Questions & Instructions Simon Rayfield
EGRD 2011 Studio Practice 2B EGRD 2012 Indepentent Practice 2B
QUESTIONS & INSTRUCTIONS
1. Name? 2. Age? 3. Place of birth? 4. Position in family? 5. What are your Hobbies? 6. Where do you live now? 7. What is the most beautiful thing in the world? 8. What is Graphic Design? 9. Re-draw a famous logo from memory with your eyes closed. 10. Make an image using thumbprints. 11. What annoys you the most in others? 12. Print a T-shirt with a design that promotes something inappropriate. 13. What languages do you speak? 14. Describe the synopsis for a famous film in fifty words or less, and make it into an A2 poster using a combination of analogue and digital processes. 15. Learn a new skill and record yourself doing it. 16. What is psychology?
17. What is semiotics? 18. What is your favorite colour? 19. Re-design a rainbow. 20. What in your life is your greatest source of pleasure? 21. If you were a teacher what Brief would you propose? 22. What is abstraction? 23. Using info-graphics, construct a ‘portrait’ of yourself. 24. What is Dogma? 25. Make a large folded-paper aeroplane, paint a slogan on it, which you think will revolutionize your life and film it flying somewhere. 26. What is sacred? 27. What is profane? 28. Recreate, improve, alter, destroy, an iconic image. 29. Who is the most important person in your life? 30. Make a structure out of paper and either; photograph it/ film it/ animate it. 31. What makes you happy? 32. Make a film of yourself being an animal. 33. Why are you here? 34. What happens after death?
35. Make a contemporary memento-mori / ‘vanitas’ image. 36. What is greed? 37. What is waste? 38. Make a pin-hole camera out of something disposable and take a picture with it. Present the ‘camera’ and photograph at the crit. 39. What is success? 40. What is failure? 41. Explain the Zen doctrine in twenty words or less, typeset & print it. 42. What do you think are the qualities of a life fully lived? 43. Make a piece of work using a book. 44. What is the purpose of Design? 45. Design and make something to sell. Make twelve of them, sell eleven. Bring the last one to the crit, along with the object/s you bought with the money you made. 46. What is leisure? 47. Make a looped animation sequence of a mundane activity. 48. What is re-appropriation? 49. Make a video from content lifted directly from the YouTube homepage. (1 min duration). 50. What is theology?
51. What is secular? 52. What is a shaman? 53. Design a gravestone for a famous designer. 54. Re-stage a specific cultural event/moment/image and document it. 55. What does this college need? 56. Complete the project you outlined in response to!question 21.
psychology
greatest source of pleasure
Context and Audience My work has been distributed in numerous different formats to gain public attention I have networked it on social sites such as Twitter and Facebook, used Blurb, placed it on You Tube, had an art teachers opinion on it, also to the historic Dockyard then took them along to a steam fair in Kent to sell and also gathered views amongst friends. I have had mixed reactions on my work and attracted a lot of attention from the London piece as it is very similar to the style of modern art works in society today and is a clear distinction to the works of Shepherd Fairey. It is a piece that is for a varied audience as it is a subject matter that people can relate to, particularly if you are from that area or a tourist that likes London. Many people thought that it was an eye catching depiction of London’s landmarks that captured your attention. This was produced in many formats both at small and large scales and even as separate individually framed images. At the steam fair I sold some of these and also amongst friends as it reminded them of an artistically enhanced version of the London themed images from Ikea. I think that this would attract a wider audience by doing a series of varied colours and layouts and the possibility of setting up a website and better still actually trying to sell them in the capital. My piece based on the languages I speak had varied reactions. I have a friend who’s a Pro-Footballer for Newcastle United and has over 15.000 followers on twitter and he tweeted my work, which then had about 5000 comments. Some people liked the way that I used the slang as a form of language as it answered the brief in an alternate way instead of just writing in German or Spanish for instance. Southern people understood the concept as they were more familiar with the language where as Northern people didn’t understand it as they hadn’t heard some of the phrases before so it was unfamiliar to them. Nevertheless they liked the layout and the impact the image had with its bold expressive type collated together creatively. I realized that this specific piece although didn’t have a specific audience in which I was aiming at automatically represented a specific audience and that was people who are from cockney backgrounds, was apart of that culture in that time or originate from that area. Categorizing something for an audience can be something that some people don’t like or understand but is an active way of knowing how to develop or push an idea further so that it does communicate to a wider audience. My image of the brain also attracted a lot of attention when placed on Instagram as people were intrigued by the detail and the obvious amount of time it took to create. It was nice to see how much people appreciated the work. It is a simple image that required, skill, dedication and patience was what most people had said. The alternate versions that incorporated colour were also just as striking and people were able to acknowledge the various possibilities of the image. Others thought it was a nice image but needed more complexity to it and wanted to know what exactly it represented as to them a brain symbolized knowledge and intelligence. Realizing that audiences are an important factor in any artwork that you create is the first thing you should could consider. Without knowing who you audience is then you can’t determine which path to take with an idea. With this piece in particular although the image was particularly striking I should have researched and considered my audience more intently then adapted the idea accordingly to meet the demand of what category of people I was going to aim it at.
I have come to the conclusion that it is very important to acknowledge and research the demands of the audience your work id going to be directed towards. This will help to collate an idea that is successful. I have to think about the materials, the size and the cost of production, also the place/area in which I need to pitch my work. The location is very important and the accessibility and range of people that would be able to view the work. Social networking sites are a good starting point to get noticed but blog spaces and websites would help my work become more global. I need to think carefully about how I am going to achieve this and need to start adapting my work accordingly to meet these demands.
Evaluation Name This leaves a lot to the imagination and requires the viewer to analyze it closely. It has a strong, simple and effective design. I could have included a key so that people could distinguish the letters. Age I tried researching significant cultural or significant cultural events on this date but nothing extraordinary happened. Instead I decided to a creative approach by exploring with visual imagery in the form of photography and overlapping lettering. I thought this idea worked well but if I could develop it further I would experiment widely with a range of font sizes and style and the composition of this within the page. Place of birth I explored with the ‘Eastenders’ introduction image as this clearly justifies the location where I was born. I like how it is strongly representative and iconic so people would understand straight away where I was from. I could have developed this further by perhaps creating my own imagery of the same scene. Position in family This idea follows a similar concept to the family tree, easily distinguishing the hierarchy of the family. The idea is strong, simple and clear to read. I could extend this further by inter joining both sides of the family in one map. What are your Hobbies? This combines my current hobbies and interests at this point in my life and I wanted to document it in the clearest possible way by using vital moments of that time. The photographs are clear and capture the essence of the scene. This piece could have included text references for those people who haven’t visited. Where do you live now? Much of my time is spent in Germany so this is my new home. I have incorporated elements of Germany into my other work so I wanted an idea that is more interactive. I decided that a box containing objects significant to the country and area I live would be intriguing What is the most beautiful thing in the world? Architecture is one of the most beautiful things in the world and through traveling I have never seen anything more beautiful than the Lloyds building.
The photograph represents its dramatic structural influence. What is Graphic Design? This is a typographic explanation as to my thoughts on what I believe is graphic design. I like the type face that I used and the layout within the page. Draw a famous logo from memory This idea took me out of my comfort zone as I always like my work to be neat and precise. I created a mini sketchbook to see how different the outcomes would be and it was interesting to see that from some you could still make out what logo it represented. Make an image using thumbprints This was challenging trying to determine what image to create so I decided to use the prints as a basis for creating my own characters. This could be developed further by creating my own story board from these. What annoys you the most in others? Messiness is most annoying to me so by collating all the annoying things into one messy typographic piece effectively translated my idea. The use of black and white plus one additional colour worked effectively. Print a T-shirt with a design that promotes something inappropriate I realized that most people were tackling the obvious by using sexual references but I wanted to exploit something offensive and shocking. By using religious concepts/icons in the way that I have really promoted this. What languages do you speak? I used key phrases symbolic to the style of language that I speak-cockney slang. This is a key reference to where I was born. The piece works well and I really thought about the composition and scale of the text and how to collate them into an interesting structure. Describe the synopsis for a famous film in fifty words or less Alice in Wonderland is a film that provokes many thoughts due to its wonderfully imaginative characters, graphics and the story it portrays. By using symbolic words and expressive imagery I was able to highlight and combine all aspects of the film successfully in one piece. It represents the chaos and surrealism behind the piece. Nevertheless I would develop this further by exploring in depth with the composition of the objects and look closely at refining detail. Learn a new skill and record yourself doing it
16Although this was a fun experience to me I don’t think that it is a particularly creative image. I think that I could have thought about something that would capture the viewer’s attention and also should have created a short film with animation graphics and music so it became more interactive. What is psychology? I decided to create a detailed pen drawing of the brain acknowledging the importance and significance of the brain at processing our thoughts and creating our psychological thoughts. It is a strong image and particular due to the impact given by the contrast of black and white. What is semiotics? The symbols are representative of the term and I like them as a piece. I would however develop it further by practicing my skills on illustrator and exploring with the composition of the images and the text within the page possibly considering other colours. What is your favorite colour? I followed the concept of the swatch chart highlighting that all aspects of blue are my favourite. It could be developed further by being more experimental with this concept. Re-design a rainbow. I tried to explore with this concept and liked the idea of melting wax crayons that represent the various colours of the rainbow. I then started manipulating it and just halted at progressing at further. I think I was thinking too literally about the idea and could have seeked inspiration at this point. What in your life is your greatest source of pleasure? I decided to implement an image of Upton Park as they are a team I have followed all my life and found great pleasure to see them promoted to the premier league this season. This was a recent event and using it was more sentimental than just trying to provoke an idea. If you were a teacher what Brief would you propose? I liked the idea of combing two of my passions typography and architecture and what better way than creating a typeface for a place. I decided to focus on London as it has many iconic features and is accessible for gaining inspiration. Although I like the concepts I have come up with and the simplicity of the designs I would develop it further by picking a place that would be more challenging to work with.
What is abstraction? My initial thought was that it said ‘extraction’ so I was playing with the thought of the dentist, the use of pliers and the teeth then realized I had misunderstood the concept- I personally blame this on being dyslexic. Using info-graphics, construct a ‘portrait’ of yourself. This is an explanation of me as a person and I think it is visually interesting and may develop this further by experimenting with a range of fonts and the use of colour. What is Dogma? I found it difficult to understand the concept of this word and realized I had a DVD of it-What better way to describe this idea. Make a large folded-paper aeroplane, paint a slogan on it The slogan represents something that a dyslexic would understand so it is a revolutionary concept particularly because I am a dyslexic myself. I decided to use my constant traveling experience on a real airplane to avoid the typical scenario of throwing a plane for it to class as flying. What is sacred? I don’t really like this piece. I think it could be improved by spending more time refining and developing the idea further. What is profane? Again I am not overly impressed with this piece; I think it is mainly because I didn’t really like the theme. I could develop it further by being more illustrative and thinking about the use of colour. Recreate, improve, alter, destroy, an iconic image I was looking at Any Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s soup tins and thought it would be interesting to replace one with a Heinz baked beans tin. At first I thought it would be an interesting idea but I actually now hate the concept. I should have thought carefully about the image and maybe considered hand rendered processes in order to develop it. Who is the most important person in your life? Davina is the most influential person in my life; she is a big part of my life and experiences and also my fiancé. I decided to collate images of her to represent a direct response to the question. I could have developed this further by manipulating and developing one image into a finished piece.
Make a structure out of paper and either I had so many ideas for this task but due to the lack of time I decided to just make a boat. I am actually very pleased with the outcome as it was a quick and easy process as and using train tickets was an interesting idea as it added colour and structure to the piece. What makes you happy? I again explored with the theme typography and used words representing each of the things that make me happy. I used a range of different font sizes and thought carefully about the composition and colour and connected these creatively. I must remember to spell check…ooops! Make a film of yourself being an animal. I really liked this question and the outcome that I produced for it as it is entertaining to watch. I could develop this further by making myself look more monkey like- perhaps using alternate media such as face paint and maybe developing parts of the film. Why are you here? I feel that this piece was rushed and I didn’t think carefully about the message that I was wishing to portray. I could develop this further by researching my theme better and exploring with a range of ideas first. What happens after death? I created a model of a coffin as it is an obvious symbol of death. I was happy about the outcome and modified it to look as realistic as possible. If I had more time I would have experimented with the use of location and photography and may even thought about making a bigger version. Make a contemporary memento-mori / ‘vanitas’ image. Objects in vanitas images have symbolic references and the skull represents death. I decided to make observational studies of this looking at frontal and side images and the effects of pencil and fine liner which created very different images. I then used Photoshop to develop this idea and am pleased with the outcome. What is greed? At my old university there is a horrible, bumpy road which students had to park, which would make your car fall too pieces. This road was never resurfaced due to the council saying if I were to be they would introduce parking meters. To me this is greed and the image signifies this. What is waste?
I don’t like this piece I think I should have thought more literally about this piece and maybe gained outside views on waste to develop this further. Make a pin-hole camera out of something disposable and take a picture with it. Present the ‘camera’ and photograph at the crit. Pin hole cameras are something that I have explored with many times and creates interesting pictures, but I found this concept to be rather pointless. I feel that it should or could have been better if we had to create something specific from it rather than just using something to create it. What is success? Success to me is something that you get from hard work and dedication to something and West Ham moving up to the Premier League was a prime example of this. I used images from the game at Wembley to show peoples reactions and moments that contributed to this. What is failure? Failure to me was a significant point for me as it symbolized a bad time I was having whilst studying at UCA Rochester. The statement in itself literally symbolizes my failing grades at this point which were really disappointing to me. In this piece I tried to represent failure in a calm manner by using tranquil colours. Explain the Zen doctrine I found it difficult summarizing this when I had done the research on it, trying to pick the key points and also trying to make sense. I think it would have been interesting to explore this question in a visual form such as storyboarding to make it humorous and not so dull. What do you think are the qualities of a life fully lived? Traveling the world is a huge part of this so I decided to work on an illustration to represent this. I think the idea is good but with more time I could develop it into a finished piece looking at the use of colour and the overall size of the image. Make a piece of work using a book. I decided to deconstruct a book based around murders and picked words from different sections to create sentences. From these I decided to create illustrations on scenarios made from these. Again with more time I would have created a series of image for different scenarios. What is the purpose of Design?
Design is a vital part of today’s society and I wanted to explain this within a typographic piece that could be clearly read and understood and that is how my final piece turned out so I am pleased with the result. Design and make something to sell. I photographed iconic features of London and used Photoshop to transform and manipulate them further. I particularly like the work of Shepherd Fairey and how he used contrasting colours and decided to explore with this techniques. I am very pleased with the outcome and lots of people loved the concept. What is leisure? Football is something I enjoy both as leisure and pleasure and is something I like to watch and play. It is a very obvious piece but nevertheless I think it works. Make a looped animation sequence of a mundane activity Chess is a boring activity and boring to watch so the recording clearly acknowledges the boredom created by this. What is re-appropriation? For this idea I don’t think it was as fully developed as it could be. I explored with the idea of gays and the re-appropriation of this using an obvious icon of this- George Michael. I think I could have stepped out of my comfort zone and created something more extreme and maybe seen what response this would have achieved in public. Make a video from content lifted directly from the You Tube homepage. I think using information just from the homepage limited my ideas as there wasn’t a lot of variety to work with. 50. What is theology? I found questions relating to god or religion became too boring. What is secular? Quotations are a good source for understanding a word instead of just using a definition. It is more meaningful and expresses the word appropriately. What is a shaman? I decided to implement this word in a humorous way by using characters from South Park as this added charisma to the image. I like the simplicity of the image, the colours and particularly the representation of the quote.
Design a gravestone for a famous designer Apple is symbolic of Steve Jobs iconic role therefore it was necessary to include this somehow. I reversed the concept of the gravestone by using what would be surrounding it as a key feature for it using the fake grass and soil. The ipod acts as the head of the tomb stone and I think as a whole it is a strong product. Re-stage a specific cultural event/moment/image and document it. The student riots were a specific event that students everywhere could relate to. During this time I collated a series of images from this that re-stages the event successfully. What does this college need? At the time I was exploring with this question we didn’t have workspace, so this was the focus of this question. By having a workspace means that uni can be an inspiring place to work and gather ideas. The photo I took from my workspace at home represents this.
Videos: Question: 32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGpy6FmgT20&list=UUx6vGoJp MNDz6KMOWL_LD6g&index=1&feature=plcp Question: 49
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2tBB_Hb3XQ&feature=autopla y&list=UUx6vGoJpMNDz6KMOWL_LD6g&playnext=1