A T-shirt for Charlie..

This is the result of a mini project I started over Easter. I basically missed my friends birthday, and I'm really bad at buying good things for people, so I thought something hand made and designed with our friendship in mind would be appreciated more than some shite I picked up in Argos.

The T-shirt itself was a huge disappointment, and I managed to make some huge mistakes, which is usually the case when I decide I want to screen print something.
I didn't mask the edges off, so the ink bled through the sides of the screen, and I over did the ink towards the top of the design so it bled out and looks messy. As my patience wore thin I began making stupid mistakes, like spilling ink on the shirt, on the table, and on myself. I hope to rectify the mess I made of the T-shirt with a few hand done elements, I might stitch it, but I'll definately add some more drip paint effects by hand afterwards... should make the mistakes look more purposeful, hah. Anyway I'll get on with the pictures.

Oh, I also took this opportunity to experiment with image presentation and layout, in preparation for the end of the PPD module. Yeah.

This one's my favourite ^

Drop shadow has its uses then...

bad. very bad.




Original Design

Inspired by the phrase: absence makes the heart grow fonder.
(awww.)

Manifesto - What do I want to be as a designer?

As part of the same PPD session last Thursday we were asked to produce a manifesto relating to the new brief, updates and details of which can be found on my Design Practice blog.

Who did I used to be?
Since I was very young I loved painting and drawing, I've always been drawn towards things that look interesting, or things that are cleverly put together.
As I got older I got into character design, and looked up to things like the Final Fantasy series and Zelda for inspiration (you wouldn't believe how much illustration is involved in making games like those).
Throughout college, I never felt like I had any kind of direction as far as actual design was concerned. I just liked making things look good. By the end of my further education I thought I had a real direction, I loved to work with traditional media, and then rework what I'd made in Photoshop. I designed mainly posters and illustrations for my own enjoyment, It was how I relaxed. After the first few months on this course my idea of what design should be was totally destroyed, and as I slowly began to piece it all back together, I lost interest in my old style of working.

Who am I now?
Well I never did piece back together my idea of what design should be. I doubt I ever will now either, I've found things change far to quickly to ever have that set in concrete. I feel that the past year has been a huge learning curve, I have come such a long way since September. I'm becoming more confident in my own work, and I'm slowly beginning to discover what I'm good at, and I'm getting an idea of where I want to be in the future. Right now I'd say I was an illustrator first and foremost. Secondly I am a handcrafter, and I prefer to create one off, unique pieces than designs for mass production, though I would say I am reasonably competent when it comes to flyer/poster design.

Where to now? - 3 things I want to be doing in the future.

1. I want to hone my illustrations, develop a style, but not be constricted by that style (eg Si Scotts designs are amazing but that style has already become alot less poplular than it was, and where does that leave him if he can't draw in any other style?)
2. I want to become a bookmaking wizard.
3. I want to be able to make my own website, this is something I have never touched on before, so hopefully over the next 2 years I'll be able to get a grasp of it, enough at least to put up my own site. Fingers crossed.

As a final point, I'd still like to keep a level of sustainability within my design choices. I am still deciding how I feel on this matter of being green, though I think regardless of this, it's important not to be wasteful, so reusing and recycling will always be a consideration for me, in all areas of life. It's hard to write a manifesto when my ideas of what I want to be in the future keep on changing! I hope one day I'll at least have a set of ground rules to design by...

Critical Analysis Sesh.

Last Thursday's crit session with Amber was actually really useful. We each brought along 5 pieces of contemporary design that had some link to the current brief (see 'design practice 1' blog) and we basically talked about and critically analysed what each of us had to present. We then went on to discuss what we had in mind for the current brief, where we thought it was going, and what relevance that had to the chosen imagery.

I found this method of critique extremely useful, and I came away with a much better idea of where the latest project was heading. Crits like this in the future would not only help me to focus my ideas quicker than before, but also being exposed to everyone else's images gave me a broader knowledge of what was happening within contemporary design. Something I often neglect to keep up with, especially with deadlines looming and so many other things to think about. So this could be a really good way of getting us all to look at more of what was going on in the design world right now!

Anyway I'll show you what I brought to the session, and I'll tell you why.

KERRY ROPER:

These three I presume are supposed to work as a set, though I found them all separately.
If you haven't visited Debutart.com yet I suggest you give it a go, it's a great place to get a good look at the up and coming illustrators. This is where I found Kelly Roper anyway, though I've definitely came across her work before.

These three images I picked out purely for their aesthetic value. The collage and especially the handmade typeface, I just love how well all the elements fit together, and how well thought out they are, though on the surface it just looks like a mish-mash of type and image. They've got an American Diner feel to them too, which fits great with the anti fast-food message I'm getting from them.

Another two from Kerry Roper..
Above:
I chose purely for the quality of the illustration. I think it's fairly similar to my personal style, and is a good source of inspiration when considering how to add colour and shade an image.

Below:
Again by Kerry Roper, how broad are this woman's skills!? I was intrigued by the simple 'etch-a-sketch' style of illustration shes used here, it's so simple. I chose this to highlight the fact that less is more, as I know I have a habit of over complicating my work... Something I'm always working to correct.
CHUBBS:





I chose these two again for their aesthetic appeal, but specifically the combination of vector illustration and photography. Two completely opposite styles working together so beautifully is a rare sight, this guy has definitely pulled it off. I want to try and be more experimental in my own work with regard to this new brief. It's the last real chance I'll have to play around on this course and mess up without too much backlash, so I want to make the most of it!



Last but not least a piece by
THOMASMATTHEWS:

I have included this purely to signify that I am going to try my best to make this new project with my elective in mind. Though I'm reletively sure I failed my elective miserably, that doesnt mean that what I learnt didn't have a big impact on me, and as a personal experiment I'm going to try and see just how easy/hard it is to be a sustainable designer. However, I may well regret this decision massively in the very near future, hah.

End transmission.