Neville Brody

Neville Brody is a designer who I always look at for inspiration. Neville Brody is a British designer and art director, has now been at the forefront of graphic design for over two decades. He designed many different fonts such as Acadia, Industria, Insignia, He was one of the founding members of FontWorks in London and designed a number of notable typefaces for them. He was also partly responsible for instigating the FUSE project an influential fusion between a magazine, graphics design and typeface design.

I found this peice of work by Brody and it really caught my eye. I like design work that is done purely typograpghical. As long as it works, this I find really does.
Initially working in record cover design, Brody made his name largely through his revolutionary work as Art Director for The Face magazine. He was also partly responsible for instigating the project Fuse, an influential fusion between a magazine, graphics design and typeface design.

Fake ID

FAKE ID consist of 2 people named Joshua Trees and Ivan Martinez. They met in San Francisco a number of years ago after Ivan had achieved a Masters in Mathematics but wanted to do something related to design. Joshua was already based in the area of Graphic design and Fine Art. Joshua and Ivan came in and we worked with us on a project that involved making sound and a dialogue an image. Me and Sarah were given an image of a man playing a keyboard. We had to study the picture then come up with a dialogue that would fit around it without directly commenting on what was goin on in the picture. Below is our scipt.

Bee

Life is fun being a bee. The amount of things you see is great and very exciting as nobody is aware that your there. Oh what do we have here… its looks like a party. Hmm ill go and explore. What is that unusual object, it’s a large round thing that has a large 18 written on it. It also has a type of ribbon hanging from it that’s tied to a chair; I think it will try an escape if it’s untied. I’m hungry, I’m going to try and go and find some food I can nibble on. What is in that giant bowl filled with? It looks quite scary to me up here, what if I fall in it?? Il end up drowning and dying, think I’m going to move away from this bowl. Ok I have found some triangular objects filled with some sort of red stuff, they look nice but it’s not my type of food. Woahhhh watch out I always get batted out of the way and cheers now I’ve been flung across the grass and on the floor. Ouch that really hurt, think they’ve damaged my leg. Ok time to have another fly around. Iv have just landed on something sticky, my feet seem to be stuck ohhh nooo it’s like quick sand what am I going to do? I think is food oh crap he’s picked up the food and im heading towards his mouth HELP MEEEE!!!. Oh thank god I have just fallen off and managed to fly away…lucky escape! Oooo I am tired after all this flying around ill go and have a rest on that leaf over there ( pause ) arrr that’s better, these lil wings don’t last as long as they used to. This party is getting busier and everyone seems to be having a good time, im not sure bout his music though. Where are the words???? Oh no drinks gone flying over the table, hahaha that girls white dress isn’t white any more…arghhhhhhh!! That’s my rest over, stupid wind always blows me off the leaves!! Arwel lets continue to go and find out something interesting. This table is very messy, looks like I will have some fun in here; I think that tall brown thing looks interesting. Ewwww it has sum sticky stuff around the edges, mmmm it tastes good though? What is this? Everyone around seems to be drinking it. Arrrrrrrrrrrrr…….(splash) hellpppp!!! Hellooooooo im stuck……bbblleeee bllleeeee blllleeeee…..

Daniel Eatock - Thank You Pictures

Daniel Eatock - A Thank You Picture. Incidents, alignments, coincidences, view points, temporary situations and other small things that often go unnoticed. The Pictures are conceptual observations not photography. The image is not as important as the content and the title is as much a part of the work as the photograph*

* Daniel Eatock, imprint

Here are some examples of A Thank You Picture on his website.

No Hopping

Dogs getting a ticket

E.T

Black and White cats

Frozen Fish

Boys and Girls

Double Parked cars


You are what you make


Rectangle of cows

Drinking Tree


Mother and Son

50 cars = 1 bus

Whilst on the Creative review website I noticed this Post which really caught my attention. This was done by Acne, It was made to look like a Flygbussarna coach it was built from 50 cars by the side of the main road to Stockholm airport. The Purpose was to encourage people to use the bus to get to the airport instead of driving.

Usp creative Liverpool

I emailed USP creative and i got a response from Rob Milner agreeing to organise a time to meet up to look at my portfolio.

Unfortunately I am still waiting for a reply. I am going to do a follow up email just incase he has forgotten. Hopefully I will then organise a visit with it.

1 day Brief

1. Environment
2. Read the 2 pieces of writing attached (Georges w, species of spaces and Baker, Nicholson, the mezzanine)
3. Return to college and write up your findings.
On a4. Typeface Zurich Roman. 9 point with 13 point leading. 600-1000 words. Do not edit. Put your name and environment on the paper.
4. check you have followed the above instructions correctly
5. hand in your printed copy by 4pm.

We all had to pick places out of a hat. I think I chose the best..a pub!! So off I went to Whetherspoons in stockport. And here is what my day consisted of....

Hayley Parle Beer Garden - Wetherspoons Stockport 21st April 12:00

Its sunny and very warm. Everybody seems happy, I think its because of the weather. Pints of lager, glass of red wine, people are drinking at this time on a weekday. Names have been scratched into the table. Old man shouts Steven, Steven walks in with a huge Rotweiler, who gets annoyed by a wasp. The wind is picking up as the sun has hidden behind a cloud, everybody still seems happy though. The garden is equipped with palm trees and exotic plants. I think they are trying to make it look like a paradise. Not doing a very good job at it though. Some scally bloke has jus spat on the floor. Ewwww he has just done it again, that is disgusting. Some bloke has just introduced himself to me as “love doctor” this must be the kind of people this place attracts. It must be dinner time as it is getting busier. Oh a pink ball has jus flown over the fence and bounced on a table, luckily it didn’t knock any ones pint over. Oh love doctor is now saying he is spiderman and is attempting to climb over the wall. The ball got kicked back over. The Rotweiler isn’t happy. He is getting shouted at. Chit Chat is all you hear. Think it is time to have something to eat. The menu is quite good, pretty cheap. Hmmmm what should I have?? Stop swearing stupid man. The floor is mouldy, how nice. Oh god scally grandma is bladdered. One of the windows on the door to the pub is smashed. I wonder how that happened? Probably someone drunk and fighting. The beer garden is surrounded by an unstable looking fence. I think if someone leant on it, it would surely just fall down. I think there must be a school near by, you can hear children playing, that must be where the ball came from. Ooo someone has just ordered double cheese burgers, they look well tasty. “Love doctor” is trying to steal them. The waitress isn’t impressed. A god dam hover fly is doing my head in!! Just go away!! Oh my god the bloke who was swearing has just got some brand new nike trainers out of a Matalan bag and put them on, they have still got the security tag hanging off. Blatantly just been robbed. Seriously where are we?? “Eggy is after ya!!!”

Sat inside now, it is a lot quieter in here. The table we are sat at is really untidy. There are mugs and tea bags everywhere. It smells nice in here, its the food. Someone is tidying it up now, about time. The carpet is full of stains and so are the chairs we are sat on. There is no music on, which I think is why it seems very quiet. You can hear the IT box playing, Deal or No Deal. Just ordered some Nachos with chilli, it had best be nice. It isn’t as eventful inside as it was in the beer garden. Auww some old man is struggling carrying his dinner. Food is here, that was fast, these nachos look like they have been sat waiting around for a while. The chilli is nice, not too spicy but also not much heat. These Nachos taste like cardboard. I am really let down. Two women have just come in with new born babies. They are tiny. The television is on sky news channel. It would be more useful if they had the sound up but still all you can here is the IT box, which is strange for a pub because usually its chit chat you can here. The scally bloke who enjoys spitting is on his way to the bar, he is on crutched, this will be fun watching him carry a beer on crutches! I wonder what he has done? I think he has probably been shot. After being let down by the nachos I think I will have a chocolate fudge cake. Cant be let down by the chocolate fudge cake. Hmm i can smell curry that smells nice. The bloke on crutches is back, he is carrying them in one hand and the pint in the other. That is pointless. These fudge cake is beautiful, it is warm and really fudgey. Ice cream. The waitress was a bit rude though. Its not too difficult to smile. I think its time to go now. The weather outside looks nice again woooo.

Craig Oldham

Today Craig Oldham came in to talk to us. Craig has only been graduated 3years, he used to work for the Chase but is currently working for Music. Whilst at the chase he did a publication called 12 in 12 (12 things you might learn in your first year as a designer) This publication did win awards.

Craig talked through all 12 of the points. He brought up a good point to Graphic designers, he exaplined you are either a logical designer or an emotional designer. Which one are you? This question really did make me think. Logical designers doing things that have an obvious purpose like toilet signs, no parking signs ect.
Then on the otherhand there is designers who have an emotion eye to thing who would design something with a purpose but with a twist.

Being asked to think what type of designer do you think you are was a really good question. I am still unsure and im sure many people will be, it is always fun to make your designs look emotional and have a great idea behind them, but at the same time you want your idea to work and be obvious. This is something young designers like myself need to consider as this splits up the different companies.

Craig asked us to think about what our strengths and weaknesses were?? He told us that he knew his weaknesses, being he wasn't too good at grids and web designing, a piece of advice he gave us was to try and get better by asking questions and seeing what other people are good at. Don't be embarrassed about telling people your strengths and weaknesses.

Portfolio

As I am currently putting together my portfolio I appreciate feedback and help on portfolios. Craig told us that it is the most subjective thing we will ever design. He shown us his portfolio, it was a very clean layout, very spacious and simply positioned. It makes the pictures do the talking rather than being over fussed with decoration. The way the work is shot is a main important part of a successful portfolio.

Placements

Work placements are a very important part of becoming a graphic designer, when designers come in to talk to us they all say this, they always say the same thing. Thousands of people are in the same boat so to be successful you need to get yourself heard. Craig told us about his journey from placement to placement which was very interesting as he made it obvious that the whole design company world is like a spiders web, everyone knows each other some how. He also gave is a list on reasons we should and reasons we shouldn't do placements.

Should Shouldn't

New expectations Loss money wise
Real work Away for a period of time- more often than not
Meet interesting people Taken advantage of
put you ahead of the competition
improve tea making skills
re assure you of your ability
makes you more confident

The main points I took out of this part of the lecture was to have a hit list and research them. Be punctual, that a little enthusiasm goes a long way and most of all be yourself.

I found this lecture really useful especially at this time of the year whilst trying to organise portfolio visits and creating my portfolio. Craig seems really down to earth and says things how they are. I think this is a great attitude to have while being in this industry.