Alec Aarons Photography exhibition

In order to support a fellow LCA creative, a photography exhibition was visited in which outlined the malleable nature of record shops within Britain. The exhibition, in which lasted a week, showcased pieces in which highlighted the individuality of each record store visited, embedding the idea that record shops are visited due to their user experience rather than for the goods themselves. With many customers visiting the shops in order to discover a record in which they do not consider beforehand.

The layout of the exhibition was sleek and mature, focusing upon a clear modernist style. A well organised, and presented exhibition in which could have been easily developed by a professional.

Personally, I believe it is important to go to events such as this, especially when attending University, in order to gain confidence talking to fellow professionals. As I attending the opening night, many people in which I recognised from LCA attended this in turn giving me the opportunity to discuss the work with fellow creatives, whilst also pursuing creative relationships with them.

Upcoming events/who to get into contact with

A social list was developed in order to articulate which events will be attended within the forth-coming months. Events in which are held on a weekend and evening were selected, as university is my priority within the day. On top of these exhibitions, other events will be attended such as LCA'S 170th birthday party. One of my aims for this year is to connect to multiple people within university and gather a basis of contacts for when I leave. 

Another area in which I focused was of who to get in touch with. During the upcoming months I hope to have met multiple working professionals in which can give me a greater insight into how the industry works. This may also be helpful when looking for a placement over summer. 

Psychology within Design

As within my previous education I studied Psychology I understand how important the subconscious is, especially when it comes to design. In order to gather a greater insight into design psychology I decided to read multiple blogs and web pages, some of the most polyphant information is depicted below.




GESTALT THEORY

Gestalt means ‘unified whole’. It refers to the ways in which people have a tendency to organise elements into groups or patterns in their minds. This might be based on:
Similarity – similar shapes, even when not exactly the same, may be perceived as a whole single unit when placed together. This also means that a shape that is different – or dissimilar – from the rest can be used as a focal point.
Closure – this occurs when an object or shape is incomplete or not completely enclosed, and people fill in the gaps themselves, thereby creating the whole image in their minds. The object has to be ‘suggested’ to a sufficient degree that people can recognise what it represents.
Proximity – occurs when elements or objects are placed sufficiently near to each other for people to view them as a group or whole unit, even if they are not touching.

Gestalt theory can be very useful when designing logos, websites or stylised images used in advertising

SEMIOTICS:

This refers to the ways in which signs convey a message. Typical examples include smartphone app symbols, desktop icons, and elements like stop signs on the roads and universal symbols such as the wheelchair access icon.
COLOUR USE:

Colour can be used to elicit an emotional response or particular mood. For example, red might be used to invoke excitement or action, yellow used for cheerfulness, and blue for dependability and trust.

It’s probably no accident that companies like Coke and Virgin use red – the colour of passion and energy – in their branding. Cooler colours such as blue and green tend to draw less attention than warmer colours, and can be useful as background colours – when you want to emphasise written content for example.
PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS

Images are key elements of design, and are capable of conjuring up a mood, feeling or thought in mere seconds. For example, an image of a pair of thongs conjures up thoughts of summer. A direct gaze makes a viewer more responsive, and a happy or sad face conveys that feeling to the viewer instantly.
OTHER ELEMENTS TO CONSIDER

When it comes to design, the finished product needs to not only look good, but also to work in the way you want. For instance, it’s understood that people tend to read website pages in a Z pattern from the top-left corner, so important information such as logos and call-to-action buttons should be placed within this pattern.

There is also more to design than colour and images. When designing websites, information and factors such as well-placed testimonials, the ability to move easily between pages, and having easy-to-read fonts can all make a vast difference to how a customer responds to the overall design.

The psychology of graphic design is something we at Omnific Design incorporate into all projects at our Williamstown office. We understand the principles, and we use graphic design in ways that catch the eye of your target market, and get your desired results.

Overview of Level 4

In order to ensure that my work is progressing throughout the course, feedback was reexamined to establish key areas in which my work lacked. These components must be resolved in order to achieve a higher level within the following academic year.

In order to correlate a precise representation of each module and the factors in which contributed to a lower grade, key aspects were highlighted and then summarised as key points. Completing this process gave myself an in depth overview of areas for improvement, factors in which I will direct my efforts during level 5.




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After correlating the feedback from last year there are evident measures for improvement, in which I will focus on upon the following academic year. Initially more research methods should be used including that of primary and secondary. This research should then appear consistent to that of my work, with evident links being made between the two. The general aesthetic of my design should challenge my existing skills, with more initial drawings being included.  My blog should explore trends much more precisely, following a clear pattern, whilst also including forms of problem solving. Group activity should also be recorded in more detail. A similar pattern is also expressed within that of the design boards with a cleaner/more precise layout being recommended. It was also stated that I should develop my own layout for the boards which is fast yet effective. Finally within COP I should ensure that there are more connotations between the essay and final piece also more citations, triangulations and quotes should be used.



Thinking specifically about PPP

Thinking specifically about level 4 PPP, I decded to question myself upon areas in which I personally struggled with. One of the main factors I belive to have loered my mark was not visting enough exhbitations, this will definetly be an area in which I will focus upon eithin the follwing year. This may include: book launches, other LCA exhbitions, Nest launches and gallerys.

Time mangement was also a factor in which I regret not acting upon sooner last year, as i had only a month to complete my final PPP project. During this year I will ensure that all blogposts have been met from the week before.

And finally, I will this year attempt to get in contact with creative indivisuals from diffrent sectors in order to boost my follwoing as a designer, this may be in person, though emails or social medias.

Aims for level 5-done

In order to keep myself focused I have decided to develop some targets for the forthcoming year, these will be expressed below.

-Explore social media further. I would like to explore my online presence further in order to get my work out there for other designers to notice. 

-Collaboration. I would like to push myself to work with others on small projects outside university.

-Processes. I shall explore with multiple processes in order to ensure my work is not just digital. I would also like to explore processes in which I have not previously tried. 

-Books. Over the past year I feel as if I haven't read as many book as I would like, and thus next year I will read more books, surrounding both design and art. 

-Finally I would like to come out of the year with a solid 2:1, and to have hopefully got a 1st within certain modules. 

Line Drawing

As a designer I belive that one of my main limitations is that of my drawing skills, an aspect of design I tend to avoid. When in industry it will be expected of me to develop quick sketches in order to exhibit ideas visually, and thus I must improve my skills and attitude towards drawing. To do so I have decided to explore multiple drawing techniques over a period of time.

To start this I have decided to focus initially upon line drawings. Simplistic and minimal I believe that this drawing technique is essential to design whereby shape is prominent.  

I began by firstly researching into artwork in which is composed from line work. I looked closely at the work of Picasso, as I found the simplicity of the pieces somewhat endearing especially as they largely contrast to that of his most famous pieces.

 Although I loved the simplicity of Picasso's designs I wanted to find a style in which explored more detail. After looking on Instagram I found an up and coming tattoo artist in which largely focuses upon line work and dots. Similar to that of Picasso he largely focuses his work upon animals and faces, a factor in which I felt I may explore within my line drawings.

Taking my inspiration from previous research I decided to develop line drawings focusing upon two of my favourite animals. A simplistic outline was expressed emphasising the mammals key features.Further detailing was used to express facial shapes and texture.

I found this experience rather uplifting as the minimalistic designs appeared somewhat impactful, and easily recognisable. I would definitely consider using  this style within future projects.

Tackling issues through design

Smoking

The way in which cigarettes have been marketed previously has often been that of a taboo, with a large outcry being upon why something so harmful may be so easily sold and publicly marketed. Of course the selling of tobacco is not now as publically demonstrated as it may have been deemed previously, but the fact is that a harmful product is on sale and no legal action has been taken is somewhat a reflection on the society in which we live.

The somber reality is that tax upon cigarettes gathers far too much revenue, and thus the government ignores the underlying issues of this deadly habit.  Although laws and restrictions have been formally made surrounding the way in which tobacco is sold, restricting its advertisement, its just a fact that as long as its sold, users will carry on satisfying their habit. Thus I believe the way in which to tackle this issue is to develop something in which will deter a younger audience away from such an harmful device.

When researching upon this topic I found an highly interesting article from that of the visual design company 'TAXI', surrounding a solution in which they find fitting.

After surveying a group of 1,000 smokers to find out which colors they found  most visually offensive, PANTONE 448C—also known as “opaque couché”—was deemed to be the least attractive of all. This greenish brown color was associated with words like “death”, “dirty” and “tar”—however, they suggest it's  repulsiveness makes it useful in the fight against smoking.

After wide debate within parliament it has been expressed that the above packaging must be applied to all cigarette packings with the alterations only being for the brand's name. 

The Irish Republic passed a similar law earlier this month and Australia has had plain packaging since 2012. Health campaigners said they were "delighted" with the move thus demonstrating how impact design can be. Within my future design career I would definitely like to be involved within a similar design, using psychology behind graphics to suppourt my directed outcome.

Self Evaluation

As I have expreimented extensively with screen print within this project this is definitely a realm in which I would like to follow further, especially with that of traditional print. My time management within this project is an issue in which I would like to tackle within the future, as I feel the overall design process was rushed. I will also aim to include my ethics within future projects.

Colour swatches

Final Crit

When discussing my work with peers the 3 colour approach was highly applauded, suggesting that the relationship to the pantone colours of the year was a strong concept in which will constantly evolve my branding. It was also suggested that the relationship with colour allows the company the opportunity to choose, a factor in which they will personally like, as it suggests that the design conclusion is in their hands. The importance of business cards was also discussed suggesting that they are universal, and should thus work effectively. 

The headers were discussed and it was stated that they were very formal and a design aspect in which is not usually involved with designers. Due to this in the future I am not likely to consider using these, although if I find an innovative way in which to express the header I may consider a differing approach. 

When discussing the cv it was stated that I should express the style in which I work further with either a written commentary or imagery. It was also suggested that I could involve some form of mini portfolio to send out with my CV's. I felt that this would be an effective method of getting myself noticed as a designer and thus would definetly consider this as a plan of action for the future.  

The relationship of my work and ethics was discussed, with praise being given to the aesthetic as it was suggested that ethics was applied to the physical identity of the branding and not just the book. As the lines within the illustration are dense it was suggested to use Helvetic Bold in order to somewhat balance the design. The reverse of the design was analysed suggesting that the screenprinting of the information and logo would be much more effective. 

The obvious mention of the allingment was picked up upon within this design, although the screenprinting method was suggested to give my design an edge of that of others. The structure of the book was discussed, and the book was commended upon being tightly bounded.