OUGD601 Essay Research

http://www.creativebloq.com/typography/road-markings-become-digital-typography-51620182
Roadliners - Short Documentary from Pretend Lovers on Vimeo.

OUGD501 Context of Practice - Module Evaluation

This module has been particularly hard for me, specifically picking a topic/question to write about - initially I chose a subject that was too wide and not appropriate to create a strong argument about, this meant I had to narrow down my ideas to get a finalised question. I think i found this harder than last year because I had already been given direction, because this module was more independent I struggled a lot directing myself - i liked to be told what to look at rather than look myself. Although looking for something myself helped me research something I was particularly interested: Traditional print, letterpress. By learning and exploring this medium it has helped me think about what I would like to write about next year I would like the possibility to learn about sign writing but particularly in context - so whether or not sign writing suits its context. SO for example 'Tesco' - would this still give the same visual identity in a hand painted sign? Although very broad right now this module his geared me up for next year and believe I am ready to tackle the 9000 words.

Some things I like this year:
I really enjoyed exploring with my practical it was very therapeutic and in result I have some really good looking prints - its also given me the idea to use this in my own practice.

Some things I could of done better:
Time management at the beginning of the year - I was very good at managing my time but when I hit the bump in the road with my essay it meant I was pushed for time writing, this is not something I had anticipated as I like to pace out my essay. By doing my research over summer for COP3 Im hoping this won't happen again because I will be more prepared, I also intend to start writing aswell.

Essay:
I enjoyed writing about letterpress and finding more things about the techniques and process's the only downside was it was hard to chose what to write and what not to write as the subject once i researched became broader and broader, if i could expand on my essay I would of liked to add more image comparison and possibly more context into the process of letterpress if i were to do this my essay would of been too long - even so the stuff i haven't included but i am aware about has widen my knowledge on both the letterpress and traditional print.

Practical: The practical was by far my favourite of the module I found this came really easily in comparison to my essay, I found it easy to come up with ideas to show my process and how I could share the same feelings with the people who use this medium as a first come basis. I really connected with my work and practitioners such as a burrill, I enjoyed playing with colour exploration and textures, I will be continuing to experiment over summer with the letterpress for my own personal use.

overall although this module was initially difficult to start I feel learning about the letterpress has allowed me to progress in my own practice as I am heavily inspired by traditional print - I would like to further explore handmade craftsmanship in cop 3 (seen in my proposal)

OUGD501 Study Task 9 - COP Proposal (COP3)

OUGD501 Practical Design Boards

OUGD501 Study Task 8 - Practical - Final Crit Feedback

After finishing and finalising my prints, I asked for some further feedback to see what others though of my explorations. I asked 3 questions:

What do you like about my letterpress posters?

Answers: 

• Simple, Clear & bold.
• The imperfection marks show clearly it is a one off piece
• The gradients and raw marks
• The mixed use of fonts

Is there anything I could of done differently or experimented further with?

Answers:

• Try a wider range of stock
• Colour variation
• Bolder colours

And any other comments:

Something that targets an audience other than graphic designers.

In response to my feedback I am overall happy with the comments as many of the negative comments brought up have been improved upon since then I have explored more stock and colours. I personally believe the colours are bold already but if i were to do this to the next level I would need to invest in some more ink as the print studio doesn't supply all colours.

What were your initial aims?

To explore the letterpress as a tradition process of print and experiment with technique.

What processes / strategies have you used and why?

Letterpress, this is conclusively relevant to my essay. I have particualrly focused my practice on the application of ink this is just one small area I could tackled

Is the work effective (in terms of your aims)? In what ways? How do you know it is effective (testing)?

Yes, these experiments have allowed me to learn first hand about the application of letterpress as a traditional process, this is just one small area covered, there are many I could still explore in future.

Does it communicate what it should do (in what ways)?

Yes, my idea was based on my self written brief. Although solely for my use I used puns to create a connection for a possible audience if graphic design - specifically it is more about my learning than using the pieces to communicate but it has done both.

What areas could be improved or developed further and why?

I could possibly try new layouts, these were decided by the limitations of type available to me. Also different ink applications. 

OUGD501 Practical Development & Outcomes

After further development of ideas I explored the actual letterpress process, in this case I haven't used a chase because it is not accsessible for such large type at the college - so to typeset my designs I used masking tape to bind together for the actual placement of the type I have had to go by eye. This although different to how I once thought I would be printing turned out just as successful if it had of been a chase the only issue is the amount irrgularities in the prints but i think this adds and element of craft. 

When actually doing the designs I was again restricted by the inks I could use, with a limited amount of oil based inks I could use - I had to create and mix my own colours this is really hard to do with a roller. I wanted to experiment with gradients and tones to do this It took great practice I had many attempts at rolling and applying ink correctly. In the end I experimented with applying ink with a paint brush to create a different effect this turned out really well. 

I am really proud my prints and most of all I enjoyed doing them it is really opened up a new medium to me and I would consider doing letterpress again as it was worth the amount of effort. I think this is definatley the reason so many practitioners use traditional print methods because of the hard work involved you feel like you have achieved something so great - you put hard work into it rather than just pressing a button. 

In conclusion it is clear to me why the persistence of traditional print methods is still going and used. 

OUGD501 Practical Research - Colby Poster Printing Co

http://www.mascontext.com/tag/colby-poster-printing-co/

"Glenn Hinman, president of Colby Poster Printing Co.

My grandfather was a supervisor who could actually run letterpress. In the early and mid 40s he was running a shop and he was well known. I know that because in the 70s and 80s, a lot of these printers who were still alive, would let me know, “I knew your grandfather, he was the best.” In the 40s he worked for a guy right down on Venice Blvd and one day they got busted for trying to make money. It turned out it was not him or the crew. But back then, you were a high profile person if you bought cotton and linen paper with the red and blue fibers because that’s the type of stock you used to make money. So in other words, if you bought certain stock in those days a red light would go off. They were keeping an eye on it and said, “That paper is for stocks and bonds, why does this little shop want it?” As he was getting busted and taken away, my grandfather did everything to save the shop, and keep the guys going, but it was over at that point. My grandfather and my grandmother sold the stock they had in Standard Oil but still had the list of client. So they set up a place right around the corner, about 200 yards from here that ended up burning down. He then bought this place that turned out to be a heck of investment. You wonder what was this place in 1946, maybe $10,000? Now its’ something between $1.2 and $1.5 million. So that’s how my grandfather started. Then my dad came on board and we were born into it. I started working here in 1976, Lee started in 1984 and Larry, my youngest brother, came six or eight years after Lee.

We used to do bus sign and billboards for movies like Planet of the Apes, 2001 Space Odyssey, The Death Pool with Clint Eastwood, House of Wax 3D when they had the very first 3D. I always remember that last one because that guy stuck it to us and it was down there so I had to look at it. In the 80s we used to do things for U2, White Snake, Motley Hatchet, Bruce Springsteen… hundreds and hundreds of them. My grandfather did work for the Beach Boys when they were kids, Steve Wonder and even bands from the 50s.

Now it’s getting tougher and tougher, also with out-of-state competitors and non-unions who can go much cheaper. Unions have been a great thing to us and we have all worked well together, but right now we can’t confirm with three unions that we can an employ them and and do our due diligences for two years. This was our best chance for a good year and it was just ok. Next year is an odd year and odd years are much tougher, there are very few elections. The even years are the big ones and every four you have the super elections. But this year we didn’t see the big numbers.

But this can be a thriving business. What I am really hoping for is the interest of the big unions. It’s not only a fantastic investment of a property, as it’s a third of a mile from all the freeways, but also there are three unions already here. So there is the foundation of a great business, but we are just burnt out."