Testing your work (Getting to your audience)

Creatives are nothing without actually getting their work out there and getting to their audiences. There are several ways of doing this. A few ways are by publishing work, gallery exhibitions, posting on websites, social networks, forums and online communities. Those platforms are all ways of getting feedback. By receiving feedback we can understand what the audience like, thus making us better at designing for the audience. It also allows us to get our voices heard, our names out there, making people recognise us as artists. Simon Peplow uses his own website and a blog to show his own work as well as others in order to advertise himself to the world. Another artist who does would be Mike Perry. Mike also uses installations, magazine designs, product design, poster design and character design to diseminate his work. By using websites and blogs it allows a wider audience to view your work and comment as they like. For some, it's easier to communicate over the internet than it is to talk face to face to someone, especially when criticising another's work.

Personally I use www.flickr.com to post my work and share it with a vast array of people. Two personal examples of work which has been commented on on flickr would be a cupcake I drew while learning Adobe Illustrator and an ink and pastel self portrait for my own corporate design. It's also a good place to gain inspiration from other creatives around the world.

Delivery (Clients and Illustrators)

There are many many different platforms a creative person can use to deliver their work. These platforms include editorial, magazines, fashion, branding, newspapers, book covers, brochures, leaflets, posters, billboards, travel posters, advertising, corporate, graphic communication, textiles design, wallpaper, toys, animation, fashion design, installations, window displays, shop displays and interior design. A really quite simple but interesting example of using different platforms is using sound incorporated with pictures. Chris Watson records wildlife and natural phenomena then edits the recordings into a narrative. He describes this process as "putting a microphone where you can't put your ears". This work is then used in games such as Harry Potter, feature films which include The Constand Gardener from 2005 and in installations, TV and radio.

Another good example of using platforms is Julie Verhoeven. Julie has created illustrations for record sleeves, christmas cards, magazine covers, fashion and clothing design, advertising, corporate, shop exteriors and interiors, tea cups, bedlinen, packaging and jewellery. She's also experimented with moving image and murals. This is a very wide variety of platforms for just one artist. I'm personally really inspired by the work of Julie Verhoeven.

Digital Storytelling

Many tv series, films and books use multiple platforms to extend themselves to different audiences. A good example of this would be such programmes as Coronation Street and Eastenders. Both have websites dedicated to them and several online games that encourage children as well as adults to become interested in the show. Even if the audience doesn't watch the show, they are still engaging with the concept or story.

This is an example of the Eastenders website. It gives you a clear insight into what's happening in the programme, which comes in handy if you've missed an episode and want to catch up or if you just read the storylines online without watching. You can further go onto watch the latest episode on BBC iplayer. There's a preview of the future storylines, overall information about the characters, a blog, news and games. By including games the makers of Eastenders are attracting the younger audience to be interested in the programme. This is also shown in the making of a spin-off programme called E20, aimed at a younger audience but still based in the Eastenders set.

Week 5 - Character Design

When designing a character there are many aspects to consider. These include the style, genre, appearance, their interaction with other characters, what the character does and their dialogue.

This is Saoirse Ronan, she plays Susie Salmon in the film The Lovely Bones. Susie is a 14 year old girl who has been murdered and watches over her family and her killer, from heaven. The character is naive, inquisitive, happy, carefree and just a like a child should be. This is portrayed well in the clothes that she wears and the things that she says. Susie is the protangonist in the story with a lot of her dialogue being a voice over, explaining or offering the scene from her eyes. She starts off in the story as this young child whom is happy and inquisitive yet careful. She later misjudges the intentions of an almost stranger who ends up killing her along with lots of other children. As the film progresses the dialogue of Susie Salmon becomes more grown up, as if she is growing and maturing in herself in order to make the right decision. This shows how children are not just unknowing, how they can understand even the most complicated situations. In my opinion Saoirse Ronan plays this character really well. Her naivity, her childish voice offer some sort of comfort to the audience, in which we can grab on to and hope that everything turns out right. The overall storyline works superbly with the voice over of a child. It's refreshing not to be told by an adult.

RVJ - Utilising Your Creative Brain

There are two sides to the brain. The left side is the practical side. It is there to ask questions, to organise, clarify, annotate, edit, evaluate and criticise. Whereas the right side of the brain is the creative, playful, imaginative, free, almost childlike side.

The image below is a great illustration found in Wired magazine, that shows the difference between the right and left sides of the brain. By using both of our "brains" we can reach the perfect balance between critical and free. We can be fun, think simply and work without restrictions. Then we can sit back and note what went wrong, won't work or is simply a bad idea.

This also helps us to develop our own visual language, by understanding what is wrong with what we have created and helping ourselves to improve. By being your own critic you can achieve a lot. There is also such thing as being over critical, because then you will restrict the right side of your brain in creativity.

RVJ - Reflective Visual Journal - Draw.

To draw means to work by hand, to problem solve, influence, record evidence and to develop ideas and technique. It also allows us to experiment with different materials and develop our visual language. A good example of a succesful artist who uses sketchbooks/RVJ's as a focal point of her work is Jill Calder. By looking at her sketchbook we can see that she has recorded her surroundings, with words and images, so that she can later come back to and develop as a final piece.
Here we can see that Jill Calder has drawn what she sees when she's on the tube or a train. This almost acts as a photograph but is more personal because she has drawn it. By doing this it enables the artist to work upon and develop further into a final piece. By not thinking "this will make a great exhibition piece" - The artist can do whatever they want, however messy or wrong it may be. This can then be used as a starting point for something big. Exploration helps us grow!

ITAP week 3 - Visual hierarchy.

Visual Hierarchy

By using the right kind of visual hierarchy the communicater can make the audience read or see certain things in a certain order.

Webpages use visual hierarchy to draw us in, and make it easier for the user to find what they are looking for.

Take this website for example kongregate.

What do we notice first here? The box labelled "Featured Games" is bold and in the centre of our vision. This is how they attract people to try out the newest games. The advertisements are quite bold, that's part of how the website owners make their money. The banner at the top of the page is red, bold, but isn't a warning or a sign or danger, because that is the corporate colour of this particular website. This website isn't particularly interested or visually pleasing but the visual hierarcy works well because it shows people where they want to go. It's direct, quite simple, isn't complicating; which works for the audience as they just want to play games or write in forums, they don't want to be bombarded by pretty images and lots of type.

This shows that the audience is an important factor to think of as we have to know what they are reading this publication or visiting this specific website for.

ITAP week 3 - Tone of Voice

Tone of Voice.

The tone of voice of a word or image can alter the way that people see and understand the meaning of the piece. Think of the word 'shout'. If written in tiny writing like

shout

it doesn't look right. This word looks like it should be whispered. We associate the word 'shout' with a loud noise. Therefore a larger, bolder typeface or weight would be more appropriate

shout

by adding an exclamation mark and typing in capitals it makes the word actually shout.

SHOUT!

Colour can also affect the way we process understandings of certain things. For example, if something is written in red, we associate the colour with negativity. However in different cultures, colours can differ in meaning. In Asian cultures the colour red can be associated with wealth. This colour can also be associated with sin, guilt, pain, passion, blood and anger. Often red is used to warn people to indicate danger or emergency, this is because it catches peoples attention. Blue, however is seen to be calming, sedate, dependable, commited, cooling and aids intuition.

The use of colour influences to make choices, decisions. Therefore this is an important aspect to think about when creating a piece of visual communication.

Research and Development From an Illustration Perspective. Pt 2.

An understanding and knowledge of 'an audience' can enhance and focus the communication.

When creating a piece of visual communication one of the main points to think of is the audience and what they like. If the piece is aimed at young children then incorporating explicit content or complex ideas would not be good visual communication. The same goes for if your piece is for an older market. They would not want to see cartoons, simple storylines. Maybe something more complex would be more appropriate for this type of audience. An example of an artist who uses their knowledge of a given audience in order for her work to communicate is Marion Deuchars. Marion has produced work for the Guardian Newspaper as well as illustrations for the Cass Art Kids bag activity book. Those audiences interests are far apart but by using her knowledge of the audiences Deuchars has successfully created work for both.

The Guardian. Audience are upmarket, they enjoy politics and discussing serious issues. There's lots of type in collumns, making it quite formal.

The audience for a childrens book is of course, children. You have to consider their level of concentration, how well they can read, how much type is needed to make them understand the story or the concept. They like fun things they can interact with, to keep them busy. It has to be visually pleasing, easy on the eye, understandable. Here you can see that Marion Deuchars has used her own style of illustration in each piece, but has changed it slightly to suit the audience.

Research and Development From an Illustration Perspective. Pt 1.

The notion of 'inspiration' derives from constant inquiry, based on research, observation, recording and experimentation.

We are inspired by everything around us today. Materials, previous works, nature, colour, sights, sounds, scents, emotions, all of our surroundings provide us with inspiration. By researching and simply looking at things we can gain inspiration. A really interesting example of an artist whom has been inspired by her surroundings is Jill Calder. Her sketchbooks show recordings of her journey on a train, what she could see, the kind of people who travel on busses, use of colour, line weights, typefaces, inks and pencils.

Jill also has a blog in which she shares the work of artists who have inspired her. This is a prime example of an artist that has been inspired both by her surroundings and by the works of others. In recording our thoughts, what we can see, our surroundings, we can influence ourselves to create individual pieces of work.

Connectivity Lecture

Bricolage and its use in contemporary culture.

Bricolage comes from the French term bricolage which originally means to fiddle or tinker, or to make creative use of whatever materials are at hand. Assemblage and collage are other ways of describing what bricolage is. An article written for The New York Times about Robert Rauschenberg said that:
"art can be made out of anything, exist anywhere, last forever or just for a moment and serve almost any purpose or no purpose at all except to suggest that the stuff of life and the stuff of art are ultimately one and the same."

This is an example of the contemporary bricolage works of Rauschenberg. You can see here that he has taken two "found" objects to create a piece of art. The works have been installed in a museum, which makes the viewer concentrate on the piece itself, not what's surrounding it, as that would change the meaning.

Marcel Duchamp is another artist who worked with "found objects" which he called Readymades. An example of Duchamps' work would be Fountain. An image of a urinal with the word "R.Mutt" written on it.

The original "Fountain" has been lost so many replicas have been comissioned by Duchamp and are now on display in many different museums. Following this, a variety of people have urinated or attacked the piece, as part of performance art. Yuan Chai commented "The urinal is there - it's an invitation. As Duchamp said himself, it's the artist's choice. He chooses what is art. We just added to it."

Another example of an artist who uses Bricolage would be Tracey Emin.

Notions of Originality

The idea of something being original is the aspect of something being new. It has not been reproduced or forged. Past artwork has a big impact on contemporary pieces, many pieces being recontextualised and turned into something new, making it unoriginal. This can also be called paying homage to a particular artist or piece of art.

By being inspired by someone elses work we can move forward to create our own ideas or interpretations. Our level of experimentation goes further which enables us to understand certain aspects of visual communication. This is where critical commentary comes in. In studying, understanding and discussing past pieces of work, we can come up with our own outcomes and interpretations. Even by giving a piece a different name we can change the meaning, thus making people see it in a new perspective. Although using an existing idea, by adding your own imaginative slant you are giving a sense of originality to the piece. A good example of that would be Andy Warhol's Marilyn - 1962 compared to Matteo Bertolio from Tank Magazine - 2004.

It is clear to see just by glancing at the two pieces that Matteo has taken inpiration from Warhols' work yet added his own, modern twist on it by using a contemporary model. By still using the bold colours that reflect the pop art of Andy Warhol, it makes it recognisable to a wide audience. Also the image of John. F. Kennedy reflect the pop culture from that time.