Where to begin?

The main vein running through David's lecture was that there's a lot of competition out there. Apparently this country churns out nearly 20% of the total number of graphic designers required EVERY year. That's a lot of us who are going to end up doing something else. So...
I need a unique selling point.

The country is full of mac monkeys and adobe apes. The far east is full of the same - I recently read that there are over 400 design schools in China - and they come much cheaper  And all of them are more adept with the software than I'm ever going to be. Plus I'll be fifty - five by the time I graduate. Despite the best efforts of the age discrimination legislation, there's no way I'll walk into a job unless it's with someone I know. The malleable twentysomething will be hired every time. I've always assumed that I'm going to be freeelance or independant. So I've got to make myself different. Original, even.
That's why I'm drawn to the linocut. Making images in my own way, unlike anyone else. And my compulsion to crowbar a joke into any and every situation will come in handy.

The phrase 'Simplicity of Communication' made my ears prick up. I like simplicity. It's easier than complicated, for one thing. I'm drawn to the 'Smack 'em between the eyes' approach - grab their attention at the first glance. That's why I went with the 'leaves' image for the allotment poster, though I changed the original phrase 'These need sweeping up' to a more cuddly 'Don't worry, you won't have to sweep them up'.
I'm reading 'London Calling - a countercultural history of London since 1945'.Theres a pertinent quote about Charles Saatchi's art collecting: "Saatchi was an advertising man, and he liked his art to have immediate impact, and if possible also to have a pun attached - rather like an ad". Which is exactly how I like work to come out.
So perhaps advertising will be my forte. The cunning puppetmaster, convincing eskimos that what they really, really need is more snow - now there's interesting work.

Branding also appeals. The current orthodoxy is that the brand is everything about the company, not just the logo. So easy to say, so hard to do. And easy to lose.
A brand is like a tree - it grows huge on a diet of trust. And then the tree is chopped down and the trust is harvested. Look at Martin Lewis's moneysavingexpert website. That was trusted as an honest voice. Then he sold it to moneysupermarket for &87 million quid. Why do they want it, do you think? To milk its reputation for trustworthinness.
Innocent smoothies made much of their green, co - operative, charitable image - and they were hammered when their drinks were served with McObesity meals (check it out here). And now they've sold out to Coca - Cola. Who will probably milk the brand for all it's worth.
 Mind you, that shows the brand's power, not to mention it's value.
And as a designer, why should I care about the ethics, if the job puts food on my table? Do BaE employees worry about the people killed by the weapons that they make?
Anyway, I'm not sure that ethics matter as much as some people think. Primark are weeping crocodile tears about those folk in Bangladesh who were killed working in that deathtrap of a factory, but I bet their customers are still there next week.

Stockport College's new BSc Agriculture course

Speaking of the allotment, we spent a couple of hours there the other week. Really peaceful considering it's in south Reddish, just the railway line to keep us company. They've got a nice nature reserve with ponds harbouring frogs and, bizarrely, an upside - down pedalo, refugee from forced labour on some boating lake. Even after this cold spring it's a cheery place, with gaily painted sheds and hardy vegetables shoving cautious heads over the parapet.

 

We've got to pitch some posters to the Growing Together people tomorrow. Post them when I've done them.

You can't do this on a mac...

A few weeks back my eyes were opened to a wondrous way of creating images. Linocut!
I knew so little about it that I was surprised to find it was based on real lino, the stuff you find on manky kitchen floors. You cut into it with special gouges - it's really tactile, you feel like you're doing proper work. I'm a bit obsessed with black & white images, and magpies, so this is what I did first off.


 

Anyway, cut to today and the Allotment brief. I thought some veg - related linocuts wouldn't go amiss, so I photocopied half a red cabbage...
 

Hammer and Sickle

The fruit label brief got me a bit obsessed with communist imagery - gotta be
some cuban bananas, eh? - so in a fit of nostalgia I sent off for an official Communist Party badge.

 

Then I found out that it was designed by Eric Gill for the Daily Worker newspaper, now called the Morning Star. Well, after a hard day's perversion, why not relax by rebranding the logo of a system responsible for the deaths of millions?

The Smoke

Going to London makes you realise just how small central Manchester is, and how little interesting stuff we have. Round every corner there's something else to look at and admire. History pours out of the walls.

                                         
This is where the news comes from - the headquarters of The Times. A good insight into working for a big paper.
                                                        
Tate Modern. I expected great things of the turbine hall, but there was nothing in it.

 The view from the balcony. Magnificent. Saw one of the resident peregrines too.
Outside No. 10. That bloke with the placards that you always see walking behind (insert name of lying sack of shit politician here) is keeping his options open.

Protesters outside the Houses of Parliament. Someone else getting shafted. Still, as long as George Osborne can find another billion for tax cuts for bankers, all's well with the world, eh? - No plebs allowed this side!
        the view from the waterbus between Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Well worth a fiver.







More dazzle paint!

I was laid low by backache by this time, so had to bail out the next morning. This meant that I missed the linotype workshop, which I was looking forward to. Bummer. Still, good trip.

Swearing - Big AND Clever

Went to the D&AD lecture on the future of the internet last night. To be frank, most of it was gibberish to me. Craig Oldham made up for the other three speakers though, with his usual mix of pithy insight and gale - force swearing. Memo to self; be more original.

Full Circle

Interesting evening. Various ex - students shared their wisdom concerning the world of work.
Things I learned;
- If someone says 'We can't pay you, but it will look really good in your portfolio', tell them to fuck off. They're just after a free job.
 - Get on Twitter.
- Keep learning. Even if it's about stuff you're not usually interested in.
- Back up everything onto a hard drive. Eventually your computer will fuck up.

- And watch Mad Men. (?)