Come design with me...

Come design with me took place on the 7th October at Stockport College. Past graduates came along to chat to us about life after graduation they gave us some useful advice, dos and don't etc.. The event was organised by 5 members of my class Lucy, Ashley, Laura, Jay and mike. They did really well in organising it all, they split the evening into two parts for the first hour or so was chatting to the graduates and the second part of the evening was looking at there work, eating and drinking!. One half of our group chatted to about 5 graduates and the same with the other group.
I found the event really useful, It was good to get advice from people who have been through the process I am going through now. They talked a lot about the industry and what effect it has had on them. Points brought up were that they couldn't get jobs straight away, they advised us to get as much experience as possible when finishing the degree and during it such as placements, entering, working on briefs. There is also one thing that got brought up that I which I had heard before and didn't know whether it was true or not. One of the ex graduates said that most graphic design jobs want you to have experience in web design.
This made me think if this is the case then why isn't web design a part of our degree.

Hesign

Hesign is a graphic design agency based in Berlin. I set this visit up many weeks before I arrived in Berlin, I felt really lucky to get a visit with the designer Jianping. Since I wasn't familiar with Berlin I invited Juliette Brooks and Edwina Sharp to come on the visit with me.

Hesign was established in Berlin, Germany in 2002. In 2005 the branch company in Shanghai was established, and the other branch in Hang Zhou was set up in 2008. In addition to graphic design , branding, art and design and book publishing they also organise art and cultural events activites.

Jianping talked about his way of working and showed some of his projects he had done and some he was working on. His personality really shined through when he was talking to us he told us how he overcame problems that he had in the past when producing work, for example he said that he was asked to produce a book, but he ran out of paper, but instead of panicking he solved the problem by producing the book with few full pages and the rest half pages he did this by cutting the some full pages in half. Which shows to me that he doesn't take himself to seriously and has a funny sense of humour.

After we talked we all showed him our work, he didn't give us that much feedback but he seemed to like what we showed him, he invited us back to his agency anytime we go back to Berlin which was nice of him he gave us a souvenir to take a way with us which was a catalogue of his work.

I had a positive view on this visit, I thought his work was incredible, and to own three branches is incredible. I feel as a designer you need to be able to be yourself and not what other expect you to be.

These adverts always seem to stick in my head. I have seen adverts like these many times. I think they are created really well. They are emotive, they draw you in and they make you want to pick up the phone. They do exactly what they are meant to do. This is what makes them good adverts.

I think the message behind this ad has been portrayed well. I like how this ad doesn't need an image to explain it. The words tell the advert. What else appeals to me about this advert is how the type represents a parent and a child e.g the type for the parent is clean cut and then there is the child like writing.

I came across this poster that has been done by Chris Wicks (typographer) I like the idea of how the type is the image. The type being set at different point sizes works well.

'What You Looking At?'

I went down to Bury Art gallery to see the exhibition 'What are you looking at'. I found this exhibition very relevant to graphic design as it focuses on the obsession with the use of television, magazines, photographs, cameras, film and identity. It also includes personal letters and databases which hold personal information about others.

What are you looking at?

It seems that the 21st century is obsessed with watching what everybody is doing all the time this exhibition explores society's voyeuristic preoccupation with 'looking'; the watchers and the watched

It asks who's watching you

What I came across first at the exhibition was a Mutoscope.

Mutoscopes; were a popular feature of amusement arcades and pleasure piers in the UK. Mutoscopes usually included "girlie" reels which ran the gamut from risque to outright soft-core pornography. It was, however, common for these reels to have suggestive titles that implied more than the reel actually delivered. The title of one such reel, What the Butler Saw, became a by-word, and Mutoscopes are commonly known in England as "What-the-Butler-Saw machines." What the butler saw presumably through a keyhole, was a woman partially disrobing.

When I was viewing this exhibition I found that it would be appealing to everyone, as major aspects of our society are based on technology and people . Everyday, from reading newspapers, magazines and books, listening and watching the news and listening to the radio, we are involved in other people's lives. We are watching people who we don't even know even if its just at the bus stop or walking down the street or from walking into your local shops we are still observing. Some people can question why there even there, even if it is obvious.

We don't seem to realise that when we are observing others we are being observed our selfs. Others even have our personal details in their computer systems, e.g adresses, ages, dates of birth, telephones numbers etc. We think celebrities have it hard with the paparazzi. Its because most celebrities are in the public eye, there lives are written in the newspapers and magazines every week or even everyday for the world to see and read. So I would say this exhibition applies to all of us.

Even what I am writing now is being looked at....

'The Perfect Gallery'

I went along to the Cube gallery in Manchester to see 'The Perfect Gallery'. Which opened on the 29th July.
When I first went into the gallery It was just white walls I thought to myself have they actually finished setting the exhibition up. I walked around the top floor and found nothing. Then I went downstairs, there was a little black room where the Programme about 'The Perfect Gallery' was on.

"When I was asked to make an exhibition for the space I had in mind the fact that gallery architecture is often talked about more than the art inside it".
Jankowski

For this programme Christian Jankowski worked with TV designer and presenter Gordon Whistance to create a one off edition of the 30- minute BBC interior makeover programme 'House Invader'. Jankowski invited presenter Whistance, who is relatively unfamiliar with contemporary art, to demonstrate his idea of a perfect exhibition space using the Pump House Gallery in London as an example.

"Artwork is The Perfect Gallery"
Jankowski

My opinion on this exhibition was really good. I like Jankowski idea of having the exhibition space as the artwork I thought that was quite different. Usually when you go the a gallery you expect to see images, paintings, objects etc. That is usually the audience's view of a gallery. So its good to be different and to use such an idea. The gallery was painted white and had lights placed in the right places to give it an exhibition 'look'. It was also said in the programme that ' The Perfect Gallery left a legacy for future artists'. Which shows that you can go above and beyond when it comes to art work, and not to just go with the obvious way and to try something different.
When I had finished watching the programme and was about to leave the gallery. The set up of the white walls that I orginally thought was an unfinished exhibition at the beginning was like the white walls of the 'The perfect gallery' 'Pump house gallery' .