ollie604

[ollie604]

The printed poster

I thought that the final printed poster came out really well and highlighted the colours of the blues nicely. Darker elements such as the blackbelt and edmonds logo are now visible much easier and also applying my hand-made touch to the poster grounded it to represent me as best as it could.

[ollie604]

A deeper dive: Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was a pioneering American pop artist renowned for his iconic works that redefined the art world in the 1960s. Known for his comic book-style paintings and Ben-Day dots technique, Lichtenstein's art celebrated popular culture and consumerism while offering a sharp critique of it.

His bold, larger-than-life canvases, often featuring stylized, emotionally detached characters, became emblematic of the pop art movement. Lichtenstein's "Whaam!" and "Drowning Girl" are among his most recognizable pieces. With his distinctive style and irony-laden approach, Lichtenstein left a lasting impact on contemporary art, influencing subsequent generations of artists and cementing his place as a pop art icon.

The piece I wanted to focus on for this designer was "Whaam!" for it's prevalence in my life due to my father. "Whaam!" is a piece of pop art, created in 1963. This large-scale diptych painting vividly captures the dramatic intensity of a fighter jet (Sabre F-86) firing a missile, juxtaposed with a comic book-style depiction of an exploding enemy aircraft. Lichtenstein's use of bold primary colors, Ben-Day dots, and clean lines imparts a graphic, almost mechanical quality to the composition. "Whaam!" masterfully blends elements of mass culture with the highbrow art world, offering a commentary on the glorification of war and the dehumanization of violence in popular media. The artwork remains an iconic representation of Lichtenstein's signature style and pop art's engagement with contemporary society.

(https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-whaam-t00897)

[ollie604]

A deeper dive: Catherine Griffiths

Catherine Griffiths is a prominent graphic designer from NZ. She is known for her influential and innovative work with a career spanning over three decades. Griffiths is celebrated for her commitment to exploring the intersection of typography, language, and culture in her designs. Her portfolio showcases a wide range of projects, from branding and editorial design to typography installations. Her work often pushes boundaries and challenges conventions, exemplifying a blend of artistic expression and strategic communication. Catherine Griffiths' contributions have earned her numerous awards and recognition, making her a respected figure in the world of graphic design.

I wanted to talk specifically about "AEIOU" as it was the project I looked at in year 1 of AUT and therefore is a project I am invested in.

The "AEIOU" project is an exploration of typography and language. It involved creating a unique alphabet system using only five letters: A, E, I, O, and U. This minimalist approach challenged traditional design conventions and linguistic norms, pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with limited elements. The project aimed to demonstrate the power of design and typography in conveying complex ideas with simplicity. "AEIOU" represents Griffiths' innovative and experimental design philosophy, illustrating her ability to transform the familiar into something fresh and thought provoking, and it has been celebrated for its creative ingenuity within the design community.

(https://www.catherinegriffiths.co.nz/01-aeiou.html)

[ollie604]

A deeper dive: Dean Poole

Dean Poole is a notable graphic designer and creative visionary from New Zealand. Co-founder of Alt Group, he has left a mark on the design landscape. Poole's work is characterized by its innovative approach, seamlessly blending art and design to create visually captivating and conceptually rich projects. He has received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Black Pencil from the D&AD Awards, a testament to his exceptional contributions to the design industry. Dean Poole's portfolio is a testament to his commitment to pushing the boundaries of design, consistently producing work that is not only aesthetically remarkable but also intellectually stimulating and socially impactful.

I wanted to talk specifically about the Fisher and Paykel branding he did as it's fresh in my mind from when he discussed it at the AGI Open.

Through his design studio, Alt Group, Poole undertook the task of rebranding Fisher & Paykel's brand image. Poole's approach is rooted in modern aesthetics and a profound understanding of a brand's identity, values, and aspirations. This endeavor aimed to align Fisher & Paykel with contemporary design trends, ensuring that the company's image not only looks visually appealing but also authentically represents its essence in a rapidly evolving market.

(https://bestawards.co.nz/graphic/business-communication/alt-group/fisher-paykel-brand-guidelines-book-1/)

[ollie604]

A deeper dive: Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister is a renowned Austrian-born graphic designer known for his innovative and thought-provoking work. Born on August 6, 1962, he co-founded the design firm Sagmeister & Walsh, gaining recognition for his album cover designs for musicians like Lou Reed and David Byrne. His distinctive approach often combines graphic design with fine art, resulting in visually striking and conceptually rich creations. Sagmeister's work has been exhibited in prestigious museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He is celebrated for his willingness to push design boundaries, blend disciplines, and convey deep philosophical messages through his visually captivating pieces, making him a trailblazer in the design industry.

AIGA Detroit Poster (1999): Designed a poster for the American Institute of Graph Arts (AIGA), which gained attention for its unique, tactile quality. The poster featured the event's details covered into his own flesh, using a real, temporary tattoo.

(https://www.moma.org/collection/works/102915)

The Happy Show (2012): Curated an interactive and immersive exhibition, "The Happy Show" which explored the pursuit of happiness through design. This multi-sensory experience blended graphic design, art and psychology to engage visitors in a thoughtful exportation of what makes people happy.

(https://sagmeister.com/work/the-happy-show/)

Beauty (2018): An exploration into the concept of beauty. This multimedia project delved into the philosophical and aesthetic aspects of beauty and its role in design and society. Sagmeister wanted to challenge viewers of their preconceived notions of beauty through this project.

(https://sagmeister.com/work/beauty/)

[ollie604]

A deeper dive: overview

These series of posts, titled "a deeper dive" will look further into the works of the 4 designers chosen for my essay. I figured that by having this record here, it would greatly accelerate the process of writing that section with information, work and potentially links to references I can use in the future.

[ollie604]

Naming ideation

Realising I couldn't just slap my name and the title "y 20 elements" as it's both boring and rather contrived I set to brainstorming what this poster could be titled.

The following are my favourite ones:

Ollie's galactic gallery

Ollie's interstellar impressions

Ollie's journey through the stars

Ollie's outer worlds

Ollie's universe unveiled

Ollie's cosmic collection

I felt that "Ollie's outer worlds" is the perfect title for my poster because it encapsulates the sense of mystery and wonder that I feel when exploring space theories. It conveys a personal connection to the unknown, inviting viewers to embark on a journey with me into the depths of space (my elements). This title encapsulates the essence of my fascination with the universe, making it the most fitting choice for my 20 elements.

[ollie604]

Poster title and name

During the feedback session an idea to add my title & name of the poster by hand was suggested to me. I decided that this would be an excellent idea. My plan is to use my silver pen on the top left-hand side of the poster using the available free space (pun intended).

The silver pen in question, however, is not just any ordinary pen. This silver pen was "given" to me after Dean Poole signed my posters at the AGI Open on Day 1. He had given me the pen by accident and without thinking I had put the dice had given me & the pen into my bag, only when I got home did I realise that I had accidentally swiped Dean Poole's silver pen.

[ollie604]

Peer feedback

During the last week of classes Emil suggested we put all our printed posters together and have 1 minute to discuss the poster, providing contextual positioning on potential design choices but also the elements themselves. The overall theme was suggesting the the text was too difficult to read, I fixed that issue for my final by increasing the weight of the typographic elements from Aktiv Grotesk "Regular" to "Medium". The A3 size also reduced the point size of the type as this file was made for an A2 document.

One piece of feedback that stood out to me was to add a potentially hand-made element within this. Could I draw more stars by hand? Or add my name/title by hand?

Overall, I thought this exercise was incredibly useful and also a great way to get insight into other people's work over the semester.

[ollie604]

Understanding APA 7th referencing

Since it had been awhile since I had needed to write a formal essay I felt it was necessary to become re-accustomed to writing with APA referencing in mind.

AUT Library provided an excellent resource that I decided to post here as a way for me to easily access it when I need it. The resource covers multiple different situations when I would need to cite a resource such as from a book, website, whether they have a date or not or even a YouTube video. I feel better prepared for my essay as a result of looking into this and will practice a few references in this post:

Beauty – Stefan Sagmeister. (2018). Sagmeister.com. https://sagmeister.com/work/beauty/‌

Fisher & Paykel - Brand Guidelines Book | Best Awards. (2017). Bestawards.co.nz. http://bestawards.co.nz/graphic/business-communication/alt-group/fisher-paykel-brand-guidelines-book-1/‌

Sharma, P., & Poole, D. (2009). It’s Not What Design Is, It’s What Design Does. Design Management Review, 20(4), 64–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1948-7169.2010.00038.x‌

[ollie604]

My developed poster

Taking into account the feedback and reflection of both my peers in class as-well as conversations with Emil. I then edited the sizes of some elements to better flow with the sizes of the rest. The biggest change was applying Ben's suggestion of adding a glowing effect under each of the elements like the sun had originally. This makes the especially dark elements pop out far better and also provide a distinction between these being "stars" (core moments of my life) compared to the stars used for aesthetic reasons in the background.

[ollie604]

My poster concept

My poster concept incorporates all 20 illustrated elements along with a shortened accompaining piece of body to the right side of each piece. The scene is set in space with every element in black and white except for the sun, which is in a light blue. The sun represents my first design asset made at AUT and I felt it was important to highlight that as a centre piece given how this is an AUT project.

I am a massive fan of astronomy. I've spent tens of hours looking into space related videos and I've always found it incredibly fascinating. Bede suggested I could create a "solar system" of my content to represent one of my hobby subliminally and when actually presented out like this, it was a genius idea.

When printed some assets draw too much attention/too little attention, for example, the London phone booth is too big and imposing, it draws the viewers eyes before the sun does, which is the primary asset of this. The black belt doesn't stand out enough against the dark background and so I had to think about how I could fix that. Ben suggested adding the glowing effect I used under the sun on each element to make them pop out even more against the space background but also to make them appear just as important as the sun, which they are.

[ollie604]

Illustrated element assets

After assembling my 20 elements I then digitised them in my iconic illustrative style. Some elements such as the phone booth took much longer than an element like the drum sticks, however, each of them are as important to me as the next. The contrast between the black and white is really nice visually for me. The sun being in colour to represent my initially starts of university before growing into this monochromatic colour preference is a theory I want to show within my poster.

[ollie604]

Week 10 - Discuss with peers

The themes of my poster seem to have a reference to technology, from the AirPods, Watch, Apple Pencil, Camera, Plane and Phone-booth. Extending from technology, other than the phone booth and edmonds cook-book, all the content presented is recent and not from the far past.

I want to improve my poster by developing each of the images into a vector illustration (in the style I created element 3). This style of illustration would be similar to the work of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, I could take elements of the pop art they use in their work to use in mine for visual improvements.

I think the reason I work with illustration as much as I do now is because of that initial studio project involving element 3. I found that my grade during that project was positively affected as a result of using illustration as my means to communicate. I felt that the route of illustration worked well once before so I began using it more often, now it is my primary method of communicating through my art projects. Which is why I want to take my elements and turn them into the same style as element 3.

The process behind creating the illustrations I make starts with looking online at the images of the object in question, I will then begin compiling particular aspects from several images so that I encapsulate the overall shape/meaning of an object. I'll then draw those elements into a single output that will then be taking into Illustrator and ill begin creating my rather iconic style of illustration.

I think I my elements are contextually positioned very well, however, I could position the elements better towards social, political and cultural theories/problems a bit better. Thankfully, since I posted each of my elements + their theory behind them here on Tumblr, I could easily edit them.

I think my research on the origins hits the nail on the head for each image but I could probably better organise my contextual positioning for each element through a second pass on each element.

Each of my 20 elements is carefully chosen and I therefore believe I don't need to change them, I would be worried if I couldn't come up with why a particular element was significant to me or my creativity, however, I haven't experience that yet.

[ollie604]

The poster concept

My poster concept takes all the elements from the blog and incorporates them onto an A2 page. My plan is to illustrate each of the elements in a similar style to element 3 to represent my love of illustration, as to why it currently looks unorganised.

[ollie604]

Inventory element 20: Dean Poole's dice

Dean Poole created a pair of dice to help make his decisions when he couldn't make them himself. He would "roll" the dice, a decision would be made after he would get two of the same faces; indicating "yes" or "no"

Dean Poole handed a pair to me himself at the AGI Open, at first I questioned their authenticity about how Dean Poole would use them but after playing around and making some decisions with them myself I could see how they could be beneficial to someone who has many things to do at once.

These are significant to me because Dean Poole himself handed them to me. I was taken aback at how people where getting posters signed and photos, while I got a poster signed he also handed these to me. I was happy but confused at the same time. Dean had spoken about the dice in a talk just prior to me meeting him which is why I want incredibly taken aback by receiving the pair I would've assumed he brought out on stage.

I think that the dice are symbolism for emotions and how emotions can change incredibly fast. This way of presenting emotions through a pair of dice was very well done as not only is there an underlying theme behind them but also the function of them still remains, allowing the user to actually make decision with them. I think I could take a lesson from this pair of dice, I could make something that has a deep and underlying thought but still make the object have a function for the user.

[ollie604]

Inventory element 19: Apple Pencil

The Apple Pencil, a stylus designed for use with Apple's iPad and iPad Pro, was introduced in September 2015. It was developed to provide a precise and natural input method for digital artists, designers, and note-takers, enhancing the functionality and creative potential of Apple's tablet devices.

I got my Apple Pencil as apart of a birthday gift for my 18th birthday. It was a gift from my parents along with an iPad. They believed I could develop my ability in digital drawing using the two together.

The pencil is significant to me because my parents got it for me on a whim as they believed I would be good at it, they didn't get it for me because I asked for it, or they knew I would be, they just believed that I could use it. That level of emotional trust they have to spend the amount they did to get this for me is something I treasure about my parents.

The pencil provides the ability for note taking in lectures but also the ability to visually record things on the fly, something not often done, not to mention the freedom from ink and paper, two things that are limited due to scarcity and materials, while with the tablet and pen, can virtually create and write/draw unlimited pages. One of my favourite illustrators is a Ukrainian illustrator named Tony Skeor. He works exclusively on an iPad and pencil to create beautiful futuristic illustrations.