D&AD New Blood: Business cards at the ready...

With University left behind it's time for D&AD New Blood.  My work was among the 25 pieces picked to exhibit at the event. 


D&AD have organised lots of workshops with design agencies as part of the New Blood festival. I spent the afternoon with Paul West of Form. Paul took us through the Form portfolio, explaining the design process and inspiration behind each piece. It was great to be able to see and understand the thinking behind the final outcomes. Paul stressed the importance of gathering and collecting things that you find interesting or beautiful as visual reference for the future. I really loved his enthusiasm for the projects he showed us, even though they spanned from band logos such as Pendulum, to rebranding Lettuce Scarves, to a brochure for Virgin Galactic, Paul shared the same positivity, excitement and enthusiasm for each one. He also gave us lots of tips for gaining an internship at an agency, the most important being 'be a pleasure to be around' and 'be available and let people know you are there to help'. I had a brilliant afternoon and came away feeling very inspired and motivated. 


I also won a Best of New Blood award for the 'How to make a Fresh Milk Catalogue' Infographic Poster I designed with Hannah Dossary. Very exciting stuff!! See it here.


I'm off for Day 2...can't wait!

Good Morning World!

Promo for Fresh Milk, Loughborough University School of Art & Design Visual Communication degree shows at Loughborough and D&AD New Blood in London, edited by me.

Also take a look at our website www.freshmilk2011.co.uk and follow us on twitter @freshmilk2011

After a few stressful weeks we have finished designing the degree show catalogue and it has been sent to print, watch this space for some photos of the final catalogue. 


Currently doing a project designing an infographic to explain the key decisions in the design process behind the catalogue for assessment...only a week and half left of my degree. Oh. My. Gosh.


Also loving pinterest right now, virtual pinboard, just what I need. Although it makes me hungry everytime I go on it, loads of delicious looking food I want to try cooking this summer!

Wim Crouwel at the Design Museum

I visited the Wim Crouwel exhibition at the Design Museum last week to get some layout inspiration for my current project (designing our degree show catalogue) and thoroughly enjoyed it. 


This was my favourite poster from the exhibition, it's a great idea with a strong layout and interesting and original angle.  

(GFK, Wim Crouwel, 1962 Image: http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl)

I also loved this type from the Jean Lucat Poster and how it looks like it's coming out of the background when you look at it from a distance, it's quite ghostly. 

(Jean Lurçat, Wim Crouwel, 1959 Image: http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/)

Great exhibition, definitely worth a visit! 

50 reasons not to date a graphic designer...

This is really funny and very true...!

Some nice type inspiration

50 Extremely Awesome Examples of Typography

The Fun Theory

Piano staircase by The Fun Theory, an initiative from Volkswagen. They aim to change behaviour for the better by making things fun. I want to think of stuff like this! More amazing and fun ideas can be found on their website. 

I'm not a Starwars fan but this is so good (and cute!)

Volkswagen Commercial: The Force, by Deutsch, USA

Spot Varnish

This is cool but I think I prefer it on packaging! Image from thecoolhunter.

Après Assessment, this is a long one

I'm back at uni. 6 months left of being a student. sad, scary, exciting. I have various reasons for my blogging absence over the last month, including Christmas (a total of 6 Christmas dinners, 3 of which were before the 25th), iglu building, an illness consisting of hamster cheeks (I didn't need to download the iFaceFat app for my new iPhone, that is actually what I looked like), an Olympic Coin design competition, a spot of skiing (brilliant snow, amazing people, beautiful scenery), Semester 1 assessment hand-in...

Now that's all done it's time to smash the dissertation, which (I never thought I'd say this) I'm actually quite enjoying writing now that I've got into it. It's about packaging, sustainability and consumers' misconceptions with regard to these. 

I had a break over the weekend and in doing so caught up on some TV. Big fat Gypsy Weddings was first on the agenda, it's so interesting! It revealed a lot about traveller culture and morals, it's strange how these morals and traditions are so strict and yet the girls walk around in the tiniest shorts and cropped tops so their clothing doesn't reflect this at all. It also changed my view on travellers and caused me to consider things from their perspective. Looking forward to the next episode. 

I then watched Tool Academy which was entertaining with lots of shouting... and finally Into the Wild, which I loved. It really made me think, particularly about society, and also parents and material things. It had some beautiful quotes. My favourite was the one at the end, 'happiness only real when shared', as it is so true, but you don't really realise it until the end of the film. A new favourite. Next on the list, Black Swan and The King's Speech...

 

Christmas time, stuck at uni with wine

I was supposed to go home for Christmas today, which I was very excited about. But due to the snow at home no one can get out to even get me from the train station, let alone come and pick me up from uni. So I'm stuck in the (snowless) grey midlands for another night. Wine to the rescue. I chose this Piat d'or Merlot, simply because I like the label. 

(Image: www.everywine.co.uk)

I'm not sure who designed it but it really jumped out at me on the shelf. I love the thick and thin strokes of the typeface and the ligatures, and the swirl of the wine in the glass forming the 'o' in d'or. They use a similar design for their white and rosé wine, but the label is the most striking on their red wines, as it contrasts with the colour of the wine and bottle. Hope it tastes good!