Final Major Project

Well this is the beginning of the very last semester. During my studies its quite remarkable how quickly the past 4 years have passed me by. Just to get my creative thinking into operation I visited centralstationdesign gallery display at the Richard Goddhall gallery in Manchester. This visit was to take in how the paintings that celebrate 50 years of coronation street have been presented.

I wanted to get a good overview of the frames used, continuity, light etc that have been applied and to catalogue the display photographically. I just felt it may help me focus on my final major brief as it needs to be presented on return to uni tomorrow. The use of colour and expression has been very successful on this series of images. There is a cohesion between the characters of the past and those of the present and they work collectively as a well balanced and dynamic series of 23 images that will eventually consist of 50 images the examples about show a range of the images from different eras and I hope to show the continuity within the series.

Look and watch

I found these pics funny and also appropriate for

this tittle, see the faces:)

If you can not imagine a guy sticking his tongue out wearing glasses:)

Often as creatives we do have the fundamental floor of

just doing the things we need to.

Who's the wiedo in the right hand corner?

I hope I have crossed that

barrier now, This has been the most interesting area of

my professional development. During my final

year of my studies it has become apparent to me that

during the second year of my

studies I needed to develop my design

in a way that I felt comfortable with and that

is not meant in a totally subjective way it's

just that I often find that my ideas get blocked

with confusion due to my thought direction.

Maybe this is just me finding a voice

and getting over that block I that often descends

on my brain. So I guess that I can say that during

the previous months of my final year I'm learning

to play to what I believe are my strengths and that

is keeping it simple!

Patterns

WEDNESDAY, 22 DECEMBER 2010

Patterns

I have found that during my recent study

patterns have increasingly influenced my

design thinking. It is mainly through the

environment, the little things like pavements

and lines on buildings. This sort of aesthetic

helps my thinking and generally the kind of

work I produce tends to reflect on my observations.

I do believe that this sort of observation does

allow my thinking to be revealed throughout

my creative work and helps me focus although

it is rather linear and does restrict my development

as a graphic designer. I do hope to improve this

aspect of my design attitude in the following semester.

Here are a few examples of my patterns.

Portfolio Visits

This has been an interesting journey for me

and one that I was not particularly looking

forward to as I feel a little embarrassed about

my age. During the three visits that I have had

I have found that as long as my work fits the

criteria then I really do not have too worry too

much about my age. This has been a welcome

relief although I am sure time will be the big

provider of the truth. I do need to introduce

more design work into my portfolio so I have

included my latest project here.

I think that this is a general concern with all

mature students which can only be natural. Having

a previous successful career in the printing

industry it is a worry of where do I go from here

but I cannot be too reflective at this moment in time.

The art of being nosey!

This probably is one of my more left field approaches

to information gathering, however it does pay to have

an inquisitive mind. Often the most interesting stuff

is just over the horizon and slightly out of sight.

During my studies I have always tried to take the trouble

to look a little further, you know cross the odd barrier

to get a different perspective. Here are some examples of

me crossing the odd barrier!

Alexandra Rodchenko (1891-1956)

This artist has had the largest influence on

my photographic thinking since I visited an

exhibition of his work in Barcelona in 2008.

He was an amazingly dynamic artist and his

ability to show a new vision and method was

revolutionary during the 1920's and 1930's.

He invented 'the death of painting' as he once

described.

Gone now forever were the mundane elite, repetitive

and some what mundane repetitions of

landscapes and people. A new dynamic angular

observation was now attained by the new influences

of Europe and America. A new aesthetic was born

one that would produce the new visual language

that until today is graphic design.

My interest even got me to purchase a book written

by his grandson that cost £120 every penny well spent.

I think is it obvious in the work I produce that his

work has had a pertinent influence on my thinking.

Here some examples of the photography I have taken

due to the great mans influence on my work.

Keep It Simple

This has been an interesting area of

my professional development. It became

apparent to me during the second year of my

studies that I needed to develop my design

in a way that I felt comfortable with and that

is not meant in a totally subjective way it's

just that I often find that my ideas get blocked

with confusion due to my thought direction.

Maybe this is just me finding a voice

and getting over that block I that often descends

on my brain. So I guess that I can say that during

the previous months of my final year I'm learning

to play to what I believe are my strengths and that

is keeping it simple.

Fears

Yes this area needs addressing!

During my studies on my degree I have always

had a fear of how limited my creative flare has

been due to my lack of ability to master the creative

software. It really has hindered me at times so I

do find I try and work around it. I have found it

hard when I panic that I do not have the computer

skills to do rather simple things and it is embarrassing

when I have to pester one of my colleagues to help me.

I must say that the more I work on the software the

better I perform and this has been especially true

for the recent project I have worked on 'the con artist'

where I have used a piece of software completely alien

to me Adobe Premier. What really helped me here

was the students in multi-media who bent over backwards

to help me and my understanding of the process became

much more aware of what I was doing. Really enjoyed the help

from Rick and the students in multi-media.

Presentation Skills

This particular issue within the life of

a professional visual communicator became

pertinent to me today after our end of semester

show. Having the advantage of knowing the importance

of presentation it has never become so obvious

to me of the importance of displaying your own

work well as it did today.

This is especially true when working alone as

you do not have that second pair of eyes to aid you.

I found that through not fault of my own I needed to get

several reprints done which affected my time planning.

I did eventually get my exhibition up and apart from one

error of size by the print department it visually reached

the level I set out to achieve.

I was actually surprised that some of the students didn't

seem too concerned with the display and found that

they spent more time on their work where as others excelled

and made the effort to present well. This has taught me

a great deal on the importance to always make that effort

and always present well!

Central Station

I visited the Richey Goohall Library in Manchester

Last week to view the most recent project by the

iconic Manchester design agency centralstationdesign.

Anyone who is familiar with Stockport College

will who they are as they have probably meet if

not have been taught by the Manchester designer

Pat Caroll.

Pat gave me sound advise when I studied on the

foundation course at Stockport that I should study

on the graphic design degree rather than my preferred

choice at the time which was photography.

After a discussion with Pat last week he encouraged

me to visit the exhibition and view the images

displayed.

centralstationdesign were commissioned by Coronation

Street too produce 25 images of the series hero's

as part of their 50 years celebration of being on our

tv screen.

Typically Pa, Matt and Karen set about this project

in their style. They all have a great interest in the

big screen posters of Hollywood and Bollywood

in particular those produced for Hollywood in the

1930's and 1940's.

I particularly liked the use of colour and texture and

the retro feel of the paintings. Very obviously

with the centralstationdesign flavour to the images

they make you feel rather jealous as to their longevity.

A very interesting and influential display which I am

sure will lead the company from strength to strength.

Hopes, fears and opportunities

As part as my professional development I raised

my concerns with James my tutor as to where I

may fit in the design industry.

We discussed that if and when I may get a portfolio visit

that it would be possible to raise such issues and

include as part of my PDP.

I visited www.thechase.co.uk on Friday of last week and they

were more than welcoming to discuss such concerns

with me which proved to be of great benefit to my

confidence.

My main concern has always been my age and how I

may stand against young students and if this would affect

my career prospects.

Richard Scholey creative director at www.thechase.co.uk

and a senior designer named Stuart were the guys whom

discussed this with me.

They suggested this would not be a problem for me

although they pointed out that I would have to start on

a junior salary. This obviously I do understand and

it is not an issue as I getting the chance of a career in

design would be a major step forward.

So on this journey of mine I felt this was a very positive

step forward and if the placement that they suggested to

me comes off in the new year, well, I certainly could

not ask for more than that from a company as well regarded as

the chase.

Come design with me.

"Come Design With Me" was a night designed to

get past students and some members of industry

together along with ourselves and our tutors.

It was a relaxed and reflective evening in which

refreshments were provided. I found a very pertinent

point being that we all noticed the void and sense

of 'being in the real world' that recent graduates

expressed.

This has proved a difficult time for many of them

and especially for those who have worked over seas

for a period, as the recession is obviously still alive and

kicking with many recent graduates becoming disillusioned.

We started the night by splitting into two

large groups that were split between present students

and graduates. One particularly interesting point

that came across was the rate of change of

their portfolios a constantly evolving and important

archive for our futures.

They outline to my group the difficulties in finding

work and at my age this does concern me. Mike

graduated last summer and he was a good example

of finding work rapidly but he soon realized that

although he had found employment at prestigous

brand "Manchester United" it was not full filling

his creative requirements having producing his own

working in the very creative environment of the

classroom. This issue was expressed by several of

the graduates and one to be mind full of.

I do believe that this evening related well to

our "Hopes and Fears" essay as it will prove to

be a good eye opening exercise for us in the

following few months. All a little daunting

but that's life.

Brand Orienteering

On 11th November we were visited by Owen Stevens for a half day work shop. Owen is a one man branding consultant and his company brandorienteering.com is responsible for consulting companies on there branding style.

His original emphasise was to make us aware of what good branding is and its trigger points. Essence: Heart and soul of the brand underpins brand vision, usually in no more than 3 words.

Promise: Benefit to customers that sets your brand apart. Benefits being emotional and harder to copy. Its a relationship between you and your customer that you have a promise with the that you will not break.

Brand Personality: Arguably the most important aspect of branding and covers many topics.

Trusted; examples are ethical, sincere, dependable and honest.

Exciting; Lively, inventive, fresh and inventive.

Leading; deep, assertive and powerful.

Sophisticated; polished, sexy and smooth.

Rugged; tough, active and durable.

Owen went into detail of the importance of the awareness as designers of these various topics within branding. He stressed that engagement with these topics are paramount to having a successful relationship with the branded company you seek as a client.

We then engaged in an exercise in teams of two the sought to find a different creative channel to produce a response to a project that we are currently working on. We were required to respond to a questionnaire that firstly asked us to look at actors and actresses and what a cross of them would produce as a country name. Ours became Stiller Gaga.

We then had several more questions to answer on that country for example what language would they speak, what would there customs be. A very left field approach I believe but one designed to make one think outside the box with continuously unpredictable results.

Much was covered in this half day work shop and there was more than enough to take in and consider. It was a refreshing different approach to an area that I have not previously covered in any detail and an eye opener on the subject of branding.

Here is an extract from brandorienteering.com web sight offering a little more insight into their philosophy and approach to branding.

Equity For Punks

The average UK supermarket now has 30,000 lines (twice as many as 10 years ago). In the USA you can choose from 53 varieties of Crest toothpaste.

Stuffed to the gunwales with choice, customers are increasingly losing their appetite for the ever-growing menu of product benefits and price deals on offer – 3000 advertising messages per day and that’s just for starters. Churn as it is aptly called in marketing circles is on the increase. While the supermarket shelves are bulging with new product lines brand loyalty is shrinking faster than an MP’s expense account.

Amid the seemingly endless choices in reality we have less choice. BMW’s might not break down but neither do Skodas. Lancôme and Clinique offer innovative anti-wrinkle formulas but so does Boots own skincare range. According to food experts Scottish Salmon sold at the no frills supermarket chain Lidl tastes as good as, if not better than, that sold at Harrods.

Fortunately the answer to this increasingly worrisome problem, assuming you are not an MP, is right beneath our noses. In a world overflowing with apparent choice the brands that catch our eye and ultimately get us to stick around for longer are those that offer values over value for money. In a material world meaning comes at a premium. What customers are really looking to have the answer to is not what it does or how much it costs but, what does it mean about me?

It’s not what you do but who you know

Social networks, those giant free flowing entities whose statistics read like country populations, Facebook garnered 100 million users in 9 months, have revolutionized the way we communicate and do business. Yet despite all the talk and the investment many companies continue to act and behave like closed social networks.

Keeping us at arms length they are happy to tell us about their products and services but other than a cursory… we are passionate about; tomato sauce, coffee, toothpaste… fill in the blank space… do we really know who they are and what they stand for? Let’s face it would you really want to strike up a relationship with someone whose main and only passion was tomato sauce?

While these brands, and they are still in the majority, are content to plug the same old message sticky brands have been able to take full advantage of social media. Inviting consumers in to share their values sticky brands have redefined how they engage their customers. Like all good storytellers they don’t tell us who they are they show us.

Car brands, with perhaps the exception of Honda, have been slow to pick up on this one. A report by the New York Times points out that “only about 20 percent of car shoppers stayed with the same brand when they purchased a new vehicle.”

While the other car companies spend their marketing budgets on promoting their hybrid, “green” diesel, “smart” and aspirational qualities Honda has developed a series of commercials that feature a selection of Honda owners with the message “everyone knows somebody who loves their Honda.”Customers are invited to participate in the Honda Facebook experiment.Honda provides the common interest to bring their guests together, and talk about what interests them the most – and that’s not Honda.