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Contents INTRO / title page VCT essay A-Z Supporting work PPD essay
Intro INTRO / title page VCT essay A-Z Supporting work PPD essay
Hello, welcome to my A-Z. The brief was to create an A-Z of Graphic Language. It’s supposed to “say something visually interesting, entertaining or informative”, so I thought I’d make it about me. This is a multi-platform project. I’ve also created a micro-site: www.adams-alphabet.blogspot.com
VCT essay INTRO / title page
an examination of Emotional design and the shift towards the self, using Stefan Sagmeister as a contextual case study.
VCT essay A-Z Supporting work PPD essay
My response to the project; An A-Z of Graphic Language, has been very personal. The spreads are almost like diary entries and the format I have chosen to present the work: a blog, also reflects the personal nature of my response. Throughout the project I have looked at the work of Stefan Sagmesiter. There are many things I admire about him, but I think in particular it is his honesty that engages me. In his book Made You Look, the reader is allowed access to Sagmesiter’s inner thought, the book contains excerpts from his diary, it contains successful work as well as unsuccessful work. He also rates all of the work and lists the design fees involved. This is an access-all-areas experience. Nothing is swept under the carpet or kept from view. “If I want to touch somebody’s heart with a piece of design, it has to be true and sincere. The audience of my design will feel if I’m honest, if it comes from my heart. Just like my friends know instinctively if I’m being authentic. If I’m true, if I have the guts, I have the passion, my message will get through.” What is apparent and inspiring with Sagmeister is the ongoing process of self-analysis, which the reader is allowed to witness. He will readily admit if he is happy with a piece of work. Interestingly though, whether or not he is happy has more to do with how genuine he feels he has been with his response, and less to do with the technical quality of the
work. Indeed very little emphasis is placed on technical quality or meeting traditional standards of good design. This is apparent in his shift to using his own handwriting instead of computer rendered typefaces. His AIGA posters (cutting, and headless chicken) are clear examples. I think it takes a lot of guts to produce a poster for a graphic design organisation that completely ignores traditions of ‘good design’, uses hand drawn type and has no clear grid. Sagmeister is clearly capable of producing technically strong, clean design (as evident in his early work; business cards etc), but what makes his work stand apart is the focus on concept over technical mastery: “I suspect that in ten years’ time this touching design is going to be the only kind of design that’s going to be done by actual designers. All that professional, good looking fluff is going to be generated by sophisticated computer programs.“ After looking through Sagmeister’s book and websites, I have a few favourite pieces of work: The Aiga Detroit Poster (cutting), the Aiga National Conference New Orleans poster (headless chicken), the Lou Reed Set the Twilight Reeling and the two books themselves; Made You Look and Things I Have Learnt. There are a few consistent themes with these works: unconventional treatment of type, subjective design. I apologise, this is the extent of my essay. Time got the better of me. I have done plenty of reading and now the design of the PDF is complete I can focus on the essay. He highlights what type of work he wants to do throughout. How has Emotional design, that has been explored in product design and branding manifested itself in graphic design. How does Sagmeister set up possible conditions that engage
the reader/viewer and lead them to an emotional response? Most effective when there is a Shift from mass medium to a smaller more personal audience. Different media: design vs fine art, product design, film making, writing Subjective design. Design that requires the reader to do some of the work. QUOTES Is it possible to touch somebody’s heart with graphic design? I think one reason for all this fluff is that we as designers don’t really believe in much. We are not much into politics or religion and don’t have much of a stand on any important issues. I guess when our conscience is so wishy-washy so is our design. I’ve seen movies that moved me, read books that changed my outlook on life and listened to numerous pieces of music that influenced my mood. Somehow, I never seem to be touched quite the same way by graphic design. I know, the comparison is not all that fair, afterall, movies do have 90 minutes to do all that heart touching, books have several days, while most graphic design has to connect in seconds. I think it was Katherine McCoy who said that graphic design can never rise above its content. If I have nothing to say, the best design can’t help me. Art is something that happens, its an experience, not a quality. Brian Eno In my experience, every designer whose prime aim in into business was to make money while at the same time producing
good design, failed on both counts. I believe that designing is something that you have to do for love. If you are committed first and foremost to producing good design then you’ll make money as a by-product because good design is something people are willing to pay for. But that financial reward will be a bonus, a gift. Sagmeisters list of credentials for design work that touches his heart: new perspective trigger of memories passion and guts surprise virtuosity beauty Tat praesequisim volore dolore ming estrud tatinci liquat, sequi tat. Uscilit lut aci tionulputat, consequ isisim er adignia metueros nis deliquis dipsummy nullan ut ver sit augait dolore dit loreet vendre feu feum zzrit, sed dolor ad modolese magniam, con hendre commy nummy nos dolortie eraesse tie volor si. Endrem dionum zzrilit lute doloreril ullamet, velisci et, commolortie magna facincilit atum dolor sis ex eugue delit adiamco nsequi tet, quamet utatue vel ea feuisl ipsuscil dolor si. An ute mod duis augait praesse dolessit ullaort ionullaore tatie doleniam, sequat at ese magna ad etuerat aliquatum dio duipsum digna at veriusc illutat. Lan verat. Giamcon ullaor sustissit at. Equismo diamcon ut irit exeriliscin ut pratem zzriure dit wiscin enibh et iliquam exercipit num irit augait nos dionsectem dolobor irit atum num alit augiamet, venit veniscin veliquisit auguerat lum aliquat aliquat. Ut nit dolor se dolorper alissis ciliquisl eumsan hendipit venissis at. Feugait vel ullan hent irit essi tat wismolu ptatem adionsed
et praestis amcore minibh exer amet wis et ing enim iustin er sit lam dolor at. Feugait vullaortisl utatet lan hent wis aciduis modipisi. Ing erostie deliquis nos adigna faccums andreet nulputem nonum vendignim quat ad do conummod tem iuscilla feu facin heniametum inibh eu feugue dionsequis ad modip erit, summy nis essi ex eui tatem ipsum dionsequis nulputp atuercil doluptatin utatum illa feugiam, sequamcore mincil dolumsan er am, conulputat. Ut digna feu feugue dolortie feum et vullandrero eum dolobor erilit dolobor erillamet nonsecte vel ute dio odipsustrud delent vullamc onsequa mconsenisim digniam verosto eumsandre tisl dolesen ismodolore dipis adionsectem quisi tat, commy nisl eraestin hendiam dolor ipit pratem nullaor sustrud dolumsan henisis am do od euisit, commole ndignim ex ex exerilit lum vel ulput vel doloboreetum zzriustisim ipsum num vendre dolobor ad tat. Duissequam ero commodit erosto cor am, quis num qui blam qui blamcon henim ilismod minit wisis numsandit del iniam accummod dolorper sis alit am velesed estrud exeriuscipis aut nos ad ming er si te mincil dolor suscilit luptat. Um eum nibh ent ipis duisi tat in velisim et ad modions endit, veliquat. Os et wisciliqui erat. Wisl dunt accum dolore ex et auguer sustio odit ad dignis dipit la cor iurem enisi tatet, velit ex ent ullupta tumsan henim incidunt wissit ulla faci bla feuguer sustrud magna con exer secte tie conulla faccum nibh et, veliquamet aliquat, si et prat in eros ad magnit alit nit vel er ad magna commy nit, velessit ver iliquipit irillum sandre dolor sed tie corerit delisi essi. Quisim quis dolummo dolent aute tem ip el dolore magnis nis do dolor si blam zzrilla ortionullan hendre minisse ndionse quamet, quisim zzriurem quat, volobore dit nos adiatet wis el dolore magna accum dolore te te facipsuscip et endrem num verit lan hent wis acidunt nis at. Quis nostie modipsummod dolesse ndigna am duis nos dolore min henis ad tat, core magna aute magna facinci tatue ercidui psusto odionsent ad minciduip ercilisci eugiatie min utem adit ad te core ercil eugue conse magna feu feugue do odo ea aliquipsusto el incilit
nim nibh eros et alisit iril eugiatum quam, quiscilit ullamcommy nit, quamet, sit lum vel iure et, quat nonsed tat, si tate velismod et, veliquis non utat. Gait dolortis nos ea feu feugiam zzriusc illandre magna conullaor am ad magniam eu faccums andipit lum do digna feuis am iure te do dolor susci blam, velis delenit ate molor sisi. Quis erat. Raestrud tis ating ea at. Riureet ex ero con exer iuscipisl utatismodion velis exerat, consed doloborer illandionse magnim dio consenibh ercilis do odo od et, conullam vel ullandrem illandrem eugiam erosto conulla aute tem veliqua tummoloreet, quam, vulla facincidunt augait nim num autpat, quatin ea alisis nummod tet velisci liquam etummy nos dunt luptat. Volorem vero ex eu feugait la faccumsan ute commolore dolobore vel utet lore tatio commod tet lummolore del dit utpatie et num iuscin ercilit pratinibh eriure modolendreet num iure conum dolor summy nonsed dolor sent velit lore facil eugue con utet acilism olutpat. Ibh er sequisis eugait iure eugait augait lor sendit wisciliqui eriure del dolor senibh esequat, sum quip eugiam do doluptat nos dolortis dip ex eliquis ea commolor se dolobortie consequam, consectet lore magna feu faccums andreet, quisseniam, si. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books No More Rules Made You Look Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul Web: Sagmeister.com Thingsihavelearnedinmylifesofar.com
A-Z INTRO / title page VCT essay A-Z Supporting work PPD essay
adams-alphabet Art School C*nts Maybe I should elaborate on my theory...at art school, like any school, there are cliques. The art school equivalent of the ‘cool kids’ would be the Art School C*nts. These are the guys and girls with the art school dress sense and haircuts. They party in East London and delight in going to obscure private views. They swan around like maverick creatives which they may or may not be - who knows. Its hard to tell if they are trend-setters or trend-followers. I hope I am not one these guys. I might be though, I do wear a Barbour.
A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ...
Books
S ... T ...
I have a tendency to accumulate graphic design books and never read them.
U ...
I’ve decided to put an end to this! I’ve read three books already this year, and I really enjoyed them. One book at a time, I am going to be a reading machine!
W ...
V ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ...
Collagraph Through out the first term I signed up for various printing inductions. Surprisingly, collagraph was one of my favourites. A piece of card is used as a starting point for a plate. The surface is then added to, or scraped away, to create relief. The plate is sealed with shellac, intaglio inked and printed like a traditional etching plate.
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adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ...
Drop Out I went to university once before. I studied Fine Art but I chose to leave in the second year. It felt like the right thing to do at the time; the course wasn’t stimulating, another year and a half seemed pointless. Someone called me a ‘drop out’ once. I didn’t like how it sounded and I haven’t forgotten it. So I’m back at university to put that right and become a graduate.
N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ...
Enjoyment I get bored. I am bored. Bored of this project, bored of being a student again. I want to be out in the real world doing something worthwhile.
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adams-alphabet Friends I’m a one man wolf pack. One of my close friends let me down. Our paths don’t cross anymore. I have friends now, but not close friends. It feels like there’s a void but I’m still too bitter to do anything about it.
A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ...
Green “Don’t design landfill.” “Beautifully designed things have value and longevity, but mediocre design usually ends up in a bin.” These two statements were made by a speaker at a talk I recently attended; How To Be An Eco Creative. It made me aware of some important issues in design and in the wider world. I have since made a conscious decision to try my upmost to be a socially responsible designer. I want to pass the message on and help raise awareness. These sites are a good start: Three Trees Don’t Make A Forest Lovely As A Tree Transition Towns Chris Jordan
B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ...
Handwriting I have always liked handwritten type. I think this quote from Stefan Sagmeister sums up its appeal: “I am not obsessed with typefaces and find the selection of just the right one a rather tedious exercise. Using my handwriting eliminates that process, personalizes the piece and can be interpreted as an anti-computer statement all in one easy move.�
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adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ...
Isobel Williams
M ...
I met Izzy in October. I liked her instantly. She’s the sunshine kid.
O ...
Izzy: > is my favourite illustrator > doesn’t get in bad moods > refers to herself in the third person > has quickly become one of my best friends Check out Izzy’s blog she’s great.
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adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ...
Juxtaposition Juxtaposition is an image placement approach whereby related or contrasting images are placed side by side. It may imply similarity or dissimilarity.
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adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ...
Know Your Alphabet I found this poster at the 99p Store in Elephant and Castle. Its one of my favourite examples of an A-Z. It brings back childhood memories.
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adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ...
Letterpress Its taken a while - but I finally got to try letterpress. I enjoyed setting type by hand, it appealed to my obsessive nature. I hope to find excuses to spend more time in the letterpress studio this year.
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adams-alphabet A ...
Mantras I read Things I Have Learnt In My Life So Far by Sefan Sagmeister. I felt inspired to produce some mantras of my own. I like them, but I do feel this sort of typography is verging on pretentious. Also, I noticed writing mantras can make you think you’re wiser than you actually are. I just found a whole website of this stuff: Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far But two is enough for me. Who’s going to top Sagmiester anyway?
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adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ...
Newspapers What amazes me about newspapers is the speed and quantity with which we consume them. The rise of free newspapers means they are now more abundant and less valuable than ever before. Yesterday’s news is old news, but yesterday’s newspapers are forgotten.
J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ...
Origami “Our culture and society rest upon twenty six firm pillars, the letters of the alphabet, and they’re not going to give way that easily�
B ... C ... D ... E ...
In his book The Essentials of Visual Communication, Bo Bergtrom says it can seem as though pictures are our enemies, but letters are our friends.
G ...
He says most people are afraid of pictures; and analysing a picture can often say more about the person doing the analysis than about the picture itself, which turns the process into a kind of self-portrait. He suggests that on this basis we have to hope that the pictures teach us the value of admitting our secrets and the dangers of hiding them.
J ...
F ... H ... I ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ...
Poster, Print & Process
B ... C ...
I designed a poster to encourage my new course mates to join me for a night out in Hoxton (see Art School C*nts).
D ...
I printed it digitally, then made further prints using solar etching. This technique is similar to traditional etching but allows you to develop images directly on to the plate with UV light.
F ...
E ... G ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ...
QUACK! She is the mother duck! I owe her a lot, probably more than a load of cards with ducks on and one letter of an A-Z.
G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ...
Relationships
L ...
I’ve dated plenty of attractive girls but I’ve never been in a serious relationship. I’m 25; I wonder at what age I’ll start to get concerned?
N ...
M ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet A ...
Saint Sagmeister In the acknowledgements of the book How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul, it says; “Thanks to Stefan Sagmeister, the patron saint of this book.” Sagmeister has now been bestowed with the prestigious honour of the patron saint of Adams Alphabet. Sagmeister’s work has inspired me throughout this project and motivated me when I ran out of stream. (It was either him or Isobel Williams, and it couldn’t be Izzy because she’d love it too much).
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adams-alphabet A ...
Talent
B ... C ...
Do some people have a different way of seeing and thinking? Is talent gained from experience or are you born with it?
D ...
I think design can be learnt, yet some people have a natural talent for it. It pains me to admit it, but I don’t really consider myself to be a talented designer. I’m not sure I have the raw ability or the creativity.
F ...
I will work hard to be a technically strong designer. I would like to lead projects and work alongside the more talented designers. I do however, have some friends who are very talented designers and create beautiful works. Check out these guys: Rob Francis Joe Hughes Isobel Williams Mike Calandra
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adams-alphabet A ...
Universal Language Universal Language refers to the language of symbols. I designed a set of abstract symbols to be used by hunters. I don’t know any hunters, but I’m sure hunters would love them.
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adams-alphabet A ...
Vinyl
B ...
Vinyl is wonderful. No other format of music is collected and treasured like vinyl and most likely, never will be again.
D ...
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adams-alphabet Web Design I’ve dedicated this year to acquiring skills that will help get me employed. Knowledge of web design seems to be in high demand, so I’m studying short courses alongside the degree.
A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet Xerox The photocopier is almost regarded as obselete, but I still think its a great tool for image making. I used it a lot during our workshops at the start of the year and I think its good to embrace anything that gets you off the computer!
A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet Yellow I like yellow, it evokes happy memories. When I see yellow I think of sunshine, flowers, postit notes and rubber gloves. I think I’m correct in saying that the combination of yellow and black creates the strongest possible contrast of any two colours.
A ... B ... C ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
adams-alphabet Apple + Z
A ...
Apple + Z should be a sin! Which would make me a sinner.
C ...
I live in the ‘undo’ culture. I worry it makes me complacent. I know I should spend more time thinking and planning a design, but I head straight for the computer safe in the knowledge I can always ‘undo’. I wish I did more design manually. Letterpressing, screen printing, sketching and drawing. Even cutting, and pasting with scissors and glue. I’m going to make an effort to try for the remaining two terms.
B ... D ... E ... G ... F ... H ... I ... J ... K ... L ... M ... N ... O ... P ... Q ... R ... S ... T ... U ... V ... W ... X ... Y ... Z ...
Supporting work INTRO / title page VCT essay A-Z Supporting work PPD essay
Workshops The project began with 5 weeks of studio workshops. They were optional but I chose to attend as many as possible in order to intergrate myself into the course. The workshops were diverse; covering, amongst other things, technical skills, conceptual thinking, experimentation, research and analysis techniques, image making and contextual theory. Studio days were divided into three sessions with several workshops running during each session. This required us to select the workshops we felt would be most helpful or relevant.
Workshops Images from my chosen workshops.
Workshops Work produced during the studio workshops.
tradition
innovation
tradition
regal, royal, deep colours, jack wills, pimaries, bauhaus
bright lumionious, loud, contasting, apple, punk, secondaries
regal, royal, deep colours, jack wills, pimaries, bauhaus
Language of Colour
Adobe Illustrator workshop for Year One
Processing: The Language of Code
Workshops Work produced during David’s subvertising workshop. The brief was to alter an advert and reframe, or poke fun at, its meaning.
Printing inductions I signed up for a variety of print inductions over the term. They required a full day but provided an opportunity to experiement with new techniques. I produced some interesting work, some which I used in the content of my A-Z. The workshops I attended were: lino cut and relief printing, solar ecthing, collagraph, letterpress and screen printing.
Printing inductions Work produced during the print workshops. Clock wise from top right: solar etching, letterpress, lino cut, screen print, collagraph.
Talks Durng the term I attended two ECCA lectures (Enterprise Centre for the Creative Arts): How To Be An Eco Creative and Making The Most of Social Media. Both talks helped in the development for the A-Z. The Social Media talk was a catalyst for creating the blog, and the issues discussed in the Eco Creative talk directly influenced my letter G (green).
Sketch books I got through two and a half sketch books for this project ! I used them to record my thoughts. They are filled with concepts and themes for the A-Z, lists of letters and sketches for the layout.
Inspiration
1
Inspiration for this project came from far and wide. I collect the things that influence me. The items photgraphed were kept for all sorts of reasons: the imagery, use of type, layout, concepts, colours, information, etc; collectively they were my inspiration.
1 dividers and Playlist magazine 2 year planner 3 Coronation souvenir 4 posters from LCC 5 dictionary and definition of ‘language’ 6 Grafic and Vice magazines 7 UAL short course guides 8 collected leaflets 9 school portaits 10 design books 11 books on layout 12 non-design books 13 sketch books 14 free publications 15 ‘green awareness’ material 16 exhibition literature 17 illustration source material 18 silly postcards 19 colour wheel + favourite pen 20 family photographs 21 Wim Couwel book
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3 7
9
6 14
13 15
5
11
10
8
12 19
16
17
4
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21 20
6
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Design choices The design of the PDF has gone through many incarnations since the project began. Countless experiments with grids, layout, navigation, format and typefaces have led to the final outcome.
Making the letters The content of the spreads took considerable time to construct. The following pages give an insight into the process.
Making the letters
The blog The idea of the blog was to allow the work to be accessible to a much wider audience than a PDF or book would allow. This was my first experience of publishing online, I looked at several blogs for ideas and inspiration.
Bibliography Books
Websites & blogs
Periodicals
Made You Look Setfan Sagmeister
Lazy Oaf www.lazyoaf.co.uk
The Amazine Lazy Oaf
Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far Stefan Sagmeister
Facebook www.facebook.com
Student Guide VI Vice Magazine
Basics Design: Grids Ambrose & Harris
Lookbook www.lookbook.nu
Letterform Collected Grafik Magazine
Basics Design: Layout Ambrose & Harris
FDA Design For Graphic Communciation www.fdadgc.co.uk
Special Report: Music Grafik Magazine
The Essentials Of Visual Communication Bo Bergstrom
Indexhibit www.indexhibit.org
The History Issue Vice Magazine
How To Be a Graphic Designer Without ... Adrain Shaughnessy
Daniel Eatock www.eatock.com
How To Be Green by Nat Walker Monthly article,Grafik Magazine
Watching Words Move Chermayeff, Geismar & Brownjohn
Isobel Williams www.isobelwilliamsgotablog.blogspot.com
Playlist Weekly culture guide, The Times
Who I Am And What I Want David Shrigley
James Brook www.factoryalphabet.info
The Alphabet Of Manliness Maddox
Ella Camponi www.melikesyoualot.blogspot.com
80 20 100 Wim Crowel Crouwel Designs Warren Lee
Mike Calandra www.theloudmouthbraggart.tumblr.com Rob Francis anotherfuckingdesignstudent.tumblr.com
PPD ESSAY INTRO / title page VCT essay A-Z Supporting work PPD essay
This has been my first major project on the FDA, having joined the course at the start of the second year. I had previously studied part-time and short courses at LCC. The transition has been fairly difficult and I have found this project a considerable challenge. The projects on my previous courses had typically been 2-4 weeks in length with relatively straight forward briefs. This project could not be more different! I have been slightly over-awed by the scale of the project: the time given, the amount of work expected, the separate elements required and self motivation needed. The project has not been without its problems, but I feel I have learnt a great deal from the experience and produced some good work. The project began with 5 weeks of studio workshops. They were optional but I chose to attend as many as possible in order to intergrate myself into the course. The workshops were diverse; covering, amongst other things, technical skills, conceptual thinking, experimentation, research and analysis techniques, image making and contextual theory. Studio days were divided into three sessions with several workshops running during each session. This required us to select the workshops we felt would be most helpful or relevant. During these early weeks I was also able join Year One software training sessions and undertook several print inductions. By mid November, the workshops were completed and we were expected to begin work on the hundred page PDF. I quickly decided I wanted my project to exist solely as a digital
document, rather than designing something for print. An early problem I encountered was using grids so at my first tutorial Ben suggested I change the format from A5 spreads to single A4 pages, which David subsequently approved. This proved a very good suggestion and made designing the grid a lot easier. Another early idea was to put the work online, making it accessible to a much wider audience than a PDF or book allows. At that point I did not know how realistic it would be given the time available and my web publishing skills. At this stage I was lacking a clear idea of where I wanted to take the project, and although I had further group tutorials throughout November, ideally I would have liked some one-toone sessions to talk through my ideas and direction. I did try to arrange this but it was a very busy time for the tutors. In early December there was a formative deadline when we presented a draft version of the PDF. The feedback from my tutors and peers was positive. They felt my work had strong elements but also highlighted several areas to work on. It was suggested the layout could be improved by varying the size and placement of elements and allowing for more white space. I took the feedback on board and planned to continue developing the project after finishing work for my elective. However, the formative assessment had been the last week of term and the subsequent university ski trip, Christmas holidays and illness combined to distract me. It was quite some time before I got fully back into the project. I accept responsibility for this set back and have since worked hard to catch up, but I know I allowed myself to waste valuable time. Salvation came in the form of blogging and Stefan Sagmeister! Over the Christmas holidays I borrowed his book Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far. I read it from cover to cover; it kick started the project, provided a source of inspiration and helped me to develop my own ideas. I set about creating
new work for the spreads, but rather than concern myself with layouts I decided to record this work on a blog. I didn’t have time to build a website, but a blog was the ideal solution due to its template structure and quick publishing. I created a separate page for each letter and set up a navigation menu using basic HTML coding. The blog approach allowed me to focus on creating content for all 26 letters and view them as a collection. This really helped me to finalise a theme and make the content coherent. The blog went through many changes with some letters having several different posts created and tested. The format made editing the collection easy. Creating the blog also helped with the PDF design. The blog itself is clean and consistent with a generous amount of white space framing the blog posts. I wanted the spreads of the PDF to be more sophisticated and varied but still retain the feel of the blog. Although I know I should have made better use of the Christmas holidays, I did manage do plenty of reading. I read three books to help me address the issue of layout that had been raised in my formative assessment. These were: ‘Made You Look’ by Sagmeister and two books from the Basics:Design series; ‘Grids’ and ‘Layout’. All three have excellent examples of grids, image placement and handling of type. I hope I have been able to incorporate some of the ideas into my own design. I certainly feel I have a much improved knowledge of the area and that this project (along with my work placement report) represents my most considered use of layout to date. For the final weeks of the project I have been finalising the content of the blog and transferring the content to the PDF. Although at this late stage I have not allocated my time very effectively: I have spent a disproportionate amount of time
working on the spreads and content, and not really allowed sufficient time for the essays or supporting pages. I do not want to let myself down by failing to complete all the work required so in the future I have to allocate more time for any supporting work required. The theme of my A-Z is addressing what I have learnt about graphic design as a subject, and about myself as a designer and person. I am very happy with the finished PDF, I believe it represents a significant achievement and a considerable step up from last year, in terms of quality and contextual awareness. The design has been developed and informed through research. I have looked at numerous contemporary examples of work for print and web, and subsequently feel I have improved my knowledge of the subject. I have also become aware of important issues such as social networking, sustainability and the recession and their impact within the industry. I have taken the opportunity to learn new skills like screen printing and letterpress, as well as improving my design thinking and problem solving through the workshops. I have been able to utilise the feedback from my tutors and peers to good effect, taking on board their comments to lead me to further research and ultimately, improve my work. I feel publishing my work online represents a significant step forward. It has allowed the work to reach a wider audience (at the time of writing the blog had 45 views and had only been finished a week). This has helped me to gain further feedback, and also demonstrates an increased awareness of self marketing and self promotion. The area that has been least successful is self management. I am concerned by my lack of motivation over the Christmas break, and at not effectively allocating my time between the separate areas of the project. Looking back, it would have been helpful for me to have broken the project into subprojects to better deal with the large time frame.