Final Designs: Developed Signs

So here's a couple examples of how my "hand signs" have been getting on, I'm really happy with how these are starting to look, the colour scheme has worked out nicely too, I picked the blue and yellow in soft tones because I wanted the letters to have a gentle appearance, in order to reflect the soft nature in which sign language is used. To build these I simply sketched up some ideas from previous drawings, then started to build them on Photoshop, using the line tool at 20px to get the complex shapes I wanted, afterwards layering up more shapes and changing the opacities so that it would give the original shape added depth. As well as this I also deleted certain layers so colours underneath would shine through or be totally whitened out by the background.

"A"

"Q"

Idea Development: Hand Signs to Hand Shapes!

As part of my research I decided to look at sign language as way of communicating messages, for my earlier research I had taken photographs of a friend performing the alphabet in Makaton, a simplified version of BSL (British Sign Language). I've been really interested in this idea because I think it has a lot of possibilities,  I wanted to create a new visual language based on Makaton, this way it was addressing both sides of the messages theme, the communication and the interpretation. To start developing the hand signs into brand new shapes I layered some basic Photoshop shapes on top of the photos, in order to see where the anchor points of the shapes where and to help understand the structure better. This has helped me because I now know the basic outlay of the sign, so I can re-work that into a shape whilst the image still keeps it's original intentions. 

The original photograph

The photo with anchor points

Idea development

This is another one of the thumbnail sketches I'm developing, I've tried taking it further than collage by manipulating it on collage. I'm not 100% sure about the outcome, it seems to having something lacking from the composition, perhaps the lack of texture or depth is what's making the image flat? Either way I'll not include these in my final response it's not what I expected from developing it, although it does summarise the idea of warped context and the rude slogan can be traced back to Barbara Kruger Influence! 

The original composition, with cleaned up text and colour.

Two-tone

Re-arranged

The original drawing was on brown paper with black fine liner, then scanned and imported into Photoshop, I liked the colour of the paper in contrast to the black so decided to keep it that colour but edit out some of the imperfections, however it seemed to look too flat as an image, I tried to upload some hand drawn type that I'd done in stick and ink but this didn't seem to break it up either, so I decided that it would be best to stop developing this idea and move on to another.

Design Ideas

 Over the last few weeks I've decided to focus on body language and it's relationship to how we interpret messages, I'd drawn some thumbnails of possible ideas that I could develop into final outcomes and then chose the 5 that I preferred most.

I then created further images from the selected thumbnails, mostly in collage, however I really like the look of the stitch outcome, the combination of the bold stick and mixed grounds work well with the composition. Also, I find the gold digger collage quite interesting, I'd selected an image from a magazine of what I thought a gold digger would look like, blew it up to a3 photocopy, then oiled the image in printmaking, this made the whole sheet transparent whilst making the image a lot darker, this in itself turned out quite nicely, but it also provided a nice background to work type on top of. The idea of the gold digger sign being that it's using "caution" as formal and authoritative language, but in a non formal context, this warps the context of the entire image, changing the whole interpretation of the language! 

Research

Following the stitching experiment I'd done with body language I decided to take a look at other designers that worked stitch and embroidery as I think it's a very interesting process that produces really nice results, especially when used with collage!


Marico Maricar!

I like how this designer has used the stitch on type, it gives the image better texture as well as a raised appearance, it works nicely with the delicacy of the typeface.

Noemi Manalang!
I'd found this designer on behance.net portfolio designer and found his use of collage stitch and drawn image both relevant and similar in style, the image itself is quite loose and reflects the drawing style.

Collage and Body Language!

I've been looking at ways to experiment with images and tried stitching the sewing machines. I used photographs I'd taken which focus on people's facial expressions, so I thought stitch would be a really interesting way to explore those shapes. I blew the photographs up to A3 on the photocopier, then layered a variety of grounds on the back to give it a more interesting look. I stitched over the lines on the photograph so that the white thread would create the shape on the other side. I did this intentionally to the black paper image, however when I did it to the brown paper image, I meant to use black thread, but the light thread actually looked quite interesting, as more focus was put on the puncture holes from the needle, which created a new shape in itself.

Once completed I cut out some type then added it to the first image, I'm quite happy with how it turned out as it seemed to compliment the image quite nicely, the composition was very well balanced as well. I used "you what?!" for the type as it seemed to voice the emotions evident on the character's face. 

Image Experimentation

I've been struggling with ideas on my current focus of "Body language" again, It feels quite hard to make an immediate appropriate response! So to stop being in such a rut I decided to play around with some images based on the more literal sense of a message. I did some first hand drawings of and old telephone with stick and ink, as well as pencil, wax crayon and graphite, the idea being that a phone is another way of interpreting a message, albeit more physical than interactive.

I really enjoyed experimenting with the media, the stick and ink gave a really nice loose feeling to an otherwise accurate drawing, as well as the combination of green and black making the image stand out more.   The composition was quite interesting as I based the phone right in the middle of the page, but it looked too empty on the paper so I wrote on certain bits of type from the phone itself, e.g. "ABC" "123" (dialing digits), this gave it a more graphically focused composition; I'm really interested in the use of type and image.

I added this because I thought braile would be quite interesting to look at, the use of symbols as words / letters.

Primary Research: Photographs

I decided to look at body language as another way of communicating messages, I like because it's less literal than something like text messages, it leaves a lot to be understood on the reader's part. So in response to this I decided to collect some first hand photographs of people in different stances, I find the face the most interesting area to look at as there are a lot of expressive features such as the eyebrows, eyes and mouth.

The body posture in this photo is quite suggestive to feelings of boredom and frustration.

Research

Sorry for late updates, things have been a bit mad lately!
I've been struggling to get a good beginning on the project so far, when I'm trying to produce images it just feels as if I've got massive mind block!  In order to get some more inspiration for possible ideas I've been doing some research into designers that I find relevant to my theme.


In a crit at college it was suggested that I try re-working photos, perhaps with vulgar slogans or suggestive phrases, so that seemingly innocent photos now have a sense of dark humour to them! I had a look around and found Barbara Kruger, her images fit perfectly to the idea of misjudged context, the brash type changes the whole context of the photo!

Barbara Kruger:

I like how her work is quite challenging to mainstream ideals, it makes you double take as you expect the photo to be quite positive at first, but the phrases really add a darker meaning to the images.

I tried something similar with a photograph that I'd taken of a girl laughing hysterically, then with red vinyl tape I outlined her figure and wrote the word "UNHAPPY" across the image (I would have uploaded a photo but my scanner's broke again!) it was a quick experiment and I'm not too happy with the aesthetics of it but I do like the idea behind it.

Final Major Project

So at college we've started our "Final Major Project", it's a 10 week project as part of our confirmatory stage, in this we choose our own theme for the project and must carry out research, that should lead to a thought out final response. 


I had trouble picking a theme for mine as I didn't want to seem too cliché, in the sense that people could instantly guess what it was, I wanted there to be some guesswork to it. At first I looked at stuff like "Street Art", I really like the rebellious of it, that it challenged the mainstream, however it didn't feel like I could really take this as my own without copying someone else. Then I moved onto "shock tactics", the idea being that I could really communicate something to a view, something that would really catch their attention, maybe not always in a good way either... Again it just seemed as if it had already been done a million times before.


Eventually I came up with the theme of "Messages", I really like this idea and got quite excited about it, it's broad enough so that I can look at literal means i.e. phones, email; but I'm more interested in the less obvious things, the way we get messages across, how do we interpret those messages? I think it ties nicely into my previous ideas as it takes the "interpret" aspect from both street art and shock tactics, it's more about HOW we look at things than actually looking AT them.

Gary Oldman, Pretty in Ink

Here's another one of my final ideas for the Little White lies Brief that we've recently finished, I'm really happy with how this turned out, the contrast of  the black and white works really nicely. Compared to some of my other ideas the form of this image is much less structured, because I drew the original image from 2ft away with a stick in ink, the portrait has a loose/flowing feel. I used courier (Again) but this time I drew it freehand in ink onto cardboard then scanned it in, I wanted the text to retain some of it's hand drawn feel, as the shapes aren't all perfect but I still cleaned a lot of the bleed up on photoshop; I think it's worked rather nicely.

The main idea for this image was to make it all a bit of a jumble, because the film's about secrecy I wanted the text to appear coded/embedded, as if it's emerging from the image of Oldman.

Little White Lies D&AD Brief

So here's a couple of finished designs that I've been working on as part of the Little White Lies brief we were given at college; The brief was part of the D&AD student competition, the target, to create an illustration of selected film's main characters. The choices were Super 8, Drive, Tree of Life, Black Swan & Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Spy... I chose to do Tinker, Tailor.. because I'd seen the film beforehand and thought it was a brilliant film, both in cinematics and the plot, there was a lot of moodiness in the film and the main character Gary Oldman was quite interesting as the character 'Smiley'. Because the chosen brief was illustration focused, with the final design needing to be a portrait of the main character and our class were specialized in graphics we were allowed to deviate from the original format and change the focus onto key objects / scenes in the movie; rather than a facial shot.

I wanted to keep the colour pallet quite dark as this tends to be the overall mood throughout the film, so I've mainly used monochrome within my designs, however I may redevelop some ideas to include colour. A key aspect I wanted to include was the use of 'Courier' typeface, with courier being a more computer friendly version of original typewriter, I thought this would work nicely in my ideas, as well as being able to play around on the actual typewriter! The font is a key part of the design because typewriters are often associated with formal documents in the era that the film was set. Overall I've really enjoyed this current project as it's steered more towards the structural / editorial style of graphics that I prefer.

Geo Law illustration!

I first came across George Law's work in 'Now Then' magazine in July last year, Now Then is a free independent magazine based in Sheffield that regularly features designers/illustrators as the main feature, the magazine itself looks into popular culture around the city and is definitely worth following!

Back to the main topic however, I'm really interested Law's work and have been a keen fan ever since my eyes rested on the quirky creatures, bold lines and statement colour!

Not long after that, he produced the designs for the posters and merch for 'Tramlines' festival 2011, the design worked really nicely because it gave off the hectic yet fun vibe of the festival and keeping in the local Sheffield feel by adding the tinsley water towers, a perfect icon of reference for locals and visitors alike! Law's quirky style shines out in all his work, digital and physical. Personal favourites of mine are his own personal projects such as 'Deities of Geoda' & his watercolour collections, the use of colour and simple line really make the illustrations jump out! I'd definitely recommend anyone to check out his other stuff!

Looking Up.. On Photoshop!

Checkered Sky

I made this image as part of my development for the project 'Looking up/Looking down' I'm really happy with how this image turned out! Due to the sheer number of squares and their dominance as a focus point, I wanted to keep the total number of focuses to 3, to prevent the overall image from looking too busy. 


The contrast between the graph paper and the blue sky make a really nice / subtle background for the squares to be placed on top of, helping them really stand out. I got the idea of the squares from the original image, where there were 3 buildings, one of which was covered in these large squares, resembling a cheese grater! I tried using the building in the composition but it looked too busy, so I removed the building and re-drew the squares myself on photoshop.

Look Up / Look Down Photos

These are just a few photos i've uploaded for using with the ipad. I've focused on the literal perspective of looking up / down.

iPad Life Drawing

Here's a couple of drawings that I did on the ipad as part of the life drawing ABC, I thought that it would be near impossible to create relatively accurate drawings with these tablets but I was pleasently surpised at how accurate they are! It was was really fun to draw with and the various media settings made it easier to create images with broader depth than traditional charcoal. I used a program called 'Sketchbook Pro' and would advise anyone with an ipad, to download this as it's really convenient for rapid or detailed observational drawings!

Observe & Experiment Project (Week 2 Summary)

The second week of the project was focused solely on developing ideas from the observational studies we'd collected the week before. At the end of the week we were expected to have produced 10 images using collage e.g magazines, photocopier, 4 digitally manipulated images through photoshop and 5 double page spreads with a combination of image and type.

Initially I struggled with developing a focus from my images that could immediately transform into a full blown, finished idea, too bothered about whether or not the idea would turn out ok rather than just trying and finding out after. So I decided to just shrug of my inhibitions and start experimenting with collage, even if I chose not to develop that idea or media it was still a starting point. I photocopied sections of images/found materials, readjusting the size and colour to create sheet images that I could use to cut out my shapes from. I played around with the composition of these until I'd made completely new ideas. For example, out of the sheet image of a costa cup, I made a steaming cup using collage.

Although I liked the end results of using collage, I preferred experimenting with stencils, I found it a much more enjoyable process as complex type with crisp fonts could be created using any sheet material suitable as a base media. I took phrases found in my drawings such as "Fresh" & the "i" on information boards and stencilled them into found bits of paper with interesting patterns or colours on. I also experimented with monoprinting over a stencil, although the end result didn't turn out quite as planned, and the ink that rubbed onto the stencil gave it a very distressed look and so I decided to use this as an idea. Again using a stencil, i tried out a variety of differenr media, from oil stick rubbings to ink and colour washes.

I've really enjoyed the second week of the project most because I've been able to experiment with a vast variety of styles and media and compare as to which i prefer, and by doing this I've found styles that i have an affinity for and will use in later projects.

Observe & Experiment Project (Week 1 Summary)

'Observe and Experiment', my first project as part of the graphics specialization, the project itself was a way of introducing ourselves into the new style of working (for those of us with little previous experience). The first task for the project was to create a 140 observational drawings/images e.g photographs from primary study, the images had to incorperate people, along side our chosen theme; mine being "Signs" I decided to go into the city centre and draw people stood outside shopfronts, sat inside cafe's/pubs, within shot of adverts/billboards.

Initially I found observational drawing quite difficult, the buildings and signs were easy but they were static, trying to draw people stood outside a shopfront whilst they kept changing position constantly was something I struggled with, not being able to focus on detail. However over the course of the week I learnt to develop my style into a more rapid sketching approach, focusing on the overall shape and distinctive details first; this I was able to gain a greater volume of drawings as I wasn't too busy drawing/readjusting a single image.

I experimented with different media as part of my observations, initially I drew with basic B, 2B, 4B pencils, then I moved onto graphite pencils, charcoals, 0.4 fine liners, chunky markers and coloured felt tip pens. I quite enjoyed working with fine liners and charcoals as they gave texture and depth to the image, rather than a flat pencil drawing but the media I enjoyed working with most was the felt tips, the bright colours maje the image jump off the page compared the monochrome pens and pencils.

I also worked in a variety of styles, initially i worked drew detailed pencil drawings, then developed further drawings in continuous line style; This approach to drawing moving figues gave the best effect as you could re-draw over the last piece and capture the movement of the subject. Sillhouettes, left handed drawings, timed drawings all provided interesting observational perspectives however my favourite was layering. I layered outlines of figures stood outside greggs, in felt tip, each layer with a different colour, the finished image, even though a rapid sketch, had a very quirky style to it, that I chose to look further into in my developments.