Book Fair~

For the 13th annual book fair at Leeds university. I actually really enjoyed doing this, despite having to cut the characters by half. There's an equal number down of the 2 major competitive publishers (marvel and DC) as well as some small company's. (and I cheated a little bit, one of them is my own but he was drawn as a last resort and came in handy at 1 in the morning when I only had 19 instead of 20.)

I've had allot of interest in these, one of them is being shipped to the states next week. Hopefully they'll sell well at the fair.

(I don't have a picture of the tags however...)




Update: 5 out of 10 have been sold. One to Texas, USA.

OUGD 202 Evaluation

I chose to work with Robot movies for the 5 x 10 second idents because it's a genre I've been into since I was little, even before comic books. I found the technology and their almost logical way of thinking fascinating, as well as their overall designs.

I started by looking into the history of robot's; who came up with the term 'robot' and where it originated from. I also looked into how robot's have been portrayed over the years, depending which era/audience they where being created for. The movies that I started to look at where; The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, Bladerunner, Robocop, Futurama: Benders big Score and finally Wall-E. (Not all of the films where directly robot films, but had semi-main characters that were.)

I started by looking at the designs of the characters. One side of the robots were sleek and simple looking (Marvin) Yet others where bulky (Bender, Wall-E). I started focusing on the components that actually make up a robot like gears, cogs, circuit boards and (usually) electricity. I decided on very clean looking idents with only the hint of brushed metal in the illustrations. This was to show the different sides of robots. I also wanted different idents that still worked as a set. For example, two would have used the circuit board motif and two would use gears, cogs ect. The last one would have combined the both.

This project allowed us to look into new software such as After Effects and DVD studio pro. I really struggled with Afters effects and simply couldn't get my head wrapped around the program. I think if I was allowed to explore the program with out knowing I had to make animations for the overall module then I would have been happier looking into it. However, once I was talked through the program I knew I what I wanted to do was not as hard as I had first envisioned.

As I felt that my idents where lacking in technical competence, I wanted to focus my design skills on the DVD. I don't think I did it much justice though and looking back at the DVD, I wish I had spent more time on it and developed more designs for it instead of making just one and sticking with it. Due to not knowing that DVD studio Pro would cause slight pixelation, I started making DVD menu's that couldn't actually be read on screen. If I had explored the program a little earlier then I would have made amendments.

Overall, I’m ok with how the DVD turned out; I didn’t think it was too bad for a first attempt. I should have left myself more time to properly work on the packaging of my DVD. The design works because it's kept in context with the idnents but I don't feel the overall look really worked. I should have left time for exploration with tin boxes that I was thinking of looking into.

I feel that I have learned a lot during this module, however, I also know that it has helped me to realise that while I like motion Graphics and the deign for it, putting it together is not my forte. I'd rather be able to design the animation and hand it over to someone else.

What I would do differently next time:

1. If I know that I can't work very well with the program, then to focus more energy on the story boards.
2. Leave myself more time to work on the packaging.
3. Learn to be more selective with my work when it comes to the DVD content.
4. Be more critical about my work.
5. Not to worry so much about the overall look of my idents, it wasn't the major part of the grade.

Group Tutorial Preperation

What is a CV:

• A summary of your academic and work history.
• A document that contains a summary or/and a list of job experience and education.
• Personal history of education, professional history and job qualifications
• A short account of career and qualifications.
  
• A Personal marketing tool.
• A reflection of a potential employer.
  
• A chance to sell your self, your skills and your experience.
  

What should a CV contain:

• Your name
• Contact details
• A link to a portfolio
• Education and training
• Strengths/Skills
• Career profile
• Career and achievements

What is a portfolio:

• A portfolio is a showcase of the talent and creativity that you have to offer to who ever is looking at it.
• A set of pieces of creative work collected to be shown to potential customers or employers.
• Graphic design portfolios are graphical résumés. They show real examples of the type of work you have done in the past. It is an indication of the type of work you can do in the future.
• There are 3 main kinds of graphic design portfolios that students generally create. One that is printed, one that is online, and one that is on a DVD or CD.
• A well-prepared portfolio provides "evidence" to an employer of your accomplishments, skills, abilities and it documents the scope and quality of your experience and training.
• It is an organized collection of documentation that presents both your personal and professional achievements in a concrete way.
• Portfolios can range in from something as simple as an online version of your resume to a web site full of materials.
• An online portfolio provides a way to reveal your credentials to the world. It allows you to package the best evidence of your candidacy for employment.

What should a Portfolio contain:

• Consistency
• Two of the strong examples first and last
• A variety of media (online portfolio)
• Quality not quantity
• Add a case study (brief description) under each project
• Keep your portfolio current
• customisable appeal (if you want to work for print, put in print examples) (printed portfolio)
• Contact details
• Your name

What Is A CV

First of all I decided to start looking around for some good CV examples. many of them are plain, boring and really wouldn't stand out in the pile. Then again, most of them are pretty badly designed.

However, this is a "golden oldy" if you will; A CV floating about by a young Graphic Designer from Pickering. I don't know him, it was just somthing we where shown in my ND class at the beginning of second year:
It's got all the right information. Name, Education, Experience and work examples. At first I initially liked it because this guy was a better designer than I was. Looking at his work now for his own BA (hons) course, well opinions change. However, it's still a really good example.

Another example that doesn't have to be digital; it COULD be printed for something to be handled.




Unfortunately, I don't think this designer had that idea. He preferred to show it digitised. Hmmm.


It's interesting, it would probably catch someone's eye's if it was perhaps a little brighter. It shows that they're versatile and that not everything has to be done on a computer.


And not exactly a CV, but teh cover for one. It made me smile none the less.

Problem Analysis - Rationale

OUGD205 - Image

Brief: To produce 4 images to accompany 3 separate articles from the guardian newspaper.

Who Needs To Know: Readers of the Guardian and people interested in the articles.

What Do They Need To Know: That the image accompanying the article responds to the information given by the journalist.

Why Do They Need To Know: Re-enforcing the article and establishing the reasoning behind the information given. To see if the article relates to them and to show the content to the audience.

What Will They Respond To: Correlation between the article and illustration.

What Research Is Required:

• Read each article.
• Investigate each articles subject matter:
• imagery
• related quotations
• Experimental drawings
  

OUGD 201 - Print Evaluation

1. your ability to select develop and evaluate a range of appropriate source
material gathered through a breadth of appropriate research methods

At the beginning of this module, I wasn’t sure what I thought was good. There where things I could list of the top of my head but there was no real way to prove it. This is why I chose Dyslexia,, because I was able to research more into it than I already have done and find specific reasons as to why it is good, and not a hindered like most people believe.

My research methods included browsing the internet, looking through books I already have on the subject and general knowledge. (As well as speaking to dyslexia support that we have in the college.)

I focused on proving that just because a person has dyslexia, does not mean they can not do everything else a person without can do. I also tried to show that having Dyslexia is a positive thing as we learn very differently from a person without it. This type of learning can help with later career moves like becoming an artist or something that involves hand’s on learning and general creativity.

I believe I could have done more surveys in the class and to the general public. After one survey, the answers I received on Dyslexia where as follows: It isn't good to have because you can't spell and it's frustrating, also you get a free mac. I wanted to prove that having a learning disability isn't frustrating all the time because people develop coping techniques to deal with it.

I also want to make this brief fun and that was where my concept idea came into it.

2. The level of investigation and experimentation into appropriate production,
media,processes and technologies.

Overall I think I am now that little more knowledgeable on the print process than I was before hand. There were many things about different types of printing that I didn't realise before hand. This had been covered in my print booklet and is a main part of it. I decided to concentrate on different types of printing rather than different paper types ect, (even thought that is also relevant)

I know that writing white text on yellow paper will not be readable once printed, but it is on screen. If I was to make the full print process booklet then this problem would be looked at and rectified as not to blind my reader.

3. the breadth and quality of practical skills, ideas and design development.

I think this was probably the strongest part of my work, and I believe I have improved from last year. The idea for the concept came straight away, as well as my audience. The problem I found was that i was struggling with products to make. My first initial idea was a little bottle of positive dyslexia traits, but it had not context. (it was essentially a design floating with no where to live.) So I came up with the Dyslexia Depot idea after researching into the 826NY writing program.

I believe I could have looked into producing different products as well as different themes for the store instead of sticking with the fifty's. I chose that era because it was the age of discovery and development and that was something I wanted to bring to the store.

Overall, I am very pleased with the how the logo for the store turned out as well as the mock up product I made for the presentation boards. Even though it's simple, it works with the era I was looking at (as well as using printing techniques from that era.)

4. the documentation, organisation and presentation of your work for this module.
As it was started on the brief, I think I should have done more blog work than I have. Over the last two weeks, it felt as if I never left college which meant I was able to do even more work on my briefs. (which was a good thing)I'm finding it harder to work at home and easier to work in a studio environment. At home, I'm more tempted to leave the work and work on things I don't really have time for (like my illustrating and writing.)

The presentation work at the beginning of the year, (though not judged on graphic design quality) could have been better produced. I'm a designer, which means I should just be putting information into a power point, but really thinking about how it covey's with the audience.

I'm starting to see what kind of style I have and how it is improving and not this needs to follow through into my work.

5. the success of your final products in relation to the briefs.
I finalised the 5 A2 boards about four times until I was really happy with them. I like their overall outcome and feel as they convey exactly what I wanted to say. There could have been a few more slides in the PDF to cover a few bit's here and there that I'm only just starting to remember. (Like WHY I went for the fifty's theme), which isn't covered in either the boards of the PDF.

For the presentation boards, I should have booked my self into the print rooms but I kept changing them on a daily basis. However, I think they turned out just as good and it doesn't bother me too much that they don't quite have the professional feel to theme.

Overall, I'm pleased with how my boards and the print booklet turned out, even though I could have planned for the booklet a bit more. Layout and typography are not my strong points but I think it was delivered quite well in that respect.

I am pleased with what I have produced in this module, and I hope to improve with the next module.

Industry Experience Research

What Is Industrial Experience?

Industrial experience is about learning from those who are all ready in the business, all ready achieving what we as young graphic designers want to do. (Young as in the sense that most of us haven’t been at this very long.) I think in a way it is also about looking up at your hero’s, those designers and studios who stick in your mind because it’s what you hope to achieve one day.

This is professional “Hero” of mine , Skottie Young, who currently works exclusively for Marvel Comics. In a way it’s a sort of Free Lance job in the respect that he doesn’t need to fly up to the Marvel Studios from where he lives to work with a team. Allot of the time he works exclusively on the comic (Example: Divided We Stand.) A small comic about one of my all time favourite characters, and his too. It’s not just illustration but knowing how to layout a story and align the type just write. It’s a small saga that will stay in my mind for a long time.



Finding out about how Young got to become such a renowned illustrator is all apart of the Industrial Experience. Making that first move is always hard (and nerve racking, he IS a hero and I don’t want to come off as Fanish or desperate.) So I have decided he will be one of the fifteen (ten?) “Hero’s” that I contact later on in the year. I haven’t sent one yet as I’m still not quite sure how to approach him in professional manner other than; Hello, I’m a student studying Graphic Design ect ect.

But that’s what the experience is about and I’m looking forward to sending out emails/ringing company’s and making that initial first contact.

It’s a chance to work with design firms and be a part of a team of designers. It’s about potential roles that may, in the future, make me part of a team and how I communicate and work with other designers.

Why is it an important part of PPD?

Without have that experience under out belts, how could we possible progress and survive in the "real world" of Graphic Design. It can be a tough market to break into and with out the experience how can we have a real chance of success without knowing what we are doing? This may lead to real world employment, which is important in terms of professional development. Work experience can help us with who we are as people and how we can apply that to design.

Being in the studio at college can only teach us so much, the real experience is out there in the world of design. They can teach you how to build up a great client list, how to communicate with them. It's about getting to know a good printer and building up a relationship so that your work is too the best standard that it can be.

In industry, you'll get a real feel for what a professional is looking for in a portfolio and to maximise the best design that suits their company or studio.

How do you gain professional/industrial experience and what form does it take?

Live briefs and competitions are a good way to break into Freelance work, gaining you that industrial experience. It’s outside the college studio and away from it counting towards your grade. There’s more of a sense of getting something out of it. (Not that a degree’s a bad thing but let me explain.)

Companies like Don’t Panic offer a live brief every month, with a one month deadline. It allows you to submit designs for their outer packaging as well as their posters. It’s more in line with the real world of deadlines in terms of deadlines as well as giving exposure and experience that we wouldn’t normally gain in the college studio. Threadless is also another design company (That specialises in T-shirts) that allows users to submit their own designs for vote and it pays well if you win. However, there's no structured deadline but it also gives the same kind of exposure and experience as Don't Panic.

Other experience may include our own freelance work, doing commissions for clients that your know personally or through friends. Though this doesn't always give us Industrial experience, we are working to specifications that the client has outlined. (Though family tend to think because you're related you'll do it for free...yeah and their unconditional love will fill my fridge and keep my pet rat entertained and well.)

If you ask designers who are well established in the industry questions then their information and experience can be insightful into the world of professional design. If you work it well and tastefully drop hints there could be a work placement in it for you. On the other hand, you could always ask about visiting the studio, talking to them directly and seeing what they themselves have to offer.

What should you aim to gain from professional/industrial experience?

We should be able to gain a feel for the real world of design, too see how differently paced it is from the inside of the college studio. I want to know what practices suit me best and what kind of work environment is going to work for me and those around me.

This experience may even provide me with contacts within the industry, and give me useful insight in what my portfolio should look like. I hope to get enough placements, at least 2 - 3, just too see how each one works and how this might help me in the future.