beth&graphics

Graphics blog. NUA year 2. Click on the links for each unit.

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This is as much response as I got from my book pdf, really not what I was hoping for...

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I loved this guy first just because of his username (and I'd love anyone else who got why that was cool) but his videos are amazing and he genuinely looks like he has the coolest job in the world! Very jealous!

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Glow in the dark swell sharks, it's thought their phosphorescent coloring a can be used for camouflage or to communicate with one another! Interesting bit of natural design!

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BA6 Self Evaluation. Where am I on my design journey?

This term was my favourite one so far this year. I really enjoyed being able to take more control over the sort of work we wanted to be making. I also got really into back up work this term and can definitely see how looking at other work can help you to be more creative. I've been using Pinterest to put together boards of work that I really like to look at as inspiration when I'm having a creative block, to have a look just click on the 'Inspiration' tab on my blog.

So where am I on my design journey? Currently I'd really like to go into working with children's books or environmental activism design work after uni as I've really come to realise how important it is to be passionate about the work you're making. I've learned a huge amount of new skills this year from collaboration to time management and how not to be terrified of InDesign. I've even picked up a little coding skill from playing with my blog! I've had a really tough second year, I've had a lot to deal with at home and I've found uni to be a really lonely place and there's been plenty of times where I thought I'd rather just walk out but at the end of the day, I'm really proud to have made it to the end of the year and I'm starting to remember why I wanted to do this in the first place. I've put so much hard work into this term, I've done a lot of different stuff and I've gotten out of my comfort zone which has been really rewarding and taught me a lot about myself and what I want to do. I've also rediscovered my love for type which was a big deal for me because that was what made me decide I wanted to do graphics in the first place. Furthermore, I've found that doing my own, self initiated work alongside uni briefs helps keep me focused on the project as I can get the other stuff I want to do out of my system and then get back to my uni work with fresh perspective.

I loved the Forage brief, it was nice to really have free range over the direction of our work. I think it was really helpful as it gave us a go at seeing what sort of thing we want to do after uni which I guess is really important to start thinking about.

I'd been thinking for sometime that I'd like to make children's books when I leave uni so this was a great opportunity to look into that. I was really lucky to be able to go into the primary school I went to as a child and work with a group of children, looking at what it is they like about reading and what sort of things they like to read which I guess is kind of market research of sorts. We worked together to make their own characters – which was more interesting than just talking to them because they got to get creative and you could really see what it is they like in a story and how different young boys and girls interests are – and then collaborate with them to make a story as a group. I don't think I'll do anything with the story, there was far too much focus on “fart power” for my liking but it was a great experience and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves.

To start off with I was going to make gifs about myself to send to people but after initial tutorials decided an interactive PDF book was more appropriate for the subject. The book I made about myself to get a brief was emailed to various children's book authors/illustrators I look up to: Oliver Jeffer's agency, Rob Biddulph, Benji Davies, Claudia Boldt, Viviane Schwarz and Ed Vere. I decided not to send them a spiel about why they should read it but rather just,

“This is Beth. Open the PDF, turn the page!”

I thought this was far more interesting. I'm yet to get anything back but I'm really hoping I might end up with a brief I could work on over summer. I'm pleased with how it turned out and I've learned so much about InDesign in the process which is really useful as I avoided it in the past. I think if I did it again I'd like to make a physical book and send it but it was so difficult trying to find places to send it to, especially as publishers explicitly say on their websites that they don't take any unsolicited work. It was a really fun project to do though and has definitely made me want to pursue children's books!

The purpose of my Dark Data project is to look at the non places that make home, home. I’ve displayed them in a non place that was a place me and my friends used to spend a lot of time when we were younger and my mum used to take me to when I was little. I left them hanging up so people could walk through and experience my view of home. A lot of the people that walk through there would be people who live in the town and therefore it gives them an experience of my own view of the place and what makes it feel like home to me. I chose to do this after my original idea for Dark Data wasn’t really working out and, following a conversation with Nigel where I admitted I still was pretty confused by the brief, he told me for him it’s about the stuff that’s hidden. So this is my look at my city, the place where I grew up, the places that might be hidden but in a lot of ways make me who I am and are places that, however long I’m away feel like home as soon as I see them. I think it was really cool to take this data, data that makes me as a person and put up in a place for people to see, a place where I love to go to because it holds so many memories for me. I was really disheartened by my project when I put my photos together on my laptop and as a group they didn't look anything like I had intended to. After panicking and trying to think of something new to do in the last few days before hand in and a quick phone call to my mum I decided to just go ahead with my plan and I'm actually really pleased with how it came out. If I did it again I'd probably change quite a lot of stuff but I'm glad I did what I did. After my social media idea really didn't work in real life the way it did in theory and kind of contradicted itself in that it was trying to get people to not be online but would have ended up as an online outcome, starting again was daunting. I'm really glad I went in a different direction though as I think it came out as being a lot more meaningful, especially to myself personally. It also gives others an insight into who I am as a person and I think that's pretty cool, especially to do it alongside Forage in which I was trying to figure out what I want to do after uni, it's cool to look back on the two projects together.

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More photos.

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These are my photos from my Dark Data project. The purpose of this is to look at the non places that make home, home. I’ve displayed them in a non place that was a place me and my friends used to spend a lot of time when we were younger and my mum used to take me to when I was little.

I left them hanging up so people could walk through and experience my view of home. A lot of the people that walk through there would be people who live in the town and therefore it gives them an experience of my own view of the place and what makes it feel like home to me.

I chose to do this after my original idea for Dark Data wasn’t really working out and, following a conversation with Nigel where I admitted I still was pretty confused by the brief, he told me for him it’s about the stuff that’s hidden. So this is my look at my city, the place where I grew up, the places that might be hidden but in a lot of ways make me who I am and are places that, however long I’m away feel like home as soon as I see them.

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“I am a Freelance Graphic Designer, Illustrator with 16 years experience in print and apparel Graphic Design. Currently living and working in London, my success lies in his ability to treat every project as if it is my first, maintaining the same level of freshness and enthusiasm.”

Neil Beech is currently head of design at Saltrock Surfwear, encompassing everything from garment design to websites and advertising to art directing and store concepts. 

I like his work for a lot of the same reasons I like Dan Gretta’s work, it has a really nice vintage handmade feel to it which I personally really love in design.

I like that whilst his work has a style it also has lots of differences and I really like the focus on typography within the images. Like Gretta, it remains simplistic in colour which I really like. 

My personal favourites are the two images at the top, I love the minimalistic colour and the way he’s used type and image. I also like how the images are understated and aren’t over detailed so they work with the type rather than detracting from it.

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“Dan Gretta is an award-winning designer located in the San Francisco area with a focus on branding and packaging. Dan specializes in consumer goods including wine, spirits, food, cosmetics and tobacco. No project is too small and no endeavor is too large.

Upon graduating from Philadelphia University in 2008, Dan was awarded the Maurice Kanbar Award for having one of the Top 5 portfolios. He began his career in advertising and brand strategy with clients like Turner Classic Movies, Virgin Mobile and Sony Pictures Classics at 1 Trick Pony. He later focused on branding and packaging in consumer goods ranging anywhere from cosmetics to beverages. More recently, Dan worked in the wine and spirits industry at CF Napa, where he helped brand new clients, rebrand existing clients, as well as design some fresh packaging.”

I love Dan Gretta’s work, I love how it has a vintage, handmade feel to it and the focus on beautiful type. I really like work that isn’t too over colourful and I think Dan’s work is really simple but in a beautiful and sophisticated way without that horrible Helvetica minimalism a lot of designers seem to get excited about.

Dan has worked with some amazing brands and has a wide variety of skills from packaging and branding & identity to web design and signage.

I think it’s really important to be versatile as a designer and not pigeonhole yourself to one or two things, that way you can get the most out of it and increase your skills and prevent yourself from getting bored. Dan is a great example of diverse skills and I find his work really inspiring.

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This is what I got from the David Pearson lecture:

“Come up with as many ideas as you can, as quick as you can.”

“Give yourself limitations, it can make you feel more creative.”

“Other people can give you a fresh viewpoint.”

“Be playful, audiences are smart, have fun with it.”

Get drunk and email your heroes.

“Doing stuff physically allows for mistakes which can work really well.”

“Don’t listen to other people’s rules, if you think something will work, try it.”

“Experiment, don’t be a type snob.”

“You just need to have ideas that are appropriate, don’t try and give yourself a style.”

“Deal with what’s in front of you and do what’s appropriate.”

“Listen to the brief, the answers are always in the problem.”

I really enjoyed David Pearson’s lecture, I love books and grew up with Penguin books so this was a great insight not only into book design in general but to Penguin in particular.

I think working with books after uni would be amazing so this was really cool to see how it works in practice and get real life advice from someone who is working in the industry.

I was inspired by this lecture and I may just get drunk and email my heroes, after all, “who doesn’t want to receive an email saying how great they are?”

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BA5 Self Evaluation

I completely fell out of love with uni this term. To the point that I wasn't sure if I wanted to be here anymore. I've had a lot to deal with at home the last few months and I think I took my frustration out in uni and decided that was the problem. Either way, I wasn't enjoying myself. It felt like a chore rather than something I wanted to do. Now everything is starting to settle down I'm feeling a lot better at uni and I think it always helps when you feel like you've got an idea to run with, I just wish I figured out what I wanted to do earlier in the term because I really like what I ended up with but wish I had more time to make it as good as it could have been.

All in all I kind of feel like it's a miracle that I actually made it though this term because there was points when it would have been a lot easier to walk away but I'm glad I didn't because I worked damn hard to get here and this really is where I want to be.

I was initially really excited about Make Your Mark because I think it's really interesting to look at yourself but also to see how other people see themselves. I spent ages looking at what makes you who you are, different theories and how you view yourself. I thought about things I like, things I hate, things that are important to me, the people that make me who I am, what I value, things that make me me that other people aren't necessarily aware of etc. I amassed a huge amount of things that make me who I am with no real thread to link them and no idea what to do with the information. This was when I realised it's really hard to show people who you really are and you've got to pick parts of yourself and present them. I then spent a considerable amount of time, more than I'd like to admit, doing personality tests and facebook analyses and the like. I think they turned out to be more of a time filler than anything, trying to make myself feel like I was getting somewhere. At this point I had no idea what I wanted to say about myself or what I wanted to make of it and was feeling thoroughly disheartened. After a particularly helpful crit with Emma she had me look at the way I say things and the fact that she thinks I'm quirky so I made a list of things about myself using the research from earlier and then set about putting them in a book as books are really important to me it seemed like a relevant medium. I couldn't get anywhere with the design and then Nigel suggested looking at Bob Dylan's video for 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' and also 86 The Onion's 'Hello' campaign. These really inspired me so I set about making signs using the list I made earlier. I made loads of signs which I was going to photograph myself holding to put into a book but as I was making them I decided they'd look really cool as a video like the projects I looked at for inspiration. I was planning on having other people in the video earlier, family & friends etc. but it was so hard to organise everyone that in the end I decided to do it on my own, after all it's about myself. I started by filming it and once I edited together, I kinda didn't like it. So instead I went back to taking photos. I wanted to create a stop motion kind of video or an effect like the Juno opening, to give it an indie kind of feel but I decided not to play too much with effects

Future Everything was really interesting as it had so much scope. As soon as I read the brief I was really interested in looking at the idea of migration. I wanted to make a point of how immigration is blamed for all the ills of our country when really migration is just a natural part of life. I started by looking at all the groups that have come from all over the world to settle in England throughout history to highlight that the England people want to keep 'pure' is made up of descendants of people from all across the globe anyway. Then after speaking with Jaygo I started looking at things that we class as typically British and how they in reality aren't really British at all which led to my Great British cup of tea poster. I decided fairly quickly that wasn't really what I wanted to do so I didn't develop it further. I decided I really wanted to learn something new as I tend to stick to doing the same things which doesn't really improve my skills. I've always wondered how GIFs are made which I decided to look into as I felt it was an appropriate way to engage my target audience, a currently very socially aware and vocal online community of 16-25 year olds. After toying with the idea of making a set of gifs and a poster I set out making cut out birds and planets to highlight natural migration. During a tutorial with Nigel though he suggested I look at land ownership and borders and moving so I ended up making a really informative little gif about the world and ownership. I'm so glad I tried something different because I really enjoyed learning to make GIFs and I'm proud that it's something I can say I can do now.

Again, I wish I hadn't spent so much time on research and spent more time on making stuff but after really struggling with ideas for a significant amount of the term I'm kind of pleased I got anywhere at all. I wish I'd figured out what I wanted to do earlier so I had more time to develop my work. I do really like the ideas I ended up with but I see them as more of a work in progress than finished pieces, I'd really like to continue developing them.

I actually feel like I got to grips more with back up work this term. I focused on sketchbook stuff in a big way for Make Your Mark whereas I used my blog more for the stuff I was doing with Future Everything. I think the back up methods kind of reflected the work I was doing but I definitely think it's something I'm getting better at it.

I'm actually pleased with where I got to this term because I've had so much to deal with and it's kind of my style to put my head in the sand and give up so I feel like I'm growing up a bit at last... Must definitely work on time management!

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This is the Mude Design & Fashion Museum in Lisbon, Portugal. It’s a great museum showcasing all different aspects of design and fashion throughout history from furniture to costumes and, when I was there, surfboards.

I really enjoyed walking round the museum as sometimes I get caught up in thinking design is always on paper but it’s so much more than that. Mude shows this in it’s interesting exhibitions that change frequently. I loved looking round the surfboards, finding out how they were made, how the designs affect how they work in water and what is used to make them.

Unfortunately photos weren’t permitted so I don’t have any images from inside the museum but here is a link to the website:

http://www.mude.pt/

And this is the link for the surfboard exhibition that was on whilst I was there.

http://www.mude.pt/exposicoes/made-in-portugal-surf_55.html

I don’t really enjoy art museums/galleries at all, you’re far more likely to find me in an aquarium or an actual museum but I enjoyed this one as it had so much different stuff to look at. It seemed to focus on more functional design also which I personally feel gives it more point. It was also very clearly an evolution of, not only design, but people as a whole. It was really interesting to see how things had changed in terms of fashion and living.

I would recommend a visit if you ever happen to find yourself in Lisbon!

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After looking through my Pinterest boards I remembered how much I loved type before uni and how I kind of don’t use it so much anymore.

I borrowed this book from my brother in law and absolutely loved it and have since started drawing type again. 

These are some of my favourite pages.

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Catfish

It’s really easy to check if someone else is using your Facebook photos online, just save the image and pop it into Google’s image search. It’ll return any results of it displayed on other websites.

I checked my account and those of my close friends, all of our accounts were fine apart from my niece’s which seemed to come up on multiple Instagram accounts but none were fake profiles.

It’s interesting to see where photos pop up but scary to think how easy it is for people to steal your identity.

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Facebook Estimates Between 5.5% and 11.2% of Accounts are Fake

Last week, during its fourth-quarter earnings report, Facebook revealed it had 1.23 billion monthly active users, 757 million daily active users, 945 million monthly active mobile users, and 556 million…

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Someone's Been Using My Facebook Photos to 'Catfish' People for Nearly a Decade | VICE | United Kingdom

They keep talking to men, and I keep meeting these men, and they're always angry, and it really has to stop.

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Facebook Users Beware: Someone May Be Stealing Your Identity

Social media experts warn more people are creating fake Facebook accounts, but it's not always clear why.

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Chilling Ad Shows How Easy It Is to Steal Your Online Identity

A chilling ad from a Belgian bank shows how easy it is to steal your online identity.