Aesthetics for the Blind.

Just this second finished my entry into the British Journal of Aesthetics cover redesign competition.

Here is the original layout formulae, followed by my mutation.

Touch Sensitive.

Here is the very first section to my animation, on the subject of the senses. This snippet is for Touch, and is about my boyfriend Laurie. As you can see, he puts on a jumper in a rather swift sense, but I am infact wanting to compare him to a jumper (as you do).

By this I mean, when you first put on a new jumper, you feel it strongly against your skin because it is a brand new sensation. It may feel heavy or itchy, or you are at least very aware of its presence. Over time, we become used to its touch otherwise it would drive us crazy when combined with everything else that was touching us. The jumper grows in comfort, becoming well-loved and 'worn in', and it can often be hard to let go of the garment when it finally becomes to old. Laurie is like a jumper in this way because in the same way I have grown more comfortable with him over time, and now he is a very snug fit. We also described our early relationship as 'learning to knit', as we learned to 'knit' our two existences together into a happily functioning combination.

This is the first truely personal project I have ever done, usually focusing on topics that are of a more academic or topical nature. Still retaining scientific undertones, this endeavour has so far been a very positive and introspective experience and I think it's the perfect element to bring to my practice just in time for the end of the second year at university.

Peopleto the

We had a poster symposium at university this week, across the disciplines of fine art, illustration, vis com and graphics.
For the occasion I produced this poster on the subject of sustainability, generated by the idea that people need to come together in order to reduce human impact upon the environment. I tried to evoke a feeling of trees and natural synapses with the pylons, and the stencil lettering signifies the making of many signs by lots of pairs of hands; power to the people.

The poster's material is also completely recycled.
I was very happy with the outcome, as it stood out (literally) from its rivals.

EggMag-ic of Hindsight

This is my recent submission to EggMag's Illustration competition, answering their ask of explaining visually why it is important to have areas of greenery and vegetation in cities.

I focused on the notion of parkland in urban areas being an important place for the entirety of the local community, from office workers needing some fresh air on their lunch break, to children having space to investigate and learn about nature, and the wildlife itself to flourish alongside people.

I was happy with the construction of the piece with recycled and office materials, 

but in the end I see those buildings needed more attention, desperately.

And more staples.

Reed & Write

Here is my submission to edition 004 of the Alkoholik Robotik zine; the music issue. Having been fine tuned by Jessica Durden & the gang it is now proudly fully printed and available to view. A lively band of illustrators have contributed; have a thumb through and see how we sound to your eyes.

Handsome Smiles Wearing Handsome Shoes

I 'hand'ed in the final brogue designs today.

Meet them:

The progression of three different styles across the three different images is to parallel the the different processes involved in the formulation of traditional brogue shoes with the development of the images themselves.

My favourite has to be the pencil simpleton at the top, but the middle polish pair do resemble gnomes, which gets them plus points.
Excited to see them nestled in the final spread :)

Brougish Charm

For the full brogue illustrations I want to create them almost in the way real shoes are fashioned; to simulate being an authentic cobbler for a little while, and fashion them in traditional brogue colours. I wanted to experiment with using shoe polish, so I armed my self with a shoe brush, cloth and various black and brown polishes and turned my kinetic energy into, well, messy hands and the smell of the first day of school.

I also tried cutting out the different pieces that made up the shoe, and sewing them back together, which is still in progress.

If only I had elves.

  

Shoe Can't Tell Me How To Feel

A third year fashion student at my university is putting together a magazine based on the 'classic men's brogue', and I agreed to do some illustrations to keep her articles company. I started the process by drawing this pair today, and after scanning them in upside down it came to my attention that the shoes almost seem to take different moods or give different impressions when I look at them positioned differing ways round.



N - Perky and proud / S - Droopy and depressed /
E - Selfish and sly / W - Modest and kind.

Be-spoke

I sewed this hearty little bicycle when I was home for the weekend. 

It was a very therapeutic process, and all in aid of our second Bespoke illustration exhibition at Cafe Boscanova, which is love themed to correspond with St. Valentine season. I focused on the notion of a regrettably unwelcome third wheel or tag-a-long type of character who might plague a couple trying to have some twosome time.

As often with hand-sewn objects, I found the reverse side fascinating in its own right, so I backed the piece with perspex so you can see through the reverse side of the frame.

Below, if you look closely, you can see the bike cozied up with all its illustration bedfellows.

Maybe it'll meet your gaze next time you're having coffee.

Photograph courtesy of Sojung Kim

Penguin Decades Series Finale

Here lie my final book cover designs submitted for the Interpretation of Text unit last November. I enjoyed reading the books so much and became ingrained in how each book was written, finding it important to reflect this connection by featuring something personal to each story on its specific cover.