Graphics Pathway Research and book cover workshop

Below you can see my finished book cover, for this task we were given a choice on various subject to choose from to research and develop a book cover/article. I decided to choose Typography as a source to research as I feel this is something which would benifit throughout all pathways. Using the learning centre meant I could read up on the history of typograhy and the translation of calligraphy to more rounded and considered typography, As well as all of this I look about the way typography can be played around with and translated for a much more visually exciting way. I basically wanted the plafulness to be clear in this design so i tried to just set the typoraphy together. Playing around with the different typefaces and positioning makes the piece look more visually interesting. Both sides are different just to emphasise the flexibility of typography. I wanted to keep the text colour black so that it matched with the black and white of a penguin furthermore it makes it clear and distinguished.


Above you can see my intial plans. I used the contextual research to help me in making the final pieces. I did find it hard at first to think of a way to create an effective design however once I did contextual research I was really able to define what I liked and what I didn't. During the research I was drawn by the constant different characteristics of a design. Each letter looked completley different but also radiated different mood. Because of this I wanted to make an adaptable design that showed this idea of the variety of type and highlighting the variety.

 

 

Graphics Pathway Indesign and Photoshop

 

 

 

So todays workshop allowed me to brush up on my software skills focusing soley on Photoshop and Indesign. I have used Photoshop many times and have a very good knowledge on the subject yet I have not really had a chance to use indesign therefore I was really excited to use the programme more. The brief was to create a film poster for the upcoming file 'The 33'. The film was set on the 33 miners who were buried in a mine fr nearly two months. We began the lesson as a class analysing posters we liked and commenting on the things we thought worked well. For instance the colours used and the representation of the imagery. Has a Graphic student  I feel I have the duty to make clear conscious choices.

The poster shown above shows my end result which in my eyes is not a conventialnal poster. I feel it could be worked more for example darkening the dirt to create a darker feel-representing the conditions of the miners. I like the idea of the hands reaching up it was meant to signify a piece of research I did- when the miners were first filmed after the collapse of the mines, all 33 waved. If you look at the hands they look like they are asking for help but they are also meant to show the optimisim that the miners had when they realised they were being rescued. Another section of the poster that I want to discuss is the typography. I wanted to steer away from the convential actors name in the top but instead use the names of the actors as part of the poster translation. I positioned the type and kerned it all so it looked tight and cramped again referencing the conditions of the miners. The next thing was descided the 33 typeface I wanted it to have a gritty feel to the type which is why I chose to use the one I did.

Graphics Pathway Calliagraphy workshop

Today I took part in the Calligraphy workshop, this gave me a chance to practice this art something I have never really practiced before. Using a flathead paintbrush 1/2 inch and ink I was able to produce many alphabets and words. Not all of the outcomes were to a good standard but it showed my development from the start of the day to the end of it. Instead of hesitating I went for it and tried to work fast In order to get really nice lines with the ink.

Although this was really free after doing several I realised I needed to work a little bit slower so all the letters were more fluent with each other. Before the start of the day I took out several calligraphy books from the study zone for contextual research doing this really helped me throughout the day because I was able to reference the different types of calligraphy alphabet.

Some of the problems which arose during this process was adding to much ink at times in order to overcome this I simply dabbed the excess ink. Another thing which occurred that I had problem with was doing the wrong marks.

This happened quite a lot because I was copying the wrong letter by mistake. Instead of starting again I tried to alter the letters ever so slightly so they all matched. Over all I actually found the workshop really fun, it was something that was quite powerful and an art which has lasted a very long time. Therefore I feel that the practice was useful.



Above is my final labels for my wine bottles. I think these wine bottles are very simple in design however they radiate sophistication and simplicity. I was orrying about perhaps adding colour which could look just as poignant however I think they look very nice as they are here. The bottles can be brought as a single or multiple so that the bottles spell out the words 'Curioser and Curiouser'. I decided to use a faus

Graphics Pathway Physical Typesetting and experiment

This day allowed me to develop skills for Typography. Looking back at the first project I stated I wanted to evolve in my skills for Typography therefore this helped me in this quest. Using light boxes and thin paper I was able to trace over existing type- Gills Sans, Helvetica and Palatino. Using these existing typefaces we had to use adjectives and manipulate them so that they were enhancing the word itself.

In this pursuit I started the day by researching in the Study zone. Although we were set the brief I felt it would be appropriate to look at some words in the dictionary as well as other experimentation done by existing Graphic Designers. The whole day allowed me to experiment and explore different ways to suggest a word in a playful. As a future designer this practice Is very important as it let me be playful in determining how to present the words. I used my sketchbook to play about with positioning the words first just so I had an idea of how it would look on the page, if I  could redo anything I would probably have liked to use the light box more in the lesson to play around with the type instead of my sketchbook. Luckily however I have a light box at home so I could carry on with playing around with words. I did struggle at first when I began working because I wasn't sure what words to use and how to make the effective however when I started to pot the ideas in my sketchbook it all came to make the process quickly move.

During the lesson time I also was able to use the photocopier In an effective way by cutting our the letters and then arranged on the photocopier. It allowed me to produce loads of ideas in a quick amount of time as all I had to do was alter the letters. This process was harder than the original tracing because I was not able to see what the letters were positioned like an sometimes they photocopied in a wonky way. Yet this way of showing my ideas was still a really successful way of experimenting.

 

 

 

Although I like the cornwall name behind my name which I create digitally I really love  the printed version I did of the arrangement. The whole look is much more personal and stands out more to me. I wanted the piece to gain more of a personallity so I am really pleased the way the above came up. I can imagine using brown paper or creme paper to print on and then appear as a cd cover.

Graphics Pathway Colour and illustration workshop

Today the workshop was labelled as colour and illustration and it was today that I was able to develop these skills. Although I have learnt about colour theory and the colour stages I haven't done it in some time therefore todays workshop acted like a refresher for the subject. The day allowed me to appreciate the different techniques in getting different colours as well as shades of brown. Some of the problems that were raised was how some of the colours once mixed looked the same, in order to overcome this problem I made sure I made a lot of the paint so that all I had to do was add the right amount of paint instead of mixing from scratch.

After the colour session at the beginning of the day we were asked to create 3 illustrations in a 20mm square using only the three rows of brown shades seen above. I did find this task really fun to design however when it came to choosing the colours I found it quite difficult. The lack of colour was hard to overcome because I kept wanting to make certain elements stand forward. Because of this challenge I was able to appreciate the colours and select carefully the ones which would work better than the others. I personally feel this workshop was really helpful in sustaining the colours within the illustrations and hopefully throughout the whole of my future work. Colour is a huge part of Graphic Design and being selective is vital- this is already something that within my work I have identified as really important. Therefore focusing my illustrations around one certain tone of colour meant I was able to use the colours to create an illustration with a conscious choice of what specific colour.  This is something important to consider because in the future when working with clients they may ask me to use certain colours only, this is good practice.



"I wanna fit in to the perfect space, feel natural and safe in a volatile place"
                                                                                                   -The Avett Brothers



"What is this life I full of care we have no time to stop and stare."

Graphics PathwayWorkshop Day 1 3D laser printing and induction

Above you can see my intial ideas for this project and the different ways I should lay out my quote. The colours are coherent to the way the laser printer will cut out. Using the colour key helped me to think about layout and the best way to depict my quote.

 

Today was the first official day of the workshops for graphics. The first workshop I had was the 3D laser printing this was my first time ever using the laser printer and for me I found it a really exciting experience. I love to work with a range of mediums because of the differ quality outcomes, discovering this technique and giving me the opportunity to learn to use It has given me a chance to add a new technique for creating work in the near future. The induction today showed me all the machinery and technique that was provided for me at Ravensbourne. This was a good thing to learn because as a student at Ravensbourne I want to use the facilities as much as possible. Jason was the person showing us around the prototyping room where I was able to discover the laser printing.

At first I thought the laser printing would be really hard however after learning I am much more confident on using the make again by myself. I think this is a really successful outcome of the day. Selecting a specific line from a poem I brought in I was able to create a Type piece to print. As my group was the first there was a bit of confusion subsequently I did not get long to design my Type piece if I could do anything more I wish I could have more time just to make the piece more effective as an end result.

Manifesto week

Surrounding this piece of text you can see images of the first planning stages for the manifesto project. This project would allow myself as a designer to create a personal manifesto. I used this day to brainstorm and work out what route I would like to go about when doing the manifesto. The pictures surrounding this shows the initial ideas of everyone next to each other by doing this it allowed me to compare and identify ways people are going about presenting there personal manifesto. I did find the planning stages slightly difficult because there was so many different ways I could go about doing the manifesto
                                                                                    settled for a questioning manifesto in the end.

This manifesto would allow to apply a series of questions only that would allow readers to question themselves and engaging them in something personal. Once I identified what I wanted to say the next stage was to see how I could present the pieces. Below you can see the different ideas I have generated from the project. It really helped to pile on the ideas and plot out as many as possible. I really love the ones with colour as they stand out the most to me. Doing this process I was then able to cut down the ones I did not think were as successful. I decided on a really simple design in the end, I think the design is really simple however the colour and the considered type makes the piece much more appealing.

 

Finished Manifesto

Above you can see the outcome of my manifesto. I really like the use of colours and the way the manifesto is simple yet powerful through the words. Although I really love this design during the Crit points were pointed out which I really agree with. The piece should be explore via different means such as printing. If you look below you can see how I have tried to develop the printing however it did not really turn out that well at all. The impression made however is really gritty and hand done. I like the above for its simplicity however I feel perhaps if I had more time to pursue the Manifeto project I would try otherways of making the piece personal such as illlustrative type.

Graphics Day 3 Film- Finished Poster and Film

 

Above you can see the finished video, on the day of filming only a couple of people turned up therefore we not have enough people to carry out our initial idea, luckily we had another idea we discussed on the storyboarding day so we used that idea. The three of us split the jobs out amongst us, some of us filming and one acting. The editing process challenged me because I had only had a limited amount of experience of using after effects. Me and another boy trimmed the clips and put it together but it was down to me to edit the typography onto the footage.

 

This was quite challenging because I did not have a lot of time because of this if I could change anything I would have liked to carry on animating with the typography to make the video more exiting. The tutor at our Crit stated he did not understand the video- the video was meant to identify the crazy world a world that contradictory to normal life depicting the act of suicide as a happy event. Although the end result was completed I feel like if I had a longer time to edit the video it would have been more successful in its venture. I have learnt alot from this project and If I could change anything I would try to take over with time managemet as I feel alot of people were not sure of what they were doing and did not know what subject to choose instead of gettng to it. I feel furthermore if i had longer with the software it would have worked out much smoother.  

 

Below you can see the finished film poster I created to co-exist with the video. I am really happy with the finished poster. During the Crit the tutor was very happy with it and complimented my colour choices and even went on to say how he could see it as an existing poster. I am glad because I spent a lot of time adding details to the illustrations. If I could change anything to this poster I would probably alter the typography on the right side just to add emphasis to the contrary theme running through the whole of the poster.

 

Thumbnails of ideas for my Film poster.

 

 

Graphics Pathway Day 2 Film-Storyboarding

Above you can see our groups storyboard on the wall, this was put on the wall for a crit. The day was used to build a storyboard and a plan to begin storyboarding. I found today very difficult because everybody in the group wanted to carry out a different idea and were very strong in using there ideas. In one way it was good that we all had a lot of ideas however no one was giving in. At the end of it we all compromised and one of the members drew out the storyboard above- I feel that this storyboard should have been more detailed. The Crit was helpful to see other peoples ideas as well as to hear criticism and others opinions about our work. Below you can see a short stop motion video I made depicting the storyboarding process.

 

Above is my independent interpretation of our groups idea in class.

Although the group created 'a rough' storyboard on the day of filming only two other peopleturned up. Because of the lack of people who arrived we had to alter the story. The above photograph shows my drawing of this and the idea behind our story. Although the idea has changed the storyboard was very helpful in not only visually seeing our idea but planning what to film, what points to edit things etc. If we could change anything it would be to ensure everyone arrived at one point and kept greater communication to ensure we could continue with the idea.

Graphics Pathway Film Day 1 - Brainstorming

Above you can see the project 1 ( my design poster) on the wall with everybody else's pieces, we did not have a Crit but we was able to see everybody's work side by side. This allowed me to meet everyone but also justify who they were and what there pieces reflected of them. Some were illustrated, some designed on the computer, some were mood boards. The pieces were all very different and allowed me to see the diversity in my graphics class. Because of this I feel this exercise was really useful and helped me in seeing the different styles and responses produced from everyone. Reading the different information bits also gave me the ability to see what people wanted to do in the future.



The first day of Graphics resulted in us all being put into different groups. I was put in group g. Once we were put into groups we had to select a word for our group to work with our group chose- 'contrary'. The group did struggle with this to begin with because hardly anyone in the group actually knew what the word really meant. Using the word we were asked to create a 1-2 minute film. The brainstorm allowed us to put down everything we could think off relating to this word. it was difficult because there was several people missing from our group but I feel I generated lots of ideas for the group. The whole day was spent brainstorming if I could have redone this I would probably like to establish a defied route because although we did loads of ideas people weren't really enthusiastic about one subject.

Project 1 Graphics Pathway

 

 

 



Above you can see my response to the first project of my chosen pathway, Graphic Design. We were instructed using the measurements they gave us to create a design reflecting what we are interesting In, in Graphic design as well as add an image of ourselves with around 100 words summarising ourselves and what we hope to achieve in our time on the Graphic design stage.

I really like my finish design, I used planning in order to choose my favourite design to carry out, during the design process I coloured all my thumbnails and planned how I wanted the text which allowed my visualisation to be enhanced. I think the piece is very powerful and works well as a whole. I used the illustration to emphasise the point that I feel design is like magic. The illustration shows my love for illustration as well as digital work. The typography to the left of the image allows my exploration of type which I tried to be playful with just to emphasise this point. I also write within the design what I am interested in to make it very clear like the brief stated. If I could work on this design more I would probably change the type a little bit more and change certain things on the main illustrations because I feel it could be probably more neat. However if I had more time I would probably try to do some experimenting with paint or collage even to make the process even more challenging. As I said above I want to learn to further my knowledge of using type in my designs as well as developing my digital skills.