#thecass

Transition, 8102, London

Personal Project

Risograph workshop with potential students at Hothouse a couple weeks ago.

The Cass 19 Typeface is now available to download for free use! It was created by second year students Gemma Ageraniotis, Michael Brown, Luigi Conte and James Iredale alongside London Designer Sarah Boris.

The typeface itself makes reference to the many disciplines and practices at The Cass, celebrating the School’s multidisciplinary community. To celebrate the Show, the bespoke typeface has been released for public usage.

If you use our typeface it would be great to hear from you, tag us @thecassviscomm

DOWNLOAD The Cass 19 Typeface

Student Michael Brown said: “It was the first time that I experienced pitching, being selected, working with a client and using typography in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. The outcomes are amazing work for my portfolio… I got to work with amazing designers such as Quentin Schmerber and Sarah Boris, from both of whom I have learned a huge amount about working with clients in the real world.”

In a series of blogs we explore recent graduates and their work during and after their time at Cass. In our forth instalment we talk to Finn Kidd, a recent graduate who references everything from science, animals, music and popular culture in his often vibrant and individual style of illustration. We caught up with Finn to find out what he’s doing since he graduated: 

How would you describe your creative work?

Something along the lines of colourful, light-flooded illustration situated in narrative and research.

What originally appealed to you about studying at The Cass?

It just looked like a really good course. I knew a lot of people who had studied at other institutions and had a bad time, so it made sense to try somewhere outside of that apparent norm, and it turned out to be a great choice. The Cass also has a great history, with its foundations in the development of education in east London.

How has your experience at The Cass helped you achieve your goals?

My main aim in studying at a university level was to gain confidence in my illustration work and have the contextual, and critical framework to be able to backup my thoughts and ideas. Both of which I feel I have been able to  achieve through my studies here. This is really all down to the great tutors and technicians. They are all great! 

Tell us about your recent projects?

Since graduating in May I have been lucky enough to have a healthy handful of commissions to keep me busy. A highlight would have to be working with ​‘Tatty Devine’​ for their autumn/winter collection ‘Liminal Fantasy’. Which you can see over on their site in the shape of an online storybook. There’s also a bunch of other projects which myself and Lisa Wallius have worked on under the umbrella of our studio – ​‘Fancy Cats’.​ One of which is this years Cass Hothouse talks poster and leaflet series (above). The others are yet to be reveiled...

What are you working on now/next?

Right now I am in the first few weeks of my masters in Illustration and Visual Media at L.C.C. Which is pretty exciting! I’m also working as the Hothouse Riso technician, so settling into that and getting it all up and running. Next? Nothing is set in stone yet but hopefully big plans!

You can find Finn’s instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/finnnkiddd/

In a series of blogs we explore recent graduates and their work during and after their time at Cass. In our third instalment we talk to Samantha Friend, an illustration graduate with an eye for creating character and action scenes. Samantha is now a full time illustrator at Shotopop. We ask how her placement there helped her obtain her new role:

What did you enjoy most about your placement at Shotopop?

The work and the environment. The work itself was so much fun, and everyone at Shotopop was so friendly, welcoming and encouraging.

And what key things did you learn working there?

I learnt a lot about communicating with with colleagues, in regards to feedback and discussing how to go about a project. I also discovered a lot about working with clients, taking their needs into account and understanding feedback. Of course as boring as it sounds: invoicing!

How did it lead on to work after your finished your studies?

After finishing University, I sent an email to the director thanking him and everyone at Shotopop for the work opportunity and said if they needed any help on upcoming projects I'd be more than happy to get stuck in. I think I got really lucky that they had a large project which required a lot of work in a short amount of time, and as they already knew me and have seen my work, they took me on to help out as a freelance illustrator.

What are your plans next?

I plan on taking a short break, then jumping in to updating my portfolio, sending it along to other illustration and animation studios for any jobs that I might fit into. Doing lots of research into character design careers and see where that takes me.

You can find examples of Samantha’s work and her webpage via the links below:

http://shotopop.com/projects/

Promotional Illustrations:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmcOf-ghHL6/?taken-by=footlocker

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmHmIHXhDwm/?taken-by=footlocker

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmE2eMTBYn2/?taken-by=footlocker

In a series of blogs we explore recent graduates and their work during and after their time at Cass. In our second instalment we talk to Karl Fitzgerald, who creates brooding reworks of iconic movie posters with dystopian undertones and textured landscapes with a cinematic magnitude. We ask Karl how the Cass played a role in making these atmospheric pieces and how rockers the ‘Foo Fighters’ have recently employed his skills:

How would you describe your creative work?

I specialise in creating screen printed alternate movie posters. The images are created using a mixture of traditional and digital painting techniques. My work largely focuses on the environment of film and the relationship of the landscape to the protagonists. I love to paint the moment of tension before the action or the immediate aftermath of an event. For me this has more emotional impact than the action itself. I use lots of atmosphere, texture and loose brush strokes to keep the scene fresh and dynamic.

What originally appealed to you about studying at Cass?

I wanted the opportunity to explore other styles, subject matter and processes. I could use my time to experiment with new techniques which I was previously unaware of. I was also drawn to the unique location.

How has your experience at Cass helped you achieve your goals?

The access to the printmaking facilities enabled me to adopt an entirely new approach to image making. At Cass I was able to experiment with the process of etching into metal and dedicated an entire module to learning the craft. The modules enabled us the freedom to produce completely individual responses, so I could explored countless styles and techniques. Importantly developing technical draughtsmanship skills. At Cass I learned a lot about working as an illustrator after graduating. I also learned the importance of preparing my portfolio, website and developing relationships with appropriate contacts. This has enabled me to become a full time freelance illustrator.

Tell us about your recent commission for the Foo Fighters....

Based on my portfolio, I was approached by ‘Live Nation’ to produce a poster for the ‘Foo Fighters’ show at Wrigley Fields in Chicago. The brief was entirely open with the exception of the ‘Foo Fighters’ logo, tour date and that the painting would be a screen print. Usually I work from a film narrative to capture a scene to paint. The freedom of the subject matter was initially more of a problem than a perk. The final image was the result of spending 3 weeks listening to nothing but the ‘Foo Fighters’ and responding without a certain idea of subject matter...

What are you working on now/next?

Since this first tour poster was a success, I have been approached to produce gig posters for some of my favourite U.S. bands! I still produce alternate movie posters but I am gradually branching out into concept art, storyboarding, book covers and record sleeves.

Cass Culture is the new event and writing platform of The Cass School of Art Architecture and Design. It is edited by the Critical and Contextual Studies team. They have started a great blog about events happening at Cass!

http://cassculture.org/

They recently posted about one the Cass HotHouse talks !