Tadanori Yokoo

Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker. At first I was drawn to the loud and jumbled arrangements of these posters, but I then could see that they were a mix of collage, photographs, as well as drawings.

Reading further, I found that Yokoo's posters are actually very autobiographical. They are reminiscent of 60's psychedelia however there is something magical / carnival-like about them too.

I like when things have parts of stories or narratives woven into them, especially if it isn't so obvious at first. 

Big Heads | Adrian Johnson

Today we had a Big Heads chat with Adrian Johnson. Although there have been other great Big Heads conversations before now, I wanted to note this one down because of the similarities between today's talk and what I've listed as thoughts for my presentation.


There was mention of sketchbook authenticity, which I think is a really valuable concept and something that I personally want to figure out myself. It seemed that Adrian thought that this authenticity also derived from ideas that you are emotionally invested in.

Whether this was a direct personal connection, or through your likes and interests. Making work that excites you, and that you can approach with little trepidation (much like how children draw freely) can often produce the best results.


Reinvention, and continuously evolving and developing your work was another theme that cropped up in the talk. ('If you get bored of your work, others probably will too'). It's important to reflect and assess on whether your work is effective, or if it's becoming stagnant in some way.


Another point that I actually agreed with a lot was that it's not all about the surface, the exterior appearance of a piece. Trends fade, whereas a good concept is timeless and can provide longevity to a piece of creative work. There is strength in thinking and ideas.

PPP Presentation | Thinking

I've been thinking about the content of my presentation and what it could possibly include. I just have notes and threads of thoughts at this point that have a little bit of order to them. The underlined headings  are potential titles for slides.

I want to get the skeleton of the presentation together, then think about making it personal and visual after.

SUCCESSES / THINGS I'VE LEARNED

• Research and ideas generation

• Importance of design


SKETCHBOOK

• A place for play, experimentation, planning, and ideas. 

• Implemented this attitude through Visual Language

• Sketchbook authenticity - what is it and why is it important?

• A place where a tone of voice can come through and ideas don't have to be edited down


ORGANISATION

• Blog

• Diary

• It sort of comes naturally, but it's important not to let this slip


CHALLENGES / THIS HAS BEEN DIFFICULT

• (Be honest but not too confessional?)

• Moving, living independently, facing a lot of worries for me

• Stress, overwhelmed at times.

• Doing the work, getting good feedback, yet remaining dissatisfied with work or disappointed (how does someone get gratification / a feeling of being content with their work and what they are doing?)


OUTLOOK / THOUGHTS

(could merge this heading with above, or scrap completely)

• An important point for me was acknowledging stress and then trying to dial things back a bit, trying to focus on one thing at a time

• Do you dislike something simply because you've made it?

• The relationship between a hobby/interest and work/studies - how to not let mindset 
impact on work


WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH MY WORK?

• What do I want to do? - make a feeling, say something, mystery, intrigue, some humour?

• Visualise great ideas, stories, narratives, facts, findings, info. Bring things to light and share them

• What do I want to do more of? - put more of myself into my work when possible? try not to edit down ideas or tones..


LOOKING FORWARD / LEVEL 5

• How can I keep myself going / motivated at this higher level with a greater amount of independent study?

• I am apprehensive, however I hope to keep on making progress and improving

• Although this may be a big ask, I want to make work I am satisfied with

• What do I enjoy? What can I take away from other people?

• Push past worry and keep going


DISCOVERIES

• Michael DeForge, comics in general?

• Mikkel Sommer

• Films, documentaries? (Illustration-based, Crumb (1994)?)


TOP TIP

• Absorb as much as you can. Ask other, share and recommend things.

• Share ideas (PPP)

• Do your best (doing your best doesn't mean worrying all of the time)

• Be inspired and use that to make things

Briefing | PPP Presentation & The Illustrated Self

Notes from briefing and things to consider.

• Blog
• Visual Diagram (Illustrated self)
• Presentation

Reflect on whole year and personal development.

Successes, challenges, moving on to Level 5, process, enjoyment, frustrations, stress, sketchbook, tone of voice, studentship, your work

Points of note?

• Outlook and how it impacts work

• Acknowledging stress, taking things one at a time

• Getting the enjoyment out of making again (indulging own interests?)

• Looking forward - Level 5, changes in mind, changes in process, apprehensions about next year

• Talking about my work / intent - visual and conceptual function, how do you situate yourself as an artist?, what are the qualities that make your work your own?

• Top tip

• A slide for Visual Diagram

• Tone of the presentation? - personal, engaging, honest, critical, humour

• Include: photos, other artists' work, photos of my work, funny things

Posters - Evaluation and Feedback

In this session, we presented our completed posters and had to evaluate our own work. Here's the order I gave to mine:

1. Aspirational (pink) - I thought that this example was the best of the 3 posters, as I thought that the image communicated the type/concept quite clearly ('sharing ideas'). Design-wise,  I thought that this poster had the most clarity - it was simple but didn't look bare. It's easy to read and follow, and the colour scheme is cohesive.

2. Personal (green) - This one is interesting as an image, but seems a little busy. I'm happy with the concept/word choice and I think this does reflect me personally. Although I enjoy the choice of colours, I understand that they aren't as easy to look at and could be viewed as clashing. 

3. Professional (yellow) - I chose to place this poster last, as it feels slightly out of place compared to the others. Maybe it's the tone? The others are quite calm or strange, whereas this one is fairly humorous and loud. It could also be to do with the pose or action of the character perhaps?

Feedback

It turned out that the other group chose the same 'best' poster as me. Here are their comments…

- The illustration helps convey the point across well
- Well thought out choice of colours
- Nice composition
- Simple but effective

…similar to my own comments, they also highlighted areas of how the image was designed. I'm also glad that they thought the illustration coincided with the text effectively, instead of the type just acting as a hint to its meaning.

The fact they thought that the image was simple but effective is a good thing, and makes me think that sometimes the most immediate ideas are the most effective. Complex isn't always best.

Tadashi Ueda

Wow!! Woww!! I was tootling about the web, when I saw a poster by Tadashi Ueda and I was nicely surprised by the beautiful colours and the bold arrangement of things!

this was the poster..

So I went on a search for more work by this person, and I found that they have a blog and It's Nice That also did a short feature about them. They seem very interesting and strange, I'd love to know what influences and inspires them because I get the feeling it's a hodgepodge of weird and wonderful things.

To me it has this quality of old Japanese folk art, paired with the slick aesthetic and daring approach of contemporary design. Strange little motifs of people and things with eyes, floating shapes and misaligned patterns. It really appeals to me and makes me want to go for it and be bolder.

Read | Fish by Bianca Bagnarelli

I'm going to try and document things that I see and read, just as reference, and to see what I've enjoyed and taken away from them.

A short comic by Bianca Bagnarelli, published by Nobrow. 

What I liked:

• Good storytelling. Emotive, introspective, reader has to fill in some of the gaps. The themes and emotions of the narrative had a quiet intensity that I enjoyed.
• Aesthetically lovely, really nice colour scheme throughout.
• In terms of comics/storyboarding, good use of space, compositions and varied frames. Some pretty neat doublepage spreads too.

One of my favourite parts. The pages beforehand were emotional and heavy, so that moment of intense silence in that wide open space had impact. The end half made me cry in my mind...