Naked by David Balhuizen

I like this series of photographs, as it creates a different perception of nudity and desire. In some ways it is also witty. It shows that you can cleary suggest something in a image without it being the first thing that comes to mind.

Andrew Rae

Andrew Rae is illustrator, his style I feel falls into the cartoonist category. I really like the complexity of these illustrations, yet they appear to be produced in an effortless manor. They have a nice contemporary feel. Andrew has also done some work for mtv, which can be seen on his website http://www.andrewrae.org.uk/. You can clearly see why his style suits this type of brand/genre.

Its nice to see illustration being produced on the larger scale, e.g in shop interior etc. I think further ideas could be developed within this area.

http://www.new-online.co.uk/ taken advantage of small print.

Sweet Images

I found these designs on the website www.new-online.co.uk. A great example of ‘good use of colour.’ I love this is not another white coloured Letter-head. Although practically colour is economical, it certainly makes the brand stand out above all the 'tasteful' brand identities so often seen. I believe this does have a tasteful quality, it also suggests if you are going to use bright colours, do it well.

Adrian Johnson

I noticed some illustrative work by Adrian Johnson in an issue of Design week. You might recognise his work in the more recent Robinsons adverts. Here is some further works found on the website http://www.adrianjohnson.org.uk. I really like the charming youthful style however can be also used for adult audiences. Therefore his style at which you may consider unique and specialist is actually quite versatile. He 'really enjoys the immediacy of screen printing'. Design week. It shows that illustration does not always need to be brought back to the Mac. Within the examples above I really like the limitations of colour, perhaps due to the screen-printing process as well as the cleanness of the designs.

Metro Advert

I have been noticing these adverts everywhere on my train line, some of which are quite amusing. They create a simple illustrative humoristic tint on a serious issue. Although they have grabbed my attention I don't feel they will make a great difference of the recycling issue. However the ad's show that the brand is aware of issue being created with there product. Is this to create a positive brand, or are they really trying to make a difference?

http://www.studiotonne.com/

Here is a rather playful introduction to a design company. I especially like the use of sound element. It shows how versatile and interactive digital design can be. It is certainly a refreshing change from regular simple website introductions. Although it may seem random, this imagenative intro is what will grab attention to the site.

http://flickrvision.com/

This is an unusual site, where any one across the globe can upload photos. When they are posted they pop up on the map. The idea is based upon sharing photography, and therefore perhaps data. I like the interactive element, rather than a basic database of images. By clicking on a image, you are transported to someones photo collection.

The Jupiter drawing room -http://www.jupiter.co.za

This Jupiter drawing room has used some nice unconventional advertising methods. I particularly like the closet built for the Nedbank Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. It uses the well-known phrase coming out of the closet, yet I believe in a friendly witty nature. A very different way of advertising, though I would be concerned that it could blend in to the background too much.
However 'Another dimension was added to the idea by looping a recording of random knocking and screaming and playing it from within the closet. This created the illusion that actual people were trapped within, and were dying to come out. It also generated lots of smiles.' The positioning of such adverts is vital. It shows that even 3d objects can be used with advertising rather than the traditional print and new age digital.

How to analyse Advertising

I found some simple easy tips on how to analyse adverting on 'http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article227.html' It has made me realise that there are a lot of psychological factors that can be revealed from an ad, and exactly how the media can build social polices. The tip would be useful for future analysis.

1. What is the general ambience of the advertisement? What mood does it create? How does it do this?

2.What is the design of the advertisement? Does it use axial balance or some other form? How are the basic components or elements arranged?

3.What is the relationship between pictorial elements and written material and what does this tell us?

4.What is the use of space in the advertisement? Is there a lot of 'white space" or is it full of graphic and written elements?

5.What signs and symbols do we find? What role do they play in the ad's impact?

6.If there are figures (men, women, children, animals) what are they like? What can be said about their facial expressions, poses, hairstyle, age, sex, hair color, ethnicity, education, occupation, relationships (of one to the other)?

7.What does the background tell us? Where is the advertisement taking place and what significance does this background have?

8.What action is taking place in the advertisement and what significance does it have? (This might be described as the ad's "plot.")

9.What theme or themes do we find in the advertisement? What is it about? (The plot of an advertisement may involve a man and a woman drinking but the theme might be jealousy, faithlessness, ambition, passion, etc.)

10.What about the language used? Does it essentially provide information or does it try to generate some kind of emotional response? Or both? What techniques are used by the copywriter: humor, alliteration, definitions" of life, comparisons, sexual innuendo, and so on?

11.What typefaces are used and what impressions do they convey?

12.What is the item being advertised and what role does it play in American culture and society?

13.What about aesthetic decisions? If the advertisement is a photograph, what kind of a shot is it? What significance do long shots, medium shots, close-up shots have? What about the lighting, use of color, angle of the shot?

14.What sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes are indirectly reflected in the advertisement? An advertisement may be about a pair of blue jeans but it might, indirectly, reflect such matters as sexism, alienation, stereotyped thinking, conformism, generational conflict, loneliness, elitism, and so on

The Design Museum

I visited the design museum, the other day as I was looking for the 50 years of Helvetica exhibition. However this appeared to be a small exhibition in the Cafe area. I had a look but most of the images I had seen on the blanka website that I had recently discovered. I must admit I did like the way the work was positioned in the cafe area, it suggested that this place was serious and enthusiastic about design as it was filtered everywhere. I found the display obscure. It based its ideas

Therefore I led myself to the two other main exhibitions Zaha Hadid, Architecture and Design, as well as a graphic design exhibition names Friendly Fire by Johnathan Barmbrook. Both are rather influential and interesting.

I first saw Zaha Hadid's exhibition. The first room her later work was in a darker room with spot lights, that I felt created a good atmosphere for her Russian constructivist work. Hadid was born in Baghdad in 1950, and came to London in 1972. She has created 'Urban master pieces to domestic objects and furniture.'




Her work uses radical geometry, which is formed from the influential period Russian constructivism. I found her paintings rather abstract considering they where based on architecture. This may be due to the sheer amount of detail, the angles of the work, and how the architecture is stretched across the entire canvas. She manages to go beyond basic forms, which almost makes the work hard to look at. Work I particularly liked was ‘The Divers,’ as it showed the designs in use. It seems that the paintings are the basis of her architecture designs that are then drawn up using layers of acetate and then models are created.

Upstairs in the museum the exhibition is extended. It appears more contemporary than the selection down stairs. The curve seems to be embraced, where before Sharpe angles appeared to be the trend. I preferred these designs. They appear more fluid. The design bellow almost appears living.



The second exhibition was called Friendly Fire by Jonathan Barmbrook. His work made rather admirable bold statements about rather serious worldly issues. I felt inspired by the strength of this work, It makes you desire such graphic jobs to work on yourself, however such strong ideas need to be expressed well and loudly to be successful. 'And this designer doesn’t hesitate when offered the opportunity to dive into ideological waters and deliberately swim in political ponds.' http://www.fontshop.com/features/fontmag/002/02_barnbrook/. He espiers to 'graphic design having a vital role to play in influencing ideological landscapes of society.'

A particular piece of work I liked was his magazine ad busters 'a graphically-designed magazine devoted to numerous political and social causes, and run by an organisation aiming to 'advance the new social activist movement of the information age' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Barnbrook. One image I saw was a straight image comparison on a beer gut belly and a young Childs belly from Africa, the images were very hard hitting without any effort.



He suggests that 'designers should not separate their own beliefs to those that they express in their work.' He is very expressive with colour, he mentioned on a concept board of his for Damien Hirsts book design, that white is used within design a lot because there is a pretence to be tasteful. However as much as I can see his, point, it very hard to appear tasteful and not use white, it so commonly used and does appear fresh to the untrained eye.



He also is extremely experimental with his use of type. Which seems to express 'Visual Energy' http://www.fontshop.com/features/fontmag/002/02_barnbrook/. I would like to look further in to how he develops such fonts, and where he gains such influences.

Advertising is dead, Long Live Advertsing

I have recently read the book, Advertising is dead, Long Live Advertising By Tom Himpe and Will Colin.

The book is based upon the theory of 'non-conventional forms of advertising' that we so readily take up in today’s design society. I have to agree that grabbing people attention is harder now than ever before, purely for the immense amount of advertising about, and the more places it can be seen, mostly in a multimedia sense.’ Therefore advertisers can no longer rely on Consumers to behave like the passive receivers they once where.' 'Brands are compensating for the declining impact of traditional advertising. Here's is some alternatives traditional advertising that the author listed, Guerrilla, Ambient, Steath, Buzz, word of mouth, virals, stunts, advertising gaming, experimental, wild fire, ambush etc etc.

It is believed that there are 'Four drivers of alternative advertsing.' that are worth remembering.

Proximity. This means getting closer to the consumers on a face to face basis. Either the brand comes to the consumer or the consumer comes to the brand, without any other media involvement. One example of this is the use of promotional staff.

Exclusivity. 'Having alone time with the consumer.' The brand/ advertising agency finds a special environment away from other competition to promote their product. E.g. An elevator. Evian once used a swimming pool floor to promote their water. A very appropriate place, and is seen in the book.

Invisibility. I.e. to quietly advertise/ moving the brand to back ground. 'Advertising that does not look and feel like advertising.' 'Consumer do not like the smell of the sell.' For example, reducing brand Logo/ creating an event to help the lives of the consumers.

Unpredictability. Basically is involves catching the consumer off guard, and is something you don't see everyday. It has to come as a genuine surprise to the consumer.

Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi Gallery Online Is a great place to find inspirational art. You can find the most contemporary and cutting edge art.

Within the site (www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk) there are also biographies, information on the artist, articles, and other resources.

With the website I found a sub heading 'Which reality?' which held some quite nice pieces of work.

Firstly Inka Essenhigh, here first piece shown bellow is called 'Subway' an oil on canvas, 200x180cm. I love the fluid motion of the piece, created by her 'seamless' application of paint. Which seems appropriate considering the movement on a subway. 'Turning everyday banality into surreal case study, Essenhigh gives humorous portrayal of people at their rush hour worst. Drawing stylistic reference from both graphic novels and golden age animation, caricatured city-types gain comically heroic status, rendering a humble slice of America as grand theatrical drama.' http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/inka_essenhigh.htm




Blue wave 2002 oil on canvas 178x 188cm


Supergod 2001, oil and enamel on canvas 183x 188cm

Another artist I was particularly intressted in is David Throrpe. Instead of using the usual oil on canvas, he created these amazing paper collages. They contain the finest of detail. He creates images of 'scenes of urban isolation oozing sex appeal, 70s social architecture promising budget exotica.'


Forever 1998 Paper collage 136 x 154 cm


Kings of the night 1998, paper collage 149x 168cm


We never sleep 1998 Paper collage 90 x 176 cm

http://www.dexigner.com/graphic/news-g11708.html

Some things I just like.

Greek God's and Heroes by Robert Graves

I have recently read a few stories from the book Greek God's and Hero's. The stories themselves rather than the book, I truly admire. I found it amazing how these stories where built up in ancient Greek times I can even relate to. The Greek’s built up a family of God's that 'rather like any rich human family on earth.' The Greek’s not only offered sacrifices to them but they also poked fun at them, they were sort of entertainment for the race, much like we have a soap on TV. The myths that incorporate the Gods/ hero's seem magical; they suggest our basic instinct for a need of entertainment/ belonging and consequence. Within the stories there are many disputes, romances, and general actions that create consequences that have supposedly built the world to what it is. 'They legends of Acient Greece have captivated audiences for centeries. They have inspired great works of art and literature.' Defiantly an interesting read.

Serpentine Gallerie Pavillion 2007

Serpentine Gallery Pavillion 2007 byOlafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorse August – November 2007.

I love the circular notion of the inside and out of this piece of architecture, which is still currently under construction. It reminds me of a spinning top, which in fact I just read…that is exactly what it is meaning to reflect. I realise that inspiration can be drawn from everywhere. A spinning top has a unique balance system, this can be clearly seen in the form of this architecture by the used of the white strips running down the side, (although it is sturdy.)

A bit of 'slightly' relevant philosophy...

There is a philosphical theorem, nothing can be just imagined/ designed etc without inspiration from/ seeing something else. The brain is not capable of creating something completely new, for example the magical creature a unicorn is made up from a horse, and perhaps a dinosaur, and a house was inspired maybe by a cave. Therefore we need to embrass these inprirations, such like the Serpentine has.

'The Pavilion will act as a ‘laboratory’ every Friday night with artists, architects, academics and scientists leading a series of public experiments.' 'A wide spiralling ramp makes two complete turns, ascending from the Gallery’s lawn to the seating area and continues upwards, culminating at the highest point in a view across Kensington Gardens and down into the chamber below.'

Whiskas

Whiskas' Cat Food as has just released a new campaign. I must admit the advert did catch my eye within a TV magazine. Perhaps due to the simple background, aesthetically pleasing crafted origami chicken and because not many other animal food ad's have an experimental quality. So I thought it was worth blogging. However I then showed my mother who said the first time she saw it she thought it was a screwed up piece of paper and didn't take much more notice than that. Admittedly she was not wearing her glasses and we don't own a cat, so perhaps the ad didn't need to strike her. I then thought about the ad again, it was aesthetically pleasing to me, however I like anything slightly artistic. I can understand the concept that there are whole chunks of chicken/beef/fish/lamb etc, therefore the chicken/cow/fish/sheep is relevant, buy why origami? does that suggest a playful brand? and should there be a small reference a to the cat? However that may not be required as Whiskas is a big brand, and maybe if it did it would loose its eye-catching simplicity. Does this eye-catching simplicity/ arty/ wittiness actually gain more sales? Do the public like this or sometimes are they just looking for a brand who says it like it is?

I think this origami creatures could have been animated a little better online.

'Sleepwalkers' by Sabrina Bonggiovanni

A web museum of Bonggiovanni's photography work can be found on http://www.sabrinabongiovanni.com/.

I really liked this series of sleepwalkers due to the playful quality. It shows how themes can be greatly experimented with within photography. A simple idea but it works well and is rather amusing. The photography basis itself still on the human figure but in a different light. There is a twist being made on the simple figure portrait.

'Stop Stealing Sheep'

I have recently read what I now call my bible of typography, 'Stop stealing sheep and find out how type works' by Erik Spikerman and E.M. Ginger. Ok so the bible may be a little too complimentary, however it is definatly a book that will contiune to be with me throughout at least my next (last) year of university.

What I like most about this book is that it manages to compare type by metaphor to practically everything, food, shoes, people, families etc, maybe a little excessive but these little comparisons make it easier to understand type, and make the book generally an easier read. The book gives nice little tips about grids and type that will defiantly help to advance your graphic design/ typographic skills.

Main points throughout the book that I found particularly relevant and insightful are as follows...

Firstly there is a constant change in typography; this is due to the progression of out intellect, culture, technology, society, economy etc. It would be interesting to find just how one of these factors have made or will make a big impact on typography. Il take the point about culture to explain further. We know that culture effects typography because if we are to look at all the different newspapers of different countries, the look will change to suit the readers within that culture. Technology has also greatly effected this area of design as new fontshave been designed for websites, mind you this is only a small part of the change. Will any of these factors not become an issue? And to what extent will they effect type in the future.

This leads me to the fact that type has the purpose of constructing a persona/ character before you even start reading the article. It is therefore essential it is right, so articles/books/magazines etc gets the correct readership. Despite the fact this character/persona and correct impression is being made it may be 'unnoticed by the untrained eye.

Not only does the word reflect what font is chosen, a good typographer also reviews from the other angle the choice of word can also reflect how the font looks. Advice given is you don’t want two letters looking too much the same in a smaller words, also in certain fonts predominate letters really take on the style, how much of the style needs to be shown? The more letters in the word the more options of fonts is available.

Other relevant points/facts made in the book

- Black type on white looks thinner than white on black
- There are always technical restraints of fonts - i.e. is the font clear at a smaller point size.
- Some print is made to be invisible- you want the text to do the speaking not the font! Where would this be relevant?
- Sans serifs are more comfortable to read
-Bitmap fonts are great for screen fonts only
-Trendy fonts are the opposite to business fonts- they are unpredictable
-Futura is 1950's -1960' advertising font

Plus et Plus Commercials

Design company Plus et Plus, have done some nice tv commercials.

I like the Sunsilk commercials. There are four commercials in total for Dry, Frizzy, Flat and poofy hair. Each advert uses animated vector shaped illustrations. Each has the distinctive colour. The colours relate well to the target market and create a contemporary yet girly ambience. Conceptually they take the essence of what the shampoo does and animates it through other means, by the use of funky, fun, girly images. For example for dry a drink/cocktail is animated and for poofy, a poodle is used. I like the quick snappy tone of the advert, which holds just enough information for the busy modern women. However despite this I feel some of the copy could have been worked on further ‘quench that dry’ doesn’t make that much sense for the dry hair advert, however with the voice over and the added line get hairapy, there is a suggestion of the cute/ girly/ fun/ carefree/ attitude. The adverts defiantly works well digitally/ animated, rather than a still advert, I also like the way the product is revealed at the end, the girly illustration captures the woman audience and draws them in before showing what the product is.




Another ad I quite liked, not for persuasive value but rather artistic direction is the Volvo Zipper, where multiple cars and envisaged a zip.

Stickmen Cards

I have recently seen these illustrated cards in regular card shops. They are created by Santora collections. Unfortunately I couldn't find many images of them online. However they have developed the well know stickmen styled drawings, with added humorous catchy captions. I like the idea of using something so simple in this case a style, which people can easily relate to. The simple style also makes it easy to make the cards aesthetically pleasing; with the theory less is more. There are endless possibilities for the idea, which is needed for card design.

In some specialist card shops, I find endless inspiration for illustrative ideas.

Jamie Shovlin - Naomi V Jelish 2004

Art turns to perception and trickery with Naomi V Jelish 2004 by Jamie Shovlin.

A room was filled with newspaper cuttings about Naomi and her family, unbelievably realistic drawings of babies and children created by Naomi the 13 year old girl, diary entries as well as photographs school reports and personal mementoes, to explain the story of the artistic genius Naomi.

As I looked round the room, due to the sheer immense amount of data, the story becomes more and more believable; this draws on a concept that if you’re told something enough you generally begin to believe it. When I saw it I was just simply amazed by the quality of drawing that Naomi produced.

Throughout the work a story is also revealed about the 13 year olds life, 'Naomi showed great aptitude for art in the face of complete indifference from her family and school. But in 1991, a few months after her father drowned, Naomi, then 13, her mother, and her four siblings mysteriously walked out of the family home in Gravesend, Kent, and despite extensive police inquiries, none of them has been seen or heard of again. A cutting from the Kent Messenger discloses that in September 1990 Naomi won "the prestigious North Kent Student Art Prize".

In August the following year the paper reported that police were concerned because the family had vanished. Neighbours said the family seemed "cursed". David Jelish, the head of the family and a road mender with Kent county council, had drowned while saving one of the children, another child had recently survived electrocution and Vanessa, the children's mother, was suffering from a stress-related illness following the death of her youngest son in 1989.

A book accompanying the display at the Saatchi Gallery goes on to say that Naomi's precocious drawings were recovered from the abandoned house some time later by the late John Ivesmail, a science teacher at Naomi's school who had befriended the family. Though beguiled by her sketches, he waited until 1999 to show them in a small exhibition in Gravesend.

Soon after, he passed Naomi's pictures to a friend, a young artist called Jamie Shovlin, who created an exhibition of the drawings, along with all Jelish memorabilia recovered from their house and the newspaper cuttings. ' http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/jamie_shovlin.htm

As the work is placed in a gallery you can believe that the work has been put there as a tribute to Naomi, you don’t doubt the authenticity due to the prestigious environment. This makes me question to what extent do people’s perceptions change when they view something, depending on where it is placed. As you have probably guessed this moving story is simply a hoax. The names Naomi V Jelish and John Ivesmail are actually anagrams of Jamie Shovlin. He claimed he wanted "to test the boundaries of ambiguity". You can question the truth in comparison to fiction, a concept I quite like. The story he chose, is slightly depressing, makes the whole thing more believable, as people don’t generally joke about a little girl’s misfortunes.

'His painstakingly researched and executed works combine inherently flawed systems, pseudo-scientific exactitude and doubtful philosophical propositions with the seemingly objective experience of the archive. Shovlin’s work questions the way in which we map and classify the world around us in order to understand it.' http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/artnow/jamieshovlin/default.shtm