3rd year top up continued

Following on from my previous post about proceeding onto the third year:

I have spoken to a tutor who teaches the third year top up who explained to me what the syllabus would be like on the third year. There is very little focus on skills development and more emphasis on preparing for work in the creative industry. This will include several essays, work experience and an in depth thesis on the area of design that i would like to focus on.

From my perspective my main weakness at the minute is my lack of skills. I am able to use all the required software to a level where i can produce professional quality work but i am still not at the level i would like.
 I also, as an adult student, find it quite difficult sitting down and writing large essays. I have found that it has become a lot harder than when i was originally at college nearly 10 years ago so this could also be a reason that i forego the level 3 top up.
 One last issue i have with the course here at Newcastle college is that it is focused on preparing for work. I have worked in many areas and environments since i left school and believe that this would possibly be a waste of time for me. I do not believe i can afford the cost of another year at college due to these reasons.

 In the end i have decided not to progress onto level 3 and will look into setting myself up as a freelance graphic designer. This does depend on how i feel at the end of the year but at the minute i am looking forward to the challenge and believe i could manage to get work.

Progressing into third year

As i am only doing a foundation degree course i need to decide whether to move onto a top up year.
My main option was to continue onto the top up course here at Newcastle college.
 To do this i would need to apply before the 14th of this month.

There are other options. I could top up to a full Ba at another university in the area like Northumbria or Sunderland or move further afield to somewhere like Leeds.

There are problems with this however. Moving to another University would mean that i would have to get to know the staff and students which could take a lot of time, time which would ideally be spent progressing on the course.

After speaking to other students on my course it has also became apparent that Universities may ask me to resit the second year before i would be able to proceed to the third year.
 As i am already in the second year at the same level i have decided that this is a deal breaker. I cannot afford to pay for the same year twice.

I will talk to tutors here who teach in the third year and see if this is the best option for me.

Proof i am still alive.

I am going to share 2 of the worst Photoshop merges in history. I have no excuse other than exhaustion and a senile college Mac.

These are 2 of the initial sketches for my illustration brief focusing on the vastness of space and the ultimate futility of life (but with a non-miserable theme...).

This is the Extinction of Man and will be produced in illustrator this week sometime.

Ignore the terrible merge but like i said, I had my reasons :p

And this is still untitled but will be painted in PS (also sometime this week)

Hopefully you get the idea. I am no sketch artist but It is just a quick (2 day) mock up for the final piece. I wanted it to be an example of the beginning of the end of the world but still keep it quite mellow. Hence the giant eye tentacle creature being quite cartoony. The girl is meant to be a farm girl looking for a lost sheep as a representation of our inherent ignorance.

These are just 2 of the ideas i have for my set of final images but these are the only ones with completed sketch art.

2 weeks on this module left but i am well ahead of where i usually am so all is good in the world :)

A really simple letterhead

Following on from the DBNE comp slip, here is the letterhead.

He wanted something really simple so i didn't get the chance to play as much as i wanted... Oh well.

Here it is.

Snaps as promised

This is the most photographed piece of Newcastle and these are not particularly good examples of it haha.
 As mentioned before, this is my first crack at photography and spent the night just working out how to use the rediculously complex interface on my 40D... I really don't have what it takes to be a 'tog :p

Good fun though and i guess it is just another skill to practice :)

More work for DBNE

Another quick job for DBNE photographer Duncan Blakemore (www.dbnephotography.com) as he needed a compliments slip done quickly.

He wanted a really simple design with his logo and basic info so knocked this up while he was sat on the couch playing scrabble... It apears that starting the trek to becoming a designer has changed the friendship dynamic slightly :p

But he is taking me out and teaching me to use my new Canon 40D so it is all good.

Here is the comp slip:

As you can see, he wanted simple and he got it but i have put a lot of subtle work in on the font. The logo was designed by another designer. I should hopefully have more time on the rest of the paperwork he needs.

I am now off out down the river to play with my camera so i will possibly have some pics to show later.

New module, no clue

Got our new module guide today...

Pretty much a personal development brief which is all self led so i guess this means i get to work on my 3d stuff some more. Woot!

Found a pretty open but interesting brief on digitalartsonline.co.uk which sounds fun.

This is it in its entirety;

"We are all part of the universe but we tend to forget it. Produce a set of illustrations that remind the viewer about the incomprehensible vastness of space and the ultimate futility of life. But make sure you don't make them miserable."

Got to check if i can do this brief with my tutors but the other available options are fairly strict poster and flyer designs which are a bit uninspiring :(

Hopefully this should be an entertaining month.






More on the Doberman logo coming tonight aswell as a  few rough ideas for my CV if i have the time.

Before i start... Let me apologise for the terrible quality of the sleeve wra on the last pic. My Photshop skills are worse than my C4D skills and i ran out of time to make one from scratch, although i will do it in the morning when i get to school if i haven't had a nervous breakdown :p

I am more than pleased at how this turned out, particularly in the extrusions that act to seal the lid. On the second pic you can see these and also the 2 inner trays for CDs and DVDs. This should make it viable and usable.

It is 3:15am and i only have 4 more hours of work until i have to leave to hand this in so i apologise for not explaining how i did this.

I may make a video tutorial at the weekend if i can get my CV and the Doberman logo finished.

My first render.

OOh i made a box in C4D. And it only took 4 hours... :p

A bit disappointed that it doesn't really reflect the work i put in but then, it is incredibly simple.

There will be 2 boxes for the project, this one is the larger of the 2 to be used for 12" records and magazines. The other will be smaller for use with CD's and DVD's.

I need to work on this a little more as there should be a lip to connect the 2 halfs together but, unfortunately i missed the opportunity to add it to the basic shape and would need to rework the whole piece to add it on... As you can imagine it was a bit of a bummer but i will start from scratch with the box shape when i make the next size.

I am still glad i tried this software out, its uses are pretty vast.

Bit more work on the Doberman logo.

Not much done on this but i'm slowly chipping away at it when i get a spare minute.

Too busy making a polystyrene box in C4D, for my current module, with very little actual C4D exerience... I don't know why i insist on making things hard for me lol.

Anyhoo,

I wanted to keep away from using text but it was a requirement of the brief.

A quick eye breaker

Taking a break from the Doberman job for an hour. Going to get this started.

It hurts my eyes but i have plans for this one. Fasr too simple as it is but i'm going to put some time into it and see how it goes.

Had a commission!
I know right? Not sure i'm good enough for actual work but hey ho :p If you don't try, you can't succeed. Luckily this isn't that tough.

My brother is turning into a very successful bespoke slingshot and knife maker and his business is rocketing off, we are all really proud of him. As a side project from AKM slingshots  (facebook.com/akmslingshots) he is starting Doberman knives. If you are the outdoorsy type who admires well made tools take a peak.

For this he needs a new logo that can be used on shirts, promos e.t.c. and will also be etched onto his products.

I have spent today just mapping out a few ideas and putting them in illustrator. As you can see they are still pretty rough but the idea is moving on nicely. Once i have the sillhouette sorted i will start fleshing the design out. This has a short deadline so expect ore soon :)

New camera has arrived!

The quality of the photos on this blog will be vastly improved as i have just recieved my Canon 40D!

Picked up second hand and can't wait to go Urbex'ing to get some arty shots.
I also need to pick u a 50mm macro lens to take some proper images of all my toy prototypes.

Alphonse Mucha is awesome

Ever since i was young i have admired Alphonse Mucha, definately one of my favourite artists.

I realise that the best way to admire an artist is not to butcher one of their pieces but i thought i would give it a go anyway:

This will be scanned in and painted in photoshop to go on my wall.

Traced it to make a quick colour test using Copic markers:

Hopefully i can get this worked out digitally over the weekend so i will have something a bit better to show you.

Just a little thing i made :)

Just wandering through newcastle a few weeks ago i spotted this piece of graffiti:

As soon as i saw it i realised how cool this would look as a toy so i decided to sketch up a mesh, adding a few tweaks to make it mine:

(sorry about the bad phone pic)

And got to work rolling out an egg with Super Sculpy:

Which became this:

The green pieces are made with Green Stuff which is a bit easier to work smooth.

The finished prototype:

Abit rough thanks to the spraypaint not being fit for purpose. Luckily it sands down really well so once i decide what to mold it with i can give it a slightly better finish.

There is something so much more satisfying than working digitally when you actually get your hands dirty.

As an aside...

Scanner is still broken :(

But here is a quick side project i am working on for a friend.

My flatmate drew this to get tattooed and i couldn't let him go with just a sketch:

Original

Haven't finished sorting out yet but this is how far i have gotten fixing the outlines:

The stained glass is tomorrow mornings TTD as i am beginning to get square eyes lol

Eventually the line work will be sorted out and the stained glass sections will be coloured and textured. Not my cup of tea but if it keeps the flatmate happy...

Just a quicky

Just a quick update. I promised regular updates to the blog but that didn't last long :(
I will be back to full speed now that most of the things i am doing are digital as my home scanner died an inglorious death.

Our first brief has been a packaging design project.

I chose phonica records mail order service phonicarecords.com/ and got to work.

The actual packaging design i had planned in my head appears to be a bit too complex but i will have ideas to post this week that should give you an idea of what i am doing.


In the mean time here is version 1 of a repeat pattern for some packing tape i am trying to get printed for the project :)

Edit: That image is practically invisible... Should have thought about that first.

Here is a better one.

Not perfect i know, I have a grid set u which resolves the 'wonky circles' issue but i really wanted to post something tonight.

Because i want to....

One of the big challenges this year is learning new software. I picked up a copy of the Cinema 4D Cookbook by Micheal Szabo and have been (slowly) working through the tasks.
Unfortunately i was not up to the right level to produce a complete 3d representation of my final design for the coffee packaging but here is how far i got. My first 3d model from scratch :)

Trying to learn C4D? buy this book: Cinema 4D cookbook by Micheal Szabo

Ooh! cardboard

Sustainability. This is one of the brand's main key words. The original packaging was all about the plastic. Wether it be bio-degradeable or not, no one would consider plastic to be ecological at first glance.

Treated cardboard is much more environmentally friendly, or atleast, appears to be more environmentally friendly. It also reinforces the comparison between the product and fresh coffee bought at a cafe or coffee shop.

I used exactly the same layout as the other design but switched the background with this raw cardboard effect. Ideally the design would be printed directly onto the packaging to completely remove plastic from the equation.

Final design P1

Ta-da!

Now, a little thing to explain first. Originally my group partner was going to do some simple pencil and watercolour sketches to go with this showing rustic coffee been picking to reflect the brand's ideal of well sourced ingredients but due to the weather he was not in class as often as we would have liked.

Hence the minimal design.

However i am quietly pleased with the outcome. Simplicity works with this product.

All of the necessary information is on the design but it is not too bold. From a distance the packaging looks like coffee without too much interferance.
Ideally i would like to revisit the logo to make it stand out a little more but i will possibly look into this in my own time.

Through the coffee cup

Really simple background using an image of coffee in a glass for the foam and a quick(time's a factor) PS airbrush to give the flat brown a touch more depth.
I was trying to make the product look more natural and nothing looks more natural than no packaging at all right?

I know this is almost exactly the same as the background on the original design but like i said, it was nearly there. A little lighter colouring and a small amount of depth really improve the design and make it more appealing and much less generic.

I hoe you can see why the lid was abit wierd? together with this background it should give the impression of transparency.

As an aside, i got the inspiration from a beautiful piece of design on Lovely Package.com tha can be seen here: http://lovelypackage.com/naked-beer/

A new lid

Actually really proud of this. I did a quick redesign of the logo to give it a more modern (but rustic) hand stamped look to inject a bit of class and simplified the drinking instructions right down to the minimum. Looking at it now i should really have them at 6 to 9 rather than 3 to 6 but i was under a bit of pressure at this stage.

Use an image of coffee foam to tie in with the rest of the redesign and also to give the buyer a representation of what lies within. The actual contents don't look this desirable.

The pull tab is just a simple coffee colour to make it clearly visible.

When put together with the rest of the design i feel it works although i would like to spend a bit more time redesigning the drinking instructions to make them more interesting.

Here is the simplified logo for the packaging. I appreciate it is a bit of a hack job and the typefaces don't work aswell together as i would like but i did not get to take the time i would like to quality check it. The drop shadow and degredation near more work. It is oodles better than the original though.

A new year, a simple task

First task of the new year. To redesign a tired or badly designed piece of packaging in a week. This was meant to be a group task but due to the terrible weather last week i'm left holding the baby.

We picked this instant coffee drink simply because of the tired and generic European style. I am pretty sure almost all continental companies use the same templates for their products? Anyway...

This packaging is almost there but it just needs a little modernising.

Here is a better look at the current packaging. Fairly uninspiring eh? It also fall short of the brands attempts at being sustainable and doesn't really hit the target customer base. A few small changes should make the product apear more ecologically sound.

Last but not least, the competitors. Starbucks are (unsurprisingly) ahead of the curve here but most of their designs success is the simplicity they can afford to use thanks to their easily identifiable logo.

New year, new blog.

Following on from my blog from last year which can be found at A Graphic Journey.

This will be updated soon.
Starting my second year of Graphic design gave me a reason to restart my blog. My previous blog page did not represent me personally or give a good representation of my abilities so i have decided to revisit all of my previous modules and upload them here along with all of my new work.

Hopefully this will become something i am proud of... Watch this space.