz reminded me to do.
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The Beautiful Meme The Beautiful Meme are a London based multidisciplinary design agency. They won the best small agency brand at the UK agency awards in 2015, and they were mine, Coburn, Oliver and Bailey’s chosen agency to research for our Pecha Kucha presentation. We discovered that they were an agency of ‘Tricksters,’ as when we emailed them and received their manifesto they returned their answers in a riddle format, with many references to them hailing the god of chaos, Eris. They are a
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really interesting agency, with many clients ranging from the V&A, google, English National Ballet and the D&AD identity in 2016. The identity shown here was their work for The Line, a contemporary art walk in London. I really like their playful approach to this design, paired with the clean typographical work. Their identity branding also included 20 one off prints made in collaboration with Heretic, stressing their idea for this rebrand that no two walks would be the same.
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Sagmeister & Walsh Sagmeister & Walsh are a design firm based in NYC that I have taken a lot of inspiration from this term. They are an agency founded by Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh. I really love their designs, as I think they are incredibly slick, but they also have very a interesting art direction side to their work. After Pentagram designed the new Frooti logo, Sagmeister & Walsh were approached to design its branding launch, and visual language. Their goal was to ‘Introduce the packaging in a fresh, bold, and playful way.’ They created a tiny scaled world, using only the packaging and the mango in real life scale, and introduced 4 bold and playful colors to spread across the brand. Although, they wouldn’t of been able to create something this intricate and amazing without the collaboration with Aaron Duffy, Marc Reisbig and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. This showed me that almost anything is possible, but you do have to know the right people. I really liked this branding and advertising campaign due to its playfulness, I like to think of myself being a playful designer (or a want to be) so this is something I really appreciate and look for. 104
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I hope you’ve enjoyed this reflective Journal; it’s been a really challenging thing for me to design but I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly. ALL IMAGES ON PAGES 1-63 ARE MY OWN DESIGNS AND WORK, THE IMAGES ON PAGES 64 – 109 ARE IMAGES COLLECTED FROM GOOGLE AND DESIGNERS WEBSITES AND PORTFOLIOS.
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