New Modules

I still need to re-organize my Science Fiction Book Cover boards and send them off to the D&AD competition. I also need to pick up my grades and speak to the tutor about what to do about entering the competition. Deadline is 20 March.

Got a 2:1 for life drawing, a 2:1 for creative writing, and probably a 2:1 for something else I can't remember. But lots of grades I haven't picked up yet.

I've got a part time job on a Wednesday afternoon, supposedly teaching young people who need an alternative education and are studying music, how to use design software. I think I have bored them so far. Now i have 2 part time jobs.
I've done a business name and logo design for my mum's Training/Life Coaching business and am building a website. Might have to leave that to one side for a while.

Modules for the next 12 weeks:

Narrative Sequence. (Illustration)
Mostly based on Children's Books, but I will be doing an adult graphic novel probably. Need a plot and a concept.
Have to have a few double page spreads ready. Popped into waterstones to see what graphic novels are selling. Some of them have some narrative text as well as speech and images which is reassuring.

Creating a Visual Identity. (Graphic Design)
We are in groups and have to form political parties, and later we will be doing branding and identity individually. Somehow my group has come up with British Identity. Compiled a few web pages to look at concerning this, multiculturalism etc, along with the meaning of the british flag etc.

THS
I have chosen 'Representations of sexuality in perfume/toiletries ads' for my presentation.

Notes:

Sexuality according to Wikipedia: 'How people experience and express themselves as sexual beings'.
Books to look at: Foucault, feminist literature. Mythologies.

Stuff to do: Tape perfume/toiletry ads and record my personal reactions. Semiotic analysis - binary opposites. Framing devices, devices to make the ad seem natural or like a 'window onto reality'. Role of the spectator in inserting meaning. Social context and values of suggested reality. Dominant ideology of culture.

Tutor's suggestions: spectrum of gender: homosexuality through to aggressive heterosexuality/female sexuality. Age spectrum.

Individualism and sexuality.
Values.
Target audience - often very specialist for perfume ads.
Youtube: spoof perfume ads?
'intertextuality' - advertising referencing other related texts
(e.g. women underwater with hair floating everywhere??)
Hidden persuasion.
Feminist viewpoints.

Orion Book DANDAD brief

Foil blocking & stretched out format = shelf appeal

My idea works because I have compressed key ideas and themes from each novel into a symbol which must be decoded. This coupled with the sleek black and white colour scheme, stretched out format and minimal use of foil blocking provides shelf appeal to a wide audience.

To Do - January 14th

Gra-Fix

Mock up navigation bar ideas - keep simple to leave room for group theme/logo/colour scheme. Structural ideas for website: flowchart

Create example of scrolling newsfeed

Create example of a gra-fix forum with various topics & interactive elements

Gather material for & mock up 2 'design advice' pages in Illustrator/InDesign

Build example of gallery? Research Flickr, look for ways users can upload examples

Design optional animated elements for website

Email ideas to group for clarification

grafix notes

Drop-down/popout menus in HTML - Layers. Menu present on every page on the left, does not change whilst browsing site- subheadings displayed for each section

Scrolling newsfeed on homepage - provides movement, saves space. flash component with link to alternative HTML version (opening in new window) Can make this link to an easily editable text file rather than going through flash - easily update news

How can users upload images to a gallery automatically?
Grafix logo acts as 'home' button
Forum - image uploading here?
Gallery - start with images by the group. Flickr?
Use Flickr?
Link to users' Flickr accounts & display examples
Flickr group?

Redesign site competition - submit mock-up or zipped folder with HTML (email)

black&white - can't go wrong, classic, contrasting, attractive

Use headline tags for each page - particularly the homepage - make sure we're searchable in google! Ensure all pages have titles in the browser bar.

Have plenty of webspace at www.sarahaccident.com. Can link for free through http://grafix.cjb.net or purchase a .com or .co.uk domain for about a tenner

Anchor tags link to other components

Update/Notes

Break the poster format:

Beer mats
Plastic glasses - designs
T shirts
Postcards
Slip-in cards for albums
Patches

Advertising specific bands rather than gigs

Strangetime (pj harvey, souxsie and the banshees)
The Fairytale (the smashing pumpkins, placebo)
Cerwin (nirvana, sonic youth)
Koala Grip (rachel stamp, yeah yeah yeahs )
Violet Beauregarde (veruca salt, queen adreena)

Youth Decay website.


STRANGETIME
PJ Harvey and The Banshees

The Fairytale
Birmingham's Pumpkins

Cerwin
A 3-piece Sonic Youth

Koala Grip
Pop Punk, insane like rachel stamp, like nothing else.
Debut album on the way.

Violet Beauregarde
Veruca Salt and Queen Adreena for Birmingham

YOUTH DECAY

Music in Birmingham - Issues Based Project

So I've spoken to David Os and am going to look at music in Birmingham - the music I am personally involved with - and study artwork, graphic authorship, underground scenes in places like New York and movements from the past, and the look and feel of them, and see what I can come up with for Birmingham - something unique to birmingham that offers a stamp of quality to events, gigs etc, and maybe makes us feel involved and excited. Something that isn't necessarily uber-cool custard factory style dance-scene stuff - which already has its own identity. What I'd love to continue doing is artwork for bands, inspired by music and designed to illustrate and promote music, so the opportunity to base a project around flyers and promotional materials in this area would be great - there's nothing as rich, exciting and with as much freedom involved, I don't think.
I've got a book of rock posters (the american illustrated kind) and will be doing some research on the various movements, both in graphics and music, and how they interlink, and how I can make things seem more exciting around here - create an atmosphere, work some magic in the grunge/indie arena. The big gap is in promotion and interest for us lousy guitar bands. What makes a scene a scene? is it all retrospective, romance from a distance? Or can I conjure one up out of slogans and images? So, I don't know if this is possible yet but it will be fun!

I think I will use the title 'Youth Decay'.