MEGAN MCGURK
SEMESTER TWO 2012
ONE
I feel the type of project I respond best to is one which has a “tight brief”. The clear guidelines and demands can give me a bit of a framework that helps with getting things started. I think that if the project has a more “open brief” then i tend to struggle with a starting point and focusing on what i need to do to achieve an appropriate response.
TWO
I think typography tends to form a key part of my work. Its a part of graphic design that has always interested me, particularly Swiss typography such as the work of Josef Muller Brockmann. I wouldn’t say I’m entirely confident in implementing this style within my work so i need to improve on that as sometimes it doesn’t quite come together. I feel that the integration between my imagery and typography is working reasonably well but there is still room for improvement in this area too.
THREE
I feel that I have been most successful in my use of typography this semester. Mainly due to the Ministry of Sound brief requiring that I made promotional material that was ‘typographically focused’, therefore making me spend more time concentrating on the way i utilise typography. I feel I have learned a great deal about the subject this year and improved quite a bit on the way that I use it through out my work. There’s still a lot of room for improvement in this aspect of my work and hopefully I will continue to improve upon what I have already learned so far.
FOUR
The main problem that arose in this second semester was again, my time management, looking back on the past few months its quite disappointing considering the way I managed my time. I think at times I focused on certain aspects of the design process for longer that I should have if the brief was more open and unspecified. I definitely need to improve on this next year because I feel my work suffered quite a bit from my poor time management. I also need to improve on my development work and making sure I document the process in terms of screenshots of my work as I progress through projects and showing the various options that i may have made. I think I need to be a bit more confident with my work aswell, I would say that this held me back at times with going for a safer option rather than stepping out of my comfort zone.
FIVE
I can’t say I’ve put a lot of my personality into my work if I’m honest. I really admire the Swiss style of graphic design and although I’ve tried to instill that in my work, i think i still need to improve my skills a lot in achieving this. I feel the way to develop this would be to try and immerse myself in that particular style and to learn as much as possible by reading about the influential designers involved with Swiss graphic design.
Type of brief:
Integral elements:
Success:
Problems:
Personality:
D&AD Ministry of Sound Posters
University Logo
Photographers Book
Meltdown Festival Posters
Manifesto
1. Which brief did you choose and what opportunities and constraints did you identify in relation to the brief? Which aspects of your initial research have influenced your design work?
I chose the Ministry of Sound brief which required me to design a set of 3 A2 typographically focused posters. The posters where to promote the iconic nightclubs ‘Saturday Sessions’ over the months of September, October and November. I identified the opportunity to further expand the promotional material for the ‘Saturday Sessions’ and also created flyers for the events. A constraint was that I was restricted to a colour pallet chosen by the Ministry of Sound and that purple was to be quite prominent through out the design. The posters also had to make an immediate visual impact as they were typically seen from a moving vehicle. The Ministry of Sound’s promotional material is know to have a Swiss typographic feel to it so I thought I would carry that on due to these particular posters having to be typographically focused, my initial research influenced me quite a bit, especially the work of Josef Muller Brockmann.
2. Explain the concept you have come up with? The concept I came up with was to keep it relatively simple and to stick to the Swiss typographic style. I feel the use of colour and the way it contrasts creates the visual impact along with the typography for each month on the poster.
The concept I came up with was to keep it relatively simple and to stick to the Swiss typographic style. I feel the use of colour and the way it contrasts creates the visual impact along with the typography for each month on the poster.
3. Do you feel you have successfully met the creative demands of the brief? Indicate how you have done this or where the flawed decisions have adversely affected the design solution.
I feel i have been reasonably successful in meeting the creative demands of the brief and achieved what was required of me. However, I think the final solution could be seen as quite safe and to an extent slightly boring in comparison to what the Ministry of Sound have used as promotional material previously.
MINISTRY OF SOUND INVESTIGATE
MINISTRY OF SOUND SHAPE
Saturday 6th October 23:00-07:00 Size Matters Box: AN21 & Max Vangeli Prok & Fitch Ridney Third Party
SATURDAY SESSIONS
103: Future Disco Tucillo Sean Brosnan Dom Chung Saturday 13th October 23:00-07:00 Basement Jaxx
‘12
Box: Basement Jaxx Todd Edwards xxxy Krysko 103: Spacestation Justin Robertson Cosmonauts The C90s
Saturday 19th October 23:00-07:00
Saturday 27th October 23:00-07:00
Information
Release Yourself
Joris Voorn presents
Students £10
Box: Roger Sanchez –5 hour set Sebastien Drums
Box: Joris Voorn – 7 hour set
103 Stealth Live Filthy Rich Nick Bridges Kid Massive
103 Lauhaus Kabale Und Liebe Anton Pieete
Advance tickets £15 – £20. £8/£10 after 4am.
ministryofsound.com/tickets
ticketweb.co.uk. 08444 771 000 residentadvisor.net/mos. skiddle.com/mos
Guestlist & enquiries
nwilson@ministryofsound.com or 0207 740 8761 Get social!
facebook.com/ministryofsoundclub twitter.com/mosclub
youtube.com/ministryofsoundclub
Saturday 6th October 23:00-07:00 Size Matters Box: AN21 & Max Vangeli Prok & Fitch Ridney Third Party
SATURDAY SESSIONS
103: Future Disco Tucillo Sean Brosnan Dom Chung Saturday 13th October 23:00-07:00 Basement Jaxx
‘12
Box: Basement Jaxx Todd Edwards xxxy Krysko 103: Spacestation Justin Robertson Cosmonauts The C90s
Saturday 19th October 23:00-07:00
Saturday 27th October 23:00-07:00
Information
Release Yourself
Joris Voorn presents
Students £10
Box: Roger Sanchez –5 hour set Sebastien Drums
Box: Joris Voorn – 7 hour set
103 Stealth Live Filthy Rich Nick Bridges Kid Massive
103 Lauhaus Kabale Und Liebe Anton Pieete
Advance tickets £15 – £20. £8/£10 after 4am.
ministryofsound.com/tickets
ticketweb.co.uk. 08444 771 000 residentadvisor.net/mos. skiddle.com/mos
Guestlist & enquiries
nwilson@ministryofsound.com or 0207 740 8761 Get social!
facebook.com/ministryofsoundclub twitter.com/mosclub
youtube.com/ministryofsoundclub
Saturday 6th October 23:00-07:00 Size Matters Box: AN21 & Max Vangeli Prok & Fitch Ridney Third Party
SATURDAY SESSIONS
103: Future Disco Tucillo Sean Brosnan Dom Chung Saturday 13th October 23:00-07:00 Basement Jaxx
‘12
Box: Basement Jaxx Todd Edwards xxxy Krysko 103: Spacestation Justin Robertson Cosmonauts The C90s
Saturday 19th October 23:00-07:00
Saturday 27th October 23:00-07:00
Release Yourself
Joris Voorn presents
Box: Roger Sanchez –5 hour set Sebastien Drums
Box: Joris Voorn – 7 hour set
103 Stealth Live Filthy Rich Nick Bridges Kid Massive
103 Lauhaus Kabale Und Liebe Anton Pieete
MINISTRY OF SOUND
Information
Advance tickets £15 – £20. £8/£10 after 4am. Students £10
ministryofsound.com/tickets
ticketweb.co.uk. 08444 771 000 residentadvisor.net/mos. skiddle.com/mos
Guestlist & enquiries
nwilson@ministryofsound.com or 0207 740 8761 Get social!
facebook.com/ministryofsoundclub twitter.com/mosclub
youtube.com/ministryofsoundclub
REFINE
www.meltdown2012.com
RE- MIX RE- RECORD RE- RELEASE
The Electric Bedroom Mix
MELTDOWN FESTIVAL 2012
MELTDOWN FESTIVAL 2012
Celebrating the revolution of home computers in music. Music, moving image and performance events throughout June 2012.
The Electric Bedroom Mix Celebrating the revolution of home computers in music. Music, moving image and performance events throughout June 2012. The South Bank Centre.
The South Bank Centre.
• Royal Festival Hall
• Royal Festival Hall
• Hayward Gallery
• Hayward Gallery
• Queen Elizabeth Hall
www.meltdown2012.com
• Queen Elizabeth Hall
www.meltdown2012.com
MELTDOWN FESTIVAL 2012
RE- MIX RE- RECORD RE- RELEASE THE ELECTRIC BEDROOM MIX
MELTDOWN FESTIVAL POSTERS
Celebrating the revolution of home computers in music. Music, moving image and performance events throughout June 2012. The South Bank Centre. • Royal Festival Hall • Hayward Gallery • Queen Elizabeth Hall
x Re-Record Re-Release Re-mix Re-Record Re-Release Re-mix Re-Record Re-Release Re-mix Re-Record Re-Release Re-mix Re-Record Re-Release www.meltdown2012.com
x Re-Record Re-mix Re-Release Re-Record Re-Rel mix Re-Record Re-Release RE-MIX Re-mix Re-Record Re-mix Re-Release Re-Record Re-Releas Re-mix Re-Record Re-R RE-RECORD Re-mix Re-Record Re-ReleaseRe-mix Re-R RE-RELEASE Re-mix Re-Record Re-Release mix Re-Record Re-Release Re-mix Re-Record Re-Releas Re-mix Re-Record Re-Release Re-mix Re-Record Re-ReleaseRe-Release Re-mix Re-Record Re-mix Re-Record Re-Release The Electric Bedroom Mix
Celebrating the revolution of home computers in music.
Music, moving image and performance events throughout June 2012. The South Bank Centre. • Royal Festival Hall • Hayward Gallery
• Queen Elizabeth Hall
UNIVERSITY LOGO
MANIFESTO 1. What ideas were you trying to communicate through your written manifesto?
2. Explain how you translated your written concept into a visual artifact? Explain how you feel you have done justice to your concept. If you haven’t, tell us what improvements you would make?
3. Having written and designed your manifesto, how do you think can: use it to inform/direct your process? to bring your own agenda to design problems? to suggest directions for future exploration?
I wanted my manifesto to be about design, i didn’t really want it to be a manifesto of cheesy quotes on life so I made graphic design the main focus. Typography is the most interesting part of graphic design to me therefore i thought i would make the manifesto typographically focused. I was undecided for a while on whether to use images or not but in the end i felt keeping it simple with just the type would give the points more emphasis.
Taking into account that my manifesto was to be posted to people i wanted to design something that wasn’t just your typical junk mail and would get discarded. I decided to make my manifesto concertina folded so that hopefully the recipient could interact with it and it would stick in their mind. I think I could have improved a lot on this design and probably didn’t use it to its full potential, i was aiming for simple but i think in all honesty its a bit too simple and comes across as somewhat boring. I think if the background was more interesting then it would improve it, its also a bit impersonal and i think the addition of even a few images could possibly be a solution to this.
I think having written my manifesto its helped me a lot in realising where i could improve in my design process. Its helpful in that i can always go back to it for some suggestions if I’m ever struggling with an aspect of graphic design.
Manifesto Stay Current Be aware of the trends within the constantly changing design community. Collect Gather things that interest you or you think you might be able to use in the future for another project. It could be photographs, different styles of graphic design or even work of your favourite designers. Research Try to know as much as you possibly can about the projects you’re working on. It will help you in understanding the project better and also in making the best solution possible for the client. Ideas Try to avoid keeping your mind focused on one idea, you could end up thinking of another idea which is more suitable. Criticism Don’t take criticism personally, try and stay positive. Don’t seek praise, seek criticism. Take a Break Step away from your projects from time to time. Clear your mind of anything project related and come back later with a new perspective and possibly new ideas. Limits Don’t limit your ideas because you think the client might not like it, it only stifles your creativity. The could end up loving that idea anyway. Take Risks Don’t always try to play safe. Make something that is new to you, something that is not characteristic of you or your style. Step out of your comfort zone. Organisation Don’t leave all your work to be done at the last minute. You only rush it and the standard suffers, aswell as stressing you out. Take Responsibility Don’t make excuses to clients, colleagues and especially to yourself. Be truthful. Learn From Your Mistakes If an idea didn’t work out its not the end of the world, learn from it and move on. Complaining about it and saying you’re just going to go work in Lidl wont help. Experiment With Your Work Take time out just to mess about, even if you don’t use what you’ve come up with, you might learn something in the process. The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
DESIGN MANIFESTO
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE
Collect Gather things that interest you or you think you might be able to use in the future for another project. It could be photographs, different styles of graphic design or even work of your favourite designers.
Research Try to know as much as you possibly can about the projects you’re working on. It will help you in understanding the project better and also in making the best solution possible for the client.
Stay Current Be aware of the trends within the constantly changing design community.
Ideas Try to avoid keeping your mind focused on one idea, you could end up thinking of another idea which is more suitable.
Criticism Don’t take criticism personally, try and stay positive. Don’t seek praise, seek criticism.
Take a Break Step away from your projects from time to time. Clear your mind of anything project related and come back later with a new perspective and possibly new ideas.
Limits Don’t limit your ideas because you think the client might not like it, it only stifles your creativity. The could end up loving that idea anyway.
Take Risks Don’t always try to play safe. Make something that is new to you, something that is not characteristic of you or your style. Step out of your comfort zone.
Organisation Don’t leave all your work to be done at the last minute. You only rush it and the standard suffers, aswell as stressing you out.
Take Responsibility Don’t make excuses to clients, colleagues and especially to yourself. Be truthful.
Learn From Your Mistakes If an idea didn’t work out its not the end of the world, learn from it and move on. Complaining about it and saying you’re just going to go work in Lidl wont help.
Experiment With Your Work Take time out just to mess about, even if you don’t use what you’ve come up with, you might learn something in the process. The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
MEGAN MCGURK
TEL: 07905 863359 Email: meganmcgurk09@gmail.com
MANIFESTO
PHOTOGRAPHERS BOOK
PHOTOGRAPHERS BOOK REFINE
forward Archaeology has built a science out of what remains; life and beliefs from history are constructed from items lost or discarded by the people from the past that lived it and understood it. This past now exists in our lives with these few remaining artefacts, crumbling walls and stories of a long-gone existence. Over the last 2000 years we have come to know the Romans through these meagre means. Any gaps that remain in our knowledge of their daily lives, beliefs and myths are reconstructed until these too become mythologised. Even where these historical records fail the resonances in these myths and artefacts remain. In living so close to the Romans geographically, if not in history, we feel this resonance all the more.
EIRES Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, the messenger of the Gods. She was often represented as the handmaiden and personal messenger of Hera. Her name has a double meaning, being connected both with iris, “the rainbow” and eiris “messenger”.
NARK
Narkissos fell in love with in a pool. Gazing endless slowly pined away and w nymphs into a narcissus say he was filled with des killed himself beside the life’s blood the flower sp
Forward by: Claire Johnson, Collections Ready Officer, Tullie House Museum and Art Galley Trust Book Design: Megan McGurk
EIRES
dess of the rainbow, the he Gods. She was often ndmaiden and personal Her name has a double onnected both with iris, ” and eiris “messenger”.
NARKISSOS Narkissos fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool. Gazing endlessly at the reflection, he slowly pined away and was transformed by the nymphs into a narcissus flower. However others say he was filled with despair and remorse and killed himself beside the pool. From his dying life’s blood the flower sprang.
KROKOS
A
Hermes accidently killed his lover Krokos while practicing throwing the discus; his body transformed into the scarlet crocus flower.
Pri lov ga dis Co
of Persephone
lily hen
ADONIS Prince Adonis grew up to be Aphrodite’s favourite lover. Adonis was unlucky as a hunter and was gashed by a boar’s tusks and bled to death. His corpse disappeared and the wind flowers of spring, Anenome Coronaria grew where his body had lain.
Viola - Bouquet of Persephone The goddess Persephone and her companion Nymphs were gathering rose, crocus, violet, iris, lily and larkspur blooms in a springtime meadow when she was abducted by the god Haides.
Venus Goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite became the victim of love by falling in love with the human Adonis. When Aphrodite ran to her lover’s aid, she cut her foot on a bramble. Her immortal blood stained the prickles and the first rose grew where her blood had been spilt.
PHOTOGRAPHERS BOOK FINAL
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 1. How will you develop and broaden your technical abilities? I will develop and broaden my technical abilities by looking at more tutorials in my spare time and reading the ambrose and harris books which will hopefully help me in feeling more confident with my decision making when designing. I also plan on updating my website further, developing my abilities with the dreamweaver software. 2. How will you develop and broaden you knowledge of contemporary practice in relation to your own interests? I think that I could improve my knowledge in graphic design both historically and contemporary. At the moment I look at a few blogs and see what others are producing on websites such as Behance.net but i think there’s always room for improvement when it comes to finding out more about graphic design and the current trends within it. 3. How will you nurture and develop you current strengths? I plan to try and learn more about Swiss graphic design and its typography so that it will hopefully aid me in my own use of typography, as well as continuing to apply the knowledge I have gained from the course this year. 4. Where do you need to strengthen your game and more importantly how are you going to make this happen. What action needs to take place? I definitely need to strengthen my time management skills, I think that that let me down quite a lot this year and my work suffered because of it. I intended to be more organised this semester and not let myself feel over whelmed by the work but not much changed from the first semester. I think if i became more confident in my ability then i would be more motivated to start projects instead of finding them daunting and putting them off until the last minute. I also need to stop trying to play it safe and step out of my comfort zone aswell as improving my development work, i feel i don’t always put ideas down on paper and at the end of a project I don’t have that much development work to show my design process.
CONTACT DETAILS
Email: meganmcgurk09@gmail.com Tel: 07938624940