Context
Last
summer I volunteered at Glastonbury for a small grassroots company that focuses
on sustainability through recycling. Last year the stall focused on encouraging
people to grow their own organic fruit and veg in their back gardens, showing
how easy and fun it can be. The stall was decorated using recycled materials which
is what I was a part of, as well as running the stall and encouraging families
and kids to engage with the small allotment. A colleague of mine had a sister
who worked on the branding and set design for one of the biggest festivals in
the Netherlands, and the biggest electronic dance music festival in the world,
Mysteryland. We got talking and I asked if she’d be up for an interview, and
she was more than happy to oblige.
I
have visited music festivals every summer since the age of 16, and have always
been very aware and curious of the scope of planning and designing (as well as
immense attention to detail) that goes on within. They are something that have
always fascinated me. These micro-environments which are set up and dictate the
way people interact and enjoy a space holds a lot of value. I have always been a
very politically and environmentally driven person, since studying politics and
geography at school. I loved that design courses taught ethics, and found it
interesting that courses like neuro-science and bio-chem do not. For me this
speaks volumes about creatives as people, and our awareness of the social (and ethical)
responsibility in the power of communication. The idea that knowing what colour
and even typeface you select can impact the way a viewer feels, is in my
opinion, a privilege that needs to be respected.
After
visiting Glastonbury last year, I fantasised about being the next Emily Eavis
(aim high, right?). Seeing how immensely music and art has the power to bring
people together in a truly organic and unique way, really inspired me. The
scope of concept and practice, as well as the network of creatives involved,
and the success of the outcomes, made me realise this is something I want to be
a part of. Shangri-La is a sector of Glastonbury that is designed with strong
political connotations, reflecting on current affairs in with a strong
protestful voice. It’s evident liberalist motives, and heavy counter-cultural
vibe fed into a sort of dystopian village that merited scope for controlled misbehaviour.
This sort of social revolution that was created not in the real world but still
in the real world, really fascinated me. The design of everything (posters,
signage, objects, concepts, performance, costume – and so on) all existed in
transforming this make-shift micro-cosmic environment, which translated a
strong message to everyone inside it.
This
year in Level 5, I fell into designing projection visuals for student event
nights in Brighton and Leeds. After playing around with After Effects for a
bit, I realised I wasn’t too bad and that people really liked what was being
created. This is when my confidence started to grow and so did the video
productions. Concept for me is the most important part of design, so I didn’t
just want to make ‘trippy geometric designs’ (the clients brief) with no
purpose. As such much research went into the relevant colours for a crowd of
this type (e.g. should be gender neutral, emit feelings of friendliness, joy,
energy etc) as well as how to best create a design that was to be used across a
multitude of music types (6h events, as opposed to design in response to just
one song, which is more like a music video). As such, the concepts ranged from
neuron connections, and visualising how our brain responds to music, to cityscapes.
The cityscape visual was a personal favourite, representing urban music and
juxtaposing people being inside an underground club, with the view of a city
from above, like an aeroplane for example, to highlight scale and make the
audience feel part of a close-knit community. Feedback was very positive and I
got a lot of work following the event in Brighton.
I
guess this was the first time I realised how art and music go hand in hand, and
that a successful event relies on the stimulation of senses entirely aimed at
the needs of the target audience. Still, it was important for me to gage a more
professional insight into the industry, and how I could go about getting my
foot in the door. Accordingly, this interview with Graphic Designer Ally Ross,
a 33-year-old woman from Kentish Town, a place very close to my own home, was
an incredible and almost fateful opportunity.
Ally
said it was okay to record the interview but that because the nature of some of
the topics being secret to the public, such as plans for next year’s
Mysteryland and some other projects that cannot be publicised yet, meant she
agreed that I could type up the relevant information afterwards. Hence, that is
the transcript presented for the creative report at hand.
For
the future I am looking to get in contact with a lot more Graphic Designers
working higher up in their profession. Although Ally gave an amazing insight
into one perspective of Graphic Design, I feel like communicating with people
working in the UK could be more beneficial for keeping in context afterwards,
and gaining job and industry experience. It has only been in 2018 that I have
really found the confidence to contact professionals and communicate with them on
a proficient level. I have always found myself to be ‘not ready’, however now
realise no one ever is. You only get that experience through practice, and so
but emailing and getting in contact with a broad range of professionals in
industry, will do nothing but benefit my future within the industry.
Ally
was very much like me in the sense that she’s into travel, music,
sustainability, campaign, people etc., however I think it is important to reach
out to creatives with different aspirations as one cannot solidify their own
intentions without having a broad knowledge of the sector. How do I know
freelancing isn’t for me, or publication design, or editorial? I find that
throughout this year my responses to each module has covered a range of outputs
from motion graphics, publication design, collage, postcards, zines, app
design, company branding and more, so I do not want to set out my goals in
stone without exploring what else is out there.
After
researching Graphic Designers who operate within my personal tastes – for
instance I know full well I will always be into more alternative styles as that
is a part of my identity – I found a short list of designers and studios which
I want to reach out to over summer in preparation for Level 6 and for a more broadened
insight into industry and opportunities.
Fluid – Birmingham
‘The
company ethos ‘Never Not Creating’ ensures every project we undertake benefits
from an ingrained passion and cultural knowledge, earning Fluid a renowned
reputation for consistently evolving creativity.’
Really diverse, broad and playful outcomes
Mega – Bournemouth
‘We love
the unusual, admire the brave…we enjoy working with like-minded people to
create work we can be proud of and believe design should have a purpose beyond
profit.’
Ethically driven substance and similar opinion of
design
Sawdust – London
For a greater insight into more mainstream and dominant
graphic design company
Mike Perry Studio – New York
After watching Broad City – one of my favourite TVshows, I have been in love with Mike Perry’s animations and illustrations. I
recently found out that the students on the New York trip this year got to
visit him, so I have asked for a contact number and will be getting in touch
over summer.
Ruffmercy
Really incredible animations for music videos that
connote Norman McLean’s use of line and colour to heighten sound, however takes
it into the modern era with his digital techniques.
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