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Art School C*ntsMaybe I should elaborate on my theory...at

art school, like any school, there are cliques.

The art school equivalent of the ‘cool kids’

would be the Art School C*nts. These are the

guys and girls with the art school dress sense

and haircuts. They party in East London and

delight in going to obscure private views.

They swan around like maverick creatives -

which they may or may not be - who knows.

Its hard to tell if they are trend-setters or

trend-followers.

I hope I am not one these guys. I might be

though, I do wear a Barbour.

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BooksI have a tendency to accumulate graphic

design books and never read them.

I’ve decided to put an end to this! I’ve read

three books already this year, and I really

enjoyed them. One book at a time, I am going

to be a reading machine!

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CollagraphThrough out the first term I signed up for

various printing inductions. Surprisingly,

collagraph was one of my favourites. A piece

of card is used as a starting point for a plate.

The surface is then added to, or scraped

away, to create relief. The plate is sealed

with shellac, intaglio inked and printed like a

traditional etching plate.

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I went to university once before. I studied

Fine Art but I chose to leave in the second

year. It felt like the right thing to do at the

time; the course wasn’t stimulating, another

year and a half seemed pointless.

Someone called me a ‘drop out’ once. I didn’t

like how it sounded and I haven’t forgotten it.

So I’m back at university to put that right and

become a graduate.

Drop Out

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EnjoymentI get bored. I am bored. Bored of this

project, bored of being a student again.

I want to be out in the real world doing

something worthwhile.

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FriendsI’m a one man wolf pack.

One of my close friends let me down. Our

paths don’t cross anymore. I have friends

now, but not close friends. It feels like there’s

a void but I’m still too bitter to do anything

about it.

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Green“Don’t design landfill.”

“Beautifully designed things have value and

longevity, but mediocre design usually ends up in

a bin.”

These two statements were made by a

speaker at a talk I recently attended; How

To Be An Eco Creative. It made me aware of

some important issues in design and in the

wider world. I have since made a conscious

decision to try my upmost to be a socially

responsible designer.

I want to pass the message on and help raise

awareness. These sites are a good start:

Three Trees Don’t Make A Forest

Lovely As A Tree

Transition Towns

Chris Jordan

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HandwritingI have always liked handwritten type. I think

this quote from Stefan Sagmeister sums up

its appeal:

“I am not obsessed with typefaces and find the

selection of just the right one a rather tedious

exercise. Using my handwriting eliminates that

process, personalizes the piece and can be

interpreted as an anti-computer statement all in

one easy move.”

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Isobel WilliamsI met Izzy in October. I liked her instantly.

She’s the sunshine kid.

Izzy:

> is my favourite illustrator

> doesn’t get in bad moods

> refers to herself in the third person

> has quickly become one of my best friends

Check out Izzy’s blog she’s great.

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Juxtaposition is an image placement approach

whereby related or contrasting images are

placed side by side. It may imply similarity or

dissimilarity.

Juxtaposition

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Know Your AlphabetI found this poster at the 99p Store in

Elephant and Castle. Its one of my favourite

examples of an A-Z. It brings back childhood

memories.

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LetterpressIts taken a while - but I finally got to try

letterpress. I enjoyed setting type by hand,

it appealed to my obsessive nature. I hope

to find excuses to spend more time in the

letterpress studio this year.

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MantrasI read Things I Have Learnt In My Life So

Far by Sefan Sagmeister. I felt inspired

to produce some mantras of my own. I like

them, but I do feel this sort of typography

is verging on pretentious. Also, I noticed

writing mantras can make you think you’re

wiser than you actually are.

I just found a whole website of this stuff:

Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far

But two is enough for me. Who’s going to top

Sagmiester anyway?

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NewspapersWhat amazes me about newspapers is the

speed and quantity with which we consume

them. The rise of free newspapers means

they are now more abundant and less

valuable than ever before.

Yesterday’s news is old news, but yesterday’s

newspapers are forgotten.

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Origami“Our culture and society rest upon twenty six firm

pillars, the letters of the alphabet, and they’re not

going to give way that easily”

In his book The Essentials of Visual

Communication, Bo Bergtrom says it can

seem as though pictures are our enemies, but

letters are our friends.

He says most people are afraid of pictures;

and analysing a picture can often say more

about the person doing the analysis than

about the picture itself, which turns the

process into a kind of self-portrait. He

suggests that on this basis we have to

hope that the pictures teach us the value of

admitting our secrets and the dangers of

hiding them.

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I designed a poster to encourage my new

course mates to join me for a night out in

Hoxton (see Art School C*nts).

I printed it digitally, then made further

prints using solar etching. This technique is

similar to traditional etching but allows you

to develop images directly on to the plate with

UV light.

Poster, Print & Process

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She is the mother duck!

I owe her a lot, probably more than a load of

cards with ducks on and one letter of an A-Z.

QUACK!

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RelationshipsI’ve dated plenty of attractive girls but I’ve

never been in a serious relationship. I’m

25; I wonder at what age I’ll start to get

concerned?

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Saint SagmeisterIn the acknowledgements of the book How To

Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your

Soul, it says; “Thanks to Stefan Sagmeister, the

patron saint of this book.”

Sagmeister has now been bestowed with

the prestigious honour of the patron saint

of Adams Alphabet. Sagmeister’s work has

inspired me throughout this project and

motivated me when I ran out of stream.

(It was either him or Isobel Williams, and it

couldn’t be Izzy because she’d love it too

much).

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TalentDo some people have a different way of seeing

and thinking? Is talent gained from experience or

are you born with it?

I think design can be learnt, yet some people

have a natural talent for it. It pains me to

admit it, but I don’t really consider myself to

be a talented designer. I’m not sure I have

the raw ability or the creativity.

I will work hard to be a technically strong

designer. I would like to lead projects and

work alongside the more talented designers.

I do however, have some friends who are

very talented designers and create beautiful

works. Check out these guys:

Rob Francis

Joe Hughes

Isobel Williams

Mike Calandra

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Universal LanguageUniversal Language refers to the language

of symbols. I designed a set of abstract

symbols to be used by hunters. I don’t know

any hunters, but I’m sure hunters would love

them.

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VinylVinyl is wonderful. No other format of music

is collected and treasured like vinyl and most

likely, never will be again.

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Web DesignI’ve dedicated this year to acquiring skills that

will help get me employed. Knowledge of web

design seems to be in high demand, so I’m

studying short courses alongside the degree.

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XeroxThe photocopier is almost regarded as

obselete, but I still think its a great tool

for image making. I used it a lot during our

workshops at the start of the year and I think

its good to embrace anything that gets you off

the computer!

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YellowI like yellow, it evokes happy memories. When

I see yellow I think of sunshine, flowers, post-

it notes and rubber gloves.

I think I’m correct in saying that the

combination of yellow and black creates

the strongest possible contrast of any two

colours.

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Apple + ZApple + Z should be a sin! Which would make

me a sinner.

I live in the ‘undo’ culture. I worry it makes

me complacent. I know I should spend more

time thinking and planning a design, but I

head straight for the computer safe in the

knowledge I can always ‘undo’.

I wish I did more design manually.

Letterpressing, screen printing, sketching

and drawing. Even cutting, and pasting with

scissors and glue. I’m going to make an effort

to try for the remaining two terms.

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