PPP - Grammar Studio - Whordes of Babylon

Since I've been working at Grammar studio I've learned so many things already but one thing that both Adam and Pete have stressed to me is that it's easy to get caught up in trawling the internet for inspiration but the best inspiration is all around us.. in the real world!!

Grammar studio isn't a cliche graphic design studio with bright white walls and minimalistic decor. Grammar studio is situated in the attic of a working mill and full of what Pete likes to call the 'Whordes of Babylon'. Pete collects inspiration items such as retro toys, old adverts/magazines or just about anything that may influence the way he works. When he is given a brief instead of just doing a generic google search, he can look through boxes of old magazine or adverts for inspiration and actually take the time to look over the real deal in person.

This advice and way of working has really inspired me and something that I am going to start doing myself.

PPP - Dr Me Workshop

DR. ME a studio from Manchester came in to give us a workshop in the studio. They came in with loads of old magazines scissors and glue and told us to create our own publication using only image. This was a really great workshop as it allowed us to experiment in a different visual way and get away from the computer.

Some of DR ME work:

PPP - COP Results

As I have said numerous times within PPP, I have never really enjoyed writing essays. I personally don't think I have ever been very good at them. In first year I was graded only 48% and slightly better in second year achieving 60%. 

In my final year, I recognized that I had to put more effort into COP3. I had always left COP to the last minute due to me not being so keen on the essay side of the module. To ensure this didn't happen again, I took a considerable amount of time to think about my research question for the dissertation. I made sure I chose something that I was personally interested in. I also made myself a strict timetable that I stuck to ensure that I didn't put other modules before COP this year.

This year I achieved 64%, although I would have really liked to of finished the final COP module with a first, it's evident that my time and effort has payed off and displays a drastic increase between my first and final year grade.

PPP - Visiting Professional - RAW

Robert Walker from Raw came in today to give a talk about his career as a graphic designer and how he came to start his own studio.

Throughout Robs presentation he had a series of quotes that were extremely relevant and motivational;

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do"

"Everything you can imagine is real"

Rob explained that his studio lived by a motto of "Do good work for nice people". After building up a reputation Rob has come to the point where he will only work for clients he feels comfortable working for and turn any down that don't have positive values.

The second part of Robs presentation was all about self-initiated projects. Rob explained that some briefs that clients can set will not give you much creative freedom due to budget or the client having a specific picture in their head already. Rob told us about self-initiated projects that he had worked on straight off his own back (sometimes even upaid) which have been for a good cause. These self-initiated projects have always come back around to help out the business, in terms of exposing or making contacts.

He finished this section with the quote "Do good, feel good"

Rob finally ended the talk by telling us about Colonel Sanders and how before he made it with his famous Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe, his recipe was rejected 1,009 times!! but he didn't give up as he believed in himself.

PPP - Design strategy presentation preperation 2nd year

On reflection of my second year presentation, I remembered that I had changed to label myself as a 'Creative Thinker'.. Looking back I think this is slightly cringey and I think I may have just wanted to be different rather than just being a typical Graphic Designer. The reason for changing it to Creative Thinker was because I didn't want to limit what jobs may be presented to me, however, after professional talks such as Studio Build I have come to realise that graphic designers get all kinds of jobs and its up to yourself not to limit yourself.

Looking back on my 'what I need to work on's was Essay Writing.. I have never liked essay writing and admittedly didn't do too well in first and second year, however, for my final cop project, I ensured that I really thought about my chosen subject. In second year, I took the easy option of choosing a very typical graphic designer topic..'Is print dead?' In third year, I chose something that I was personally interested in and new that I would genuinely find enjoyable researching into. My chosen question was "Has branding within fashion become more important than the product itself?" As I am extremely interested in fashion and branding.

Under personal aims I had Placement and Competitions, both of these things I kept in mind in the final year and worked especially hard on. I contacted various studios and managed to land myself a part time job at Grammar studio!

As for the competitions its evident through the various briefs I have already blogged such as Creative Networks, The Lifting Tower and DBA Nootropics.

Who am I?

Creative Thinker

What I need to work on

Illustration
Developing Ideas
Essay Writing
Not sticking to one style

Personal Aims

Travel
Placement
Exhibition
Competitions

Professional Ambitions

Work within other areas of design
Make a name for myself
Creative Director (ambitious) 

PPP - Design strategy presentation preperation 1st Year

In order to create a successful and well thought through design strategy presentation for my final year, I thought it would be useful to look back at my previous presentations. Below is my first year presentation. I described myself as a Graphic Designer with a love for working with type and a strong interest in physical publications, as well as handprinted designs. I can say with confidence that this hasn't changed at all!! and something that Grammar studio picked up on in my interview. 

Although the design of my personal branding has changed, the principles I have listed below still apply.

Who am I?

I would currently label myself as a Graphic Designer. I love working with type and have a strong interest for physical publications, as well as handprinted designs such as screen print.

What have I learned?

Through COP and design skills, I have taken a strong interest into modernist principles. I like clean and simple typography which I hope to represent through my identity.

What skills do I have?

I have realised through past briefs that I need to practice within illustrator and overall I am not too interested in illustrative work. However, I have a strong understanding of InDesign and Photoshop and love working with type and image.

What do I believe?

I believe that form follows function and that you should always be designing with a purpose. I like Vignelli’s idea of that you should only be using a handful of typefaces and you don’t need a certain typeface to express your intended message. As I have said before I have realised I’m not very good at illustrating but as Jan Tschichold says There are no born masters of typography, it requires practice and knowledge which I hope to carry out.

“There are no born masters of typography.” - Jan Tschichold

Personal Branding

What information do I need to include?

Name and Contact information but also a title for myself such as ‘creative thinker’, ‘illustrator’, ‘graphic designer’ etc.. Also a link to an online portfolio.

What formats can I use to effectively communicate or promote this information?

When designing my identity stock and type choice were the key elements. I also looked at unique design techniques I could use to differ myself such as embossing or laser-cutting.

What tone of voice best reflects you, your practice and your ambitions?

As the root I want to take is simply as a Graphic Designer, I think it is important to keep a level of professionalism within my tone of voice whereas someone labeling themselves as a unique quirky title could have a more laid back approach.

PPP - Creative Networks - Feedback

Unfortunately, our group was unsuccessful for this live brief but the creative networks team gave us some really positive feedback and also explained what we could have worked on. 

One of the deliverables for Creative Networks was a video element which allowed me to fulfil my aims and ambitions for second year of exploring other areas of design. I had never used Adobe After Effects before so this brief gave me the opportunity to develop skills in a completely new area of design to me.

Again this was a great opportunity to collaborate similar to a working environment and also follow a brief that a client has supplied. 

FULL RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT CAN BE FOUND ON EXTENDED PRACTICE

PPP - Creative Networks - Live Brief

Creative Networks is another live brief/competition brief run by Leeds College of Art itself.

Creative Networks is a networking scheme where talks and other events are held at Leeds College of Art. Visiting professionals give talks about their work, ranging in different backgrounds and ages. This event gives creatives the opportunity to meet people who they would have never have had the chance, and to listen to a respected voice in their sector.

The brief is to produce promotional materials for the Creative Network events. These promotional materials cover a wide variety of formats, from posters to vinyl signage. For this brief however, the team wants 2 x A3 posters and a moving image file designed for when the guests are about to speak.

"We want to see your work. Following the brief below, please provide a 1xA3 PDF and/or a moving image file designed for the next guest speakers. One design for Mike Mignola and one for Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF 30) with a guest speaker of your choice. This could be someone you would like to see talk at Creative Networks or someone you have seen speak. DEADLINE 14th October, 5pm"

I've chosen to work with Megan Edwards and Charles Worrall for this collaborative brief, as it's recommended to have a group of individuals working on the Creative Networks branding due to its expansive nature.

PPP - The Lifting Tower - Reflection

Looking back on The Lifting Tower project; it was a great opportunity for me to broaden my design skills and collaborate with an animator which I have never done before. James from animation was able to show me how to use Adobe After Effects which I had been wanting to learn for a while now. Collaborating with James also gave me a sense of what it might be like working in industry with me creating basic illustrations which I could then pass onto an animator/developer. 

In my PPP design strategy presentation for second year, I said that I wanted to enter more competitions, even though I had never animated before, I challenged myself with this brief and it certainly paid off. The Lifting Tower was also a great experience in terms of working for a client to produce something that would be presented in the real world at such a big scale.

(We also got paid for completing this brief which was nice!)

PPP - The Lifting Tower - Final Animations

 Here are my two final animations that will be projected onto the lifting tower. I came up with the concept and illustrations and James from animation brought them to life.

THE FULL BRIEF CAN BE FOUND ON MY EXTENDED PRACTICE BLOG

PPP - The Lifting Tower - Brief

Due to my aims and ambitions in second year to try work within other areas of design, I am going to challenge myself to enter The Lifting Tower brief, which involves creating a short animation. Another aim was also to enter more competitions, so this seems fitting.

-

Propose 3 visual concepts for a set series or sequence of 1 minute animated projections based on the theme of Independent Creativity at Xmas.

Your visual concepts will need to communicate a contemporary, creative and ‘cool’ representation of a xmas or winter theme. Think - Harvey Nichols meets the independent music scene in Leeds or John Lewis meets the Brudnell Social Club. Your response will need to appeal to a wide audience of 18 to 50 year olds who look beyond the traditional but still want to feel festive.

The client is not looking for traditional representations of Santa in a sleigh or cheesy looking elves dancing around. They are not asking for a critical or moral discourse on the validity of xmas. They want cool, festive and creative.

The moving image based projections will be mapped onto the Lifting Tower building on Wellington Street (see attached images) and should aim to interact with the features of the surface. The scale of the projection will be approximately 10m x 10m and so you will need to work to a square format. You will also need to consider the use of simple high contrast imagery on a dark background in order to maximize the effectiveness of the projection media and surface. 

Stage 1: Proposal and Selection

Deadline

07 / 10 / 2016

Stage 2: Project Development

Deadline

11 / 11 / 2016

Stage 3: Project Submission / Final Artwork

Deadline

25 / 11 / 2016

Stage 4: Production & Delivery

Deadline

TBC 

PPP - Hip Store Exhibition / Socialising over a beer

Tonight I went down to the Hip Store to visit Neal Heards collection of football shirts. Adam who I work with at Grammar studio designed the book that documents Neals collection. Adam introduced me to Neal and a few other people including Paul who works for Scotts menswear. Grammar studio have recently pitched to become the design team for Scotts and completely redesign near enough everything for Scotts. Adam wanted to introduce me to Paul to show that its not just him working on the graphic design side of things at Grammar. Im currently not fully employed at Grammar but Adam has hinted that if they get this job that he will need to take someone on fully time.. *hint hint*

After the exhibition me and Adam went for a drink at Headrow House. I think its important to spend time with people who are giving me these opportunities and potentially fully employing me! Me and Adam also have similar interests outside of the design world so it was fun to go out for a drink outside of the studio. 

PPP - Personal Branding - Invoice

I also transferred my logo to my Invoice. I used a colour palette similar to that of my screenprinted business cards. Even using a unique colour palette for the more 'boring' side of the business allows your business to be memorable to clients and ensures the business is friendly and approachable. This is also my very first invoice for Grammar studio to pay me for my first month.

PPP - Fountains Ep - Live Brief

THEY CHANGED MY DESIGN!

Today the record label that was producing the artwork and songs for the Fountains EP asked if I could send over the original PSD file for the artwork of the album cover and also if I could send over a copy of the artwork without any type on.

A few days later they said that the artwork was ready for print and sent over a mockup. They have only used my original image I created by scanning in the flowers and made a completely different layout with that incorporated into it. I personally really don't like this new design and am slightly frustrated. I don't see the point in asking a designer to design the artwork for a record cover but then changing the artwork they submit.

I have been told by established designers and people who have been in the industry a long time that is just something that comes with the job, however, it is possible to protect your designs if you are unhappy with what they have done. Two Tail (one of the artists) is a friend of mine and if this is what he wants then thats absolutely fine.

PPP - Fountains Ep - Live Brief

Here is my final design for the Fountains EP. Taking inspiration from examples provided from the client I took the floral idea and put a spin on it. I decided to use real flowers and scan them in and digitally manipulate them. The way the stem of the flower starts out of shot makes the end of the flower resemble a fountain shooting out of the ground. 

With the nature of the genre of the music being very mellow with soft and almost ambient vocals. I think this handmade approach fits the music well. Listening to the songs a couple of times over, I was imagining a lot of shades of blue and possibly green. 

I am starting to understand that it is quite hard designing an album cover for an EP that doesn't necessarily have a concept to it or strong lyrics. My design decisions are solely based on what I feel suits the sound of the record and also the name.

FULL RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT CAN BE FOUND ON MY EXTENDED PRACTICE BLOG

PPP - Fountains Ep

I have been commissioned by Manchester based artist Two Tail and Collarado based artist 'Quiett' to design the artwork for their latest joint EP entitled Fountains. The EP will only be released digitally.

The EP consists of three songs:

Wallpaper
Let Them Melt
Welcome Change

This is a great opportunity for me to get myself known as designer and also expand my portfolio with work that I am personally interested in.

Here is a link to the ep:

https://soundcloud.com/two-tail/sets/two-tail-engine-farm/s-G7JCB

PPP - Grammar Studio - Down To Earth Logo

Today at Grammar studio I worked on a logo for a tree surgeon! Adam developed a few different icons and passed the icons over to me for me to add a variety of different typographic treatments to the icon.

I used as many different typefaces as I could that seemed fitting for the icon as well as the brand. The logo needs to work on a range of platforms such as; on the side of a van, embroidered on a tshirt, various signage etc.. Most of these logos will be taken into a more professional layout and presented to the client for them to choose or feedback on. The logo needs to be impactful and quite corporate to work across all these platforms.

This was another smaller job that Adam explained sometimes aren't the most exciting or glamorous jobs but just have to be done in the real world. I completely agreed and understand that I need to be able to complete jobs like this to be able to make it in the industry so welcomed the branding project with open arms.

PPP - Personal Branding - Business Cards

Since first and second year, I have decided to take my personal branding in a totally different direction. The previous branding was extremely minimal and resembled swiss design, However on review of my work accumulated of the past 3 years, there may be obvious minimal design decisions but there is a strong use of colour and emphasis on handmade design.

I wanted my logo to be unique to me and be rememberable to whoever receives it. The new logo utilizes my last name in creating a unique and exciting logo. The logo still has a minimal design aesthetic making use of a sans serif typeface and basic shapes to make up the face.

In my interview for Grammar Studio, Adam explained that it was nice to see how I utilize different materials and print processes resulting in a lot of hand made design. I thought it was important to reflect this through my personal branding and made the decision to screen print my business cards. The decision to screenprint ensures that my business cards stand out from the majority of designers who use digital print. Using screenprint makes the business cards seem limited and almost become a piece of art that people want and want to keep. They also show that screenprinting is another skill that I am experienced in.

The decision to use different coloured stock definitely allows me to stand out from digitally printed cards and allows the card to be something that stands out if left on a studio desk in a pile for example. Having a variety of colours allows the receiver to choose the colour they want and again almost acts as a limited piece of art rather than a standard business card.

ADD MORE PHOTOS

PPP - Fifth Day at Grammar Studio

My next job at Grammar studio was to draw paths on illustrator over each individual balloon on the front image of this brochure in order for the printers to give the image a spot varnish.

Im not very confident with the pen tool, however, I understand that in the industry I am going to have to do jobs similar to this so it was beneficial for me to practice. I had never done anything like this before so it was also beneficial to hear and learn about the smaller tasks that have to me done.

PPP - Third day at Grammar Studio

Again I was just carrying on with the layouts for Off The Rails but this time Adam had sent over what I had already done so far to receive some feedback. Adam said that "80% of the feedback from Off The Rails is like this: Perfect. Amazing! Perfect. Perfect." which is definitely a confidence booster as I wasn't sure what I was doing was up to scratch for such a well established magazine. 

Adam has also kindly sent over a template for an invoice that I can tailor to my own personal branding. Its been handy to see what actually goes into a real life invoice for a client.

Already I have learnt so many things about what needs to be done in a real life setting and what it takes to run a successful design studio, I have also learnt a load of little tips and tricks both of them have picked up over the years in the various adobe programs.

What has also been nice is that I have been able to teach them a few things!! Introducing them to some of my favourite websites, designers and typefaces, that they have been extremely keen on and grateful for. 

PPP - Second day at Grammar Studio

My second day at Grammar Studio involved just carrying on with Off The Rails magazine, working through the various articles that showcased a variety of photographers. Each article will be sent over to me in a folder containing a number of images and the title of the folder will explain how many pages the article should be. Sometimes there can be a lot of images which have to fit on a small amount of pages which means I have to get creative with the layout or propose that specific article be extended.

While I was working on off the rails, I was able to listen into Adam and Petes conversations regarding the 'business' side of the studio. Some things that were discussed were things such as how annoying clients can be in terms of setting unrealistic deadlines, strategies for pitching to clients and general chat about upcoming projects.

Example Layouts:

I also been able to meet a few of Grammars clients as they have visited the studio which is always good for future reference and making links within the industry. I also met Richard who owns the mill which the studio is in, Richard is wanting to take the mill and the studios within it to the next level and brand it similar to that of something like Duke Studios. Richard has asked Adam to rebrand the mill and Adam mentioned that it may be a good idea to get me involved, which is very exciting.

PPP - First day at Grammar Studio

On my first day at Grammar studio, I was introduced to the magazine Off The Rails that I would be helping out with in terms of layout. When Adam reviewed my portfolio and saw that I was especially interested in editorial and layout he thought that It would be perfect for me to help out with. 

"An online/print mag enjoying year round summertime, loving the beach and grunge lifestyle, exploring music, fashion, youth culture & sex whilst on our worst behaviour. Come and get in trouble with us!"

https://www.offtherailsmag.com/

Exciting but also quite scarily, I was thrown in at the deep end and started on the layouts for the magazine straight away. Adam provided me with a grid and gave me a few example PDF's to work from.

With the studio only being made up of Adam and Peter the atmosphere was relaxing and intimate with me feeling comfortable to ask them any questions and also chat about things non graphics related.
One thing that I especially love about the studio is what Pete likes to call his 'Whores of Babylon'. The studio shelves are filled with masses of nostalgic memorabilia which Pete uses as physical reference points and inspiration, something in itself that inspires me not to get caught up in trawling the internet on sites such as behance and trendist for inspiration.

PPP - Fourth day at Grammar Studio

Moving on with Off The Rails magazine today, I finished off laying out the images for the remaining articles. The next job was to choose typographic treatments for the headings of each article. The typeface's chosen had to reflect the photography displayed in the article as well as link to the article name. Below are a few examples that I came up with: