Introductory Studies Samantha Thomas BA Graphic Design Level 4
Jou
01
urney Home
"Using the idea of a map you are required to visually represent your journey from college to home or visa versa. Consider means of exploring this that you would not usually notice e.g. the flora you pass by, street signs, sounds, bus routes etc. Also consider less tangible ways of tracking your journey home e.g. thoughts and song titles. Consider incorporating elements associated with maps such as a compass and/or a legend. You may use collage, typography, photography and/or drawing or a combination of them. The essence of this problem lies with making the connection between two points of a personal journey and how you visualise it. It also lies with the methods that you use to document that journey e.g. taking a photograph every 50 steps or recording every green front door that you see. Adopting a method to document your journey will allow you to develop more comprehensive ideas. There are no size restrictions, however the use of google as a research/reference tool is banned."
When I was in the presentation at the start of the project, the image below was shown from another student’s final project. The use of sound waves prompted me to consider how to initially record my journey. I started to consider alternatives to just recording visually, and I decided to try recording the sound of my journey home, and then visualising that.
This is the original sound wave of the 40 minute walk home. On this journey, there were several events, such as loud roadworks, and ambulance passing, and going through a supermarket and doing some shopping.
This was all whilst trying to hold a conversation with my housemate. I found that the conversation was interrupted a great deal by the ambient noises of the route home, and I found that this guided my treatment of the image further into the project.
The only method I was able to find to extract the visual of the sound was to screenshot it in a program called Audacity, then crop it in Photoshop. The issue with this method was that the resulting image was quite low quality. After a tutorial where I mentioned this problem, I decided to work with this, rather than try and find an alternative method. I felt that the low quality of the image could reflect the grittiness of the sound I was working with.
When I was playing around with the colours, I tried out several alternatives. First, I was trying to make the colours really electric and interesting. I also tried using natural colours like blue and green, to reflect the fact that the conversation was outside, and around nature. For the last one, I chose to go with really bright, in-your-face colours, to try and reflect the nature of the sounds that were interrupting the conversation (roadworks, ambulance, etc.)
This was my first design for this project. I had listened to the recording, and put snippets from the conversation along the top, and loud sounds along the bottom. I had used a typeface that had a hand drawn feel to it, to give personality to the speech and sounds, however, the one I chose only had uppercase characters. On reflection, it was not the most appropriate choice, and doesn’t add anything to the design. I decided to stretch the design out longer next time, so I could fit more information on. I also decided to try out different methods of annotation, as this method was just the first I came up with.
This was an idea of the layout I could use if I were to use a folding book to display the final piece. This would have been the first page.
I feel that the production of my final piece could be improved greatly. As I was limited on funds as well as time, I printed it out over several A3 sheets, then cutting them down and sticking them together. This left visible seams between each page. To improve, I would invest in large scale printing, and get it printed over one sheet. The feedback from my silent crit was largely positive, but some points were mentioned. It was suggested that I could use the type of the conversation to replace the image of the soundwave. This would make the design clearer I think. I could also put the text on both sides of the sound wave, rather than just the top so that it is more balanced. Another Point that was made was that it looks like the sound wave is going off of the sides of the pages. This would easily be fixed with some spacing being added at the start and end.
02
Life & Death
"Choosing the right time to overtake a lorry on a busy road can mean the difference between life and death. With this in mind visually reinterpret two images to appear on two rear panels of a lorry’s doors. The left side must represent life, while the right represents death. The objective is to visualise a clear and meaningful graphic statement about life and death."
Initial Ideas 3D image of inside of lorry Use symbolism/metaphors Purely typographic Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff (moment before and after realisation of mistake) Pills? (Difference in dosage can make the difference between life and death) Lazy person vs. danse macabre - who is more alive? Young girl dancing vs. skull
I really struggled at the start of this project to come up with an idea that I was happy with. This delayed the start of my visual development. I eventually just went for one of my simpler, more obvious ideas, and tried to make it special with the visual styling.
This illustration style was achieved by tracing the basic shapes of a skull using the brush tool in illustrator, and then applying the blend effect to certain parts until the desired effect was achieved. I was taught how to use this tool in one of Eden's tech demos, and I then applied it in a different situation. It took several attempts to develop something that I felt looked enough like a skull to use.
I then tried to use the style I had used on the skull on an image of a dancing girl. I had initially planned to use the style on the whole of the illustration, but when it came to doing the body, I couldn't get the lines to convey the shape very well. I, therefore, decided to simply outline the subject, to try and keep with the style as best I could.
In retrospect, I think it's good that the lines are only dense for the hair. If the style had been used throughout, the illustration would look messy and over the top. After some feedback, I made the arms slightly longer as they looked too short on the original, and I also darkened the shorts, to balance the girl when placed next to the skull.
This is the tracing of the lorry template. I feel that having to trace this, and not just being given the template was really helpful, as I was not particularly familiar with Illustrator, and this really helped to get me used to the tools and way of working.
Overall I am pleased with my final result; I am happy with how the overall design balances and draws the attention of the viewer to different sections, and I really like the illustration style I ended up with. What I feel could have been improved with this project is the process I took to the final piece. Because I had a lot of issues just trying to decide on a concept, I didn't start actually designing until quite late in the project, and this left little time to experiment. If I had just made a decision, rather than worrying about it, I could possibly played around with the design more, and explored other ideas.
Through t
03
the Letterbox
"This assignment encourages you to start to think like a Graphic Designer. This way of thinking requires that you constantly observe, question, explore and form opinions about the environment in which you live. It also means that you understand that your opinions may differ from others. The essence is that if you want to effectively visually communicate to an audience it is vital that you are clear as to what you want to say, who you want to say it to and how you want to say it. This brief creates opportunities for you to develop your visual awareness and your critical analytical skills. It also creates opportunities for you to explore different methods of generating concepts and ways of presenting them. Select from one of the three newspaper articles provided to you. Summarise the key points. Research the background to the story and form an opinion about it (you do not have to agree with what you have read). Produce a visual message that expresses your opinion to a chosen target audience."
After reading all of the articles, I decided to look at the one titled " Police use of Ripa law threatens our civil liberties and press freedom" by Roy Greenslade for the Guardian. The first thing I did was to summarise it, taking it from 371 words to 192, making it much easier to see the key points. I also used the library databases and searched for related newspaper articles. The main feeling I got from the article was that there was a lot going on behind closed doors that the public don't know about. The article focused on how "The police are misusing Ripa" with regards to sources of stories in the press. After some further research, and discussions in tutorials, I had moved into looking at how there was a similar feeling of hiding what an organisation was doing, this time with how clauses are hidden within terms and conditions. What really struck me with the terms and conditions is how long some of them could be, and how unreasonable it was for these websites and companies to expect us to read them to use their services.
My first idea was to post a poster that was folded up, and as the receiver unfolded the poster, there were facts about terms and conditions, e.g. length in words, or average reading time.
After a tutorial, I had expanded my idea of what I wanted the project to be. It had been suggested that I could design an exhibition in a gallery to bring the subject to attention, and then what would go through the letterbox would be an invitation to the exhibition. I also started looking into designing a website for the project in Adobe Muse.
When I was trying to develop a logo for the exhibition, I found it very difficult to work with the letters of the title, as the T and C face opposite directions and don't work well together. I took a lot of inspiration from both the Victoria & Albert museum logo, and the National Geographic logo.
To further develop the exhibition spaces, I added the concept of having a related object in the centre of the room, to link the reams of text back to something tangible that the viewer could find more tangible.
I found the actual production of the images quite difficult, as I was unable to use photography within the short timespan I had, so I had to try and edit something in. If I had more time, I would have liked to photograph the items, to make the mock-up look more realistic.
This was as far as I was able to get designing the website. If I had more time with the project, I would love to finish this, and add things like about pages, and a link to a petition. However, it took me a while to get the hang of Muse, as it was a completely new program to me.
I decided to keep the idea of a poster, and sell it at the exhibition. It could also be used in public spaces to advertise the exhibition.
04
Lectures & W
Workshops
Lectures with K The Power of wow
Non-verbal Communication
07.10.14
14.10.14
Find something that makes people go wow - 3 weeks 28th Oct
Body language - watch people and how they interact
"Designers should read about everything except design" ~Philippe Starck
Auteur Theory - a form explanation that depends upon notions of expressions and individual personality.
Fallon associates - fallon.com Tidyman ABE Books
Phenomenological + Hermeneutic - stressing the role of the individual continuousness
Kirsten Semiotics
Advertising
28.08.14
04.11.14
The study of signs in society
Memorable
Ferdinand de Saussure 1857-1913
Heritage - nostalgia/history (Hovis ad) comes back in a recession
Signifier Signified object/thing
meaning/associated value
Denotation connotation literal meaning percived meaning Syntagm - relations of signs/differences Paradigm - relationships of signs that can be exchanged for one another
Social Grades A - Higher managerial, admin or professional B - Intermediate managerial, admin or professional C1 - Supervisory or clerical + Junior management, admin or professional C2 - Skilled manual
Icon - resembles original object
D - Semi-skilled/unskilled manual
Index - Direct link between sign and what it represents
E - Lowest levels of subsistence: widows, casual workers, unemployed
Symbol - Stands for something (learnt, not obvious)
"Adverts only make sense when considered in terms of the social worlds around us. Context = important" ~ Greg Myers - Ad Worlds
Myths - takes an existing sign and makes it function as a signifier on another level (cocacola Santa Claus)
Creativity 11.11.14 Creativity is in creation + learning by Arthur J Gopley Emotional Intelligence → creativity John Sorrel Problem Identification "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources" ~ Albert Einstein IDEO Malcolm Gladwell: The Tipping Point & Blink Edward de Bono - Lateral Thinking Convergent → ← Divergent ← →
Photojournalism 18.11.14 Context? Who tool it? Reporting - news Social media - personal value Intrusive Negative → corruption → Photoshop Evidence → volatile → intent/motive Question Everything Black & white vs. colour Paparazzi → Princess Diana's death War photographers News story →always controlled News Hierarchy - politics sometimes hidden - dead donkey → buffer story Act of photographing an act → part of the act Illustrations where photos can;t be taken Falsification of history - Stalin Iconic photos - reproduced and parodied
Software Sessi Illustrator Sessions
InDesign Sessions
The first session introduced the basics of Adobe Illustrator CC 2014. I was introduced to the basics of setting up an Illustrator document (including bleed and page sizes), what the various tools do, and setting up the workspace. We were then asked to use this knowledge to reproduce a company logo.
These sessions introduced the basics of InDesign, including how to place an image, manage type, use character and paragraph styles, and set up master pages to maintain a consistent look throughout the project. The outcome of these sessions has been mainly this display book, which was created in InDesign.
The second session started to build on the knowledge gained from the previous session. We started using extrude and bevel to create some 3D objects, and then we used the blend tool to create shadows that are very useful for using within flat design. We were then asked to use these skills to create a business card and a logo for ourselves.
ions With Eden
Perfect Bookbinding To do perfect binding, you fist gather all the pages and put them into the binding press, spine down. The press is the rotated and opened at the bottom. Glue is then applied to the spine in both directions, and then the glue is left to dry in the press. After that, strength is added to the spine using various methods, including adding string to the spine, and gluing paper around the spine. End pages are added, and then the cover is glued onto the end pages.
London Trip Part of the ACT UP campaign in the 70's to fight AID's
On Wednesday 1st October, we took a trip to London, with a focus to seeing the "disobedient objects" exhibition at the V&A. On this page is picture some of my favourite work from the exhibition.
Part of the "Guerrilla Girls" work, in protest of the imbalance of women in art galleries Chalk art on the pavement on the route back to the bus
Items used by various groups in protest, including Quebec students in 2012
References Ford. J. (2014) "Farewells". Bournemouth Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff. (n.d.). [online image]. Available from: http://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/ wile_e_coyote_and_road_runner-cliff.jpg [Accessed 21st November 2014] Victoria & Albert Museum. Logo. (n.d.). [online image]. Available from: http://exhibit.brandlicensing.eu/ble2010/ Data/EC/Event/Exhibitors/81/coLogo1.jpg [Accessed 26th November 2014] National Geographic. Logo. (n.d.). [online image]. Available from: http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__ cb20100927231400/logopedia/images/f/ff/National_Geographic_Society.png [Accessed 26th November 2014] Room in the Henry Moore Institute. (n.d.). [online image]. Available from: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YVO-4386I04/ S8MfDxEPZdI/AAAAAAAAArs/L8CAn0Z5s40/s1600/alan+johnston+1.jpg [Accessed 26th November 2014] Room in the Dairy Art Centre. (n.d.). [online image]. Available from: http://www.locationhouse.co.uk/userimages/ Unknown-4.jpeg [Accessed 26th November 2014] GOOD!. Perfume Line "Zen". (n.d.). [online image]. Available from: http://good.kz/files/Experiments_big/ZEN_ALL_2. jpg [Accessed 22nd November 2014] Americans Stand United. (n.d.). [online image]. Available from: https://c1.staticflickr. com/5/4076/5059980742_2b3b1563ef_z.jpg [Accessed 22nd November 2014]