6A2,6B2,6D2 - OUGD602 - Evaluation of Work Experience - Useful / Beautiful : Why Craft Matters Exhibition at Harewood House

Evaluation of Work Experience - Useful / Beautiful : Why Craft Matters Exhibition at Harewood House

 

The exhibition brought together the work of lots of different designers and makers all of which had different needs for the physical set up of their work. To allow each of the makers and designers work to be shown off in the best light many of the exhibitors had custom set ups, which made each space unique and varied. Considering how things can be displayed within the restrictions of the house and how these restrictions can be overcome whilst preserving the house highlighted the need for problem solving when displaying work. Staggering when the exhibitors set up their work also allowed things to run smoothly. 

The scale of the project highlighted the need for collaboration between different people with the exhibition having graphic designers Studio Build, exhibition designers Simon Jones Studio and Curator Hugo Macdonald all working on the project as well as the designers and makers showing their work. The scale of the project highlighted just how much work goes into an exhibition of this kind and the collaboration that is needed to do this. It also showed how planning and organisation of an event like this has to start months ahead to be able to arrange everything.

Although the exhibition was in the house, a lot of other work goes into the preparation of the other buildings in the estate and grounds, so that they are ready for the public. This makes it important to have dedicated teams for different aspects to make sure that everything gets done. 

Their are other aspects to exhibitions aside from the curation and design, with events around the exhibition really important. Private views and members days build excitement around the exhibition and acted as a way of promoting the exhibition to the press. These events are an important way of getting publicity for an exhibition and increasing the amount of people who come to see the exhibition.   

Helping with the set up of the exhibition and some of the designers work gave insight into the practical elements of exhibition set up as well as seeing how things are curated within spaces. 

Overall I enjoyed being part of an exhibition that had such a variety of different exhibitors and work,with the craft theme within the exhibition being related to interests I have within my own practice. I enjoyed working as part of a team to help create the exhibition and liked the varied and practical roles that the set up of exhibitions has. The experience also highlighted how many different areas their are within putting on exhibitions such as curators, exhibition design / product design, graphic design and events organising.

6A2,6B2,6D2 - OUGD602 - Evaluation of Work Experience - Christmas at Harewood: Dreams of the 1920s by Simon Costin

Evaluation of Work Experience - Christmas at Harewood: Dreams of the 1920s by Simon Costin

During the experience I helped with a variety of tasks on different days with new things arising all the time. This highlighted the need to be flexible and adaptable to things that might need doing. The role was hands on and always changing.  

It was interesting to see how the theme could be carried across the house, with the exhibition spread out over half of the rooms within Harewood. The rooms were supposed to be viewed in a certain order to create a narrative for the viewer about the boys as they journey around the House. This combined with the visual and conceptual links to Harewood House made it original and meaningful for Harewood, allowing the public to engage with the story and the house in a new way. This also made the Christmas exhibition more interesting and different from other Christmas Exhibitions at the time.

It was interesting to see how Simon worked, with him acting as Art Director for the whole exhibition and his team helping him with the creation of main pieces within the exhibition. Volunteers were also overseen by him for the making of certain parts of the exhibition throughout the installation.

Working in such a historic and beautiful setting was enjoyable as the place had lots of heritage and I was learning new things about the place all the time.

The attention to detail within the production of the elements was amazing and that craft element is something I enjoy, such as when I helped with the lino printing of the wrapping paper. The use of props within the exhibition was imaginative and an interesting interpretation of the story of the two boys and the links to Harewoods history.

The experience highlighted how much goes into producing an exhibition and the importance of collaboration between people, especially on such a large scale. To create the exhibition it was a joint effort between Simon and his team who dealt with design and concept of the exhibition, the management teams within Harewood, volunteers and other staff, who all worked together to install the exhibition as well as get the House and Grounds ready for reopening for the public. Lots of different people were working together on different aspects of the exhibition and preparing the house / grounds for reopening, with this highlighting the importance of delegation of roles and time planning when working with lots of people.

OUGD602 - Skills Evaluation / Module Evaluation

Skills Evaluation / Module Evaluation

Over the course of the year I have developed a better understanding of how graphic design can be used in a 3D context, with my practice crossing over into other disciplines such as set design and product design.

I have developed and explored a range of new processes and materials, whilst also actively making use of all of the workshops within the university this year. This has developed my confidence in working in new ways and allowed me to, learn and test my practical skills which has led to interesting outcomes.

Organising my time has been improved by the use of a daily calendar which has allowed me to break the day into chunks for different tasks. This has helped me to get things done, with these time limits encouraging me to finish things. This new way of working is still a working progress and sometimes it can be difficult to know how long a task will take.

The importance of documenting work has been highlighted and this is something I have tried to improve on towards the end of the year, to show my work in the best light, particularly because much of my work is three dimensional and therefore has to be photographed. Considering the concept and meaning of a piece of work and playing on this within the photography, through the use of props and staging, creates a narrative around the design which compliments and enhances it. This is still something I need to develop, perhaps with the help of a photographer, however I have a better sense of how to create more interesting and engaging imagery.

From helping with the set-up of two different types of exhibition at Harewood House I learnt that you have to be flexible and adaptable to things that need doing as new things are arising and changing all the time. I have also found that I enjoy taking part in the practical elements of putting on exhibitions and events.

When collaborating this year, I have learnt that having defined roles within a project is more effective and efficient. This was also found during my work experience which highlighted the importance of delegation of roles and time planning when working with lots of people on a project. 

OUGD602 - Research Brief - Project Evaluation

Project Evaluation

For the research brief I found it particularly difficult to know which subject / idea to research further into as I wanted the outcome to be something that would enjoy and produce an outcome that I would be proud of. Initial ideas were perhaps too complex and vague, so it was suggested that I do it on something a little more lighthearted. I struggled to refine the subject matter down initially which I think is what made the brief take so long to get started on. Overall I struggled with not knowing what I was going to produce and defining the subject matter as something specific.

Within this project I liked the product design element of the final element and the fun and quirky concept that was developed for the outcomes. Originally the designs were to be made from concrete however this would have been a labour intensive process as the walls of the planters would have to be reinforced and the drying time was far longer than the time I would have to create the outcomes. At one point there were doubts I could make the designs out of anything that looked like concrete and that they might have to be made out of wood instead, however the technician in ceramics really helped me identify a process that would get the desired aesthetic in the time span left. Because of the processes used and the time they took this brief should have been started earlier to give me enough time to produce the outcomes, however it wasn't known at the beginning that the outcome would be as difficult to create. The use of Jesmonite was an effective substitute for concrete and was more manageable within the time span. 

OUGD602 - Creative Convos - Project Evaluation

Project Evaluation

The team for Creative Convos worked well together, mainly because of the delegation of roles early on in the project. The project was made successful because we all had clear intentions as to which areas we wanted to design meaning that we were all playing to our strengths. This clear direction made it easier to design and produce all the elements for the branding within the short time span that we had. Working with people who were enthusiastic about the project made the collaboration more enjoyable. At the end of the brief when the deliverables for the physical space were being produced there were last minute changes to the schedule which meant I had to adapt to changing information and get the design produced in time, which I think I handled well. I enjoyed the physical set up of the event and seeing the project come together within the space.

OUGD602 - Wildlife Habitat - Project Evaluation

Project Evaluation

For the final outcome I was able to take inspiration from natural forms and I enjoyed collecting the primary research for this product which included photographing trees and creating tree rubbings. After developing some of my initial ideas it was found that quite a few of the processes that I wanted to try were not possible either because of maintenance on machines or because of the timescale it would take to create the pieces and the difficulty of what I was hoping to do, which was a little frustrating. In hindsight this project could have been started a little earlier as this would have given me more time to try out these processes, however the outcome that was produced I think still meets the brief effectively. Originally I wanted to make the bird boxes out of FSC materials however this cannot be guaranteed within the university so a compromise had to be made. Many of my ideas initially were very product design and material orientated so I had to relate this back to some graphical element, however I think the design has managed to combine my interest in making whilst still having an element of graphic design through the application of pattern. This was the first brief where I had tried applying designs to a three dimensional product and it was interesting considering how a design could work across a product. If I was to do the brief again I probably wouldn't raster the design onto the bird boxes as the process is quite time consuming and wouldn't be very effective if a batch of the designs were to be made. Working in a series was also something that I have done for the first time and I think I have managed to create a consistency across the three designs.

OUGD602 - Art Fund Collaboration - Project Evaluation

Project Evaluation

This brief was done in collaboration with Megan Dobbyn from BA Illustration at Leeds Arts University and was produced over a few months running alongside other projects we were doing. Meg is a friend so we already knew each other which made collaborating easier and I knew I could trust her. We worked well as a team with both of us having similar work ethics and we could rely on one another to work independently. We regularly met up with at least one timetabled meeting a week and informal chats in-between.

The subject matter of the campaign which related to museums, galleries and historic houses was what drew me to the collaboration as I have an interest in Arts and Heritage.

Initially I found it difficult coming up with ideas for the project as I had to consider ways in which both our work would come together to create something effective. This made me have to approach ideas in a way that I wouldn't necessarily within my own work, for example purely Graphic Design ideas had to be adapted or disregarded.

Although I had lots of ideas at the beginning of the project sometimes, they did not always make sense to Meg and I felt I wasn't doing my ideas justice. I found it especially useful to develop initial ideas into mock ups so that she could visually see how things would look and how her work would fit within the ideas, with this approach helping me overcome this problem.

When choosing a concept to go with we both had favourites. I was conscious I didn't want to just be in charge of layout and type and that I wanted to produce a physical element within the design. Combining the two ideas that we liked allowed both of our interests to come together so that we would both get something out of the project.

Although the deliverables were digital, we managed to bring a physical element into the production of the designs.  In terms of designing within the project I particularly enjoyed making the papercut designs for the backgrounds. The use of one material layered up created an interesting 3D effect which I hadn't worked with before and one which we managed to capture within the images. 

At the start of the project Meg had said that she had wanted to develop her animating skills, so we directed the outcomes towards this. We severely underestimated how difficult, what seemed to be such a simple concept, would be to animate.

I organised for a photography student to take pictures of the papercut designs, however they had to cancel on the day that we were due to take the photographs because of other projects. This meant I had to take photographs of all designs myself. I found it difficult to capture the colours of the papers used within the designs even with studio lighting, which wasn't ideal. If we had the photographer potentially, we would have been able to get the right colour quality within camera rather than having to do so much post editing in Photoshop.

Potentially the project went on for longer than we both expected. Meg set a deadline at the end of the project so that we could intensively work on it to get it finished. I found this quite difficult as there was still quite a lot still to do and I didn't want to rush the final thing, however it was a good thing because it forced us to get the project done and we were both happy with the outcomes. It also highlighted the fact that not everything needs to be perfect and that little details are often overlooked by people who are looking at a design for the first time.

Although I was happy with the final outcomes and I thought we produced some strong work I found that I don't really have an interest in creating purely digital outcomes / campaigns but did enjoy the craft element of the paper design backgrounds