10 Slide Presentation

The presentation was really helpful to do and watch. I was a bit panicked about having to know what 10 briefs I was doing so early on, but being back in the studio it soon became easy to think about it. 

I have quite a clear idea of my dissertation and having it discussed by the class was helpful. There are other aspects of Russia that were brought up. Such as modern designers and Russia's influence and involvement in Western design. 

The 10 briefs are now a lot clearer.

1- D&AD - want to do some branding

2- YCN - have a better range of briefs 

3- Creative Networks - Collab

4- Collaboration with Printed Textiles - Branding

5- Secret 7 - Fun

6- Rian Hughes - Poster

7- Create a Letter - Typography

8- Sign Painting - 

9- Sign Painting

10- Sign or possible Collab

Module Evaluation

This module always seems like a difficult thing to be successful in, it is long and kind of creeps up on you at times. However I have realised that I am constantly thinking about graphics and my future career. My Instagram is full of designers, artists and studios I take inspiration from and helps me keep relevant in this course. I feel this year I did a lot more research, even if I didn't realise. I would always be discovering more people to follow or to even get in contact with. PPP has definitely made me a lot more aware of designers but also a lot more aware of myself and what kind of designer I want to be. Last year I didn't give that much a thought and you can tell with my old branding, which it really isn't. This year because I have gotten more interested in hand rendered type it has opened a lot doors for me. I have talked to more designers because of this common interest. I can now see what I want to do a lot more of. With my branding this year you can see I have considered hand rendered type, the stuff I'm interested in and apply appropriately to me.  This interest of typography has seeped into all of my briefs this year where possible, which I'm happy about because I do want to as much as I can. I feel a lot more confident about who I am as a designer, what I enjoy and what I am capable of when I actually try.

Hotel Droog

We visited a design 'hotel/shop/restaurant' in Amsterdam as well. This was confusing because there was a lot going on in the building, but lovely to walk around and look at the products. This was very slick, modern European design which I'm not really into, but was good to look at.

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

I recently went to Amsterdam for a visit because I'd never been before. We made a few stops to look around the design culture. Stedelijk was really interesting to go to because not only was there good graphic design work there was also a Matisse exhibition. I love seeing very famous work to fully understand it and see if I think it worth the popularity.  

Studio research // Placement Search

I think having a placement would be very beneficial for me during summer. I'm not sure about what exact path I'm interested in going down, I'm really interested in hand rendered graphics and painting is something I've done for years and want to do more. I have found some sign writers near Leeds and Newcastle that I have asked to find out if I can work with them. 

Phil Anderson - Stockton

Sign writer on shops, vehicles and very traditional style. 
I like his traditional way of working and got in touch with him. He has a year long apprentice already so it would be hard to fit in time for me, however he is working at Beamish Museum for a couple of months and said I was welcome to come up for a couple of days to have a go. 

Aurora Kustom Graphics - Newcastle

A much more modern kind of sign writer but is local to Newcastle. They do a lot of airbrushing, pin striping, shops etc. They have not replied to email yet. 

Harper Signs - Leeds

Harper Signs is in Leeds but have worked on a pub local to me which was interesting. They do paint jobs for a big variety of things, I have emailed but still waiting on a reply. 

Fanakalo Studio

I came across this studio last year because of a book I bought called 'Monogram Logo'. They're based in South Africa but have influenced me a lot with my personal branding. I emailed the studio showing them my work and to just let them know how I like their work. 

This wasn't an attempt to get a placement, even though it would be really good to get one there. I think it could be quite a good way of networking.

Studio Research

I would like to get a placement for summer, in order to get some real experience of a professional studio. I am worried I've left it a bit late, but I am aware of the type of studios I'm interested in. 

I have contacted a Newcastle studio called Wonder Stuff Studio which specialise in branding. I am interested in branding quite a lot because I think giving companies an identity is exciting. I'm not sure if this studio do placements, but it is worth an ask. 

Personal Promo Pack

I have applied my logo, and details of the work onto an appropriate promo pack. There are business cards, Creative CV, some stationary, letter head, envelope and notebook with branding. This is in order to be able to give all of these out when necessary and to the right people. I think this looks like a good promo pack that shows the type of design I create and want to work with, as well as having contact information.

Final Personal Logo

From the drawing I created a while ago I digitalised it on Illustrator so that it is a vector shape and is workable on lots of different sizes. I'm really happy with the finished piece because for once it is successful piece of design. It demonstrates the type of design I'm interested in and the type of design I want to keep on creating. 
Doing this has showed me that I can make my drawings into workable vectors and shouldn't give up and use a ready made piece.

The Tate Liverpool

Recently, I took a trip to Liverpool in order to look at The Tate gallery. There was an exhibition with Andy Warhol work which was very interesting to look at. I think it is important to go to galleries and look at work that has stood the test of time and work out why those pieces have been so successful. It was very interesting to look at his work because it created a lot of discussion on Warhol's method. It was quite difficult to understand how he's managed to create such massive screen prints. When you're that close to the work you can see the detail of it, such as the use of wax to create textures and lack of colours in parts. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos in the Warhol exhibition, but there was other areas you could take photos.

Taking Care of Business - Final Presentation

Final Presentation

Presentation

I was recently asked from my high school if me and another student, Emily. could come down to do a presentation to the current year 12 and 13 art classes about life after 6th form. We were really excited to do this because 6th form was a really good time for us and because we both went on to do Foundation Diploma then both end up at Leeds College of Art, we thought we had some quality information.
We talked to the class about what we're doing now, how we got into graphics coming from a painting background. This experience was very good for developing our presenting skills. We were both confident and comfortable which allowed the class to be the same and ask all the questions they needed.

Taking Care of Business - Poster

We need to advertise our print studio, so I designed some posters that go with or branding. The use of the turquoise stroke injects some colour to the poster. The poster itself is simple on information, this in order for the viewer to interact further and hopefully go on the website or social media platform to find out what we are all about.

Taking Care of Business - Public Funding

It's a good idea to try and get a grant or some form of funding in order to cover our start up costs. I used the government website to narrow down a search for some. GOV.co.uk is an easy way to put in the information and find a grant or scheme suitable for our business.

There was a lot of schemes in the Yorkshire and Leeds area, which was helpful. However, I found more loans then grants and we really want a grant in order to not have a heavy financial burden on our shoulders as soon as we set up shop.

After looking through a lot of schemes, Katie found the Leeds Inspired Art Fund which was up to £15,000 grant. This was a lot more helpful than a large loan.

We have also used a small £5000 loan in order to keep us in the black for the first year of business.

Taking Care Of Business - Costings

We went to the print rooms in order to source real life prices on things like the print beds, dry racks, screens, frames etc. The technician was really helpful and gave us all the price we needed. 
He also told us to look at Natgraph which is the company with industry standard equipment.
YPO is a company that the school use for a lot of equipment as well which Aimee is looking at.

Here are the costings the print room gave us. It works out at around £5 a head which leave a good profit margin. At this price we can offer group discounts as well.

Final decided costings, including loans, funding, wages, design pay etc. 

The Type Hunter

I found The Type Hunter on Instagram. I find Instagram a really good platform to find work I like and research from there. 
His name is Keith Tatum and from America, as a graphic designer he concentrates on vintage type and searches for that. It's a really good way to find old styles from the past and get inspiration from that. He also puts some of his work up as well, which is interesting to see because you can see how he has been influenced as well. 

Stranger and Stranger Obession

During the summer I was researching into design companies and came across Stranger and Stranger.
They design amazing antique looking alcohol packaging. Which is two of my favourite things, alcohol and historical design. 

I emailed them about the summer work but they never replied. When I design my next piece of workI want to contact them if appropriate.
They win so many awards on their designs they are very inspiring and influential in my work. 

The award history is really impressive, mainly consisting of silver and golds. 

Taking care of Business - Screen Print Companies Research

In order to make our company work we need to look at ones that are already succesful. When we thought about this idea a print company in Newcastle came to mind. 

Northern Print 

This company is very locally aware, they are situated in Ouseburn which is the creative capital of Newcastle. They do classes, invite people in, hold exhibitions, have a shop and working printers there. 
I've been to a workshop there and found it very interesting. There is a lot of knowledge in the building which is something we want to showcase as well.
I think for us to succeed we need to be socially are and involved with the Leeds community, which is very doable because of planned workshops etc.

Octomuffin

Octomuffin are a company based in the south of the country. They seem like a young company due their branding. The tone of voice on their website is very laid back and friendly. 

It mainly concentrates on clothing printing and accessories. So this company isn't into the same stuff as us, it's more commercial.

Belfast Print Workshop

The company offers workshops at £65 a day which includes costs for materials and inks. 

They also get involved with their community and charity work. This would be a good idea for our company, partly to help engage the public and also to get our name around. 

They are publicly funded from Art Council Northern Ireland and get annual funding from Belfast City Council -  this is good to know and needs researched, to see if we can get publicly funded or some help.

Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising, London

While looking at places to go in London after the V+A trip, I came across this museum. We decided to go before the V+A so we could go the Natural History Museum straight after. 

This was a very interesting museum to look through. It was incredibly dense, full from celling to floor of old packaging and advertising. There was cases that showed the development of brand identity through the years.

Photos weren't allowed, however I snuck a few but they're not the best quality.