CHARLIE HAYES BEESON

Theres a few things I want to experiment, engage and learn this summer.

- Golden Ratio

- Hand Rendered T`ypography

- Self Initiated Projects (Build up some portfolio work)

- Portfolio of Placement Experience

Module AD4402 - Evaluative Statement

Throughout this module I aimed to improve my creative ideas and efficiency of working. I wanted to speed up my work process to be able to complete tasks more promptly, something that will be vital when in the industry and important when we come to juggling many projects at once in the second and third year. I also aimed to have more breadth to my idea generation, to have many ideas and see them through to find a best rather than work from one idea. I started all my works by jotting down initial ideas and quick sketches to visualize them before putting them into practice, this got me working from the briefing and by not wasting time testing many ideas digitally I was able to allow myself more time with finer details in the later stages of the project.

I found research helped me understand what the brief was asking me, although I could have done more, and a lot more if it could have been primary. I used basic research skills for most of the briefs because it was with subjects I was already quite familiar with. I did an extensive amount of research for the info graphic where I looked into the current horse meat scandal only to find a large percentage of horses sent to abattoirs were ex racehorses or racehorses who wouldn’t make their owners money. This was an eye opener for me as it happens a lot more local than you think, opening my eyes to the realism of this huge industry. I feel without looking into the links between horsemeat and horse racing my outcome would have been very different having maybe not selected a meat board style design. Something that’s quite controversial when you see the elegance of the horse figure used.

I used illustrator for the outcome of all of my projects although a few, including my heresy postcards also remained hand drawn as this was more appropriate for the style of most window advertisements. I also hand drew my toilet signs before dropping them into illustrator to touch them up. My 5 words 5 drawings were also all hand rendered. As a first project I found it opened my mind to linking things through imagery, design doesn’t necessarily have to be a giveaway, I strongly believe it should make you think giving the viewer some sort of interaction and pleasure from it.

My illustrator skills throughout the module have improved impeccably now being able to do many things I could have only once dreamed of and slowly weaning me away from the photoshop. I’ve also learnt a lot more about typography and how to set it and present work in a more professional manner. I still think I could present some of it more appropriately but this I would put down to time management and allowing myself a bit more time nearer the end of the brief to think about the presentation of my work.

My time management as a whole is pretty good, I tend to start the projects with initial mind maps and sketches of ideas. This means I can get on with it promptly; it also gives me more time with the final design and process of creating it. I have managed to meet all the deadlines and complete all the work on time.

The quality of my work is quite high as all of my final outcomes I present in a clean and appropriate manner as though it was for a client, something that will benefit me when working in the industry. If there are multiple pieces of work for a brief, I tend to have strong links between them such as colour, this is shown in the seven deadly sins project.

My favorite brief we were given to work on was the info graphic. It was fun to work in pairs for a change although it enlightened me to the importance of keeping contact and both playing an equal part of it. I also really enjoyed the seven deadly sins where I began to look at typefaces as having more of an expression and personality.

I think I’ve got quite a simple and minimal style to my work, as I like clean lines and crisp shapes however I’m still yet to truly define a style as there’s so many things I still want to try. I have shown attempts at a hand rendered style whether through drawing with pen and paper like the heresy postcards or through illustrator with the info graphic.

From this module I have learnt to believe in the work I produce and also learnt that once a brief is finished I can still make adjustments if there’s something not quite right. I’ve also learnt the importance of design being legible and not completely unrealistic. Having sat through the critiques I have learnt from others as well, a main point being check your work over, and get other people to check it too. This will minimize mistakes and the time spent having to re adjust little bits of the designs.

I think my weakness as a designer is probably my awareness to the world, something I need to change to become successful. I can’t live a blinkered life and need to be open to different views and opinions, as I’m not always going to be able to choose my projects when working in the industry. Having more of a positive attitude about the work I do will change the way I look at a lot of things and encourage me more to produce better works and take more risks.

Overall I have enjoyed the module having taught me skills in process, presentation, time management and legibility. My skills with the Adobe Creative Suite software package have improved infinitely. Looking through my work on the blog and through my sketchbook it’s interesting to see stuff I produced at the beginning of course to now seeing how my work was almost quite rushed and lazy where as it is now quite minimal yet effective.

how do you better your ideas? 

creative thinking? conceptual thoughts? both. these come as part of the as part of PLAY. playful thoughts and no big ideas.

keeping everything broad is key. if you can have 10+ ideas initially take them all through to the final stages, or take them as far as you possibly can! 

constant reflection is also important, you will naturally forget about things but if you keep referring back these will remain fresh in the back of your mind.

THE VOID

the void is the mid stages of your project. in this period you should radically change the manner/form you work in to get more ideas inspiration and give more of a depth to your work. you never know if something you didn’t initially think would work, is actually brilliant.

whats the importance of an image, and why is its history so valuable? 

a historic image isn’t just an image to disregard, maybe because of its poorer quality or faded colours, but its to admire for the story it tells, the recording of the period of time.

a dated image shows a recording of time, what are its characteristics? is it from a constructivist period? or maybe the memphis.

an image like this lets you learn who you are as a person, even though you may not have been born. it encourages emotion out of you and also a sense of personality. what do you like? why do you like it?

a historic image is one big idea. it gives inspiration, the practitioner had an idea and from that one idea they produced the piece of work you are now looking at, gaining ideas from, and possibly being inspired by. 

being articulate when looking at work is key, question everything. “why did they choose red?” “why not blue” question from every different angle, this gives you an in depth knowledge and gives you the ideas we need to create the works we do. 

typography isn’t just a recent mark making reading easier.

typography stems back to bc, there are 5 main periods of historical text:

• egyptian (3500BC)
• hebrew (1500BC)
• phoenician (1000BC)
• greek (600BC)
• roman (114AD)

all of these developed over time to create what we know today, the alphabet.

the greek renaissance period was where the alphabet began to take shape as we know it today although they had a version called phoenicians. they used mainly print and calligraphic styles in this period, purely for lack of technologies and equipment.

later,the romans evolved phoenicians into todays alphabet also being where roman type faces evolved from. these later developed into a small series of serif fonts which were often used in italics. the victorians took on the roman typefaces however used them for press and publishing, mainly news papers.

Bembo (dated 1495) and Bodoni (1798) are good examples of a roman type which is still used today. they are both traditional fonts although easy reading too, usually for a headline or caption, not for a bulk text, in which you would want a sans-serif font).

today, roman typefaces are used for advertising purposes, most commonly in minimalist works to create character and can also balance old and new.

from here type has developed a lot and into the digital world where almost every single typeface previously made has been computerised for day to day use. it was only in the mid 20th century where the sans-serif font became heard of. this was to scrap memories of war which were linked with news paper headings, all in a serif font.

what makes good design?

design is witty, playful and intelligent.

intelligence in design is key, it offers the consumer pleasing visuals in which they interact. this makes it more memorable to the consumer because it intrigues, involves, and entertains them through interaction whether in depth or a very short time frame. (e.g. 2 seconds when passing a billboard on a train.)

designers often use metaphors in design, along with creative thinking. this is for different reasons such as creating interest to a subject, or just using witty references to relate. (for example slow = snail/tortoise)

by constantly noticing things and thinking them over you begin to create connections, this is where objects begin to look similar and begin to relate to “irrelevant” subjects.