Year 2
Harvard referencing practice
Nobel, I. and Russell, Bestley. (2018) Visual research: an introduction to research methods in graphic design. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
Reference images used in research in your work
https://academicsupportonline.arts.ac.uk/learning-resources/6169
Can reference live speech (cite them right) on lectures e.g. designers talk
Careers support: 1:1’s tailored to your units, deadlines & industry. CV checks, DPS applications, portfolio reviews or any other 1:1 support you might need.
After the session I applied to the mentoring program as I think that it would be invaluable to be able to talk to discuss with a professional in a field that I want to pursue.
Grid – a system for organising layout and which gives harmony and consistency in multi page documents
Shift and command to resize an imageÂ
Links – where the image file is being linked fromÂ
Images are linked not embedded
Package files for InDesign (all linked images in a folder)
File – package
Edit- spelling – check spelling
Lakwena Maciver creates painted prayers and meditations using acid-bright colour and bold typographic text which respond to and re-appropriate elements of popular culture.
I first saw Lakwena’s work on instagram when a friend shared her work. I am drawn to the messages of her work as she shares her beliefs in a way that is accessible and relatable to everyone.
‘I’ve worked hard at whatever I did. I’ve kept busy. I’ve taken every opportunity that came my way, paid or unpaid. I’ve worked out what interests me… coming out of art school and thinking about what separated me from other people. What made me who I was, what was distinctive about me, what set me apart?
WonderVision Films (2018) Lakwena speaks on painting walls around the world & how she creates for the biggest brands. 19/2/2018. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYvTG7SDK88(Accessed: 10/10/21).
I find her advice about thinking about what makes us who we are and what makes us different from others helpful, especially in the context of this unit where I am thinking about my own practice and story.
Start making work. Make work that is your own. Be a servant in every situation. I’m not trying to be the best, I’m trying to be the best servant .
WonderVision Films (2018) Lakwena speaks on painting walls around the world & how she creates for the biggest brands. 19/2/2018. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYvTG7SDK88(Accessed: 10/10/21).
Things we are learning:
Web Design Inspiration:
www.hoverstat.es
What is Editorial Design & Layout?
To design with structure, rhythm and within a set of self generated or
supplied design rules. Including grids, type hierarchy, margins, gutters
and such like. You will be required to consider and explore the
composition of components (photography, illustrations, diagrams)
within page layouts along with the setting of text.
Other Important Considerations:
Historical References — ‘Look back to look forward’
— He was the art director of Twen from its beginnings
in 1959 till its end in 1970
— Fleckhaus was heavily influenced by the Swiss formalism shown
in the layout of the Twen magazine. He used rigid grid layout,
simple typography and striking, often erotic, images
— The grid of the Twen magazine was 12 column grid which was used
in a seemingly endless number of ways combining its columns to
produce two, three, four or six column layout. This is considered one
of the most notable grids ever developed for magazine layout
Individually kern your headlines and sub header text lines. These texts will be prominent on your pages, it is important that you consider and edit the kerning on these text lines.
Lisa Rahman (2021) ‘A Talk by Lisa Rahman’ [Online lecture]. Unit 5, Professional Practice. Chelsea College of Arts. 14 October. Available at: UAL Moodle (Accessed: 14/10/21).
For Lisa, research is an integral part of a project. The turn around in the professional world from the idea to realising the idea is fast. At uni we have more time to work and the room to make mistakes and learn from them. The constraints of deadlines means that you end up with something.
Negotiation with the clients:
Listening to why they feel like they really want that thing. If I can understand why they are pushing so hard for that.
The work she did in uni went on to impact she went on to do in professional practice.
To see her progress from uni to professional work is really encouraging as the processes, experimentation and realisation of her ideas and response to the brief helped inform her choices in a professional workplace. It challenges me to focus on particular parts of graphic design that I want to learn more about and work in, in the future.
8 weeks to make an entire magazine
Utilising the skills that they have within the team to bring the pages to life
What would you recommend to students who are starting their professional practice?
Task: to create an A3 landscape orientation mood board
Time duration for tasks → 15 Minutes:
Write down words that define yourself and practice:
Key word: New
My practice is changing as I develop my visual language and I come to understand the foundations of graphic design and how I, as a designer, can add a new perspective.
I love the feeling when a new idea arrives in my head and when the possibilities are endless whilst the realisation is in sight. What (hopefully) follows is the satisfaction of a great idea coming to pass.
I am ambitious with my projects, striving to deliver my best for each brief, during which I am ready to learn new names of designers and new ways of creating.
The reason I chose each image:
I chose the first image of a portrait that my Grandpa draw of me when I was younger. He was an artist and potter which meant that growing up I was shown that having a creative job was a viable career. His pottery designs have been influential on my practice so far as I have used some of them as inspiration for my work.
The second image is a photo of a card that I have in my room by Simon Drew who creates humorous greeting cards. I enjoy watching comedy and witty play on words and this card made me laugh when in the illustration the bar is literally too high. I want to introduce some playfulness into my work.
The final image is a picture I took in Houtaud, France of a reflection of the sky in water. I love being outside in nature as it is a time where I can be present in the real world (off screen) and snatch quiet moments of reflection. What is interesting about this photo is the symmetry as the way the picture is orientated doesn’t change the image.
https://www.typographicposters.com is a a platform for inspiration, research and promotion of good design through the poster medium.
It’s a great resource that I use for visual inspiration for posters, type and layout. It also is a space that leads onto looking at other designers and further inspiration.
A maker and artist who inspires my practice is William Morris. His work consisted of naturalistic patterns which still prove to be popular today. He was associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement which was a group of artists who looked to traditional crafts and this way of hand rendering designs interests me in a time when much of design is digital.
Another designer that inspires my practice is Lakena
For my colour palette I chose predominately blue tones as blue is a colour that my friends associate with me because I often wear blue and in winter I wear a bright blue coat.
Typeface experiments:
I chose the typefaces:
Heading – Roboto, Medium Italic
Body – Grotesque MT Std, Regular
The body text is in sans-serif to be understandable and modern. The headings compliment the choice of body text.
Remember that a pattern is either right or wrong. It cannot be forgiven for blundering, as a picture may be which has otherwise great qualities in it. It is with a pattern as with a fortress, it is no stronger than its weakest point.
William Morris
Be a servant in every situation. I’m not trying to be the best, I’m trying to be the best servant .
Task: to research and collect evidence of grid systems to use as reference for your project.
I have looked in the library at some magazines, books and newspaper to look at and analyse grid systems used.
The grids used in publications are obvious when you learn about them but I can’t remember noticing them before. This means that they work well and integrate into the design well and allow for an easy read.
I find the layout in Bookforum simple yet effective. It shows that using three columns and text can still work well and be effective.
In the examples above and below, white space is utilised and full bleed images, yet the text is still in alignment and the use of grid is evident
I really enjoyed looking at the physical publications in the library, rather than looking at layouts online. As a result of this task I will use the library as an import resource when not only researching information but for visual inspiration as well.
Fragmented Illuminations (2021) V&A Museum, London, Viewed: 16/10/21)
I went to the exhibition on Fragmented Illuminations in the Museum which looked at medieval and renaissance manuscript cuttings.
The books had jewel-like illuminations and were valued for their beauty and relevance to the history of painting.
I really liked looking at this exhibition and seeing how intricate the artists made the letters how they combined letter forms with illustrations. I can definitely take inspiration from these manuscripts by choosing to take time and precision to create documents.