23-05-12 - Google Education

Over the past term (10 weeks) as part of the 1st years Unit 12: Computers in Art project, I have been working on building up their graphic design skill set on a branding and marketing project. The brief was simple yet vague, to design a collection of promotional and marketing material for Google education.

Each student was asked initially to respond to the work of Jesse Hora and to produce an illustration that would then go onto be manipulated and transformed into a whole branding package. Looking back at the project some parts took way longer than expected and I personally wish that I had run more workshops for those who needed support and help in concepts and the ability to take one design into an array of outcomes. The feedback I have received however form other lecturers and students has been amazing and some of the work is of an outstanding standard. the project draws to a close in two weeks and I am sure to have many distinction based projects. Below are some of my favourite outcomes that have been completed.

20-05-12 - Departed soles Exhibition

This is by far my favourite time as a design lecturer where final major projects are underway, the weather is good and we as a design team start to plan and prepare our end of year show. Last year I made sure that I made an impact on the college shows with it being my first student show. This year despite the odds against us with space and time, is looking to be another real success, and I am beyond excited about the ideas that are being executed.

This year the show has been named and branded "Departed Soles" a twist on a conversation me, captain Nicky and course leader Lee were having about students walking over us, the building and leaving their mark as they depart. I don't at this moment in time want to give much more away, all I would like to say is on the 13.06.12 the open night of the show featuring an eclectic mix of Fine Art, Graphic Design and Design Crafts based work will be on at South Essex college. (Full details are on the posters for the show featured below)

18-05-12 - Abstraction of the open mind

over the recent weeks I have been experimenting and playing around with the composition of a triangle. This all started out from initially responding to Damien Hirsts "Spot Paintings" that now seem to have wormed their way into my head. I was questioning the form and aesthetic of a triangle and its relationship to surrounding space. whilst producing these compositions I played on colour the idea of responding to one particular element "The Green Triangle". these random experiments ask a series of questions relating to both form, function, observation and white space. I am definitely going to take these into a more mixed media purpose but for now here are some initial test pieces.

 

 

15-05-12 - Life of a mundane object

This was a quick fix task in which we asked our year 1 learners to identify an everyday mundane object and record it in several different ways. They had to produce a timeless piece that incorporated several different choices of media as well as respond to scenarios when drawing their object. In the dark, reflection, upside down and folded were just some of the scenarios we asked our learners to take into account. below are all the responses to this activity that have been placed together. see if you can make out the not so mundane object.

08-05-12 - Mural Design

The 1st years are currently working on their final project of their 1st year which comprises of a part live project consisting of a mural design. The project has chopped and changed rapidly over the last couple of weeks due to commitments over a site where the mural can be located, however we have now had confirmation that Barking Station will be the host for this rich eclectic mural consisting of bold colour and reflected the areas local Flora Forna. The design of the mural is stencil based and is an initial reaction to the work of Hannah Werning. Today we set the 1st years a group based task where they used existing imagery to create an array of silhouetted forms and to start getting their heads around form, colour and layout. Please keep an eye out for more posts on this topic.