Alternative Person I admire: Jane Ray

Because the person I set out to contact in previous post appears very difficult to contact and is not really part of the design world in any way, i thought it may be productive to also look into contacting someone else I admire at the same time so that my chance of success are increased.

The person I have chosen is the illustrator Jane Ray. I have been aware of her for avery long time and even did a project inspired by her at A-level. Her work interests me because of its detail and the care and respect with which it is clear each illustration is created.

I found the most effective way to try and contact Jane Ray seemed to be trough a message system on her website.

The questions I would like to ask are as follows:

-How do you go about planning each illustration to suit the the of each book?

-Do you set out to embrue each illustration with as much meaning as possible or do you define one theme or concept you want to convey?

-What is your critical process like? Who's opinion do you ask to get constructive criticism?

- I believe you originally specialised in ceramics, what made you decide to try illustration?

-How do you deal with the pressure of designing to a deadline? I have to admit this is something I am struggling with at the moment and your advice would be most welcome.

Making Contact With the Welcome to Nightvale Producers

The production company behind the distribution of Welcome to Nightvale is Common Place Books. Their website has given me the most likely contact details so far.

However, as you can see if you look closer at the image above they suggest that this email is inundated every day so it may be profitable to possibly find a more specific email or address to make sure I can get in contact with Joseph Fink. Another option mentioned before was leaving a message or a comment with a donation but when I looked at the form to do so there seemed to be no comment option.

Something I have considered before is the idea of contributing designs for their merchandise which, because the podcast is relatively new, are quite sparse. On the website I found that they sometimes open for submissions of merchandise designs. So, I have signed up to their email list so that I can find out when designs can be submitted and the chance to receive more contact details.

If i were to contact the producers of welcome to nigh vale through the email on the website then the questions I would ask are as follows.

-What exactly Kick start the production of Welcome to Nightvale and where did the ides of the radio show format?
-I and undoubtedly many other listeners have notice the 'real' radio show format bares a resemblance to War of the Worlds in its radio play format. Was this an influence?
-I am aware that you take full episode idea submissions but I have to assume that a number of the earlier episodes came out of your own heads, where do these ideas come from? Is there a process you go through to generate the most surreal concepts you can?

OUGD403 End of Module Evaluation PPP Brief 01

Throughout this module My practical skills have been greatly improved. Coming from knowing very little about the production processes of design or much at all about digital design methods a substantial knowledge of production and design method has been created.For example, studio brief 02 introduced me to areas of illustrator I had no idea existed, the use of pathfinders and clipping masks feeding directly into my final design. Although the mono-print workshop did not form part of any particular brief I managed to use it for a further development of studio brief 03, the direction and purpose this lent to the experimentation with this media produced some really interesting work and allowed me to get to grips with the technology more effectively. Despite being unable to use this process on my final designs, my new found understanding of it means that in future projects I will be able to tell when it can be most successfully utilised and do so.

Through the crits that took place during and at the end of each brief I started to develop a more critical way of thinking, this became useful in not only analysing my own work but other's as well, gradually making the effort to become a more active member of the class. By making use of this skill I have become more and more aware of the delicate balance between the aesthetic of a design and the concept behind it that should be communicated. During the design process balancing these two things can be very difficult, especially when you are very deep in a project, but through the crits and the critical way of thinking these have fostered in me focussing on this problem has allowed me to become increasingly more effective in addressing it. This development can be best seen when comparing my reaction to studio briefs 01 and 05. Myresponse to studio brief one was very thoughtful and heavily conceptual, but I was unhappy with it because the aesthetic and the way I had chosen to represent these concepts was not effective enough and far too obscure. Where as my response to studio brief 05 is pushing in the other direction, I have pinned down exactly what I wanted to communicate but I feel that the aesthetic has taken the upper hand, once again compromising the communication of the design. Although I have not yet found the balance between the aesthetic and the concept this module has allowed me to identify it and start to address it, as I will continue to do in the future.

Something I am less happy about in regards to my response to this module is the sometimes tentative link between my research and the final design. This tends to be because I think too deeply into the line of concept I am following and when I come to blog about the ideas that I have produced, it seems like a large jump has been made between times. This could in turn be because instead of physically doing and experimenting with a thought, I simply think more about it. To combat this I will need to act more quickly on ideas so that the development of a concept seems logical from the exterior of my brain. However, this module has brought this problem to my attention and in so doing, has given me the tools to solve it. So, overall I would say that this module has been a personal success, even if I am not 100% content with what I have produced, I am very pleased with how much my design process has improved and soon hopefully my designs will follow suit.

Someone I Admire

As part of Personal and Professional Practice we were asked the plan how we might make contact with someone that we admire. I have chosen the creator of a podcast called Welcome to Nightvale. It is very difficult to describe Welcome to Nightvale but the essence of it is that it is done in the style of the first war of the worlds radio show; it is as if we are listening to the local radio show of a small town in western north America. Apart from this the best way I can describe it is bizarre. There is a URL below which you can use to listen to it your self.

http://podbay.fm/show/536258179

The main reason I admire Joseph Fink is because he and the rest of the people working on the show do it in their spare time, they all have full time jobs as well and started the project off out of their own money. I may just add here that the podcast is free so after the show was started they pay for productions costs from donations made by their fans.

Joseph Fink acted as the catalyst for this project and is still one of the main writers. The attributes that make me admire him are things that are all shown through the creation of welcome to Nightvale. To start with I love the fact that he had so much enthusiasm to create something that would entertain and amaze people that he does it off his own back just with a group of friends with the money they can scrape together. It is hard to come across people who are truly enthusiastic and passionate about something and I find it really refreshing that he is. I also love the fact that he has collaborated to create something wonderful, it reminds me that people can collectively produce something that the individual couldn’t dream of.  Easily the biggest reason, however, is the content of the podcast, its random unpredictable weirdness constantly keeps the listener on their toes. This original and different way of thinking that is communicated by the content of the show amazes me, and most of all I wish I could think like that. Listen to just one episode and you will understand what I mean.

How Would I make Contact With Him:

As previously mentioned the show is maintained by donations made by fans. On the end of each episode they make an announcement thanking a few of the people that made donations, this is because you can write a message with a donation. I could write a message and a specific question (to show a close interest) and my email. This could start a correspondence. However, I also feel that it would seem like I was paying him to answer a question as if I expected him not to be a nice enough person to just answer one I emailed him. Another idea is to write him a letter by hand, this shows that time and care have been spent, once again asking a specific question or two in a conversational tone.

If I had to illicit a response in 24 hours I might use email instead, finding it on their web page, but structure the email in a letter like way and possibly in a slightly more friendly tone than the letter because email is a cold and distant medium through which to communicate.

Reflective Thoughts on Final Crit for Studio Brief 01

Today we had our first final crit. I was very unsure about what I had produced and in all honesty I feel that this was because I had gone so far out of my comfort zone stylistically. Usually I stick to quite natural and earthy shapes but this time I was trying to capture a sharp and almost mechanised look in an effort to "damage" the eye of the reader with the high contrast in line weight in the letter forms. I think my uncertainty definitely came across and affected the way the others in my crit group reacted to my designs. In future I will attempt to portray more confidence in my own abilities, even when the confidence is not in face there. 

In the past I have struggled very much with summative criticism because I get so involved in each project that it begins to feel like personal insults. However, I am trying to balance this involvement with being able to step back and be objective about my own work. This is difficult but I am already starting to feel the effects in that I become slightly less stressed and paranoid by a brief even when I am trying my absolute best with it. This balance of working hard, being able to step back from my work and understanding how I can improve as a designer is hard and requires on going effort but I feel that I am starting to improve already. 

I know it sounds ridiculous but not being good at something that you think is your vocation is hard, and experience and perspective are things I feel I would have gained form doing a foundation. So I will make a concerted effort to be aware that if I were good already I would not need to be on the course and that improvement is what I should be measuring my success by.

Introduction to Personal and Professional Practice

As far as I understand  this blog is devoted to documenting personal interests within the world of design or that have influenced my design, demonstrate and improve critical and reflective approaches along with my practical and creative investigation and all siphoned through my communication skills. 

This blog is also for self evaluation to create an awareness of my design and thought process and therefore improve it. 

In our introductory lecture for this module we also discussed how we will be exploring the assumptions concerning our personal learning through the medium of tasks and research set during the module. 

This seminar really got me thinking about the way I work and how psychologically bogged down in a project I can get, to the extent where I am so close to my work I can no longer see anything positive about it. However, this is because I can so much about the out come of the work and that I have done my utmost to produce the best work I can. So, how can I pull back from my work to view and evaluate it but still care about it and be involved with it enough to enjoy it. This balance of involvement in a project and ability to evaluate it properly, not just at the end but during its gestation, is difficult to maintain. Now that I am aware of it at least I can start to address this problem with my design process, possibly through more self initiated crits. 

We were also asked to look into contacting someone we admire. The problem I have just mentioned could be the beginnings of a question for that person.