I get to keep hold of 10 of them (although I was told 20 originally) but I have signed and numbered 30 of them which are to be sent back down to London and then sold (apparently) :D woo.. i almost feel professional.. almost..
Showing posts with label resistance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resistance. Show all posts
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Don't Panic... yet
Finally got my hands on my D&AD/Don't Panic poster today... I wasn't too sure how I receive these.. i was half hoping I'd get 10-15 of the brown paper wallets normally available.. but I was sent 40 prints direct from London.
I get to keep hold of 10 of them (although I was told 20 originally) but I have signed and numbered 30 of them which are to be sent back down to London and then sold (apparently) :D woo.. i almost feel professional.. almost..
I get to keep hold of 10 of them (although I was told 20 originally) but I have signed and numbered 30 of them which are to be sent back down to London and then sold (apparently) :D woo.. i almost feel professional.. almost..
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
D&AD Don't Panic
well.. i DID PANIC!.. i didnt know what to expect.. i was nervous before even getting there and was kinda just looking forward to doing a bit of networking but for those who dont already know.. I bloody won! I came first in the D&AD Don't Panic Illustration category with my "Don't Do That" poster as it has now been named...
This is all a bit new to me... but here is a video summarising the ceremony with a small bit featuring me.. D&AD Student Awards
as well as the D&AD Illustration page
As part of the competition, I had a little interview featured on the Don't Panic website and 80,000 of my posters will be printed and distributed in September this year.... can't wait... I'm gonna try get a couple!
there's also various other links online that have covered the award ceremony including...
Creative Review
Digital Arts Magazine
Macworld
I was shocked more than anything, purely because I expected Tom Rainford's piece to win, but saying that... I am truly happy that I did... I'm so excited about it and feel as if I havent truly celebrated yet or flaunted it... (mainly because half of my friends dont know/understand what it means). It was a beautiful day for the ceremony to be held on, although a little too warm, but also a fantastic choice of venue in the Old Spitalfields Market down in London. The setup of the event was designed to almost force students and professionals to mingle and interact, however I spent more time with my tutor and the 3 other entrants in the Illustration category - Tom Rainford, Helen Vine and Chris Arrowsmith. We were later introduced to Phil Nutley of Corridor and Patrick Burgoyne of Creative Review, who commented on each of our works, gave advice and generally just listened to use waffle on.
This is all a bit new to me... but here is a video summarising the ceremony with a small bit featuring me.. D&AD Student Awards
as well as the D&AD Illustration page
As part of the competition, I had a little interview featured on the Don't Panic website and 80,000 of my posters will be printed and distributed in September this year.... can't wait... I'm gonna try get a couple!
there's also various other links online that have covered the award ceremony including...
Creative Review
Digital Arts Magazine
Macworld
Thursday, 1 April 2010
D&AD Don't Panic
Rather than focusing on my main project, I was side tracked into finalising my design for the D&AD competition brief, in association with Don't Panic. I thought I was finished and all i needed to do was print it out for the deadline, but after some useful pointers and crit from Chris O and Ian my design got a bit of an overhauling to make sure it was up to par...
I kept with the idea of not following the rules but wanted to include more humour and get some of my drawing in there...
I wanted to include this development work, just to show that drawing a simple character.. isnt all that simple. From my original sketch, I tweaked bits left, right and centre... and then flipped the design to make sure nothing else stood out as "wrong". Tracing paper is my new friend, I used so much of it during this project but it allowed me to produce multiple versions of my work...
I ended up vectoring the character but I was adamant about trying to get away from the computer. When I make anything on the computer it gets sapped of all its character and "feeling"... theres a certain kind of quality to hand made images that is lost. Yet, by printing out the vector onto some cheap paper and scrunching it up, it once again becomes hand made and has a character to it...
it's strange thinking about how I started this project when compared to how I ended it, but this has probably been one piece of work that I am most proud of... purely because it feels like something I have made for myself, from my own influences and inspirations.
From my original screen printed maze idea...
I kept with the idea of not following the rules but wanted to include more humour and get some of my drawing in there...
I wanted to include this development work, just to show that drawing a simple character.. isnt all that simple. From my original sketch, I tweaked bits left, right and centre... and then flipped the design to make sure nothing else stood out as "wrong". Tracing paper is my new friend, I used so much of it during this project but it allowed me to produce multiple versions of my work...
I ended up vectoring the character but I was adamant about trying to get away from the computer. When I make anything on the computer it gets sapped of all its character and "feeling"... theres a certain kind of quality to hand made images that is lost. Yet, by printing out the vector onto some cheap paper and scrunching it up, it once again becomes hand made and has a character to it...
All of the above culminated into this final design, from hand drawn elements to digital vectors and scanned in textures to digital colour all combine to give the effect of a real children's colouring book...
After finalising the colours on my designs I went back and reworked my original maze so it all tied together better.
it's strange thinking about how I started this project when compared to how I ended it, but this has probably been one piece of work that I am most proud of... purely because it feels like something I have made for myself, from my own influences and inspirations.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Deadline Day
Well, sticking with tradition... I reckon there will be a few of us frantically trying to print stuff off tomorrow (myself included) in order to have something to stick up for marking...
should i blow some cash and print A2? ;)
It's been a weird brief this one, not only due to the initial confusion but things have come together and panned out a little too easily in my opinion. I've been sat here thinking there should be more to go wrong... well... i finally got my answer last Saturday...
this happened...
It's been a weird brief this one, not only due to the initial confusion but things have come together and panned out a little too easily in my opinion. I've been sat here thinking there should be more to go wrong... well... i finally got my answer last Saturday...
this happened...
(not the most flattering, but possibly the most comical due to my expression/reaction to the camera flash)
The above poster is an example of how I want to execute my design with the my own red layer being overprinted on top of the black maze design (I can't for the life of me remember who made this poster but I think I have a link to it somewhere.. i'll add it when i find it)
e.g/
which kinda threw the next few days out of sync, I was meant to prep some screens on Monday in order to print on Tues... but this never happened, which pushed it back to Weds... but we were all in Manchester visiting the gallery (and shopping) which meant I had to do it today... but I've been at work... so... I have my screens coated at home ready for use.. and no facilities or time in which to actually use them right now.. (the weather is causing problems with our outdoor hosepipe so I cant wash out my screens :( dammit)... they're currently sat in a darkened room taunting me.
I've actually had the basic design finalised since last week, but I've tested a few different things in order to tweak it into a stronger working image, although now its done, I no longer feel anything for it and want to start again! :/
The most difficult part of this was actually settling on 'characters' to represent the new theme of Birth & Death... I was torn between simplifying them too much and over stylising them in order to just show off... I'm still not quite happy with them as the Baby/Life/Birth seems too cartoony in my opinion and the Skull/Death reminds me of Gama-Go :)
I've actually had the basic design finalised since last week, but I've tested a few different things in order to tweak it into a stronger working image, although now its done, I no longer feel anything for it and want to start again! :/
The most difficult part of this was actually settling on 'characters' to represent the new theme of Birth & Death... I was torn between simplifying them too much and over stylising them in order to just show off... I'm still not quite happy with them as the Baby/Life/Birth seems too cartoony in my opinion and the Skull/Death reminds me of Gama-Go :)
Considering I have all my stuff primed ready for some screen printing, i WILL finally print something next week even though we'll be starting on a new project but I'm determined to print more this year... the only thing is I need to cut my deadlines a week short, in order to allow for time to prep and print!
The above poster is an example of how I want to execute my design with the my own red layer being overprinted on top of the black maze design (I can't for the life of me remember who made this poster but I think I have a link to it somewhere.. i'll add it when i find it)
As mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to have a child like scribble in my work but nothing really worked.. until I noticed I was being too controlled with my line making... I started almost over thinking the scribble, planning where I want it to go and how much space it should cover and how it should divide up...
e.g/
but when I loosed up a bit and found the work of Gary Kuehn, I started scribbling in thick pencil to give the lines a bit more texture and a more analog feel to them...
With this now in mind, I took my favourite few scribbles and mocked up how they would look on the computer... I then settled on my favourite of the bunch and I'm planning to print and screen print that one...
I still feel like i need to justify how my design relates to the theme of resistance though... or do i? either way... its meant to be a shout out to all those who take life too seriously, who worry about everything and they should take time out to enjoy life... do something different, something you wouldn't normally do.. anything that makes you excited, that makes your heart race... just do something that makes you SMILE :)
I also came across the work of Oliver Munday and his illustration for an article in TIME magazine... looking at the struggles of health care. Cleverly using the maze to represent difficulty whilst still retaining a sense of humour and light hearted play... the visual nature of a maze must be why it's so appealing to designers and illustrators alike...
I still feel like i need to justify how my design relates to the theme of resistance though... or do i? either way... its meant to be a shout out to all those who take life too seriously, who worry about everything and they should take time out to enjoy life... do something different, something you wouldn't normally do.. anything that makes you excited, that makes your heart race... just do something that makes you SMILE :)
I also came across the work of Oliver Munday and his illustration for an article in TIME magazine... looking at the struggles of health care. Cleverly using the maze to represent difficulty whilst still retaining a sense of humour and light hearted play... the visual nature of a maze must be why it's so appealing to designers and illustrators alike...
Monday, 8 February 2010
Resistance Poster
my final idea has gone through a few drafts recently.. some changing the basic context of the poster, others the actual execution and design but I still need to keep refining everything down to one final (and solid) idea...
the map idea i originally had was quite strong on the idea of resistance, if you were a biker, working the shape of a car into the map only started to complicate things though. I still wanted to show that motorbikes had the ability to travel anywhere, or at least navigate easier than a car can do, but somewhere along the way I had lost sight of the theme again... I keep getting new ideas and wanting to progress them further as if I'm bored of the resistance theme now.
Anyway, the most intriguing part of my map idea was having a resistance against the network of roads and streets etc that are set out on maps, being able to choose your own route and make your own decisions. The only problem i have is that the idea of looking only at motorbikes versus cars limits the audience for my poster...
Flicking through Grafik Magazine (180) I came across the work of Gorilla, and their 'IRAK' poster. I originally thought Gorilla were one of these cool hip funky named design studios but it turns out.... in their own words ...
now i thought it may have just been the one politically aimed piece of work that I discovered but as the above says and after browsing their website I found many pieces on themes like the Euro, Europe, Iraq, Oil, USA, Africa, Drugs, Religion and Advertising, to name but a few... Their work would probably look at home in newspapers and magazine articles as well as posters for events and even bear resemblance to book covers in their use of simplistic shapes and colours to give as much information as needed without over stimulating the audience. But as I mentioned, it was their "USA's exit strategy from Iraq" poster that caught my attention simply due to the maze design they used, it looked exactly like a map but was reduced down to its most simplistic, graphical and universal state.
At first you understand the gag, saying that the USA doesnt have a plan and it's like they are wandering blindly through a maze until they finally leave but on 2nd viewing you notice the maze itself contains the word 'IRAK' within its design (dutch for Iraq, in case you didnt realise like me!) and if you follow the maze through, you discover there is no solution to the maze, there is no exit which is both humourous but also commenting on the US's actions at the time (the poster was made and printed in October 2006). But ignoring the theme for a moment, and looking at it in the context of being a poster or full page spread, the idea is that it should first be attention grabbing and then present information to the viewer. I've been given advice on how I should design a piece of work that rewards the viewer for looking deeper into it.. but I'm struggling a little bit working this into my current design.
heres another showing the solutions to the bottom left maze etc.
I was originally going to have a scribbled route over the top of a map, this was inspired by seeing my 3 year old niece's drawings and thinking how at that age you don't stick to drawing inside the lines but I also thought that there was something universally understood in a childs drawing that didnt overly complicate things. I tried recreating this and testing different mediums while drawing the scribbled route and shapes for the motorbike which was originally to feature in the design...
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I might update this later with a few more initial sketches etc..
the map idea i originally had was quite strong on the idea of resistance, if you were a biker, working the shape of a car into the map only started to complicate things though. I still wanted to show that motorbikes had the ability to travel anywhere, or at least navigate easier than a car can do, but somewhere along the way I had lost sight of the theme again... I keep getting new ideas and wanting to progress them further as if I'm bored of the resistance theme now.
Anyway, the most intriguing part of my map idea was having a resistance against the network of roads and streets etc that are set out on maps, being able to choose your own route and make your own decisions. The only problem i have is that the idea of looking only at motorbikes versus cars limits the audience for my poster...
Flicking through Grafik Magazine (180) I came across the work of Gorilla, and their 'IRAK' poster. I originally thought Gorilla were one of these cool hip funky named design studios but it turns out.... in their own words ...
"Gorilla is a visual column that comments on current affairs through words and images. Gorilla is published every week in De Groene Amsterdammer and Adformatie, and on thedailygorilla.com".
(i kinda feel like i need to come with a cool name for myself in order to succeed... silly i know)
now i thought it may have just been the one politically aimed piece of work that I discovered but as the above says and after browsing their website I found many pieces on themes like the Euro, Europe, Iraq, Oil, USA, Africa, Drugs, Religion and Advertising, to name but a few... Their work would probably look at home in newspapers and magazine articles as well as posters for events and even bear resemblance to book covers in their use of simplistic shapes and colours to give as much information as needed without over stimulating the audience. But as I mentioned, it was their "USA's exit strategy from Iraq" poster that caught my attention simply due to the maze design they used, it looked exactly like a map but was reduced down to its most simplistic, graphical and universal state.
At first you understand the gag, saying that the USA doesnt have a plan and it's like they are wandering blindly through a maze until they finally leave but on 2nd viewing you notice the maze itself contains the word 'IRAK' within its design (dutch for Iraq, in case you didnt realise like me!) and if you follow the maze through, you discover there is no solution to the maze, there is no exit which is both humourous but also commenting on the US's actions at the time (the poster was made and printed in October 2006). But ignoring the theme for a moment, and looking at it in the context of being a poster or full page spread, the idea is that it should first be attention grabbing and then present information to the viewer. I've been given advice on how I should design a piece of work that rewards the viewer for looking deeper into it.. but I'm struggling a little bit working this into my current design.
As it stands, I've reduced the idea of making a city map into a maze, for its simpler design and I'm thinking of alternatives to resist against rather than the motorbike vs. the car... The basic idea I have can be applied to almost anything, just substituting the bike and car for other conflicting ideas such as Good Vs Evil, Heaven Vs Hell, Angels Vs. Devils, Yes and No, Black and White, Life Vs Death... the only problem i have now is making sure I have some sort of reward for the viewer at the end of it...
Top left: has multiple routes in order to complete the maze, Top Right: was a lame attempt at fitting a car into the middle of the maze, Bottom Left: has 3 seperate routes (easy, medium and hard) and finally, Bottom Right: has one complex winding route.
heres another showing the solutions to the bottom left maze etc.
I was originally going to have a scribbled route over the top of a map, this was inspired by seeing my 3 year old niece's drawings and thinking how at that age you don't stick to drawing inside the lines but I also thought that there was something universally understood in a childs drawing that didnt overly complicate things. I tried recreating this and testing different mediums while drawing the scribbled route and shapes for the motorbike which was originally to feature in the design...
however with the other ideas of Good vs Evil or Life vs Death I started sketching out some characters to represent life and death ( a baby and a skull) and I was fairly confident with this... however theres something that seems wrong about it.. as if the posters theme is cot death :(
I started out with http://www.billsgames.com/mazegenerator/ to make a few mazes, then i worked out the solutions... nearly ALL of them had one very simple solution so i chose the most aesthetically pleasing one to alter and form the mazes featured above...
I might update this later with a few more initial sketches etc..
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