Plan of action

1. Know my subject extensively through reading and research to further my interest.

2. Learn software and skills.

3. Continually work on something whether its personal or uni work.

4. Learn from others around me such as tutors, making their knowledge my knowledge, taking on board their criticisms.

5. Use the workshops, experiment with the different tools available to myself.

What am I?

Options to me

Graphic Design (Identity)
Structural/Packaging
Advertising
Moving/Interactive Design

Typography

Illustration

After several lectures on specialist areas it became quite clear to me that knew what I would be. I decided on typography, Its definitely my favorite part of design and something I have an interest in. I have a thirst for learning about grid systems, layouts and type. I think I have a good eye for quality design and am a bit of a perfectionist, I think this gives me the potential to do well in Typography.

I think to specialize in typography be of great advantage to me, aspiring to be a professional designer.I think typography is widely applicable and would create opportunities to work in industry designing layouts and typefaces.

Although I have chosen to specialize in typography I intend not to limit myself to the stereotypes of my specialism.I could see myself using other Specialisms within mine such as moving/interactive design as I progress.

I think for me to improve on what I already know I need to become completely familiar with Illustrator as it is a very important tool within typography and not forgetting other methods like print. I will achieve this by learning the software through actively using tutorials and books and also working in the workshops as much as possible seeking advice of staff and looking at other work.

The most Influential designers at present would have to be 'Wim Crouwel' I think his work was so ahead of its time although designed in the 60's without the aid of computers it has that kind of cutting edge computer graphics within it. 'Josef Müller Brockmann' is also a favorite of mine his work looks perfect, it is visual communication with functionality, this is the type of designer I would aspire to be, I'm a strong believer in form follows function.

The Consumer

For this project we set about creating a new challenger brand called 'Spark' in competition with Vitamin water. The thing that set our product apart was that it was aimed at children and would be a carbonated version of Vitamin water.

I found the project quite difficult because there was so much to take in and know about your target consumer, I think if I was to get the research done alot faster I would have alot more time to refer back to it and understand it fully, for future reference I think it will be good to get an extensive amount of research done as quick as possible so I have more time on development and Ideas. Time management is key to success.

Another thing I found difficult was working with others because some people had less skills than others, it became kind of jumble of design work. I think for the next project there needs to be more collaboration and working together as one unit. Alot of the time we would all meet up and then design bits and pieces at home alone, it would be far more beneficial to work together using each others strengths and weaknesses.

Some bottle top designs, also tried to keep them quite simple with the splat appealing to the children and the light opacity to reflect the flavours.

Making a cup of tea

We were set a project to create a book on 'how to make a cup of tea'. I decided I didn't want to use computers, the book is made entirely from printing methods, by using photocopy transfer and inking up tea bags and printing them directly on the pages. The bag or slip that holds the book has a lino print of a tea plant on the surface.

I think I enjoy this kind of work most In the future I would like to combine Typography with book making to create something worthy of keeping, I think when typography is applied to something more than a piece of paper it makes it that much nicer.

Machinist Poster

This was a brief to create a poster for the Brad Anderson film The Machinist featuring Christian Bale. I used letter press and mark making techniques to achieve it.I think it works quite well with the the theme of the film it seams exhausted, rustic and grimey looking.

Hands

Again old work from my portfolio, I was given a brief to create a 6 frame reflection from a given sentence, 'Coated with sweat I nervously wait' is what I had to work with.I decided to reflect through imagery of hands with mark making to create the illusion of movement and nervousness. I think its a bit too simple with too much white space, this was partially due to my lack of skills at this time.

Final Show

For my National Diploma at Hereford, I set myself a brief of creating an alphabet that was personal to me. It was quite difficult generating an idea for every letter in the alphabet some letters I would create something quite quickly and then others I would struggle, I was under alot of pressure to get it done, but pushed on after a lot of late nights I got it finished in time for the deadline.I was very pleased with the outcome I felt I had successfully completed what I set out to do working professionally from start to end, I created Ideas and then methodically made an alphabet personal to me.

My favorite design would have to be the shoes hanging from the letter form 'S' The laces are a nice touch I feel they complement one another creating a solitary image.

Lino Print

A print I found in my portfolio, I used to really enjoy lino print and would like to use it in future work. It can be so painstaking but its so worth the effort it has a certain quality, with the grainy textures and imperfections within the lino.I enjoy the whole process of creating something from scratch and with my hands.I created this image from a photograph cutting away tree branches and then printing it three times to create a fade.

Self Portrait

This was made during my time at Hereford Art college, its a screen print on a piece of material in silver with a piece of assertate stitched on to it, but I slightly off set it to create a relief.It was a very experimental piece and I didn't have too much time on it but I enjoyed the use of different mediums.

Route 66

I had had a pretty unique opportunity in 2007 to do Route 66 with my dad and some of his work mates.We traveled from from Chicago to LA on Harley Davidson', approximately 2,448 miles traveling through 8 states it was definitely a one of the greatest things I've ever done, saw and experienced so much. Along the way I took lots of photos with a 'Lomography Fisheye' camera although I wouldn't class Lomography as a quality means of photography, I think they have a fun aesthetic to them, with a good source of light you can get some really nice images.

I've put up a selection of my favorites but I will add them all to my flickr in due course.