Creative Statement - Comp 1

Task:
You are to write your Creative Statement for Component 1. This is what the moderator reads to help them understand your project.

Download the Creative Statement HERE then look at the extra help and an example is HERE

Component 1 Analysis

Over the next few weeks, you will be completing an analysis of relevant artefacts. You will be given certain slides to complete each hwk session and we will learn / revise the relevant elements each lesson.

Objective

To increase your understanding of the processes and techniques designers employ when creating artefacts. 

Task
Choose artefacts that are similar to the one that you are designing.

Add slides to your existing presentation. Title slide should state that it is Analysis.

Using the questions on the slides above you will be analysing the layout, colour, typography etc. 

I have also included a wealth of key terms for you to use. They are located at the bottom of the post or you can print them off HERE.

Presentation

Google presentation

Checklist for assessment

All points must be covered in detail. For those looking for A/B grades, there will also be some inclusion of further, self-initiated investigation.

Deadlines

19 June - Similar artefacts
26 June - Content (Poetic and Pragmatic)
03 July - Typography 1
14 Sept- Typography 2
21 Sept - Layout, Hierarchy, and Grids
28 Sept - Colour 
05 Oct - Rendering and process

Note that I will be collecting in your sketchbooks and mark sheets (in plastic wallets) at the end of the lesson on October 5th. Please ensure that you have gone back over the feedback and missing marks to improve your work.

Students that fail to hand in or are missing work will face the relevant school sanctions that are in place for homework.

These presentations are examples of the sort of detail needed for your analysis. The layout is also pretty good.

Holly's analysis  CLICK HERE

Emulation

Objective
To allow you to look closely at work that you like and that is relevant to your process.

To push your process and technique into new areas.

Task
Take a refined draft or one of you own scamps and 'work it up' into a design using the same technique that you have just learned from your copy. 
Use the same process that you have just been using. This means if you drew out a rough in pencil first, then you do the same.

Copy

Objective

This task will allow you to investigate and practice how an illustrator / artist / photographer / designer has worked.

You will be expected to use the same (or very near) process and materials as the illustrator you have chosen.

Task

• If possible, complete this task in conjunction with a case study

• Consider and research how the designer has worked. You will normally be able to work it out from just looking at the work. Discuss with your tutor the process and materials needed.

• Write a short description of what will be required and in what order.

• Then set to work - remember to take a few work-in-progress shots.
Your final piece should form part of your unit 1 Google Slides presentation.
* Your first job will probably be to sketch out the design - ask your tutor if you need A3 paper
* If you are looking at a photographer, you could use some images from the web, but more marks are available if you take your own.

Presentation

Description / short written plan

Screen shots and photos of work-in-progress

Final piece together with original - see eg above

You will be graded on

How well you have gotten into the methods and processes used by your chosen designer

Deadline

First lesson back after summer hols.

Missing tasks

Missing tasks
For those students who are missing tasks from their presentations, here are the direct links to the blog posts:

Brainstorming

Pinterest research

Conventions of the form

Scamps of others

Please ensure that feedback is responded to and that all work is up to date before the end of term. 

Choosing Type

Objective 
To research a range of type choices available for your artefact.

Task 
Using Dafont (or other free online type libraries), gather together a range of typefaces that could be used as part of your artefact. 

Go for obvious and the not so obvious to give you something to talk about when analysing their suitability.

Then place your type choices on a draft of your piece and evaluate them in place.  Try maybe six?

Checklist for assessment Lots of interesting and relevant type choices.

Informed annotation.

Time needed 2 hrs.

Presentation Catch-Up Lessons

Objective

For the next two lessons (and for homework) you will be ensuring that your presentations are as good as they can be.

That means completing and presenting all of the tasks that have been set to best of your ability. 

Tasks include:

• Full Pinboards
• Scamps - other designers
• Case study 1
• Drawings of subject
• Typography - similar artefacts
• Handmade Typography - yours
• Scamps (thumbnails) - yours
• Photos of subject

For details about the tasks, the amount of work and for modelled examples, please refer to the blog posts. 

Full comp 1 list is at the top of the blog... or click HERE

Deadline

I will be marking your presentations on the morning of Monday the 12th of June. Please ensure that all sketchbooks are handed in either by Friday Afternoon of Monday by 9 am.

Scamping ideas for your own work.

Objective
To work through your initial ideas in an uninhibited fashion. Working in pen means that you can work quickly and not worry about making mistakes. Consider the fact that one of the ideas that you will make will eventually make it through to be a final design. Get all of your ideas no paper now, however strange.
For those who consider themselves not able to draw... think of these as diagrams rather than drawings.
The work at the bottom of the post is not A grade standard, but they have a lovely looseness to the drawing.

Task
Using a pen, draw out your ideas over a couple of sketchbook spreads or more.
Firstly, pour all of your ideas out. 

Then, if you like one, in particular, develop that one for a few scamps until you have a better, more refined version.

By refining, you are looking at improving the placement of the title, or the direction of an image. 

Try looking at your pinboards for inspiration and consider the quote by Picasso, 

"Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal".

Draw 18 over two pages.

Presentation
Sketchbook.
You may colour them if you wish, but do it loosely and don't spend too much time on it.

Checklist for assessment
Loads and loads of different ideas being explored and refined.

Time needed
3 hrs

Deadline
End of lesson, Thursday May 25th

Type Dynamics

Hand drawn type - Class and Homework.

Objective
To create a suitable typeface for your chosen design.
To evidence your understanding of the expressiveness of typography.

Task
Over two double pages of your sketchbook, experiment with hand drawn typefaces that could be used within your design. This could be a title or another graphic element.
You can work in colour or black and white. Leave in your mistakes.
Look on my Type Pinboard for inspiration... (HERE) 
Annotate on your page - why did you make type like this? Why is this type successful or unsuccessful?
Update!: You may wish to look at the 'matching intentions' slides and include similar images, textures and colours for your the type that you are designing.

Presentation
Photograph or screenshot your progress.
Post to your blog.

Checklist for assessment
2 pages of experiments, beautifully bustling and busy pages of creativity.
Annotations.

Time needed
3 hrs.

Deadline
May 23rd

Type Categories

HWK Examples from similar type artefacts

Objective
To research the variety of typography used on your chosen artefact.
To select a possible typeface for your product.

Task 1:

Gather together 10 or more examples of similar artefacts. (If you are making a console game cover, then you will collect lots of game covers.)

You can either print them off and stick them in your sketchbook or copy/paste them onto your slides.

Crop them so that it only shows the type.

• Describe the fonts used.
• Are there any similarities that appear in many examples?
• Why do you think they are suitable for the artefacts?
• Analyse using the Style & Personality section of these type terms

Task 2:

Look on Dafont to select a typeface that could be used on your own artefact.

• Try a few
• Present them using the name of your artefact
• Describe why the examples you have chosen is good for your design.

Expected time

1 hr +

Deadline

Start of lesson - 16th of May

Subject Matter Drawings

Objective

You will need to evidence that you have looked hard at the world around you. You can do this by drawing from life, your own photos or web reference (pin boards?)

Task

Create sketchbook pages full to brimming with small / medium sized 'primary' drawings of your subject matter. A students - 4 pages+ / C students - 2 pages / E - students - 1 page.
Primary drawings are direct from photos or real life - not from other illustrators' work.

Checklist for assessment

Full, bustling pages / detail / obvious investment of time / different approaches to drawing

Time needed

2 hrs+

Deadline

Start of lesson, Tuesday 16th of May.

Here's a little tip. Don't let your brain trick you into giving up as soon as your reach your first drawing hurdle. Keep on going and make a busy, messy drawing if you wish. Just don't throw away until all avenues have been exhausted. If you are drawing a load of smallish drawings, cram your page with examples. You will be amazed at how effective they look all huddled together.

HWK - Case study 1

This is a two-week homework and is a major element of your GCSE presentation.

Objectives
To further your understanding of graphic communication practitioners

Task
Using the web, research and present a case study about a designer/illustrator/photographer of your choice. 
Choose somebody who you could possibly be influenced by when you come to create your own illustrations.
There is a good list next to my door. Or look on THIS pinboard I lovingly created.

The contents of the case study could include the following. 
n.b. Tasks get harder as you go down the list. If you are after an A*, get to the end.
See both of the excellent examples above.

1. Biography  
Include a few images from the designer's back catalogue and some interesting historical information. (Read, digest and then write your findings. Do not copy and paste information from the web.)
2. Characteristics
Take a number of typical examples and bullet point why they are characteristic of the designer.
3. Context
Consider the context. What other designers are working at the same time? Include a range of illustrator's work
4. Influences
Research to find out who the designer has been influenced by. To do this you may need to read an interview wit the illustrator. 
Just Google "Interview with [illustrator's name]"
5. Working in their style
Using photos or drawings that you created yourself or images from the web, copy or emulate the style of the designer that you are researching and create a version or your own.

Checklist for assessment
Relevant images, in-depth research your own words (no copy and paste), accurate emulation.

Time needed
5 hours

Deadline
Tues 9 May

Scamps of other desginers' work

Objective

To further understand the part white space and layout plays in a graphic artefact.

To become aware of how designers balance elements on a page.

Task
Gather a range of similar artefacts. This can be via Pinterest or your own examples.

Draw them in your sketchbook.

Pay close attention to the light and dark tones—allow your brain to 'threshold' the greys into either light or dark tones. See my measly example above.
The images above are of magazines - not book covers, or CD Digipaks or Children's book covers but you get the gist.

Remember, you can to look at my PINBOARDS if you are struggling for examples...

Presentation
See my example above.

Checklist for assessment
18 examples or two pages.

Time needed
Two hours.

Deadline
May 2nd

Conventions of the form

Objective 
To increase your understanding of the elements needed to create a successful artefact. The 'form' relates to the artefact that you are making for unit 1. Graphics products have various 'forms': game covers, packaging, magazines etc.

Task 
In any medium you wish (by hand in your sketchbook, Google presentation etc), annotate one or more examples of artefacts to indicate the elements that are typical included.

If you find that there is not much on a single digipak or book cover, use a few different examples - especially if you are aiming for an A or B.

You will get more marks for your own research (Wem library?) But if you are struggling for Children's book spreads there is a link HERE 


Checklist for assessment 
Every element included and a clear, presentation.

Example
Frankie has produced a clear version on children's books HERE

Time needed 
2 hrs

Pinterest research

Objective
To create a space where you can collect research for your chosen project.

Task
Create 3 Comp 1 pinboards on Pinterest. Each will have 30+ pins before you present them.

Inspiration (design stuff you like at the moment)
Similar Artefacts (if you are designing a book cover, this will be full of book covers)
Subject Matter (If your design is about fish, this will be full of fish, ponds, etc)

To begin with, you are to pin loads of images on the 'Inspiration' and 'Similar Artefacts' boards. 
Leave the subject matter one for a while.

Each of your 3 slides needs to have annotation. This is to state why you have collected these images and how they might influence your design.


Presentation
Screen shot the boards and place on your presentation

Deadline
April 2

Brainstorming / Finding content

Objective

To allow you to retrieve and create a wealth of ideas for your unit 1 project.

Tasks

1. Create a post for the brief. Either copy in my example or write your own.

2. In your sketchbook, brainstorm all of the possible ideas / associations that you associate with your story / lyrics / title / synopsis / brand.

3. Attempt to ‘free-associate’ - allowing your brain to come up with ideas - with many of the words. Don’t judge yourself at this point, just let the ideas flow.

This could be evidenced in many forms:

Children's book cover - print the story out, double spaced and annotate in the margins. Highlight key scenes and subject matter that could be used on the cover.
Game cover - start with a few words in the middle of a page. For Epic City Limits is would write the 'name' of the game, 'city', 'jobs', 'youths' etc. Then, using a thesaurus, branch out with connections.
Design for music - brainstorm the name of the album... and print off lyrics by a similar band or singer and annotate them in the margins. 
Packaging design - Brainstorm the name of the product... and the overall 'feel' or 'message' of the product.

Presentation

Photographed and on blog.

Example
http://hollypearsonunit1gcsegraphics.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/brainstorm-research.html

Checklist for assessment

Loads of interesting ideas.

Time needed

1 hr

Deadline

TBC

Briefs for Unit 1

Choose a GCSE brief to study until December.

Hand in date - Thursday 30th of March

Hand in date for all work is the end of the lesson, Thursday 30th of March.

Tips for a good presentation:

• labelled pages and slides
• big images / small text
• Work in progress shots, full photoshop screenshots
• Information about relevant artists and designers 
• tasks in order (see list)

Please ensure that you have presented the following:


Sketchbook cover
Typography quote poster
6 Photoshop Edits
Cutout spray
Inky overlay (desert island)
View from window (Klassen)
Buildings (J G Hancock)
Illustrator Pattern
Kate Moross / Felicita Sala (only for those that 

  have completed the previous 7 tasks)
Completed booklet

Creating your book.

Task
All of the work that has been completed so far during year ten will be included in an A5 booklet. The booklet will consist of 8 pages for the 8 processes that you will learn.
Book template is HERE. Use Chrome to download

Indesign tutorial above - exporting and printing tutorial below



CMD L to rotate page 2 and 4. REMEBER TO PRINT TWO-SIDED!

8a Kate Moross - Photo and illustration

Objective
To introduce you to the work of Kate Moross
To improve your drawing skills
To introduce you to integrating with both Photoshop and drawing

Steps
1 Choose an image from the web of a famous musician, pop star, film star or Youtuber. If you are feeling literary, choose a poet or author. Print it off, A4 size.
2 Find some text that relates to the person. This could be lyrics, quotes or lines from a book.
3. Using tracing paper or a light box and printer paper, draw the text in, around and over the portrait or figure you have chosen. Attempt to make it look like the figure and text are integrated.
4. Include extra graphic elements. Remember, you are attempting to emulate the work of Kate Moross
5.When you are happy with your design, fine liner it or trace it in Photoshop with a tablet and pen - either way, the end result should be a clean line.
6. Scan this line into Photoshop, place it over the photograph and add colour.

Deadline

To be confirmed..

Design Principles

Adobe Illustrator Pattern

Objective

To introduce Adobe Illustrator as a potential design tool.

To complete another page in your personal book.

To create a repeating pattern.

Task

To get to this stage you first need to draw 10 of your favourite things.
This could be: animals, cats, makeup, bikes, footballers  etc

Use any medium (pencil, fine liner, ink) and work small. Fill your page line drawings - try not to become disheartened if you think they look bad - just keep going and fill your page.
Drawings should be smallish... no bigger than your fist.

Done?

Scan in your page and open Adobe Illustrator and follow the tutorial above.

Presentation

sketchbook page.

3 work in progress shots - whole screen

Jpeg of final design.

Deadline

tbc

Extension task 1: attempt this same process using colour.

James Gulliver Hancock - buildings

I will create a tutorial for this task in the near future. Until then, you can use your incredible Photoshop skills.
Download my version HERE and look at how it has been constructed. Turn the layers on and off. (Root around it - you can't break it as it is a copy.)
Some students might find this as helpful at a tutorial.
Bricks are HERE 

Objective
To introduce you to the work of James Gulliver Hancock.
To increase your understanding of hand drawing and colouring in Photoshop.
To learn how to include textures into flat colours

Task
Either using a camera or Google Street View, collect together a selection (6 or more) of buildings that mean something to you. 
This could be a grandparent's house, a friend's, the bus stop, Chico's, Kings hardware in Wem, the Church. The only stipulation is that you must include your own house.
You are then to draw one in pencil, emulating the style of James Gulliver Hancock. That means no rulers! 
Have a piece of work by Hancock open for reference.

What you will need
At least 6 images of buildings - including your house
Light pencil drawing  - that has been traced with fine liner
Painted, rough-edged textures (either your own or in my textures folder)
Photoshop and scanner

What to do...

Scan in drawing > threshold > take away white.
Use the freehand marquee tool or paintbrush to colour on a new layer
Use paintbrush textures to add edge texture - don't be too neat!

Deadline
TBC

Exemplar presentation

Thank you Taylor :)

Deadline - Monday the 23rd Jan

There is a hand in deadline, for all of your current work this Monday. For those of you who have been keeping up to date with your presentations and making sure that your sketchbooks have everything stuck in and presented in a creative fashion, this will be no problem. For those who have busy lives, I'm giving you a weeks notice.

Deadline is Monday the 23rd at 3:15. If you think you might forget your sketchbook on that day, hand it in on the Thursday lesson.

A summary of your marks and progress will be texted home to your parents or carers.

What do you need to show?

View from your window - John Klassen

Desert island objects - Michael Wertz

Cut out stencil spray

Six Photoshop edits

Type poster

Sketchbook cover