Leaf Carvings

I came across these leaf carvings whilst browsing design blogs. Created by artists in China they cut and remove the leaf's mesophyll to produce an artwork without cutting or removing any leaf veins. Pretty amazing idea!

   

Designer Barcode

Found these very unusual but quirky designs on the Graphichug blog. Designed by the Japanese they have some really nice ideas behind them as well as being very detailed. I think they all add a nice touch to a simple boring barcode.

Mike Rigby

On the 26th November Mike Rigby from design agency True North came into college to give us a few words of wisdom about his life as a graphic designer and priceless advice that has helped him on his way. Mike graduated in 2002 from Preston and since then has worked at Chase Manchester, Mark Studio, Pentagram in London as well as travelling and ending up in Australia working Landor and Moon design.

Mike describe how design is a great job, with no 2 jobs ever the same, he like's it because it's interesting and challenging and being able to meet with different people and collaborate is definitely a positive. Other positives that Mike highlighted involved being part of a strong design community, being able to go to design ceremonies and being able to work for yourself whenever you want. However with positives come negatives and Mike spoke about how competitive the industry is focusing on key points such as long hours, lots of pressure due to working hard and long deadlines, client interference and lost pitches. He also spoke of the anguish at not being able to get a job.

Work with True North, Royal Mail Yearbook:

  

Mike felt that placements are an essential requirement to help getting a job after graduation. As well as getting to work on live briefs in a real design environment you are forced to work at the same pace as everyone else therefore this speeds up the pace you work on. To get the most out of a placement it's important to take professional pride in everything you do even if it's simply just a mock up. Always socialise and ask questions, be enthusiastic as well as making a brew are all fundamental parts towards succeeding whilst on placement. Mike also thought it was important to remember that if you don't get a placement or you don't get offered a job from a placement to not worry. Rejection is part of design and it doesn't mean your not good enough.

Mike also spoke about the importance of taking a break and said that the best thing he ever did was to just quit and travel the world. He showed us some AMAZING pictures of his travels and although I would like to make it in the industry the thought of going travelling for a while is very appealing to me as I feel I have been in education for ever now! Whilst travelling Mike also landed a job abroad and he couldn't express any more how much of a great experience this was, you meet great people and it's a fantastic lifestyle.

True North work, expecting a baby:

  

Mike's 'final rambling's' were for us to ask ourselves why are we doing design? are we commited enough? He felt that it's important for us to ask ourselves now who we want to work for rather than deciding later. We should ignore the doom and gloom and believe in our own ability.

He ended the talk on this quote... ' If I could live at any point in human civilisation I'd still choose now'

I really enjoyed Mike Rigby's talk it was very insightful and gave me a lot to think about.

Lin

Mine and Sarah's 2nd portfolio visit whilst in New York was at Lin, an agency ran by Alex who I had previously been in contact with.

Upon arrival we met with Alex who invited us into his small studio where himself and another designer worked. We sat down and once again both took it in turns to speak through our portfolio. This time I felt as though as I could speak through my work with a bit more ease as seeing Erin from Prime Studios a couple of hours prior to this had made me feel a bit more confident talking about my own work as well as feeling more confident about the work I had produced.

Similar to Erin, Alex didn't understand my end sting at first as it was something they had never come across before. Alex felt that seeing this idea on paper in the form of a storyboard was probably not the best way to execute the idea, I mentioned that it had been advised to place it on a TV screen and he felt this may work better, otherwise to maybe bring the animation along with the portfolio.

With some of the design work such as work for the 'Manchester literature festival' and 'A brief history of furniture' Alex felt that working with colour and changing the colours to create other poster variations would show that I have tried out other designs as well as bulking up all the work I had already produced. This was something Erin had also touched upon earlier in the morning.

For my fifteen types spreads it was suggested that maybe I re photograph these images and drop them onto live surface spreads like I had done for my British dental museum editorial spreads. By doing this it would look more professional as well as creating a bit more room on the page itself.

Alex paid compliments to my typography as he felt most students work he had seen don't pay much attention to final details. I feel typography is something I really enjoy working with and looking at so i'm glad that he picked up on this.

Alex liked the overall design of the portfolio and liked the idea of a book yet suggested making it slightly a bit bigger and maybe a different shape. On returning to college however I would like to buy a box to display my work in yet I will still take Alex's feedback on board.

After showing our portfolio's to Alex he spoke to us about design in New York and was interested to see how it compared to the industry in Manchester let alone the UK.

It was interesting meeting with Alex and I very much valued his feedback. I now know from my visit with himself and Erin from our previous visit what changes I need to make to my portfolio and I will consider these changes when designing my box.

Prime Studios

Whilst in New York myself and another student from my course visited a design agency called Prime Studio. Prime studio is an integrated product and brand design consultancy which is dedicated to providing successful solutions for clients. They launched in 1998 and have experience in consumer products, house ware, personal ware and other numerous areas.

So on the 10th November myself and Sarah set off with our map in search of Prime Studio. Being in a strange city where we had no real sense of direction we made sure we gave ourselves plenty of time to find the studio, and it was quite suprisingly easy to find. 

On arrival we met with Erin Buchanan who Sarah had previously been in contact with. Erin was very friendly and welcomed us into Prime's small, very white, clean studio. Whilst their we spoke about our portfolios and their design work and also what we had been up to in New York. Overall I felt Erin was extremely impressed with the work both Sarah and I presented.

I was quite suprised by Erin's comments on my portfolio, some of my designs I didn't feel were personally very strong she actually loved. For example my end sting I produced for the Saatchi Gallery, she actually loved the concept. However, Erin advised me that it's not really clear what the end sting is also some of the storyboard boxes were quite small so that it was hard to identify what would actually be moving and changing throughout each box change. Erin thought that each change of the end sting would not be needed and I should maybe blow up to of the boxes larger and even place one of my designs in situe, for example in  TV screen. This was a thought I hadn't even considered yet will be one I will definitely try.

For the brief 'A brief history of furniture' Erin suggested showing other colour designs as I had only placed one in my portfolio. It was also suggested maybe adding in sketchbook designs to bulk up the work. By showing only one piece/ one final idea. It may come across to people that this particular piece only took a couple of hours to make where it actually took longer and more colours and designs were made before deciding on the final one. I thought this was a very good piece of advice.

Erin really liked my use of typography especially in my Fifteen Types spreads and my editorial for the British Dental Museum. Erin suggested changing the layout of my fifteen types spreads as I had placed both designs on the same page and this looked a bit cluttered, moving them onto 2 seperate pages would create more space and people would be able to spend more time paying attention to the typography.

The typeface I produced for the typography elective named 'A play thing' was percieved quite well, Erin liked the idea behind it and felt it was fun and interesting, to expand this project a bit it was suggested that I try and produce the alphabet in uppercase as well as lower case and maybe to try add colour into them, this would create a whole new type family and would again bulk up my portfolio.

Erin liked that my portfolio was set in a book and she also liked Sarah's box, these were ways of displaying our work in which she had never seen before as students normally take in folders. She also liked how my pictogram on the back cover of my portfolio as she felt this was an interesting way to identify ourselves and set us aside from every other student.

After we had spoke through our portfolios Erin showed us some work which Prime Studios had recently been working on, their ideas were very inspiring and well executed.

   

I came away from the visit feeling very positive about the feedback Erin had given us and I will definitely take her feedback on board when re producing my portfolio.

New york

So on the 9th November till the 13th myself and 50 other students from various pathways and different years visited New York. Firstly it was AMAZING and secondly I think we were extremely lucky to get the chance and go and visit such an exciting city. It was great to be able to visit places only ever seen on Television programmes or in films, and like proper British tourists with maps and cameras myself and my friends managed to see the famous sites such as; The statue of Liberty, Central Park,Times Square, Empire state building, Ground Zero, as well as going visiting design agencies. The Rockerfeller centre at night and iceskating were definite highlights of the trip for me. Although I had an amazing time their were still places I wish i had visited such as The Guggenheim and Brooklyn bridge. I would definately love to go back to New York.

Note to self

I recently came across this book called 'note to self' by Alex Ostrowski, who is an ideas-led graphic designer. The book is based upon Ostrowski's ideas which she designs to help her remember. Ostrowski states 

'' Every now and then I am stuck with a refreshing clarity of head, a lovely moment in which i can see a thought so plainly that it offers me a simpler perspective on things. I try to write them down but usually lose the note- hence this rather large book of tear - out posters! Each one is designed to help me remember something which I usually forget day -to - day.'' 

   

Mike carter

On the 5th of November Mike carter from Orchard creative recruitment came into college to talk to us regarding how to get a job, CV's and how to prepare a portfolio. With an average of 456,000 graduates each year there is a lot of competition when looking for a job in design.

Mike felt that it's a good idea to get a head start on making contacts within the industry and preparing CV's and keeping an updated portfolio would be what gets us ahead of other graduates. This advice was particularly helpful.

Mike gave us constructive advice on jobs and how agencies will look for enthusiasm, commitment and organization over anything. He touched on how to compose a good CV making sure that we communicate what we want to say in 3 seconds stating who we are, what we want and why we want it. He spoke about portfolio's and how we should make them relevant to what job we are going for, whether it be for packaging or advertising.

On the whole Mike's lecture was very insightful and extremely helpful.

'If tips are puddles, principles can be oceans.'

10 Principles that might make your work better of may make it worse was a post I came across whilst browsing through aisleone.net, an ' inspirational resource' which focuses on Graphic design and typography.

Similar to many talks we have recieved from guest lecturers and advice from other students Frank Chimero ( Illustrator, Graphic Designer and writer) documents his own guiding principles, doodling on post it notes. Some of these principles included : Being honest, Don't be scared of your tools and being too comfortable can be dangerous. 

However, my favourite was number 10 ' Execute'. Forever trying to think of that initial good idea rather than just jotting down rough ideas is something that happens to me a LOT. Yet after reading Chimero's statement it actually made me more open minded. 

'10. Execute.

An idea on the page is worth 100x more than an idea in the mind. You can only judge and be judged by work that’s executed. Eventually, we all realize that most of the ideas that look great in our mind look dumb once they’re real. But, at least you now know.'

Funky design fire extinguishers

Fire extinguishers with a difference! Apparently being sold in Paris... lets hope as well as looking good they actually do the job and put out fires! Especially like the ones with the typography on.

Coffee cup drawer

 A nice idea drawing on cups by Boey found on the swiss miss blog. His drawings are really quite something I think amazing and a gift I wish I had... also has his own journal which is quite funny www.lamboey.com

Reply from Alex Lin

I was lucky enough to recieve and email back from Alex Lin quite quickly and he was very kind enough to answer my questions :

Hi Michele,

I'd be delighted to answer your questions.

What made you initially passionate about design?

I took an elective in graphic design during my first year in college at the university of the arts. It was to design a John Coltrane album cover, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to change my major from illustration to graphic design. Creating something through hard work and thought keeps me passionate about design.

What designers influence you in your own work?

-Stephen Burks (http://www.readymadeprojects.com/) for his keen eye for what is modern and fresh

-Made Thought (http://www.madethought.com/) for their incredible attention to detail and exquisite taste

-OMA (http://oma.nl/) for their concept and program based architecture

What design book do you often look at, or is your favourite?

"Ogilvy on Advertising"

How many designers work at your agency?

just me with 1-2 interns or design assistants at times

Also. Living in England it is extremely hard to get a job in the design industry as there are a lot of students graduating from University who all want the same job. Is this the same in America?

YES! Many many talented graduates lacking in experience...

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you,

Michele McKee

I then replied back to Alex to see if it would be possible to meet for a portfolio viewing once we get to New York he replied to say this would be fine and to let him know nearer the time!

'It's up to you, New York, New York'

After finding out that this year all pathways will be heading to New York for their annual design trip, I decided that their was no time like the present to get researching into some New York design agencies.

One agency that appealed to me was Studio Lin which is the graphic design practice of Alex Lin.

I decided to email Studio Lin to ask some questions about the industry and to give me some advice.

Dear Alex,

My name Is Michele McKee. I am currently going into my final year of University studying Graphic Design in my home town of Stockport in England.

I came across your website when I was browsing through Form Fifty Five's blog. My main attraction towards your agency was the ability to be thoughtful towards the design process, I really liked the attention to detail especially in the work for Artecnica (2007 - 2009) print campaign. I am very interested in the typography aspect of design and found that this piece of design was my favourite as the contrasting typefaces played with one colour worked really well.

I know as a design agency you must be extremely busy but I wondered if you could spare five minutes of your time to answer some questions. It would be very helpful and much appreciated.

What made you initially passionate about design?

What designers influence you in your own work?

What design book do you often look at, or is your favourite?

How many designers work at your agency?

Also. Living in England it is extremely hard to get a job in the design industry as there are a lot of students graduating from University who all want the same job. Is this the same in America?

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you,

Michele McKee

Michael Perry

Michael Perry works in Brooklyn NY making books, magazines, illustrations, drawings and even teaches when he gets chance. His first book was published in 2006 titled 'Hand job'. The book is a collection of 50 most talented typographers who draw by hand. I was first introduced to this book when producing work for a typography elective where I, like the designers in Perry's book drew my own typeface.

For me, the real reason why I love this book is because it's nice to see typographers still drawing by hand other than using computer generated graphics. Each piece of work featured in Perry's books shows hand drawn work carefully executed. Composition is carefully enhanced by unplanned 'accidents' of line shape and colour.

  

Fluid Design

I regularly revert to the Form fifty five forum to look at design work and it regularly features some work from really nice design agencies. One in particular I came across was the work of Fluid design. A company established for 14 years with 82 brands and 205 campaigns. The company was launced in 1995 by director James Glover and their work ethos is 'Never not creating'...

Now onto their work..

I really liked the project for the client 'The Hyatt company' the menu they produced is really nice and sleek with nice typography embossed onto the card with only the slightest colour used which works really well. The invitation they also produced works well and is aesthetically pleasing with particular attention being payed to the typography. It's the typography that I am particularly drawn into by.

 

www.fluiddesign.co.uk

A to M Reply

Maybe I should check my emails more regularly as yesterday Mike Fallows from A to M emailed me back. He apologised for not not replying back sooner as he as been super busy and that he is away for the next few weeks so at the moment it is difficult for us to arrange a portfolio visit. However if  I am still interested he could see me at the beginning of June I should just get in touch with him nearer the time.

Email recieved from Mike :

Top Corner

After coming home from my folio visit today I opened up my emails and had already recieved an email from Barry saying that it was nice to meet me today and if I could send a pdf version of my folio over to him so he can show his work colleagues. I thought this was excellent as now I can get more input on my work from other designers.

Email from Barry:

Top Corner - Folio visit

Today I went to Top Corner's studio in Manchester to meet Barry McManus and get some feedback on my portfolio.

My initial reaction to going along to the studio was as to be expected.. quite nervous! It's quite a daunting experience going showing your work to someone who quite frankly has more knowledge than yourself and could slate your work but it was something that had to be done.

I'll be honest, I don't think my portfolio was quite up to scratch. It was quite thin looking and probably didn't have enough work in but all the same I went to see Barry to get some much needed critiscism.

Top Corner is based near Manchester University and after a while of walking around and getting caught up in crowds of other students I eventually found the building. I was quite amazed as the building alone was quite interesting. Set near the train station it was clear that the building may of been part of the rail way at some time as large beams and metal structures helped to hold the building up.

I met Barry upon arriving and he took me into a very large board room filled with lots of work, by now my nerves had gone and I started to feel slightly more relaxed. I began by talking through my portfolio and explaining briefly what my ideas were for each piece. Barry then spoke about what he liked and what could be a developed further. Barry said that he was surprised by the work I had shown him as normally he recieves PDF's from students and is not normally overwhelmed by them. He particularly liked my typeface 'Play thing' I had developed in the typography elective and he especially liked the editorial spreads I produced for  the British Dental Museum.

We spoke for a while about College as Barry said he has heard really good things about the degree. I told him about the Thoughtful six placement and also the 3rd years hiring out a big red bus to drive around town showing their portfolios on. He thought these were very exciting ideas and ones he never recieved as after college he got a job straight away.

Barry gave me some really useful hints and advice such as; maybe making my portfolio slightly bigger - maybe even square, try adding more content to it as at the moment there isn't a lot of work, try adding some of my scamp or sketched idea's into it otherwise other people looking at my portfolio may think it only took me a few hours to produce some of the work when in fact it took weeks. Barry also said that my Saatchi Gallery end-sting didn't really make sense as a storyboard and maybe it would be better to see it actually moving on flash.

We spoke about placements and Barry said that their studio wasn't really big enough to have someone else coming into work as they had no desk space. However, he did say that in a couple of weeks when they recieve a brief that he will send the brief over to me so I can have a look at it and come up with some ideas and for me to then send them over to him. He also said anytime I need some work critiquing he will be more than happy to have a look.

In all I came away from the studio feeling quite suprised that someone liked my work and suddenly found a new confidence that I should be happy with the work I produce but that also maybe I should try slightly harder and push myself a bit more. I want to get better and I will follow his advice and push my portfolio forwards.

One day brief - Species and Spaces

On the first day back of easter we recieved a brief called 'Species and Spaces' that was to be completed that day. We were asked to go to an environment, mine being Starbucks and record through writing the everyday happenings of that environment. I really thought the brief sounded exciting as it challenged our minds and imaginations into doing something we hadn't done before. However, when getting to my destination I found it difficult to know what to write, although it wasn't rocket science! Below is my finished piece of writing: 

It’s almost twelve o’ clock and im sat on a big comfy chair drinking a venti caramel machiatto and watching the world go by. Cinnamon and vanilla, the aromas of coffee is so strong. Table could do with a clean and there is food all over the floor, bits of cracked chocolate. Too much to choose from ‘ Tall, grande or venti’. Does coffee have lots of calories in? People in a hurry,
people going slowly. It’s such a lovely day why would you want to sit inside and drink hot drinks? Music is mellow and not in English, why would it not be in english?Time passes by so slowly. A lady sits quietly doing a crossword in a newspaper,
everything is so peaceful and relaxed. Who thinks of all the different coffees to make? ‘ I took the wrong coffee’.  It’s now 12:15 why has nobody come to clean up the plates from the table? Green and black. Mugs are really big maybe bigger than my head. Why do people come to starbucks on their own to read and drink, why not just do that at home? Coffee grinding mugs banging. Ouch that is hot. Not many people want to get their coffee fix today as it’s not very busy. Everyones enjoying the weather, people passing by in t-shirts and shorts with shopping bags. Starting to feel really sleepy. The door is open and a slight breeze is flowing through. What is the starbucks logo supposed to represent? The woman has no arms? Empty packets of sugar are now outlining the table. Theres a strange couple sat near me playing on their phone, do they not have anything better to do. Fairtrade coffee... surely coffee is just coffee? A little kid is shouting, i don’t think it’s a place you would bring a child too. What would a child drink in a coffee shop? There are lots of lights especially ones that hang quite low, it’s quite a modern coffee shop. Lots of unusual art on the walls, I wonder who designs them. ‘ I really need a napkin my drinks leaked everywhere’ Why do they fill the drinks so high? It’s lunch time now, surely there should be a queue of people by now? The tables have now finally be cleaned, not very well though. A spoon would be handy right now to scoop the cream off the top of the hot chocolate. The newsagents over the road is very busy, what could people possibly be buying? Drinks, ice lollies maybe even cigarettes? The sound of the coffee
machine is much louder than the music now. What you having to drink?’ Whos next please’. How many coffee beans actually make a coffee? You can actually buy coffee beans and mugs to take home. I wonder if Starbucks is as big over here as it is in America? Mugs and a tray clatter to the floor. A big piece of choclate cake has been left half eaten on a plate, how could you waste that? It looks so nice, far too many cakes to choose from. ‘ Flavors my senses sweetens my disposition stirs my
imagination nourishes my dreams’ They sell tea aswell so why call it Starbucks coffee? They have additional seating upstairs, I wonder if it’s busy up their. Coffee of the week, cinnamon coffee. Doesn’t sound nice. There’s a mark on the ceiling bits are hanging off...is the ceiling caving in? What does starbucks actually mean? I wonder if Starbucks is busier than Costa coffee or Nero. Im not much of a coffee lover myself.

Sort Design

'Enhancing businesses through effective design' ... Sort design is a Belfast design and branding studio founded in 2006. I came across them after finding a new blog called Grafikcache.com and their work was featured on that.

I was particularly drawn to the work they had produced for St patricks festival in Dublin. For the last 3 years Sort design have worked with the client to create branding, advertisements and promotional materials. I like this work for its typography and it's strong use in colour. This particular colour theme represents the variety of activities which take place at the festival which I think works nicely.

 

A - side studio

Based in Falmouth A-side studios do Id's, tees, books and magazines. 

Their branding and promotional campaign 'Mark' is the work I recently saw on grafikcache. Mark is a new furniture and lifestyle brand based in Cornwall and the promotional materials they produced for the company reflect values of a contemporary Cornwall.

 

They also do some really nice business cards for numerous companies!

Seven25

Isabelle Swiderski is the creative director of seven 25, founded in 2000 in Vancouver. They are a multidisciplinary creative direction and design agency discovered on the Form fifty five forum. The understand that powerful ideas and images inform or inspire.

I really like the work they produced for the 'LOUD' foundation in which they named the foundation, designed it's identity and all materials for the campaign. 

I really like the logo above as in between the words the exclamation mark can be seen, it's a really interesting piece of design.

  

Mark Studio

After browsing through Form Fifty Five's blog I saw a feature on Mark studio, apparently Mark studio who Dan Ingham works for has recently updated their website therefore I decided to have a further look.

I particularly liked the work they produced for the comedy store. I think it's interesting how they challenged the idea of comedy by turning it around and using images of people being well miserable to promote the store. The photography is very strong and compositionally I think it is aesthetically pleasing.

I also really liked the work they produced for the Manchester Literature festival, a brief that we worked on to some levels in the 1st year. Mark studio state how they solved the brief by saying ' our big idea for the identity came to us while staring vacantly at our book case' I also really like how they show there work in situe so we can see how it works in the envionment.

Telegramme and A to M

After not hearing back from Telegramme or A to M I decided to re - email them... however knowing how busy they must be I know a reply may be doubtful.

Graphical House

Graphical House is an agency based in Glasgow who specialise in print, motion graphics, animation, typography and identities to name but a few. I first came across their website when I saw a piece of their artwork on the Form fifty five blog and decided to look into them as a company a bit more. As an agency they state about the work they produce ' at any given time we will be working on an eclectic mix of projects: we consider this diversity vital to maintaing our fresh and optimistic approach' and they are also inspired by the culture around us.

I really like the layout of their website and how the work shown has been photographed which gives me great considerationg and inspiration when designing my portfolio. As to the work they produce I like it all! I don't have a favourite piece but I like this A5 brochure which details some of their favourite projects over the past year. I think the typography is very strong and accentuates the rest of the book.

  

Seven Zero

I came across the work of Gary Austin on the Form fifty five blog. His website seven zero is a portfolio of all his work, what is interesting is that he is a 3year university student. Therefore, it was interesting to see what sort of competition we are up against even though were a year behind.

Austin's work shown the the Form fifty five blog was a piece of work based on a scrabble championship, it was these designs which attracted me into looking into his website. The idea behind it is clever and well executed as he produced a set of interactive beer mats and posters to promote the World Scrabble Championship. The beer mats are perforated so each printed Scrabble piece can be ripped off individually and played with.

     

His website also features some work he produced for the D&AD competition briefs which I think look really nice. While I myself did not work on this brief when given to us I know some other students did and it's nice to see how a student at a different university tackled this brief.

  

All in all I really liked all the work shown which only leads us to the conclusion that it really is going to be tough when we all graduate to find a job!