I am a Art and design student currently studying in Manchester. I am an avid crafter and photographer, and harbour a huge addiction to my sewing machine. This blog is to help me collate my findings and inspire further pieces of work, as well as feeding my passion's.
This week my work experience has been all about the banners. I have been Finding out about the need of banners to communicate to the illiterate work force and the importance of using colour, from and shape to represent the counties and establishments. The designs had to be produced using muted colour palettes not only because of the dying processes and the materials that were available but also so they would make a visual impact on camera but also not to distracting. Getting the balance was an enjoyable challenge. The graphics artist concentrated on getting the right typography for the text and I hand sewn and machined the structures of the banners. My knowledge of the vinyl cutter was very handy and i had the chance to put them skills to the test. Three down and five to go.
Since the middle of January I have been involved in a period drama for Channel four. This was the first time I would have a paid position in the art department. The drama which is based on factual information is centred at the height of the industrial revolution and is filmed in and around Manchester. My role in this production has been to help reference, design and make props in accordance to the scripts visual descriptions. I cannot publish any information about the drama's storyline but I can tell you that my props have included making cotton bales from three different countries and at present banners that represent the different counties involved in this work force. This experience so far has cemented an area I wish my career to further and the opportunities presented to me has been a worth while sacrifice of trying to produce my degree work along side of working on the set. It has been a real eye opener of what is expected when I finish my degree and what industries want from their designers. My skills of thorough researching and working to deadlines has put me in a good practice for this job role. Having to think of materials, different mediums and budgeting to produce what is asked has all come from my education that I have received over the last couple of years. I am starting to feel more confident about my own design capabilities and trouble shooting. There has been days where I have thought I cannot do this and with determination I have pushed through. Sometimes I have had to go away and rethink of a way to produce a design that I thought was right only to find out it is contextual incorrect or not how the production designer envisaged. This is all part of my role, it is about getting inside the head of the designer/director and trying to paint a physical picture. It is a fantastic feeling when I have got it right and the feedback from them is good. Other times I have had to go away and think of another way. Period dramas expect accuracy and continuity and is the hardest of all productions to work on. Being thrown in at the deep end and having to keep up and learn indecently has made me determined to prove that I can do this. The pictures posted along side this post is a taster of what I have been doing from design, to process to the finished dress set. I will continue to document more as my work continues.
Ian Douglas is a story Teller. He has been travelling the country up and down introducing his talents to schools, libraries and street theatres for over 15 years. What started as a passion has turned into a career and Ian is never more at home than spinning a story, sharing an anecdote from British folk tales and world myths. Ian originally was a performance artist who can also add fire breathing and stilt walking to his talents. Very recently Ian came to our college and i experienced his craft first hand. His passion was notable as he included his audience into warm up exercises and ice breakers so that we all felt at ease with each other. As his stories unfolded he would often include one of us into stories so attention was focused throughout. He stated that traditional folk stories tend to loop back to the beginning and links to the moral of the story. Ian said he likes to collect these stories and that they vary from place to place. Watching Ian's methods in action was inspiring and connects well to my Major project of story telling and interacting with over people. I hope to use his skills to collate my own stories and tales to feed into my own work.
