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

OUGD603 - Offcut Project Evaluation

Project Evaluation

I enjoyed working on this brief as it was a concept from last year that I touched upon but wanted to develop further into a brand identity. I have an interest in upcycling and reusing materials so this brief allowed me to explore how these things can be made desirable, marketed to a wider audience and how people can be encouraged to use reclaimed materials more.  Creating a visual identity allowed me to consider other aspects of an identity that weren't graphic elements, particularly photography and the set up of the materials. Creating the product photography in the studio was quite difficult despite knowing the kind of shots I wanted to get. Lighting the materials properly was problematic as the shadows were often too intense. Getting a photographer to help with this part of the project, with me setting up the materials, would have allowed me to get the original shots I wanted. However, the use of the different angles within the photography created strong visuals despite not being the original plan.

6D2 - OUGD603 - Etsy

Etsy 

On Etsy I sell handmade journals and notebooks, with many of them made from reclaimed materials. I like using reclaimed and scrap materials in terms of the sustainable aspect but also the creative process of working out how materials can be reused into something functional. I also like the unique and varied qualities of reclaimed and scrap materials.

OUGD602 - PPP - Session - Terms and Conditions - Legal Advice for Creatives

Terms and Conditions - Legal Advice for Creatives 

- Terms / Service agreements are usually for smaller clients 

- Bigger companies are usually given a contract, with contracts being much longer

- Terms / Service agreements are supposed to be understood by everyone 

- If the agreement is shown to the client then it is legally binding 

Terms Agreement Group Task

What would be in a Terms / Service agreement :

- Deadline for project

- State deliverables

- Exit agreement 

- Payment - how much, when it will be received and the currency it will be in 

- Confidentiality and what information can be shared 

- Copyright 

- State the parties involved e.g. designer and client 

- Date and signatures

- Changes and dealing with this 

- Feedback opportunities 

- Having a contract / agreement makes you look professional 

- fees for adjustments that are beyond reasonable adjustments are usually priced highly 

- add work hours / office hours and days clients will be able to liaise with you

- Schedule and Timeline 

- Client Responsibilities

- Client Representatives 

- Client Responsibilities  

6A2, 6B2 - OUGD602 - Set Design for Printed Matter by Wang Shaoqiang

Set Design for Printed Matter by Wang Shaoqiang

For the Grow Wild Exhibition my outcome was was heavily influenced by a book called Set Design for Printed Matter. The book features different set designers and approaches to set design with some using props, others having handmade elements, some integrating type and others being purely graphical.

Key things taken from the book:
- The book has highlighted how three dimensional work can be integrated into Graphic Design and that both these elements can work together 
- The book explores a wider sense of what set design can be showing that it is not necessarily just about creating sets for films etc
-  The importance of photography in the final designs is made clear and means the work is shown to its full potential 
- The use of colour, form and material is important in creating strong designs 
- The book highlights how simple materials and props can be used to create a narrative within a design and a well crafted outcome
- I particularly like the hands on and making aspect to this type of design with the use of process and material important within my practice

6A2 , 6D2 - OUGD602 - PPP - Grow Wild Exhibition

Grow Wild Exhibition

For a live brief I created a piece of work for the Grow Wild Exhibition that the Conscious Creatives Society were putting on at Hyde Park Book Club. I decided to submit a piece because the exhibition was about celebrating wildflowers and fungi and tied in nicely with my interest in nature. Because the piece would be for an exhibition I wanted to create something physical and tangible and I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to create something handmade and three dimensional, whilst exploring some of the techniques seen in The Set Design for Printed Matter book. My design focused on wildflowers and how a small patch of these can help support different wildlife in particular pollinators. The outcome was mainly made from lasercut paper elements which were then hand assembled to create flowers, prop insects were also used within the design.


For the exhibition I had to write a small description to go alongside the piece:

‘Bursting with Life’

Papercraft design showing the relationship native wildflowers and pollinators have in supporting each other’s sustainability. The design also highlights how wildflowers can be grown in any small area of soil from a container to a patch of lawn. Includes British wildflowers such as, Common Knapweed, Common Poppy, Oxeye Daisy, Buttercup, Dandelion and Red Campion, with pollinators feeding within the flowers.

Just a small patch of wildflowers can be ‘Bursting with Life’ and help support the sustainability of our native wildlife.

The exhibition went down really well and lots of people attended the event at Hyde Park book club. It was great to see how other people had interpreted the theme and to see some of the other processes used by other courses to create their work. Within the exhibition my design was placed on a podium in the middle of the room which allowed visitors to see the design from different angles and really get to see how it was made. I had positive comments from people at the exhibition which was great and it was nice to be part of an event like this.

6A2, 6C2, 6D2 - OUGD602 - PPP - Personal Branding - Creative CV

Creative CV 

6A2, 6C2, 6D2 - OUGD602 - PPP - Personal Branding - Packaging Designs

Packaging

It was also thought that if the products were to be sent to the buyer the way the products are packaged would affect the buyers perception of the business. It was considered that the addition of a Thank You note into the box or envelope would be a personal touch for the buyer when they receive the product. The packaging itself it was thought could also have an element of my branding aswell. Stickers were created of my logo to add to the wrapping of the products or potentially to put on the outside of the box as a way of customising normal packaging materials. 

6A2, 6C2, 6D2 - OUGD602 - PPP - Personal Branding - New website design

Branding update on website

My website was updated with my developed branding to make it consistent with the rest of my branding.

https://jasminenixondesign.squarespace.com/

6A2, 6C2, 6D2 - OUGD602 - PPP - Personal Branding - Development of Logo

Logo

My personal branding will develop on from the one created in previous years however will be refined further. The use of the squiggle as a logo is based on the marks I make in my notebook to highlight things of interest or key points.

Using the squiggle as a logo reflects part of my thinking process and makes the branding personal to me. The use of the squiggle also has a handmade aesthetic which I think works well with my interest in making and experimenting with processes. The use of the squiggle almost acts as a personal makers mark.  The use of the box around the squiggle frames it and reflects the idea of the squiggle being on a page. This also creates a sense of refinement to the logo with the use of a geometric shape which I think creates a considered feel to the design reflecting my approach to projects. The use of the design in black allows the design to stand out and will contrast against the work see on my website, whilst also reflecting a sense of the design being drawn in pen or marker, again linking back to the original concept.

The use of the thicker line perhaps had more impact however the thinner line for the squiggle potentially reflected a more refined and considered aesthetic, which is reflective of my practice.

For my name it was considered that this could be in all lowercase to create a friendly feel to the branding and perhaps make it more informal but still professional. 

The use of the lighter typeface made my name more understated and refined and allowed the logo to stand out. The slightly bolder typeface however still retained these qualities whilst matching the thickness of the squiggle in the logo, which allowed them to work better together. Placing my name over two lines worked better with the shape of the logo and allowed the two to interact better together. My name being on one line within the design perhaps looked a little disjointed with the logo because of the length of my name. 

6A2, 6C2, 6D2 - OUGD602 - PPP - Personal Branding - Business Card Refinement

Business Card Refinement

Developing the idea of using different materials within the business card design it was considered more of the brand colours / elements could be introduced into the design. To continue on the idea of allowing the materials to be the focus of the design and to create a sense of refinement and minimalism the different text elements within the design were placed along the sides of the business cards.

It was considered that the layout could be directly printed on to varying textured papers / materials allowing these to become a key part of the branding and reflecting how materials and process are important within my practice. 

It was considered that the logo could be used in full colour over a material such as recycled card or found papers however this would potentially have to be screen printed to allow the colours to be as vibrant. Placing the elements over the material in this way allows these to be a focal point within the design and therefore the branding.

Potentially florescent green paper could be combined with another material on the back to create a contrast between the brand colours and material textures.

Having a little triangle on the front of the business card could act as a way of integrating an snippet of material into the design whilst still creating a clean and simple design within the rest of the business card. Alternatively this triangle could be green to match the branding. This section could also be cut off to allow the material on the back of the card to show through to the front. 

OUGD602 - Visiting Professional - Talk at Harewood House - Lord Whitney and Geraldine Pilgrim

Harewood House - Lord Whitney and Geraldine Pilgrim 

Harewood House 

- Aim to tell a story of the people who worked at Harewood House and bring the past to life through exhibitions 
- Art allows people to access places and allows the public to see the collections in a new light 

Geraldine Pilgrim 

- Went to London St Martins and had an interest in Theatre and Art so went into Performance Art as a way of combining the two 
- She set up a visual theatre company and works on site specific work / performance and site specific installations
- Her work is shown to small audiences with lots of showings to allow people to properly experience the work 
- She works in spaces that already have history  
- Site specific work is about finding a space and being inspired by it, using the space and history of the place to inform the work created within it  
- A site specific installation uses the same principles but the work stays within the space afterwards 
- Research is heavily embedded in her work
- The company works with local groups and young people to create the performances or work 
- The works are her vision however she works with other people to create them 
- The site specific installation she created for Harewood House reflects the family history of Thomas Chippendale and the tree combined with the wooden bed reflects how wood comes from a tree.
- She said it was important not to categorise yourself otherwise you will be limited to what you can do

Lord Whitney (Rebecca and Lins) on their Seeds of Hope Exhibition

- Work as Art Directors and Set Designers
- They didn't want to be pigeon holed in to a specific type of work so titled themselves as the Connoissers of Make Believe
- They aim to create worlds with a focus on creating immersive and experiential work for adverts, brands and events
- It is not a bad thing to have different interests and like different disciplines 
- Their Studio is at Scott Hall Mills
- They work across different industries such as music, immersive, adverts, Arts Council etc 
- Worked for people such as ITV Creatives and Nicki Manaj
- Sometimes they work on a job from start to finish and it is their vision, other times they have a purely making / construction role of someone elses vision / direction
- They have  Lord Whitney Bible in which they write down DIY techniques and things that they've learnt from doing a project so that they have a record of how to do things for other projects 
- Their job includes a lot of research, prop making and sourcing, practical elements, attention to detail and being good at working out the practicalities of something 
- They often collaborate with other people to allow projects to be more manageable and they work with people with similar interests to themselves
- The Wood Beneath the World project aimed to move away from the commercialism of Christmas to create a new type of Christmas Experience. There wasn't much time available so the ambitiousness of the set allowed the work to mean different things to different people and create stories of their own.
- After graduation they did temp jobs and any creative work that came to them as well as doing personal projects 
- It is important to keep setting mini creative briefs to keep you going when their is perhaps less work 
- After uni they lost a little of their creative feeling and needed to get back into it 
- Sometimes project ideas need to be downscaled depending on the project 
- They sometimes do extra work on passion projects especially if its something they want in their portfolio

Seeds of Hope Exhibition 

- The exhibition is supposed to be a living breathing immersive experience 
- The project was heavily researched with lots of details within the project tied to research
- It tells complex wider stories that were happening through the war through the stories of individuals 
- Allows the public to connect to these stories 
- Characters represent key themes in the story
- The story was developed by them and fleshed out by a writer 
- The exhibition would be open for a long time (4 months) so the use of a guide / journal would help and guide people around the place and story within the exhibition 
- Because of the length of time the exhibition would be on the work had to be a site specific installation rather than a performance 
- For set design they create initial design sheets of ideas of  how they envisage it will look (moodboard) 
- They used things that already existed on site 
- They aimed to create two distinct feels to the different rooms 
- Using Sketch Up allows them to model / show how the layout of the design would work. Combining this with design sheets allows them to show the mood and layout of the design that they aim to create
- They created visual ties within the set from the writing in the journal 
- Historical references were created buy buying original items or creating them 
- The exhibition meets the needs of different audiences, some may like history, others like the sense / atmosphere or trying to find all the different elements 
- The guide took inspiration from autograph books and used different handwriting for different people within the story 
- They also influenced what was grown in the garden, with the flowers used representing peace and vegetables were planted with old tools 
- Historical pieces were used as reference to design graphic elements in the set and details were added such as names
- The sound design was created using objects in an experimental way e.g. tools scraping