PPP3 - NOTEBOOKS - BRIEF

PPP3 - INSPIRATION

Todays inspiration came from something completely unrelated to graphic design or illustration and in fact came in the form of an extreme sport.

The video, which was posted by Thrasher Magazine, features a German skateboarder named Michael Mackrodt, who is filmed ripping through the suburbs of Paris for five and a half minutes of fast paced, creative skateboarding. 

There are an assortment of reasons I find the part inspirational, from his flowing style to the rapid speed at which he skates throughout the whole video. However, by far the most inspirational aspects of Mackrodt's skating, and the reason he is featured on this blog post, is because of his creative interaction with the Parisian architecture and his combination of unusual tricks that he applies into interesting and stylish lines. 

As a graphic designer that is also heavily involved with skateboarding I can appreciate Mackrodt's creativity and skill on many levels. Moreover, such respect has allowed me to identify aspects of skateboarding that also have relevance to graphic design. 

One of the most important aspects of the video was Mackrodt's creative approach to skateboarding, which has relevance to both the way he approaches a spot and the tricks he does. It is this ability to think differently and approach obstacles and tasks creatively that has relevance in both skateboarding and graphic design, and is main the reason the video has relevance to my professional practice.   

PPP3 - INSPIRATION

Today, while browsing through the pages of 'Booooooom', a creative inspiration website, I stumbled upon some amazing water colour studies by a Swedish illustrator and designer named Felix Roos. 

As a medium, watercolour paints have always interested me due to diverse range of the ways in which the paints can be applied and the stunning outcomes that can be produced. In fact, over the Christmas period, I utilised the qualities of watercolour paints to my advantage, applying them to create a range of tranquil mushroom illustrations for a wallpaper repeat pattern. 

Upon seeing the studies by Roos I was instantly amazed, not only by his ability to apply the paints, but also with the originality of his pieces. Of the works featured below my favorite studies are undoubtedly the hand reaching through a cube of water and the range of fragmented faces.    

Link

PPP3 - INSPIRATION

Today I watched a short video featuring Aaron Draplin, a well known graphic designer who was born and raised in America. In the video, Aaron takes on a logo challenge from 'Lynda.com' in which he must complete a design for a logo within a fifteen minute timeframe. 

Most logos are not designed in such a short amount of time and require much more development. However, Aaron's vast experience enables him to create a successful outcome within the specified timeframe while documenting his process and decisions for the viewer. 

The video appealed to my professional interests and has relevance to my development as a designer due to the fact that I am continually looking for ways to improve my practice. Watching the video allowed me to analyse a professional designers methodology while solving a design problem, something that is both interesting and useful.   

While watching the video I took notes documenting aspects of Aaron's design process that can in turn help me to improve as a designer.

NOTES -  

PPP3 - INSPIRATION

'A field guide to birds' is a photo journal by intrepid explorers Marc Adams and Jason Domogalla. 

As an individual with a serious case of incurable wanderlust and an inextricable love for the outdoors and adventure, the series of images documenting Marc and Adams excursions is completely awe-inspiring. 

Although not directly related to graphic design, I find anything that simultaneously documents the inherent beauty of our world and the journeys people take to experience it far more exciting and inspirational than the majority of secondary sourced inspirational material.  

The set of images displayed below illustrate some of Marc and Jason's adventures;

Link to blog - Link

PPP3 - INSPIRATION

Today, while browsing through the creative inspiration website; 'Booooooom' I came across a blog post detailing the work of Berlin based artist Max Gärtner.

Gärtner's work spans multiple disciplines, from paper cuts and screen prints to spray painted works, often such studies focused on capturing the innate details and form of the animals his portraits often feature. 

While reviewing Gärtner's work I became truly amazed at the level of detail he manages to achieve in his intricate paper-cut studies. The complex flowing lines Gärtner is able to achieve in his illustrations is commendable, and undoubtedly has taken years of painstaking practice to perfect. 

As a craft driven designer I love creating work using physical, hands on production techniques, an aspect of my practice which allows me to really appreciate the effort and skill Gärtner has put in when producing each study. 

Image Sources - Link

PPP3 - JONATHAN CHAPMAN - VISITING SPEAKER

Today I attended an extra curricular lecture featuring a talk from two different practitioners, one of which is Dr Jonathan Chapman, a professor of sustainable design. 

The lecture was attended as Chapman's work on sustainable or durable design has a lot of relevance to both my research for the COP3 module and my sustainably minded design practice. 

LECTURE NOTES;

Notes taken during the lectures are displayed below;

IMPORTNAT POINTS; 

• Jonathan Chapman is a Professor of sustainable design.
• Big brands are moving towards sustainability - Often protecting the environment is not the driving force behind this decision but the ability to make a change and be different.
• Most products aim to improve things and make life better.
• Chapman's experience of low impact living - Large city.
• Society moving towards sustainable consumption.
• 40 Tons of waste can be produced to make one product - Mobile phone.
• 98% of which are thrown away within 6 months - About 1% efficient. 
• By extending the life of a product it reduces energy need to produce new ones.
• Create products that improve over time.
• Modularity - build your own phone - customised pieces.
• Sugru - small bit of putty which can be used to fix or improve broken appliances. 

CONCLUSION 

I found the topics Chapman discussed in the lecture very interesting, specifically the statistics presented regarding the waste and product life of mobile phones in modern society. The 1% efficiency that is achieved sums up our civilisations approach to existence perfectly, we are mindlessly wasteful, and it is this approach to existence that is predominantly responsible for the climate issues plaguing the globe today. 

One area I felt that my ideologies and Chapman's differ are with how such issues could be solved, much alike the conclusions reached in Al Gores 'An Inconvenient Truth' Chapman suggested a very capitalist solution, proposing that the system does not need to change, but new approaches to production and more mindful consumption can help to alleviate  the issues.