Container plus Lecture

Louis Vormittag

http://www.containerplus.co.uk/

Earlier on in the year Louis Vormittag from 'Container Plus' came to give us a talk. It was around the time that were were doing our cross pathway collaboration projects. Louis talked a lot about working in a team and the benefits and downfalls. She told us about the collaborations that she had been involved in and the problems that she'd had.

She showed us various pieces of her work which included various types of work from 2d Design, Shop Displays, Installations, through to web design.

Web Design:

It's interesting to see a different approach to web design. Combining illustrations, with photography and turning it into an interactive piece of work.

Illustration/ Photography:

I included these images as I thought that they highlighted the variety in the style that 'Container Plus' have. Although there is similarity in the style taken in both the web work and the installation pieces.

The main thing that I took away from this lecture was the insight that she gave us on working with other people in collaboration. Since the lecture I have collaborated a few times with different people and it has been enjoyable each time. I found this lecture useful and interesting and have refered to it since.

Shellsuit Zombie

Shellsuit Zombie
01/03/10

On the Monday night whilst in London, an evening was put on for us by Shellsuit Zombie, which is a project that is run by a group of graduate students. Their project is described as 'encouraging dialogue and ‘bridging the gap’ we hope that they will fall in love once again'.

This night was all about getting us involved in thinking about whats next! Trying to get us to consider the options after we graduate. Although this was intended for the third years, it was a good oportunity for us to start considering our options.

After talking to us and explaining a little about their own history they asked us to get into groups in which we had to have a go at putting together a capaign. We were asked to choose at random, two different pieces of paper. One with a celebrity and one with a product. We got 'Katie Price' and 'Guns', (will say no more about that), but it got us to look at how we could work as a group to quickly come up with a range of ideas.

The group weren't shy of speaking their mind which was great because they have been in the same position and they came across as being very honest. It was a great, productive night!

Lauren Moriarty

Visiting Lecture: Lauren Moriarty
05/03/10


On Friday we had a visiting lecture by textile/product designer Lauren Moriarty. Although her work is primarily textile based, she experiments a lot with materials and how her designs can be used as products. As I studied product design at A-S and A Level it was interesting to see how she took her original designs and modified them to suit the needs of a consumer.

Although Lauren Moriarty is a textile/product designer I found that her lecture was informative and relevant. I think that it's important within design to have interests and influences not just from our pathway. Although she operates within a different area in design than we do, I felt that a lot of what she was saying was relevant to the way that we work.

One of the main things that she talked to us about was the way that she promotes herself as a designer and how she uses her website to sell her own work. I found this part of the lecture extremely interesting and found myself make lots of notes, (maybe too many)! She also talked about funding and the options that were out there for students requiring funding for art projects.

Unlike some other lectures that we've had I found that she really wanted to help us and provide us with a as much help as she could.

Thoughtful Talk

Visiting Lecture: Thoughtful
16/02/10

Stu and Chris from Thoughtful came and gave us a talk in which they ran through their history as designers and how 'Thoughtful' came about. I think out of all of the talks that we've had it was the most honest. They weren't afraid to tell us the problems that they have had instead of just the positives.

They started of by introducing the different things that interested them, not just design realted but also other asspects. One thing that they said was that they keep scrapbooks, which is something which I started collecting stuff for a while ago but never got around to it. Maybe I might do now! They said that sometimes when your stuck for an idea going back to one of the scrapbooks could be the perfect way to get them out of a rut.

They showed us videos of how they went about projects in the form of a video diary. This is something which they said had been important to them and something that they wanted to continue doing. Not only does it show them engaging with the brief, but that there getting involved to the nth degree.

Thoroughout the presentation they had video questions from designers and people of interest. These acted as words of wisdom and really broke the presentation up. At the end of the lecture they were happy to answer any questions, evern after that lots of us stayed behind as they wanted advice from us on how the presentation could be better as they were doing it again later in this month.

Ian Macklin

Ian Macklin came into college yesterday. As Rick was in Holland for the week we were lucky enough to have Ian support us for the day. Early on Ian talked to us about his background and work and showed us some of his projects. I'm quite interested in VJing so looking at the type of concert visuals that he was creating was interesting. He created not only backdrops but pieces to go across the floor underneath where the acts stand.

We were still at the ideas stage within the project and we all sat down as a group and discussed our ideas and how to take them further. It was interesting to get someone else's opinion, not only as it was a set of fresh eyes on our project but because he's a designer working within the industry.