Week 2: Illustrator workshop

During this workshop I was given an image in which I would have to use the pen tool to trace and recreate the image/typography.

I started out by dotting the points on a piece of paper, which would be the points I would mark with the pen tool to create smooth curve.

I then traced over the letters with the pen tool, using the anchor point tool to create handles in order to adjust and smooth out the curves/line.

 

Outline of the shapes

To finalise the shapes I had drawn I decided to try and recreate the original image/typography as it appeared. I filled each shape with a slightly different tone of grey, I changed the opacity to the two shapes at the top; therefore you could see underneath the shapes and how they overlapped, just like in the original image.

Overall I was happy with my outcome as I felt my shapes had clean curves and lines, and resembled the original image closely. 

I enjoyed this workshop as even though I was already quite experienced using Adobe Illustrator I learnt a new skill, which was using the handles with the pen tool to adjust the shape of the line/curve. This will help me in future to create a more professional standard of work, as this improves the aesthetics and creates correct proportions with a shape.

FMP Research week 1

As part of my initial and contextual research I went on a Gallery visit to the Tate Modern. I looked at the Texture & Photography and Gustav Metzge displays, along with other displays such as Andy Warhol, Modern Times, Barbra Krurger and Cildo Miereles.

Gustav Metzge- Liquid crystal environment 

Five projectors which each contain a single slide of liquid crystals. The projectors are equipt with rotating polarising filters and a cooling and heating system, which cause the the liquid crystal to liquefy or freeze, resulting in a constant change in the appearance of the crystals which are being projected.

I did not really see the purpose in this display, except for it's aesthetics.

Cidlo Meireles- Babel 2001

A tower of radios all playing at once, in order to convey ideas of information overload and failed or thwarted communication.

I thought this display was slightly more relevant to my project as it incorporated technology from different eras, as the radios ranged from new modern radios, to old retro radios. It made me think about other ways I could display my work, rather than just producing a visual in a digital format, and instead produce a visual installation. 

Andy Warhol- Marilyn Diptych (1962)

Brabra Kruger

Overall I did not find the displays very relevant to my project, therefore the research wasn't very helpful to me in terms of inspiration, however I did help open my eyes to different mediums/techniques I could consider working in.

Branding project

For this project I had to create a brand identity, including the logo, services, websites, business cards etc.

I came up with the idea of a photography company that creates family/group portraits with a twist, whereby you would have your photo taken and they would manipulate and personalise the photo in order to reflect your personality. This would also leave you with a unique one of a kind art piece.

I named my company 'Framed' as I was able to work well with this word for a visual logo. I used hand signs to imply 'framing'.

Initial drawing of the logo

Vectored

Photographed alphabet

Campaign Project

For this project my subject was about how politicians and people of high authority treat and view society. I personally feel as if the government do not stick to what they say they are going to do for the public, and are not as 'for the people' as they say they are.

I decided to express this visually in my campaign, by using news paper cut-outs with headlines relating to the government and other current affairs that would effect us.

2 week project

For this project I was required to pick three briefs out of six, I chose;

 brief B: To experience photography creation and selection, working with a given word or communication, considering light and forms, and exploring ideas. 

Brief D: To experience drawing and typeface manipulation, working to type uniformity and exploring ideas. 

and Brief F: To investigate the nature of narrative communications and to explore principles of visual design, of idea generation and imagery.

To extend your ability to create coherent concepts and present them well.


For brief B I started of with a theme/subject matter of Nostalgia and memories, initially I thought a good way to portray this atmosphere would be to use a 35mm camera as I think film cameras have a whole different look to the images they produce. I like the fact you don't know what the image is going to look like until you have developed the film, and how there are many little imperfections such as light leaks, or even small scratches on the negative that can make a photo look a little bit more personal and not so staged. With digital photography I don't think you get this same feeling or visual aesthetic. However at this point in time I had no access to a darkroom, so I decided to use a disposable camera instead and lights. I wanted a slight tint/over-exposed look and I knew a disposable camera would be able to achieve this effect as I had experimented with them before.

I tried to not plan ahead of my shoot as I wanted the photographs to have a natural feel to them, and not look constructed or over thought. Before shooting I briefed my models on what I wanted, and how they should try not to pose too much.

Overall I was happy with my outcomes, they had the over-exposed look I was hoping to achieve and did not look staged; I liked the fact that they did not look like planned photos, and more of something you would take if you were just messing around with a camera. This made me think about how I was going to layout my photos, I was considering making a scrapbook or photo album so I would be able to present them in a way that linked with the nostalgic theme I wanted, as this is a way printed photographs are typically displayed.

Data project

Project brief:
Aim
To increase your ability to solve visual communication problems in creative ways and to have in- creased media experimentation.
Outcomes
Solve visual design problems in an effective and convincing manner. Show enhanced
critical judgement in the use of research and selection of appropriate media.
Project description
This project is about communicating complex information in as visually interesting and graphic a manner as possible, building on your experience of mapping information. It is about translating data into a fresh form.

For this project I decided to look at what mode of transport London use to travel, I thought an interesting way to portray this would be to use physical objects to visualise the data.

Initially I thought about creating a pie chart using toy cars, buses, trains, bikes and people to represent how people travel however I did not like the visual aesthetics. It was hard to see the difference between the sectors as there was not much of a distinctive difference, therefore I decided to try and represent the data in a difference form.

I tried making a bar graph using the objects, as I was able to show the different sectors clearly. I felt this was a more effective way of showing the data compared to the pie chart.

One object represents 5%

although i prefered this idea I think I need try different arrangements and layouts, and also re-shoot as I did not consider the framing properly.

Mapping Project

The brief for this project asked me to devise inventive and experimental approaches to describing physical spaces.

Outcomes:
To create a visual mapping communication based on a real life context and understand how such information can be freshly addressed within the design process. 

I started this project thinking I would only be able to map actual locations, e.g a street/area, a museum or a road map. However it was soon brought to my attention that I could map any physical space. I thought an interesting thing to look at would be human anatomy as there were many things that could resemble maps/road, such as the nervous system, the circulatory system, the brain and its functions.


Another thing I was interested in was the style of old maps and illustrations you would see in books of myths/greek mythology. I combined the two to create a 'Mind map/Maze' as my final outcome.

I also created a similar piece which was inspired by the greek myth about the minotaur, I liked the different patterns I could create and it was something that related to the brain as it was like a puzzle.

Typically in ancient greek labyrinths the goal/aim is placed in the middle and there is only one way in/out, whereas with a maze there are multiple path choices therefore I decided to combine both concepts in my outcome.