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Deck Chair

For my deck chair design i discussed with my group what would be the combining link between all of our designs, and in the end we decided to use our mascot Mummitty as the primary focus. When presenting this design to be reviewed i had received great feedback on the overall design of the piece, however there was one comment that was made. It was mentioned that in order to lure people to the museum and to the mummy exhibit that Mummitty’s name would have to be put on there otherwise you wouldn't know what the mascot’s name was. That is one of the changes i made after the first draft of this design. Overall i really like the design i made for my deckchair and i agree with the feedback i had received, that Mummitty was one of my groups strong points towards the live brief and that it only makes sense to include her in this project. The colour scheme itself was another point that our group wanted to keep consistent throughout our individual deckchair designs as well. We knew that our mascot is beige so we wanted other colours so that visually the piece would look more interesting. We decided on pink, yellow and blue, as our contracting colours and this correlates back to our initial research where we found these too were colours used in media talking about ancient Egypt and the media surrounding mummies.

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Our Second Presentation:

For our second presentation we listened and reflected on the feedback we were given from our first presentation, and i personally think we as a group improved heavily on the quality of our final presentation. We updated our scripts and i believe we did all we can to end this brief with a final project that we are proud of. We also focused more heavily on getting a more polished look for our final presentation as with our previous presentation we realised how visually boring it was with the plain white background and pencil sketch art, so we updated the presentation. This time we scattered our drawings of Mummity around to look like our mascot was walking about the slides, and we knew as a group that Mummitty was our strongest point to our exhibition so we wanted her to be everywhere. We also as a group loved how individually we drew our mascot so we made sure that everyone's art was equally distributed throughout our presentation. Another change we made was keeping the word count low as that was an issue raised for our previous presentation, so we tried to keep it as low as possible and added bullet points where text was needed.

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Live Brief: Mummy Exhibition

This brief has been probably one of the most challenging yet fun projects i have probably done thus far. The purpose of this brief is to work with people you otherwise would not have on a live project, this is supposed to simulate a creative work environment that we all as artists have to experience at one point or another. As a huge class we were nominated an exhibition at the Derby Museum to work on to improve it in some way, i was allocated the Mummy exhibition working alongside 2 other people. The graphic design students unfortunately did not participate in this brief leaving only the illustrators, however i believe our small group in the end made the most of a difficult situation and made something we’re all proud of.

Immediately after the brief was given to us we made a group chat and communicated effectively throughout the entire project, for example if anyone was stuck at any point someone else would reply quickly to get the issue sorted out. This made fixing issues much faster then i believe having a larger group would have been able to do, and because we all worked so well together we were able to get what needed to be done exactly when it needed to be done. Because we understand that each of us has our own live and projects to deal with, we gave ourselves tasks to be done by the end of the day/week depending on what the task was. This was effective as not one of us had an uneven workload then the rest.

The First Presentation:

We all knew that the first presentation we presented to everyone was far from polished but we wanted to get the fundamentals down before finalizing anything, as it wouldn't take long to make everything look professional but if we missed the mark on anything we wanted to amend that before our final presentation. Luckily most of the feedback given on the presentation itself were simply cosmetic and we were told that our mascot Mummitty was a brilliant idea but we needed to tweak a few things. This included: limiting the amount of text on our presentation, make the presentation more visually appealing, add a introduction page with all of our names and include the brief title, and finally change a few things in our script as we had ran over time a little bit. We all listened to the feedback our tutors gave us closely and started working on the changes, so we could learn from our mistakes next time.

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Karrie Fransman Brief:

For this brief we were asked to tell a visual story based on our surroundings and where we live, and where else would be more appropriate then the flat I’ve called home since the pandemic? I decided to base this brief on my housemates since i see them regularly.

Now for me personally i split this brief into two, the first being the very first week i got this brief (see first image), and quite a few weeks afterwards with a better perspective. When doing the first set of images i wanted to focus on the personality of my housemates, and how i could translate that into a visual form. How i attempted to show this was by the colour palette and the background. Each one of my housemates are different in a unique way and i wanted to portray that, even though this told a story about the individual collectively however, the artworks did not tell a story.I decided to then take a break from this brief with a fresher perspective later on.

Upon returning (see second image) i took inspiration from what i had already created and decided that i wanted each illustration to connect with each other rather then each illustration to be separate. To do this i picked a day when everyone was together -which was a tough enough task as everyone has their own schedules- and figured that i would draw the people in my flat when they’re at their most comfortable, so the piece could feel authentic. I decided to call this artwork ‘A lazy Sunday morning’, and i wanted there to be a calmness to the art. You wouldn't have guessed that we all stuck though a global pandemic and that we’ve all been through so much.On this morning we all got together and just spent time with one another, which is something we all need after a year and a bit of isolation.

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Ian Cherry Response and Mini Brief:

I was very intrigued by the incite Ian Cherry gave in his verbal presentation, it was really interesting to see what goes on in the background of such a well known club like Derby City Football Club. It opened my eyes of how illustrators or creative individuals are behind things you wouldn't ever expect, and that there is jobs for creatives in all fields and different lines of work. I haven't really considered how for every advert there would be a team of designers to execute that advert behind the scenes, so overall extremely interesting to see a successful artists explain about their experiences. What i found also curious was that Ian Cherry didn't expect to go to go into what he did, and he adapted to the jobs that came his way which was inspiring. 

Mini Brief:

This was certainly challenging for me as i have never really tried typography so i started off with a simple concept and went from there. My club is fake, however i wanted to create a club that relates to my interests and create a club i would want to join. I’m specifically interested here in alternative music and their influences in the early 2000′s. I mostly took inspiration from ‘emo’, which in attempt to describe this subculture its short for emotional music and like most music subcultures, fashion can play a part in it so i wanted to explore into it and that is what i attempted to do in my mood board. I explored album covers and colours typically associated with the vibe i wanted to go for, which i found to be mostly bright neon colours and black. I then took that inspiration and was heavily influenced by album cover typography and started roughly sketching, i also took type from the internet to also help me out when making my sketches. From there i picked just a few i liked the most and worked from that, i was mindful that badges are not big so simple designs are best and i wanted to make sure things were not too chaotic. In the end i reached a design i was happy with

Feedback:

In response to my feedback:

Depth of reflection: I believe that when looking through my blog more thoroughly you will begin to see how i have mentioned a few artistic inspirations within my blogs and i can definitely include more.

Reaching out:

In terms of contacting organizations i contacted my local LGBT+ center as they were looking for artists for someone to help brighten up their new building with some art.  This module and listening to the group speakers gave me the confidence to finally reach out for this opportunity that i otherwise wouldn't have taken.

During the whole process it taught me a lot of new skills that i wouldn't been able to access before, and through various back-and-forth emails, phone calls and visits, i got the position! Now it was time to actually make the art which i completed alongside all of my modules, and learned how to use Photoshop efficiently in order to buy supplies for this project. I also had to effectively communicate professionally and set up my socials so that everything flowed smoothly.  

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Range of references: Now when looking up fashion subculture clubs online, you wont see much however i have just the thing that could combat this. I have a book entitled ‘Goth Culture - gender, sexuality, and style’, and even though the book itself is a little outdated as it was a study looking at goth culture in the late 90s/ early 2000s, in the UK, Us and Germany. In the book it lists various clubs and pubs that were considered safe spaces during that time period. One of the longest running goth festivals in the world (that's still around today!) is the Whitby Goth Weekend, which similar to a club, you get to meetup with like minded individuals. The book lists off clubs such as ‘Lowlife’ and ‘Nightshade’ (i cant find much information about these two, and it seems they are not around anymore) in Brighton, and also the ‘Hobgoblin’ is the longest surviving goth pub in London. I have found that goth clubs now are very few and far between, and many of the other pubs and clubs mentioned have since gone out of business. This is why i chose to do an alternative club for this mini brief, they are so very few and far between now-a-days and only accessible to people who live in big cities.

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Networking:

This networking talk was extremely useful for me, typically I’m quite a shy person so i was really nervous and didn't think i could ever network for myself because I’m introverted. However after this talk i became confident that i could go forward and there are things out there that will help me in my artistic career in the future. I really valued the information that was shared with me today because i feel like i have a strategy going forward of how to communicate and get my work out there. 

Miro: https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_lXjZa8A=/ 

A part of this brief was to first create a collage in 30 minutes about me (which can be seen on the post above), then we were put into groups and asked to research artists from specific artists around the world and my group was given ‘Africa’. As a group we all communicated really well with each other and talked about which artists we had so we all hand someone different to look in to. Others in my group were using Google and Instagram for their artists so i explored another platform which was TikTok. There’s a great community of artists on this app so i went searching and i eventually came across Christine Vincent and Hilda K, both amazing artists that inspired me. I found quite a bit on Christine Vincent and i loved looking into her story and her inspirations behind her work. Hilda K is another brilliant artist who is quite small so to my knowledge doesn't have a website, but her account is filled with speed-paints (time lapse type videos of her making her art) which was really interesting to me as you could see her creative progress when making her art and it was very inspiring.

Task:

We were then asked to go off and look at local and international artists that we found interesting.

Local Artists- Kirstie Adamson (collage artist) and Sarah Perkins (illustrator)

International artists: Tina Yu (NYC based sculpture artist) and Rootistaboots (American illustrator)  

Studios: Banks Mill studio (art studio) and ACME (London based charity that helps artists find affordable studios) 

Extra: Laura Duffy (Dublin based illustrator that i really like the work of)

(Update from 26/02/2021: After Karrie Fransman Talk)

After Karrie Fransman talk she briefly mentioned how she networks, and i found her advice really helpful. She suggested to just find people you connect with and talk about what interests you and naturally your energy will come across and you'll have a much easier time networking. Her incite and telling of her experiences really helped me as she too is just working from job-to-job and she clearly enjoys what she does. She inspired me so much and i hope to contact her soon. 

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Creating My Own Manifesto:

Since a manifesto is a set of ideologies you stand for i created my own with sayings or things i stand by. I also wanted to have this piece be messy with aspects of collage in there to give a more punk feel to the artwork.

-Embracing the Alternative-

1. I believe that everyone is unique and deserves respect.

2. Memento Mori - Latin for: Remember Death (I believe that death should not be feared but embraced)

3. Memento Vivere- Latin for: Remember to live (I believe that you should not fear death and that you should enjoy the short time you have on this earth)

4. I believe that artists should create whatever art they feel like creating, instead of what is expected of them.

5. Throughout my life i have been told that being an artist is not a well paying industry to be a part of when this could not be further from the truth.

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Reflecting on my groups manifesto:

My groups manifesto this week was on the Dunne and Raby manifesto, which a basic rundown was about Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby who made an experimental manifesto on Critical design that wanted to make the audience question what they were seeing. Inspired by radical Italian design in the 60′s and heavily influenced by the two living in Japan, critical design focuses on mostly product design for the future but not on the future you may think of. Some of the products Dunne and Raby designed for are not for the current world but the future instead, the products designed under critical design are spit balling ideas for the future world and their problems. The aim of Dunne and Raby’s work is not to actively create inventions that work but rather the aim is to get the design out there so that it could possibly be reviewed later. Personally, I really enjoyed looking into this manifesto as not only did I enjoy looking at the bizarre product design and embracing an alternative form of design.

Reflecting on someone else’s manifesto: Decolonizing Design

The first thing I discovered when looking at this manifesto is the link between decolonization and diversity and how the two words are linked but are not similar. What I found out when looking at the group’s notes is that decolonization is about changing the fundamentals of how a society thinks and diversity is bringing more people to the table. This manifesto acknowledges that western society is built upon the colonization of various other nations and some of us exist in a place of privilege, and what we believe to be ‘our culture’ is appropriated from different cultures. After reading the manifesto myself I believe this manifesto is there to educate designers of looking outside of the ordinary to challenge why we consider something to be ‘ordinary’, a quote from the manifesto confirms this by stating “decolonization is about shattering the familiar”. The manifesto teaches the audience that even though artists need to change for any given brief, the artist must understand when a project is not theirs to take and not to voice a narrative that is not their own to voice, it is then important to promote an artist more appropriate to take your place. Overall, this manifesto is very informative and I really enjoyed exploring into this form of design.

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SuperSelfie!

I wanted my super-selfie to reflect my own personal interests and hobbies, so I set up my tripod and took a photo of myself. Behind the scenes I took photos of some of the objects you see in the final image, this is so i could have a mixture of things i already own and images from the internet to create a sort of collage. I found this to be a great fun little project that reflects me as a creative individual.

For my outfit i wanted to showcase my passion outside of university modules, I’m a fan of alternative fashion and subculture and i love to DIY a bunch of things. This brought my love for collage and hand making things even though my preferred medium to work with when doing my art is digital. At first i was confused on what exactly i had to create for my SuperSelfie, but once i got in the swing of things i feel like i created a finished product i am proud of.

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My creative passions: Currently I have been exploring the world of clothes customization, I have dabbled in this craft by painting a few jackets in the past, however it was not until late last year that I really wanted to pursue this craft further. After gaining weight during lockdown and struggling to find clothes that fit under tight restrictions and shops not being open, I had to get creative with materials I had on hand to spice up my wardrobe. One of my proudest achievements was altering a black dress that was too small and a long plaid skirt to create a punk inspired skirt. For embellishments I used broken necklaces that would have otherwise been thrown away, in the future I would like to sell my alternative style clothing to other like-minded individuals.

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My creative heroes: It would be easy to name a specific artistic individual that has done well in the industry and has achieved financial success as my creative hero, but honestly, I am more inspired by my peers and independent artists. One of my inspirations is an American queer artist called Nicole Brennan ( Etsy/Instagram) who is a small business owner who mixes political messages into statement earrings/keyrings/stickers. After following their work for some time on social media they are an inspiration of mine as I too want to run my own business someday, so seeing them becoming more successful in their line of work motivates me to continue along my creative path.  

Having said this most of my artistic inspiration comes from my fellow peers in my course, week after week I see so many perspectives one task can go into, and styles that are so unique from person to person. It just makes me even more enthused about working on my course as being on the same journey as others makes me feel that I’m not alone on my creative path and I have the support of other people around me.

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