eh? crit? i ask you.

Today i wanted feedback on the careers brief that was the gender brief. It changed because i found out that the teenagers are already aware of gender stereotyping but they just don't care about it. so I've decided to promote www.prospects.ac.uk which has information about loads of careers. i have been concentrating on hand drawn type to make it look exciting and was going to have information leaflets for each career such as chef, doctor, movie producer, teacher, archaeologist and vet. These combine jobs which are in need in the UK and also ones that are a bit glamourous.
I came up with another idea yesterday because i thought my existing work was a bit boring and the audience might not find it interesting to read through information about jobs. Instead i thought i could create a campaign which lures people into the website by advertising outrageous jobs like Batman and stuff.i said in the crit how the first idea is based on weeks of research and interviews and questionnaires but the second idea is more exciting so i dont know which one to do. In the crit it was said that i could combine both these ideas and have one as a teaser postcard and the other as a big fold out thing but im not sure this would work. also some people thought it would look nice to see all the hand drawn type together in the same thing but i just dont know what to do. i'm confused. This brief is resally annoying me because it should be finished by now so i might just make any old decision and do it.

new brief

I have decided on another self written brief which i thought of in bed last night because i was hungry.
Its 'support your local...' and i intend to make posters which will encourage people to visit their local shops rather than supermarkets. i might also consider other places like small cinemas, coffee shops and gyms which have also suffered from the increase in big chains.
This fits in with my idea of community and i might ask the relevant shops in my home town if they want to have them in their windows because recently a Tesco has landed slap bang in the middle of my home town which is an old market town and i think there are butchers, a florist, grocers, and a coffee shop which have all suffered from it.

SOI evaluation

I have decided to update my statement of intent because i am not happy with my subject matter. It has been 'social issues' but i think i need to narrow this down and be more specific. I have decided that socially responsible design is my theme and my subject is now the idea of ....



This is because i have been looking at companies who do work for things in the community e.g. studiomikmik or have a very pesonal feel to them e.g. kiosk and also clients is what i mostly look out for. Also i was feeling embarrassed and pompus with 'social issues' because its a bit heavy. This will make my design context presentation easier now because i wont feel embarrassed as if people think im trying to change the world or something. I would like to concentrate on briefs that are for things like charities, campaigns or promotional stuff for community organisations.

conflict brief complete

I have now finished the Ctrl.Alt.Shift. brief based on 'conflict'. I changed the brief a bit to fit in with what I wanted to do because i think they wanted a piece of art, so i won't be entering it. I decided to do 3 yellow postcards all which have the tagline as the leading aspect and images within it. I think the one with the teddy and grenade is weaker than the other two but it took me ages to think of another one and this brief was only meant to be really short. On the back is a fact about child soldiers and the Ctrl.Alt.Shift. webite. I imagine these being given out inside free packs to students, maybe including badges and other campaign material.

Studiomikmik are based in Saltaire, Shipley. They seem to have a very friendly and personal approach to work and clients a lot like Kiosk, and they seem to have a good ethical awareness. i like the type of clients they have like arts and music based organisations and the way their print based work looks very organic and they seem to have considered everything very carefully like colour and stock. They also use a lot of illustration in their designs which is something I want to include in my design context.





Identity for Clarabella, a textile artist, maker and workshop leader - Claire Wellesley-Smith. Claire works with recycled, vintage and organic materials and reuses, re-dyes and remakes old clothing and blankets.
'Claire's pieces are inspired by the history of the materials she works with, along with domestic crafts such as patchwork, embroidery and mending. She is as resource efficient as possible, reusing every last scrap of material in her pieces or in workshop sessions.' www.studiomikmik.co.uk
To reflect Claire's sustainable way of working, The Clarabella stationery is printed on Revive Offset 100% recycled paper and board using vegetable oil based inks. I think this identity is beautiful and shows how studiomikmik's work is both conceptually sound and very creative.







Moon on a Stick is a Manchester based arts company operated by a team of highly experienced artists with specialist skills in interactive performance, storytelling, carnival arts, event and workshop design. They organise workshops which 'encourage creativity, self expression, greater literacy, confidence, integration, self esteem, friendship, play, community cohesion, physical activities, team work, parental participation, fun and laughter.'
'The Moon on a Stick identity needed to be professional, approachable and fun while echoing the boundless creativity of the Moon on a Stick team.'
I lovw the hand drawn style of the identity and the bright colours. 'In addition to orbiting the cut-out moon the child-like rocket ship element features separately to reinforce the concept of adventure.'
Again they have adopted an environmentally friendly approach - The Moon on a Stick mailer is digitally printed on Revive uncoated 100% recycled card using eco-toner.







identity and business card for Rythm Kitchen, a music organisation which develops alternative music workshops and collaborative arts projects for young people. 'They are committed to inspiring, motivating and encouraging children through creativity. With an emphasis on building confidence, self worth and self-expression they create and run workshops and projects for schools and community groups.'
'The Rhythm Kitchen identity needed to appear lovable to children, professional to adults and friendly to all.'
I really like the use of hand drawn lettering as this is something i have been using and want to use for my gender brief as it is to the same age audience.
The Rhythm Kitchen stationery is printed on Revive Offset 100% recycled paper and board using vegetable oil based inks.






illustration and postcards for Magic Number Three, a boutique store in Saltair. They sell high quality ethical clothing as well as contemporary arts and craft.
'Studio MIKMIK utilised a sketchy, hand drawn, pen and ink drawing style for MN3's business stationery which naturally progressed to the first in a range of Saltaire based postcards featuring bespoke illustration by Studio MIKMIK — the first of which features the MN3 store front.'


Other work they have done includes badges for Badge, Button, Pin which are screen printed on recycled paper.





I really want to ask them for a work placement but im a bit scared because they didnt e mail back last time and they might want me to go away. or they might just be very busy so i think i will drop them another e mail and ask if i could go in the easter holidays.

crit

At the first crit today i took my designs for Ctrl.Alt.Shift based on the word conflict. I have took inspiration from the mr.bingo design (i think i might have totally copied off it) and i have used yellow and black to suggest a warning and to catch the eye. I have traced around existing fonts and i think this works quite well with the message which is that there is a new generation of soldiers who are very young.

I would have like to have something for my gender brief but i have only just summarised all the research i got from the target audience and am going to catch up on this in reading week. 

The feedback I got from the crit was that there were two different different sets, one which the type holds the messgae and the images are secondary, and one where the images lead and the type is secondary. It was decided that I either need three/four of the same or two/ three of each to make it a strong and consistent set. 
I also wanted to know what they should be in the end and I think I am going to keep them as postcards as the landscape format seems to work best.




These are the ones where the type leads and there are images or elements which suggest the idea that a mini generation of soldiers are being produced.

These ones are image based and the tagline only needs to be small at the side and not part of the design. 

I just found this on the internet, its a poster for amnesty international which has the same tagline as mine (a bit annoying). they have also used imagery of a family tree but with guns to show how violence helps to produce more and more firearms . This would belong in the image leading set as the tagline is smaller and not integrated into the image.

David Bailey meeting

Today I went to Sheffield to have a chat with David Bailey, founder of Kiosk. I wanted to ask him advice about getting into the industry and also get some opinions for my design context research. Kiosk do a lot of design for music and arts which I would love to do. My notes don't make a lot of sense because i was really nervous but here is some stuff we talked about:

Design Context
Design and Illustration are separate disciplines if you study them separately, but in terms of communication, one needs the other. There is a difference between just drawing and illustrationg as it is essentially communication, as is design.
He said he would definitely turn down a job that he saw as unethical or socially irresponsible but this doesn't always mean the type of client. For instance he did some work for Coca - Cola but because it involved promoting charitable organisations there was a certain amount of compromise. You can become demoralised by this industry if you take the stance of 'its a job at the end of the day' because you will do anything as long as you get paid. 'Dont be a whore Lisa', he said unto me.
Some work needs to be taken more seriously than others. A menu for a bar wont change the world but a design for Oxfam needs to be more carefully considered. This made me think about whether or not I want to keep doing the subject matter of my FMP because I keep changing my mind whether i want to do deadly serious things to change peoples minds about stuff, or just have fun.

Advice for PPD
A varied portfolio is good to show you can work across a range of problems, but also show strong points of you. It should be a I asked if you should show thought processes and development as well as final products and he said if the process is a strong point of you and your work then yes.
Have my own website which has links to facebook, a flickr feed etc.
Doing work that will end up in the public domain is good because it ensures you get your work seen by loads of people. Its actually more valuable for a non-designer to like your work as they will usually be the ones who need to understand and like it.

Advice about my work:
Because I am stuck and panicking about my FMP (the gender brief) I asked him for some advice on what tone of voice it should take as e does a lot of work which is aimed at young people. He said don't patronise them and just making something 'exciting' is lame. something tongue and cheek would probably work well as it doesnt sound like the voice of someone condescending. Ultimately i nedd to think what i would like to see as a young person.
If I were to sell the I love/i hate stuff I need to make it different from anything else that is out there. There is generally not a lot of money to be made in merchandise and stuff like this so i think i would keep it up as a hobby.
As I am in a period of creative block I asked him if he ever gets this and he said yes but he gets some design books and magazines out for inspiration and then he always gets an idea. I think getting ideas quickly is something that comes with time and experience.

Advice about industry:
Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign are essential. Don't say you are proficient in other software if you are not. I asked if it matters that i hate web design and he said i may have to do it at some point so it would be good practice to set up my own website. If you just think of it as a brochure or something printed then it may become less scary because ultimately someone else programmes it and you just have to do the design.
These days he thinks its better to be small rather than a big company, especially with the credit crunch. His company has a strong ethic of personal relations with clients and collaborators and i like this. I think i would like to work for a small company or collective as it does seem to get less personal when they are big. There is a saturation of design studios at the moment but there is also a lot of work as well.

I think he could tell that i am a scaredy cat and he said confidence comes with time and I need to be pleased with my work so I can tell future employers about it. 'People swarm to confidence.'

i don't like this game anymore :(

For my tutorial with Matt today I took my drawings for the 'conflict' brief and my laptop with them all plonked together. He pointed out that I cannot get a good composition from trying to arrange everything on photoshop and i need to do it on paper first (photoshopitis). He also said I need a clear message whether thats to do with orphans, cocaine or whatever, but theres too much going on in the image at the moment. He also said I need to try out different ways of drawing things to get the right mood for the subject matter. It made me realise that I am not enjoying this brief because I like ideas and this is just a load of crap tracings put together. i feel like im getting nowhere with any work because we've been back for nearly four weeks and even though i've been working non stop, i've got bugger all to show for it. Also i'm feeling increasingly pressured to define myself and decide whether i want to be an illustrator or not and its getting me quite upset and i dont think i will ever decide.
Im going to take a different route with this conflict thing that is based on a clear idea and message, so it is more what i like to do. i need to think of a message first to do with conflict. Something like this poster by jonathon barnbrook is much more what I'm thinking now. what was i thinking! ?

Conflict brief

My gender issues brief is on hold at the moment because i didn't feel I could go any further without consulting the age group that its for - 14-18 year olds so i gave out some questionnaires to a school back home at the weekend and I'm waiting for responses. (it probably would be better to go talk to this age group, especially when my theme is social issues, but i refuse to go up to a bunch of scallys on the streets of leeds.) I want to find out if they do think outside stereotypical views and also what else they think is important when choosing a career. I fit turns out that they don't care about stereotypes or there is something more important that they worry about it may turn this brief on its head.
So in the meantime I have been doing a brief from Ctrl.Alt.Shift. which is to submit a piece of work based around the word 'conflict'. I think they might be looking for actual art so i'll probably not submit it. I decided to just try and illustrate some of the information attached to the brief. There were facts and statistics about the causes of war, the victims and where in the world its happening. I'm trying to suggest Colombia in it because a lot of Ctrl.Alt.Shift.'s cause is focused there. I have most the elements I want in the illustration (and chucked them all together above) but I now need to arrange them in some sort of composition. I think this would be a good thing to ask Matt tomorrow in the tutorial. I have so far used loads of photocopying, to scale things up and down to get more detail in, and using pens of different thicknesses and pencil. I wanted stuff to look quite dark and dirty and I like the traces of toner left on the photocopies. I think this suits the subject of war and conflict because it looks worn and rough. To help me along I am looking at David Foldvari but I'm a bit scared that I'll end up copying him. I really want a composition with impact like he does.