OUGD406 - Live Brief : Geometric

After researching Jessie Ware I have found that she wears a lot of geometric shaped jewellery. Using this as a starting point I have looked into different geometric patterns and images.

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If I was to create a pattern for my vinyl covers I would think it would look similar to this design. I like the simplicity of these images whilst they also look quite complex. I favour grids and neat design which makes this piece of design very appealing to me. 

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I had not planned on working in colour for this brief as I do not think it fits in well with the artist. However, if I were to use colour I think I would use pastel colours and play around with the opacity of geometric shapes like this design above. 

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As the rules for using pre-existing images are quite strict for this brief I have to explore the avenue of drawing my images by hand. I have a great appreciation for hand drawn illustration though I do feel that it is not one of my strengths. I came across this design and felt that it made good use of hand drawn geometric shapes.

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Patterns such as the two above I think are visually pleasing but maybe more so when a texture is added (similarly to the second image) Personally I do not favour strong block colours which are placed next to each other as I find them over powering and harsh. The second image, I think, is more interesting as it incorporates a texture into the pattern and also uses a smaller range of colours.

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I think adding an area of negative space between a colour increases the legibility of a colour and also a pattern. Something similar to this could work very well within this brief and could also be quite interesting at different scales. 

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Similarly to my previous comment regarding hand drawn illustration I think this geometric design would work really well within the brief. I would not create my illustrations by hand as I feel I would possibly drop marks as my work would not be consistent.

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I do not necessarily want to use colour in my designs but I am open to the idea of using a splash of colour similar to this design. Jessie Ware does not usually wear colour but in some instances she does. I think if I was to use colour I would have to look into the shapes and images I could take from her styling and accessories. 

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Filling in some of the geometric shapes with colour would be another interesting way to use colour within this design brief. I have chosen this design for these reasons. I like some of the use of colour within this design though I feel some of it is questionable. 

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I do prefer simple illustration which is not always perfectly proportioned. I like the designs above but I feel they could be too intricate for the type of cover I am aiming to create.

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If I were to create my own geometric shapes and images I would need to use graph paper in order for my drawings to be of a higher standard. I would like to experiment with this and get feedback from my peers.

OUGD406 - Secret 7 : Jessie Ware

One of the seven artists we have to chose from is Brit nominee Jessie Ware. Jessie is fairly new to the British music industry but has been very successful over the past 2 years. I carried out a simple google search and watched a some of her music videos. One thing I noticed was that Jessie has a very specific style when it comes to jewellery. It is clear that she likes statement earrings and necklaces. I have gathered some images of her jewellery below.

Gold hoops seem to be  favourite of Jessie's. The width of her hoops differ but most of her earrings are gold.  This could mean that Gold would be a good colour to focus on within my design. I would like to experiment with foiling but as this brief is to be submitted as a digital piece of work it would not be appropriate. 

Another favourite style of hers is black and white/cream. This links to my preferred style of designing also which makes this brief link with my personal style. I mostly like to edit my photos into black and white which is something Jessie has done but I would not be able to do this as I do not have access to take photographs of her. 

Jessie's overall styling is very simple and natural. She favours 60's hairstyles and profile images of her self. Some of the ideas I have had involve drawing a silhouette of Jessie's headshot and filling it with a geometric pattern made up of her earrings. 

I have drawn some of her earrings out by hand which are very rough sketches and plan to recreate these  on illustrator in order to experiment further. 

Interview with Jessie Ware on Net-A-Porter

THE VOICE:
JESSIE WARE

Starting out providing the soulful vocals that added depth to some of 2011’s most popular underground electronic tracks –Jessie Ware has gone from supporting act to leading lady. Her album (released in August) is one of the most eagerly anticipated of the year.

Describe your sound? 
Romantic, feminine, electronic in parts, and hopefully soulful.

Style Icon? 
My stylist and I are obsessed with Elizabeth Taylor. She’s really feminine and glamorous – that’s always a winner. Also Sophia Loren’s is so sexy – I definitely tried to channel her in the first two videos.

First record you ever bought?
It was Take That – I was obsessed with them. Maybe like Everything Changes or Take That and Party. I was in love with Robbie Williams when I was little. I cried at one of his concerts when I was about thirteen. I think I fancy Gary Barlow more now.

Last record?
Melody Gardot, Beautiful.

Ultimate Music Icon?
Sade. She’s sophisticate and she doesn’t throw herself at you. You can listen to her songs in a club, and then there are her forlorn songs. And she has amazing style she’s a real class act.

Whose wardrobe would you raid?
I’m going to say Bianca Jagger. Because like in my last video I wore this white blazer, and felt really Bianca in it. I love blazers –they make me feel strong and because I’m still really nervous about being on stage, somehow tailoring makes me feel more powerful.

Favorite designers? 
Dolce & Gabanna and Erdem because they are so feminine. Dominic Jones is a friend of mine and I love his jewelry.

Favorite film?
Brief Encounter. I’m such a romantic, and it’s beautiful and it’s sad, so sad. I recently saw a production in the West End, and it was by my favourite production company called ‘Knee High’ and even that was amazing.

Ultimate duet partner? 
Frank Sinatra, because he’s sexy and he’s got the best timing.

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OUGD406 - Live Brief : Research

I have chosen Jessie Ware to design my record sleeve for. To start off I created a mind map about Jessie from my research.

I then did the same for the song 'Still Love Me'. I also looked into the lyrics of the song and deconstructed them to understand her feelings.


See it in your eyes,
See it in your face
In your look, see it in you.
If I make myself understood,
Will you treat me like you know you should?

Still love me.
Still love me.
Do you love me?
Still love me.
Do you love, do you love?
Still love me.

See, it's been a while
Looking through your eyes
I was taken in, taken by surprise.
Why did you want me?
Why'd you stay so close?
You're still not leaving.
Was I enough?
If I make myself understood,
Will you treat me like you know you should?

Still love me.
Still love me.
Do you love me?
Still love me.
Do you love, do you love?
Still love me.

Still still...
Do you love me, do you love?
Do you love me?

You're the one that's more easy to adore
I don't ever have to leave if you still want me.
If I make myself understood,
Will you treat me like you know you should?

Do you love me?
Still love me.
Do you love me?
Still love me.
Do you love me?
Still love me.
Do you love me?
Still love me.
Do you love me?
Still love me.
Do you, do you, do you love me?
Still love me.
If I make myself understood.
Still love me.
Will you treat me like you know you should?
Still love me.
Still love me.
Still love me.
If I make myself understood.
Still love me.
Will you treat me like you know you should?
Still love me.
Do you love me?
Still love me.

OUGD401 - Politics, Society, Culture and History : Task

Politics 

Politics in my eyes is mostly positive. I think that without the rule of one person that many would falter and the world would be in a state of chaos. The laws which the select few enforce assist the world by keeping a happy medium within all things. Though I do feel that some of the recent events within the world of politics have had an incredibly negative effect (eg. university fees) I do feel that these events are for the best and will help us in the future.

Society

Society could been seen in a positive way as it promotes community and people coming together. Though these things are very positive society can also be very negative as it leads to class division, inequality and alienation. This is partly down to personalities within different people and their upbringing. Society could be seen on a whole positive if these things were addressed and divisions were not allowed to be made. 

Culture

As culture educates people and allows them to see into the lives and traditions of others it could be seen primarily in a positive light. This also allows people to relate to things people do in other countries. The arts are a major part of culture and allow people to experiment with different techniques and materials which they would not usually have access to. A negative view on culture would be that people are isolated based on their religions or beliefs, to overcome this people could be educated more on different religions in order to understand them more. 

History

History has had a huge impact on the world. We have been left with beautiful architecture and traditions which shape us as human beings. The inventions during past times have assisted us in modern inventions, medical breakthroughs and archaeological findings. The history of the UK has enabled us to have a royal family and establish a leader who is not following a political party. 

OUGD401 - Politics, Society, Culture and History

For this session we were looking into what a designer is motivated by. As people do not design 'for fun' in the industry each designer has to have something which motivates them. We were paired up and asked to write a list of 20 words which came into our head when we thought of certain things.

• Politics

1. Prime Minister
2. 10 Downing Street
3. Controversy 
4. Nick Clegg
5. University Fees
6. Cameron
7. Houses of parliament
8. London
9. Money
10. Headlines
11. News
12. Politicians
13. Conservative
14. Downing Street
15. Liberal
16. Law
17. Labour
18. Money
19. Parliament
20. Dispute

These words we a collective view on 2 peoples initial thoughts on politics. From the list above it would seem that we have a very negative view on politics.

• Society

1. People
2. Groups
3. Union
4. Separation
5. Discrimination
6. Equality
7. Inequality
8. Class
9. Social
10. Homes
11. Family
12. People
13. Disagreements
14. Dispute
15. Unfair
16. Youths
17. Children
18. Young
19. Old
20. Housing

This list is more vague as I think Society is publicised more positively than politics. This would therefore suggest that we are driven by opinions of the news publications.

• Culture

1. Music
2. Ethnicity
3. Countries
4. The arts
5. Dances
6. Sayings
7. Langauges
8. Belief
9. Associations
10. Dates
11. Race
12. Art
13. Patterns
14. Language
15. Differences
16. Inequality
17. Countries
18. Belief
19. Religion
20. Symbols
21. Flags

I would say that the words we came up with for Culture were a lot more positive than any of the previous categories.

• History

1. Tudors
2. Dates
3. Architecture
4. Stately Homes
5. Henry VIII
6. Traditions
7. Language
8. Inventions
9. Hanging
10. Jousting
11. Medieval
12. Tudors
13. Victorian
14. Henry VIII
15. Timeline
16. Dates
17. Traditions
18. Armour
19. Weapons
20. Crown Jewels

After doing this we had to separate the words into two categories; Positive and Negative.

Then we had to write 5 positive statements about each topic.

Finally we had to write 5 Negative statements about each topic. 

Collectively, we found that writing the negatives about a topic was somewhat easier than finding positive things to say, especially for Politics. After this session I am not fully aware of what I am driven by but I have raised the question and will investigate this further through a number of different ideas. 

OUGD401 - Photograph as a Document : Lecture Notes

William Edward Kilburn, 'The Great Chartist meeting at the common' 1848

• camera used to document
• recording an important historical event
• camera is a witness for us
• Objective record
• Visual observer Standing in the crowd
• Not commenting objectively recording

Grahame Clarke

In many contexts the notion of a literal and objective record of 'history' is a limited illusion. It ignores the entire cultural and social background against which the image was taken, just as it renders the photographer neutral, passive and invisible.

'How the other half live'

Jacob Riis

A Growler Gang in Session (Robbing a Lush),1887

Constructed image

Re-acted

Lewis Hine, Russian Steel Workers, Homestead, PA., 1908

people who have presence

Duffer Boy (1909)

• Hine never exploits the people who he is photographing
• the subject is still a person doing his job
• Does not attempt to shock the viewer

F.S.A (Farm Security Administration)

Margeret Bourke-White 'Sharecroppers Home' 1937

• the images are not seen as subjective in any way
• Sharecroppers home - temporary 
• constructed and lined with newspapers
• practical use of material - insulator 

Russel Lee 'Interior of a black farmers house' 1939

Dorothea Lange 'Migrant Mother' 1936

• Image of huge debate
• 'I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother as if like a magnet'
• She describes the treatment of the woman almost like an object
• She never asked the woman's name
• Classical Madonna and child 

George Rodger 'Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp' 1945

• retains respect
• Could have easily shown shocking images
• No exploitation
• Contrast between the young boy and the bodies by the road

Hung Cong UT 'Accidental Napalm Attack' 1972

Could be read as an anti war statement

Robert Haeberle 'People about to be shot' 1969

• override the human response to the situation
• photographer witnesses the shooting
• shouts 'hold it' so he can get the shot before they are killed
• Holts the process so he is almost implicit 

Don McCullin 'Shell Shocked Soilder' 1968

• The effect of war is the only thing left to document
•  In a way the images are a reflect of his own trauma 
• Retreats into idealised landscapes after witnessing the Viet Nam war

Documentary Exhausted

- to speak of documentary photography is to run headlong into morass of contradiction and confusion...

William Neidich (1989)

Constructing a scene which would have been impossible to photograph

Edward Curtis Native North Americans (early 20th century)1

OUGD405 : Research, Collect, Communicate : Product - Final Facts

• According to legend coffee was discovered in 1400's by a herd of goats
• The first coffee advertisement was distributed in 1651 in London
• On average men drink more coffee than women
• New Yorkers drink 7 times more coffee than any other city in the USA
• Coffee caused tooth discolouration
• Finland is the largest consumer of coffee
• Coffee will only grow between the tropic of cancer and the tropic of capricorn
• This is known as the coffee belt
• The UK consume 70 million cups of coffee per day
• The USA is the largest buyer of coffee
• As consumption of coffee has risen, consumption of tea has fall significantly
• There are 40 coffee beans in one shot of espresso
• Coffee plants can live for up to 70 years
• The average coffee drinker consumer 3 cups of coffee per day
• An espresso has one third of the caffeine as a normal cup of coffee
• The world consumes 300 tonnes of coffee per day
• When making iced coffee you must brew twice the amount of coffee to compensate for the ice melting
• The largest cup of coffee recorded was 2,010 U.S gallons
• 10.8 million people list coffee as one of their interests on Facebook
• 24 minutes of the day is spent making, offering and drinking coffee
• One coffee plant produces 1KG of coffee per year
• Coffee is the second most traded commodity after oil
• Coffee is the second most popular drink after water

These facts are quite random which does mean that I do not have a specific structure to my cards but I do think that this adds to the concept as they are meant to be interesting facts that maybe people do not need to see but would find interesting. I did not know any of these facts before I started this task which means that I, in a way, acted as my audience for a time. The people I have told these facts were very surprised which was my intention.