Portfolio Thoughts:

Straight Crossword Style

(Linking business card design)


Puzzle Book:



crossword / word search / sudoku

Fold-Out idea:


Ways to Interact further?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What Work?

Photography:

Selection of 4 different images

Music:

A Gallery of stills of album covers & Screenshots from adverts (visual stuff) I have created music for.

(I would possibly apply this in the iTunes screen saver style - keeping within my 'square' (crossword box) theme.)

Graphics: (?)

Drawings/Illustrations that I have developed as graphic ideas


Websites: (?)

(possible screenshots)

Animation: (?)

3D? (not sure) - Head/James Bond/ Finchingfield Guild Hall
2D? (not my best body of work) - Czechoslovakia / Water

Artwork: (?)

Look through past Art and Design Sketchbooks/Projects.

Storyboard drawings.

Look through Old Photos and Uni Work:

(Interaction and Usability) / (Videos) / (Designs)

Annoyingly for me - most of my successful past work is Audio, so obviously a website is a more useful platform for this medium, but I feel it could still be portrayed somehow.

Notes:

GET CONTENT SORTED!!!!


('Vitalogy' texture), (high voltage tattoo textures), origami, (ability to change things?),

Potentially (for future) developing a styled portfolio with regard to focus on type of job/work - (individually)

Business Card Idea 4

Interactive Crossword Design

So, this idea is based on a design idea that I was thinking about a few weeks ago.

I have made my own crossword puzzle business card. The idea is that the user solves the puzzle using the clues on the back.

With this consideration in mind, the card would have to be textured in material that can be written on easily.

I hope this is not too confusing, but I will allow you to try it out. If i think of better clues in the meantime I will obviously modify them. (But currently these are the best in my list - or at least "easiest" to convey the message)

I tried to keep ideas/style/typo in "a traditional crossword style" so this is why the lettering is designed this way.

I put the "answers" upside down ... and the 'personal' details would reside here ... ? I know this is unconventional but perhaps adds an different dynamic? Again, relating to a traditional puzzle style.

(Not really sold on typo ?Especially on this part 'the answers section'- but was trying to keep consistency)

I will change it and try some ideas.


Anyway, Its my first attempt as a different concept...

It's basically a fun idea. It's not my "final" design or anything like that .. Just an attempt to visualise the idea.


Front:



Back:




I think this idea could work really well, because I feel that providing the different edge, of allowing the user to have that 'remember' factor by actually writing on the puzzle?


These clues aren't perfect; at this stage, but I only came up with them this evening. I attempted to make them as easily (for the user) as I possibly could, while attempting to achieve my message successfully.

I wont tell you some of the other ones I had just yet.... as I don't want to spoil the game ... But once u have had a go at working out the idea, I will put up some of my other confusing clue suggestions.

Newspaper Group Task

Research: (people to contact)

- Chelmsford Weekly News
- This is Essex .co.uk
- Basildon Echo
- Essex Chronicle
- Essex Gazette
- Herts & Essex Observer
- The face of Chelmsford
- Braintree & Witham Times
- Maldon & Burnham Standard
- Basildon Recorder
- Wickford Today
- This is Total Essex .co.uk
- Colchester Gazette
- iEssex .co.uk
- East Anglian Daily Times
- Thurrock Gazette
- Southend Standard
- Hertfordshire Mercury
- Brentwood Weekly News
- Clacton & Frinton Gazette
- Harlow Star
- Essex Free Press


With Regards to IT Services: Spoke to Mark Fletcher there, he advised we need to know exactly what we want, so they can accommodate our needs.

They will not be able to provide a laptop, though they would be able to provide projector, headphones and (speaker/audio player).

------

Helen and I went back and arranged a projector and cabling for the week of the exhibition, we also spoke to the "network" services at the University arranging the Boards to be moved on the allocated dates.

Bio

Hi, I'm Stephen...

I am an enthusiastic, highly motivated individual with good time keeping and the ability to work well under pressurised circumstances. I am dedicated, confident and hard working, while being extremely organised. I am a very creative person and feel I can be a good team player and communicator of ideas.

Having grown up living in different countries I feel I have gained worldly experience from adapting to different cultures and meeting people from diverse backgrounds.

I have a wealth of experience in customer service,TV, music, media and media based computer programmes. Currently I am attending Anglia Ruskin University studying a degree in B.Sc. Hons Multimedia Computing.

I have over ten years experience in working in media based industry. After completing my foundation in Art&Design I began to work in a customer service based environment at London's Stansted airport where I was a part of the Ticket Sales Team. This position required excellent communication skills, the ability to work with people in highly pressurised and often-emotional circumstances. My communication and negotiation skills developed tremendously in this position, as did my ability to work under pressure. I held this position for the first three years of my working life.

Unsure of my destiny at this time I decided to live in France and Snowboard everyday for a season, seemed like a good option at the time. While doing so, I was offered a position as a Cameras Assistant for TV shoots on my return and began working in London on a freelance basis. The list of things I had the opportunity to be a part of is very long, though some highlights include: Reading Festival, Fatboy Slim's "Big Beach Boutique 2", Big Brother and Chelsea Flower Show.

In 2003 another opportunity arose to invest in a Music Production Studio with an old friend that I had actively composed music with as a past time. We began to produce audio for bands and labels, while also composing original music for commercials and TV shows. We did a lot of work for Channel 4, writing for many sponsorship stings and commercials, while other highlights include composing music published by EMI.

In my free time I am mostly with my little boy Henry. Right now I am an expert in "Batman". Personally, I am extremely interested in music, drawing, web design, film and play several musical instruments. I am a keen snowboarder, I love animals and am a tireless supporter of Arsenal FC.

Work Choices???

Considering what I would like to exhibit is proving to be quite difficult ?? In that, I am still debating whether I want to incorporate a sound or visual piece now or not... And deciding which 3 pieces of work will be most effective.

Some Ideas I had were as follows:

People:

(Having 3 'people' related images)



'Henry' or 'Bonkers for Conkers'

Nikon D90.




'Stephen 3D'

Autodesk 3DS Max Face Model




'Miniature Football'

Nikon D90 & Photoshop

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photos:

(3 from the Following) ?















----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Multimedia:

|Created|Captured|Composed|

(Various Mediums)



'Stephen 3D Face Model'

Created using Autodesk 3DS Max




'Henry Photograph'

Captured using a Nikon D90



'Eerie Forest Sound Design'

Composed using Logic Pro


Currently, I'm inclined to go with option 1 or 3. I think I have decided that the Conker photo and 3d Head should be included. The decision is whether I choose the photo or sound for my 3rd piece. Thoughts welcome.



(The only other piece of work I would consider submitting is our Group 3D project - though I believe Andrew is already choosing it?)

Invitation List

Possible Guest Ideas:

1. Henry Davidson
2. Spencer Cartwright - Repartage Photography. (www.repartage.co.uk)
3. Dave Emery - Dave Emery Ltd. (www.daveemery.co.uk)
4. Matthew Cooke - MCC Events Ltd. (www.mcc-events.com)
5. Nick Caffrey - Mind Loop UK, 13 Swan Yard, Highbury & Islington, N1 1SD.
6. Paul Wright - Rubber Cheese Design. (www.rubbercheese.com)
7. Luke Clayden - InFrame Media.
8. Philip Payne - Photographer. (www.philpayne.com)
9. Will Davies - Double Top Music, Strongroom, Curtain Road.
10. Giles Dovaston - 77 Agency. (www.77agency.com)
11. Pavan Mukhi - Foreign Beggars (www.foreignbeggars.com)
12. Pravin Mukhi - Foreign Beggars
13. Adam Kelbie


******************************************************************************

Stephen...

Adjectives / Brainstorming:



CV:

Exhibition Group Meetings

10/2/12: Presentation Pitch Meeting:

The Exhibition Group met and discussed collective theme ideas.

A table of Pro's and Con's were made and all of our ideas were assessed.

The majority of the Group chose "Film" as the theme idea to develop for the presentation pitch.

Collectively we brainstormed potential ideas for this and tasks were delegated to contribute to the Presentation.

Olly: Theme
Elliot: Layout
Anna: Slogans
Kat: Lighting
Helen: Hospitality
Stephen: Plaques
Tracy: Compilation of Presentation Slides

The ideas/designs I came up with have already been published on this blog.

Plaque Ideas: LINK

I also Measured and Drew up a rough 'Exhibition Space' Diagram.


14/2/12: Presentation Final Meeting

Here the group met to read through, double check and practice the presentation.

Tracy and Helen kindly offered to present.


15/2/12: Exhibition Group Organisation

The group met to talk through what everybody was going to be assigned for the week.

I was asked to begin contacting local newspapers, research advertising and creating awareness.

Points Discussed:

ARU (Health & Safety, IT, Catering, Security, Marketing)

Sponsorship

Guest List

Budget

Rota

Layout

Prospectus

General Marketing

Local Radio

Security

Plaque Ideas

I was assigned a task to come up with some plaque ideas for our group presentation.

The plaques would be mounted on card, or textured paper, it may be nice to mount them with a slightly larger darker coloured card behind them. There are many creative ways in which we could mount them though ultimately it depends on a group decision and budget restrictions.

After a discussion and further brainstorm The exhibition group decided that they wanted present a "Film" style theme, so most of the ideas are reflective of this.

I have made some designs just with simple exhibition style plaques and am also developing some ideas around an inclusive photo and plaque.

Simple Plaque:

Further brainstorming around the film area ... I started to think about LA and Hollywood.

I thought an interesting idea could be to make 'American street style' signs for the pillars in the space. With "Sunset, Vine, Hollywood ... all street signs around Hollywood. I then considered the prospect that the red carpet could be a potential idea for directing the area, people flow through the exhibition? Or even the Hollywood Stars found on the floor throughout it's Streets.
Oscars, Award Statues, Paparazzi, Director Chairs, there are so many elements to possibly consider...

I began to incorporate these ideas into the plaque design. Starting with the "Actor Stars" on Hollywood Boulevard, the hand prints (or foot prints) in the floor outside the Chinese Theatre and using film strips. Attempting to be subtle while keeping the main focus on the information and still thinking classy font wise.

I guess ultimately the font should be something like an Oscar's Invitation.

Star:



Hand Print:

Film Strip:






The text would obviously not say this and font styles ongoing; but I guess simply:

-Name
-Name of Piece
-Medium
-Year
-Small Description or Memory

Thinking now, maybe I should try a "movie ticket" style... If I have time I will try.


This is really rough but a quick ideas attempting a photo style plaque:

(Please Ignore the Photo ... and text etc... Very rough Idea)

For example this idea would be hand drawn in fat marker pen on the polaroid



Cinema Ticket: (These are very rough, just quick ideas)





Sketchbook Brainstorm:

EXHIBITION SPACE MEASUREMENTS

Some Photos of Space: Click Here

Business Card Idea 3

This was a concept I stole from an Illustrator Tutorial and personalized:

A 'Stitched' Name Badge Effect:




It reminds me of a bowling shirt style logo.

It's more for practice than a defined 'card style' idea. Though I thought I would post it as it's a little different.

This got me to start thinking about designing a 'playing card' style idea for a business card. Let me develop that and when I have something I will post it.

A Monday Stroll in Hoxton...

I was meeting a friend at the Strongroom on Curtain Road on Monday, so while I was in the area I thought I would go and have a look at the gallery's suggested in Hoxton.

I know Hoxton Square very well, as I have worked in several Studios in the area and have been to both the Hoxton Art Gallery and White Cube in the past.

Annoyingly these galleries Mariana had suggested were not open on a Monday.

This is my own silly fault for not really planning to go, I didn't check. I just thought as I was there I would look. Monday is the only day I have free right now.

I did though go and have a look in many smaller galleries nearby and took a few snaps along my way... Though most of my pictures are of street artwork I liked. I felt a little intrusive taking pictures inside some of the smaller galleries. Though I was able to gain a sense of style, lighting and potential mounting techniques. My main observation was how spacious some of these small galleries felt, though they were crammed with works. It showed a small space can be used very effectively.

Flickr Photos Link


My favourite place by far was a little gallery on Leonard St. called the Pure Evil gallery. The artwork was amazing. I could have spent a fortune there!!! They had some amazing illustrative work and some inventive ideas in how they displayed and mounted their works. I also particularly like that they had made art out of items such as their CCTV cameras ... dope.


I am planning to view the Paolo Roversi Exhibition at the Wapping Project - Bankside in the next few weeks, as I am a huge fan of this style of work. So I will no doubt have a more successful and "actually planned" trip then.

Crazy Cat Person...

Business Card Idea 2:

I am a little bit obsessed with my Siamese cat.

While thinking about trying to design an idea for my business card I started drawing an illustration idea based on my cat..

My initial idea was to create this design for a company branding. I have long considered that if I were to set up my own design company I would call it 'Sneaky Design' ... And my cat to me is the epitome of sneakiness.

Anyone familiar with the habits and personality of a Siamese Cat would completely relate to this. Plus the siamese has a reputation of clean, elegant, sleek, regal qualities which I feel relates to design.

So I began, as always to draw some ideas for a logo in pencil, scanning them and using Illustrator and Photoshop to manipulate the drawings...

Here are some of the ideas; this is still a work in progress, but I wanted to put some potential ideas up. I am still currently experimenting with textures, typography and colour.


Name Ideas:

'sneaky', 'sneaky design', 'siamese design' (taken .. grrr), 'siamese', 'boy siamese', 'half siamese', 'go siamese', 'ok siamese', 'evil cat', 'crazy cat', 'crazy cat design', 'quirky', 'siamese cream', 'cats eye', 'cat-i' 'curious design', 'curiosity',

Original Pencil Drawing:



Re-drawn in Pen:



I then cut the drawing in half and re-drew the lines in order to create a better symmetry within Photoshop.



Then from here I basically used this design idea to attempt to create some different card styles.



I have 100 versions of drawings, scans and traces .... But I'm sure you get the idea



Textured Background:



Business Card Size:





Different Rough Texture Idea: