Punk and such

Wednesdays sessions I always seem to find enlightening on some level. Although I know a significant amount of people feel as if the fashion history lectures/nazi germany sessions were irrelevant, I think that isn't the case and design as a whole should be embraced as a essential factor in life.

The punk lecture in particular reminded me of this belief I have about design, as Paul Barlow explained, the Punk movement in Britain was much different to that in the U.S as we are a visual country. This linked into Elizabeth's talk about fashion history, as she identified that the higher-achy set the rules of fashion, which colours could be worn by different people etc. and how when these fashions trickled down through the classes until they reached the lower classes.

The reason this is important in terms of British Punk is that the style we have is very bright and in your face, almost a rebellion against smart/sleek colour coordinated suits and outfits of the middle/upper classes.

Where as in contrast, American Punk was very slobbish, dirty/old clothes which were in fact old and ripped, instead of being deliberately torn.

So the U.S had a Punk culture based around a way of life, a rebellious maybe even criminal mind set, and the British embraced an idea of expression through visual mediums. Getting in your face with imagery, fashion, almost a contrived sub culture.

So maybe I've got slightly carried away and basically explained what I took from Wednesday's session, but I think my point is we are very much a visual country, very much about image, very much about the way we are perceived, and we should embrace that.

Take in everything around us, be aware if not try to understand other areas of design which can only be beneficial to our own creative experience. It can't hurt, can it?

A Day In The Life Of DVD cover

The DVD cover to accompany the video. Similar to the promotional poster, just with the certificate added and the DVD video symbol. The header is just a bit of fun, doesn't specify which actor was the Academy Award nominee, but in the film you can't see who the person is, so I don't think that matters so much!

A Day In The Life Of Video

This is the video that we presented today in Mike's session. Although deviating quite a lot from our initial ideas, the video/film was generally well received, and I guess I felt it was passable but nothing special. With more time to add our own backing track to the film instead of ripping a song by Keane, the video could have been cut and edited differently in order to create a totally different feel than the lonely/blank/open to interpretation outcome we have here.

A Day in the Life of Me Poster

Poster design to accompany the short film we produced, 'A day in the life of me'. The background image is an actual screen shot from the film.

Flash game designs coming along

2 extra stages for my flash bullying game. Due to space issues I've decided that the multiple choice function will now operate within a 'choice box' which is the light green window with white text within it. Selections can also be made by clicking the individual characters, e.g click the teacher character to 'Tell the teacher' and click the bully to 'tell the boy not to be mean'. The background images for each scenario are photoshopped photographed, adding colour and contrast to brighten/jazz up the appearance of the game to make it appealing to kids.

Propaganda Idea Progression

Just a few ideas I'm playing around with for these propaganda images. Kind of a back to traditional methods of communication. Surely old school theatre is better than youtube. People being entertained by people, by our very nature of being human, we should be around each other in the flesh. Not behind a camera lens.

You are not your profile picture.

"Shakespeare wasn't on facebook, What a loser"

This image represents the current day attitude towards people who actively participate in social networking sites. Although it could be argued Shakespeare in his time was in fact an ambassador for social change, acting/plays being some sort of fictional entertainment.

Social networking sites I feel do not encourage anything apart from fueling an obsession with digital representations of ones self. We are not digital, flesh and bones people.

Bullying flash game

For Emotional and Immersive Media I'm making a flash game aimed at children. The game will help young children identify the signs of bullying, and learn what steps to take in order to combat it.

A day in the life of - Limbs!

After spitballing ideas with Oli, a day in the life of your limbs seems to be what we are rolling with. An interesting perspective I think, and we've come up with point of view POV shot from the eyes, ear, mouth, teeth, nose, elbows, hands, buttocks, knee, feet and ankle.

As it is 'a day in the life of' we are going to set a story line to go with the shots, a normal day, attending university, walking through town etc. But with varied shot lengths, and angles we are hoping to create a sense of drama in a situation you would normally expect to be mundane & boring.

If there is enough time we are hoping to add music, possibly some sound effects and basic visual transitions.

Currently working on a shot list so...there that is!

Oh! And the image here has been made using some program called POV (not by me), a word of warning, make sure you have your google filter turned on if you are going to search POV!!

Propaganda Idea

Fuck facebook indeed. In a world that now pretty much couldn't survive without the internet/mobile phones/tv. I've decided to tackle the issue that technology is desensitizing people.

People text instead of talking

MSN instead of talking

Facebook instead of printing photographs

On-line dating - seriously?

E-mail instead of hand written letters

E-cards instead of birthday cards

These things are important. Life is out there, not here on this screen. Take the screen away, you've got millions of lonely people, sat still in a room, tapping pieces of plastic.

Website Wireframe

My first idea for my portfolio website. I'm working mainly in my sketchbook now, so this was my first digital working on my idea. I've noted from my sketch to digital form : Intended symbols are not implemented, instead replaced with text : Barcode should be replaced with artists signature to emphasize multi-discipline areas I've experienced : Large px stroke could frame the page better, although seems almost poster like suggesting a strong graphic design influence.

Alphabet Soup

A brief to find letters in other forms, not in found in printed type. I could find a £ or a $ however so they aren't included!

Illustrator

First time using illustrator, after achieving many results which seemed very 'samey' and what you would expect, I approached with a bit of artistic flair and the end result was this. I think a bit more brush type experiments would result in a much more abstract look, which I would prefer!