British Art Show 8 Visit

Today I went to the British Art Show 8 Exhibition at the Leeds Art Gallery. I looked at some interesting pieces of work. I enjoyed looking at the fine art paintings and abstract structures. My favourite was Caroline Achaintre and her works using shaggy wool. One of her pieces I found particularly interesting was Mother George which looks like a tribal mask. I like the use of colour and the look of the texture on the eyes. 

Mother George

What's Going On ?

Last week we looked at what events are going on in November which we could visit or could be interested in looking into. Here are some of the things I think look interesting.

British Art Show 8
9th October - 10th January
Leeds art gallery
True North Photographic Exhibition
8th October- 7th December
White cloth Gallery
Lumiere
12th- 15th November
Durham
Light Switch On
12th November 6:45
Leeds
The World Of Charles and Ray Eames 
Now- 14th February
Barbican Art Gallery London

Good Websites to look for events are,
http://leeds-list.com
http://www.leedsinspired.co.uk
http://www.eyemagazine.com

Work Experience with 72andSunny Amsterdam

At the start on September I got the amazing opportunity to go to Amsterdam and do some work experience at a advertising agency called 72andSunny. I got this opportunity by speaking to people I know and finding out their connections. I was very excited to be able to see designers in their work place but I was also very nervous because I would have to get a plane alone and go to a foreign country. I stayed with a lovely women called Wendy and she was a designer at the agency. I was introduced to many different designers with different jobs and I asked a lot of questions to do with what there jobs entailed and what projects they had worked on. But most interestingly how they came to live in Amsterdam and work for the company. I liked the fact that everybody was from different places around the world and they all had different experiences and educations. I also got to sit in on live briefs and projects and give some of my opinions which were sometimes useful. I also learned techniques by watching them work which has helped me since in my own projects. I also got to have a one on one meeting with designer Richard Harrington who has worked with many well known companies he gave me some advice and talked me through some of his previous projects such as The Oscars ceremony. It was amazing to get to talk to all of these designers in a professional level in the office but to also get to know them more personally like going out for lunch.

My setup in the office

72andSunny Logo

Richard Harrington Work

I also got to visit some places in Amsterdam in my free time. I was very excited to go into the Anne Frank House as it was a book I read a long time ago that I was always fascinated with. I also went to

The Stedelijk Museum of contemporary art and modern design. It was fascinating to see all of the different designs. One of my favourites was 7 Chairs in 7 Days by the designer Ineke Hans. I liked the concept behind each chair being named after a day and that she asked people which chairs were which days and thats how she named them. I also really liked the zero exhibition based on the second world war and the post-war reconstruction.

Anne Frank Huis 

Sunflower Maze Near Van Gogh Museum

7 Chairs in 7 Days Ineke Hans

Zero Exhibition

Zero Exhibition

Zero Exhibition

To have this type of connection to designers is helpful and I suggest to all graphic students that you should make the effort to gain new experiences. I have learnt that if you just ask the worst people can say is no and people are a lot more willing to say yes than you would expect. Now that I have had some work experience with 72andSunny I can go back again and make connections in the business that can help me in my designing future. Overall my work experience in Amsterdam has given me a new look into graphic design and inspired me to look at different artists and styles for my work. Thank you 72andSunny and Wendy for an Amazing experience.

10 Things That Inspire Me

This week we were encouraged to think about what inspires us and talk to each other and share our inspirations. I found that many people are inspired by completely different things and I had to really think to come up with 10 that I think inspire me the most. (In no particular order)

Old Photography
Something that I always enjoy looking at is old photography. A person who made me look more into this was an author called Ransom Riggs. He wrote the 'Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children' series of books. In these books he included his hobby of finding old photographs at car boot sales and including them in his stories. He also has a book called 'Taking Photographs' in which he talks about finding old photographs that people don't care about anymore and reading the back to find out were they have come from. I find this very interesting and included him as an artist in one of my Alevel projects. I also collect some old photographs and I like to look at the history of where they are set and what society was like at the time. I buy photographs online for as little as 50p. One of my favourite photographs that I purchased came and without knowing it was used as a postcard and on the back was a letter sent from nearly 100 years ago. I like how an image can tell a thousand stories depending on who looks at them.

Bookshops

I can spend hours in bookshops just looking at covers and flicking through the pages. I really enjoy looking at the design of the spine and cover of a book and the layout of some pages inside. My favourite bookshop is Foyles in London because I like the atmosphere and the amount of books that are their. I like some Graphic novels, and graphic design books. I also like that some bookshops hold signings and you can meet your favourite authors. Also bookshops seem to be friendly and you can ask questions to the staff and ask people for recommendations. 

 Ted Talks
During my Alevels I started to watch Ted Talks for my media course, The first Ted talk I really enjoyed and became interested in was called 'Connected but alone' by Sherry Turkle. Since then I like to watch Ted Talks no and again however I am going to begin to watch more to do with design instead of media, I am interested in watch talks by Stefan Sagmeister, Marian Bantjes and Jonathan Harris.

Keri Smith

I have always had a love for the style of Keri Smiths books. I love how you can contribute to the book but also how when you do the things suggested in her books you are unconsciously making art and can make something beyond what you ever thought you could do. The first Keri Smith book I became interested in was Wreck This Journal, I liked how it encouraged creativity in ways I never would have tried before. Guerrilla Art Kit was also interesting as it talked about sharing your visions with the world as well as doing art for fun or for a political reason.

Calm

Calm 'Calm the mind, change the world' is by Michael Acton Smith and is a resent purchase of mine. I picked it up because when I flicked through it I loved the layouts, typography and use of images. When I am doing any work on Typography I look through this book for ideas and inspiration. My copy currently has post-it notes on my favourite pages. I also like to read the book as the content sometimes helps me relax and look at alternative views. Calm also has a website and app that I like the design.

Youtube
I watch Youtube everyday. It is full of content for all interests, I enjoy watching blogs, listening to music, watching DIY, episodes of web series and more. Youtube is good to look at other peoples art and DIY tutorials. I learn a lot from people sharing videos and I get inspiration and entertainment on what people post. People are now even becoming Youtube famous from only posting videos of there hobbies and lives. I think Youtube is the future !

Pinterest

I enjoy looking at art and peoples projects and ideas on pinterest because you can pin them on your boards and share peoples ideas. I like to look at DIY ideas, Art, Fashion, Home deco. I also like how you can follow certain people or boards and then have a large newsfeed of things that you like and inspire you without having to do much looking. My favourite things to look at is quotes, because I look at the typography and layout which helps me with ideas for my work.

Snapchat

I check snapchat everyday to see what my friends are doing but to also be inspired. You can follow celebrities, artists, anyone. Seeing what people are doing around the world can motivate you to do more that day or in life. Some of my favourite snapchats are dabttll and jeromejarre.

Movies

When I was doing my Unit 2 and 3 of my Alevel graphics is was really inspired by Horror movies. I looked into the change in movie posters over time and horror book covers. I like to look at the media aspects as well as the design choices. I like horror movies because they can make people feel such a strong emotion if they are perfectly directed and have the right actors, lighting music etc. I am also a big fan of documentaries and Crime series.

Being Around Creative People

Since moving to Leeds I am surrounded by creative people. At home I only had 10 scheduled hours of media and graphics a week in which a class of people with creative interests were together. Now in Leeds I am always surrounded by these people. I live with 2 fine artists and another graphic designer and I go to a college full of people who want to major in the arts. Being surrounded by all of this creativity inspires me to continue with my work and getting advice and ideas from people around me helps me increase my artistic skills and creativity.

John Peel Lecture with Brian Eno

Today I listened to an lecture on BBC radio 6 and made some notes while watching it,

Facts on Brian Eno

• Art student in the 60's
• Looked into recording and manipulating sound
• Eno never intended to be a rockstar but ended up playing as a keyboard player on stage.
• John Peel gave him his first play in 1972
• Eno became one of the most sort after producers in the industry
• He has worked with David, Bowie, Talking Heads and U2
• 77 million paintings produced so he would never see the same painting twice

What he was speaking about

• Education secretary thought it was not a good idea for students to go into the art subjects as it does not have enough good job prospects.
• Is art an luxury?
• Is there a way that you can make the arts flourish?
• We need to rethink the way we talk about culture and what it does for us
• Culture- The creative arts- 'Art is everything that you don't have to do'
• There are certain things you have to do to stay alive, Art is not
• We do more than just communicate
• Why do we like music? 
• Imagination is important and start as a child.
• We do not stop playing as an adult we play through art.
• All art is the construction of little worlds
• When you choose your hairstyle you are communicating what type of world you live in.
• Morse Peckham, 'Mans Rage for kayos, biology, behaviour and the arts’  ‘Art is the exposure to the tensions and problems of a false world, in order that man may endure the tensions and problems of the real world’ 
• Art is giving us the chance to have feelings about things that are not serious
• Art offers you simulated worlds
• American historian William Mcneil- Keeping together in time
• We live in a culture that changes incredibly quickly, we have to some how come into terms with all of that, we need ways of keeping in sink
• Culture is a set of rituals that we are all engaged with
• The open source movement, people are starting to share ideas
• All of these challenges make us want to remould ourselves. 
• Dancing in the street - Barbara Ehrenreich

Leeds Light Night

Yesterday I went to Leeds light night were I walked around leeds looking at the displays of lights, music and performances. Some of my favourite parts of the night was the displays at the Town Hall.

There was performances by dancers with fire by a group called FlameOz and inside was an interesting short film composed only with music and a man with a chair. I also enjoyed the room entitled Your colour perception by Liz West which makes you feel as if your walking through a rainbow. Our Leeds college of art foundation building also displayed work which they called drawing with light.

Getting To Know People.

Today we split into groups to research different design studios.

Dessein

My group got the studio Dessein. It is a company based in Perth in Australia and has been operating since 1987. The company are illustrative with their designs and work as a close-knit team. The directors of the studio are Geoff Bickford and Tracy Kenworthy, their team is made up of 3 other designers. The studios work is in categories of showcase, packaging, identity and signage. They have won many awards for their designs including a Silver for their Black Swan State Theatre Company 2015 Season Catalogue at Graphic Design Annual. 

 'Solve it, brand it, package it, print it,stream it, make it visible - make it connect with people and impact on them in a positive way.'

This is what I learned from other peoples presentations.

Ah Ha Studio

Ah Ha Studio was created in 2011 and is based in Lisbon. The company works on variety of mediums from brand strategy to interior design, naming and identity work, advertising, new media, traditional and fine print, retail and product design, photography and illustration. Their work is very print based but is personal to the company. As a company they are very global.

Hey Studios

Hey studio is a graphic design studio based in Barcelona, Spain that specialise in brand identity, editorial design and illustration. Colour and shapes are a big part of their work and one of their clients includes apple.

Sagmeister and Walsh

Sagmeister and Walsh are a small 4 man operation based in New York. Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh are the designers behind the name. As a company they have worked for many clients and there work is a range of mediums and are bright and colourful.

Hey Days

Hey Days are a Norwegian design company based in Oslo. They focus their work on developing visual identities and digital solutions for big clients. They have a well-developed network of people such as Photographers, copywriters, advertisers, animators, 3D artists and illustrators.

Lust

Lust is a studio made up of 16 people and is based in The Hague, Netherlands. It is a multidisciplinary graphic design practice. Something which makes this studio unique is that it has a ‘Lustlab’ where they can research and experiment.

Studio Dumbar

Studio Dumbar are a dutch company that focus on visual branding and online branding. Their homebase is in the Netherlands but they have a liaison-office in South-Korea. They state ‘Our style is that we don’t have a style’.

Build

Build is based in London and specialises in brand identity. Their work is mainly typography based but they use a wide range of mediums.

Elmwood

Elmwood are a brand design company based in Leeds but have offices in London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Melbourne. They have many different disciplines and pride themselves on their tools and sustainability.  

Bleed

Bleed is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Oslo and Vienna. They use a mix of disciplines in their designs and focus mainly on identity.

Face

Face is a supermodernist design studio made up of 10 designers based in Monterrey, Mexico.  They believe the assignment contains the solution and their work is intended to brave the test of time.

Wolff Olins

Wolff Olins have four hubs based in London, Dubai, New York and San Francisco. They say that their method is one of education, participation and discovery.