Past Academic Year – Reflections

Well it’s certainly been a much different final year to the course than I had envisioned. Nothing’s really turned out the way I had thought it would go, but there’s nothing to to than work towards an end-goal in a different fashion than I thought I’d do.

Due to the novel Corona virus, educational institutions around the globe switched to video classes and video one-to-one tutorials in March. I do feel that the class suffered somewhat from inconsistent interaction over the internet – and yes, I also feel that I should have interacted more with my peers online. Even in using the internet to stay connected, there was still something missing and I guess it is the irreplicable feeling of working alongside others in a studio. People like myself enjoy the energy others have. Physical proximity really is just something I’m used to.

NEW SKILLS TO BUILD UPON

The new skillsets that I have learned are varied, and I’ve reflected on them in module reviews and retractions in the past. I’m still surprised that I performed as well as I did while learning coding. I think even understanding how the basis of coding works informs my ability to work smoothly with others working on website design, and the understanding means I will know what front-end coders can and can’t do.

I’ve believe that my soft skills have improved. I think those sorts of skills are constantly improving for those working with other people day-to-day, and jobs that involve quality of life issues (such as design). I’m aware that some of them need much more improvement than others such as time management – or rather the prioritising of tasks.

LIVE BRIEFS

I’d already written about my feeling on the live briefs in good detail in other blog posts, so it feels redundant to write about them in depth here. They’re a great opportunity to reach out to real-world companies – big and small – and I hope to scout out more. It is worth repeating that while most of the end-results of this year’s live briefs were disappointing or disheartening, the happenings that led up to abrupt halting of projects could not have been foreseen.

WORKPLACEMENT IN SWITZERLAND 

I’ve already mentioned how lucky I was to visit and work in Switzerland for a tiny while. I wrote a little about one of the programs that I was introduced to in the past, some of the touristy places places I went to and some souvenirs of sorts.

Ideally, it’d be nice to keep some ties to the agency in ST. Gallen I had my work placement at. I sent of a couple of letters, and some e-mails during the Corona virus lockdown to staff, though the agency was able to function in working from home.

I got these in the mail, all the way from Switzerland

Here are some postcards I got in the mail from a friend I made during my placement in Switzerland. I was really exited when I got them. One postcard is essentially a sample from the Swiss paper company INAPA Schweiz, and another is by Swiss illustrator named Stephan Schmitz (see his portfolio from that link)!! I also got a sticker featuring the cover of the children’s book on Swiss customs Globis Buch vom Shweizer Brauchtum. It’s cute.

BLOGGING

I’ve enjoyed keeping a student blog far more than I had thought I would, even though I often write things that I know won’t likely be read by those outside of the graphic design course. I’ll keep my blog up-to-date as I continue to use it for personal graphic design research, and to share personal projects and any personal progress. I want to keep this blog to show others that I’m serious about design!!

MOVING FORWARD

I’m not taking part in the third year of the course, but I don’t have to say good-bye to the facilities; having alumni status I can use some tools on campus for. I do not have access to further knowledge exclusive to the course. I will miss out on small tips from tutors that I otherwise might not pick up on my own. The last year is key to design students learning the importance of marketing and how to market themselves. That last part would be especially useful to me! I’ll need to learn what exactly what it means to market oneself through my own research.

I have ideas for personal projects!

The future is more uncertain than ever. The way the workplaces function are changing, the way business treat patrons and staff are changing… I’m not sure of what day jobs there are out for me in the immediate future. I’m unsure of what graphic design placements and work I will be able to shoot for. I need to work on myself over the summer and work on unfulfilled projects and seek out what I really want.

My instagram; to be used for analogue illustration

It’s important for me to take advantage of social media hubs. I’m not one to take to these platforms well because I generally dislike the overstimulation, and the way (news) information is delivered on social media. (Both the constant repetition, and the over-simplification.) The platforms don’t have to be used to gather ‘internet friends’ though. I can use them to keep tabs on other creatives and drop off work.

I have an instagram that is in suspended animation (more like it’s a zombie) and I need to be using it as a space to share work exclusive to itself. Sometimes creatives cross-post work, but I want there to be a reason for others to look at it. I may want to set up an account that shares only finished graphic design work.

I think most importantly, I understand that I can’t rush anything. Once I’m sure of my next destination I need to remember that if I focus only on the destination, then I might just miss the journey.

 

2ND Year Final Project – “Hindsight is 2020”

The last project of the academic year is one of freedom. I’ve already discussed a little about the year’s Final Practice here. Basically, the Final Practice gives students free reign over the design they want to peruse. It could be an article, an app, a series of posters, a product, whatever you want. It’s an opportunity to work on something one’s really passionate about!

On the side to the personal project is the incentive to build a portfolio of the past works made during study. This could be website-built, printed, or PDF-based. I’d rather cover the portfolio task in it’s own post, but every student juggled working on organising a portfolio alongside their Final Practice and other modules. The portfolio assembly was a scary (yes, ‘scary’) task in the back of my mind as I worked on my personal brief.

Personal project musings

We had a lot of leeway, and so I discovered there are projects that may be worthwhile pursuing in the future. I hadn’t thought about making apps prior to brainstorming project ideas.

Final Project proposal page 1

Final Project proposal page 2

I wrote a proposal for a product that could be health or lifestyle-oriented. I wanted to market fruit tea specifically for children.

I find that writing a proposal for a project is easiest when it’s broken up onto sections. I hope the format makes reading it easier to digest for a stranger – and that was the sort of feedback I got in sharing it with peers when I asked for critique. Definitely, there’s always room for improvement when writing these sort of things. It has to be seen as a document you’d present to someone investing in your ideas.

A page showing distribution of my time

I think I could have organised my time better. I made timetables to follow through with. But I found myself burned out at times. When I got frustrated with aspects of the project, I knew I should take a step back, but knowing that I would ‘fall behind’ my schedule would make me feel even more frustrated or stressed. It’s actually fine to edit my plans as I go, as long as I have the end-goal in sight and am aware of how much time is really left.

Looking at traditional illustration on packaging

I enjoyed looking at a packaging design again. It was not possible to take my time in stores to hold and feel a bunch of different packaging, and so I had to rely on what I could find searching online. That’s OK as I’m not unfamiliar with the importance of physical qualities of packaging.

I guess I couldn’t have gone to France to window shop anyway. (Image from Kiss My Chef.)

The amount of elements involved in the project were overwhelming at times. I had to take into consideration brand names, product names, packaging nets, illustrative assets and so on. Like other students, I was working on this project alongside other modules so I had to balance this one with other modules and portfolio development. (I had more-or-less finished most other modules, though they weren’t tidied up.) I really felt a sort of mental wipeout over the amount of different tasks. (Thankfully nothing like a full-blown burnout.)

Very early digital illustration assets

I thought that making the assets for the project would be straight-forward, but it’s not as simple as I had thought. Looking at traditionally illustrated packaging, I wanted to do the same. In the end, I turned to digital artworking methods. In the past, I had made the mistake of not putting together my assets from the previous packaging module to-scale, which made printing awkward to say the least. Somehow, the need to work to-scale still catches me off guard. I also really wanted to make different tea flavour packaging to help reinforce that the product I proposed could exist in real life. It means a larger workload, but theoretically, I could make one set of package illustration assets, and tweak them twice over if I wanted to make 3 products.

I made studies of different types of packaging nets

Making nets is no problem in the end; I’ve looked at enough to understand the importance of practicality over flashy, unconventionally-shaped nets. I’m also conscious of wasting resources. (Even for a hypothetical product!)

As of writing, I took a break from looking at or thinking about Final Practice so to come back to it with a fresher, clearer mind and eyes. I’ll be sharing the finished assets and box designs. I hope to have some more positivity to share about the project overall, and share the deeper process of portfolio building.

WKL200 – Reflection (02)

All students are asked to take part in seeking out freelance and open design briefs over the academic year in the Work Based Learning module. The module helps to reinforce the understanding of working with others, and taking advantage of the chance to find and complete projects that appeal to us. I hope that in writing this, it will help me put aside any negative feelings about the past few months, and see the opportunities I took advantage of, and any enjoyment I got out of them.

I’m going to split up my thoughts of the module quite simply as ‘hardships’ and ‘enjoyment’, finishing off with my thoughts on the module overall. Of course, my feelings are more complicated than that, though I want to keep this post from being too lengthy. Anyway, the amount of trials this year definitely feel enough to warrant their own section.

HARDSHIPS

The end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 were rocky, and fraught with problems, so it’s not difficult to understand the past academic year has been undercut by many issues that diminished the quality of learning and education.

Early logo scamps for the Siemens‘ open brief

I’d mentioned it in an older, specific post, but one of the open briefs in which graphic design students across all year groups tacked was for the company Siemens. I found understanding the brief difficult! It was a ‘logo design’ project, but the logos were desired to be illustrative, and the visual language of sports teams that was desired, was not associated with the workforce. I felt glad to have created anything looking like a half-functional logo by the end. Work churned out by fellow students was very competent, but ultimately, no student work was chosen. A staff member at the wind farms instead created their own logo for use. Who made it? I don’t know. (But…. it’s… not good.) It’s very saddening to have wasted a lot of passion and time and effort.

Specifications for a display board to show a recruitment campaign poster

Because of the effects of the Covid-19 virus on world-wide economy and all types of business, some of the briefs that students worked on would be put on hold, and perhaps they will never be seen to the end. The briefs that I worked on while in Switzerland with Festland were for a website build for a French-styled boutique called Le Soir Le Jour, and the other was an entire apprenticeship recruitment campaign for the energy-providing company EW BUCHS. I made illustrated assets and mockups for freebee merchandise, mockups and idea germination for a social media campaign, storyboards for filming video, and rough illustrations for the poster and flier design. It’s a shame that the work put into the advertisement campaign and website building have no end results to speak of.

I also fell into trouble shortly after returning home amid the Covid-19 pandemic, finding my license to important computer programs and run out. The programs I needed are not cheap to rent, and I had to be careful about what I was spending my money on, given that the pandemic meant that I didn’t have any workplace to go to. I later found access to the programs through the course, but by that time, the deadline of one of the projects I had already past. In fact, I have not heard back to understand the end result of the logo redesign.

ENJOYMENT

Some of the projects that I took part in to contribute to the Work Based Learning module did see completion. I was lucky to work on short projects that were fun, while also helping me sharpen my digital skills.

The chance to work overseas was a great opportunity. I can’t say it was without stress but it was an experience I’ll cherish. I think I made friends and hope to keep a connection with the agency I worked at. Given the circumstances, I sent out a postcard to the company, and some other items in the post to one of the staff because tactile mail at this time is something to be appreciated, however old school it is.

Even if a number of briefs that I worked on were not seen through to the end – for whatever reasons – the better understanding of different design jobs and the requirements needed I came away with it worth the time spent.

END THOUGHTS

Recently, I had a video tutorial with a tutor – actually, I’ve had a bunch of those lately since conventional lessons are non-existent at present – and we talked about the expected outcomes of a designer’s projects. Not all projects are seen through to the end. Not every brief is made by a client with a solid understanding of design. Most ideas won’t even be developed past rough ideas because only so much resources can be spent on the ‘right ideas’. So it’s not ‘bad’ to see many thoughtful solutions to problems left unrealised. It’s just… how it is.

As stated, the time spent on the unfulfilled briefs was not an entire waste of time or effort. I still widened my skillset and I gained a better understanding of some tools. That a number of briefs I took on did not make it to the very end is unfortunate, but I can accept it. I’m going to look forward to future projects that allow me to craft something great!

Super Delicious Limited Company – Chocolate Bar

After finishing much research for a current project, I came across a striking food product that is unlike any other chocolate product I’ve seen before. I’ve not included it in sketchbook research because I found it so late, but I also feel that it would be best too here on my blog.

The Super Delicious Limited Company chocolate bar packaging is designed and illustrated by by Zilin Yee, an independent graphic designer, while the copywriter for the project was Herbie Phoon. Zilin Yee used the programs Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to craft the very tactile-looking packages, informed by the physical qualities of Joss paper.

A product “based on the idea of the joss paper culture“

The traditional, bamboo-made Joss paper is burned during ancestral worship ceremonies. Joss paper includes variants known as ghost or spirit money, which are highly colourful ‘afterlife bank notes’, burned at funerals. The packaging designs capture the brightness and patterns of the ghost bank notes.

Many different packages

This package illustration is strongly reminiscent of ghost money, featuring an emperor

The chocolate bar’s packaging all feature very whimsical and playful illustrations. The line of packages are of course, tied together by their visual theme, and typography. The brand logo, product name, and weight are positioned in different places on each package, which is unusual as the same placement would unify a product feasting differently designed packaging.

The colours and patterns are enough to make me want to buy this

If I were to see this sort of product package design in the west, it would undeniably have strong shelf presence going for it, even among other ‘designer’ or ‘premium’ chocolate bars with outrageous packaging design, Super Delicious Limited Company chocolate wears its inspiration on its sleeve (…or box).

The design inspiration has no immediate relation to chocolate (or the origin of  the cocoa bean) but it stands out due to the unique route the designer chose to take. Sometimes a product doesn’t have to ‘fit in’ with the status quo to be desired. More-so than other chocolate bars, the visuals of these packages are the real draw to the item, and that’s worth thinking about in future packaging projects.

Up-cycle Design – C5 Envelopes

Alongside the desired phone calls or video chats to keep up distance relationships, I’ve found myself both sending and receiving more postcards or letters to keep in contact with loved ones. A few weeks ago I ran out of envelopes to send letters to friends and family, so I decided to up-cycle some paper from around the house to make envelopes. I used an old copy of Creative Review – a commercial creativity and graphic design magazine.

The insides of Creative Review are varied. The magazine covers the current visual trends, notable student graduate work, interviews from designers or creative directors, art exhibitions, the news on the latest popular media (films, video games, etc.).

These C5 envelopes made from a 2001 issue of Creative Review

I was familiar enough with basic envelope nets to bash out some C5 envelopes in a short time. I used a popular culture review page, an art exhibition review, and a printing service advertisement to make radically different envelopes.

As I have already cut up my 2001 copy of Creative Review, here are a few images of the magazine’s insides of another issue (taken from their website). These are page spreads of of a 2018 issue, showing the magazine’s variation of editorial design.

The Place issue: October/ November 2018

The Place issue: October/ November 2018

The Place issue: October/ November 2018

A single page of Creative Review is large enough to make a single C5 envelope, with room to arrange the placement of the net. Part of the fun is figuring what imagery or text would look most exiting on the envelope. Even the advertisements can hold some interesting photos and design!

LICK, LICK

This envelope is my favourite of the three shown here. The placement of the stamp looks as though the ‘design’ is interacting with it. It sparks ideas for illustrated envelopes.

I’ve mentioned my affinity for stationery design (particularly illustration) in the past, and that at some point I’d like to try my hand at designing some letter writing sets. There’s definitely something to be gained from experimenting with the materials (and imagery) that make up mundane objects to generate new excitement in them. I received a positive response to these envelopes when I sent them out to others in the post!

Unrealised Goals – Finish them in summer 2020

The summer is fast approaching. The academic year is reaching it’s end. Sure, student timetables are out of whack now, but it’s important to keep going. I need to set myself goals over the summer months to keep my creativity and interest in design up. I’m looking back at a project not long since handed in, and I know that I want to revise elements of it already.

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I handed in my responsive project – a live brief outcome from the UN and the World Health Organisation. I will admit that I swayed the brief to suit my own emotional and mental-wellbeing, from ‘raising awareness of Covid-19 to prevent the spread’ to ‘coping with the pandemic through activities’. The thing is, I had to write a proposal, so I found justification in the angle I ‘tackled’ the brief. In modifying the brief, I could focus more on subjects that would help me cope, while being – theoretically – more productive.

Essentially, to address the problem of Covid-19, I chose to design for a child audience, and ‘market’ an activity that would be cultivating inside-grown plants from mail-order seed packets. The real drive for the project being to give kids more structure and short-term goals at home when schools were closed. I wanted to include two mini zines (8 pages each) with information and facts on the types of plants that can be grown from the seeds, and garden insects that are beneficial to outdoor plant growth.

I explored a couple of different illustration routes to see what could suit seed packet design and little booklets, but it was a lot to take on in such a short space of time. I only got as far as making mockups of the basic layout for a proposed packet design, and one zine. I made many illustrations, but I don’t think they’ll go to waste. This project included my first tries at creating digital collage.

Hover fly digital ‘paper’ collage

Although it’s far more time-consuming than I had thought – I still felt a lot of gratification upon finishing any insect collages. I am very happy with how some of them turned out.

I wish I had shared more of my development work as I was working on the responsive project. I shared a little over some Microsoft Teams DMs and Discord, and got some interesting insights into other’s thoughts on paper collage. I realised the variety of the  papers I could use – the ‘paper’ being digital – were bigger than I thought. Newsprint and even photographs can be utilised for different textures and to suggest different patterns.

Ground beetle digital collage

I’d like to make more bug collages over the summer, and fill a whole printed, colour booklet. I want to finish the black and white zine full of line garden insect drawings I started for my responsive brief, too. I’d want to make the hand-drawn illustration version downloadable, printable, so that folding it and colouring it is an activity on top of learning bug facts.

There’s a lot go milage in my proposal as it’s not explicitly Covid-19 specific, it can exist outside of the initial brief timeframe, which lends the ideas longevity. That’s why it’d be worth returning to the project in my own time.

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One of the last modules of the academic year is a ‘personal project’. Again, I have full reign over how I want to approach design. It can be anything. ANYTHING! Naturally, I generated a number of ideas that I can’t possibly address within the soon-approaching deadline. Some ideas probably aren’t worth looking at closer than I already have. But the ideas that I can’t address in the meantime are worth looking at in the future. I can set myself goals to achieve some of these projects.

I thought a lot about different routes to take a ‘personal’ project

Some routes I was interested in were stationary sets – letter-writing sets… sticker design – health and wellbeing product packaging, spotters guides, and the good old bestiary. Here are a few notes I took in my sketchbook while musing over spotters guides and bestiaries:

SPOTTERS GUIDE??

I even thought about phone applications in relation to spotters guides

Etchings and ink illustrations of grotesques by Arent van Bolten, made between 1604 and 1616

Books full of creatures from folk tales, or video game monster indexes have always interested me. There’s definitely fun to be had in illustrating (and writing for) such things. So I can see myself making images for some variation of a bestiary myself.

Whatever routes I can venture down, it’s all an excuse to make illustration that I can put my heart into. Digital or analogue; I don’t think it matters much which I use, but the medium would probably change in relation to the illustration style I most want to dive into.

… But I chose what I had thought to be the quickest and most useful route to myself, thinking about the near-future. I’ll be looking at packaging design. I’ve worked on some before. I’ll put to the test the knowledge I’ve learned in the past!

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Planning out projects during the summer months and staying up-to-date in wold design news is vital as to not lose the heart I need to find work in the creative industry. It’s also important to keep up my blog; write about any design I find of interest, show any development of interest, and so on. The next logical step… is to finish all of the modules I have already! But then… then I can work out a schedule for the summer. And meet unrealised goals.

Web Design Application – Figma

During my time spent at the corporate advertisement agency Festland, I worked with fellow staff to revitalise a client’s personal business website, Le Soir Le Jour. I tried to work towards the new website look in the conventional method of >contents required >site map planning >wireframe >site build. I still worked towards building a website using that development format. But I was quickly introduced to the website design application, Figma, which changed the way I worked towards the goal.

I’ve written a little on the free app Figma in my digital sketchbook for my tutors to read though, and I both mentioned and linked the application’s website on the class’s Microsoft Teams group, but writing about it here gives it more exposure. I won’t delve much into the development of the LSLJ website here as I’ve already recorded it in a sketchbook, but I’m using pictures of it’s development to show how I worked in Figma as visual aid.

Original LSLJ home page

Original LSLJ about page of Nicole

Le Soir le Jour was originally text-heavy on several of its pages, so the end-goal was decided to be ‘clean and minimal’. It also had many pages that would need their images and text updated every season. We found a way to lesson the work for the site owner.

I should mention, while I worked on a site map plan of the website, and the interactive desktop prototype, the front-end developers would have handled the coding.

Basic overview of Figma

Firstly, you can work on several website pages at once on a ‘canvas’. You chose the dimensions of the pages, and you can always changes them later. Every page can be given a name. Every asset you place will named by default, too – a default name such as ‘shape1’ is designated to the first shape drawn on a file, or an image that’s been imported and hosted on Figma’s cloud will be called by its filename at first. Text is placed in boxes, and each text box… can also be named. It’s good to name everything you place you you can locate and edit the right assets with ease. Several items can be modified in a group if they’re all highlighted at once.

Very early digital wireframe of LSLJ I made in Figma

As you would expect, there are shortcuts that are used on familiar design programs that apply here; to zoom you can hold ‘⌘ + spacebar’ while clicking a mouse to zoom, as in Adobe programs. If you click the ‘?‘ in the bottom right of the canvas, you’ll have access to the list of keyboard shortcuts such as ‘⌃ + G’ to see the canvas’ grid.

It’s possible to use any fonts that are already present in the app (such as the standard web-safe fonts everyone will have on their computer, to the Google Fonts). Or you can add new ones by downloading them.

Example of a revised LSLJ about page of Nicole in Figma

Oh yeah, I should mention, this might look like a wireframe. But it’s not. It’s just… very minimal.

I was asked to edit the placeholder body copy to the standards of printed media… while it’s possible to arrange text however you wish on a Figma document, it seemed pointless in the end as a responsive website would react to the size of the window and move the text about freely.

The two biggest features I would consider that made using Figma a great tool would be the collaboration and prototyping. Figma is wholly cloud-based, so that means anyone with a browser could view and leave a comment on a design, given they have the working URL to a project. Only four were directly involved in this project’s visual design; the client, the two staff who worked on the design, and the senior designer who oversaw the project (up until it’s unforeseen postponement).

Example of the website’s pages in Figma, using placeholder images from the client

Prototyping in Figma is incredibly intuitive, and therefore it’s quick to prototype a design, but it also has limitations. The prototyping of a website is as simple as linking a pice of text or an image to another page; you select the element you want to become a hyperlink, and then drag a line from that element to the desired page. The limitation is that you can only link an element to the top of another page. You can’t link an image on one page to, say, half-way down another page’s contents, or to the bottom of the page you’re currently browsing. So from this you can guess that it means you can’t make a navigation bar any more complex than one that links to the top of internal pages. I also couldn’t make sticky navigation bars.

Here, it’s worth mentioning the website prototype isn’t responsive and won’t adjust to the size of the window viewing it. (Making a responsive website wasn’t a goal of the agency as the website I built in Figma would be adapted on ‘Squarespace’ by coders at a later date and thus become responsive.)

Figma website prototype of the LSLJ website, browser-view

Collaborating in Figma is easy. Anyone logged onto the account in which a file was created in can make edits to the file as they have access to the URL. This means you can share a file with an entire team and others can try out the prototype and suggest adjustments in comments, or even edit it themselves (surely, they’ll ask you first). Those not logged on to the account in which a file was made in can still view the prototype in action and see how they feel about navigating it. This means a client can be shared the URL of a project and navigate a prototype in their own time.

Sometimes, new programs take some getting used to, but I found learning the app’s interface quick and intuitive. It really fit my needs and it was great that I could forward a link to co-workers to oversee progress, and share with them my prototype to ask how they found navigating it.

I wonder if my tutors would think to utilise the Figma application in the future during any web design modules. To my fellow students who are looking to to make quick website mock-ups and interactive prototypes within a free resource, I’d recommend you give Figma a try. It’s easy to pick up, and it’s collaborative. Yes, it has limitations, but for what it is, it’s good. It can make solid website plans that a front-end website coder can take over from.

NCI508 Feedback – “Success is born out of struggle”

After receiving my feedback for the Digital Skills Application module (which included understanding parallax website design and coding skills) I’m actually really pleased with my feedback. I’m proud of myself! Perhaps… this module result is my highest mark this academic year…? It wasn’t an easy module for me to get to grips with. I definitely struggled with the coding aspect at times. Looks like the fight was worth it!

The goal of the module was to code a website to represent our Graphic Communication course. Some visual assets (and an optional brand guideline) were handed to us. ‘Goodloop’ is the studio name and there are pre-existing graphics and colours tied to it.

Goodloop logo by peer Micky Wier

Looking back on the Digital Skills Application module, it definitely had emotional ups and downs. There were times where I was exited to learn more about contemporary website design and exploring so many interactive websites was a treat. I pushed myself to uncover new knowledge. I can’t lie; did find teaching myself coding difficult. I wish I had found the website W3Schools earlier into the module. Though, I do believe that I’ve retained enough coding knowledge, that if I were to work together with a front-end developer to make a website, it’d be easy sailing.

Sketchbook pages on WHOAMAMMA

I was proud of my research page layouts and I got much better acquainted with Adobe InDesign. Therefore, I want to share images of my research sketchbook. The sketchbook does look odd when printed and bound as I had to print it single-sided, while I made the margin larger on the ‘inside’ of the pages for the purpose of binding it double-sided, leaving room for the spine. It means the margin is uneven on the hard copy, and text on every other page is rather close to the spine but there’s nothing that can be done about that.

Research on NEA MEDIA

Pages on UNIBROW ARTS FESTIVAL and OLYMPP

My layout of the research made it easy for my tutor understand the vital elements of the websites I’d looked into. I covered the aesthetics of the sites, functionality, and key design elements.

It was mentioned that I could have improved my research by delving into the pros and cons of the website designs. I should have used more professional language and terminology to enhance my analogy and critical thinking. Yeah!

Page on graphic a designer’s portfolio; ALEX PIERCE PORTFOLIO

Another graphic designer’s portfolio; ELYSE NIEZGODA PORTFOLIO

These last two pages you see above were of creative’s portfolios I found online. I recorded and submitted a video analysis for each of them for my tutor to sit through. In recording videos, I learned a lot about how to present my thoughts and myself clearly to the listener. The feedback I received for my videos was very positive!

A really early, really basic layout plan for the top of a page

After looking at so many websites, I made various rough plans of how the website may be laid out.

Example of what a ‘student profile’ section of the course website could look like

I did enjoy generating ideas of how elements of the site may be laid out. I thought the course website – being a creative course – should involve some individuality of those teaching and studying. I’d have liked a profile section to make use of student-submitted profile pictures, bios, and signatures. Very visual and playful.

Ah. I appreciate my tutor feeling that my sketches and plans were ‘charming’!

Knowing that I didn’t have to be able to write code that that accurately reflected my plans, suggested layouts or aesthetics meant that drafting plans was more relaxed and less restrictive. I know enough code that I know what is and is not ultimately doable.

Working in Adobe Dreamweaver

Adobe Dreamweaver is a friendly program to code in, it does close lines of code for you automatically, which depending on where you stand, is either a boon or a curse. If you want to develop the good habit of closing your tags, then the fact Dreamweaver does it for you isn’t as helpful. The program also offers suggestions of code while writing, which is nice if you’re a beginner.

It’s an easy program to get to grips with, and there’s no reason why one shouldn’t use it if one happens to own a copy. I will admit that I believed my coding ability to be weak while working on this module. I was quite stressed and upset at points, thinking “Why can’t I do this faster??” or “I don’t understand this part of the code at all!” but learning code takes time – much like learning anything. I should have been more patient with myself.

Part of the CSS I used to edit the carousel HTML code

As for talking through my website code in a video capture, I found it much more easy-going than delivering in-person as I could always re-take a video if I really happened to mess up. Delivering my thoughts, I found it good to split my desktop screen in half; show my website code on one side, and the website in-browser on the other.

Quicktime recording

Here’s what my desktop looked like as I presented my own code and website via video. Dreamweaver on the left, safari tab on the right.

Top of the page I coded

The website I coded doesn’t visually represent the website I had drafted; though I experimented with elements of code that I proposed I’d use in exploring possible site development.

I managed to talk through the shortcomings in my video analysis of my coding and website presentation; visibility problems; usability issues etc. and it felt good that I could articulate these over video – showing that I felt something was less than I had wanted and that I would aim to fix it.

Student profile layout

Showing my desired design choices through my sketchbook drawings, my lecturer understood clearly the type of aesthetics I would have liked to implement if I had a higher skillset in coding. The suggestions I made for the website’s feel could easily be given to a front-end developer as visual examples they could work towards.

Example of a manual carousel of student design

My footer could have been better presented if it was… rich. There could also have been a better segregation at the bottom of the page; that the footer was indeed its own thing. I also deleted the code for the sticky navigation bar at some point and it’s less comofrtable for the user to search for sections on such a long page sans a sticky or floating navigation option.

My tutor was happy enough with my video delivery, rational justifications of my code, and method of thinking. It was suggested that video could “…be be a method you might want to consider in the future,” weather it be to present development of a work as a time-lapse, or “…if you use a different technique in illustrator or photoshop or indesign…” …even a cap of what I’m doing and why I’m doing it may be a better way to communicate my thoughts. And I do find it hard at times to explain my methods through text. Visuals can really help communicate an action or design choice. I agree that video is a good method to look into in order to deliver my thoughts and working process.

How do I feel about the module overall? Hmn! Relieved that I learned something. Happy that I can communicate my methods clearly. As I said, it was difficult, but it is rewarding to come out on top!

Zürich – Grossmünster & Sigmar Polke’s Stained Glass

At the risk of my blog becoming too much like a travel diary, I want to post about my trip to Zürich last month. I visited Zürich briefly to see Grossmünster and Sigmar Polke‘s stained glass. (Grossmünster means ‘large cathedral’.) It’s forbidden to take photography inside of the building, so I had thought it would be somewhat redundant to write up about the visit without pictures of my own.

Good thing there are a few images on the internet from the years when the works were promoted by cultural and tourism websites!

Agate window, King David, and The Son of Man, Sigmar Polke

Pictures taken from Swissinfo.ch

Firstly, getting to Zürich from Steckborn was a breeze with the BBS trains and buss phone app. It took a buss and three trains, but I got there. I was determined to get there!

There is a large bronze water fountain and statue of Alfred Escher outside of the Zürich HB train station (the largest train station in Switzerland). You can’t miss the monument exiting the station if you’re headed for the Romanesque ex-cathedral .

Zürich has its own Kunsthaus (art house) a National Museum, and even vintage a Toy Museum, so really, there’s so much about the city that I didn’t get to see in the single morning I was able to spend there. Definitely, it’s a place to head to again in the future. Or if you happen to visit Switzerland, know that Zürich has a lot to offer in art and design.

Agate windows

So… who is the artist behind the stained glass…? Born 1941 in Oels, Poland, Sigmar Polke and his family were expelled to communist East Germany after the war. The consumer culture he grew up immersed in had a lasting impact on his work, his earliest successful works depicting consumer goods. In his works, Polke made use of very unconventional mediums, such as meteorite dust or detergent.

Polke trained as a glass painter in Düsseldorf and studied for six years at Düsseldorf Academy of the Arts. He’s had his work exhibited in Zürich’s Kunsthaus. The stained glass on show in Grossmünster display Polke’s interest in alchemy, transformation, and religion.

Photograph of the windows above Grossmünster’s front door

Photo from grossmuenster.ch

It was between 2006 and 2009 that Polke completed his stained glass windows in which Grossmünster commissioned. I had just visited some other places of worship in Germany prior to seeing Grossmünster’s very unconventional windows, which set it apart from much more conservative churches.

The agate windows are particularly spectacular for their colour arrangement. Acording to the English-language booklet I bought from the visit, agate stone slices have been used in window-making since the Middle Ages. Modern technology allows us to thinly cut the rocks and we can see the coagulation of the time and energy within the stones.

Scapegoat and The Prophet Elijah 

Each of Polke’s windows carry some religious significance. The Scapegoat… burdened by people’s guilt. Its embedded wounds are represented by the precious stone tourmaline.

The Prophet Elijah depicts a medallion with Elijah’s ascension; Elijah rides a fiery chariot into the world beyond, and discards his coat, and disciple Elisha picks it up. The coin-like medallion here is also reference to the need to pay a fee to pass into the afterworld.

Because I couldn’t take photos, I bought postcards instead.

The ex-cathedral is said to have been built over the course of the 11th and 13th centuries CE, and the contemporary stained glass of Sigmar Polke is skilful as to be in harmony with the historic site. The masterful understanding and control over light – both light’s celebration and obstruction within these windows – are something I’ve not really experienced before.

I made sure to pick up postcards of Polke’s work to send off to family and friends before leaving. Visiting the building is something I can’t recommend to those who are entirely uninterested in religion, or those who feel uncomfortable in places of worship. But if you’re comfortable enough to spend time in a quiet church to contemplate the windows, it’s worth seeking out Grossmünster. As with other cathedrals, there’s always the crypt to check out, too; there’s a large statue of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne, who in legend is said to have founded Grossmünster. Believe the legend or not, it’s up to you.

Kunstmuseum Basel – Old Building

Mentioned in my entry about my visit to the Meisterwerke der Sammlung Im Obersteg  exhibition in Kunstmuseum Basel, I also saw the works on show in the Old Building. There was no ‘special’ exhibition held. Due to the particular lighting of the gallery, I have only a few pictures to share.

The characteristics of the Old Building and difference in the display of work to the New Building were immediately evident. The Old building’s galleries are mostly constructed of long rows of corridors, and allowed less natural light inside from the placement of the windows and the building itself (but of course, the windows that could let much light in were covered with thin, pale curtains to block the UV rays from damaging any artworks). Many rooms had dark wood paneling in contrast to the newer building’s concrete and metal.

Badende (1926) Max Sulzbachner

If you visit Switzerland to see their established artists, here’s the gallery to visit; granted you’re not out to take too many pictures of the works unmarred by the strobe lightings’ glare.

There were four floors to the Old Building, and one floor dedicated to Swiss illustrator, painter, graphic artist, prop master… and mask maker, Max Sulzbachner. All of Sulzbachner’s paintings, prints, drawings, and props were framed behind glass or encased in display boxes (and the artificial strobe lights make it impossible to take pictures without their reflections). These rooms were quite dim at times, and cramped-feeling. I must’ve been spoiled by visiting the much more open-plan New Building first.

Detail from Waldweg (1930) Max Sulzbachner

I enjoyed some of Sulzbachner’s works much more than others. Perhaps because I understand very little about stage shows. There was a variety of mediums; woodcuts, paintings using gauche, oil and ink… unfortunately, due to the dimness of many of the rooms and corridors, I don’t have much worth sharing here.

If you’re fluent in high German, you’ll find a lot to read about Max Sulzbachner in this museum. In fact, to get the most out of the gallery spaces, it’s best to know high German. No multi-lingual tombstones here!

Am Urnersee (1849) Alexandre Calame

There were oil on canvas works by the Swiss painter Alexandre Calame who focused on landscape scenery. I would have liked to have seen more of this artists work. Alexandre Calame also drew scenery in a very traditional manner (not illustrative).

Detail from Am Urnersee (or ‘By the Lake of Uri’ in English)

The intimate details one can see in many large-scale paintings up-close are on show in Calame’s work. A great deal of traditional (i.e. conventional oil) paintings are best appreciated at a distance, but looking very closely at Calame’s landscape paintings, the marks made are clean.

To be expected, there are many famous Swiss landscape painter’s works on show (though many of those artists painted portraits, too). I like how soft and comforting the colours in Ferdinand Holder’s pieces are. I particularly enjoyed Genfersee mit Jura (‘Lake Geneva with Jura Hills’). If you enjoy almost dream-like pastel landscapes with a grand yet grounded feel to them, Holder’s artwork is worth researching.

Das Leben (1935) Walter kurt Wiemken

In one of the longer corridors, Walter kurt Wiemken’s oil painting, Das Leben (or ‘The Life’ in English) caught my eye. There’s so much going on in this picture, you could spend a log time mulling over it. Why are all of these figures gathered? Why the cannons? The angels? The clown! It’s very fun for me to look at.

Check out…. this funky little clown… Das Leben (detail)

I spent less time in the Old Building as I was aware that I had little time to spend exploring it the museum’s closing, and I had to head out of the city before long. …I missed seeing a lot of the oldest paintings that were in the collection. There was even a third building to Kunstmuseum Basel (that I had no time to visit)! Such is life.

Still, even though I left without taking many (good) pictures, I can look back and say it was great to be introduced to a number of artists foreign to me. Hopefully, the next time I visit any foreign galleries, I have the time on my hands to spend a whole day on them!