10 Penneth:

I was up bright and early this morning, despite me not feeling so bright and the weather being miserable! I visited MUSIC in the NQ for my second portfolio surgery, this time being with Craig Oldham. I hadn't expected it to be a group feedback session but I found this really helpful to see how everyone else works, especially as it was a group whose work that I was unfamiliar with. I love the diversity of responses to projects and I found it useful to see how others layout their portfolio. Of course, everyone had done this differently and the primary point that Craig drove was that it is our own book. Unique to us, and to have the content that we feel best represents us. Not what tutors, or other professionals may advise. This past term at university I feel that I have learnt to trust my own ideas etc, and to do what I want to do, because who can have a portfolio that pleases everybody?

In response to my work, Craig said that my thinking is quite advanced for a student and I took this as a huge compliment. This is what interests me the most, and what I want to pursue after D&AD ends in june. I think he summed up my design personality quite well when he said I'm really interested in the concept, then I get "bored shitless" and want to move onto something else. I was also grateful for somebody saying it's okay to say you know your design isn't strong - so don't you folks put it down to sheer negativity on my behalf next time I have a mare. Concepts like mine can push me along, getting me about 86% of the way there, the rest for me will just come from hardwork and practice. This gave me optimism and confidence, as well as some much needed motivation to push myself.

I was pleased that I came across well in my initial contact via email and was also pretty chuffed with another free booklet full of tips on becoming a graphic designer.

Keep Calm & Drink Tea:

Suitable advice to any third year student at this point in the year.

A new term, a new brief.  I want a project that will reflect my interest in copy based campaigns and this is why I have opted to do the Elmwood "Make mine a builders brew" brief set by D&AD.  The brief describes the importance of quality of thinking and language and not the visual execution.  This seems perfect for me and where I see myself trying to squeeze into industry.

Elmwood want to know who drinks tea, why they drink it, when they drink it - what do they feel about it?  They also wanted to know what kind of drinks they are up against... other teas? coffee? or cold drinks?  From my initial market research I believe that those who are tea drinkers are very passionate about their tea, and that they are very loyal to their desired brand.  I therefore feel that I should be focusing on a campaign that competes with other tea brands and that encourages people to try this "strong - no nonsense" cup of tea.

Existing promotional materials and example of brand language (above)

Their tone is informal, honest, fun.

I have looked at leading tea competitors and I really like Twinings copy based campaign (above) for their brand.  It confronts why people drink tea, that they usually do this to lift mood and unites tea drinkers in the way that I think Make Mine A Builders are seeking to do.

I have also been looking at general copy based campaigns and even though Elmwood are not so much interested in the final execution I think it would be nice to draw inspiration from these two adverts and art direct the text to suit meaning.  The two adverts below are both very different and I find it interesting that one word can have impact, yet a whole string of words can create curiousity and intrigue a viewer to read the full message.

Portfolio Surgery -

with Johnny Hardstaff.  To share my portfolio with a professional and get a totally fresh and honest opinion about my work was brilliant.  The questions that he asked me really made me confront what I want to be and where I see myself going.  Based upon this Johnny was able to offer me advice on the next stage after university - my desire being creative advertising.  To get into this field, I am going to have to ensure my concepts leap off the page, and crank up the pace of my work to produce a vast and varied body of work.  I was really pleased that he got excited about pieces of work that hadn't received good feedback at review - and this gives me confidence that I should trust my own instincts and do work that feels right to me.  Johnny suggested that I investigate a career in PR, something I had never thought about before, but sounds intriguing.  All in all the workshop gave me positive feedback and encouraged me to keep on doing what I'm doing and take it to the next level.  It was also beneficial to see other peers portfolios and witness what I need to do in terms of layout/content/aesthetic to pull myself up.

Under Construction:

I have recently purchased jemmaconnor.co.uk
(Thanks to Anna for her help) :]

A-B development.

More Staycation experiments.  Feedback has been really helpful and I have been trying to develop clarity through additional copy.  Feedback suggested I highlight the movement of A-B so I have dropped the "beside the seaside" line as it was distracting and slowing down/confusing the message.  I have placed this within a web link instead, and hopefully by doing so this shows that there is supporting medias and creates a company identity that is intent on driving tourists to British coastal towns.

I am now beginning to experiment with text to create a different feel.

Fancy a Staycation?

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the UK, yet there seems to be little evidence of existing creative advertising and engaging campaigns to inspire us to holiday in our own country.  It was for this reason that I thought I would tackle the Roses Award brief "Staycation" - the only ask it had, was to reinvent the traditional British holiday through an advertising campaign.

The traditional British holiday is the seaside holiday and so it is this that I have used as a starting point for my content.  I am aware that interest in British coastal towns has dwindled over past years, becoming stereotyped as run down, old fashioned and tacky.  People may be cynical to hear what this campaign has to say so I have tried to be clear and focused in presenting a new image and voice.  I aim to use the traditional values as the content, whilst using contemporary design to freshen interest and resurge popularity.

My design will become part of a campaign that encourages people to travel the UK internally from one place to another.  My development ideas will utilise stereotypes presented in a way that encourage the viewer to see past traditional elements.

Below, is an experiment from my first set of concept/design ideas.  Instead of hiding my work as per, I'm posting it up in the hope of getting some constructive feedback.  I'd be really interested to know how quick the idea transcends.

The Body Shop:

A live creative brief by D&AD that I have chosen to tackle for my personal project.  The subject of this brief, being ethical beauty promotion, links to my dissertation on "Mediated Ideals (A study of the relationship between fashion and beauty consumption and self esteem)."  I think it will be perfect for tying my written work and my studio practice together.  In my last feedback session Clinton suggested I looked into more social and political campaigns with a view to future practice.

The brief:

"Create an unconventional brand campaign for

The Body Shop to reinstate its position as the original pioneer of ethical beauty."

• Tone: Opinionated, maverick, honest, cheeky, challenging and unique - not safe and inclusive.
  
• Target: Men and women of all ages, who purchase cheap products or products that have not been ethically sourced.
  
• Considerations:

1. The Body Shop is non-conformist, a pioneer for ethical beauty and justice around the world.
   
2. Medium and concept should be outside the conventional approach of other campaigns.
   
3. Does it stand out from competition?  Could it be confused with any other brand?
   
4. Is it impactful?  
   

Below, are three sourced examples of what I think the brief are looking for in terms of a voice with an opinion, though they could exude a bit more vibrancy.  The last one I think is cleverer because it is less expected and is something that most women will relate to something they have said and thought about it in the past.  The Body Shop use colour in a very simple way, often only one at a time.

I can tell that The Body Shop obviously attempt Art Direction with seriousness but they could be better executed and more aesthetically pleasing.  The ideas/tags/images run along the correct lines but they just seem a little put together and could be slicker.

Break The Silence on Domestic Violence - I think this is a poor effort.  It is safe, could easily belong to any high street brand and is rather uninspiring.  It's dull and the image is confusing... should they look like they are talking between friends?  One looks a bit intimidated and one looks dominating.  Don't get me started on the typography.

And last but not least, an interactive example.  The Body Shop have been known for using delivery lorries to ensure that their message becomes socially present, as well as a life size doll to confront beauty stereotypes.  Here we have a stand encouraging passers by to take part in the campaign.  This is fun and would target people that would perhaps normally pass by the store unaware of what it has to offer.  It brings the brand to the forefront of their mind and may even entice them into purchase.

The Live Project:

I would like to say one brief down, and just two to go before Christmas... however Silence is still proving to be an ongoing battle, and I'm not the one winning.  It seems to have gotten the better of me and the worry of not doing anything good has led me to do not much at all.

The second project of third year has begun, and we had a number of briefs with great potential to pick from.  I have selected TED BAKER.

The brief is asking for an autumn window display that captures the irreverence of Ted Baker, with a fun and British humour.

I'm so excited about this project.  It combines two of my favourite things... window displays, and the delightful Miss Davies who is my collaborative partner and creative soul mate for the next three weeks.

I wrapped up second year by doing my presentation on window displays.  I love visual merchandising and felt that I had some background knowledge of what is successful and what isn't.  It is also an excuse to delve into my archive of windows I've snapped in the past and put them to some use!

This week Hannah and I ventured into town together and took some photographs of existing displays (on my dodgy old camera):

Selfridges

Always a favourite of mine.

A great concept, engaging, eye catching, fun, colourful, slogans... representing a very British Christmas with a playful panto theme.  This is the kind of concept I imagine to suit the Ted Baker brief, irreverent and British!

Ted Baker

I love this!  It definitely helped me to understand Ted Baker and what the brief is about.  It was a teeny tiny window so I also understand how scaleable the windows must be.

"Elf & Fitness - Be a lean mean present giving machine".

I think it's a brilliant tagline.  It is persuasive, It captures the essence of the brands fun, it is engaging and directs a theme that will entertain and be easily received.  It is also seasonal without being cliche, something I think must be quite hard to produce.

Harvey Nichols

Another store well known for their window displays... but I have to say, I'm not a fan!  They always seem to be a prime example of 'great visual, poor concept.'  I never seem to understand what is going on and the amount to take in is just overwhelming.  The eye naturally centres on the focal point and centre feature, however there is so much dancing around it that it can't be taken in.  Window's need you to understand them in the split second before you have passed them by.  The themes never seem to engage me, I don't see the point in making something pretty if it doesn't communicate and fulfill its objective.  I also feel like Selfridges and Ted Baker have created a brand identity from their windows... not too sure what Harvey Nic's wants to say to me...

Time to get into action, so here's to hitting the ground running!

"Words on a gravestone: I waited but you never came."

On my search for my personal interpretation of 'Silence' I came across this image by Erin Nicole.

After my first feedback tutorial with Liz, we decided that I should look further into Censorship, but this image sparked a sequence of ideas, ones that I feel show a more individual and lateral response to the brief.  I am intrigued by the props and their placement.  The silence of these objects in actual fact creates an endless production of meaning.  This led me on a journey to discover notions of memory and experience, analysing objects as a profound material language and how they together have the ability to voice a narrative.  I find it a compelling thought that objects are overlooked as silent things, especially when left behind or lost.  We often project our silent thoughts and feelings onto them with a found element of sentiment.

This closely links in with my interest with missing people and the way in which they can be traced before the lingering silence.  It is strange how you become immortilised as a description, known for your last known movements, the possessions you carried and wore at the time.  And then there is the family that will wait for you, leaving your possessions untouched for their comfort.

The image of Resusci Annie (above) fascinates me.  The ethereal death mask taken from the body of a young girl found dead in the 19th Century.  Her identity was never discovered and her face was adopted as the universal resuscitation doll.  It is speculated her death to have been a suicide, perhaps a story of unrequited love?

In a bid to piece together a narrative I linked my two ideas through romantic sentiment.

I showed my visual experiments to Liz, and to Sue.  Two of which are above.  I scanned in a rose, a sentimental object to me.  What may be a dead object to someone else, provokes memories for me.  It appears timeless, I really like the aesthetic the scanner creates.  Both tutors gave very similar advice and so I feel set on track.  Although the image is quite nice it feels expected.  They told me to avoid the cliche, to delve further.  The image of the rose already has connotations of sentiment, so the text should be more abstract.  Liz wants to see at least 5images of household objects photographed out of context, and Sue told me to take 10 possessions, capture, and on the reverse experiment with offbeat memories they may trigger.  I can see this project developing continuously, who knows where it will end up...

Visual Documents.

On tuesday, we got Silence Part 2.  

This asks us to take our inspiration from Part 1 and record and encapsulate our work, combining it with an element of written language.  This may consist of facts, findings, reflection or a fictional narrative.  I have opted to produce a print format piece that works as a sheet and also as a folded document.  I was really keen to do the Amnesty campaign because of the opportunity to work on copy, but I really want to develop my lateral thinking, design and bookmaking skills so opted to do A.  If it's not too ambitious I may try and do the Amnesty as a side project at a later date.  To develop Silence in to part2 I have been looking at examples of 'visual documents.'  Mack used the Street Training Manual from the City Gymnasium exhibit as an example.  I had picked this up when I visited the Cube Gallery in town with Gemma two weeks ago... for me it was the highlight of the exhibition which I didn't really take any inspiration from.  It is also worth mentioning that we enquired about degree show costs for june/july hire.

Whilst at The Cube, we also picked up this piece, which was nominated at the Roses Design awards 09.  It is by MARK and is the catalogue for the Manchester Literature Festival.  Its format doesn't fit the brief but thought I'd share it none the less, I really like it!

Routing further through my (now very big) box of inspiration I have, I came across the exhibition leaflet for Undercover, which I visited in London in August.  When I blogged about this visit, back in August, I described how gorgeous this is.  I've finally photographed it and now you can see how it visually puts the subject into a chronological way as it unfolds, before opening into a poster.

And, to further my thinking around formatting, I have been flicking through a book I bought in my second year.  'Templates' consists of visual examples of document formats, as well as providing the templates on a disc.  This makes it easy to digitally paginate your work, and gets you thinking about how far your format can be taken to emphasise the  meaning within your work.  If anyone wants a flick through or to copy some of the ai. files, just lemme know and I will bring it to studio.

As for narrative and visuals for S.p2 ... a little stuck on the direction.  Need to push my ideas, really can't wait for tutorial on tuesday.  Tis very much needed.

This Week:

So... this week has been full on for tutorials, I saw Liz on tuesday about 'Silence', and Clinton this morning to talk Dissertation.

The first tutorial for the new brief went well, lots of discussion and some extra ideas came out of it.  A bit more direction and contact time wouldn't go a miss next week, but I have to make the outcome individual to me, best to just get cracking!  Been working in the studio this afternoon and have generated some new/further ideas.  Some are quite interactive which is something Liz suggested I look into.  Finally feel ready to get out of the sketchbook and do some visual experiments.

Tuesday afternoon, we watched short film La Jetee, I don't think I understood one minute of it, but I liked the still image and narrative combo.  Thought that was quite an interesting idea.

Chris Marker, filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor, and now videographer and digital multimedia artist, has been challenging moviegoers, philosophers, and himself for years with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet. Marker’s La Jetée is one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made, a tale of time travel told in still images.

1962.

La Jetee

Chris Marker

And the dissertation feedback.  This was really useful.  Clinton made some really interesting suggestions for my line of argument, got me thinking in a more specific way as well as suggesting how to gather primary research.  Time to get on with things!

Johnny Hardstaff.

"This is my underwear"

A self proclaimed compulsive doodler who likes to sit and have ideas all day long.  His underwear, ie. sketchbooks have a great energy and you can tell from looking at them that he loves the creative process.

"Graphic Design is a weapon"

Johnny described the 'Paint' advert for Orange as "safe, pretty and charming" but then went on to present the notion of adverts having a political subtext that can sometimes be quite "nasty."  Essentially the message in this ad is saying to us; 'here, have more' and puts the question out there that if something so simple can manipulate, how far can you take things?  What can you do with a project?  This is a great example of the good and the bad involved in our role as a visual communicator.  It was interesting the way he described Norman Clein and how he has laid bare the way in which he directs people with such subjection that he feels guilty whilst loving doing so at the same time.

Advert for Orange

'Paint'

His work is linear and playful.  I find his aesthetic quite interesting, and what I love most is the way Johnny doesn't separate design from art.  I think this makes it easier for the process to flow naturally, just to think of design as contemporary art.  This was a really funny, engaging and interesting lecture and I loved watching Hardstaff's work and hearing his beliefs and confessionals.

Clients also include Sony, LG, Radiohead and MTV.  See his showreel here.

" "

Yesterday I stopped by a closed down car garage and took this picture.  I only got one before I was told I had to get off of Private Property! Oops!  It is fair to say that I pass by this place most days and it has always gone unnoticed.  I love it when a brief opens your eyes to something in a new or different way.  With Tuesdays lecture in mind, passing this reminded me of the images Mack showed of the advertising ban in South America.  I also thought about Clinton's image of the dead neon sign.  It resonates the absent message that used to illuminate this space and makes me think of how things can lose their ability to communicate and how they therefore become 'silent.'

'Silence.'

Today we got the first of our third year briefs:

You are investigating 'Silence' a key semiotic conduit and vehicle for the communication of emotion, atmosphere and metaphor and allegory - the silent pause, the empty space, the open space for the audience to 'reflect' and project into - You are analysing the psychology of pursuasion.

Initially I thought 'Silence' was challenging as we are being asked to answer some profound questions in a very lateral manner, but I think it will turn out to be an interesting project.  Each tutor spoke about their own interpretation of 'Silence' - some were ideas and visuals that I had thought about last night when I had seen the brief posted, others inspired and opened my mind to the potential of the project and a broader contextual horizon.  This lecture directly explained what is expected of us and gave us inspiration from the word go.  Hopefully this has saved much time umming and ahhing... and procrastinating!  It helped to kick start the project, providing me with ideas of what I am expected to collect and collate for the first tutorial next week.  I really like that the format is totally open, so I finally have chance to experiment on finding a visual style that suits me.  

Edward Hopper

Hopper's work narrates habitats and inner and outer space.  The images have a stillness that keeps the viewer waiting, as if it should be a still from a film that will continue after the captured image has been absorbed.

Rachel Whiteread

A cast house sculpture from unoccupied and empty or lost space -

Created as the terraces were knocked down.

Turner Prize Winner 1993.

Peter Saville

Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division

This image was created from the pulses of a dying star.  I really like the simplicity in the aesthetic.  The black space around the fine image uses space to emphasise a silence.  Interestingly, the back sleeve of the album featured no track listings and 'Side One' and 'Side Two' of the record were refered to as 'Outside' and 'Inside.'

Saville and Whiteread were two of Mack's examples that made me think of silence as a space rather than in the obvious terms of sound, whilst Hopper's work (above) and images shown by Clinton and Liz also made me think of it in terms of a frozen moment or an object removed of its purpose.

"Go find something that makes you silent"

I loved that Sue put the idea out there for us to think about how society can sometimes feel "nervous" about silence.  This made me think about situations where you shouldn't be alone, and about finding something that does indeed make us silent.  Her images of shadows were interesting too.  These will probably be things that influence my starting points, and I also want to look further into Hitch's text and zen like interpretations.