Reid Miles

I have looking at some of the work of Reid Miles who was the graphic designer for the Blue Note Jazz record label creating the art work for the album covers. I really like his use of typography and the treatment of the type that he uses. He cuts into the type and has interesting layouts.

I want to research more about letterpress and how to get a less digital feel to my work..

Agostina

I have been researching different typefaces and really like this typeface Agostina - it is delicate but solid and could be really effective when used with a handmade element..

agostina from eastcoastcrown on Vimeo.

Sister Corita

I have been looking at the work of sister corita - a nun working as a graphic designer from the 1950's through to the 1970's..she used graphic design to communicate the word of God and particular political messages - she took her inspiration from street signage and expressionist artists as her work developed it became less pictorial and more typographic with the use of very strong colours that were influenced from commercial places such as supermarket advertising and often used the colours of well known brands in her work.

I like the hand drawn feel to her work - it is screen printed. For her exhibitions she built an installation out of painted cardboard boxes to display her work which is a really nice touch. Some of these images show her work and what i have been looking at.

Change of direction

Today I have taken a change of direction with my project. I am no longer going to produce a range of T shirts..following my research i want to make it a personal exploration piece and create a book of images and a supporting range of A1 posters..updated brief is below:

Concept

Computers run on a clocking system called the Unix Time System. The clock started ticking on the 1st January 1970 and every moment in time since can be measured by a 10-digit numerical number which represents the number of seconds that have passed since the epoch of the era.

The Declaration of Independence for the United States explores the pursuit of happiness. I have been considering how happiness can be measured and was inspired by a quote by *** “Happiness can be measured not by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.” These moments, good or bad, shape a person’s life.

Project

This project will be a personal account of my life so far. The clock starting ticking at 00:00 on 30th June 1981. All of the life changing moments in my life so far can be represented by Unix time, a numerical 10-digit number as described above.

This number will be graphically illustrated and accompanied by the title of a song which reflects that particular moment. This combination of typography and information graphics will form a book of images. To the viewer, each image will be graphically interesting and seem obvious but the deeper meaning behind the work will be a personal exploration.

I want to focus on typography, graphic design elements and strong colours rather than a photographic approach. My inspiration will start from graphic designers such as Saul Bass and Sister Corita.

Deliverables

For this project I will deliver:

• a book of images
• book jacket design
• a related series of A1 posters
• an introductory multimedia video introducing the project which can be put on my website to showcase the work

Saul Bass

I have been looking at the work of Saul Bass as in my opinion i think he is a fantastic graphic designer - what i like about his work is the vibrant colour combinations that he uses and each piece of work as a real handmade feel to it. He was known as the king of film posters and titles - he worked with many famous film directors and did opening sequences for films such as Hitchcock's Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho aswell as Goodfellas and Scorsese's Casino in 1995. His work influences the movies of today and can be seen in films such as 'CAtch me if you can' and 'Fight Club'.

He is self taught in design and suggests that design is a modern term but when he started he was refered to as a commercial artist as he received money for his work in comparison to painters who did not. He was introduced to the Bauhaus style and Russian Constructivism which can be seen in his work, although it is softer.

In relation to this project i like the use of colour and stencil effects in his work.

To view some of his film titles - they can be seen at the following links on youtube:

vertigo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz46qS38OgM

psycho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4L9J-CUAl8

anatomy of a murder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLtRcd-BXQ8

north by northwest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlqatMQSgI

the man with the golden arm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGnpJ_KdqZE

Epoch

Epoch - a moment in time chosen as the origin of a particular era.

I have been researching the theory of time and how it is represented and measured. There is a system called the unix time system which is used for computing systems. The clock started counting at the Unix Epoch which was the 1st Jan 1970. Since then every day is 86 400 secs. Each date since the Epoch can be represented as a decimal number.

Ive been considering how every persons life is its own era - happiness is not a destination but a journey and everybody's journey is mapped differently. The map is defined by life changing events, which are all moments in time. What if each of these moments could be expressed and celebrated graphically?

Your own epoch started the second when you were born and your clock starts counting..

Focusing the brief

this t shirt was designed by Michael C Place at Build studio. It is part of a time collection, the numbers show the length of the track. .. with the title below it..also interesting packaging

this t shirt design reads 'all designers are w**kers!" - maybe designer humour maybe not!?

I have doing further research to focus the theme of my project. I want the design of the t shirts to be focused on typography but am researching focusing the design on a design based audience.