CR - MAGAZINE DESIGN

CURB

Curb are a London based natural media company I've been in contact with over the past few months. As time had run short and due to traveling situations Richard Stote from Curb offered to chat to me over the phone.

One of his opening questions was based around where I wanted to be within the industry. Although this is a pretty obvious question and one I should be ready for I still found it throwing me slightly mostly because I'm not completely sure. I spoke about my interest within graphics and elements that I would love to work with and also about the long term goal of having my own space that would incorporate many different aspects of creativity through workshops and events that could benefit a creative community.

Over the conversation I learnt of the team of skilled artist Curb have been working with and felt a strong sense of respect from Richard as he spoke of them. This made me wish I had stronger illustration skills.

Richard's advise to anyone leaving education for the industry was focused on the here now and new advising me to constantly update myself on the latest methods, technologies and campaigns. In regards to the work process he offered interesting advice on leaving lines open talking about creating lines that you can choose to follow in the future. And last but far from least was yet again the advice on the importance of collaborating and communication or as Richard put it the "talk-ability tool".

RITTA IKONEN

Ritta is a London based Finnish conceptual costume designer working all over the world. Through studying she has worked in many different fields including photography and theatrical routes as well as her much less preferred BA (Hons) in illustration. It was really good to see someone so inspired by pretty much anything creative. With her fingers in so many pies it's a given that Ritta is a keen collaborator but it was also inspiring to see how this drove her career and how this comes out in her work.

one particular piece I was impressed with was the "snowflake" project. This is a series of photographs featuring Ritta in a self made snowflake costume around Finland. They were created to highlight the worrying effects of global warming and were inspired by her personal experiences of her home town. it was good to see how someone could pull from a personal experience/angle and still speak to so many so clearly.

Another element of Ritta's on going creativity that I really enjoyed was her "Mail Art". Until this talk I had no idea that you could send almost anything with a written address through the post. This is something she has been doing since university and was usually relevant to whatever she was working on if not just another observation of her surroundings. I really like the fact that this art again is very personal but still provokes questions and reactions from any viewer.

Ritta's advice was fundamentally based on collaboration and experience. She encouraged us to talk to anyone and everyone and when you see how far this has taken her it was hard not to feel motivated and inspired.

OPEN PLAN

Over the past couple of years I have been working closely with the dubstep night Open Plan based in Manchester. This has thrown a number of learning curves my way not least of these is the ability to compromise on your own concepts in order to reach a mutual outcome the client will be happy with.

Through this night I have been producing promotional posters and flyers but with the nights recent expansion into other areas of the genre I have been given the opportunity to also expand and develop different designs for promotion. This has also given me the chance to get my hand dirty again producing limited edition hand printed tee shirts as well as stencils for spraying and other forms of advertising. These for me are some of the most enjoyable processes within graphic design and although a little time consuming they are defiantly worth the out come especially if you are trying to promote a night as having something special and being a bit different.

Over the years we have attempted to use a couple of printing companies found on a search engine and had some bad luck at first when it came to the quality of the print. After a while of guerilla style print processes we turned to a company that lives up to its name "Stress Free Print" and have used these for the last couple of events. I still really enjoy the hands on approach and for last minute events and spray/screen stencils I still get to exercise this just not as often.

BRAND ORIENTEERING

The branding workshop organised through college saw Owen Stevens from "Brand Orienteering" come in to give us a crash course in the concepts and techniques used in developing corporate brands.

The full day workshop was really informative in it's break down of branding. Through a number of group activities we were shown how we could break a brand identity down into it's core elements/themes, this gave good insight into the thought processes of companies trying to sell to us as well as the ways in which society thinks.

One of the angles we were encouraged to exercise was to think of a corporate brand as if it were a celebrity. Doing this made you examine and break down their public personality and so revealed not only what they represent but quite clearly who these different characteristics may appeal to. This technique could be easily applied to ideas behind brand identities.

To help visualise the processes and techniques we were given a booklet of both examples and self prompting questions. After a day of workshops and discussion this will act as a good reminder of all the info and advise that was offered.

COME DESIGN WITH ME

This was an event set up by Stockport College and organised by a handful of 3rd year students for fellow students to get the opportunity to meet with past graduates of the same course, giving us the chance to discuss different aspects of leaving education and embarking on the industry.

With refreshments we settled into two groups and sat round for separate q&a. The questions had been predetermined by the students and put into separate piles for the graduates to answer, this was too try and make sure everyone could get a chance of having their question answered with out possibly feeling intimidated.

A lot of the work we were shown was really interesting and all the advice informative. We were painted a realistic and current picture of trying to break into creative industry covering last years graduate experiences up to past students who had been trying for a couple of years. I appreciated this range of reference and would say that I preferred to hear about the struggles that many of us could face as this also came with some good advise to simply never give up, part of entering the industry is also developing thick skin but mostly showing your commitment and their experience was proof of that.

Overall the night gave us a good insight into a world we are about to enter. The only thing I'd have changed would have been to allow a little more time to swap groups and gain a wider range of responses.

GRAFIK - HOW TO BE GREEN

This article by Nat Hunter from a copy of Grafik is highlighting the issue of wastefulness within the design industry. It acts as an eye opener to anyone unaware of the intensities of mass paper production and reflects on the development from old styles of print production.

Nat argues that in our digital world we have become separated from the essential processes that help inspire and spark our concepts and in doing so we are loosing vital knowledge needed to drive our imagination and understanding, and push further our techniques and technology.

Despite this it isn't disputed that our learnt "click & send" behavior is both economically and environmentally beneficial.

The advice offered to any designer interested in producing quality work that would survive the bin is to give more care and attention to any physical processes you take part in and to start looking closely at what happens between the send and the print process, this will hopefully inspire you go on to produce pieces of work that will mean something to someone.

JONATHAN BARNBROOK

Jonathan is an English typographer/ graphic designer and the founder of Barnbrook Studio. When he talked at Stockport College about his first inspiration and strong connection to graphics evolving through record cover design and the intrinsic links he made between image music and emotion, a genuine motivation to the idea of expression and visual communication was immediately put forward.

Jonathan's professional ethos is reflected not only in his choice of client i.e. "Buy Nothing Day" but also through some of his typography which is often evident in its title. They can be sarcastic or cheeky designs but are always derived from his perceptions and responses to the world around him, he pointed out that being able to draw inspiration from your surroundings is fundamental to design.

We were shown a clear example of this with his "Mason Sans" type face (below) where Jonathan has made direct links between architecture and character structure; you can see the similarity of the gothic window against the letter "A".

The element of the presentation that really grabbed my attention was Jonathan's attitude and distaste towards the corporate industry of design. This for me was an eye opener into the approach that a well established and respected designer could have in todays industry. Because of my own preconceptions of what it means to work as a designer I found this a very pleasant revelation, and when presented with stories of turning down commissions such as Coca Cola based on ethical stand points I couldn't help but be impressed.

When reflecting on the industry there were a few disconcerting points put forward on where we can expect to stand as graphic designers. The first was that in the eyes of the masses we are the bottom rung of the ladder, and when it comes to the higher-achy of creative professions not to expect too much respect.

The other more inspirational points were focused on starting up on your own and trying to approach the industry on your own terms, this was coupled with strong advise on collaborating with as many different people as possible, one of my favorite aspects of design. And last but far from least was Jonathan's advise on incorporating elements of design you love into your portfolio as well as briefs you've been set to give good conversational points of interest during an interview. - Passion is key!