OUGD402 - Leeds Arts Gallery - Anne Hardy

OUGD402 - Leeds Arts Gallery - Anne Hardy

Anne Hardy’s immersive installation ‘Falling and Walking’ at the Leeds Art Gallery employs sculpture, light, objects and audio to create an almost multi sensory experience as you walk around the decorated room. Among the many objects lying about the room, there are cast steel branches, nitrous oxide canisters and tin cans. The ambiguous and abstract audio score compiles sounds of metal objects making contact, tin cans rolling on the floor and heavy objects being dropped among other things. Ultimately the installation is an incredibly interesting experience, walking around it feels like different senses are contradicting themselves and it basically feels like being in a Salvador Dali painting. 

27 Club Submission

Pete de Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen died on 14th June 1989. This composition focuses on the song - ‘The Killing Moon’. The number 27 is not only the age De Freitas died but also the number of days in a moon’s cycle, which is represented within the composition in a circular pattern; the sporadic orange circles correspond to the position of the moon on the day he died. This piece utilises both physical and digital processes; the relationship between the two is a visualisation of the band’s genre - Post Punk - encompassing the DIY punk aesthetic and more contemporary design.

The orange and blue colour palette serves as a visualisation of night and day while the white handwritten type shines through on top of the gloomy moonscape background.

OUGD402 - End of Module Self Evaluation

OUGD402 - End of Module Self Evaluation 

I think my performance in this PPP module has been successful all in all. My best work has probably occurred in Studio Brief 3 where I believe my response to the self branding project not only demonstrated developed skills in design but in researching and presenting. Another valuable skill I’ve learnt in PPP has been about how to work successfully in a group project which occurred during studio brief 2. My understanding of how to delegate tasks depending on different peoples skill sets and how to produce effective ideas in a group have both developed further and I feel like I really contributed to the leadership of the group. This module has also been very helpful in getting a larger grasp on the design industry; from researching this in studio brief 3 to interviewing designers in studio brief 2, I feel like my knowledge of different areas of design and where I want to be has benefited because of it. 

If I had to do the module all over, or if I had time to develop it, there are a few things I think I could improve. Firstly I would have liked to have produced more blog posts for studio brief 1; I think because there were no physical deliverables, I ended up focusing on other tasks more and forgot about it a bit, however I think it would have really benefited my own knowledge of Graphic Design, as well as my knowledge of Graphic Design as a profession to have analysed and reflected on creatively and culturally relevant references. Secondly, although I think studio brief 2 had many successes, there are a few things I think could have worked better or could be developed. The concept of the film festival was very effective and was really well grounded in research about Tash Wilcocks - the designer we interviewed and on Ray Johnson - the subject of the documentary she recommended to us. However I think where the project lacked was the subsequent design work and visualisation of these ideas. Upon viewing other groups presentations and ideas, I couldn’t help but feel we could have produced a more contemporary and effective visual identity for the festival. 

OUGD402 - Félicité Landrivon - It’s Nice That Article

OUGD402 - Félicité Landrivon - It’s Nice That Article

Lyon-based graphic designer Félicité Landrivon produces music posters for bands and events by photocopying layers of imagery and text. Her style is characterised by having “an air of mischief and fun” and is packed with a lot of vintage imagery and type giving her a 60’s/70’s style. Landrivon toys with standard layouts and approaches to legibility by applying multiple layers almost chaotically in some posters, however some posters appear conventionally laid out and demonstrate great skill in producing a visual hierarchy. One thing that is never absent from her work is masterful command over imagery, type and colour which all contribute to a very effective style. 

I personally really like this design work because its stylish, concise and displays a perfect relationship between unusual stylised type and cut out retro images from magazines. 

OUGD402 - Creative Review - The Music Issue

OUGD402 - Creative Review - The Music Issue

The January 2017 issue of Creative Review - ‘The Music Issue” - has an article ranking the best record sleeves of 2016. The multitude of sleeve designs from a range of different artists and genres provided a lot really interesting insights into how design can convey music.

Pet Shop Boys - Super

This design is simplicity and minimalism at its absolute finest, simply utilising a fluorescent circle and the word Super. According to Rachel Steven, the writer of the article, the circle is supposed to demonstrate how upbeat and full of energy the record is. A noteworthy point is the decision to release numerous variants of the cover, simply changing the colours of the circle and type depending on what format or platform the album is bought on. This is very interesting because it generates interest in seeing and/or collecting all the variants and probably increases sales on platforms such as vinyl or cd which lose out to digital streaming the days. Its comparable to producing variant covers for a magazine to try and produce more interest in buying the physical publication. 

Bon Iver - 22, A Million

Created by designer Eric Timothy Carlson with a lot of input from musician Justin Vernon, this cover displays a range of meticulously researched and hand crafted symbols that represent each song on the record. This method of visually interpreting music promotes listeners to try and decrypt hidden meanings of songs and listen more intently. They were also a good promotional tool, being shared across social media platforms as well as being made in to large scale murals in cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam and Melbourne.

David Bowie - Blackstar

According to the designer of this cover Jonathan Barnbrook , this design stands out for its simplicity however under the surface, it is anything but simple. This sleeve for Bowie’s final record demonstrates a simple matte black surface with eloquent yet minimal design elements such as utilising stars to create the letterforms for ‘Bowie’ or a large star cut out revealing the record underneath, however upon further inspection, fans started to notice ‘hidden surprises’ when applying processes to the record sleeve such as exposing it to UV light or sun light. As a method of generating interest in buying the actual vinyl record instead of streaming the album, this is very clever because it makes it this coveted mysterious object by taking advantage of it being a physical thing which these processes can be applied to. 

OUGD402 - Self Branding Presentation - Evaluation

OUGD402 - Self Branding Presentation - Evaluation

Overall this self branding presentation was successful. The most effective elements were that: firstly the presentation itself was visually interesting to look at because it focused on large images and didn’t have any long bodies of text for the audience to read. It was also bold, colourful and utilised typography effectively. Secondly the delivery of the presentation was fairly confident and concise with all the relevant information having been remembered before hand. Finally it had a quite a personal touch, with the addition of a timeline of photos from over the years playing in my band which linked to why the self branding identity revolved around music.

Having received feedback after the presentation, the main improvement that could have been made would have been to go into more detail and logically explain some of the ideas more, for example why the name ‘Lanky Wolf’ was picked and what relevance it had or why some of the aspirational magazines or studios to work at were chosen. 

OUGD405 - End of Module Self Evaluation

OUGD405 - End of Module Self Evaluation

On the whole, I think my performance has been good during this module, I feel like the quality of my work has improved and my enthusiasm for the course has grown even more. This is mostly down to the studio briefs in this module being the most enjoyable for me personally however I think it's also because my skills have improved and I have enjoyed pushing the limits of what I can do even more. On the whole I have found the content of the module very relevant; short day long workshops have been valuable in gaging the direction to take my work, even though I do sometimes struggle to produce successful work in only a day. Resources such as research links on E-studio have been incredibly useful in furthering the conception and development of initial ideas when inspiration is needed. 

I believe my skills have noticeably improved since the start of the module. My attention to grid systems and layouts has become more dexterous while my ability to choose and edit suitable typography has become more developed. The design process is almost second nature to me now; researching and critically analysing relevant designers and contextually appropriate research points, developing a multitude of ideas using a range of approaches and refining those ideas to a final design. One thing which I feel I have improved on greatly is my attention to production and to the consideration of paper stocks and techniques such as bookbinding to make finished products look more professional overall. I’d also say my skills with adobe software have improved a lot more as well, especially InDesign which has been particularly relevant to studio brief 2. My improved skills on things like InDesign and Bookbinding have been down to inductions and tutorials which have proved very useful. 

Ultimately I think I’ve worked very hard during this module, which I hope would be reflected in my attendance and enthusiasm during studio time. There’s always room for improvement and upon reviewing my self evaluation from OUGD403, in which I indicated blogging and using a greater range of materials and processes as the points I’d like to improve, I think I have done this. In general, my goals for the next module would be to be more ambitious in every respect; improve my range and quantity off research and really immerse myself in graphic design, not just relevant to the project but in general. I want be more daring in regards to the approach to my work; do things on a bigger scale with materials and processes I'm less familiar with such as screen-printing. One of my biggest weaknesses can be that I always get caught up in thinking of a great idea and ultimately leave less time to carry out that idea to the quality it should be. Therefore I intend to focus more on image making and developing simpler ideas with greater effect. 

OUGD403 - Self Evaluation

OUGD403 - Self Evaluation

Overall, I'm happy with how the first module has progressed and how I have developed. The content has been very relevant to the module, which has allowed me to increase my knowledge on typography, its anatomy and how to appropriately manipulate and apply it. My skills with digital software such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop have been refined and improved to match the demands of the projects, thanks to them being readily accessible for use and through inductions. As a result of the structure of each project, my process of design development has become more streamlined and efficient and regular research has enhanced my contextual awareness of graphic design.

It's hard to say whether I have fulfilled my full learning potential in this module, in any creative process there is never a definitive end point and work can always be improved and refined. I think as the module has progressed, my work ethic and time management have improved so in my opinion, my work at the start of the project did not reflect my full potential as I was still adjusting to the course and managing my time, however my work towards the end of the course, especially studio brief 3, is a reflection of what I can do when I apply myself more.

If I had to identify areas for improvement to consider when undergoing the next project, they would be:

Blogging - In total I've written a fair amount of blog posts this project which I think cover the vast majority of what I've done. However I think if I get into more of a routine of daily blogging, I can not only suitably document my project development, but also demonstrate a larger contextual and cultural awareness with more blog posts about research and general examples of anything creative or design based that I encounter.

Processes and Materials -  While I think the level and depth of the visual development I carry out for each project has improved, In my next project I think I need to employ a larger range of materials and processes during the initial ideas and design development phases of my project, in order to fully explore every option and direction I could take.