Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Analysis of the Written Word LCC Student project 2010

Earlier this year I was fortunate to run an illustration project with first and second year students from the FdA Design for Graphic Communication course at LCC. Set out below is the brief, the four All Ears articles and under each article a selection of student work that relates to it. This is what we call a simulated live assignment. The project was supported by contributions from Caroline Thomson Co-Director of Arena Illustrators Agents. I think the students all learned something very important about the power and purpose of illustration and how they need to improve their work so it meets professional standards. Copyright belongs to the individually named artists.

Karl

FdA Design for Graphic Communication 2008/10 & 2009/11
Project title: Analysis of the written word
Start date: Monday 11th January 2010
Summative Deadline: Tuesday 9th February 2010 10.30am - 1.00pm
Co-ordinating Tutor: Karl Foster k.foster@lcc.arts.ac.uk

Introduction:
The written word is capable of inspiring imaginative image generation from artists and designers. Most professional briefs appear as written documents and a designer must interpret this to develop and evolve a suitable solution to the client’s problem.

Editorial illustration is commissioned across the globe and produced by artists to very short deadlines. You will need to work fast as a designer and create high standard outcomes on a regular basis.

It is important to become familiar with contemporary publications and to investigate how Illustration is used to enhance them. The work of Illustrators Janet Woolley, Marshall Arisman, Melanie Barnes, Angela Barrett, Chris Gibbs, Clifford Harper, Kevin Hauff, James Jean, Paul Slater and Chris Ware are examples of the diversity of approaches used in editorial publications.

The Brief:
You will produce 4 x finished editorial illustrations over a four-week period. You are required to produce a series of ideas and visuals that illustrate the content and context of each article. Use of a sketchbook and reference materials for ideas generation are vital as part of this project. Your roughs will be developed into a finished illustration using the media of your choice.
Full colour is available.

You will be sent by e-mail the 4 articles for Michael Holden’s “All Ears” column from the Guardian Guide. Printed size for each illustration 96 mm High x 96 mm Wide.

Submission Requirements and Schedule:
The project starts on Monday 11 January 2010.

Your tutor will email you the text for each article to be illustrated at 6pm on the Monday evening before each lecture.

Mon 11th Jan: Article 01 text emailed
Mon 18th Jan: Article 02 text emailed
Mon 25th Jan: Article 03 text emailed
Mon 1st Feb: Article 04 text emailed

You will upload your roughs in response to each week’s text to your blog (saved as 72 dpi Jpeg) on Wednesday mornings at 11.30am.

Wed 13th Jan: Roughs 01 uploaded
Wed 20th Jan: Roughs 02 uploaded
Wed 27th Jan: Roughs 03 uploaded
Wed 3rd Feb: Roughs 04 uploaded

The finished artwork for each article must be uploaded to your blog (saved as 72 dpi Jpeg) on the following Monday morning at 11.30am.

Mon 18th Jan: Finished illustration 01 uploaded
Mon 25th Jan: Finished illustration 02 uploaded
Mon 1st Feb: Finished illustration 03 uploaded
Mon 8th Feb: Finished illustration 04 uploaded
You will present your finished artwork in the lecture on Tuesday each week as a digital file saved as a RGB Jpeg resolution 300 dpi.

Tue 19th Jan: High resolution Illustration 01 presentation
Tue 26th Jan: High resolution Illustration 02 presentation
Tue 2nd Feb: High resolution Illustration 03 presentation
Tue 9th Feb: You will need to bring in all 4 finished high-res Illustrations to the lecture.

What we are expecting:
Enthusiastic image makers with passion and interest in illustration.
People who enjoy the challenge of short and regular deadlines.
People who are willing to show and share both their work and their opinions.
People willing to learn and develop as illustrators.

What we don’t want to see:
People who can’t work to deadline.
Illustrations that aren’t sensitive to the subject matter of the articles.
People unwilling to share their working process and opinions.
People who aren’t willing to learn, change and develop.

How will this project be taught:
This project will run over 5 weeks and there will be a mandatory to attend session each week. The first all day session will help you define the brief further and create a personal plan of action. The following 3 sessions will be opportunities for you to share your work in progress with your peers and tutor, offering and receiving valuable feedback. The final 5th session will be an assessment session where you will present your completed project and research work to the other people undertaking this project and one of the Directors of Arena Illustrator Agents. http://www.arenaworks.com/index.php
References
Blogs
Frances Castle http://frances-blog.blogspot.com/
Chris Gibbs http://illustr8.blogspot.com/
Luke Best http://lukebest.blogspot.com/
Allan Sanders http://www.loopland.net/blog/

Editorial
Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Sunday Express http://www.sundayexpress.co.uk this is related to extending this project

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