FLUX WEBZINE ISSUE 4, 31 AUGUST 2012
Editors Ben Smith Michelle Stark Jeremy Swanborough
Production Coordinator Ben Smith
Magazine Design Ben Smith
Submissions We encourage Brisbane-based readers to submit suitable artwork for consideration by Flux Collective. If you wish to submit artwork, please contact Flux Collective at mail@fluxcollective.com
Creative Director Michelle Stark
Digital Manager Jeremy Swanborough
Contributors Ben Smith Michelle Stark Jeremy Swanborough Shaun Cruickshank
Cover Design Michelle Stark
Typefaces PT Sans Pro Regular Catorze 27 Style 1 Book
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GUEST DESIGNER
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DIGITAL ART
BRANDING
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SEMI-PERMANENT
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5 -15 14
ILLUSTRATION
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EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
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Hi Readers, Perfection (per-fec-tion) n. The quality of being as free as possible from all flaws or defects. Our recent social media survey found that many of you identify as perfectionists or at least have tendencies towards perfectionism. I myself happily raise my hand as a perfectionist - not with everything, but certainly with design. But there is something to be said for the ability to surrendering to the lessthan-perfect. After all, perfection is a very subjective concept – particularly in design – and there is often great beauty to be found in flaws. One of my teachers some years ago introduced me to the term ‘happy accident’ – when something unintentional (often a complete mistake) results in the creation of something more beautiful than what was originally intended. What a wonderful and magical concept! This is a concept that in recent years has been embraced by some designers who value these beautiful mistakes so much that a whole new genre of graphic design has emerged.
Glitch design is the ‘art of the unexpected’ where designers turn an unintended fault (often a software malfunction) into a virtue, and turn what could have been seen as a setback into something beautiful. Some glitch designers plan and purposefully break the binary code behind images to create some surprisingly attractive effects. This week Ben has experimented with his digital art piece by randomly breaking code to see what could happen. Dysfunction and imperfection don’t have to be seen as something to avoid. It’s all about perspective. So I set this challenge for all those perfectionists out there – find the value in the less-than-perfect. Life is full of beautiful mistakes.
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M
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SEMI-PERMANENT
SEMI-PERMANENT CREATIVE CONFERENCE - BRISBANE 2012
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Yesterday Flux Collective attended the annual Semi-Permanent Event at the Brisbane Convention Centre and, as usual, the day was filled with interesting speakers, inspiration and general enjoyment. This year’s speakers included artistic entrepreneurs from a variety of disciplines, some of whom provided valuable insight into the industry, their creative processes, and some helpful advice for those starting out in design and other creative media. If you didn’t get to the event, here are some highlights…
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SEMI-PERMANENT
BEASTMAN Best known as a street artist, but not at all comfortable with that title, Beastman has been heavily influenced over the years by skate culture, and the magazines, layout, and photography that accompany it. After studying graphic design he focussed on his own artform, painting odd household items, pizza boxes (one eventually sold for $80!), whatever he could find that spoke to him. He soon developed his signature style, which now makes use of bold colours, patterns, symmetry, repetition, and street art-inspired line work. His process begins with sketching thumbnails to develop his concept and composition. He then creates a final sketch on his chosen medium before adding colour and finishing the piece off with line work. A self-professed perfectionist, his artwork is hand-rendered from start to finish and requires a great degree of accuracy and patience, using rulers, compasses, masking tape, and a very steady hand to achieve his beautiful results. His advice is simple: “paint as neat as possible with every stroke�.
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BEC ORPIN Graphic designer and illustrator, Bec Orpin shared a timeline of her career and presented some simple advice to an attentive audience. A Fashion Design dropout, Bec eventually found her form as an Illustrative textile designer, and later graphic designer, and has had work commissioned by big names including Mambo, Sportsgirl, Kit Cosmetics, Melbourne City and Visa Japan.
her advice: • • • • • • • •
pu ters ou tside of com Lear n to design thin gs you love Ge t involved in hing y yes to ever yt In th e st ar t, sa Tr avel ness skill s Ge t som e busi beyond Go ab ove an d w thin gs Ke ep tr ying ne ur self st ay tr ue to yo Be flexible bu t
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SEMI-PERMANENT
TOBY + PETE Collaboration was a significant theme in the presentation by Toby + Pete, a generalist multi-media studio in Sydney, with clients worldwide. As a collective they have the ability to undertake all forms of design, digital imaging and CGI, illustration, interactive media and motion graphics, and a look through their portfolio can make one’s jaw drop (www. tobyandpete.com do it!). Some of their clients include Hahn Super Dry, Daily Juice, P&O and New Zealand Icecream, Bundaberg Rum and Parklife.
their advice: • •
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Fin d the right pe ople (& don’t rush in) You must be able to tru st these pe ople, have trust in their desig ns an d work practices Develop a culture of res pe ctf ul honesty – everyone must have the abilit y to give an d receive honest fee db ack .
They present themselves as “specialists with generalist interests”, and allude to trends in the industry where studios are wary of ‘generalists’ who spread themselves thinly over a variety of skill sets. They feel that collaboration is key in the current market, but are aware that finding the right mix of people can sometimes be a challenge. They believe they have been lucky in their collaborations, but stated that at such a professional level there are no members that appear lazy or let the team down in other areas – they would not have made it that far with work practices like that.
BEC WINNEL Bec Winnel, self-taught artist and commercial illustrator, is a shy woman and self-professed hermit who loves to be nowhere more than at home in the country drawing by herself, with her dog Olive by her side. She made the transition from hobby illustrator to working commercial freelancer by first putting all of her artwork on Etsy. com, blogging about her work, entering competitions and sending in work to businesses that she liked. She now does Fashion illustration for a variety of overseas Fashion labels, has done work for Cleo magazine, and Element, and has recently collaborated with Brisbane-based studio Design Front on marketing for the Sleeping Beauty Ballet. Her creative process begins by making a collage in Photoshop, using stock images or original photography. This is simply to get a workable reference image from which to begin illustration. She then sketches, adds colour gradually, and – if for commercial use – scans at 600dpi into Photoshop, where she refines the image further, tweaking colour if necessary.
her advice:
pe titions • En ter com e rtunities onlin • Se ek oppo • Write a blog azines (e g. ur wor k to mag • Submit yo Webzine!) azine – or Flux Ju xt ap os e Mag e role m odel s • Have positiv t you’re wor th • Charge w ha c can be a ow n wor st criti • Bein g your go od thin g ss y fit s” per self 2 “artis t hi ur yo w lo Al • se curit y can lf doub t an d in se re he w , ar ye ss – bu t lost an d hopele make you fe el push through it!
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BRANDING
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RACHEL RICHTER PHOTOGRAPHY RE-BRAND This branding project was undertaken for a popular local photographer, who required a logo that would accurately communicate her unique selling points and provide a flexible branding solution that allows for targeted marketing to different segments of her client base. Rachel Richter is a unique photographer who has gained her reputation as a result of her distinctive personality and the enjoyable experience she creates for her clients. These are the elements I wanted to capture when creating her logo. The result was a logo ‘sister series’ - one logo with three different representations, differing in colour, which can be used to market to the four key areas of her work children, families, special events and commercial work. The logo itself is constructed with two overlapping watercolour dots which communicate Rachel’s playful creativity. These dots are also slightly transparent to allow for her images to show through slightly when the logo is placed on top. Custom type was created to reflect a hand written signature, and the heart element was added to communicate the personal touch that Rachel adds to all of her photo shoots. This was a really enjoyable project and both of us were really happy with the final result.
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ILLUSTRATION
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Portraiture is one of the more complicated but enjoyable styles of painting, with so many things to take into consideration. The human face is the most naturally recognisable signifier to us, any major anatomical errors can destroy not just the appeal of seeing ourselves, but connecting with an emotion or story behind the face. I always enjoy being captivated by the eyes of a painting, it’s so fascinating how something so lifeless and two dimensional can bring about strong feelings and emotional connections to our own past. With the popularity of photography, very little portraiture occurs. It is definitely a fine art and takes a tremendous amount of focus and attention to detail to replicate not just the face, but mood, body language and history. When I was a kid I loved pretending, living on a big property with untouched bushland behind me I would spend hours and whole weekends imagining I was an Indian or an explorer. So it’s no surprise that some of my favourite memories are from these times.
- J*
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DIGITAL ART
The art of creating something that isn’t conventionally perfect is quite a beautiful, yet equally complex achievement. Furthermore, the mere concept of planning and completing a design, with the intention of later ‘destroying’ it, is also quite unorthodox. Glitch designs allow us to break free from those everyday design norms and to experiment in countless ways. To create the initial design a series of abstract elements were created, printed, cut out and composed onto a single sheet of paper using glue. This was then scanned and edited in Photoshop. Once this had been completed, the manipulation of the image code begun. Now there’s no right or wrong way to do this – it’s all about experimentation; you just have to continue manipulating or ‘breaking’ the code, until you’ve achieved a satisfactory result. For the final version of the design, the image was cropped in order to focus on a specific portion of the design. The art of imperfection is as equally important and interesting as the art of perfection. Glitch designs allow us designers to unconsciously create something amazing – just by having faith and seeing where the code takes us, I recommend you all try it!
- B.
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GUEST DESIGNER
shaun cruickshank Shaun is a graphic designer who has tried his hand at many trades, including automotive mechanics and cadastral surveying. When he’s not working away at completing his Bachelor of Design or planning events with Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) Queensland Student council, he’s in the outdoors cycling or visiting his family on North Stradbroke Island, where he grew up. His passions in the area of design fall into the technical categories, typography, layout and print design, specifically letterpress printing. Shaun endeavours to produce the most appropriate outcomes using the least amount of design and materials, in the most suitable mediums. He holds a Diploma of Graphic Design and is now completing his degree, with a focus in Socially Responsive Communication.
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GUEST DESIGNER
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we asked shaun... SCREEN or PRINT PEN or MOUSE TEA or COFFEE EARLY BIRD or NIGHT OWL SERIF or SANS-SERIF TUMBLR or PINTEREST
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next issue... 14 SEPTEMBER 2012
featuring ... the return of our designer profile feature. :::: new branding design :::: new illustration :::: new digital art :::: & another exciting guest designer