Nest Launch

I decided to go to the Nest Magazine Launch Party as one of the interests is publication design. For the event they decorated a building with the works in the magazine, there were the magazines designers there to talk to about the project and making of the magazine. Going to the event helped me to see what can be achieved and also inspired me for my current project of creating a large publication.

Lord Whitney

I went to visit the Lord Whitney studio and listen to a talk by the creative directors Amy Lord and Rebekah Whitney. It was very interesting to hear how they got to where they are and where they started from. They were really friendly and open talking about there university experiences and how they got to find out what there style was. By listening to there talked it inspired me to look at university in a different way and also to realise the possibilities of the future.

Photography Lighting

Today I had a workshop on photography lighting. I brought along my books I had made and experimented with how best to light them to make them look professional. I looked at making them have shadows and how that is best for 3d items and that have no shadow by using two lights is good for taking pictures of digital prints. I moved the lights around and changed the brightness of the lamps and flash finding what looked best and experiementing.

I also had a go at other random objects. I found the workshop very beneficial and I now am more confident in using the equipment and I know how best to take professional looking photographs of my work.

Book Binding Workshop

I really enjoy book design and the making of books therefore I found our book binding workshop very interesting. We did three types of traditional binding methods/ folds. They were the saddle stitch, Japanese stab binding and an accordion book. Doing this gave me ideas for my current briefs but also helped me gain knowledge on book design which is an area I am interested in 

Dusk Brief

I have always been wanting to push myself to do smalls briefs out of college to gain experience working for clients. This week a 3rd year Jazz student from Leeds College of Music contacted me asking for my to design them a logotype. They gave me an image that they liked and wanted me to recreate. I used illustrator to create a similar typeface. Small briefs like this have made me gain confident when talking to clients and is helping me start to make a name for myself as an independent  designer. The band really liked my typeface and are using it on cd covers and merchandise. Also due to doing this brief I have been contacted by another band and have been asked to create a logo for them in the next few months. This shows I am putting myself out there as a designer.

Coralie Bickford-Smith

Coralie Bickford-Smith is a designer of books. She went to Reading University to study Typography and Graphic Communication. She currently works in-house at Penguin Books. I enjoy to go into Waterstones and various other bookshops to look at the covers and because I love to read. Coralie Bickford-Smith designs of penguin books really caught by eye due to their repetitive patterns and old textures. The Fox and the Star is her first book that she was the author/illustrator of. It is Hardback and is beautifully illustrated across 64 pages.

I read about her in the book 'New Graphic Design' a book about 'The 100 Best Contemporary Graphic Designers'. In her Philosophy she talked about how 'Good design has to serve the purpose it was intended for. For me the book cover is there to serve the content, so the content has to be taken into consideration. My favourite of my designs are from the Penguin Cloth Bound Classics Series and the Penguin English Library. Coralie Bickford-Smith's work really inspires me due to its beautiful illustrations that are featured in all my favourite book shops.

New Graphic Design

I recently purchased New Graphic Design, The 100 best contemporary Graphic Designs by Charlotte & Peter Fiell. When reading through the book I found an designer I found interesting.
Kenich Tanaka is a Japanese who creates Graphic Design, Motion Graphics, Illustration and Photography. Something that really stood out to me was his Philosophy to Make people happier through simple design. Here is a link to his website http://www.kenichi-design.com/ANTI-WAR-Graphics

 I like a lot of his different work from his typography calendars to his Anti War graphics.
He believes that simplified graphic design can be stronger and potentially reach more people.
As a designer I sometime over complicate my designs and when looking at this work I can see how effective simplistic design can be.