OUGD502 - Wired Magazine - Interesting Design Decisions

I came across a 'Wired' Magazine at work today which really caught my eye. The overall packaging and front cover design is what really intrigued me about this particular magazine as I had personally never come across a design like it. The design involved two identical front pages overlapped with the first front page being folded in relation to the heading of the magazine. This allowed some of the back page to be seen and when opened up, revealed the contents page cleverly inserted in-between the two pages on a bright yellow stock. Designs like this always inspire me as I believe they allow me to think more openly when designing during my own practice.

OUGD502 - Freedom Mills New Creative Space & Nicholas Dixon Exhibition

This weekend, I am going to a music event in a venue called 'Freedom Mills'. I had never heard of this venue before and therefore decided to conduct some further research online. It turns out that this is a newly founded venue which focuses on bringing all aspects of creativity to Leeds from music events, to art galleries.

One article which particularly grabbed my attention was an exhibition of the work from the artist Nicolas Dixon. I had never actually heard of this artist before however, I instantly recognised his work from many album covers and record labels which I own. After reading further I discovered that this artist is commissioned to design all of the artwork for one of my favourite record labels, 'Hot Creations'. He has designed for some of my favourite music artists such as 'Jamie Jones', 'Patrick Topping' and 'Richy Ahmed' and has also been featured in magazines and in events all across Ibiza. I took this work as such a massive inspiration as many of these accomplishments are what I aspire to achieve at some point in my career. Working alongside some of my favourite DJ's in some of the most thriving cultural and party destinations in the world would be a dream come true for me. It is a real shame that I missed out on visiting this exhibition and meeting the artist in person to hopefully get some really valuable and constructive advice. However, I now know to keep my eye out on this new creative space in the future for any more possible upcoming exhibitions.

OUGD502 - SpiceUK Social Media Feature

I have recently seen a Facebook post from an events manager in Leeds asking if there are any graphic designers interested in doing some promo work. Through this, I messaged him and even though he had already found someone to do the graphics, he looked through the rest of my portfolio and really liked some of the work. He then asked me if it would be okay if his friends company 'SpiceUK' shared some of my work on his website. I emailed him over some of my shots which were then featured on the website. They have also been shared on Facebook and twitter which is helping to boost my publicity on other media.

OUGD502 - Left Bank Leeds - Abandoned Photography Submission

I have recently come across this exhibition on Facebook and thought that it might be a good opportunity to reach out to other professionals in the creative industries. I have also submitted some of my shots from the disposable society photoshoot to have a possibility of having some of my own work showcased at the exhibition.

For the submission I have created a series of graphically manipulated images which aim to expose the socially accepted implications of pollution, vandalism and decay. These are common issues which are cast aside and ignored in day to day life however, these shots plan to exploit our fractured society and intend to showcase the damage which is being inflicted on the environment through our actions. The abandoned mill in the photoshoot was once a thriving pillar of business which was the heart of Britain's industrial era however, in todays society, we have cast this place aside to become a shadow of what it once was. 

OUGD502 - Fine Art Collector Magazine

To help build upon what I have learned from the 'Turps' painting publication in the blog OUGD502 - Village Bookstore - Purchasing New Inspirational Creative Publications, I have purchased another painting magazine called the 'Fine Art Collector'. This magazine talks less about painting principles and theories however, it does consist of some incredible designers which are great for inspiration. Lots of the artwork in this publication has a very strong resemblance of graphics which showcases various examples of how manual techniques can be used to create a piece of digital art. This has opened up my eyes to the possibility of being more manual and sing painting methods in some future briefs.

The artists which I have taken from this magazine to follow on social media sites for further inspiration are -

David Rees
Mcalpine Miller
Robert Oxley
Emma Grzonkowski
Carly Ashdown

OUGD502 - TT Fitness Graphics Work - Industry Experience

OUGD502 - Village Bookstore - Purchasing New Inspirational Creative Publications

Whilst in the 'Village Bookstore', I decided to purchase a couple of publications for myself to hopefully expand my knowledge and prepare for the start of university.

The first publication, 'Face' by Bruce Gilden, is a photography book which focuses primarily on the features of the human face. He proposes the concept of creating the reverse of social media sites such as Facebook where people often attempt to hide behind a fake version of themselves. The way which he has attempted to do this is by showcasing each individual just as they using a style of photography which enchases their flaws, by doing this the photographer has shown that we all have flaws and when put in context with everyone else, this publication shows that they are just features which every human possesses.

The consistent camera angle and positioning of the models have created a truly unique publication with a clear purpose and direction.

The second publication which I have purchased is a painting magazine called 'Turps'. Much like the teaching methods demonstrated during the Bauhaus, I find it important to attempt to learn from all aspects of design. In this instance, I decided that I could possibly learn quite a few unusual methods and painting rules which I could possibly transfer across into my graphics work. There is an interesting article from the artist 'Simon Bill' which explains about how we can think about the form and content of abstract painting. I find it incredibly engaging to get a different aspect of design from another creative fields point of view.

After speaking to the owner for a while, we started to converse about our favourite designers and he wrote down the name of one of his, 'Dan Witz' on one of their flyers. Socialising with people in similar fields of work can always benefit and help build upon your influences as a designer.

After researching Dan Witz, I have found an artist which combines painting, graphics and photography with street art to create truly unique pieces of work which resemble a more realist Banksy style.