PROJECT 5 DAY 6 REVIEWS

This was the final day of the week and also the deadline of the project so we carried out group critiques to evaluate each others work. There was a wide variety of angles in which individuals had approached this project and all were good although it could be said that some were much better than others. The animated work really inspired me and I know want to do some of my own animation over the Christmas holidays. In the group critiques at first people are too polite so you don't get much feedback apart from: 'well done', but then people start to get more into it and inevitably you receive some really good feedback, often things you'd never have previously thought about which helps a lot. I am glad we did these groups critiques and got to see the finished projects. As a day it was nice to see what all the hard work has led to for all people in the class; if we had projects like this all of the time I think I would learn a lot at a fast pace because as a process this particular project was the best and I enjoyed it the most. I really liked how we had an extended period of time- 2 weeks and the way you could approach the task was so open that you could essentially do anything you wanted. I feel that I worked much harder on this project than on any other previous project so I aim to keep this accelerated level of effort up for the future projects.

 

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PROJECT 5 DAY 5

'The Absurdity of Life' - a biro illustration.

'Alienation' - I completed another biro illustration.

I completed 2 biro illustrations today based on the main themes of Franz Kaka's - Metamorphasis story. I tried to think out of the box for 'alienation' but when it came to the 'absurdity of life' I was fairly literal in that I took inspiration from a street artist and changed a cartoon characters face by altering features and doing basic shading and insect like features in place of the normal human nose. This project is going well, perhaps I could improve by altering my bottle designs slightly then photographing them like my original prototype. Also if I have time I could create another illustration representing another theme.

 

 

Images: Authors own.

 

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PROJECT 5 DAY 4 COMPLETION OF FIRST SPRAY LABEL AND ILLUSTRATION

Completed spray can label.



Detail of logo.

Back of the bug spray.

Biro doodle illustration - 'Alienation'.

After a lot of failed attempts I eventually created a bug spray design that I liked and that covered all aspects of simplicity, was relevant and striking enough to stand out on a shelf to a potential customer. I used the font 'bugeater' to create my title logo and kept to a strict black and yellow scheme. I am proud of what I have achieved here but I also feel that a lot more could still be achieved especially if I branch out the 'zap' spray into different types of spray with different purposes, perhaps a less literal take on Franz Kafkas metamorphosis story. I also completed a rough illustration using biro - showing a scene of alienation where all the birds ignore and stay away from a slightly strange looking bird, much like how Kafkas family ignore and treat him so carelessly. I like this style but I would love to further delve into my own illustrations and cartoons to represent themes of the short story in the spare time between when I am creating bug spray label designs. I am pleased with the time management and how successfully and speedily I am generating work at the moment so I need to keep on aiming high to improve further.

 

Images: Authors own.

 

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PROJECT 5 DAY 3 PLAN

My A1 mind map of ideas.

Today was great as perspective to see what I want to do in this project. Compiling everything I have done so far in this project onto one big visual poster gave me all the references I needed. Actually making this allowed me to question what I really wanted to do. In the end I aimed to design a bug spray and for an extension I could create a short film, stop motion, comedic or not I can decide when I make the film. I think personally for me this is a great way of presenting references allowing for ideas to be inspired from. I will use this technique in the future. I have also left space for any extra ideas or progression of ideas.

 

Images: Authors own.

 

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PROJECT 5 DAY 2 LIFE DRAWINGS

A few pencil studies of the model with pen drawn insects illuminated on top.

Biro standard study.

Charcoal study.

Experimental triangle study.

This was a much more successful session of life drawings compared to the last time. I had more time and generally a lot more experience to know how to go about achieving the best results. I experimented with a range of media and styles giving me a selection of paths to take in this project on Friday and next week. I feel my drawing skills have improved immensely through these sessions and my eye has really adapted to getting the necessary lines to form a skeleton and then build the rest of my drawing around that. I have formed a technique which seems to work well even when working at speed although I do need to make sure I work looking over the page and not at an angle because I have a habit of mis-shaping the size and dynamics of the scale but this is often a good thing if I am trying to achieve an effect where perfection of scale is not the priority. I am looking forward to watching my idea grow and form a final product by the end of the project.

 

Images: Authors own.

 

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PROJECT 5 DAY 1 BRIGHTON

Some street art on the way to the gallery.

In the gallery- Jan Svankmajor's odd creations.

Drawn and painted hybrid animals - Jan Svankmajor.

Poster for film.

Beach photos.

The journey from the station to the gallery in Brighton provided a cultured walk to us; we saw various inspirational street art on the walls. I really like this artistic aspect of Brighton so the whole exhibition in the gallery was a slight disappointment if I am honest. I found the artwork very unique and strangely interesting but at the same time also very odd with taxidermy present everywhere with slightly disturbing body parts and bones joined together like something you would expect to see in a horror movie. The 3D art definitely had an effect on everyone who viewed it including myself, whether it was a good or bad effect doesn't really matter, Svankmajor managed to convey across a sense of storytelling through extreme but recognisable characters despite their strange form. After doing a few brief sketches of the work in the gallery I then went walking around Brighton and the beach front taking pictures and sketching anything that caught my eye. I think I made the most of the day in Brighton and am proud of what I gained from the day; however next time I will spend longer when doing sketches of art works and scenery to make it look better or less rough. Then again quick sketching is good practice so I suppose that it is a mix of drawing styles that I should aim to achieve on days out.

 

Images: Authors own.

 

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TEXT LAYOUT

My 6 adjectives brought to life by simple layout changes.

 

This day at first appeared so simple when we thought it was simply just tracing but then you quickly realise it takes a lot more thought then you expect to create a layout cleverly relevant to the adjective. From this simple exercise you realise how basic it is to change the characteristics of a word by fiddling about with the colour, size, spacing and rotation of the letters. This simplicity really makes you think because you are more likely to create something bold and something that clearly demonstrates what you want to show- for example for the word 'ROBBERY', the second 'r' could be lower case and turned into a gun held by the letter 'E', this is an extremely simple but effective way of demonstrating a typical gunpoint robbery. Making characteristics for text is a very important skill in graphics because it communicates either a form of humour or generally something more visual to the viewer and an extra sense of understanding is added to the frame. I will really think a lot more about text and fiddling with the layout next time I complete a task incorporating the use of text.

 

Image: Authors own.

 

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COLOUR ILLUSTRATION

We looked at the colour wheel in detail, focusing on complimentary colours and the subtle blend between colours.

We then looked into the tertiary colours by blending the primary colours with secondary colours.

These are some artists that focus heavily on colour in their work, that we gained inspiration from for the next stage within this workshop.

These are some basic illustrations I made using the three colour blends from above.

This was inspired by Mark Rothko, its my own take on his style of work using colour formulas to create visual aesthetics.

Again a quick experimental painting using yellow to purple colours and mixes only.

At first I thought that this workshop would be simple and boring however I was quickly proven wrong when I realised successful and accurate painting requires some skill and much more concentration and constant colour mixing then I expected. I relearnt a lot of the basics in colour theory that I had forgotten and even more especially when it came to the subject of tertiary colours and the combinations that it takes to make various shades of brown and how these colours often unexpectedly compliment each other and work together so well. I feel I completed this task at a fairly rapid pace but not too fast allowing me to explore everything I needed to successfully within a short time frame. I am looking forward to using these colour combinations and using them further in all aspects of my future work- I believe there are some really strong combinations here, at the moment I really like what yellow and purple seem to create both as a visual image and an atmosphere or mood.

 

Images: Authors own

 

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LASER CUTTING

This is the design I created on adobe illustrator to be used as the input design for the laser cutter.

This is the final cut, I wanted to make a stencil out of this design but there was not sufficient time or wood to allow for this so my design was cut at a much smaller size.

Cutting at such a small size meant that slightly more wood was cut then I would have liked  because all the lines at such a small scale connected and little bits fell out but I still feel that the soul of the piece has remained.

Again this particular text was quite large so during the cutting more was cut then needed but this creates a whole new effect to the text which could be seen as visually attractive even if it means that it is less legible.

This day was very educational; starting off with a tour of the workshops I learnt a lot especially about cutting and 3D printing. Seeing and learning these things made me excited and my mind was swimming with ideas of how I could use these tools in the future to complete my work. I felt that unlike lots of the other days I was not hesitant when it came down to the designing- I got straight to the point, I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and went about it as efficiently as I could asking for adobe photoshop/ illustrator advice when I needed and I also learnt a lot from little tips when my questions were answered. I am pleased with this final outcome but there is room for much improvement when it is completed at a much larger scale. Next time I laser cut I would go about it in a very similar way to how I have done in this instance; I would get my own materials and find more time to complete potentially a more complicated design- I could also attempt etching- something I did not experiment with on this particular task. Overall a good start and things can only get better.

Images: Authors own.

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STUDY ZONE RESEARCH AND CREATION OF BOOK COVER

The library at Ravensbourne provides an ideal environment for the progression of ideas. Once given the brief to create a book cover, back and spine design I decided to take the theme of illustration seriously. I gained inspiration from a variety of books on illustration in the library. I developed lots of plans with this inspiration but given the little amount of time I had during the day to complete my designs I never found a definite final design or plan to do for the book cover. With so many options and ways of going about this task I have to admit I was too indecisive and this was a weakness because I couldn't do much over the weekend due to work so next time I complete a task like this I will definitely aim to work at a much faster pace training myself to work at speed is something all successful illustrators and graphic designers should have mastered.  

After a lot of trails and disappointment at not achieving the perfection I was after but could not achieved I decided to just go ahead with the original idea of a book of illustrations based on the concept: 'concrete jungle'. I surprised myself in the process of the creation of the book cover- I had to create a lot more layers and individual designs then I originally thought but doing this allowed for easy compiling at the end  when using adobe in design. What I did create was done in minimal time so it is very simplistic using basic photoshop effects but I am pleased with this simplicity because I feel that it still works effectively.

The blend of the 'ferrier council estate' in Kidbrooke and a jungle scene, compressed by both contrasting words in the title of the book.

The blend of a youth at the London riots and a lion in the wild, walking through each other on blend. A fresh original perspective?

This is the final design I created using in design compiling together all aspects into one.

I am glad with this cover, back and spine design; I believe it operates on a design structure slightly different to the typical one when considering special use, bar code positioning...but that's what I like about it, it makes it unique. Next time I carry out a task like this I would prefer to do it by hand making it more artistic but maybe not if my photoshop skills have developed significantly by that time.

Images: Authors own.

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PHOTOSHOP AND ILLUSTARTOR PRACTICE

This is my first attempt at creating a poster for the film: '33', based upon the story of the 33 Chilean miners trapped under ground. I was looking to achieve a simplistic minimal poster thinking that this would be easier than altering a complicated image.

This is my second attempt at a poster for the film this time using adobe illustrator instead of adobe photoshop. I fiddled around with all the settings and really started to get a feel for the software before I started to produce anything serious. I am much more proud with the final outcome of this second effort.

This task to create a poster using software which I am not confident with and have only used once before was rather daunting at first, but then I realised I can only improve. The first poster shown above is where I am experimenting with all of the settings and filters and general features trying to familiarise myself with the programme without worrying about making errors because essentially that is how you learn- from your mistakes. Overall I was disappointed with my first poster even though I didn't really know what I was doing it just wasn't an acceptable poster for the level I aim to work at. The second poster I created using adobe illustrator which I found slightly easier than adobe photoshop. At first I downloaded the software at home after the previous days failure and experimented with the features; once I felt that I had a semi decent understanding of the programme I started to edit an image using certain filters then edited a basic arial font creating outlines and then stretching them to create the shape of a miners axe. I found that using this programme you can really make the most of the text and editing text into shapes that you want is very strong as a component of adobe illustrator in my opinion. I was slightly worried going into this task but when actually doing it I am glad I didn't let this lack of knowledge about the software make me hesitant but instead I dived into the task seeing it as a challenge. It is fair to say that I didn't achieve any worthy artwork during this day but I learnt a lot which at this stage for me is much more important. Attempting the same task the next day at home gave me more time to achieve something more portfolio worthy and I am glad I devoted a day to training myself to use these programmes more successfully. I started off in this task knowing literally nothing and now I feel that I have stepped up a level to an understanding of the software where I can produce good work but there is still a lot of improving to be made.

 

Images: Authors own.

 

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CALLIGRAPHY WORKSHOP

We started off the day looking at the calligraphy alphabet then creating our own practising our strokes with paintbrushes using ink to mark the page.

I then experimented with the technique trying out slightly different styles trying to work out what I like best about calligraphy.

This image says: 'ning nang nong' based on Spike Milligan's poem.

Experimenting with a slightly different font of calligraphy.

The task was to create a logo for a wine bottle. These are just two of my random ideas.

Experimenting with my name and shadowing on the writing.

Practice and attempting to perfect 'ning nang nong'.

This is one of my final designs that I completed later on after all of my initial experiments. 'Vino' is Spanish for 'wine'.

I edited the picture I took of the final design and then edited the contrast and basic colour settings, fiddling around with them trying to work out what the best design looked like.

This is a darker version which I believe looks more like a stereotypical wine cover over the previous two images of edits.

The final design using adobe in design. Original and vibrant colour scheme- can obviously be adapted.

This was a very simple task however calligraphy takes a lot more skill then I initially imagined; you have to refine your strokes and working at different speeds will vary the outcome of each brush stroke. This technique also really helps you to realise the spaces between the letters, the bold and thin parts of letters aswell as the density of the ink being put onto page. I struggled for a bit because this task seemed quite boring at first but then you get into a tranquil state where you are looking at a much more complex process then you first thought and this is what I aim to take out of this task and use in future tasks where I can look out of the box or simply from another perspective then usual allowing much deeper insight into the art of typography. I did find using a paintbrush hard because it bends easily often in the direction I did not want it to go in making imperfections in the work but I did start to find that I quite liked certain imperfections because they give the final outcome a sense of reality that cannot be achieved by any accurate computer. Working at a faster pace gave real flow to any text I created and often accidents occurred which were often bad but some showed positive aspects which I learnt to manipulate in a good way.

 

Images: Authors own

 

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PROJECT 3 DAY 3

I spray painted the football red.

I cut out stencils using a pallet knife.

After realising that stencilling onto a round ball was a lot harder than I expected I tried using spray-paint and stencil on a sports shirt which also failed to work successfully.

I then looked at spray-painting the stencils on a basic sheet of cardboard

This was much more successful but there were still a few smudges and the cardboard wasn't as relevant as the football or shirt as the theme of my manifesto.

I tried this process on a few sheets of cardboard to see whether the stencil was the problem or if it was my spray painting technique.

After failing with the spray paint and stencil I decided to write on the ball with sharpie pens but even this held problems; because where I had previously sprayed the ball created a surface for which even sharpie pen struggled to make its mark on.

Here is another part of the ball showing scrappy writing.

These are all of my primary notes and research for the football theme.

Using the internet programme 'tagxedo' I managed to create a football shape out of football words but all the words were scrambled which is not what I am after.

I adapted this style to fit my sentences of my manifesto into the shape of the football. This is the beginning of my final piece but I still plan to add a background and potentially a football boot into the mix.

This is a very thought provoking task because it took so long to work out what I actually wanted to say in this manifesto. In the end I used the theme of sport in particular football which has always been a central part of my life since a very young age whereas other things I wanted to write about were either less consistent aspects of my life or were too hard to generate something profound enough in such a short space of time. I feel I have learnt a lot about the importance of planning in this project and I have also learnt a lot about spray painting and stencils and  what doesn't work. I believe I have been successful in this project but it took a lot of mistakes to get there which means I get experience which will make me wiser in the future and should hopefully allow me to avoid such mistakes next time.

 

Images: Authors own.

 

CHC