Tal Rosner

Tal Rosner biography quotes him as BAFTA award winning for the work he did for the popular television series Skins. Tal Rosner took a BA Hons in Graphic Design, which took him three years. Tal was interested and explored into movement and took a moving image degree in London. Although he had degrees he feels he was self taught in using the software he needed to create his work digitally.

Tal stated in the lecture that he prefers working smaller to a lower budget, he created a piece for two french pianists who wanted a CD/DVD that would attract a younger generation. Tal showed us a piece that was split into two screens but he had tried to link them manually together although it was a strain on the eye and slightly hard to follow the imagery was really good and effective, the whole piece was unique and very abstract.

I found Tal Rosner's work very different to the other lectures i had attended, his work was unique and intriguing.

Lynsey Buckley-Ratcliff

Lynsey Buckley-Ratcliff is a freelance designer based in Manchester and specialises in Web Design. I contacted Lynsey via phone and spoke to her direct, Lynsey was extremely helpful and agreed to see my portfolio on a day that suited me.
After arranging with Lynsey a time and place we finally met up, she spoke a little about herself explaining how she enjoys freelance work and working from home mainly, she also explained how she does mainly Web Design and is trained in XHTML and CSS. Lynsey has worked for many big design agencies but feels she is progressing more as a freelance designer.

When going through my portfolio she seemed very impressed with my Futura work, She explained how she thought it was nice clean and tidy, which is a perfect mix of white space and text, which helps emphasise the font. She felt by displaying the font in a larger text and showing how the font changes when italicised or emboldened gives more of an insight into the font. Lynsey was confused as to why i felt the need to use "st" an "op" she felt there was no connection with the article. One thing she said she really liked was the use of hands to represent the work on each page she felt it emphases the creativity shown in each piece.
The second piece she looked at was the Observer page i explained the purpose of the brief to her, she felt i had shown good understanding and said that the front cover really grabs your attention and makes you want to know why there faces are blanked out all kinds of thoughts go through your mind.
The third piece was Hemisphere in which we had to create a logo she felt the logo was very modern and traditional and felt the text was striking and bold. Lynsey felt i show a clear understanding and ability to satisfy a project brief and show a wide range of skills.

On meeting Lynsey i got a more clearer understanding of how the industry really works although its a scary thought speaking with Lynsey gave me some much needed confidence.

Lynsey Buckley-Ratcliff Contact - www.lynseybuckley.me.uk

Out Of The Box Creative

When researching into design company's i came across Out Of The Box Creative, which is a small based Manchester agency run by Martyn Hammond.
I contacted Martyn threw email and he agreed to view my portfolio, Martyn was very friendly and professional and even suggested if it was easier for me that he would do a home visit.
Martyn's clients include-

• Aga
• Leisure
• Diadora
• Sandersons
• Bailey Dyson Architects
• Studio Catalogues

When Martyn arrived he firstly viewed my university portfolio, he was rather surprised as to the style of it he said he expected it to be in a black folder case but liked the idea of the brochure style. Martyn had a look through at the work, the first thing he picked up on was hyphenating he explained that all text should be hyphenated with no widows he explained how important this was when in the work place as it looks more professional. When looking through the individual pieces in the book he picked up on the Futura piece he explained how lucky i was to have Futura as my font to research as its a interesting font and you can use it in many different ways as it has a huge family, he explained how interesting the pieces were he preferred the "St" page because of the contrast he explained that the other page needed more attention to detail.

The second piece he looked at was Memory work, he really liked this piece but was slightly confused he explained that in book i did i have spread the work over three double page spreads and he didn't realise that all the pieces were connected because i hadn't explained myself very clearly but overall he liked the pieces he explained how i had used the white space really well .

The third piece he looked at was the Bolton Branding he was rather excited by this as he has done some work for Manchester City Council himself. When looking at the logo he said how interesting the logo was he said it worked a lot better than the current one. In my portfolio i have set four logos out in different colours, Martyn suggested that the four colours could represent the different branches for example, social services, benefits office etc and for the community he liked the idea of having a city scape background for the city and a countryside background for the county and so on. Although he was impressed with the initial ideas he felt i hadn't shown enough in the portfolio and hadn't explained myself enough, he felt i had a really good piece but needed an extra push with it.

When talking with Martyn he wanted to know more about how i had arrived at University, i explained to him that i had been to college and studied Btec Graphic Design he was really interested in this and wondered if i had my portfolio that i used for my interview to university, which luckily i did he explained that the reason he likes doing home visits for students and interviews is because sometimes you leave the best bits behind without realising and by then its to late.

Martyn went through my college work and really liked some of my old work in there he said if i developed some of my old work to suit the skills i have learnt through University i could combine this with my new work and i would have a really strong portfolio, which was a real confidence boost. I sat through some of the old work and listened and made notes on some of the tips and advice he had, Martyn said " key to good design is simplicity".

After looking through my portfolios Martyn had brought one of his portfolios that he keeps updated with him as a chance for me to see exactly what it is he does and how effective it can look. After seeing his portfolio it really gave me inspiration to take his advice and combine the two portfolios to create a stronger one keeping in mind simplicity.

Martyn's visit was a real eye opener and has boosted my confidence with design i feel i just need to push myself that little harder to achieve my goals.

Contact - www.outoftheboxcreative.co.uk

Email Martyn.hammond1@ntlworld.com

Truth, Lies and Typography

A member of Truth Design called Darren gave a lecture on the Manchester based company, which is two and half years old now he explained how the company likes to keep things simple there belief is less is more, they prefer one on one with clients to help get a better understanding and can sit and explain things through with the clients.

The company have produced many fonts including-

• DST
• Sodium
• Bad Angel
• Rub On
• Nitrogen
• Amplifier

Darren explained how he created a full alphabet in a day, which was extremely stressful he told us the alphabet was 10% design and 90% production. Truth Design mainly use computers to create there designs but Darren couldn't stress how important it was to show your working out, how you got to that final stage.

One thing i felt could be a major advantage was when Darren said he likes to experiment in different areas, he thinks everyone should learn all the skills as it gives you a broader range and can make it easier for briefs as you can introduce different aspects.

I enjoyed listening to some of the briefs they have done including Christies Charity, which they re-created a branding for them free of charge to help the charity and the Amir Khan Reebok work in which they created a branding for Amir Khan which he liked so much he looked into getting it embroidered onto his car seats.

Gill Blease

Gill Blease took a MMU foundation course then went on to do a fine art degree in Newcastle and was always encouraged by her fellow students and teachers at school this for her was the beginning. It took Gill 10-15 years to get to where she is now, which is a well established Illustrator and fine arts women. Gill also went to London after she completed her Newcastle course but found it a struggle and finally admitted defeat, where she then went to Japan she said she felt this helped her with design because the culture was a big influence.

Gill's main influences are-

• Japan
• Goya
• Paul Rand
• Graphic Design

Gill Blease explained to us how she collects images of everything and then collages them to create something new and spectacular, she explained that collecting things as simple as colour samples, cartoons, drawings, wrapping paper etc can help your imagination.

Gill felt that her learning really began when she got a job and actually started producing pieces, She has produced many pieces for Whitworth Gallery, Elle Magazine, Guardian and many more. She was very disappointed with Waitrose as they decided not to use her piece that she felt she had really captured what they were looking for but Waitrose felt that people would get it.

One thing about Gill is that she loves white space, which absolutely terrifies me she couldn't stress enough how happy it makes her as she feels her work sits better with white space and helps viewers. Gill prefers freelance to working for design companies and works from home. She has a website, which she says is crucial for self promotion although she feels she doesn't have to promote a great deal due to all the work she has already.

http://gillianblease.co.uk/

1000 Word Reference

www.truth-design.co.uk
www.gloriouscreative.co.uk
I also took alot of my information from the notes i made during the lectures i attended.

1,000 word response

"Compare and contrast the processes and practices of your two chosen practitioners. Upon this analysis what lessons could be applied to your own practice?

My two chosen practitioners that i feel i can relate my own practices to are Truth Design and Glorious, these two design agencies are completely different in style but both relate to me in individual ways.
Truth design presented a lecture that i attended, during the lecture i learnt alot about the company and there values. Truth design started with a partnership between two very down to earth people based in Manchester who enjoy the design industry and enjoy producing work for clients. The name Truth design came from there own values of wanting a company that only tell the truth they quoted " At the end of the day, we believe that if a brand is to succeed you must first be honest about it's weaknesses and turn them into strengths".(http://www.truth-design.co.uk/) I have noticed with Truth design that they focus alot on typography and experimenting with it, One font that stood out to me was Bad Angel, which has a Gothic style to it but is easy readable. The fonts they have created are DST, Sodium,Rub on and Nitrogen, which they use in there own work for clients. I feel Truth can relate to me through there font designs, i really enjoy experimenting with fonts and making new shapes from letters, to be able to create a full alphabet would be amazing and looking at some of Truth's examples really inspires me to pursue my developments.
Briefs that i felt i could relate to are Reebok, DST font, Bad Angel font, Great Northern Aid Trust, Christies and Ram.
Reebok brief was to create a brand identity for Amir Khan to support Reebok Boxing Range endorsed by him. Truth design solution was to develop a brand for Amir Khan, they took inspiration from the youth scenes for example music and fashion to create a visual language that could resonate with the target audience of 15-21 year old boys. The brand needed to be able to work with various media. Amir Khan was so pleased with the final product that he even looked into getting the logo embroidered onto the seats in his car, I found the final pieces very bold and well developed, which caught my eye. I feel i can relate my work to Truth through this brief as they have used very strong photography in there posters to help with the advertisements, I feel i use mainly strong imagery when designing promotional pieces because it helps to get the message across to the target audience and imagery is a very strong source if used correctly. I really like the contrast between the red font and the smokey dark imagery, which is something i have used and played around with on some of my previous pieces, i enjoy colour and what effects it can have for example the different moods and meanings it can create and then what clashes and looks hideous.
Another brief i found interesting was the Christies charity re-branding. Truth design created this piece free of charge as they felt they were helping a good cause with the charity to help them get noticed and promote their hard work. The reason i liked this brief was the fact that Truth had already recognised that Christies was a well known charity with the heart shape that everyone recognised them for, so they played around with the heart shape to create something even better but that people could still recognise as Christies. In my opinion if something already works don't destroy it just improve it and work with what you have, some of the best designs i have created have been developed from previous pieces that have needed updated.

My second design company is Glorious who are a multi award winning company based in Manchester and have been together for three and half years, there main focus is craft and production and base alot of their work on typography. Glorious are a identity specialist who are renowned for creative thinking and craft skills and we enjoy the challenge of problem solving.

I really liked the Red Dog Communication brief a marketing communications company, which required a piece of direct mail to launch the company, above all it had to be impactful and provoke a reaction from the recipient. Glorious solution was " in an age when political correctness seems to have gone barking mad, we designed a launch poster which, at first glance, carried a controversial line that really got people's hackles up, those who dug a little deeper appreciated the humour". (http://www.gloriouscreative.co.uk/) I loved this project and found the red dog identity really modern and fresh. Its fascinating how the designer can create something so big from there own everyday life as the designer had just got a new puppy and used the puppy as an idea but cartoonized it, its remarkable how are personal lives can effect the decisions and the designs we create in work. when i look at some of my past designs i see certain elements that had been effecting me in my designs and development and yet these pieces are some of my best.

Another brief is Roses Symposium aim is Every year, the Liverpool and Manchester design initiative hosts a design symposium before the Roses Design Awards. The theory is to create debate around current issues. Glorious has handled the design material for the past five years. The solutions was although the symposium was aimed at creative, it was a corporate event. They created a loose style - in contrast to the corporate nature of the event, it appealed to the target market. The poster is very hand rendered, which gives a more personal touch to the poster. I always think that the hand rough style works really well and gives a completely different approach it sometimes can look child like depending on the brief. I think that some designers can think to technical and try to give a polished finish to each piece and sometimes its to over done, i look at my work and try to take different approaches and try not to over do everything.

Both companies are very different and approach each brief in a different style. Truth Design is completely truthful in all there designs there process is very strict and they use alot of the existing work for example they use the fonts they created in all there designs where as Glorious don't have a pre-planned agenda and just start a fresh. Although the two companies have typography in common they attack it in different ways, Truth use computers and lecture sets to create there fonts, where as Glorious use everyday objects like masking tape. From my research and lectures i realise that Glorious are very experimental and loose with there designs, which is a fascinating quality, which can create some unique pieces, where as Truth are more strict and polished with there designs, which again is a brilliant quality as it shows professionalism to the clients. Both company's are unique in different ways but i feel i can relate myself to both of them through there different styles.