animation tests

I used the stop-motion app on my phone to do a quick test to see how it would look having my miners walking down the road

It is obviously rough and too fast, but I think this style will work well once I add in all the background imagery.

developing mono printing

I found a way to have multiple colours on the print, where  would ink up the stencils in one colour and ink the board in another which worked pretty well

But I would still prefer it if the white figures were the faded texture rather than that bold white.

So I came up with a new process which was initially very successful, first:

I ink up the board and just print ink

then I print again using the same board so that I have a background, I then ink the same board again and add the stencils which are inked up in red

This was the first print that came out using this process which I was really pleased with. The stencils have a really nice faded texture and the background is a block colour which is very difficult to achieve with mono printing, it also has the indentations from the stencils. And because it is printed onto the faded background it tones all the colours down a bit. I think this colour scheme works well with the theme too. 

So ideally I would do all my compositions using this process, but after a whole day in the print rooms trying the achieve the same effect, none of the prints turned out as good as this one, which was very frustrating. 

They didn't turn out that bad, but just didn't have the same block background colour I wanted, it was all a bit too faded but I can't work out what I am doing differently. I would ink up the board with lots of ink or with a light layer of ink but they still turned out the same.

But after asking around for advice, some people actually preferred the print that was slightly faded:

Because the faded bit looks like it could be another building in the background, it is more mysterious, and has more depth, whereas the other print is too flat. So I am unsure of how to proceed with these prints, but if I am constantly trying to chase the block colour print I might as well have done screen printing, because thats not what mono printing is about so I should take that into consideration too. But I am pleased with how they developed from the beginning, they are looking a lot more like finished pieces, and I feel like I have come across a lot of problems with mono printing that I have overcome. 

more monoprinting

I went back to the print rooms, with different sized printing boards, I cut them to rectangular sizes one about A2 length and the other about A3. I think using different formats really helps the prints look more like finished, composed pieces. I was testing out different colour schemes and compositions.

I've had some problems getting the prints to turn out how I wanted, with mono printings it is hard to foresee how they will look as it is a different turn out each time. There is big difference between the first and second print, but there are elements of each print that I like and want to find a way to put all the features I like onto one print - because although the compositions are turning out right I haven't yet managed a print that I feel could be passed as a final print.

I love the dense, bold colour of the background that comes out after the first print, but I would prefer the stencilled bits to be a colour rather than just right, I think the contrast is too much

I like the idea of singling out sections in different colours but I need to find a way of using other colours instead of white. I do like the faded texture but I think when it is all over it isn't very bold. I also keep getting marks on the print which I think is from the board still having oil or soap on it. 

What I like about the second print is the indentations left when the stencils are taken off the board, but it doesn't seem possible to have both the dense background colour while still having the faded, textural feel of the stencilled areas.

I want to find a way to solve this problem, I'm sure there must be some way, but the nature of mono printing is the faded colours with lots of patterns and shapes layered up. I think it is quite difficult to achieve a finished piece that is more of a composed scene rather than a pattern, but I'm sure I will find a way. 

type test

I did a test for the title sequence for the animation; I am pleased with the smoke in the background, I think the ink pad I used was effective in giving the wispy texture, especially when layered up. And I think it will look good when the smoke clears a bit and leads into a chimney on one of the factories. 

I'm not too sure about the text; I printed out different fonts and drew over them so it would still have the handmade feel to it. But it isn't very clear against the dark background and I don't think the enlargement as it comes on screen is very good, it seems a bit tacky. It might be better if I just have it fade on and stay for a bit longer because at the moment it is too quick.

more development (propercorn)

I have decided to focus on designing a set of stands for the brief, but I am still experimenting with compositions and media to use because I have not yet found a way of working that really suits what I want the outcome to look like

I like the use of watercolour and pen, I want to keep the handmade feel to it but not copy the packs design completely, but this method might be a bit too different

I saw this packaging and really liked the simplicity of it and thought I could maybe transfer a similar design onto my stands

initial presentation boards (propercorn)

We made some initial presentation boards so that we could present what we have so far but also have some practise for when we make the final boards, so that we know how they should be laid out and what they should be showing

We had a crit for the boards and this is the feedback I recieved:

STRENGTHS

- well researched in most areas

- good consideration of context, placement and audience

- good use of colour, is consistent with brand colours

- good visual representation of real world settings

- nice use of both handmade and photoshop to depict ideas

- have researched a lot of possibilities to expand the brand (e.g. window displays)

- idea of including ingredients

- great concept of 'light' and having the food float upwards 

IMPROVEMENTS

- finalise media choice and then experiment more with what works most efficiently

- look at more food/restaurant shop window displays and advertisements to see how they draw their customers in

- chose an artistic 'style' because the tone of voice in unclear

- develop more compositions

QUESTIONS

- are you hand-drawing or cutting out pictures of ingredients?

- how will you adapt your style to the target audience?

- do you have enough time?

- what media will you use?

- what shop windows will you advertise in for your target audience?

I am pleased with the feedback I got, I was mostly a positive response which is encouraging. I now need to decide on what area I want to focus on - whether its window displays, posters or display stands, and then I need to decide on how I will design in and what media I will use. 

fonts

Ive picked through a few different fonts for the text in the animation, these are my favourite ones

FRANKLIN GOTHIC

LETTER GOTHIC STD

ORATOR STD

ANDALE MONO

I chose 'ANDLAE MONO', but I wanted it to fit more with the handmade feel of the animation, so I printed it out and traced over the top

I think this looks a lot better, I will have the text in red so to keep with the colour scheme running through the sequence. 

re-writing the brief (propercorn)

After analysing the brief enough to know what we are being asked to do, it was a good idea to re-write the brief into something a lot more concise and to the point that stated exactly what I am planning to create in response to the brief. 

BRIEF
A campaign communicating the brand of 'Propercorn', advertising the different flavours and the fact that it is 'guilt free' and a healthy snack, and also to promote these aspects in places that will connect with the audience.

PRODUCT
- posters
- banners in shops
- shop window mural
- illustrated stand for the popcorn

TONE OF VOICE
- lively
- vibrant
- fun
- flavour

AUDIENCE
- women; young and busy
- health concious
- people who go to the gym, whole food stores, use public transport

CONTEXT
- propercorn is branding itself as arty, stylish, healthy and so wants to be seen in related places
- such as; art house cinemas, health food stores, london fashion week, selfridges, topshop

CONSIDERATIONS
- key area is the 'in-store' environment
- also places that the audience will be; consider journey to work, daily errands

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS
- be faithful to the brand
- products need to be commercially viable
- focusing on in-store environments is preferred

DELIVERABLES
- a campaign
- advertising that will catch audience during their everyday lives

developing ideas (propercorn)

I liked the idea of a bus shelter that gave the 'propercorn experience', a space that catches the audience on their way to work or running errands as it is using public transport. I feel I want to concentrate on the flavours for this project.

I could do a series of bus shelter posters, but I also saw these creative bus shelters:

Although it is very extreme and would cost a lot, it would definitely get across the message of the variety and intensity of the different flavours of popcorn. 

I like the idea of designing a series of posters as well which got across the message of the ingredients making a big impact on the popcorn

I think good window displays can be very effective in luring customers into a shop, I researched into some creative ones, such as the Selfridges window displays:

I love the layering of parts of the scene, it makes it look more 3D, I came up with some ideas for a similar display which sort continued the narrative on the pack, looking at where the ingredients came from

The brief stated that it preferred the outcome to be more focused on in-store environments so I thought about designing some display stands for the popcorn

I feel like these could work quite well in a shop environment as they wouldn't take up too much space, but they will be vibrant and attract people to them. 

propercorn proposal

The problems I aim to solve are:

1. to communicate the 'Propercorn' brand to an audience who are 'time poor'

2. to keep in line with the ethos that 'Propercorn' is 'done properly'

3. to find a way to bring the 'brand to life' outside of the packaging

In order to solve these problems I will:

1. design a form of communication that is eye catching and alluring to the young and busy audience

2. research into similar ways advertising has been done in an outside environment, and see how particular places can be used as a tool for communication

3. use the results of the research to inform how I create the end product that solves the problems initially set out by the brief

I will be aiming to communicate:
1. the brand of 'Propercorn'

2. promoting the healthy, 'guilt free' aspect of the popcorn

3. communicating the vibrant, creative thinking behind the popcorn

To an audience of:
1. 20-35 year olds

2. they live in the city, have busy work schedules, are young professionals

3. they are health conscious

print inspiration

I've been looking a lot at propaganda, particularly Russian posters, to get some inspiration for the kind of style I want my prints to have.

Although I don't want my prints to be as detached at propaganda is, I like the use of strong structures and limited colour palettes in the posters. I still want my posters to convey feelings of oppression and loneliness, but also show this bold, imposing landscape compared to the tiny figures. 

moving pictures research

http://www.sherbet.co.uk/clips/85/age-of-stupid

I saw this animation by Jonathan Hodgson for the BBC, I love the style of it, where there isn't too much actual animated movement involved, it is more moving around a still drawing which gives it quite a rough, handmade aesthetic which I like

I like how he has used block figures with no leg movement so they just glide along, but they still look like a crowd of walking people - I might try and use this with my stick figures. 

more mono printing

I made some quick composition sketches to give me an idea of what I wanted to achieve and try out in the print room

I went back to the print room with lots of stencils and a clearer idea of some compositions. It was still a session of experimenting to see what works, playing around with colour and textures.

There are a few which had elements I particularly liked, or areas where I felt I could have improved:

I love the different tones in this one, the indentations left by all the stencils has worked really well with the black, making it all look quite ghostly with the fading figures and shadows around the barbed wire.

I think I must have put the ink too thick for the black, because the barbed wire has come out a bit blurry in comparison to the sharpness of the figure. 

I like the idea of this composition, but I feel it has come out very flat, not how I was expecting. I think I need to play around with perspectives a bit with my stencils as everything is very 2D.

I really like this composition, but the red I was mixing kept coming out pink by the second print. I think this would be more effective with a bolder colour, and maybe having the figures a different colour, or maybe all the same except one figure a different colour.

This wasn't meant to be a print, I just wanted to get the figure red to add to another print, but I really like this composition, the wide expanse of open space oppresses the figure, making it look very insignificant on the page which is the feeling I want to communicate through my prints.

I think this was one of my more successful prints, because I think it has more depth than any of the others, it looks like the figure is actually within the barbed wire, it is a bit less flat. I think this is helped by the shadows and varying tones. There is a bit more narrative to this one, so I need to try and get this effect for the rest of my compositions.

Although I am pleased with how my tests came out; as I got some good surprises, I am a bit stuck as to how to take these prints further into final images. Mono printing is great for experimenting but it is hard to get something that looks like a final piece. I think I need to play around with format, anything on A4 looks a bit dull, and I need to make stencils with some perspectives in them. I have a crit tomorrow so hopefully I will get some useful feedback on where I can take these mono prints. 

moving pictures - concept crit

I came up with the storyboard for my animation, it feels like it might be a little complicated as there is a lot going on, but because it will mostly be constructed as a rolling image rather than animation it shouldn't be too hard, and not as time consuming. 

It starts off with smoke and the title sequence, the smoke then lessens, you see the smoke flowing out of chimneys from factories. Then as the view moves along the factories, miners appear as they walk along the street into the distance. This is connected to when Orwell spent time in the industrial north researching for an essay.

Smoke moves onto the next scene which shows soliders shooting from the trenches, shooting bullets which move across showing a battlefield in the background. Planes from the back fly forward taking up the whole screen then flying into a new scene. This relates to the time Orwell spent fighting in the Spanish Civil War which had a lot of impact on the content for many of his novels.

Next scene shows poorly made house, with people walking in a line into distance, show people passing 'big brother' propaganda posters and then going into intimidating building. View then moves up the building to the eye at the top. This is relating to '1984', where the people live in poverty and have to work in these vast, scary buildings.

 The view then goes into the eye until the screen is black - this is the same sequence used for my drawn animation test. 'Room 101' illuminates in red and then a rat runs across the screen. Again '1984' with the room of torture, where rats were used.

 The rat then runs across a field, leading view to a horse pulling a cart towards a windmill. The horse is whipped, the view moves down the whip to see it is held by a pig trotter. The view zooms out to see two pigs standing on top of a hill.

Moving back further sees a collection of farm animals looking up at the intimidating pigs. This relates to 'Animal Farm' and the dictatorship the pigs had over the other animals. The smoke then takes over the screen, linking it to the beginning, possibly showing more information about the documentary. 



Some feedback I got was:
- the content is appropriate and does answer the brief in being an ad for a documentary about Orwell's life and works
- visually it will look good if using stop motion style I used before
- although it seems quite complex, doing it as a rolling image will save a lot of time so might not actually be too difficult
- when the view goes into the eye at the top of the building, it seems like a natural stopping point, so maybe cut the animal farm section out - the rest of the content is still relevant.

research for mono print

I started a Pinterest page to start collecting print ideas for my mono prints, I don't know much about mono printing so don't yet know what I can, or what I want to do with this process. It seems like a very experimental method of printing, which is exactly what I need to do to get some ideas of where to go.

Follow Astrid's board print ideas for mono print on Pinterest.

mono printing

I went back to the print room to try out some more mono-printing but this time a bit more prepared with what I wanted to do, I brought some stencils along with me to play around with. 

I'm really pleased with how these worked out, I think the top three have a good composition, with the figures just in the corner being surrounded by such open space, it makes them look even smaller, giving it quite an eerie feel. 

I love the texture of mono printing, and how it is different everytime so there are a lot of surprises the more you experiment with it. I tried adding some bits of wood to it which gives it a really nice indentation when you take it off again, I'm not sure the yellow works very well with the green but I just wanted to test it out with something contrasting. I think I prefer the ones where it has been re-printed and the ink isn't as thick, so it has quite a washed out texture.

I think the building one would work better if I did it on a different format, like if I used a long and thin piece of paper to increase the feeling of it towering above the people. 

I am still unsure of what is exactly going into my prints but after doing these test I am more confident with this printing method. I just need to make more stencils and do lots more practises. I want to try and mix in some collage as well so I can build up lots of layers.

visual journal

I did some more work in my visual journal, developing the little figures I have been working with, trying to create more of a composition with them, using stencils and my inkpad.

I wanted to try and create the feeling of isolation/separation from the norm; because in 1984 Winston (the protagonist) feels there is more to know, and believes in the idea of a revolution but he is in the minority. 

I feel like these were quite successful in communicating this, using colour only on one figure makes him stand out a lot against the rest of the composition. 

I particularly like the top one, it has a strong composition and is quite striking with the colour scheme, I will develop it further, possibly working it into my animation somehow. 

I also tried mixing a bit of collage in with my printing, which I felt worked well. The textures of the buildings contrast with the bold shapes of the people. I think the red paint is a bit much and unnecessary, I think it could be stronger if the whole thing was in monotone.  

I've been looking at depicting these little houses after reading the quote

'Were there always these vistas of rotting nineteenth-century houses, their sides  shored up with baulks of timber, their windows patched with cardboard and their roofs with corrugated iron, their crazy garden walls sagging in all directions?' 

I have been visualising scenes where the workers are walking through their poverty stricken areas to the massive, concrete buildings where they work which tower over the bleak city. 

The 'Room 101' is an important element of 1984, it is where the state takes people when they have tried to rebel against the law, it forces them to face their biggest phobias until they give in and accept what the state says as true. Winston is taken there, he has a cage fastened to his face with hungry rats at the other end, and they come and bite at his face until he gives in. 

So I started looking at some rat imagery.