I love this album cover. Great colours, and love the use of line to create the movement of the waves and the jaunty angle of the boat and the typography lends this to a young demographic. I also really like the use of texture in the cover, the sky in particular and this sort of style I think lends itself really well to my infographics piece. Shall have a play around!
I think I may go for Bob.....it has the message for the cause, he has purposefully used really general reference points so the song is both iconic and lasting!
Other ideas include; Isley Brothers - Harvest for the World
I posted this on Facebook and got a huge variety of suggestions including Grandmaster Flash - The Message and Nine Inch Nails - The Hand that Feeds You, but definitely to wordy and not suitable for my stand up and fight in a merry way, folky vibe!
Posted it to the Robin Hood Tax page and they had a vote and are all in favour of the Bob Dylan idea, so I reckon that's my tune!
So have just been commissoned by my local pub to create a poster for a band night. It has to be black and white and I have a few logos that need to be included but other than that I can do what I like. It is a poorly paid job, but paid all the same.....my first £20 for my work (well not 100% true but keeps the poor student designer image up)!!!! :) I'll keep you posted with my progress but it'll be all about thirds, contrast and lines I think although may throw in a character or 2!
Have just watched this with Louis and I completely forgot how amazing this is. With reference to some of the points made by Barry Purves it shows the art of the gag set up really well, but what I love most is that like watching a good silent movie you hardly notice it has no speaking in it. This is due to amazing music, the tempo tells the story so well and for example there is a very definite sound when Shaun has an idea etc. Also the use of expression or the thought process can be seen really well, so it goes to show there are times when less is more and the need for a language based narrative is totally unnecessary.
Just going through some of my bits and bobs and found this in my photos. It is my mood board for the "You" Brief. I started out as a mood board and it slowly became more of a picture or piece of art but I wanted to call it a mood board as I felt it really captured what the whole feel of my piece was to be like.Anyway feel free to comment or critique constructively! Although probably won't change it :)
So yesterday we had the honour of hearing a talk by a world class and highly experienced animator Barry Purves.
He started off the lecture basically saying "to be an animator you will need PASSION and a PASSPORT" and from his wide experience animation is basically dying in Manchester and the UK. He talked about the closing down of 2 big animation studios in Manchester alone this year (Cosgrove Hall and Hot Animations) and how even Channel 4 has stopped commissioning short films. So OK that was a bit of a downer type of start to the talk and I did for a second feel my heart sink a little, but then he continued to talk and by the end of the lecture I was feeling just as excited and passionate about what I do and maybe a little bit more determined than when I walked in.
Barry Purves has been in the business since 1978 and he started his training in Cosgrove Hall and worked on the likes of Chorlton and the Wheelies, Wind in the Willows and for me most impressively DANGERMOUSE.......one of the cartoons of my youth :) His career has taken him all over the world and he has won numerous awards for his short films. He is an author and also a director and one can tell from his lovely "lovie darling" way of speaking and his big booming voice that he started his career on stage.
I loved his answer to Kitty's question when she asked "What software do you mainly use" and his answer to this was to show us his hands! Yes he is very old school and uses mainly puppets and stop motion these days. It was nice to have someone who has seen so many changes in the industry talk and relay his wealth of knowledge, especially as I am really interested in exploring more old school ways of working.
He showed us first a great little animation called "John and Karen" which is about a couple who have had an argument and the man (in case a polar bear) is trying to make amends with his girl (the penguin) and how this unfolds....clip below.
He talked about simpleness and how this piece could have worked with 2 actors and still have been good but because with animation you are in control of everything and can bring a new dimension and metaphor to the scene it can be made really really rich! I liked the way he talked about using every element in your design as I like to do this (or so I hope I do) and he said that everything we place there has to be there for a reason......(reminds me of Alex and her make each mark purposeful)! He also talked about silence and stillness and how when he started he just wanted to make everything move because he could, but it is the still moments that can speak volumes.
Another thing he talked about was showing the human thought process. We watched Mary Poppins and her talking umbrella and he explained why this umbrella was so important to the viewer as it was expressing Mary's unexpressed thoughts and emotions. It is the understanding of the human thought process that keeps the viewer locked to a piece of work. For example the bit in King Kong when after he kills the T-Rex and he moves the jaw back and forward just to check if he is still alive. These little moments of insight that make something special.
Here is another piece of animation he showed us:
He said this piece showed the art of a good gag! Where timing is important but most of all having that moment when it is left to the viewers imagination. The lift scene in particular was a good example of this. He talked about being non-literal in our work and finding a good distance with this. Being purposefully weird is what I think he meant here. He said we need to be credible in our metaphors to show something that is credible and honest and how we can use an artificial situation to give a message.
Oscar Wilde "Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth"
If we show a different view or perspective in our work we can really make a message hit home in a more direct and honest way than if we tell it straight. This is funny to hear regarding animation as I once had a very talented homoeopath say the same....there is power in metaphor indeed.
To end the talk he said,
We need to be passionate and know that whilst it isn't easy it is the most rewarding job in the world. Our passion will evoke a reaction as it taps deeply into the human psyche when they see something brought to life. We can liberate ourselves with animation and should use all the elements around us to bring a story to life. We need to be story tellers and performers to get the most out our characters and you have to LOVE IT.
Really enjoyed this talk as when he had finished I completely caught his passion for his work...he was very contagious, but that is maybe just me and my susceptibilities!!! But he did mention he would be really happy to come and do a workshop, day, couple of days even a week if we could arrange it with the tutors....so what do you say Alex, Stu, Dave...please please please!!!!!
OK so this brief has finally started to make me think about what I need to do to make what I am doing on this course my career. I have been trying to put my finger in why this is happening now, is it the fact that i like the idea of producing info-graphics....is it just the timing...who knows but it has started!
So my first objective bearing this in mind was to choose something that is relevant, current, dynamic and not totally saturated yet! I thought about issues and areas that I would like more information on and it came to me like an arrow whooshing past my ear.......terrible pun there........The Robin Hood Tax.
It is a brand new campaign which has the possibility to be massive. It has broad support and is starting to make tracks, but my issue is that the website whilst fun and a little garish, isn't that accessible for the facts and in a sense is aimed more at already conformed anarchists/activists or "socially conscious" people and doesn't have as much pulling power to average "Joe Public". This is very evident when viewing the amount of people as fans on Facebook compared with the number of people who have signed the petition via the website, a staggering 75% more on Facebook. So is this due to the information being less accessible via the website, is the more concise information on Facebook easier to understand? Also there is definitely a space for a piece of visual beauty to hook people in.
So i started to make my presence known via the Facebook wall and an email to the group via their website. I mentioned my desire to make a piece of info-graphics for the campaign, which i said that I would be more than happy for them to use if they so wished to. they have responded by saying this is an area they are definitely interested in moving to next and are really happy to help me with any information as and when i need it.
So feels like I have stuck my foot in the door and now I just need to get on with the goods.
Thirds! Working with Design Elements and Principles I created a poster for my to be finished "You Brief". I wanted to use the images of the big owl on the small world and have the sky and clouds as a massive visual in the poster to show the feeling of air and space and freedom.....which was the main thread of the story.
So I played around with a few ideas and experimented with the layout and settled on the owl and earth in the lower 1/3 of the page slightly left and looking up, giving an anchor point and to take the eye upwards to the words.
The clouds are bold in white and black and they contrast against the blue background, taking up the remaining 2/3rds of the page. I wanted to use the principles of movement, contrast and size in order to create the impression of the air and freedom. The typography is my own, hand drawn, scanned in and traced and the placement of the wording is dynamic and informal. I used bold colours in order to contrast against the background, whist staying true to the overall colour scheme.
Elements and principles used in my piece are: 3rds, contrast, colour, shape, line, movement and size.
Here is a mothers day card and again I played with the idea of thirds and did 2/3rds sky and 1/3 typography! Also used colour and line to create a pretty commercial piece which was the look I was going for!
