BY BLAZE KOHTER-GABRIEL
DEF INITION OF DESIGN
a plan or drawing produced to show the look anD function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is made.
CO NTENTs Introduction ABout the ModulE studio Workshops STUDiO projects UNDER THE INFLUENCE CASE STUDY NESPRESSO CASE STUDY ccs case study IMAGE REFERENCES
6-7 8-9 10-11 12-22 24-25 26-27 28-29 30
INtroduction This book is a collection of both my work and thoughts, during my year as a level 5 visual communication student at London Metropolitan University. It has been a long but eventful process as I continue to learn new things about myself, the critical thinking behind designing and how to deliver a precise message. The area of my life I choose to express through my work and this book is the music genre, Grime.
ABout THe MODULE This module is intended to enable designers to gain experience and understanding of working practices within the creative industries. Through working on projects that reflect realworld situations, you will consolidate both disciplinary and creative skills, develop professional confidence and navigate individual and collaborative approaches to working. Projects will provide the opportunity to explore in-depth professional ways of working, encouraging students to foster creative imagination and critical judgement, and to develop individual and team-working skills to real-world problems and opportunities. The module is driven by workplace goals, objectives and constraints in order to develop, test and extend knowledge and understanding of professional practice and employability. Particular emphasis is placed upon the completion of agreed practice-based outcomes to a professional standard within agreed timescales, promoting confidence in communication skills, including visual and verbal presentation methods. Professional ethics, social enterprise and entrepreneurial strategies will be explored, debated, and applied to produce creative solutions. This module develops your ‘learning for work’. Within the module, you will gather work-related experience through live or simulated projects. You will gather employment transferable skills, desirable and advantageous for employment. You will foster your ability to develop and present your creative ideas to a professional client relevant (or adjacent) to your overall practice/ employment intentions. All module information provided by London Metropolitan University.
I work in Chicago where I drink a lot of craft beer, play a lot of pinball, and listen to a LOT of podcasts.
While studying and working, I started Greyscalegorilla, a personal blog to talk about design and education.
NICK CAMPBELL
AKA GREYSCALEGORILLA
studio Workshops cost efficient Professional Look on a low budget. This workshop broke down how it is possible to achieve something that usually takes a dozen people and process to achieve. Ricardo taught us how to cut cost to minimum but how not to sacrifices quality using Photoshop and the mask tool, applying a vector of choice then using the displace tool to mold the vector to a face. 
Digital replica real craft vs Photoshop. This workshop explored creating something hand rendered and within a physical objet to onscreen with photoshop.
STUDIO Projects Project ONE FLOATING HEADS The Brief In 2008, Gavin Berliner was filmed speaking about his Hollywood movie poster designs that employ the very familiar technique of Floating Heads. It is an under scrutinised manifestation of design and while Berliner makes some intriguing comments about his process of meaning making in movie posters, the reductive floating head has appeared in a wide range of contexts, from the early 19th century posters to 20th century fascist and communist propaganda posters. This project asks students to explore the process and iterations of the floating head, analyse how this technique amplifies and transfers/communicates meaning. The project brief tasks students to develop a narrative protagonist the floating head to illustrate and tell a series of tales inspired by a series of clearly identified Muses attached to domains (newly) associated with students’ own national stories: histories, epic poetry, song, dance, tragedy, etc. as appropriate.
Gavin Berliner funny or die interview.
Fundamentals of the brief Two distinct outcomes A narrative protagonist (the floating head) The use of more than two graphic/illustrative techniques
RESEARCH Gavin Berliner talk on floating heads in film led my initial research but then I soon realised that this phenomenon was present in other areas like fashion, sculpting, music and presidential campaign posters. I recalled my childhood memories as I started to research Grime music to discover more information about the genre I grew up listening to with sounds from Dizzee Rascal and the Godfather himself Wiley.
development I started developing ways in which I could take the research I had done and link with Grime. I came across the concept of taking the iconic posters and giving them a grime makeover. The thing that they both share is the deep connection to the streets later I developed some screen prints.
OUTCOME Skepta vinyl cover is a flashback to the roots of grime when the latest tracks were pressed to vinly like one of the genre earliest tracks “Wot Do U Call It” by Wiley.
STUDIO Projects Project two TYpe FORM, TYPE IMAGE The Brief In 2011, Paula Scher published her book Maps (Princeton Architectural Press), a collection of her paintings of maps that reimagined the earth’s cartography through image and type as image, presenting through her intensely detailed personal narratives, A calligram is simply defined as “a word of piece of text in which the design and layout of the letters creates a visual image related to the meaning of the words themselves” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). Your brief is to research, conceive of, develop and deliver a series of calligrams for presentation in a selected space/ gallery of the Museum of London: calligrams that tell and show your individual memories of your place in London, and/ or of your journeys to London and your location and/ or dislocation in London, however interpreted.
Paula Scher.
Fundamentals of the brief A connected series of 3-5 calligrams of one narration Clear, articulate, professional presentation of outcomes This must be accompanied by a formal label
RESEARCH I began my research by looking at images from Paula Scher book title maps that had was a collection of maps that she created with type. I then discovered what a calligram is through 100 things that changed graphic design that led to me finding examples to analyse on Instagram and Pinterest. I also looked at the work from French poet Guillaume Apollinaire who was a trendsetter.
development
OUNCE
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I experimented with backgrounds and colour ways, to reinforce the type and meaning.
YOU
CAN GET
FROM
I achieved this by first drawing the outlines of an image then drawing in the letters with pencil that allowed me to render till I was happy and final using the pen tool in illustrator to “vectorise” them.
WE
OUTCOME These calligrams would be brought alive by projecting them onto the walls of the Museum of London. They would also be kinetic typography that would form alongside the music clip that would be playing and have 3 different loop cycles.
STUDIO Projects Project Three another london The Brief In 2006, Artangel (a London based, art commissioning charity) launched Nighthaunts, a project about hidden or unseen Londoners: those who work in London at night. The project evolved into a website in collaboration with designer Ian Budden and sound artist and musician Scanner. More recently, in 2012, the Museum of London’s major exhibition on Charles Dickens and London was accompanied by a highly innovative iPhone and iPad app, Dickens: Dark London, which was serialised like Dickens’s own stories. Your brief is to research, conceive of, develop and deliver a carefully constructed series of interactive graphic/ illustrated narrative ‘maps’ of your/ another/ alternative London for contemporary screen-based app/mobile site products.
Diken’s Dark London App Screen.
Fundamentals of the brief A full working prototype using the marvel app A 20 page BLURB book illustrating the process and outcomes of your Another London project professional presentation of digital outcomes This must be accompanied by a formal label
RESEARCH I spent a while analysing the Nighthaunts project, I noticed transitions between screens, title fade ins and outs, the use of animation and the way I was navigating through the screens felt comfortable. I wanted to understand the user center design process so I read about it continuously till I was informed enough to start designing in this way. I then started examining maps in a new light.
development I stared developing my idea based on maps I discovered with my research stages but giving them a grimey feeling to them to try create that nostalgic impression. The purpose of a map is to get someone from a to b so I kept this always in my head from the beginning, the journey is important.
DEF INITION OF graphic
relating to visual art, especially involving drawing, engraving, or lettering.
UNDER THE INFLUENCE CASE STUDY Maria Gronlund I stumbled across this fabulous graphic designer due to this task and was thankful because the way she work is memorizing mesmerizing. The clean preciseness to her work makes them feel organic, as the more you stare, the more they appear to have a life of their own. Take this flower for example I can picture how it would move beyond this still, it would move fluent with the outer edges fluttering in the wind or if you take the backgrounds metallic
gradient and the structure of the flower, it feels under the microscope almost scientific. I attempted to recreate a piece of her work with the starting point being the creator of this style. I wanted to reinforce my brief by constructing her profile with these organic shapes and fluent colour gradients throughout my piece. I then finally edited it into a 15 seconds clip that represent the style of fluency.
Nespresso CASE STUDY Brand Experience I took charge of my team as we set out to mix the Cuban culture with Nespresso elegant style. We had the vision to bring the streets of Havana to life and build an experience that was true to the Cuban culture while respecting the demands of the client, Nespresso. Research consisted of viewing Cuban documentaries, visual representations and visiting London based Cuban restaurants to understand both how they live and how this country
interprets Cuba. We quickly started planning the event, through mind mapping and bouncing ideas around the room. The illustrators started making visuals to give us a better idea of how things could look. Once everybody was happy with the schedule of events I began digitalising the visuals. We ended up with a brand experience that represented Cuban culture honestly and gave Nespresso Cubania flavor the authentic outcome it deserved.
CCS CASE STUDY ethics of photojournalism I began my case study by looking at the history of photojournalism, which led me to works of Carol Szathmari that documented the Crimean War. From there I discovered the difference between photojournalism and journalism, followed by the increased numbers of photojournalist and technology innovations. My findings continued as I used Google to look up the dictionary definition of ethics, codes of ethics from the National Press Photographers Association, News editors reinforcing the ethical guidelines and YouTube interviews with photojournalist who shared their thoughts and experiences. These findings directed my discussion as I realised there is a grey area in the code of ethics as I Analysed Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of the vulture preying on the starving Sudanese child in 1993. Which had the world questioning his morality even though he followed the code of conduct and the pressures that being a photojournalist can have of one from an extract of his suicide note. The fact that anybody with a camera and a social media account could class themselves as a photojournalist as long as stay true to the ethics, do not alter the image, display the truth which will serve the publics interest while acting responsible and accountable. The case study concluded with my thoughts on the so-called code of ethics that I have proven to be blurred and subjective. Due to dealing with morals, values and the reality is that they are different in parts of the world. The fact that prizes are given for these graphical images that winners are brought into the spotlight and sometimes penalised for their winning work. One must pay attention to the ethics and how they photograph or design as it could bring unwanted negative criticisms towards them.
© Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize winning Photography
Image References Page 10 http://creativemornings.com/talks/nick-campbell/2 http://globe-views.com/dreams/gorilla.html Page 11 http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/work/project/aizone/ Page 13 http://www.impawards.com/2009/avatar_ver5_xlg.html http://pixhip.com/givenchy-rottweiler-tumblr.html http://imgarcade.com/1/sculptures/ http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/daft-punk-random-accessmemories http://www.obeygiant.com/headlines/obama-hope http://factmag-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/ uploads/2014/03/Wiley060314.jpg
Page 17 www.larevuedesressources.org/IMG/arton2639.jpg www.glenwoodnyc.com/manhattan-living/wp-content/ uploads/2012/01/paula-scher-maps-nyc-chelsea-antarctica.jpg www.amazon.co.uk/Paula-Scher-Maps/dp designobserver.com/slideshow. php?entry=30828&view=2128&slide=12 now-here-this.timeout.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Museumof-London-exterior.jpg instagram.com/p/1g0Zm-rOl1/ Page 21 nighthaunts.org.uk www.microstrategy.com/us/blog/june-2014/user-centered-designit-will-influence-your-mobile-app citizenmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IN1_ amapoftheworld.jpg citizenmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IN6_ amapoftheworld.jpg theemptycanvasexperience.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/ tgls2011worldmap.jpg
Page 24 http://www.espoarte.net/arte/delle-affinita-elettive-tra-uomo-enatura-natural-recall-a-venezia/#.VVXArYfvZWY images-tv.adobe.com/avp/ii/201412102113461541C8.jpg https://www.pinterest.com/pin/159174168056451445/ Page 26 s3.amazonaws.com/media.wbur.org/wordpress/1/ files/2013/01/0111_cuba21.jpg www.nespresso.com/ecolaboration//medias_dyn/articles/2067/ article_photos/1671.jpg i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/233102/ slide_233102_1104671_free.jpg thedailypostdotme.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/havana-streetscene-1.jpg www.motor-guides.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/VintageAmerican-car-Cuba-by-Robin-Thom.jpg Page 29 https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/vulture-stalkinga-child/ Page 31 http://www.test.phaidon.com/agenda/design/articles/2013/ june/04/alan-fletchers-archive-goes-online/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/thisismefilms/8678264409/in/ photostream/ phaidon.com
work harder then everyone else in order to really make that bigger step.
It’s a cross between a collage and a box, of goodies.
Kate moross
ALAN FLETCHER