Dandy-Lion: (Logo Design is rather tricky)

On tuesday I met with Aisha who is a third year student on the BA Fashion Course at AUCB. I replied to an e-mail she sent out over the weekend requesting help with a logo design for a magazine. Although i've never done logo design before, i felt i could relate to the influences and themes she mentioned in her message so thought it was worth a go! I sent her a link to my blog and she showed me a lot of her research. I was given a rough outline of what she wanted, which included the image of the dandelion within the text. It was also mentioned that she liked my more recent pieces of work using marbling inks. This is my first image/idea and theres definitely a lot of work left to do. I think the end result needs to focus more on hand crafted aspects, be more feminine and also have more emphasis on the text itself. I also need to get more specific measurements for the logo itself as I am using Photoshop opposed to illustrator.

Solar.

This is my initial response to Philip Larkin's poem, 'Solar'. I have avoided reading any other formal analysis of the text at the moment as i think that retaining a personal interpretation is important. I used a variety of papers, fabrics and textures to cut out simple shapes and structures related to the imagery I found within the poem. I think the cut out technique works well, but feel the image is a little naive and feminine in terms of interpreting the text. This could be altered by adjusting the colour scheme, but i am going to also look into different textures and fabric's that could give a more bespoke and sophisticated essence. I also think that deeper analysis of the text would be benficial.

Research so far.

Christin Boltanski: Installation Work 'Ombres (Shadows)'

Rob Ryan: Inricate Papercuts/ Screenprints

Yesterday was really productive in regards to research and development. The main thing I noticed with the Faber & Faber designs is the simplicity of the prints and the images. Some were literal in terms of taking either a single image from a poem, or a title (Mark Hearld's Ted Hughes design for example.) Others were more abstract and focused on overarching themes and imagery. My inital idea's related to other traditional print methods such as etching and mono printing, but due to time restraints this may prove a bit tricky. I then progressed onto the idea of paper cutting as this is a way of producing graphic images but I can still incorporate the mixed media approach I prefer to use. I began by researching the work of Rob Ryan, reading his book 'This is for You'. The delicate imagery he adopts work perfectly with the stanzas in his book; even if you removed the lettering from the images his designs still encompass the text well. He has also produced the recent cover design for Carol Ann Duffy's children's book, 'The Gift'. I also began to look into the work of instillation artist Christian Boltanski. His work was suggested to me in a tutorial last year and I have focused primarily on his pieces related to sculpture, shadows and silhouettes. I think that the dark and surreal qualities of his work could be applied in relation to the more haunting and thought provoking aspects of the poetry I am interpreting.

on an unrelated note, i drew my shoes.

Interpretation of Texts and Professional Contexts.

Out of all the options given for our current unit, I have chosen to work with specialist limited edition books and poetry. The brief relates to the publishing house Faber & Faber: who are 're-launching an anthology of poems by a series of well known poets’, So far in my reading and research, I have been focusing on the work of Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Carol Ann Duffy and Philip Larkin. I’ve found the relationship between Plath and Hughes particularly interesting, as this can be applied to, and is reflected within their literature.

It's been hard to find any anthologies that include illustrations inside to accompany poems, but Faber & Faber did commission a series of designers in May 2009 to produce covers and an inside layout as part of their 80th anniversary. The covers focus on print making which works well in relation to poetry. I think the key for this project is going to be producing bespoke images, that can accompany the text but not over power the poems as they alone are rich in imagery and an individuals interpretation of the text is crucial.

I also spent the afternoon reading some of the texts on the beach. It was becoming a bit hard to concentrate at home so a change of scenery really helped although I don’t think the library is going to appreciate the now rather sandy books.

These are a few of the book covers I photographed today: I particularly liked the print work of Jonathon Gibbs (Dart): the layering of colours to create textures is really effective.

marbling inks are my new best friends.

Bombay Bicycle Club Entry: Link

http://5oup.net/bombaybicycle/show/104

Probably should have posted the link to my entry at an earlier point! My designs currently 14th and it's only the Top 10 that get considered and seen by the band so votes would be amazing!

Just and an e-mail from 5oup aswell to say that my profiles being featured in their 'Fresh Profile' section which is great as it appears on the homepage for 5 days!

Alice

Found this on my laptop yesterday; it was the initial design for my decorative illustration related to mental health. I decided not to use it in the end as it seemed a tad 'cliche' for the topic. But i do really like it as an image by itself.

Bombay Bicycle Club

Entry for Bombay Bicycle Club. T-Shirt design competition-quality isn't great as could only submit a small image.