7 Deadly Sins

More early work, but I decided that this deserved its own post! :)

I needed more stuff for my Portfolio and somehow came up with the idea of doing make-up packaging with the theme of 7 deadly sins. With the help of 6 of my friends I did 2 photoshoots and shot loads of pictures... it was SO MUCH fun! :)



I <3 Collages :)




Here's the divider/title sheet I used for my Portfolio showing the best picture taken, unedited, for each sin.

Below are the two nets for Pride eyelashes and Gluttony glitter.





And here is the final collection of packaging!
I even vacuum formed some bits to hold the lipgloss, blush and eyeshadow :)

What do you think? Can't you just imagine it on shelves next to the likes of Maybelline and Barry M? haha

Early Work

One of the problems of only just having started this blog last month is that you only get to see my current work... when I think you need the whole story! So what I've done is dipped my hand into my portfolio I took around to unis (and get accepted by 2 when I clearly wasn't ready haha) and also some other bits and pieces that I really like and think show who I am...

Lets start with the earliest... GCSE!! (Yes I know...bad pic quality, this is what happens when you cover things in sticky back plastic - can't use flash! haha)

This seems actually ages ago (well, it was... nearly 4 years now eek!) but I am really proud of my GCSE work, not only because I got an A* (main reason tho :P) but also because I didn't do art... but all of the illustrations in the pop up book are hand drawn.
Now, you're probably thinking 'a graphic designer that can't draw?' well here's a bit of history - when I was 8 I came 3rd in a drawing competition for Natwest! haha I was in the newspaper... even on the front cover! So I know can draw, but I'm just not confident at all. The fact I didn't do art at GCSE (timetable clash that wasn't my fault, resulted in me doing Drama instead) makes me wonder exactly what level my drawing is at, I've got no grade to help me gauge!

But anyway, yeah... LOVE my pop up book, and although I look back at it and think 'ahh, could have done that better'... at the time I got loads of compliments and I still love it :)

There's a bit of a gap now... in my first year of A-Levels I didn't really do anything creative because Product Design was more about design, not art. But towards the end of the year I realised I had to start doing my portfolio...

I think this was done around Valentines in 2008? I bought a selection of pick and mix sweets from Woolworths - the last time I would do that, RIP Woolies lol :( and photographed them... then printed them off and cut every single one out... it took actually forever! I think it was worth it though, no?
Once again... picture taken without flash because I covered it in sticky back plastic, but I can assure you it looks SWEET (haha) in person :)



I LOVE SHOES.
What girl doesn't? I saw this gorgeous pair of shoes in Superdrug's free magazine (Dare) and decided to practice my shading technique.... and I really love the outcome!
Sadly I can't find the original page or I would have scanned it but here's a webcam screenshot from when I was showing it off in comparisson to my friend on msn.

W.I.P

This is my W.I.P piece (Work in progress).... which never got finished!
I had planned to finish it before my interview at DeMontfort uni in Leicester, but decided to take it as my W.I.P piece because unis want to see not only finished pieces, but stuff that you are currently working on too!



It's a picture of me and an ex-boyfriend from when we went to a wedding in 2006? It was a gorgeous day and the hotel in Spalding was absolutely beautiful!
I don't think I've actually got the original picture anymore due to Computer crashing etc but it was such an amazing picture, totally natural because we didn't know it was being taken.

I cut it up to give the illusion of the glass in the photoframe being smashed... I guess the idea behind it was that the relationship was cracking or broken/over. I can't really remember now, and I can't even remember how I had planned to finish it either, but I want to finish it sometime soon so might have a bit of a brainstorm later!

Festival Memories

Last summer I went to Reading Festival with my friends Laura, Nadia and Christie and we had an AMAZING time... what a summer!

After doing the gouache faces with Hilary I had the idea to do a painting in the same style for my friends, one each for christmas. HOWEVER, I started and didn't get around to even finishing one, let alone 3 haha





I found it last week after my major room clear out and it just reminded me of the amazing time we had! The picture of the 4 of us was taken when we was waiting at the barrier for The Blackout to come on. If you don't know who The Blackout are then they're a Welsh band.... and we love a bit of Welsh haha. They were on the main stage first on the Saturday and we got up really early, like 7? to queue up and make sure we got to the barrier - and we did! We RAN FOR OUR LIVES the whole length of the arena bit (if you've been then you will realise just how far that is lol)... i actually felt like dying when we got there! haha But it was an amazing time and I got some brill pics of Sean:



I love the colour of the sky... it was such a b-e-a-utiful day!






Here's a pic taken from the stage... if you look closely you can find us at the left hand side - look for Nadia's green bit on her top (a Blackout band tee) haha!



And another random pic for the love of memories :).... I think its a bit skins-esque... if you get me? Love it :) <3>
UPDATE 28.02.09 - I've finished the first painting just in time to give to my friend Laura for her 19th Birthday :)





I hope she likes it *fingers crossed*

J'adore Damask

....I realise that we probably don't know each other very well (blogger, me and reader, you lol) but one thing that you will come to notice is my love for Damask prints/patterns! (... well, if you hadn't already guessed anyway...)

I love the black and white and white on black versions best I think... colour makes it too jazzy?

I love Damask so much I even sleep surrounded by it....



It looks very nice in my room :)

I really want a damask skirt.... I know, sounds a bit O.T.T but what I mean is a dark, smudgey grey material with a faint black damask print on it... to look as if someone has printed the pattern onto the material using potato stamps haha Would look nice and classic with a white top.
It would be so cool.... might try it if/when I get rich and famous; can't afford potatoes at the minute, let alone fabric paint and material! haha

There is one thing I hate Damask on though.... mugs, euk!

Ok, so this one is doubly horrible because it's orange too haha but, aren't they so AWFUL!?
If I see Damask patterned stuff I'm usually really tempted to buy it, but not a mug; the patterns are always so ugly and small. They should have a large, really crisp b&w pattern... it would look so much nicer! lol (watch this space... could now do some mug designing in my spare time? haha)

I'll add some pictures of other cool Damask items when I find some... damask donations are always welcome haha :)

Take Out?

This doesn't really have anything to do with my course, or Graphic Design really but I just needed to share it with the rest of the world really lol I will probably end up doing this kind of thing every now and then...

Yesterday we went on a trip to Nottingham Trent Uni and after looking round etc we went into the city for shopping (Primark queen at work)... and then on the way back to the coach we got caught by the smell of Millie's cookies, as you do :) ... If you haven't had a Millie's cookie, you haven't lived lol They're amazing!!!!

Anyway... I went halves with Bobbins on a deal thing and I just found the reciept in my pocket...



The whole point of this blog is to point out that the reciept states 'TAKE OUT'.
1. It makes Millie's sound like Maccy D's (it IS also an american company, but it's no excuse lol) or something... you know, when they ask you if you're eating in or not?


2. I didn't know you could 'EAT IN'... where exactly would you sit? On top of the oven? Or maybe move the chocolate sprinkle shaker onto the floor? I mean... Millie's Cookie 'shops' are NEVER big... they're like market stalls really... so surely TAKE OUT is a waste of ink, waste of paper and waste of my time reading it? haha


3. What is a 'Classic' cookie? I didn't realise there were catergories of cookies!? Are there sports cookies, family cookies and eco-cookies (all types of cars - classic, sports, family, eco-friendly)?


and 4. I don't like the discourse of the reciept (This is English Lang A level now haha).... I mean, it says 'Thankyou for your custom. Please call again' before you've even bought anything haha


You may be concerned for my mentality and think I am crazy and sad after reading that, but at least I feel better now :) I get the same about spelling and stuff.... They're, There and Their, Know and No, You're and Your.... those are just some of my favourite common mix-ups people make lol


Please don't send for the men with the straight jacket :)

Splash Effect

Haha, thinking up the cheesy title's makes me smile :)

The next Photoshop project for Luke is to design a screen splash (start up screen bit) for Adobe Photoshop CS4.... using only the colour we've been given (as well as black and white).

I've got Reflex Blue (below), and am quite happy with it.... but I want to make sure I do something totally original.... no water or dolphins - SO CLICHE!



I've got a couple of ideas to start off with... hopefully I can develop them into something really interesting, not giving them away just yet though :P

UPDATE 19.03.09

I have just realised that it would look like I have done no work on this project, when infact... I have!

I have done some moodboards etc, a bit more research into Reflex Blue and read some books about camera stuff on how to take pictures of lights at night/ reflections on water etc




This is all I can show you atm (the only jpeg I have)... but I assembled it using co-ordinates etc :)
I know I said I didn't want to do the cliche water thing, but how I'm doing it at the moment is quite different! I've gone down an architectural route (I can't show you atm because I've only got psd files and no photoshop at home!) with some pictures of flashy, glass buildings/skyscrapers. And I've also got pictures of Wisbech Port area incorporated too (the reflection of the lights on the Nene)!


For my 2nd idea I am thinking a nautical fashion theme... maybe?


UPDATE 23.04.09

Today was deadline day... I made it, just.
I haven't been updating this project very well so I thought I would upload some pictures of interesting pages from my work:

Mood boards about Reflex Blue...





Here's my mood board for the Nautical Fashion idea I was thinking about. I changed my mind slightly as you will see when you look at the final.



Here is a page about the different camera settings I used when taking pictures of the light reflections (and fireworks)



Here is some testing I did in the style of artist Yves Klein. He used the naked body to create patterns, and also painted canvases of one colour which puzzled some visitors to his exhibitions.

And here are the final screen splashes:
(I had to scan them in from my work so that's why the quality is quite poor)

Screen Splash #1



I don't really like this first one because I wanted it to be about the light reflections on the water but my tutor said that he thought they were too dominant so I toned it down. Here is the one I was going to submit...



Screen Splash #2



I had a bit of trouble with getting the angle of the 'Adobe Princess' name right on the ship... it's still not perfect :( This idea turned into a more abstract pattern using an image of a ship that I vectorised. I used subtle hints to show that they are actually ships (the anchor)

UPDATE 07.05.09

We got our grades back today... I got a High Merit which I'm pleased with as I didn't expect to get a Distinction because I knew I hadn't put as much effort in as usual. You can't win them all!

Roses Are Red... or Dusky Pink

Vera Wang's roses are most deffinitely NOT red lol That would be far too easy for me to replicate....

Hilary's new project (well, I say new... we've had 3 weeks on it now) is that we've chosen an advert from her selection and have to reproduce it as accurately as we can. It's all about attention to detail; every colour, every line and every stroke of a brush should match up!

I chose the Vera Wang Truly Pink advert mainly because I liked it... and because I didn't think it would be as difficult as some of the other options (including very minimalist and sharp adverts by designers such as Chanel and D&G) but I have proved Julius right (he said I would be crazy to pick it because it would be really hard) and am now regretting it a bit. The colour is just so hard to match, especially with all the light on the rose petals etc



Above, Original advert


Above, my tracing

The beginning of my tests... the roses, and the bottle neck

Progress needs to be made on this project... majorly lol I need to sort myself out and get focused, but its so frustrating... 3 hours tomorrow though, plenty of time to be inspired again!

And anyway, I still love the advert even if I hate it :)

Update 23.02.09 - Its 22.17pm the night before the deadline of this project.... and this is what I have...

Excuse the poor photography AS PER USUAL, no flash on camera, accetate reflection, light reflection etc etc

But, arrgh, the background is just not enough/right! :(

Update 23.02.09 - Its now 23.16pm.... and Im a little bit happier I think. I re-traced the background AGAIN but onto white tissue paper ... and its still not right, but I think it's a step closer at least?