Back to the start...

Looking back through my journal posts, it's hard to believe that our first (academic) year on the course is over. We are now officially halfway through our learning adventure and it's scary to think that this time next year I will be sat here writing my final journal entry before heading off into the big bad world of full time employment as a web designer.

Upon reflection on my previous ramblings, it concerns me that there is an underlying issue that runs between the threads. My attendence, punctuality and time management outside of college have been talked about in virtually all of my journal entries.

Going forward (as I've seemingly stated all year) these are issues which I need to address. Only I can change me and eradicate the bad habits into which I've fallen. Proper utilisation of time management devices such as time sheets and production schedules should help but these are only the beginning. My attitide needs to change too. I need to get out the "it won't take me that long, I'll do it later" attitude and rediscover my intial enthusiasm for the course. Over the course of the year I've grown sick and tired of sleepless nights before deadlines and the constantly feeling stressed and underperforming.

There have been positives to being on the course. The lectures and assignments have been varied and interesting as have the field trips and guest speakers from the Design Mechanics and Jonny Haynes. The assignments we've completed this year were:

A1 - Sketchblog

I feel that I've underachieved with this assignement. The basic concept was straightforward enough - collect inspirational pieces each week either of your own choosing or to a given theme and annotate. This proved to be more of a challenge than you'd imagine, especially as I kept leaving it to the last minute to trawl the internet rather than actually going out and have things naturally jump out at me. Also evidenced as part of the assignment was the ideas generation and developement processes for each assignment. Again this is an area that I feel I can improve on. Simply by spending more time on the intial concepts and utilising various ideas generation techniques then I'm confident that my final designs will be more dynamic and visually interesting.

A2 - Journey of a thousand miles
Essentially this was our ease you in gently assignment. It definitely proved to be an excellent introduction to the different types of technologies and languages we would be using over the course of the year.

A3 - Sounds like a plan
I think I’d have enjoyed this assignment more if I hadn’t had the theme for the page dictated to me. This however is in keeping with the idea that the course is run in such a way that it reflects life in actual design studio / professional environment. My initial struggles getting to grips with Indesign resulted in a less than impressive, but solid site design.

A4 - Typecast
I’ll be honest my first impressions of an assignment about typography didn’t really excite me all that much. However once we got started and I started learning more and more I found it to be quite enjoyable. In fact it was the first assignment that I passed first time. The way it was structured helped an awful lot with each week having timed mini assignments to complete in class which helped keep me on track with the production side of things.

A5 - Builder
This was the assignment we’d all been waiting for - our first opportunity to create a webpage built with XHTML 1.0 strict and CSS 2.1. The initial lectures were quite daunting and I’m glad that my screen design from A3 was pretty simple in terms of layout. Having said that, I would’ve liked to have done so much more with the page, especially after I began to get to grips with the coding.

A6 - The big picture
Or an introduction to Photoshop as it should’ve been subtitled. Another very useful assignment though perhaps would’ve been more beneficial closer to the start of the course before the design work really kicked in.

A7 - Rasterised
Overall I’m disappointed with the way this assignment turned out. I feel I had a really good concept for the re-imagined CD artwork but looking back over the development process and the additional design work required for the assignment I can’t help but think it could’ve been so much better.

My work certainly wasn’t as Photoshop intensive as other members of the group – mainly due to the fact I’m not as clued up at using it as others. This is something that I have the ability to rectify over the summer as I intend to use the time constructively and begin to unleash the full potential of CS4 and my imagination.

This was definitely a culmination of everything that we’ve learned over the previous 9 months or so and I wish I’d put more effort into the initial design process to create more dynamic designs as I’m particularly unhappy with my Wire advert and logo designs as neither really jump out of the page.

At the end of the day though what’s done is done, I won’t dwell on past mistakes and if only’s. All I can do is make sure that I eradicate the negatives from this year and focus on the positives so that I hit the ground running in September. I’m looking forward to the additional challenges which will come with the final year. The self managed learning plan is an intriguing proposition and if I’m honest at this point in time I have no idea what I wish to learn about as part of it.

Going forward onto the second year, I think it’s important to set myself some goals to help keep me focused including:

• 100% attendance – to help reduce the possibility of falling behind with my work
• Improve my punctuality
• Properly structure myself study time to maximize the output
• Achieve at least a merit for all my assignments at the first time of asking

If I can achieve these small steps initially, I’m confident that I can go from strength to strength and achieve my full potential and so finish the course with a bang.

Close, yet far...

With only 2 weeks left to go I'm feeling an enormous sense of achievement. Only it looked unlikely that I was going to complete the A7 assignment having fallen behind due to illness and then not taking advantage of the Easter break to catch up again. However with the support of my tutor and friends I'm pleased to say that I've turned things around. With just 2 weeks of the assignment I find myself in a good position to complete the assignment not only on time but also with work I can be proud of.

Now that I've caught up I'm really beginning to enjoy this assignment again. Re-imagining CD artwork, logos and designing magazine adverts amongst the other tasks, have proved to be a great challenge.

My release was Kangding Ray's Automne Fold album and whilst not ordinarily a genre I'd listen too (I'm mostly a punk fan) I really enjoyed the albums minimalist electronica sound.

This helped a great deal when I was coming up with the concept for the album's digipak artwork:

http://www.ian-thompson.org.uk/a7/digipak_outer_final.pdf

http://http//www.ian-thompson.org.uk/a7/digipak_inner_final.pdf

The concept was simple: Automne is French for Autumn, so I decided to use some photos which i took at Hatfield Forest as the starting point and then using Photoshop to manipulate the images and to introduce warm, autumnal colours.

As my knowledge of Photoshop techniques is not as advanced as other members of the group, at times it was frustrating when trying to recreate the imagery from my designs onto the screen. Having said that I'm really pleased with the results and can't wait to recieve the postcards we ordered from Moo:

These were designed as another method of presenting our artwork. For my postcards I opted to use the image from the front cover and the inner of the digipak. I used the inner image rather than the back cover as I simply felt it was a more interesting image.

Now I've just got to get cracking on with the Wire advert and web interface and hopefully finish the year with a bang!

Tomorrow comes a day to soon...

Where has the year gone?! Is the question on my lips as I sit here to write this latest journal entry. The time from when we arrived to begin the course back in September until now, where we are working to complete our final assignment of year one has genuinely flown by.

Flicking back through my sketchbook I’m amazed at how much knowledge has been accumulated in a relatively short space of time. I now know the anatomy of a font and can even identify some font families by simply looking a single character. Throw in learning about colour harmony, visitors from the design industry, how to use images effectively, using X-HTML and CSS and you still haven’t begun to scratch the surface of how much I’ve learnt.

There have of course been ups and downs to the first year. The up’s have included making a great new set of friends, the knowledge and skills I’ve acquired thus far and a real sense of achievement at having a designed and built a web page that a friend kindly described as looking “ like a real web page”.

The downs include seeing 2 members of the group leave the course early, referring assignments and at times feeling like the work I’ve handed in hasn’t really been of the highest quality.

Hopefully A7: Rasterised will see me end the year with a bang. Being asked to re-imagine and reinterpret Kangding Ray’s “Automne Fold” album artwork as well as redesign the Raster-Noton logo is a great assignment to end the year on. It requires us to put into practice all that we’ve learnt so far as well as encouraging us to think outside the box. I’m hopeful that by sticking to my production schedule and using the Easter break constructively I can produce a final product to be proud of and put me in good stead for starting the 2^nd year.

R-N094: Automne Fold - Kangding Ray

Raster-Noton are proud to announce the re-release of Berlin based Kangding Ray’s critically acclaimed 2008 release “Automne Fold” with brand new, re-imagined artwork.

Automne Fold (which means "Fall Fold") is the follow up to 2006’s highly successful debut album “Stabil” from experimental electro pioneer David Letellier, aka Kangding Ray. In keeping with the stripped down sounds commonly associated with Raster-Noton releases, Automne Fold is a consistently, deeply atmospheric amalgamation of samples, reverb and echo, fused together with various acoustic arrangements to soften the harsh, sometimes industrial digital tones. This creates an extremely interesting and accessible album which is sure to delight existing fans as well as attract a whole new range of listeners.

Opening track ‘Konstructive’ sets the tone of the album beautifully with its laid back beat before moving on to title track ‘Automne Fold’ with its stripped down acoustic guitars and fuzz laden digital sound merging to create a warm, organic sound. ‘Downshifters’ is a personal favourite of mine with its endless loops and soft layering of keyboards and hisses and distortion used to great effect.

In a departure from the electronica sensibilities, Kanging Ray fits in a traditionally structured track of verse- chorus-verse on ‘Idle’. In doing so he has created easily the most commercial and accessible track on the album, which whilst the polar opposite of the minimalist vocals on the preceding and subsequent tracks fits right at home on the album. It also conjures up the most vivid imagery whilst listening with its descriptive, almost narrative lyrics.

The album also features haunting guest vocals from Lene Toje on the tracks ‘A Protest Song’ (another album highlight) and Quarante whilst the track ‘Apnee’ sees spoken word accompaniment from ‘The Man, the Hospital and the Helicopter’ written and spoken by Andrew Cannon. ‘World Within Words’ conjures up feelings of fear and paranoia thanks to the sublime use of whispered vocals offset by distorted samples and simplistic beats. ‘World Within Words’ is by far the standout track on the album thanks the wonderfully creepy feeling it creates. These tracks make a welcome and interesting foil to the otherwise instrumental release.

With its feeling of early minimalist Steve Reich and the pioneering electronica of Boards of Canada, Automne Fold would make an excellent addition to the collections of fans of Raster-Noton’s signature high end frequencies and precise digital rhythms sound. The vocal led tracks contrast wonderfully against the instrumental offerings and there is a definite feeling of Light and Dark throughout all 14 tracks at times conjuring up images of spirits and apparitions.

It is best enjoyed in a darkened room so with your eyes closed so that you can fully appreciate the journey you are taken on whilst listening to its multi-layered beauty.

Word Count: 457

Keep The Faith...

Two weeks ago I was ready to throw in the towel. I’d managed to meet the deadlines for both assignments A3 and A4 – just. I hadn’t slept in 2 days, I had everything that could go wrong, go wrong and I knew in my heart the work I submitted wasn’t of the highest standard and that bar a miracle I was facing referrals for both assignments. This lead to a week of soul searching as I questioned whether or not I was committed enough to my dream of working in the design industry and whether or not I actually had the skills to complete the course.

As expected I referred A3: Sounds like a Plan however the disappointment was eased with the news that I’d passed A4: Typecast at the first attempt. This has given me renewed faith in my abilities and I’ve now picked myself up, dusted myself down and said “bring on the new assignments!”

We’re now in week 2 of both A5: Builder and A6: The Bigger Picture and it’s becoming obvious that the organisation of my self study time will be critical to achieving a bare minimum pass. A5 sees us building our webpage we designed in A3 using a mix of XHTML and CSS. It’s obvious that this not going to be walk in the park especially after this morning’s Introduction to XHTML lecture. There was a hell of a lot to take in and a lot seemed to be gobbledygook. I’m sure my trusty copy of HTML Dog is going to be referred to a heck of a lot over the next few weeks!

A6 sees us learning about image manipulation techniques using Adobe Photoshop which we shall put into practice during A5. It also sees us working in groups to deliver presentations on an assigned Photoshop technique meaning I’m going to have to be even more organised than before as I don’t wish to adversely affect my partner Dominic’s grade or indeed mine for that matter.

The introduction of production schedules should keep me organised with the required workload and ensure I can finally put my time management issues to bed. Having sat and looked at both assignments in great detail this early on there shall be no repeat of the underestimating of the work required.

Closing thought – “You get what you put in and people get what they deserve” - from the song “Only God Knows Why” by Kid Rock

I Can Do Better...

As the first Semester of the HND Interactive Media Design Course draws to a close, I find myself flicking through the pages of my sketchbook and sitting in amazement at just how much I’ve learnt already. A little over 15 weeks has passed and already 3 assignments have been handed in, 2 more have just been issued with one more continuously running in the background.

A2: A Journey of 1000 Miles was a great assignment to begin the course with. Not only did it expand my knowledge of the more technical aspects of web design but being referred also made realize the importance of so called “tinker time” and working to the highest level of detail. I’m not going to lie, I was massively disappointed when I was initially given a referral but at I took heart from the fact that it wasn’t so much the content that was the issue – it was the presentation. With the relevant amendments completed it was time to focus on:

A3: Sounds Like A Plan – Quickly became a self inflicted thorn in my side as my issues with my time management became more and more apparent as each week passed. Mini deadlines had been set for each segment of work in order to keep us on track with workload. Unfortunately I allowed myself to get distracted with work and personal issues and quickly found myself missing these deadlines. The Christmas break was my ideal opportunity to get myself caught up and back on track however it came and went and I found myself with an even bigger mountain to climb. I managed to complete the assignment and hand it in on time, however I’m expecting a referral. The work produced is simply not good enough in my eyes and I can’t see how it could possibly pass without amendment.

A4: Typecast has without a shadow of a doubt been my favourite assignment to work on. I’ve really enjoyed the idea of the assignment being broken down into timed mini assignments. Also it’s been great to actually start putting into practice the knowledge gained from the lectures. Again my time management issues were exposed as I didn’t use my self study time as well as I should’ve done to prepare for the Font recognition and typographic knowledge test which was an integral part of passing the assignment. Fortunately with some last minute cramming I managed to scrape a pass on the test however I’m annoyed with myself as I know with proper revision and preparation I could have achieved at least a merit.

A1: Sketch blog – This assignment has been running in the background since we started the course. Unfortunately I’ve not been treating it as an assignment more as something else that needs to be done. I think this attitude will be reflected in my efforts so far with regards to inspirational pieces and the required amendments. Also the ideas generation process for each piece of creative work is assessed as part of the assignment and this is an area I definitely need to improve on if I’m to pass.

Going forward into Semester Two it is obvious what I need to do to improve my performance. I need to get much more organized and implement the time sheets properly in order to manage my time properly. Also I need to stop diving straight into using the computer without having first having created a design in my sketchbook. I can do both these things I’m sure my overall standard of work will improve and life in general will be a lot more calmer.

Panic!

Our first week back is done and dusted and with next weeks deadlines looming the panic is really starting to kick in.

I’d intended to get myself completely up to speed with my assignments over the Christmas break so that I could avoid the stress and pressure that I’m currently feeling and... I didn't. As previously stated in my previous blogs I have a real problem with my time management outside of college. Too often do I comprise my performance on the course by not putting in the required self study time.

The reason for this is simple – I’m too easily distracted. I have all the best intentions of getting up early and cracking on but often find myself doing anything and everything but my college work. As a result my performance in the typography tests have been poor to say the least and I’ve now left myself a mountain to climb if I am going to achieve a respectable score in Tuesday’s assessable test. I’ve seemingly got a good grasp of the theoretical side of Typography but I struggle with actually being able to identify fonts. I’m envious of other members of the group who have been putting in the required amount of self study time and have been consistently scoring well on the mini tests and who are now in a much better position for Tuesday’s test than I am.

If I am going to perform well for the remainder of the course I need to learn from other peoples examples and start making better use of my time outside of college. This will ultimately help reduce the stress and pressure that I am finding myself under at the moment and hopefully enable me to paint a truer reflection of my abilities by gaining merits and distinctions rather than referred passes for the remaining assignments.