So, three years later, my degree in graphic design is coming to an end. We’ve been hard at work since we finished our final projects, managing to create promotional items, generate publicity and produce an (addictive) interactive website.
Currently we are setting up our exhibition, ready for the shows in Bournemouth and at D&AD New Blood.
Laser cut A1 poster
Foil blocked and laser cut invites with hand crafted envelopes
It’s fantastic to see everyone’s work coming together, acting as a reminder to how far we have all come as designers and as individuals.
Taken from the website:
Disperse is a metaphor for our class as a collective. Like the particles of our logo we will fly apart, our various career paths leading in every direction.
There is also a subtle implied metaphor in the way the particles return to create the logo once again just as the strong community created on the course draws many alumni back.
We made it!
I wish everyone the best, here’s to a fantastic show and a successful career!
A talented young designer who is making his territory in the design world.
I enjoy the simplicity of the design, as if limited by a 2-colour print press machine. It is reminiscent of the pre/post war posters found in the London Underground, making full usage of opacity layers and intriguing shapes to suggest motion and imply the different sporting disciplines offered at the Olympics.
It makes a stark contrast to Wolff Olins’ controversial logo, it’s fresh to see Clarke not take a “contemporary” approach to his designs, any form of photographic manipulation or heavy photoshop reliance, it’s good to see the concept shine through.
Exciting stuff, the new mascots for London 2012 Olympic Games:
I was not exactly in awe of the mascots initially after seeing press photos of them, looked really random and appear to have no cultural legacy tied to the design. (Why the “Mandeville” and “Wenlock” names!?)
It was only after watching this endearing video that I understood the story, the chosen names, and what the characters represent. I can see this appealing to primary school kids, which is the target audience as they are meant to inspire children to be more active, but to everyone else I’m not too sure…they are just blobs of steel.
Hopefully it can make up the £4 billion revenue it needs to create to save us from debt…got 2 years and counting…
Sculptor Anish Kapoor’s design has been chosen to be the monument landmark for the London 2012 Olympics games.
The receiver of the Turner Prize in 1991 has created a 115m high structure which will allow users to capture a panoramic view of London.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit - London's future monument
“I am deeply honoured to be invited to undertake this challenging commission,” Kapoor said.
“I am particularly attracted to it because of the opportunity to involve members of the public in a particularly close and personal way. It is the commission of a lifetime.”
“Anish Kapoor’s inspired art work will truly encapsulate the energy and spirit of London during the Games and, as such, will become the perfect iconic cultural legacy.”
Kapoor also mentions in an interview (found via the link below) that the “sensation of unstability” is to suggest the continuation of movement as opposed to the stereotypical pyramidal tower structures.
He’s working alongside Cecil Balmond who will work out how to make it stable. I hope he succeeds.
A quick article about combating recession and the knock on effect it has on business closures.
A new market for graphic designers perhaps? Or more for the visionaries? If this is able to entice new businesses to set up then this is a great approach to combating the uninspiring, white frosted (or that weird gunk they put…) windows, and spam letters piled up at the door flap.
Some quotes from the article (for the full report, click on the link below):
A smart delicatessen that caters only for window shoppers has sprung up in a Tyneside town after the council decided to put up fake shop fronts to cover empty units.
“We need to ensure that the remaining businesses continue to survive and that means ensuring our high streets look attractive to both shoppers and potential business investors.”
The colourful fake shop fronts are either taped inside the windows or screwed to the fascia so they can be removed and re-used as required.
“Other empty units have been decorated by local artists and we had one painted in the team colours of Whitley Bay after they won the FA Vase last year.”
Ms Goldfinch said the Chamber of Trade, the council and a local property consultant had worked together on the window design, which she said was a first of its kind.
“It’s an excellent way of promoting how a unit can be used, making you think about it in a different way to what you’ve been used to seeing,” she added.
What would happen if all the stores in the highstreet were just window dresses? Confusing times indeed.
Worldwide advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy has an inquisitive provoking website which integrates their creative works and their numerous offices well.
Based in Portland, Oregon, they are also situated in London, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Shanghai, New York and Dehli.
Samples of their work found on the below link, and the video clip attached:
A nice little mish mash of the Simpsons and historical artworks, fused with the economic crisis and Coca Cola. A memorable spoof that captures the essence of the Coca Cola company – to appreciate life’s simple pleasures.
Some great pieces of work can be found if you search around the site.
Started to look into Red Bee Media more as part of a research project.
The media company works on all media, TV, web, even mobiles, to promote and help navigate content.
Some of their well-known pieces are their channel idents, picking up an array of awards including the IPA Effectiveness Award 2008 with “Dave”.
Taking on the highest profile brand identity job in Britain.
This company really thinks about their client and create novel and inspiring ideas to help their client stand out. This is why so many channels are being rebranded by Red Bee (such as ITV, Channel 4, Five).
They also do subtitles for programmes.
Another design job related website which seems to be more focused to uni graduates and A-level students.
Offers lots of advice and guidance in a clear and easy language for readers to follow.
One of the features is “Portfolio of the month” which is quite handy, a chance to see what other students are submitting to design agencies in respect to work placements and jobs.
Below feature the work of Paul Folliard, a graphic design graduate from the University of Gloucestershire.
Example of Folliard's portfolio - Haribo packaging rebranding
Was browsing through the Début Art website and found the works of Craig Ward.
Good typography is invisible, Bad typography is everywhere
Ward has a fantastic selection of typographic posters, a great play with words and multiple experimentation of media. Very exciting aesthetics, always different, inspirational.
A typographical website which sells fonts, made by a range of type designers and presented in a novel way.
Play around with type!
The site allows you to experiment with the type in a simple way.
The navigation bar replicates the finder on PCs/Macs, a clear breakdown of what the website has to offer.
There is a lot of clicking around to do, you might get lost and confused with the many pages, but you can always use the navigation bar to find yourself back to normality.
Was trying out Chat Roulette after hearing about its randomness. Through many disturbing webcams, I came across a stranger from Norway, coincidently a graphic designer.
Obama - The Whitest Boy Alive
An interesting lecture title, wonder what the argument was. The poster plays with properties of paint, texture, and lets the title draw attention. Nice how the whiteness would eventually cover Obama’s face (if it didn’t dry…). A metaphor no doubt.
Got some tips on how to survive after graduation, books to read and just what font is “now”.
A great guy with quirky illustrative pieces too. He has converted a barn to become his studio!
Graphical Researcher 