Kyle Bibby Graphic Design

On a break

2011-01-17T14:22:00.000-08:00

As you can see, I haven't updated my blog in nearly a year. I keep meaning to start again, but never quite manage it.

I might try again soon. In the mean time I am leaving the blog up. This is for two reasons:

1: Somebody somewhere (probably my parents) may be bored and have nothing better to do than have a look at what I was doing a year or so ago.

2: Leaving it is easier getting rid of it (although, admittedly, writing this post has probably taken longer than removing the 'blog' link on my website).

Marketing Excellence Awards

2010-02-23T07:28:00.000-08:00

Me, Merlin and Chloe (from Leeds College of Art) journeyed down to the big smoke on Wednesday to attend the CIM: Marketing Excellence Awards that our prospectus had been nominated for. None of us had really been to anything like that before, so we were all quite excited – I was especially excited about the 4 course silver service dinner.

Merlin, Chloe and me

I have to say a good time was had by all – free champagne and funny words by Mock The Week's Hugh Dennis definitely went down well. I thought I would have to make polite conversation which smarmy marketing executives, but the people we were sat with all seemed really nice. Wearing a spazzy tuxedo wasn't even as bad as I thought it would be.

Hugh Dennis

However, the food (which, if you were paying attention, was what I was most excited about) was crap. You would think that paying over £200 for a ticket and informing them in advance that you were a vegan would ensure a pretty good meal. It didn't. A few salad leaves for a starter, and no dessert at all (although the waitress seemed convinced the dessert she had brought me was vegan until I asked her if she was sure twice, after which she admitted that she didn't have a clue).

Oh, and in case you're wondering... no, we didn't win. O well, we still had a good evening.

Shut Magazine

2010-01-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

Look out for issue 12 of Shut. Why? Because I'm in it, that's why!

It's now part distributed in Don't Panic packs.

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-01-06T01:15:00.000-08:00

It was my Birthday on Monday, and Kyle Harvey posted this lovely video of me on LS6.

I don't normally mention BMX on this blog. Not sure why, I just don't. But I'm making an exception for this. Here's me hurting myself and destroying a pair of jeans:

Kyle O Mans Bday from Ls6bmx on Vimeo.

PS. Don't worry, we put the slabby thing at the bottom of the ledge back when we were done...

Second food post today...

2009-12-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

I spent about 3 hours today attempting to make vegan ricotta and sun-dried tomato tortellini with vegan pesto.

The ricotta worked a treat (honest)—it was mainly made from tofu with some basil, lemon and nutritional yeast, and is based on a recipe by Isa Moskowitz.

It was my first attempt at making pasta from scratch and it very nearly worked. In fact, I would go as far as saying it did work, except I didn't have one of those pasta manganel things so the past was a bit thick and in places was more like dough balls than pasta.

I am now feeling very satisfied, if a little sick...

Mark Bittman

2009-12-02T08:25:00.000-08:00

I found this really interesting TED talk by Mark Bittman about whats wrong with what we eat. Have a watch:

Told you meat was bad...

Chartered Institute of Marketing

2009-11-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

The LCA prospectus Merlin and I have done has been shortlisted for a CIM Marketing Excellence Award. That's pretty big time.

Graduation

2009-11-30T10:36:00.000-08:00

Last week I was honoured to graduate in the first graduation ceremony that Leeds College of Art have organised independently from the University.

I was also honoured to design all the venue dressing and printed material.

Here I am holding the ceremonial staff, trying my best not to do Gandalf impressions ("You shall not pass!"), standing with Chloe and Rose from the LCA marketing team in front of one one of the banners Merlin and I designed.

Far From Home?

2009-11-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

Me, Tom Bing and Sally McGee have put together an exhibition for The Manuel Bravo Project called Far From Home? in The Light Leeds. It was hard work but we got there eventually—I think were all pleased with the outcome. Below is the poster and some initial photos that Tom took today.

PS farfromhome.org.uk coming soon!

For Print Only

2009-11-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

A little late I know... but design blog/website For Print Only were kind enough to feature mine and Merlin's LCA prospectus design. Check it out here (its prob a few posts down by now).

Out with the old, in with the new.

2009-10-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted. Apologies to any avid fans out there...

This post marks a pivotal time in my life. It marks the point where I completed the transition from design student to designer—although it doesn't feel any different, I'm still learning new things on every job that I do (something I think, and hope, will continue for a long time to come).

I graduated from Leeds College of Art in June, and was lucky enough to get a First (I say 'lucky' because I don't believe that the marking system truly represents a persons ability as a designer, ie you can be a first-rate designer and get a Third, or a third rate designer and get a First). I then moved in with Merlin Mason and Cat Wickes, two other designers, one of which I'm romantically involved with (I'll leave it up to you to guess which one)—we have a nice big studio room in our house, which is awesome.

Since then I have have managed to get my stumpy Manx hands on quite a lot of interesting (and by-and-large 'bill paying') design work. Although admittedly a lot of it has come from the same client — I should take this opportunity to say thanks to Leeds College of Art for keeping me from starving.

I started by designing and art-directing the Leeds College of Art prospectus with Merlin Mason, which was really great—my biggest job to date, and I have just finished designing an English text book for Tibetan refugees in India for TCV. I have also done a couple of jobs for the south Asian arts organisation, Kala Sangam—a book documenting their Kala Pal project, and their autumn programme. At the same as this I was designing a booklet (showing off student awards) that folded out into an A1 wallplanner for Leeds College of Art. I am currently working with photographer Tom Bing and the Manuel Bravo Project on an campaign and exhibition in The Light (a shopping centre/cinema/other stuff in the center of Leeds) called Far From Home? that deals with the issues surrounding asylum seekers. I am also working with Merlin Mason to design my own graduation ceremony (banners, invites, certificate holders, programme, etc).

That's about it. I will try and keep my blog fairly up-to-date from now on...

FMP Evaluation

2009-06-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Note: I completely forgot to explain how I’ve written my Statement of Intent in my hand in. Basically, the main text is my original SOI, and the italicised text describes how each section has changed. Apologies for any confusion.

Throughout my third year, my overall rational and intentions as a designer have changed very little. They have mainly been concerned with professionalism—producing work based on ‘real-life’ considerations such as audience, timescale, budget, etc—and social responsibility—approaching design from the point of view that design doesn’t exist in a vacuum, that it is one link in a much larger chain, meaning that, for me, questions of responsibility need to be about more than specifying recycled paper. During my FMP I also started wanting to make myself a more ‘rounded’ designer, because I believe the ability to design websites (when someone else may not be able to), for example, could be the thing that wins or loses you a branding job. The more ‘strings in your bow’, the better. A lesser goal for my Final Major Project has been to have fun and experiment, as this is possibly the last chance I have to be in full control of my work.

While I wouldn’t say that I am now a professional, versatile and responsible designer, I would say that through my Final Major Project I have improved in the areas I wanted to. Different briefs helped me in different areas. For example doing web design for an ethically driven company has helped me become more versatile by developing my basic level of web design knowledge, forced me to work to tight deadlines, and given me an insight into working for clients concerned with social responsibility. However, my Made You Think brief allowed me experiment, and develop my understanding of various social issues, however I went about this brief in the most unprofessional, erratic and rushed way.

I feel that the smaller briefs (with the exception of the EYS competition) went fairly well, I engaged with them and felt I learnt from them. I also really enjoyed putting together the design context book, which I feel let me explore the design industry as well as giving me an excuse to really experiment with layout (obviously the typo on the cover and the print defects were a low point). However, I’m not sure how I feel about my work for my main brief (Made You Think). When I look at my outcomes I think that what I have done is fairly good—for the best part functional designs that look alright—but I think I wanted more than that, I wanted something a bit more cohesive and thorough. My submission for this brief, with the possible exception of the booklet, felt more like examples of ‘how it could be done’ than a finished ‘series’. I think that there are a number of reasons why this brief wasn’t quite as strong as I would have liked it to be, and it’s mainly to do with project management. I spent too long at the start researching and being confused with what exactly I wanted to produce, putting off committing to any actual decisions. This resulted in most of the design work being done in the last few weeks, which I thought would have been fine, except I hadn’t factored in the day to day setbacks—spending ages chasing up emails, wasting a whole day trying to upload my Design Context book to Lulu (and then a further half a day when they printed it wrong), spilling coffee on my keyboard and being without a keyboard for a weekend, etc. Things like that are regrettable and I’m a bit annoyed with myself for being so unorganised, however the main factor in my manic struggle over the final few days before the deadline (and the resultant unorganised hand-in) was the 2010/2011 prospectus pitch I decided to enter the week before the deadline. Winning this took a couple of days away from college work (meetings and a photo-shoot), at a time when I really couldn’t afford to spare any time. I don’t see this as a bad thing however, as I think the prospectus design (as a portfolio piece) is more important, in terms of my future, than a good grade (similarly, doing an internship at UHC meant that my FMP got off to a slow start, but it was worth it because I got valuable experience, a job offer, and the promise of future collaborations). So in that sense it was a worthy sacrifice, and although I’m not 100% satisfied with my submission, there is at least a little time to make things better for the show—I think that having a good show and selling yourself visually is arguably as important as getting good grades.

In summary, I don’t feel like I have progressed much as a ‘design student’ (in terms of ‘ticking the boxes’ getting good marks, etc); but what my FMP has done, however, is helped me on my way to becoming a professional designer.

Booklets

2009-06-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

I printed out my booklet on some nice Paperback stock from Footprint:

Orphan. Relevant?

More water, and chocolate

2009-06-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

I decided that the photograph for my 'water' post cards should show 9 bottles of dirty water and one bottle of clean water, instead of 9 empty bottles and one full, to represent giving 10% of people clean water. So I reshot the photo, using coffee as dirty water:

Here it is on the post card design:

I had my first experience of buying stock photography today as well and bought a couple of photos from iStock for my chocolate/child labour post cards:

To make them more cohesive I comped in an out of focus background onto the one of the photos, here's the final postcard design:

So that's all for the series I'm calling Two Sides to Every Story (maybe).

Here is the bill and ad-shell versions. They would be on the billboards/adshells with the changing images:

Two photoshoots, one day, no messin'

2009-06-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday me and Merlin art-directed a photoshoot with Adrian Ray for the prospectus design. We wanted photos of people interacting with their work, that would sit along side a quote by the student about their work. This is an attempt to portray what actually happens at the college—we felt as though the wishy washy quotes that they had last year (for example: "The college is lovely and everybody is friendly and I like it and its nice") didn't really give people a sense of what went on.

Here I am, all being in charge and stuff. Well, I didn't really have to do much as I think Adrian understood pretty well what it was we wanted.

After that I bought a pizza for Kyle so that I could get Bing to take photos of it representing world hunger and Western greed. Here's some of them:

I combined them with a stock image of a table cloth, and as if by magic, it now looks like the plate is on the table cloth.

The end of the knife and fork on the top one are possibly a bit rubbish, but they get covered up with text, so don't even worry about it.

And the final postcards:

You'll notice I got rid of the thought bubble from the logo, it was a bit rubbish and predictable—best just keep it simple.

Final Wallchart

2009-06-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

I have decided that this map would work well as a simple wallchart/poster, and have adapted it to fit in with the branding of the rest of the Made You Think stuff:

Photo-vector phone

2009-05-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

Because the phone I took a picture of was really scratched I had to devise a way of making it look shiny new again.

Basically I didn't want a vector, but I wanted the phone to look crisper than it ever would in a photo, if that makes sense. So I made a vector phone, set it to 80% opacity and laid it over the top of the photo, meaning its really crisp but you get some of the natural texture coming through.

I'm not sure how well you can see it on here (it doesn't really look much different from the plain vector):

Original photo

Vector:

So that was supposed to take like 2 hours. It took around 10....

The Sun's coming up, and I'm trying to be Monkey Dave

2009-05-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

I have been trying out a new mechanism to juxtapose two images, which vaguely rips-off one of the pages of ABC3D by Marion Bataille

First mock-up:

Here's the page from ABC3D

Basically, it relies on the pressure between 2 sheets of card to snap into place.

Updated Government Spending spinner

2009-05-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

Now include pound coin imagery. I think I prefer the coin inside.

Telephone

2009-05-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Fact one (will be printed in black on transparent red acetate):
80%
The amount of mobile phones that contain minerals mined in the Democratic republic of Congo

Fact two (inside phone, behind transparent red acetate, but invisible due to it being red)
11,250
Number of deaths, per week, in the civil war over the minerals found in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Nice lil interactive diagram from Oxfam

2009-05-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.maketradefair.com/en/pages/diagrams/patents.htm

Government Spending

2009-05-29T03:47:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to present the comparison of the amount of money spent on combating terrorism and the amount spent on combating climate change, in a more interesting way.

I tried making another primitive lenticular thingy. I made the ridges wider so it would be easier for me to fold.

Good and bad news; it was really easy to fold, however, it didn't really work.

Original images shown with photos of lenticular thingy:

So this didn't work. I decided to try something more hand-held (don't ask why). I had this idea where the 'bar' of a bar chart could spin around 90 degrees and change its 'height', while at the same time the title would change in a window at the bottom. Here is a mock up I attempted:

After seemingly hundreds of mock up (at least 5) I came up with this:

Creative Review / BETC Euro RSCG / The Clocks Project / Crap photo

2009-05-28T03:38:00.000-07:00

I found this in the new Creative Review. Its brilliant. Every 12 hours the 321 clock mechanisms inside an ad-shell spell out 'Every 12 hours in Africa, over 2,000 people die of Aids becuase they have no access to care. Every minute counts. www.solidarite-sida.org'.

Well done!

Couldn't have worked out better

2009-05-28T03:27:00.000-07:00

My Design Context book came back from Lulu yesterday. Looks quite good — except the typo. Oh, and Lulu messed up the printing in places. An all round success if you ask me...

Typo:

Spread 'em:

How a 3% black drop-shadow prints at Lulu... as a solid black box...awesome:

Asylum Booklet

2009-05-27T02:43:00.000-07:00

Me and Sally have started interviewing various asylum seekers, so I decided I had enough content to finally start designing properly.

Basically, I have tried to make the 'cropped' corners feature a little more. Also, because I like how the red 'overlays' the photos, I have cropped the grey boxes before the edge so that you get the same effect with the solid grey boxes. Here are some spreads:

and some I'm still developing, or are not sure of:

Booklet Cover

2009-05-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to design the booklet cover—I have decided that I am using Trade Gothic, and these red box thingies. My hope is to have a simple title with a contrasting image behind it. Not really sure how good any of them, I think the best is the boys face, because it shows more 'humanity' than the others, and is more open to interpretation.

Logo

2009-05-21T04:14:00.000-07:00

Some of the feedback I got from my final crit was about the logo: too much black space around title, thought bubble may not be 'serious' enough for nature of campaign, looks a bit like Drink Aware campaign.

I decided that I didn't want the logo to be too 'hard hitting', as it needs to be approachable. Also, I I want the aim of the campaign (apart from getting people to visit the website), to be getting people to just stop and think for a moment; I'm asking people to take any kind of direct action.

I have been playing around with addressing the other two logo comments:

Second to last one?...Hmmm.

Final Crit

2009-05-21T04:07:00.001-07:00

I had my final crit yesterday. It really doesn't feel like I'm that close to finishing.....

I was up most of the night putting together presentation boards of the briefs that I have already finished (bar End of Year Show, which I forgot about):

I also rewrote my two main briefs into 1:

Coffee and water

2009-05-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

I turned the coffee postcards into coasters. I think they work much better, and context means that people are more likely read them as they will be on a table in front of someone for a potentially long time:

I have also been taking photos of water bottles for a post card that compares the profits of the water industry to the number of people without clean water. I want one photo with ten full bottles of water, and one with one full bottle and nine empty ones.

Here's some of the positions I tried (with full bottles):

Here's the final arrangement (very hastily 'Photoshopped'):

Although I was speaking to Laura M. today and she suggested instead of 9 empty bottles, nine bottles filled with dirty water. I reckon that could work better and would be clearer.

Chocolate

2009-05-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Another 'info couplet' - again, the context is going to be what makes these work, I'm just trying to gather the content first, before thinking too much about context. I'm aiming for 15 pieces of info - potentially this could then be 5 sets of 3 'things (eg. 3 postcards, 3 bill boards, 3 web-banners, etc.). Anyways, one about chocolate and child labour (I have just used google images for the image, but it get the message across for the purpose of my blog).

Asylum Statistics

2009-05-18T03:56:00.000-07:00

Coffee, clothes and climate change

2009-05-18T02:55:00.001-07:00

I have started to figure out how my 'Made You Think' campaign will work - about time too... Basically, there is going to be 'promotional' material, juxtaposing information which creates links between us as British citizens, and the rest of the world.

Working logo:

Here are some of the statements I have been looking at - please note, this is probably not the final format, I have just done them like this to' get them down'.

Fairtrade Coffee:

What do you think of my 2p coffee stain? I constructed a big cardboard 2p to make it...

Tesco's clothes (not final imagery):

I could not find the statistics for this one, so had to abandon it.

Government spending:

New Maps

2009-05-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

I have been attempting to put together a map making it instantly apparent that Britain's global influence is massive.

I have taken the areas of War, Colonisation, Unfair Trade and Drug/Human Traffiking, and made a map only showing countries that are noticeably effected by the UK in these areas.

This map is made of different coloured stripes representing the different elements. (Click to enlarge.)

I'm not sure if people need to know specific details, so I have simplified this one right down, so that the darker the colour the more affected the country has been. Not sure how to do the key though. (Click to enlarge.)

Maps

2009-05-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

I just remembered that Fred told me about Peters Map a couple of weeks ago, so decided to check it out.

Basically, the standard world map - the Mercator map - accurately plots the shapes of countries, however to do this is must compromise of scale (when transferring 'data' from the surface of a shere to a rectangle there must always be a compramise).

Because it was made in the 1500s (the start of the colonial years), the positioning of Europe means that it's scale is exaggerated, and the scale of Africa and South America is shown much smaller. Worst of all is the 'Greenland Problem' - because of is northern position Greenland appears the size of China, despite the fact it is actual around a quarter of the size.

The Peters Projection Map instead compromises the shapes of the countries for an accurate scale, meaning, politically, a much 'fairer' map that represents all the countries equally.

Mercator Map

Peters Map

I also found a link to this map of the Peters Map website. Its a map of the USA, predicting the voting in different states, however, to make it communicate the information more directly they have based the map on population (which is the important part), not geography. Awesome idea - it looks good too.

I've actually spelt my name wrong

2009-05-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

I was just putting this post together. As I was uploading the images of my lovely book I noticed the last thing I ever wanted to notice, ever. I had made I spelling mistake...I spelled my name wrong....on the front cover....

I must have pressed 't' the short cut for selecting the type tool in InDesign, not realising I already had the type tool up, and a text box selected. I must have done it just before I exported it because I made sure I checked I had spelt my name right (I didn't want to look like an idiot did I).

After nearly breaking my fist punching the wall, I realised that this could infact be a blessing in disguise: lets face it, the Lulu cover is going to be some flimsy overly glossy piece of crap. This is an excuse to make myself a new cover. I can have full control over the stock I use, all I need to do is tear the old cover off (its just a little bit of glue down the spine), and glue a nice new (typo-free) cover. Awesome!

Every cloud....

Anyways, here is the original post (check the cover at the end)

I uploaded and ordered my Design Context book from lulu.com yesterday. It took ages, this was for two reasons. 1. I'm an idiot and kept noticing mistakes and having to reupload it. 2. Lulu's an idiot. She doesn't give much info on full bleed pages, I had to search through the frequently asked questions section to get info I needed - ie, do you export PDFs as spreads or single pages, and do you add bleed to all edges, or just the outside ones?

Still £18 for a 127 page book isn't three bad at all...

Click here to download it as a PDF (if you do this please don't tell me about any spelling mistakes or owt like that — I really don't want to know).

Here's some spreads:

And the cover:

UHC Q&A

2009-05-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

Ultimate Holding Company is a Manchester based collective committed to sustainable practices, ethical and responsible business, and design driven grass roots collaboration. Clients include Greenpeace UK, Camp for Climate Action and Amnesty International.

I recently did a fairly extensive interview with Sara, from UHC. Here it is:

When and why was UHC set up? What is the rationale behind UHC? Why did you make the decision to be a co-op?
UHC was set up in 2002 by a group of artists and activists wanting to change the world through politically engaged art projects and by providing design services for ethically motivated clients.

The decision to be a Co-op came from an appreciation, as a 'values driven' company, of the Co-operative principles of running a democratically controlled organization where it's the members who benefit from the activities of the business.

How different do you think that UHC is from one that isn't ethically driven, in terms of both the practical running of the studio and the process involved in the actual design?
Many agencies have an environmental policy nowadays and are very conscious of using recycled paper, energy saving light bulbs etc. so compared to some 'normal' agencies, in some areas, we don't vary a great deal in terms of our practical day to day running and our 'green' activities. That said, we feel that we both have a very social awareness in terms of the work we do and why, and when it comes to the little day to day things we probably do more than most standard studios. We are not pedantic perfectionists however and realise that being too strict can also make things very difficult in terms of running a business. That does not
excuse not putting in an effort though and as an environmentally aware studio we do all the usual things like use recycled paper, often use reclaimed furniture to fit out the studio, recycle our waste paper, use energy saving light bulbs where possible, drink fair trade coffee, try and buy organic food, get recycled loo rolls etc etc. In the long run however we want our energy supply to be sustainable as well and want the studio to be completely emission free through and in house project called 'Stinky Emissions', which is run by Joe Richardson. Part of the plan is to get solar panels for our electricity. Unfortunately the 'Stinky Emissions'project has temporarily been put on hold due to lack of funding, but we are hoping to be able to carry on with it soon!

In terms of the design process, UHC isn't much different from a standard design agency in terms of how we go about the actual creative process or how we deal with clients, as any professional studio worth mentioning takes great care to provide a high quality service to their clients, striving to look after their interests and listening to their needs. We also take into account the materials being used in the production of the work and sometimes adjust the brief or the conceptual solution to get a more environmentally friendly output. There are often practical and financial restrictions that needs to be taken into consideration which means we sometimes can't produce work that is as sustainable as we'd like to, but we always put in the effort and try to be creative with the budgets and the time available and when appropriate we educate our clients about alternative production options or design solutions.

Most design agencies nowadays are very aware of environmentally friendly production methods too (to a varying degrees of course and with varying motivations!) so it's quite common to consider these things which is really good!

What really sets us apart from other design studios is our personal social and environmental engagement (meaning we better understand the objectives of our specific clients), our political awareness and our policy to only work for and support other 'values driven' organisations.

Another major thing that sets us apart from most other agencies is that we always try to ensure our subcontractors are ethically minded, for example we try and work as much as possible with other co-ops and social enterprises and people using ecological production methods.

How important do you think that design is within the promotion of charities/campaigns/social issues, and do you think that it is often overlooked (by charities, campaigners, etc)?
As for anyone, how you present yourself, reach out, connect and communicate with your audience is obviously very important and is no less important for charities and other organisations campaigning for environmental or social change. In our opinion it's even more important as those are the organisations who we think, if anyone, deserves good design and needs to be heard, and it's really important they get presented in a professional way in order for them to be respected and to be taken seriously. This fact can sometimes be overlooked by the people within the organisations themselves as they sometimes don't see the importance of or appreciate visual communicating, but it's something most organisations are getting more and more aware of.

Do you find that this kind of design can be more 'restrictive'; for example, because of lack of funding, sensitivity of issues, etc?
We've only experienced the sensitivity of issues in very few cases, one of which was an animal rights organisation, but I think all types of clients in one way or another has some sensitive issues which has to be taken into account and respected. It can sometimes be more restrictive when working for not-for-profits in terms of lack of funding and our desire to still be able to support them but we see it as an opportunity to be more creative both in terms of the design solutions but also in how we run our business to keep it profitable (please note that being a not-for-profit organisation as we are, ie not being driven primarily by the desire to make money, is not the same thing as wanting to make a loss!).

Would you say that it is sometimes the role of the designer to turn down jobs in this sector if they feel the money would be better spent elsewhere, eg the money spent on a poster design may be more effectively spent on something else? Do you also feel that, as an art group, you are in a good position to not just turn down design work but offer, for example, the organization of a community project instead (if that makes sense...)?
Definitely and this is also something we have done several times, one example being our 'Tiny Traveling Treasury'!

Do you think that designers, in general, have any particular social responsibilities? Do you think that they should be held more accountable than the
rest of the public?
We think designers have a social responsibility as they are the vehicle with which companies and organisations communicates their message to the rest of the world. As citizens of our society we think it's fair that we should all take responsibility for the messages we spread to each other. I don't think however that designers should be held MORE responsible than other people, especially the general public consuming the information or products but also of course the clients commissioning the work, who ultimately are the ones who hold the (most immediate) power.

In a capitalist society, most conventional products are sold to us as commodities with personalities and human qualities, as opposed to 'things' with 'functions' As a lot of the today's 'problems' are the result of Western capitalism/consumerism, do you think that it could be considered unethical/unproductive to promote social issues in the same 'reified' way (as opposed to using facts, figures,logical argument), as it could serve to promote and enforce a consumerist mindset?
In a way yes, but then on the other hand, people connect with things emotionally and visually so why not try and spread a good message using the same means as the 'bad guys'?

What is your opinion on design that exaggerates the ethical or environmental credentials of a company that is, by definition, un-green and unethical (say, an oil company for example)? Would you say that it is 'bad', because it is misleading people; or would you say that it may be a positive thing, because it is focusing consumer choices around certain issues, meaning that the consumer will become increasingly expectant of companies to keep on improving their corporate practice?
It's not for us. Some people may argue that your raise awareness, even if it's a large, un-ethical corporation who's the client trying to 'green' themselves, but we prefer promoting the people who are doing the environmental or social work for the right reasons.

Are there any social issues that you feel are more urgent/important than others, eg. environmental issues / human rights / animal rights / working within the local community / etc?
No issues are more important than any other, the important thing is that you work towards positive change.

Do you feel that working at UHC is personally more satisfying than working in a more commercial art/design studio?
Yes, definitely, it feels very worthwhile even though the social and environmental effects aren't immediately visible. It's very exciting working for something you believe in and is passionate about, even if it's hard work.

Carolin Lucas MEP website

2009-05-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

The website for the Green MEP - Caroline Lucas - that I have been working on with UHC went live this week. Check it out - carolinelucasmep.org.uk. Go!

Change of layout

2009-05-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I think my line lengths were too long. I have decided to make the most of the 4 column grid I have been using, letting the body copy take up 3 columns, leaving the 4th free for notes and quotes (I'm a poet and I didn't even realise).

Justified or ragged-right? What are the rules?

2009-05-07T02:38:00.001-07:00

And are my line lengths too long?

Lenticu-what?

2009-05-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

I think that the best and simplest way of getting people to question things is to juxtapose 2 pieces of information - eg Sagmeister used simple graphs Move our Money, to compare US military spending the other nations military budgets, as well as the US education budget, etc.

I have been looking at 'lenticular' printing techniques, which basically involved interlacing different images and printing them behind a series of lenses, so that when viewed from different angles different images are seen. I was hoping it would be too expensive to get a few large scale lenticular prints done. I was wrong. £700 per A1...

So I have been experimenting with making my own simplified version - by folding paper. I used these two statistics (I wrote them quickly and the copy is a bit wordy and awkward...sorry).

Animated GIFF - give it a few seconds.

When sliced up and mixed together it looked something like this:

I printed it out (I have ran out of black ink, meaning all that was black is now white - sharmone!) and started to fold it, it was ridiculously fiddly, and the paper started to perish with being folded so much. I got about half of the way in and it seemed to be working - it is just too fiddly and ends up looking to scruffy for me to do it on a larger scale.

Her indoors...

2009-05-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

By that I mean Cat Wickes. My lovely girlfriend. Aww.

Anyway, between pretending like the whole Suffragette thing never happened and showing my affection in public, I help Cat put together her website. To see some good design work visit catwickes.co.uk.

Apparently creativity runs in the family, I recently commissioned her nephew to create this original work of art - signed by the artist('s mum) - for my fridge.

Ctrl.Alt.Shift

2009-05-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

I downloaded the latest Ctrl.Alt.Shift magazine the other day. This issue is about women's rights.

I think that Christian Aid has hit the nail on the head with Ctrl.Alt.Shift, firstly from a content as there are some really interesting stories and images; and secondly from a branding point of view - some really simple design work that is highly accessible to it's target audience (they also made the right choice by deciding not to make Ctrl.Alt.Shift obviously linked to Christian Aid - don't get me wrong, Christian Aid do some brilliant work, its just the word 'Christian' is a bit of a turn off).

The Other Side of Truth

2009-05-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

I have just started reading this novel by Beverley Naidoo, about 2 children fleeing to London from Nigeria after their mother is killed, so far it has been really good. It really puts a human face on the thousands of statistics.

Design Context Presentation

2009-05-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

I had to do a design context presentation yesterday morning. I was a little nervous I have a bad habits of talking too much (without making much sense) and running over time. However I ended up blasting through it making it only last a few minutes.

The feedback was really positive - the only criticism being that the body copy of my book is maybe a bit tight.

One idea was to make a dust jacket for my book that would fold out into the timeline. Sounds like it could work pretty well.

Anyways, here is a GIFF of my slides:

New CL Website Banner

2009-05-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Caroline Lucas and her crew are doing a u-turn on what they want with the design. So I designed a new banner that is completely different (UHC are doing the rest of the site):

Design + Thoughts = Thoughtful Design

2009-04-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

I have decided that at the front of the book I want to have a time line showing design, theory, and ethical design - from the industrial revolution to the present day.

It will probably take up 6 or seven double page spreads.

Ooo, I'm shaking in boots. Not!

2009-04-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

I received this threat in my email from straight-edge screen printer Alex Ponting. I'm not scared. But I am pleased someone has downloaded my symbols - you can too, absolutely FREE, in the Work section of my website. Now go!

Better coloured buttons

2009-04-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I was right, the buttons where too bright:

Second stage of CL design

2009-04-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here's the PDF I sent off... I think some of the buttons may be too bright...we'll see what they say. Bear with it, it's a GIFF:

Design context book: Initial layouts

2009-04-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

I have started trying to layout the research that I have been finding for Design Context. At the minute its just a jumble of layouts with no real order. When I decide how to catagorise the book, then I can assign a different colour for each section so it doesn't all look like a bumble-bee-building-site.

Caroline Lucas

2009-04-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

I have been asked by UHC to design to redesign a website for Caroline Lucas MEP. Cool, huh?

Anyways, its got to fit in with the main Green Party website, and with Catherine's print material. Here are my original options, followed by a mock up of the one UHC wanted to show to Catherine:

Its pretty cool I get to do this, because it is a little annoying not being able to vote in the Euro elections (because I'm a Jonny Foreigner, here to take your jobs, money and women), so at least this is another way to support the party I would have voted for.

Will PDF for money

2009-04-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

I put together this PDF with a brief description and some rough potential page layouts to send to various organisations to ask them for help/funding.

Click to enlarge

John Yates Q&A

2009-04-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

I have been emailing John Yates, a designer that grew up in Leeds, but now lives in San Francisco. He has three 'personas' - Stealworks, Planet of the Yates, and We are all Prostitutes.

Stealworks is of particular interest to me, as it is this area - socially aware but commercial design - that I am looking to become involved in. Also, I wanted to read most of the books he has designed covers for, and am the owner of some of the albums that he has designed.

Anyways, here are the questions I asked - I really appreciate the thought gone into the answers.

Can you explain the links between your three websites - Stealworks, We are all Prostitutes and Planet of the Yates - and why you separated your design practice like this?
The sites are treated as individual aspects of my design work. Stealworks is my non-agency work. It is the design work I get to do more or less unrestricted, because I know and have worked with most of the clients for a while and they know what to expect when they ask me to create something for them. We Are All Prostitutes is the work I do while at ad agencies or design shops. It’s more formal, a little more restricted, and it’s somewhat limited in approach, because unlike in Europe, US clients tend to be very conservative. They don’t like to go out on an edge or take risks visually. At least in my experience. Planet of the Yates is my soapbox site. It’s my sociopolitical ramblings. It’s the link back to where I got my start in serious design—political punk rock. It’s a purely personally expressive outlet. The link would be my creative fingerprint. Other than that, they’re pretty much bastard children.

In your personal experience, how does the UK graphic design industry compare to the US design industry?
I only had a couple years of design experience in the UK prior to relocating to the US, so I don’t have much to say in personal terms. However, as someone who observes the design happening around me, it is far more conservative in terms of both content and voice in the US. For example, nudity is never going to fly here. You can pitch it all you want in any context to any client, and no matter how much they might love it, they’re never going to consider it. Religion is another taboo. As is language. It’s the irony of the brash, swaggering image of the US globally. Internally, it’s very prudish.

How important do you think that design is within the promotion of charities/campaigns/social issues, and do you think that it is often overlooked (by charities, campaigners, etc)?
I think it is generally overlooked. The message is usually the driving point, rather than the visual, but I think, from what I have seen in the last couple years, starting to turn around. I think they are realizing that the visual is as important, if not more important, than the message, in terms of getting the message across. Of selling it. I think if they start looking at campaigns as advertising, as selling a product, Americans will react more favorably to it—because it’s what they expect.

How different do you think that your studio is from one that is less ‘ethically’/’socially’ driven, in terms of both the practical running of the studio and the process involved in the actual design?
There is no studio. There is only me. Stealworks is just a name I attach to the design work I do. So, in that sense, I am driven by my own set of values and choices. It’s easy when you have no one else to answer for and no need to compromise. That’s the difference. Of course, the kind of work I do tends to not pay too well and have limited budgets, so that’s a place that another studio might have an advantage.

Do you think that designers, in general, have any particular social responsibilities? Do you think that they should be held more accountable than the rest of the public?
I think it’s a personal choice, as everything else is. I gave up trying to preach to others a long time ago, because at the end of the day people are going to do whatever they want to do anyway. I can only take responsibility for my own work and actions. I do think that designers are no more accountable than consumers are. Sure, as a designer I have designed work to help sell something that’s not particularly necessary (when I work at ad agencies on a full-time basis I don’t have the luxury of declining to work on a certain account—though I have tried, unsuccessfully). But is that any different than the person who buys something that’s not particularly necessary?

In a capitalist society, most conventional products are sold to us as commodities with personalities and human qualities, as opposed to ‘things’ with ‘functions’ As a lot of the today’s ‘problems’ are the result of Western capitalism/consumerism, do you think that it could be considered unethical/unproductive to promote social issues in the same ‘reified’ way (as opposed to using facts, figures, logical argument), as it could serve to promote and enforce a consumerist mindset?
Like it or not we are consumers. That’s what we do. To what level individuals consume is another question, but in general we all consume things. I think we almost need to promote social issues in terms of selling a product, because that’s how we are wired to pay attention. It’s like saying that comedy can better get across a serious point than a political rally, because people prefer to laugh than cry. Facts, figures and, to some degree, logical arguments, are not particularly exciting or interesting. I’d sooner hear my politics delivered with humor rather than anger. I react better to humor and what I hear stays with me longer, because it’s a positive memory—even if the subject is not at all positive—if that makes sense? Why fight something we all are? Why not run with it? I’d sooner people be consuming reactionary ideas than gasoline. Wouldn’t you? However you make that happen is fine with me.

What is your opinion on design that exaggerates the ethical or environmental credentials of a company that is, by definition, un-green and unethical (say, an oil company for example)? Would you say that it is ‘bad’, because it is misleading people; or would you say that it may be a positive thing, because it is focusing consumer choices around certain issues, meaning that the consumer will become increasingly expectant of companies to keep on improving their corporate practise?
In the example you site—oil companies—it’s bullshit, but it can make people think a little bit about it, because as bizarre as it sounds, people will see some massive oil company as being more authoritative than say Greenpeace, because the majority of people, here at least, still see Greenpeace as some nutjobs running around in a boat that’s suspiciously gay sounding. Seriously, it’s all about image perception. So, in those terms, it could be a very small positive thing, but ultimately it’s simply sign of the times pandering for PR purposes. Companies go with the cultural flow and they go where the money is.

Are there any social issues that you feel are more urgent/important than others, eg. environmental issues / human rights / animal rights / working within the local community / etc?
They’re all important, obviously, but the environment would certainly have to top the list, because without this place we call earth we have nothing, right? It’s all we’ve got. When it’s gone, we’re gone. The other issues are all certainly important, and more so to those particularly affected by a certain one, but at the end of the day it’s all for nought if we shit where we live.

Do you find it more personally satisfying working with your clients, that you would working with more commercial/corporate clients?
Yes. Very much so. It’s the reason I continue to work for next to nothing for clients. It’s not a charity, but at the end of the day I feel like I’ve done something positive. It helps reduce the bad karma I get for selling my soul in the corporate world, which is genuinely what I sometimes feel like I am doing. I do my best at personal damage control, but there’s times when it doesn’t sit right, sure.

What are your rationale/goals/intentions as a designer?
I love what I do. I love being creative. I don’t feel like I am alive unless I am doing something that is creative. That sounds very “right on,” but it’s true. My rationale for being a designer is that it keeps me rational. It’s also the only thing I am good at in terms of being able to support myself and being a part of a family. My goals are simply to keep doing what I do for as long as I can function at what I do. To keep learning and expanding my design abilities and opportunities. And to leave something of worth behind—whether that’s a child that loves being creative rather than destructive, or a piece of design that stands the test of time.
I’m not sure. I generally don’t set goals for myself, at least not consciously. And my intentions would be... honorable.

Pro

2009-04-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have just realised that I haven't posted pics of my new business cards yet. I made 'em a couple of weeks ago. Originally I wanted the CMYK people that are on the splash page of my website, but it didn't work so I simplified it down some. I swear I wasn't thinking of the Extinked thing I helped UHC with. Promise.

Books

2009-04-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

I have just finished reading these two books, which are both really interesting. Selling Olga focuses on the problems that living in poverty creates and the often unthinkable solutions that people choose to endure, or are forced to endure, internationally. Dark Heart is similar, however focusses mainly on England. While they are both similer in terms of their focus, they are written in completely different styles, Selling Olga seems quite 'personal' as Waugh writes about her experiences researching the book, whereas Dark Heart is mainly based on the dialogue between Davies and the various people he talks to.

More from Asylum Matters

2009-04-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

I have been reading through the Centre for Social Justice's 'Asylum Matters' again and found this info about people opinions, based on the newspapers they read.

Design Context quotes

2009-04-07T13:11:00.001-07:00

From the book 'Good: An introduction to ethics in graphic design', by Lucienne Roberts.

New graph

2009-04-06T05:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a new graph I made to show why so may people think that there are too many asylum seekers.

And another.

Ad Campaigns

2009-04-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

I have just been flicking through Guerrilla Advertising and found these (highly relevant) corkers.

By Saatchi & Saatchi , Sydney, for the UN.

By Saatchi & Saatchi , Sydney, for the Pedestrian Council of Australia

By Michael Conrad & Leo Burnett, for Amnesty International

By akestam.holst, for the UNICEF Sweden

An abandoned pram that attracted people to it with the sound of a crying baby. Instead of a baby, the passers-by where met with 'Everyday 136,986 children are born who do not exist' to gather support for a child registration scheme.

By M&C Saatchi, for the Save the Children

Great use of lenticular technology. The lorry was covered, both sides with a lecticular print (it shows different images when looked at from different angles). From one angle it showed packing crates and from another angle it showed an 'x-ray' image of people being trafficked.

By KesselsKramer for Oxfam

Stenciled slogans promoting fair trade are stenciled on shipping containers in visible places (busy ports, etc)

Design Context quotes

2009-04-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

These quotes all came from Heller and Viennes 'Citizen Designer'. More coming soon. Promise.

I ffffound some info graphics. Ha. Ha.

2009-04-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Andy showed me these info-graphics on ffffound.com. The first two are by Density Design and show levels of poverty in Italy. They look really cool, but are hard to understand when at a small size - I think, possibly, that they are over illustrated.

This one works much better. It is about oil prices. You still can't see the detail, but you can easily see that the price of oil id increasing. Not too sure who this is by.

Please note that I have made the utmost effort to restrain from jumping on the infographics band wagon, so let me make this clear; I am merely hitching a lift on the band wagon because I need it to take me somewhere (to a place where I can visually communicate important information), and I intend to get off at the end of my journey. To be fair infographics are a bit 2008 anyways.

Final Asylum info graphic

2009-03-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge.

I have added a little more info, making it (hopefully) easier to follow with out explaining it verbally.

Quotes from Selling Olga

2009-03-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

I really need to think of something to do with these quotes, I feel it's a good thing to do, as quotes can be really powerful, I just need to find some kind of context to put them in.

Asylum Matters

2009-03-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

A slow moving giff showing some interesting graphs from the Centre for Social Justice publication 'Asylum Matters'

Campaign Brief

2009-03-31T04:38:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to come up with a name for the campaign that I am doing to encourage people to take a more responsible role as a British citizen.

Here are some Illustrator brain storm. Before this I had made a massive list of 'key words'.

Here are a few of my ideas for names and logos:

I think I am going to go with either Made You Think! or Think UK:

I need to do some research into people's opinions and level of education about the issues I will be discussing before narrowing it down further, I think. I don't really know the best way to go about getting this info with out patronising people.

New maps

2009-03-31T04:29:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge.

This is the new format for the maps. I have just finished the Colonisation Map and have started work on the War Map. After that I will do the Trade Map. Im still not sure what brief they will fit into though.

Annotated/updated Statement of Intent

2009-03-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Original SOI with annotation after each section in italics. Enjoy.

DESIGN PRACTICE / RATIONALE

Within the Final Major Project I aim to work as professionally as possible. To me this means: quick turn around of work, consideration of audience and context, appropriateness and legibility of fonts and imagery and environmental and social accountability.

I want to create work that is ‘real’ – work that is useful in its own right or answers some kind of need as opposed to work that main purpose is to develop my design skills. However, while I want my outcomes to be ‘real’ and ‘professional’, this may be the last chance I have to experiment relatively risk free, and I intend to capitalise on this opportunity.

I also want to try and get an idea of where exactly I fit in within the graphic design industry. Although I intend on getting a job in a design studio as soon as possible after I graduate, I fully intend to set up my own practise a couple of years down the line. My Final Major Project could be a good chance to get in touch with other designers to inform my practise (but also as an excuse to show people my work).

I wouldn't say that my rationale has changed very much. I would possibly add, however, that working as professionally as possible, I have realised, also means being versatile/adaptable. When working at UHC, I found that working with a low budget meant that you couldn't afford to be shy when it came to trying new skills––eg. if the client wants moving image you have to do it because costs more money to pay someone else to.

CONTEXTUAL REFERENCES / INFLUENCES

I have just ordered a subscription to Creative Review, making it easier to follow the creative industries – as I often find it difficult to keep up with what’s happening. As well as this I need to make sure I check design blogs/websites.

Design wise, I would say my biggest influence would be Vince Frost. I can relate to, and look up to his intelligent and playful typographic approach to design, and see his work as something to strive towards. In terms of clients and design ‘ethos’, however, I would say that companies like The Ultimate Holding Company and The Ethical Graphic Design Company, who focus on pro bono and charity work.

I would say that UHC is now my biggest influence since doing an internship there. It has really influenced me but has shown how difficult it is to work within 'ethical' graphic design.

SUBJECT

I wish to do educational design that addresses the issues of asylum and immigration. I don’t intend for this to turn into promotion of one point of view, I just wish to show that these issues need to be addressed from an objective and educated point of view.

Alongside this I now wish to show how there is a series of issues that are all tied together––asylum/immigration/war/poverty/world-trade/etc––that are often considered 'not my problem', when they are often perpetuated by the over-consumption and general ignorance of the British public.

RESEARCH AREAS / RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

I wish to speak to other designers (possibly Frost) to ask how they went about certain briefs, print processes, etc. as well as speaking designers who have dealt with similar briefs to mine to ask advice.

Read design magazines and books, as well as current affairs ones – such as Adbusters, The Guardian, New Statesman, etc.

I aim to check design websites and blogs regularly – such as Type Neu, The Serif, Design Activism, Another Limited Rebellion, etc. As well as non-design websites such as the Guardian, Wikipedia, BBC News, etc.

To research asylum and immigration I will need to look at the limited informational material available, talk to organisations such as No Borders, Home Office, Refugee Council, Refugee Action, etc., as well as research the oppositional organisations such as the BNP. I will also need to find out how much the general public knows about the issue.

I have done an internship (which I have already mentioned twice), conducted some interviews with designers, and done some work for the Refugee Council. I am also in the process of quizzing the general public about their general knowledge of the issues I will be dealing with––I need to ensure that I do this without offending/isolating people.

DESIGN PRACTICE

I imagine my outcomes to be a combination of information design and advertising design. The design will have to be completely focused around the audience.

I have emailed the Head of Media at the Refugee Council to see if there is any way that my work can be developed for the Refugee Council in the hope that the work I produce at college will be used in the ‘real world’. I am awaiting a reply.

I am working / have worked 5 briefs: a blog design for the Refugee Council allotment scheme, branding/stationary for Salvedge, End of Year Show competition; and two briefs I am just starting––working with Sally McGee from the Refugee Council to design an information booklet for young people about Asylum Seekers, hopefully to be distrobuted in Refugee Week; and a cross-platform campaign to educate people about, and encourage people to question, the role that Britain plays internationally.

DESIGN CONTEXT

Obviously I will research the facts of immigration and asylum in the UK (such as laws, reasons for claiming asylum, what countries people come from, etc), but I will also need to find out what people already know or think they know.

I will need look at ways that issues like this can be addressed through design. How you can avoid isolating people, annoying them etc, and address them on their level.

Theories such as the Marxist/Post-Marxist ideas of ‘Othering’ and Carol. J Adams theory of the ‘absent-referent’ are important in explaining why people may be confrontational or stubborn when present with issues like the ones I intend on exploring.

I have emailed the Ultimate Holding Company asking if I can visit them to get advice, etc., and I have emailed the Ethical Design Company.

I completely misunderstood 'Design Context' when I first wrote this.

The outcome of my Design Context will be a book based around a fairly in-depth case study of UHC and a series of other smaller case-studies/interviews with designers or people involved in the promotion of charities. This will be broken up with second-hand interviews I have found in books, as well as design work and quotes.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Hopefully, I will be back at Thompson in Easter, but as this is the only place I have any experience of working, I would like to do another work placement. If The Ultimate Holding Company agree to meet with me I may ask them about a placement.

I also intend on entering my work into the ISTD competition and entering the College’s End of Year Show competition again.

I decided not to do another placement at Thompson, as I didn't feel I could take a week out of my FMP. I missed the ISTD deadline––kind of on purpose––as it would have been a lot of hassle finishing my work and entering it, and I have decided that I would rather have less stress in my life than 'ISTD' after my name. I may regret that.

I have done two briefs (one for the Refugee Council, and one for Salvedge), and I intend for my booklet brief to go live, which means I need to research funding.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Frost – Sorry Trees
The Advertising Concept Book – Pete Barry
Guerrilla Advertising – Lucas and Dorraine
Good – Lucienne Roberts
Conscientious Objectives – Cranmer and Zapaterra
100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers – Plazm
Print and Finish - Ambrose and Harris
Special Effects – Allrightsreserved
Citizen Designer – Steven Heller
The Layout Book – Ambrose and Harris

Selling Olga – Luisa Waugh

The Immigration Invasion – Arthur Kemp

Irrationality – Stuart Sutherland

Britain – Marl Leonard

The No Nonsense Guide to Globalization – New Internationalist

Dark Heart – Nick Davies

JOURNALS

Creative Review
Adbusters
Computer Arts
IDN
Guardian
New Statesman

WEBSITES

Typeneu.com
Theserif.net
Worldstudio.org
Frostdesign.com.au
Designactivism.net
ALRdesign.com

ffffound.com

knowmore.org

socialchangewebsites.com

socialchange.org.uk

ctrlaltshift.co.uk

labourbehindthelabel.com

planetoftheyates.com

Quotes from "They get mobiles..."

2009-03-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

I decided to use a wall as the imagery in the bottom one, as it kind of seemed like speaker is 'screaming at a wall (its worth noting I had just been listening to Minor Threat).

I have also darkened this sea image as well, so it is a bit more legible.

Where I'm at

2009-03-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have decided that I want to involve more things in my FMP than just asylum seekers, as I feel that this is one issue of a few that are all linked together.

For this reason, I think that I will do one brief to do with asylum seekers - possibly designing a booklet with Sally McGee from the Refugee Council to be distributed in Refugee Week (which I believe is the week before the End of Year Show).

I will also do one brief that is to educate and encourage people to question the way that we treat the rest of the world as a wealthy Western country - this will look at issues like immigration, asylum, war, world-trade/capitalism and colonisation.

Ill write these briefs out over the next few days and post them up here (with the rest of the briefs that I haven't posted yet.)

Guardian Pants

2009-03-23T04:18:00.000-07:00

I read this article yesterday, from Saturday's Guardian magazine. Basically they got a load of celebrities to customise their pants, which were then auctioned off to raise money for new underwear for destitute asylum-seekers. Smart.

The Star

2009-03-23T03:46:00.000-07:00

I bought the Star yesterday, because it called that Post Office manager who refused to serve people who didn't speak English a 'hero'. While the dream of a more united community is not a bad one, there are better ways of going about it that just refusing to serve people. If he really cared, why didn't he do community work, or help people learn English?

They even gave him a certificate.... bless.

O yeah, they also ran a story, which at the start looks like the Guy that played Cat in Red Dwarf is racist - quoting him saying "I don't trust white guys." When you read the story, however, he says how he feels he has been the victim of racism, and that the police don't trust black guys. The actual quote was, "What would you think if I said I didn't trust white guys?"

Salvedge stationary directions

2009-03-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

Me and Emma sent Steve some options for the stationary the other day. The headed paper and comp slip would be on ellie poo paper, and the business card on Cairn Straw:

He went for the second one—one of mine!

They get free mobiles... don't they?

2009-03-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

I have just watched this DVD. Its made by a theatre company, and addresses the issues of asylum seekers. Talking about how the exploitation of the Third World by the First World is to blame for the millions of destitute people. While the production budget appears non existent, a few good points are made, and is worth a watch.

I mean who knew that a certain type of metal that is needed in mobile phones nearly always comes from the DR of Congo, meaning that western companies take steps to keep the country in a state of civil war and poverty so it is easier to exploit it's natural resources?

There was also a few good quotes that I will design and post up here.

Well they're all the same aren't they?

2009-03-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

The Sun had a story on it's website today about how some Post Office manager (who is Sri Lankan) is refusing to serve people who didn't speak English. To illustrate the story they showed the British public a photo of what an immigrant looks like.

Why did they need to put that photo in there? All it does is objectify other races, allowing the tabloids to get away with scapegoating them even more.

Go Ricky Gervais

2009-03-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

I have just found this video on the PETA website, with the voices of Ricky Gervais and Pink. Smart. I don't think you can go wrong with a Ricky Gervais endorsement.

"Stolen for Fashion"—Learn More at PETA.org.

Be warned, I gruesome film plays afterwards. I couldn't watch it all the way through.

Quotes again

2009-03-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here is another quote. Its taken from stupid Arthur Kemp's stupid book, The Immigration Invasion, in which, as I understand it, he attempts to justify the European colonisation of America, Australia, etc. by saying that they weren't conquored by foreigners, because before foreigners arrived they weren't known as America or Australia - ie the USA wasn't invaded by Europeans, because before Europeans arrived it wasn't known as the USA. I don't really get it...

I'll probably go for the top one.

Fuck the Border

2009-03-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this might be going off on a bit a tangent here, but my last post inspired me to do a post about Propagandhi, as they are a big influence for me. It's partly their fault I'm a stinking vegan hippy.

These are the lyrics to what I believe is a song of defiance aimed at the USA's border vigilantes/racist rednecks, who try to shoot people crossing the USA/Mexico border. Its called Fuck the Border:

A friend of mine dropped me a line, it said,
"man, I gotta run to the USA. I got no money, got no job."
She skipped out of Mexico to stay alive.
You've got a problem with her living here,
but what did you do to help her before she fucking came?
What did the country do?
What did the people do?
I stand not by my country, but by people of the whole fucking world.
No fences, no borders.
Free movement for all.
Fuck the border.
It's about fucking time to treat people with respect.
It's our culture and consumption that makes her life unbearable.
Fuck this country; its angry eyes, its knee-jerk hordes.
Legal or illegal, watch her fucking go.
She'll take what's hers.
Watch her fucking go.
Fuck the border.

Amphibian Q&A

2009-03-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

Derek Hogue, or Amphibian, is responsible for designing some awesome covers for my all time favorite band Propagandhi, as well as working with some 'ethical' clients in Canada. Check out amphibian.info.

Artwork for Propagandhi's new album - Supporting Caste (which uses the art of Kent Monkman, on the cover):

Any way, I asked him a bunch of questions and he was sound enough to get back to me with some answers:

How important do you think that design is within the promotion of charities/campaigns/social issues, and do you think that it is often overlooked (by charities, campaigners, etc)?
I think it's very important. The difference between a clear, communicative and remarkable design and an ambiguous, unremarkable design is the difference between attention and dismissal, donations and no donations, etc. On the other hand, I think charities and social campaigns should be wary of spending gobs of money on design, and instead find passionate and interested designers who are willing to work for very cheap or free for the cause.

How different do you think that your studio is from one that isn't as 'ethically' driven, in terms of both the practical running of the studio and the process involved in the actual design?
Well, I'm only a "studio" in as much as a desk in my living room with me sitting at it is a studio, hehe. But when I do work on more commercial projects, I don't think there's anything fundamentally different about how I approach it. No matter the project, if I took it on, it means it deserves my full attention and effort.

Do you find that this kind of design can be more 'restrictive'; for example, because of lack of funding, sensitivity of issues, etc?
Definitely around budget - or when there's *no* budget. As a tiny, one-person shop, it's harder and harder to find tome for pro-bono work for activist groups and the like, so when I do make the time, I am always wishing I had more of a chance to flesh out designs and do better work. A goal of mine is to slowly dedicate more time to to these sorts of projects, and to in effect come full circle to the amount of time i dedicated to these projects when I first started out.

Do you think that designers, in general, have any particular social responsibilities? Do you think that they should be held more accountable than the rest of the public?
More accountable? No. But at least equally accountable. I think every individual must be held accountable for the effects of the work they do. Doing excellent creative work for Exxon makes you, as a designer, partially responsible for the effects of that work. I don't believe in "apolitical" work ... it simply doesn't exist.

In a capitalist society, most conventional products are sold to us as commodities with personalities and human qualities, as opposed to 'things' with 'functions' As a lot of the today's 'problems' are the result of Western capitalism/consumerism, do you think that it could be considered unethical/unproductive to promote social issues in the same 'reified' way (as opposed to using facts, figures, logical argument), as it could serve to promote and enforce a consumerist mindset?
I'm not entirely sure we're in any position to use such abstractionist thinking at the moment, given the state of the planet. Right now my opinion is that whatever it takes to fix this shit we're in, let's do it. Certainly not unethical or counterproductive. Perhaps short-sighted. I'm trying to think of an example of this in a social/activist context, but can't so much. Er, next question!

Are there any social issues that you feel are more urgent/important than others, eg. environmental issues / human rights / animal rights / working within the local community / etc?
Well, I personally feel strongly that the state of the planet and the wholesale slaughter of its non-human inhabitants is of extreme urgency. But I also think that humanity needs to tackle it all, and that individuals should direct their energies towards the issues that touch them and motivate them the most - or indeed are of immediate consequence to them - as that will lead to the most work getting done.

Do you find it more personally satisfying working with your clients, that you would working with more commercial clients? Why did you decide to set up Amphibian?
Definitely. The few projects I've done of a more commercial nature have generally bored me and been tedious and unfulfilling. Amphibian just kinda grew organically from my interest in design, and then programming, and my eagerness to help people who I thought were doing good work, or who inspired me.

What is Amphibian's rationale/goals/intentions?
To do good work for good people, and eke out a living doing it.

Quotes

2009-03-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

I have been 'designing' some quotes today.

The first was, I believe, said by a native American about the Europeans goals in the 17th Century. The second is what a police spokes person said after a trial that failed to prosocute 3 police officers for racist behaviour towards Notinghams Jamaican community in the 60s.

Design Context quotes

2009-03-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

This is from Nigel Whiteley's 'Design for Society'.

Infographic showing how few asylum seekers Britain hosts

2009-03-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

This took me quite a while to put together. But I'm really pleased with the visual outcome, however it is still a little complicated to understand. hopefully I'll figure out how to make it more undrstandable.

It's a pity infographics are so 2008, isn't it?

Click to enlarge:

Salvedge

2009-03-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Me and Emma have ben working on a brand identity for Salvedge, which is a sustainability consultants. Here is our 'design directions PDF'. The first (purple) idea is mine and the others are Emma's.

Here is the college brief I made up for it:

The Sanctuary Final?

2009-03-11T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is possibly/hopefully the final design for The Sanctuary Blog. I done did some more potato stamping.

Here's the stamps I made for the various links:

Design Context quotes

2009-03-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

Here's one from Papanek's 'Design for the Real World.'

Go Adbusters!

2009-03-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

Books

2009-03-04T05:31:00.000-08:00

I have just bought some new books.

Firstly, The Immigration Invasion by Arthur Kemp. Recommended to me by the BNP website. I have only read the first couple of chapters, but it is clear that, while Kemp makes every effort towards intelligent argument that does not rely on racism, he is a complete idiot. His argument is poorly considered and extremely flawed (it is obvious too that publishing companies thought so too, as it appears to be cheaply self published).

C'mon BNP, you can do better than this!

I have also bought three (more intelligent) books:

I'll let you know how I get on. Watch this space.

Design Practise Progress Statement

2009-03-01T15:11:00.000-08:00

Rationale

Within the Final Major Project I aim to work as professionally as possible. To me this means: quick turn around of work, consideration of audience and context, appropriateness and legibility of fonts and imagery and environmental and social accountability.

I want to create work that is ‘real’ – work that is useful in its own right or answers some kind of need as opposed to work that main purpose is to develop my design skills. However, while I want my outcomes to be ‘real’ and ‘professional’, this may be the last chance I have to experiment relatively risk free, and I intend to capitalise on this opportunity.

I also want to try and get an idea of where exactly I fit in within the graphic design industry. Although I intend on getting a job in a design studio as soon as possible after I graduate, I fully intend to set up my own practise a couple of years down the line. My Final Major Project could be a good chance to get in touch with other designers to inform my practise (but also as an excuse to show people my work).

Subject / Theme

Asylum Seekers – possibly looking at this as part of a ‘bigger picture’ - portraying Britain’s impact, role, and responsibility in regard to the rest of the world.

Design Disciplines / Creative Development

Currently my design work is about exploring the presentation of large amounts of statistical information in the most user friendly way. After this period of research and information gathering, I see my work taking much more of an advertising approach to design – presenting information that engages with certain audiences, which should be simple, clever and memorable.

The four areas that I see the practical aspect of my research investigating are:

Statistics/facts/legislation – this be primarily be based on info-graphics

Opinions and education of general public – this will involve researching the media and interviewing people.

Experiences of asylum seekers – this will entail reading and conducting interviews and taking photographs.

Britain and the rest of the world - this will involve making maps and diagrams to find patterns/relationships between issues like asylum, trade, colonisation, war, etc.

It would be interesting to maybe make this information into a book.

Practical Skills / Workshops – what, why and when?

Current practical skills that I am developing are information design, and working with agencies/companies that have a limited budget, various restrictions, etc.

Skills that I need to develop are people-skills, and my confidence talking to people, as I will need to approach lots of people and conduct various interviews.

I need to learn about advertising – about targeting very specific markets. This is the type of brief where you have to approach the audience on its level so as to not offend or isolate them.

I am beginning to think that skills in web design and online production are quite important, as I have taken on a couple of briefs that need this knowledge. Hopefully, they will help improve these skills so I can begin to use them more professionally.

I will need to improve my organisational skills if am to a produce a book with information about asylum seekers.

As I am currently very busy with various different projects, I can feel my time management improving, however it will have to continue to get better as my workload goes up.

Design Context Progress Statement

2009-03-01T07:26:00.000-08:00

Subject / Theme / Design Disciplines

The theme of my FMP is design for social change.

The primary discipline I am looking at is educational design – providing information in an objective way to help to dispel rumours and break down the system of ‘the other’. The secondary area of design I want to look into is advertising/persuasive design, as facts are often not enough; to convince people it can help to adopt the techniques of commercial design/advertising, using the “realm of fantasy”.

Contextual references / Designers / Studios / Companies (specific)

Primary Designers/agencies
Ultimate Holding Company
thomas.matthews
Neo Creative
Advocate
World Studios
The Ethical Graphic Design Company
Another Limited Rebellion
The Paper Crane

Secondary designers/agencies
Sagmeister
Carbon Creative
Thompson
Frost
Fudge
Crave
Tea Cake Design

Contextual References
Tabloids – Express/Sun/Star/etc.
Move our Money (Sagmeister)
‘It takes 40 dumb animals…’ Campaign (David Bailey)
Heathrow Map / Climate Camp (UHC)
Watermarks project
Amnesty International
Oxfam
Ctrl.Alt.Shift
Make Poverty History
Comic Relief

BIBLIOGRAPHY / JOURNALS / ARTICLES / TEXTS / ON LINE REFERENCES etc.

Books
Good – Lucienne Roberts
Design for the Real World – Papanek
Conscientious Objectives - Zappaterra and Cranmer
Design for Society – Nigel Whitely
Advertising Concept Book – Pete Barry
Dataflow - R. Klanten, N. Bourquin, and S. Ehmann
Envisioning Information by Edward R. Tufte
Irrationality – Stuart Sutherland
Things I have learned in my life so far – Sagmeister
Sorry Trees – Frost
Design of Dissent – Heller
Guerrilla Advertising - Gavin Lucas and Mike Dorrian
Citizen Designer – Heller and Vienne
100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers – Plazm

Magazines
Creative Review
Adbusters
IDN
New Statesman

Websites/blogs
Another Limited Rebellion Blog – alrdesign.com
Ctrl.alt.shift – ctrlaltshift.co.uk
Knowmore.org
Graphic Alliance - graphicalliance.org
idUnited - idunited.com
Form Fifty Five – formfiftyfive.com
Type Neu – typeneu.com
Design Activism – designactivism.net
Social Change Websites - socialchangewebsites.com
Social Change – socialchange.org.uk
Wikipedia

The Sanctuary Cont.

2009-02-25T06:24:00.000-08:00

Here are the 4 design ideas I sent to Tom. To be honest, I'm not over the moon about any of them, hopefully I'll be able to spend more time on this.

And again

2009-02-24T15:35:00.000-08:00

OK, this is pretty much everyday. I'm going to have to start being more fussy with the headlines I choose.

So this article is about how the taxpayer payed for a released Guantanamo Bay inmate to be flown back to Britain for an outrageous amount, and how he could claim upto £21, 600 in benefits, which "is around £5000 more than earned by a frontline British soldier risking his life to fight Mohamed's alleged Taliban associates in Afghanistan."

Again its the all important details they fail to linger on, such as Guantanamo Bay was an illegal prison (that was the result of the 'war on terror' that British tax payers spent billions on) that kept British citizens detained without charge for up to seven years, while the British government did nothing. This whole messed up situation is the fault of the governments of the Western world (primarily the US, obviously) - not some poor guy who was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Oh, and there was also this. It is constant with the Daily Express. Seriously, who reads all this stuff? I'm going to be honest; I didn't. I haven't read this article. I have heard it all before. It's pathetic. It is presenting scapegoats to a nation scared by some 'credit crunch' in order to make money.

Who's to blame tomorrow? I bet they aren't English.

End of Year Show '09

2009-02-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

Here is my entry for the EYS competition. It's quite dull... I wish I had spent a little more time on it now...

Here are the boards

In retrospect, I think I prefer the 'we are your future one'. I think I also forgot to include that last board in my entry, as I have just found it in my drawer.

Invasion?

2009-02-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

C'mon Express. I know the builders won't buy your paper as much, but stop shirking away from your responsibility to report news objectively.

Basically The Express interviewed a load of ASYLUM SEEKERS (not economic migrants like the headline makes out), asking them how much they would work for if they made it into Britain, they said they didn't care how much they got payed as long as they were safe. The Express then asked them if they would work for £1 an hour, they said yes, as long they were safe.

A bit of a non story don't you think. Idiots.

I think this will be the last newspaper cover I post for a while as I am buying The Express nearly everyday and it's embarrassing.

The Sanctuary

2009-02-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

I have been asked by Tom at the Refugee Council to design a blog and come up with a name for an asylum seeker allotment scheme. I thought the name 'The Sanctuary' would be appropriate, and thought that it would be good to use potato prints to make the type.

Here's some photos of Potato Caslon:

Heres the brief:

Design context quotes

2009-02-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

I am going to be collecting quotes relevant to my Design Context, and the best ones will find themselves into my book. Here's some from '100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers.'

Express

2009-02-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

I found this headline in The Express today. At the end of the article it meantions that it is only a few school and that the finding may have been poorly researched. Strange how the headlines don't mention that bit of important information.

Quotes

2009-02-20T08:48:00.000-08:00

Been scouring the internet for quotes that represent the views of those uneducated on the issue of asylum.

Here's a few of my favorites, all from the Facebook group send all the imargrants home - seriously, if you are going to be peddling hatred against a group of people then learn to spell it properly.

"they live 6 to 9 adult's in a house buy big sack of spuds and carrot's between them for a week nick all are job's only speke english when they want benefits fuckin pushin front of u in queue's spitting all the time they fuckin wind me up scumbag's let's get AR'E COUNTRY BACK FOR US AND GET RID OF THE FREE LOADIN SCUM NOW."

"Now i can see why some people come here to escape war torn countries and so on but my opinion is SO FUCKING WHAT!! We have thousands of people who are born here and are homeless and unemployed. So i reckon we should close our borders for the next ten years until we can sort our own shit out. End of story."

"...us english cannot get anything , but they come over here and get the lot , its just not fair , would we get treated as good in there country , somehow i don't think so . GET RID......"

My favorite part being "speke english".

Any way, I'm going to be on the lookout for more quotes like this. If anybody finds any websites or Facebook groups, or other quotes then let me know.

Newspaper headlines

2009-02-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be good to find some biased newspaper headlines - as newspapers give an opinion a certain authority. Within ten minutes of thinking this I saw this headline on the front of, you got it, The Mail.

This may be easier than I thought....

End of Year Show '09

2009-02-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to put together an entry for the End of Year Show promo competition. I am not having much luck. Here are some crap pieces of crap.

UHC are ext-inked

2009-02-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

Here's the Extinked identity I did at UHC with Jai and Sara, on the UHC website splashpage
Search for Extinked on Facebook for more info.

More mapping

2009-02-10T14:30:00.000-08:00

I am going to do more maps. So far I have got two planned that will help me explore Britain relationship withe the rest of the world. This is a half finished map showing all the countries (past and present) that Britian has colonised, and I intend to do another similar map showing countries that British companies source products and materials from.