Finished Narc... I Hope

 

These are the finished Narc spreads which I only had a few days to complete.  I found this quite stressful as I only got all of the copy and retouched photography at last minute but I feel this has been good experience and got me working at a faster pace.  The magazine is out in a week and a half and it will be good to see it all in print and see how it looks on the paper that they print on rather than the printer papers we use in college.  

Fur Brief Shoot 2

These are a few of the shots before editing.  Next Jill has to take them into photoshop, cover up the black gaps, whiten the background and edit out the ceiling or bits of equipment that have appeared in the back of some shots.  The photos will then look abit more like this...

Next I take this into photoshop and turn them into our posters :)

This was my first layout which still needs working on and another logo on the bottom.

YCN

I chose this YCN commended piece because I thought not only was it quite funny but it was also simple and a nice idea.  The photos of fruit are printed onto coasters and given out with any purchase of the drink.  The customer then draws onto the fruit and posts the final design into the ballot box.  When this is full the boxes are sent to Feel Good to be judged.  Winners win one Feel Good drink free everyday for a year.  I like the fact that it involves the general public and encourages people to be more creative, imaginative and playful which is part of the characteristics of this brand in particular.  I love the use of clean, white space- this suggests purity and naturality and portrays that this product is good for you.  

D&AD

I chose to look at this entry to D&AD as it is similar to a piece of work that I did in National Diploma.  I love these magic blocks and think that they work well to get people to actually look at the item.  People enjoy playing with things and by actually getting the public to pick up your item is the first hurdle.  The magic block reflects the concept of a vicious circle really well as the block doesnt have a start or an end, it just keeps going and going and going...

I think this is a really clever and simple idea.  

Just Us

This is a piece of work from Just Us Design Collective.  I chose this piece because I liked that the designer was doing some experimenting with monoprinting.  I like how it looks as though she has gone over the top of the print with marker pen or felt tip and the overlapping of the pen shows through darker.  I like how rough and loose the illustration is and that the designer hasnt gone for a really realistic looking panda.  I think the fact that the hair lines on the pandas face arent finished down to the bottom makes it look like it is shading.  I also like how the monoprinting has left dirty marks on the page which makes the illustration look more hand created and original.

Northern Design Competition

This is the piece of design that won the 2009 Northern Design Award in the Graphic Design category.  The concept behind this is that designers should spend less time on the macs and more time doing work by hand, the traditional way.  She chose to portray this by writing parts of her manifesto onto the back of her hand.  All of the copy is handwritten.  The reason why I have chosen to look at this piece of work is because I personally agree with the message the designer is trying to communicate- I too believe that everything does not have to be created digitally.  This piece of work has not been done digitally and this reflects the manifesto well.  

Fur Brief

Last night my photography partner Jill and I did our first shoot for the fur brief.  We used an actual skinned rabbit for the shot.  The rabbit was really heavy and it was a pretty gruesome task for me to do especially being vegetarian.  Our concept is that, contrary to what some people think, fur is not a byproduct of the meat industry.  Our strapline is 'no animals were eaten in the making of this... (fur scarf, fur jacket, fur shrug).'  This is just idea no.1, we have several others that we would like to do and we will be trying to do as many as we possibly can as I like them all and think they will all make good adverts against fur.  Although this poster ad is abit graphic, we do have a variety of different approaches to show ways of communicating the underlying message that wearing fur is wrong.

SO FAR... (still needs editing)

Vanja Kragulj

Website that I reeeeally like.

http://www.vanjakragulj.com/illustration.html

I really like the mixed media used on the bird logo at the top left hand corner.  The medium changes on each page.  I also like the stitch style pinline along the top.  I dont like the typeface that she has used very much- I like the style of using a cut out but I think she could have used a more balanced and even font to do this effect on.

Metro Ad

After months and months of trying to work out what was going on with the shape of this illustration on The Gate 'Can't Wait' metro advert, I FINALLY realised what exactly it was.  At first I thought that the first part looked like the number 2 so was trying to fit in things like 2009 or 2010, however this didnt work.  I have now realised that it is infact the letter 'a' and then it all became obvious, the ad reads am pm.  This was designed by the BWP group.  They were approached and asked to come up with a campaign to advertise The Gate as a 24 hour venue.  The colour scheme chosen goes from warm, yellowy/orange colours to darker, purples and blacks.  This represents the day changing into night and back into day- showing a 24 hour period.  The illustrations also change through the ad.  There are daytime activities and nightlife.  As it isnt very clear what the ad says, I initially didnt think that it was overly effective, however saying as how it has attracted my attention and annoyed me on many a metro journey then I would now say it does manage to generate curiosity and gets people looking at the ad therefore creating awareness about the venue.  

''The second win for BWP was in the Leisure category, for its work on The Gate, Newcastle's premier leisure and entertainment destination (owned by Propinvest). The campaign 'The Gate - Can't Wait' promoted the centre's bars, restaurants, casino and cinema and as a daytime and evening location. The success of the campaign saw a growth in visitor numbers from target lifestyle groups, which were previously under-represented''

http://www.bwpgroup.com/news/story/26/The-Gate--Newcastle/2

Narc Photoshoot :)

Model, 2 makeup artists, photographer.  Makeup artists came well prepared with inspiration book of zebras and zebra body paint.

Outlines were drawn onto the body with white eyeliner and the body was then filled in with white and black body paints.

Started painting about 20 past one.  After a looooong time spent on painting, the shoot finally  started at quarter to four and lasted approx 15 mins.  

Makeup artists first time doing body painting but was something they were interested in.
Overall the day went really well and I am pleased with the work by Indie and Laura and the photography and modelling by Liz and Katie.  Next I will take the photos and put them onto my magazine cover and other shots will also be used in the spreads.

Book Progress

This is my experimentation with typography on my book spreads.  I think that playing with type gives the book more character and give more of a meaning to the actual word.  Furthermore, I think that it reflects the  playfulness of the monsters in the story.

Negotiated

I have so far done nearly all of the art work for my book and have almost finished completing that layouts.  The next thing to sort is the typography in the book.  This will be put onto the layouts in InDesign.  I need to fix the backgrounds as some layouts are pixelated.  I am glad that I stuck to my timetable and produced the majority of the artwork with enough time to spend on altering my final piece and finalising it.

Oliver Jeffers Interview ♥ ♥ ♥

Oliver Jeffers talking about his latest book, The Heart and the Bottle. What I particularly love about this video is Jeffers talks the viewer through the process of how he produces his books.

Monsters- Chosen Medium

This is the style of illustration I have chosen to do for my book.  This is my monster Jack drawn with different expressions.  Next I need to cut them out and scan them in and produce the background for the book.  The artist I am using as my inspiration is Lauren Child, the author and illustrator of the Charlie and Lola books.  The style is a cut out collage made from different mediums including watercolour, pencil, magazine cuttings and photography.  

"I draw the figures in pencil. I just can't use pen and ink. Pencil is much less inhibiting and I can rub it out if it goes wrong. I scan the pencil drawing into the compter, clean up the line, and print it black on cartridge paper so I can continue to work on it with paints, collage or whatever. Then I cut out the figures and scan them into the computer again." Lauren Child