CLAIRE FREEMAN @claire-freeman - Tumblr Blog

Internship

I finished my internship a couple of weeks ago and have left with a real sense of how the industry works. I’ve gained insight into what makes a good designer from the super talented guys I worked with. Since starting my internship my design skills and knowledge have improved ten fold. The best thing I’ve gotten out of this experience is knowing where I want to be in the future.

#procon3

Week 8 Presenation

On Friday I did my second presentation which was another positive experience. On the last I’d spoke about the work on my internship so this time I focused on my BBC brief. I went though some of the development and UX processes such as the personas which led into my final desktop designs. The feedback I got was nothing but positive and Jo seemed really impressed with the amount I’d done.

#procon3 #nmp1

Sal’s Takeaway

The networking night was really fun! I went with a portfolio I’d created on an ipad and my cards. I got to have a chat with some agencies that I’d admired for years and all the feedback I got about my work was incredibly positive. Overall it was a great night!

#procon3

Business Cards

My business cards finally came for the network event and the grad show. Kept it really simple with the design as I’m not a fan of personal branding.

#procon3

Sal’s Takeaway - Screen Printing

I spent the morning helping @amyfrancisgraphicdesign with the pizza boxes. All 100 had already been printed on by overlaying each colour, but each had turned out different. So I helped print another layer of black onto the ‘Sal’s’ so that they all looked the same. I hadn’t done screen printing for years so learned a lot about the prep and process.

#procon3

NUX Workshop Last night I attended an NUX student even with a talk and a workshop. There was around six people from industry who all have careers within UX. It was really interesting hearing more about the basic process as well as issues within UX. The workshop was great because it really gave us a taste of what this role incorporates. We were played a short video of a user’s experience on a website, which featured eye tracking so we knew where he was looking. Our job was to identify any issues he had while on the site and generate a persona. We then used this to problem solve the issues using wireframes. Overall it was really interesting, but was really different to the design workshops I’ve previously attend. I think in terms of basic processes there's a lot I can take away and incorporate into my nmp projects.

#procon3

ipad Training

Today I went to the ipad training session Jules had put on. It was really useful to go through the ‘digital publishing’ side of Indesign as I’d personally never used it before. We made several pages which demonstrated different tools such as scrolling text, slide shows, buttons, video and audio players etc. The interactive elements were really nice touches and weren’t hard to incorporate. It’s got me thinking about my own pdf portfolio and whether I should produce a simple one just for ipad viewing.

#procon3

Internship & Live Briefs

Once my portfolio website was up I thought I’d give it ago at sending it to agencies to try and get a placement before I leave. As luck would have it my first email sent lead to a chat at a brand new studio where I was offered a 3 month internship. This now means a drastic change of my NMP. I will be working in the studio two days a week where I will be given live projects to work on, with my remaining days off I will be pushing them further to count as the majority of my nmp. The projects will mainly consist of web/experience design.

My second project which will also run throughout the 12 weeks is something UX based for the BBC. The nature of the live work means I will not be using tumblr for my NMP. However, I will produce two PDFs showing all research, development and outcomes for the projects

#nmp1 #procon3

Virtual tour of the Essoldo Cinema (Originally Longford) in Stretford, Manchester. Scenes include the Foyer, Stalls, Circle Cafe, Circle, Projection Room, Ro...

#nmp1

Garish cream - zine

Thought I’d have a quick attempt of something food related for the zine.

#procon3

Research - Blake Kathryn

#nmp1

Research - Peter Tarka

These pieces are originally what gave me the idea of taking key characteristics from the cinemas and constructing something that combines this and narratives. Peters work was all created in cinema 4d and I really like the matt finish to it.

#nmp1

Research - Laura Kicey

Construct is a series of images of places that do not exist. Their composite parts are the culmination of the ongoing photo-explorations. Using these photographic pieces, collected over the years, the artist blends together the intricate details of doors, bricks, peeling paint and mortar and gives them a new color and place of their own.

#nmp1

Gaumont - Oxford Road

I’ve found these brilliant photos that show the entrance to the Long Bar, the main foyer, the hall of mirrors and detail seen on the plaster work. This is quite a find because the photos of interiors don’t seem to either exist or be shared on the internet.

#nmp1

A celebration of Organist STANLEY TUDOR and the GAUMONT THEATRE Oxford Street Manchester. Stanley will be forever associated with this theatre and Mighty Wur...

#nmp1

The Gaumont - Oxford Street

- Opened 1935 with the first screening being “The Thirty-Nine Steps” - Designed by William T Bensly and James Morrison - Interior design by Theodore Komisarjevsky - his work was lavish with a double heigh entrance lined with mirrors and a grand stairway leading to the circle. - Wurlitzer Organ - opened by Stanley Tudor - it was considered the best instrument in the UK at the time. - Exterior - Italian Renascence style - largest neon display in the city with the name ‘Gaumont’ standing 4ft tall. - Long Bar - the basement had a 60ft bar (considered the longest in the country) and was popular with American servicemen in the early 60′s during the cold war. - Trafford Bar - through a set of double doors was a gay/drag bar - however, they only ever used a separate entrance. - Closed in 1974.

#nmp1

Real Memories of Longford’s

“I first went to longford cinema pre 1939 war to watch errol flynn as robing hood. sticks in my memory as does many other lesser films during the war i seem to remember a local man called john comer who during a night of bombing went on stage to entertain as we where not allowed out as bombs were falling! john comer later became a actor appearing in films etc and “the last of the summer wine”. My s.i.l worked there when it first opened and i have seen a picture of the staff on the opening night, her name is betty badham now living in califoria usa" - D Humphries

“My Mom, Betty Badham was one of the first girls to work at the Longford, I have heard many stories about what fun they all had, and I attended a movie their on a visit home. I do hope that something is done to preserve such a wonderful old building, so that it can become a viable part of your community again.” - Verna Nelson

“…it is part of my family history as my brother was the projectionist there for several yrs. I used to sneak in with my brother and sit up in the box or else creep in and sit on a back row in the dark to watch any films, I got thrown out a few times because some of the films were adult ones. I would only be about 10 or 12 yrs at the time. Happy days.” - Christine Burrows

“As a stretford/old trafford girl both these places played a huge part in my life, I remember going with my parents to the longford when I was quite small, on sunday evenings once a month they always had a live theare show and of course, I spent many a sunday evening on the back row sharing one of the very comfy double seats with the young man of the moment” - Shirley Dowson nee Thompson

*** Although I have found some nice stories of peoples memories I still think it would be best for create some fictional stories but perhaps I can loosely base them off what I’ve already found.

#nmp1

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

CLAIRE FREEMAN