Communication in context 2

I always find that this unit is one that really tests your organizational skills. I can for see how this can prepare you for the world of work as often you would only be given a small time scale to work with in. I do however find this difficult because creativity goes not always flow from the offset so sometimes I feel like I have spent more time than necessary committing to an idea. This is something that I feel I am gradually over coming through this process of short briefs. I feel that this is boosting my confidence within the design world. If I could I would have ideally liked to have some more time to develop some of these concepts into more concrete pieces of work.

Thank You!

Out of this whole unit I enjoyed this brief the most. It allowed me to be sensitive and statemental towards my final outcome. I liked the fact that I could introduce my product into the every day world by the sending of my postcard to my Granny. I found in the critiques that I got positive feed back to this work.

Business Identity

I was allocated Boudica for this Brief to design her business identity. I found research was key to the success of this, as I had to refresh my knowledge. I used a variety of means to do this including an episode of Time Team. I have never designed such a thing before so I found it a little difficult to begin to design as I did not know where to start. After doing some research into this found that things do not have to be as conventional as the brief first appears. I thought of several differing ideas and settled with the idea of showing the trail Boudica left behind. I decided to use a statue depiction of her in order to show her heroic side. Also because it is a recognizable symbol of her located with in London. My final product is not particularly to my taste however is a fair depiction of her as a person and meets the criteria of the brief.

New from Old.

We were given a list of food products that required rebranding. This included such items as lard and tapioca. I chose to pay closed attention to rice pudding as it is something I have eaten on many occasions and had the best knowledge off. I felt this to be important as not having much time to fully research

an item in depth could effect my final product. Where as this way I gave myself a head start. It also happens to be a product I enjoy. I explored several different concepts and settled on one after discovering this cookie dough pot. I really liked the way the information has been displayed in a fun and imaginative manner, using an art deco style. The color pallet is simple yet effective. I initially made my first mock up in a western style, however my final result was also in a deco format. I found this part of the brief challenging because i have never been restricted to designing for a particular object/shape.

For the last part of this unit, we were given a list of videos to watch. From here I made notes on each and found that I was most captivated by the words of Elizabeth Gilbert. She spoke about nurturing creativity in relation to genius. I decided that best way to transpose all the concepts that she mentioned, would be to design a website. I wrote a proposal to describe my concept as it would mainly be down to the participants to create the websites through posting blogs and such forth. I have to say that I would like to have designed the website in dreamweaver, however I have not yet fully aquired the skills to do so. I am working on this though.

Overall I have found this unit a bit of a struggle. I think that i have had alot of personal things going on lately that have clouded my mind and I have found it difficult to concentrate, especially when we have had such a short period of time for each brief. I hope that for the next project we will have longer to develop and progress our projects so that more consideration can be taken.

Proposal for transposing the messages with in Elizabeth Gilbert's talk on genius and creativity

When listening to Elizabeth Gilbert's speech for Ted on nurturing creativity, she mentioned how she had written an award winning book and how this was not necessarily a good thing, in terms of her future career, as it was likely that her greatest success was already behind her.

She appeared to have inherited an attached stigma that her next book will not be as successful. People speak to her as if she is "going to die in a scrap heap of broken dreams", with her "mouth filled with the ash of failure".

There is no such obvious negativity attached to scientific works and only artists appear to be suffering the anguish of anticipated failure which generates mental instability, manic depression and occasionally allows suicidal tendencies to develop.

Elizabeth was left asking the question "should anyone feel afraid of doing what they have been put on this earth to do?". She also pondered "what it is about creative ventures that really make us unsure about each others mental health, in a way that other careers don't do?" I consider it to be that the imagination is closely linked to the subconscious mind.

Other cultures historically have handled this issue in the past. The Ancient Greeks and the Romans found a way to protect their creative artists by putting psychological distance between the artist and their work. By introducing Damans and Genius they shared the weight of responsibility with these spirits so that no one was fully to blame for failure, which reduces mental anguish.

Ruth Stone (poet) described how she could feel a poem coming towards her and if she missed it and didn’t write it down in time it would look for another poet.

Tom Waits (musician) describes how an idea came to him while he was driving. As he couldn’t take down the ideas he looked to the sky and said out loud, “I am driving”. His approach was that he was doing the best he could and if the inspiration wanted to be helpful that would be appreciated. If the song wanted to be written it would need to return to him at a better time when he could do something about it.

New rationale is that people are being a genius rather than having genius.

Less anxiety is involved if the creative process is perceived as something that happens to you rather than comes from you.

Ideas will appear and can be captured or lost. Brilliance happens to you.

The artist role is to recognize what is happening, do their best “turn up and do their job” without being daunted or afraid of failure.

Sometimes dancers seem to be divine rather than mortal as they become transfixed in what they are doing. In Spain the audience calls out Olle. This is a word that derives from the word Allah, or God. The next day the dancer wakes again and is mortal rather than divine. It does not have to be difficult, brilliance is not from you but it happens to you.

In order to convey this message to the public I intend to create a web site that will deal with multiple issues raised. As a modern media form this will reach a wide audience and appeal particularly to artists seeking support and reassurance.

The main function of the web site home page will be to set out the site details and explain the purpose of the site.

It is intended that the style of the web site will be inviting yet simple in design and will briefly summarise the sites key aims and objectives. The 10 commandments of art and design will set out the format in a familiar way and add an element of light hearted fun to the site through illustrated design.

A principal function of the site is to help people to manage their creativity in a positive way.

An interactive question and answer page will enable people to seek and offer advice on creativity and share their experiences and ideas. On this page people can put up briefs, ask questions or specify work which they are seeking creative guidance on.

There will be an opportunity for other artists to leave comments on the site which will be monitored to prevent damage to creative minds. Constructive criticism will be encouraged.

The design format will be simple, concise and to the point in order to not distract from peoples ideas.

The page on how to boost creativity will invite helpful hints from psychologists on how to generate ideas and manage creativity.

Again, because there is a tendency amongst some artists to feel doomed, then the overall look of the web pages will be illustrated in a lighthearted, fun, simplistic style that does not detract from the key objectives of the site.

The site will provide space for story telling where people can leave a picture or design showing the places that they go to when they want to think about ideas, or, where they were when they got an idea for something. The examples in Elizabeth Gilbert’s talk of how Ruth Stone (poet) and Tom Waits (musician) became inspired would suit this forum to benefit other artists.

Other pages will provide useful contacts and reference pages, with a key objective to create a useful directory that can be used as a good place to research information. This will be divided up into different categories, such as a dictionary of photographers, illustrators, printmakers, designers, writers and other artists.

Feature pages will spotlight innovative thinkers of each month as an incentive and there will be profile pages linking to other sites and blogs effectively enabling people to network.

Support will be available to encourage positivity rather than negativity in order for artists to feel less isolated and share their experiences as part of a wider support forum.

The web site will enable poets, dancers, writers and other creative artists to learn from each other how to meet the challenges that face them realistically without becoming overwhelmed or depressed.

The web site will feature Bloggs to enable people to communicate directly with each other via news and updates pages.

Finally artists using the site can portray their own work on an exhibition page where they can invite constructive comments and take the opportunity to display individuality, creativity and genius on a day to day basis.

LDN

Yesterday we visited London. We were left to our own devices during the day, giving us the opportunity to explore. Firstly I went to the V&A on the hunt for an illustration exhibition that had been recommended to us. Unfortunately after asking several people about this, I was unable to locate it. I did however spend some time studying the statues, which has made me rethink the way I have approached my business cards for Boudica. These statues have managed to encompass the subject in such a way that it tells much about the persons character. Bernini's depiction of Neptune and Trition particularly caught my eye. Such characters were often spoken of in her time of living. The over all design is bold and the piece itself has been carved vigorously. This is an aggressive piece which generates excitement and intrigue.

After this I went to the Natural History museum and inspected the dinosaurs and the other animals on show. I felt a bit silly when I discovered, much to my sock, how small the Dodo really was. I was interesting to see animals of the past and how they lived and also present day creatures that you would not normally get the opportunity to see. I found all the interactive elements were useful to watch as they gave me a valuable insight into communicating a concept to a wide range of ages, in a fun, interesting and unique way. In doing this the learning process was made more fun and memorable. I think this is always worth baring in mind when working in the design world when it comes to captivating your audience.

Later on we went to Paula Scher talk hosted by the D&AD. I found this to be an inspiring presentation. Paula, like myself, came form a fine art background and progressed to work in the design industry. I found it fascinating how she had managed to encompass such a thing and really think I learnt a great deal from her works and encouraging words.

In my quest to progress my typography skills, I was particularly interested by her map work. It has an essence of Hundertwasser to it. I think this has been achieved through the use of a similar color palette and symmetry of shapes. I would like to have a go at encompassing hand rendered type into my work in a similar matter.

Dream weaver

So when i first herd that we would be doing sessions on website design, a little bit of me may have died inside, on the basis that I have not got much faith in my ever expanding technical abilities. However I felt determined that I would get things right. After several sessions I am finding it actually rather interesting and not as difficult as one may have originally thought. I know that when I am left to my own devices things may be a little different aka I probably wont be able to reproduce much of the things taught but im going to try my hardest. I was browsing through the Guardian job section and most creative jobs relevant to my degree seem to be mainly website design based, this gave me more of an incentive to progress and develop this new skill. I also think it will be productive to make a website as it could get ones work known.

Great Feedback for Midnight Millionaires Magazine

Today I handed in my Illustration for the midnight millionaires club, a few days previous to the deadline I hasten to add. I pretty much got emediate feedback from the producer to which I sent it too. She told me that she was thrilled with the results and that my work was going to be used to make the bench mark for what could be accepted. She said that it was a nice and sensitive approach, that filled her criteria to the tee. This was great news because I was slightly dubious about wether my work was good enough. From this I have learnt that I must try and have more faith in what I am doing.