L6 - 60 credits. Practical work and a dissertation which are linked.
Reflect and evaluate your own learning and describe personal route for exploration at L6. Worth 25%
Area of practice. Just summarise it (multi but feature more in). Construct from professional futures presentation.
Scholary research. In-depth. Primary research of what you want to find out.
Choose what format I can do for my dissertation. Does it have to be an essay?
Rationale. Personal connection, past module.
Primary research. Interview people in front of you and talks that we have had.
Secondary sources. Plan at least 10.
Reading list. Identify list over the summer.
Action plan. E.g. interview HDY for example.
Narrowing down the research. For example take the main idea and think about the 5ws and then narrow it down from there. These can be things such as cultural aspects, groups of people, time period etc.
- Looking into job roles through Creative Lives In Progress
- Building industry network
- Showreel
- Mapping the industry - researching agencies
Body of Work
- Large competition brief
- Live brief and a smaller brief can also be considered.
- Key to go beyond with research - e.g. interviewing target audience and primary research.
- Lots of iteration and development
- Self-written briefs can be considered.
Critical Practice Proposal
- 1800 words.
- Deep research into subject matter
- Extended reading
- Working title for dissertation as well as reading list and bibliography, chapter structure, planning primary research and an extended piece of writing giving context around the chosen theme.
This is another AR experiment. I played around with the front cover being split down the middle like an arcade sort of machine revealing the woman collages
- About/Profile. Changes every time you apply for a job. Grab words from job description. (Graphic Artist based in)
- Education. Degree as you got it (2020-2023) and then include the results are pending. GCSEs (amount of GCSEs, Maths and English and grade B and above) (A-Levels include everything)
- Skills. Can include drawing. Think about what software I know. Hard skills and soft skills (they can be separated). Soft skills can include punctuality, teamwork and creativity).
- Experience. Unpaid freelance. Live projects (Name, approach, role and outcomes). Freelance work. Collaborative projects. Jobs (think about the description.being generic yet professional). Volunteering.
- Highlights. Coffee lounge. Shortlisted. Any other events and articles that I have been featured in. Awards. Curation. Fundraising.
- Interests. How it links to the job description. Do not have to always include it.
- References. Two. Taken upon request. Name and role, company name and address, email.
- Illustrations in the background can help define who you are
- Cover letter will include research into the agency. Think about how being a new designer means bringing something fresh to the role.
GIFs - a motion dynamic that you can add to your work and projects. You can use a fun non-technical starting point and expand on that by using After Effects.
Ideas:
- Use woodblock type to split up and rearrange
- little elements could subtly mood to create atmosphere
Apple can be seen as a Lovemark for these reasons :
- Obsessive
- People defend them even when they say it is cheaper to buy a new iPhone then fix your old one
- People get hooked on the UI
- People spend so much money on the product you do not want t say it is bad
- The physicality of the product feels good
Can you buy happiness?
Hype
Celebrities and trends are what makes products successful.
It is important to think about the strapline and the importance of that
Vaulte magazine creates a design that is intentionally ugly in a trendy way and uses it to critique the language. How does the language of my editorial communicate the message I am talking about in my essay?
Making and Breaking the Grid (The lost art of paste up)
This lecture gave me a refresher on grid systems but also provided me with new knowledge which I can apply to my editorial piece. As I really enjoy energetic and grunge aesthetics, I was really engaged in learning about how to break the grid and play around with those characteristics.
Layout - An arrangement of design elements
Grids - Framework/ skeleton
Anatomy of the grid
Format - full area of the design
Margins - empty space between the content and the edge
Flowlines - Parallel bands to aid alignment.
Modules - Spaces created between horizontal and vertical flow lines
Spatial Zones - Adjacent modules
Columns - Vertical spacial zones
Rows - Horizontal spacial zones
Gutters - spaces between rows and columns. When they are equal they create visual balance. (Gutters are half the size of the margin)
Types of Grids
Baseline - invisible units of consistent vertical lines. Useful for text blocks and they unify scale.
Manuscript - large and rectangular which take up the format space. It is normally aligned with the margins and is used in novels and books. Tension is created with narrow margins as the eye is moving outwards whereas with wider margins, it is more visually pleasing.
Column - Multiple columns on a format. Useful for organising loads of information/elements and useful for dividing information up. It can help with proximity for image to caption. Elements can cross over columns.
Modular - Horizontal and vertical divisions. They create spatial zones and add an extra bit of flexibility when placing elements.
What is Paste Up?
Paste Up is a method of creating and layering publication pages which pre-dates computers and publishing programmes. They would cut out sections of type onto a hand-drawn grid and then a printing plate is used to paste the final design.
Breaking the Grid
David Carson
- Overlapping and taking away the gutter in his designs.
- Communicates energy and attitude
- Visual storytelling
- Deconstructs the design rules
- Anti-establishment and rebellious (relates back to my design, something to consider)
Chris Ashworth
- Distorted and broke the rules of Swiss Design
- Attacking typography
- Slice off the type and using the fold to his advantages.
