Lawrence Oliver RIchards | Portfolio 2011

PORTFOLIO and SAMPLE WORK for

LAWRENCE OLIVER RICHARDS INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGNER London, UK dt901lr@gold.ac.uk +44 (0) 7791 638071 Lawrencerichards.info _

“LAWRENCE WOULD LIKE YOU TO BELIEVE HE IS A COMPETENT AND ENTHUSIASTIC MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGNER. BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT IS NOT THE WAY IT WORKS IN THIS GAME.”

_

HELLO THERE: HOW DO YOU DO? A QUICK RUN THROUGH ABOUT ME, AND THEN, MORE OF THE SAME

This is my portfolio, hope you like it. This document is intended to give you an idea of the scope and level of skills I have, whilst looking visually tidy to boot. I decided to go for a magazine feel, why you might ask? Well, for starters I’ve worked in publishing and am already ahead on that front, secondly I think the format suits the purpose, a document that is full of content (my work) that is presented in easy to read, well formatted manner.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME I’m a 23 year old student of design at Goldsmiths college. Being 23 is only a number, but it does befit me with some extra experience outside the realm of academia that is a useful real world practice.

I’ve spent a lot of time outside of my home country and find it both relaxing and empowering to travel, experience and be culturally challenged. That said, I always return to design and the facets that relate to it. I have a passion for most of the disciplines associated with design such as photography, illustration, model making, graphic design and design theory. I’m not going to go into details here (see my cv) but I’ve been involved in the industry in most of those capacities. I like to think these skills will make themselves known through a practical outlet (i.e. in this portfolio).

“There was something about him, he seemed to be good at everything! And great with tea and coffee.”

This has never actually been said.

I HOPE I’M MORE THAN A NUMBER. My skills in design are one thing,

_

but I’d probably never wholly rely on them as my sole personality trait. My interests are wide ranging and varied, I try and be involved in as much as I can when not engrossed in work. I like to think I have a decent sense of humour (this portfolio could not have been made without one) and a personable and easy going demeanour. Having spent a fair bit of time in various countries and environments I feel like I have a relatively well rounded and broad spectrum of knowledge. What I may lack in specific skills I make up for in vision and diversity, and I at least think that is something more valuable than a mere competency.

WHAT I’M NOT GOOD AT I’m taking a relatively bold punt at this, but in the interests of being transparent it would be nice to say what I’m not great at. Like any human I can struggle with a steep learning curve but I like to think I can work effectively without guidance or excessive management and come to a conclusion on my own. I have a lot of energy but on occasion this can become out of control and less focused. I like to think that all time spent working towards something (and end goal) counts towards the process. I’ve come to realise in recent times that although it can be disheartening to work at a task for a long time and not receive the exact outcome you desired, the knowledge, skills and other outcomes along the way more than make up for it. At least I hope I’m right in thinking that.

1

Live project

Logo

Acrophobia

Publishing

5 6

2 Web work

Superordinary

7

3 Personal

Typologies

8

4

CONTENTS These are my projects, They range from physical product design to visuals, Graphics and film. The majority were undertaken at Goldsmiths college, The others are a range of personal work and freelance.

04 _

L O R

05 _

3D Modeling

Publishing

My affair with publishing and the dying industry that it is grows day by day. I’ve spent time at a publishing agency, interned at a few magazines and continually seek to improve my grids and layouts, like any good nerd that is worth their salt. As the profession becomes more sustainable I try and keep up, implementing digital and online alternates such as issuu.

Although I never fully got further than constructing wooden dinosaurs as a kid, I have recently aquired a fondness towards working in 3D. Firstly for concept and idea generation, which actually works, and secondly; to produce both physical and virtual mock ups to a professional and polished level. It’s coming along.

Photography

Ideas

With all due respect, there is no such thing as a non photographer.

In this industry the need to be able to visualise with a sensor like eye are crucial. However I do have experience beyond just using a canon ixus. Having learnt photography from the ground up (film/slide development disasters, days in dark rooms, wrecked eyes on lightboxes etc) I have a generally strong knowledge of the process. Also having participated with a stock agency has improved my corporate sheen, noice.

06 _

I have always dreamt big but been aware of the limitations. Being at Goldsmiths is like an opportunity to think big then actually do that thing rather than strip it down and recontextualise it to something realistic. This hopefully translates to a more open and dynamic thinking mode, making bold honest decisions and not backing down.

Writing Illustration Alongside the design industry I have had a long and sordid relationship with writing.

Originally I wanted to produce isolated niche short stories and plays, however as I progressed I realised there was more opportunity to write reviews for magazines.

MyVillage.com (online editor) synagrams.tumblr.com (some travel ideas)

Travel

I have always wanted to pursue illustration more than any other aspect of my character. Having a background in art practice it always was the driving force, the instigator of design. As I became more involved in the industry they became melded, and the feedback from each affected and produced a result. Today I don’t draw enough (I’m honest) but if I get any free time soon I really want to get back to drawing, for reals.

Travel is the wild card in this collection. Although it is not a actual skill, it is an experience and it has driven most if not all of the other attributes. Whilst travelling I developed most of my digital photography skills.

I was compelled to write about my experiences and document them creatively.

In the downtime I freelance for various insane clients abroad. And what better time waster than doodling whilst waiting for another transport method to arrive?

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE 07 _

Print

I would say a fairly large heft of my design work and freelance has been print.

Whether magazine considerations, logos, branding, zines etc I’ve had a go at most. I can work to a print brief no problem, visualise, and produce accurate outcomes.

I have experience of colour reproduction, preflight and all that techy paraphenalia. I’ve spent many hours at local printers, either sides of the counter and I reckon this is reason enough to say I know what I’m talking about.

Drew first accurate Giraffe. Cemented both creative and animal interests

Born on this earth (1987)

High School Education (1998 - 2003)

Developed strong desire not to remain in hometown, Portsmouth. (ongoing)

Freelance work Portsmouth (2005/6)

Travelling/living it up (2006-2008)

08 _

Freelance work San Francisco (2009)

Living in America! Oww! (Winter and Summer 2009)

Began degree (2009)

Lose social life (Year 2)

Develop social life (Year 1

Aim to complete Degree (2012)

09 _

10 _

THE LIVE PROJECT: FINDING A PUBLIC VOICE LIVE PROJECT

STUDIO

CONCEPT

PRESENTATION

This was my most recent and most well regarded design project whilst being at Goldsmiths. It was an industry led project taking place live with two clients, LAND SECURITIES and PAICE DAP. Land securities are a large, influential and rather corporate investor in properties and PAICE DAP are an art collective who work with various outside artists and designers to improve the urban spaces around us. The task was a difficult compromise between the forward thinking and concept based work of the DAP and the money driven concrete reality of the world of LAND SECURITIES. We felt this discrepancy between clients was something of a major issue and also conversely an interesting to explore aspect as a direction itself.

We found the difficulties in working were actually a stimulus, and an interesting aspect in itself.�

One of the main reflective comments I had regarding this project was the interplay and compromises arising between client, land owner and artisitic mentor. Although the clients opinion distracted our plans, the outcome produced was a sum of these conditions and as such could not come about without this exact progression.

11 _

A PLACE FOR RESEARCH IN NEW STREET SQUARE The first part of the project involved a large amount of research, into the current client of the site, the user of the clients (shop clientele) and the site itself. We organised independently several interviews with shop owners and users of the site, whilst simultaneously recording as much information as possible.

Obviously the problem of collating and reflecting upon such a large volume of data is a tough task, and we went about setting up an ad-hoc community site where we could upload research and allow other members of our team to work alongside or separately.

12 _

newstreetsquare.tumblr.com

13 _

14 _

IDE AGOR A S

PIR AT E R ADIO

Our research and personal tastes led us to follow three distinct paths. The first grouping ‘Ideagoras’ was the culmination of the perceived need to allow collaboration in a space otherwise devoid of creative direction. We looked into previous examples of tools and instruments that used collaboration in their design, i.e objects required more than one person for anything to happen. Our ideas centred around digitalizing the square itself and making interaction with certain parts lead to a artistic outcome.

The theme of pirate radio came out of our concern with creating a physical presence in the space. It seemed relatively straightforward to create a system of public communication that was invisible to everyone but the users. This also had a extra bonus of being anonymous to all apart from the users, making it a comfortable and gratifying experience without any of the responsibility of owning up to it.

15 _

16 _

BC BL IN D COM MUN IC AT ION

Blind communication is the name we had given to the idea that people could communicate without necessarily knowing that they were, or without others knowing. Our intentions were to create a pseudo world that could be influenced, modified and experimented with, in the square, that would not impact physically only virtually.

We realised the predominance of actions could have an alternate action to them. The idea was to get people to vote with the way they acted, the places they frequented, the things they ate and the way they threw things away. All these votes could be used to create messages, or act merely as a statement themselves. Then after time and exposure the public would be invited to create their own polls and the cycle would become internal, with no need for outside influence or administration.

17 _

LIVE PROJECT

{ 1

The aim of the live brief was to bridge the gap between public art and industry development.

We were tasked by Land Securities (a prestigious land developer and investor) to provide a place for a public voice. In our investigations we searched for a method to allow public interaction whilst retaining anonymity. We felt this was important to aid the reduction of inhibitions and aid a more open space.

We also noted the cold and intense environment of the square and wished to rectify that.

18 _

WEBSITE {A

The website incorporated the need to confess, and therefore become a public voice whilst retaining the anonymity of the confessional.

The intention was the release of the confession, making it worthwhile. Therefore when the user submits a confession, they are given a direct link to the seed being dispensed into the garden.

After time the seed grows and bears that confession, and the user can choose to locate the progression of their submission. The plants were chosen for their hardiness, integrity and reliable propensity to flower often and regularly.

NEW STREET SQUARE’S

Grow my Confession

U

U

Garden of Confessions

U

U

f

NEW STREET SQUARE'S

You're confession is being sown

U

U

Garden of Confessions

19 _

insular behaviour that is prevalent in the square. We had the interface complete from the previous incarnation of the concept. We looked into a method for making tangible the link from submitting a confession.

It utilizes these existing technologies.

SEED DISPENSER. Used by the RHS for accurately dispensing the exact amount of seeds per click.

This would allow the correct seed to be used.

Our plan was to solidify the concept of a garden that was created from the seeds of secrets, a garden of confessions. The concept focused on the core drive to turn something negative, a secret/confession into something beautiful, and in turn encourage more people to interact with the space and defy the quiet,

the technological bent of the design worked well in juxtaposition with the organic nature of the garden being reared of its own accord.

TWITTER. We of course used twitter to get the confessions in their infancy out to the people, creating a feedback loop which people can access and also if they feel obliged, can show others their confessions.

We proposed having these on a 5 way arm that would be able to allow the user to choose the seed they preferred.

SKYCAM ARM. Used currently for the sports industry including the superbowl and sky sports. It would be implemented to allow the seeds to be placed anywhere in the garden, on an arbitrary grid. We felt

OUR FULL PRESENTATION CAN BE FOUND AT ISSUU.COM/LAWRENCERICHARDS/GARDENOFCONFESSIONS 20 _

“HOW WE IMPLEMENTED THE INTERFACE INTO PREEXISTING TECHNOLOGY.”

21 _

CLIENT: LAND SECURITIES

CLIENT PRESENTATION STILLS FROM THE CLIENT BRIEF PRESENTATION. We presented our final concept to Land Securities and PAICE DAP at their main office in the strand. The presentation contained the bulk of our relevant research towards the space and the renders and illustrations pertaining to the garden and greenhouse structure and planning.

ISSUU.COM/LAWRENCERICHARDS/DOCS/GARDEN_OF_CONFESSIONS

22 _

23 _

24 _

Images from the final render of the garden in situ at the site in new street square. Greenhouse and environment handmade from scratch in google sketch up.

25 _

26 _

THE ANTISOCIAL A SERIES OF INTERVENTIONS IN THE CANNON STREET AREA

he antisocial was a project based on territories, and the inherent problems and unplanned behaviours that occur in them. The intent of the project was to locate an activity, or many, that could be interpreted as antisocial, or even prosocial. These would vary from the obvious and common to the more symbolic and subtle. I was given the Canon street area in London’s financial district. After spending many days there I felt a more deep connection with the location and its given features.

_

28 _

lounger which seemed the most incongruous device to attract the most attention. Using James as a lure, complete strangers became interested in participating and the isolated space in the middle of the road suddenly seemed an enviable place to be.

INTERVENTION A This was to reuse urban space; introducing some incongruous objects to create a new usage. I had seen a few people use the islands in the centre of road as places to walk. These areas all along the main road were almost rendered useless due to the large amount of traffic I wanted to reappropriate the usage of the area. I put down a sun

INTERVENTION B Mainly this was Improved signage, indicating service information.

One of the primary problems with the area is the difficultly in get around when on foot. I investigated the use of service information signage for pedestrian usage. The sign mimicked the London underground livery, with the intention that the public would be used to the existing signs and follow the actions of the board without question.

INTERVENTION C Road crossing prototype. The road crossing on Upper Thames

THESE STILLS ARE FROM THE ANTISOCIAL CONCEPT MOVIE THAT CAN BE SEEN ONLINE AT LAWRENCERICHARDS.INFO

29 _

street is completely unfriendly to the pedestrian. With construction work littering the traffic islands and fast moving traffic in each direction it can feel completely isolated trying to cross, and as a pedestrian you feel unwanted. I tried to make the user feel more in control with the use of a prototype shield that would be used to offer a psychosomatic cure to the fear of crossing roads.

INTERVENTION D I had also seen tourists in the area, and as it’s mainly a business district this seemed strange for them to want to be in such a place. I decided to try and map out new routes they could take, accommodating the main historical areas and missing out the noisy areas of construction.

I mapped out the routes with the London Transport emblem, envisaging the kind of system they would potentially incorporate.

THESE IMAGES ARE FROM THE WEEKS OF RESEARCH THAT TOOK PLACE ON THE STREETS OF CENTRAL LONDON, TRYING IDEAS, INTERVIEWING THE PUBLIC AND GENERALLY TRYING TO CREATE AS MUCH CREATIVE CHAOS AS POSSIBLE.

30 _

MAPPING

TERRITORIES

ALONGSIDE THE ALTERNATE WALKING MAPS I PRODUCED A SET OF LONDON UNDERGROUND THEMED POSTERS TO PUBLICSE THE EXISTENCE OF THE MAPS AND CAUSE FURTHER INTERVENTIONAL CHAOS.

31 _

32 _

A SOLUTION ON A THEME MY INTIAL EXPERIMENTS LED ME TO PRODUCE AN MAPPING BASED OUTCOME. The project culminated in the creation of a fabricated map, and the usage of that in the given area.

It mirrored existing metro maps – and metro pastiches – such as the Edinburgh Innertube.

OUTCOME B Short concept film displaying potential usage and integration with existing schemes and institutions to provide an alternate mapping tool and pedestrian advantage. This was used for the final presentation as a means to convey how a potential system would be implemented, based on existing schemes and utilising already developed iconography.

OUTCOME A Reappropriated transport map, accommodating pedestrian routes, impedances, problems and highlights, based on observations of area.

33 _

_

The finished print, folded and positioned like a real tube map.

The Pinnoccio of transport maps if you will. _

THE SUPERORDINARY

A SYNESTHETIC EXPERIENCE

THE SUPERORDINARY

Was a study of the subjective, how do you define the superordinary?

That is, something not ordinary, neither extraordinary, but the impression of something very ordinary. My process led me to define what I believed to be a valid and acceptable sentence to describe the implied meaning. It was on the extrapolation of counter intuition, and that something must

exist at the furthest position from what is defined by the ordinary. My definition was as follows.

For my outcome I began to toy with the idea of altered perceptions and became slightly obsessed with the notion of synesthesia and the cases of natural altered perceptions that exist commonly in plenty of people. Synesthesia is

“SUPER ORDINARY IS THE ELUSIVE ENTITY THAT CAN MOST EASILIEST BE CATEGORIZED BY A LACK OF CONTEXT OR REVERSAL OF NORMALS. IT IS A PHYSICAL AND THEORETICAL PERCEPTION THAT CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT A REFERENCE TO AN ORDINARY. ON A SCALE SUPER ORDINARY COULD BE SEEN TO BE AT EITHER ENDS, WHERE ORDINARY REMAINS IN THE CENTRE.”

36 _

3

basically the occurrence of a mixed signal in the brain where once a relatively normal (now subjective) interpretation and perception would be garnered, instead a mixed up perception would be recorded, one imbued with extra data, that is not necessary for the person, but becomes the signature of the condition. I wanted to produce something that instead of fully altering someones perception, removed a part of their vision, so as to make each time using it a different experience add an extra layer of sensory experience that a normal user would not achieve.

29 _

_

39 _

40 _

SYNESTHESIA COLLECTION AVAILABLE ONLY FROM MY ROOM The secondary outcome was an info graphic to motivate and inform people of synesthesia, and encourage more general interest in the subject. I worked as a culmination of my research and a way to present it that had further implications than merely being printed - that had a longevity to it.

41 _

42 _

My love of typography has been a long and relatively illustrious.

I started making fonts purely as modes of procrastination. As ways of filling the void between jobs or actual work, I quickly realised they were themselves their own projects with motivations, briefs and intentions. And as stand alone products of research and experimentation. I firmly believe in the power of typography to influence, affect and add a dynamic to the text it is used in. That said it can also merely be an aesthetically influenced piece of visual art.

The examples here are from my personal works, some were born from other briefs, others merely done for a bit of fun.

“TYPOGRAPHY IS A SUBJECT CLOSE TO MY HEART. ALTHOUGH I MAKE MAINLY CONTEMPORARY CHARACTERS, A LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY UNDERPIN THIS.” MADE WITH ILLUSTRATOR AND A FEW THOUSAND CALORIES.

4

43 _

_

45 _

46 _

LO

SELECTED LOGOTYPES VARIOUS LOGOS AND BRAND IDENTITIES FROM FREELANCE AND PERSONAL PROJECTS (THE ONES WHERE THEY DON’T PAY YOU ENOUGH)

47 _

GO

Cirriculum Vitae an infographic representation

8

My curriculum vitae was a product of my continuing and burgeoning obsession with info graphics and similar visual themes. I wanted to basically create a resumĂŠ that focused on what I had done and skills I had learnt whilst displaying them in a way that actually justified the information. It was basically a meta-cv. Inspired by the a variety of sources from information-is-beautiful to the ok-cupid blog it was a nice illustrative project that also happened to satisfy my need to be part of the real world.

48 _

49 _

AN EXCERCISE IN GRAPHICS

COUNTING FLOCKS IS AN IMAGINED TITLE, BORN FROM WHAT I IMAGINE WOULD BE POPULAR, CURRENT AND IMPORTANT

COUNTING FLOCKS BOOK DESIGN Counting flocks was a fictitious book created for a proposal to Phaidon. The style mimicked the trend of similar covers.

Stylistically it focused on truncating the

50 _

essentials of the story into a succinct package. The fonts were chosen to complement the simple graphics rather than overpower them.

51 _

MOCHA BRIDE MAGAZINE WHILST LIVING IN SAN FRANCISCO I WAS THE JUNIOR DESIGNER AND ILLUSTRATOR FOR THIS BAY AREA MAGAZINE

or the start up magazine I worked as their layout designer, marketing assistant and illustrator. I assisted the art director Lauren Golik in producing print friendly page layouts and advertisement material.

I worked alongside photographers in optimising the spreads and worked directly with outside clients for the advert designs. All graphics and illustrations were original and bespoke for the magazine.

M B

52 _

Examples of page spreads and layouts from the magazine and client based advertisements. _

RESTART MAGAZINE RETHINKING THE GAMING MAGAZINE INTERFACE FOR A CONCEPTUAL GAMES MAGAZINE

54 _

SEVERAL PAGE SPREADS FROM THE FINAL EDITION OF THE MAGAZINE

55 _

WEB I have for a long time run and managed my own personal website, under various monikers over the ages. From the original incarnation ‘desiccatedpears v1.1’ to the current ‘lawrencerichards.info’ I have always maintained a web presence even if no one is actually watching. In this time I have learnt to use various platforms and discovered the magic of coding the hard way, through trial and error.

LAWRENCERICHARDS.INFO

56 _

57 _

58 _

BRANDING

LOGO/GUIDELINES/STATIONARY For the San Francisco based ‘Bay Investment’ I completed a full branding measure with accompanying stationary.

The logo was chosen from a substantial list of options and made available in two themes. Business cards were provided in positive and reversed out colours and letterheads conceived in line with overall aesthetics.

59 _

_

61 _

Thank You!

If you would like to get in contact about anything, design, philosophy, the world, maybe something preferably relevant to this portfolio, then that would be great. Links are down bottom.

Thanks for at least getting to this part.

This document was made using a 9 column grid with 4mm gutters at a cost of many low quality energy drinks. It took a number of days and I would like to thank Adobe InDesign CS4 for not being compatible in any way with CS5.

http://issuu.com/lawrencerichards +44(0) 7791 638071 dt901lr@gold.ac.uk www.lawrencerichards.info

62 _