Catch up...

Looking through photos on my computer I discovered the photos I took of the small exhibition in Electrik Sheep...which I should have written about aaages ago but I have honestly been rather disorganised : / so here are the pictures:

Love this picture

Highly talented designer and painter Craww's work was displayed in the exhibition space next to the shop. His work is amazing, really inspiring as it contains dark themes but still manages to remain beautiful. The paintings combine slightly distorted female forms with animals and they seem very sombre almost sad, some make me think of mourning just by the positioning of the subject(s). This was a really influential exhibition :D

Total confuddlementationess :S

Negotiated project has come around very quickly and I have too many ideas... right up until we actually got the project brief I was pretty much set on the idea of making a magazine but then I started looking at the online brief competitions and I found an illustration brief for Diesel and I quite like that! But I would love to make my own children's book too... I might end up doing all 3 but I don't know which to choose for this project........

Anyway I will eventually make up my mind I suppose...I have no choice so yes I will!

eljaypea is me :D

Finally coming up with the ideas for my portfolio website and all that jazz :)

I have kept it all quite simple (just like me...kidding) but included my personality a little with my hearts, I do love the heart shape it is the best shape!!! Yes...in the process of choosing portfolio pieces and making them look better!!!

 

Also the time has come for the negotiated project!!! Currently thinking...a lot of ideas to choose from... reeeeeeeeeeeeally want to make a magazine or a children's book! Lots more planning to do!

A Little Bit Obsessed...

Ever since the new Debenhams bit opened in Eldon Square I have become increasingly obsessed with Paperchase...I love everything in that shop!!!!! I had ventured into the smaller one in the Metro Centre but when this stand alone Paperchase opened in Newcastle...I was hooked from the minute I stepped through the door and saw the first piece of sushi with a little happy face!!! Everything in Paperchase makes me gasp and smile and act like a total idiot. I mean tuppaware has never been so necessary for me to own until someone put cute animals on it!

Now it's coming up to Christmas and they have some new things with happy faces :) I am in my element every time I see it!

Anyway...just felt like it needed to be posted how obsessed I am with Paperchase products!!!
NOW YOU KNOW!!!

Logo for School

A live brief here! We have been asked to produce a suitable logo for Seaton Sluice First School. There are specific things that need to be included and thought about!!! 
Initially the new logo design was within the school itself, there was a competition and a 4 year old had the winning idea! A rosette to show that their school is the best!!! So here is what I came up with:

Not sure whether to use the greens and blues to resemble the sea...since I have used the image that resembles waves...??? Orange and yellow stand out a lot better on the jumper colour...

Illustration is Wow!!!

Just finished writing out my CV trying my hardest to sell myself without sounding like a total arrogant git...

Searching through possible interests for work placement and I came across this piece of work which I really like!!! The illustrations are amazing and the end result is really clever with the 3 versions of the cover linking together:

Love all the detail :)

http://www.whitespacers.com/work/project/edinburgh-festival-fringe/edinburgh-festival-fringe-2010/

Oo also... I have been asked to create a logo for a freelance web designer!!! Extra stuff for my portfolio :D

Tomahawks for Targets EP artwork

I have been working on the EP artwork for an upcoming band Tomahawks for Targets. At meetings with the band we discussed the concept for their artwork; what exactly they wanted i.e. subject matter and/or imagery. 

I drew Margaret Thatcher (title track of the EP is about her) originally in pencil then went over this in fine liner before spreading the ink with water and adding extra ink splats! The image as a whole was pieced together on Photoshop and Illustrator. Here is the result:

This is the final outcome! Just a cardboard sleeve rather than a plastic jewel case insert. The band absolutely love it and have said that it looks exactly how they had pictured it in their minds!!! :D I think it's pretty good too and I'm quite proud of it!

http://www.myspace.com/tomahawksfortargets

Meet Forbes

Latest Project: pretty much a rebranding for a Channel 4 site (soon to be it's own channel) 4mations which is specifically for animation. We were asked to design a new logo but think about the way it could be animated into a banner advert (for web) and a five second animation. After thinking and thinking I decided that a character would be the best, so I made Forbes :) the 4 shaped voodoo doll!!!

This is him :)

 Hopefully you can see that he is a 4 shape...if you tilt your head slightly to the right! I have drawn over him in Illustrator and it looks good so far...but it seems as though the picture I have is being rejected by blogger. I will try again....there you go!!!

Worked with textures and gradients ready for Flash

Just need to take him into Flash and do a little animation bit for the banner advert :) should be quite fun! Since I made the little doll I am going to attempt a stop motion animation of him falling down the stairs. I've done little bits of my own stop motions before so I hope it will come out nicely!

Our first task for PPD

This module (Personal Professional Development) is focussing on the options for the future... whether that be more study to get a BA Hons, or trying to get a job in the design industry. This blog will record my progress; anything I see that inspires me, some of my own work and other bits and bobs (thoughts, plans etc.) 


I'll start by putting some of my own work here... this was a rebrand we had to create for the packaging project. I thought that Tampax needed a total redesign I thought it should be more discrete and a bit more modern!

Tampax rebrand

This is what I came up with ^ :) a simple, pretty and discrete design, exactly what I set out to achieve. I had to keep the logo/brand the same as it is such a recognised brand, it just needed a revamp. To do this I used the shape from the pattern to replace the counters in the As which works really well for the distinguishing of each type and also the use of different coloured lace helps this too. The back needs work still, and I will amend this for my portfolio.
In this same packaging brief I also produced a crisp brand (packet) and did some new packaging designs for the brand Nuby who specialise in baby products...

Nuby packaging redesign

The Nuby products are pretty cool and well designed so I thought they should be on show when displayed in shops. I really like the concept that the mouths hold the products in place and show the function :)




Next project is for 4mations... haven't quite got started yet but I will upload stuff as the project goes on!

Le College

This is what I have so far for my college blog thingy...

Maybe it might be helpful if I keep a wee diary of my college work and the like!!! : /

HERE GOES:

29th September - Well I started back at college 2 weeks ago, it is my second year of Foundation Degree Graphic Design and I am aiming to do as well as I possibly can, trying to stay motivated, stay on top of my work...the usual.

Our first project is packaging! We were split into groups and sat at a table which had 4 types of chocolate, crisps or orange juice. These were unlabelled so we had to guess the price and describe what kind of target market they were for etc. My group were the crisps :D so we chomped our ready salted crisps and wrote down initial thoughts (the flavour/style etc.) We were then given the packaging and we had to guess which we thought were which; we got 2 the wrong way round but 2 right! Anyway.... the task we were given next was to work in pairs to brand our own crisps, my partner and I had to aim for a target market of 6-12 year olds at a mid price. Lots of ideas were thrown around in the form of a mind map, we chose one idea and started to get developing a suitable packaging design. This was quite a good exercise with some pretty good results even though there was some initial disagreements(which were resolved quite quickly)! At the group crit we were advised on certain things to change before our designs are printed and put into our portfolio! I have a few personal changes I will be making!

One of our research tasks was to choose some packaging which we did not think very highly of, something that might not be serving it's purpose or just maybe plain ugly... I have chosen to rebrand the Tampax boxes haha!!! I am aiming to update their look and make them more discreet :) so far so good I would say! Worked solidly form 10 until 5...with no food D: Crit tomorrow, so I will find out the verdict!

4th October - Apart from the odd shudder amongst the boys... my Tampax rebrand was quite well received!!! I got a "well done" but I need to work into the back of the packaging a bit more. New project (still packaging) new packaging for the brand Nuby, suppliers of all things baby... just been doing a wee bit of research and choosing which 3 items I want to design the packaging for!

Just thinking that there has to be an easier way to do this.... instead of having to keep editing this one post??!!??? Eeek!!!