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!