5 Minute Page - An Introduction

So one thing that I've never even actually addressed. Why the hell did I call this thing Design Blueprint? Two reasons. Firstly; pretty much every witty, remotely decent url I had was taken. Lastly I thought the word Blueprint is a pretty relevant one given the circumstances; because for the next three years, me and millions of other young people around the world are going to start putting together the foundations for the rest of our lives. This is the tool I'm going to use to make sure I don't cock it up. It's a way to document every piece of work or vague idea I muster up on a permanent platform, and a way to put my voice onto the internet.

When I was creating my Building Blocks post (a lift of people who have influenced me in one way or another) I didn't really want to make a list fixated purely on graphic designers; I felt like it would have been sort of (excuse me for sounding a bit poncy) but insincere. I wanted this to be a personal thing, where I can talk about my creative influences honestly, which is why I've discussed photographers, film directors, pop stars, art directors etc. I was being deadly serious when I said America's Next Top Models opening credits where the reason I became interested in design. And once your hooked, you REALLY are hooked. We're surrounded by design every - single - day, it just felt so natural to look at a billboard or a magazine cover and start criticising the layout or font; I discovered a bunch of leaflets my grandparents saved from a trip to New York; advertising a bunch of bars and jazz clubs and instead of asking them anything related to trip I started bashing the horrendously tacky use of Century Gothic, and  to make Century Gothic look ugly is quite a hard thing to do.

It's been such a weird experience. And quite frankly I'm not sure if I'm any good at it in the grand stratosphere of the Blogging Universe, but I've really enjoyed thinking of new ways to get my work out onto the internet, to promote myself as an artist, document experiences and to have a place where I can express new found ideas. It will most definitely be something I'll continue to develop, as well as something I can use for a point of reference for projects in the future. It's like you've bought a piece of the internet real state, and you're free to furnish it how you wish.

My name is Samuel. I'm 19, Welsh, I'm studying Graphic Design at Kingston University and I want to become an art director. Thank you for reading.

Photographic Interpretations - Hans Bellmer

Pop Culture as inspiration...

I've said it before, but I don't think I quite hammered home the point enough, pop culture has always and will continue to be the main driving force behind the work I create. Until now I never really read books on graphic design, or studied it's history; I just knew I wanted to be someone responsible for designing a really cool poster, or a magazine cover. And the only inspiration I had at the time were television adverts, billboards, comics, books, magazines etc... all things linking back to pop culture. Design shapes and refines pop culture, and is instrumental in determining how we digest information. There is enormous power in that. But it's not just existing design that offers inspiration, it can be found in the most unexpected places.

Lana Del Rey

Music inspires everyone. Any profession demands at least a little creativity, and there's nothing better to get the creative juices flowing than music. As someone who works with music on full blast constantly, the stuff I listen to really sets the tone for the whole project; I pick the music I listen to carefully, I'll pair different briefs with music that fits they're proposed stylistic tone. For example, if I'm designing a leaflet for funeral home, bring on Lana Del Rey's Born to Die. If I'm creating posters for a candy shop, then it's sugary sweet top 40 pop. Interpreting music onto paper is a wonderful thing and a good way to get ideas out. It's 2am in the morning, your half asleep and you desperately need to wrap up a sketch book for a deadline the next day, getting a few water colours out and slabbing them onto paper to the beat of a good Enya track could deliver some pretty interesting outcomes.

Mulholland Drive

Watching movies is another useful technique. When your hit a creative block half way through a project, settling down to watch a movie might not sound like the most productive of activities; but it really helps. Simply because there's so much to absorb from them, no matter how bad the movie is. Think about it, the imagery, the colours, the way scenes are shot, music etc... even from looking at the technical perspective there's still a whole bunch of opportunity to think creatively and develop new or even existing ideas. In terms of concept a movies's plot, characters, central idea or even just a scene can always spark up some imagination. Especially if your involved emotionally, if a movie can make a feel something, or can provoke a reaction; that movie has just done a very important thing; it's not exactly what defines a "good" movie but it's powerful quality for any film (bad or good) to posses. The way we can get invested in good movies, shows me just how powerful they can be.

Cyberpunk 2077

Video Games might sound obscure but don't judge; they can do anything a movie can do, with one very big bonus. YOU are part of it. When you play a game, there's a real sense of immersion, you could be fighting of zombies in an abandoned noodle factory one minute (Resident Evil), to boarding and alien aircraft (Mass Effect) or driving around New York picking up prostitutes and beating up old ladies. These games offer avatars to live out fantasies, a concept that will continue development. When your given something like a sandbox game (a game where you can nagivate an open world) the player is being given a blank canvas, they are given the tools to do anything they want to do inside that game. That's a pretty powerful thing.

Perfect Sense

This is a very dull piece of writing.

Mary went to the shop to buy some eggs. She liked eggs. So she made a trip down to Tesco’s Express to pick some up. She only had a few bob on her, but she discovered a deal on Flora butter. Oh how she loved Flora. In sheer delight, she discovered she had enough for not just the eggs. But the flora too! It was a good day for Mary.

This is a very dull piece of writing.

Mary went to the shop to buy some eggs. She liked eggs. So she made a trip down to Tesco’s Express to pick some up. She only had a few bob on her, but she discovered a deal on Flora butter. Oh how she loved Flora. In sheer delight, she discovered she had enough for not just the eggs. But the flora too! It was a good day for Mary.

WRITING OF PIECE DULL VERY A IS THIS

Mary for day good a was it !too flora the but. Eggs the just not for enough had she discovered she, delight sheer in. Flora loved she how oh. Butter flora on deal a discovered she but, her on bob few a has only she. Up some pick to Express Tesco’s to down trip a made she so. Eggs liked she. Eggs some buy to shop the to went mary

Hans Bellmer - Graphic Interpretations

FIGURINE

That damn comfort zone...

This is something I'm going to try and avoid like the plague come September. If it weren't for Foundation I'd have a very different idea of what it means to be a student of Graphic Design. Making the leap from A-Level to Diploma in Art & Design was a surprisingly big one. And it wasn't until then I realised how prescriptive A-Level actually was, and how little freedom we had in terms of creative development.

It's funny in a way, even though your essentially told to do whatever you want with A-Level Graphics, there's still a very specific curriculum you have to stick to. And you never really taught anything new; what you do is up to you; so despite a pretty enjoyable two years at A-Level, I didn't bother to learn anything new; simply because I didn't have to. I pigeon holed myself into a very clinical method of working, and by the time the years had finished; I hadn't really felt like I'd learned anything. I certainly improved on the areas of work I focused on (digital software, image manipulation, some light photography and a little graphic drawing) but I totally restricted myself to do anything else. I had found my niche and was sticking to it. By the second year, I'd improved vastly, and my first A-Level project gave me the best results I'd ever had - this gave me a false sense of security, and I practically copy and pasted the work over from that project to my final exam piece and my grades slipped. It's not because the work was any worse; it was because I was too afraid to try anything different.

By the time I'd started my Foundation course, I came to the realisation that relying on the same formula for A-Level just wasn't going to cut; so i tried new things. I tried stitch making, print screening, painting, drawing, film photography, collage etc... Trying to get my hands as dirty as possible, until I found techniques that stuck. My attitude to carrying out projects has changed vastly within the last year.  And I hope to investigate further techniques whilst I study at Kingston. 

Shoving yourself into a neat little box as a designer is about the worst thing you can do. I'm just glad I discovered this before any of the real work begins.

Texture + Colour Experimentation

About the Helvetica Movie... ( + a quick review )

Ah. Helvetica... Where to begin? Okay for those of you that don't know Helvetica: The movie revolves around one thing, Helvetica: the font. A movie about typography? Hmmm... regardless of it's 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, not gonna lie, watching 90 minute documentary about one type face didn't sound like the best way to spend a Thursday afternoon. But boy I'm glad I did.

There's so much to love here, and to really appreciate. Never before did I think a font could carry so much socio-political baggage, or be accused of endorsing capitalism - turns out there is, and it's Helvetica.

There's definitely a good balance here, there's no bias, no agenda; it's just a documentary about an incredibly common type face. It's funny, we see Helvetica EVERYWHERE, but this begs the question why? Why is font that was born in the 1950's so commonly used today? Personally, I'm of the assumption that's it's just a beautiful font. Timeless even. I don't think there's all that much more to say about it. Clearly, that opinion is by no means universal. World renowned designers like Stefan Sagmeister and Erik Spiekermann are clearly not fans, with the (fair) argument that's it's just... dull. Overused, contrived and boring. The idea that Helvetica somehow restricts creativity and innovation. And it's not like they haven't got a point, Helvetica is over used, evident by the modernist movement. But personally, no matter how many logo's, flyers, posters or jumbo jets I see it plastered on. I still can't somehow not like it? And I guess that's the appeal. To the average person it's a font that's impossible to find fault in. It's anonymous and simple - yet holds enormous power, (and in my opinion is quite lovely). Mid way through, that socio-political baggage I mentioned earlier rears it's ugly head. It comes from the fact that Helvetica is used by several hundred major world wide brands. Leading the font to be associated with Capitalist ideals, in turn created a stigma with designers.

There's a lot to appreciate, and there's something here anyone (designer or not) can find interesting. It's an insightful window into the design industry, the importance of a corporations aesthetic and a neat history lesson thrown in for good measure. Discovering the cultural, and historical importance of nothing more than a type face was extremely enlightening as a hopeful practicer of design. There's an interesting point made within the first few minutes of the documentary: that the designer controls quite literally anything and everything the public see's and absorbs, we add voice to context. Something that made me realise this what I want to so with my life.

9/10

TYPOLOGY PROJECT (Snippet)

Sketch Books + Concept Art (Fine Art + Book Art Projects)

Foundation 2013 Part 2 (Life Drawing)