Unit X Portfolio

TFOLIO POR

A M MA A RR SS H HA A LL LL EE LL LL A 2ND YEAR - UNIT X -

STUDIO DUMBAR WORKSHOP

IAN ANDERSON WORKSHOP

LOCUS EXHIBITION POSTER

PROMO VIDEO SCREENSHOTS

TOPMAN GIFTCARDS

Concept Concept Store Opening May 27th Rochstrabe 8, 10178 Berlin

Concept Concept Store Opening May 27th Rochstrabe 8, 10178 Berlin

Concept Concept Store Opening May 27th Rochstrabe 8, 10178 Berlin

Concept Concept Store Opening May 27th Rochstrabe 8, 10178 Berlin

TOPMAN POSTERS/STICKER

look book 16

TOPMAN LOOKBOOK

MAGAZINE SHOOT #1

MAGAZINE SHOOT #2

KICKSTARTER SCREENSHOTS

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4kyFGjvi4o8

MAGAZINE PRINT

POSTER DEVELOPMENT

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS Research Throughout this unit, guest lectures, have been a key influence during the production of my work.

By attending lectures from Studio Dumbar, Channel 4 Creative, and Human After All, and taking notes on the advice, information and suggestions given, this has enabled me to extend my research into the fields they represent.

In particular I think Studio Dumbar’s lecture, which showed their working process and development of a project influenced me the most. This showed me the importance of making slight changes to one idea that may lead to the next. This process influenced me during the Ian Anderson workshop, as I created a range of thumbnails using a similar process.

For the Topman brief, I researched the area in Berlin where the concept store is due to be open, to get a feel of what kind of neighbourhood the store will be situated in. I also looked at Berlin culture and the music, art, and fashion scene as part of my research. By looking further into what concept stores already exist and how they differ from regular stores, I looked at online stores and blogs. Through using pinterest, I researched different exteriors, interiors, displays, alongside branding and lookbooks. This influenced me to look at creating an overall concept for the entire opening of the Topman store. From visiting various concept stores such as the Acne store in Paris, and VooStore Berlin, I drew upon my own experience and what atmosphere and aesthetic worked for each audience.

During the publishing unit, I began my research by looking at STACK ‘s independent magazine collection, to collect some market research as to what is already out there. I also visited MAGMA, which is a bookstore that stocks independent magazines. Through our initial research, Toiletpaper and Ordinary magazine stood out for us most. Ordinary magazine was a key influence in how we wanted to create an interactive print magazine, where the audience could get involved with the magazine. We liked how the everyday objects of plastic cutlery formed the basis of the magazine, but were transformed by various artists and given away with the magazine. Although due to the time constraints and logistical skills of making an interactive print magazine a reality, we were unable to create something with a similar concept. Therefore we looked at Toiletpaper for photography inspiration. Toiletpaper was a huge inspiration, as it influenced to use bright bold backgrounds and weird objects to create a satirical tone within our photography. However, I felt that our group concentrated too heavily on this influence, as our magazine became a very similar to the style of Toiletpaper.

For the kickstarter video I examined various kickstarter videos on their website to determine what I felt did and didn’t work. I found that the kickstarters that were more visual and let the imagery speak for itself worked best, and the kickstarters which used too much spoken voice were easily annoying and you concentrated more on the person than the magazine.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS Investigations Within my own creative practise, I have developed my skills further in conceptual thinking, art direction, branding and publishing.

Studio Dumbar showed me how to communicate a concept through big bold ideas. For example making the scale of your work huge so everyone can see, using costume to visually show your idea, and using graphic design to communicate information how sincere or silly it may be.

The Topman brief has allowed me to explore branding further. In the past, I feel that I haven’t had much opportunity to try branding for different clients. Therefore I think by having a live brief this has enabled me to explore this area in a realistic scenario. By coming up with a concept for a store opening alongside the visual material, I have been able to create interesting imagery in a variety of mediums.

Ian Anderson’s workshop has allowed me to practise presenting my ideas to a group. At times I struggle with presentation due to my nerves and anxiety, which lead me to either lack a concise answer or barely speak. But I feel that through practise I’m starting to overcome this issue. The workshop has also helped me improve my skills in communication through design. Due to the short time span of the workshops, I have also improved on developing interesting work quickly.

Through the publishing brief, I have been able to build upon my skills in art direction, layout and video. By experimenting with new roles, I was able to gain new skills and create interesting imagery. Our photography and photo editing skills as a whole really came through in our creative practise within this unit. I feel that in particular I have been able to develop my skills in video editing further through this unit, by producing the group’s kickstarter. The magazine brief was also another opportunity to practise my presentation skills in front of industry experts. I think that being confident in presentation is the key in pulling off a good presentation, alongside readily answering the panel’s questions. Within the exhibition, I learnt how to adapt work to a certain specification.

I have developed my own personal work further, by producing work outside of the course with the skills I have learnt from this unit. This included branding for a start up company and a poster for an exhibition. By utilising these skills I have progressed over the year, this has allowed me to get work outside of university, in order to build upon my portfolio. I have also made my own website in order to advertise my work further.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS Reflection Throughout the unit, I have attended and taken notes on various guest lectures. One of the most prominent lectures was from Studio Dumbar, who also went on to give us a workshop on the theme of protest. Whilst I enjoyed their lecture, I didn’t feel as engaged in the workshop, as we had completed a very similar brief in the unit before. Therefore I felt slightly frustrated during the process, but managed to turn it around and create a final protest, which compared an illustrative character to its human counterpart.

During the Topman brief, I engaged in the project by drawing upon my experiences visiting concept stores, such as the Acne store in Paris and VooStore in Berlin, alongside researching additional concept stores. I also engaged in a vast amount of research looking into the aesthetics produced by concept stores through their exterior, interior, displays and branding. By analysing the Topman brand and what they wanted their high end range to represent against their competition from stores such as WoodWood and Cos, I looked at how I could give their concept store a unique edge. To do this, I created a range of materials such as a video to market the brand, a series of giftcards (which could also double up as postcards) and an illustrative poster series and sticker. I feel that I thoroughly engaged in this project as it was an exciting brief from a major client. Although looking back at my work, I feel that my work may have been to out there for the client.

As I was chosen to participate in Ian Anderson’s workshop, I also engaged in another challenging activity within the unit. In the workshop I created a unique response to brief ‘you and me’ where we were asked to create an A1 poster under the specification that we could only use the colours black and white, and the font Helvetica. I felt that I explored the complexity of the relationship within the theme, and communicated this through an interesting piece that intrigued viewers.

The magazine brief was exciting and energetic, therefore I felt engaged in the project from the start, as it is a field I would like to go into. Although I think we were too ambitious as a group by wanting to create an interactive print magazine, when we were lacking the time and some of the knowledge on how to print and bind our ideas together. Henceforth we had to change our idea.

By researching, experimenting and having fun with the brief in a new direction, as a group we created some interesting imagery. During this unit I feel that the engagement with this brief has been fun. However I felt that we had to overcome barriers of what the context and meaning was behind our bold imagery, which I felt at times we struggled immensely with. I enjoyed participating in a variety of roles within the magazine production, such as video editing, art direction and layout.

By producing a poster for the exhibition, we were able to exhibit our work to the general public.

The specification for the poster was that it had to be an A0 portrait poster that represented our magazine. During the production of the poster, I made a variety of options for our group to use, utilising the striking images from our shoot alongside simple text. Whilst we had the slight issue of the majority of our images being landscape, we were able to overcome this issue through our image manipulation skills. Eventually we decided that simply one bold image would be the best outcome to represent our magazine. Overall I think there was a positive response to the poster.

Throughout this unit I have also engaged in additional creative working tasks with people on different courses and different unit x options. For example, I was approached by an artist, who asked me to create a poster for their group exhibition ‘Locus’ at Kosmonaut. The theme of the exhibition was space, therefore I decided to make a graphical response to the subject, whilst also advertising the exhibition. The risograph poster was put up around the art school as well as at the venue and online. I think this accompanying collaboration, has extended my engagement within unit x, as well as given me an opportunity to show my work to a wider audience.