Brief 2 - Communication is a Virus: Packaging

27th February

When we began to design the pack that we would hand out to people it consisted of an A4 sheet which would have been divided into 3 and then cut out. One slip with instructions on an example to make, One with how to enter the competition and one with a bit of information about origami. This would then fit into a C4 envelope and save on paper costing as it would divide the cost by 3. 

However after Aimee had designed the vectors, it soon became apparent that there was no way near enough room on the sheets to fit a logo, worded instructions and the diagrams on. It also meant we would have to fold the origami square in half which means it would limit the designs we could give as most designs don't have the middle fold in them. 

From here we decided to work with an A5 envelope, this allowed a 6x6 square to fit in with all the information. After this Eliot and Aimee came up with the idea of fitting all the information into a hot dog fold book so that it was compact but also nicer to read and look though. This also allowed the information to be on two separate A5 sheets which means the information wouldn't be cramped.

When it comes to the packaging we initially wanted to have it in the envelope as I stated. However for the cost of each pack and envelope it may be cheaper to use a black strip of paper around the pack vertically and horizontally. We will ask about this at the interim crit and try both out and get opinions on each.

Brief 2 - Communication is a Virus: Artist Research

After mondays meeting we decided that we would all take an aspect of the project to develop. Since I came up with the idea of a 3D origami poster it was my task to try and create it. Initially I knew what I wanted to do but when it came to doing it I really struggled. I decided before I went any further to research into paper artists and paper posters to get an idea of what is possible and what looks good. 

The only logical way of making a 3D poster which would be easy to reproduce would be to photograph the origami and then create the poster around that. I found when trying to cut out the shapes the paper would fall or droop as it couldn't support the weight of the hanging paper. I quite like the example above and below of the photographed items as they look neat and interesting. 

Rob Ryan

I decided to look at Rob Ryan who works with paper but instead of folding it he cuts sections out. His work is intricate and detailed which makes it more fascinating and interesting. For a poster, this style is more feasible because although it may take a bit of time it can support itself upright and still fits with the hand made paper art theme. The origami ideas could be incorporated into it and shown through this theme. 

Yulia Brodskaya 

Yulia Brodskaya is one of my favourite paper artists as she uses strips of coloured paper to create her master pieces. If there is any way of working this into my final poster that would be interesting, however it would take ages to do every poster like this.

Brief Two - Communication is a Virus: Initial Ideas

After chatting as a group we decided to all go away and think of ten possible ideas/concepts to run with. This would mean that when we next meant we would have 60 rough ideas which we could sort through and think of strengths and weaknesses of. It may also spark new ideas and get us all talking.

MONDAY 17TH FEBRUARY 

Below is a list of the ideas I took to the group meeting:

• saving money
• scrimping
• staying creative
• cooking
• productivity
• type
• fonts
• party tricks
• short cuts (computer)
• surviving in the wild
• confidence - speaking in front of a group etc..
• cocktails

After talking it through we wanted something simple, as none of us were experts in anything we wanted something fun which we could enjoy doing and learning about at the same time whilst still incorporating something we all have in common; creativity. We chose to look into origami as we thought it could be a creative way to get people doing more arty stuff, as well as getting people chatting and off their phones! 

This idea led on to an idea of having an exhibition space where they could all be exhibited and hung around. The idea of this competition meant that it would be engaging, we would get an idea of how many people were getting involved and we could have a twitter and website page which would allow us to put out more information and save on printing as well as getting an idea of how many people are responding. 

Why are we doing it?

To teach people a new skill and a party trick. Something fun and simple which gets people talking, thinking and off their phones.

Who are we aiming it at?

Creative people, mainly students as it would be around the college campus.

After we began to formalise a plan, problems begin to arrose. Firstly you have to question

1. Why would people do it?

There needs to be some sort of prize or incentive.

2. How much would it cost?
If we printed out sheets then it would cost a lot more than online. A colour scheme could up the price.

At the end of the meeting we decided that we would meet again on Thursday the 20th. For then we all would produce a rough design or page layout. This way we can look at the layout, logos and style we are all thinking of and combine the best parts and remove some of the weaker ones. 

Brief Two - Communication is a Virus: Viral Research

To get a better understanding of what viral is I decided to look into what things have recently gone viral and what aspects make them viral.

Although I completely disagree with the stupidity to which this game has developed. You cannot argue that it hasn't hit social media virally. Everyone is getting involved and perhaps that is why it has become so popular because it requires people to get involved. There is no true substance to it but it relies on people to keep going. 

Vines are another great example. An app which allows you to film a few seconds of footage but with the added option of pausing it whenever. This allows people to become animators in a sense and make their own miniature clips. This again has the common factor that it is interactive, it is something people can do and share which keeps their attention and interest. 

These two examples were started by individuals, I also wanted to look into adverts that had gone viral.

One ad that stuck out was the devil baby. This was again interactive but at a smaller and unconcious level. A remote control baby was set loose around the streets of New York and as people kindly went to check on the baby it jumped up and scared them. This was a great way of almost bringing the film to life, It allows us as viewers to laugh at those scared by it but also see the fear and relate that to the film; imagine if that really happened. 

You can see how life like the baby is and the fear and shock of one ladies reaction.

Brief 1 - Design Is About Doing: Cigarette Idea

I had an idea today, I wanted to look at a cigarette burning down to a stub to show how his chances with his wife are getting slimmer but at the same time it is showing his habits and how little he is caring for his life. I drew up some rough sketches (see below) of how I wanted it to look. Before I began trying to create my piece I decided to look into some artwork which uses cigarettes.

This piece caught my eye with its simple two tone. The lack of colours make the contrast between the two chosen colours a lot stronger. The shape in the background could refer to coffee being poured and splashing up or rounded cigarette smoke. 

This was the main piece that I was attracted to, I like the simple illustration and use of colour. I think it is a clever piece of design which does show the harms of smoking. However the colours used are not ones I would immediately go to when I think of smoking as they are low saturation and 'friendly' colours, this is what makes me think it isn't an anti smoking poster, rather a piece of design. I may take this sort of design further and try to create something similar if I can get advice on how to create it. 

The illustrated cigarette forming smoke swirls in the shape of lungs makes you look twice, but like the other design it seems quite friendly. It does portray the message of the smoke filling your lungs, the different opacity swirls makes it feel more like smoke than just swirls; if it was a monotone colour it would be harder to distinguish.  

I really liked this piece of design, I thought it was very clever having a cigarette in the hand of a dead person. I don't think this is at all appropriate or possible for my final piece but I just loved the impact it created and the way it gets you thinking. It doesn't need to say it but you know he has died from cigarettes, which in my opinion makes this piece more powerful.

This was a phone case I found. Why anyone would want a stubbed out cigarette on a phone case is beyond me but I liked the use os stripping the colours down to 4 tones, this has caused it to create shapes and clear tonal areas. Perhaps this style is more appropriate for my artwork because it would take away from really cigarette images.

Brief 1 - Design is About Doing: Interim Crit

For the interim crit I asked:
1. How I should develop the images? 
2. With the painting how much hand should show and the sizing of the rose? Also should I keep the frame or go all white?
3. Which thumbnail should I develop further?

"I think the flower paintings work best, perhas make the petals brown, I feel this will work better with the image of the band and the theme of the song"

This is definietly something I will look into editing! It would fit in a lot better with the songs meanings and what the piece of art is trying to communicate.

"Flower and hand; have the hand looking more desperate as though he wants to revive the flower. Stretch 1/2 fingers out to be reaching out for it. Play with the angle of the hand. I like the frame: shows he feels confused and stuck."

I think this is another good piece of advice, the hand does look like it has given up caring, perhaps by adjusting the angle and position of the hand it will get rid of this and show the plea. The frame does contain the image more giving the idea of him being stuck.

"Could look at using block colour in the background possibly a slightly darker grey than the hand to reinforce the message of your design"

This seems like another sound piece of advice which I will hopefully look into.

"Not the male and female one, that suggests bringing male and female together, not being separated. The paintings don't give you much room for development, but I reckon you're going to use that one anyway. To be honest so would I, but I dont see how "developing" it will change it for the better, as I can only see it becoming less elegant."

This feels slightly like an ad hominem attack, attacking the painting style rather than what its trying to show.

"paintings - middle one with border is best (more hand showing) also think the record showing through the transparent man is good concept and works well having used greys- monotone, keep with little use of colour. Think I prefer the painted version."

"Do you need to? Do develop if an idea is pretty much there. Doing it for the sake of it will ruin the design. Middle image is perfect balance of hand and rose, layout is nice to. Side note - I love the cut out idea."

"I really like the rose one, think you should stick to hand being further down the page (middle one with boarder)"

I found the feedback I received useful, however I regret writing questions because people have just answered the questions and not looked at giving more general feedback. I will look at making improvements from things that have been suggested as well as developing new ideas.

Brief 1 - Secret Seven: Primary Research - Berwick Street

  On a recent trip to London I ventured down Berwick Street which had a great mix of record shops. The photos may be slightly blurry because I was trying my best not to look like a tourist.

The Music and video exchange had a great mix of old and new  and they were all labeled by hand into different categories.

This was sister records and we were in here for a good 45 minutes distracted by the artwork and the music. They're were quite a record designs in here which I liked the look of.

I loved the typography and simple design used on this record. The layout makes it pleasing to the eye because it is central and its simplicity but use of shapes makes you curious to what its trying to show.

I loved the doodled pattern of this album it really caught my attention and the sudden contrast of blue on black and white seems to be enough colour to make it interesting. The shape of the blue does almost look like something has been spilt. The intricate details mean your eyes are lost in it for ages trying to figure out what objects are hidden in the massive pile.

This was 'JOE - The punters step out' It was designed under the Hemlock design which tends to be a wallpapered background. When searching I found similar ones for artists like James Blake. They all look similar so it is more the record label people are buying into.

This was one that stood out to be as it was a simple image which told a whole story but left mystery to what had happened. The marble worktop holding a crumpled brown bag of money suggests it wasn't obtained through legal means and the smashed iphone suggests a fight or that its fallen on the ground whilst in a rush. I think this is a powerful image as it is not overloaded; it leaves the possibilities of what could have happened to your imagination.

What drew me towards this album was the space theme and use of colours. The way they are spread out makes them look like the wings of an angel but almost coming from a moon shaped object. The light behind the object really acts as a focal point and then the feathery wings of material lead your eye out around the circle.

This rope wrapped up seems like a a really simple clear image which could hold a lot of different meanings. The way there is not text or definition on the artwork really fascinated me.

I really liked block parties album because it didn't show the full image it only looked at 1/3rd which left the rest up to your imagination. You know its at night because of the street light reflection in the liquid, you also know its outside because of the rough pavement ground. It made me think of setting something on fire and leaving a trail of petrol or flammable liquid. The black contrasts well with the warm colours and makes the whole piece seem serious.

Brief 1 - Design is About Doing Something: Thumbnails and Initials

The first thing I did when I chose my song was to print off the lyrics and analyse them. I didn't want to create a piece which just focused on one literal line because I felt a lot of other people would do this. So I began to look the meaning behind the song and try to think of a conceptual idea which would incorporate some of the meanings and messages which are trying to be portrayed.

The next thing I did was to look at my anotations and begin to create them into workable ideas. From here on I sketched out the ideas. Below are my ideas with  description of what they are meant to represent.

Brief 1 - Design is About Doing: Elbow Artwork

I decided that since I was designing for elbow it would be good to see what their current album covers are like so that I can get an idea of what they work with.

This is their album cover. It appears to be painted but has no clear meaning. To me it looks like a rubix cube but it is all one colour which suggests colour has gone but the puzzle has remained. There are many meanings that could be extracted from the album.

I quite liked these two stone statues which suggests they are stuck, having no mouths could also imply they couldn't speak out. The fact that they are placed central with a simple coloured background means they are centre of attention. 

THese were two variations of the 'Grounds for Divorce" cover. It fits in with the same style as the "seldom seen kid" album.