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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment