We Fake I.D Guest Lecture

On Friday 1st May, Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees came into Stockport College to give a guest lecture presentation about their design company, Fake ID. Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees have been working together under the name of Fake ID for 10 years now and are primarily a graphic design studio working with huge clients such as Nike, MTV, Sony, Zune Arts and Urban Outfitters.

The lecture lasted around an hour and throughout the whole lecture, I got more and more confused as to what the presentation was about. Joshua Trees did all the talking but read from a piece paper, which was really obviously due to some of the mistakes he was reading. The presentation was all about their influences and interests including language, sound, text and noise but this was not clear as they just shown slide after slide of black and white images, film and sound clips with no explanation of why they chose to put each slide in.

All of the slides became more confusing as the lecture went on including an old advertisement for Burger Chef, which was an old animation in a similar style to Scooby Doo. The confusement lasted right till the end of the lecture and left me wondering if they had created this work and made it look like it was from decades ago.

I wasn't sure if it was just me who felt the lecture was confusing but I think it was proven by the lack of questions that were asked by the students as only one student asked a question and the other 3 were from tutors.

Whilst the questions were asked, it was then revealed by the pair that they were a little bored of constantly showing their work of to audiences so they decided to showcase a selection of their interests and influences. I found this quite odd and very disappointing as I heard they were a great company of some of the graphics students who had been working with them.

I think by showcasing your interests and influences could work as a lecture but maybe with a warning to the audience or maybe showing some influences and how it has effected their own work would of been a good idea.

On the whole I didn't enjoy then lecture but looking at their work on their website it clearly shows they are very talented designer, I just wish they would of talked about these in the lecture.

Purple Penguin Design Freelance Opportunity

Yesterday I opened up my emails and to my surprise had been sent an email from Rik Kirk from Purple Penguin Design. Following up from my portfolio critique in April, where I talked through and shown him my Major Project so far, he mentioned that the company were mainly graphic design and print based design but were interested in doing some motion graphics too. He seemed to like my work and said at the time would I be interested if anything came up and I said yes of course.

I was amazed when I received this email saying,

Hi Aaron,

How's it going and how's that final project coming along?

I'm just setting up a new company with a photographer friend of mine specialising in video and motion graphics. You can see what's been set up ' www.fudgescreenmedia.com '

Would you be interested in becoming a freelancer for motion graphics as and when we'd need someone? I can't promise any work at the moment but we could pay @ £100 a day as and when it does come in. Hopefully this new venture will be up and running in the next couple of weeks.

If you are interested drop me a line and we'll take it from there.

Regards - Rik

I was over the moon when I read the email and never thought I would get a job so soon because of the recent credit crunch and companies cutting down jobs. I know the job will only be temporary and every now and again but to have the chance to work on a brief along side Rik and his colleges will be an unbelievable experience.

I think this just goes to show important this contact report section is on the blog because if it wasn't for this, I don't think I would of started making contacts with companies until my degree was over.

This is what I sent back...


Hi Rik.

I'm good thanks. How are you? The project is coming along nicely, I've got my final deadline tomorrow.

I am really interested in working as a freelancer for you, that would be great. Do you have any idea when this would start and what sort of projects I'd be working on?

Thanks for the email and the opportunity, Aaron

Hey Aaron,

I'm guessing it'll be a late night tonight then with a deadline tomorrow?!

At the moment I've no idea when Fudge will start bringing work in. There's a small amount of video work trickling in, hopefully more when we push the site too. The guy I'm doing it with has a top 5 google listing that he's swapping to this company for a bit.

With regards to the type of work I've no idea. Obviously there's video work there which I'm happy editing. As for the Motion graphics I've only done a few pieces, which are on the site, so it's trying to show people what can be done really. I guess if you're definitely interested then it might be worth thinking if you have anything that could be put on the site to showcase your talents. predominantly we work for bars, restaurants, hotels etc at the moment but there's all kinds of stuff we could expand into.

Anyway, have a think once your final project's out of the way and we'll speak more.

Regards - Rik

T Mobile Sing Along Advertisement

T Mobile have released some impressive television advertisements lately including the 350 people dancing in the train station but the latest one they have released is fantastic and involves 13,000 people in a giant sing along.

The advertisement is set in Trafalgar Square in London and the 13,000 people are joined by the pop singer, Pink who all sing songs together such as 'Hey Jude' following the words from the giant screen.

"More than 2,000 microphones were used to record the rabble and 24 cameras captured visuals. Lysa Hardy is head of brand and communication for the mobile phone provider and said the advert was another display of the Life's for Sharing motto. The experience was "fantastic" for Pink, who said she was "thrilled" to be involved.

"Everyone singing along together in the middle of London ... it was incredible," she added. "I can't wait to see it live on air." (http://www.mobileshop.com/news/index.php/2009/may/pink-joins-t-mobile-singalong)

I personally love the advertisement because I find it amusing and entertaining and although I am a multimedia student and love motion graphics and animations, its great to see traditional filming still being used to.

Recently alot of companies have used animations in their advertisements such as the Llyods TSB advertisements but I think using live footage to capture this fantastic experience is the best medium to use. The idea of bringing 13,000 people together can only really be achieved by using live footage because it would be incredibly difficult and time consuming animating all those people.

Motion Graphics Lab

www.motiongraphicslab.com

Recently I have come across a great website called motiongraphics.com that is the website of award winning motion graphics designer, Dean Velez. I stumbled across this website whilst looking for influences in motion graphics for my final major project but found the website much more useful than that.

When looking at the website it looks really old with cheesy fire graphics in the background but the content is really useful with lots of different After Effects tutorials that came is really useful for learning the basics and learning new skills and techniques. For example there is a great tutorial for a line growing effect which came in handy when experimenting for my final major project.

I thought I would share this website with other people to help them follow some of the tutorials that may come in handy for them in the future.

Kate Moross

www.katemoross.com

Kate Moross is a 22 year old designer based in London. She describes herself as an illustrator and a graphic designer but hates narrowing herself down to a specific field.

I came across Kate's work whilst browsing through my Computer Arts magazines and seen her work pop in a few different issues so decided to look more into her work. Her unique style has also seen her work being used for the Ford, Zune Originals and the album work for the singer La Roux and the band Simian Mobile Disco.

I decided to talk about Kate in my blog because I felt her wide range of skills are similar to the various area's of design that we have used whilst on the degree course. Kate is mainly a print based designer working on logo's, CD Covers, Flyers, T Shirts and typography but has also worked with moving image with video and idents.

I think by looking at Kate's work has shown me that having a large range of skills can be really useful when looking for a career in design whether it be for a design studio or being a freelance designer.

In the future I see myself being drawn into the motion graphics side of design because this is the area of design I am really interested in pursuing a career but having a wide range of skills can help me add other aspects of design into my work.

Postfolio

www.postfolio.org

Postfolio is a creative community of people who do and love postproduction and visual effects. The idea of postfolio is to showcase your work in this specific area by having your own account. Whilst reading through the website I noticed that as well as showing your work, there is a section where you can add your making of video to show others how your work was created, which I think is a great extra as you can watch others and pick up tips and techniques.

Although I am not interested in this area of design I thought I would include it in my blog for others who might want to use this website. Another key thing about the website is that there are many forums so you can discuss topics with other designers who have similar interest as well as including a friends network so you can add your friends and share interests with just them as well.

On the whole I think it would be a great website to use if you were interested in postproduction and visual effects, I just wish there was one specifically for motion graphics.

Norwegian Ink

www.norwegianink.com

Norwegian Ink are a Norwegian design studio who specialize in graphic design, motion design, logo design, channel idents and title sequences. I thought it would be interesting to look at a design studios other than UK and American based to see how they differ.

However, when looking at their work you wouldn't guess it was from another country in Europe because I have looked at the work of graphic designers such as Welcome To Cloud and Look At Me Design who are both from France and you can see the difference in their style and themes to their work because they tend to use lots of white space with abstract shapes and lines set up in a beautiful composition.

I thought by looking into a motion graphics company I could take some influence and ideas from their work and incorporate into my own work but I found this specific company being very similar to what I have seen before. Maybe there are other European design companies who use motion graphics in a completely different way than we do over here and I will keep looking over the internet for influences from other countries.

Iphone Inspiration. Blade Runner?

http://design4dough.wordpress.com

I was browsing through a blog and came across this still from the 1982 film, Blade Runner.

"Is Harrison Ford using an iPhone to control his apartment elevator in the 1982 movie Blade Runner? The likeness is exceptional. The metallic outline, the pictogram-matrix-touchscreen, the black chassie and the designated home-button area at the bottom. Coincidental? Hardly!" (http://design4dough.wordpress.com)

I think the likeness to the iphone is extremely similar but I don't think iphone looked at anything like this when coming up with the phone. It just goes to show that although technology has developed dramatically since 1982, interfaces have not changed that much. I think this is because user friendly is a must and making easy to use interfaces similar to this will still be around in another 30 years no matter how much technology develops. This is another great example of looking back at the past to gain ideas and inspiration for current projects.

Sony Bravia Motionflow Advertisement

I have recently come across the latest Sony Bravia television advertisement for the new Sony Bravia Motionflow. The advertisement uses a 10 tonne zoetrope that plays images of the AC Milan footballer, Kaka to represent motionflow. London design studio, Fallon were behind the making of the advertisement with the zoetrope being situated in Venaria in Italy.

I find it fascinating how old techniques come back around and are used again in a new format with added technology because the first zoetrope is believed to have been invented around 180 AD. The idea of a zoetrope is also used in one of the BBC2 idents with the spinning images making up the BBC 2 logo.

After looking into the Sony Bravia advertisement in more depth, I found the making of the video on Sonys website. I originally thought the advertisement was created in 3D with the audience pretending to look at the images of Kaka but the zoetrope was actually built and has been recorded as the worlds largest zoetrope at 10 metres wide and 10 tonne in weight.

This advertisement has shown me that history is very important as old techniques and styles can be reused in any medium of multimedia. I think it would make a great project to recreate something from the past using multimedia

Kings Of Leon Competition

Competition Entry

1st Place

2nd Place

3rd Place

www.designedbyhumans.com

I have recently come across the website called designed by humans, which is a t-shirt design website that let's customers design their own t-shirts and get them printed or you can buy one of their own designs. Whilst I was browsing through the website I came across a previous competition that they had running, which was to create a t-shirt design for the rock band, Kings Of Leon.

The competition has ended now and the band picked the 3 best designs in their opinion, which are now on sale from the website. I really liked the chosen winners, as they all used lots of white space with a simple logo and text at the top of the t-shirt. They have also all used a selective colour palette as well, which doesn't over load the t-shirt and reveals the bands name even when looking at it for a split second.

However, I have found on the forum on the website that alot of people have disagreed with the decision of the band and people calling the competition a waste of time for entering. Here are some of the posts that people sent in.

peterdewolf

Quote

JEEEEEEZUS, WTF, unf—-ingbelievable, the winning design is without any merit whatsoever, two runnerup designs with exactly the same theme, one with a deaths head ( are you guys on anti-depressants or something ) and the other simply very badly mocked-up clipart.

What a waste of everyones time and effort making serious attempts at real design.

FalcoTurboJesus

Quote

Think of all the the hours that went into all the designs that were submitted, all to be trumped by a black shape on a shirt

roelke99

Quote

wow, these winners are absolutely s****…i totally agree with pete, i never liked KOL, but now i hate them. Their taste of art is comparable to what i make in the toilet.

malibuingenue said I think the first one is cool. It’s a combination of Tennessee and Oklahoma, the two states where the band members were born.

I think it reflects the band, and I like it. I would totally buy it. So there.

I was quite surprised at all the negative comments about the chosen winners to be honest, alot of people seemed to think that designs like the top one of this post should have been chosen as a winner because of the amount of work that went into it. I have to disagree with the negative comments because of think these winners deserved to win, I think they have though about the composition and layout of the t-shirts and placed them perfectly.

The use of typography and images being kept to a minimal design is something that I like to work with. This is used in my final major project, where I have my illustrations and the typography with lots of white space around them to emphasize the important of the main subject.

This competition just goes to show that everyone has their own opinion on art and design but to get far in this industry you need to meet your clients needs, which in this case is simple type and images, which show the bands name very clearly.

Peepshow

www.peepshow.org.uk

Recently I have come across the website 'Peepshow', which is a collection of 10 illustrators, designers and animators including Miles Donovan, Luke Best, Jenny Bowers and Pete Mellor.

All these designers are freelancer designers in their own specific field but team up together to collaborate on certain projects that include an impressive client list such as Diesel, Levis, MTV, Nike, Sony and Samsung to name just a few.

I find it really fascinating how all these designers can work independently, but then team up with their colleges to create something that they maybe cannot do on their own. I think this is a great process because as well as bouncing ideas of each other, they all can learn new skills and techniques of each other to contribute to each project.

I love the idea of being a freelancer designer but then combining with other designers in another area of art and design. This reminds me of my first year of my degree when we did the 'chindogu' project. The idea of teaming up with other students from a different pathway and combining our ideas and techniques to create an invention and film it.

The whole idea is something I would consider doing myself, even with another ex student when I graduate from my course.

Spherical Images

www.sphericalimages.com

I came across the website 'Spherical Images' today and was amazed with this great website. The idea is find a popular location anywhere in UK and this website will show you a 360 degree tour of the area.

It allows you to look at famous landmarks such as the Millennium Bridge and Piccadilly Circus in London and The Royal Crescent in Bath, which are all pictured above.

The site lets you click on the photographs and move around at any pace and with any angle to get a great picture of what the place is actually like, you can also pause at any pacific point and lets you put the screen as big as your computer screen.

The still shots that you can create is something I have created back in college when working with panoramic shots, we had to take a number of shots by moving slightly to capture the whole scene. This also reminds me of the work of the photographer, David Hockney who creates beautiful panoramic shots but in a joiner technique that also creates a sense of movement in an abstract form.

The Enemy - Music For The People Album Artwork

www.theenemy.com

I have recently bought the album, 'Music For The People' by the band The Enemy. Im a huge fan of the band and the latest album cover has an amazingly simple image that I found really interesting. The album has been evaluated by the website 'Drowned In Sound', who explain the album as,

"music for the people is a bold step ahead of the coventry trio's debut album, mixing the warm, richer texture of recording to tape with songs full of strident ambition" (http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14308)

I think the album artwork has been linked to the sound of the enemy, with the warm colours and the circle on the album representing a sense of togetherness and completion of great songs.

"The album cover for new album 'Music For The People' has been revealed. In this weeks NME magazine Tom was quoted as saying "I wanted something that was classic, iconic and instantly recognisable for this album."" (http://www.theenemy.com/news,artwork-revealed_38.htm)

The album cover has definitely done this with the striking image being the first album I seen when I walked into HMV. I really like the mix of warm colours making up the circle, which I am unsure of how it was actually created. To me it looks like a lens flair on a photograph but it could of been created in photoshop, but however it was made I think the album artwork in fantastic that is eye-catching and relevant to the band and the album.

Renascent

www.renascent.nl

Renascent is the online portfolio of Joost Korngold who is a dutch freelance graphic designer who also works with motion graphics and visual static imagery with various mediums.

Joost has a very impressive client list that includes Nike, Philips, Adobe, Computer Arts Magazine, Discovery Channel and MTV. I came across Joost after seeing a piece of his work in the Computer Arts Magazine so I decided to look into more of his work.

Joost's work seems to cover a range of multimedia areas that I have covered in my time of the degree course. What I have been looking into is whether designers have set a style and theme throughout their work so it is recognizable to an audience when they see that piece such as Miles Donovan.

However, Joost's style is different in every piece, which is vital to a client as they will want their artwork, animations and idents different to anything else out there. Looking at various different designers has shown me that having your own style is not necessary.

LED Pong Table

Today I discovered the latest version of the famous 'Pong' game, which is designed by Moritz Waldemyer.

"We've always said, the more Pong the better, so we're the last folks you'll find knocking Moritz Waldemeyer for upping the ante (quite literally) on the previous iterations. Utilizing a fancy Corian-based table, the savvy designer incorporated a series of "LEDs and touchpad sensors" into the otherwise plainly-styled piece of furniture in order to provide a fresh rendition of a heralded classic." (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/23/moritz-waldemeyer-crafts-led-based-pong-roulette-tables/)

I was amazed when I found this, because 'Pong' is one of worlds most famous games, which never gets boring or old and can be played by anyone. It's great to see old games being re-made and capturing a whole new audience with the latest version. The concept of bringing something old back up to date can be used in design and especially in multimedia, you always see old films getting remade so to create a new animation or motion graphics piece using something from the past could be a great idea for a self directed project