Tis the season

A response to a 24 hour brief. The task was to produce a pictogram for each of the 4 seasons. The constraints - it had to be black and white, and had to be recognisable universally. I think that my responses are clear. I would have liked to have went down a more conceptual route, but found that many of these lost their clarity. So...here you go. Thoughts?

Decode

I took a trip down to London this weekend, mostly to watch my team (proudly) fall to defeat at Stamford Bridge. But while I was down there, I noticed a poster on the tube for a digital design exhibition at the V&A called "Decode". This took my interest, especially since taking the digital design module last semester. It was honestly one of the best exhibitions I have ever been to. The interactivity, innovation, and originality on show was incredible. It was such a fun experience to see people from all backgrounds and cultures coming together and really having genuine fun with art. Far too often I think people feel restricted in galleries. Be quiet...don't take photographs, walk around slowly from piece to piece - remarking on how inspirational it all is. I appreciate this element to galleries, and it is nice to be somewhere peaceful...but this environment I found to be very refreshing, and shown art to be as it should...a pleasurable and accessible tactile experience.

Above are a few snaps I took while I was in there...I think the exhibitions open for about a month more so hurry down if you get the chance...its not one to miss.

Reinventing Perfection

http://vimeo.com/1109226

Here is a link to one of the finest examples of creativity I have seen in a long time. To really appreciate it, you have to know (and probably love) the song 'Nude' by Radiohead. Here, art student James Houston has took the concept of remixing to a whole new realm. Using a variety of archaic technology, he has done something quite special and recreated the entire song using mechanical noises. It reminds me a bit of Luigi Russolo's 'Noise Intoners'...

I'm not alone in thinking this is a creative gem, right?

It's all lies

This week, I've been working on a 7 day project...which has been a bit of an experience. The pace has been fast, and I have needed to be very decisive and clinical in my design decisions. The brief was to encourage people to be more socially engaged; I chose the topic of lying. This was an interesting concept for me, as it is not normally something you would advise doing. Therefore I decided upon a very tongue in cheek concept - encourage men to lie to women about their lives, in order get a bit of action. I have chosen the media of an online video, as this is one of the key areas for my target audience.

Above are a few shots from my storyboard...what does everyone think? Does this work for you?

Shoot Me Again

I've recently been doing a bit of collaboration with other designers. Here are a few edited images from a fashion photography shoot that we did last week. It was really informal, we just experimented with it and had a lot of fun in the process. I think that this sort of thing is vital for us to be doing as designers, sharing skills and ideas with our peers from other specialisms. It helps to develop some really interesting ideas that you probably wouldn't have came up with yourself. We'll probably be doing some similar things in the near future so I'll be keeping you posted if anything half decent arises from it...watch this space.

Oh and here's a link to the both models blogs...

Sally - http://www.innocentindulgence0.blogspot.com/

Martin - http://www.do-you-know-what.blogspot.com/

Enjoy

EuGenious

I recently came across a quite stunning photographer, called Eugenio Recuenco. The Spaniard has developed a fantastic portfolio of work, with diverse themes running throughout. Many of his shots are really elaborate. He tends to build up a whole story within a single frame. Recuenco creates highly art directed pieces which can immerse you, pulling you into the scene and forcing you to question everything. There certainly is a lot of depth to his work.

As his fame has grown, so has his budget. Many of his works contain a multitude of strange and exotic props. There also seems to be more and more models included in each shot, which I feel shows that Eugenio is trying to incorporate more in his images, telling bigger stories and expressing more.

As well as individual scenes, Recuenco also creates photographic series. These resemble film stills, and act as an alternative platform for story telling. These images are too large for me to include here but I highly recommend you take a look for yourself at http://www.eugeniorecuenco.com/

His work really is fantastic, and his style - instantly recognisable

I See You

It's been a while since I've last posted on here, hectic festive period. But I thought I'd make my return with a post about the film of the year...Avatar. As a creative chap I was of course very eager to see this groundbreaking film. 10 years in the making and man was it worth it!

3D cinema has fully arrived with this blockbuster, and I think that this has changed cinema forever. Whilst Avatar wasn't consistently jumping out of the screen at you, I was fascinated by the depth on screen. During the forest explorations, it really felt like you were there. This engrossed the audience and resonated with the child like fantasy that still lies deep down within us all. This is a really rare quality to find.

The night scenes were simply visually stunning. A neon world of beauty and nature. It is without doubt the most impressive film I have ever seen in terms of aesthetics and effects. Unparalleled animation coupled with, in all honesty a really solid storyline as well. Every character was convincing, and it wasn't obvious what was going to happen right the way through.

I'm really excited to see what the future holds for this genre. The 3D experience can only escalate from here?