1st Blog Review

'Le Fashion' is a blog I've chosen to follow because the design instantly appeals to me as the style of the blog is based around fashion and that can be constantly updated with it being a suistainable subject and can be very opinionated. In this case, the blogger is quite open minded but the main things are that are posted are of self interest.

The design of the blog is very slick as a theme of black and white and a mix of serif, and sans serif fonts have been used to good accordance. The simplicity of the blog introduces an instant sense of a professional feel about the design and layout. The layout demonstrates a resemblance to a newspaper arcticle that is formatted to be all centred on the page so the main focus is on all of the posts and is easy to read as the centre is generally the first place a person is likely to look.

The genre of writing is mainly just opinionated comments on a few of the many various photos that are posted. Because of the type of blog, not much writing is needed as the pictures indicate the subjet of the blog. The style of the posted images are all similar in the way that you can pick up a certain style from what she intends to indicate through the fashion shown.

Google Reader

So, using Google Reader, I've found that everything is so much easier to monitor when looking at other's blogs. The drop down menu navigation on the left hand side shows what is / has been selected, what has been recently updated in each blog. It is familiar as it is used in many other programmes and is easily accessible.

Influential Research 2

Computer Arts Magazine, issue 177 (August 2010)

Article: 'Exposure - Get Your Work Seen (Sami Viljannto)'

(An article on the upcoming freelance Illustrators/graphic designers)

'Skinny legged wolves can't jump'

Although this article isn't much to read, the content is rather informative on the artist and demonstrates a simple profile of his work and his text. The language used is rather informal and unspecified and is fun to read in ways. It briefly describes his life as a freelance illustrator from the history of it to recent times and to where he is now. Quotes have been stated from the article himself and it helps give the article a more of a personal insight to his mind. At the end, information is also displayed about where his work can be alternatively found.

The two pictures displayed with the text shows his techniques as a Illustrator at the fullest. What caught my eye the most as I looked through the magazine the probably this image I have posted within this post. It's more of what appeals to me and is something is perhaps a style that I want to move into as a desginer.

Influential Research 1

Computer Arts Magazine, issue 177 (August 2010)

Article: 'Inspiration Workshop'

(An article on the Illustrator/designer and being behind Noborw Press)

This article in the Computer Arts magazine is of interest to me because it talks about what goes on behind all the issues of the image magazine and explains how it is put together. This is what inspires me to be a designer thinking up abstract pieces and making collections of themed art that is surreal to the reality of things.

The content of the article suited and is thorough in explaining about the process behind the magazine. The style of writing is informative but nothing too complex for readers that may be lacking in technical language / skills in the same area. The basics of the magazine and what it is, is stated in the beginning section along with a link to the website where more of the work can be found officially. The information about the magazine is in chronological order and gets more explanatory as the article is read more into. I think the article is put together really well but could maybe change where the text is in compliance to the pictures used to display what some of it is about. in return, the images used are all linked together in the way they have been taken and suit the article.

The 50's and the 60's at home - how things were different.

The 1950's

Towards the end, the majority of countries had largely recovered from World War II. Clashes of communism and capitalism dominated the decade, especially in the Northern Hemisphere of the world along with increased testing of nuclear weapons therefore creating a politically conservative climate.

The 1950s were the start of the age of the consumer. The post-war brought massive changes in the average home; it was out with the old and in with the new more modernised style of living. Open-plan living was introduced, and the fitted kitchen with brand new appliances, primary coloured decor with abstract and geometric shapes.

The 1960's

The 1960s were all free love, flower power and pop music and everything to do with the "Hippy" style. The previous decade's love of American design was replaced, as Swinging London became the centre of all the everyday homes of funky shapes, patterns

The style of the past decades had rejected historical influences in the spirit of rebellion. The result is a ragbag of styles recieved from all over, including Victorian and Edwardian, and the 1920s. But it was not just about replicating past styles; everything was given an irreverent twist to make it all its own. 

Pop art and op art led the1960s. Artists such as Andy Warhol and David Hockney with their pop art references to the culture / generation of time (soup cans, comic strips, images of icons like Marilyn Monroe) crossed over into interiors, and on to murals, wallpaper and posters and just about everywhere. Similarly, op art with its use of pattern and colour to simulate movement found its way into everyday living from everything from furniture to wallpaper. Artists such as Bridget Riley, who works with black and white in the majority of pieces of art, became the vogue.

Festival of Britain

The Festival of Britain was a national art exhibition which was held place in London and later on many other places around Britain, May 1951. The official opening was on 3 May. The main location for the Festival of Britain was on the South Bank Site, in London. Outside of London, major festivals took place in Cardiff, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath, Perth, Bournemouth, York, Aldeburgh, Inverness,Cheltenham, Oxford and many other bases.

At that time, shortly after the end of World War II, much of London was destroyed and left in ruins and redevelopment of the city was needed desperately. The Festival was to help give Britons a feeling of recovery, redemption, progress and to promote better-quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities following the end of the war as sort of a celebration.

The graphic designer for the Festival of Britain poster was Abram Games who had been the Official War Poster artist and whose iconic use of symbols of the Festival remains memorable.

Misha Black, one of the Festival architects, said that the Festival opened up a wide audience for architectural modernism but that it was common factor with professional architects that the design of the Festival was not innovative. The architects also tried to show by their design and layout of the South Bank Festival what could be achieved by applying modern town planning ideas. Numerous amounts of buildings on the main South Bank site became the main symbol of the festival.

18th October 2010, a study visit to Sheffield Art Galleries

Millennium Gallery, Museum Sheffield

Restless Times: Art in Britain 1914 - 1945

Unfortunately, the museum didn't allow any pictures to be taken so we couldn't acquire any of the featured art works in the gallery, but names were taken down and we researched two of the personal favourites of artists out of the the gallery.

(no photo)

Artist: Roland Penrose

Art Piece: Elephant Bird Collage

One of the pieces that caught my eye was the 'Elephant Bird Collage' as the techniques used in the design was rather modern and different compared to the rest of the pieces in the gallery. He displayed it as a photo montage using what seemed like traditional techniques to create the picture. The colours used were bright and the surrealism gave the art a unique look compared to the majority of the pieces on show.

Artist: Jankel Adler

Art Piece: The Mutilated

This oil painting on canvas captivated me because it's simple but very effective. The kind of textures of the painting used indicates a much more deep / three dimensional definition of the piece. To my opinion, this piece demonstrates that the figure on the left seems like the person is getting rejected and is at more of an elderly age contrasting to the younger figure on the right whom seems more agile. It in someways, shows the selfishness of the times of people in need during the Second World War. The picture's theme of colours show the type of direct meaning of the reality in those year and how things became much more confused and separated from each other being affected and influenced by the devastation of what the outcame became.

The Sheffield Institue of Arts Gallery

Abram Games: Maximum Meaning Minimum Means

Abram Games was one of the most celebrated graphic designers in the 20th century. His work consists of the history of Britain, company logos, posters, stamps, and products. The exhibition brings together all his original art and shows them as an archive.

Abram Games' work is appealing to me because of the simple graphic style he uses to display his hidden agenda behind the art. The pieces bring positive emotions to what the art is really about. The colours he uses stands out and catches the eye from afar, furthermore his art he uses symbolic yet simplistic shapes to show familiar forms in a cartoon style. This gallery appealed more to me because the art was more visually interesting in many ways and the mood of the gallery was more  made up on own opinions rather than ligthing and music in the background to create a specific atmosphere like in the first gallery we visited.