OUGD502 - Tumblr

OUGD502 - Tumblr

Over the summer I decided to make a tumblr blog to as an inspiration tool,  Looked at a range of blogging websites such as Behance, Pinterest, trend list and tumblr however tumblr felt the most engaging to me personally. I wanted something that would be a chore to maintain and could just flick through when I have a spare five minutes. 

I added various links to the tumblr page to promote myself as a designer linking to my instragram, portfolio, and about section in order to promote my practise as well. The main function of the blog it to engage with the industry keeping an up to date knowledge of graphic design that will provide me with inspiration for future and current projects. 

At present I have limited the blog to graphic design however am considering expanding this to other design forms such as photography, architecture and interior design to pull inspiration form a range of different disciplines. 

*UPDATE* this works and its going great, ive gotten into the habit of checking it when I have down time, ive talked to other designers on it and taken some real inspiration as a direct result of this blog. 

http://rgbrhys.tumblr.com

OUGD502 - Pressision Printers visit

OUGD502 - Pressision Printers visit

I took the time to visit a professional printing facility Pressision, located within Leeds. The founders have a long standing connection with the college and gave me and a group of students a tour of their facilities. I was extremely impressed with the versatility of the printers and their ability to produce works from bespoke one off design to mass produced volumes for some of the UK's leading brands, Harvey Nichols for example. There volume of services provided ensured they could 100% meet their clients needs from cutting edge technologies such as the white ink they can print with to more traditional techniques such as letterpress. (Serviced documented below) 

• High Definition 350 lithographic print
• HP Indigo digital print with white ink technology
• Large format solvent 1440dpi print technology
• Traditional crafted letterpress printing
• Ultra detailed foil blocking
• Perfect and PUR binding
• Case binding, thread and singer sewing
• Creative laminations
• Project consultation and budgeting
• Online multi site ordering solutions
• Storage, stock management and distribution

Their experimental approach to printing really shone through during the tour as they seemed excited by the endless possibilities of print. They said they would try just about anything once which is exciting as a designer to have such creative printers especially located within Leeds. They told us they get a lot of portfolio requests from third year students and this would be something I am definitely interested in enquiring about to ensure the profession finish to my work pressision pride themselves on. 

Original Letterpress

HP Indigo digital print with white ink technology

OUGD502 - BOH Development

OUGD502 - BOH Development

During the summer I resumed by old retail job at topman. For a visit from higher level management I was asked to create a Development board for the back of house (stockroom) due to my knowledge of Graphic Design. I created a bold logo that was easy to reproduce in black and white due to the small budget, The logo features a jigsaw puzzle piece in he centre as this connotes clear logical thoughts of development. I also created small A6 postcards to fill in areas of development that would make it unique to each individual team member. 

I received high praise from staff members regarding the aesthetic and Claire Williams (regional manager) gave me the contact details of the retail operations that would be able to connect me with the design team for topman and set up a potential visit. This is exciting as what initiated as a favour would turn into real work experience that would allow me to gain a live insight into the role of graphic design within that fashion industry.