SARAH HAYES

Portfolio Of Work

2010-06-09T14:12:00.006Z

Below is my recently updated portfolio of my design work .

Contact Report - Reply to Questionnaire - Anthony Smith, Music

2010-04-27T11:21:00.003Z

Again have received another reply to my questionnaire i sent out, this time from Anthony Smith from the design agency Music.

1) Yes. Strong ideas more than style.
Design that doesn't necessarily follow whats going on in the design press at
that time.

2) A good attitude. By which I mean, always ready to help on anything (design
work or otherwise), and telling us that that is the case. Making the effort
to talk to us!

3) Yes we do and no it doesn't matter.

4) It's a mixture really depending on the content/size of the job.

I am very grateful that Anthony managed to take the time to reply to me. Thank you.

Alan Cox - Dust

2010-04-22T09:51:00.004Z

Alan Cox studied a HND at Stockport College around 18 years ago, for 2 years. He then went on to study at Leeds Met University joining the 2nd years on the degree course; he finished his degree there. After finishing his degree, Alan then went on to wok in a hotel for 2 years, as he struggled to find a job in the design industry.

Alan has since become a member of the design company Dust, based in Sheffield. It is a small company with only two members in total.

Since working for Dust, Alan has worked on installations for Manchester United. The ideas behind the wok was based on the way the grass was cut on the pitches and how the goals were scored etc.

A few other design jobs Alan has worked on are:

Penguin book covers
McDonalds
Mexico factories
Cadbury's Dairy Milk
Voda-Phone - illustrations
financial times

All of the above were taken from self promotion ideas.

Below is a selection of work mentioned above.

Above are two installations Dust created for Manchester United.

Above is a book cover designed for Penguin books.

Cadburys 2010 Advert

2010-04-15T14:31:00.004Z

Once again Cadbury's have produced another advert that i find visually pleasing.
Previously there has been the Gorilla Advert and then followed by the 'musical eyebrows' advert shortly after.
The latest advert is showing a chocolate charmer, he spins all the chocolate and milk in seperate bowls and mixes them together to create Cadbury's milk chocolate. I think they have taken a totally different approach towards their adverts recently, and its a very good decision. Most people you talk to will remember at least one of the previous Cadbury's adverts, this is a good sign as its advertising chocolate still by remembering the advert.

Below you can view the advert.

Typography Posters

2010-04-15T11:41:00.004Z

Whilst browsing the internet looking at different styles of typography posters, i came across a website containing '45 Amazing Type Faces'. I was initially drawn in by the title of the website, however when i actually took the time to look at the images i was amazed by what i saw.

"Typography is not just about choosing a nice typeface, actually it's much more than that, it's how we arrange the types in the layout choosing the right size, weight and type of font to transmit the message in the easiest and more understandable way. Now, imagine some designers take that to a next step, mixing typography with portraits."

As above, taken from the website, the select images below are taken from the site and they literally bring a new meaning to the word 'typeface'.

Human Face Inspired Logo Designs

2010-04-14T23:42:00.002Z

Whilst browsing through the internet i came across a website dedicated to Human Face Inspired Logo's. I was intrigued as to how similar these logo's could be to a human face so i decided to have a good look.

Some of them are not as obvious as others, however i have picked out a few of my favorites below.

Container Plus vs Mike Rigby

2010-04-14T23:30:00.004Z

Over the last year we have had a variety of different guest speakers coming into College, providing us with a lecture on their experiences on entering the graphic design world. Not all of the lectures are of great interest, however the majority are interesting and provide me with answers to the questions i have been asking. Each lecture i felt was presented very differently, whether it was the way they talked about there own work; or the actual presenting skills. After experiencing these lectures i have decided to compare two different lectures that have stood out in my mind and their different ways of how they entered the design world.

The two different lectures i am going to compare are Luise Vormittag, from the design agency Container Plus, and Mike Rigby a graphic designer who has worked for many different well known design agencies such as The Chase and Pentagram. Both lectures were very well presented and interesting to me, however quite different. Container Plus's lecture was presenting in the lecture theatre so felt very formal and professional, whereas Mike Rigby presented his lecture in our graphics room upstairs. This meant we were all sat a lot close to him and it felt less formal, but was still presented in a professional manner.

To start my comparison i am going to talk about Luise Vormittag and her lecture for Container Plus. As i mentioned above Luise presented her lecture in the lecture theatre. The main thing that stood out from her lecture from the start was the fact Container Plus are a collaboration of different pathways and made up of only women. I was intrigued to see how illustration and graphic design worked well together in a company. Luise mainly concentrated on talking about the agency itself, however she did include how she and the company set up and her experience into the graphic design world. There were comments after the talk that students found this lecture boring and un-interesting, however i feel i was the complete opposite and something about this lecture really kept me interested. It may have been the fact that we very rarely have female designers come in to talk and i was intrigued to see if she had any different problems or successes as the previous male designers we've had in. Container Plus was set up by Luise and a fellow design student from the same university, Nicola Carter. They both collaborated work during their final year at university and new they both wanted to work together doing something with illustration/graphic design. So they set up Container Plus, they now have a 3rd full time designer called Patricia, however they say being only a small company if they need any extra help they are not afraid to ask for it. Luise had a few points that she made during the lecture that really stood out to me. one of these was that container plus keep work and home life separate. This means like most graphic designers, instead of going for a drink after work, Container Plus do not do this, once they leave work that rarely speak until they are next in work together.

Secondly i am going to talk about Mike Rigby and his lecture. Again as i mentioned earlier, Mike presented his lecture in our small graphics room. I feel this was better in a way as we all got to engage with him directly. Mike started off his talk by talking about his first ever placement he got once leaving university, which was at Imagination London. He expressed how huge this company was and explained they had lots of different offices for all the different pathways in design. He even made a point of mentioning the street that ran between two of the buildings, in relation to how big it really was. mike said he enjoyed his placement and it was a good experience however he felt that he had spent most of his time in the photocopying room. Mike also went on the stress how important placements really are, this is something that Luise didn't talk about! He mentioned that it not only gets you in contact with people from the real world but also makes you fully aware of the speed you are needed to work at, which is good piece of information to be told as its not something you do much of whilst at university. Another piece of advice given by Mike was not to be scared of your work being rejected. Mike's lecture was very different as he hardly mentioned any of the companies he's worked for, he mainly focused on placements and his design experience. Mike's way of presenting was a lot more casual, he was talking about his early experiences such as going travelling around the world. He went on to say if you've already been travelling when going for an interview the employer then knows there isn't a chance you could leave after a year to go travelling the world.

With both lectures being about the same work however in very different styles you can clearly see this in their work.

Below is an example of Container Plus's work.

As you can see above Container Plus's work is very illustrative and pretty. Where as Mike Rigbys work (below)

You can see above that Mike's work is very clean and minimal, quite the opposite to Container Plus.

In comparison i think both lectures were extremely useful to me and have provided me with answers to many questions. Both lectures contained different information, for example Container Plus are a company that does everything from design work, photography and even making websites; whereas Mike Rigby works for a company, as a graphic designer and there will be other departments to deal with photography etc. I think both ways of presenting were useful and i enjoyed watching both of the lectures, as they both stood out in my mind and i will remember the basic points the guided me with.

Contact Report - Reply to Questionnaire - Dave Sedgwick, 999 Design

2010-04-14T11:18:00.002Z

Another response i have received from emailing a questionnaire out to graphic designers.

1. Good ideas, well presented. No blutac, sellotape, scruffy corners, rubbed out pencil lines, bits of food, dirty finger marks. Basically, a portfolio of between 8 & 10 pieces of work (but one really good idea could do it!) well considered and printed and mounted and housed in something you actually feel proud of.

2. Honesty, passion, enthusiasm, modesty, interesting and most of all someone who shows that they have enjoyed their time at university, but are willing to take the next step forward in employment.

3. We take on placements throughout the year. But we try and be fair to everyone and so it’s often a first come first served basis. Sometimes people might have to wait months before a placement arrives. By that point they may be in employment already.

4. Tough one. We tend to have an initial meeting where we all discuss the brief. Then we might go away and have a few days on our own, working around other work, then we will meet again and discuss our ideas. The Creative Director will usually decide the ones to push forward, but we all get a say. Only then when we’re all happy, do we finalise the presentation.

Again i am extremely grateful Dave had the time to email me back, as i know he is very busy at the moment.

Arno Piroud - Tree Stumps

2010-04-08T16:37:00.003Z

Arno Piroud is a french artist who has had produce various street art installations.
His latest one is , Assises éphémères, located in Paris featuring cut down diseased trees.
"Arno described these 50cm stumps as ridiculous and the temporary design proposal is an attempt to interact with the urban space.

Below are 4 images of the trees he as 'decorated'.

I think this is a clever way to make old tree stumps look appealing in the city of Paris.

Bobble Water Bottle

2010-04-08T16:06:00.003Z

Came across this on SwissMiss.

It is actually a very well designed water bottle with a built in water filter! I think the simplicity of the bottle is very effective, and the fact you can fill it up with just regular tap water and it is filtered right there and then for you, is definitely a bonus.
I am personally not a great fan of water but i will be definitely recomending this bottle on.

Click for more info on 'Bobble'.

Iphone Dock Turns Into Desk Phone

2010-04-08T15:59:00.003Z

Again whilst browsing on the SwissMiss blog, i came across this iPhone dock that can turn your phone into a desk/office phone.

This is a very good invention as it charges your phone, but can also be used as a regular handset phone, idea for in the office.

More info about the dock is available here.

Wine Glass Sponge

2010-04-08T15:45:00.004Z

Whilst browsing through the SwissMiss Blog, i came across a sponge specially made for cleaning your wine glasses.

I think this is a brilliant idea as i have myself struggled to clean wine glasses with a regular sponge at times. Also the design and shape of the prong is interesting, as its not just a small sponge on the end of a long stick, which i have seen previously; the whole sponge is shaped in a unique shape.

Contact Report - Reply to Questionnaire - Box Creative

2010-04-07T16:50:00.003Z

Again i have received a reply from Box Creative in response to my questionnaire.
Below are the answers:

1. When we hire, we look for specific abilities which we need more help in. If it is in print design, we will look for a strong understanding of typography, photoshop, vector illustration ability, and a good understanding of prepress. When seeking developers, we look to see innovation in their work and a great knowledge of when and where to use certain developments and technologies.

2. I look for an undeniable passion for design and/or creativity. This usually is very bright in people. I always see this quality in interns, as their efforts are almost stripped of financial agenda. When I see this passion in seasoned professionals, it comes with a portfolio filled with personal projects that highlight their client work. We all know that client work is usually driven by tons of outside opinion and clients with no design training, so it is good to see the pure creativity of personal work. You can see the 'actual person' in it and their consistent style. In addition, I think being culturally savvy is a good characteristic in creative professionals. It seems to go hand-in-hand and is nice to add culture into a shop. Overall, it is best to be yourself as most people can spot a phony. Although interviews can be nerve-wrecking, it is better to be "cool" than business-like in my opinion.

3. I look at a person's work and am not even interested in past jobs or educations. I feel the the person's experience is to better them and ultimately builds their portfolio. Their portfolio is where I find all the answers, not a diploma or letter of recommendation. I feel some of the best people in the industry are just out of college. Lots of people freelance out of school. It is a great way to learn every facet of the industry on your own but certainly can get you jaded. Working at a design firm at the bottom level can also create jaded professionals. I guess what I am saying is that I even prefer less work experience. After-all, I am hiring creatives, not an VP.

4. Personally, by obsessing myself with trends, styles, cultures, and technology, I quickly come up with what I feel is the best solution. If you can clearly visualize different options and the way ideas can be presented or received, then running with an idea comes easily. We brainstorm together and throw out ideas but the good stuff usually comes from an individual's intuition and presents itself when least expected. For example, when plenty of ideas have been thrown around and the team has began production, new ideas and ultimately better ones surface when being hands-on. A good design firm should have a comfortable atmosphere to allow "playing jazz" with their creations. They should be able to evolve at any time and not require approval for every little detail by a client. Clients should appreciate the team's abilities and will take your word for it most of the time.

I am also extremely grateful that Andrew Weitzel, from Box Creative, New York had the time to reply to my email.

Contact Report - Reply to Questionnaire - 24 Twelve Designs

2010-04-07T16:43:00.002Z

I have recieved a reply From 24 Twelve Designs.
Below are the answers to my questionnaire i constructed:

1. Not looking at the moment so hard to say

2. qualities.....I think if you can show passion and enthusiasm for design and motivation to work hard

3. I would definitely love to give work experience in the future, not necessarily someone with placements

4. For myself I just enjoy what I'm designing/painting not really thinking if it works! but for clients you need to really get them involved in what they want, communicate as much as you can so you have enough to work with to create something that works for them etc.

I am extremely grateful for the reply from Samantha Palmer at 24 Twelve Designs, London.

Contact Report - Questionnaire

2010-04-07T16:20:00.002Z

I have recently been emailing a few design agencies that are of interest to me.
I have constructed a small questionnaire asking a few questions that i have been thinking about recently.

Below are the questions i have been sending out in an email, in hope for a reply and to get different design companies answers/opinions to my questions:

1) Is there anything in particular that your looking for when viewing through portfolio's?

2) Are there any particular qualities that you look for within the person showing you their portfolio?

3) Do you take on people for works experience placements or would you prefer people who come to you who have already had a placement?

4) How do you go about coming up with the idea that works? Do a group of you brainstorm together or do you go off individually then come back with what you all have and discuss it?

I will post separate posts containing the replies to my answers i have received.

Coca-Cola Bottles

2010-04-05T17:57:00.011Z

Whilst browsing through blogs i came across a new design for the well known Coca-cola drinks bottles. A design student Andrew Kim, has completely changed the way our Coke bottles could be in the future.

The main change to been noticed is the fact the bottle would be square, compared to the current round drinks bottle. Having the new bottles square is considered to be Eco friendly as each bottle would take up far less space when in the shipping pallets, and having an arch in the bottom large enough to accommodate the cap of the bottle underneath it. This would also make the bottles available to be stacked in transit and when on sale in shops etc. The cap to be drank from has been placed offset for better an apparent better drink ability factor.

Below is the new shaped bottle compared to the current bottle.

and below is an image of how the bottles can be stacked

Another feature of the new shaped bottles is that underneath the label the bottle will be ribbed so that when the bottle is used it can be squashed down almost like an accordion. This will enable more room in the recycling truck.

Below an image of the ribbed bottle

I cannot personally decide weather i like this new bottle design or not. I think these would be very eye catching as they are so different to the current bottles, and definitely good for the environment. I no they are only a design made by a freshmen in America, however i think these are god enough to be used in the real world.

London Trip

2010-04-02T21:39:00.002Z

At the beginning of March 2010, myself and fellow university students arranged a trip down to London to see how the Graphic Design community works down there compared to Manchester.
We were to arrange our own portfolio visits with London based companies of our own choice to show our work and learn about the design industry in London.
Myself and another student Laura paired up when visiting design companies (mainly because we were unsure of the London surroundings having only been once before!). We emailed a number of companies and recieved good and bad reply's, however we arranged 4 portfolio visits whilst down in London, we attended 3 of them between 1st-3rd march, although we received an email on the way down to London from once of the companies explaining something had popped up and they would be unable to see us on that day. This was fine and we appreciated the email telling us this.
All in all i had a brilliant time in London and it was a great opportunity to make some contacts in the design industry.

New Free Lander 2 Advert

2010-04-02T21:08:00.003Z

Recently on the tv i have noticed this advert to be played a few times.
It is advertising the new 'Land Rover Free Lander 2', i think the advert is set out in a different way to a usual car/4x4 advert and it works really well. Instead of just having a usual 4x4 driving through the mud and through a forest, it has the whole advert set out using printed out photographs. The photographs show a story of the Free Lander 2 and its surroundings. I think this idea is effective and an usual way to advertise a car, the main reason why i believe the advert works well.

You can view the video below:

New 'Think Bike' Adverts

2010-03-31T18:22:00.002Z

Iv always thought the drink driving adverts and think bike adverts were always really effective.
I have recently noticed this new advert being shown on the TV, i think it is a really good way of getting the message across that road users need to be aware of people on motorbikes as they are a lot more vulnerable if they were to be in a crash.

You can view the advert below:

There is also a radio advert being played on the radio at the moment, so keep listening out for it.

Issues and Practices - Too Many Design Graduates

2010-03-28T14:25:00.001Z

With my 3rd year of university studying graphic design coming to an end soon, i have been thinking a lot recently on what i'm going to do once i leave university. There is a lot of questioning around me on how i am going to find the situation of having to find a job in the graphic design industry. One of the main fears i have been hearing about recently is that there doesn't appear to be enough jobs to accommodate the amount of graduates leaving university each year, and all of us wanting to land a job in the same industry.

From attending lectures and talks by existing graphic designers, it has become apparent that it is going to be particularly hard for the majority of us to land a job straightaway in the design industry. Not only are the 30 people on my current university course looking to get a job in the same industry as me, but all the other university's around the area and their graduates too ( and there is a lot more than 30 on other university courses!). Getting a placement organised is one of my main priories at the moment, however i have been finding this hard with the world being in a recession. Ever since i started studying for my degree, i have always been faced with the reality of how it is to secure a job in the design industry. Various lectures i have attended presented by local graphic designers, nearly all of the designers had a tricky time trying to get a job. Whether it was that they completed numerous unpaid placements until one finally paid off, or worked in a different industry whilst trying to secure a placement; with their determination they finally got that first job they wanted. Alan Cocks from Sheffield based company Dust, spent the 2years from graduating to finding a job working as a night auditor. This then brings up another question, are we expected to find another career whilst we are applying for design jobs/placements or just hope we get 'lucky' and are in the right place at the right time?

From researching on the internet on how there is too many design graduates compared to the jobs actually available i came across the following website. On the website it has a peice of realistic advice that could be given to students, due to graduate such as myself. The advice reads

"You're in a competitive field. If you're studying automotive design, for example, you're probably not going to get the job cranking out car renderings for Porsche all day -- there just aren't that many jobs like that out there. Same goes for shoe design. Or magazine cover illustration. Or interior design for high-end boutique hotels. If it's a prestigious, high-profile job, lots of people want it, and some of them are probably better than you. Sorry."

I feel this piece of information really hits you hard, however it is the honest truth. There just isn't enough jobs out there for us! Most design agencies feel that someone with experience is better for the job, however i am unsure of how we are ever going to 'climb up the ladder' if we are struggling to find a placement to gain the experience in the first place.

Another question to bring up is whether moving to London or New York would help in the current situation? I have recently visited both of these areas and have taken my portfolio of work along with me to get designers opinions on my design work. I must admit i found this process a lot easier to arrange to meet up with a designer and arrange a portfolio viewing within these areas. This could be due to the fact they are much larger areas with a wider range of design agencies than in Manchester; however this could be because there is in fact more opportunity for design work in places such as London or New York.

In conclusion to the questions above, i feel that by having a determined attitude and enthusiasm is definitely one of the main requirements if you are going to proceed to grab that dream job in the design industry. If you are going to stop trying to make contacts once you have graduated you will never retrieve a design job unless you are extremely lucky. It's all about constantly emailing/contacting new design agencies and making designers aware of your ability to work in the industry.

Don't ever give up; just keep trying.

Hat-Trick Design - Typographic Playing Cards

2010-03-25T17:35:00.005-01:00

Whilst researching typographic posters on the internet i came across a pack of playing cards that had been designed by Hat-Trick Design. These cards really caught my eye as they have used purely typography and no images - something you don't usually see on a pack of cards. Apparently you can purchase a pack for around £20, i look forward to doing this when i next get some money to spare. Below is images of each card designed.

Future Brand - London Visit

2010-03-25T17:05:00.007-01:00

One of the visits i went to in London was to FutureBrand. Future Brand is a large globally ran design company. They have around 25 offices all over the world, this allows clients to get the best of their service, where ever they are.The list is endless of the names of well known companies they produce work for, Becks, Cadbury's, UPS, Barclay's and MasterCard are just to name a few.

On arrival at Futurebrand, we were greeted by Chris Jenkins and Karen Vance; they were very welcoming and took us upstairs into the studio. I was amazed at how big this company actually was, it was for sure the biggest design company i had ever visited. Chris and Karen talked us through some of the recent projects they had worked on, Chris mainly focused on the beer side of the work and Karen on the chocolate side. Chris talked us through some of his favorite work, he started off by showing us where he started and how he got to the final idea, which i found extremely helpful as when visiting design companies you very rarely get shown how they got to a final idea. He talked us through how he and the team designed a font for Becks Beer (see below)

.

Karen mainly focused on the chocolate side, she talked us through how she and the team got to the final ideas for the new Cadbury's Koko (see below)

After Chris and Karen had showed us some of their work, they took us on a tour of the studio. They explained to us all the different departments they have in their office and who does what. This was really interesting as i have only really visited smaller companies and they seem to do everything them selves, whereas in a larger company you have designers to draw it out, then a different set of designers to convert it on to the macs and then a different set of designers to print it out!
Once we had finished the tour, we said our thank yous and goodbyes and left with a business card from Chris.

Method Uk, London - Portfolio Visits

2010-03-25T11:23:00.005-01:00

Another portfolio visit i attended in London was to see Garry Martin, from Method Uk.
On arrival we were met by Garry himself and taken up to the studio. We sat down and showed him our portfolios and the work we produce. He was very impressed by our work and didn't have any negative feedback to give to us. He even mentioned that we could possibly have a placement if we were to ever come back to London, which was very good.
After showing our work he went on to show us the work that Method Uk produce, he took us around the studio and introduced us to Mike Lee, the head designer. He was also very pleasant and showed us some of the work he is currently producing for Topgear. Garry then went on to show us some of the printed design work they produce for lots of major companies, which was all really good and an experience to actually see the design work in the studio rather than in a shop!
Again overall it was a very positive experience, and i am glad i went to visit Garry at Method Uk, and I am happy he gave me positive feedback on my portfolio. They produce work for various different major companies, to check out there work go to there website on the following link: Method Uk.

Minx Creative, London - Portfolio Visit

2010-03-25T11:10:00.005-01:00

Another portfolio visit me and Laura attended was once at Minx Creative based in London.
We were met by Two designers Jess and Charlotte, who i had previously arranged the visit with via email. We presented our portfolio's and explained the outcomes of our work. Both designers, were impressed with our level of design and use of programs etc. They took particular interest to some bags i produced for a Coal Mining Museum, in my first year of the degree.
They didn't give me any negative feedback, as i think they were mostly just being polite, however they were impressed at the knowledge of all the programs and skills we had, (i think in London they musn't get taught as much about the software as we seem to do). Which was nice to hear as i feel i am quite basic on some of the software we use. We spoke about the design industry and how they found it quite hard to get a job after graduating and stressed that we should just keep trying if its what your really want because it will all pay off in the end, like it did for them.
Overall it was a great experience, as i got to talk and show my work to two designers of the company and get there opinion of my work. We both got given and business card and told to keep in touch. To check out their work visit the following link: Minx Creative.

Lavish Creative, London - Portfolio Visit

2010-03-25T10:57:00.005-01:00

Whilst on a trip to London, i previously arranged to visit a few design companies and show them my portfolio, to see their opinion on my work. A fellow student, Laura, also accompanied me to the visits and we both displayed our portfolio's.
I paid a visit to Lavish Creative, a design company based just near Piccadilly Circus.
On arrival we were met by Karl Gilbert, the creative director of the company; we were then also joined by Vicky Dudley, who i had previously arranged the visit with via email.

Both were very polite and seemed to be very pleased with our style of work. They didn't really have any negative feedback on my work, only positive, which is very good. We had a chat with them about our university course and the type of work we produce, they were impressed at the amount of programs we were able to use on our own. We talked about the design industry, what their company does and what we would like to do once finishing university.

Overall the visit was a success, and a great experience. Karl gave us a business card and told us both to keep in touch and wished us luck with the rest of our degree.

Lavish creative do work for a wide variety of companies, if you want to check out their work then visit the following link: Lavish Creative .

24 Twelve Design - Contact Report

2010-03-25T10:52:00.003-01:00

Again another reply from Samantha Palmer at 24 Twelve Designs, London. Explaining they are busy and haven't got the time to see us.

Trickster Design - Contact Report

2010-03-25T10:46:00.002-01:00

Again another reply from Murray Fisher from design agency Trickster Design, London. However again they were to busy, but still found the time to email back, which again was appreciated.

Blast Design - Contact Report

2010-03-25T10:41:00.002-01:00

Reply from James Windsor from Blast design, London.
unfortunately they couldn't spare the time to see me and Laura, but were still kind enough to send an email back explaining why, which i really appreciated.
Below is the reply i received.

Minx Creative, London - Contact Report

2010-03-25T10:27:00.006-01:00

Another replied i received was from Charlotte Dickason, from the design agency Minx Creative.
Below are the emails that we exchanged.

Lavish Creative, London - Contact Report

2010-03-25T09:51:00.003-01:00

Whilst on a trip to London, i arranged a few portfolio visits.
I emailed around 20 different design agencies and recieved only a few replies.
Below are the emails i exchanged with Vicky Dudley from the design agency Lavish Creative, arranging my portfolio visit.

Marcelo Krasilcic

2010-02-08T10:08:00.000-01:00

I came across the photography Marcelo Krasilcic whilsts browsing through www.itsnicethat.com
He was born in Brasil and then moved to New York in 1990 to study photography at New York University.

I noticed that he has some really outstanding photography and its very eye catching. He does alot of advertising work for EllusJeans Delux and Junmen. I really like the photography he deisplays on his website i find it really interesting and easy to look at.

Below are a few examples of his briliant photography taken from his website:

Trickster Design

2010-02-04T11:30:00.006-01:00

Trickster design and consultancy is an award-winning,graphics design agency based in London. I initially came across this website when researching London based design companies. Not only do they offer services for web design, also multimedia, print work and much more.They aim to offer a high professional standard towards all clients what ever the client. They have produced a range of excellent work, with their experience in design over the years.

Below are a few of the print based work they have produced:

Below are website's Trickster have produced:

Shishi Ishi Inc

2010-02-04T11:07:00.005-01:00

Shishi Ishi Inc is a branding consultancy and graphic design agency in London.
I came across them whilst i was researching agencies in London, for my tip in March.

From there website, they describe themselves as "branding consultancy based in Kings Cross, London. Our range and experience of branding communication, graphic design and creative artwork can make the impact you want for your business. We understand the importance of a brand identity and the impression a brilliantly designed logo can make, whether this is for a website design, business stationary such as business cards, promotional leaflets and marketing material or the external display outside your offices, we deliver exactly what you need.

Our experience of creating stunning and impactful designs has been used to great effect by large and small businesses and corporations.

Our range of services includes design and building of websites, logos, letterheads, business cards, marketing and POS material, brochures, in fact whatever your design needs are online or offline - we deliver."

They have produced some amazing work for a number of well known clients. Below are a few examples of their work:

The work above is for Londonarch's.

Work above is for Jutong Investment & Guaranty. This is a Chinese financial services company.

Chlamydia Advertising

2010-02-03T13:42:00.004-01:00

I have notice more and more there is some great adverts out there making people more aware of the STI Chlamydia.

The advertising is created in a way to grab the younger audience, i think this is very well done and hopeful will make young people realise it is a serious infection.

Below are a few of the posters made to create awareness about Chlamydia:

And the more recent advert below:

http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Worth-Talking-About-Chlamydia-NHS/81494

Dave Sedgwick Lecture

2010-02-03T12:52:00.009-01:00

I attended a lecture by Dave Sedgwick on 29th October 2009.
Dave currently works for design company 999
Dave started off his design career by attending a D&AD course at Manchester Met. University, he then went on to complete two placements: one at Flux Magazine and then one at Splinter in Liverpool. He enjoyed both placements however preferred the placement at Splinter.
Dave's whole lecture was to take us through his design career and give us as many useful tips that he could along the way. One his most useful tips i felt he gave us was to make sure we research the companies where you have been offered a placement. You will complete many different placements in your design career, some you will love and some you will hate, this is just part of the process of finding out which type of company you would prefer to work for.

After the placements above Dave was then offered a 2 week placement with Dinosaur. He was paid £65 for the 2weeks. Once completed the placement, Dave carried on visiting various design agencies, Dave then went on to bag a placement at Love which he then got offered a job there. He explained he found it a lot easier to get the placement at Love, now he wasn't a student, agencies would agree to talk to him. Unfortunately he then got made redundant, and went on to be a freelance designer for a few months.

Dave was then offered a job at RACE, he explained he did everything from tea making at race.
Dave then went on to work at Bruntwood for a few years.
In 2006, Dave then joined 999 design in Manchester, which was funny for Dave as he had actually gone to see 999 when he ad graduated and had not been offered a job.

Of all the lectures i have attended i would like to say that Dave's has probably been the most useful to me, as he seems to have gone through a lot of the same problems as i do, e.g not getting email replies and no-one wanting to talk to you because your a student!

Below are a few examples of Dave's work he has created over the years:

Russell Howards Good News

2010-02-02T14:20:00.000-01:00

From watchin Russell Howards Good News, i have really become to like the opening sequence of the show. I think the way he starts the show off is very unique, there are not many shows like this anymore, they all seem to be digitally based and very simple. I like how he has used cardboard cut outs and used them throughout the opeining.

Screen grab of the title of the show. I like how the text is hand drawn and sketched, rather than just digitally produced.

View the video of the opening sequence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibx6y6XzKeU

Vision Express - 'Expertise' Advert

2010-02-02T13:58:00.001-01:00

This is the new Vision Express advert. I saw it on TV the other day. I think its cleverly made as each 'eyeball' is moving to make a particular pattern. I think its a clever idea using large eyeballs on each person's head.

View video below:

Santander Lego Advert

2010-02-02T13:44:00.001-01:00

I really love this advert as it uses Lego to make a bridge. It again has very good use of computer graphics to make the bridge being built look real and believable. I think this is also a great advert for kids as it includes a toy most kids are familiar with.

View the video below:

Honda Civic 'Everything' Advert

2010-02-02T13:34:00.002-01:00

Recently noticed this advert being played on the tv advertising the new Honda Civic.
I really like the way the camera has been split up into different sections throughout the advert so it shows the same part of a different car. It is clever use of the camera to promote this advert.
I personally don't like the new Honda Civics, however I love the advert.

View the advert here:

Evian advert

2009-12-24T13:22:00.001-01:00

I have recently noticed that there is a lot of excitement about this particular advert.
I personally, saw it a while ago before it was shown on the tv so am not as excited as everyone else to see it on the tv. However i do think its a clever idea and it is entertaining to watch. I do like how it looks so real, when it is obviously computer generated. Good use of motion graphics here.

See the advert here:

New Yok Trip

2009-12-10T21:47:00.001-01:00

In November 2009, myself and my fellow university students participated on a trip to NYC. The main aim of the trip was to get in contact with design agencies and arrange to meet up with them whilst in New York and to show our portfolio's. This was a great experience as i have never been to New York before and i got the chance to meet up with a few New York design agencies and see if things run differently over there.

Paul Smith For Evian

2009-12-01T17:32:00.001-01:00

Recently on a trip to Selfridge's i came across a bottle of Evian water that had a striped design on the bottle.
After looking around a found out that it is actually a limited edition bottle that has been design by Paul Smith.
It really caught my eye as bottles of water are usually boring and predictable, however this one was interesting to look at and an unusual shape.

After coming home i decided to check out the Selfridge's&Co website and found out the following information:

"Known for his colourful stripes, Paul Smith has designed a new and limited edition bottle especially for Evian.
To celebrate the festive season, Evian enlisted Paul Smith to bring a youthful spirit in to the design of a chic new bottle.
The new design for Evian features vibrant colours, and we would expect nothing less from Paul Smith."

and here is a picture taken from the website of the special edition bottle.

Yakult Adverts

2009-11-25T14:04:00.000-01:00

Whilst researching existing Carex adverts (for a brief i am currently working on), i came across these adverts for the little health drink Yakult.
There are two different campaigns i have came across to promote people do drink the health drink.

I think the way these adverts are laid out as they are different to a normal advert and have humor involved in them, i think this is a key ingredient to having successful adverts.

This is the first set of adverts:

And these are the second series of posters:

Prime Studio Inc, New York City.

2009-11-20T18:56:00.002-01:00

Prime Studio Inc is a integrated Product + Brand design consultancy that i went to visit whilst i was in New York. Taken from there current website they describe themself as the following:

"Prime Studio is an integrated Product + Brand design consultancy which is dedicated to providing successful solutions for our clients. Our multi-disciplinary team is strategically aware, creatively driven and technically knowledgeable.

Flexibility is inherent in our approach, allowing us to create and evolve teams appropriate for each project and to provide creative solutions that form powerful connections with consumers.

We work hard to engage with our clients to ensure our designs are based on a strategic foundation, encompassing a thorough understanding of the business, the brand and the consumer.

Since our launch in 1998, Prime Studio has worked in a wide range of markets, believing that the diversity of application is crucial to maintaining freshness in our ideas. We have experience in Consumer products, Housewares, Tabletop, Personal care, Food & Beverage and numerous other areas.

In addition, we maintain a trained eye on the global marketplace, to help our clients define the future, rather than react to it."

They have won a number of awards for there work over the years. Some of these awards include:

ID magazine annual review
Good design 1999 - Zelco Foodtool
Good design 2004 - Zelco LifeAid sport
International Housewares Award finalist 2005 - Polder dishrack
International Housewares Award finalist 2006 - Violight travel sanitizer
Pentawards Bronze 2008 - Axe Detailer packaging
International Housewares Award finalist 2009 - Fiesta Head Chefs
Pentawards Bronze 2009 - Sun Products detergent packaging.

Below is a few examples of there work that they were kind enough to show me:

Studio Lin, NYC. Portfolio Visit

2009-11-20T17:37:00.003-01:00

Whilst in New York, attended another portfolio visit.
this once Michele had organised and i came along to it as she did with my previous one.
We went to visit Alex Lin, at his company called Studio Lin.
We had a bit of a nightmare on the way to the studio as we had ended up on 64th street instead of 4th street number 60!! so we had to jump in a taxi and travel 60 blocks to find the right road, luckily we had left enough time to spare in case this had happened. When we had finally found the right road and building, we started walking up the stairs, we were a bit confused as the stairs were very scruffy and there were posters up everywhere advertising dance lessons and we thought there may have been a dance studio somewhere on one of the floors.

We got to the top floor and noticed a sign next to the door saying Studio Lin. We realised that we were infact in the right place and knocked on the door. Alex answered and invited us in, when entering the room it was very small indeed with only Alex and another design working in there.
It looked almost like an arts and crafts room, with lots of stuff hanging from the ceiling and boxes full of bits an bobs.

He was really nice and welcoming and asked us what we had been doing in NY and if we were enjoying it so far, we explained we had only been here one day so far but had enjoyed it up to then. He also asked us what projects were working on in uni and how we generally tackle briefs and come up with our solutions. We explained how we start a brief and come to our final solutions and then went onto show our work.
Michele went 1st this time as she had organised the visit through emails. Alex was very pleased with her work and suggested a few tips to improve the standard of work. I then went on to show my work, Alex's comments were generally the same sort of comments that Erin had said earlier on in the day at my 1st visit; to maybe photograph my work, improve the quality before printing out and increase the sizes on certain images e.g my typeface twigs. Again i was very pleased with the feedback he gave me and was happy that he enjoyed my work and was happy to help me.

After showing our portfolio's, he took us around the room that he worked in and explained some of the current and existing projects he had been working on. I was surprised at some of the work, concidering when we 1st walked in it felt like a kids arts n crafts room.

I then left alex with one of my little booklets i made and we said our goodbyes and left.

Prime Studio Inc, NYC. Portfolio Visit.

2009-11-20T17:04:00.002-01:00

After arriving in New York n the Monday, i had previously arranged to meet with the creative director of Prime Studio Inc. As new York is such a big place we decided to stay in pairs when walking around on our own and visiting company, so i paired up with Michele Mckee.
We had already wrote down the address and directions on how to get there before leaving England, so we left the hostel nice and early to give us extra time in case we got lost. With the building only being a few blocks away from our hostel we decided to walk as it would be quicker and easier than getting a taxi or using the subway. We found the building easily and told the man working on the reception who we were going to see and he then told us what floor we needed and what studio number. Being on the 11th floor this was unusual to us as we don't normally have tall offices and buildings this high in Stockport. We arrived on the floor and found the door leading to studio 1101.

We knocked on the door and Erin answered and invited us in. The studio was fairly large and spacious, unfortunately most of the staff were out on a meeting so there was only Erin and another designer in at the time of our visit. Erin offered us both a glass of water and we sat down at the table with our portfolio's. I showed my portfolio 1st and she had very positive comments towards it. She was impressed with the way my portfolio was laid out, she said over in New York a lot of people don't present there work in boxes and it was a nice changed for her to look at.
She was very helpful on tips in ways which to improve the presentation of my portfolio, she suggested to photograph certain pieces of work instead of using the live surface applications on photoshop. I agreed with this as this had been my main aim to do but i had ran out of time before my visit to New York. She also suggested that i changed the lay out of the page where i was showing my homemade typeface out of twigs, if i made the letters bigger, it would be more noticeable that they were made from actual twigs. The only negative comment she suggested was that some of my pages were pixelated, i agreed with this as i had noticed this after printing it out but had no time to re-do it before new york. I will taking every comment that Erin said into consideration and making those changes to my portfolio to improve the presentation towards it.

After i had shown mine, Michele then had her turn. Again she was very nice and made a few suggestions to improve the presetation towards it.

Once we had shown our portfolio's Erin went on to show what work the company had been doing recently and how they got to the final ideas. I was impressed with the work they had created it was very inspiring.

After we had talked for a while, we then said our goodbye's and left the studio. I had previously made some little booklets, showing some of my work and my contact details, i then gave one to erin for her to keep and we left.

I am really please that the visit went well and she liked my work and was very positive about it.

Box Creative NYC, contact emails - Andy Weitzel

2009-11-20T16:18:00.006-01:00

Another company i emailed in NYC, was Box Creative.
I was surprised to receive an email back almost straight away, from Andy Weitzel the Creative Director + Co-Founder.

Here is what i emailed and what i recieved:

I had not realised but i had emailed the same company as my friend Hayley.
So i arranged to go on a visit with her and another student Amy.
We organised to visit on Wednesday at 3pm, however when we got there Andy and his twin brother were both off sick and only the PA in the building. She rang them and arranged for us to re meet them on Friday at 11am.
Once back to the hostel i checked my emails and recieved the email from the brothers saying they had to cancel the meeting. here is what they sent:

We then went forward with the meeting and it went really well. I will post the details of the vsit in a seperate post.

Once home i emailed the brothers to say thank you for taking the time so look at our work. This was the reply i got from them :

Prime Studio Inc NYC - Email contact Erin Buchanan

2009-11-20T14:35:00.008-01:00

Another studio i contacted was one called Prime Studio Inc, NY.
The graphic design director, Erin Buchanan Emailed me back.

These are the following emails we exchanged:

I attended the portfolio visit and it went very well.
I will post what happened on the visit on a seperate post.

Vertigo NYC - Email contact Fred Pesce

2009-11-20T14:00:00.010-01:00

Having being informed that on our trip to New York City in Nov 2009; we would be advised to arrange a porfolio visit with a company in New York.

I researched graphic design agencies in New York and sent out the following Email to a few. this is the one i sent to Vertigo, New York, USA.

After a few weeks of waiting and New York getting closer i finally got a reply :)

From the Creative Director - Fred Pesce.

Here are the emails we sent to each other arranging a portfolio visit:

Unfortunately, just before leaving for New York i realised that this Company was infact 2 hours away on the trains, i we would not be able to fit this in within our schedule for New York. I gave the company a quick call and explained, they said this was fine and i thanked them for there helo they have given me.

Container Plus Lecture

2009-11-02T13:17:00.001-01:00

Container Plus came in to give a lecture about there company today.
Container Plus are a multi-disaplinary art and design company, they specialise on creating fantasy worlds across a multitude of 2D and 3D platforms.

Luise Vormittag met Nicola Carter when studying Graphic Design at University. Both were unsure what to do with there lives after graduating. So they decided to stick together and set up their own company. they started off by setting up a joint website containing two sepreate portfolio's. Both didnt really have a plan in what to do, they took both portfolio's with them when visiting agencies.

Among the previous work carried out between the pair is the Lab Cafe display they created for Selfridges in 2004. They were do design an installation for Selfridges Lab Cafe, Oxford Street, London. It was a permanent installation that took four weeks of Saturdays working on the design. They split the design up in to sections between them, to lower the work load. Louise created the heads, line drawings and Nicola created the bodies, colour and style.
Below is the created Lab Cafe display:

Another previous example of work is the Vaulkswagon Fox car launch.

The idea was to design of 4 rooms at Copenhagen's creative lifestyle hotel, designed for the launch of Volkswagen's FOX, 2005. the hotel was transformed by 20 different designers and then journalists stayed in the decorated rooms. Container Plus were given four rooms to decorate, they created four different stories to decorate the rooms with, these all included playing cards.
The rooms they completed are shown below:

Another installation created is the Art Car. They only got asked the day before the installation was to be completed so with no time they just threw it together.

Other design work they have created will be shown below:

Charles Worthington - It goes to your head. Created illustrative advert.

Art exhibition in Germany. Evil Twins. 2006.

After the evil twins project they had an idea to expand company to Patrica, Victoria and Anne making it 5 people in total. All the new recuits had all had previous experience in the design area. After a year of all working together it just didnt work so they broke back down to just 2 people again. They then went on to be a 3 again, with Patricia re-joining the group and still all work together today. they hae carried on to work for companies such as Topshop and Sony.

Carex Antibacterial Handwash

2009-10-04T16:46:00.003Z

Since going back to University in my 3rd year, i have been working on a brief for Care Antibacterial Hand wash. The aim of the brief is to create some posters that encourage hand washing or the use of Carex Hand gel for when your on the move.

At first i had a shower of all different kinds of ideas however i realised that many of them were not as effective as they needed to be. Then after wracking my brain i came up with a few different ideas that really emphasised on using the hand gel, it uses no water and can be used anywhere!!

I am currently finalizing my final ideas so i will post them once finished.

Practioner comparision Craig Oldham vs Fudge

2009-05-08T15:05:00.000Z

Craig Oldham vs. Fudge

Recently at college we have had a series of lectures presented to us by graphic designers and companies. There have been a variety of different styled companies and their working styles have all been very different but interesting. Some of these lectures include design companies such as Truth, Music, Fake ID, Grant Gilbert , Tal Rosener, Glorious and Thoughtful.

Craig Oldham from music came in to give us a lecture about his life since graduating University. Craig Oldham has only been graduated from university for 3 years. He worked at The Chase for a few years, within his first 12 months of working at The Chase he decided to produce a booklet of his encounter. His booklet was mainly about the lessons that he learnt whilst working at The Chase.

Craig has a great theory he goes by when in the graphic design industry. It is that you are one of two types of designers, Bunch A or Bunch B. He went on to explain what they were:

Bunch A - logical designers that do things that have an obvious purpose in life. For example toilet signs.

Bunch B - emotional designers that use every form of communication possible, to build an emotional connection between the design and its audience.

He also asked us all in the audience to have a think about what designer we think we are. Having being asked this question, thinking about it I’m not sure what category of designer I would fall in to. I think a lot of people sat watching the lecture also felt the same as me, so I wasn't on my own. Craig also went on to talk about having different strengths and weaknesses as a designer. He talked about when you are at your first ever placement you will often say yes to anything you get asked by designer, even making endless cups of tea. He expressed that although this may be boring it is very good in the process of being accepted in the design industry. He did also say that you need to be fairly honest when accepting challenging tasks, like if you get asked to build a website and you are weak at this area, don’t just accept to impress someone. If you are unsure of your abilities then say so, this way you won't make a fool of yourself or disappoint someone. Placements are very important as you get a chance to practice your abilities and also learn at the same time, it also enables you to get your name out and there.
Craig had a few do's and don'ts of placements:

Do's
- An insight to a real graphic design agency
- Real work
- Meet new and interesting people
- Improve your tea making skills (VERY important to Craig ha)
- Build confidence
- Remind you of your abilities

Don’ts
- Loss of money
- Could be away for a long period of time and could be on your own
- Taken advantage of

Whilst at the agency Craig said to make sure:
- You are punctual
- To make sure you are always enthusiastic
-To be no one other than yourself
-Make sure you spell peoples names right!!

Another one of Craig’s useful tips was to make sure you keep in touch with people you have met along the way. Share ideas with people, don’t just hide them and not let anyone else see, everyone knows everyone in the design world. He also said to invite criticism towards your work. Don't be scared to ask people about your work, you never know it might improve your idea.

Gavin Bates from the graphic design company Fudge presented us a lecture called 'The Branding Process'. He said to researching the client is one of the first things you should do when given a new brief. This is because you will need to have a much fuller understanding of the company you are designing for. He also went on to mention that your best ideas come up from researching your client in detail and understanding what your client represents.

Fudge has its own way of dealing with briefs, when re-branding they split everything up into sections to make sure they are clear on what’s needed. The sections are:

1. Researches and Analysis
2. Naming Solution
3. Design Concepts
4. Design Development
5. Design Applications and Artwork

Gavin then went on to show us some of his work. Starting with visual rough sketches and gradually refining them and making them neat as he went on. One of Gavin’s tips was to not use ideas that have been used before, the term re-branding means a complete make over. He also said for us to think about how we are going to present the work to the client as you want to act and look professional at all times.

To compare the two lectures, I would say they were both very good, interesting and informative. I have learnt useful tips from both lectures and enjoyed listening and watching them. I think I preferred Craig Oldham’s lecture the most, but only because he is younger he thinks more on the same lines that I do and he swears a lot like me! They were both shown in the same sort of way, however Craig focused more on his life after leaving university, he also included a large section on portfolios and placements. This was extremely useful to me as at the time of the lecture I was putting together my first portfolio. The placements part was helpful to as I had lots of questions to ask about them and Craig answered them for me. Gavin focused more on his work and what the company had produced and who for. I am really grateful both lectures took place as they have helped me a lot during the course.

Maja Hajuk

2009-05-08T09:42:00.005Z

Whilst looking through www.itsnicethat.com, i came across an artist from new york called Maja Hajuk. Her work is very unsual but creative. She mainly does drawings and interesting art work but also on her website there is a few print based and screen printed projects.

I have picked a few of my favourites off the website and will post them below:

Canvas painting work.

Printing and Screen printing work

Britain's Forgotten Children Video Trailer

2009-05-08T09:27:00.003Z

Today whilst watching TV i came across this trailer for a documentary series on children that are put into care homes and forgotten about. I found the trail very interesting and clever as it shows that the children are being sucked underground and will be forgotten about, just like when they get put into a care home.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid20364316001?bctid=20460683001
above is the link for the trailer.

above is an advert found on the website promoting the series.

I think it is a very clever and effective way of portraying the series, and has definitely grabbed my attention making me want to watch the show when stuff like this wouldn't normally interest me.

Pepsi Max Adverts

2009-05-07T23:07:00.000Z

I have recently came across the new Pepsi Max Adverts!!
I have to say i think there brilliant. they make me laugh everytime and that song catches on and stays in your head all day.
Great way of boosting Pepsi sales!
Video links below:

Job interview : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKV0QuQsonk
Octopus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ssIwvcQykg&feature=related

More available of youtube.com

The Designers Republic

2009-05-07T22:27:00.001Z

Again on the CR Blog, i came across a steel cd case with engraved typography on the back. This caught my eye as it is a different approach to usual cd covers. I looked into it and found that the case was created by 'The Designers Republic'.

I went on there website and looked at there latest work. When on there website i really liked the way it was set out, the font they had used and the kerning was great and looked really effective.
When looking at the work i was surprised to see that they had inface re-branded the childs tv channel Nickelodeon. I used to watch this as a child and remebered when they changed the logo/s to the ones they designed.

There is also a list of other well known brands they they have created amazing work for.

Airside

2009-05-07T22:12:00.001Z

I came across Airside on the Creative Review blog. They had a post on Airside releasing a Hard back book to celebrate there 10th aniversery.

taken from Creative Review: "London-based design studio Airside celebrates its tenth year of business this year by self-publishing Airside by Airside, a 296-page hardback tome choc full of images of the projects that have not only paid the bills at Airside HQ but have shaped the company.

This is not your typical studio monograph. Dip into the text on any given page and it becomes clear that the intention is not just to show off the work created since the company’s inception in 1999, but also to use the book as a means to contextualise the work within the story of the company’s development…"

I then went on to Airside's personal website to check out there work, and i like it all.

I think this idea works well, it is a Protest identity for Greenpeace's campaign against Heathrow Airport's proposed third runway.

typeface designed for protest.

I particulary like this project. Re branding of Japanese Music artist called Rie fu.

There is plenty of award winning work on the website and its all of a brilliant standard.

50 Cars = 1 Bus...

2009-05-07T21:58:00.000Z

From looking on the creative review blog, i came across this image:

At a first glace i just ashumed it was a bus/coach. Then thinkig well whats so special about it?? I then looked closely and realised that its actually made out of 50 cars!! I thought this was really good and a clever idea.

The reason this has been created is to try and get Swedes to take the bus to the airport and not drive. It was then placed beside a main road on the way to Stockholm Airport. This way everyone driving past would see it and of course look this getting the message across.

I think this is a really clever and effective idea.

Dave The Chimp

2009-05-07T21:35:00.000Z

Whilst on the Creative Review blog, i came across a post on 'Dave The Chimp'. At first it was the name that attracted me too it him, but then after going on his personal website, i came across some interesting work he does. Taken from his website he describes what he does and who he is as this

" Born in an egg on a mountain top, Dave the Chimp paints graffiti without his name, and makes fanzines to switch on your brain.

He runs the 243rd Skateboarding Support Battalion, helped create Big Cheese Magazine and was a founder member of Finders Keepers Crew (along with D*Face, PMH, and Mysterious Al).
He is head designer at Hessen Metal Skateboard Hardware and Artist in Residence at design/advertising agency Fold7.
His work has been published in such books as "Scrawl 2 - More Dirt", "Zines" and "Blower" (Booth Clibborn), "Concrete To Canvas" (Laurence King) "The Art of Rebellion 1 & 2", "Izastickup", and the Dazed and Confused book "Annual", as well as appearing everywhere from children's books for Hodder, tour posters for MTV, and number 1 UK singles, to the bottom of Burton Snowboards.
He has exhibited in London, Tokyo, Paris, Portland (Oregon), Hamburg, Munich, Milano and Barcelona.
He often works on collaborations with Flying Fortress (under the name Visual Rock Stars) and murals and large abstract posters with the likes of Ekta, Nomad, and Product Two.
2006 saw his directorial debut, with a video for the band Robots in Disguise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES672S-XdJ0), and he has since directed a further video for them, another for the Puppini Sisters, and tv commercials for the Badly Drawn Boy album "Born In The U.K." and the platinum selling Led Zeppelin compilation 'Mothership'.He continues to bomb the streets under a variety of secret identities.

Painting and skating keep the noose from around his neck."

Below is a selection of his work. Its mainly graffiti based.

Daniel Eatock

2009-05-07T21:09:00.000Z

After doing our 1 day brief, i decided to check out Daniel Eatock's website.
I first of all went on to look at his thank you pictures features on the website that other people have submited to him. Here is a few of my favorites:

double cone

not a bin?

race!

parked up parking meters

a little warning

These ones really made me laugh.
I had heard of Daniel before but never actually looked at his website.

There is also some other good work he has produced on there. I particularly liked his version of the 2012 Olympics. He thinks this one should be used as the new logo instead of the current one.

I think i prefer this one.

I will be keeping my eyes peeled on his website to see what crops up next.

Another 1 day brief 5/05/2009

2009-05-07T19:39:00.000Z

On Tuesday day we had another one day brief. This time is was to find some of our own examples of Daniel Eatock's 'Thank You Pictures'.

On the brief we were given a thank you picture was describes as " incident, alignment, coincidence, viewpoint, temporary situation and other small things that often go unnoticed."

So from this armed with a camera i went to find some of my own thank you pictures.

Below is what i came back with :

hungry?

Green

Happy Family

Pipe Worm

Portfolio Viewing - Flame Digital

2009-05-07T19:12:00.000Z

Today (7/05/2009) i went to Manchester to visit Flame digital, a graphic design agency based in Manchester. I had previously arranged through emails to meet Jon at 4pm. When i arrived there i was surprised to find that Jon wasn't actually in the office due to a last minute meeting. But the receptionist kindly introduced me to another designer called Ian. He then offered to see me and look through my portfolio with me and give me some advice. This was very nice of him as he explained they had been very busy the last couple of weeks.

I took a seat on the sofa's as he just finished off some work. The studio was very like Music's, i even think they had the same bookcase! Again it was filled with lots of books and magazines all to do with graphics ect.

Ian then came over and we went through my portfolio. He was impressed with my work and said i was very creative. He suggest that i should experiment more with my portfolio and make it less traditional and more unusual. He said there was nothing wrong with the way it was now but would look better if it was more creative as my work was along the same style. I agree with his comment and will experiment more and see if i can improve it. He also liked my Identity breif for the coal mining museum and said that my bags i produced were a brilliant idea. I was happy with this as i really loved created and designing my bags.

Having another portfolio visit really made me feel better with my work and if i push myself i can create really good ideas. Ian said to keep in touch and he would like to see my portfolio again when i have re arraged it.

Again i was happy with how the viewing went, especially as Ian made the time to see me last minute as Jon had to rush off

I thanked Ian and then left.

Portfolio Viewing - Music

2009-05-07T18:45:00.000Z

I went to visit Music yesterday (6/5/2009). I had previously arranged through emails to visit Anthony at 1pm. I gave myself enough time to get there early and some extra time in case i got lost. I found that i needed this extra time as a lot of the roads near by were closed due to roadworks and there were no diversions set up in place, this was annoying.

I eventually got there with 5Min's to spare. I buzzed into the building and up to the 2nd floor where Music is situated. Anthony greeted me and i took a seat on the leather sofa's while he saved his work. Whilst i was waiting i had a good look round from where i was sat. I really liked the layout of the studio, it was very modern and just the right size. There was a large bookcase full of interesting books to do with everything to do with graphics, i also noticed there was a 'Grafik' magazine on the table in front of me.

Anthony came back over and took a seat next to me.We went through my portfolio and i explained what was required from each brief and how i came to my final solutions. Anthony said he really liked my work which made me feel more confident about myself. He seemed to take a great interest in my typeface i created out of twigs, which i liked. He offered me a few tips on making my portfolio, he said to possibly make it a little larger as this would emphasize my work further, and also to leave a little bit more room next time when binding so the content isn't so close to the bind. I agree with both suggestions as i thought of them myself after making my portfolio.

He also asked me some questions and we talked about his lecture he gave to us just a few months before. He asked me what type of graphic design companies would i like to work for and i gave him the honest answer that i didn't know and that is why its important to go and visit lost of different types of company. He said that it is a wise idea and will help me with the process.
I then thanked Anthony for having the time to see me, and he asked me to keep in touch and recommended a few websites that i might be interested in.

Overall the viewing went really well and has made me think that i definitely do want to be in this career. I will be arranging to meet with a few more companies to help improve my confidence and boost my enthusiasm.

Russ James Design

2009-05-04T19:12:00.000Z

I came across Russ James Design, whilst researching on the internet.
There a fairly small company based in Staffordshire.
Some of there work on the website that they did caught my eye.
Below are a few examples of logo's they have designed for clients

.

Fake ID Workshop

2009-05-04T18:12:00.000Z

Taken from their website (www.wefakeid.com) a brief description about the company..

"Fake I.D. was founded in 1999 by Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees.

Fake I.D. is an independent graphic design practice that develops projects for cultural contexts (exhibitions, games, performances, publications, social media, websites, and workshops). Fake I.D. initiates collaborations between artists, brands, and institutions, and works with companies to expand the cultural dimension of their communications through the origination, motivation and support of thought-provoking activities and productions.

Currently in its tenth year, Fake I.D. has produced a diverse range of work, recognized in numerous books and magazines, including commissions from Aiwa, Anthropologie, COLORS, Emigre, The Face, Giant Robot, GLBT Historical Society, Harmony Korine, IdN, MTV, Nike, Sony, Urban Outfitters, Venice Biennale, Wieden+Kennedy, and Zune Arts, among others.

Martinez and Trees have shown their work at international venues including La Panaderia in Mexico City, Ynglingagatan 1 in Stockholm, Galleri Christian Nagel in Cologne, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, American Fine Arts in New York and the Venice Biennale. Fake I.D.'s work is featured in the permanent collections of Design Museum in London, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and Museum of Modern Art in New York. They have lectured and taught workshops at California College of Art, Centro Culturale Candiani, Dutch Art Institute, Fabrica, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, London College of Communication, UCLA, and the Valand School of Fine Art.

Trees is an associate lecturer at the London College of Communication, and adjunct faculty at Art Center College of Design. Additionally, Trees and Martinez are visiting faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute."

On Thursday 30/04/2009 we were lucky enough to have Yvan and Joshua to come into college and run a work shop for us. The brief we were given was compleatly different to the usual work we do, in stead of just drawing, sketching and mocking things up of the Mac ; we had to create a 2minute long sound dialogue. We had to do this by using our imagination and thoughts from looking at an image chosen for us. We were paired up and given a different image per pair, all totally different from each other. We were instructed to use our imaginations to describe what was going on within the image without directly describing the scene.

I got paired up with my friend Hayley. We both got given the picture of a man playing a keyboard at what looks like a party/event. After a stressful process and jotting down a few different ideas, we decided to go along with the idea of the dialogue being of a bumble bee. The bee would have been at the same event/party as the man in the picture and the dialogue would be what was going through his head as he flew around the party.

I really enjoyed the workshop as it was so different to what we normally do, i found it fun but challenging. I hope in my 3rd year there are more days like this.

Our dialect went as following...

" Bee

Life is fun being a bee. The amount of things you see is great and very exciting as nobody is aware that your there. Oh what do we have here… its looks like a party. Hmm ill go and explore. What is that unusual object, it’s a large round thing that has a large 18 written on it. It also has a type of ribbon hanging from it that’s tied to a chair; I think it will try an escape if it’s untied. I’m hungry, I’m going to try and go and find some food I can nibble on. What is in that giant bowl filled with? It looks quite scary to me up here, what if I fall in it?? Il end up drowning and dying, think I’m going to move away from this bowl. Ok I have found some triangular objects filled with some sort of red stuff, they look nice but it’s not my type of food. Woahhhh watch out I always get batted out of the way and cheers now I’ve been flung across the grass and on the floor. Ouch that really hurt, think they’ve damaged my leg. Ok time to have another fly around. Iv have just landed on something sticky, my feet seem to be stuck ohhh nooo it’s like quick sand what am I going to do? I think is food oh crap he’s picked up the food and im heading towards his mouth HELP MEEEE!!!. Oh thank god I have just fallen off and managed to fly away…lucky escape! Oooo I am tired after all this flying around ill go and have a rest on that leaf over there ( pause ) arrr that’s better, these lil wings don’t last as long as they used to. This party is getting busier and everyone seems to be having a good time, im not sure bout his music though. Where are the words???? Oh no drinks gone flying over the table, hahaha that girls white dress isn’t white any more…arghhhhhhh!! That’s my rest over, stupid wind always blows me off the leaves!! Arwel lets continue to go and find out something interesting. This table is very messy, looks like I will have some fun in here; I think that tall brown thing looks interesting. Ewwww it has sum sticky stuff around the edges, mmmm it tastes good though? What is this? Everyone around seems to be drinking it. Arrrrrrrrrrrrr…….(splash) hellpppp!!! Hellooooooo im stuck……bbblleeee bllleeeee blllleeeee….."

Mark Studio

2009-05-01T11:00:00.001Z

Mark Studio is a graphic design company based in Manchester.
With their design style the like to keep things simple, work hard to understand each clients buisness and they work hard untill they find what makes their brand different.
But what they don't do is Take them selfs to seriously, sulk if you dont think the first idea they present is perfect and believe they know better than the client.

They have worked for companies such as :
Amnesty international
BT Wholesale
Croyden College
Imperial War Museum
Manchester Literature Festival
Royal Mail
The Comedy Store

They have also won various awards for their work during 2008 and 2009.

Double G studios - Grant Gilbert Lecture

2009-05-01T10:32:00.000Z

Grant Gilbert is another ex Stockport College student. He came in to us to do a lecture on his life since leaving Stockport College and what he is currently doing. From leaving Stockport he then went on to Birmingham to complete a BA Graphic Design Degree. Once graduated from Birmingham he went to work for a company called Planet 24. He stayed here for 3 years and said he deeply enjoyed his time working there and it was a valuable expreience.

He then got a job working for Chanel 4. He stayed her for a further three years and he explained that is was a great change and the standard of work expected from you, but he also admitted he enjoyed it more there. He then went on to work with a company called Spin, they created the logo for the tv channel More 4. He was given no brief and was left alone to do anything he wanted, this was mainly because they had seen his idents he had done for channel 4 and were confident anything he did would be good. He said it was hard getting everyone to agree on the board as 'someone always had an opinion'.

After this he was then asked to do create an Ident for BBC1. He had to basically re-brand the whole channel. He also worked with the company Red Beat in London,to help created this re-branding. He looked at the old BBC logo and decided to keep an aspect of it and change it around that, also keeping red and white as the colour scheme. He also went that extra mile and created the whole typeface that is used.

I really liked this talk as he showed us the ay he works and it is a lot like how we work here at college.

Glorious - Tommy Lecture

2009-05-01T09:50:00.000Z

Glorious deisgn company in Manchester are currently ranked in the top 5 through-out england came and gave us a lecture. Tommy was the once given the lecture and told us that the company has been going for three and a half years under the name of Glorious. Its a fairly small company with only 5 designers working for it. Tommy's main designs were very typographically based as this was his best area he thought. We were shown alot of different types of work Glorious have created and even some work that has won awards in the past.

Some of the clients Tommy has created work for include:
- Karl's Barbershop
- Temperature Control
- The HAT project
- REDdog Communications
- Shot Up North

Tommy also went on to mention about when the client 'totally destroys' your confindence. He talked about how he came up with an idea for a client and they then took the idea to another design agency and got them to compleat it, he said that it was literally like 'giving your baby away'.

My two favourite peices were the Karl's Barbershop and the Pay And Display ticket.
I think they are both really clever ideas and i wish i had thought of them myself.
I really enjoyed theGlorious lecture and it has helped my way of thinking develop.

Dan Ingham and Stephen Owen

2009-05-01T09:26:00.000Z

Dan and Stephen are ex students of Stockport college, who left in 2007. They came in to give us a talk on their life after leaving college and where they are at now. From graduating both with First's and also having a D&AD New Blood 'Best in Show' award under there belt they had some help to start them off.

From looking at them i had the feeling that they were just going to gloat about their work and basically show off, however i was wrong. `they were very down to earth guys and gave us a lot of useful and well needed tips. Surprisingly to hear they both agreeded how much they miss college and being able to do what ever they wanted during the day. Even simple things like going for dinner whenever they wanted and sneaking off home early was was they mostly missed. They had a main message to be given out during the talk and that was to encourage us to come in to college all the time and make the most of it. They made it clear that coming into college will definatly boots your ideas and help you along with the design process. Making friends with people from other pathways was also a good tip from them, which i related too as i have a lot of friends from different pathways. They said if you have these friends they canhelp you if you are unsure of a program or just need general help.

Both of them created some posters for their End of year show exhibition 2007, this was extra work for them as they still had to finish off their final work but they voulenteered to do this.

After telling us their tips and advice they went on to talk about where they are now and what they have been doing for the last few years. Both of them sucessfully compleated placements at The Chase and Thoughtful. Dan currently works at Mark Studio and Stephen is at McCann Erikson, they both expressed how designers from big companies are nice people when you are lucky enough to get a placement and get to know them.

They also mentioned that being able to make a nice cup of tea is infact the best skill you can have on a placement and to make yourself known to do all the jobs that noone else wants to do. They also said to make sure you research the company before you start your placement as you want to look like youve made an effort when asked about their work.

I really enjoyed the talk and it helped me have a better understanding on whats going to happen once i finish the course and have to find a job.

Fudge - Gavin Bates Lecture

2009-04-30T20:12:00.000Z

Gavin Bates from the graphic design company Fudge presented us a lecture called 'The Branding Process'. He said to researching the client is one of the first things you should do when given a new brief. This is because you will need to have a much fuller understanding of the company you are designing for. He also went on to mention that your best ideas come up from researching your client in detail and understanding what your client represents.

Fudge has its own way of dealing with breifs, when re-branding they split everything up into sections to make sure they are clear on whats needed. The sections are:

1. Research and Analysis
2. Naming Solution
3. Design Concepts
4. Design Development
5. Design Application and Artwork

Gavin then went on to show us some of his work. Starting with visual rough sketches and gradually refining them and making them neat as he went on. One of gavin's tips was to not used ideas that have been used before, the term re-branding means a compleate make over. He also said for us to think about how we are going to present the work to the client as you want to act and look professional at all times!

I really enjoyed this lecture from fudge, his style of work is alot like mine so made it more appealing to me.

Music - Craig Oldham

2009-04-30T17:58:00.000Z

Craig Oldham has only been graduated from university for 3 years. He worked at The Chase for a few years, within his first 12 months of working at The Chase he decided to produce a booklet of his encounter. His booklet was mainly about the lessons that he learnt whilst working at The Chase.
Craig's theory in graphic design is that you are one of two types of designers, Bunch A or Bunch B.

Bunch A - logical designers that do things that have an obvious purpose in life. For example toilet signs.

Bunch B - emotional deignersthat use everyform of communication possible, to build an emotional connection between the design and its audience.

Having being asked this question, thinking about it im not sure what catagry of designer i would fall in to. I think alot of people sat watching the lecture also felt the same as me, so i wasn't on my own. Craig also went on to talk about having different strenghts and weaknesses as a designer. He talked about when you are at your first ever placement you ill often say yes to anything you get asked by designer, even making endless cups of tea. He expressed that although this may be boring it is very good in the process of being accepted in the design industry. He did also say that you need to be fairly honest when accepting challenging tasks, like if you get asked to build a website and you are weak at this area, dont just accept to impress someone. If you are unsure of your abilities then say so, this way you won't make a fool of yourself or disapoint someone. Placements are very imporatant as you get a change to practice your abilities and also learn at the same time, it also enables you to get your name out and there.

Craig had a few do's and don'ts of placements:

Do's
- an insight toa real graphic design agency
- real work
- meet new and interesting people
- improve your tea making skills (VERY important to craig ha)
- build confidence
- remind you of your abilties

Dont's
- loss of money
- could be away for a long peroid of time and could be on your own
- taken advantage of

Whilst at the agency Craig said to make sure:
- you are punctual
- to make sure you are always enthusiastic
-to be noone other than yourself
-make sure you spell peoples names right!!

Another one of Craigs usefull tips was to make sure you keep in touch with people you have met along the way. share ideas with people, dont just hide them and not let anyone else see, everyone knows everyone in the design world. He also said to invite critisim towards your work. Don't be scared to ask people about your work, you never know it mite improve your idea.

I really enjoyed Craig's lecture and it has helped my way of thinking and will do so in the future.

Music - Anthony Smith Lecture

2009-04-30T17:15:00.000Z

After studying at HND level at Bolton university, Anthony Smith graduated in 1989. He then went on to work for a design agency called Tucker Clarke Williams for the next 5years. After deciding it was time to leave he went on t work as a freelance designer down in London for a few years. He now currently works up here in Manchester for a design agency called Music.

To start of his talk, Anthony talked about how he got his first ever placement, he expressed that it was fairly hard to get placements and especially hard to get full time work. He eventually after about a year got a full time permanent job. He explained that throughout this period he kept his portfolio up to date with recent work and new layouts and this got him his first job. He went on then to talk about portfolios and how important it is to keep them updated and the layout nice an simple. He said during a portfolio interview to explain the brief fully and explain how you answered the brief clearly and simple, this then avoids confusion with what the brief is about. He also said that even if you don't like a piece of work so much to still stay positive and talk about it like you are interested.

The second part of Antony's talk was about how he and Dave Simpson, a designer working for Love Creative at the time; set up the Design Agency Music. He talked about how he had to think quite hard about weather to start up the company or not, but was pleased that he did in the end. They first started off working in Dave's flat but then it got a bit too small and they found an office to work in. While it was being refurbished they carried on working in the flat and then finally moved out once everything was sorted. He also included how they built up their client list, which all of us listening were secretly wondering. He said most of his clients he had previously got to know from his placements and working with other companies. A lot of his recently clients have come from the awards they have received and word of mouth because of these.

I am really pleased that Anthony came in and told us about his experience as it answered a lot of questions i was too shy to ask and made me realise more about life outside of university.

I have since emailed Anthony and arranged for a portfolio viewing soon.

One Day Brief 21/4/2009

2009-04-29T12:11:00.000Z

Species Of Spaces

1. Environment
2. Read the 2 pieces of writing attached (Georges w, species of spaces and Baker, Nicholson, the mezzanine)
3. Return to college and write up your findings.
On a4. Typeface Zurich Roman. 9 point with 13 point leading. 600-1000 words. Do not edit. Put your name and environment on the paper.
4. check you have followed the above instructions correctly
5. hand in your printed copy by 4pm.

After choosing a location at random i picked out : The Pricinct. (shopping area in stockport)

My final piece:

Stockport Precinct

Sat on a bench outside Topshop in Stockport. Its 21/04/2009,11.21am and its boiling! Glad of a bit of sun though to be honest fed up of the rain. Its very noisy here, lots of people rushing past. Big bags full of shopping. There doesn’t seem to be many kids around, probably because the school holidays are over and they’ve all gone back to school. Thank god there’s nothing worse than kids running around making noise when you’re trying to shop! There’s some strange people walking around and I think people get dressed in the dark because there dress sense is awful. Ha a guy has just come over and asked me if I’ve had any injuries in the last couple of months…i'm here sat with my arm in plaster!!

A strange man has just sat down next to me and he smells, its actually knocking me sick. He’s wearing a Kilt; I’m guessing he’s Scottish, or maybe just a weirdo ha-ha. Ok now he’s talking to himself and muttered strange sounds, I think they might be words but he’s just jumbling them all up. Looking around I think Stockport could be made a bit prettier, the shops all seem so boring and all look exactly the same apart from the different names on the outside and the clothes they sell inside. I do like how there’s no cars allowed to drive through. There is a bad but about Stockport though, it’s the amount of little scrubbers and scally's that hang around near the bus station and outside shops, there’s just no need for them. Ew a pigeon has just landed on the bench to the left of me. I really hope it doesn’t come near me I don’t like them. Vermin. I can hear the birds tweeting, I quite like it reminds me of it being summer and everyone being happy. I do like it when it’s sunny as everyone seem to be a lot happier.

After walking around I have in fact noticed that quite a lot of the shops that are here now have changed their signage recently. Everywhere seems a lot more modern that a few years ago, I think that this makes the place feel a whole lot nicer. The paving slabs on the floor could be laid down so they are more even, a old lady has just nearly tripped up on one that was uneven and sticking up. I feel an insurance claim maybe be appropriate here, ha. I wonder how many people have actually hurt them self’s in Stockport from just walking around doing there everyday shopping? That’s a question to ask your self…

I have changed locations now; I am no longer on a bench I am now sat on a fence that goes around some plant pots opposite Boots. Again the strange man wearing the kilt has found me and keeps staring at me. I am getting a little scared of him now. The parking meters here must make so much money, there is like 10 car parks around the shops and they all charge atleast £1.50 for up to 2hours! I bet there loaded. It’s starting to get a little chilly now and i'm getting hungry, I think Gregg’s is in order. A man has just spat n the floor in front of me when he was walking past, that s disgusting. There are many different alleyways and streets leading off from the precinct. They all contain shops too, and cafes and hairdressers. In the sky you can see the big clock, on top of the multi-storey car park, I don’t think it’s actually told the right time for a good few years. Still handy to have a big clock in the sky though.

Contact Reply - Jon Stutfield (Flame Digital)

2009-04-22T20:46:00.000Z

Jon replied today to my emailing asking for a portfolio viewing.

i will write more when i have been.

Portfolio Viewing

2009-04-22T12:05:00.000Z

I recently emailed Anthony from Music to arrange a portfolio viewing.

He replied today with a time and a date.

I will write about how it went when iv been.

Copy of the email:

Elective Shoe Deigns

2009-04-16T12:48:00.000Z

In one of our electives we chose at uni, i chose concept studies.
We basically had to design/make anything we wanted too.
I Chose to design some unusual but cool shoe designs.
These designs are real photos i took in the outside world and then applied them to the shoe.

These are a selection of the shoes i produced:

Julian Beever

2009-04-08T16:16:00.000Z

Julian Beever is an English chalk artist who has been creating chalk drawings on pavement since the mid-1990s. His drawings create the illusion of three dimensions when viewed from the right location. I came across these images when researching graphic designers. His images are very powerful, i would like to come across one drawn on the pavement to have a real look at them.

Steven Sagmeister

2009-04-08T10:36:00.000Z

Steven Sagmeister owns a graphic design company based in New York.
They design everything printed from brochures to CD covers and perfume packaging.
I came across his website whilst researching graphic designers and companies.
His work caught my eye as it is very unusual and different.
I thought the design of his website was interesting too, here is a screen grab of the opening page:
Below is a few examples taken from his website to show the kind of work he produces:

Alberto Seveso

2009-04-06T12:49:00.000Z

From researching graphic designers on the internet i came across Alberto Seveso. He's an illustration/graphic designer born in Milan but now lives in Rome working as a freelance illustrator.
His work really caught my eye and from looking at it closely it really inspires me.
The way he adds the patterns and swirls onto an original photo and then removes parts to make it look like they are drawn on the photos is a really good idea.
A few examples of his work below:

Barbour Reply

2009-04-06T12:06:00.000Z

A recent project we did was to create an end sting for a clothing company called Barbour.
I emailed the company to ask if they had any samples of the materials they use to stick in my sketch book for research. Also to ask if they had made their own font or used an existing font for the logo.

They emailed back a few weeks later with the following reply:

I am pleased that they had the time to email me back and offer me some samples.
Unfortunately they only emailed me back a day before deadline of the project, but i have spoke to my tutor and he is happy for me to just give him the items once i receive them.

Group Logo Identity Project

2009-03-01T21:29:00.000-01:00

Our latest brief (finished on 30/02/2009) was to create a logo that applies to a certain location and to promote an event.
We were all put in groups to develop the logo, in mine was me, Emma, Andy and Jack.
Our final Location we chose was Egypt and our event was 'The Worlds Strongest Man'.
We showed the location by a silhouette of a camel, but also Incorporated an arm shape with bicep as the head/neck of the camel. So when looking at the logo at first you see the camel and then you figure out the arm shape.

This is the final logo:

We then had to apply the logo to various locations and events/ posters.

We did a large number of applications but came up with these final ones:

We stuck to the idea of Guerrilla advertising as our main theme.
The images u see would actually be out in the real world. So for example on a building site there would be a giant bent crane, (as if one of the contestants had bent the crane).
This is a good way of advertising the even without actually having a poster saying what it is and where it will be held.

I am overall very pleased with our final outcome, and really enjoyed working together in my group.

Talk Talk Ads

2009-02-20T13:27:00.000-01:00

Recently a new talk talk advert has been broadcasted.
I really like theses adverts as they are different and unusual.
I think the way all the adverts are looking down at a birds eye'd view and the people on the street create pictures is a very clever idea as everyone remembers it.

Iv uploaded two here :

Pictogram Brief

2009-02-19T12:47:00.001-01:00

One of the briefs we have been given and uni is to create pictogram's using Adobe illustrator.
We all had to one of our self and one of another member of the course.
Me and jack swapped our photos and then did each other.
The idea of the brief was to get us used to using Illustrator, as we havent really used it much since starting the course.
I thought it was fairly easy to use and i enjoyed creating these.

These are the outcomes :

Jack's original photo (sorry about the stain i dropped the photo in the snow!)

Jack's final pictogram.
I decided the hair and the nose stood out the most on jacks photo so i chocse them to include in the final pictogram.

My original photo.

My final pictogram.
I decided my hair lips and eye brow stood out the most in my photo so i added them to my final pictogram.

Lynx Advert

2009-02-01T11:41:00.000-01:00

This advert i saw on the tv a while back.
At first it really freaked me out and made me feel a bit sick, but after watching it a few times i thought it was really clever.
I liked the way that they made his eye look the other way, even if it is a bit freaky.
I also think it was a very good idea as it makes u look at the advert and will always remember it.

Barcelona Video

2009-01-30T10:48:00.000-01:00

During November 2008, we went on a trip to uni to Barcelona, Spain.
While we were there we had been given a brief to record our time there by video.
Then when we got home we were to create a video of our time out there in a short movie.
I chose the most interesting videos i made and combined them together using iMovie to create this :

Durex Balloon's

2009-01-30T10:38:00.001-01:00

This Url was actually on one of my friends on facebooks status.
I clicked on it wondering what it was and came across this.
I thought it was very clever being animated using durex condoms.
I really enjoyed watching this video.

Cadbury's Advert

2009-01-30T10:34:00.000-01:00

I saw this advert on tv the other day and it made me laugh.
Its a very funny advert obviously done using computer programs to create the children's eyebrows moving! I really liked this video and things like this really interest me.

Crisis Brief

2009-01-29T16:43:00.001-01:00

One of our recent briefs we were given was one for the homeless help charity 'Crisis'.
The aim was to come up with direct mail that will attract people to wanting to help the charity Crisis, by donating money each week.

I had a few ideas but my final one originated from one of my first ideas of sending a piece of old blanket, used by a child through the door of the client.
I then developed it to being covered in mud and dirt and having the words ' Comfort Blanket' handwritten on one side. This was to attract the attention of the client after seeing a dirty child's comfort blanket on the floor with their post. after creating two comfort blankets i had the idea of using a stuffed toy as well as a blanket, i chose a stuffed Rat. It was originally my dogs toy so was already chewed up and dirty and scruffy looking. I then put them both in plastic clear bags to they wouldnt dirty the clients house and stuck a card in there with the details of crisis. I think they both worked well as it would shock you to think a child would be using that blanket and playing with that toy if they really were homeless.

As you can see on the photo below, the Rat was stolen off the wall at college so it is missing.

Tal Rosner

2009-01-29T16:22:00.000-01:00

Another lecture we had was from a Multimedia designer called Tal Rosner.
As he was more of a multimedia designer i didnt think i would like this lecture as much, but i was surprised that i enjoyed it.

He made a film about trains, from lots of little 3second films that he put all together to create the final film. it made me feel abit dizzy as it was a confusing film with the images going upside down alot.

He also created an installment to be shown behind a large Orcestra in london whilst they were playing. i thought this was good as the video behind really related to the speed and aggression of the music being played infront.

Finally Skins...
He also created the opening sequence played in the TV series 'Skins' shown on Channel 4.
I really enojyed this part as i love the series skins and it was good to know that he created it.
He created series 1 and 2 and was currently creating series 3 as he gave the lecture.

Truth, Lies and Typography

2009-01-29T15:56:00.000-01:00

We recently had a lecture from a small design company called "truth".
The company is only made up of two people, they came in to present their work they have been recently working on to us graphic design students.
I thought there work was really good and interesting. Both of the designers used to work for McCann-Erickson, one of the biggest design/advertising companies in the world.
Darren from truth was very interesting in typography and designing his own type faces, he has created many different styles over the years such as :

Sodium Typeface - created in 2000
Bad Angel Typeface - created in 1999
Rub On Typeface - created in 1997
Berliner Typeface - created in 1996.
Nitrogen typeface - created in 2003
Mechanic Gothic - created in 1999
Aggregate Typeface - created in 2006
Amplifier Typeface - created in 2006

Plus:

Como Typeface
Rivolvzioni Typeface
Imprimitur Typeface
Piccadilly Typeface

Which are all currently still being developed. All his fonts are available to download off the Internet.

As well as designing typefaces Truth are a very successful company and get lots of jobs to advertise for known brand companies.
Below is a list of some of the work they have done for various companies:

'Allsports' bags
Sony Card for Song
First Advice - created logo for this company in 24hrs!
British Council
Cristies logo
The authentic Food Company
No1 Son Record Company
Durex
Richard Seamoore - sex toy packaging
Logo for 'Fat Hog Paintbrushes'
Reebok adverts with Amir Khan
Posters for 'Yorkshire Wheels' and 'faces'.

These are only a few of the designs they have been doing.
I really enjoyed this lecture as alot of the work they showed us i had seen out in the open and they had actually designed it, it also made it seem more real to be designing out in the real world.

2nd Year Uni Work

2008-11-25T11:57:00.000-01:00

Magazine Brief: The Observer

After returning to my 2nd year of uni, we were given a brief to re design one of three magazines. the choices were to re design :

The Observer Magazine
New Scientist Magazine
or Ted ( a made up magazine that only exists of a website.)

Each magazine came supplied with an article apart from Ted where you had to get one off the internet of your choice.

I chose to re design the Observer Magazine. My article was titled 'water wars' and was about the debate between whether you should drink tap water or buy bottled water!

We had to design a new front cover, two doubled paged spreads ( all relating to the main articles...water wars) and then an editorial that had to relate to the same style as my other articles but not to the actual article.

This is my front and back cover i designed. My theme was boxing as if bottled water and tap water were fighting against each other. i changed the labels on the boxing gloves to say bottled and one to say tap. My back cover was just plain black as i didnt want it to look too busy and the front cover to stand out.

This is my 1st double paged spread. i hired out the studio at uni and got 2 of my m8s off the 3rd year course and asked them to have a boxin match with each other while i took photos. i got help with the lights as i am not trained to set them up on my own. after taking about 100 pictures i chose the one above as my final image for this page. i think it looks really good as the lights make the scene look dark and moody - like it was a real match.

This is my 2nd double paged spread. I again found a good image out of my photoshoot photos and then chose it to use as my final image. i wrapped the text so it looked like the glove was punching the text out of the way, i think this looks really effective.

This is my editorial page, i kept the same style of design as my other two articles but i did not relate it to the water wars article. i chose the red that was used on the boxing gloves so that it matches, i also kept the same title style as on my 1st double paged spread. ( title vertically up the side).

I really enjoyed doing this brief as i like designing magzines and different layouts.

1st Year Uni Work

2008-11-20T11:19:00.000-01:00

This is a poster i had to design for an exhibition called 'A Brief History Of Furniture'. It was one of the first briefs i was given during my first year of university. I enjoyed doing this brief as it was simple and we got to use only a few selcted colours. This is a poster i had to design for Manchester Literature Festival. There was no colour invloved and we had to use only type from a selected font.My font chosen was future. (fonts not avaliable on the current picture as suitcase isnt one the computer).This one is another version of the first poster.
This is a poster for an exhibition we held at uni to promote our posters we had created. again there was nothing but black. white and type to be used.

Above is a doubled paged spread layout that i had to design. The whole class produced two books between us, each of us was given two doubled paged spreads to create, all the neccessary info needed to put on the pages, page numbers. All we had to do was created page layouts using all the info and only using a certain font. my font was again futura, (fonts not actually futura due to not havin suitcase on this computer).

above is my 2nd double paged spread. Again using futura as my font.

This is a book cover i designed for the same brief. again i had to use futura as my font (not on this computer due to it not actually being futura).

This is the second book cover i designed for the same brief again using futura as my type face.