OUGD402: The Tetley

The Tetley is a space for contemporary art. It is filled with design studios and hosts an abundance of exhibitions and events. I had previously been here to visit Alphabet's design studio and thought that it was a nice creative space. The interior design is modern. We went today for a book exhibition and it is nice when the bottom spaces are open to have a walk through. It is innovative and inspiring seeing pieces of art displayed around and gives more of an insight on what design studios and creative spaces can look like. Especially during the exhibition it showed how things are displayed by artists and during these events. The Tetley is a space for emerging artists. 

OUGD402: Alphabet Design Studio - The Tetley

This morning I met up with Abbas from Alphabet. He talked me through work and aspects of design and gave me advice on being a first year. He showed me some projects Alphabet are currently working on and how to present your work to clients which I found really helpful because it gave me an insight on how to present my work. We also spoke about how there is an expectation of designers to accept the fact that they have to be stressed and that they have to be financially unstable whereas realistically you could make money from what you're doing and enjoy it. We also spoke about charging fee's for freelance work which I had no idea about. We then met Seb and Sam and I had a look around the studio. It is a nice creative space, even though it is new it had some really interesting pieces and interior design including different types of wood furniture they had made. I really like the idea of a small space of like minded creatives in a working environment. I feel like it would be innovative having people with good ethics around you and it seperates work from home life. They are a lovely group of people that show what hard work, passion and dedication can lead up to. They are alumni graduates from 2014 but they have already done amazing projects and demonstrate that key factor to success and exposure such as setting up social media presence can lead up to. I found meeting them really motivational because a design studio could be a potential future prospect. It was good to get insights from people that have done the degree I am doing and speak to them in a more in depth level.

OUGD402: Self Branding Initial Ideas - Speed Dating

My initial idea was to get a little bottles or tubes like Alice in Wonderland because it is one of my favourite stories. My perception is Alice is taken out of her physical world into one that is pretence. Without sounding pretentious, this is what I think art does to you. It takes you out of a physical world when you're designing you get into a 'zone.' This would be the meaning for the symbolism behind the little glass bottle. This could relate to self branding by having the contact information and stuff on the little letter inside and would be passed out at events similar to the purpose of a business card but more memorable because it is a physical object. It would be to try gain placements and network; the same uses of a business card.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower mixtape to Patrick from Charlie 

I also really enjoy music so I was thinking of ideas to relate to the combination of music and design. The initial idea was a mixtape where you put songs you like on there but then I realised not that many people have cassette players so it would be difficult. Feedback I received from this was to perhaps put the information on the piece of tape that is placed within the tape so when you pull it out it reads contact information. I then thought of buying a CD because although people don't really buy CD's anymore it is easier to play. That would also be part of the concept because no one buys CD's anymore and someone handed you a CD at a meeting it would be a bit different than a business card. I feel music is really personal. I always play music when working so it kind of puts the prospective person I aim to work with in my head. Music is engaging and I feel like the person I'm trying to impress would vibe from it and understand whether or not we would be suitable working together or would at least appreciate my music taste is different to theres if diversity was what they were looking for; someone different to them. The CD could also be put into a sleeve which I design so that it does include some of my design work and then the back would have contact information instead of a tracklist.

During the speed dating feedback I was given the idea of a guitar pic with information because it relates to music. I had said in the conversation I was trying to teach myself how to play guitar so it was a brainstorming idea but I feel like a pic is too close to a guitar and I can't play that well yet. However, it does show my willingness to learn so it could be used to impress prospective bosses. Also that a Vinyl could be an alternative version of the cd/mixtape because I could design my own cover and sleeve for that too which shows the design work.

During the speed dating task I was given the idea to create a "collaborative playlist" so that the person you worked with or collaborate with gives you a song after a job. This is so that it is not just looking at you as a person and what you like to listen to; it shows your impact and how you reflect on other people through the choice of song.

I need to take more consideration into:
What is the aim?
Foot in the door?
Start a dialog
Get a placement
Start a network
Impress someone

OUGD402: Personal Work - Don't Be A Prick

These were dotted around too sporadically. 

This is the design of text I'm going to use and quote. 

Adding colour didn't help. Still too many cacti.

The type is too big, the cacti are too small.

Still nope.

Better, but the composition is wrong.

The final design!

Actual images from my shop:

www.everythingisfine.bigcartel.com

www.everythingisfine.bigcartel.com

I really want to experiment more with drawing and hand lettering so at the beginning of December I made it a regular occurrence to start doodling again. Not serious drawing, just in a little notebook I would create small sketches or try to hand letter some quotes or type. I have 3 small cacti on my window sill so I decided to do a little life sketch of them. They turned into little illustrations and I decided to put a funny quote with it. I then spent the rest of the day developing this illustration and asked for feedback from my flatmates throughout the process. I then decided to create this as a little A6 art print. So off to the manufacturer it went and in December 2015 I started selling them to friends and online. Under the url www.everythingisfine.bigcartel.com. I decided to create a little online shop because it helps me to gain the confidence to put my work out there and it is something personal I can do alongside my degree. Since then it has also been released as a notebook. I liked the process of asking for advice on how it should look. What would be conceptual and marketable. The way my flatmates agreed was that "you see the illustration first, then the funny little quote" which is the hierarchy in which I designed it too. I feel like doing this experiment helped me get back into drawing and hopefully I will get back into painting (watercolours). This also made me more confident in asking for feedback from peers and other students; it was nice having the opinion of students that are studying different degrees (illustration, photography and animation).