06-11-12 - Digital Surfaces

This week year 1 were introduced to part 2 to the Art and Environment brief, and what they will be working towards over the next 6 weeks. This term we are planning to split the weeks into theme based responses  including Surface, Form and Manipulation. As previous posts and personal work suggest I am a huge fan of Luis Dorados work and in particular his "departure" project.

Responding to the theme surfaces in a digital context can be looked at as a challenge, but with Luis's work as a reference along with Jelle Martens grid based imagery, the relation between tactile and digital surfaces can be communicated. This 1st week was to give the team an initial response task to the work of either artist. Some really strong ideas and responses have already started to unfold with an opportunity to develop these into 3D  the next coming week.

A simple play off on multiple imagery being layered, scaled and repeated to suggest various contrasting and complementary surfaces. The work produced this week was fresh and exciting, and witnessed students really becoming absorbed into uncovering artists styles and characteristics.  These are only 1st years in the start of their 2nd term!! exciting things to come. Below are a few outcomes I managed to snap up.

26-10-12 - Creative videos

Today I had staff development and this time the whole day was based around "teaching and learning". Staff development can often be looked at as a chore, it doesn't seem to stimulate any of the staff involved in delivering the sessions, let alone the staff sitting there trying to absorb the information (perhaps Maslows needs are not being addressed). 

Any how, as we kicked off things with a new mission statement speech from the new principle, I found myself sitting in a sea of multi-colour chairs next to super Sonya! (Sonya is course leader for BA Fashion Design). Sonya has recently started her MA at Ravensbourne and was discussing with me her research module and captivating videos and books that she has found herself drawn to in recent weeks. A good bit of share and care between us took place and we started listing down books, videos and other resources that we felt we could benefit from. 

It got me thinking straight away about them little pockets of creativity you find on the web and that they need to be shard and enjoyed by the likes of all, so below are two little bundles of joy I plan to use in upcoming lessons that explore creativity and being creative. Enjoy

10-10-12 - Print My Cat!

I have been waiting to post some new student work up for ages, so much has been going on in the design studio and I just have not had the time. The next 6 weeks especially are going to see the production of some fantastic design work (all which will be posted up). 

The new cohort of 1st years have been with us now for 6 weeks, and in that short amount of time I have witnessed some great creative work taking place. There seems to be a lot more characters this year? Mischievous designers who just absorb themselves into whatever  is thrown at them. The images below were produced by Liam using traditional mono printing methods. Liam has an obsession for cats and wanted to use this as an initial theme to produce responses from. He suddenly found himself surrounded by a wall of cat prints, all of which actually arrived from an accidental experiment. This just goes to show that experimental printmaking can produce results. I look forward to see how Liam develops these prints, but for now I will leave you with these mesmerising images of the repeated cute cat.

30-09-12 - DROPR

Dropr is a new arts web-based community for showcasing portfolio work and getting to know other artists and designers. I received an email from Dropr after they had come across my work on my Carbon Made portfolio page. It is really easy to set up, and looks professional once you have filled up your space with work, information and everything else to help promote yourself. 

There seems to be a whole host of free web-based portfolio sites out there, and it is all about finding the right one. I haven't got around to posting any work up on my homepage yet, but I was very impressed when the site produced a QR scan already connected to my page (on trend). If you are considering using a web-based platform for free promotional use then I would recommend you consider checking out Dropr, it seems to be in the small stages at the moment but every day there are new posts and new members being added! all that are very keen to share and discuss work.

23-09-12 - New Book "How to be an explorer of the world"

Keri Smith who has published books such as Mess, wreck this journal and others is a complete enthusiast on getting experimental, creative and making everyone realize they have the potential to be an artist. "How to be an explorer of the world" is my latest crave, just planning numerous activity's that involves randomness, fun and potential results. Her books are extremely cost effective especially if you visit Amazon and other book based websites. Her books are easy to naviagte through and understand at a range of levels, and what is best is that they lead you to then take ownership and think about extending tasks and projects based Keri's inntial ideas. Well worth purchasing for them random days out, keeping your mind active and helping when having a mental block.

22-09-12 - TENT London 2012

It is that time of year again, September always welcomes London's design festival, hosting a range of events, talks and exhibitions for the public to access. A personal favourite is Tent London, something that I was only introduced to a couple of years ago. The truly exciting event invades London's Truman Brewery for a 3 day event showcasing 100's of new innovative artists and designers. This year Tent seem to be be busier than ever and wow was there some absolute delights to go and view. As in previous years I have always gone up to Tent London as part of a trip that we run we our year 1 students to give them a taste of the design world. This year however I managed to find a day to visit Ten London without students and really spend some time networking and discussing ideas with many of the exhibitors, out of this I have been giving an official invite to Private architecture opening event taking place later in the month, a potential guest speaker and met a fantastic lady who may design and build me an entire portfolio case out of paper.

Something different that I noticed this year was that graduates had jumped onto Tent London's band waggon, graduates from Bath, Brighton and others were exhibiting a range of works that really showcased innovative thinking and future success. It was great to see such a collective of new graduates, fresh designers who had recently set up companies and those who exhibit at Tent each and every year.

I could go on and on about Tent for ages, but If you have the slightest interest in the world of design, this is the place to be. Put London Design Festival in your calenders!. As I found myself talking to most of the exhibitors, I completely forgot to document much of what was going on however below are some images of the event I did manage to take and a list of designers who I felt were truly inspirational during my visit.

Suzanne Goodwin - Interiors/ Prints

Jay Watson - Furniture and lighting design

Dennis Parren - CMYK Light

Rachel Powell - Homeware and interiors

Esther Coombs - Illustration and ceramics

Co Works Creative - Architecture, Products and innovative design

D Haus - Architecture and product

Surface Philia - Illustration and surface design

21-09-12 - "Framed"

Last year was the 1st year of "Framed", an induction project and exhibition designed by myself and Lee Hey. The project this year has been pushed dramatically into the area of limitations and student ownership (Something that we strive for with year 2 students). 

The sole purpose and original intent of 'Framed' was a way of introducing the new academic year to students with a quick fix project that required time management, dedication and of course creativity. "Framed" is based on the visual identity of framing something, it involves non-direct imagery being formed and is aimed to open up students ideas and conceptual thoughts. The exhibition and work was inspired by Artist Esther Stocker whose work plays on spatial awareness, optical illusions and gives the users an almost uncomfortable experience when witnessing her work. The project took space over 2 weeks equating to 5 days in the studio with myself and the team. 

I am very proud of what the students have been able to achieve, and believe that this has truly opened up their eyes as to what can be achieved in quick succession. The exhibition has received great feed back from the managerial team, colleagues and the students themselves were impressed with their work. This year has the potential to be the strongest year I have taught to date, and I feel that "Framed" has kicked things off in the right direction. Below gives you a feel of the exhibition.

19-09-12 - Six Degrees

From previous posts you may all be familiar with my colleague and friend Jen Hale who for the last two years has been working on her MA in Fine Art at the University of East London. Jen has previously mentioned to me that when starting her degree she had no direct focus  on a particular topic or theme and was completely open to experimentation and natural development (something we all try to get our students to do). Jens work started to wander in the direction of airports, flight paths, studies of direction, airport expansion and how airports have developed through time. This developed through visual communication and the essence of graphic design is potentially a wide exciting topic to play on. I was looking forward to visiting Jen Hales end of year show, something that I was very excited about considering I am also interested in starting an MA in the near future.

I had only an incline of what to expect, although I had been in constant discussion with Jen about her doings, findings and progress and with baring witness the the mass materials being wheeled in and around our building as Jen worked every possible hour in an attempt to dominate her MA show.

I think it would be fair to say Jen did, upon entering the MA show I was warned my Jen that her work was spread around and visible from every angle, space and room (much in the way a plane can be seen for miles). The work showcased ranged from hand cut paper stencils, concrete casts, video installations and performance based pieces, 6ft square paintings on walls, screen printed foil drapes and much much more.

Below is more or less a walk through the exhibition, I thoroughly look forward to having Jen back now (Especially as she will be part of my team this year) and witnessing how her MA has inspired her enthusiasm, freshness and approach to projects. Please do check out Jen Hales Blog as some of the work is for sale should you be interested.

17-09-12 - Framed Exhibition opening soon . . .

21-08-12 - Meet Your Print Maker Blog

Whilst planning and developing a scheme of work for this years UAL certificate in Print making,  I came across a fantastic blog featuring a directory of print makers and print shops. Meet Your Print maker has labelled each print process as a directory to make your searches easier and the information direct. A great resource for students who wish to uncover artist, designers and companies that deal with a particular printing processes. Each post showcases visuals and has direct links straight to the artists website. Well worth checking out, there is so much print based information on this blog.