Overview of Assessments in Postgraduate Arts Degree

Overview of Assessments in Postgraduate Arts DegreeThe stolon semester started with an individual ch all(prenominal) last(predicate)enge to the Masters students.It compriseed of an introspective vomit up where whizz had to defecate a self-portraiture piece, which could be in either(prenominal) lock suitable platform or endorse.A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits move over been bring by artists since the earliest quantifys, it is non until the Early Renaissance in the mid 1400s that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the principal(prenominal) issuing, or as important characters in their act as. With reveal and cheaper mirrors, and the advent of the panel portrait, many painters, sculptors and chump deemrs tried both(prenominal) form of self-portraiture. (Edward Lucie-Smith, S. K. 1987)For me a portrait should illustrate non just now t he bulgeance of its subject, besides too flesh outs which touch to his personalizedity and past experiences.My experiments on portraying myself were ground on an indirect reflection of myself, inserting some of my characteristics in my painting or drawing.In this case, I wanted to try a new approach, something quite an different.After some doodling and sketching, I opted on using the photographic Mosaic technique.This technique consists in a picture divided into rectangular segments, solely(a) then replaced with an early(a) photograph of an approximated color. When it is looked at from a distance, the individual pixels appear as the chief(a) image, while close examination reveals that the image is, in reality, composed of many sm in both(a)(prenominal)er images. Trade tag by Runa government agency Technology, Inc., in 2003 by Robert Silvers, a Masters student at MIT (US Trademark Office. Retrieved 2009-10-13), the techniqueBeca engross tone is make of bits of experie nces and an individual is composed of his memories, separately pixel of my portrait was to be replaced with photographs of dates, events and people that had marked me.That piece would be inserted in a tridimensional composition, expressing how my past experiences shaped my personality and how it shows on the outside, by my actions and appearance.The composition was influenced by the work of and Julien Valle. His outstanding, germinal and inspiring handmade graphic sculptures and stylish consummation graphics argon like passage ways to alternative dimensions, fit worlds. He to a fault has an incredible ability to connect elements in a way that his compositions always become direct means of communication.The tridimensional lettering forms a sentence from Fernando Pessoa, the brilliant Portuguese poet, and its marrow is much to a greater extent than it appears to be.The vocabulary is a hymn to the Portuguese people, representing hope and belief in ourselvesBeca affair life is made of bits of experiences and an individual is composed of his memories, each pixel of my portrait was to be replaced with photographs of dates, events and people that had marked me.1st shortenedTwo weeks aft(prenominal) my comer at the UK, still getting utilize to the new life in Epsom, it was prison termination to start the peak start semester work.As starter, on the first caterpillar track get together, each postgraduate student had to present themselves as comfortably as their portfolio of work. The purpose of those presentations was to help us students to fuck each other and to, after that, lead the people we wanted to work with.The first project we would reserve to answer was presented to us and it consisted in, after forming police squad ups indoors the class, brand ourselves as a squad and represent that analogous squad in the form of a wind vanesite. Each architectural planer or embark onnership had to bring to pass an synergistic website number that had a recognizable identity operator and brand experience defined a philosophy, rationale and methods of working which investigated through the presentation of work, how the team applied refer notional, socio/cultural, political or industrial concepts to it which had background documentation of re await that explores a variety of contemporary screen portfolio styles and influences. The website should show the added value of the team, as sound as the target companies (who would we want to work with? who would our audience be?)As for the presentation, it should explore and apply clear graphic cast and communication tools to herald the ideas of the team.Every presentation went smoothly and I was mesmerized with the talent, skills and impressive work sh possess by my colleagues and to choose the ones I wanted to work with was proving to be difficult. I know that in a team we rent to combine, not except the skills of its segments, just now likewise thither has to be a mutual discernment and a good relationship between them. winning that fact into consideration, I looked to the people I already knew and with whom I had a good connectedness and between them five appeared to be the most reliable.When the presentations were done, I was postulateed by the cardinal girls sitting next to me if we could be in the same gathering, and since they were activate of the group of people I wanted to work with, I agreed with it. afterwards I received some invitations from other groups and people, that it was too late. Who knows if it was the lift out survival of the fittest, or how would it had been if Ive chosen to join other group? I dont know, nevertheless the group was then made and it was a powerful group made of strong willed people me, Ines Torre Rudo Tinofieryi Rashi Puri Helmut Mertens Christina Sinn and Chia Chieh Chih.Afterwards, I was approached by Lisa, who asked to join the team I was in.Since our team had already six elements, we had to first be sure it was congenial to have an additional member. She then asked our supervisor, Damian Chapman, if there was any problem in her joining our team, and after he said that it was perfectly fine, our team had dour from six into a seven members team.We take a shited a clear eon plan and pursued on our first meeting reservation a first approach to how we would work and which were the personal influences from each team member.Unfortunately, there was some sort of problem with our team. We were notified that the team couldnt continue having seven elements since all team should have a maximum of six members and there was other team Afterdark which had only five members.That brought us into a hard situation, having to choose someone from the team to leave the rest. After a long tidings on the matter, all of us cosmos reluctant in firing anyone, the group came to the consent that Lisa, for being the last element to join the group, should be the one to leave.This was not an eas y decision to be made, but everyone mum it was a necessary measure to be taken and it was decided in a democratic way, so everyone could have a part on it.Having read Marty Neumeiers publications The Designful Company How to build a culture of nonstop basis and The Brand Gap, I had the perspective that the power of a find out strengthens the nub of branding while promoting an industry.While taking into consideration the predict of a corporation, its require to keep in mind the significance of branding.To settle on a expose is not a mere coincidence, but, on the contrary, is a meticulous process and study of possible names and meaning. Consumers dont actually think back some the magnitude of branding, but he needs to understand the brands yield or services.The route begins creating a simple name, consumers memorize whats simple, and too making sure your name can be connected with something positive the consumer is attracted to items to which he can plug in positive quali ties.One more important check is that the name must be unique. If the name is too similar to some other companys, then the public is likely to mix the companies in collection, which decreases revenue.It is putting surfacely cognize in the business world that a brands name is of the highest significance for any businesses.Without an attractive and familiar brand name, it doesnt matter if the products or services are good, the income would almost certain(p)ly not be that encouraging.A great name would be easily associated with the products or services offered (people would relate excellent cars with Ferrari or Lamborghini, sportswear with Adidas or Nike, soft drinks with Coke or Pepsi the same way as fast food with McDonalds or KFC).The brand name is riding habitd interchangeably quite fastnessly within the term brand, even though it is more appropriately used to particularly stand for linguistic elements of any product.It constitutes then a sort of trademark, if the name entir ely categorizes its owner as the commercial font of the products or services.As my research on the subject revealed, relating to brand names, they can appear in many stylesAcronyms (constituted of initials)Descriptive (which illustrates a product utility)Alliteration or rhyme (amusing to say and easy to remember) remindful (which evoke a real picture)Neologisms (wrangle invented out of vigor)Foreign words (adopted from other language)Founders names (names of real people)Geography (names of regions or landmarks)Personification (brands that take their names from myths or legends).not sure more or less what would be the outflank(p) choice of a name for the team we just formed, on the first meeting I had with my team mates, we started by defining ourselves with just one word.Not sure about what would be the best choice of a name for the team we just formed, on the first meeting I had with my team mates, we started by defining ourselves with just one word.Each of us had, also, to d esexualise our strengths in graphic program. As shown in the scanned mind map on the preceding page, each member mentioned their roles in the area of Graphic Design, how they draw off themselves and their definition of Graphic Design. The evoke point we got from those notions was that we all complemented each other, and each one had their own and particular value to the team. It was a good start. sagacious each members strengths would make it easier to plan a strategy for our work flow, as rise up(p) as for each ones roles. To maximize the clip and do the best possible with a tight schedule, is always necessary to indicate circumstantial roles for the elements of the team.I see myself as someone determined and hard worker, neer afraid of late working hours or to fight for what I believe. My impression strengths are the experience in working both in web design and usability, as well as illustration.Basically, I have had worked in the most varied areas of Design (for exampl e, video editing, animation, airbrushing, photography and publication).The core motivation that made me join the Masters course of Graphic Design communion in the University for the Creative Arts in Epsom was the search for training not skills but ideas. Because a good idea is what really matters.As for my team mates Rashi is experienced in photography, instant animation and both print and typography, she defined herself with the word simplicity Rudo has an amazing talent for packaging design and brand identity, and describe herself as unique I couldnt agree more, as shes one of most remarkable people Ive ever met Christina is the force connecting the group an defines herself as creative, she is also strong in print design Chih is simply idle by her own words- and she is strong in various areas, including the creative one utmostly, the only male member of the group, Helmut, is a rea lean and the typography specialist.Resuming, we all defined Graphic Design as a tool to suppo rt communication and to understand information.As a group it was clear from the low gear that we wanted to represent ourselves as a young, looseness and creative team that would approach design without fear. We wanted to create clever and wacky ideas that would try into interesting design that go bys a substance. We wanted to work for clients who are adequate to(p) minded and would give us the freedom to create unique ideas. An example of those companies is Coca Cola or Cadbury.After having presented ourselves to the rest of the team, in a more pro set way than earlier before all the class, we started our quest for a name doing a brainstorm on random words and expressions.That brainstorm is illustrated in the mind map seen above. Our method consisted in cursorily saying the first thing that came to mind on the instant. We then would search for the origins, con school text and meaning of each word or phrases.A list was made and every name analyzed. Some of the names we came up with were excluded for being already used by other companies and to select the final one from those left, each member voted on the names they preferred.By the end of the voting, the name chosen was claim Back the Bacon. I personally voted on this name. It has all that is requested in a good brand name is dramatic play to say easy to remember and has that new-fangledness of being something new. Plus, it means call for home the prize, which is the goal of our projects.One of my key influences for the choice of that name was the personal website of Nessim Higson, iamalwayshungry.com. The name is incredibly fun to say and is just basically a random phrase, but communicates the authors constant hunger for knowledge and new experiences. That was the direct feeling I wanted for the team.The website also inspired me for its interactivity it challenges the user to explore and unveil its contents by grave him to drag his mouse public treasury the page.Initially we fantasy of using a food/kitchen based theme, so, the first sketches for the logotype were around that theme.While sketching possibilities for a logo, we were also intellection of possible similes for the website. The kitchen theme would be an interesting one.Doodling with that idea of kitchen in mind, I theory why not using a fridge as a metaphor? As a web page, it also has different levels, areas, and those aspects could work with a web interface. With this in mind, I tried to explore the concept, mental synthesis possible information maps for the distribution of contents on the website.Parallel to this, I started playing with different ideas for the logo. Ultimately I thought about the sick(p) factor we said we wanted for our team. And whats crazier than the Cookie Monster from Sesame highway?The character was a perfect fit for giving a certain fun aspect to the kitchen based thematic.Developing that idea, I started with some sketches of our own necessitate Back the Bacon monster (see previ ous and next page).The monster was later discarded as the whole concept of a kitchen based metaphor was rejected. The fridge, interface we ultimately chosen for the page, was associated with cold and harsh. It was a flaw from our part to not consider the English public as a primary client the cold does not please the consumer, because the typical English die hard is already too cold. It could work with the use of a oven instead of the fridge, but we also admitted that all that thematic was too clich.So, we started all over again, from the beginning, laborious to find the right way to conduct our project.I then created some characters to impersonate the members of the team.With those characters, the website could be veritable through a comic strip, telling the story of the team, our beliefs and the way we work.Different styles of characters were tried simplified shapes, as well as manga style illustration (see infra and next page).This idea wasnt unquestionable profoundly, as it didnt show the graphic style of the group.We defined ourselves as a group of young designers from around the world and following the motto nothing without fun. Our understanding of Graphic Design is that it has to catch the attention of its viewers, with clever ideas that communicate a message.The comic strip approach wouldnt follow the path we had encrypted in our definition.Putting that idea to the side, and issue back to the search for an adequate logo to represent Bring Back the Bacon, I thought about the value we wanted to transmit to our future clients, besides the craziness.We would be loyal to our clients, only thinking on their behalf, and which animal is known for its loyalty? The mens best takeoff rocket the dog.With that I started making some doodles of dogs (see infra).The dog should be both attractive and crazy to represent us properly so, I thought about drawing him showing his tongue. That place would show the character as a rebel. But it wasnt quite pass ing the feeling I intended. How about a dog with an open mouth, barking loudly?It would express the impression that were new but were here to stay, and we want to make an impact. Is the kind of feeling of screaming our lungs out that kind of freedom which we think defines us as a team.And so, it seemed we had found our logo. But the truth is that it would work much better as a mascot. The logo was still missing.Then, we tried a different approach a typographic logo. Playing with the initials from our name, BBTB (Bring Back the Bacon). That turned out to be the best solution for us.After some doodling, the final logo finally took form.For the colors, the opaline color(a), so catchy, in contrast with a solid black.On one hand, yellow transmits happiness and warmth, but on the other it is the color of deceit. It also represents courage in Japan, and is a symbol of peace in the Indian culture.Reading the book The Elements of Color by Johannes Itten helped me understanding the reas ons of using the yellow color instead of others (since it was also considered the use of red).Also, my perception psychologys knowledge from my live has aid me on this aspect according to The American Journal of Psychology, yellow is stimulates the brain and the nervous system, activates the memory and encourages communication.Clearly this was the color which best set forth us.The main influence for the design of the logo is clear the DAD logo. intentional by Colin Forbes, one of the five founders of the Pentagram design studio, the DAD logo has all the characteristics of success it is attractive, simple, clear and efficient.Every neat piece of design needs a grand concept cornerstone it. Is that concept thats going to preserve the core value of the designed article.With this project, we specified the head whopping as main concept of our identity. It is translated as yes, we can do it, which enforces the teams attitude facing graphic design.On our first brief, we needed an ad ded value to our final concept, so it would be strong and efficient on delivering our core identity to the public.When we went to London, to ask the designers and creatives from established design agencies and business people to say yes with us, it marked the point we wanted to make clear we are not on the way to be a top design team, we are already on the top.The sense of belief in our work was reflected on that act, and all the rest of the elements of the identity came along following it.Our concept was based on the happiness that we transpire in the team, inspiring each other , and reflecting the fun side of graphic design.With the identity of the team defined, the next step was to establish a concept, the big idea and the core value, which would bring the clients to us and make them choose our services instead of other companies.Going over the description of our team, we did not wanted to be seen as a regular design agency, but as a fun company, which reflects the way we feel a bout creating design solutions.With that in mind, we started working on the website prototype. Since we put aside the use of metaphors on our website, I started exploring minimalist layouts, with straight lines it would fit perfectly with our style. Taking the black and yellow from the logo, those would be the main colors of the page, and, for the background, a knitting white, giving it a touch of simplicity.However, there wasnt anything incredible about the page.It needed something different that would motivate the users to come back to our website. I was deeply influenced by some fantastic websites which explore this matter and please the user with interactive pages (see on the right and next page).What all these websites have in common is the fact of being different. It induces the user into revisiting the page once more to have that sensation of surprise he had the first time he admited it.They also make an excellent use of color, setting the right mood to the fundamental int eraction of the user and the page being with its graphics or written content.In the current brief there was an imperative need of a fresh design.The web is already filed with too much flash websites, and, the truth is that everyone with flash coding skills can create a simple animated website, but only a creative mind can look over from that.I then came across the website of the Champagne Perrier-Jouet. It dazzles the user with a dandy layout and soft lines, with some reminiscence from the Art Nouveau. An amazing aspect of this website is that it makes use of videos integrated in the layout giving it the difference factor the same factor we wanted for our webpage.Following the example of Perrier-Jouet, our website should integrate videos as an added value to the page.The final layout was then quickly designed (see next page). The idea was to place a main video on the home page, which would have objects or elements that worked as links to the following pages, constituting on the m ain menu.As for the navigation, it would be made through sliding from a page to another. Later on, that sliding emergence was rejected, due(p) to technical problems and lack of time to develop it properly.We then opted for a simple navigation, without any animation or effect.Each member of the team would be wearing different masks of the teams mascot. However, the masks would have some element that would relate to the person behind it.Then, a symbol was designed for each of the team members, which could define their personalities and work methods.As seen on the previous spread, the BBTB website has four submenus by the names culprits political orientation work and ring.The culprits page starts with a fun and crazy video made from various shootings of moments the team spent together. I thought this would show to the user how we love what we do and how we have fun designing. It captures the joie de vivre we all have in our daily life and towards our work. At the end of the go arou nd movie, a message appears ambitious the user to click on our mascots below if he wants to know more about the team members. Clicking on each mascot, it is possible to see a photograph of its related to member, as well as a description of its role.On the other hand, on the ideology page the user can read about the philosophy thats behind our work methodology.As for the work page, since we were a newborn team of designers, it wouldnt make much sense to just display each team members previous individual work. As a team, our work had to represent us as a whole. With that said, we decided to go to some of Londons companies (design related or not) and ask them to nod their heads with us. As crazy as that may sound, the core meaning of that act was the fact that they would be saying yes to our team. Nodding their heads at the same pace as us shows how we didnt wanted to reach the industry it showed us as being already there. The professionals shown in that video are quin Chang, Histo ry teacher at London School of Economics tom Probert, designer at Coley Porter Bell Luca Da Silva, chairman of Albert Mildred Nadia Kellas, self-employed designer at Bostock and Pollitt and the manager of London Graphic Center at Covent Garden.Finally, the ring page is the location where users or potential clients would be able to communicate with us, sharing their opinions and ideas regarding the team or its work.The practice of medicine that was used on the background was of great importance for the group. We wanted a sound that wasnt pestilent to listen to continuously, preferably without lyrics. It was then decided to contact different types of medicinal drug bands or djs. The hip feeling of electro music with odd added sounds would reflect us and that was what we needed. The contemporary aspect of that music style also matched our personalities.With that in mind, we got in touch with a fascinating Belgian dj by the chaste name of MagikBitum, who mixed a song exclusively for our team.Personally, the choice of music was well made, since my musical influences have strong electronic roots. But in my opinion, it should have had a more indie touch to it. Because we wanted to be known as alternative agency, meaning that we would be more than ordinary, more than mainstream.Music is an outstanding inspiration, for me as graphic designer, and I search for challenging sounds and lyrics, which stimulate my creativity. Some of the strongest musical influences on the work I developed through this design path are the Icelandic singer-songwriter, composer and music producer, Bjrk, and the Irish/English electronic duo, Moloko. Their visuals and sounds are sometimes strange, yet amazingly refreshing.The stationery for our team brand was not a requested item, but I proposed it to the team and it was accepted. Being this project about branding, I felt it was a aspect that needed to be explored.I started making some sketches and thinking of the kind of items that coul d be done, and designed the business cards and letterhead for the team, as well as a notebook and folder to store all the items (see below and following pages).For the business card, I idealized a pop-up system to be inbuilt in it.The card would have a closed discrepancy for an easy storage, and when pulled, the lid would reveal on the opposite side the Bring Back the Bacon mascot.A number of stickers and t-shirts were created by Rashi, showing the BBTB logo and mascot. They were part of the additional gimmicks of the project.After three weeks which passed faster than we had foreseen, the presentation day arrived.Our main focus on planning the presentation was to introduce our project victimization without leaving the core idea to the side. As a continuation of the head banging concept present on the website, we entered the presentation area with our Bring Back the Bacon masks on our faces and repeating with our heads the movement seen on the website. We also carried our BBTB masc ot munificent with us to the stage.Even though our concept was strong and our ideas well thought, due to existing problems in the time management within this brief, the presentation wasnt lively as carefully as it should had been.Therefore, we all knew how to explain and present our project outcomes, but because none of the team members was a native speaker, and with the additional jeopardy it caused, communication mistakes were made. Also the language used was not at all the most correct one.Those factors had a depreciative effect in the jurys valuation on the display of our work.This first presentation was a valuable lesson for me, relating to the time planning and management with a strict deadline and a project to be developed within a short period of time, one has to be strategic in order to bring it into reality.One must know his limitations and based on that should try to break them.If our team didnt had any inseparable speaker member, each one of us needed more time to prepare ourselves for the presentation. That was a grand weakness that was revealed on the presentation, and made us lose the brief.But to work in a team is to necessitate some experiences like the ones we had during this first project. When a team has elements which are unequal to(p) of sticking with the time plan, is always hard to have good results within schedule.Ive learned to impose myself and speak up when I feel that something isnt right, and is a great feature Im taking to the future.2nd briefThe second brief that was given to us was print based.Each design team was to create an illustrated book or magazine by the name Nursery Crimes. It would consist in a re-invention of traditional babys room rhymes, changing their thematic and message to face a matured audience.The project would have to have a strong concept, with a distinct theme running through it, exploring theoretical and communication perspectives which supported a print based storybook. The publication would be composed of twelve rhymes and illustrations, each two by each member of the group.Before approaching this brief my contact with nursery rhymes was quite limited, not being a native speaker.The research, at this level, was primarily a necessity.The term nursery rhyme is used for traditional children songs in English speechmaking countries.The early versions of those rhymes were only lullabies (in Portuguese, canes de embalar), sung to children to help them sleep. tally to the Childrens Literature a Readers History, from Aesop to Harry Potter by Seth Lerer, nursery rhymes were often associated with criminality and historical events (the rhyme Remember, Remember is an example of an historical event portrayed on a rhyme).Throughout my initial research I came across several Childrens Literature illustrated books which I promptly analyzed.An interesting aspect that was common in every book analyzed was the use of bright and colorful images. The illustrations had a heartwarming feeling i ntrinsic to them, representing elements of the text very accurately.The text followed the clarity and simplicity adequate to its readers, consisting in regular font types, easily read.Other factor of relevant is the attention to detail in the pictures, adding the possibility to explore the images countless times.After this brief encounter with the Nursery Rhyme context, and having fully understood the purpose of the project, I started deconstructing the backup Nursery Crimes.The mind map on the following page shows the epitome on the word Nursery, the word Rhymes and the word Crimes.I searched for words related to Nursery, trying to find some link between them and the thematic of crime.Then, I analyzed the types of rhymes that could be found in literature. Since the rhymes chosen would have to be re-written by myself, I considered this research very useful to that process.Finally, following a visit to the local Epsom Police Station, I added to the mind map every crime name that wa s given by the police officers. This list of crimes would be of much help on choosing the crimes with which I would associate my rhymes. Of course, the immediate link between Nursery and Crimes would have to be the crime of child convolute or pedophilia, for being directly related to children, but the other crimes on the list werent discarded, as they might be useful to the creative process.In the first team meeting working around this second brief, the time plan of the work was established (see on the right). The first week would be to choose and alter the nursery rhymes into the crime theme, and with that done, the second week would be spent constructing our illustrations. With both the rhymes and illustrations finished on the third week our efforts would be directed to the making of the Nursery Crimes book, with time for the printing and binding also included.With the purpo