Phase 01 - Week 04
Research Journal
This is a record of my project development, showing my weekly tasks, research, design development processes, critical reflection and regular peer reviews.
LO2: Contextualise — Appraise the social, political and historical contexts in which design practice operates.
LO8: Design — Realise a final solution that evidences its strategic journey and clear relationship between form and function.
LO9: Communicate — Communicate effectively in a range of contexts and situations to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Project Recap - Week 4
Last week:
I went on holiday! But used this time wisely to read Atomic Habits by James Clear and decided this book could be incredibly relevant to my project.
Looked at audiences - specifically Gen Z and their thoughts on sustainability
This week:
Research how you can combine a political message with design for purpose
Attend Super Graphics Festival Newhaven - Visual aspects and Talks by Supermundane , Anthony Burrill and Annie Frost Nicholson
I tried screen printing (could this be introduced into my FMP?)
Listen to Lecture 3 by Alec Dudson from Intern about Hawarf (and download their literature for reference).
Phase 01/Wk 03: Research + Discover
Phase 01 - Week 04
How to combine art with an environmental message?
While researching whether it was possible to combine graphic art or typography with a political/environmental message, I discovered Anthony Burrill's work "Oil and Water Do Not Mix," which responded to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
This work was his graphical response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill using samples of the crude oil mixed with buckets of Sand, collaborating with Purple Monkey Design, a print shop in New Orleans. I love his bold use of minimalist woodblock, style typography, which creates an immediate, visceral impact that speaks directly to the audience's sense of justice and urgency through wordplay. I wondered if I could adopt the same style approach by creating compelling graphic art that communicates the importance of sustainable habits. Utilising clean, powerful designs and thought-provoking messages, our artwork could capture the attention of my target audience, inspiring them to take actionable steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle and a responsibility for the planet's future - the only problem is I haven’t screen-printed in 30 years and wouldn’t know how to go about it.
While researching Anthony Burrill online, I realised he was speaking locally at Know Ideas, a series of talks with creative podcasters Dan Walters and Anthony Peters on June 21st in Newhaven, along with Annie Frost Nicholson, Amber Elise, and Supermundane.
Supergraphics Festival - Newhaven
Exploring inspiration from the art scene around me
To get inspired by the creative environment around me, I decided to visit this Super Graphics festival in Newhaven.
The Look Again Supergraphics Festival is a month-long event that celebrates and showcases the impact of supergraphics in urban environments. Supergraphics are large-scale designs often applied to buildings, walls, and other large surfaces, transforming ordinary spaces into visually engaging artworks. I was incredibly excited that this was only an hour away and decided it was worth a visit. Along with the month of events there are workshops and commissioned artworks around the town.
The festival is a great opportunity to learn about new techniques and materials used in creating large-scale graphics and print supported by Levelling up which is funded by the UK Government to promote the creative industries.
Learning new techniques - screen printing
I met with the husband and wife team from Harwood King Printmakers, who have worked with Anthony Burrill on his series of woodblock prints, to try screen printing at their workshop. They were incredibly patient with their time and discussed in detail the process from initial concept to getting a good screen ink coverage.
We also discussed paper finishes, weights, and drying processes, and I was able to take my original ‘Anthony Burrill finished print home for my growing artistic wall collection!
Supergraphics Festival - Newhaven
Anthony Burrill
I then joined the Know Ideas, talks with creative podcasters Dan Walters and Anthony Peters in which Anthony Burill talks in detail about his inspirations, his letterblock style and how the project for ‘Oil and Water do not mix’ came about and his other collections in the V & A and The Design Museum.
Rob Lowe - AKA Supermundane
After seeing his recent ‘Champions League work’ Week 2, I was also pleased that SuperMundane was also giving talks about his distinctive style of geometric graphics and how he came to create his multi-layered, and philosophical creations using line shapes, colour, pattern, and words which can now be seen across global publications as well as collaborating with Comin Relief, British Red Cross and War Child charities.
Thoughts and ideas:
What I found intresting was how all the large scale artworks had been designed to represent the community, local landscape, nature and history of the town of Newhaven. The festival filled their blank walls and grey run-down streets into vibrant spaces of colour and creativity therefore bringing joy, community and inspiration to Newhaven.
The series of events and public artworks are hoping to changing perceptions, and encouraging new visitors, to this industial town and I wondered if I could gauge the same reaction, on a smaller scale in my FMP.
As was quoted on the Look Again Supergraphics website, “Community is at the core” and I thought this would be a great ethos to share with my target audience.
Theory | Lecture 3 – Business planning
Hawarf - Studio Credentials Orientated Report
The lecture series online continued with a video from Alec Dudson from Intern. This case study discusses the process shared by Agency Hawraf, when they closed their company. They announced that the company was closing online, not for financial reasons, but because their objectives and aims seemed to be wanting in different directions. Therefore, it was an amicable split.
After closing the company, they made the unusual decision of being totally transparent about their records by releasing their Google Drive with an accessible link to ALL the literature, information, and systems they created when initially building their business. as well as the budgets to play with.
These indicators are incredibly helpful to us as designers, when working out how to grow our businesses and the scope this can include. Alec discusses the master services agreement, and the fact that this was based on US law and may have differed for those operating in other locations. He emphasises how important it is to partner with a legal team to review the document and ensure it is tailored to your situation. This provides a good outline of what to include in a services agreement.
Alec discusses how it was crucial to consider various aspects of a project, such as responsibilities, payment terms, and licensing. Legal documentation may seem daunting, but it is meant to protect and ensure the value of the designer’s services. He reminds is that it's important to establish ways to continue earning from your work beyond the initial scope. Incorporating these considerations into basic service agreements is vital for future business growth. Additionally, a feedback form can be effective in gaining unbiased feedback.
I downloaded the Google Docs - (yes, it was still available, thank you) and had a look through all the incredibly detailed information supplied. A quick overview.
Capabilities Deck - Showcases all their design work, their segment of the market and super cool projects they have been involved in and clients they’ve worked together with. All are set up on Google Slides with a touch of interactivity. It is a great initial resource document to use as inspiration with engaging solutions.
Project proposal - This document is more about the process of formalising things.
Also to contain an overview or intro of the business, an overview of the campaign including pricing, a list of the final deliverables - (a clear outline), an estimated cost - see before about costs that will change or delay, an estimated timeline, deliverables and cost.
All this advice is invaluable when setting up a business and these golden nuggets of available resources and essential processes for helping with internal documents to learn the fundamentals and logistics of running a practice.
Reference list
Websites
People of Print - Make Your Mark Bootcamp by Inkygoodness [online] Available at: https://www.peopleofprint.com/general/oil-water-do-not-mix [Accessed 18 June 2024 ]
Books
Michael, B. (2021). How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, make people cry, and (every once in a while) change the world. Thames & Hudson. Own Edition [Accessed 3 June 2024 ]