Beginning with Offset and the two designers that stood out for me as inspirational - Ian Anderson and Ben Bos. Great to begin the year with such a great set of talks as it got me really motivated and I learnt a lot.
Ian Anderson - Designers Republic
Radical album artwork designs.
Really outspoken
Though design should be heavy hitting.
Example of a very rude but appropriate album cover design. That is even more relevant now.
Complete contrast to the Dutch Ben Bos - Total Design - the orginators of Dutch modernism. Worked alongside Wim Crouwel.
Slowest talking human being
Died earlier this year
Though simple and universal ideas displayed in modernism created one of the most iconic brands in history.
Still used today.
Started with only a few shops now is the leading company in its field.
MagCulture meets Unit Editions - interesting talk but the networking was more valuable.
Met Jeremy Leslie
Met Tony Brook and spoke about Ben Bos being slow.
Told him I was getting a Unit Edition book for christmas.
Tony Book as father Christmas with my Lance Wyman book.
Lead onto interviewing Jeremy
Really extensive interview.
Learnt so much from it.
Asked about indie magazine becoming more mainstream but he explained it much more complicated, some people don't wanna do it to make money ' They want to be successful on their own terms and part of that success is just making something beautiful.
My most accomplished project to date. All came together really well in the end - the printing , embossing the binding everything came together into a quality piece of work
Really enjoyed the collaborative projects, often I feel as if I need to control a project but I have enjoyed being open to other ideas and let the project take shape on its own. Doing some small project management stuff. Washing brushes cleaning up, the little things that keep things ticking over.
Doing work for the creative industries, allows a freedom that sometimes is lost in other projects. Love seeing how the art influences the design and vice versa. There seems to be less budgets in these projects but I have learnt that this doesn't mean less important or less engaging.
Limitations in the design process help shape the piece.
My voice as a designer... still not found it yet but this Rodchenko poster seems to show an answer ... Books! or editorial design of some kind, I feel my skills are more suited to printed tangible work.
The work of Unit Editions has become more and more influential as the year has gone on. Internship there? I had never thought about it before but I would love to design magazines - both my parents do this so why not?
Maybe work at the Magculture shop is possible?
I really like the honesty of Apartamento magazine I feel I would be able to contribute to their work.
Any Questions?
I kick started my second year by going to OFFSET Sheffield. This was a wonderful experience yet tiring at times, the two designers that really stood out were Ian Anderson from the Designers Republic and Ben Bos from the illustrious Dutch studio - Total Design.
Ian was really outspoken about what he thought design should be and should do, all his work seemed to have a political agenda and wasn't shy or quite, but really tried to shout what he wanted to say. He spoke about when designing if designers follow trends that the work ages really quickly.
Ben Bos apart from being the slowest talking human on the planet was really interesting, the modernist themes displayed within his practice and how they applied to branding, he explained that when he began working for Randstad they only had a few stores but through the power of design became one of the largest company in its field.
This insight into Ben Bos' slow talking came into use when me and Ed went to the Impact 1 and 2 talk at the MagCulture shop in London. A talk held by Adrian Shaughnessy and Jeremy Leslie. We spoke to the head of Spin studio Tony Brook about the slow talking Ben Bos and I asked him about a book by UnitEditions that I was hoping to get from father christmas. Going to this talk proved really useful as I was able to interview Jeremy Leslie for my creative report.
As you can see the interview was very extensive but has been a real eye opener in my practice. Editorial design is an area of graphics that I feel my skills are much more akin to. There is a magic to print that sometimes I find hard to see replicated in digital media.
Talking to Jeremy I asked about how the mainstream and independent magazines and if he knows anyone that is becoming the mainstream. But he explained that its not all about that, some people have an ambition to make money and be successful in that way, but some people their success comes from making something beautiful and thats a different success.
Coming back to editorial design the project that I would say is my most successful to date is the Orkney Alphabet publication. I really pushed myself in this and wanted to create something to be really proud of.
Moving forward I would love to get the chance to do work for the creative industries like - exhibition branding, leaflet/poster flier design. These are things that I have always loved to collect and enjoy. Seeing how the art in someways has influenced the design. There is more of a freedom in this kind of work that really interests me. These fields often have limited budgets but I have learnt that a smaller budget doesn't mean its less important or should be less expressive.
A project that I have been really enjoying recently is the collaborative work in responsive. This has given me a chance to do something different like painting and animation. But the thing that I have really enjoyed that has surprised me is the project management side. Like 'commissioning' work of an illustrator, asking an animator what they think is best and making sure things are running smooth. For example we had recently been painting frames and I was the one mixing the paint, making sure everyone had clean brushes this kind of thing. I think it is hard to let project just happen and see what comes out at the end but we have been really good at that in the collaborative work.
Moving forward... I still don't feel I have found my 'voice' as a designer but I do feel like I am getting there. I am desperate to do an internship as I want to know what it really takes to be a designer. I have been reading 'studio culture' about the inner workings of design studios and a smaller sized studio's really attract me as I like to talk to people and have convocations, The work of Unit editions has become a real inspiration in my practice and if ever I could do an internship there that would be amazing. Or even with Jeremy at Magculture. Magazine design is something that I have never thought of as something that I would like to do. Both my mum and dad have worked in magazines but it never really crossed my mind. I really am a fan of Apartamento magazine and their honesty and the fact they don't try to hard. I would love to work there if possible but who knows.
There is about a week before my PPP presentation, so a great time to begin thinking about the content. Within the briefing all the things that needed to be included were highlighted.
What the presentation needs to cover -
My engagement with the 'Real World'
- Offset - Ben Bos - Ian anderson - Trendy work ages really fast.
- Magculture - Impact 1.0 / 2.0
- Design Museum - Beazley Designs of the Year.
- Interview with Jeremy Leslie
- p98a - Edenspikermann
- YCN & D&AD briefs
Overview of my practice
- Editorial design becoming more of a focus. - Orkney Publication
- Exhibition Branding - Museo Map
- Royal Ballet - Animation/ posters/ leaflets
- Design for the creative industry - Less budget doesn't mean less important.
- Website but Instagram is best.
- Personal Poster work.
What makes me unique? -
Overview of my learning
- Visual thinker
- Drawing gives a more humanistic style that is different
- Skills - Project Mangement - through collaboration
- Quoting Jeremy Leslie - Its not all about mainstream and indie - some people enjoy the craft and what their doing more than the money it creates.
- Micheal C place - Passion is everything. He prefers passion over talent.
Matt Willey - Experimentation and big block type
COP - Architecture embedded within my practice.
Overview of the future.
Plans for summer - working with my dad and reading for COP
- More focused on editorial design and work for the creative industries.
- Unit editions / Spin,
- Work at the Magculture shop?
Berlin!
Hamburg Bahnhof - An amazing contemporary gallery space with some beautiful artworks. I particularly enjoyed seeing some amazing Roy Lichtenstein paintings up really close. His craftsmanship is admirable to say the least. Graphically there is a lot to take from his work, his bright choice of colour and build up of lines makes for some true individual and graphic artworks.
One of the more contemporary pieces was all about contracts and to interact with the artwork we could sign a contract- I signed the ' I will always do what I say I am going to do' contract. This seemed an appropriate and reasonable idea, I think I have already broken the contract but it is a nice thought. Once the exhibition is over a list of signers of the contract will be compiled, this could be an opportunity to contact some other like minded creatives as we share a common interest.
p98a
As part of the trip we were able to go to Erik Spiekermanns studio and gallery space to see the letterpress equipment and learn about how his studio runs. Overall this was an amazing experience and really opened my eyes to the world of letterpress.
We were given a short introduction into letterpress and how it is used and about its uses today. It was amazing to see the wooden type in person and get a sense of where type has come from. I feel much more akin to this process and it was amazing to not only see it in action but have a go at printing myself! It was so great being able to ask a question and see the answers in real life. For example I asked about any glyphs that they had in the studio and was shown a how draw of interesting stuff the same with interesting ligatures.
It was interesting to see the different typefaces they had their and as Erik Spiekermann is a self proclaimed typomaniac the type he had collected. The studio had a shelf of Helvetica which was surprising as Erik famously doesn't like the typeface. There were many classical German typefaces which was great to see as it gave me a flavour of the difference between english and German type. As well as the posters they had created in the studio all of which were very politically driven and beautifully printed.
We were able to ink up a press and create our own print this was another amazingly fun and eye opening experience. Letterpress is a process I have used very little but I would love to create some wood block type of my own.
The lady showing us around was so helpful and she said that if ever we are in Berlin again we are welcome to visit so this could be a really valuable contact in the future.
Bauhaus Archive was a small but interesting gallery, I was amazing to see how experimental some of the early work was there. The very surreal photography was something I had never really seen of the Bauhaus work before it reminded me of some of the work that students do in foundation courses- really experimental and fun! These posters were mad by a designer and teacher I really admire called Sacha Lobe who is director of communications (I think) as the Bauhaus archive. The choice of colour and really experimental typography is so eye catching and is something really different. Overall short and sweet the Archive was really inspiring and was amazing to see some work that I have always admired.
Overall the Berlin trip was an amazing experience and I have gotten a flavour of how a city can shape a graphic language. Berlin seems to really have its own aesthetics and a really rich graphic culture. I would love to do an internship at any studio in Berlin so more research could be done in the future into the opportunities there.
Otherwise Forget It. This Short Essay by Bob Gill has been a very inspirational read, his work as already highlighted is direct, interesting and looks at design in a different way to some. Within this essay there are many poignant points that have opened my eyes to some aspects of designs. With the rise in technology making large budget adverts look really impacting using special effects, how can designers compete with this ... Bob Gill suggests that reality is the answer and highlight what is already out there. He also picks up on the ideas of trends and that designers that design to trends already know what the solution is and that it is never what is needed only what the designer wants. This I feel is true but something that almost every designer is guilty of it is impossible to design without some kind of trend conscious as everything that we do would look dated. These are just a few great points that I have picked up on but the whole essay is really inspirational and useful.
We were given a talk by designer Michael C Place the founder and chief designer of Studio Build now based in Sheffield.
In the talk he spoke about his influences speaking about how he takes a lot from art history and their ability to think doing new things. As well as it being important to take inspiration from all walks of life, and that young designers should be a slave to graphic design and above all passion comes first.
He explained he would much rather see a passion for graphics over talent as passion is what drives you. He also explained that graphic design can really annoy him but this is okay as well, this is refreshing to hear as sometimes I feel it is a bit of love hate relationship at times.
Another point he picked up on was that rules can be really important in graphic as they act as guidelines that can be followed or moved away from.
As his design practice was really expressive and all of the work he did was really pushed as far as possible. I asked a question - Do you ever find it hard to justify really expressive graphic design to clients?
His answer - no, and explained it is often a case of wooing the client and really making them know what this kind of design is best. As well as the fact they have often contacted him because of this kind of design and it would be silly to move away from it. He said that all design should aim to push boundaries.
Ian Anderson - Designers Republic 
Complete contrast to the Dutch Ben Bos - Total Design - the orginators of Dutch modernism. Worked alongside Wim Crouwel. 
