Finishing the BA!

Hello lads and lasses!

It has been a long long time hasn’t it?

As most of you know I have been finishing up my uni BA and have been essentially running in circles and chasing last minute bits.

The show is up and has been for a few days, and it had taken me until now to catch up on sleep and get my head straight, but hello and here I am with news and updates on Illustrate-Tor (Me).
And here is a little sneaky-peeky at my FMP which is all about branding luxury holidays to the moon “Lunar View”. This is what has been keeping me so busy 😉

Firstly thank you to all of those who have helped me emotionally or providing me with encouragement where my confidence was wearing thin, and also for understanding how stressful it all is! And a massive HUZZAH (more people should say this) to all of us Art, Graphics any Uni students out there for making it this far! You should all be very proud!

This Thursday (tomorrow 20.5.15   5.30pm) is the Open Evening Show (Yes I know, weird how the show is after we have already opened – not my choice but I suppose it was for working out the kinks). We are showing in Banbury Town Centre in the  Castle Quey Precinct.

When it has all sunk in, and all the hand ins’ are complete I might be able to get my head around it all and start my plan for the future creatively. I don’t know what my future holds, but I know the main thing is to keep opening new doors. Try new things, learn new things, just keep expanding my horizon. I wasn’t told any of this, it is more something I want to do.

Challenges are the spice of life.

Love you all and hope to meet some of you at the show!

Your relieved and ready to go get pizza – Illustrate Tor xxx – Wondering what tomorrow will bring…

HND End of Year Show (June 2014)

“Me, Myself & I” – The last project of the HND!

Illustrate-Tors show from side on.

Designed on a (student) budget with the aim of getting people to interact with the individual facial features and take an ironic and non permanent way of looking at themselves in a non permanent way. The style that I chose was a fun cartoonist and very unreal form of illustration – almost “cutesy” but not quite because, even though the collection is meant to be light hearted, fun and entertaining – it has a darker more sinister side.

“I am more than just a selfie” Mirror.

“Am I happy in my now skin?” Mirror.

The darker side came about when I detached myself from culture by not using my technology for a short while and observed how everyone (and I do mean everyone with varying degrees of course), was and still are focused on how they look. Some dealing with is as simple as a bit of mascara or a flick of hair gel, this is the tamer end of self vanity and is generally accepted by the consumer and their close friends and family (There are obviously varying styles within this). The tougher more extreme end of self vanity twists into the plastic surgeon sector, with shocking numbers of both men and women opting for some kind of surgical enhancement. The most shocking figures being split between the younger (18-25 years) and middle aged (40-50 years). After researching though different means (observation, question airs and experimentation) shows the younger age groups “main” reason being they are not comfortable in their own skin because the standards of how people “should” look has been raised thanks to the wonder of Photoshop. Of course we can just blame everything on Photoshop, like anything technological – it is never the technologies fault but the drivers, so the button pushers and the head of fashion and media have been focusing on this look and people getting skinnier and skinnier. So children and the younger generation even though they may insist on not being – they are impressionable. The “middle-age” group is more trying to keep what they had and keep in contact with their youth instead of ageing graciously, which who am I to say “you can’t do that” to? It isn’t my place to assume a role of command as an Illustrator/Graphic Designer, but rather offer them (the public) the facts and to let people make up their own mind about the facts presented to them.

The Typography / Illustration Poster

I however didn’t show all the hard facts more as an experiment to see if the general public wood look for a deeper meaning in my work. Which I will have to be honest, only those tho are used to looking deeper saw what I was trying to say, where as those not used to that style of presentation just saw my show as a bit of fun and to get their photo taken with the Polaroid camera. (which seemed a huge hit on the opening night!)

Polaroid photos of people interacting wit my space.

Over all, I think if I touch such a personal subject again in an artistic manor I will defiantly show the facts some how, perhaps it could be used more as a shock and remember system, than the fun and reminisce on a moment in time – like how I approached the subject.

A mix of Illustrate-Tors business cards (non permanent – for this show only).