Studio Brief 03 - Creative collective

Members: Myself, Calum Cooke, Jen Lea, Alice Morris, Hannah Rottger, Anna Farmer.

We decided to collaborate together as a collective due to our similar ethos on design and similar views on life as a whole. We all know each other from working in the studio which will be beneficial when creating an output as we will all be in the same creative space.

Name: AWOL (All Walks of Life)

The name was created to represent our different styles and preferred aesthetics within our design work.

Myself - editorial/photography
Calum - illustration
Jen - photography/illustration
Alice - ethical practice/open to any style of design
Hannah - typography
Anna - traditional print

We met up as a group a few times to communicate our ideas on how as a collective we will express our work.

Ways of communicating our collective:

1. Publication (chosen idea)

• create a publication that represents our different design aesthetics with a DPS each
• links to social media to create exposure
• ask peer students/creatives to be a part of the collective/to submit work to create a bigger community and bring more exposure for other students e.g. similar to Nest

2. Exhibition

• display our work
• local cafe/design studio

3. Social media campaign

• create an online presence by displaying our work and collaborating on projects together 

Studio Brief 01 - Having a DSLR

Having a DSLR for the second half of this academic year has really changed the way in which I work as I've been able to use it as a tool to capture high quality images for my work.

A lot of my work begins with photography and then diverts into different mediums so by having a DSLR it has improved the way in which I process the beginning of a project and the outcomes. 

Studio Brief 02 - ARTBABYGIRL

 Art Baby Girl (Grace Miceli)

                                      

Art Baby Girl is an artist I found on the web from her input into various projects (mostly musical). I first noticed her work in "Boy Problems" music video by Carly Rae Jepsen, which was shot and directed by one of my favourite photographers Petra Collins. She has collaborated with Nike on a trainer designer which features her illustrations. She has her own fashion brand that ships worldwide and which has been a successful venture - as it continues to grow. She has worked with American Apparel on some typography for their shop window displays as well as creating her own art exhibitions, which consist of wall art, video and illustrations.

Why I want to interview her?

She has influenced some of my work and she is an inspiring successful creative. She has collaborated with some big names so it would be really interesting to find out how those collaborations came about and the process of them. She owns her own fashion brand which is something I am interested in creating for myself in the future - so it would be cool to get inside information on the fashion side of things.

Hit her up over Instagram to see if she was interested.

                          

Questions

What inspires you to draw in your unique style and is there a story behind it?

Is your aesthetic something that comes naturally to you? Or is it a process of experimentation that took you time to craft?

You've collaborated with Petra Collins (she's amaze!!!) on a few projects, what is the process like and how did you come to collaborate together?

What do you find is the best way to get your work out there? 

I'm currently really anxious and scared about getting myself out there as a creative in the industry. I'm still unsure of what I fully want to do and I'm feeling the pressure. Do you have any advice about the industry or any experiences that could be helpful?

Studio Brief 01 - Banks: The Altar Tour @ Albert Hall, Manchester

On March 13th I attended a gig for Banks. She is one of my all time favourite artists and I have been looking forward to seeing her live for some time.

The show was really inspiring and engaging. The visuals were simplistic yet effective. She has two hooded figure dancers (that appeared to be demonic) by her side throughout the performance which really represented the dark themes that are evident in her music. Her latest album is titled The Altar and it explores themes surrounding depression, relationship struggles and love - and these were really represented through the colours that were highlighted onto the stage throughout the show. She often broke out into crazy dance routines too that brought a real energetic and lively feeling - which is something I did not expect from Banks. From previous performances I have seen online she is often quite a shy performer and doesn't move that much, but to see her be such a confident performer and demand the stage with her quirky moves and stage presence.

Inspired by Bank's ability to grow and become more confident within her craft I also want to apply this to my design work.

Reasons why I created it:

• To help gain a wider following on social media
• To connect with fans and broaden my social circle
• This design is inspired by editorial fashion spreads which is one of my main interests - practicing this style of design has helped me become more confident within the practice. 

Studio Brief 02 - The Dope Lyfe/Impossible Conversations

Similar to Urada Designs, The Dope Lyfe is a UK based fashion brand I have been following for sometime. Their general design aesthetic has always been something I have admired, from the typography, the messages, the colours, the clothing designs and the photography - they all cohesively fit together which is an important feat for a brand. Every few months they release a new collection, each with a visual photographic world that coincides really well with the clothing. Fashion photography and clothing branding is something I am very possibly going to explore heavily within my final year of my degree, so getting a better understanding of what it is like to run a business like this at an early stage will benefit my practice for the future.

http://www.thedopelyfe.bigcartel.com/s-s17-from-above-collection-lookbook-video

The photography is mostly urban inspired - which is something I have explored myself in my zine work.

First got in contact by messaging them over Instagram.

Questions

What is your biggest inspiration for you designs?

Where do all your cool quotes and interesting imagery come from? And do they all come from personal experiences?

How much of a collaboration is your brand?

Your brand has evolved quite a lot. What has changed along the way and how different do you work compared to when the brand started out? 

Do you have any advance on how to get your work out there?

What is your favourite design you have ever created?

Studio Brief 02 - Sticker zine - Final layout

Paginated the pages myself to create the layout - ready for print. 

Studio Brief 01 - Sticker zine - Background collage scans

Studio Brief 01 - Sticker zine - final chosen shots