He is my refined project proposal. Whilst a lot of this is currently the plan I fully expect there to be changes in my proposal as my work/process develops.
26/02/2015
Yorkshire Tea: Presentation Board Peer Review 1
Today we had our first peer review for Studio Brief 2. Hollie was unable to make it in today, so I presented the boards by myself. I felt my verbal presentation of the boards improved on past Responsive presentations, with my wording being precise, informed and effective in explained where we planned to go with the project.
Our work was pretty well received, however there were varying viewpoints on different areas, it'll be up to Hollie and me to decided which advice is worth taking into account during the next phase of our development. Sophie W suggested a radical redesign of the Whippet mascot, whilst others said it worked pretty well. Zatul meanwhile informed up that some Muslims may be offended by the depiction a dog as it is considered a sacred animal to some. This was an interesting point, we never considered our work could offend someone so unintentionally and it is something Hollie and I will have to discuss further at some point.
Whilst both of these points were disheartening, the others of the group I presented to said that the work thus far was very effective and simply needed more development.
Our work was pretty well received, however there were varying viewpoints on different areas, it'll be up to Hollie and me to decided which advice is worth taking into account during the next phase of our development. Sophie W suggested a radical redesign of the Whippet mascot, whilst others said it worked pretty well. Zatul meanwhile informed up that some Muslims may be offended by the depiction a dog as it is considered a sacred animal to some. This was an interesting point, we never considered our work could offend someone so unintentionally and it is something Hollie and I will have to discuss further at some point.
Whilst both of these points were disheartening, the others of the group I presented to said that the work thus far was very effective and simply needed more development.
18/02/2015
Applied Illustration: Project Proposal Outline
Project Rationale
What are you going to do? (Product, Range & Distribution)
I'm going to produce my own illustrated zine which will focus on the journey of a woman excluded from the world she knows due to her actions that question the patriarchy.
This zine could act as starting point where the characters are then included on products such as:
- Posters
- Digital Sites
- Tote Bags
- Screen Prints
- T-Shirts
What do I want to achieve?
From an illustrative point of view - I want to expand my knowledge of environments, character design. From a process point of view I want to spend more time working with digital illustration, however will incorporate analogue work for conceptual work, screen printing and mark making where appropriate.
What do I want to learn from it?
I want to develop a process that feels more natural to me.
Further my skills with processes such a digital drawing.
How to find a suitable target audience.
Themes/
- Isolation
- Exclusion
- Patriarchy
- Equality
Subjects
- Environments
- Characters
- Narrative
Practical and Conceptual Application
Discipline area:
- Narrative Illustration
- Character Design
- Product Design
Audience/Context
Feminists
Women
Fans of narrative illustration
Fans of Zines
Production/Distribution Methods
Products could be distributed through a local comic book store, online or at events such as Thought Bubble.
Contextual References
Francis Manapul
Brooke A Allen
What are you going to do? (Product, Range & Distribution)
I'm going to produce my own illustrated zine which will focus on the journey of a woman excluded from the world she knows due to her actions that question the patriarchy.
This zine could act as starting point where the characters are then included on products such as:
- Posters
- Digital Sites
- Tote Bags
- Screen Prints
- T-Shirts
What do I want to achieve?
From an illustrative point of view - I want to expand my knowledge of environments, character design. From a process point of view I want to spend more time working with digital illustration, however will incorporate analogue work for conceptual work, screen printing and mark making where appropriate.
What do I want to learn from it?
I want to develop a process that feels more natural to me.
Further my skills with processes such a digital drawing.
How to find a suitable target audience.
Themes/
- Isolation
- Exclusion
- Patriarchy
- Equality
Subjects
- Environments
- Characters
- Narrative
Practical and Conceptual Application
Discipline area:
- Narrative Illustration
- Character Design
- Product Design
Audience/Context
Feminists
Women
Fans of narrative illustration
Fans of Zines
Production/Distribution Methods
Products could be distributed through a local comic book store, online or at events such as Thought Bubble.
Contextual References
Francis Manapul
Brooke A Allen
Yorkshire Tea: Idea Development
After giving it some thought Hollie and I decided that the Yorkshire Whippet would be a fantastic character. It is a dog, known for their loyalty - an important aspect we want to get across to the audience, and they are common within the Yorkshire area, thus tying it to the brand.
We both played around with design ideas; I used tea as a tool and later digital, whilst Hollie produced hers digitally immediately.
Here are Hollie's Designs:
We decided that Hollie's design ideas worked better so we so she chose to push further with the design of the dog. She had also made a rough design of the Yorkshire terrain in Photoshop. I liked it as it seemed fresher than the design made by Hutchinson, but wouldn't alien existing fans in my opinion.
With this in mind Hollie agreed to create the packaging illustration too, however this now left me in an awkward situation as I felt I had little to do within the project. We decided that I would focus on the actual packaging design, project board designs and management of the over all project.
We both played around with design ideas; I used tea as a tool and later digital, whilst Hollie produced hers digitally immediately.
Here are Hollie's Designs:
We decided that Hollie's design ideas worked better so we so she chose to push further with the design of the dog. She had also made a rough design of the Yorkshire terrain in Photoshop. I liked it as it seemed fresher than the design made by Hutchinson, but wouldn't alien existing fans in my opinion.
With this in mind Hollie agreed to create the packaging illustration too, however this now left me in an awkward situation as I felt I had little to do within the project. We decided that I would focus on the actual packaging design, project board designs and management of the over all project.
17/02/2015
Yorkshire Tea: Visual Research
Over the weekend, my girlfriend and I visited the Chevin Forest, just south of Otley. This was a trip initially not related to any college work, however, we discovered this view point where Otley, its surrounding areas, the Dales, and presumably part of Harrogate is visible.
It got me thinking about the design for the Yorkshire Tea packaging and Hutchinson's work. I like Hutchinson's illustrations depicting the Yorkshire countryside, but feel that it may be his work just doesn't appeal to a younger audience. Maybe something a bit more simple would suffice? Firstly I went about acquiring more images of the Yorkshire Countryside for reference.
These reminded me of Tolkien's Illustrations of Middle Earth, specifically these two images:
It got me thinking about the design for the Yorkshire Tea packaging and Hutchinson's work. I like Hutchinson's illustrations depicting the Yorkshire countryside, but feel that it may be his work just doesn't appeal to a younger audience. Maybe something a bit more simple would suffice? Firstly I went about acquiring more images of the Yorkshire Countryside for reference.
These reminded me of Tolkien's Illustrations of Middle Earth, specifically these two images:
14/02/2015
Visual Journal: Strong Women
As my ideas for this module have developed, I've decided that one theme I'm going to explore is strong women. I've decided that my brunette character known as 'Kate' will somewhat of a rebellious character, yet remaining somewhat immature whom I've based on the character of Juno from the film of the same name (2007) starring Ellen Page. Meanwhile the character of 'Red' will be a strong willed and emotionally stable person, similar to Elastigirl (Helen Parr) from the Disney/Pixar film, the Incredibles (2004). I've watched both of these films in my research of the characters. Other influences will come from characters such as Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones and Hester Prynne from the Scarlett Letter.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Juno on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Elastigirl on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Brienne on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Hester Pynne on Pinterest.
I also discovered this neat collection of images on Tumblr recently which displays an array of strong women from an array of films. I have begun using these images as a point of reference to draw from.
I sketched out a few of these strong women in my attempt to understand form better:
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Juno on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Elastigirl on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Brienne on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Hester Pynne on Pinterest.
I also discovered this neat collection of images on Tumblr recently which displays an array of strong women from an array of films. I have begun using these images as a point of reference to draw from.
I sketched out a few of these strong women in my attempt to understand form better:
12/02/2015
Yorkshire Tea: Initial Research
As we thought about Yorkshire Tea I broke down the brief in the hopes of helping us develop some initial ideas.
What are the 5 most important words in the brief?
Brew
Quirky
Loyal
Packaging
Impact
What are the 5 most important considerations?
Don't alienate the current customers
Expand the brand
Explore different options
Set the brand apart
Make it more mainstream
5 related products
Biscuits
Tea jars
Sugar
Coffee
Cup
5 related places
Home
Office
Coffee House
Cinema
Hollie and I decided to take on the YCN Yorkshire Tea Brief with the main objective to make the brand more appealing to a younger audience (18-25 year olds). After a short discussion and some research we came to the conclusion that Yorkshire Tea suffers from a package design that looks somewhat old and doesn't immediately grab the attention of a younger audience. We also decided that Yorkshire Tea suffers in its lack of a mascot (unlike PG Tips with its Monkey and Tetley Tea with the Tea Folk). With these issues identified we decided that we would each do some initial research and concept work then get back to each other later in the week to decide what looks best and where to go from there.
I went home and began to look at the Yorkshire Tea packaging further. Initially I went on the Yorkshire Tea website, found here, before searching for the illustrations on the boxes pre-packaging.
As I was doing this search I also found a video of illustrator Andrew Hutchinson in which he details some of his process and methods. The video can be viewed here.
What are the 5 most important words in the brief?
Brew
Quirky
Loyal
Packaging
Impact
What are the 5 most important considerations?
Don't alienate the current customers
Expand the brand
Explore different options
Set the brand apart
Make it more mainstream
5 related products
Biscuits
Tea jars
Sugar
Coffee
Cup
5 related places
Home
Office
Coffee House
Cinema
Hollie and I decided to take on the YCN Yorkshire Tea Brief with the main objective to make the brand more appealing to a younger audience (18-25 year olds). After a short discussion and some research we came to the conclusion that Yorkshire Tea suffers from a package design that looks somewhat old and doesn't immediately grab the attention of a younger audience. We also decided that Yorkshire Tea suffers in its lack of a mascot (unlike PG Tips with its Monkey and Tetley Tea with the Tea Folk). With these issues identified we decided that we would each do some initial research and concept work then get back to each other later in the week to decide what looks best and where to go from there.
I went home and began to look at the Yorkshire Tea packaging further. Initially I went on the Yorkshire Tea website, found here, before searching for the illustrations on the boxes pre-packaging.
As I was doing this search I also found a video of illustrator Andrew Hutchinson in which he details some of his process and methods. The video can be viewed here.
Yorkshire Tea: Problems, Resolutions and Contract
Today we discussed, problems and resolutions to these.
Our priorities are:
1. Having a quality end product.
2. Do not kill each other.
3. Share the workload equally.
4. Don't argue, compromise.
5. Realistic goals.
To make sure these issues don't arise/ are achieved we will:
1. Consider the work we are doing and try hard to complete it to an excellent standard.
2. Communicate civilly.
3. Decide on tasks and divide them up to the best of our abilities.
4. We will discuss our issues/suggestions calmly and be willing to compromise.
5. We will plan our goals - i.e. strategies.
We foresaw many problems such as:
1. Falling out.
2. Not doing enough work.
3. Failing to arrange structured meetings.
4. Deciding who exactly does what.
5. Failing to attend sessions/meetings.
To resolve these issues:
1. Talk about our feelings and I will buy Hollie chocolate.
2. We will make sure we do work out of respect of the other person.
3. Arrange a set day in which meetings will take place.
4. Discuss extensively early on who does what early one.
5. Make sure we attend all sessions and meetings out of respect for the other person.
Following on from this we produced our final contract to look back on should any of these issues arise:
Our priorities are:
1. Having a quality end product.
2. Do not kill each other.
3. Share the workload equally.
4. Don't argue, compromise.
5. Realistic goals.
To make sure these issues don't arise/ are achieved we will:
1. Consider the work we are doing and try hard to complete it to an excellent standard.
2. Communicate civilly.
3. Decide on tasks and divide them up to the best of our abilities.
4. We will discuss our issues/suggestions calmly and be willing to compromise.
5. We will plan our goals - i.e. strategies.
We foresaw many problems such as:
1. Falling out.
2. Not doing enough work.
3. Failing to arrange structured meetings.
4. Deciding who exactly does what.
5. Failing to attend sessions/meetings.
To resolve these issues:
1. Talk about our feelings and I will buy Hollie chocolate.
2. We will make sure we do work out of respect of the other person.
3. Arrange a set day in which meetings will take place.
4. Discuss extensively early on who does what early one.
5. Make sure we attend all sessions and meetings out of respect for the other person.
Following on from this we produced our final contract to look back on should any of these issues arise:
11/02/2015
Visual Journal: Adventure Time - The Art of OOO
I discovered today that the library has several copies of a fantastic book that I want: Adventure Time - The Art of OOO. After a quick glance it is frankly everything I could hope for (and is a funnily enough a good example of a visual journal)!
The book explores the history of Adventure Time from its conception and initial drawings, to it's current episodes and exploration of character development. I can't say enough about this book, and am learning so much from it.
The book explores the history of Adventure Time from its conception and initial drawings, to it's current episodes and exploration of character development. I can't say enough about this book, and am learning so much from it.
10/02/2015
Visual Journal: The Great Salt Lake and Initial Development.
I began today by reading The Great Salt Lake by Matt Taylor, a zine that despite its positive aspects, suffers to some degree too. Taylor, who works digitally, by drawing in Photoshop - tells the tale of a man lost at sea who is fighting for survival. The man is alone, resulting in very little dialogue. This is quite bad for the pacing of the zine as, although the work is visually appealing, there is little to keep you tied to any page for too long, which is unfortunate considering the calibre of illustrative work on display. The tale is also told in black and white which really subdues the work, I'm a fan of Matt Taylor largely because of his beautiful colour work, but that isn't present here. Understandably this is due to printing costs etc - but it does, sadly, affect the work. From a positive stand point, as mentioned - the illustrative quality is outstanding. Taylor has a great understanding of line and texture which is evident here. He also plays around with a few intangible ideas within the piece that really benefit the story. Anyway, less about Taylor, more about me.
I feel I made some headway in the Visual Journal brief today. I began by focusing on different types of line and how they can make textures, however without a theme I quickly became quite bogged down. I resolved this by using my lines to create an environment such as a woodland or ocean. I soon found that by finding environments to reference from the internet such as deserts, and lakes etc sped my work rate up even more so. I'm am not entirely happy with all of the pieces I made today, but I feel there are a few line techniques I can potentially take forward.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Desert on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Lake on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Woodland on Pinterest.
I feel I made some headway in the Visual Journal brief today. I began by focusing on different types of line and how they can make textures, however without a theme I quickly became quite bogged down. I resolved this by using my lines to create an environment such as a woodland or ocean. I soon found that by finding environments to reference from the internet such as deserts, and lakes etc sped my work rate up even more so. I'm am not entirely happy with all of the pieces I made today, but I feel there are a few line techniques I can potentially take forward.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Desert on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Lake on Pinterest.
Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Woodland on Pinterest.
08/02/2015
Applied Illustration: Illustrator Investigation
Here are five illustrators and artists whose work I have investigated in a professional and illustrative capacity. I've primarily discussed their practice and how they promote themselves.
They are:
Dan Berry
Francis Manapul
Jack Teagle
Kristyna Baczynski
Matt Taylor
They are:
Dan Berry
Francis Manapul
Jack Teagle
Kristyna Baczynski
Matt Taylor
05/02/2015
Responsive: Collaborative Practice
For Studio Brief 2 of Responsive I am collaborating with Hollie Smith who's work with interesting character design and mediums appeal to me. I feel that from a none creative standpoint we will work well together, hopefully some of our habits will rub off on each other.
Concerning the D&AD briefs, I don't really want to create work for a big business such as the BBC and Nationwide, whose ideology I don't necessarily agree with.
WWF
I am an environmentalist and believe that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the dangers facing our world. The brief itself sounds relatively simple - create a (max) 2 minute video of a series of 8 slides that will inspire a new generation, making them aware for the current issues facing the environment.
Vice
I quite enjoyed animation in the OUIL504 module and its something that I'd like the revisit at some point. Hollie also received positive feedback for her animation work in said module so I feel that we could produce something interesting from it.
i-D
Initially the i-D brief has caught my eye as it brings into question the idea of subcultures and whether they still exist in todays society. The deliverables are quite simple, asking for 3 static images. With such a small series out outcomes desired, more time can be spent creating high quality imagery.
Concerning the D&AD briefs, I don't really want to create work for a big business such as the BBC and Nationwide, whose ideology I don't necessarily agree with.
WWF
I am an environmentalist and believe that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the dangers facing our world. The brief itself sounds relatively simple - create a (max) 2 minute video of a series of 8 slides that will inspire a new generation, making them aware for the current issues facing the environment.
Vice
I quite enjoyed animation in the OUIL504 module and its something that I'd like the revisit at some point. Hollie also received positive feedback for her animation work in said module so I feel that we could produce something interesting from it.
i-D
Initially the i-D brief has caught my eye as it brings into question the idea of subcultures and whether they still exist in todays society. The deliverables are quite simple, asking for 3 static images. With such a small series out outcomes desired, more time can be spent creating high quality imagery.
03/02/2015
Applied Illustration: Briefing and Initial Thoughts
So begins the next module of Level 5 and i'm quite excited! We've basically been given free reign with this module and it's really up to us to see where we go with it. This feels like the next step towards becoming a professional illustrator.
Throughout this module I want to develop further some ideas I was toying with over the summer. Specifically the idea of my zine called 'Red', which I discussed in the my Summer '14 blog post. I left that work behind at the time as I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do with the two characters I'd drawn. I feel this would be a great point to create some context for them and apply my illustrative skills to create something special.
It's important to note something that I hadn't really discusses in my Summer '14 blog post - one of the overarching points of the 'Red' narrative would be about female empowerment. The characters, both women, find themselves in a world where they have to be strong and fight for what they believe in. I suppose that my reasoning for pushing forward with this idea for OUIL505 is in part due to my recently finishing the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
The Scarlet Letter details the story of Hester Prynne and her resolve when questioned on the father of her child by way of adultery. She is forced to wear a scarlet letter A so others are aware of her adultery. Through sheer willpower she pushes through the hate and becomes a strong power woman who many of the townspeople end up indebted to.
Throughout this module I want to develop further some ideas I was toying with over the summer. Specifically the idea of my zine called 'Red', which I discussed in the my Summer '14 blog post. I left that work behind at the time as I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do with the two characters I'd drawn. I feel this would be a great point to create some context for them and apply my illustrative skills to create something special.
It's important to note something that I hadn't really discusses in my Summer '14 blog post - one of the overarching points of the 'Red' narrative would be about female empowerment. The characters, both women, find themselves in a world where they have to be strong and fight for what they believe in. I suppose that my reasoning for pushing forward with this idea for OUIL505 is in part due to my recently finishing the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
The Scarlet Letter details the story of Hester Prynne and her resolve when questioned on the father of her child by way of adultery. She is forced to wear a scarlet letter A so others are aware of her adultery. Through sheer willpower she pushes through the hate and becomes a strong power woman who many of the townspeople end up indebted to.
02/02/2015
Applied Illustration: Character and Narrative
Ahead of tomorrows briefing I've given some time to think about where I want my Illustrative career to lead and I've decided that exploring the character and narrative pathway within this module would be my best option. I’ve found that since the beginning of Level 4, my strongest area of work has been with character and narrative and this is the logical choice for me to explore further. I’ve found that I’m influenced by many artists and illustrators that use these two creative disciplines, however for the purpose of this introductory post, I’ve scaled it down to ten examples.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)