Type workshop with Paul

Experimenting with how to make the font represent the word.  Visual communicating what the word is before it's read.

Playing with the components of the letter S and the £ to create patterns and shapes.  I like the use of layering the letter to create a pattern that is still recognisable as the original letter.

I actually really enjoyed this workshop.  It was nice to be able to just draw the typefaces with a pen and tracing paper.  It gave us more freedom.  It's nice sometimes to go back to basics, it's easy to get bogged down with computer.

Fiona Banner and Barney Bubbles

Fiona Banner - "Harrier and Jaguar" 2010 Duveen Gallery installations at Tate Britain.  What I really liked about these pieces was how the function of the object was forgotten when you were looking at them.  I began to admire their form.  The sheer size of them completely dominates the viewer.  Especially "Harrier" the plane being hung upside down which really has an "Epic" feeling to it.  The idea of hanging a plane upside down also adds an element of danger and excitement.  "Jaguar" has been stripped of it's army coating and has a very reflective surface that makes you admire the beauty of the objects as objects not as machines designed to kill.

The Barney Bubbles exhibition was held at Chelsea just opposite the Tate.  I have to admit out of the 2 exhibitions I found this one the most inspiring as graphics is what interests me.  It was interesting to see how he used all the old methods like screen printing etc to create work.  I loved the drawings, plans that they had as well with logo designs with his annotations still on them.  It just helped to see a process to the pieces as well as something that was resolved.  I loved how when you got close to the work you could see the intense grid system he had carefully drawn out for each piece.  I was quite shocked by just how time consuming it must have been back then and how the whole thing felt very mathematical compared to the use of computer/ digital systems in the industry today.

The A to Z of videogames-Maicon Costa

http://uk.videogames.games.yahoo.com/blog/article/18179/the-a-to-z-of-videogames.html
Pretty interesting stuff.

forget 3, 5 is actually the magic number.

PPD - 5 places i'd like to do my work placement.
http://www.n1creative.com/
Design company that deals with more corporate work, which is what i'm really interested in.  I did a weeks work experience with them back in Yr 11 and loved it.

JR - Women are Heroes.

Was just watching Russel Howard's Good News on BB3 and he mentioned this artist and showed a film showing what it is he does.  Was pretty inspiring and just a really sweet idea.
http://www.jr-art.net/

La Boca

Formed in 2002, La Boca is an independent design circus specializing in art & design for the film, music and fashion industries. 

They produced the film posters for the new thriller Black Swan (Darren Aronfsky) Die to release in early 2011.




http://laboca.co.uk/LB3site/portfolio_st01.html
They produce some really striking work often using influences from 1920's design with stong, bold shapes and colours it's really effective.

MCR - Na Na Na Lyric Video

This has got to be one of the best lyric videos I've seen.  It's from the new My Chemical Romance single "Na Na Na"from their new album "Danger Days of the Fabulous Killjoys."  I like how they have made the effort to create a visual connection between the lyrics and images to create a often witty feel.  The bright colours are in keeping with the branding of this particular album with the different colours used.

Green Patriot Posters

http://www.greenpatriotposters.org/posters/index.php?page=5&p=320&sort=tr

Website where you can design your own poster to help fight against climate change, you can download their logo from the link.  I'm using one of the posters for my VCT essay.

Wyatt Hough

http://sketchybehavior.wordpress.com/

Really interesting ink blot illustarations by Wyatt Hough.  I really like the unpredictable nature of the ink blots and the purposely hand made look toward the images.

Maia Flore

http://www.maiaflore.com/project/sleep-elevations-/

Found these beautiful images from a link off the Urban Outfitters blog. http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/  Maria Flore is a paris based photographer who's work mainly consists of fashion photography.  Her site is currently under construction so there is only limited information on the pieces of work.  These 3 images are from a set titled "Sleep Elevations."  I love the use of space within the frame with the models usually suspended centrally.  The images have a surreal beauty that is created through the movement of fabric and hair, lighting, posture of the sleeping models and use of backgrounds that vary from misty fields to beaches.

Another image from the series "Big Head Poetry."  I like how this image is simple, surreal with the colours of the background highlighting the orange tone of the hair.  It's a disorientating image because it defies the usual conventions of a portrait shot with the face of the subject completely covered.  We don't expect to see this as a portrait, i with the hair being the only recognisible trait to the subjects identity.

I love the serenity of this photo.  It's from a set entitled "Lost Pieces."  The long material, the mist in the atmosphere, the soft lighting of what appears to be dawn creates a very calm image. There is a contrast between the strong lines of the ladder and the softness of the materials that helps draw the eye straight to the model.

Logo Design London

http://www.logodesignlondon.co.uk/logos/

13/11/2010 - Google

This is the Robert Louis Stevenson inspired google logo.  The Google logo has become such an iconic piece of branding that even when they regularly change it we are still aware that it's that logo.  What I think  makes this one successful is how no type at all has been used, merely using shapes within the image to define letters, the most obvious being the compass for the "O."  It's this subtle use of image that really brings to mind the idea that we are constantly consuming brands and over time we simply become numb to them, no longer needing all the details.