Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION OUIL603 Extended Practice
Level
06
Credits 60
STUDIO PRACTICE Statement of Intent Name Naomi Smith Blog Address ns254958@students.leeds-art.ac.uk Date 10/02/2017 Rationale I want to stick to analogue drawing processes because I have learnt from experience that I really struggle with the process of drawing digitally, especially with vectors. Avoiding this will allow me to develop my drawing skills further and start to really understand how I work best and what drawing materials and processes work well for me. I need to develop my Photoshop skills for editing scanned imagery created with analogue processes and for making patterns. This will allow me to produce professional quality outcomes effectively. I understand that I am not a pattern designer so my main focus is on creating the imagery, but I would like to learn more about the process of creating a repeating design. I need to be making professional quality, sellable products because I need a strong body of work to present in my portfolio which is relevant to where I want my practice to go. I need to explore paper and textile applications of my work because in order to understand more about how and where I really see my work existing in the market and I can figure out what companies, agencies and people I should be making contact with in relation to this. I have shown image application through digital mock-ups in the past but I want to make use of the facilities in college to help me understand the physical process of application. I want to make work that I am proud of because then I will be able to talk about it with confidence and believe it is worth something. I will have a more positive attitude towards my practice as a whole if I know the intentions behind it are to do something constructive like expand people’s knowledge and make them happy and hopefully encourage them to make positive changes. Themes / Subjects Nature, lifestyle, non-fiction, greetings cards, publishing, literature, mental health, relaxation, de-stressing. Products / Methods of Distribution Book covers, online formats for books, greetings cards, giftwrap products, stationery, prints, product ranges, publishing, editorial. Practical Skills / Media / Formats Analogue drawing processes, digital editing, digital printing, screen printing.
Brief 1: Penguin Random House To Kill A Mockingbird Deadline 7th March 2017 Rationale: Design a new and classic cover for the book that is timeless and confident and appeals to a new generation of readers. It should have an imaginative concept and be well executed with a strong use of typography. (Adult Fiction Cover Award) Brief 2: Penguin Random House The Secret Diary of Adrian Deadline 7th March 2017 Mole Rationale: Design a new cover for the book that encourages children to pick it up and buy it for themselves. It should also engage an adult audience who might want to buy it for a child. The jacket needs to work as a whole but the cover should work by itself for online purposes. The design should have an original interpretation of the brief and also show good understanding of the marketplace. (Children’s Cover Award) Brief 3: YCN UK Greetings Deadline 23rd March 2017 Rationale: The brief is to create my own range of greetings cards, notecards, notepads, gift bags and wrapping paper. The brief is very open so I feel I could use this to explore what I really enjoy and apply it to stationery design. The ideas need to work as a collection so they need to be displayed together as well as individually. Brief 4: Papyrus Colouring Book Deadline 27th March 2017 Rationale: Create a visual representation of something that helps me feel calm and relaxed with a line drawing which will be used as a colouring book page. Include an explanation of the relevance of the image. This is for Papyrus which is the national charity for preventing young suicide. Colouring has been proven to calm the mind and relieve stress and anxiety so this design is to go towards a colouring book called ‘The Art of a Peaceful Mind.’ Brief 5: The Batsford Prize Deadline 4th April 2017 Rationale: The theme for the competition this year is ‘Interpreting Nature’. They are looking for entries that are innovative and well crafted. The work should reveal something about nature and our relationship to it. This is a very open brief and the theme of nature is a subject I am keen to work with anyway. Additional Project Proposals Continue with self directed brief from semester one which was based on facts about the natural world. This could feed into my work for the Batsford Prize 2017 because the theme of this is interpreting nature. If I have time I would like to have a go at the YCN Roald Dahl brief. This is not a priority for me as illustration for children is not where I see my practice going but I think it would be good to do anyway. I might find that I enjoy it. ‘Out of Order’ Print for Colours May Vary Exhibition – I am going to develop on my context of practice work for this and hopefully take the final image into screen print. My major project based around lifestyle and living well.
Contextual References Primary research into stationery and greetings cards by going into the city centre and seeing what is available already. Look back at OUIL505 research – could this feed in to Papyrus colouring book brief? Information from visiting Quentin Blake’s Exhibition at The House of Illustration last summer. RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Reading books for Penguin briefs. Deadline 17th February Details Read To Kill a Mockingbird and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole to get inspiration for the book cover. I have read both of these books before a while ago but it would be good to refresh my memory. RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Book cover research for Penguin Deadline 20th February briefs. Details Go to bookshops, look at book covers that stand out. Also look online for inspiration or what not to do. Look at previous covers of the books I will be illustrating to understand previous approaches and aim to make mine different. RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Read Roald Dahl Stories Deadline 20th February Details Read some of Roald Dahl’s Books to decide whether I would be interested to take on this brief. Making this decision early will allow me to plan my time better. Reading a couple of books should not take too long at all, maybe have a go at some quick sketches too. RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Nature facts. Deadline 15th March 2017 Details Build up a bank of information that could inspire my work for the self directed project I want to continue with but also for the Batsford Prize. Think about the tone of voice I want to use and the intentions behind the work. Is it purely to inform/educate or could it be used to raise awareness off environmental or other issues? RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Find new short briefs. Deadline 5th May 2017 Details Continually research other briefs and opportunities coming up which are relevant to my practice and could also feed into this module.
BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS / TEXTS - (Harvard Referenced) To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ - Sue Townsend Hygge: A celebration of Simple Pleasures – Charlotte Abrahams Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World – Williams and Penman The Opposite of Loneliness – Marina Keegan MAGAZINES / JOURNALS / ARTICLES – (include publication date and details) Related to major project : Prima, LivingEtc, Lunch Lady, Oh Comely, Marie Claire, Elle Living, Country Living, Monocle, Flow Magazine, Vogue Living. ON LINE REFERENCES / WEBSITES / ARTICLES (include specific URLs) QI Daily Facts - http://qi.com/feed Waterstones (adult) - https://www.waterstones.com/category/fiction Waterstones (children) - https://www.waterstones.com/category/childrens-teenage W H Smith - https://www.whsmith.co.uk/books Creative Safari - http://creativesafari.com OTHER REFERENCE MATERIAL (Films, events, exhibitions, conferences) Village Books Leeds Library Primary research for greetings brief – Paperchase, Ohh Deer, Joy, Oliver Bonas, etc.
ACTION PLAN – use this section to identify specific tasks that you need to complete in order to resolve the brief. Brief What do you need to do? 1 Catch up on blogging for briefs completed so far. Make presentation boards for these briefs too. 2 Read books for Penguin briefs. Initial ideas for book covers.
Deadline 13th Feb 20th Feb
3
Final deisgn for ‘Out of Order’ print. Make screen printing arrangements.
17th Feb
4
Make final prints, sign and package.
24th Feb
5
Development work for Penguin book covers. Final roughs.
27th Feb
6
Create final artwork for book covers following the brief guidelines. Allow time to ask for help on InDesign/Photoshop from tech support. Complete by 3rd, actual deadline is 7th. Idea generation and development for Papyrus colouring book pages.
3rd March
Complete final design. Is it possible to do a time lapse video of me drawing out the final image? Complete by 15th, actual deadline is 27th. Complete at least 10 images for illustrated facts self driven brief.
15th March
Developmental work for Batsford Prize. Make decisions about submission.
27th March
7 8 9 10
10th March
20th March
Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION OUIL603 Extended Practice
Name Date
Level
06
Credits
60
STUDIO PRACTICE Project Proposal BA (Hons) Illustration - Level 06 OUIL603 Extended Practice – Major Brief Naomi Smith Blog Address ns254958@students.leeds-art.ac.uk 10/02/2017
Rationale For my final major project I am going to focus on analogue drawing processes and digital manipulation of these images. Avoiding drawing on screen will help me to develop my physical drawing skills and also allow me to be more experimental with media and drawing processes. I am hoping to improve my Photoshop skills to create professional quality outcomes and also learn about how to format images for different purposes. I also want to learn more about the process of making a repeating pattern from my illustrations. I want to improve my presentation skills and learn what clients will look for in a portfolio. By the end of this brief I want some strong content for my portfolio that I am confident to talk about. I also need to be researching into where this work could exist in the real world and contact the right people to show them. I want this project to expand people’s knowledge, make them happy and hopefully encourage them to make positive changes in their lives. Having good intentions behind my work makes me feel proud of it which is what is needed for me to talk about it positively with confidence. I want to explore paper and textile applications of my work to understand the physical process of application rather than just making digital mockups. I need to make use of the college’s facilities and technicians to help me fully understand how to physically apply my images onto various surfaces. This will take the project beyond image making and into physical products. Themes / Subjects Nature, food, travel, lifestyle, happiness, health, cultural customs, behaviour, the mind, Professional Context & Contextual References Editorial, product ranges, publishing, prints/artwork.
Title: Lifestyle and Living Well Brief Produce a body of work around the theme of living well and taking time to look after yourself.
Products & Proposals Paper based products, potentially including: calendar, diary, journal, note cards, greetings cards, wrapping paper, postcards, prints, colouring book, stickers, etc.
Function & Context Inform, educate, inspire, reduce stress and anxiety, make people happy.
Homeware products and textile applications.
Product, editorial, publishing.
Editorial illustrations for relevant features including lifestyle articles, recipes, etc. Illustrations for a non-fiction book based on a particular lifestyle concept/theme. Context & Distribution
Audience & Tone of Voice
Gift shops, stationery shops, department stores, independent/boutique stores, online.
Primarily female audience but not exclusively.
Magazines, online magazines or blogs, magazine apps.
People who need to de-stress, take time for themselves and want to find enjoyment and appreciation for the little things in life.
Book shops, online book sellers.
Calming, positive, sophisticated.
Additional information/Considerations There are a lot of current trends and fads around this theme which are popular at the moment. I need to think about how can this move away from what has already been done so that the content is not too repetitive. I have kept the brief broad at this point as I don’t want to restrict myself too early on.
Deliverables Completed products and proposals photographed and displayed on boards. Physical products will be included where appropriate.
ACTION PLAN – use this section to identify specific tasks that you need to complete in order to resolve the brief. Week What do you need to do? Deadline Research where this range of outcomes could exist in the real world. 1 Go to book shops, find relevant magazines and publishers, locate 10th Feb shops where these products might be sold.
2
Research currently popular lifestyle concepts and find out what people are interested in at the moment. Acknowledge the trends and think about how I can use these.
13th Feb
Start drawing! 17th Feb
3 Find five relevant magazine articles I could potentially illustrate.
20th Feb
4
5
6
Find some example of current editorial illustrations around this theme and analyse them – Do they function well? How could they be better? Broader research, collect information from a wider range of sources that may be relevant. Cookbooks, magazines, internet, blogs, films, books, etc.
20th Feb
3rd Apr
7
Produce a broad range of initial drawings and experimental work. Experiment with process.
3rd Apr
8
Reflect of progress so far and produce developmental work with a more focussed direction.
14th Apr
Refine ideas and plan for final outcomes. 21st Apr
9
Make finals. 1st May
10
11
12
Presentation boards, presenting of final outcomes. Get feedback if possible and make any amendments before printing. Print slot booked for 11th May. Make sure everything that needs to be printed is printed by the end of this day.
8th May
11th May
RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Research Hygge and other ‘living well’ principles.
Deadline
13th February
Details Research into current lifestyle trends. What is forecast for next year? Can these different trends be combined and interwoven into something new?
RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Research content
Deadline
3rd April
Details Find recipes, crafts, activities, facts, etc which can be included as written material.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Process
Deadline
14th April
Details Experimentation with media. Appropriateness of media both for the subject but also for production.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Production
Deadline
27th March
Deadline
21st April
Details How would this be made professionally? Printing, binding, specific details and costs.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Distribution Details Where would this be sold? How would I present it to clients? Can I contact these people?
BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS / TEXTS - (Harvard Referenced) The Little Book of Hygge - Meik Wiking Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey The Impostor’s Handbook – Ross McCammon The Year of Living Danishly – Helen Russell Hygge: A celebration of Simple Pleasures – Charlotte Abrahams Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World – Williams and Penman Creative Confidence – Tom Kelley and David Kelley Clean Slate, A Cookbook and Guide MAGAZINES / JOURNALS / ARTICLES – (include publication date and details) Store Magazines (Food) – Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, etc… Store Magazines (Home) – Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Next, Zara Home, etc… Prima, LivingEtc, Lunch Lady, Oh Comely, Marie Claire, Elle Living, Country Living, Monocle, Flow Magazine, Vogue Living ON LINE REFERENCES / WEBSITES / ARTICLES (include specific urls) W H Smith Lifestyle Magazines - https://www.whsmith.co.uk/dept/magazines-lifestyle09x00016 Hygge House – Alex Beauchamp - http://hyggehouse.com/hygge Wellness Today – www.wellnesstoday.com Stylist Magazine – www.stylist.co.uk/life Betty Magazine – www.bettymagazine.co.uk Instagram - @toast @theplantroom @cerealmag @91magazine OTHER REFERENCE MATERIAL (Films, events, exhibitions, conferences) Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2016) Small is Beautiful – A Tiny House Documentary (2014) The Kindness Diaries (2015)