The Cut Up Collective

Well I’ve been flat out lately and had no chance to post anything, but that said I did find myself with some free time up in Newcasle last week so I decided to take a trip to the Baltic The centre for contemporary art on the South bank of the River Tyne, which is a very impressive old mill conversion, if you ever get the chance to go there it’s well worth it.

The first exhibition in the gallery was from the cut up collective, these are a group of artists who take down billboard ads, meticulously slice them into thousands of pieces paste them back on to the billboard making a different image.

In my mind I thought the concept was a simple but clever idea, what didn’t occur to me until I saw the video of them producing one of these pieces is the scale of each project which now seems obvious, cutting a billboard ad into thousands of identical sized pieces and then re-organising them into a different image, it’s an immense amount of work. Work however that is well worth the graft when you see the results presented in their gallery.

What really got me thinking however was how this could be achieved digitally, is it possible to take someones web advertisment or even website, slice it up pixel by pixel and turn it into something completly different?

Watch this space!!!!!

Avoid multiple design concepts

Recently I’ve been asked quite a lot by freelance clients and managers of the agency I work for to produce 3 design concepts for the client to pick from, usually a safe design which they’d expect to see, a design which makes them think a little and consider some new ideas and to finish off the collection a really zaney slightly wacky take on the brief that they will have never thought of. When these are put in front of the client they will usually say, ‘oh well we’d like a bit of number 1, a lot of number 2 and perhaps a sprinkling of number 3.’

Now as Paul Boag rightly points out in his 10 steps to getting design approval article, clients like this approach but it can cause confusion and delay in getting a design signed off and I think can be detriment to the projects integrity as an overall package.

I’m not suggesting that anyone should only think of one design concept for each project, whether its web, print or brand projects there should always be an initial creative session that results in a whole host of ideas but I am suggesting that the best concept is cherry picked from the rest designed and worked up and it is only that concept is pitched/presented to the client.

I believe that showing multiple design concepts to a client can display a lack of confidence in the work, and suggests the brief either hasn’t been understood or hasn’t been thought through properly.

Many clients have come to expect the 3 design concept approach, so it is a tough one to talk them out of, but when you explain to them how the time they are paying for will be far better spent developing and refining one concept that has been cherry picked from all the original ideas, they should come round to the idea relatively easily.

Ultimately: Read the brief, understand the brief, emerse yourself in the project, be confident in your designs.

MacBook Air

Well as a lot of you will know by now the new MacBook Air has been unvielled, is it what you were expecting?

 

Initially I wasn’t too impressed, sure it looks great, I don’t think anyone can deny that, but I had a few serious issues with some of the features, like the lack of optical drive, how will I watch DVD’s or install software? Oh I can BUY and external CD/DVD drive, what is this, 1996? Oh I can use someone elses disc drive on their computer, mmmmm real handy!!!!!

 

But then after calming down a little and thinking about it whilst in the car I can’t actually remember the last time I used the disc drive in my laptop, apart from to burn the CD I was listening to at that time in the car, which there wasn’t really any need for as I have an iTrip in glovebox, and hey I didn’t grumble when they lost the floppy drive on imacs all those years ago. mmmmmm Apple 1 Pedros 0.

 

The other problem I had was the drop down ports, now don’t get me wrong they make for a very slick looking lappy when they’re hidden away but I know for a fact I would break them in a week, laptops are supposed to be strong and robust as they’re being lugged around all the time, moving ports I’m afraid just aren’t working for me. Apple 1 Pedros 1.

 

I’ve also had a couple of problems getting my head around the idea of flicking the trackpad when I want to go forward or back through safari, I can imagine whilst browsing a website being thrown back to the last site I viewed without wanting to.  Having said that I’ve not used it so it may be ok it’s pretty effective on the iPhone and I’m sure you can turn it off. Apple 2 Pedros 1.

 

Finally I reckon they’ve comprimised a fair amount of performance to make it that thin an 80GB hard drive for something with no DVD burner sounds a little bit small to me, and with heat issues, processors are pretty middle of the road, I know its a MacBook and not a MacBook Pro but the pros will be due an overhaul before long and middle of the road now will seem pretty low tech then. Apple 2 Pedros 2.

 

So who wants one, well actually for all my gripes they aren’t major issues, and as someone who buys things for their aesthetic as well as performance I would quite like one really, lets face it I’m not going to go and buy a PC am I, and it would look damn good next to my iMac. Grrrrrrrr Apple 3 Pedros 2. You win Jobs!!!!!!!

 

 

5 Steps to staying creative

Everyone has there off days, go on admit it you’ve had a few. There’s no shame in it. Some peoples roles allow them plod on, have a slow day and it wont really matter too much, but what should us trendy, chique, cool creatives do when we hit the infamous creative rut, when we have project managers and clients hot on our heels for a radical new designs and concepts? Should we plug away at said designs or concepts for hours on end when it just isn’t working? Or should we take a step back, go off and do something else for a while and come back to it tomorrow with fresh a fresh mind?

Well in a perfect world the latter would be the best option for most of us, but unfortunately the real world brings us tight deadlines, office hours, client demands and project juggling, meaning that it is often not possible to walk away from something and come back to it another day. So what’s the solution?

Well the best solution is just not to have those ‘off’ days, now I’m not arrogant or foolish enough to suggest that what I’m about to suggest will solve the problem and you’ll be producing award winning creative every day, but I’ve found that building these few things into my working week have helped me have less of those ‘off’ days. So without further ado I bring you my ‘5 Steps to staying creative’

1. Spend an hour a day just, looking around.

Whilst I don’t advocate ripping off designs, websites or ideas, the majority of designs and the styles people produce them in are inspired by something. Which is why I make sure I spend at least an hour a day, looking around the web and seeing what other designers are up to, flicking through this months creative review, reading design blogs, talking to other creatives and just generally doing some research into what’s around at the moment and future technological advancements which may act as a medium for my designs. Here’s a couple of sites I visit regularly to keep abreast of the design trends.

netdiver.net

webcreme.com

thefwa.com

smashingmagazine.com

madspace.co.uk

hydro74.com (I don’t do a lot of work within this genre but this guy really inspires me when I need to raise my game).

2. Get a portfolio or a blog and publish your work.

One way to ensure you are always producing top notch creative is to publish as much of your work as possible amongst your peers, that way everything you produce, you will need to be proud of as it will be your name associated with it. Whether this be on a blog, within a printed portfolio or an annual reel it is a great way of seeing your work improve over time, referencing ideas, giving other inspiration and gaining some free publicity. I stumbled across this link the other day which has made to my favorites for finding good blogs and folios Adil’s 53 top blog design of 2007 and don’t forget to check out your own every now and again.

3. Playtime.

We all know kids learn through play, well designers develop through play, particularly those who work in-house or have a client base in one particular sector that doesn’t allow them to produce a varied range of work. I like to set aside time each week to work on my own projects which are totally different to what I normally produce for clients, they are fun to work on as they are my ow and I will always learn a new trick, skill or come up with an idea that can be carried across into my everyday work. So go on EXPERIMENT. This very blog is something I produce in my playtime.

4. Be part of a team.

Some prefer to work as part of a team, some prefer to work alone, it is essential for those who prefer a more private environment to be part of a team everynow and again, especially when it comes to initial brainstorming sessions, being part of a creative team is an amazing way of producing organic original ideas, where one idea feeds another. It is crucial however that there is trust within a team, particularly at initial ideas stages, where every member of the team is comfortable enough to throw out the first thing that comes into their head without fear of criticism. It is also a great way of making sure your design work is always tight, clients may not notice that 5 pixel mistake but the designer sat next to you sure will.

5. Check your surroundings.

In my previous blog the creative cubicle I spoke of how the environment that surrounds you affects the way you work and what you produce. Make sure every now and again that your physical surroundings still inspire you, if not change them. Put new pictures up, paint a wall, get some wall graphics, get a new desk, buy some new cd’s or change the radio station, do whatever is required to make you inspired and reap the benefits, stuck for inspiration? Check some of these inspirational workplaces.

As I said these 5 steps are going to ensure you will produce great creative and perfect designs every day, but they will certainly help you stay creative and not go stale and they will most certainly make you happier in what you do I promise you that. Let me know how you get on.