James Bradley Semester 2
Overview of Semester 2 Type of brief: The more open briefs have allowed me to impose my personality onto the designs more and create something I am more pleased with. However I feel the tighter briefs make me work harder and faster to produce an out come for the “client�, as well in some cases the work has been better than if I was allowed to wonder as I stay focused.
Integral elements: My work is heading for a mix of pattern and typography at the moment, not just because of my manifesto project. There seems to be underlining elements of patterns in most of my work from the university logos to work I did on my work placement. I would like to explore the route of pattern more in the third year through editorial design and see what this leads onto.
Success: I am getting better at putting ideas onto screen sooner than later and developing these ideas. Also I am my developing eye for detail however my motivation is still my biggest success as I feel if I can keep this going I will be able to achieve anything.
Problems: My biggest problem was getting stuck on paper and not wanting to use the computers, but I feel I have changed and I am more interested in getting the idea and then working it out more onto the machine.
Personality: My interests are growing into my work through pattern design but also colour. I feel the more confident I am getting as a person the more my personality comes into my work and am able to express myself. I would like to explore the experience of using something, as I love to travel to get that feeling of experience and new interest, be interesting if I can get this into my work.
Overview of Projects
D&AD Whisky for Women
Meltdown Festival Posters
University Logo
Manifesto of Myself - Pattern Book
Photographers Book
Out in the World
D&AD project. A brief explanation of my project. Whisky for Women At the start of this project I felt the only option was to create something that was already on the market, but I soon worked out this was the wrong approach as everyone else would be doing this. Which gave me the opportunity to be experimental and explore new possibilities. I was looking at women’s daily routines and one thing that stood out to me was the “pill” which I saw as a way into making my product.
Concept From thinking about the pill I came up with the idea of the powder whisky that girls could take into nightclubs within their bags and save themselves a fortune on their night. By just mixing some of the powder into an existing drink. The idea of seeking drinks into nightclubs came from a lot of female friends hiding a small vodka bottle into their handbags and doubling up their drinks when inside the clubs. I decided to hide the whisky as a Tampon packet and a Pill packet to recreate what my friends were doing in a more successful way.
Creative Demands I feel if my decision making was faster and stronger I would of been able to come out with a much better finals. I feel I needed to focus on the brands and stories of these product I came up with a lot more than I did. I met most of the demands the brief gave to me but I got to focused on making the items like the items I was parodying.
Investigate I hit onto the idea of creating a powdered Whisky in pill form that women could easily take. So I started exploring medical packaging to make some kind of parody/sleath product.
Shape So I decided to take the form of a medical or femine hygiene product for my product and took to put the whisky in powder pouches which could be easily hidden in a handbag or pocket.
Refine I found myself making the packaging to like the items I was parodying, so I had to start trying to bringing Whisky icongraphy back into with use of colour then small changes.
Meltdown Festival
University Logos I was looking to bring in some imagery but also pattern into the logo to give a reflection of us and the area but also some kind of pace.
Manifesto A brief explanation of my project. Ideas? My manifesto is trying to explain who am I but also keep ideas behind how I operate as a person. Thought this was a good way to approach writing this so at the end of the project I could send out the Manifesto when I was applying for more placements in the third year.
Making it Visual I started by just visualing the point through quick thumbnail drawings of scenes but soon found I wanted to explore pattern in my visuals. I feel I could of shorten my manifesto alot, espically when I got on to the later stages of the project I did.
Inform/direct process I feel points like ‘Nothing is Impossible’ and ‘Everyday is a good day’ I should use when ever I am approaching anything new and espically in design work. Not to shy away from something that be more challenging than I was wanting. Which will defiantly something to think about over summer and into the third year to push my work further. To explore things I have not touched really like video or daring web design.
Manifesto of myself. Nothing is Impossible. The only limitation is me, I have to work for the things I would like in life.
Try everything once. I want to try everything at least once, if I don’t like it, I don’t have to do it again. Then I least know why I don’t like it.
Opportunities are everywhere. All the opportunities I could possibly ever want are in front of me, I just have to see them.
Everyday is a good day. Everyday is a good day, no matter what happens.
Fresh air, Fresh thinking. Change your environment, go outside, things will become clearer. I go for a cycle ride or a walk to give me head space.
Change things. Most things we interact in our daily routine, have been designed. We all have the chance to change the things around us. The power is in your and my hands.
Travel. Travel broadens the mind, exposing you to new possibilities and ways of understanding. I gain confidence every time I go somewhere new; this year I am flying to USA alone and spending 10weeks doing something that I have never done before.
Self doubt. The doubt of not being able to do something drives me to work harder to achieve the goals.
Understand. I try to understand what is happening to me and then I can react accordingly.
Headphones kill conversations. Remove head phones out or at least just wear one, especially on trains. What’s the point of us being alone when there are so many people around to talk to!
Kleptomania. I pick up everything that looks remotely interesting. From off the street, out of cafes, anywhere! They always seem to come in handy at the oddest moments.
Dolphins are evil. Dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals and their friendly appearance and seemingly playful attitude is the perfect cover for their evil plans, once they have developed legs and breathing techniques for land who knows what will happen.
Hang it high. I hang anything and everything from my ceiling, makes any object more interesting.
Investigate I became interested in patterns from looking at designers like Kaptiza & Studio Myerscough. This stage I was really exploring which path I was willing to explore for this project.
Shape I started trying to visualise my points through the use of imaginary but it became increasingly asbtract and geometric. I was getting influence by Kaptiza heavily but also designers like Sasha Prood.
Refine Started on illustrator descontructing my manifesto into typographic elements and turning them into a pattern but through doing this I discovered the importance on getting the orginal text to work with the new pattern.
Final Manifesto of Myself on Issuu Redesigned Website Check out on Behance
Photographers book
The Quarry
The Quarry on Issuu The Quarry on Youtube (showing Concertina) This was the main photography book for this project, I was only given a tiny bit of body copy so I decided to make it as a concertina book like the postcard books you get on holiday, I also thought the format would fit in well with the narrative of the book.
Always the Vigilant Sentry
Always the Vigilant Sentry on Issuu Was created for Frances Hawkins for a book she could sell at a photography exhibition she was featured in. So I wanted to keep it simple and easy to mass print off for her. We sold all the books we produced.
Out in the World. Work Experience Placement
Deep Chocolate Cake Mix Straight from your oven to your family. 12 servings of deep chocolate cake, Just add eggs, milk & sugar.
365g
Serves 12
I spent two weeks at Alpha ON:TRAC a food marketing company where I was an active member of the design team, which I have been invited back before I go to USA this summer and once I finish University. These items of work were pitched to the cilents. The two cooking related designs above where for The Ludlow Cake with a mock up for the front of their ready bake cake mix and a pattern for their boxes and tea towels. Baxter logo was for proposed to an Haulage company.
Apple & Bannut Cake Mix
Straight from your oven to your family. 12 servings of moist apple and dark Bannut, Just add eggs, milk & sugar.
365g
Serves 12
THE {CAKE Co}
Apple & Bannut
Apple & Bannut
Straight from your oven to your family. 12 servings of moist apple and dark Bannut, Just add eggs, milk & sugar.
Straight from your oven to your family. 12 servings of moist apple and dark Bannut, Just add eggs, milk & sugar.
Cake Mix
Cake Mix
Freelance
Three hour project to create a poster for performing artists charity show in Carlisle.
Temporary website for photographer Frances Hawkins, whilst I am building a more senstive website for her.
Personal Development Plan How will you develop and broaden your technical abilities? Within my work experience placement at Alpha ONTRAC: I noticed my technical skills werent as good as I had wanted them to be. So I am focusing on learning shortcuts within the creative suite but also using new skills by doing more online reading about the software and exploreing more.
How will you develop and broaden your knowledge of contemporary practice in relation to your own interests? I read alot of design books but I feel I need to get myself reading more contemporary and online soucres that are not things like Creative Review and eye magazine. I say this because they dont offer how to do things, so websites like abduzeedo but also find networks withing pattern and edithoral design.
Where do you need to strengthen your game and more importantly how are you to make this happen. What action needs to take place? I need to get my final pieces and concepts up to a better standard to stand out when submitting work to companies and web sites. Going to do this by playing more on the computer and learning new skills. As well I need to get my work out more and developing contacts. I have found twitter has been really good for meeting people within the design industry so I want to develop on my internet presence and see where this can lead.
How will you nurture and develop your current strengths? I still feel my greatest strength is my motivation and willingness to work, so I need to keep pushing myself and not taking the easy route. As I feel this will lead to the biggest pay offs for me. I need to do more freelance work, my first placement has invited me back to do work for them when I want to out of term time, but I feel need to get something running along with university work to keep me on my toes. I have found doing mulitple projects at one time have allowed me to develop better than being focused on one thing.
Email:
hello@jabradley.co.uk
Phone:
07540401912
Website:
www.jabradley.co.uk
Blog:
www.melonwall.com
Behance: www.behance.net/jabradley Issuu:
http://issuu.com/jabradley
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/jabradleydesign