Long time no post

So it's been a little while since I posted anything. I've basically been spending my time freelancing and job hunting so I can move out...which is looking extremely possible right now! For the past few months I've been freelancing for www.graphicks.co.uk/ who's creative director is a fellow Reading typo grad. The freedom of working from home has been great, although it has resulted in me becoming a complete vegetable and never moving/doing any exercise, oh well. I've been working on a really broad range of designs such as promotional posters/e-shots and the programme for a Help for Heros play in London, lots of logo designs and packaging design. I've never done any packaging design but it's something I've always wanted to have a go at, so sprucing up the sausage packaging for The Great British Sausage Company was a great start. I spent hours and hours sketching, painting, cutting out, tracing etc. etc. pictures of apples for the pork and apple flavour. I've really missed proper drawing and painting since doing my foundation at Loughborough. Here is an apple...

Bob Dylan

This poster isn't on my portfolio because I don't think it's as good as it could have been, but it does deserve to be somewhere other than gathering dust in my garage, so here it is! During my final year at Uni, we were given a brief to chose somebody inspirational to us, using a great quote by your chosen person to develop fluency in the deployment and integration of type and image, also to develop imaging skills appropriate to a particular person and an associated quote. Naturally, I chose Bob Dylan; who else would be better for a great quote?! For my poster, I used black ink to represent his songwriting, to create the images and the positioning of the typography to integrate the quote with the image. Here's the result!

Holiday Autos e-shots

Just thought I'd post some of the work I created using Adobe Illustrator, while on work experience with Rawww in Coventry. These were some simple e-shot ideas for the company Holiday Autos using their brand identity. They were to promote the company using selected company USPs and their online training system.

My first book

Hello again. A few weeks ago, my first ever book went off to print! No..I didn't write it unfortunately, so technically not 'my' book. A while ago, my classmate Callum Lewis and I embarked on what seemed like a massive task of redesigning This Slavery, actually written by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth. In short, the book is a feminist novel about mill workers in the north in 1920s Britain. Strangely, I really enjoyed sifting through pages and pages of text. Although it made my eyes hurt like hell, it was very therapeutic! Unfortunately, the cover design was limited as it needed to fit with the other publications by Trent Editions in Nottingham, but I will still be incredibly proud when its all bound and ready for sale!

Rawww(wwww!!)

For the past two weeks, I've been on work experience with Rawww in Coventry. Lovely place (the studio, certainly not Coventry ha) and lovely people! I am very much a print, books and layout kinda person so working on eshots, web banners and apps was a change for me. Digital was something I tried to avoid in the past but I definitely valued this experience as I really shouldn't be stubborn and restrict myself as digital design is taking over the woooorld. This placement has opened my eyes a bit more and confirmed I still want to work somewhere with bare brick walls.
www.rawww.com/

Student Designer work

Since January 2010, I've been working as one of the Reading University Student Union Designers. For the past 18 months, I've created designs from events posters (printed and digital), logos, flyers, menus, certificates, stationary and leaflets. Its been a great little job, working from home on quick and playful briefs, but sadly has to come to an end along with my life as a student. I've never published any of these designs, so I thought I'd post them here as they won't be privileged enough to get a place in my portfolio. I've worked on, what seems like a million designs for the Union, so here are just a few.

Gregory Euclide...just wow

When Bon Iver's first album, For Emma Forever Ago, was released in 2008, I thought, beautiful album, beautiful album artwork, but nothing prepared me for the absolutely stunning artwork for the self titled second album released in June this year. The painting by Gregory Euclide, along with all his other works took my breath away. His combination of acrylic paint with found materials adds texture and transforms a traditional painting into a three dimensional image giving the artwork such a tangible finish. Just beautiful.

Stanley Donwood...you are a legend

I know this is very much old news but I just stumbled across this beaut http://youtu.be/192MiKNk03c and it reminded me of my love for the album artwork. I have been a massive fan of Stanley Donwood for years (got to write an article about his work for a second year project, yay), being in complete awe of his work from over the years, but this is the most recent for The King of Limbs, released Feb 2011. With this packaging, he used a US newspaper format which folds down to approximately album cover size, in contrast to the epic statement packaging design for In Rainbows. Either way, I love them both. I like Donwood's reasoning for creating ephemera type packaging which he discusses in Creative Review in April this year. http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/april/king-of-limbs-radiohead

Casually networking with important art directors...

So a couple of weeks ago, I set off on the ridiculously long train journey to London, originally to visit some of the best friends for birthday shenanigans, stopping off on the way for an interview and for a chat with the art director of Eye! A simultaneously random and awesome event, Simon Esterson was lovely, helpful and welcoming. It took me a good ten minutes to get into the studio, as I was unsure how to open the main door to the Lux building in Hoxton Square, choosing the stairs over the lift, and stupidly pushing the studio door (which featured a window) several times then pretending to play on my phone before realising I needed to be buzzed in. I sat in a room with Eye magazine spreads covering the walls and turned down the offer of tea which I later regretted. I apprehensively showed Mr Esterson my work, although he seemed to like it, which was followed by some invaluable career advice. He also recommended that I speak to John Morgan www.morganstudio.co.uk/ who on closer inspection is yet another highly successful Reading Typo alumni. I love stumbling across these people (although always ashamed about my lack of knowledge) such as Robin Kinross who I was reading about on the train down in Eye issue 80 (http://www.eyemagazine.com/issue80.html). It makes me feel like there is light at the end of this long penniless unemployment tunnel, and hope for me yet!

Below: Some examples of work from John Morgan's studio www.morganstudio.co.uk. So much awesome stuff, but I am a big fan of Horst P Horst and grey cloth bound books...

Introduction to ME

Yay, I've finally got a blog sorted! I made one a couple of years back as part of a second year degree project but disowned it after a while simple because I didn't like how I'd designed it. This is a new one hopefully documenting things I like and come across during my time (hopefully not too long) of unemployment. I've decided, along with extreme job hunting, to start drawing and painting again...items which I may or may not post up, depending on how chuffed I am. Also, before Uni, I took photos of everything, especially black and white but unfortunately don't have access to a dark room anymore :( but planning to get back on that hobby anyway!