A friend of mine is conducting a participation project based on self portraits, so I decided it would be a good opportunity to do some drawing. Not sure how much it looks like me but thought I'd try a new way of drawing, which was pretty enjoyable but drained all my ink.



Had a go at vectorising it as well. Not really sure which I prefer...

Progress Tutorial

Strengths that you have developed during Level 5.

Aesthetically my work is more professionally finished
My organizational skills have improved and I am managing my time better
I have been thinking more about what I want to do after the degree and am starting to make progress in decision making
I am more involved with other students and having more discussions regarding work/progress

Weaknesses that you have identified during Level 5.

The communication of the message is not as clear as it should be
The design development has not been explored enough
Secondary research into processes and existing examples isn’t vast enough
Letting thing’s affect my enthusiasm/motivation has slowed my progress, particularly during the print module

Issues that you want to discuss with regards to your current progress.

I think I need to find a way of releasing stress, as currently it is having a negative effect on my progress

Rationale 2-Tone

Brief Title
Top 10 2-Tone Records
Subject and Rationale (including themes, target audience, tone of voice)
My subject is records from the record label 2-Tone. 2-Tone had a big part in reviving Ska music in '79 and the music became a way of life for many, but the era was short lived. The TV programme proposed would be made in celebration of the record label, and aimed at original fan's of the music/label. The target audience therefor are likely to be aged in their 40's-50's. The tone of voice should be nostalgic, since it is a look back to that era, but it also needs to reflect the tone of the original label. Although the lyrics can be quite gritty in reflecting societies problems, the actual music and the 'skanking' often displayed adds an element of tongue in cheek humour. This sense of fun is also apparent in the labels artwork.
Things to include could be; the origin of the music, the beginning of the label, the artists included on the label, famous tours, society at that time/lifestyles.
The main themes are music and society.
Design Directions (Design concepts, tone of voice etc)
A hand made approach seems appropriate currently. This sort of production would suit and reflect the labels artwork well. In response to feedback I have had from my presentation I've decided that the narrative for the TV sequence should aim to communicate the history of the label, alongside events that were happening in British society at the same time. This way, not only is it a reminder to original fans, other demographics won't be excluded and should be able to understand what '2-Tone' is without the use of a voice over.
Black and white is the obvious colour choice, since this is predominately what the label makes use of. However, if I choose to use any other colours in combination it is likely to be red and blue, taken from the chequered clothing of Fred Perry.
Sound wise, I want to use music. Specifically 'Sea Cruise' performed by Rico. I chose an instrumental piece so that the lyrics of the song don't take over the meaning of the TV sequence. This particular song is a good representative of the sounds present in many of the records from 2-Tone.


Action Plan and Deadline,
Map out along a timeline the record releases alongside events in society Saturday
Collect appropriate images of the artists and start reproducing them (either paper crafted or drawn) Sunday
Create logo for the TV programme Monday
Plan narrative for the sequence Monday
Start storyboarding Tuesday
Decide on appropriate image for DVD menu Tuesday

Section of the stitching mentioned previously.

Some recent drawings,

I was beginning to feel very uncreative the other week, I felt like I hadn't really been producing any work of value. So to help my mood I began drawing. These are two of the drawings I produced. The third was destroyed.
Over the summer I started doing some stitching into paper, working with pattern. I'm considering collecting a couple more drawings and combining all the imagery as some work outside of college to keep me from losing my ability to draw.

The Santa Trap

A design I've done in response to the Christmas postcard brief. The concept was "What I want this Christmas". I decided I wanted to catch Santa, and so have designed this trap which will definitely catch him.

Evaluation

The research I have undertaken for this project differed from past projects. To gather primary research I asked people to fill in surveys, posted questions on forums, emailed useful sources and photographed the environment. Forums proved particularly useful for my primary research, I believe this is because people discussing topics there have an actual interest instead of feeling obligated to fill in surveys and so the qualitative answers received are genuinely interesting.My downfall would be the lack of visual documentation. Although I took photographs, I think I could have explored this a lot further. The secondary research also proved very useful, and it was this that actually had most influence over the progress of my project.
I read a lot about the print process and production and feel I learnt a lot about it. However I only really experimented with printing on different stocks and using the vinyl cutter, I was hoping to experiment more into different types of finishes in particular foil blocking and embossing. These two method's weren't appropriate for my product or packaging which is why it wasn't necessary to try it but I do feel regretful that I didn't experiment anyway. The tutorials have proved to be very useful and my software skills have improved slightly which is one of my aims from last year, so that is positive.
My design development for this project has been the strongest in comparison to previous ones. I tried not to be too precious with initial ideas and if after evaluation they weren't working then instead of trying to force it new ideas were developed. I probably treated this module more as a design practice module instead of a chance to explore print, which was a mistake however I do feel I have benefited from it. Also I actually used some drawings for this module which is pleasing, as this was also one of my aims from last year.
The organisation of work throughout the module has improved a lot since last year, and doing this has made the design process a lot less stressful. However my big mistake was not keeping up to date with my blog's. Last year I used the blogs to my advantage and they were really useful as a place to evaluate what I was doing, this time though I avoided my blog. If I had kept up to date I think the ideas/concept/message and everything else would've been a lot clearer in my own head and would've really helped me. So this is my priority for next module.
I'm pleased my product and packaging, however it would probably be good to have the message more obvious on the stationery by using words from the story. This would re-enforce my concept and would perhaps make it more successful.
The 16 page booklet I am unsure about. The purpose of mine was to remind myself of all the things I always forget. The majority of that is technical stuff. Because of that, I don't think I made is as visually appealing as others have managed and I am disappointed. It would have been useful to look at more examples of work and perhaps include them, rather than the diagram approach I took. The layout is also something I'm not sure about. Some spreads work more than others, but hopefully after the type module I will be able to improve on my layout skills.

Things I need to do next time:

Keep up to date with my blog
Experiment more with different processes
Do more secondary research into pre-existing design
Make sure there are more examples of visual primary research
Not get stressed out as much and try to keep my head clear