The design work flow and The Experts

The design workflow

My design work flow looks a little something like this:

which is frighteningly complicated. But recently it's had a bit of a re vamp and now is looking more like this:

The problem I have with planning is that as soon as I get an idea I think will sort of maybe work I tend to rush straight into it. This is no good as I usually change my mind half way because I've decided it isn't really working and plod back to the drawing board to rethink and research more ideas, which is what I should have done in the first place. To avoid this I now make sure I write down a certain amount of ideas before I pick one (see previous post "development of creative thought....) which is one of my main achievements in organization. The second being that the remodelled work flow diagram is actually legible, which means that I can actually understand what I want to do with out going crossed and retreating to a corner to weep. Another major floor of the first plan was that I didn't give enough time for mistakes, and that might occur, sorry, which WILL occur. To assume that everything would run oh so smoothly based on experience of previous projects was just plain silly. Now I try to keep a few days spare at the towards the end of the project to make sure I have a comfortable amount of time to make adjustments and fix any problems.

The Experts

I have to let my obsession with Brian Lee O Malley win this one.

Whether or not the Gods of academia would appoint him with the title "Expert" (as he never finished his degree) I couldn't think of a better title for him.

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 2, Brian Lee O' Malley

The work that makes him stand out in particular is the "Scott Pilgrim" series. Heavily influenced by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka ("Astroboy") it perfectly compliments the fast, lively world of Scott's. The characters are brilliantly developed and are easy to bond with. The realism of characters relationships allows us to move our sympathy from one character to another with

out a creating a bias toward a character. The style also works wonderfully for the humour, with character's emotions being captured in sometimes no more than a few brief lines or stick figures (this way of conveying emotion is generally found in shojo manga (which is generally targeted towards young women as it's genre is usually comedy/romance)).

Scott Pilgrim, volume 5, Brian Lee O' Malley

One of my biggest praises for O' Malley is he knows when to stop. One of my main set backs with volumed graphic novel is that they tend to drag, especially in manga ("Bleach" and "Naruto" I'm scowling at you), which tends to devalue the work. However Brian doesn't steered clear of tarnishing his work, which could have been easy to do so due to popular demand for more of the Scott Pilgrim series. However O' Malley stated (after comparing himself to Herge, creator of "Tintin" who said "And right now, my work makes me sick. Tintin is no longer me. And I must make a terrible effort to invent (him)… If Tintin continues to live, it is through a sort of artificial respiration that I must constantly keep up and which is exhausting me.") That he would have lost the passion for writing Scott Pilgrim if he were still writing it in 10 years time. It is this sort of respect an artist has for his work is why I value Brian Lee O' Malley so highly.

Image source

Images 1&2: own images

Image 3:http://www.funcoast.com/stories/restaurantsbars/bars/recipe/cooking-corner-scott-pilgrim%E2%80%99s-vegan-shepherd%E2%80%99s-pie

Image 4:http://www.comicbookdaily.com/wp/daily_news/i-heart-comics-the-most-anticipated-comic-books-of-2010-part-1/

Quote: Herge: "And right now, my work makes me sick. Tintin is no longer me. And I must make a terrible effort to invent (him)… If Tintin continues to live, it is through a sort of artificial respiration that I must constantly keep up and which is exhausting me." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Pilgrim

The relationship between image and text

So this can work in both directions. Some argue that nothing is stronger than the power of the visual, and good on them, because they are right. Sometimes. Although a picture supposedly is the equivalent of 1000 words sometimes it wouldn't hurt to add a few more. Because those narrative words are the pivotal point of decision making over whether, for example: a photo of a shed was the hide out for a super secret Mafia or the birth place of Bowie hair which the photographer had gone into great detail to research for, or, it is just a photo, of a shed.

Wilson, Daniel Clowes 2010

Although I like nothing more than to play the "what if" game I also admire people who define narrative, as, in the right circumstances the image itself is intensified. Take Daniel Clowe's "Wilson". When I block out the text we are free to interoperate it however we like, which is fine, but as soon as we text is added....

Wilson, Daniel Clowes 2010

.... like so, the entire atmosphere of the piece changes. From a glance (or if the reader wasn't aware of Clowes' dry outlook) you might assume it was a comic from the Saturday morning paper, but as soon as the text is introduced we are hit in the face by a bout of Clowes.

Take care of yourself, Sophie Calle 2007

As well as defining an image, words also are also used to emotionally intensify a piece of work. Pieces like Sophie Calle's "take care of yourself", in which she built up a work of art surrounding a "Dear Jane" email that her boyfriend sent her. She built on this by sending copies off to 107 academic women, who in return analysed it according to their profession. Another artist who I admire for this is Jamie Shovlin, in particular his collaboration "Naomi V Jelish."

Naomi V Jelish, Jamie Shovlin 2004

Shovlin uses the beautiful thing that is imagination to create a project that was at first portrayed as a compilation of a missing girl Naomi V Jelish. Shovlin had not only created a touching compilation of "found" objects, but he had also created the girl and the entirety of "her" possessions (school books, sketches e.t.c.) Saatchi (who purchased the piece) was unaware of it being a hoax until he discovered that the name Naomi V Jelish was an anagram of the artist.

Naomi V Jelish , Jamie Shovlin 2004

So there you have it. The brilliant power of words.

But then again sometimes you just don't need them.....

The weather project at the Tate modern,

Olafur Eliasson, 2003

Barefoot Gen, Keiji Nakazawa, 1973

Image source:

Image 1 & 2: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/11/daniel-clowes-wilson/

Image 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamaleaver/690809256/

Image 4: http://www.terminartors.com/artworkprofile/Shovlin_Jamie-Naomi_V_Jelish-2004-IV

Image 5:http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424536803/424303357/jamie-shovlin-naomi-v-jelish.html

Image 6: http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/art/reading_room/214.from_observer_to_co_worker_in_olafur_eliassons_studio.1.htm

Image 7: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/116223.Barefoot_Gen_Volume_One

Development of creative thought and structure in illustration and graphic art

Overcoming mindsets

So I'm pretty darn sure that all primary schools are to blame for this conditioning of habitual thinking. Because how else could the ol' straight and narrow persuade 11 year olds that Harry Potter was the height of literature or that the idea of grease proof toilet paper wasn't so bad after all. And schools do this! All the way up until you're ready to be unleashed onto the unsuspecting world until someone from the back of the crowd pipes up the phrase "actually, Simon didn't say follow the leader." leaving you with no choice but to drag yourself back to the drawing board of life because you've done it all wrong.

So I guess it's best to nip it in the bud, and start this by questioning absolutely EVERYTHING. I find the best way to go about this is to force myself to write down a set number of ideas for an outcome. The first few are always tragically bland, though after wading through predictability I find that ideas start to liven themselves up, and these are the one's that I end up using.

Giles 1963, Daily Express, response to fashion and the generation gap

One artist who must certainly live by this law is newspaper cartoonist Carl Giles, who worked for The Daily Express and The Sunday Express from 1937 until 1991. His work surrounded the topic of one of the newspaper's top stories of the day. These would generally consist of a single frame containing a stereotype that suited the topic or would recurring characters from Giles' own creation.

Managing a creative environment

Naturally, I'm messy. Therefore: workspace=bomb site. Which truth be told, can walk a double edged knife. What I find comforting about the cleaner's nightmare is that there's almost definitely something around that'll inspire me, which, on the reverse leads to the fact that there's almost definitely something around that'll distract me. So balance is crucial, which led me to relocate the misc. "pile" to a less noticeable elsewhere when episodes of creative fury strike.

Collection of graphic novels which inspire the majority of my work

Another element that is essential in my workspace are artistic influences. The majority of these are the army of graphic novels that guard my work space and are within short reaching distance if the urge to refer or research something troops along.

A sort of in the middle balance of creative mess and clear thinking

Image sources:

iamge 1:

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/10/24/stars-of-political-cartooning-carl-giles/

image 2 & 3: own images

Interpretation and methodology

Interpretation

Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr Fox" have been interprated in many different ways by artists. Though not the original, the most reconised has to be Quentin Blakes illustrations. His energetic style of messy yet controlled pen with subtle water colour effortlessly capture the movements of the image and sutble express character emotions, a perfect match for Dahl's dark imaginative story telling.

Unlike the previous artists who illustrated the book I can't help feeling that Blake's adaptation are the more mature of the set convey this darker side more clearly. His swift mess of lines and blotted ink suggests the characters personal flaws and imperfections, an obvious contrast to Donald Chaffin's original illustrations.

This darker atmosphere in Blake's drawings can be traced from the nature of Blake himself, who at the time stuggled with depression, allowed this to develop into his work. One drawing I feel especially captures this is the scene in chapter eleven where a small fox comes running to Mrs Fox with an armful of chickens. Mrs Fox is starving and tired and this is evident in Blake's drawing. Her lack of composer and bleary eyed appearence perfectly conveys her exhausted emotions, emotions that no doubt that every adult can relate to!

The most recent adaptation of Fantasic Mr Fox is a full length stop motion animation by Wes Anderson. Although mcuh of the story has been preserved there are a significant number of alterations and addition of characters and events. Many of the changes were due to the media it was made in. For example the extra scenes were added to flesh out the story so it would be eligabe for recognition as a full film. The content and script was also matured so it would appeal to adults as well as children, dealing with situations such as marital conflicts and financial status. Although the time of year was never specified in the book it has been established as autumn, due to the fact that puppets appear best in warmer colours. The animation was also more of a homage to Dahl himself. All of the props and furiture that appear in Mr Fox's house are miniture replicas of Dahl's furniture.

Methodology

While working on a brief I find that a RVJ is the most appropriate and informative way of recording my progress from brief to final outcome. One project that particularly benifited from RVJ development was a brief I recieved in a level titled "art and literature". The research stage allowed me to branch off into as many areas as I could find before settling into a specific route. A particular usful research method for understanding illustration was to elucidate text that an illustration was built around to see how and why the artist included what they did in the artwork.

This route lead me into graphic novels and through personal interest to manga. I was specifically drawn to this area because of the strength of atmosphere that surrounds the art work and how the visual description achieves this. Whilst studying this fairly modern media I was drawn to the idea of mixing old and new, in this case a classic play in a modern media. As manga is centered on over exaggeration of body language and drama I was immediately drawn to Shakespeare's comedies, more specifically "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Due to the time length of the project I mainly chose this as I already knew it otherwise I might have branched out to other possibilities. The decision of the scene (a quarrel between Helena and Demetrius) was chosen as Helena's over dramatic character coupled perfectly with the whimsical manga style. I was particularly influnced by shojo (genre specifically targeting young women) manga artist Natsuki Takaya, as much of her work was overlapped and layered with atmoshperic pattern, unlike much manga which is confined to standard panelling.

My final piece consisted of a short section of an argument bewteen Helena and Demetrius. I had to reduce the text amount a considerable amount and selected only the significant sentences so the piece wasn't swamped with text and appeared over demanding to read.

Image source

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%26+heritage/literature+%26+music/art72683
http://rougemyknees.com/2009/11

http://staffnews.ucreative.ac.uk/index.cfm?articaleid=27925
(4 and 5 own images)

Story Development

It is fairly easy to determine the reason that playwrites give to using 3 act structures in their play. It acts as a comfotable divide for "beginning, middle, end" and is also useful for establishing whether the protagonist (which are generally a staple ingredient to the 3 act play) has entered the establishment of the first equalibrium, the crisis, or the resolution.

(Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer)

I take for example Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" (1998), whose character Max Fischer is knighted as our protagonist. The beginning of the film establishes Max's current status in the elite school Rushmore, where although he is an enthusiastic pupil participating in an array of extra curricular activities, he is failing academically. The element of "crisis" for Max is potential explusion from the school combined with not only his unsucessful seduction of first grade teacher Rosemary, but her apparent affair with Herman Blume, Max's close friend.
This second catalyst is what ultimately leads to his explusion from the school and thrown into the slumberland of a comprehensive high school. This decline is stil not enough to distract him from his revenge against Herman until he his arrest for his actions against Herman and he has left school completely. It is from this moment that our flawed heroine begins to redeem himself. By realising that he will never be able to win Rosemary's affections he liberates himself by writing a play to create a new equalibruim between himself and the other characters.

Much of Rushmore's is determined plot is determined by the externilisation of the character's internal emotions. The development of Max's relationships between Herman and Rosemary is what sets the direction of the plot and it is only until Max understands he will never have a romantic relationship with Rosemary that he grows emotionally.

Character design

Father Jack Hackett (Father Ted)

APPEARANCE

Rough and unhygenic

Considered lazy as usually is slouched in his chair and/or asleep

Most likely younger than his apppearance but appears older due to life style of smoking and heavily drinking

Stereotypical angry drunk

ACTION OF CHARACTER

Antagonist: cause of the majority of conflicts that Father Ted deals with

Self centered nature, his character is simplified to stereotype and avoids backround history to focus this

To drink

INERACTION WITH OTHER CHARACTERS AND EVENTS OF THE STORY

Jack's contribution to events usually occur accidently as he is unwilling unable to contribute due to his unsociable nature and drunken state. Whenever he does contribute it is purely accidental. For example: 1. Jack has adopted a brick as a pet which he leaves lying on the floor for Ted to trip over which gives Ted the idea of using it as a weight to use on the milkfloat peddle to save Dougal from being blown up.

2. Jack's consumption of "toilet duck" leaves him in in a near unconsious state which gives solves Ted's crisis of them all wanting to dress up as Elvis for the fancy dress competition. Jack's near paralytic state is disguised as Elvis's "final chapter of life" in order for them to win the competition with "The three stages of Elvis"

Image source

http://rushmoreacademy.com/2008/06/21/rushmore-an-entertainment-weekly-new-classic
http://tweeandtoast.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archieve.html

ITAP 26/10

Drawing
The use of drawing would be extremely underrated if it was said that it is only used to create "art", as what is art but visual expression? The whole concept of drawing is that it enables another path to visually communicate and express your ideas, bo matter what they are. I personally find rough planning sketches to help me record my ideas. Though they might not appear how I want them to, I can still convey the expression and atmospehere through the concept sketches that I wish to create.

Artists largely use this type of communication in development, especially with large scale projects such as films and sculptures. The image above is a character development for a character in Studio Ghibli's film "Howl's moving castle". Here the artist has created a simple yet intricate collection of sketches of the character's appearence. These also convey the nature of the character through the specifically chosen facial expressions and actions. The artist has also played around with the hues to indicate the girl's mood. At a glance the images appear messy and unfinished compared to the vibrant and neat appearence of Ghibli's completed works, however this is because the artist is merly planning ideas to example how they might appear if selected and used for the final outcome.

Develop visual language

One of my favorite uses of visual language are graphic novels. Unlike a "written" novel, in which you read a description of the a scene or object or person that the author has built up through language you are instead presented with the artists vision. It may seem like a limitation for the imagination but on a whole I find that it stregthens the description and presents the audience with what the creator wants us to see. After watching several graphic novel to film adaptations it appears that I less likely to be let down due to the visual content I was already prepared for the appearence of the characters and scenery. Prehaps this is why film makers are increasingly opting for graphic novel adaptations?

The image above has been taken from Daviel Clowes' "Ghost World" which is an artwork I found particularly outstanding. The artwork would be black and white if it wasn't for the green haze that Clowes swept over the pages, giving the images a ghost like appearence and defines that it is the same world as ours but the protagonists view of it. Not being able to entirely relate to this green world left me feeling rather isolated, which prehaps in turn offers the experience of alienation that Enid and Rebecca (the protagonists) feel about the transition into adult life.

Image source

http://myyearonline.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/ghost-world/

http://www.parkablogs.com/chinese/content/book-review-art-of-howls-moving-castle

ITAP for 19/10: 2 key principles (Legibility and hierarchy)

Legibility

The legibility of an art piece is determined by the use of colour, line, tone, negative space, font etc. A piece of work is only successful if the work is clear and easy to understand by the viewer. Legibility is especially important for areas such as advertising. In media such as adverts and magazine covers it is critical that you draw the buyer to the parts that you want them to notice first and the information that is considered the selling point for the item. Arranging the page to achieve this takes a lot of consideration and time. Designers spend considerable amounts of time on researching what colours are most effective, where the people's eyes are naturally drawn to on a page and how to apply this to their layout. Blank space is also another concept that has changed the face of media such as newspapers. The modification of newspapers is one example of how design and composition has altered their appearance. What once was a front page of complete size eight font with little divide or white space and no images has now been broken up with pictures and colour. Information has been separated by size and style of the font.

Tone of voice

Whether the piece surrounds an article on elephants, trains or any genre, each will have convey a tone of voice. It is the designer's job to carry the tone from the text to a more visual level, be in the typography of the title to the colour of the background. For example typography can be used to enhance the meaning of a word through it's shape and form by taking the characteristics associated with the word and visualising them. For example: the word "jump" we link it to it's energetic action, a word that is lively. To convey this through typography the designer might look at displaying the word as the action itself, by either stretching, or elevating the text. It may also be displayed in a big font, as it is a confident movement. "Jump" would most likely appear opaque to exaggerate the boldness of the action.

Another element which specifies the tone of the work is colour. Colour can be used to break up space and highlight specific information. It can be applied to set the tone of the work. This application of colour can be found extensively in children's picture books, as a clear depiction of an atmosphere is vital as very young children aren't likely to pick up subtle references, so it needs to be exaggerated to the point where they will understand it. Simple methods such as a character's emotions being portrayed through the weather would externalise the internal of the character, which young children might not pick up on as they may have not experienced it themselves. However, linking it to a subject that is easier to identify by emotion will strengthen the whole of the work.