OUGD602 - PPP3 - A Design Strategy - Disneyland Paris Graphic Design

I just wanted to post this on my PPP blog as it is a video I've been watching a lot recently. The lady in the video is Julia Gregory, and she is a Graphic Designer at Walt Disney Imagineering for Disneyland Paris. 

It wasn't until I saw this video a couple of months ago that I truly understood where I could fit into Themed Entertainment Design with the career path/ degree I have followed. I love this video because she is creating the work I wish to be creating, in the job I wish I had! She is so inspirational to me, I wanted to get into contact with her - but cannot seem to find her anywhere! I posted the video on my LinkedIn account but no luck!

I have since been using this video to direct myself in my studies and in my Context of Practice module. 

OUGD602 - PPP3 - Type Motion Event Liverpool

Today I visited a gallery in FACT Liverpool to the Type Motion exhibition. 

The gallery exhibited over 200 films that showed type in motion such as title sequences, colour tests and kinetic typography art. 

Honestly, I found the exhibition content to be fairly stuffy, but the way it was presented was really interesting. I found Gallery 2 the most creative: one part allowed the user to create their own playlists of films using a touch screen system not designed in a grid like format, but radial, like a wheel.

The other was an interactive video using a Leap Motion system. I really wish I could do something like that for my final exhibition, though it's quite far fetched, I may punch in a google search or two to find out how it's done. It's something that could be used in museums and theme parks, and is fun to engage with. 

I managed to find a video of the exhibition so you can get a better look at what I was talking about:

***

OK, Google search punched - this Leap Motion system really does have a lot of potential. I'm really interested in the Themed Entertainment sector, which concerns design through storytelling and experiences of the user, so something like this would be really good for my final show:

The video is really interesting, I get the impression that this isn't something that could replace the mouse or the trackpad currently, and there are many 1-star reviews on amazon at the moment: 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B00C66Z9ZC/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

...suggesting the product is still in it's infancy. It would be great to have something like this for my final show, but not sure if I'm willing to spend the money on it just yet ... further investigation is required I think.

OUGD602 - PPP3 - Creative Networks Lecture

Last Thursday I attended the Creative Networks lecture held in Leeds College of Art. Although it was wholly an exhibition of illustrators and not graphic designers, it was really fascinating to me, as illustration has always been an interest of mine. 

Babs Tarr gave an insight into her practices and she's simply amazing - she can achieve almost any style and covers a lot of bases meaning she's really flexible in her work. The amount of work she produces as well is astounding, and really inspired me to churn out loads of work, if I'm honest!

It turns out that I already follow Babs on Twitter, but I also proceeded to follow both Cameron Stewart and Matt Forsythe too. I managed to get a mini Batgirl drawing from Babs, I admire her a lot! 

I'm really inspired to pursue illustration a bit more, it's always something I've wanted to do.

Some of Bab's amazing work: 

I really like her use of colours and the subjects she draws attract a lot of fans (she said that fan art is a good starting point as you immediately have an audience. If you dump it straight onto tumblr then your stuff can get reblogged and spread around like wildfire if it's good and its of something people know and love - she said people love sexy ladies!)

http://babsbabsbabs.com/

OUGD602 - PPP3 - Applying for an MFA

Since communicating with Brice Croskey of Progressland blog as outlined in this blog post from last year,  I have been actively investigating into the possibilities and opinions of taking a Master of Fine Arts Degree - one in particular - the Themed Entertainment Design programme held at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). The course looks incredible:

I love the idea of it because it touches upon lots of different aspects of Themed Entertainment Design (that in itself containing lots of different aspects of careers in the creative industry - theme parks, exhibitions, schools/ education, zoos, resorts, hotels, restaurants and museums) And then gives opportunities to pursue the areas that interest you most. 

Another great thing about this course is that it opens lots of opportunities for networking-  both of the course leaders have been involved in projects with Walt Disney Imagineering, Universal Studios etc. The course was also well recognised between my colleagues and almost everyone I seem to have spoken to whilst in my job at Walt Disney World this summer.
The course is held in Savannah, Georgia, in the United States, which also puts me in a prime position to network and visit studios I might wish to work in in the future, being based in the US means I can visit events too. They have career fairs tailored a lot more into the area of design I want to go into, too.
However, I have found that it is very hard to communicate with the university and I have a lot of questions I need answering! When would be the best time to do the course? Next year when I graduate - or afterward when I gain more experience? How will I fund it? Of course I can't take out a student loan from the UK ... 

I needed to find out a few things - so I applied! This means that I am assigned to an admissions advisor that can help answer all my burning questions.

I got assigned a lovely chap called Brinton Nute - what a cool name! After I sent him an email bombarding him with questions about funding he replied with a warm response:

Thank you for your application! I was in your position back in 2009 and understand the amount of questions you might have. Below is an outline of everything we will need to complete your application. You will be evaluated for both Academic and Achievement scholarships, these are issued based on your grades and your portfolio/CV. We also have to other scholarships named International Scholarship and Student Opportunity Scholarship. I will send a separate email detailing what it would entail to apply for these.

I will of course be handling your admission case and will be your point of contact at SCAD moving forward.

Below that was a rather large table outlining all of the requirements for application of admission. He sent a follow-up email entailing all of the other scholarships I was eligible for. 

You can receive anywhere from $3,000-$5,000 per scholarship. While these scholarships will not cover the COF/sponsorship letter, they will certainly help. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.The first is the SOS (Student Opportunity Scholarship) - A limited number of scholarships is awarded to accepted undergraduate or graduate students who meet or exceed the normal SCAD admission standards and who demonstrate financial need. These scholarships may be awarded in addition to any other scholarship awarded by SCAD, as long as the total SCAD award does not exceed the cost of tuition. Funding is limited. Eligibility criteria are available by contacting the admission department. By submitting a 500-word essay explaining why you need extra financial help. For this scholarship, please email me the essay and financial aid application attached in this email. The essay explains your financial situation and how additional funding would help toward achieving your goal of attending SCAD.The second in the ISS (International Student Scholarship) - A limited number of scholarships is awarded each year to degree-seeking international students who apply and are accepted to SCAD. To be considered for an international student scholarship, applicants should meet or exceed normal admission standards and must request scholarship consideration by submitting a 500-word essay explaining how an international education would influence their artwork, goals and experiences. For this scholarship, you may email the essay to me.

This was brilliant news, although still quite ambiguous (I would need around £20000 to fund the entire two years in Savannah) it takes a little weight off my shoulders - I think that having both an educational and working VISA for the USA may prove rather difficult. 

After asking around for a few opinions it seems it may be wise to defer my application to 'fall' of 2016, giving me a year in industry to not only raise funds, but to further my portfolio and industry knowledge whilst having a break from education. So the next step is to ask of the possibility of this.

OUGD602 - PPP3 - 3d Printing Seminar @ Design Manchester

In relation to my CoP project, where I am hoping to propose a redesign or a partial redesign of an existing attraction at Walt Disney World, I wanted to look at the possibilities of building an actual model of my designs - and so I am looking into 3d printing.

Last week, I travelled to Manchester Metropolitan University to visit a seminar on 3d printing (27th October 2014). There were exhibitors for all different aspects of 3d printing such as medical, fashion, engineering and of course model building and prototyping. 

The immediate impression I got was that 3d printing really is very expensive. No doubt worth the results but the costs were a lot more than I had previously envisioned. The costs depended on the material used in the 3d printing, the level of detail/ intricacy in the model and of course, size. 

Here are a few photographs I took at the event:

This model was partially 3D printed showing the existing part of the building, and the 2d element was an augmented reality installation to demonstrate the proposed section of the building. This helped me envision other possibilities for showing my designs in a more cost effective manner.

These models are so intricate and were very sturdy, something that vacuum forming or moulding would not be able to achieve.

This piece was maybe no wider than a 30cm ruler and yet its intricacy was astounding.

But as you can see, this model that was maybe the size of 25cm cube cost around £485 which is pretty pricey. If I were to pursue 3D printing as a solution to the model building, perhaps I could create just the ride vehicles with this method and maybe the rest of the model using packaging-style paper assembly, or maybe even laser cutting...

I took a few leaflets and asked a few more questions about the possibilities of achieving what I want to demonstrate out of my designs.

The guys at HOBS said that they were soon to be holding classes in MMU for the 3d software, which sounds like a great idea but maybe not for this specific project. I may attend them anyway to broaden my knowledge on the subject but I don't think I'll realistically be able to master it in time for the project deadline and other solutions need pursuing for this.

• CGI's (3D Visualisation)
• Animations
• Augmented Reality
• Virtual Reality

In HOBS catalogue, it shows that they can assist in making these visualisations possible. At the moment, I think just concept art is the most appropriate and realistic route!

OUGD502 - PPP2 - Module Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	05
Module Code	OUGD503
Module Title	Design Process

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	SARAH HEAL

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? Throughout this module the main thing I have gained is confidence. Confidence in my work, in my professionalism and in my career path. Starting with attending web design socials with Danielle Harrison and getting to chat to people about things I pretended to know about gave me a lot of confidence.  Just jumping into networking events (the lack of knowledge on the subject helped a lot, I now feel like I can start a conversation about anything) and talking to strangers helped me learn how to approach people in a social manner with business intent and successful results. At these events I wasn’t particularly interested in getting a placement or an internship as I am not interested in web design but I saw that Danielle, in the same situation was able to give out many different business cards and made many great connections. This gave me the confidence to jump online and I began making digital connections through Twitter. I have managed to make many ‘friends’ in and around Orlando that are creative in the Themed entertainment industry. Discovering that my place as a graphic designer is very welcome in that industry has definitely given me a lot more confidence in my work. I have made many plans to meet and network with people on my trip and can’t wait to get started. It’s kept me persistent in my career path and now I’m confident I can see my end goal whereas in first year I loved graphic design but didn’t really know where I could fit into my dream career of a ride/ attraction designer.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? In my promotional pack I have learnt to prepare things for print in an industry setting, since my dad was able to help me out with the print process.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? I have learnt a lot more about my design style and learnt more methods of how to achieve different effects. My strengths in my work would be that it successfully represented ‘me’, when shown to my peers that was their first comment! I will continue to grow and evolve my style but for now I don’t think there was anything I would change about my outcomes.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? The fact that the stocks I printed on were different and so the products were all of different qualities. I prioritised the business cards and postcards as I knew for definite that I would be handing these out on my trip around the USA, consequently forfeiting the quality of my other works. I also didn’t include a letterhead, envelope, invoice or anything particularly professional. To be honest, it didn’t cross my mind to include these kinds of things until I saw everyone else’s outcomes. But, this is probably a reflection on my current intentions to not work freelance/ invoice/ be businessy until at least 3rd year. I am using 2nd year and this summer to develop myself more and by the 3rd year will hopefully be confident enough to be able to have an internship with real jobs and real clients.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? Be more efficient with my time management – maybe I could have had more stuff printed up! Be more professional – I will be making more ‘pro’ items for my self branding next year. Be more inventive – next year I intend to make my promo pack even better and more creative than this year with the full intention to send it out to studios and potential clients. Be more persistent – next year I will be actively seeking out clients and work Be more crafty – I want my finish on my items overall to be well crafted and not just on certain items – they’re all important elements!
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					x
Punctuality					x
Motivation					x
Commitment					x
Quantity of work produced			x
Quality of work produced				x
Contribution to the group					x
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

OUGD502 - PPP - Studio Brief 2 - A design Presence - Presentation

Here is the presentation I gave today about my progress over the year in PPP.

Here are my prompt notes, which give a little bit more detail as to what I presented.

Slide 1

Hello! 

Slide 2

Start with a quote why not ... flow into my childish design style.

Slide 3 

Who am I? I'm a pizza lover, traveller, procrastinator and an occasional designer.

Slide 4

Screenprinting - I successfully painted the screenprinting studio and Andy gold at Christmas for OUGD504.

Always read the contract - When you live in a 12 bed in Hyde Park with bars on the windows and yet in the fine print it says you'll get charged if you pierce the lino kitchen floor with stiletto heels.. it's worth reading what you're getting into.

Social media - I owe an awful lot of my professional networking confidence to Twitter.

Grids are good - I have ceased resistance and seen the light! Working/ living with Danielle has disciplined me into being more organised in my whole life, especially my design.

I have struck gold in finding my own design style that I can apply across almost anything that I enjoy working in and have good results with.

Slide 5

Twitter friends - twitter, emailing, Behance, LinkedIn and even Snapchat have helped me approach people and gain really good connections and contacts I like to refer to as 'friends'. 

Brice, Ian, Michael and the Sally Corporation. Creative Mornings in Orlando

Slide 6

Itinerary and plans for summer

Slide 7

Explore Explore Explore! 

Slide 8

Continue to juggle my time management

Stay happy - friends have supported me a ton better than in 1st year

stay focussed - keep looking forward not just into next weeks deadlines but the end career goal

stay excited - keep dreaming!

Slide 9 

Thanks for listening any questions?

****

Overall I think I performed and delivered the presentation confidently and I seemed to run at around 5 mins, the recommended time for the presentation. BUT I feel like I forgot an awful lot of the things I would have liked to have mentioned, such as:

• My tackle with web design
• Handling my living situation
• My time management skills
• My commitment to CoP
• My self-branding

However it ran smoothly and I think the audience enjoyed listening! 

OUGD502 - PPP - Studio brief 2 - a design presence - Website

Here is my final website design for my self promotion:

I decided to go for a parallax scrolling feature in my design, with separate panels in different sections with only one page. Using the menu along the top, intended to stay stationary, the user can 'jump' to different sections of the page. 

The top panel switches between the three different designs from the postcards.

Here you can see how the menu will 'stick' to the top of the page:

Overall, I really like my design as its a bit more modern than my usual website design resolutions. I was able to use elements from my printed ephemera to get the whole project to tie in as a whole. I decided to keep it simple, which usually I'm not great at doing, but I think it looks like a real website!