Portfolio Project: Research 4

Because I am printing my physical portfolio at uni, I did some tests to see if the different printers around the building printed in different quality and tone. They did. And the differences were quite big.

Portfolio Project: Development 1

Okay so I decided not to use cargo collective for my online portfolio as I found it way too confusing. I created an account with wix to try that out and like it better as it allows you to work kind of like you would in InDesign which makes more sense to me. You can choose templates for your gallery or place images exactly where you want them. Very nice. 

Portfolio Project: Research 3

I’ve discovered I find it difficult to find portfolio websites that I like. They all tend to look too graphic-y and shiny and same same. I absolutely hate it when the images span over the whole page and you have to scroll forever to get an overview and I don’t like clicking through loads of options to get to a project because that means you always have to go back to see another project. I also don’t like it when the projects only have names and not images from the start because when I then choose to click on the name and I don’t find the project interesting, that was an unnecessary click. 

Portfolio Project: Research 2

Making a portfolio website is tricky. I don’t want it to be purely from a template because it would be nice if I could get my personality in there somehow. But then actually trying to make something from altering a template I find very difficult. A try at cargo collective’s portfolio builder gave me these outcomes (after a lot of fiddling with it) and it does not look good at all.

Portfolio website tries, Lisa 2018

FMP: Development 3

The biggest struggle I have had when knitting is the fact that once you have made your loops, it’s done. It’s there. The design is in the piece and there is basically no way of changing it. When I usually design something I can fiddle about with it for the longest time but now I have to make decisions and stick with them. Not used to that! So moving on to the second poster I made way more sketches for the design than I did for the first one as I was making it.

Alterations to the design, Lisa 2018

FMP: Research 4

Going back to my original sketches of the connections I’d made when thinking about what light is, I’d written down words such as: direction, negative space, something sharp, overlapping, framing. And I’d also drawn shapes and lines about light: how light travels, bounces, moves in different directions. And this was what I should focus on I thought. More abstract things that I could play around with more.

Sketchbook, Lisa 2018

FMP: Research 3

After looking into so much photography I decided that my project would be photography based. I really wanted to make something big/ build something but I just couldn’t see it happening. I kept thinking about all the logistics surrounding it, where could I get material, would I have to buy tools, why am I even building something, how would this relate to graphic design? And I thought that, because I don’t have much photography  stuff in my portfolio, that could be worth exploring. I thought about how to combine photography with light, how light affects what we see, what happens if you change the colours in an image etc. Also, because I don’t really like photographing things, I mean if I see something that would make a nice image I like to get my phone out and take a picture, but I don’t enjoy fiddling about with a complicated camera, thinking about the studio set up and shutter speed and aperture and all that, I thought this would be a good challenge for me. 

FMP: Research 2

Deciding the theme for my project would be “light” but not yet knowing what to do with that, I looked into some artists that has worked with light like Picasso and his light drawings and Cerith Wyn Evans’s huge sculptural light installations that I went to see at Tate Britain last year and really liked. Picasso’s drawings/photographs are so amazing but making something similar without it feeling like I’m just copying would be really difficult.

Picasso drawing with light, Cerith Wyn Evans sculpture at Tate Britain

FMP: Research 1

Final major project did not come easy to me in terms of knowing what I wanted to do. There is something very daunting about the words “final, major” and it caused a huge creative block for me. In the same way I can find it difficult to make a poster because all the pressure it has to represent so much, this was the same although now it has to represent me(?) yikes.

Portfolio Project: Research 1

For the new portfolio brief I have been looking at different websites of graphic design and illustration to see how other people tackle this as I have no idea where to start. Surprisingly, I realised quite quickly what I liked and didn’t so that’s good. For instance one thing that makes me close a site as soon as I open it is when the designer has images of work covering the whole screen. Don’t like that at all. It feels too shouty and I can’t wrap my head around what I am looking at because I have to turn my gaze all over the screen and don’t know what to focus on. For instance:

Portfolio research 1

No.