7th December

How and when was the first book printed? this is a very open question, as it depends on what is meant by printing. If by printing, you mean transferring words or symbols to another material, then it is a process that is thousands of years old. However, if you mean by mass production using plates, blocks or movable type, then it was developed much later. Woodblock printing is done by cutting away areas in which you want to be white. Then once the block is inked there are 2 most common ways:
Stamping: put paper down first and block on top
Rubbing: put the block first and then paper on top

The earliest book using this method with a verified date is the Diamond Sutra 868 CE.

The next process is with movable type and is thought to have been invented in China by Bi Sheng around 1050 CE, but as there are no surviving books this is just speculation. If this is true the oldest printed books are most likely a Buddhist religious text from the 11th century. This method is done by using singular letters and characters set up in lines or pages. This made the need for carving obsolete and shaved a lot of time off of printing. 

Johann Gutenberg is thought to be the creator of mass printing. before him books in Europe were mostly copied by hand or using a very time consuming method. His invention meant that books could reach wider regions and so they became cheaper. The bible he printed is dated to 1455. Due to this information, i believe that in terms of innervation this was the most important book made, as it laid the foundations for mass produced books in which we know today.

The next key principle I will talk about, is all about how I perceive myself as an illustrator and where I believe I am. At this stage of my education, I would be a fool to consider myself an expert as I'm still learning, but I do believe I am competent. I am a good worker and i believe I have background knowledge in this profession. My skills are obviously not at a point in which I can be happy with, but I believe my ideas are good. However, as much as I might love an idea due to my limitations through the skills I have my final outcomes are not always refined enough. Using a project I did in college as an example I will show how my outcomes are more that of a beginners, than someone who is competent. 

 

As you can see the rough sketch of what I wanted to do is completely different to my final outcome. I found that I did not have enough time to create what I wanted and this is something an Illustrator must think of when deciding what idea to go with. It could be an amazing idea, but if the time given means that your work would be done to a poor standard, then another idea must be used. The next piece is my refined final outcome. As i did this during my other projects, I had a lot more time to work on it. Seeing this makes me feel that I am quite competent given more time on work, but in the industry deadlines are very important and so I must work on this.

I would say that although I am capable of completing tasks independently, my confidence is too low to trust my own judgment. Therefore, I often ask teachers for advice, but this is often useful in exploring other options. I think what makes me a lot more competent is the use of action plans. After the project I did in college I started using these a lot more. I know what goals I need to achieve and to help achieve these, I break work into smaller tasks. This way I can easily manage them through out the day, and I don't feel overwhelmed.

23rd November

One of the most annoying things artists come across are mindsets. This can stop ones creativity in its tracks due to our habitual thinking. Over coming these can be hard, but it is worth it. For example I often research artists before starting ideas. However, this can often create stale outcomes, by changing my routine and brainstorming first I can tackle a brief in a new way. As well as this, I find that the task set is often long winded and so i set out to deconstruct the task at hand to find what is asked of me in the simplest way. With this, i find my mind is free of distractions from words and so i can concentrate on the ideas more. Furthermore, the task at hand can seem daunting and that can create a barrier in which we do not want to undertake such a huge amount of work. Personally, I find that splitting the task into small objectives that would take no longer than an hour, can create objectives that are easily obtained on time and at a level in which I am pleased with. In conclusion, the best way to overcome mindsets are to understand what causes them for you. From that ask why they stunt your creativity and how you can change your routine. This will lead to your mind being more creative.

Another problem people can have is having assumptions. All though during school we are told to think in a certain way, over come problems in a certain mannor, but these can create rigid thinking. Its easy saying that to overcome this you need a fresh perspective, but how? A good technique is to use similes, metaphors and analogies. These startogies help create connections we wouldn't normally see. Similes use likenesses to establish connections. These can help when given a brief that seems very restricting, but using connections you can free your mind. Another is metaphors. These are more forceful and direct connections that take more thinking to create. The last, analogies, compare things that are not alike to find what assotions they have. Using these tools for brainstorming, will help break the repetitive thought process our minds are accustomed to.

9th November

I am going to discuss how that if illustrators use the zeitgeist they can create a more impacting piece of work. During the great depression many African Americans migrated out of the south to escape ever growing racism. This caused some cities to become over populated such as New York. Due to racism though African Americans were stilled frowned upon in white communities and so they would often band together to create an area full of black culture, such as Harlem in New York. Harlem was renowned for having many African Americans that came from the Carribean. Because of the Great Depression there was a need for entertainment and in 1935 Orson Wells directed the play Macbeth, casting only African Americans. It was later refereed to as the Voodoo Macbeth because it was set on the island of Haiti and the costume design, along with the set design were all influenced by the Carribean, which was very popular at that time in Harlem. This shows how Wells used the spirit of the time to create a popular piece of culture for the black community. 

Macbeth has always been a popular play to perform, but during the 1980's the money and interest were in cartoons. In the 1990's the target audience for cartoons began changing to an older audience. A good example is BBC's animated tails collection. They created a cartoon version of Macbeth and doing so opened up the appeal of Macbeth to many more, especially youths studying for GCSE's. These examples show how using the Zeitgeist can help illustrators amplify the meaning of their art and also expand their audience.

 

Illustrators use many different mediums to deliver their work, because depending on the target audience their work may not relate or be viewable to them.A good example is Sarah Coleman. She uses different media for different purposes. The work she does could almost be described as a fingerprint. Its completely unique to her and her style is easily recognisable. Now days to keep up in this industry you need to be able to create a marketing campaign on all platforms, be it an advert on TV or a short animation to be viewed online. Sarah Coleman's work ranges from editorial, to fashion to motion pieces and even tattoos. Being able to create a multi-platform campaign, means that she is more relevant in today's market and so she can fit comfortably into other areas. This can create more opportunity as a client would rather pick someone who can use lots of different software and create a complete advertisement campaign compared to someone who would only be able to one thing. The client would obviously not want to lose money and so as new aids and new platforms open, illustrators need to be able to adapt to them. 

2nd November

Within film there's a general paradigm used (a 3 act structure). This is generally split by 30 minuets for the setup, then the next 60 minuets is the confrontation, followed by the last 30 minuets being the resolution. In the setup the characters will be introduced, along with the location. As well, the mood and plot will be introduced. During the confrontation the plot is taken a new direction and has a series of incidents involving action, suspense and delay. After the protagonist has gone through these events, the resolution can begin. In this their goals will be achieved. 

A good example of this is Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. it introduces the setting as a village in the Victorian era and the main character Victor, who is about to wed Victoria. At first they do not want to marry as it is an arranged marriage, but after meeting they can not wait. However, Victor is sent off into the woods to practice his vows where he unknowingly recites his vows to a Corpse Bride. This is where the twist in the plot begins, as she believes he has just married her and so she does everything in  her power to keep him with her and the other corpses. The plot thickens, the vows are until death do us part, Victor would have to die in order for them to be truly married and so being a man of his word he decides he will die in order to be her husband. The resolution happens when the Corpse Bride stops the wedding as she realises she had her chance and shes stopping Victoria's, thus the plot has returned to the original storyline.

When developing characters, there are 3 main elements that go into making it. There needs to be a protagonist and antagonist and dialogue. Victor is the protagonist as explained above and Lord Barkis is the antagonist as he tries to marry Victoria after Victor disappears for her money. However, after finding she has none he becomes enraged and at Victoria and Victors wedding a fight breaks out. Whilst this is going on it is revealed that it was Barkis who killed the Corpse Bride and took off with all her money and would do the same to Victoria. However he eventually gets what he deserves as he swallows poison, thinking its a drink. Therefor dieing and leaving the corpses to have their revenge. 
 
The voice of Victor is very jumpy suggesting his character is very on edge compared to the antagonists, who enunciates every syllable sounding posher and snobbier. From the dialogue as well you can tell that Victoria is very proper compared to the Corpse Bride. These small details help build a more well rounded character and thus they are very original and not stereotype.

28th September

As visual communicators we are constantly being influenced by our surroundings and therefore by what others have done before us. They may not be very apparent and can be very subtle, but any artist would have to be quite ignorant to think that their work is original.  Any decision made within your work will have come from thinking that for example a certain layout would work well for this piece or even down to what materials you use to make your final outcome. To emphasise my point I will use Millais’s 1851-1852 painting of Ophelia. At first this received very few praise, but since then it has found its way into modern culture and is the concept to Kylie Minogue’s video for “Were the Wild Roses Grow” and Vogue Girl’s Korean addition.

As seen in the pictures above Minogue and the model in Aprils addition of Vogue Girl is in the same pose as Elizabeth Siddal (model for Millais Ophelia) and they even has the same vacant look as Siddal had.  The vogue edition is almost an exact copy of Ophelia, but has been shot head on to emphasise the clothes more as that’s the purpose for their work. Even when trying to make a new and innovating video people like Rocky Shenck (director for Where the Wild Roses Grow) end up using somebody else’s work to influence theirs and these two examples of an modernised Ophelia show that nothing is completely original, but as long as you realise where your concept has come from, then you can create something that, all though may have been inspired by someone else’s work still has your own touch to it.

Using the above examples shown, I am going to discuss how relationships develop from existing forms of historical culture. A classic example is Shakespeare's play Hamlet. From this, the tragedy that befell Ophelia has been transformed and developed again and again in many different mediums. Many artists have painted this iconic scene, but i believe Millais's is one of the most known. The minuscule details he has added such as the red poppy help emphasise the story he is depicting. These details show that he is following the zeitgeist of the Victorian era. The next example shows how just as Millais took a piece of literature and developed it into a painting, Shenck took Millais painting and developed it further transforming it into a digital piece, which with the MTV generation today, brought this story to a new audience. I believe these examples show how through time art is created using one significant piece of culture to form a new idea and from that artists can then explore theire creativity and develop it further. The main point is that inspiration may come from the same source, but depending on the spirit of the time (the zeitgeist) it will change how the art is delivered and how it engages the audience.

12th October

This week’s lecture was all about how to make your work legible to your audience. The first point I am going to talk about is how to make visual communication legible. Some things to take into consideration are things like the typeface, size, layout, use of colour and white space. One of the most important things to take think about is the size, as due to new laws, you have to think about people with disabilities and how it maybe harder for them to read your flyer at a certain size. This is a big importance as you may have the most amazing flyer, advertising something that could really interest someone, but if they cant read the text then its just a waste of paper as it’ll end up being discarded on the floor. Another thing to take into consideration is what colour you will put on your work, as certain colours will be hard to read together. For example, yellow text on white or screen will never be legible. As well as aspects that will make your work illegible, you also have to think about how certain colours will be easier read than others. Such as dark text will be more legible on light coloured paper than say pastels. One example as shown below shows that even if you have an amazing design, idea and concept, if it is not legible and you cant work out what the type says no one will take notice and you will end up having a very bad reputation with your employers, as if this was an advertisement and they’d made a whole marketing campaign around your concept, if its not legible no one will read it and this the company will lose money.

The next point I am going to make is about visual hierarchy.  For example the size of the number 26 in the picture below sticks out the most followed closely by paramore. Visual hierarchy is very important, as it’s a way to give the audience the most importance information first to pull them in. This is just words put together but in the use of advertising this is extremely important. The example of the poster for Hot Fuzz shows the image as what is first and for most their most important thing on paper. The picture tells people that it’s about, police. Then the title is the next important thing, as people can go off and use the Internet to look for the trailer and then the next important thing is the tagline. Taglines are a good selling point, but in this case they’ve used the pictures to create the image in the persons imagination first. An example showing how the use of visual hierarchy has changed is in the third example taken from a newspaper from the 1800’s.  The only real hierarchy you can see is the newspapers name. Then come to today’s newspapers and with the use of headings and sub headings, it is a lot easier on the eyes and so it is more likely to sell. There is a picture depicting what’s going on as well, as a picture tells a thousand words.

5th October

This week I am going to talk about understanding the various practices of illustration will help to progress and advance your own practice. Originally an illustrator’s roll was to illuminate and clarify text through the use of visual communication. This generally would be hand rendered, but as times gone on illustration has become a much broader meaning. To keep at the top, illustrators today need to be able to use all sorts of media to create their work because as time has progressed so have digital aids. By trying out different mediums such as drawings, photographs, aids from a computer such as adobe’s creative suite, sculptures, it gives the illustrator a chance to take risks. Sometimes these risks will not pay off, but exploring different ways to create your image will make you a stronger artist. As well as experimentation another key point to gaining a more fulfilled visual vocabulary, is to be constantly be evaluating yours and others work. This we help you de-piece how to illustrations are put together and which things such as layouts and images will work for your brief, as it will help you understand your audience, which is a very important thing. With this in mind I think to excel you need to explore different mediums, find what suits you and your briefs best. Although I believe trying new things will help better your visual vocabulary, I also believe to become the best illustrator one can, they need to look at past work and evaluate it as there is also things you can learn from understanding why someone used the choice of medium they did or what the meaning behind their works are.

The next point I am going to write about is the notion of inspiration derives from constant inquiry, based on research, observation and experimentation. To me this is about never take the first answer you are given, there’s always a sub text to that and the more you inquire the deeper understanding of different paintings, for example you will gain.  If you don’t ask questions then you wont advance. Even if the questions are based inwards at yourself, asking what it is you like to do and how such things can be incorporated. I believe asking yourself questions will help you find inspiration as sometimes you’re set a brief that doesn’t inspire you, but introducing aspects be it subject content or the medium you use will make your brief a lot more fun and thus you will be more inspired. As well as being inquisitive, you need to research, as generally the first idea you might have will not be your strongest. As well understanding different peoples takes on similar topics will help you create a wider picture than your own idea, as researching other ways could open a door to an option which you may not have originally thought of. Another way to get inspiration is to look at things going around you and observe them, look at the way people interact, how different cities have different vibes for example. By recording these things either with the use of photography or taking the time to sketch what you see, you will get more inspiration than just sitting in a room all day. Go out and explore, experiment within what you’re doing, not everything will work, but some will and this will help to keep your work inspirational for others that may research your work later on for example.