OUGD502 PPP Self Branding Development Sketches

I started by printing out a didot version of the name of my brand. I like that this has an edgy classic look to it but I don't feel it is soft enough or organic enough to represent me.

I used the light box to try and add in some flourishes that were drawn from the idea of ink droplets extending from the letters or languid brush strokes, trying to add in my hands on practical approach to design.

I found problems with the kerning came out a lot when I did this, effecting the way the word was read.

I talked to people in the studio about this and they suggested a more A symmetric approach and not feeling obliged to balance out the ornamentation.

So, I tried illuminating just the letter E but this effected the legibility too much and detracted from the word.

I kept trying but I just felt this approach wasn't working. So, I tried drawing over the entire word and reshaping the letters themselves rather than just adding embellishments.

I tried adding textures of pen colouring to unfished letters to suggest the method with which they were created (hand drawn).

I tried using a paint brush and drawing inks to do the same but to no avail. It just looked rough and unfinished not hands on and cared for.

I tried taking the varying stroke wieght of the font I had chosen to start with and creat an almost illuminated letter for the start of the word but I just hated it, it just felt awakward and un expressive.

I went back to my pinterest board for this project and started to rethink the placement of the letter. Why should they al be in a straight line? I went back to small thumbnails and looked at changing the size of the letters to express the idea of someone small doing something big.

I played wround with stacking and moving the words to create a hierarchy of information and considered a water mark for a while with a large and small L sitting inside one another but the only one that remotely caught my eye was the one of the far left.

I looked at drawing it larger, trying out some brush pen calligraphy but again I am unconvinced.

I was loosing momentum at this point but tried out the water mark idea again with a large L and  little b, drawing on the brush pen calligraphy. I think that I need to go back to the beginning again and render the entire thing by hand. This is the only way that tends to work for me. 

OUGD502 PPP Evaluation of Development

Today in a short presentation about the PPP module John asked a few questions to stimulate the evaluation of our personal progress and how we feel we have changed over the summer. So, I thought I would go through them and answer them to the best of my ability to try and stimulate some more ideas about my self branding project.

What are your aspirations?

-I would have to say that my aspirations are everything. I simply want to do and experience as much as possible. I want to work out of the country and collaborate withe new and exciting people. Most of all I want to be part of a design team. I need the banter, the give and take of a social scenario in order to design at my best.

Has anything in particular affected you over summer?

-I guess the thing that has affected me the most would be that I had my first job. I was a waitress. This iOS something that has really taught me what stress really is. To understand how to roll with the punches and most of all not to procrastinate and just get on with things. This has allowed me a much more mentally balanced approach to this year of the course. I feel that even though the work load is heavier, I know how to deal with it and have enough confidence in my self that I feel I am regularly doing my best with designs. This is the most important thing to me; even though the designs might not be the best in the world, if I feel that I have done the best I could, I am content.

What do you want to change in your practice?

-I want to refine my illustrative approach to design. As I have come into the second year I have been much happier implementing a design approach that is much more hands on and much less screen based. Not only does this help me to achieve an aesthetic that just feels right to me and make me feel like I have produced something with while and real, it also makes me enjoy the process of design 10 times more. I want to do this to a greater degree and have more creative freedom to use slightly crazy artistic approaches.

If you had any experience of professional creative practice, did you feel up to scratch?

- Yes, Over summer I had my first real life paid piece of graphics design. I was a brief passed on to me by two freelance graphic designers so it was quite relaxed and open. I really enjoyed the brief and in the end felt like I had produced something that both the client and myself were happy with. What more can you ask for!
What influences you the most?

Did you meet anyone that inspired or interested you?

-As well as meeting Alex and Steve who were the freelance designers that passed on the brief mentioned above, I also met a woman called Judith. She runs the small cafe that I worked in over summer and she made me realise that what I though was a high work load was in fact pittance. She did everything from making the cakes to the accounts and never stopped. Although I don't want this life style for myself I feel that if you try you could pretty much deal with anything.

OUGD502 PPP Studios That Inspire Me

I have spent some time looking at studios that have the illustrative edge that my work is progressively moving towards and I have found some great work and designers that are just incredibly inspiring. 

John was right when he said that the blogs are the best place to find their true creative voices and inspiring work. What I really love about them is their unashamed enjoyment of the wacky and wonderful. In short I guess I just like enthusiasm and their work is just the visual incarnation of enthusiasm, be it a little disturbing at times.

Vault 49 is a studio I found when looking for studios based in New York. This is simply indulgence on my part because I would really love to live and work in New York some day, simply because I want to experience it. their work is again very illustrative and I looked at their internship program but they seemed very unwelcoming and harsh about it so I have rather gone off them but not their work.

OUGD502 PPP Leeds Arts Party Flyer Work and The Showcase Spectacular in the Corn Exchange

This is the first real life responsive brief. I produced a A6 flyer for the stand the Leeds Arts Party had at the showcase spectacular at the corn exchange last weekend.

I came up with the tag line; create, celebrate, educate and worked it into the design. If you want to see the full development behind this design follow the link.

I helped out on both days of the showcase and on the saturday they asked me to produce some chalk board type with some questions to stimulate thought and conversation. they gave me the questions and let me do what I wanted with the layout. 

This is the first time I have ever really down chalk board type on a chalk bird but I am amazed by how much I enjoyed it. I would really like to cultivate this skill in the future so that it is something I can add to my repertoire. 

I had a lot of fun doing this and meeting all of the artists that had stalls at the showcase. I got talking for a long while with a lot of them and regularly got asked if I had a business card. This just goes to show that I really need to get on top of this self branding work because it really will come in handy. People were very good natured about me writing down my details when I explained that I was currently working on my business card designs, invariably starting off another conversation about the impermanence of self branding, but none the less this was a very positive experience for me.

OUGD502 PPP Self Branding First Ideas

After doing some research into self branding I made a list of the considerations and limitations of the brief.

I then came up with a few starting ideas. These centred around tactility and the role tis has always played in my process.

I also went down to the laser cutting suit to check that it is possible to etch into stone and it is but I need to consider how flat the surface that is being cut into is because this can create some blurring of the visual.