#cogcthenightshift

GROUP PROJECT / MAKING

Using collage to create playful waves. Our group project was focused on creating a collective piece that conveyed a sense of the landscape. My chosen word was playful and I was looking at ways to create waves from photography, mark making and digital manipulation. I used cut up magazine and toyed with ink and bubble wrap to create dots, lines and shapes that created wave structures.

Below was our groups final image. - The final image is very playful, has bold colours, shapes and shows increase within its revealing image and its landscape. It has a strong feel of pattern throughout its use of dot, line & shape. Ilona’s grass pattern almost looks skeletal, Rachael’s bold apple print creates dramatic cloud formations and my collaged waves each have their own playful design.

Bruno Munari’s ABC (1960) 

PHOTO SAFARI

BRIEF/ Music Response : Album Cover Imagery The Research Stage

Our first big brief is to design an Album cover responding to a song. First point of call is to research Album Artwork and Graphic Designers that inspire and interest us. I have been collating a large folder of album artwork that I feel I immediately respond to. The first one I wanted to learn more about just so happens to be the very well known Scottish band, Biffy Clyro and the cover artwork designs of Thomas Robson. 

References

Thomas-r.com. (2017). Thomas Robson, Artist. [online] Available at: http://thomas-r.com [Accessed 10 Oct. 2020]

GALT TOYS, (1961 spread from the first GALT catalogue)

Ken Garland

Such a clever and playful use of Typography is seen here. The idea to visually play with the placement of the letters speaks buckets about the company. You can instantly tell it is a toy company by the use of photography and illustrations which makes it seem that the children are moving and playing with the letters. It also appears to break apart the letters into their modular elements! This not only echoes the name but also the interactive and educational elements within their games/toys. 

In the first image the playful nature of swapping the ‘T’ an ‘Y’ also ends up spelling the word ‘TOTS’ another word for toddlers/children. All I can reiterate is, how clever!

“We had to build an image for Galt’s virtually from scratch, and decided to base it on linking the company name at all times with the word ‘Toys’ which proved so successful that soon everyone was calling them ‘Galt Toys’ and assuming that to be their real name. At first they were a little disconcerted by this but eventually accepted the inevitable. We enjoyed our work with them enormously, and for 20 years they were our most faithful and regular clients.” - Ken Garland

REFERENCE

PASSION PROJECT 

Passion (strong love & desire for) 

The Research Stage 

We were asked to think about a Passion Project for our Graphic Design course. Initially I felt a little stumped. My first thought was to think of something I could create a professional folio piece from, but after listening to my peers share their personal interests and project ideas I soon realised I needed to open up more and focus on what I love and what I am good at rather than what is rather commercial based. Yes my first thought was for my love of packaging, funky coffee brands and beer bottles, I do love these things, but my branding idea seemed a little lacklustre and I felt it wouldn't have heart in it, and that I may bore of it quickly.

So instead I began listing my other skills & interests; illustration, film, musicals, old movies, animation, cinematography, food, travel, animals, board games, etc. But nothing was immediately standing out to me as a fun project. I decided instead that I needed to spend some time researching the practitioners list we had been given for our modular typography and line, dot & shape brief. I soon came across the works of Bruno Munari and Ken Garland and instantly felt inspired, it was almost a light bulb moment. Their work and focus on educational based kids games, toys and books was a ‘WOW’ moment for me. I have always adored children books, movies and illustrations and I love the idea of creating some form of an interactive card based game for kids. I feel this project would allow me to utilise my illustration skills and develop my graphic design skills in one project. 

Something else I realised whilst researching kids games was how much I preferred the look of retro and vintage styles as opposed to the modern ones. I also feel it is important to teach the younger generation about the impact we have on the Earth, and the use of plastic in modern games is extraordinary within the toy industry. Therefore I would like to focus on a paper or card based project.

BRUNO MUNARI

REFERENCES

Casati Gallery. (n.d.). Bruno Munari Biography. [online] Available at: https://www.casatigallery.com/designers/bruno-munari/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2020].

Multiple Identities of a Face. (2014). Bruno Munari: Drawings of Faces. [online] Available at: https://hafiprocessjournal.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/bruno-munari/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2020].

Wikipedia. (2020). Bruno Munari. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Munari [Accessed 22 Sep. 2020].