Rainforest Cafe London

Yesterday evening I went the Rainforest Cafe, the concept of the restaurant works really well and they have realised it's potential well; it's just an awesome night out! Great for kids too! haha

Don't think much of the table cloths though!

Egg Sensor

I was thinking ... what if the egg holder section in the fridge had a scanner and light sensor to determine when your eggs were going off so you know when to use them before it's too late.

It could scan the egg for signs of decay and change the colour of the light to indicate it's freshness. The light would automatically activate when fridge was open.

Green - Fresh, Orange - Use Quickly, Red - Bad Egg!

Voysey House

My summer placement at Turner Duckworth, was in an unusual building:

Voysey House.

At the moment I am doing some research on factories and came across this image which I instantly recognised and discovered the building was originally built as a wallpaper factory.

Every building has a history.

Birthday!

So, on Tuesday I turned 22 and being a lucky person I got some awesome presents from friends and family! :)

Here's a few ...

ZIP ZIP Memory Brick from my older sister, Candice.

Super cosy slippers from my Mum and Dad!

One of my housemates gave me this little dish and took the time to make me these tiny little illustrations of suggested uses.

And my twin sister, Georgie adopted me this beautiful gorilla, named Kishka. I went the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey over the summer and saw her and her friends there. I have always been interested in these beautiful animals, so it was a lovely present!

My First Summer Placement

This summer I've been busy doing a couple of placements with design companies.

My first placement was back in June, at Turner Duckworth, an amazing brand identity and packaging design company. Their clients include Coca Cola, Waitrose, Liz Earle and heavy metal band Metalica! (it was particularly funny when we went to buy lunch in Waitrose and they could point out various different packaging designs they had worked on!)

I was commuting to their office in Turnham Green for four weeks to gain experience in the whole design process including client briefings, creating mood boards, joining in design development discussions and putting together final presentations for clients. I found it interesting to observe the dynamics of the company and how everyone works together.

While I was there, I got a chance to go to the D&AD New Blood exhibition with a couple of the designers. It was most beneficial to see their reactions and what they were looking for in the new graduates.

I also did a bit of socialising after hours. We went up to Angel one evening to see one of the designers, Jamie's band, Rowse play in a battle of the bands competition. They were really good, check them out! http://www.rowsemusic.co.uk/

Turner Duckworth - I especially liked your the casual, friendly atmosphere, on top of your hard work and determination. And the ice lollies on the really hot days!

They especially liked my comical phone call to a paper sampling company who gave me numbers that sent me round in circles!

They also have an office in San Fancisco, unfortunately I didn't make it over there, but they do encourage regular communication between the two offices. They even offer their staff the chance to swap lives for a couple of months, which obviously has huge benefits to both the company and the designers.

Antony Gormley's Plinth Art

I am a big fan of Antony Gormley's work and I really like the idea behind this piece, One & Another. I really want to participate but I'm going back to Guernsey on Saturday.

I was just looking at some of the images taken so far and came across this brilliant one.

Quite representative of what Gormley is trying to say really.

The Thoughtful Six

I was just reading 'What next?', a free booklet that comes with Creative Review this month.  It has an interesting article about the thoughtful six.  They are a group of 2nd year graphics students from Stockport College who took part in a new kind of placement scheme.  It involves a Manchester based studio, Thoughtful, moving into the college for 6 months to give the students a more comprehensive understanding of the business side of design.  It looks like a great idea and the students have had the opportunity to work on some awesome live projects, including teepay, which is an initiative of Howies.  (I will blog more about teepay soon!)

Anyway if you want to see more of what they have been up to click the link to read their blog. 

Lucky Things! 

Photos on Flickr

I recently added a few select photos from markets around London looking at the variety of type found in these contrasting environments.  Markets included are Brixton, Borough and Portobello.  

Highlights/Lowlights

A decorative typeface created with hair as an off shoot of typographic code project.  We wanted to explore how even an uncontrollable medium such as hair could follow rules to create a regimented article such as an alphabet.  

Below are some plans for an exhibition on the type work in a beautiful hair salon in Kingston, called Stone Hair

Science Project

As project last term some friends and I got given an area of physics to investigate and create some art to help explain it.  We had the THEORY OF RELATIVITY!!  Which took us at least 5 days to really understand, but I think/hope we got there.  And in answer to the brief we made this short mockumentary.  

Also working on this project was Lucia Davies and Dan Prettejohn (both featured in the video) and Gem Ro, Tugba Kop and Lisa Owen.  

ClippyKit

I was looking for a Christmas present for my sister last year and kept coming up short.  I wanted something practical for her but something that I could make personalise or be creative with because I think presents are better that way!  So I found this thing called ClippyKit, and this great A4 ring binder made with clear plastic pockets so you could fill them with whatever you wanted.  My sister is studying medicine (I'm very proud!) so I made some little doctors tools and brought some little letters to make it hers.  I wish I had a picture of it, I'll ask and see but in the meantime here's one from the ClippyKit website.  

'Out of this World' Flower Show

My Mum has a passion for flower arranging and it is an art that I find very interesting.  When I was back in Guernsey a couple of weekends ago I went to a display that she'd been working on.  Some of the design are so innovative, unfortunately my photographs don't do them justice, especially in the grand setting of a church.  Here are a few of the better ones.  

The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank

P.S. It's my Mum's birthday today, so Happy Birthday to you, Mum! 

UH-OH!

I've never seen this screen display before and hope I never will again ... it can't be good! 

FLORA LONDON MARATHON 2009

Today I went and watched the London Marathon.  It was amazing!  I was so impressed by the crowds and the runners and the organisation.  I'm almost considering doing it one day ... Anyway here are a few photos from the day.  

Laptop Years ...

Expressive Letterforms

This is a first year graphics project I did to learn about the possibilities within typography.  We looked at organising clothes and shoes and choreographed this performance to demonstrate our findings.

In this video: Katy Darke, Leanne Blair, Clover Stevens and Me

Competition Brief: Making the impossible possible!

Time Limit:  One Day

Our Challenge:  Body Swapping

Our Group:  Clover Stevens, Natasha Woodward, James Titterton and Me

In classic 'basement scientist' style we built a machine that would transfer one person's brain to another's body and vice versa.  Using a sound recording studio, lip syncing and a good script we managed to pull off a convincing performance and win 1st prize!  

Below are some images from the act.  

My First Post!

I thought I would put up a few pieces of work I've done recently.

This work is taken from a self initiated project I did exploring methods of mapping.  On simple daily journeys I collected found objects, using them to record my journey.  By placing them in specific layouts I hope to convey a route or sense of direction, as well as gaining a feel for journey itself by observing the different array of objects.  

Tutorial to Studio

Cinema to Home

At home at tea time

Canteen to Studio