FMP WEEK 10 (WC: 01/02/2021)
After creating some of my own work, I decided I wanted to research more and refine the sources that I was gaining my inspiration from. I used the information from my customer profiles that I made using my friend’s details as direct customer market research/primary research and sought out some interesting visual sources to base my research off of as these were considered very important for making a magazine. I researched into Wired Magazine, which caught my eye due to the old school style graphics which has heavily influenced the basis from my magazine; I aimed to have Sentient Magazine as a modern magazine with a retro design twist which is what Wired Magazine has turned into, mainly as they have been running since the 80s/90s. The logo in particular had me hooked as it was very different to other magazine fonts, Vogue, Elle etc have a very similar serif style thin font which would be all the same size in black whereas Wired magazine has different alternating shapes for each letter which emphasises the uniqueness of the magazine and adds a character to their logo; this improves their character of the magazine as a whole. As I had previously used philosophy Magazines as the starting point for my collages (as seen in a few blog posts ago), it made sense to research into an actual magazine which has some philosophical articles to influence my magazine and gain appropriate and relevant sources of research from.
I also researched into Analogue Magazine for similar reasons; the font was very unusual from a normal magazine that I would research into, such as Dazed and i_D, therefore it is nice to gain a different type of research. I have found that seeking out research sources that are more specific and unlike my usual sources, I am gaining more unique analysis techniques and able to get inspiration by completely different sources to my peers; allowing myself to really refine the projects that I am working on. Analogue magazine is not a fashion magazine, which is why it may have proven to be so useful for me. The content they produce is science fiction however the whole aesthetic and style of the front covers is what allowed me to create some mood boards inspired by the general design to help try and influence my own.
Another point of research for me was Toiletpaper Magazine. I was immediately blown away by the visual content, and as my market research led me to having to expand on my visual content (as everyone said they look for exciting visual content) I felt it was very appropriate to research into Toiletpaper Magazine further. The use of bright colours as the backgrounds for their shoots really emphasises the comedic and dynamic style of the content, they produce content with close ups of juxtaposing images and although I do not want to create a lot of photographic content, I find that utilising these images as the basis of my graphic design work is very important.
I created some mood boards of the visual content of these magazines, to inspire my own personal graphic design work for this course, while seeking out sources of research that were appropriate to my style and aesthetic of the magazine in the current moment. The mood boards were a good way of allowing myself to utilise small parts of other designer’s work to build upon my own style, which is why I chose the three magazines I did, as all of their styles’ individually differ far from each other, yet all of the mood boards follow my distinctive style which I have built from doing this.
FMP WEEK 9 (WC: 25/01/2021)
FMP WEEK 9 (WC: 25/01/2021)
What I have been doing
- Improving my visual content and digital technical abilities for my FMP has been my main priority over the past few weeks; experimenting with layout design and various software to push my aesthetic has been useful for developing my skill s. I have been constantly adding to my Pinterest board for inspiration and have been using resources like LinkedIn Learning or various YouTube tutorials. To build upon my work in more depth, I should be applying my learning to my FMP work for context. I have been feeling as if my productivity levels could be improved as I have not been improving as much work as I could be. This leads down to organisation; once I have caught up to do with my blogs and implemented some further research into my chosen specialism, I could really start to improve on the content I am making for my magazine.
- As my inspiration board has been successful in stimulating more interesting content and seeking out more appropriate research for my FMP, I chose two personally eye-catching images to analyse and reference within my work.
- The first image is a graphic poster for USAID it seems, disregarding the current context of the images, I was drawn to the many elements harmonising together in the form of complementary fonts, use of a black border, the fonts interacting with each other like the layering of the titles at the top of the page. My style of work is predominately of a similar visual style in terms of less negative space with fairly frantic and chaotic backgrounds, which is most likely why it appealed to me. The poster is essentially a digital collage of fonts with an interesting layout; there are several sections but the fact that they are not boxed off with border or different colours allows all the different parts of the poster to stay uniform and work as a whole rather than splitting the page up into different sections. The addition of the flag imagery to be placed within the poster adds a three-dimensional interest in the right two thirds of the image, making this the foreground interest as the colour is different from the rest of the poster too. The blue of the flag is complimented by the recurring use of blue in small quantities which is distributed around the page evenly, allowing the foreground interest to connect with the chaos of the background in a way which compliments each other. The layout of the poster is clever in which they have used negative space and white areas but filled them sparingly with smaller blocks of text or individual icons, allowing the viewer to constantly be darting around the page, increasing the engagement with the art piece and allowing all the small details of the design to become recognised.
- This leads me on to the second image; I was drawn to this as it was also chaotic and busy yet in a much more simplified manner. The use of typography is something that I was intrigued by as I would love to incorporate typography further into my work which is essential if I am going to be doing magazine and layout work as well as creative direction. Following forward from this, I may set myself a series of typography trials and small tutorials to follow as this could stimulate content creation for my magazine, Sentient. The page of the left uses a hand drawn font, could have been creating digitally using software and brush or pen tools virtually or by hand by taking a more tactile approach to type design, either way would be a great starting point for me to start developing my knowledge of the different elements of typography and how this can enhance the design of my magazine. The small text at the bottom stands out even considering its size, which is due to the contrasting shapes, the main font is bold, thick and in a bright colour with imperfections made from the hand drawn quality of it whereas the text below is in a simple sans-serif font, in black and with thick sharp lines which distinguishes its own identify from the main text. The text on the right is reminiscent of the same layout yet uses a clean, blocked out sans-serif font which has enough similar qualities in terms of positioning on the page and sixing which relates to the image on the left, yet more digital which transforms to look of the text but keeps the two pages in harmony.
Shown below are some collages I developed on from last week.
FMP WEEK 8 (WC: 18/01/2021)
Ensuring that I am continuously creating content throughout this national lockdown as well as updating my Pinterest mood board has helped me stay productive and inspired to make FMP work. I created a series of photographic edits using various different techniques learnt from Adobe Photoshop and various photo editing applications and software. Experimenting with photo editing is something I have hardly ventured into or even given much thought. Taking a series of complimentary images and being able to create an effective editorial layout or new poster design using them is a very effective skills which would be very useful moving forward in the production of visual content for my final major project. Which is why I was pleased with the success of these collages, this is something I will definitely be doing in my future practice.
Shown below is an update of the images I have collected as visual research for my FMP to improve my design skills and stay immersed in my project.
What this mood board does, is it brings forward repeated visuals that I am clearly engaging well with at this current moment and I draw out small elements from each of these images that I find appropriate for my work and start to implement different techniques to create more interesting content and work that is relevant for my specialism. In this particular instance, I have noticed that I have been saved a lot of quote posters; designed in a futuristic yet clean style, very refine and a lot of blurred shapes, simple lines and fonts complimented with a phrase, quote or word that is generally though provoking if not uplifting. This reminds me of the posters I created which I had shown in a previous blog post of uplifting quotes in different colourways which uplifted people’s moods in the end. This is something I would aim to invoke further within my professional practice and in particular through my magazine, as I wanted to create thought provoking and very highly conceptual based work which fits around the same theme. There is also a big influence from 90s rave culture that I could tie in with the style of my magazine. The graphic design of rave posters from the 1990s has always been so inspiring to me as they evoke such a dynamic mood through a poster and really embody the atmospheric energy of being in a crowd of people; they way people translate that unique feeling onto a design will forever be inspirational to me an something I would love to achieve effectively.
That being said, I could explore the way sound makes me feel and showcase this in my work somehow, Being able to produce my own sounds for small video curation or experiment with evoking certain moods through the sounds objects make or using a basic sound editing software could enhance the sensory design of my magazine. During this pandemic it is important for me to think about different sensory ways my audience can stay intrigued with the work that I am producing online.
Moving this mood board into an analogue format is something which appeals to me as a tactile way of production is something that has always worked effectively for me and would be an appropriate way to keep my ideas close to me, on my bedroom wall, and be able to constantly update information if I were to see a piece of visually interesting content from a magazine or a particular article that compliments my research, just as a few possible examples.
Shown below is a select few of the collages I have created, the rest will be in my sketchbook.
As a collective, I find these images to work well together and compliment each other’s layout, this is due to the consistency of the designs, all the images have grain, there’s elements of repetition in each image, bold backgrounds are another element seen consistent throughout the designs too. All these allow each image to flourish as an individual, yet each design follows suit and links back to the previous one. A motion is seen within each of the visuals through the liquified backgrounds, repeated foreground interest, or elongated images for example. The motion created fabricates an energy in the images, making them appear youthful and dynamic; complimenting well with the psychedelic backgrounds ensuring the images stay in motion and don’t become static. As I did these fairly quickly, there are several small editing mistakes and parts that I could have corrected earlier on/ taken a different approach to, yet I find that these imperfections add to the style of my collages in a similar way I discussed before with the tactile collages showing textures of ripped pages but in this case the extra textures come from my choppy editing style which was highly influenced by magazine editorial spreads from the 1990s-2000s, especially younger female orientated fashion magazines.
Image number one exudes a stance of confidence and security, this is highlighted in the poses of the models; the model who is placed in front of the other two has her own third of the image which she is occupying without being too centred and unbalanced in the image. Her pose is self-assured; she has her head back and hands on her hips as if she is secure in herself. This also translates into the two girls in the background and other two thirds of the frame; the girl on the left seems secure holding onto the other girls leg; her stance also makes her seem stable and confident like the previous girl due to her pose as well. With her leg coming towards the foreground it shows she is not taking herself back, she’s projecting herself forward.
This brings us to the second image which I find to be positioned fairly well for a few different reasons; where the background has a strip of colour centred directly in the middle of the page, it highlights the foreground interest as the bold colours contrast with the block colours of blue for the jeans which makes them stand out more, the repeated picture from a slightly different angle which has been enlarged really brings a focal point to this imagery which is the jeans. They become subtly enhanced as the image on the left gets repeated but not too overwhelming as they don’t take up too much of the page, there’s negative space left for the background and they only take up two thirds of an image, any more would become off balanced most likely.
FMP WEEK 7 (WC: 11/01/2021)
My productivity levels in the weeks prior to this one had been running fairly low due to working overtime, adjusting and coping with the new national lockdown amongst many other lifestyle changes. This led me to turn to my ever-growing inspirational Pinterest board I curated to influence my design decisions and stimulate my work flow and idea generation for the day.
Previously, I had stated that I wanted to progress my talents and venture further into skills I had not previously explored in depth to add some more dimension to my FMP, learn some new skills and adapt them to my work appropriately. This led me to investigating the idea of trend forecasting; as design concepts for my FMP to fit into, adapting my work to trends that I have research for the future to ensure my FMP brand stays relevant, up to date with news but also ahead of schedule. Trend forecasting is a transferable skill which can be dissected and transferred into several other elements of professional work such as utilising the skills needed to research into a developing micro or macro trend and applying it to the developing fashion industry and placing that in a different design concept for a graphic designer, for example. Exploring further into current social affairs, culture and sustainability and how they influence elements like interior design or the main colour trends for a season is extremely interesting for me as I had previously not given this much thought as the only time I had done it previously I had not enjoyed it. This is teaching me to go back to old skills I haven’t developed in a while and see if there is a way I can apply that to my more recent style of working.
I remembered an essential piece of information from my studies on my Art and Design Foundation course which was to really utilise the productivity of creating mind maps frequently and to aim to start each project with one. A mind map is an organic documentation of a thought process; I have often found that mind maps produce the most instinctive ideas, the ideas which come to mind first with no filter are often the most obscure and interesting, therefore the most useful for transforming into a marketing plan for example. Reminding myself of these techniques which ensure a more productive work flow is essential as my ways of researching and producing work are constantly changing and adapting therefore it is useful to know what has worked well in the past and how I can use that in my future work.
The example below is one of my trends, out of seven. Using Adobe Photoshop, I created a format for each trend: a mind map, several pages of research into different obscure areas which influence the whole trend, a trend report and an overall trend board with colour palette and visual imagery. I aimed to keep all the pages as visual and engaging as I could to practice suing Photoshop for my own skill development, as well as constantly challenging myself to experiment with layout design and creative direction.
I am very pleased with this outcome, each of the seven trends have a different quality to them which creates and harmony with the other trends as they all compliment each other to fit into larger macro trends which everybody is affected by in the fashion and creative industry. I made the presentation of the work consistent through the use of repetitive fonts, layouts and background designs which work effectively when dissected and presented both individually or grouped together to show the whole design process.
Following on from this, I have generated a surplus of ideas through the use of these mind maps which is a technique I will be embedding within each of my projects as an essential starting point. I will gather these ideas and begin to collate them into different files for each section I need to work on for my magazine; such as website/online space design, creative direction, magazine layouts, copywriting idea generation etc.
FMP WEEK 6 (WC: 04/01/2021)
To progress on from last weeks work, I wanted to gain a source file of visual imagery that can inspire me daily to produce well informed work; this was suggested to me by a tutor that the best way to get into graphic design and art direction is to start collating the resources and inspirations i have found in a few documents or files to be able to search through and build up my own personal style, My chosen format to conduct this in was through Pinterest. Considering the clean format of the website, its accessibility for iPhone and easy to use design it seemed appropriate for me to be able to start my visual research journey with. I create monthly playlists of music that inspired me which I engage with all the time and therefore found that translating this into my professional approach to starting work would be very easy for me to get used to. So far this has really helped me in terms of a creative block; any time I’m feeling slightly lost on the project I note that it is usually due to a lack of visual research and inspiration for that day and go back to the Pinterest board while constantly adding new ideas and getting more inspired.
This way of working was taught to me on my Art and Design Foundation course. We were instructed to create tactile visual mood boards which change every week according to the journey of how the general project research was going to ensure it was kept up to date and relevant. Having the inspiration board on a wall that we have access to easily, such as by my bed could really allow myself to become immersed in my project and never miss an ideas as I would have an easy way to jot down notes and ideas by adding them to the wall, this could enhance my way of working and is therefore something I need to try out. Even me adding some posters from fashion and art magazines on my wall has allowed my personal working spaced to be transformed into a physical creative documentation of my interests and personality.
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As shown on the Pinterest board, a clear yet diverse style is beginning to become prominent through the repetition of certain styles which allow me to discover what to implement into my own design work. There is a sense of utopia, shown through the positive quotes and fairly-like, futuristic imagery, alongside a darker tone with a lot of dark hues being used and paired against contrasting tones, several futuristic designs and very contemporary graphics as well as unique layouts and ways of distributing typography to an audience. All of these design elements add a new dimension of research to my work which will lead me to continuing this Pinterest Board to enhance the research for my future FMP work.
These are two examples of the work I have created this week, all examples will be shown the sketchbook. In all honesty, I don’t think these reflect my best work during my FMP journey so far nor do I particularly like them however it is important for me to realise, especially working towards the final major project in my final year of university during a pandemic and national lockdown, that not making clear, objectively ‘good’, progress does not matter as long as I am constantly collecting inspiration and taking well needed reflective breaks from creating content to produce my blogs is progress to be proud of. It is even essential in my eyes to make work that is not as successful and analyse why in order to progress creatively and professionally as a designer.
The first image was created by combining existing collages to create as a background for the text which has always been inspirational to me, it was found in a magazine and is hanging by my bed and a point of reference for building my conceptual style of thinking daily. The blend used by the photo blending tools on Adobe Photoshop makes the text fade into the background and becomes a collateral part of the design, rather than standing out by itself,. Also the positioning of it is not engaging for a viewer, I need to put some consideration in the movement of the eye of the viewer as I have done so successfully in previous collages. Making me realise I need to reflect on what has worked positively in previous designs and keep that consistent in all future designs.
This second image was made using an image from UnSplash, which I added a gradient map on top, which I do find to be one of the successful parts of the image, however, the image of the person once again blends in too far with the background interest, maybe changing the colour and hues of the image to a more contrasting colour could enhance the design elements. In addition to this, I felt the whole image was fairly bland due to the lack of colour palette; the main colour is too consistent throughout the image with a lack of diverse colours, or even complimentary coplo9urs to add dimension. The distribution of the subject is also placed too evenly throughout the image; to refine this further, I could have spaced out the colour and considered the use of negative space to improve a creative layout. Adding some text on top to interact with the image could have pushed the poster further conceptually.
FMP WEEK 5 (WC: 28/12/2020)
This week started out positive for me as I received my grade for task one which I had submitted previously. Following on from this, I used my feedback from what was complimentary about my work to logically inspire my future designs. The feedback from my work was to focus further on fonts and typography, implement more research into my blog and experiment further with downloading fonts online and seeking free for commercial use fonts to experiment with. My personal selection of fonts used were adequate but could have had some more refined and detailed typography choices that were backed up by some evidence in the form of appropriate research. In the past I hadn’t placed much consideration for the type of text that I chose to use in my work and was oblivious to how different colours, dimensions or serifs can influence the communication of what the design is attempting to represent. After educating myself further, carrying out trials on typography and analysing some more design layouts relevant to the style of my FMP could enhance my design elements further for a more successful project.
Another section of my feedback was that some of my strongest work was situated towards the end of my sketchbook. The work being referred to was a selection from a small sketchbook I curated consisting of several quick collages I made focusing on shapes, layering and evoke a mood from imagery and patterns all taken my me so I had complete ownership of the design. The anticipation of working towards the deadline for the end of task one enforced my way of working which led me to creating work that wasn’t over thought, picked apart or refined too heavy. The collages were well considered in terms of placement as I went with my eye mainly and chose the layouts that suited the shapes of the design initially, rather than refining for hours to create a collage that doesn’t work.
This led me to creating a series of posters made from tactile collages similar to last weeks work but adapted to a new set of text which I found in various psychology, philosophy and fashion magazines as I found it was useful to branch out when it comes to visual and text resources for collages as this creates more interesting juxtapositions between the text and he image which has been sourced. This is a few examples, as usual all will be in the sketchbook.
All the collages were created through the same format of utilising text from various print magazines which I then took to my scanner on my printer, to create some analogue graphic design typography trials which were then implemented in a collage. The collage in the background gains texture from the use of scrunched paper. and the text blends in well crating a harmony with the whole image as I used the photo blending tools on Adobe Photoshop to ensure the white background of the text would not be so hard against the collage and sit on top, I wanted to engrain it in the full design. The scanner adds psychedelic swirly shapes which create a movement for the whole poster, my eyes travel downwards carefully as everything is positioned on the page to read neatly in a vertical formation. The text reads fighting from afar’ which was drawn to me due to the many possible connotations and personal connections that people could take from this text to make them think about their own experiences in relation to the design, or how they design is impacting the customers mood, and poses the questions for future reference: what moods are my designs evoking to the public? Is this a good thing or not?
I’m pleased with the second collage however this took quite a few trials and tests for refinement which led to this final design. This has taught me that some of my designs and posters could take around five ,minutes and some could take five hours which is equally fine. It helps for me to create work to my own eye and what works for me at the time rathe than being to scheduled and spending the same amount of time on each piece, for me it is about adapting to each experience of the design and what message I want to convey. Sometimes one piece can take far longer than others. Once again the scanner I used has created an abstract design which elongates the shapes of the typography I chose, which lengthens the form and creates a downwards movement similar to the collage above it. The circular shape in the middle came to me by accident when playing round on Adobe Photoshop, this happens frequently with my designs and is a great way for me to create more individual looking work led by experimentation and trials although leaves me lost when searching for a way to recreate this look. On the plus side, this encourages me to explore the tabs on the software to find new solutions to common problems.
The last collage is my personal favourite from the series. Something that I had not previously placed much considering upon was utilising imagery from online resources such as UnSplash which I discovered through a LinkedIn Learning graphic design class which states a few resources to make use of copyright free imagery for no cost which is essential for a designer especially during this pandemic where the means of sourcing visual information has become limited. I also discovered the liquify tool during a TikTok tutorial graphic design video, a tool which I had seen many times yet hadn’t used before even though it is extremely simple and compliments my distorted style of working so well therefore becoming an appropriate tool for digitally manipulating my imagery for my FMP. The colour palette used compliment each other well as the main colour is the grey which is neutral, and thus allows the bright in the green and blue to pierce through and become focal points of the design.
FMP WEEK 3 (WC: 14/12/2020)
To progress on what had previously been successful for my development of my FMP, I looked at what had worked for me in the past to fix a creative block. While on TikTok, I found a graphic design tutorial for Adobe Photoshop which envisioned how to create text that follows the formation of a stairs pattern. I found this visually interesting and therefore decided to give it a go as I wanted to expand on my skills in the Adobe Creative Suite by focusing on some individual tutorials and make some imagery that I could use for my sketchbook and blog as experimentation and development. I used some of my previous work to manipulate further and create some visually dynamic backgrounds to compliment the typography. This technique creates a sense of motion in the design, our eyes are following the ‘stairs’ going downwards which is an interesting detail to point out for future designs as it is essential to understand our designs from a viewers perspective.
The use of the background creates another dimension for the text to sit in. Glitched patterns and circular shapes symbolise a malfunctioning computer screen, could be from a different world, a virtual world or the future and therefore this design of the background compliments the text which say ‘distortion’. When attending a LinkedIn Learning class, they pointed out how it is essential for the text and the background interest or foreground subject to all be saying the same thing and exuding the same mood through their own formats. This creates a balance and shows the production process has been well thought out sand thoroughly designed.
The simplified colour palette allows the many textures created by the glitched background to be highlighted and not hidden in the shadow of too many elements contrasting with the design. The accent colour of the light green compliments the purple well especially when it interacts with the text and changes the colour of the section of the text to avoid the text sticking out on its own and not interacting with the design, which can be effective in some cases but for this poster, I aimed for it to be abstract and interactive.
I then created this collage as an experiment with my style to try to create some imagery that evokes a certain mood which I think was achieved with this poster. To elevate it further I feel as if some text or a main foreground image could add some more dimension and really tie the piece together, however this was a decent starting point. I made the background using the emboss tool on the filter section for images in Adobe Photoshop to create an outline to focus more on the forms that the lines create when placed together rather than the shadows and textures, which was successful for the main background interest as there were no details that got lost in the back.
The images shown above are some selected colourways of a series of different posters I made to embody some positvitty and creativity into my style of working for my FMP. Following on from my creative block last week, I decided that I wanted my magazine to embody different selections of my personality, all the things I am interested in which I can translate into a creatively directed platform, which led me to creating these designs as I had been focused on boosting productivity and mental health during this pandemic.
These designs had successful feedback from my friends which meant a lot to me as some of them saved it as their home screen. My intent was to simply make someone think for an extra second and smile but that reaction proves that I should implement his in my designs of the magazine and embed this into the ethos of the platform I will be creating.
This is a successful start however adapting these specifically to my brand could be more successful e.g. adding a border and logo in the bottom left corner to brand the work and almost watermark it in a way, make it more distinguishable from a distance from the presentation and layout of it which therefore makes it more scalable and adaptable.
As well as the images at the start of the post, these were also made with the help of a graphic design tutorial found on TikTok. This was aimed for Adobe Illustrator instead, and the aim of this was to warp the text together with a mesh warp which puts sections of the image into boxes which can be stretched out individually to create some new innovate shapes a group of text, helping the text become more abstract and psychedelic which suits the aesthetic of my FMP work perfectly and therefore was an appropriate method of gaining resources.
Transforming my skills from the previous designs, I used the same text mesh warp technique and applied this on top of a collage to create a poster print which juxtaposes some of my collages with some text to create a response to my research so far. As my concepts surrounds the idea of perceiving things a certain way, or changing the way you perceive things to suit your identity, I chose the texts “hiding from your vision” and “you looking at me?” as a way to embed my research into the way I produce my work to make everything I add relevant and consistent.
After looking at the collages from last week, I chose to take what worked in the inspirational images, which was a tactile collage by Broken Art Collage on Instagram which influenced me to create my work using that format as using what I found visually interesting in my own work keeps me interested and engaged with constantly transforming what I am working on to suit my current interests. This is highlighted in the last picture where you can see the tear marks and the texture which is created when ripping a piece of high quality magazine paper; I found this successful in adding a different appearance to my collages, especially as I further refined the quality of them on Adobe Photoshop.
FMP WEEK 2 (WC: 07/12/2020)
I started my week with a very positive feedback Microsoft Teams call from my tutor, explaining that the work I had submitted for task one of the previous module was interesting and engaging. This has motivated me to progress further with planning my work for my FMP. With my priority on my business project, I still wanted to do some more in-depth planning for my FMP, as well as gaining resources and inspiration top further my development. I felt as if my motivation had been lacking creatively, therefore putting my productivity into task planning and organisation felt more manageable and appropriate for me this week.
These images of inspiration were found while browsing through Instagram stories, most of these are promoted posts from artists who share their work on this platform. This has made me realise that I could put some more work into my own professional art account, and potentially promote some posts if I wish to as this increases engagement and would be a great way for likeminded people to discover my art. Also, I mentioned previously using TikTok for artistic inspiration and tutorials which I have found through Instagram as well now. I feel as if it is important for people to use social media to immerse themselves with art if they are a creative, as social media is what a large majority of generation z are spending their time doing, therefore engaging more with artistic based posts would increased the likelihood of these posts showing up further on your news feed or explore page. Another reason why this is useful is due to the fact that the Instagram algorithm adjusts and becomes catered to my individual interests in order to keep me engaged with the application, although a marketing tactic from Instagram, this enables me to find content that is personal to what I am engaging with and therefore relevant to me. This has worked for me and now the content I engage with will help me in my professional practice.
The first collage stuck out to me due to the tactile production which is something I am always drawn to. This is due to the textures created from the paper textures, the cutting out of shapes and layering them creating shadows and other imperfections which add interest and style to the work. Using the magazine text was really successful as they transformed the meaning of the text into something relevant that compliments the imagery chosen from the magazines into a new context created by the collage artist. This is a technique I enjoy using as it juxtaposes images and texts together to diversify the connotations of an image when placed with something else. The colour palette used harmonises well together as it consists of mainly dark red, black and white which are all implemented in the high contrasted and threshold imagery shown creating a style reminiscent of the 1970s feminist punk era, reminding me on Linder, Riot Grrrl magazine amongst others. Moving forward, I could embed these techniques into my FMP work by creating tactile collages from relevant contemporary fashion magazines, create more analogue graphic design as opposed to constant digital work, a balance would be effective for my magazine. In addition to this I could also experiment further with textures on my collages, which I had done in the past and were successful to me; paper textures, noise and grain are examples that worked for me in the past.
The second image was a screenshot from an Instagram story someone shared of artist Blake Armstrong’s illustrations. I saved this due to the fact that I had previously been producing some illustrations online through software Krita using a graphics tablet yet had not created any paintings or used inks and approached this from a hands-on point of view. This has inspired me to create some more paintings to add to my magazine; some fashion illustrations or portraits would be a good start for me. I could then further my skills and create some hand drawn typography and experiment with this as this could possibly suit the magazine, although if it doesn’t, this would teach me to stick to downloading fonts online for more refined designed typography. The AI style animated character that the artist has created suits my style of work for my magazine and would be something that I would be interested in experimenting with in the future. The ink bleeds on the page create a texture that is hard to replicate digitally, however it would be worth me exploring different brush sets for different software to enhance my illustrations potentially.
The third image stuck out to me as the innovative typography which combined shadows and line text with a glowing background made from the colours used and digital sparkles made using he shape tool which all harmonise together to embody a dynamic atmosphere of a futuristic world in which the art sits in. Consistency is a skill which helps my professionalism, if all designs are coherent and flow together on different platforms then the work becomes more distinguishable and scalable which makes designs easier to read, transport and recognise.
In terms of planning for my FMP I aim to break it down into several manageable sections as creating a magazine is a daunting task due to all the technicalities which we learned as a group in our magazine project. Interviews, illustrations, digital media and promotional material just to name a few.
FMP WEEK 1 (WC: 30/11/2020)
Following handing in all my work for task one I am feeling positive moving forward for my FMP as I managed to solidify my concepts further towards the end of the task and produced more coherent experimental work with a large file of research on my blog. Now my aim is to remain consistent with creating work while slowly learning new skills, techniques, and computer programs to push my level of work further into different mediums while adapting with a new way of working in this pandemic. I am to create work most weeks potentially a short break around Christmas where I will be at work most days too.
Using a graphic tablet, I have been progressing my illustration skills using software for Microsoft Windows called Krita, similar to Procreate for iPads as this is one of the skills, I would love to implement further into my FMP work. These doodles shown below were inspired by artist Savanna Lore after discovering her videos on TikTok, which has become a great help for me in finding graphic design, marketing, and fashion resources as well as tutorials to improve my knowledge and technical abilities in my practice. These are successful for me as I have little experience in illustration, yet these fit the style of my magazine so far. These drawings are just trials that I could potentially experiment further with in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. To progress these further I could add some text or make some illustrations using a background first for more dimensions in my work.
Savanna Lore’s work for example:
Using Adobe Photoshop, I experimented further with these illustrations, into something that could fit in with the style of my FMP, Sentient. These are some fairly quick examples yet I believe they are a great start, as they combine my new skills in illustrations with my general style of photomanipulation on Adobe Photoshop and therefore creates a hybrid where I can create work that aligns with my current style for the magazine. However, I know these have so much room for improvement. It would be interesting if I could somehow animate them or turn them into GIFs; this is something I would like to learn for my FMP as they enhance the viewing experience for a consumer on their smartphones.
The use of background colours and background interest create an atmosphere for the illustrations, as demonstrated by the example with the black background. It exudes a mystery and a dark story which relates directly with the concepts of Sentient. If I were to explore this even further, I could create some interesting work.
Expanding on this background interest idea, I decided to create some designs that evoke the mood of these drawings using textures, shapes, lines and colours in different ways to complement and contrast with each other. A few of these examples are listen below with everything collated together in the sketchbook.
I am extremely happy with these images I have produced, however I don’t feel as though they have purpose for my FMP, although my aim right now is to experiment further and develop more technical skills, I can apply to my FMP to improve my abilities and enhance my skill set. I started using the 3D tool for fonts on Adobe Photoshop where that, and several texts in general, were used to create different textures and graphics. Using fonts is ideal as I simply typed a few words and expanded the image and created art using the lines and form of different typography to transform it.
FMP BRIEF AND STATEMENT OF INTENT (SUBMITTED)
FMP BRIEF
- After exploring and refining various points of research, investigating further into the idea of perception in relation to our bodies, our personas and they way we see ourselves vs the way other people see us, however, from a feminist perspective has become such an interesting focus point for my final major project that I am passionate about. Self -led questionnaires led me to discovering that my target audience would be people of my own age who interact with the same media that I do, this is due to researching into first wave feminism and second wave feminism which had concluded a while ago, it was thoroughly exciting to explore the complexity of new-age feminism, with talking points such as companies exploiting the public and capitalising off our insecurities, to the way other people’s views can have a detrimental psychological affect within us. Using this as my focus of research led me to creating a large amount of experimentation using tactile collages, my own photography, mistakes and accidental outcomes, poster design, mixed media, collaging my own collages and really pushing the realms of experimentation within my own field, which also led me to my potential final outcome ideas. Instead of creating a more commercial zine, I prefer to create a hardback collage book with elements of poetry and writing inside to make my outcome slightly more artistic and less commercial, and therefore staying appropriate to my concept as it is quite personal and abstract. This led me to creating a series of collages within Task 2 of this brief.
FMP STATEMENT OF INTENT
- I will start my final major project with more primary research, as this always forms the basis of a virtuous project; surveys, questionnaires, photographing my surroundings, writing down notes and poems, mark making, collecting objects and scanning them in as these have proven to be successful. This will lead me to intertwining this with secondary research, responding to these creatively in a sketchbook with no limitations, to then going back to researching as this is a cycle where it constantly needs to be changing and evolving. This leads me to creating mockups, trials and prototypes, which, with peer evaluation, one to one tutorials and more questionnaires and surveys, will improve and start to form the final outcome(s).