OUGD602 - Dr. Me Studio Workshop

Today the two members that form Dr. Me, Ryan and Mark, paid a visit to our college studio and guided us through a collage zine making workshop.

They provided us with some really interesting material to make small, very lo-fi zines with, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The workshop was a really welcomed break from the pressures of COP, and has provided me with some interesting work which I plan to work into and potentially use in future projects. The techniques they encouraged us to use were very straightforward and I will definitely remember them for future briefs in level 06.

At the end of the session, I approached Ryan and Mark to discuss the potential for work experience, but unfortunately they had to decline due to the size of their studio and the scope of work that they undertake. Dr. Me is the type of studio environment that I could see myself working in, and I was fairly disappointed that I wasn't able to secure some work experience with them. However, I will aim to keep in touch with them, as they both seemed like genuinely nice guys and they will be good contacts to have for when I graduate.

OUGD602 - Career's Advice Meeting @ Village - 30/11/16

Today I attended a careers advice workshop at Village in Leeds. I had a one on one session with an ex student from LCA, who graduated this year.

We discussed life after college, what sort of opportunities there are for recent graduates, the prospects of freelancing and getting in contact with studios and freelance designers.

What I took away from the session:

The chat was pretty brief, but it filled me with confidence and has made me excited to continue getting in contact with people. It was really positive to hear that a student from LCA has been so successful since graduating. It also opened up my eyes to the freedoms of freelancing.

OUGD602 - PPP Employability Workshop 4/11/16

Today we did a workshop with Alec from Intern Magazine, focused on life after the course. The aim of the session was to discuss the themes of employability, making money from your work, self branding and successful networking attitudes. It was also highly focused on discussing insecurities with the intent to boost self confidence.

The first exercise we did was to critique each other's online presence in small groups. I found this particularly useful as currently, my online presence is pretty minimal and could do with a lot of work in order for it to reflect my practice in a more professional manner.

The only 'professional' online presence I have currently resides on a Tumblr domain, so this was all I was able to present to my group. I do use Instagram, but this is a personal account at the moment. I am considering setting up profiles on Behance and LinkedIn to further my presence.

Feedback received:

Start - update my personal website more often and consider changing the theme to make it seem more professional and reflective of my practice. Consider creating a presence on other social media platforms to widen your reach and get your voice heard. Perhaps make a separate Instagram account for professional development?

Stop - using short descriptions on personal website - pad out the descriptions so that users get a well rounded idea of the project and all of its contexts and background considerations

Continue - producing great work and uploading it online - stay true to your own aesthetic and style but just make sure it looks professionally presented online

The second exercise we did was focused on voicing anxieties we have concerning the course and the topic of graphic design in general. We wrote them down and discussed them with group, which was actually really useful.

My main current anxieties include:

- Getting in contact with studios/practitioners in general
- Supporting myself after I graduate from LCA
- Finding work that enjoy and feel inspired to do
- Worried that my aesthetic may be understood/interpreted in a way I wouldn't like it to be

The group identified and was able to relate to these concerns. I also spoke to Alec about contacting designers, and he basically told me not to worry, as at the end of the day, most of these people are actually pretty down to earth. Talking to 'professionals' shouldn't be seen as a daunting task, as they are only human at the end of the day. I need to stop idolising people and putting them on a pedestal, as this puts them out of reach. I just need to remember to be confident and don't let me nerves get in the way of putting myself at an advantage.

The final exercise involved us considering our 'spheres of influence'. We had to consider the people around us that inspire us to do what we do. I also thought about areas, places and other cultural influences which have an impact on my practice. These include:

Creative cities in Europe - in particular Berlin
Contemporary trends in design
Historical and contextual factors - COP has really helped me to realise my concerns and interests
DIY design studios such as Dr. Me
Fine art is a big passion of mine and constantly informs my practice

What I took away from today's session:

Give yourself experience - there will be plenty of people out there who will tell you that you don't have experience and therefore won't find work. If you give yourself the experience, through creating your own opportunities, then you will overcome the negatives attitudes that await you after you graduate

Set yourself briefs, solve other people's problems for them without them asking you to, re-visit old briefs, enter as many competitions as possible and just keep busy.

Confidence is the biggest tool to use to get you anywhere. If you don't appear to believe in yourself and the work you are undertaking, no one else will.

Surround yourself with like-minded people who are nice and do interesting things. This immediate sphere of positive influence can carry you a long way.

OUGD602 - 3/11/16 - First Extended Practice Crit

Today we had our first formal feedback session in a small group. I presented the work I have been getting on with for my current live brief; designing a set of posters for The Real Junk Food Project in Leeds. The session was useful in helping me to think deeper about the work and adopt a more critical approach the content. It also helped me to think about what I need to put in place to become a lot more organised.

Issues Raised:

The work has to be able to appeal to a very diverse group of people, as the aim of the Junk-Food project is to be inclusive of many different types people in society who find themselves in situations of food insecurity. At the moment, the aesthetic of the work is highly contemporary and perhaps not speaking to a broad enough audience - this has to be assessed

Needs to make people comfortable - when they enter the cafe's, this will be the first thing they see, so it needs to make them feel instantly welcome to the environment. The idea of eating 'waste' food could seem off-putting to certain people, therefore the visuals need to reassure them of the legitimacy of the project

Pay As You Feel means more than just money, so far the PAYF posters are pretty much completely focused on the idea of paying with money - consider moving away from this in order to strike a more appropriate tone of voice - the project caters towards people who perhaps don't have much money, so the emphasis needs to shift here

Perhaps consider producing some sort of conceptual business card which acts as an advertisement for the cause, encouraging people who are unaware of the project or maybe even embarrassed to use the cafes to engage and spread the positive message - a good way of extending the work past the initial outcomes agreed with the client

Action To Be Taken:

I need to set my own restrictions, deliverables and deadlines for this brief as the 'client' has pretty much left me to own devises. In order to be productive and efficient with this brief, I need to get more organised and put way more thought into the background considerations and the contexts in which the work will ultimately appear

Contact the project again and ask them about any specific problems that they are facing right now - what needs addressing and what can be solved through visual communication/ a graphic output?


General Feedback:

The designs needs to make the food seem a lot more appealing that it actually is. The designs have to reflect a certain atmosphere that will entice people to engage with the project.

Make appropriate production considerations - think about making it as cheap and sustainable as possible

Consider printing the designs using screen-printing or risograph techniques to give it texture and authenticity

The colour palettes needs assessing - currently they don't really suit the context, seem a bit random - also the outlining of the type and the illustrations cheapen the aesthetic and make it seem slightly childish

OUGD602 - PosterZine - Inspiration

Posterzine is where a poster meets a magazine — a mini monograph magazine which folds out to reveal a gorgeous A1 format poster (594x841mm).

I think this concept is exciting and refreshing. Posterzine strengthens relationships between the industries, brands, organisations and individuals through a series of crisp, articulate interviews and insights into talented and established professionals from around the world. Posterzine also represents a refreshing departure from the traditional publishing models.

I think that I want to produce a creative CV which would incorporate a small selection of my work (condensed portfolio) in a similar format to poster zine, which would kill two birds with one stone. I don't see anything wrong with taking direct inspiration from Posterzine's format and turning into something which is representational of my own practice. 

OUGD602 - Personal Branding Type Experiments

I decided to experiment with type, applying some deconstructivist techniques to one of the world's most famous typefaces: Helvetica. This typeface has featured a lot in my recent design work so I saw it fitting to use in some personal branding experiments. 

I didn't really have much reasoning behind the destruction of the typeface, I just find it fun and enjoy seeing the results that come from being random and experimental. The patterns produced are interesting to me and could work as patterns within my new personal branding. I'm going to continue to play about and will consider using other typefaces, mixing and combining the various outcomes.

OUGD502 - Brief 02 - Where Do I See Myself Going?

      My dream would be to work in either Berlin or Amsterdam. I have been to these cities and felt really relaxed and at home there. Honestly I don’t know exactly where I see myself going. I think I would integrate well in design agency or studio like HORT, Node or Only in Leeds. I know I have interests and passions for editorial, poster and identity/branding design, and these studios do a lot of his. These are areas I think I would flourish in in industry.. To make work that excites me and makes me happy is always the ultimate goal for me. I am always striving to be as experimental as possible in my work. 

      Taking care of business was a great exercise because it allowed me to realise that I don’t really see myself setting up a studio straight away after graduating. I am not saying that I wouldn’t consider doing it at some point in my career but I know that I wouldn’t have the confidence to leave uni and start a business.   

      Plans for summer. I want to enter lots of competitons, continue researching and getting in contact with creatives, do some work experience with a photographer that I am related to, have an amazing time interraling and volunteering at festivals. I value experience and think that they influence my practice much more than contextual studies ever will. What I see and absorb really drives my creative concerns. I want to really try to talk to as many people as I can throughout summer and level 6. 

      Goals for level 06:

      Get my name out there and continue entering as many competitions as possible. Look for as many creative opportunities outside of college as I can through being confident and sending out my promotional pack to as many places as I can. I want to really enjoy the last year of the course and make the most of the resources available to me while I can. 

OUGD502 - Brief 01 - Tumblr & Pinterest Finds

I use Tumblr and Pinterest on a daily basis to find exciting sources of inspiration and visual stimulation. Everything that I come across that I like is saved for future reference. I use these sites as huge virtual mood boards. They really are invaluable sources for research, they make my creative process more dynamic and ever changing. Below are a few examples of stuff that I have come across that really excite me. I am grateful that these sites exist and are free to use, I honestly think that my creative would be drastically different to what it is at the moment if it weren't for these wonderful tools.

I came across some great examples of DIY publishing on Pinterest. Some really vibrant use of image, composition and nice printing techniques. Pinterest and Tumblr showcase emerging trends, aesthetics and waves so it's good to constantly refer back to it when working on a specific brief or just when I'm feeling low on inspiration.

OUGD502 - Brief 01 - Defining My Practice Now

Last year, I defined/branded myself as a 'Creative Thinker' and 'An artist that does design'. At the time. these phrases felt appropriate because I didn't really know how to or want to define my practice completely. I didn't believe in pigeon holing myself into a corner with an all encompassing label such as 'Graphic Designer'. I feel that the term graphic design has become so blurred, fluid and interchangeable now that it has almost become impossible to define as an art form. Therefore, I don't see the need to define myself as a graphic designer. I think this limits your potential, as others see you as a preconceived idea of that practice.

I decided  brand myself as a 'Creative Creature' for a number of reasons. My creative concerns and horizons have broadened since staring level 05. I am beginning to realise that my design practice has the ability to change views and opinions and promote positive social and cultural change. I also realise that I can do pretty much whatever I want creatively. I believe design should be a purely expression of the designer, reflecting their personality. I am constantly experimenting with mixed media and techniques. I have a more profound interest in typography and letterforms, form following function, composition, colour and image making. I know view myself as being a creative creature rather than a creative thinker. This is conceptual for a number of reasons. One because it ties in nicely with my surname. Wolves are creatures who are cunning, resourceful and work well in groups, and I feel I have these characteristics. Secondly, because I feel that at the end of the day, I am a creature who lives and breathes creativity, and I don’t care how pretentious that sounds, because I can be pretentious, and I like it. I really don't know what I would be doing with my time if I didn't have some form of productive creative outlet. I really can't see myself doing anything else for the rest of my life.

OUGD502 - Brief 02 - Personal Branding - Zine Portfolio

I decided to redesign my mini porfolio in the format of a zine, keeping it very consistent, confident and minimal. I believe that you shouldn't reveal too much about yourself, your talent or creative concerns. You have to tease people, entice them into wanting to find out more about you as a person. My zine portolfio doesn't reveal too much or little, just enough in my opinion. I printed it out at A6 scale which is convenient because it can be put in your pocket or bag easily. The zine portfolio will appear in my promotional pack or can be distributed individually when I am meeting new people for the first time. 

OUGD502 - Brief 02 - Self Branding Reflection

My self branding from last year is certainly representational of the designer that I was. I have definitely changed in terms of my design process and practice, therefore my self branding needed to be adapted accordingly to reflect this growth.

I refined everything, beginning with the logo. I chose a more appropriate, contemporary typeface and applied this across the collateral. Everything is consistent and uniform, something I felt was lacking last year. Everything feels more harmonious and mature this year which I am content with. I have developed pieces of collateral which are more representational of my personality, including the 50% off vouches, the shorted creative CV and the more concise zine portfolio.

I believe my updated promotional pack and refined online presence will provide me with more confidence in seeking out professional work in the creative industries.

OUGD502 - Brief 02 - Product, Range, Distribution

Product: Me! My creativity, my unique world views, my opinions and stances on creativity

Range: All of my skills, my passions, my portfolio and self branding

Distribution: I would send my personal promotional pack out to studios, agencies and clients in the hopes of securing work in the future. The pack is an ideal size for positing, and could even be made smaller and more efficient to distribute.

Realistically, I would send my promotional pack out to studios in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and London. I think it would be easier for me to get my foot in the door of the creative industries here in the UK to begin with, as I can speak the language and understand British creative culture immensely. The ultimate aim would be to end up in a city such as Berlin, Amsterdam or Barcelona in the near future, as it has always been an ambition of mine to work internationally and collaboratively. 

Sending out my promotional pack would definitely get me noticed, as physical branding/identity is much harder to ignore and dismiss when compared to a simple email that would probably be deleted straight away. I am confident and proud of my updated identity and would have no problem distributing it far and wide across the UK and Europe, and maybe even the US. 

OUGD502 - Brief 01 - Evaluation

Initially, brief 01 appeared to be rather daunting, as it required me to leave the comfort zone of the college. However, I soon came to realise that it was a very straightforward brief. Conducting the creative report allowed me to refine and realise my creative ambitions, concerns and interests. Contacting numerous creative professionals was a great experience for me, as I had never done it before. It taught me a lot about communication and boosted my confidence. It has given me great insight into the design processes of other people that share similar creative concerns and interest to me, as well as furthering my understanding of domestic and international creative industries. Creating the report was a positive experience as I was able to learn a lot about communication and general attitudes towards visual culture along the way. Learning about the way other creatives operate has filled me with inspiration and ambition, aiding me to set realistic goals for my practice for the remainder of the course and for life after college.

Deciding who to get in contact with was quite challenging, as I admire such a varied number of contemporary creative practitioners. I began my process with research, looking through my Instagram and Tumblr accounts, looking for people that really interest and inspire me. I was seeking to get into contact with people that were located closely geographically. I saw this brief as a great opportunity to form a relationship with a practicing designer/artist to potentially develop a rapport with them, gain further contacts and open up discussion about the possibilities of collaboration and work placements.

In order to secure a reply, I contacted several practitioners using email as my main tool. In hindsight this was the worst way to go about starting a project like this, and I have definitely learnt that this is the least effective way of grabbing someone’s attention. I was fortunate to receive replies from Supermundane, who was an absolute joy to talk with. He had an extremely open and friendly attitude and gave me some solid advice and tips on how to stand on my own feet when graduating with a creative degree. It was really exciting to be talking with such a prolific, talented person that I had been admiring for a while. I very much enjoyed formatting our conversation into a publication.

Alongside the report, I found the process of research very stimulating and fulfilling to my evolution as a young designer. I constantly engage with creative culture through reading books, magazines, creative blogs, social media and visiting exhibitions, shows, events and just through having friends who are interested in similar themes and areas of culture. A highlight of 2016 so far has been attending a talk from the director of Anorak magazine. It was great to get to learn about the concepts and ethos of such an original publication. Supermundane collaborated a lot with the magazine in its early stages, so it was nice to see how it had grown since its creation 10 years ago.

Overall, I have found brief 01 immensely engaging and useful to my personal development. It has greatly improved my confidence in terms of communicating with professionals and asking useful questions. I aim to contact many more practitioners and studios over the summer to continue building up a useful network of creatives to guide me through the process of entering the creative industries in roughly a years time. 

OUGD502 - Brief 02 - Design Strategy Presentation Notes

Design Strategy Presentation notes:

1) Hello, I’m Cameron and I am a creative creature based in Leeds

2) So who was I last year? Well, I was a bit all over the place in terms of who I thought I was. I began first year on quite an unstable foot, but I quickly turned that around thanks to my incredibly positive and optimistic core attitude. I viewed myself as an artist that does design.

3)  As a learner: I came to this course knowing very little about the ‘conventions’ of graphic design. I felt a bit like an art student trapped in a graphic design loop. I knew barely anything about type, grids and all the terminology. I did feel a bit out my depth. I was good at researching, but not so good at analysing and being critical about design.  

4) As a creative: I branded myself as a creative thinker last year, because I didn’t want to pigeon hole myself into the box of being a graphic designer. This was and still is very important to me and central to my creative practice

5) So who do I think I am now? I still believe in I am a creative thinker. I have very broad and eclectic creative interests and concerns. I think that nowadays, its almost impossible to brand yourself as a graphic designer, because the term graphic design has become almost indefinable, or at least that is how I view it. Visual communication is so interchangeable, so fluid and free nowadays, that I think by calling yourself one thing, you are limiting your potential

6) As a learner, I feel I have developed through engaging with the course a great deal. I have really benefited from critique sessions and my critical analysis skills have definitely improved

7) My creative concerns and horizons have broadened since staring level 05. I am beginning to realise that my design practice has the ability to change views and opinions and promote positive social and cultural change. I also realise that I can do pretty much whatever I want creatively. I believe design should be a purely expression of the designer, reflecting their personality. I am constantly experimenting with mixed media and techniques. I have a more profound interest in typography and letterforms, form following function, composition, colour and image making

8) I know view myself as being a creative creature rather than a creative thinker. This is conceptual for a number of reasons. One because it ties in nicely with my surname, two because I feel that at the end of the day, I am a creature who lives and breathes creativity, and I don’t care how pretentious that sounds, because I can be pretentious, and I like it.

9) So this is my logo – it is consistent throughout my evaluated self identity collateral. The logo represents a half moon which is a reference to my surname. It comes in a number of various simplistic textured patterns

10)             My business cards carry the theme of halves, because sometimes I feel like I have a split mentality when it comes to design. The theme of the moon going through phases is central to my redesigned identity. I am constantly going through phases in my creative life. Sometimes I really love modernist, minimalistic clean form following function design and other times I just want to tear everything up and create something completely mad and illegible. The grey half on the back is a perfect space to make notes or doodles.

11)             Here is my collateral, including 50% OFF vouchers, a creative CV, zine portfolio and stickers I also decided to mock up a small website which would showcase my most recent work

12)             How others see me – people said that I am very confident in my self, great at listening and giving advice, bold and experimental within my work and approaches to briefs.

13)             Positive overall – I have had my up’s and downs but this is completely natural and I wouldn’t expect anything less – I really have enjoyed the briefs we have been doing this year

14)             I am currently concerned with using design to promote poignant social and cultural messages. I really loved working on the Monotype brief for responsive as it allowed me to voice my opinion on a subject that is very close to me. It also pushed me out of my comfort zone as I had to design by using type only.

15)             Illustrator and Indesign printing – I would love to gain further skills in all of the adobe programmes especially illustrator and after effects

16)             I think my conceptual thinking skills have developed the most since level 04, they were already there, but they have definitely evolved and become more mature

17)             Improved confidence in analysing and being critical about my own design and others. Giving more useful feedback to others and really listening to feedback given about my work, using it to push my practice further

18)             Strengthened friendships and really positive social life

19)             People I contacted for the creative report – the majority didn’t get back to me, because I was lazy and not persistent enough. I have definitely learnt from this.

20)             Supermundane got back to me, and I definitely took a lot away from our conversation. He gave me some great advice concerning graduating from the course, staying confident, staying relevant and inspired

21)             Dreams, to work in Berlin or Amsterdam – to make work that excites me and makes me happy – to be as experimental as possible in my work

22)             Taking care of business was a great exercise because it allowed me to realise that I don’t really see myself setting up a studio straight away after graduating. I am not saying that I wouldn’t consider doing it at some point in my career but I know that I wouldn’t have the confidence to leave uni and start a business

23)             Honestly I don’t know exactly where I see myself going. I think I would integrate well in design agency or studio like HORT, Node or Only. I know I have interests and passions for editorial, poster and identity/branding design, so these are areas I think I would flourish in in industry

24)             Plans for summer, enter lots of competitons, continue researching and getting in contact with creatives, do some work experience with a photographer that I am related to, have an amazing time interraling and volunteering at festivals

25)             Talk to as many people as I can in level 6. Get my name out there and continue entering as many competitions as possible. Look for as many creative opportunities outside of college as I can

26)             Thanks!

OUGD502 - Brief 02 - My Favourite Work From Level 05

OUGD502 - Brief 02 - Plans for Summer 2016

 I have a lot planned for summer 2016 already. I am going to be volunteering at a number of music festivals which is always fun. I enjoy doing this because I get to go for a festival for free and meet a bunch of really interesting people that I wouldn't necessarily encounter within my social circles in Leeds.

I am also going interrailing across Europe which will be an amazing experience. I am hoping to get the chance to visit a number of galleries and museums on my travels which is always great for inspiration and stimulating my creative mind.

Work experience with Carolyn Barber. Carolyn is my second cousin on my dad's side. She is a freelance professional photographer who works across editorial, fashion, interior, product and food photography. A few years ago, I did a week's work experience with her, accompanying her on live photography shoots and witnessed her creative process first hand. It was a great experience and I got to meet a range of people involved on the shoot. She even let me set up some of the compositions and shoot the camera myself which was a lot of fun. I am planning on getting in contact with her to see if it would be at all possible to accompany her again on some exciting shoots to gain further experience and network with some professionals. I think this would be a great opportunity and good use of time during the summer break. Below are a few examples of her vibrant photographic work:

Research more studios - I plan to be continually researching and engaging with studios over the summer break. I am going to be travelling a lot, so I will do some research into interesting studios in Poland, Hungary and Italy and see if it would be at all possible to visit some studios whilst I am travelling through Europe. I am going to make the concious effort to contact more people, start conversations build up a great base of contacts in the creative industries. I realise that getting my name out there and getting as many names on my list will be vital to my success for when I graduate. I have always know that it is who you know, not what you know that will help me succeed in the future, and this couldn't be any more important in today's creative culture.

Enter loads of competition to keep busy! Last summer, I made the effort to enter a number of creative competitions to keep my creative juices flowing. The summer break is such a long period of time, and I feel that this year in particular, I may become lazy and stagnant in my practice. I have really loved the responsive module this year. Entering the live, professional briefs was a real challenge for me. The projects pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I have produced some really exciting work that I am proud to put in my portfolio. Responsive has made me more confident and I need to maintain and build on this confidence. I will look on websites such as BlankPoster, TalentHouse and 99Designs constantly to look for exciting opportunities and creative openings for me over the summer break.

OUGD502 - Brief 02 - Personal Branding Experimentation

I wanted my personal branding to continue along the theme of the moon and the shapes, textures and patterns associated with its form. I decided to play around with some work that I had done on my foundation course. I had completed a piece of work in which we had to create a graphic score in response to an abstract piece of experimental music. The outcome produced was bold and minimalistic, and it wasn't until recently that I realised that the outcomes resembled moons. I thought it would be a nice idea to experiment with incorporating these experiments from the past. 

I then decided to play around with mono-printing to create patterns and textures that could be used throughout my personal branding/identity. The experiments were inspired by signs and symbols associated with the moon. 

I also experimented with drawing logos by hand to give my personal branding a more authentic feel and a personal touch. These experiments were nice, but not strong enough even when translated into vector art. It was a worth while use of time however.