GRAPHICS PATHWAY - COLOUR & ILLUSTRATION

The aim of today's task was to gain a greater appreciation of colour, how to make different colours and how to use them. We began the day creating a 12 segmented colour wheel of primary (red, blue, yellow) and secondary (green, orange, purple) colours using mostly acrylic and some poster paints. I have had quite a lot of experience with painting and mixing colours before so this task was quite straight-forward for me. The second stage of the task involved making tertiary colours which was slightly more challenging because it involved more mixing of paints. I made a range of burnt siennas, umber and ochre which were all slightly varying shades and tones of brown. 

The first A1 sheet included the colour wheel of 12 segments and
the 3 rows of tertiary colour experimentation using predominantly
acrylic paints and some poster.

Although it appears a very boring and mundane task, I enjoyed making the colour wheel as
 I have a strong use of colour in most of my work. I enjoyed blending the colours from
one to the other as well as learning from mistakes with the mixing technique

Following the colour wheel we experimented with tertiary colouring and contrasting colours. 

The final task incorporated what we had learned earlier in the previous tasks and the use of text. We had to make some illustrations of a piece of text in some way for instance an poem, a story or a song. However we could only use contrasting secondary colours for example blue and orange or red and green.

This blue and orange illustration was inspired by the poem 'Island Man' by Grace 
Nichols about someone caught between two cultures and longing to go back to 
paradise. I felt the warm orange tones suited this perfectly with the sun and the pale 
bluebackground contrasts it well representing the sea and sky.

This yellow and purple illustration was inspired by the sword in the stone, the purple
silhouette of the sword and the stone stand out well from its background. The dry
brushed yellow I feel is also a sign of positivity almost like a new day or sunrise.
These two colours work well together I find.

The final illustration I did was inspired by a childhood favourite of mine, 'Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory' I chose red and green for this because I felt the overlapping
of colours worked well, I used felt tip pen instead of paint for this illustration to try
something new and different. Nevertheless I feel the colour contrast still has the same
impact.

Images - Author's Own 23/11/12

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - LASER CUTTER INDUCTION & CAD

I found today's workshop task to be quite interesting being introduced to the 3D machinery in the prototyping labs. I had previously never been in there or tried out any of the tools therefore I was cautious at first. The day would mainly involve the use of the laser cutter which I have had some experience of using before in my secondary school. 

We began using Adobe Illustrator to create our 3D objects following the colour code of red (cut), blue (draw) and black (etch). I mainly used the draw function for my text and imagery because of the dark line it produces. We had an option to include something from our manifestos, maybe song lyrics or famous quotes. I opted to use a quote which I admire from Leo Burnett: 'Curiosity about life in all its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people'. The outlined image of the jumping figure represents something similar to a 'leap of faith' or a visual metaphor of someone ready to immerse themselves into something and not being afraid to make mistakes, something which I value.

After fine tuning some of the minor details and selecting a good font to use, I selected the text and shapes I intended to cut or draw. I then moved onto to the prototyping lab and began cutting out my design in the laser cutter. I chose to use wood board about 5mm thick, there were some other alternative options such as using card, ceramics or even just paper. The design drew well onto the wood however the laser couldn't fully cut out the circle therefore I had to cut it again which slightly altered the precision of the circle. After the second cut I had a finished product.

Some sketching and thought processes behind the final piece. Once
I had finished the laser cutting and photographed it I changed the
filters and came up with some different appearances.

The final wood circle with the quote and outlined figure. (approx 20cm x 20cm circle)

A close up of the wood surface texture and the drawn on text.

In summary, I thought the day was a success as I had created another physical final product of which I am proud of. The design process was fairly straight-forward and I had little or no problems however using the laser cutter was slightly different and I appreciate that it takes some more experience to fully perfect the technique. This gave me a taste of potential 3D work I can do for future projects.

Images - Author's Own 20/11/13

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - STUDY ZONE RESEARCH: ILLUSTRATION

On my first proper introduction to the library at Ravensbourne I was impressed by the variety of books available in my subject area. This made the day's task considerably easier. The main objective was to create Penguin inspired book cover with the Penguin logo and bar code A4 in size. We had to pick a specialism weather it be fashion promotion and illustration to film making and typography. I choose to focus on Illustration and in particular sports illustration in newspapers and other editorial pieces. At first I had no clear direction and wondered how I could make illustration interesting to me and to others as well as having a personal touch. I picked up volumes 21, 22 and 23 of '20th Century American Illustrations' which swayed me immediately. I have a passion for sport and art and thought this combination would be ideal. I was instantly struck by the wonderful illustrations from artists such as Walt Spitzmiller and Bill Dula which inspired me.

Once I had brainstormed some initial ideas, I decided to focus on the black and white illustrations and using paint to get the bold effect. Below are the back and front covers of my book cover inspired by Spitzmiller and Dula's sports illustrations . I chose the two basketball players because of the retro but yet timeless feel as well as the composition which allowed me space for a blurb. The front cover depicts a American football player whose expression I felt was very strong and highlighted the intentions of the book content with regards to freeze frames and moments in sport. I began both with a black washout of the background and then depicting the major shades in black and some other details in white to give a natural and retro feel.

I then composed the layout of the book cover, adding text and a title
'Instant Replay - An Illustrator's Perspective' which was a result of playing
around with sporting terms such as Injury Time and Slam Dunk. I applied
some colour filters and artistic effects which subtly altered its
appearance 

This is the final book cover created using an InDesign template. In the end I barely
changed the background colour, instead I increased the saturation of the originally
grey background which surprisingly produced some subtle blues and greens which I
 feel works well. I added the Penguin logos, the bar code and a spine to complete the
cover which overall I am pleased with.

Images - Author's Own 22/11/13

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - PHOTOSHOP & INDESIGN FILM POSTERS

The main aim of this particular workshop was to become more familiar and comfortable with fundamental creative software such as InDesign and Photoshop. I previously have had some experience with these programmes however I still consider myself to be at quite a basic level as there is a lot more to explore within these programmes. The brief was to create a poster for the upcoming film 'The 33' (set to be released in 2014) based on the mining accident in Chile and the subsequent rescue operation. We began the task be searching for imagery to use in the film poster, I ended up collecting at least ten potential images to use and then narrowed it down to only a couple of what I thought were the most powerful.

Following this we began to edit some the photography in Photoshop adjusting the hues, and contrast levels of the original image. I cut out, using the magic wand tool, only the parts that I wanted from the original picture, for example in the picture below, I cut out only the profile of the miner from his background. I then placed the profile on an image of the flag of Chile waving in the darkness. I then adjusting the opacity giving the transparency between miner and flag. I thought that the whole story was of a nation coming together to help the stranded miners so I wanted to find a way that showed that patriotism, togetherness and heroism under adversity. I saw this in the image of the waving flag. The shocked expression of the miner I thought was powerful as it represented the emotion of everyone throughout that time and the monotone filter contrasting with the colourful flag brought this out.

A collection of two images placed on top one another with around
 50% transparency to allow the flag to shine through. This was
what I created using only Photoshop, later this image will go on to
be used in InDesign to add the text.

The final stage took place in InDesign where I added the text to my poster. This was a longer process than I had anticipated because I couldn't decide which font worked well with the overall theme of the poster in addition I spent a lot of time playing around with the layout of the text. Once I had picked the most suitable font in my view I experimented with the weight of the text and the colour of the image.

Type, layout and colour experiments

My final film poster

Overall, I am pleased with my final outcome although I think there could be some improvements in the layout of the text and so on. I find the image of the miner and the flag works well and gives the poster a true Chilean feel, representative of the film. In conclusion an interesting task in my view that has a physical outcome of which I am happy with

Images - Author's Own 22/11/13

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - WINE LABEL (ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS)

After creating my final wine label, I decided to edit it further and see what else I could do to change its appearance whilst still making it universal. I tried using different filters, changing the contrast, brightness and saturation. Eventually I believe I came up with some good results and I particularly like how they all are subtly different but all are recognisable. The sepia toned label appears traditional and retro, the black label with white outlines I feel is very understated but still has an impact while the textured labels appear weathered and used which gives them an authentic wine label appearance. In conclusion, I am pleased with my results from this workshop day, I enjoyed practicing with ink and understanding the calligraphic style. Due to this, I feel I have been able to create a good final product.

 

Images - Author's Own 16/11/13

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - CALLIGRAPHY & WINE LABELS

The art of calligraphy is a very traditional and historic form of mark making and goes back many hundreds of years. It is a very challenging technique to understand and may not be to everyone's taste however I believe that it takes just a bit of patience and a reasonable amount of practice to get satisfying results. The main aim of the task was to become familiar with the art of calligraphy making our own alphabets and signage using song lyrics, poetry and our names. I also discovered that the quality of the lettering relies heavily on the quality of your brush, a perfectly flat-headed brush provides the best results other brushes I find loose some of the calligraphic qualities. Below are some examples of my calligraphic alphabets.

My first ever Calligraphic alphabet using black ink and a flat-headed brush.

Over time I became more confident with the brush and the ink
and began to start creating some alternative typefaces using the
edges and flat sides of the brush. I was also inspired by the
appearance of ancient Chinese writing mixed with some
graffiti style fonts.

After becoming familiar with the aesthetics of the brush and ink, I expanded my mark making to words and phrases from poetry to my own name, this really pushed me and at first I struggled but with time I managed to create completed phrases. I was particularly drawn to the 'Prince of Persia' title because of its calligraphic qualities therefore I decided to make a study of my own. Following this I experimented with question and exclamation marks, letters and then numbers in a different way. In addition I enjoyed experimenting with writing my name and changing around the fonts which was easily done because of the varied shape of the brush.

The 'Prince of Persia' title and some other forms of calligraphic experimentation.

Trying out different ways to write out my name using the calligraphic style of the brush which allowed me to vary the outcome.

Following this we moved on to creating wine labels in the calligraphic style. I thought about different types of wines, where they come from in relation to countries/regions and naming them. I instantly thought about french wines such as champagne. 

This is my final wine label design.

Images - Author's Own 13/11/13

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - TYPE PLAYS & CD COVERS

The first workshop I attended was based on the art of typography and type play using light boxes to trace different fonts. We used Palatino, Helevetica Neue and Gill Sans, three very common fonts in modern contemporary graphic design. The use of light boxes was very rewarding and made the process of tracing a lot easier, I found that attention to detail produced some very good results and I could clearly see the difference between fonts. I enjoyed experimenting with colour and playing with the literal meaning of words interpreting them into playful and clever typography. We were encouraged to use only the letters of the words and restricted from using forms of illustrations to describe our intentions. At first I thought this was limiting my potential and reducing the number of possible outcomes however I later realised that using solely the letters to show your intentions is a skillful process and therefore more rewarding. I believe it requires more creativity and imagination. 

Some initial ideas and experiments with the type and placing of letters, some with colour
and some without. I found physically manipulating the type and text creatively
stimulating as it required a knowledge of words and their meaning as well as artistic ingenuity.

Some more type plays focusing on similar forms experimentation with the physical meanings of words.

Following this we moved on to creating p[otential CD or DVD covers for an album or a film for example. We could only use 12cm x 12cm squares to create our pieces realistic to actual life size CD covers. I tried using some of the previous playful type I created in the first task to use as an album cover in this task, specifically with the word 'missing'. I then tried using colourful numbers from different fonts and eventually moved on to experimenting with my own name. I created around 4 or 5 CD cover trials before picking my favourite design to use as a final piece.  

Playing around with the word 'missing' and then using numbers from different fonts creatively.

Some more trials using my name in different ways to create an album cover.

my final design concept, The original CD cover is on the right however I decided
to do another version with the text in blue but with the same design.

 I then tried them in an actual CD case, below, to see what they looked like

I used the original for the outside cover and the alternate version for the inside cover.

Images - Author's Own 15/11/13

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - PROJECT 3: WHAT CAN YOU SAY, MANIFESTOS

This week's project was based on personal manifestos that are used in a political or artistic way to describe ourselves and our intentions. Previously, I had no knowledge of what a manifesto was however I now have a much better knowledge of how manifestos are used in the world. They can be expressed visually in posters or short films using text and imagery, in addition they can also be expressed through powerful audio recordings. 

We had to create our own manifesto that highlighted anything from our experiences, our future, our past or what we believe in. I found this to be initially a very broad and vague starting point and I struggled for ideas early on so I began to jot down everything about me. I included my cultural background, my values and what I believe in which helped me start the development. languages and sense of place is something important to me so I have the intention of including some sort of photographic element in my manifesto and also some alternative languages that are significant to me in some way.

I collected some of my own photography captured by myself or my family and created a photo montage, I then scanned this onto illustrator and then played around with the filters, saturation, contrast level etc. My first designs incorporated a striking orange font, I thought this was really powerful and stood out from my background images very well. I stuck with this and used bold orange font on a gray scale backdrop of photos to make up my manifesto. I also included another language in the word 'positivite' which I chose because its obviously french for positivity therefore this meaning wouldn't get lost in translation whilst still having a personal french connection for me.

Overall, I am very pleased with my final outcome, considering I had no idea what a manifesto was and how to go about creating one. It was initially a painstaking process due to the many directions in which I could take, I had a few conflicting concepts which made progress slow, however I quickly found a direction. I am also satisfied that the manifesto connects to myself and has a meaning for me as well as others, I feel the manifesto is a reflection of myself but it is subtle in a sense that others cannot instantly see what is revealed.

Some initial brainstorming of ideas and pathways to go down

Another brainstorm of my ideals, beliefs and queries on the world and
myself.

I also explored my future aspirations, targets and goals.

Some development of a final idea, here is where I used colour to see what could work and what stands out

Development of a final idea, experimenting with font sizes and weights, bold or regular etc.

Playing around with the appearance of the photo montage background.

Final completed manifesto, inspired by all of the previous sketches
and ideas above

A close up of the text and some of the background photography

Images - Author's Own 08/11/13

GRAPHICS PATHWAY - PROJECT 2: FINAL FILM & POSTER

Finished film - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA9-GMjD1Kc&feature=youtu.be

On the last day of the project we began to finish filming the different scenes and complete the editing process in time for the viewing in the afternoon. We used iMovie to edit and produce the film which was quite a straight forward process. We followed a monotone theme throughout the film and also made it silent with no sound or background music purely because all the other groups used sound so we wanted to try something different. This I thought worked well in the end. We experimented with captions and the text as this was requirement of the film, often the chosen fonts were a reflection of the character used in that particular scene.

Below is an image of my final completed A3 poster in support of the short film. I wanted to experiment with black and white mainly because it is quite an obvious contrast, however I included some juxtaposition of font and text also. Obviously on the left side the black text is on white background however everything on the left side is in upper case and in bold. Whereas everything on the right is the opposite. white text on a black background in lower case and standard weight.

Overall, I thought this week was quite a challenge, I enjoyed making the poster but personally I find film making very difficult and time consuming, especially in medium sized groups. Often I found there were too many ideas put forward which caused some confusion and indecision. I was pleased with our final outcome though and it represented our vision well however there were a lot of aspects that couldn't be included due to a lack of time, expertise in this particular field and equipment. 

My final completed A3 poster on the word 'Juxtaposition'

Images and film - Author's Own 01/11/12