Merry Christmas!

For christmas I was fortunate to get a new camera - Nikon Coolpix L120, its ace! So much better than my old compact camera. I took it with me to christmas dinner as I have an Uncle who is very good with cameras and has more knowledge about them than me. He showed me how good photographs you can achieve by using the Macro button and look at the result of one of the photographs I took. I think its the best photograph I've ever taken! - Very happy and amazed at the outcome!

Merry Christmas!

HSBC like Horizons

Whilst doing a bit of christmas shopping and passing by HSBC I noticed on a stand a magazine titled Horizons so picked it up to have a look at what they have done with their front cover.

Presenting the final 2 DPS and front cover!

In preparation for the hand in for Type Fundamentals I had to present the x2 DPS and the front cover of Horizon on sheets of A2 card. To start I had to measure out accurately where the paper would be placed on the card. This was a case of trial and error to ensure each side was accurate, with the top and bottom measuring 6.2 cm and the sides for DPS being around 8.4 cm and for the front cover it being 19.1 cm. A 1mm gap in between the 2 A4 sheets that make the DPS was also required.  The A2 card was of a neutral light grey tone and once the sheets had been placed on by using Spray Mount, which I found was relatively quick and easy to use although I thought it would be tricky, I then placed them inside a A2 plastic sleeve. 

Final Horizon Front Cover

From my first attempt at the front cover of the zine I decided to change the positioning of the text and what was written and chose to add names of articles that are to be included inside. I have also changed the zine issue to Winter 2011 as I feel that is has a more professional approach.

The Good and the Bad in newspapers

I decided to have a look at a few newspapers to see whats good and bad about them. I firstly had a look at the free newspaper, Metro. I instantly noticed that on their front page they had used hyphenation in their main article. This is something that we have been told not to use in either one of our DPS. This also occured in my local newspaper, Shropshire Star which costs a small 42p. I guess that if you want to read something that has had quite a considerably time taken on it and care put into the design it is best to buy either The Guardian, The Times or The Daily Mail.

Featured page within my flip file on Looking at the Good and the Bad.
Highlighted is where you'll find hyphenation occurs, you'll notice it happens
more in the Metro article then the small price 42p article. 

Second attempt at Hello and Welcome

After the group session on Tuesday I headed over to scan in another thumbnail that was preferred by lecturers. This thumbnail design had more free space on the page that adds effect and it was also said that the way in which the proposed image had been placed would look interesting. 

New thumbnail design

I found that once I had uploaded the new design into inDesign that the space was easier to work with then the previous. By this I mean I was able to move text around and be able to group them in an effective way. I decided to keep the ampersand I had previously used in my first attempt at the DPS but take on board the advice given and just stick to one typeface for Hello/Welcome. I chose the typeface, Euphemia UCAS. I think that this typeface looks stylish and welcoming to the reader, its also clear.

My new Hello and Welcome

All the main text apart from the sub-headings is presented with the typeface Helvetica Neue. This typeface I found was useful for creating texture and tone with my work as it provides the user with not use Regular and Bold styles of the typeface but also allows you to show text in Light form. I found when I used this first it looked clear and followed nicely with the follow on text being in Regular. However, another advice that I took on from Tuesday group critical session was to maybe change the sub-heading typeface from Helvetica Neue to a serif typeface. I have now changed this and have used the typeface Arno Pro, as it allows me to use Light Display and is different to the follow on text. 

The quotation that was included in the supplied text I have singled out and have increased the spaces in between the lines. I have also used the same format with the Name and Location of who said the quote as the quote featured in Cinematic Theatre.

Overall, I have find that this layout is the one I think works best and flows nicely on the page. The only thing I would change if my skills in PhotoShop were more advanced is to make the photograph more appealing and stand out more. I have tried to make it stand out a little more by adding a shadow behind the first image. 

First Hello and Welcome layout try-out

I started using inDesign after I had come up with different design thumbnails for the new DPS Hello and Welcome. I did the same process that I did for Cinematic Theatre by scanning in the chosen thumbnail and then placing it into inDesign.


The new brief stated that which must use on each a4 page, 7 columns and 3 mm gutters. The Margins that I used were Top & Bottom at 15 mm and Inside & Outside at 10 mm. I found this this set up worked well when my scanned thumbnail was placed correctly. I find that this technique of scanning in the proposed design is a very useful and effective way in order to follow your design process correctly. 


For my ampersand I found the typeface called Zapfino which had a very classy and stylish approach to it. This is the effect I was hoping to fulfill in my work. For the Hello and Welcome I used two different typefaces; for the H and W I continued to use Zapfino and for the rest of the text I used Lucida Calligraphy. However, during a group session tutorial earlier this week, as well as having a lecturer from the University we were also able to gain feedback from a visiting professor from a University in Cyprus. I was told not to mix two typefaces like I had together so therefore this was one thing I was to change in the studio.

First attempt at Hello and WelcomE

Finished Cinematic Theatre!

This is what my double paged spread of Cinematic Theatre looks like. There are just a few things that have been updated since this scan was produced and thats both "Spice up your university life" and "What makes the cinematic experience for you?" are now in bold. This is so more tone is included in the second page of this spread. 

Page 1

Page 2

Horizon Front Cover

For the second part of the Type Fundamental brief was to design another DPS as well as a front cover. My front cover is linked with my 250 word spread on Cinematic Theatre - Relax Enjoy Watch. The main photograph features Conor from Bridgnorth Majestic Cinema posed next to the old 1930's projector that was used to project films at the cinema till early 2011. The front cover also features a strip of photographs that I have taken myself around Bridgnorth and Wolverhampton. A brief description on what's featured in the magazine is detailed to the bottom right. The title Horizon has been designed so that it represents the sun in midday and then when the sun is setting at night. 

Horizon

Gathered Materials

I have gathered together some information about cinemas and theatres including Majestic Bridgnorth and Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre. This was to gain an insight into whats happening in this industry during this time of year, what types of film are released etc. 

Cover featured inside Majestic Bridgnorth magazine

Thatcher the Cow!

Below is my final design for my silk screen print that I will be undertaking next week. The image featured above "Thatcher the Milk Snatcher" is a combination of two images, a cow and Thatchers head. After finishing this I turned it into greyscale then a halftone bitmap image ready to be printed onto acetate.

9th December 2011 Update

Today was the final day of printing and I found that precision definitely wasn't on my side and that I have learnt from this experience to always make sure from the first print to line up the paper correctly. The only two things on my image that printed correctly were the Sell by Date and the image of Thatchers face attached to the cow.

Type Fundamental Brief #2 ~ Thumbnail Designs

The second part to the Type Fundamental brief is to design another DPS using a 7 column gird and 3mm gutters as well as a front cover titled Horizon. Images can be used on each of the designs. I am currently thinking of using the 1930's projection photograph on the front cover. Still yet to decide on the type face I am going to use. I will use the website called http://www.fontsquirrel.com/ to help generate some type title ideas. Below are some of the starting thumbnails designs I have generated for the new brief.




Featured in these thumbnails all have a quotation due to the text that has been
given with this brief having a quote from Jeff Leak. Subheadings have been outlined
by the bolder lines.

This scan of the second page of thumbnails shows that the bottom two

have been created by using the gird. The one design to the bottom right

of the scren shows how differently text can look on a page depending on the

size of the page.

Thatcher the Milk Snatcher!

Featured below is the original Thatcher the Milk Snatcher image with the proposed 2nd colour, the light blue background. I missed this out when creating it the first time but found it was an easy task to correct and edit. I am in the process of adding more images to the carton to make it more interesting to look at rather than it being all typography.

Cinematic Theatre Update!!

During this weeks tutorial sessions I have managed to insert an image of Conor who was the employee from the Majestic Cinema in Bridgnorth.

Conor Mitchell, Majestic Cinema Bridgnorth

The photograph of Conor above was edited slightly in PhotoShop to enable the reader to see his face more due  the background being more darker. I edited the levels of the photograph then inversed in order to darker the background after making Conor lighter. I then was able to change the colour to Black & White and then save the image as a TIFF file which allows the quality to be better when printing. Unfortunately, blogger had an error when trying to upload the photo. This photograph is featured to the right of the Cinematic Theatre title and underneath the introduction.

My next step was to buy some popcorn and take a photo of it which could then be edited to create another image effect for the zine. With a saving of 42p! Butterkist Cinema Sweet Popcorn was lovely to tuck in to after taking the photo. I took the photograph of the spread out popcorn on a clean white page so that when I come to quick select the popcorn pieces due to it being taken on a white background it will be easier and less time consuming when placing each piece onto my second page of the DPS.

Butterkist Cinema Sweet Popcorn! Placed specifically for second page
of Cinematic Theatre.

Transforming Thatcher the Milk Snatcher from scan to screen!

Today I have managed to complete transforming my hand drawn design of Thatcher the Milk Snatcher from my scan I did yesterday into PhotoShop CS3 today. I placed the image into a new document where I was able to crop the main part of the scan. I then draw black solid lines to define the shape of the carton. I admit I am not the most fantastic person when it comes to PhotoShop. My experience with the program is brief as I have only ever used before when selecting one area of photograph to be in colour which isn't the most challenging of tasks. Thats why I've recently taken out from the library, Adobe Photoshop CS3 A-Z, Tools and features illustrated ready reference to help me if I get stuck as well as Adobe Photoshop CS3, Classroom in a book. Hopefully, both these books should be pretty useful. I then continued to write the text, NO, MILK, THATCHER the MILK SNATCHER and SELL BY DATE: 1971. Along side writing the text I also created the  shapes for the coloured backgrounds of certain areas. This is what the final outcome came to look like. 

"Thatcher the Milk Snatcher"

1971- Printing

On Monday Visual Communications gave 3 new breifs out will last 6 weeks each. My first brief is titled 1971. It is all about the events that happened during 1971 and my task is to create a print with an image that represents an event that happened in that year. The mindmap below shows some of the events that happend during that year. I have decided to focus my image on Margaret Thatcher and her decision to ban free school milk for children aged over 7.

 I then hand-drew a breif image of a milk carton that I would use to print. It will constantly of only 3 colours, Black being the keyline and I have decided to use Dark and Light Blue.

Taking my thumbnails to screen!

Firstly, I scanned in one of my thumbnail pages that I had the thumbnail design I want to use InDesign. I then transferred this scan onto InDesign after setting aside 2 A4 pages side by side to create my DPS. I was then able to succussfully place the image and start to insert text over the top of the scan. I found this technique very useful and found that quite actually liked doing this transformation process from paper to screen.






As you can see I've managed to place the text over the scan in the correct place
and its starting to look quite effective. "Relax Enjoy Watch" is in italics which gives
it a different style to the rest of the title. Cinematic is in a more of a modern typeface
due to the change in cinemas over the years and Theatre is in a Sans Serif typeface
which represent the dated periods of theatre and its architecture.




I then started to insert my 250 words. A range of questions and quotations from an
interview I held with an employee from my local cinema, Bridgnorth Majestic.


After speaking to one of the tutors in Tuesdays session I was able to gain some great
advice on how to use the space on the page more in order to create even more of an
effect. I may even consider using a photograph of the employee at the cinema with
some popcorn in his hands and smiling to create more of a friendly feel to the text.



Above is the scan of the newly edited first DPS page after chatting to one of my tutors
on Tuesday. As you can see an introductory paragraph is shown aswell as both titles
have been moved in order to create a more dramatic and some ways stylish effect.

The only thing that has been changed on this thumbnail scan is that the employees
name is in bold to stand out and is also smaller than the main quote. This allows the
quote to stand out. The text that was featured in the left colum has been moved to
make the introductory paragraph.


What my 250 words is going to be....
Including (Cinematic Theatre Relax Enjoy Watch)

Cinematic Theatres are present throughout many towns and cities today. They offer a range of film and theatrical genres to the general public at sometimes a small but majority of the time a high cost. Due to the recent economic downfall in the United Kingdom, many people have had to hold back on socialising and enjoying in buying more than just the basics. Have you held back on socialising recently? The internet now allows people to view anything, including privacy films. This is not only illegal but you’re not experiencing the cinematic atmosphere.

There are many theatres throughout Wolverhampton and the Black Country including Grand Theatre, Arena Theatre and Birmingham’s Hippodrome. Most offering musicals, pantomimes, dance, opera and not forgetting a good laugh (comedy). Would you go to the theatre during your first couple of weeks as fresher’s? Doubtful. Why not go and experience shouting one of the world’s most famous pantomimes feedback lines, “He’s behind you!” Guaranteed to leave you feeling calm and happy the theatre also holds host to fantastic architecture and lighting. Why not save over the year and visit a theatre near you once every academic year? Spice your university life up in a more cultured way and experience the best of Britain.

“I enjoy selling the tickets or confectionary to the customers as it means I get to interact with them and therefore this improves my communication skills.”

Conor Mitchell, Bridgnorth Majestic Cinema
What makes the cinematic experience for you?

How my Escher Eye-dea started!

I have previously posted about the finla steps I took to create my idea of M C Escher's Eye. However, the pictures you see below are of the starting process which took place before the final steps on Photoshop on Friday 4th. The idea came to me when I saw the skull in the pupil and thought about what I see on a daily basis. All these areas I see are the space around me, whether its my hometown of Bridgnorth where I not only live in but work part-time at a local Bar & Grill, The Bassa Villa, but also Wolverhampton, especially the university as this is the only reason why I come to "wolves". Both these areas create who I am today and I see these places through my eyes so thought about changing the skull that Escher created and inputting the areas I see.



This photo scan shows the first inital design ideas (Eye-dea). The description below the quick sketch describes what each place in the eye represents.

 

This next scan shows the quick test of the Escher Eye-dea I carried out. This simply involved printing out a couple of Escher eyes aswell as quickly on PhotoShop removing the pupil so I could place the photos inside. I did this step by using the magic wand quick selection tool and then using the eraser to get rid of the pupil. You will also see photosthat I might consider if I decide to go ahead with this design.

The next step I did on PhotoShop CS3 was posted earlier this week. Check it out :)

1960 Jean-Luc Godard ~ Breathless

I'll cut to the chase, I didn't find the film very interesting. I appreciate the fact it was made on a $50,000 bugdet and the Parisan street scenes were filmed by a man in a wheelchair who was pushed around by Godard. It was a subtitled film which I didn't find a problem, I have only ever watched one other subtitled film, Amelie. Due to the time period that the film was produced in they didn't have the facilities available that directors have today. I can't say I've watched many 1960's films due to the fact I prefer films in colour as I feel I am getting the full experience of film watching. However,  I like the fact that due to the film being produced in Black & White it gives a different light on a city thats usually seen in colour. The different tones shown throughout the film also reflect the different angles at which the camera was positioned at.

The film is set in Paris and all aspects of a normal day to day life are present, getting up, going to work etc. Michael Poiccard murdered a motorcyclist and is now on the run from the police. He comes back in contact with a friend he had previously met a few weeks earlier, Patricia Franchini. She is a young, elegant and respective young woman. Poiccard face is all in the local papers so he having to be very sly in his moves. His aim is to collect a debt from an acquaintance, Franchini, and then for him and her to getaway to Italy in hope of not being caught for his prevous action. Patricia learns about Michaels previous criminal history from the police and makes a decision that will change both their lives.

I didn't appreciate the way that Michael (main character) treated Patricia. Patricia wasn't treated with respect by Michael as he constantly thought about sex and would ask her why she wasn't giving it to him and she would just simply slap him around the face and stand up for herself and her rights as a woman. I find this very disrespective and now that in todays culture and society woman are treated with equal rights to men and aren't spoken to in such disrepect as Michael did to Patricia.

Michael & Patricia ~ Breathless

My Space!

As mentioned in my previous post about what I got up to during reading week I decided to look at the difference in appearance of a town and a city - Bridgnorth and Wolverhampton. Whilst doing artist research an idea popped into my head when looking at M C Escher's, pencil sketch of an eye. I had a thought of removing the pupil and inserting photos that I had taken during that week to show that that is the space I see on a daily basis. So, on Friday 4th November I went into uni and sat from 11 till 4 doing Photoshop edits and this is what I produced. 

 Escher Eye-dea(Idea)Experiment!

Firstly, I took an easy photo of my eyes, individually and as a pair
on the iPhoto capture application on the Mac.

The second stage I undertook was to remove my pupil by using
the Magic wand tool and then erasing the selected area. I then opened,
copied and pasted the image you inside of the eye as the background to this
idea. The image seen is of the exit to the Subway leading into the city centre,
the cycling lines show perspective as if its like following a path in life.

The third stage I carried out was that of copying the picture of
the University building I see when studying in the base room
MK314. This stage involved me using the technique of Layer
Masking. I was taught this technique during my last project - Who
Am I? I find to start it was quite hard to get to grasp with but this time
I felt more confident as I completed the steps all by myself unaided.
Layer masking is when you can reveal and hide different parts of a
picture on top of another.

The final stage was followed in the same steps as mentioned
previously above. This time I used an image I had taken on
the Monday 31st when I went around Bridgnorth and took
photographs of the picturesque scenery and surroundings that
I am fortunate to live in such a safe place. The church featured
within the pupil is known as St. Mary's Magdalene church. I was
christened here as young child, attended weddings and unfortunately
funerals. This was the final piece to the Escher Eye-dea experiment.
  

What have I been doing during Reading Week??

Throughout my reading week I have managed to do quite a fair amount of work in order to get ahead in projects. I found that completing my A2 poster project on the Friday 28th October very relieving as it meant that that project was completely finished and that I could continue and focus mainly now on my Understanding Imagery project - My Space.


My Space is about an area that defines me without a picture of myself in it. To me this is a very interesting project as I find that travelling is one of my favorite things to do (unless ££ is short!!). Due to also being a keen photographer when travelling I have many photos of scenery and landscapes from cities such as Edinburgh and London. These to places I decided to do a comparison of as I find that I love the hustle and bustle of London but then love the calm and polite atmosphere in Edinburgh. Two cities yet very different in atmosphere. I also decided to do a comparison with my hometown of Bridgnorth and my working environment Wolverhampton. I decided to compare these two areas as Bridgnorth is a town divided by the River Severn and is very picturesque. On the other hand, Wolverhampton is the opposite. Yes hills and countryside may be seen from the 4th floor of the MK building in the distant but in the city centre its very much dull in some aspects.


My Type Fundamental work is progressing as I managed to scan and start working on my DPS on Friday 3rd November using InDesign. I was impressed with how its started to turn out and whilst creating the text on top of the scan I realised that I like this style of working. This is because to me it feels like my creation from pencil to fine liner is now becoming real on the Mac, and that I feel is something to be proud of. 

Visiting Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Today after handing in my Trading Card for Visual Communications I went and visited the Art Gallery to complete the task set on Wednesday session on Intro to Art & Design in Contextual Studies. I looked at a range of work from the Georgian Period, BP Portrait Award Exhibition and the Ed Ruscha Exhibition. I find that particularly liked the work by Ruscha, especially his piece "I plead insanity because I'm just crazy about that little girl" Pastel on paper. This is because it's a striking piece and the text colour and background go well together in order to create a well constructed piece.

His print " Rooftop" Series #1 I found was a very professional silver/gelatin print which grabbed my attention as the text on the roof is the first thing I saw then I realised that there was a featured car in the background. The greyscale tone of this image gives a great effect and makes the print more eye-catching.

Continue on Creating thumbnails

After speaking to the tutor on Tuesday I then went and designed 6 more thumbnails using the tips and advice given to me. I also created a proposed image that would be featured on the DPS using a film strip from Google images and my own photographs which I took on my visit around Wolverhampton in September.

More thumbnails created after gaining tips and advice.

Wolverhampton - Where are we? Creating thumbnails

Creating thumbnails for the Type Fundamental blog has been an on going development process that I started when I joined the course. I have gained feedback such as to work smaller which has worked in my favor as I am now finding designing the thumbnails an easier task. I was firstly working on Cartridge paper but I am now working on Layout paper suggested by tutors. I find the paper more easier when placing down marks and for creating detail. 

   After speaking to one of the tutors on a session on Tuesday, I realised that I haven't been designing them the way that I would want them to be produced. The photographs below show the development from this stage:

                As you can see my designs show that I am wanting the text to go straight across the whole of the page rather than columns.

Testing out different typefaces for my main heading

Wolverhampton - Where are we?

Living just 20 minutes by car, 40 minutes by bus away from Wolverhampton getting to University is easy. I recently transferred courses onto Graphic Communication from Events & Venue Management as I found during the first 2 weeks of that course that it just wasn't for me and I wasn't enjoying my time there, so I decided to change this immediately. Now, successfully being accepted after having an interview and going through the transfer process I am now beginning to understand and complete the work set by each modules.

The Type Fundamental project, Where we are? I find is an interesting task as you get to gain a deeper concept into typefaces. Instead of just selecting a font you are learn different categories that typefaces come in to and also the measurements that type is measured in (points). So far, I have learnt that I need to work smaller in order to put more detail onto my drafts and also to sharpen my pencil to allow me to do this. Coming into the group 3 weeks late I feel that I have managed to grasp the work pretty quickly and start to develop ideas by attending group work sessions and seeing how other members in the group started to develop theirs. 

Wolverhampton - Where are we?

These are just a small few of the photographs
taken when I went around Wolverhampton
taking photos for a featured page in my project
flip file. All 3 photographs below haven't been
edited but are distinct with their shape and
colours.

Capturing Floral Beauty & Pencil Study