Hello.

Mexican artist Gabriel Dawe makes all kinds of wondrous things...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 03:41:16 -0400

Mexican artist Gabriel Dawe makes all kinds of wondrous things with basic textiles. His ongoing series,Plexus, is a collection of unique, complex structures that form intricate patterns of color with sewing thread.

yoannmichaux: Study of Color by Sara Cwynar, Toronto Cooper...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 03:39:59 -0400

yoannmichaux:

Study of Color by Sara Cwynar, Toronto Cooper Cole Gallery

Sticky Notes Structures by Slinkachu is composed of 30 thousand...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 03:37:53 -0400

Sticky Notes Structures by Slinkachu is composed of 30 thousand cells of post-its.

teaim: owengildersleeve: This illustration that I recently...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 10:05:03 -0400

teaim:

owengildersleeve: This illustration that I recently created for the Many Hands Olympic Series is now available to purchase as a print from the store: http://www.many-hands.co/product/london-olympics

‘NOT MYSELF TODAY’ CAMPAIGN This is the first initiative from...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 10:04:36 -0400

‘NOT MYSELF TODAY’ CAMPAIGN

This is the first initiative from Partners for Mental Health designed to improve mental health in Canada. Critical to its success was to create an experience that would draw people into a conversation, encouraging a new, more open relationship with their feelings, and inspiring them to pledge their support. The identity thus had to be bold yet personal and comfortable. To do this, we created a spectrum of moods and corresponding colours that people could identify with, select and wear. We then put it out on the street to provoke engagement and dialogue, driving them to the website where they could learn more and pledge their support.

Blok Design

A Chromatic Typewriter, created by Washington-based painter...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 04:59:21 -0400

A Chromatic Typewriter, created by Washington-based painter Tyree Callahan … What a great invention!

timisherwood: tashatime: Tim face grad day (Taken with...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 04:58:22 -0400

timisherwood:

tashatime:

Tim face grad day (Taken with Instagram)

Ta da!

I hate the feel of chalk but I love the beautiful stuff it...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:48:58 -0400

I hate the feel of chalk but I love the beautiful stuff it produces!

Pets Rock - Air-freshener that looks like famous...

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:56:21 -0400

Pets Rock - Air-freshener that looks like famous people.

Absolutely brilliant. Made my day.

Barbers shops are the trend it may seem at the moment. Another...

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:43:16 -0400

Barbers shops are the trend it may seem at the moment. Another beautiful piece of branding and design here.

zoebirtlesprocon3: oliphillips: Chocolate Self...

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:29:42 -0400

zoebirtlesprocon3:

oliphillips:

Chocolate Self Promotion

by Charlotte Olsen

Ahh I see there is another Wonka inspired self promo. Currently weighing up what I proffer and don’t proffer. One things for sure, if you do a golden ticket, make it gold!

What I've learnt About Me

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:02:00 -0400

Although I do not intend to ever stop blogging, the purpose for which this blog was originally set up, finishes tomorrow - yes, my final hand-in is almost here. Since starting my degree I’ve learnt a lot about design, but also about myself as a designer

So I’ve decided to do a little reflection on what my interests and skills are and what I’d like to pursue as I enter out into the big wide design world.

Patterns

Since we did the MagMA brief, I have become quite obsessed with patterns. I’ve discovered surface pattern designers such as Orla Kiely (see below) and Cath Kidston and now I’m hooked. Since then I’ve done another brief in which I had to hand draw illustrations to form a repeat pattern and I’ve seen patterns used quite frequently in visual identities. This is definitely an interest I have within design.

Brand Identity

Getting a company name or organisation on a piece of paper and then taking that name and creating a whole new and exciting visual identity for it, making it recognisable and making it beautiful. And beautiful does not necessarily mean pretty. If it meets the purpose, does the trick, then it is a beautiful piece of identity design and for me one of the most satisfying and enjoyable.

Packaging

Marks and Spencer’s is no longer a place of shopping, but a place of inspiration. Just the other week whilst on placement I spent part of my dinner hour inspecting the shelves of M&S Horwich and drooling over the packaging. Whilst excessive packaging can be ugly and impractical, well designed and straight to the point packaging, packaging that’s fun and oozes what the product’s about, is very very lovely. On a side note, packaging is mostly for food and I love food. Fact.

Advertising

Advertising for me is actually a bit of a surprise. When I hear the word Advertising, and I think of the industry, to me it just sounds daunting, very very daunting. However, after a recent conversation with some industry members, I was told that I actually have quite an advertising head and that whilst I have good design skills, they are all led my concept. Most of my work is about the gimmick, but whilst this seems silly, the truth is, gimmicks sell. And now on reflection, I do enjoy coming up with a good tagline and I love a good visual metaphor. Advertising could be the way to go…

Print

I’ve also found that I seem to have become a bit of a campaigner for print. I got the chance to develop my website this year and whilst I enjoyed the experience, I still love print. It’s physical and it smells, yes smells. The emergence of the Kindle did make me think about the practicality of print, but I like smelling the pages of a book, or feeling a screen printed poster. There’s so much more to this argument but I’ll save that for another post.

Wordplay/Copywriting/Blogging

Even before studying design, I have always had a strong interest in English Language and have always enjoyed creative writing, doing short stories and poetry. Thankfully, this interest and skill has overflowed into my design work and I’ve found it to be really useful. I do love word play and especially when developing taglines, I’ve found my copy writing abilities to be really helpful and I really enjoy that side. I’ve also found a voice within blogging and tweeting. There’s nothing wrong with having an opinion and it’s great to comment and be vocal in your thoughts.

Morag Myerscough has definitely been an influence over my recent work. After listening to her...

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:05:03 -0400

Morag Myerscough has definitely been an influence over my recent work. After listening to her talk at the Manchester Design Symposium, she had a quite unique take on her approach to design.

At first glance her work seems wacky, but the great thing about it, is how you just can’t miss it. It’s in your face, it’s bright and colourful. I particularly like that she has produced much wayfinding, as her designs diversify from the typical boring and regimental signage system, instead evoking fun and craziness.

Final boards printed for my Major Project. It’s actually...

Thu, 10 May 2012 12:48:00 -0400

Final boards printed for my Major Project.

It’s actually amazing how nice things look when printed. Somehow, things on screen never match up to the real life print.

Long live print!

lauralouisabettsprocon3: Emma Lee- I used a blue and black...

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:05:25 -0400

lauralouisabettsprocon3:

Emma Lee- I used a blue and black biro, and a bold black pen to create my original illustration before scanning it in to photoshop where I used tools to remove one of the eyes and add the splattered paint and the writing. My research into Despau’s work influenced me to experiment like this. I am pretty proud of myself, I honestly didn’t think I would be able to do something like this, so I’ve surprised myself. Hopefully Tash and co. will be proud too.

Ah this is brilliant Laura!!! Thanks :)

I got asked before Easter to help a friend with her Final Major...

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:40 -0400

I got asked before Easter to help a friend with her Final Major Project over on the Design for Digital Media course. She had to match stereotypes to different sauces. She asked me (don’t know why) to be the spoilt brat. Despite what anyone says this is the complete opposite of me! And so the shoot required a little acting, and between giggles I think it’s come out great. I’ve seeen the other stereotypes too and they all look fantastic. Well done Rachel who was the Designer, Photographer and Art Director - all for her FMP.

clairehartley: Optimism / Pessimism This is brilliant and...

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:47:52 -0400

clairehartley:

Optimism / Pessimism

This is brilliant and great inspiration for my luck project as optimism is a huge part of making your own luck. I also like how the optimistic half full poster is portrayed using yellow, my brand colour.

After discussing with Lee on Thursday about my Luck campaign it...

Tue, 08 May 2012 04:59:14 -0400

After discussing with Lee on Thursday about my Luck campaign it appear something was missing, possibily a colour change. After some experimentation it appear that placing the colour on a gray background actually gave it more prominence. I als talked to Martin at Arena, and he mentioned that it would need something to pull it all together, maybe a website. But as I felt websites are pretty much the popular choice these days, he suggested a book. So I’m currently in the process of creating “The Luck Laboratory: The Book”

lauralouisabettsprocon3: Laura Pearson, I really enjoyed this...

Sun, 06 May 2012 04:57:53 -0400

lauralouisabettsprocon3:

Laura Pearson, I really enjoyed this illustration because I knew exactly how I wanted it to look. Laura’s work often has handmade element or quality, she loves sewing and her blog is called cute as a button so I bought some buttons to include in my illustration and I really like the result, I think it represents a bit of Laura’s personality.

Laura Bett’s work is AMAZING!!! I want one…

Get With The Flow

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:41:09 -0400

After discussing with Tash about my NMP it became clear that people see the world differently. Very much like the whole glass half full/half empty predicament.

A few scenarios were suggested in which people view them in either a positive or negative way. Dependent on which type of person you are, reflects on how lucky you are. As those who are lucky, find an oportunity in everything whereas those who are unlucky, tend to give up at the first hurdle.

I’m in the process of developing flow charts which illustrate the different routes life can go dependent on whether or not you CHOOSE to be lucky.