Birmingham Trip....

We went to Birmingham for the photography part of our project - we were given a list of 18 things to take photos of which included things like tradition, technology and transport etc.
I only have a small Samsung digital camera which iv'e had for a few years now so the quality of my images weren't going to be as good as others in the group, with it just being a standard digital camera I struggle to take quality photo's, however I was willing to give it my best shot.
I took as many photos as I could from the list, although found finding things from the list harder than I expected!
Overall I was reasonable happy with my final 18 images, although I believe if I had longer, or had been in a different location I would have been able to produce more interesting images.

Photo Montage from Birmingham.

3D Letter....

Another project which I really enjoyed out of the 5 weeks was creating my 3d letter. We were asked to create a 3d letter made out of a material out of our own choice, and photograph it in a suitable location.
This particular week I was away in Devon - It was a mini break which had been booked before I started uni and didn't realise we didn't have half terms the same time as schools and colleges any more, I was a bit apprehensive about going away after only just starting and was worried about missing time off, however I thought this would be a good chance to create and interesting and unique piece of work and use the time there wisely (as well has having some fun!!).
I thought that seeing as I was going to be by the sea it would be a really nice idea to use the beach as the location for the letter. I decided to create the letter 'S', as it stood for sea, sand, sky and seaweed!
I made my letter out of sponge, as this is also found on the beach - and begins with an 'S'!
I created my letter out of sponge while watching a film and having a nice glass of wine at the cottage we were staying at, it took me a few attempts as it wasn't as simple as I thought it was going to be, after I was happy with my letter I put it aside and enjoyed the rest of my night!
Taking the photo was a lot harder than I imagined it was going to be, it was mega windy and the sea had come right in, in the first few attempts my letter blew off along the beach and the sea came right in and soaked my shoes!
I had to use my iniative and found a large feather on the beach which I pushed through through the sponge and into the sand to hold it in to place, I also used the seaweed to help prop the letter up. I then had to time it right for when the sea went back in to take a few photo's before it came back out and soaked me again!!
I was happy with my final design as I believe I had done exactly what the brief had asked of me - and thought it would have been different to what anyone else would have done.

Cupcake Logo Design....

My favourite out of the five projects was when we were asked to create a logo for a food company, I decided I wanted to create a logo for cupcakes - I called my company 'Miss Cupcake''.
We had to design three different logos using different methods, these were conceptual, materials, and technology.
I found the Methodologies project helpful as it made me look at different ways in which i could create a logo which I wouldn't usually do, I especially enjoyed the materials methods as I had not had much experience in creating work in this way before.


For the conceptual method I did loads of research looking at other companies logos, including didn't cupcake logos to help me create my own design. I researched on the internet, from magazines, papers, leaflets etc which i then analysed and looked at what I liked and didn't like about them, and which I thought worked well, and which I thought didn't. This all really helped when I came to designing my own as i had a much better idea of what I wanted to do and what I thought would work best.
I hand drew a number of designs and narrowed it down to three, these three I then went on to develop further adding colour and adding more detail to the drawing.

For the materials method I brainstormed different materials which I could use for my design, I thought of anything from paper, paint, and glitter to wood, metal and plastic.

I decided it would be a clever idea to create the logos out of things which are actually used when making cupcakes, such as hundreds and thousands, cherries, paper doilies etc.

Although these ideas took along time and were really fiddly to create I thought it was well worth it as i was pleased with the final logos!

For the technology method I again brainstormed a number of ways which I could create my design, I would have loved to have been able to have created a design in Illustrator however I didn't feel confident in doing this as I am still learning how to use the the software and having only a week to create all three logos I didn't think it was wise.

I scanned a few of my original designs from the conceptual method in to Photoshop and edited them on here to create my final logo, again I was quite please with the outcome.

Out of the three methods I enjoyed creating the materials method the most - it was something I hadn't done before and thought the outcomes were really effective and stood out from the others. I think it has opened up a new option for me in future designs I may do! 

My First 5 Weeks...

In my first five weeks I was given 5 week long projects to complete, each being set on the Monday and having to be in for the following Monday. We would have class discussions where we would talk about and show our work to the rest of the group, and then we would then be given the next project.

I found the first 5 weeks quite stressful as I was still trying to settle in and get to know people and also wasn't used to working at that fast pace, in college we would be given 5-6 weeks to complete a project, and would also be given help and guidance along the way, so having only a week to complete the work and being left to get on with it all on my own was a bit of a shock!

For all 5 projects the briefs were very vague, not really saying exactly what it was we were being asked to do. I found this quite difficult as I was worried if the ideas I were coming up with were right, and ended up spending most of the week researching coming up with as many ideas as I could - putting off actually making a start on anything, which left me in a rush trying to complete it over the weekend.

However, I was quite please with most of the final end pieces, and knew if id not worried as much as I did and just started at the beginning of the week and gave myself more time to work on the project the final piece would have been better.

It was such a relief handing in my folder at the end of the 5 weeks knowing that I had finished the work, and was capable at working to a faster pace!

Sketch Book Work.

Material concept process work.

Manifesto 

This was the very first project we were given, to come up with our own manifesto of what we think is important in design, my manifesto... Dare to be different!

I think that it is important as a designer to stand out and break the rules where justifiable, if your work and designs are the same as what's already out there then you wont stand out, you will just blend in the the back ground.

Poster design.

I was pleased with the outcome of this idea, I spent a lot of time hand drawing and colouring the butterflies, I am especially please with the leopard print one which is the main focus of the poster. If I was to change anything it would be the text type as I did it in a rush so it was finished in time, i'm not sure how I would change it but I would look in to other typefaces and see which on fitted the best. 

First Ever Blog....

I have just started my first year at Coventry University where I am studying Illustration and Graphics. One of the modules asked is that we keep a reflective record throughout our studies on what we are doing and how we feel things are going.