Sunday 30 January 2011

Kiss My Diss!

Hello all!

It's been a few weeks since I last posted but at last my dissertation is finished, bound and handed in.  I was thrilled to hand it over, I think I'd be pretty happy never looking at it again.  It certainly took over my whole life for a while.  The stress of it all made me a crazy person and even effected my dreams.  A few days before the deadline I dreamt about baby terrapins wanting to wear pyjamas in a maths class.  I know, bizarre.  My friends tell me this quite often.  I can't seem to get the dream out of my head so to honour it I made a little illustration.  Lots more to pop on here but I don't want to overload you so come back during the week for some extra stuff.

Introducing Dennis the Terrapin...and he's quite fond of purple pj's.



Friday 14 January 2011

Potty About Alice.

Still working hard on the ole dissertation so I have another piece I made last year to share with you all.

I worked on a brief for the penguin design awards and I chose the puffin category and last year it was to create a book jacket for Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.  To mix things up a bit, I turned most of the characters into teapots and these are the illustrations.

Hoping to post some new stuff soon, even if it will be roughs.

Monday 10 January 2011

Illustrators Itch.

I've been itching to get creative and work on my new projects but sadly my dissertation beckons all of my attention at the moment.  So, I thought I'd pop on a final piece for a project I worked on last year.  We had to design promotional material for an independent retailer and I chose a local pub in the heart of Norwich.  The Birdcage is a gorgeous gem of a place with loads of character and bursting with tasty little beverages.  It's quirky and I wanted to echo this in my promo material.

Everyone I know plays and fiddles with beer mats, so I thought I would make beer mats that punters could interact with. Using the basic idea of an optical illusion by means of a thaumatrope I created these designs based on drawings I'd made whilst at the Birdcage ( I may have even indulged in a cupcake and a lovely tipple).  When printed and assembled the final piece had ribbon attached to the sides so that the beer mat could be spun to see the illusion.

I would match up an object and a cage in contrasting colours so that you could see the cupcake or cow for example when spun.

An example of a Thaumatrope.

Thursday 6 January 2011

Sweet as a nut!

Very recently two of my lovely friends got engaged.  I am so thrilled for them and I wanted to make a congratulations card.  A phrase they often use is 'as sweet as a nut' which inspired my design.  Congratulations guys, I still can't stop smiling :)

*insert squeaky squirrel noise here*

NUCA designs.


A selection of my best work from my previous unit.  Throughout the projects I explored colour and I love how certain tones and hues pop and play off each other.


These 3 collages were made during a morning exercise where we had to only use paper to create different landscapes.  Natural, Urban and another which had to include a character.  I didn't think much of them because it was only a workshop but apparently these stood out in my portfolio.  This is a certainly a direction I wish to head down.




The 2 images above are part of an alphabet brief where we had to create an alphabet out of  objects.  I like how everyday objects can be something else so I chose cooking utensils to form letters.  I stripped the shapes down and played with colour to create my cooking utensil alphabet.

This is a photo from my assessment.  It wasn't necessary to put anything on the walls but I wanted to show off my apron and tote bag.  Once the alphabet was formed we had to put it into context so I made merchandise for the Love Cooking Festival that took place around the country at the end of 2010.

A homemade Christmas.

For 2010 we felt the pinch so we made lots of our gifts and I had a go at lino cutting and made christmas cards.  Here's a few examples to peruse.

Christmas Muffin Mix.

Truffles - Plain, Peppermint and Amaretto (ran out of gold lustre though).

The little gift hamper made up of a christmas muffin mix, truffles and a spiced arancello.

My second attempt at a lino cut.  I was very happy with the outcome.  Had I the money and extra material I would have liked to play around with other colours and paper.

Hello 2011!

Happy New Year.

I hope you all had a fabulous festive season and started the new year with a bang.  Unfortunately I spent the past few weeks battling the flu and tonsillitis.  Isn't it funny how the moment you stop, your body is attacked by germs and horrible bugs.  I'm not alone though, I know many of you have had a similar Christmas.  Ah well, we just have to dose up and carry on.  So, as promised, I'll post a selection of work from my previous unit and a few things I've been up to when I felt a little perkier.

Here's hoping you all have a bright 2011!