Between the 20th June – 25th June 2010 I visited 3 graduation exhibitions are 3 locations; Manchester Metropolitan University, Sheffield Hallam University and Chesterfield College.
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester offered a large variety of works separated into sections around the campus in 4 key buildings. This allowed for a large quantity of work to be shown as a collective of the university and of each individual student. This particular show also offered a large range of specialisms, for example; fashion, fine art, interactive arts, illustration with animation, 3 dimensional design.
I was particularly interested in the interactive arts work displayed here, in particular the work of April Black, Ryan Campbell and Eleanor Marechal.
April Black produces illustrative work based on the mediums of pen and ink. Her aims are to capture the essence her subjects emotion and feeling , much like the works of Lucien Freud and Jenny Saville. Black’s work has another motive in that she tries to add humour to her work. This is accomplished by emphasising the features of her subject, much like a caricature, this gives a comic effect to the image but also emphasises the emotion of the subject.
Ryan Campbell produces interesting graphic imagery that really captivates the messages it proposes. Take this image for example of a man covered in post stick notes wearing a t shirt with the message to do printed in an “ I heart NY” style, this is iconic with this generation and by swapping the heart for a sticky note this helps state Campbell’s message in this image in a relatable and stylised way. Campbell states on the MMU website ”Design is a conversation, one that explores the curiosities of social intercourse and questions everything.” This is an intriguing statement that I will refer to when doing my own design work.
Eleanor Marechal produces technical imagery of ‘Utopian’ cities based on the philosophies of Utopian planners such as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ebenezer Howard. These are to show how human nature contradicts Utopian ideals and visions of hope. This is an intriguing subject and gives Marechal’s work a great depth. I personally like the use of simplistic geometric shapes following the isometric grids as this gives the piece a 3 dimensional effect and resembles the works of M C Escher .
Sheffield Hallam University
The exhibition at Sheffield Hallam also held a wide scope of specialisms but there was less quantity of work per individual compared to MMU. The specialisms were separated into groups, located in different buildings of SHU. The key areas I visited were the; animation, film & visual effects, games design and graphic design.
The works of Francis-Lee Pimentel (creative media artist) were one of the 1st I saw at the exhibition, giving a sketchbook of development and a booklet of finished digital images displayed freely for browsing. These images were of development work for a game, based around the theme of aliens vs humans. This has been a theme though out gaming history and I can only presume the task was to create a modern interpretation around this concept. Pimentel’s images are very distinct and in depth, and give a great feel and personality to his characters. I particularly like this sketch of an alien bust. the amount of detail is excellent and really give this character its identity. It provokes thoughts of an evil, vicious and violent character.
For the development of this image Pimentel created a string of images about how the bust could look. These thumbnails are interesting in themselves as you can see the vast differences between each idea but still see how they have influenced each other. I plan to use this technique within my own development and experiment with a number of ideas and pick out the sections I think best suit the character I am producing.
Along with this sketch book was the finished images Pimentel created on this theme. I found this image to be intriguing as it followed on from the previous bust development but was used to create a feeling for the home planet of the aliens. This image is beautifully created and looks like a realistic image of a planet in space.
Another student’s work that caught my attention was Sean Gee, who is a graphic designer and illustrator. The posters that Gee had created had a distinct style, simplistic and somewhat geometric imagery based around simplistic forms and shapes. The 1st I noticed was this image of the incredible hulk. Thinking about the comic style the hulk has been represented in for a number of years it was refreshing to see a new approach to the idea of a promotional poster that involved more simplistic stylised illustration. This image instantly made me think of childhood cartoons such as Scooby doo and this could work in that respect to introduce a younger audience to the Marvel character.
Another image of Gee’s that caught my eye was this print of these two characters with the text ‘love grows at light speed’ placed between them. This image uses only a singular colour yet this adds to its effectiveness and I found helps guide you around the image. Although I am unsure of the origins for the idea of this image I really admired it and am planning on attempting some images of a similar style to add to my span of work. If i decided to go down the graphic design career path this would be the style of imagery I would prefer to produce and develop to give it my own style and personality.
Chesterfield College
Chesterfield College’s exhibition differed from the other two in the fact that it was displaying works of a Foundation Degree and BTEC level 3 work, yet proved to be an informative experience looking at the work that has been going on around the college I am currently studying at. It also showed me what kind of an area I will have when I have to undertake the same process in the 2nd year of this course.
One student’s work that caught my attention was the works of Poonam Saini. One set of works displayed by her were these images of modified cards, I believe to be created using printing techniques and paint. These images are perfectly mirrored which would suggest possible digital manipulation of a singular image that has been duplicated and edited. These images are a remake of the traditional playing card incorporating Hindu themes to replace the conventional king, queen, jack and joker. This is a cleverly executed concept and has worked well in my opinion.
Saini also produced some digital imagery like this collection of images that make up a year calendar. These images are a lot simpler in design compared to the previous work but the use of layering and texturing help create interesting images with depth and enough elements to keep the view interacting with the pieces. Also the use of vibrant colours add variety to the calendar much like the range of media used as some of the months images have been created using photomontage techniques aswell as the illustration stated earlier.
Another student’s work that appealed to me was the work of an old friend Nathan Boden. The image shown here is a traditionally illustrated image, created using Ink, paint and collage. This image reads like a simple book each page holding a different thought of the individual shown within. I like the movement and flow of this image and how simplistic yet effective it is at portraying its message. This image also incorporates a minimal use of colour which makes the coloured sections draw the attention of the eye, thus honing the viewer in on each illustration and section of type. The type on its own is also an interesting factor as he has chosen to use a hand drawn, self created font, completely in lower case. This makes the type easily legible and allows no misunderstandings to arise for the viewer when reading as some more stylised typefaces can do. It is also a useful tool for the composition of the piece as it merges seamlessly with Boden’s illustrative style and portrays the images purpose.
In conclusion the events I have visited have given me an insight into the level and quality of the work that is expected at the end of the course I am currently studying as well as at university degree standard. I will take the information from this and apply it within the work I produce to create high quality work in whatever field I am working in. Also after observing different sketchbooks of these students i have found that I have been lacking a certain level of experimentation, primarily the use of thumbnail designs and ideas to aid in the generation of a viable and well composed final outcome. I also see how the concept/ ideas behind the imagery are what make the work purposeful and relevant no matter whether it be the most complex or simple image to produce.
