Laser cutting

Here's a picture of the work I recently completed for KPMG's new building in Canary Wharf.
The piece was a challenge from start to finish.
I first started work on the project in 2009 for the D&AD student awards and received in-book status. This led to a follow up pitch before the KPMG art committee at which I managed to secure a commission. This meant pushing the design even further and then getting the perspex cut and the fittings ordered.
As you can see the piece works nicely in it's location near the presentation suite in the new building that has recently opened.

Mocking up samples for my project meant recently getting my first experience of laser cutting. The laser cutter at Fred Aldous’ was recommended to me and using it was an exciting and revealing experience.

There was a little advice to get acquainted with the technical side of things, preparing files and some basic laser settings. I learned about things like setting the speed and focus of the laser to achieve different depths of cut for different materials then, before to long I began to see my designs coming to life. It was so satisfying seeing something that had previously only existed on a computer program becoming an actual physical object.

As I left the machine to do its thing I had time to look around the studio and chat with Paul as he explained some of the other projects that had been created using the machine.

This was extremely interesting and gave me lots of new ideas. There was a small wooden block with the Manchester City F.C emblem engraved in it and I heard about how new players to the club are presented with a box engraved this way containing the club’s code of conduct.

Other samples included wedding and christening invitations made from card, pieces of jewellery made from Perspex, signs for desks or shops and an engraved ipod.

Some pieces are engraved at different depths with the scorched wood effect looking particularly nice.

The whole experience has filled me with new ideas and possibilities for using this technique and above all gave me lots of information to help complete this project.

Adrian Shaughnessy

Looking forward to seeing Adrian Shaughnessy tonight in Manchester. Been looking into his stuff. There's a great interview about his book here with SpeakUp a division of Under Consideration.
The pic here shows his description as seen at AIGA.. (to save me having to type it all)

Pick Me Up at Somerset House

I had time to pop in and see the Contemporary Graphic Art Fair 'Pick Me Up' this week and it turned out to be a great exhibition containing a wide variety of prints, toys, fanzines and all sorts of other things being created and shown. Including an exclusive piece for the fair created by each of the artists present.

All the work was available to buy and there was something for everyone as you could walk around the working studios such as the London Print Group (who are inviting several carefully picked practitioners to come along and use the studio), and Rob Ryan's paper cutting and press studio.Others present included Le Gun, a film theater from It's Nice That, Nobrow, and Peepshow.

I enjoyed seeing work from Mr Bingo and Claire Scully particularly, along with Jess Wilson, Ville Savimma and Hvass and Hannibal. (see pics)
I kind of lost track of time while I was there as it really is quite an expansive exhibit with the displays being so interesting and varied that you must be able to find something. I really recommend it.

Jackie Hampsie at Prima Magazine

I had a meeting with Jackie and her team while I was in London a little while ago to give her the opportunity to look over my portfolio and discuss the way they commissioned illustration and why.
Although ultimately my work didn't really suit the style of their magazine at the time of my visit they were all very helpful in suggesting other people I might try talking to to get a start. I was given a contact to talk to and keep posted with my work and I thought perhaps down the line after some more development I might mail them something again.

I didn't think I would be so different from what they might normally use for illustration (although this does seem a little limited at the moment) as the magazine actually has quite a strong, graphic look. They suggested I would need something more feminine for their mag and we discussed maybe doing some mock up's of articles from their mag using some past articles. It was suggested in-fact that they would have liked to have seen more mock-up's, or work actually printed in context to give a better idea of how I work throughout the portfolio.


This is something I want to do as I get more time to myself and less work from college and seems a good way to build up relationships with clients for future commissions or even in-house work.

She, along with her staff, was nice enough to suggest some other publications that I might try, some that are good for taking on new, fresh illustration to get a foot in the door and others that might suit my style more.
So, this is on my to-do list now.

Contact report: Nick Palmer at Computer Active magazine

I arranged a meeting with Nick a little while back to get some feedback on my portfolio and discuss maybe working for him.

When I eventually located their offices, I had a brief meeting with him and his assistant and they talked about the in's and out's of their job and the way the magazine worked.
Whilst they explained that their budget for illustration wasn't what it used to be they explained that they were still very interested and it was a largely enjoyable experience.
They explained things like their usual budget for covers, spots and repeat commissions in the overseas versions of their magazine. We talked a little about the normal timescale to give me a better idea of how things would probably work.
He did mention regular people that they use when time is short, when they can't think of anything themselves.

Whilst he was complementary on the whole I felt that my portfolio at this time was not as rounded as I would have like it to have been and could understand the slightly confused feeling I seemed to get from him as he looked through it.
I did however get a personal address for him and mailed him a pdf containing the best bits of what I had shown him.

This is something that I intend to do again further down the line to maintain contact and keep him posted on what I'm doing.
All in all it was an enjoyable, if slightly nerve racking, experience.

In at the deep end. You learn fast. Swim or die...

Kemistry

Another gallery I visited while I was in London last week was Kemistry..
Hiden (sort of) down a little side street this little gallery had on a display of polish poster design, entitled 'Homework', the name being that of the design group exhibiting. They hail from Warsaw.

Joanna Górska and Jerzy Skakun enjoy using visual puns in a very concise fashion. Being credited with bringing polish poster design back to life they have imbued it with a new sense of modernity and style.

Digital Pioneers, London, the V&A

During my visit to London this week (more on that later) I had some spare time to go and check out a few of the exhibits that I missed on my last visit. (partly because the V&A is a bit of a maze when you enter from the back and don't have a map)

One of these was the digital pioneers exhibit at the V&A.. As the name suggests this was an exhibit featuring the artists to first use the computer as a design tool. Although only quite a small exhibit the work was varied and featured some stars that I had only seen replicated in text books before, though they are of course only digital printouts of the original item (should that be code?). Featured in these pictures is the work of Mark Wilson and Frieder Nake.
It was nice to see them grouped together like this and make the links between the different artists and work on offer.
Most noticeably the importance of series' of image and the inherent precision as well as the colour palette's chosen by the artists.

Individuals were picked out not only for their pieces but also because they designed the software that they used to create them. The link with science is/was also a major factor of this type of artwork, whereby the artists themselves would be collaborating with scientists to push the work and create new things and explore the capabilities fully.

Anthony Burrill

With a client list to die for and a fresh vibrant style Anthony Burrill's work has been catching my eye quite a lot recently.
A Lancastrian graduate of Leeds poly then a Graphics MA at the Royal College, he works with a range of media including illustration, 3d and video.
I was particularly interested in his 2009 exhibit at Kemistry gallery London entitled 'In a New Place'.
This consisted of perspex pieces that have a shiny fresh modern look and feel (see the pics).
I also noticed his recent video pieces and they are in line with the 60's psychedelic atmosphere of much of his work, with flat vector shapes and bold colours.

Ian Wright

The work of (mr) Ian Wright consists largely of contemporary portraiture, but also some clever graphic ideas. His work has been featured in gallery spaces and also in magazines making him someone interesting to look at.

This video shows him talking to It's Nice That about his work, including an interesting section on installing large artworks on interior walls.

Using everyday objects or those that relate specifically to his subject his work has a character that is intrinsic to it's style.




Hopefully he responds to emails.....

Lauren Moriarty

Although I missed her lecture at our college, I was pointed to the work of Lauren Moriarty and her work at the festival hall in particular.
An interesting application of coloured vinyl to these windows offers more exciting, cast shapes for the interior space.

Anthony Burrill

Hi Chris

Have a look at Anthony Burrills work spotted him in Eye magazine this month.

In an interview it seems that he has used Perspex for a few projects, window displays for Colette and Geometry in Nature.

Might be work a look or even to drop him a line?

London

Well, first bout of appointment making done today in anticipation of visiting London soon and I've got to say I'm feeling more positive about the whole freelance thing.
Getting stuck in talking to people and thinking more seriously about approaching prospective clients really is so much more exciting than reading a book about it! Makes me think I've really got to make the most of my organizational skills to make this work and also about how I can get stuck in..


On slightly different note I was looking for things to do and see while we're there and since I've been working on the onedotzero brief for the D&AD awards this year I'm looking forward to seeing this exhibition at the V&A while I'm there.


In the words of the site;

"decode: digital design sensations showcases the latest developments in digital and interactive design, from small, screen-based, graphics to large-scale interactive installations. the exhibition features both existing works and new commissions by established international artists and designers such as daniel brown, golan levin,
daniel rozin and troika. "

Although it will be a bit late to apply what I learn there to my effort I'm still looking forward to finding out what it has to offer.

Johnny Hardstaff

My tutor put me on to this guys work a while ago and since I have been looking into film and merging different disciplines together he popped back into my mind, I looked at his site again today.

I have been paying special attention to the 'History of gaming' and 'Future of Gaming' videos, and they have been filling my head with fresh ideas and giving me perspective on my own. Containing all sorts of conspiracy theory ideas involving Sony's playstation 2 console ; 'Future of Gaming' cleverly encapsulates a feel of modern society's entertainment obsessed nature.

Its nice that you can see some pages from his sketchbooks on the site (evidenced above) although it would be nice if they were at a resolution good enough to be able to read his notes. You can see from the pages that there is a very strong relationship from his sketch work to the final product.

His site shows that he combines all sorts of media from 3d visuals and vector work to carefully modelled prototype like constructions and everything in-between.

Onedotzero

I am attempting to complete a work for the Onedotzero brief for entry into this year's D&AD competition and so have been looking at some of the film makers they have been involved with .

I have some screenshots and links for some of their work here.

Gaelle Denis has an interesting style whereby composite elements are merged with real time footage. Creating an eerie, fairy tale type feeling.

The examples of film projects listed on Quayola's site are interesting and quizzical. Combing 3d elements (i think) with stills to create work with an ethereal feel to them.

There is also some stuff by Nexus Productions on there too.

I'm not sure if this is from them (please correct me, if you know) but I really like the look of it and the suggestive nature it has for someone like me...

Their work is certainly plentiful. The site is just inviting you to spend at least a couple of hours wallowing in its visual pool, with various music videos, titles, idents and general filmage.

Texture

Just searching for new ways to combine texture within imagery, especially with
line art and stumbled across this work posted on 'Behancenetwork'.

I thought I'd better post it as quickly as possible as I was just reminding myself how easy it is to forget where you have seen something and subsequently never find it again..
These images were posted on the site by Florian NICOLLE < link to their profile.