E-Portfolio Feedback - Philippa Lightburn

I sent my e-portfolio to Philippa Lightburn, Philippa is an illustrator who was an ex-student at my university, and has gone on to be a professional freelance illustrator.

"I've had a look through your portfolio and I'm really impressed with both your work and the layout. I remember meeting you at the guru evening and I don't think you had a lot of your work with you so seeing it all together like this is really nice! You've got a great style that is obviously working well for you and your portfolio flows well from page to page."

"My favourite illustration is the pollution piece for the RSPCA. I just think it's such a great idea that has been executed really well and it has an immediate message. The two block colours work nicely and it's very graphically striking. I also really love the Wind in the Willows book cover - especially the trees in the background. They're really beautiful colours and have a lovely texture to them."

Since a lot of my portfolio contains a lot of mixed media between hand crafted objects and work I've made on the computer, it's nice that she can appreciate this, and appreciate the use of colour between them. The Fairtrade piece had a strict colour palette, so it's even better that I managed to hold a good synergy regarding colour in the piece.

"The presentation of your portfolio is really strong and I can't fault anything. All the other gurus I've emailed have had little things that I would change with the layout, but yours is perfect!"

I feel I was happy with the way my work was presented, each page follows the exact sizing and measurements of the previous page, so it pleases my perfectionist side. It made me smile that she used the word 'perfect' though, that was a nice comment to receive.

"The only minor thing I can spot is perhaps some of the typography. I really like the typography on the two book covers, the hand drawn quality of it is really nice and compliments the work well. The fonts on the RSPCA and Fair Trade images could perhaps be a bit more interesting and match the styles of the illustrations more. But this is a really minor thing so please don't take it to heart. I'm only picking up on it because I went to a graphic design agency and the guy said I could do with changing the font on one of my pieces. Graphic designers are really in to type so carefully choosing one or designing your own can be worth your while!"

This has been interesting because Pat Carroll said the opposite, he has worked with graphic designers for years and doesn't think the typeface works with the skyline. I do think the type does fit with the series or books, it's a very hand rendered characterful typeface and I do like it. It's very interesting to receive opinions from people who have experience from the industry, because it's just an opinion, and you can only take from it what you asked for, a collection of opinions gives you a more broad range of feedback.

Overall Philippa was very pleased with my work and I am glad with this. I want to try and improve some of the pieces of work though, there are other potential pieces that didn't make it into the portfolio that maybe I will reconsider.

E-Portfolio Feedback - Gary Prendergast & Pat Carroll

I have been given feedback by two artists, Gary Prendergast and Pat Carroll, Pat has worked with many successful graphic designers and students, and has made LPs for band albums such as The Happy Mondays. They found my portfolio layout to appear very professional, all the pages are perfectly laid out and look as they should. They were both very fond of my illustrative and graphical combinations in my work, and said that they can tell straight away what kind of style I have with my work. 

Pat was very impressed with my RSPCA work and thought they were my strongest pieces, some pieces such as the Josie Dew piece, has a great potential, but is let down by the typeface and the statue in the centre, it would be good if this piece could be amended. I felt I liked the typeface, but agree with the statue comment, it is a bit of an anti-climax, it just looks a little out of place. If after removing the statue, there is too much of an open gap, I could work on making the skyline a bit higher.

They said my work reminded them of an artist called Paul Rand and recommended I look into him, as my work has a similar style. Overall, they said that my portfolio does have a really nice feel and gives off my aura, which I am glad about. I will go into my eportfolio and try to make some amendments to past work over the Christmas holiday.

What does illustration mean?

"As our visual language evolves, the playing field is leveling. Graphic designers, sculptors, painters, creative developers, and even musicians amorphously meander across different parts of our creative industries. As a consequence, I often wonder what the term 'Illustration' now means. Maybe as a medium it might need to do more than vocationalise aesthetics and cultivate a border palate of profundity for its own survival." 
- Michael Salu, Artistic Director of Granta Magazine 
2012 Varoom 

This is a very interesting and provocative quote. Technology is constantly upgrading, and has evolved how art is both created and perceived, is this a good or bad thing? Like a lot of things, there are pros and cons, take the new 'gifs' for example, a way of creating illustrations to be in two or three fast moving images, to create a 'moving' image, these are seen on websites now as an alternative to images in some e-magazines. These being better or worse than how they are shown in physical magazines isn't relevant, whats relevant is how they are being implemented into technology. 

Today we see the art work of Picasso in galleries and are amazed at the presence of the piece next to us, to think his hand once touched that canvas, it has an aura. But seeing the same image online isn't really the same, but how would someone being born into this new technological world perceive this? Would they miss this out, and only see the 'new' (which to them is the 'current') as being worthwhile? The playing field isn't just leveling, it's also changing. New vocabulary is being added to visual language, but I feel that different ages will see this in different ways, some will see it as an addition, and good thing, and others will take it as a change, when a way of working is being implemented, another way of working is being sunk. 

My own work will probably take a toll at this, I work as I want to work, I create images I like and cast it from my own heart, but I can still do the same thing using new technology, or adapting new techniques. I would really like to learn how to make gifs and any new advancement, as a new way of working is another challenge to overcome and maybe it will help me to find a new way of working that I can really enjoy.

"Illustration" to me means to produce art from the heart, this means making designs that I want to make, that I want people to see, not necessarily like. To me, changing or making a new word for illustration would be irrelevant, because it would still be the same thing. I may work on a computer sometimes, but I'm still illustrating, I'm still using my soul as the inspiration for my work, regardless of whatever subjective word is used, so what's the difference?

AOI would also have to change it's name.

Ric Frankland / Dwelle Lecture

Ric Frankland is an architect based in Manchester and hosted a lecture about himself and his company, Dwelle. Dwelle is a company that creates interesting and energy efficient buildings. The advantages of these "Dwelle.ings" are that they are small, sustainable, and fairly quick to set up. They also have a zero carbon status.

Although Ric was talking about architecture, his current struggles and exciting opportunities and successes, I think it was good to take from it that he was just a man that had a large dream of making 'sheds for living', and even though that business may have seemed like a long shot, he got on with it and after 9 months of working from home, he went out and made a successful business from it. Even though he says he has made little money and profit, he has still appeared in magazines, tv home shows and has shown his work in many exciting events, such as Grand Designs Live.

It is clear that just building up your dreams isn't enough to make them real, you have to get out there and try! The buildings look really intricate and homely for a small building, and people pay for sessions with Ric and his small team to learn all about the 'Sheds for Living', a lot can be learned from his journey. I found him and his story very interesting, and I do find the creative process of design to be fulfilling to my creativity.

Hopes Fears and Oppertunities

At the start of the year, I set some Hopes, Fears, and hopeful opportunities. Firstly, for my hopes, I wanted to create work that I (note the bold 'I') both enjoy making and am proud of, and I feel I have gradually felt the freedom of being able to achieve this, as in previous years I have felt that I have restricted myself while searching for how I want to work. During the last two projects I do feel that I am creating work that I want to make, and not necessarily something that someone else would like to see, I am gaining confidence in myself to make what I want to make!

Fears are always present, but I feel I have gained an immunity to criticism, I have always been worried about what someone really thinks of my work, and have always doubted myself when receiving compliments for my art, and think about what the person may actually be thinking. It's unhealthy to think in this way because if you ask someone for what they think, they will generally tell you what they think, when you ask someone for visual feedback, it's a very honest subject but just an opinion.

I feel that illustration is about finding your heart, and this should be reflected in a person's work. At the end of the day, you ask for someone's opinion, and you get their opinion, but that's all it is, and another person will give you another opinion. One human's opinion shouldn't be the only tie when making art, it's about what the artist has to offer (unless ofcourse, the work is for someone, but even then they want a piece of you, not themselves)

For the next semester I need to get involved in a few opportunities as I have in previous years, there's no better way to learn about yourself than to explore the art world, see how people work, get involved with them, see how things are on the inside. I loved working with Lord Whitney last year, it shows that on the inside they were just like me, there's no reason why I can't be as successful as they are. It was also nice to see how casual they are, they aren't 24/7 workaholics (well, only until the deadline date) but you can be both professional and casual at the same time, being yourself. 

I hope to spend time with other artists in the next semester, maybe get some experience to see how different artists apply their methods, and how they cope with stresses and just generally what they're like!

Website Scouting

I am currently looking at various websites as an idea of how to invent my work online. I have looked at a good range of illustrator's websites. Most illustrators websites are very eye catching yet simple, from my observations, I have come to the conclusion that illustration websites aim to have the following qualities:

1. Easily navigate through work - There's nothing worse than looking through a website and not being able to find what you need, confusing titles, colours that make you want to leave, loading videos that make people want to press the X at the top right corner of the screen (or left if you use a Mac) or close tab or whatever.

2. Website should have a 'feel' that relates to the artist - All of the websites I have seen have an atmosphere that gets you into the mood of the person's work, if that art work could have a home, what would it look like? This is the basis for the website, it should point towards the work itself.

3. Look Professional - "talkin lik dis makes ur webi luk shitm8" Making everything look nice and tidy and professional just makes YOU look more professional. Let the design compliment your work and it should all fit together. 

I have looked at Lord Whitney's website (http://lordwhitney.co.uk/) It has a nice intricate design with some of the props they have made as a background. One notable thing they have done with the home page is made it say different welcomes and have different lighting effects depending on the time of day. Such as "Good Evening" and "Good Morning". The actual website has a distinctive layout, with a simple to use black bar across the top which contains options to view the work, news and contact information.

The website really gives a feeling of being in the Lord Whitney home and just what they are about, it has an interesting timeline of each of their work events. The website doesn't just compliment their work, it contains the aura of it, it directly relates to the them.

I have also looked at David Shrigley's website (http://www.davidshrigley.com/) He has a nice white-text on black background theme with a very illustrative typeface, there are many options on the right, the only main difference and flaw with his website is that the link you choose usually leads to a boring white webpage with blue links to view work. It would be nice to see the same theme going throughout. Saying this, the website still does it's primary functions, allows the viewing of work and provides contact details.

David Firth is an animator that makes illustrative cartoons, he has a website called Fat-Pie (http://www.fat-pie.com/) His website hosts all of his different series on the left. There are also links for FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), images, contact details as well as links to his blogs and social networking pages. His website does look fairly narrow and basic, but it does it's job. Unfortunately, Firth seems to be quite lazy and only updates it about once every few months, but just like a blog, it shows his latest posts and additions at the very top.

His website design doesn't seem to adopt any particular style, it's just basic blue with white and black text. Probably because it's more of a showcase blog than a proper professional artists' website.

I have looked at an artist called Lauren Brading (http://www.offthepagedesign.com/), she has a very simple website (I think it was probably made in Wix, a simple website building host), the website looks fairly bland, but is complimented by that nice lovely AOI logo under her name! I personally prefer to look at her work on the AOI website itself, just because her website just looks a bit too small and basic.

I think having looked at some of these websites, people try to do as best they can for as cheaply as they can (Free website makers seem to have limited options, whereas if you build it yourself from scratch, the world is your oyster. I wouldn't say any of these sites are particularly 'bad', some are just better than others. They all serve a websites purpose, but they're illustrators, a website is such a good opportunity to get your style across!

Business Cards

I have made some business cards for myself. just to see what they will look like when I come to make some official ones after Christmas. I think they look decent, they have a very 'shapey' feel to them, and a warm illustrative emotion. Will just have to see what they look like when they arrive...

I have worked with the skyline imagery from the current project to make the cards, I thought this was a nice idea as the skyline works well with all the illuminated lights, it is quite eye catching.


Front:

Back:

I wasn't 100% sure exactly where the cutting will take place, so I may lose a little of the design, but here's to testing.

Little Brown Book - Mockups

After a few weeks of designing, I have 'beta' versions of the book covers.

Looking at these from far away, I want to get rid of the bikes in the background, it was used to show that the book is about bikes, and was a way of synergising consistency between them all, but it looks too much like a watermark of some sort.

Little Brown Book Project - Working Progress

A few weeks into the project and here is whats what. There have been a lot of different designs going on, just playing around with different approaches and methods.

For this, I drew a picture of the USA and used a characterful type, it's probably a bit simple, but simple is simple for a reason, it works in it's own way. It's sometimes nice to start again on a white piece of paper and start from scratch.

It's fun to get carried away with bikes!

Tried to work with bigger imagery but it looks a bit too much like someone projectile vomited a premature version of a final design onto here.

Little Brown Book - Feedback

I have shown my work to Little Brown Publishing and they were quite surprised by the work of everyone. Their advice to me was to continue to work with shape and try to forge a concept of using the whole page (front, back and middle), as they particularly would like to see imagery that fills the whole page and not just separate to the front or back, this is an idea I agreed with as I have done this in the past for projects such as The Wind in the Willows, where I have used the double page to plant a whole scene.

They also recommend I work with a Graphic Design student to combine a suitable typeface with my designs, I don't always like working with others as I feel I can think better in my own head and like to think I'd be fine finding a good typeface, but having someone else to bounce ideas and combine thoughts is always good and it will be interesting to work with someone I don't know and hasn't had the same design experience. 

I am going to continue to think about the layout of the page and how this can be used to an advantage, instead of sticking to just using each page separate. I also think that if I use shape in each design and stick to my style, I will have automatically kept the synergy going and that will be the common basis for the 7 designs. 

Little Brown Book Publishing - Basic Designs

After spending some time on forging a few ideas for the Little Brown Book Publishing brief, I have come up with a few designs for several books. I am trying to create a synergy between the books, but not keep them too similar, because they are not a 'collection' but a series of books, and so I want them each to be very different but keep a design consistency throughout.

The last design 'A Ride in the Neon Sun' has taken inspiration from one of my pieces I did earlier in "The Wind in the Willows", I kept the idea of using transparency to give a 3d effect of distance in the image. These are all just very basic starts, but I will gradually introduce detail and use my own drawings in the imagery.

I am going to show these to the Little Brown Book Publishing agency when they visit and see what they think to the ideas.

Little Brown Book Project, Initial Ideas and Thought Processing

Trying to come up with a few starting points for book designs for Little Brown Book Publishing, the Josie Dew character seems to be very funny and spontaneous, so I had an idea of making her bike look ridiculous as I could imagine her to be carrying lots of luggage and have a basket with lots of items shoved in, like buckets and spades, sleeping bags and umbrellas.

I have also started to implement the typeface I made, but it doesn't seem to be working too well, making a typeface is quite difficult and seems to look better on paper as an alphabet than put with a design. Going to continue to work on these and play around more with shape.

Little Brown Book Publishing Project

I have been given a chance to design sever book covers for a series of books for Little Brown Book Publishing. The books are by an auther called Josie Dew who has travelled all around the world on a bicycle, the stories seem to be very crazy and funny as she goes anywhere and everywhere on her bike, and it will be a fun and interesting experience to design the covers for these!

I really want the designs to reflect my style of work, as well as Josie Dew's humour. I'd want her to appreciate the thought of design behind the book covers. 

I wanted to start off by making a typeface just to see what it's like (and how difficult it is!) I thought this threaded typeface I designed might look good on the designs, but we'll see..

Gears: The Movie (Radio 4 Final Stop-Motion)

This is my final design for my Radio 4 Project. Firstly, I felt I could have added alot more to the stop-motion but time was heavily afflicted due to all the presentations, essays, and everything else I've been doing over the last two weeks. The project has been slightly neglected, but this is the first animation I have done all year and it does have a nice charm to it.

Without careful planning, animations never go well, same with films, bad directed = bad film. But anyway, enjoy the animation. This was for a segment of a Radio 4 show titled 'Birth of Radio'. I think it goes with the theme, because cogs are old fashion mechanics, and they fit the atmosphere of what is being discussed. But to be honest, I wish I had more time to amend this. 

Creative Review

The Chronicles of Fry

I am really into Stephen Fry's literature at the moment, what's interesting about him is he can rant for days on end and still maintain my attention and at the same time be hilarious. I don't know why I picked this book specifically but Fry has been an inspiration to me for quite some time now. I always used to watch "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", the humor was really smart and quick witted. While I see he isn't everybody's taste, he is a really intelligent person and his quotes are really inspiring, I think he says things that are regarded as quotes without him even realizing it.

"The human cultural jungle should be as varied and plural as the Amazonian rainforest. We are all richer for biodiversity. We may decide that a puma is worth more to us than a caterpillar, but surely we can agree that the habitat is all the better for being able to sustain each" - Stephen Fry This is something Fry said in his book 'The Chronicles of Fry', this makes a lot of sense to me because it is so easy to get bogged down with art being here there and everywhere, even everything else, not just art. We need to be more open-minded to things we turn aside, and things others like that we can't appriciate. Don't get stuck with one favourite, respect everything you may not like as much. There wouldn't be so much competition if it wasn't for the things we overlook, it is far too easy to get locked into a comfort zone.

"I used many times to touch my own chest and feel, under its asthmatic quiver, the engine of the heart and lungs and blood and feel amazed at what I sensed was the enormity of the power I possessed. Not magical power, but real power. The power simply to go on, the power to endure, that is power enough, but I felt I had also the power to create, to add, to delight, to amaze and to transform." - Stephen Fry This is a quote from 'Moab is my Washpot' and it just stands as a true statement for everyone, that is so easily forgotten. We have as much power as any other human being, it is only our emotions that hold us back from achieving. We have the power to be who we want to be, it's just up to us to get there!

Disney Animations

Since I was very young, I have been watching Disney animations, the very first film I watched of these was 'Toy Story', I suppose because I have been watching them from such a young age, the style relates to me, as from making characters and personas that don't exist in real life into virtual beings, the realism hits me more and I feel more drawn to animated films. With real-life films, you need both good actors and a good director to create a successful film, but with animations, the actors are made from our brains. That's kind of why I find them so astounding to watch, the story, the scenery, the movements, every little tiny piece is perfectly placed and has had attention at some point.

A few of my favorites are A Bug's Life, Tarzan, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, and obviously toy Story. I think it's also nostalgia that makes the bond stronger, as I feel more to these favorites than to say Lion King, a classic regarded as legendary by many. Although I watch it a lot and do appreciate it's work and heart-warming story, I just didn't grow up with Lion King, it just became one of those things I missed out on and didn't get to watch properly until I was older. Had I have watched it when I was younger, I would probably regard it as a favorite now. 

I really like the idea of nostalgia and how it means alot to us, we all have something we grew up with that has caused us to bond with it as we got older. It's just a nice thing.



"Taste"


The other day, me and a couple others gave a presentation about 'Taste'. This led to a very interesting discussion. Karl Pilkington (Actor, and renowned as an 'idiot' or a 'man at the bus stop' if you will) was having an interview with David Shrigley, and Karl asked him why he doesn't draw 'properly', to which Shrigley responed "Just because you can play a guitar, doesn't mean you have to play the guitar properly". This quote stuck with me, as too often today, people outside the art world only think art is perfectly drawn sketches and brightly coloured paintings, when there is so much more being missed. What is 'properly'? There is no properly when the criteria is completely opinion based and there is so much to debate over. I do like it when someone says something like this though, it makes me snigger a little inside to know that there are people that actualy don't understand the art world atall and have no respect for those who approach things in very broad and interesting styles. If everyone drew in the same way, what would seperate us? Everything would be dull and repetative.

The quote itself though just shows that you can do that if you wish, but you don't have to. Mastery comes with everything below it and that includes being playful and exploring anything you like, it's all about being true to yourself. Never think twice about something just because someone else's opinion is different, it's what makes us unique and interesting. Just like Pablo Picasso, he could draw magnificently, yet he started Cubism, a completely different method of working from his previous art. Just because you are good at something doesn't mean you have to do it. Many people will be born to be rocket scientists, but if you don't want anything to do with that profession, there's no point.

We also looked at several pieces of 'underrated' art created by a few artists that were made in the style of Ikea, they ere really basic pieces of shelving stuck together. Is that art? What does it mean to people? Some found it interesting, while others weren't interested at all. It goes to show again, that we all have different opinions.

I personally believe that we should aim for our own targets, not the people around us, if you want to be successful  be successful  but through your own eyes, and own hands... If that makes sense...

1, 2, 3

"The human cultural jungle should be as varied and plural as the Amazonian rainforest. We are all richer for biodiversity. We may decide that a puma is worth more to us than a caterpillar, but surely we can agree that the habitat is all the better for being able to sustain each" - Stephen Fry

This is a quote I found while reading 'The Fry Chronicles' and when I first read it, it really stuck with me. He is basically saying that favoritism is great, but we shouldn't disregard everything else just because we prefer that favourite. I think I often turn my nose up to things too quickly and don't give them a chance to sink in, due to me being quite opinionated about certain things, especially with art.

"Stop slackin' and get crackin'" - Lord Whitney

This is something that Lord Whitney have always said, and it is just a true, honest piece of advice. Unfortunately, as I and I'm sure many others have found, there is no time to waste. Every second can be used to an advantage, sometimes there just isn't enough time to complete projects successfully, if too much time is wasted. We all like a break now and then, but I think in a few of the projects over the last couple of years, I have steered away from the brief itself and got distracted. I need to use studio time a lot more resourcefully. I also noticed that deadlines creep up on me so sneakily, and I need to prepare for these in the future.

All in all, I just agree with how truthful this is. Maybe you need to experience being 'on the edge' to properly understand the advice, but for me, I will definitely focus on and regulate my time more efficiently over the next academic year, and ofcourse for all my own personal future projects.

"Just because you can play an instrument, doesn't mean you have to play it properly" - David Shrigley

This quote throws confidence my way because I love being playful in my work and it really motivates me to continue this. The main point of the message is that just because you can draw doesn't mean you have to necessarily do it 'properly' (I hate the word 'properly', just because what is properly?) Once art is mastered, you can use it on any level, for any purpose, in any way that you choose, doesn't have to be 100% realistic to a photograph. David Shrigley is a main influence of mine as well, so it does mean a lot to me.

Thinking With Gears...

While researching old radios and old mechanical items, I found a common field was gears, gears are used in old mechanical devices and are quite useful forgotten objects. I think I want to use gears as a main part of the animation, so I have started drawing out some of them. I am thinking maybe they can intersect with one another and this could possible turn into some sort of stop motion.

Just been playing about with some text that could maybe somehow get into the animation. Sorry if some of the images look a little confusing, but inserting small images together on blogger is more difficult than trying to dissect a cow.

It would read "The great machines of the industrial revolution were in full swing, producing 'things' for the empire."

Wish I'd dun dat...

There have been quite a number of occasions where I've thought to myself "Why didn't I think of that". But time in particular was when I was browsing the work of Peter Callesen for his amazing card cutouts. When I first laid eyes on them I really couldn't believe what I saw. The accuracy, the perfection, the attention to detail, it was all so stunningly creative, and I can't imagine how long it took him to create such pieces of work (, and how many errors he must have made in the process!). 

The main reason I wish I'd thought of it, is just for the time and effort put in, some art is difficult to tell just how long they took to create, but straight away, you can feel Callesen's pain from all the kneeling down and stress from the tiny details he has paid so much attention to. I really appreciate work that has taken time and dedication to achieve.

Although I could just get up and make my own, I feel Callesen has really started the 'trend' now, but his work is and will always be inspiration to me, both to my work and to me myself, it just shows what you can do if you put your mind to it!

Lego Animations

I have been recently looking at animations made by people on Youtube, and a big interesting trend that I have noticed is the abundance of Lego animations. A very interesting one that I have seen is a Gears of War lego animation, this one stood out to me from the others because clearly a lot of time has been spent with the set-creation, the stop-motion animation(, and probably lego collecting!) and the ideas processed throughout. If you have ever played or seen any videos of the actual game Gears of War, you can see how accurately they kept the style to fit with it. Even when the monsters jump out, it must have been very difficult to keep everything perfect to fit with the whole animation.

I think it is mostly the effort that I spot, and how it makes you "wow" when you see it, just because it is unbelievable to see the things that appear, you instantly see the amount of time that must have been put in to create the sequence.

Bricks of War - Lego Animation

For the BBC project I am currently doing, I am to make an animation for a voice-over from the BBC4 radio, I thought this was relevant for me. Obviously I'm not about to make anything out of Lego, but I think the purpose and skill can be taken from this and applied to something else. The idea of stop-motion and thinking outside the box could be used in a similar sort of way if I decide to create my own stop-motion based animation.

Zero Punctuation

For an initial starting point, I have looked at work by Ben Croshaw, he is part of a section of a Magazine Company called "Zero Punctuation". As I am currently doing a project for BBC, to create a background animation, I thought this was very appropriate. I like the way he illustrates over what he is talking about in a very literal way. Even when he speaks in metaphors, he creates imagery in a literal respect to this, which is quite hilarious.

Ben or 'Yahtzee' as he is sometimes known, does gaming reviews for this internet-based magazine, he has really gone beyond the depths of simplicity, because all his animations have the same characters, same background and you can instantly spot that the work was done by him. He has made 100+ videos, and makes them on a weekly basis, so they are constantly being made even now, and aren't losing any repetition value.

Example video:

Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 3

I thought it would be interesting to do something similar for the animation for the BBC voice-over. It really inspires me to do something in this style, combining the humour with a literal awareness, making a parody-like animation in response to the voice-over, but keeping in line with enough respect to make it not a parody.

This is the first thing that instantly hit me when I decided to take up this brief, so I really think it is a great starting point.

Radio 4 - Animating

For my latest project, I am going to animate a "rant" as I like to say, from Radio 4. You hear alot of interesting and informative talks over Radio 4. I have decided to use an extract from a talk about 'The birth of Radio'. I think it's a pretty good talk that goes into how radio was invented and created, talks about the mechanics of it and how it changed into a revolution. I feel most connected to this conversation and want to make a short animation to go behind the extract. This may be a looped stop-motion or maybe something completely different. We'll have to see!

Exciting.

FairTrade A-Z Finale

I have just about finished my final designs for FairTrade A-Z. Just missing a few final letters, those being 'M', 'X', 'Y', and 'Z'. For X Y Z, there are no actual products, so I must try to think outside the box with this one. I haven't properly implemented colour yet, I just wanted to get the designs done and dusted, but I think in colour, they will look great.

Oh, and the 'M' is there because I fail at drawing mangoes.

A-Z Final Poster Design (Beta)

This is my final poster for FairTrade! Well, almost, it isn't quite finished yet, I still need a fair few letters, but they seem to be piecing nicely. The background needs tampering with as there are a few white marks that need to be erased. But as far as it goes, this is an initial final design... If that makes sense...

After doing this, I'm starting to get sick of the blue, but probably just because I've been working on it all day...

Wind in The Willows - Final Design

Here is my final design for the Wind in The Willows project. It has been a really fun and exploratory few weeks and I really had fun making characters and investigating their habitats and characteristics. Overall I feel fairly accomplished with my final piece, I had a fair few final design ideas, and this is the one I decided to implement  just because I thought it said more about how I've been working in the past and made the most sense to put into play. 

If I could do the project again, I would probably spend longer on character design as I think that is the weakest (although most crazy!) part of the piece. I do really admire the creation of the scenery, this is the strongest part of the project, because this is how I started it, the scene is the most important thing in my opinion because it is the first thing you see and feel. I am going to submit this design to the Puffin competition later today. 

A-Z, Sketch Mania!

Just to show what's going on with my FairTrade project at the moment...

Speaks for itself!

I have a lot of designs I could use in the actual poster. But I still have a number of letters (haha) I need to think about. I also noticed I'm pretty good at drawing toilet rolls.