Issues and Beliefs

The first project we were tasked with last year, 'Issues and Beliefs', was, in a number of ways, a game changer for me, as it was the start of a whole new artistic pursuit of mine; cut-outs.

The aim of the project was to take an issue that we have a personal connection to, and produce advertisement material, whether it be posters, flyers, etc., to make the public more aware of the issue.

At the start, I was juggling three possible ideas; fox hunting, the fur trade and nuclear war. Of course, something like nuclear war can't be stopped with a poster, unfortunately, and fox hunting has seen a massive decline in recent years, despite some illegal hunts carrying on. Taking all this into account, I figured the fur trade was the best bet.
A very grim and difficult topic to research indeed; I don't think I've ever been more ashamed to be a part of the human race, after reading what goes on in fur farms in full grisly detail.

I believe that if you feel very strongly about a cause, that if you can get that emotional investment in a project, you can generate some very unique results. The three pieces above are for slipping onto coat hangers, thanking consumers for buying from an establishment that is against the fur trade. I was quite pleased to discover that virtually nowhere in Preston, not even charity shops (which is where I decided these hangers will go), will accept any fur. One or two would accept leather, but all in all, leather is a by-product of meat, and, well, that's a whole other tin of worms.

These hangers were well received, which I was rather grateful for. This new way of working with cut-outs and such is something I feel I can get my teeth into,  and maybe merge it with other skills and techniques, such as ink washes, digital work and just plain drawing.

I will be gradually uploading more and more of the previous year's work over the next week or so, whilst I get the Summer project on the go. I would like very much to do some traveling for this project, maybe just hop on a train to somewhere, and document my journey and what I do when I get there.

2nd Year: Editorial

Well, that's it. 2nd year is officially over. Handed in my work on Friday, after what I can only describe as 'the closest I've ever been to a full mental breakdown'. A word of advice, readers; printers are temperamental machines, and can very easily thwart your plans.
Good news is, I got everything in, after beating my printer into submission.
Bad news is... I seem to have lost my iPod. The last time I saw it was in this room, but everything from then to arriving at class is a blur. This comes as a great disappointment, as my iPod would have played a key part in my next personal project. I won't go into too much detail at the moment, but it is ground I have trodden on before, but not to this scale.

Anyway, I figure it's been a while since I've put up some work, so here you go.

These two are worked up pieces from the editorial project earlier this year, in which we were given an editorial article each day for a week, and had to have a rough for each one by the end of the day. We then chose two (three counting the one set by Ben Tallon) to develop into final pieces. Here are two I worked up in their respective templates.
I think editorial design may very well be my calling, as I enjoyed this project a LOT, probably as much as I enjoyed the 'issues and beliefs' project, which I felt the most emotionally invested in (it was campaigning against the fur trade, by the way).

I might upload more work from this year in the coming few weeks, along with stuff from the Summer brief we've been given, and anything else I stumble across on the way. Got a lot coming up this Summer; we've got Prometheus and Dark Knight Rises coming out, both of which look AMAZING... I have a number of conventions I'd like to go to, and last but not least, Morrissey in July. Cost an arm and a leg for a ticket, but it's Morrissey, so it's excusable.

Alright, I'll leave you folks to it. Until next time, farewell.