To be Continued...

Click / lick / ick / ck / k?

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Northern Line

On my travels around LDN I managed to snap this advertisement on the tube whilst on the Northern Line. I can't remember which stop it was, but I thought it'd be nice to document one of the varying compositions regarding my previous post whilst I actually had a camera to hand!



I actually love the vintage vibe so much and the fact that it's a recycling campaign that doesn't use green. Hallelujah.

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Recyclage De Luxe

Conducting some background research for this post has probably been one of the most frustrating things that I have done all summer; besides working in a crap job every week and living in an area where 95% of its population are on the verge of popping their clogs... It could always be worse though right?

Anyway, with the luxury of having my car back for the past couple of months I have been enjoying the pleasant views of some billboards on every street corner, most of which try to sell me an ideal lifestyle via one product or another... 95% of which making me wish that it was me on the verge of popping my clogs! However, this ad in particular (well, one very similar) caught my eye and actually almost caused me to crash into the back of another driver just outside my local Asda...


After a quick browse on the internet, it became apparent that it was designed by a collective agency called Mother (or Mother Creative), which in turn branches out worldwide into Mother London or Mother New York for example. Either way, I cannot for the life of me find a website of theirs that hosts a viewable portfolio of work. So I am kind of in a rut as the trail goes cold rather quickly. (Message me if you know of it!)

Non-the-less, the approach to this composition that I have managed to post on here really appeals to me for its vintage 60's vibe and collage style techniques... two key elements of design that I am just a sucker for; and most people know it!

On the whole, I feel the campaign itself comes across very fresh and revitalizing in the current climate of design that I see around the streets and hopefully I can unearth some of the other compositions that I have on my travels recently Ideally I might just have my camera to hand the next time I know I will be going past them ey?

Safe. x

Johnny Cupcakes

Attended the Johnny Cupcakes lecture yesterday held at the college and I'm not going to lie, I thought it might have been a little dull before I went in. On the contrary however, it was really insightful as well as inspiring mainly due to the fact that the brand has been developed literally out the back of a van... no big investors, no lottery winnings. Just blood, sweat and tears from your average everyday guy. Good on him.

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Sete Dias // Cristiana Couceiro

I think this is a woman after my own heart. Well, clearly not... but she could have it if she wanted to given her design work. Collage combined alongside digital references and a slight nod to the Russian constructivists that I love so much; you can't get much better than this. Love the colours, love the composition - grid structures combining type and image. I think I'll have to stop there, I'm getting a bit hot under the collar. Here's some imagery.





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Jacob Arden McClure

I won't lie, I found this guy's work whilst browsing through some third year research blogs. Absolutely love it. I think it's an established fact by now that I have a major soft spot for collage and this is by no means an exception.




Really like how the majority of the compositions seem to have been put together digitally; an aspect I really need to start getting involved with... I can't keep cutting up my treasured 1940's newspapers and books everyday now can I really!?

I'm also really into the way that digital graphics themselves have been bought into use; again something else that I MUST get going with.

Lovely stuff

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OUGD104 Visual Language Evaluation

What practical skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

Throughout the course of this module I feel that many valuable lessons and techniques have been learnt in terms of carrying out a design process both practically and theoretically given the decisions applied that help to inform an outcome. In specific reference to the 'What is a line?' brief, the most beneficial skill learnt in regards to taking an idea forward was the ability to edit and manipulate both audio and video footage using the software package Adobe Premiere Pro. Although I had already acquired the basic skills from my days in A-levels, I feel that since exploring what could be accomplished I have rapidly expanded and pushed my abilities further to produce a more professional looking selection of work. What's more, through being given a considerable amount of time in which to complete the brief I believe that I have been able to focus directly on improving my time management skills and thus keep a stronger sense of rhythm in relation to creative output and workload. This however could still be improved as at times I slipped out of routine, but with time management on the whole... there will forever be room to improve.

To look back further into module, the in class workshops such as Visual Literacy have most certainly assisted me in learning the benefits of simple crafting techniques and the advantages of working from cut pieces of paper. In addition, the ability to be able to workout how to draw in terms of perspective has also been very important, as well as the theories behind drawing icons and schematics.

What approaches to/methods of problem solving have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

As previously mentioned, I have definitely developed a stronger sense of awareness and time management through being given a significant about of breathing space in which to complete the brief. To be more specific, as a result of keeping an on-going sketchbook that I have contributed to almost everyday I have learnt that a considerable amount of work and work related research can be built up even if you only re-visit it for smaller periods of time, but at a more frequent level. In my personal opinion, this has informed my design process mostly in the sense that I was able to make more relevant and selected decisions on how to take my project forward knowing that I had a varied and able bodied amount of research to support and back up my proposals. Furthermore, as with the previous module I have found the past four to five months really beneficial in correspondence to keeping a blog and gaining feedback from ever evolving updates.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

From my personal point of view, I am particularly fond of the resolutions created where individual clips of sound were amalgamated to produce a representative sound-scape of the journeys that I have been on. Furthermore, in documenting peoples interactive paths of conversation I feel that I have not only developed a particularly interesting and spontaneous approach to data collection, but a method that also be both serious and humorous at the same time. Had I have been more specific regarding my focus, I almost certain that this would have been the avenue to explore further in order to create a more comprehensive and engaging final resolution.

What weakness can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

Although this wasn't directly specified within the brief, I would have definitely liked to have allocated more time to producing and developing a body of final resolutions as opposed to a sustained progression on my overall workload and research. With that said, I am otherwise fairly happy in terms of conceptual development and progress; I would have just liked to have produced a lot, lot more and given myself the time to exploit its potentials for an interesting resolution.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

1. Limit the range of ideas that I try to develop and instead develop a more focussed selection more comprehensively... hopefully an informed final resolution will be achievable this way!

2. Build upon my skills in Premiere Pro as I have come to realise just how much I like video and audio editing; especially when united for a single resolution.

3. Again; yes Fred, I would like to have managed my time slightly better! HOWEVER, I do feel that I have made considerable progress with this aspect since the previous module.

4. I certainly want to draw more; I should have done more within the 'What is a line?' brief, but it ended up going down a different route. I love drawing and can't let my enthusiasm with this go to waste!

5. Be sure to document the progressive stages of ideas; i.e storyboards and so on. I think a lot of what goes on in my head is lost to a desire to progress rapidly with a resolution.

Are there any things we could have done differently that would have benefited your progress?

Not really; I feel this module is really well structured and allows for a level of freedom that helps you to develop as an individual. In all honesty, I'm sure there's something negative to say somewhere but I haven't thought of it as yet... I do like a good moan.

How would you grade yourself on the following areas?

Attendance - 5

Punctuality - 3 or 4

Motivation - 3 or 4

Commitment - 3 or 4

Quantity of work produced - 4

Quality of work produced - 4

Contribution to the group - 5

Ketamine

As the deadline for my 'What is line?' brief sharply approaches, one aspect of the exploration that is proving to be of some interest relates to the body of found materials collected from the journeys that I have been making on a daily basis. To be more specific, it is quite surprising to discover just how many personal details are carelessly thrown away for wonderful people like myself to find.. not to forget that this includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, mobile telephone numbers and most alarmingly; credit card details. You would have thought that the kinds of stories you hear on the news would have had some impact upon people... oh well?

As a result, a possible idea that I had in mind for a final resolution centered around the notion of contacting all of the numbers that I have acquired so far and to obtain their views on the question set by the brief; subsequently converting the results into what would most likely be a typographic piece.

I'll be honest with you now, the idea did not work in the slightest...



As you can see I opted to send a text message in order to outline who I was, what my reasons for communicating them were and to ask for their response. It would also more importantly keep the information received by each number consistent and allow me to not have to speak anyone that might end up giving me an earful of abuse. I can't really imagine the kind of replies I would have gotten should I have rang each person up directly...

Either way only one person replied for which their response was "Line of ket!" It was someone occupying a room at my halls; Liberty Park. Most probably a met student using vital oxygen that I may need at some point in the future? Never mind, it was worth a shot!

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Re: Bill Fontana

I think I may have just stumbled across some absolute pieces of gold. These videos encapsulate everything I want to explore within my own video and audio editing journey; even to the point of the location setting... train stations.

I really like the ways in which they have been edited as despite not being of a linear fashion, they appear to be very effective in portraying a pleasant representation of the environment that the sounds were recorded in.

I do find the imagery boring however, but nevermind...

Time to get experimenting!

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Sentence Drawing Responses

Completed these drawings in response to the design I found in Dataflow earlier in the week. Pretty fun, but also the most time consuming thing I have ever done in my life. I adhered to the rules set similarly to the original. Each word was allocated 8mm and the line turned right ninety degrees each time I had to map a new sentence. The bodies of text used were the conversations taken from my sketchbook as shown previously.





My only regret is that I could have gotten more done!

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VJ (continued)

In addition to the video by Coldcut posted earlier last month, I have also managed to stumble upon a few more VJ'ing beauties whilst watching the VJ book's accompanying disc that has a whole host of contributions from artists such as D-fuse, Scanner, The Light Surgeons and also Coldcut themselves - (credit again to Ollie for lending me it).

Despite that out of the 3 relevant videos on the disc not being hosted ANYWHERE on the internet, I have in fact managed to pursue my search and unearth this alternate video by HFR-LAB:



Although it doesn't make use of sounds from the environment as much as I would like to myself, I feel the creative use of video depicts the sense of a journey alone and is a technique I'd like to explore further considering my video editing skills are relatively poor at this moment in time.

Had I have been able to find 'Memories [edit]' by D-fuse, Scanner and Shelley Fox as well as 'Reel 9 [edit]' by The Light Surgeons then it would have easier to display how audio and conversation have been merged and incorporated into the mixes to create an engaging piece both by sound and image...something I aim to achieve given the audio acquired from travels to and from home

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Note: The original HFR-LAB video I intended to show can now be found here.

Sentence Drawing

Just flicking through Dataflow today and came across this gem of a design, highly relevant in relation to my conversation and discussion documentation quest.


The basic idea with this was to map out the entire contents of a book though proportionally allowing a certain measurement for every word within a sentence. The whole sentence could then be mapped with its given measurement on the paper. After each sentence was complete, the line turned right 90 degrees and the next sentence was penned etc etc. Each colour represents a category that the sentence relates to and wah lah... The result is what you see here.

Best get experimenting to be honest.

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Si Scott // Paper Scissor Stone

To put this in it's most simplest of terms; my day today was brilliant. The sun was shining, everyone was in an awesome mood and the general vibe around the studio was nothing short of optimistic. Good times.

To top it off though, I decided to take a trip down to Si Scott's new shop in the evening - Paper Scissor Stone. It's a pretty damn sweet outlet and the clothes stocked there are rather nice; even if they don't really lend themselves to a student's typical budget. But alas, the main purpose of the outing wasn't to buy clothes... it was to attend the opening/launch party that included free drinks, Si's artwork auctioning and a one off viewing of some original ink sketches prior to their development into final resolutions. I have to say it was nice to see the honesty of the work before their alterations; especially as most of it was presented on ripped out, dog-eared layout paper or scraps of cartridge paper taken from sketchbooks. It made life feel a little more achievable and gave me a new sense of motivation and inspiration.

Anyway, I tell a lie. The real icing on the cake was this...



A personal piece of illustration completed in a live drawing demonstration by the man himself. Now there's something that you don't see everyday. Stoked. In fact, that's probably the biggest understatement of the year; and what's more it's going to be completed in a couple of weeks when he comes into college for a seminar.

Out.

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Re: Dan Eatock

Since stumbling across this guy a few weeks back, I have found his work to be quite inspirational and exciting due to it's quirky and often quite amusing nature. It's probably fair to say that I should have posted a little bit about him a lot earlier than I have; but after all, I am a student and the guidebook says I can always use that excuse within any given situation.

One of the most relevant pieces of work in terms of 'What is a line?' in my opinion is Black > Blank, where as outlined on his website:

'A laser printer containing a new toner cartridge constantly printed a black A4 document, sent from the computer, until the toner ran empty and a pure white sheet emerged un-printed. As the pages exited the printer they were stacked face up. The completed stack contains the entire contents of the toner cartridge, the bottom page is black, the top page is white, between is the transition, demise, depletion, expiration of black to blank, full to empty.


Weird, but it works I guess?

Another piece that links into my personal focus quite well is the radio advert completed for popular T.V show Big Brother...

Listen here.

I've drafted up an idea to mimic this as an experiment using the phrase 'What is a line?' The result should be a series of twenty four ways to say the same thing. I'll keep you posted when I get it complete.

Lastly, I also quite enjoyed the idea behind his piece '£1 Recording'

£1 Recording

1. Using a ten pence piece dial your answer machine from a public telephone
2. Let the answer machine record the sounds from the public telephone for the duration of the ten pence piece
3. Repeat (step one and two) ten times from ten different locations

The total duration of the piece will depend on the locations and time of each call

Total time = £1

All really inventive ways to document sounds through a connected series of events in my opinion. Could really work in relation to journeys on public transport and the conversation observations that have been developing throughout my sketchbook work...

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Sketchbook Update

I thought it'd be relevant to post a few of my favourite images in relation to the sketchbook work that I have been keeping over the duration of this brief. A large amount of my initial responses were mostly collage based as you might have guessed and the main aim was to just develop a broad sense of initial ideas and to see where it might take me.


As an ever developing and progressing body of work however, many of my most recent contributions have begun to construct a way in which I am able to document discussion and conversation between multiple groups of people in any given area. Obviously given the fact that I am not the quickest writer in the world and definitely not educated in shorthand, the sentences that I have managed to record have often produce a very disjointed and sometimes quite funny body of text.





As a result of this, I'd be very interested in perhaps continuing with this direction of recording method and to see what sorts of dialogue can be noted down in longer or even shorter durations of time. They could make for some very engaging final resolutions that's for sure...

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Wakefield Westgate

Another audio/video mix here, this time completed using sounds captured from my train journeys home, that being Leeds to Norwich. I chose to focus the response more towards the style of 'Timber' by Coldcut and the Sacla pesto television advert. Obviously this is not a patch on the standards that they have produced, but in the most achievable sense I have tried to convey a stronger feeling of rhythm and tempo. All linear editing and primarily speech orientated. You'll see why I have titled it 'Wakefield Westgate' when you watch.



.ta x

Sacla Pesto

Saw this on the box the other day and thought it'd tie in quite nicely for my research into 'What is a line?' Sequential sounds edited using video and audio combined; not too distant to what I am trying to achieve within this module.



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What is a line? - An Intentional Statement

To give some clarification on the 'What is a line' front, I have finally narrowed down my direction of focus towards two main areas; even though a third might act as an on going sub-exploration if you will? In opting for the stimulus dictating the notion of "a connected series of events, actions or developments" the most promising direction for me so far is increasingly appearing to be that of sound-scaping (possibly VJ'ing to some); as a method of documenting audio and video simultaneously. As already researched, many adverts on television tend to use this, not to mention the many artists within the music industry that I have yet to document on this blog. In reference to this specific idea, I intend to research into minimalist composers as this form of music lends itself well to the direction in which I intend to take this project; the notion being that music can be created in linear sequences where no two notes/drums are hit at the same time.

In addition to this, I am very interested in documenting the journeys that I will be embarking upon over the duration of the coming two months. I'm keen to pursue this through the forms photography as well as illustration, but more significantly through found materials that will allow me to produce collaged work within sketchbooks and notebooks. What's more, video recording may also be of some relevance should I cross reference my ideas back to the processes mentioned above.

Finally and perhaps less importantly, I am quite intruiged to document the deconstruction of various items, objects and events as a way of flipping the idea of progression on it's head. Although this is interesting on a more abstract level, I am not ceretain as to how much I may persue this path given the time available.

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Timber by Coldcut

Cheers to Ollie for introducing me to this... Another video which pretty much hits the nail on the head with what I want to achieve throughout this unit; more so than anything else I have come across so far to be honest.



I have some sounds collected from my journeys to/from home. That's about six hours worth of train traveling each time I visit. Stayed tune for an update soon.

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Video Experiment 01 part two

The alternate edit of my original video experiment as promised. Think it works a lot better than the first draft; the audio aspect is much stronger and suitable to what I want to achieve. Still room for improvement however, but I'm not going to polish a turd... time to move onto bigger and better ideas.



.cya x