Presentation Boards for Completed Briefs

Statement of Intent Review

I reviewed my statement of intent from the start of semester one and identified what was still the same and what needed adapting to fit where I am now. To be honest, the majority of it is still relevant although there are a few things I want to alter. The original statement is in black and my annotations are in red. 

Rationale

I want to stick to analogue drawing processes this year because I have learnt from experience that I really struggle with the process of drawing digitally, especially with vectors. Avoiding this will allow me to develop my drawing skills further and start to really understand how I work best and what drawing materials and processes work well for me. 

This is still true now, I know I want my focus to be on analogue image making processes fundamentally based around drawing.

I need to develop my Photoshop skills for editing scanned imagery created with analogue processes and for making patterns because pattern is something I have a keen interest in at the moment. This will allow me to produce professional quality outcomes effectively.

I think my Photoshop skills are developing as I go along and this is becoming the primary way which I piece together components into a composition. I am still interested in making patterns and want to learn more about the different ways of making a repeating design. However, I understand that I am not a pattern designer so my main focus is creating the imagery which would then be transformed into a pattern.

I need to be making professional quality, sellable products because I need a strong body of work/portfolio behind me for when I leave my final year of formal education. This means I will be able to enter the working world with a clear collection of work which really highlights what I am good at and that I can produce professional work. 

I need to explore the physical process of applying my imagery to products and materials, this is explained in more depth in the point below. Putting together a strong portfolio is still really important for me, I have been making presentation boards for the purpose of the course but I need to present my work in a way appropriate for a portfolio. I am also keen to set up an online portfolio this semester – this may also make contacting professionals a little more straight-forward if I have a link to share.

Thinking about application of imagery, I want to use this semester to explore which areas I can apply my work to, not just physical products. For example, could it work within publishing, or public art?

I need to explore paper and textile applications of my work because I don't just want my work to appear in two dimensional print formats. This means I will be able to understand more about how and where I really see my work existing in the market and I can figure out what companies, agencies and people I should be making contact with in relation to this. 

I have explored the application of my imagery through creating digital mockups of products although I want to make use of the facilities in college and bring some of my designs to life. I want to make use of the digital fabric printers this semester and also take some of my designs into screen print to make them into quality prints. This will help me understand the physical process of application rather than just mocking up the end product.

I want to make work that I am proud of because then I will be able to talk about it with confidence and believe it is worth something. This means I will be able to be more professional in my approach to my own work when talking to other people about it and I will have a more positive attitude towards my practice as a whole which is really important. 

This is all still relevant. Educating myself about my own work and becoming an expert in what I do will mean I am much more confident to talk about my practice as a whole.

Themes/Subjects

Natural forms, plants, animals, food, positivity, seasonal events, occasions, social issues.

Science, nature, useless knowledge, lifestyle…

Products/Methods of Distribution

Paper products: stationery, gift market, greetings cards, gift wrap, etc.

Fabrics: making my designs into physical products using digital and analogue printing processes.

Prints: complete pieces of artwork that exist as stand alone images.

Online: sharing imagery on professional social media accounts to build a following community, some of my outcomes could be adapted for sale on my Etsy shop.

In person: craft/print fairs, face to face selling.

Potential for book illustration, covers or internal. Specifically non-fiction books – I need to explore this in more depth, at the moment it is just an idea.

Practical Skills/Media/Formats

Screen printing, drawing, experimenting with drawing tools, utilizing my sketchbook, analogue processes, digital editing and enhancement on Photoshop, pattern making, preparing and packing products into a professional and sellable format, presenting my physical work digitally.

I think this list still sums up what I want to be doing. 

New Small Briefs - Brief Analysis

Whittard of Chelsea Halloween Tea Caddy

Brief 

Design a tea caddy that will be sold during Whittard’s 2017 Halloween campaign. The theme is ‘A Very Autumnal Halloween’ and the designs are to be made for two specific teas: Pumpkin Spice tea and Toffee Apple tea. 

Product

A rectangular wrap to fit a Whittard’s tea caddy. 

Tone of Voice

Charming, intriguing, adventurous, intelligent and witty, but never off-the-wall crazy. 

Audience

People who love the warmth and uniqueness of Pumpkin Spice and Toffee Apple teas. They will also appeal to tea caddy collectors. 

Context

Whiter of Chelsea stores and online. 

Additional Information/Considerations

There’s no need to include any branding or logos. 

Refer to brief for autumn colour palette. 

‘with over 125 years in the business, our bran is unmistakeably British, infused with self-effacing charm and occasional eccentricity.' 

Brief Submission Requirements

Submit a high resolution final image of my design and a paragraph about the story and inspiration behind it (up to 200 words). 

Deadline: 5th February 2017

Module Deliverables

Final design plus a mockup of the design on the caddy. 

Presentation boards and development work. 

Blogging. 

PAPYRUS Colouring Book

Brief 

Papyrus is the national charity for the prevention of young suicide. They want to use colouring as a method of relieving stress, relaxing and keeping minds healthy and they propose a book, 'The Art of a Peaceful Mind'. They are asking for a colouring book style line drawing of something that helps you feel calm and relaxed and a few lines of text explaining why. 

Product

A colouring book, I will just be designing one double page spread. 

Tone of Voice

Calming, relaxing, 

Audience

Teenagers and young adults but not exclusively.

Any gender. 

Context

Stationery shops, book shops, online. 

Charities, counsellors, doctors, therapists, etc.

Additional Information/Considerations

The drawing needs to be A3 landscape with a space included for the short explanation. 

Use a Staedtler 0.3mm fineliner pen. 

If possible, produce a time-lapse video of the artwork being created. 

Brief Submission Requirements

An A3 drawing including text explaining the relevance of the subject matter. 

Include my contact details in the email. 

Deadline: 27th February 2017

Module Deliverables

Final colouring book spread. 

Mock up into a book format, show it being coloured in. 

Development work and presentation boards. 

Blogging. 

We Are Boutique Mural Project

Brief 

We Are Boutique is a communications agency based in Leeds. They need someone to design and paint a mural for their main meeting room named ‘The Fell’. The meeting is used for various meetings involving staff and external clients. They want a white, ‘sketchy’ outline mural to be completed with white paint. 

Product

A a mural for a wall 297.5cm wide and 142cm high. 

Tone of Voice

Professional, friendly, welcoming. 

Audience

Staff, clients, business people, creative thinkers. 

Context

A meeting room, office environment. 

Additional Information/Considerations

The theme should be related to the location: The Fell, The Old Saw Mill, Leeds. 

The walls of the room are dark grey and this cannot be changed. 

Brief Submission Requirements

Send a low resolution JPEG with a  brief cover email about how I arrived at the final design. 

Deadline: 10th February 2017

Module Deliverables

Final proposed image. 

Mockup of the design in proposed space (of possible). 

Presentation boards and development work. 

Blogging. 

Semester One Reflection

Semester One

Last semester I managed to complete three relatively small briefs which extended onto other things. This was less than I had planned to do but I realise now that my plan was too optimistic, especially towards the end of the semester when context of practice was taking up almost all of my time. 

Harrison Advent Calendar Competition - ink, digital editing, quick turnaround, 

Illustrated Fact Series (incomplete) - self directed brief, ink, research/factual, composition, process driven, experimentation, exploration of media, 

Virgin Media Communication Box - decorative design, public art, digital, painting, colour, 

The Little Art Collection - decorative design, pattern, product application, textiles, digital, ink, quick turnaround.

Briefs I didn’t do… and next steps.

I didn’t get as much work done for my self driven illustrated facts project as I had hoped. I was aiming for ten images but only managed to complete three which is pretty low. I do still really want to bring this brief to some form of conclusion so I am going to use these two weeks to keep experimenting with ink and producing more images for this brief. 

I had planned to make a full set of christmas cards but I felt I left it too late to be making these, I realise now that people buy sets of christmas cards long before December. Maybe this is a personal task to do over summer so I am prepared for the Christmas ahead and any art fairs or other selling opportunities that may arise. I did adapt my advent calendar design into a christmas card which I did manage to sell individually. I also have a couple of people ask for sets ready for next year. I can use this week to get these printed and sent off and just to get on top of everything. 

I realised last semester that completing the To Kill A Mockingbird book cover by Christmas was too optimistic. I do still want to do this brief and potentially the Adrian Mole book cover too. I need to see how much I manage to get done this week but this is something I could potentially start mid-february and focus intensely on that project for a while. 

I managed to pick up a pet portrait commission over Christmas. We have a lot of my artwork up in our family home and my dad is self employed so we often have customers in our house. Some people noticed my work and commissioned me to draw their dog. I met with them, took photos of their dog and explained the situation with my current workload and they said they were in no rush so it didn’t matter when it was completed. It’s nice that they are really laid back but I am setting myself the deadline to have this completed by the 20th of January.  

Reflection

I think the briefs I have done so far do feed into where I want my practice to be going, although I am finding hard to identify this with words. I think the Penguin book covers will help me to identify this more clearly and decide whether I can see my work in publishing. 

I have been thinking quite a bit about book illustration recently and it’s something I do want to try. I am not so keen on the idea of children’s books as I don’t really feel my work engages with a young age group too well, and also character and narrative are not really strongpoints of mine. I was thinking more about more factual books, maybe looking at diagrams and visually explaining information. This may have stemmed from the illustrated facts brief I have been working on - anyway, I want to playa round with this idea and see if anything comes of it. 

Since cop is now out of the way, I feel like I just want to throw myself into making work that I like! I’m also feeling a bit hesitant because I feel like I have all this freedom and I just hope I am making the right choices with my briefs. I am thinking the process through but I’m an ‘over-thinker’ as well. 

Over the next two weeks I will…

Catch up on sleep. 

Stop eating potato waffles and cook real food again.

Make work that I enjoy.

NOT THINK ABOUT COP. 

Finish off odds and ends from last semester. 

Complete the tasks set in the briefing today.