by an emerging art direction student Maddie Fiedler As a young emerging visual and performing artist who would like to break into the industry, I learned one thing - it is a hell of difficult. Showcasing skills through a body of work is a vital kick-off. If you find a way to exhibit your art to others (ideally those who lead the industry), you are one foot in the door. Automatically, you ask: How? There are many stories of creatives who have succeeded. What sets them apart from the rest is their initiative. I remember an important piece of advice from talking to senior artists that truly changed an approach to my ways of working.
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B.A. 19038558 - BA Design for Art Direction The project proposed as self-initiated project serves in the big picture as a continuation, improvement and further understanding of my practice. I have been working in the past on film projects in distinct roles such as videographer, producer, on set coordinator, stylist. This year the opportunity to lead a self-initiated project made me understand the importance of being active and self-driven. Being able to lead a project as director, producer and filmmaker out of the projects that are normally pushed and initiated by teachers and tutors during the academical year has been definitely a leap forward in understanding the direction of my practice. The current SIP I’ve been working on is a short fashion film I'm directing. I collaborated with designer brand Philipp Dorner, alumni of London College of Fashion (2021 Graduate) to utilize his upcoming collection for the fashion side of the film. I worked with Philipp in the past as videographer for his previous collection campaign, so when I heard his new collection was coming out, I worked on a pitch for a small film to go along the promotion for the collection and then presented to him the project. The designer was happy with the direction and trusted me on the process and took care of the styling. Philipp’s brand is based in London, however most of his influences for the brand come from Germany, more specifically Berlin and its youth and club culture. I decided, together with Philipp, to base and film the project in Berlin, the city which is dear to him, and his new collection draws inspiration from. This has been a great opportunity for me to research more about the city where I am currently spending my DPS year in. The 3 minutes long fashion film is a story of separation and struggle in a queer relationship during a time of oppression and uncertainty, the story wants to be time-flexible / timeless, it wants to represent recurring situations of oppression, struggle, love, queerness. The plot revolves around two queer boys which love develops in a burdensome environment and they are unable to live through their relationship because of the pressure operated by where they are in. Feelings of unsatisfaction and anger make them escape from each other. Once separated they look for each other in different spaces and grief their loss in unusual and different ways. They find each other again in a space where the outside environment is not pressuring them, a remote place serving metaphorically as the only place they are able to love and understand each other. The short film has a simple storyline in terms of the dynamics between the two characters, however it draws inspiration from the very city which has a heavy, divided and politically oppressed past. The film is going to be shot in distinct and significant parts of the city, Mitte (once the oppressed and communist east occupied by the DDR), ICC Messe (a station at the feet of the West Tv Tower, symbol back then of the western and more european part of the city) and finally Tiergarten, a significant park at the doors of the city which has always been very significant for queer culture and history (The Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted during Nazism is located there, currently it is a famous cruising spot). The of this film was mainly to bring together the elements collected in my stay here in Berlin about its past, queer culture and struggles with Philipp’s way of making clothes and his passion for late 90’s club culture. This project, differently from the previous, has really pushed me more into the medium of film and film production, making me understand how this can fit in my current and future practice. The pre-production side of things that does not only involve me but also a series of professionals that need to be briefed and make the vision come to fruition has also been something new to me and that inspires me and gives me more confidence to continue to work on more future film projects.
Joanna Krystyna Nowicka BA Graphic & Media Design Growing up, I have adored watching cartoons and playing games. I always looked up to the characters, imitated their outfits, looked for myself in them. I started watching anime and playing more games hoping to find myself in there, but instead, I found men. Every type of a man you can imagine – men of colour, fat men, ugly men. Women were always skinny, pretty, long-legged, fully-breasted with long shiny hair and pecky lips. There were no deep stories behind them, just tits with legs to appeal to the male audience. Sometimes it disgusted me to the point where I completely stopped watching anime and have a very high standard for playing video games now – they have to tick all of my boxes before I even consider trying it. I decided that all the aforementioned things are a problem – I looked into female gaming forums, and discovered that it is not only a problem for me, but also for other women and non-binary people – the lack of representation and relatability. The lack of depth to characters. I decided to explore this in my thesis, of which the topic is: ‘Design of Female Characters in Video Games: Representation and its Role’. Another problem I am currently stumbling upon is the lack of female concept artists and character artists involved in the making of my favourite games or in big companies overall. This whole process is bringing a new perspective for me and my practice, and what I could achieve. When I was doing research for possible references I could not find a single female one after an hour of work, and I thought to myself – ‘No wonder there is barely any diversity in character design if all character designers and concept artists are men’. The first reference I have chosen, painfully, after trying to see if there was any female artists involved in the design process of characters of the Dragon Age franchise, is Matt Rhodes, previous Lead Concept Artist and current Art Director at Bioware. He was heavily involved in making of my favourite titles like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Focusing on Dragon Age, it is one of the few video games where female characters are not only well-written, but also well-designed. They have specific features, crazy haircuts, and most importantly – no tits on show whatsoever. I have to admit with all the outfit options in-game I even tried to find more scandalous ones, but there is hardly any. Female characters are diverse, have interesting outfits and nudity is an important part of them and serves a purpose, rather than being very mindless. Even then, there is only really two characters within the games (Witch of the Wilds Morrigan and Pirate Captain Isabella) who have skimpy outfits. Early concept art of a character called Merill from Dragon Age: Origins and notably Dragon Age 2. Almost final concept art of aforementioned Witch of the Wilds, Morrigan. She uses her wits and her body – as taught by her mother – to deceive men and get whatever she wants. We meet her with a skimpy outfit, but in another game she is far more covered. My second reference would be an Associate Art Director for Valorant, Larry ‘The Bravo’ Ray. He has been heavily involved in the character design process, most notably of my favourite character of the series – Viper. Her description in the game says: ‘The American chemist, Viper deploys an array of poisonous chemical devices to control the battlefield and cripple the enemy's vision. If the toxins don't kill her prey, her mind games surely will.’ She is mysterious, ruthless, and well-designed. She is considered one of the ‘sexiest’ agents of valorant, probably due to the tight outfit, but I think her design is brilliant and very suiting to her role within the game. It’s air-tight, with useful parts for guns, orbs and whatever else she needs – it looks realistic enough for me not to stop and stare at her assets and think if this could be an actual outfit (if super agents protocol like this existed, of course). This project has given me a whole new perspective on character design and concept art, and definitely motivated me to try my best with it so I can be the part of the change – so I can draw relatable characters, fat women, non-binary characters, everything that is hard to see in current times. Research showed me how much armoured bikinis there really are, and how disgusted that makes me and other women. How I just want women in cool agent outfits that don't show off their bosoms and assets, and with cool guns and cool combat shoes that are not heels.
It hurts my soul my favourite artists are men, and although that is not inherently a bad thing, it definitely shows the industry is non-representative of real life and also of the characters being designed. I wanna change that and this project allows me to take a leap of faith, take a risk and do something that I was always scared to do before and I did not believe I could actually do – design characters. I hope that in a few years, there will be teenagers looking and interacting with my work and being able to relate to it. That is my ultimate goal in my career, and has been throughout my personal, bodypositive art, and this Self-Initiated Project is a start of another part of it. Thank you for reading! Yelyzaveta Berestova BA IVM The name above reflects the idea of my SIP and highlights its sentimental value to me as a Ukrainian citizen. Initially, I wanted to create a zine that will be a collection of people’s memories describing their attachment to seasons. However, recent events in my homeland made me redefine my goals as an artist and the theme for my SIP accordingly. Now, my zine will be a compilation of nostalgic and wholeheartedly missed moments from the peaceful past (for the time being) of Ukrainians. I will be collecting stories of those who sleep in bomb shelters, were forced to flee or dedicated themselves to volunteering. Then I will turn these stories into visual narratives following the rules of reportage illustration. Things we took for granted is a project aimed at re-evaluating the values of those who live under a peaceful sky and giving hope to those who lost such privilege. According to my initial timeline, I was supposed to work on my prototypes In February and involve mentors for feedback in March, but things didn’t go according to plan. I overestimated my pace for this project. I didn’t take into consideration full-time internships, burn out and unforeseen circumstances. In the future, I will need to allow more time for the planning and research stage, which is crucial for any project. With my SIP, I felt stuck at this stage for a while until I started making mind maps in Miro. Writing down keywords and making links between them led me to discover nostalgia as the starting point in my research. I learned that nostalgia is not always a bad thing that drags you down with depressive thoughts, but it can also be a source of light and hope. Having read multiple articles on how nostalgia is helping ease the pain, I started talking to my friends from the war zone. Asking them to share their favourite moments from before 24th February and what they missed the most. I started hearing ‘thank you for distracting me, and ‘it was nice to put into words what I’m feeling right now. After talking to a few people and discussing this in the class, I’ve realised that these real-life stories, backed up by scientific discussions about nostalgia, will be the source of my research and inspiration for this project. Screenshot of my Miro board (research) As the theme of my zine changed, so did the layout. My previous inspiration for a neat silent storyboard wasn’t applicable anymore. That was when I discovered Liu Mengxia and her reportage illustration work. She manages to capture the spirit of large-scale events in one illustration. Her process and approach have inspired me to approach visual storytelling from a different, more holistic perspective. Her work also helped me realise the potential of my people-watching hobby and note-taking. Even though I didn't start doing my drawings yet, I'm intending to use her process and reportage illustration as a guide to my zine. I already collected enough stories from my friends and family to start putting their words into images and it's my next step in this project. Artwork by Liu Mengxia Bullring. Open Market, 2018, H 98cm* W 225cm, Mutiple materials Another artist whose work puts my mind into another perspective is a Ukrainian illustrator Mari Kinovich. She is in the war zone right now and somehow finds the energy to draw and voice her thoughts and wishes. It’s one thing to read people’s attitude to the current events in the news, and it’s a different thing to see first-hand how they are feeling. When the world is watching, how do artists respond to the war, what messages do they translate? All these details are crucial for my future outcome, as it has to reflect Ukrainian spirit and bravery rightfully. Artworks by @marikinoo on Instagram This project is about my self-discovery as an artist. Before I used to say, I didn't see any depth in my art, and I was afraid it was just pretty pictures. Back then, I didn’t know that the cost of my work becoming meaningful was higher than I could anticipate. Before working on this SIP, I didn’t think about making a difference with my art. I didn’t understand the value behind it. Now I found myself actively seeking to participate in social initiatives. I want to know how I could help my family back home, a family that is 38 million people now. The theme of refugees and the inability to go home is now my problem. And through this SIP, I will try to recover from this temporary loss myself. Highlighting the importance of small things, that we have access to living under a peaceful sky. I will try to reach the minds of those who didn't realise their privilege yet, because I believe it will make their lives happier and problems hazier. Bibliography:
The Healing Power of Nostalgia https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/nostalgia-science/ Art therapy with a young refugee woman survivor of war https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17454830802503453?scroll=top&needAccess=true How Nostalgia can ease the pain https://www.healthline.com/health-news/how-nostalgia-can-sometimes-help-ease-pain Liu Mengxia https://liumengxia.com Anu Limbu, Graphic Branding & Identity For my self initiated project, I am creating an anonymous journaling app prototype along with branding identity. It was inspired by the character head designs which I created years back. As I did not get the chance to develop these further, I wanted to use DPS as a chance to create something out of the designs. My project combines these character designs with journaling to create a helpful and safe space. It is targeted to those who are afraid to reach out for help and just wants their own space to talk express their feelings and understand their emotions better. The project aims to encourage anyone with mental health problems who are first beginning to have mental health problems to take just one step forward to helping their mental wellbeing. The characters are created by the users to their preferences to make it personal and their own. Once the characters have been created, they come with a set of emoticons that users can use on their journals and posts etc. Characters act as a friend who records the users’ daily emotions and encourage a vision board of goals, self-care, schedules, action plan etc. Although the app is made for journaling, users are also able to join peer support groups and read real stories and post their own when comfortable. I have concluded these features after gathering survey results and online research of articles, books, and blogs.
As a branding and identity student, creating a helpful app while combining illustrations would be a great interest of mine to explore and study further on how I can convey my approach to mental health through design. Although a small project, it is a great learning journey for me to learn and develop new skills to advantage my future projects. Studying projects and artists such as JanSport campaigns and Illustrator Worry Like, I aim to create a piece that can help and soothe my target audience while lifting their unspoken weight off their shoulders. With the interest of going into branding and marketing, this project will help me study and understand creating branding suitable for the targeted audience, their needs and what the brand can do to support their needs.
WOW 2 Digital Portfolio - UAL GMD YEAR 3 DPS Marta Freire - 19021430Graphic & Media Design It is a fact that with the evolution of technology, human lives got better as our resources to survive, specifically more in first world countries. The modern era has created more job possibilities, easy access to education, equality at work and better living conditions. Easier chances to make dreams come true. The making of our dreams might be a difficult task to do. It can be due to a numeral of factors like lack of confidence, laziness or even the competitive market. Most people don't realise how technology makes the publication of ideas and work so much easier for artists that want to start their careers. For my Self-Initiated Project, I have chosen the publication of my book. I have been writing and preparing this book for quite some time now, and it made me grow not only as a person but also as an artist. The research conducted had a lot of different steps, and one of them is the way of publishing which nowadays is available as a physical book, E-book, and Audiobook. This article reflects how better the world of publishing is nowadays, including its ups and downs. In the past, not long ago, for you to be able to publish anything, it meant you had one of these three things: - You are rich; - You had some connections in the industry; - Someone loved your idea and showed it to the world; These three things are still applicable our days. However, new factors gave new possibilities for many to show their ideas without depending on anyone. These factors perhaps were the creation of the World Wide Web, or as we designate as the online world. The internet, a tool firstly created for quick research, was later improved to be a place where the world is connected. Most businesses expanded their network due to this new world, which opened the doors for ordinary people to become what they aspire to be. The term self-publication is a formula of publishing where its author is responsible for all the processes without the involvement of an established publisher. This phenomenon is possible thanks to some online businesses that create your book as you please, so you can sell on online platforms with the possibility of making contracts with book shops. Such examples are Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple Book, IngramSpark, and many more. The internet has opened new doors for people to show their creativity. Including many other types of businesses such as Etsy, where you can find unique handicrafts, Depop, an app with very specified marketing where you can find people that create their clothes, Youtube, people show specific content to their viewers and make profit out of it. Compared to the present, the past sounds harder in terms of publishing. You would have to show your ideas multiple times to different people, which certainly would decline your art. There is probably a lot of good art that we never had the chance to see because of a lack of interest from the established businesses. A clear example of that is the famous books series “Harry Potter” that at the beginning it was declined for numerous publishers until someone believed in its worth. Fig. 1 - J.K. Rowling's Original Synopsis for her first book It was stated by Inside – “The synopsis was typed by Rowling in 1995 "to accompany the opening chapters and circulated among prospective publishers," according to a plaque that accompanies the synopsis. The novel was rejected by 12 different publishing houses before Bloomsbury accepted it.” Concluding, the internet was a huge step to free people to be dependent on majors to show off their ideas. Now, is it profitable? It is a reality that it was harder to publish in the past, but it was certainly more rewarding than the present. The reason behind it is that there was much less competition before. We could say that there are too many options now that can affect the value of a product. Fig. 2 - Self Publishing VS Traditional Publishing Costs Regarding this issue, the modern world of publishing satisfies those who want to accomplish a dream, is even more rewarding getting to know that people love your project. As for me, my plans are heading for a traditional publisher that can guide me since it is my first book. If that does not work, I will choose self-publishing. In other words: I am glad I was born during this modern era where you always have a second chance to show what you can do.
References: Britannica - (Unknown) - https://www.britannica.com/topic/publishing/Advertising Selfpublishing.com - Scott Allan - (05/02/2022) - https://selfpublishing.com/self-publishing-companies/ editable - (2018) - https://www.editage.com/info/book-editing-services/articles/top-10-self-publishing-companies-a-2018-guide-for-first-time-authors.html ResearchGate - Diana L Hart - (21/11/17) - https://www.researchgate.net/post/So-many-people-seem-to-publish-a-lot-quickly-How-do-you-do-it ThoughNickel - Bill Holland - (19/05/20) - https://toughnickel.com/self-employment/How-Hard-Is-It-To-Get-Published-In-The-Real-World Self-Publishing School - Bella Rose Pope - (24/11/21) https://self-publishingschool.com/self-publishing-vs-traditional-publishing/ Quora - (Unknown) - https://www.quora.com/Is-it-easier-or-harder-to-get-a-book-published-these-days-than-before-the-growth-of-the-internet Insider - Alison Millington - (31/07/18) - https://www.insider.com/revealed-jk-rowlings-original-pitch-for-harry-potter-2017-10 Tiffany Hawk - Tiffany Hawk - (Unknown) - https://www.tiffanyhawk.com/blog/self-publishing-vs-traditional-publishing-a-stone-cold-sober-analysis WOW Blog Post 2 - March 2022 Stephanie Jayne Harrison-Baker - 18004426 I am currently on the BA (Graphic Branding & Identity) course undertaking my DPS Year as a Graphic Designer at the global digital marketing company, Jellyfish. My primary role at Jellyfish is within App Store Optimisation which is where we optimise various companies' App Store Listings on both the iOS and Google Play Stores. Our aim when we optimise is to increase Organic App Downloads in a sustainable way through optimising their listing to best promote their app offering, increase app revenue and conversion rates as well as ultimately improving visibility & stand out in the App Stores. This has given me an alternative insight into the design industry, which I had never had an insight into before nor even knew it was an area of marketing which had the potential to alter audiences behaviours. 8 months into my role, I now understand the importance of showcasing your brand tone of voice, brand values as well as your app offering within the first impression (first 3 screenshots) shown on the App Store as this will be the only creative that 75% of the audience will see before making the decision on whether to download the app or not. I find it particularly interesting how we work with companies to promote different upcoming events/seasons/offers within their listing. We work with global companies who optimise their listing into multiple markets which for me I find particularly interesting to see what creative tactics work better in different regions across the world. Not only has this role at Jellyfish given me an insight into the design industry but it has also made me more aware of the psychology behind design. What is it that makes people download an app? What attracts people to a particular brand? They align with their values? They like the way the product is presented? The psychology and reasoning behind why people buy certain products due to branding fascinates me and is what I want to focus on for my dissertation when I return to Year 4 after my DPS Year and therefore I am really pleased that my role at Jellyfish has already given me an insight into the area of my dissertation. I have begun researching articles for my dissertation around this subject area and I will continue to find articles through my DPS Year. For my SIP I have decided to collaborate with a friend who is a practitioner to create a luxury candle and home fragrance company, Argent & Sable. This project was originally influenced by our self care routines in the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdowns and our love for candles, but only in recent months has taken it to fruition. We wanted our brand to have a focus and a meaning and therefore we chose for the theme of the company to be associated with Moths. We chose Moths as we both love the insects and care about their existence. With our home fragrance company we want to raise awareness for the decline of moths in the UK before they become extinct. All of our fragrances are 100% natural and therefore they are environmentally friendly. This will be important when creating a brand identity as it is a core value of the company. As a partnership, her role is to create the candles and fragrances whilst my involvement includes marketing the products. For my SIP, I plan to create a substantial brand identity which represents the core values of Argent & Sable, develop a strong colour palette and other brand assets as well as create a library of images for use on our social media page and website. From looking at our key competitors within the luxury home fragrance category, I realise how important art direction is in determining if someone will want to buy a candle. The room scene in the background of the photo, the product in focus all play a significant role. We want to try and get a fragrance across through a medium which only allows for a photo/video. Many competitors also use Instagram Reels to showcase their products. From my research, I have found that customers engage more with a company which is transparent with the process of making the candles and diffusers. Due to one of our core values being ‘handmade from 100% natural ingredients’ customers will want to see us making it and therefore finding interesting content to show this will engage the customers which will hopefully lead to purchases. To conclude, creating the visual identity for Argent & Sable and all of the marketing materials working cohesively alongside the brand identity will promote the company and publicise the company to a wider/global audience. By creating a strong social media presence and a professional website, our customers will gain confidence in our products and engage more with the brand which in-turn will lead to increased brand loyalty and brand recognition. Not only will this allow me to gain confidence in my graphic design skills but it will also allow me to gain confidence talking about my work to people as I will tell people about the brand history and our story. https://www.jellyfish.com/en-gb, (March, 2022) www.instagram.com/argentandsable/?hl=en, (March, 2022) (851 words) What is Ethnography? Exploring how it informs my Practice as an Illustrator and Visual Artist.3/14/2022 My name is Davinia Clarke, I’m an illustrator and visual artist studying Illustration and Visual Media at LCC. My work draws on the themes of identity, family, culture and community. Through my work I use bold colours, patterns and textures to express the vibrancy of my heritage. My practice is experimental and evolving as I explore different methods and materials combined together. For example, a common method in creating my illustration is firstly photographing my own surroundings as inspiration but also as a material to use within my illustrations. For my situated independent project I have decided to explore the term ‘Ethnography’ which was introduced to me during my tutorial session. The term ethnography defines the study of people's behavior and habits. Within my situated project I will be exploring what this term means to me, how it informs my work and the ways in which I'm using it or have used it. However, ethnography is quite a broad theme and could essentially be about anything. So I've picked a topic and case study, which is to document the characteristics of my family’s home. The three homes I'll be documenting are my Grandad’s home he lived in since the 1960s, my Grandma’s home in Jamaica she lived in since 1989 or 1990 and my family home that I’ve lived in since 2007. As well as, researching other Jamaican homes from different generations to view the changes that have occurred over time and the things that have stayed the same. The ways in which I would gather information will be mainly through primary research of recorded conversations, memoirs, photographs, videos, notes and sketches. This project was inspired by my final major project conducted in 2019 at foundation where I produced a mixed-media animation titled 'Unity Through Food'. Here, I explored the ways in which food brings people together and it was narrated by my mother. Shown below are stills from the animation. My main sources of inspiration for this project are the Life Between Islands Exhibition held at Tate Britain that explores the relationship between Caribbean and Britain art from the 1950s to now. The Nigerian American visual artist Toyin Ojih Odutala known for her striking mark-making multimedia storytelling illustrations. I bought the book 'Toyin Ojih Odutala : The UmuEze Amara Clan and the House of Obafemi’ which is a collection of her illustrated work in a book that explores individual's characters and their stories, considering the space, architecture, landscape and domestic interiors they are in. Lastly, the print publication Plantain Papers that records conversations and stories about people who eat plantain, those being from African, Caribbean, Latinx and South Asian communities. Amongst other visual artists who use music, words and video as a medium of storytelling.
By Jacobo Giquel - Design Management. Intro. It has not been the easiest couple of years for anyone, especially for those who perform in the creative industries. To me personally it has been a rough time, long periods of time isolated and socially deprived away from conventional ways of teaching and learning had led to an eerie feeling of alien-ness towards my career. Luckily, we are slowly moving back towards normality, and everything begins to feel a little bit like before again. Today I want to present Hepburn, my self initiated project. Hepburn. Hepburn is a long-term collaborative project developed by two other members and myself. Hepburn is a second-hand garment store where unique and exclusive pieces can be found. Our products will not be extremely expensive or exclusively designer pieces, but rather unique and peculiar garments in terms of design and context. We are planning to perform by offering an experience within the product through setting the garments and pieces in a certain set and atmosphere that work as a context for the product to unfold and therefore acquire a cultural and historical meaning. This context is planned to be constructed with the use of graphic design and photography among other creative disciplines, all to be developed by us. Each drop is containing several garments and accessories sourced with a stylistic, historic or contextual correlation between them in mind – the 60s, 80s, beat generation or Vietnam era for example – and we, in Hepburn, assemble them together in a thoughtfully curated and displayed capsule embodied through set and styled photoshoots and graphic design content to convey each piece role in the collection. The products are sold in a unique, carefully designed package together with a limited edition print inherent to the drop and its nature. Societal Context. We live in a very confused and uncertain where nothing is determined or strapped under the comfort of security, this can be overwhelming. In addition, Covid has piled up on top making any form of assurance and predictability almost impossible and completely changing the rules of the game in every aspect shifting any form of business or interaction from its conventional humane roots to a digital one. In Hepburn we bear this in mind, and we keep our products and experiences accessible online through social media platforms such as Instagram or Tik-Tok and easily purchased as we are selling the pieces through online platforms such as Vinted and Instagram. All the creativities and imagery work not only as a contextualising element for the collection in an artistic sense, but also as a marketing strategy which seeks to provide the pieces with a meaning which adds a cultural and historic value to these. In synthesis, Hepburn business consists of sourcing, acquiring, and reselling unique garments. This means that our initiative is socially and environmentally responsible by taking part in the upcycling process and the environmentally friendly trend of tending for second-hand pieces rather than freshly new produced ones. I feel like this trait adds a social and cultural value to our proposal. Firstly, as I just mentioned, we are contributing to climate change recession which is extremely in need nowadays given the current situation in which the planet finds itself. Secondly, I want to underline the cultural importance of second-hand clothing. It’s normally wrongly conceived that second-hand garments do always tend to be torn and tattered, old, out of fashion or severely outsized and this is not always the case. When a proper thorough dive into the products offered in this market is done, some serious grails can be spotted, unique pieces in outstanding conditions and for a lower price. As a consequence, garments that bypass fast fashion houses quality and design standards by far can be found at a cheaper price, is this misconception regarding second-hand which keeps this practice still in question, even though it gained a beyond considerable popularity in the last years. Personal Value. In a personal level Hepburn is everything I’ve ever dreamed of. I study design management, my role inside the project is of creative director and even though both disciplines are not by any means the same, there’s still a correlation between them. I’m really excited to enrol in this initiative and further my personal and professional growth as I contribute in such a meaningful and prospective project. In Hepburn I am going to get to design strategies and concepts around fashion, something I’m personally fond of and pursue my skills and knowledge in software usage and other disciplines such as stylism, photography or graphic design. Taking part in Hepburn it has been challenging step up in my life and career. In order to assure the best results, we have prescribed weekly meetings where relevant topics will be discussed. In addition, we are supporting our practice with the software JIRA by Atlassian, a management and organising online tool that allows you to set different goals and to-dos in a time frame with the current process stage figuring. Here I attach some imagery I have already worked on for Hepburn. We are still in the brand definition stage: Hepburn Logo and Typefaces. By me. Hepburn Poster. By me. Hepburn Creativity. By me. Hepburn IG Post I. By me. Hepburn IG Post II. By me. Bibliography.
https://designwanted.com/design/role-of-design-in-the-new-normal-metafora/ https://andwalsh.com/articles/all/creating-self-initiated-projects/ https://issuu.com/hollygleave/docs/holly_gleave_garp__6d217f5279bea2 Belle Junput BA Graphic & Media Design While studying on DPS (Diploma in Professional Studies), I had the opportunity to work on various live briefs such as LEGO, Film Posters collaboration, DPS Illustration collaboration as well as producing my own SIP (Self-initiated Project). What is SIP? Self-initiated project allows creative designers or anyone outside the design field, the freedom to experiment and explore with their ideas and set self-initiated goals. In this blog, I will be reflecting on my own journey throughout SIP. My self-initiated project is about creating a brand identity for my family’s second Thai restaurant/takeaway business coming soon which also sells Thai food. Since the idea of a new business meant that they needed someone to create branded contents such as logo design, website, photography, menu, stickers etc.…this would be a good chance for me to use my illustration, layout skills and graphic design knowledge. The aim for this project is to be able to research on marketing strategy, bringing the design to life, what makes a successful brand and to be able to present the final outcome to a high-quality standard. As I have never done branding before, I thought that the process was going to be easy but later found that the process wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped. I realized that there was a huge sense of responsibility working on this project alone while also balancing work life, although it is achievable with enough time and effort. For the brands overall look, it is important for the design to stand out and can communicate to the audience effectively. An example of a well-known Thai brand would be Thai Airways. Thai Airways is an international airline, most people can recognize its brand by its logo, colour scheme or iconic uniform when travelling. I was inspired by this brand because of the way the design team thought about every little detail from typography to illustrations as there is a sense of Thai culture represented through the brand. ‘the purple, magenta and gold 'jumpee', which incorporated elements of traditional Thai imagery, the gold of temples and rich colours of tropical orchids and Thailand's lustrous silk.’ Inspired by this, I decided to investigate further into Thai landmarks, architecture, arts, culture, and our family history that could be used in the brand. I conducted research using the internet for references, I used online platforms such as Behance and Pinterest when creating mood boards and sketching out logos. Two examples that have helped me shape my idea would be the brandings for YAKI Izakaya and easy tiger I found on Behance. What I like about these designs is that they have included illustrations/artwork to tell the story of the brand which can also be used in other contents like uniforms or on menus. I was also inspired by local shop brands I had taken pictures of when I went on holiday in the past years. From what I could remember, I noticed that small businesses have a sense of casual, playfulness, and authentic feeling to them? in contrast to chains/franchise brands.
Through SIP, I experimented with mostly digital mediums however, I think I could have played around more with traditional materials like, collage, Lino print, screen printing, inks or watercolour. Overall, looking back on my journey I can see that I have developed as an artist and designer in terms of skill, knowledge, and confidence. Not only was I able to explore branding for the first time but I hope that one day I will be able to use this experience for projects in the future. References: Thaiairways.com. 2022. General Information | Thai Airways. [online] Available at: <https://www.thaiairways.com/en/about_thai/public_information/general_information/thai_logo.page> [Accessed 13 March 2022]. 2022. [image] Available at: <https://amberyoung.co/thai-airways-rebrand> [Accessed 13 March 2022]. Behance.net. 2022. Behance. [online] Available at: <https://www.behance.net/gallery/124241847/YAKI-Izakaya-Visual-identity?tracking_source=search_projects%7Cthai%20restaurant%20branding%20design> [Accessed 13 March 2022]. |
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March 2022
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