John Wooden

I recently saw a great TED talk from John Wooden, a very successful basketball coach i'd actually never heard of before. This is probably the last thing you'd expect to hear from someone in sport, but the more you think about it the more sense it makes. Anyway check it out, you really dont have to be interested in basketball to watch it.

Crossroads

A lot has happened over the last 4 months and it feels like a year ago I left uni. I'm now finding myself at another set of crossroads and I feel its perhaps time for a bit of self reflection. The three and a bit months I spent on an internship at fst were fantastic, I made a lot of good friends and learned an awful lot about the design industry and the type of company I want to work for. It was sad to leave but I believe things happen for a reason and the experience will stand me in good stead for the future. It has made me more determined and confident in my ability to become a good designer and persue my ambitions to travel, work abroad and grow as a creative individual.

Im currently living in Reading and have spent the last week tightening up my portfolio and incorporating latest projects for interviews etc. I realise that I may now need patience to get to where I want to be, particularly in this economic climate and that I may have to take on jobs I don't really want to take on but the main thing is that i dont take my eye off the prize. I feel its about persistence and self belief and obviously a bit of luck. So here we go, the next chapter, fingers 'crossed'!

The fst experience

Having finished university life a little over a month ago I'm currently on a 3 month internship with FST The Group in the town of Marlow just outside London. It is certainly massive jump from the 3 three years I spent in Cardiff and the biggest realisation for me is actually how fun work can be. During uni I felt rather reluctant to leave, feeling that life would somehow become instantly monotonous and mundane. But while there is a stronger element of routine, the rewards excitement and energy of working as a junior graphic designer make it worthwhile. I am currently finding the trickiest thing to come to terms with is the speed of the studio. I feel I am getting faster but its definately a learning curve and shall take a little time to become as fast and efficient as some of my work mates. I have also realised how little I actually knew before I came here, though what I did know was very valuble.

I feel extremely privileged to be here and that I'm in an excellent environment to learn, surrounded by talented people I really like and respect. I'm hopeful this role will turn into a full time position and am determined to do everything I can to make it so but if not I'm sure the experience will stand me in good stead for the future.

Landscape Photography : The Brecon Beacons

Last week I went on a two-day mini adventure to the Brecon Beacons for my current and last degree brief 'The Big Idea'. The brief requires us to take a word, interpret it and create a graphic response around it. My word is Freedom, a concept often central to many of my projects, and weirdly enough also the meaning of my name. The angle I have taken is the idea of nature being used by humanity as a momentary escape from society. A concept I investigated in my dissertation but feel has great potential in a creative communication context. The trip up to the beacons was a great little 'escape' if you like, and above are a few of the photos I took. More can be seen over on Flickr. I shall post updates on the current project as it progresses.

A week with Burning Red

Last week I had the privilege of  a week's work experience with Burning Red, A design agency in Cardiff Bay who tackle briefs ranging from identity and print to web and animation. It has been a while since my previous placement with Brand Union in London so to have some more 'real-world' industry experience was fantastic. This time the studio was 5 strong instead of 80, and I  enjoyed making new friends with some great people. The difference between the projects in the real-world and university are noticeably different.

Most obvious is the team element. This changes the whole dynamic. Suddenly your not just working on your own and essentially for yourself but with colleagues for a real client. Therefore work must be completed more swiftly with a certain selflessness not required in constructing  our student portfolios. This is hard to let go of at first, which I found when doing some work for CLIC, a government organisation providing information for 11-25 yr olds. Suddenly your not the sole creator and effectively your own client, but someone elses, and you're design must appeal to them and their audience, who often have very little design knowledge. 

The week helped me to see more through the eyes of others and not just my own, and I think this is one of the most important skills a designer can have.

Phew!

Thursday nights Pecha Kucha was a real success and thankfully my presentation went down suprisingly well with the audience. It was a real nerve racker talking alongside such fantastic professionals but I was so glad I did it in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Michael Johnson, Gerry Whelan,  Nick Clark, Neil Young and prof. David Crow to name a few and I found every presentation thought provoking and inspiring in its own way. The recording of my presentation can be watched here, and the other speakers talks here. Michael Johnson has posted a great analysis of the night over on his blog Thought for the week.

New Work!

I have recently updated my website with my YCN student awards competition entry. Take a better look here.

Pecha Kucha

I have volunteered myself (bravely or stupidly!) to talk at Pecha Kucha Cardiff. Hosted by Louisa Cameron, it's an evening of 13 speakers each giving a 20 slide presentation with 20 seconds per slide. I feel very privelaged to be speaking alongside such a brilliant   group of professionals, In particular the fantastic Michael Johnson. It should be a fun and fascinating evening, full of excitng thoughts insights and ideas.

Project updates

This is a storyboard I have been working on over the weekend for my current student set project on Citizen Journalism. It takes a positive stance towards the concept and uses Iran as a case study. In Iran citizen journalism has been an important voice for expressing the injustice that is going on amongst the election protests. I had a tutorial earlier and my tutor liked the visual style but said I have focused too much on Iran and not enough on the concept of citizen journalism itself, and that it should perhaps include some more examples of citizen journalism playing an important role elsewhere. I may now need to have a little re-think!

Flyer Design

My mate Jack recently asked me to design a flyer for a night he's holding at Rhythm Factory in London.  It was good fun as he gave me a really open brief with no specifics of how he wanted it to look, just as long as it contained the copy. The night is a mix of different music genres and this presented a challenge to design something non-specific or motif led. But I feel hopefully my fairly abstract response captures the essence of the evening. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to make it down there for it.

GOOD Magazine

For my Student Set Project am planning on creating an animation aimed at 16-24 year olds on the the impacts of the web on society. Much of the content will rely on visual metaphor and an infographical approach. GOOD make some fantastic informative and engaging topical infographic animations that convey information in a simple and engaging manner. using a combination of live action and vector work that bring a greater depth and richness. Most of GOODs animations are made by Max Joseph and Erin Bosworth. this one is for world water day.

Student Set Project: Change in Direction

From research into my initial proposal to ‘Encourage young British people to become more politically and socially aware individuals’ have found that encouraging young people to engage with British politics is not really a problem that needs to be solved as I first thought. Young people are more socially and politically aware then ever before, they may not be showing it statistically by voting in elections (and I don’t blame them, I’m just as disillusioned with party politics and feel it they don’t represent my views) but they are in another space; the World Wide Web.

Young people are expressing social and political beliefs and interests over the Internet constantly. Inspired by this new thought I then watched the documentary series the Virtual Revolution presented by Aleks Krotoski, This is an incredibly insightful and current series on the impacts of the web on society. This has helped to inspire my new proposal. I now plan to create an animation in response to my revised proposal.

‘Inform young people of the impacts of the World Wide Web on society.’

The explosion of the Internet has had a massive impact on human society, bringing about a huge number of changes to the way we live and affecting almost every aspect of our daily lives. I wish to highlight some of these changes and their implications, both positive and negative. My  response shall be aimed at young people aged between 16-24; an age group who have grown up with the internet and are its most common users. I feel they therefore require a more critical understanding of its impacts particularly as they are likely to be using it for the rest of their lives.

Due to the vast nature of the topic my response shall concentrate on a number of themes. It shall concentrate on some of the current issues and discussion around it to provide a comprehensive but simple to understand piece of communication suitable for its target audience. My response shall look briefly look at the webs history, as well as its future capabilities; using case studies and key events to re-enforce messages.

Project Aims

 My response shall attempt to provide an engaging and exciting observation and interpretation of the web, leaving the viewer aware that there are important impacts, concerns and issues embedded in it that need to be understood. My response shall aim to encourage the target audience to use and view the internet in a more informed manner.

Personal Aims

As a young person constantly using the Internet and someone naturally interested in anthropology and sociology I find the topic a fascinating one and one I wish to explore in a creative context. I hope to create a powerful piece of informative communication that is visually exciting and engaging. The subject matter lends itself well to a digital outcome, I have enjoyed producing digital outcomes in the past and the SSP is a good chance to complete one to a higher standard than before for my portfolio.

Updates shall be posted!

TED Talk: David Cameron

An interesting TED talk from David Cameron on the changing nature of politics.

'The leader of Britain's Conservative Party says we're entering a new era; where governments themselves have less power (and less money) and people empowered by technology have more. Tapping into new ideas on behavioral economics, he explores how these trends could be turned into smarter policy.'

Erica Williams on Youth Politics

Im currently researching into the reasons why young people are disillusioned with politics to find out how to re-engage them. This is a great talk by Erica Williams on the youth perception of politics in the US. She argues that the problem isnt with young people, it's with politcs itself. she argues it needs to be re-defined to become accessible. She believes 'politics', politicians and the older generations need to adopt a younger mentality, embrace new trends and technologies to break through.

Student Set project

I'm currently in the first week of a 5 week student set project,. The brief I have set myself is to try and re-engage young Brittish people with politics through design. I feel that if more young people engage with politics we can better understand and act upon the issues of today and realise the potential of the future. I shall post my progress on this project regularly.

CSAD Jamborie 'Happy to be hybrid'

This morning was the second CSAD Jamborie. Guest speakers included Elanor Glover,  Owen Lloyd and Price James. All three were very insightful and entertaining.

Elanor was a former toy maker, graphic design student and now sculpture/fine artist. She concentrated on inspiration' where it comes from, how to capture/bottle/reserve and of course use it. She spoke of the brain as a compost heap; constantly being added to. She also spoke of the importance of talking to others, stepping 'outside your tribe' and into other peoples. Abstract but true. Owen Lloyd is a  digital sound artist who spoke of the importance/benefits of working with others who showed some very interesting stuff.

Price James, music video director and former graphic design student from Central St. Martins put on a very entertaining show. His underlying ethos seems to be above all else reckless creativity. Someone who has built his career from being brave, talented and enthusiastic. His work is fantastic and you should take a look.

The lasting impression of the morning is that whatever field of art and design you're in, they all overlap and intersperse. Its just about being creative. Illustration tutor and compere Chris Glyn summed it up fittingly by saying... 'we're all happy to be hybrid'. The above is music video by Jame Price.

Street Type!

I started a  mini photography project for myself today called street type. It's basically as simple as it sounds. take pictures of interesting typography i find on the street..whether its a shop sign, house number, garage notice, or piece graffiti it doesn't matter, as long as its stimulating in some way. street type is something I constantly find myself looking at so why not start documenting it? Today I just concentrated on Cathays, Cardiff but over the next few years who knows which streets in the world may feature. You can see the flickr album here.

Dissertation Done!

Unfortunately new content for this blog has dried up over the last few weeks. With my dissertation now out the way I now intend to fill myself up again with visual delights and fully concentrate on being a creative. Although microsoft word does it's job well, it can be soul destroying at times!

Book Covers!

Heres some of my own work for a change, both book covers I've just completed for this years Penguin student awards. You can see them in more detail here

A plus B Studio

Last week I had the opportunity to take part in a D&AD portolio clinic in Cardiff. I got the chance to speak to some great professionals which was fantastic in gaining experience of presenting my work and how to present it the future. it was also helpful in finding out what's to come in the big wide world and how to go about this final year of my degree. This is the work of A plus B studio, standing for alex and Benji, who I got to speak to. some very helpful advice and lovely work.