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OUIL 503 Responsive
Project Report Sophie Kilmartin
Content Individual briefs - Penguin books, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ brief - Secret 7 - i-Dott, ‘Whimsical’ wallpaper brief" Collaborative D&AD John Lewis - End of module Evaluation
A Clockwork Orange Overall I am happy with my final design, and feel that it is an appropriate solution to the brief. I think the colour palette forms a cohesive aesthetic, and suitable fits the violent and disturbing theme of the design. Simplifying the colour palette and background was definitely a good decision, as the type is mud more prominent and eye-catching which is very important. the strong contrast of colours help move draw your eye to the title text. Challenges within this brief include typography. Its something i have not had much experience working with and this made me a little nervous. My aim was to form a good relationship between the type and text. I wanted to create a hand type that fit within the design which was difficult but i feel compositionally it works quite successfully. I feel it could! have maybe more refined. I should have explored hand type further before finalising.! I I'm pleased with the strong compositional and conceptual development of my roughs for this brief. But once i had my cover i rushed into editing that instead of considering the back design sleeve. It would have been beneficial to also at this stage, to sketch out the entire book sleeve design as a rough before editing perhaps, as i then found it difficult to create and combine all the separate elements digitally without a rough guide of the desired entire composition. I found that balancing this brief with my other modules to be quite challenging, and i feel that there are times where i rushed decision making in order to meet other deadlines. Therefore some aspects of the final composition could be improved. In terms of the composition, if revisiting the image, I would play around with the positioning of the hands. The one reach over his head bothers me as i don't feel that it fits as well with the flow to the others. - it kind of looks like hair? I think looking closer at the text - i think the texture perhaps makes it difficult to read. Perhaps softening the texture underneath would have been a way to solve this? being in a rush to hand in was not idea, as i missed details like these.!
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Although i feel the composition could have been pushed further, I am really pleased with the realisation of my concept. It is one that i feel best represents my interpretation of the book/film, and disturbing image that depicts torture and violence. After struggling to do so initially, I am pleased with the way i managed to encompass different emotions and ideas into one cohesive image.!
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I have learnt a lot from this brief, essential what is involved in creating a book cover. This has been a highly beneficial process for me as book illustration is something i am interested in exploring as a professional. I would also like to continue to bring conceptual thinking into my work, as i am quite pleased with my design and enjoyed the challenge of inventing a unique and fresh interpretation of the novel.!
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Secret 7
I have really enjoyed participating in the secret 7 brief, as its such an inventive and fun competition that explores the relationship between art and music.Overall i am pleased that i got to explore a range of different approaches to image making, and definitely improving my digital skills in the process. becoming more adapted to combining both digital and hand made methods.! I kept my choices of media quite open, i wanted to use a variety of image making methods and materials, I planned on appropriating media that i felt best suited each song, i didn't want to necessarily limit myself into submitting a cohesive set or a series because i think that each piece of music speaks differently and i didn't want to feel restricted at this stage. I wanted to have fun with the brief. There were two different ways in which i approached my interpretations. Some of my designs are very abstract and mainly in response to the melody and atmosphere within the song, with others being more lyrical based. When I wanted to be abstract, I aimed to focus on the sound and energy of the music, and In response to this i start creating marks on a page using ink, brushes, sponges and sticks. I don't normally work in such an abstract way and really enjoyed not thinking too much about what i was doing, instead just letting the musk guide my movements. I then chose shapes and interesting patterns that i feel could be pushed further. An example of this is The series i created for Tame Impalas track.!
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I did find it challenging at times to actually translate my ideas. I think that i over thought things i didn’t need to relate every idea within the lyrics of the song. When creating abstract pieces i was worried that they wouldn't be relatable to that song for other people, but i found that this brief is about interpreting the music in a way that it speaks to you. After much experimentation and use of expressive mark making, creating abstract responses was the most enjoyable and natural approach that i took to the brief.!
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I found that i was a lot quicker in creating the roughs and concepts for this brief than others because most of my idea development was done by digitally scanning in and experimenting with combining different elements. I'm not used to making it up as i got along but with repeat pattern this was often the case. a lot of it was trial end error and playing around with composition in photoshop.!
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I think that some of my most successful compositions were less illustrative and more abstract based. with the use of expressive and raw marks. I have a tendency to overthink things, including in the designing process, and so i found it really enjoyable to not know the outcome of a design, for Max Richer's ‘dreams’ i was inspired by the emotive instrumental within the song, from which i got the sense of calmness and serenity. I aimed to create a piece that represented this feeling. I feel that this interpretation was a very abstract and emotionally based piece. I aimed to create a beautifully haunting and calming interpretation of the music, that appropriately compliments the song, and i feel that this simple design has achieved this more than my other of my more complex and planned designs. My patterns created in response to tame impala were heavily influence by the fast tempo and vibrancy within the song, and i think they work quite well to capture the feel of the song. I also enjoyed digitally compositing my patterns - this actually inspired me to give the wallpaper brief a go.!
i-Dott, Wallpaper brief Overall, I am pleased with the final wallpaper design. After spending some time experimenting with compositional elements, I feel that i have learnt a lot about the process of repeating patterns, and I think the process of investigating different processes has paid off and i have been able to create a more refined and adaptable design than originally expected. Seeing the wallpaper as a mock up design has really helped me see how my design could successfully be appropriated. This has probably been one of the most enjoyable briefs for me and taking part has reminded me how much i like working with pattern and its something that i will definitely re visit. I feel that will past pattern based work i have created i have focused on shape and texture. In this brief have found it really interesting to bringing in character design, or and more story based artwork, and seeing how it could be applied for this purpose. i have learn t a lot about the process of how repeat patterns are created, and I can already envisage how some of my other existing designs could become patterns, and there and there are so many possibilities to this process and I am exited to create more. i think my final outcome has hugely benefitted from the amount of contextual and research i collected around this theme. It provided me with much inspiration and reference material that i was continuously been inspired throughout my designing process. I have produced a much larger collection of compositional and character roughs than any other brief, which i think has resulted in a more considered and successful final design, as having these as guidance helped in the editing process. I have also really enjoyed working with figures and my character design skills have improved greatly. I have found time quite limiting with this brief, and felt i haven't been able to produce as much detail within the final design as i would have liked, for example adding additional sea life objects. But by playing around with scale I've been able to create a simple but interesting and dimensional wallpaper design from the mermaids alone. I think their ink detail provides enough interest to the image, and the style of illustration gives the wallpaper a more sophisticated quality than many ‘mermaid’ designs. It will appeal to young children but perhaps older too. Overall, i think i have created simple and cohesive wallpaper design with a strong flowing composition. I like the combination of detailed mermaids contrasting against the plain background. It was often tempting to overcomplicate, but perhaps additional illustrations would disturb the fluent composition. However i do feel that if i had spent more time on refining texture, that a subtle use of it as a background could be a really positive edition.!
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John Lewis
I have really enjoyed working on this brief and having the opportunity to engage with other practitioners from the college was really nice opportunity. I got on with my group really well and it was interesting to communicate with people that work differently and specialise in different areas of design. Everyone in the group was good at listening to others, and each member contributed towards the success of our final concept, and winnow display design. Because i felt comfortable with my group I have learnt to be more vocal with my opinion and ideas. I have become more confident in speaking my mind and expressing my opinions, as well as listening to and compromising for others. I think the is an important part of being a professional illustrator. You have to be able to communicate your ideas well, but also be willing to compromise and take on board others opinions too. It was a confidence booster when other members responded well to the practical work i contributed. The rest of the group said they were not very keen on drawing, so I created some compositional roughs, and illustrated versions of room designs, as well as the depicting the final shop window display. I think the our final concept is a successful response to the john lewis brief and due to our extensive research and conceptual development. I also feel that willingness to create physical mock ups and push our creative skills in applying new methods of working has really benefitted the overall quality of our outcome. We were really keen on keeping the design current. Having access to the future trends website really helped, and inspired our final concept of 'around the house' I feel that our concept was a successful embodiment of current design trends, and autumn themes - The fashion themes were very present within the rooms of the house - being very much inspired by and featuring john lewis furniture. We aimed to communicate the family orientated brand as the forefront of out concept. Keeping the traditional values of John Lewis whilst also engaging with the senses, storytelling and having a visual impact on passers by.! Sometimes working as a group had its difficulties. Despite getting on well, it was often difficult to arrange a time when everyone could meet up. I think this is why it felt as through the brief was moving along quite slowly, - although researching individually was fine, group sessions were needed in order to come up with a strong concept. It was a lot better to create things as a group and make important decisions togehter, so we were all familyiar and happy with the direction of the project. I feel that more frequent meetings and longer discussions would have allowed us to really push the brief further and showcase more of our practical and conceptual ideas.! It would have been nice to try and mock up some practical aspects of the front window design also. but toward th end we began to run out of time, Noone in our group particually took charge,so i feel more organisation and distributing of tasks within our group would have been a way for us to speed up the process and perhaps have more practical experimentation, and bring our idea to its full potential.
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Module Evaluation
I Found secret 7 to be quite a a difficult one, because i created a broad range of imagery - each song inspired me in a different way, and each artwork has a completely different aesthetic and approach; i was producing work so different from each other that it would get a bit muddled at times. I think it was good that i took risks and felt inspired to try different techniques instead of sticking to one approach however, and i did enjoy this brief, it was a lot more fun and open than the other briefs, so i took this as an opportunity to experiment with shape and mark making and become more abstract and expressive with my work which was quite new to me. I found that i really enjoyed responding to music, and creating artwork in the moment was actually quite liberating, and i enjoyed bringing a bit more freedom into my designing process.! Im often so used to having a very thoroughly researched and backed up idea, that it was nice to have a break from that and interpret the music directly. I forced myself to just go with my initial instinct, It didn't have to mean anything, just my own personal interpretations of the music, and they actually turned out quite successfully!
Responsive has been such and interesting and exciting module. One that I have found to be challenging and also very rewarding. I have never entered a live competition brief or particularly been very confident in showcasing my artwork publicly, So this brief was a great way for me get some artwork out there. My ability to discuss ideas and concepts with my peers has definitely improved through this module and it has definitely become more comfortable doing so. Entering such well known and highly competitive contests is quite daunting, but I also feel like its a great way to prepare me for the real world of illustration. I have found the aspect of competing with other practitioners actually quite motivational. I think the fact that I'm surrounded by such talented illustrators, it has made me want to push my self that bit further with interesting briefs, and stepping out of my comfort zone a little, such as creating abstract and expressive response through the secret 7 brief, or the large scale of the john lewis brief.
With this module being so broad, there was such a range of competitions available to us with many being quite unlike any i have previously done. I decided to take a creative challenge, and enter the john lewis brief. Each one of my individuals briefs has been challenging in someway, but john lewis was such on such a large scale and very unique brief, completely unlike anything i would have previously thought of entering.! Thinking conceptually is something that i wanted to continue to develop. I have shown the ability to do in one of my most recent modules and successfully too, but it doesn't perhaps come the most natural at times. I wanted to explore this side of my design process more, and felt that tackling a large brief such as john lewis would be a good way do that. This brief is much more about the coming up with a strong concept over producing a finalised version of a design which i found quite challenging, as I'm used to aiming to create final images of a high quality. I learnt a lot through this process such as how to create a well informed fleshed out concept, thats backed up by thorough research.
This self directed brief means I have been able to reflect much more over my practice as a whole, as i have had to work a lot more independently. It’s been largely beneficial in terms of allowing me to realise the kind of briefs i can really invest my time and and which have helped me to progress as a practitioner. The most recently submitted wallpaper design brief has been a particular favourite of mine. Towards the end of last year, i love of working with pattern design, but haven't explored this much further since until this brief. It resurfaced my interest pattern design, and how it could continue to be something i explore within my practice. I have also found the clockwork orange brief to be very relevant and beneficial brief for me to work on, as book illustration is something I am interested in exploring as a professional. I have learnt a lot, essential what is involved in creating a cohesive book cover design. I would also like to continue to bring conceptual thinking into my work, as i am quite pleased with my design and enjoyed the challenge of inventing a unique and fresh interpretation of the novel.
Time management is something that still needs to be improved. I found it quite hard to juggle a range of briefs all with different time scales. I feel that the final outcomes of some briefs were impacted by the crossover of deadlines when i felt forced to rush decisions. Due to running so many different briefs and modules at once, i need to create a more extensive and well planned timetable that will give me enough time to complete briefs to a standard i am happy with. Saying that, i found that being pushed for time forced me to make important design decisions instead of perhaps spending too much time on development. there comes a point when you have to make final choices.
I really enjoyed getting to work with other creatives for this brief, and I feel that my confidence has improved largely because of it. I got on really well with the other members of my group, and we had a good level of communication with each other. When i spoke out about my ideas, they were well received by other members which really encouraged me to let my opinions be heard, I feel that i also demonstrated the ability to listen to others, and showed willingness to compromise and take on board criticism. With each brief I aimed to keep pushing my aesthetic. I didn't want to create the same styled artwork i wanted to keep moving onto something else or developing the techniques in some way, i aimed to keep an open mine throughout the module and be willing to keep trying new things.
I think this project has improved my confidence in my abilities and encouraged me to continuously be taking risks further. I feel more open to new briefs as I've been pleasantly surprised by, and capable of tackling briefs that i though were perhaps quite outside of my comfort zone, and for each one i have create final imagery with some successful qualities. I look forward to entering more live competition briefs in the near future, and continuously take risks and push my interests with the choices i make.!
Sophie Kilmartin
 Leeds College of Art