Hazel Interview

Joyce - interview

For his project titled Jahrhundertmensch, German photographer Karsten Thormaehlen shot portraits of elderly men and women who have reached the ripe old age of 100, also known as a “centenarian“. In 2009, the UN estimated that there are only about 455,000 centenarians in the world.

old photographes - props that are theres
what memories do they bring?
places images in context of the person.

 make a note of illustrations
condistions of sale
look at main publishers

guides for self publishing

experimenting with adding colour to logo - necessary for design to be distinctive and recognisable to clients brand identity.

I struggled with adding colour to suit the clients existing colour scheme and brand identity – dark blue, this was a very prominent colour and pencil drawings did not show up on or through this colour well, and therefore their detail and focus was lost when this colour was added and the contrast was too strong. This led me to experiment with the opacity and saturation of the colour in the background, but it didn’t work well.  I then tried using it in the object (tool belt), which worked when applied to a subtle level. I managed to get the recognisable brand colour in to the design effectively by using it for the main text colour.

Facebook presence:

man with books. - portrait photography- using colour to visualize the atmosphere

though this figure illustration is produced in the same style as the pigeon man and other figure drawings i have done in the past, i think there is still something missing. though i had layered a scene illustration with the the last drawing of the builders (below)  for this project, the client said he did not want a scene in this picture. 

without a scene, i felt the illustration seemed unfinished, so i decided to think about what else i could add to the illustration to make it look complete. as well as the building in the builder picture i used a backdrop of grey in order to make the figures stand out from the building, though i do not need to do this with the single man illustration, i have played around with adding colour to the illustration. 

i think this makes the figure much more prominent,  the white space of the figure is put to use when a background colour is added as it provides a strong outline and draws the eye. i decided to use a colour that hits me and i think of when i look at the photograph i used as reference. this greeny colour is present on the concrete slabs and in the shrubbery behind the man. i think this adds a element of atmosphere and surrounding to the portrait, helping to document bradford and wills experience of the place and meeting this man. 

post easter tutorial

focus on getting all briefs finished and out of the way so when i come back i can be focused on final major project and have a clear head!

i think a the moment i feel im trying to focus on my FMP but because i have the other briefs in the back of my mind i haven't had the chance to take a breather and stand back and refresh my head.

Final presentation boards submitted to D&AD

applied design

coster development

Online presence 

                 

    

Physical Print 

   

rectangle design

square design
i was finding when trying to apply the design onto other platforms such as Instagram, facebook etc, the format was for a square design therefore it made sense to adhere my design to this layout. i also found with advertisements for social media sites, i would add necessary information to explain the add in bios which meant i could simplify the information in my illustration down which i feel may make it more striking visually and less overwhelming (with heaps of text to put people off). 

i asked my peers if their was anything they felt i could improve with my design idea, mentioning how it is aimed at the younger demographic and how had intial ideas of showing a person either using their phone, listening to music -just being oblivious/ignorant to what is going on around them or happening in the real world.

robyn (fashion communication student) suggested adding earphones to the main figure with the blindfold.

though i have already drawn her without, i think it is still worth trying to work into/on top of the drawing earphones as it will strengthen my concept.

however, as not to distract, or over complicate the rest of the design, i want to make the addition of the earphones fairly subtle but recognisable.

 

adding text

choosing effective composition

which is most effective... just pencil detailed scene's or a combination of detailed scene and silhouettes? 
i added the silhouettes as i thought it would emphasize the idea of a large crowd, illustrating the amount of refugee's who are suffering because of the Syrian war.
 
i showed these designs to a few peers and though they liked the silhouettes, they felt both together maybe a bit to complicated - as i want this campaign to have a immediate impact (as this type of advertisement are said to be most successful from research i conducted whilst undertaken my COP 3 Dissertation) i wanted to make the design as simple (yet effective) as i could and to be memorable and easily understood therefore if peers felt a combination of both styles over-complicated the piece this was not the way to go!

which style to go with... pencil scenes or silhouette scenes?
though the silhouette scenes may be more simple and straightforward, they do not communicate emotion. as i wanted the piece to 'hit home' to the viewers, show how these people are suffering and how they are also people like me and you, giving them a face and facial expression will allow viewers to empathise with the refugee's illustrated.
again, from research i gathered from COP 3 disseration, a personalised and 'real-life' situation/story makes audiences react to a issue.

making a decision

the Amnesty international brief has been mentioned for me to take a look at a few times in group tutorials or individual tutorials when i have mentioned that working on charity based illustrations is something i think my practice suits.
though i haven't been necessary instructed to take part by peers or tutors, it occurred to me ... why am i not giving it ago if it is a opportunity for my work to be seen by a charity who are looking for a creative campaign.

after weighing up the pro's and cons of starting a brief so late on-

****
cons -
-i wont have enough time to construct a well researched and well executed idea/piece
-i have other work i can be getting on with.
-the start date for the project was from November, everyone else entry will be far developed and indepth
****

i decided to bite the bullet and go for it.
(was i crazy giving myself more to do!) i just couldn't help thinking i would regret not, thinking about 'what if' - if i did get recognition it could be a step into the industry i feel my practice fits into.
if i dont get anywhere in the competition, atleast it is a piece to put in my portfolio to show i can work to competition guildline briefs, and it shows i can produce work with a charity/social awareness issue.

Amnesty International brief -d&ad

Images must always be submitted as JPEG.
 We strongly recommend landscape format.•
 Make sure text is big enough to be read, and keep it short, clear and relevant.
Show the key elements of the work.
• Keep the layout clean, simple and uncluttered.

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. Richard Bach



fabrication 

here no evil speak no evil see no evil 
your ingnorance is their power 
ignotance is bliss?
we are human?

adding earphones 
lip sown

dissembled portrait

i was influenced by david hockneys photography pieces where he took several stills from several photographs of one person to make up their 'portrait'
this made me think about how showing a personality of a person doesnt always come through in a clear image of their face.
by focusing on parts of the face that  really show elements of his personality - such as his mouth as he was constantly smiling and the wrinkles round his eye which i thought he used with character when he expressed his cheeky personality, will hopefully paint a life like person with a story and personality rather then a flat image.

i have played around with overlaying objects, quotes etc to the crops to emphasize and visualise the stories he was telling me about his life.

 really like the set of 3 crops and how they are layered out in a back to front order - mouth the eyes, but yet you would still be able to visualise his face - again showing that a illustration/piece of art doesn't need to be obvious as people like to work things out for themselves, feeling creatively involved in the piece. 

contextual reference - david hockney

from the documentary i watched on david hockney, he discussed how he felt you cant capture life in a photograph like you can in illustrations/painting - i agree with this, but he then experimented with using photographs that when put together represent a moment in time, showing a person from different angles that you would witness seeing in person. 

i really like the composition of how he has focused on certain parts of the photograph sequence which represents what he particulary saw when in the presence of that person.

this is something i could do when illustrting the elderly people ive come into contact with. 

more battling with layout and composition

i showed the client all of these examples, and asked her weather she felt when the RSVP flap was closed weather the floral pattern from the menu and the floral pattern on the rsvp flap was a bit overwhelming together. she said she didnt think so and liked the designs together, however after after showing her the plain menu with the RSVP flap design she prefered the pattern to just be on RSVP without the menu floral design.

 

i printed out the designs to get a more realistic idea of what they will look like. i think the design works much better with a plain menu. if the menu worked on its own i would definitely use the floral but it was too much with both parts having illustrations on. i think the grey colour also works better behind the flowers on the RSVP flap as it makes the colour of the flowers more prominent. although the client isn't using the invitation, i have made it to show how these design can work as a wedding merchandise set. i have added my name and web address subtly on the back of the invitations to self promote myself to those who will receive the invitation.

Order of service

the order of service design was also discuseed with the client. researching the order of service, many designs/layouts are booklet formed rather than all on one page, although the client was not choosy about the layout and would be happy with the content being on one page if it would fit. 

design for booklet:
as the order of service is to be used during the ceremony i thought about illustration the church on the front of the booklet. was this style of illustration still in-keeping with the other floral illustrations?

designs for single page.
i have showed this to the client and she is happy with it on one page. if she wanted anymore information added to the list, she suggested double side printing to avoid it having to be made into a booklet. 

experimenting

 

although i think both of these pieces above are great, i think lucinda's work is most successful and recognisable when she uses a coloured background as this allows her to create focal points using either the white of the paper or added white/lighter colours. 

something i am struggling with at them moment with creating a portrait piece but added illustrations to illustrate the persons life is making sure the portrait is still the focus without the added object over complicating the portrait (like below) 

i have done a similar technique in past projects:- 

COP 2 - showing this mans journey in and out of homelessness in his clothes. though i am happy with this pieces, i feel the several illustrations in the t-shirt takes away from the appreciation and detail of the actual person (portrait). 

about i have played around with using background colours and taking away colour to draw attention to certain areas... this definitely doesn't work! well digital colour doesn't anyways.