OUGD502 - Visiting Professional - Harrison Park

Graduate Harrison Park came to present his experiences from graduation to working in professional design studios. His honest and personal insight into the creative industries didn't make the experience seem glamarous due to long hours, unstimulating briefs and difficult clients. However these are experiences that can build a graduates character so that they have a stronger understanding of their own graphic design practice and its industry.

His presentation style was clear, concise and engaging due to the limited typography and visual content.  Cultural and political images were used to highlight and illustrate certain principles and lessons he identified. Showing his personality through cult figures and humour engages the audience in a friendly manner.

Key points:

• Building relationships with other creatives and design studios will help to increase the chance of employment and also use each others skills and techniques to benefit each others practice. Using the colleges array of creative talent and fascilities will open up new opportunities in the future. 
• Nothing handed to you on a plate - Work hard for it
• Be passionate
• Sell yourself
• Be flexible - Harrison works for two design studios 
• Show personality
• Don't be a dick
• Ask questions
• Rejection happens 
• Don't be afraid to ask
• Stay true to yourself
• Communication
• Studio BDB
• Lots of shit briefs to pay the bills
• Copywriter - Someone to articulate and sell concepts - This gives me confidence as my articulation of projects and concepts is weak.
• Charge a reasonable rate - Particularly at the start of profession don't charge a lot for work as it will open more opportunity for creativity so the client has less control. 

Emailing professionals

Dont say 'I found your website'
Do something different - Animated Gifs
Post letters
Mention their recent projects
Say thanks if they reply even for a rejection

Found Harrison's advice useful because I have struggled to engage professionals in my emails. Mentioning projects that I have identified interest in and specifically asking about them will engage the designer and using different techniques such as animated Gifs or posting letters to creative professionals will charm the client and ultimately they'll be more likely to reply.

Reflection of Harrison's point of view of the creative industry and my experience at Extra Strong. Harrison identified that a lot of the briefs are small and uninspiring but these need to be completed in order to pay the bills. I was exposed to this at Extra Strong because clients such as Classic Carpets required a price match sign, whilst an event company wanted complete branding and editorial content. These small uninteresting briefs can be creatively draining, however Harrison believes that a passion for design is important to overcome demotivational briefs.

Harrison's honest view of the creative industry was slightly negative because he didn't enjoy a lot of previous work experience. However it is to be expected for a graduate of two years. I feel lucky to have found Extra Strong because the studio was friendly and open, allowing free communication between the designers and project manager. Harrison has worked for a range of studios, all of which has positive and negative attributes, I aim to research and experience a range of studio environments in order to define what environment and working style I prefer.

OUGD502 - Dafi Kuhne

Kuhne is a graphic designer / letterpress printmaker from Zürich + Glarus, Switzerland. Since 2009 he has been working full-time in his studio, Babyinktwice, designing and printing posters, invitation cards, brochures and magazines for music, art, architecture, theatre and film projects.

His website is very minimal and concise which is also reflected by his tone of voice, providing the user an immediate source of information. Referring to himself in first person makes the bio more personal which is friendlier to read. This minimal and clean layout is reflective of his practice.

A poster Kuhne has created for his publication; 'True Print':

'I tried to visualise my personal work policy as a piece of unreadable but yet understandable information graphic.'

The typeset copy of Kuhne's personal views and advice for creatives in the design industry is encouraging because he focuses on making the ethics for designers fair. Something that has made an impact on my practice is, 'Bad design concepts don't get better if printed with complicated and expensive techniques. Technique in and of itself is not a design concept.' because I tend to rely on traditional techniques and processes in order to add a natural depth/texture to bad compositions in the hope that it will make it look more professional. 'Dependable day jobs don't provide freedom - It's a trap!' - Motivates me to stay in the creative industry in order to establish myself in a profession that I am passionate and excited about, rather than an easy job that becomes tedious.

Kuhne's ability to manipulate print processes and achieve unique finishes without using digital media is what makes him such an important designer in the digital age. 

Kuhne's complete dedication to analogue processes provides him with the skills to create contemporary posters and a variety of finishes. For every poster, Kuhn provides a video documenting the processes and techniques used to create the bespoke posters. Being able to see the expert printing presses and tools used has really inspired me because it is refreshing to see a designer creating contemporary compositions using analog techniques.

http://www.babyinktwice.ch/projects-images/

The videos immerse the audience in Kuhne's creative practice by recording the sound of the equipment he uses making the processes therapeutic and satisfying to watch. The videos also made me more aware of the machinery that is used to create bespoke typefaces.


Potential Questions

Main inspiration?
What inspired him to use traditional printing processes in the digital age?
What problems did he discover?
Are your projects self initiated? Where do you find your clients, or where did they find you?
Objective or subjective approach? 

OUGD502 - NEST Magazine Launch

Attending the latest NEST magazine launch at Village Bookstore exposed me to socialise with other creatives, pick up a copy and enjoy a beer. I managed to speak to Josiah, the producer of NEST magazine, where he provided details into the production and composition of the publication.

• Due to the limited amount of submissions, Josiah apopted a minimal layout with a lot of white space.
• Contact with printers - Josiah uses Pressision Print which is an external printing company that I am familiar with after my visit in first year. He explained that emails, phone calls and visiting the printers was the best way to communicate and achieve the desired results. 
• I questioned how the ambiguous cover was produced - Simply photographing folded paper with studio lighting and then layering them on Photoshop.
• Logo - Mocked up the disjointed logo in 5 minutes but it is still used now. Shows how creative instinct and expression can still create a successful and timeless outcome.

Overall this experience has given me confidence to approach creatives because they enjoy talking about there work. Josiah was a really friendly and bursting with creative and professional experience. 

OUGD502 - Extra Strong Work Experience

Over the summer break, I organised myself 2 days work experience with Bristol based digital creative agency Extra Strong. It was an aim of mine in preparation for second year as I wanted to have more understanding of working in the industry.

I emailed Ben Hamilton, founder of Extra Strong, showing him interest in their company and I arranged to meet him in their studio for a chat. I took some work from first year with me so that he could physically see what I had created, instead of just on a screen. Showing Ben my work was intimidating because I was aware that the outcomes weren't to an industry standard. However, I explained each project outcome and my concept and the feedback was positive.

I met other members of the studio which also had a screen printers downstairs, introducing myself and being enthusiastic about the work and environment. Ben studied Graphic Design at Bath Spa University which meant he had an understanding of where I am in my studies so far.

Studio:

After approaching Ben and speaking to him, he offered me two days work experience with him. During those two days I got to experience set briefs in the industry. I also got to work with a junior designer on some small briefs.

Classic Carpets

Classic Carpets are a Bristol based carpet company who asked ExtraStrong to create a 'price match' sign. I was given 2 hours to produce some concepts/sketches where me, the junior designer and Russell (Co Founder) would have a crit/discussion about the concepts we created so that we could produce some final concepts. The briefing was short and concise so I made sure I noted down everything the client wanted, as well as looking at their website to get a feel for their tone of voice.

I sketched about possible ideas using the theme of carpets and then took them into InDesign:

Used influence from my experience at B&Q for the typeface because it's bold and easily legible - Univers Condensed

Thought about the context of a carpet store and based the designs on the layering/roles of carpet found in the store:

All three of these designs, along with the junior designer's, were put into a presentation to send to the client.

Ben also talked me through a project that the junior designer had created for a business event that required customised coasters, including gloss foiling. The coasters were being sent to the printers using lithoprinting which meant each colour had to be picked from Pantone colours. He demonstrated industry standard preparation for printing, separating the colours into layers.



During the time I spent at the studio I was able to see what a brief from a client looked like. Due to contracts I cant specify the brief, however I was surprised by how other design studios were fighting for the same job. This shows how competitive the industry is. To overcome this, Ben sends the studio propositions of interest with their portfolio of which I sketched out some possible solutions. These solutions were then photographed, edit and then placed in the presentation.

OUGD502 - CRACK Magazine

CRACK is a free magazine designed and published in Bristol. Managing director, Jake Applebee graduated from a graphics course and set out to produce something he could physically hold, instead of an online resource. 7 years on, print is still their passion. CRACK hosts an independent platform for contemporary culture such as music, art, film, theatre and fashion, making it widely accessible for a range of ages, predominantly young adults. It’s available in the foyers of public spaces such as pubs, cafes, restaurants and shops and also in those of cultural venues such as galleries, libraries and cinemas.

The magazine is in the form of a newspaper, making it cheaper to produce. The wide pages and neutral tones from the newspaper add to the aesthetics typically found in all newspapers, however the content is contemporary which is why I find the magazine's content and graphic production really inspiring. The content is targeted to a young, independent audience which comes through in the contemporary graphics. The subjects that the publication covers are relevant and inform the audience about events that they would miss without the magazine covering it. 

I always try and get each issue when I'm in Bristol because of it's relevant content to me. This is an organisation that I can aspire to work for because I like their contemporary approach to graphic design and the content is of my interest. 

Newspaper layout is exciting when the content and composition is contemporary and unique because people are used to serious and formal newspaper layouts and content. The thin, off white stock adds to the unique characteristics of a newspaper and also saturates the images. 

Email them:
Potential questions:

• Getting started after uni
• Defying your interests
• Collaboration

OUGD502 - PPP2

During this PPP module, I aim to identify which area of graphic design that I want to focus on as I progress through my degree. To achieve this I will document my progress and development as a creative through my blog and continue to engage with the creative world. Graphic design is an ever changing industry so I aim to identify areas of my practice that I enjoy. Reflecting on my experiences during the first year, I have identified areas of my practice that I struggled with so that I can begin to dissect which areas of graphic design that I need to work on during this year and also areas of design that I want to take further.

My outcome for last years PPP module was a set of 5 bespoke notebooks with my details letterpressed inside. This was to reflect my passion for bookbinding and hands on style of work that I can send to design studios as a unique business card. Reflecting on this, the production methods that I used were all analogue and to a good standard however I still need to identify relevant studios to send my publication to.

I need to take myself out of my comfort zone in order to improve, making mistakes is part of the research/learning process, these are areas that I need to work on this year:

Communication

Last year I didn't feel comfortable with my communication skills, for example presenting my work at the front of the class, this is a skill I'll need to develop if I want to pitch concepts to clients. A confident and relaxed pitch will make the audience feel more comfortable and ultimately listen to what I have to say. To overcome this I aim to prepare and practice my presentation so that I'm more confident in what I'm saying. Attending events such as the LAW and NEST magazine launch introduced me to professional creatives, however I didn't have the confidence to approach them because I didn't know what would be appropriate to say. Good communication skills are important for becoming a confident designer as networking with other creatives is important for exposure and briefs.

Digital 

I aim to improve my understanding of the Adobe creative software because it is industry standard software. To achieve this I will attend all the digital workshops and take advantage of the IT technicians because I won't get this opportunity again.

Objective

I need to make more objective decisions so that my outcome is appropriate for its target audience and commercial use. I have made design decisions in the past that don't relate to my concept so the outcome wasn't cohesive. My concepts are often subjective so I need to consider form follows function in order to make them more objective.

Research

Broad and thorough research helps to decide on a well considered concept, however I am often still researching late in the project which isn't relevant to my concept. Diverse research is important, however it must be relevant otherwise the influences can confuse the concept.

Overcomplicating 

I have a tendency to overcomplicate and overwork concepts until they are no longer recognisable. I think this links to my research technique as I take in too many influences. To overcome this, I will need to be more decisive so that I don't waste time and destroy a good concept.

Areas of design that I have enjoyed and would consider taking into level 6:

Editorial Design

Creating and exploring the form and function of a publication has always intrigued me and I have enjoyed learning the techniques and processes used to produce them. Using bespoke and unique adaptations to publications is exciting, however there are a lot of considerations to think about. Editorial designers such as Brighton based Stanley James Press:

'We hand bind a lot of books produced in shorter runs. Binding books in this way allows us to create more unusual and complicated structures, including pop ups and paper mechanics. We've also produced other paper products such as swing tags and limited edition record sleeves.' - I like how Stanley James Press are adapting and manipulating design for print to produce unique products.

Print - Digital/Traditional

This is an area of practice that I am interested in because I enjoy organising image and text as well as the production methods of the book. Design for print offers more finishes such as foiling and embossing, adding to aesthetics. As a designer, I would much rather have an outcome that I could physically hold, touch and smell, rather than see it behind a screen. In this modern age, design for screen is important because that's how a lot of designers get exposure so it's important all print media is photographed to a high, professional standard. I enjoy using traditional printing methods such as letterpress, monoprint, lino and screen printing because it makes print media bespoke and also provides opportunity to create texture and tactility. Processes such as screen print make reproducing prints very cheap.

Stop-Motion

A useful and simple method of moving image using a camera and paper - This would provide lots of opportunity for digital sources such as a blog or website. I have experience with the process, however I want to put it into a graphics context - There is potential to collaborate with an animator.

Art

My interest in art is why I am on this course. I came to Leeds from an art and design diploma which offered me a range of processes and techniques. I would like to collaborate with artists and designers to produce publications or posters, etc. The-Art-Form is a magazine that showcases work from artists, providing information on their practice and personal lives. This is something I aspire to do. 

PPP

Reflecting on where I was at the started the course to now, I feel more confident as I have identified artists, designers and studios that relate to my practice. PPP encouraged me to explore all areas of design and focus on what makes happy. This was refreshing as it made me put my own personal interests into my briefs. I can now follow blogs and studios such as Hey, People of Print, Heretic and It's Nice That for inspiration and to also stat up to date with creative news. People of Print and Jealous are really useful sites because they provide continuous inspiration.

Writing my COP essay has been really beneficial because I am writing about the role of print media in the digital age. This is a topic that I have a passion for. I have discovered publications such as Print Isn't Dead which I have used as a source in my essay and also to inspire my work. Without reflecting on my practice, I wouldn't have found these websites and publications that I use to inspire my work and shape me as a designer.

PPP made me think about my future as a designer and I am glad I made the most of this opportunity because I have more direction and aspirations. I would like to go back to Berlin and Copenhagen because I have identified studios such as Gloria Glitzer that I want to visit. It would be a really enjoyable and beneficial experience if I was to visit these international studios because I can see different studio environments.

My confidence has grown throughout the course because I have found designers and studios that use analogue processes. Their outcomes are not always completely refined which makes them tactile, engaging and personal. I found that modernist design was useful for learning design principles but I want to start pushing the boundaries to create contemporary outcomes. It's important that I do this when appropriate.

I noticed that a lot of designers rely on social events such as exhibition launches to network. I want to attend more of these events and be confident enough to approach designers that I appreciate and talk to them about there practice. In the long run this will build my confidence and open up more opportunities in the future.

My time management will need to improve because analogue techniques often take much longer than digital outcomes. This means I need to start planning at least a week ahead. I find blogging useful for planning because it makes me reflect on my progress and discover any problems that I may come across before they happen. As I progress into Level 5 I will need to be more proactive in order to produce a large body of work and gain a lot of experience using different techniques and processes. This will benefit me in the future as I will be confident going into a studio such as People of Print and We Make and using/interacting with other artists.

Research Methods

Using the library resources is a lot more reliable as the information is accurate and goes into a lot more depth. Using the internet is easy, however the content isn't trustworthy (unless it is an official site). I aim to use more research techniques like the library so that I can create deeper concepts which will benefit my work.

For the License To Print Money brief, I used library resources to find publications about the subject of money in a design context. I discovered Money - A History by Catherine Eagleton and Jonathan Williams. This publication was really beneficial to me because all the content is relevant and goes into a lot of depth. This has benefited my idea generation.

Self Branding 1.9

Self Branding Evaluation

Branding myself to effectively communicates me as a designer was a daunting prospect at the start of the brief because I hadn't established a style and direction in graphic design. However blogging for Studio Brief 01 really helped ground myself and encouraged me to think about what I enjoy and my main influences in art and design. During this process I have found numerous blogs, artists and designers that I have used to inspire my work during this year. Researching and discovering design studios that relate to me was encouraging because I could see people with the same perspective of design as me.

I chose to create a notebook for my self branding because I wanted to create something that I was proud of and reflected me as a designer. Researching into Aaron Draplin influenced this because it made me step away from creating a generic business card. This meant adapting techniques that i’d previously explored to create a book cover that reflects me as a designer yet still has a purpose as a 

sketch/notebook. I am aware that studios and designers get emails and phone calls everyday from people like me asking for an internship or placement and there work is probably at a better standard so I aimed to make my design unique.

I gained an interest and passion for publication design and contemporary graphics because it is a satisfying and rewarding process that has many variables that can be changed. Sagmeister and Walsh's cover for their publication was really inspiring because it’s an example of how a book can be adapted to be interactive. By simply cutting into the cover meant the page could be adapted, making it engaging and visually stimulating. I spotted that Gestalt Principles could be translated into graphic compositions, especially the basic geometric examples. Predominantly using educational internet sources was useful because it provided simple and basic explanations and examples, perfect for the task. Reflecting on the project, I should have made the publication bigger  so I could go into more detail and focused more on the typesetting. I aim to use more than just internet sources because the information can be unreliable. Sourcing books from the library on the subject would allow me to go into greater depth. 

People of Print was really beneficial because it provides me with a continuous source of print media inspiration. I found designers and studios that used analogue techniques instead of digital. This was refreshing and encouraging because I now have a  reliable source of inspiration. I have identified the studios and designers that I want to send my notebooks to in hope of getting a response. This would be a great achievement. 

Layering coloured stock was influenced by my design principles publication as I discovered I could create graphic art. Using vibrant primary colours meant I could use a colour palette influenced by Matisse, this was really useful when I was choosing what colours to overlap in combination with the negative space. Considering practicality as well as purpose helped me to refine my outcome, for example adding the 6cm to the cover meant I could tuck the coloured pages in which makes it easier to get to the white stock used for note taking and sketching. Discovering Yunma Design’s notebook made me think about the purpose of my self branding which forced me to push my ideas further than just a simple notebook. If I had more time I would have liked to have been more expressive with the pages inside the notebook by adding images, textures and grids as this will stimulate creativity for the user and is unique. 

I decided to create a series of symbols inside a box using a transferrable technique that weren’t consistent because I haven’t settled on a specific style or direction. These publications will be appropriate to send to a diverse range of design studios.

I would like to collaborate with other designers that use different media to me such as photography and illustration as that will open more opportunities and allow me to gain experience working with other creatives. 

Overall I am pleased with how my concept developed from a digital grid system into an analogue promotion notebook that I feel confident to send to studios and designers such as Gloria Glitzer Heretic and People of Print to show my appreciation of their practice to hopefully build a design relationship. PPP has made me focus and think about my future in graphic design which I am grateful for because I can now begin to make connections and relationships with other designers and studios which could lead to more opportunities in the future.

PPP Presentation 1.2

Creating the presentation helped me to justify my interest in art and design. I wanted it to be visual so that the audience has some context alongside what I am saying. The images will also act as visual cues:

Bath College:

-Large range of techniques and processes
-Allowed me to specialise
-Increased my skill set

Found myself naturally creating graphic outcomes:



Attack my briefs as a problem and give the outcome a purpose/use.

Exploring more techniques benefits my work:

PPP encouraged me to put my work online:

Inspiration:
-Print media
-Analogue
-Lots of updates and news about print

Colour and shape:

Shows I can be unique
Analogue techniques
Appropriate to send to design companies
Proud to send them

Unique:

Aims for next year:

Gloria Glitzer

"Art shows come and go, but books stay around for years. They are works themselves, not reproductions of works. Books are the best medium of works. Books are the best medium for many artists working today."

http://tumblr.we-make.it/

http://gloriaglitzer.tictail.com/products

Gloria Glitzer create publications to present art, graphics and illustration in a bespoke and personal way. They are often very short but are inspiring when printed on quality stock. They push the boundaries of what a publication can do.

Example of Stefanie Leinhos' contribution:

Visual content covers entire double page spreads. The zines often have no type at all, just contemporary and graphic art which can be used to inspire. The publications are also tactile which gives a sense of ownership if someone received it, instead of seeing it on a digital screen.

The studio creates a limited amount of publications that are often very small and personal. I would like to take their concept further by creating larger and more unique publications using bespoke media such as print. 

David Wolske

http://www.david-wolske.com/

Wolske is a letterpress artist who uses the traditional process to create clean contemporary artwork and graphic design. 

Wolske has cropped the letterforms and layered each component to create contrasting, high impact compositions. He uses monochromatic colour schemes to create contrast which is also helped by the hard edges and angular lines. Wolske uses colour in a lot of his compositions which look like screen print outcomes as the layers of colour create more tones - CMYK:

Cropping the letterforms and layering them inside a confined area creates a lot of white space. This gives the composition a focal point.  Wolske has used the negative space created by the geometric characters to make the type unrecognisable. I like how Wolske has used a traditional technique and created a contemporary outcome. 

I would like to explore this printing technique and begin cropping down outcomes to produce more engaging and contemporary design. I aim to contact Wolske in appreciation of his work and to ask how he crops his prints so successfully. 

Self Branding 1.7

Unstitched my publications so that I could letterpress my information onto a single piece of paper that can be cut down and create a page to be sewn back into the publication. This was a lot easier because the paper fit correctly into the press and I didn't have to worry about getting ink on the rest of the publication.

Using letterpress adds another analogue technique so clients and studios can see that I am an original designer that uses traditional techniques and processes to create contemporary and innovative outcomes.

I aim to take these outcomes into the photography studio and use the light boxes to photograph them to a professional standard. This will allow me to post it on my Behance account.

Self Branding 1.6

In response to my feedback, I am going to aim to use strictly analogue techniques as this will reflect the techniques and processes I am strongly considering taking forward into second year.

SIZE

For the size of the publication, I looked at notebooks in shops and noted down a range of sizes that I thought would be appropriate and nice to work with. I only chose portrait publications because it's traditional.

14.5x21cm

9x12.5cm

17x23cm

I liked the size of the 17x23cm notebook because it had more room on the pages, however I think it will be too big to carry around, especially if I hand it to a potential client. Decided on 14.5x21cm because it leaves enough room for note taking and also sketches which will be appropriate for my target audience. It is also just an A4 page folded in half which will make my notebook cheaper and easier to reproduce.

(I may need to add on 0.5cm - 1cm to compensate for the fold)

STOCK

Gsm of stock can't be too large otherwise the pages won't fold completely and the publication won't stay closed. I used influences from my research into publications and visiting shops such as Village to choose the stock. Around 120gsm will be appropriate because it's thin enough to fold and bend yet still feels tactile and quality. A slightly textured paper can make my notebook even more tactile and benefit the target audience when sketching/painting.

Visited Fred Aldous to look for stock and found a large range of G.S Smith stock. The variety of colours and weights make the shop convenient for any brief. I chose a range of primary colours because I want to create simple, friendly and complimentary colour schemes inspired by my Design Principles - Studio Brief 01:

Design companies and studios get a lot emails and business cards everyday from designers wanting an internship or placement. In order for my notebook to stand out over the rest of the designers, I have decided to take advantage of the pages and cut into them to create an engaging and expressive cover.

Experimentation:

Wanted to use inspiration from the symbol I created because the geometric shapes and lines will translate well into this technique. This is an engaging way to add colour, rather than digitally printing out flat compositions.

As my stock was expensive I used plain A4 paper to work out how I can make my cover as engaging and impactful as I can.

When the notebook is opened the target audience will see how I have used negative space to combine colours and shapes harmoniously. This will make the client see how innovative and expressive I can be with a simple notebook.

I created a margin by enlarging the cover which holds together the pages that create the layered effect. This makes the notebook practical as the owner won't have to flick through 4-5 pages before getting to the white, blank pages:

LETTERPRESS CONCEPT

To add typographic content I aim to use letterpress to set the type and then print directly into my publication. I will need to make sure I align the page with the text accurately. This adds another analogue technique.

Repeated my name using demo letter press:

Repeated my name and faded it out which will make my name memorable but it also takes advantage of the printing technique, making my publication more engaging.

Using another analogue process will reflect my style of practice to the client as they'll be able to see the print texture. This will look more personal and takes advantage of different techniques and processes, instead of limiting myself on Illustrator or Photoshop.

I had already stitched my publication together which meant I had a very narrow window between the margin and the next page. 

Needed to be clean and clinical so created a registration sheet. This was influenced by my screen print induction.

Provided my name and contact information:

Chose Clarendon 18pt because it's a traditional serif typeface that prints consistently - This is appropriate for the traditional analogue technique. 

Printing straight into my publication was a mistake because I didn't press it properly as I was too conscious of making a mess of the book. In the end I still managed to make a mess of the book. This is all part of the learning process as mistakes provide better experiences, especially at this stage of my design journey.