Woldingham school workshops

Going back to the school where my art jounrey began was nerve racking, exciting and having an overhelming sense of dejva vu. Going back into the class rooms I had spent so long in. Beccie and I had been asked to teaching Lower 6th and Upper 6th girls some workshops that we had done on our foundation. The jump from being at school to foundation was and is a big one. You get thrown in at the deep end which is a great stepping stone into a degree. 

We taught four different group giving the same workshop and then showing and explain our jounrney from foundation to our degree and how the skills we learnt on foundation still informs our work now. 

Workshop: 

• giving each person a 10cm by 10cm piece of cartridge paper
• a varitey of different drawing tools; fine liner, colur sticks and grafite
• looking at the still life ( based on their topic destruction and reconstruction) for 1 minute
• then closing their eyes and drawing the area they studied for 1 minute
• passing the piece they worked on to the left of them
• looking at the still life again but for 30 secs
• closing their eyes and drawing for 30secs
• pass to the left
• looking for 15 secs
• closing theirs eyes and drawing fro 15 secs
• pass to the left 
• Using three different adjectives; To fold, To tear, to punctur to destroy/destruct the piece of paper infront of them 1 minute
• pass to the left 
• Using three more adjectives; to sculpt, to combinem to weave to try and reconstruct the piece that you have been given for a minute
• What you are left with is your piece - through collaborative means and intriging mark making the end result may not look like much but it helps to let loose and not be intimated by being messy or fearing the white page

The workshop was really successful and all the girls got involved and took part. It was really good to revisit these old techniques especially going into our final year. 

Nucleus

http://www.nucleus.co.uk/

I did a couple of days work experience at the Branding consultance company Nucleus as I wanted to get an idea of the branding world outside of university and how a company like this functions. 

Nucleus was founded in 1980 by Peter Matthews straight out of university. It is a company that is catering to an online world particularly mobile; mobile browsing has doubled in recent years due to smart phones ( particularly apple devices ). It covers a variety of different areas in the branding world such as Travel, luxury and financial services. 

Their are a many different roles from the designers,developers and researchers but all who have an extensive amount of knowledge in computers. The in and outs of developing a website and all the processes they go through for the best quality to cater to their clients needs but still keeping in mind other competitors and how they can make their client stand out. 

I spoke to people in all the different areas and assisted in researching for an possible new client. I particularly liked shadowing Sue the creative director and the process she goes through to update a clients website. I learnt a huge amount from observing and asking certain people question in the company and the people I worked with couldn't have been nicer. It was a real eye opening experience to a world that shows no sign of slowing down technologically which is exciting and terrifying. 

MANCHESTER DEGREE SHOW

As I was unable to attend the degree show I researched some of the students work through their website

Lee Wallwork

http://www.leewallwork.co.uk/Lee-Wallwork

Lee Wallwork:

Is a Graphic Designer whos work is very consumper based. He looks at many different area such as Art direction, photography, branding....

His style is very crisp, clear and slick using different forms of technology. 

His work that I particularly like is The Ted Baker Designs. He has experimenting with looking particularly at India but keeping the brand by infusing the classic design with an Indian twist through the uses of bright colours, spices and paisley designs. He has gone with one idea and stuck with it particularly creating the paper tuxedos making them sharp and sleek linking back to Ted Bakers British Brand. 

His presentation is key and so clearly shown through colour, design and typography. He is clearly technology driven and good at using the tools.

From looking at his work it has woken elements in my own work that I can improve on and develop in. 

Rebecca Swarbrick

  http://www.rebeccaswarbrick.co.uk

Rebecca Swarbrick is a Graphic Designer who has mainly looked at producing her own Zines but looking at it through the digital world. 

Her work that stood out to me was the project WATCH as it focused on the social media site Facebook. 

Making a publication looking at the bitchy side of Facebook set out in a similar format. Looking at the layout of Facebook and how you can make it into a publication by using the symbols and colouring of Facebook (the brand).How she has put it in a Zine format having a hard copy as it is more of a blog idea (writing your thoughts out online for the whole world to see). Well presented and clearly layout Zine also broken up with the PUNCH (digital fist) in the middle like a wake up call. 

I really like how she has looked at something so current and that everyone uses. Makes you think who is watching you. From looking at her work it has made me think about topics for my final project and how I could link it to the technology era and how it has impacted our society. 

Lucie Crewdson

http://www.luciecrewdson.com/

Creating photographs that portray strange and surreal in beauty looking at the female figure. 

Fashion Photography with the likes of FAKE magazine, DAZE Digital. However even standing alone they are pieces of art in themselves something I would have in my room. The variety from the colours she uses in her photographs the imperfection through over exposure add a romantic quality to her work is really hypnotic. Giving each image a vintage feel. 

From looking at her work the organic qualities shown in her outcomes have made me think about considering these elements in my own photographs. 

Evaluation

I have really enjoyed this project because it has allowed us to interact with the outside world and get more of an idea of what briefs are like. It has allowed us to locate our work in an external context. There were a number of briefs for us to choose from that the course provided however, none of them were very Art Direction based. I decided that I would find a brief myself. I used information from a previous lecture and researched on different websites to find a brief that suited me. I researched on my own and found a project that fitted exactly what I wanted my brief to be and I touched on it in my last project. It is about try to look at having more diversity in the fashion industry when it comes to models: with size, gender, age and race. It is sponsored by the company 'All walks on the catwalk' and i-D. A company and magazine, which I really look up to and love the things they do. This project also had a deadline, which was the 15^th of February, which meant I had to make my own time management and stick to it, as after this deadline you cannot submit any work. This added a bit more pressure which I felt was good for me. I made a clear timetable of when I had to have certain part done by because I wanted to two of the brief in the same competition one, which was photography, and the other, which was a zine.

I also wanted to show in both my projects my skills that have developed in Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. I used mainly InDesign and Photoshop with the making of my zine. However, I used Photoshop and Illustrator for the making of my four photographic images. The fact that the brief is quite short and not very detailed means there are many things you can do, however it also means that you need to make sure you are still fulfilling the brief. I was very conscious of this and made sure that my projects developed by still staying true to the brief. I had to critically analyse my own work and realise what did work and what did not. I had to make these decisions fast as I had the issue of time and wanting everything to be of a high standard not just doing something in the end because it was all I could do in that time.

One of the key elements to the project was the fact that it had an outside context and our tutors wanted us to make contact in the outside world. Will do this project I was also look for internships during this summer, I applied for one of the jobs at Conde Nast because did not get it. I knew it was very competitive but I thought I might as well try. I know from doing this project though that I would like to get an internship in a magazine or be a photographer’s assistant. I have not developed my contacts in the outside world as much as I should have. However, I have made many copies of my zine; I want to try to see if I can sell them to shops in the northern quarter or even cafes. I would like to develop my zine into have more issues, I have already started to plan the next one. I am also going to continue looking for internship that I feel I would really benefit from, from the month of May. I am also going to try to visit some Art direction companies while on our New York trip and see if I could maybe even get some experience there.

This whole project has been a real learning curve, I have thought about possible areas I would to go into. Realising that having technical skills in Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator is key to making it in the industry now. That you really need to get your brand/ self out there as much as you can via social media or going around and trying to present people with you brand and why it would be right for them. The focus of this project was the context, which is good because that is what it is like in the outside world. I very pleased with both of my project outcomes and would like to think that they will be considered to win the competition but this is the downfall to competitions you have no idea of how many people you are up against or their skills, which makes it even more daunting.  

Consumer

The consumer for both the briefs are very similar as they are in the same competition and have the same ideas behind them; 

They are predominately women of all ages ranging from 16-70. They are people who read i-D magazine, have heard about All Walks of the Catwalk, they are people who love designers like Vivienne Westwood, Mark Fast and Alexander McQueen. Photographers like Nick Knight and Chen Man. 

Love fashion and have quirky style but are bored of seeing the same carbon copy of models in campaigns and walking down the run way. They want to see 'real' women have a higher impact in the fashion industry. It is for the young girls who are just getting a taste for fashion and want to be a model, glamorous etc. But has not 'real' figure to look up to just stick thin figure that are predominately unhealthy, this is often how young girls start to become really insecure in themselves and this can usually cause an eating disorder because they are comparing themselves to unrealistic ideals that are in magazines, that have been photo shopped and airbrushed to look like the ideal women, that no one naturally looks like.

I have placed my four photographs in the context of London fashion week as Campaign poster. However if I was to win this competition my work could be exhibited in Graduate fashion week. 

I overlayed some of my own images in the brochure for the exhibition at the national portrait gallery All Walks did, called SNAPPED. It was an exhibition promoting diversity with different age, shape and race models wearing  samples of British designers clothes. This photographs are powerful, striking and really show of the clothes. 

In the words of Fred Astaire ,'Every girl on every page of Quality has grace, elegance and bizazz now what is wrong with bring out a girl who has character, spirit and intellect '

My zine has a very similar consumer however they are interesting in also seeing the layout of a zine combined with the context of a magazine such as including an interview. 

It is a small inspirational little zine which will boost a woman's confidence for her to see a 'real' women who she may even see on the street and not think twice about but when she is put in front of a camera turn in to a model. A women who has is fun, has character, intellect and has quirky style. Each issue will be aimed at a different age group audience or like i-D include a combination of different topics some more relevant to a young age group and some to an older.  

Final Zine

My final zine could only have the maxium of eight pages following the brief that was set for me. The content consists of a combination of photography, quote and an interview. The photographs are taken from the shoot I did with Dot. There is one quote from Alexander McQueen and the others are from the film Funny Face and also stills from the dance scene , the interview which I wrote myself is based on topic that All Walks explore. The photos below show the final zine. The front cover was even influenced by the iconic close up image of Audrey Hepburn's face in black and white in Funny Face.  

I got inducted into a book binding workshop so I could make the final zine myself. I made it with a combination of stitch and glue and with cartridge paper.

Zine layout using Indesign

I had no idea of what kind of layout I wanted. All I knew what that I wanted a front and back cover and eight pages in between. The content had to consist of photographs and writing. I may even include some quotes and references to the film Funny Face. I also wanted their to be an interview in the middle, An interview with Dot about what she feels around a lot of All Walks philosophy's. The interview question are shown below which I wrote and the different layouts that I experimented with.

I really like some of the pages particularly the interview page with the red photographs. However I feel the illustrations do not work with the rest of the zine so I do not think I will include them. I really like the front cover but need to start coming up with a back cover, as it is the last thing the viewer reads.

Final four

I am very pleased with my final four photographs, through the different cropping techniques I am able to create very different photos, that make the viewer look twice. One of my favourite elements of these images is the dash of red in each photo continuing the theme from Funny Face the dance scene. It also brings all the photos together. Also the writing in each image different bits of information about the model giving her 'character, spirit and intelligence' I feel these follow the brief that I was given and I hope All Walks like what I have done with my photos.

Zine reasearch

We had to do two briefs for this project and as their were not many Art direction based projects I decided to do two projects for the same competition. The other brief that stood out to me was creating a zine, 'A four to eight page brochure covering the area of diversity and individuality beauty and body ideals. Content must offer a unique take on the subject of individuality.' I really liked the idea of this concept for people particularly women to read something that make them not feel so insecure about them selves. However I had never really heard of a zine before so I had to research a bit into it and see where I can find them to get an idea of the layout and the content in them. 

the definition of a zine, 'An inexpensively produced, self-published, underground publication'.

here are some example of Zine shops and libraries that I found on the Internet, they are usually smaller than an A4 sheet of paper, usual about A5 or smaller. 

I went to the northern quarter to purchase my first zine and went to Magma which has all sort of publications. However they did not have many zine, they had two. The one that caught my eye was the photographic one called 'Black ski mask' It had an intriguing cover and the content was random and bizarre but I though it looked really interesting. The feature that I really like about this zine was the fact that in encouraged the readers to submit some of their own work whether it be photograph, design, writing and illustration. 

There is even a zine in Manchester that is a group of previous students from Manchester school of art. 'OWT creative is a multidisciplinary design collective based in Manchester. We work through print, web, film, bookbinding, curation, branding and art direction.We do a lot, but don't mistake us for a jack of all trades. Starting life as an experiment in publishing with the OWT zine we now pride ourselves on initiating collaborations and challenging the status quo of how an agency should work: constantly working on self-initiated projects and events alongside our conventional client briefs. Our diverse range of abilities and extended network allow us to create solutions to any problem.' I thing they have done up to 12 different issues. The content of the zine is a mix media of different areas in art. They content is random but the layout is very well done. The element that really stands out with this zine is the branding. They have it on every issue. It is simple but stands out, branding is very key to keep publication going. 

Here are some other examples of photographic zine, both of them mainly feature women. The one just below is 'Girls on Film' which photographers can send in their own images in to feature. It was also started up in Liverpool and has books sold with their work in shops like urban outfitters. The one below that is an LA based zine called 'All things ordinary'. Both of these zine have quite a voyeuristic feel with their photographs as if the reader is viewing a moment that is private. They also have a vintage feel to the images as if they have been taken with a disposable camera.  

Cropping

To give my images the high impact I wanted for my final four images, I decided to manipulate the photos by cropping them in different way. The first few images as you can see have been cropped really simply. But as I developed my skills in Illustrator I started to use clipping masks and create weird shapes around the figure.

I like the development of my photographs however I had a time limit and so decided I would choose the four photos below and develop them in different way and make sure they had very different qualities to them.  I also though have a bit of writing on each photo showing a bit of the models character really worked so I want to continue to develop that idea.

Cropping photographs has been big in campaigns this year featuring in Celine's and Mui Mui's. Also other photographers have used in their work to make the view look twice. Also photographers such as Nick Knight and Juergen Teller have used cropping in photo shoot and campaigns as shown below.  

Nick Knight

Juergen Teller