Lauren Moriarty is 3D textiles designer. She didn’t plan to be a 3D designer but experimentation with different materials led her to 3D design. I liked how she was very confident in her work and how she liked to experiment with different types of materials and inks. She has produced some really interesting looking work. She gave really helpful advice about mass-producing her products and keeping in contact as you never know who might ask you to design something. Links can found by clicking on the images!

Truth and Double G Studios are the two Practitioners that I have chosen to compare and contrast. The reason for choosing these two independent agencies is because they both have a different approach to design. Truth is based in Manchester and Double G Studios is based in London.

Truth a very experienced agency came late last year and gave a talk in the lecture room. They have worked for big brand names such as all: sports, Reebok and Durex. They talked about why they named their agency Truth and showed a PowerPoint presentation of their work. The reason I like their work is because they have real enthusiasm for designing and you can see that in their work. They want to show the Truth nothing but the Truth in their field of work. By looking at their work it has given me a greater insight of how and what the design work looks like outside of college. This inspires me to do similar type of work in my practice at college because I want to get to that level of designing. Another point about their work is the idea and thinking behind the work which really makes a massive difference because it’s all good if my work looks good but when there an idea behind it, it makes the work more appreciated.
A few specific pieces of work that I thought were outstanding to me in the presentation where the Whitebox, Fat Hog Identity and Packaging and the typefaces that they designed. What I like about the Whitebox approach to the idea is that it does not need to shout out for attention for it to work and the execution is perfect. The Fat Hog packaging really stood out for me because of colours used which not only it made it stand out but shows that the product lasts longer. I really liked the typefaces that Darren Scott from Truth designed using digital type foundry (DST) for business-related use. Most of the typefaces designed were used in pieces of work that they designed for clients. My favourites are Bad Angel which has a gothic feel to it, Rub On which is unbalanced and Sodium.

Grant Gilbert from Double G studios came to my College and gave a talk on his achievements in the past years. He has done work for More 4, Big Brother and BBC One which are based on motion graphics. He studied Graphic Design at Stockport College which was great to hear. His approach to graphics is very different because he uses motion graphics which creativity to a new level. When I saw some the work he showed us it really made me look at graphics in a whole new perspective. Some of the work he showed us involved creative thinking behind it. Gilbert also showed how much effort he put into his work and many different versions made before the final one is chosen.
The Summer Music promotion had great feel to it because it used growing neon cables wrapped around dancers to show the movement to sound. I thought it was great and very imaginative. Another piece of work that I liked was the Big Brother promo which they used broken glass to showcase the show. I really like the rebranding that he did for BBC One. He got the idea by looking back at the old end sting and animation which showed an image of earth. Then he did lots of ideas and came up a circle theme. The theme involved Hippos, Parachutes, Motorbikes, Tall Perfect Woman Cutting Grass and Reflecting Lights from a block of flats. I really hope to do something similar in the future involve motion graphics.

Both agencies (Truth and Double G Studios) produce very different style of work.
Truth use typography and imagery to show their work. Double G studios use movement and type combined with strong visuals and sound. Both have different obstacles to overcome when designing or adding movement. Double G work with motion graphics so the use of sound is very important compare to what Truth do. Truth doesn’t have to think about sound unless it is needed in their practice and that’s one of the things that separate them. Truth use type and clean visuals to show their work which is than printed in high quality again this separates them from Double G because they completed work will be shown to clients so everything has to be in the correct format, size and dimensions.
Both have ideas behind their work and a great volume of creativity used. Sometime a designer can be limited in some areas of their work so it’s hard to tell if they have used their creativity which is understandable. What Grant Gilbert showed us in the lecture was very inspirational because I think he didn’t hold back his ideas and the level of creativity. You can see the ideas which are very imaginative and eye catching. Same can be said for Truth who use intelligent way of doing their work, doing so pays off in the end and their reputation grows. Another difference is that Darren Scott form Truth designs his own typefaces which get sold and used in his designs. I think it’s great if agencies design their own typefaces because it shows how much they are passionate about a piece of design work and they want to show that through the project.
The work done by Truth and Double G Studios has made me think a bit more differently about my work and has given me a great insight on how the design agencies.

Tom from Glorious is a design agency based in Manchester who came in my college to give a talk to us about their work. I really like the work he showed us and it looked very neat and professional. He did give us little advice on fonts and showed us some work where he has to design his own typeface in order for that particular brief. As I have said before in my comparison I really like agencies who design their own fonts/typefaces. Some of the recent work they are doing is for Tate Liverpool 2008 and I really like the work they did for Shot Up North where he designed the invitation in the shape of a Polaroid film, UNIDO which opens up into a map and Karl’s Barbershop Calendar. I am really glad that Tom came and gave a talk on his work.

Anthony Smith from Music came and gave a talk on how he managed to get a job as a designer and have his own agency. When he left university he it was hard time to get a job and he kept looking and never gave up. Anthony said that it’s ok if you don’t get a job straight away and keep looking. He gave us very helpful advice and tips when looking for and doing placements. He said if you are thinking of staring up your own agency, don’t do it alone, do it people you know. When you get briefs be clear of what it asks and wants.
The work that Anthony showed us was very interesting and he brought some samples along. I enjoyed the presentation he showed and talk about which expanded my knowledge of the design industry. From the samples of work he had brought along, I really like the Flip-flops brochure and a football magazine which was rolled up and wrapped in brown paper. He also showed us a banner design for a football team which has a big typeface on it but if you look closer it has names of all the fans names printed on the banner. Overall I really liked the talk he gave and I got a chance to talk to Anthony at the end of the talk and asked him about ways of getting in contact with companies. He answered by saying that when he did it, he sent letters which he had designed.

Dan Ingham and Steve Owen are two students who graduated from Stockport College with a BA (hons) degree in Graphic Design. They came to give a talk on how successful they have been when they left. They said that when they were in their second year, they were very lazy when doing their work and wish they did more. When they were in their third year they worked very hard and wish they had done the same when they were in second year. They were very enthusiastic and stayed behind and were in every day. They said they worked on other projects when they were not doing university work. They said they liked screen printing when they were in uni. Also get to know people outside the course such photography and printing stuff, try to do placements in your free time to gain valuable experience. These were the tips given when they gave their talk.
They did the end year posters for the show and it was a big success. They also got entered into the DAND New Blood. They showed some the work they did and I really liked it. It was good to see someone from my college course and made me realise the how much it can be worth it.

Fudge is a design agency that is based in UK and one of the team members came in to give a little insight to what the company does. My teacher James told them to bring the ideas that they worked on before moving onto the computer. This was a great opportunity to get an insight look at what the company does before the final design in finished. The work was simpler to what we did in class, before we started to design we had to come up with mock ups and then go with the best idea. Fudge talked about the logo they where designing at the time and showed us all the ruff drawings by displaying on our classroom wall. It was great to see them and then he showed us the design being taken on the Mac. As a designer you want to explore many fun and experiential design ideas but you have to remember that in the agency you have a deadline just link in college but this is for a client. I thought the designs were nice and he had explored quite a lot with the ideas. He also showed us other stuff that they had designed. I was really encouraged by the work they showed and hope to get in touch with them in the future.

Double G Studios is based in London and they focus on motion graphics, live action and brand identity in their line of work. One of the guys from Double G Studios came in college to give us a talk on what work their company had done and where doing. Some of the work shown was quite amazing. They did work for the BBC, More 4, Big Brother and many more well know brands. He told us that he stared of by doing Graphic Design and than for three years he worked on Plant24. He than did some freelance work with other people and give us some advice from the experience he had. I really liked the motion graphic work as this give me a new insight for Graphic Designing. He showed us that not all of the ideas make it to the final and how everything has to be presented with the up most care. By showing the ideas that he personally thinks wouldn’t have worked he told us that if you feel strongly about that idea than stick with that one.
I personally like the idea for the Summer Music that he did. He used 600 feet of neon cable, 7 dancers with the neon cable wrapped abound them, 5 tents that glow and some 3D effects used to complete the whole process. I think it looked great and the music fits in perfectly with the movement on screen. The End Sting where it shows the Channel 4 logo where it makes a weird noise, sort of like a light flicking was very good. Just the creative side of the process is amazing and you can see that by watching the video. My second favourite was the Big Brother motion where it has glass smashing look and feel to it. To get this look they printed the logo onto a glass and smashed at 1000fps to create the look and add effects to the animation. The sound fits in nicely as well.
Overall I think this has been a great inspiration to me and my work and has helped with the last project that I did which was to think of an idea and animate it using Adobe Flash.

Tal Rosner is an Artist and a Filmmaker who composes sound with movement on screen. He has done work for the Nancarrow which is “pure approach to the sound” showing it in a graphical way and Skins Series Intro 1 and 2. His movies and videos are very abstract and look amazing. He uses changing motion graphics art which show mirror movies or repeated videos combined with different colours. Some of the work Rosner showcased in our Lecture was amazing; it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I was greatly influenced by the work he had shown and he did graphics design before he did this king of work. He showed us how closely he had worked with sound and moving pictures on screen to come up the work. Rosner also showed us projects that where in working progress and what he had done recently. Overall I think Tal Rosner is a great filmmaker and an artist.

Truth Design - talk

Few weeks back we had Truth design come in and give us an insight of their work over the years. They talked about their work they had done and showed examples of work. Truth Design Company is based on the idea that they show you as the reader the Truth. That’s why they call them self’s Truth Design. I enjoyed looking at the work they showed and was inspired by some of their design work.