Design by Day

For one of my portfolio visits I went to a place named Design by Day after I seen one of there pieces moving visuals for the property delevoper's 25th birthday celebrations. The brief was to create exciting, dynamic visuals that show an alternate slant on some of their most outstanding developments and I think the actual piece is very dynamic and really suits the rhythm of the music. The company works in print, Web an Moving Image. They are a Manchester based design studio but only just recently got into moving image. There are two in all Angela and louise who is the one more graphics and print orientated while the other Angela is more moving image based using after effects mainly. Both were really nice and confident and both were able to spend there time with us which was really nice to have too seperate inputs.

During the visit I was able to show them most of my work and there feed back was positive and they also had some advice on how it could be improved. They liked my experimental rythm piece and liked the idea of using it in maybe an installation. They also enjoyed the experience of seeing moving image as they said most visits are graphics based

They went on to discuss and show us there own work and some very early university work which was really nice too see how they had developed from a lower standard like us to a profesional level they are at. It was interesting to hear they did a job for an music artist who needed some visuals, the piece itself was very quirky and fun that had a very 2 and a half D look. It was the way that instead of being paid from the client they where offered an opptunity to ask him for a piece of music made for there work. I think this shows a good community between designers and the ability to use your skills for more than just the payment.

Dinnertime from Design By Day on Vimeo.

In all the visit was very interesting and great of them to take time out to see us. Although there wasnt as much input on my work as I would have wanted but I think this was down to me having to many to show, I really liked the way they talked about there own work and working with other people. They talked about how they began there careers working for companys which they said was important for creating contacts and developing there skills.

decode RESEARCH

Decode: Digital Design Sensations

If I was Comparing the digital exhibition "Decode" to other more traditional art exhibitions I would have to say the digital was a lot better. It was completely immersive and interactive it was more exciting and informal. The atmosphere is better with people talking and playing, interacting but all the time taking in the work and questioning how and why the piece was created. visually as well it was very impressive it was more or less interactive art pieces while I suppose, showing of some tech skills.

My favorite ones included the dandelion in which you can interact with by blowing away the seeds using the hair dryer. The movement was very realistic and suited the angles you blew it.

doodle do motion contact

From: james@doodledomotion.co.uk
To: simon1924@live.com
Subject: Re:
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:30:07 +0100

Hi Simon,

Thanks for sending the work over.

In general it's an excellent start to experimenting with animation, film making and sound. Here's some more specific comments:

1. Rhythm

Love it as an experimental video. Your sound track is spot on and the edit works perfectly. My preference is the first section, I think you could cut some of the tree section and not really lose out. Maybe it needs a third section to maintain the length of the piece but add intrigue and pace? Good job though. I'd put this as an installation piece - less commercial than the stuff we do but I think it's very worthwhile to have these pieces and it opens up your options in the future.

2. Tomorrow's World

I think I need to know a bit more of a synopsis of this. Are we talking about the TV show or a film? If it's the tv show then I don't think it works as a title sequence but for a film it sits better. For me, as you've said, it lacks some pace. I think what I've seen is perhaps best limited to a 5 second section of the sequence. The credits hold your attention ok, but I think you need more going on with the gfx - although some things are moving the overall feel is too static.

Again, a lot of this depends on what you're trying to achieve and therefore what kind of film/show this is. (e.g. the music is ok for a film that would lead into the opening scene, but it wouldn't work as a tv show.

3. Science Museum

I think this has so much potential and the graphic style is really nice - you need to push it a little further. It's very Saul Bass (a good thing!) but study his stuff more deeply and I think you could turn this into a final year exhibition piece - it's that good. Take a look at the "Catch me if you can" titles and see how you could be much more clever about your transitions.

Watch your grammar though - it's a big turn off when the English isn't correct (this email may be an exception!!!)

Cheers,

James.

James Torry

james@doodledomotion.co.uk

+44(0)7967 362 879

Doodledo Motion Ltd,

Houldsworth Business & Arts Centre,

Houldsworth Mill, Houldsworth Street,

Stockport, SK5 6DA.

Company registered in England & Wales No. 6340867

Lauren Moriarty

On the 5th of March Lauren Moriarty came for a visiting lecturer. She works as a textile and product designer with a focus on materials experimentation and combining craft and industrial making processes to create textile concepts for products and interiors. Her work has featured in national and international design and lifestyle magazines. Her work seems to be more experimental than design as she mentioned really enjoying playing around and experimenting.

During the lecture she sat down and shown us stills of her work explaining in nice detail what she did, why she did it and how. She was also discussing how she has her own style and how it helped to brand your work when your work is unique.

Her work is more art based/museum style but she wanted to be a product designer but she mentioned she did not have the knowledge.

What I did enjoy was when she was discussing client work and how you have to make compromises, as there is always more than likely a problem with the design but she said make sure you keep what makes the piece special.

She discussed customer feedback on her work and how by listening to them she changes or adapts her work to suit them for example she created a black and white butterfly lamp but after feedback she decided to create a pink one.

weareseventeen

While in London I had the opportunity to visit “WEARESEVENTEEN” they are London based design and motion graphics studio. They produce moving image based work for broadcasters, creative agencies and corporate clients. They are a group of 3 initially but they do get in other freelances etc for large jobs. Their large studio and amount of Macs gives them the opportunity to work side by side with them. They discussed about how communication about the piece of work needed could be more time consuming if they weren’t working in direct contact with the freelances. What I found very interesting was when they explained how they have to sometimes compromise there ideas to work for the clients but how they like to keep the core idea in there. There clients include Audi, E4 and MTV.

They were very open about their work and told us about a channel ident for Universal which is a brand new channel. They explained in depth their process from initial ideas, pitches then working with the clients even the manual on using the channel ident in which I found very interesting.

The visit was so interesting and glad I went as it gave me more confidence as the way they talked about things. They were very positive towards us and talked with confidence. They also mentioned we could send them a portfolio and they would kindly give us any feedback.