JOE MITCHELL DESIGN

When developing and researching ideas surrounding Scandinavian Design I came across Systems new subscription which details the work of Virgil Abloh of OFF-WHITE, an American high fashion house that is bang on trend at the minute with consumer and pop culture.   OFF-WHITE is a fashion label founded by DJ and fashion designer Virgil Abloh in 2012, following his reappropriated art experiment, PYREX VISION. The current designs range from patchwork to graphic t-shirts, and all of them feature the company’s now trademark stripes, noticeably embossed on its back along with its name “WHITE.” As well as, being carried by various retailers worldwide, OFF-WHITE opened its first location and flagship store in Hong Kong. It was for his collaboration with IKEA by which has interested me in looking into him further.  Known for continually pushing the envelope and offering some of the world’s most concise, dynamic reports on a variety of hot topics, issue 10 of  System Magazine...

Workshop three of AfterEffects was about the hand, hand drawing and how we can use manual effects to enhance designs digitally. We were told to come to the lesson with three hand drawings of some form, each slightly different that would allow for us to layer the images and ultimately make them move over a 10-second sequence. We were also told to bring a background which would hold some form of context that would allow us to shape the composition in an exciting format. I decided to look into the work of Kris Trappeniers.  The stencil artist, Kris Trappeniers  from Belgium, creates fascinating portraits using only a scalpel and a single piece of paper. Initially, he establishes loose portraits on paper, and then he cuts each paper-cut by hand with an X-acto. Afterwards, he uses the spray to paint them.  The use of various line weights and the mixture of positive and negative space are the main elements of his art creating really vivacious images.  Fore...

I have developed further work surrounding my recent studio project Imminent Self. Working on feedback from tutors as well as looking at the direction I want to take my project, I am now developing previous work to hopefully come up with a concept idea.  Developing from Photography from before, I have now decided to look at the work of Deutsche & Japaner who create more ambiguous work based on personal items that relate well to imminent self. This inspired me to take more different photos, looking at ideas that would only be able to be associated with my friend Niamh.  I also looked more into this idea of VCR recordings and disposable cameras and how these relate to much to myself and my childhood; being one of the most personal ways we used to document celebrated events. This then inspired me to try to edit the pictures in this glitch and vintage manner by which would relate to this very personal way of documenting work. There is a real trend at the ...

In this Process and Production session, we were asked to create a poster zine using your self-portrait as the subject. Using various methods we were asked to develop and expand on a very familiar image, collectively these abstractions will create poster zine, an available and straightforward process of self-publishing. This workshop is part of term 1 self-publishing workshops in which we are continually rejuvenating ideas surrounding self-publishing. We started by destructing our university photos, making them obscure. We then had to draw a developed idea from this.    We then photocopied our faces and similarly destructed these. We were then introduced to halftone print by which we then had to recreate one of our creations. I created two of these.    I researched into Nicks work and found that halftone is a common theme within his work.  Overall I think that the workshop produced a lot of work. I am already familiar with working wi...

After finalising a question to work on I have wrote my first 150 words and provided a timeline for the rest of essay using key words and topics that I would paticularly like to cover. I also recieved feeback on this.  "Clean lines, starkly simple silhouettes, and demand for functionality; It’s hard to shy away from the iconic designs that originate from Northern Europe. Nordic Design at its best, is inspired by nature and the northern climate with an emphasis on appreciating the domestic environment. I've always had a fascination with the way in which Scandinavian Design acknowledges the human within the design and person utilising it to its fullest. This essay delves deeper into the history of Scandinavian Design, compares Contemporary Graphic Examples of the movement, and analyses the consumer buying into these products. Every culture reflects its beliefs, values, and attitudes in their designs. In a blog, Petersen, S. (2012, 03 13) mentions how Scandinavian countries a...

Today I completed a photoshoot inspired by the brief on Imminent Self. The idea of previous research was all based on real photography that challenged perceptions of self and argued about the human behind editorial. The idea of this shoot was to focus on my friend Niamh. As a student interested in fashion and art, we based the shoot around the student area of Headingley looking at the grunge feature of the place, the feel of the movement and the contrast behind dark and light. I also looked at inspiring features looking at the letter of her house, her choice of footwear and also other things such as her handwriting, choice of clothing and visual aesthetic. The whole shoot was based on the idea that the person defines themselves so they should design the theme of the project. To make it seem even more personal we switched between a DSLR and a disposable camera. 

For my essay I have decided to look into Scandinavian Design and the way Britain as a culutre is fascinated with Deisgn from this area of the globe.  I have been heavily inspired by myself, being a big fan of Scandinavian clothing companys such as ACNE, COS and Norse Projects which all originate from Northern Europe. I am also inspired  by the way in which Britain as a country is fixated on buying all things Scandinavian when purchasing interior design; this has come from the globalisation of particular global icons such as IKEA and Hay.  I am particulary fascinated with branding so therefore I would then like to disect the brand and pick apart the reasons why we opt for a much more minimal, slick Scandi-Design.  I also want to look into the history and why there is such  surge in this particular design today. 

In this Process and Production workshop, working within the software of Cinema 4D, we learnt about the creative nature of prototyping and how a realistic and appropriate image can be created through Cinema 4D software. This opened my eyes to the software and the type of model it can produce.  We started by professionally setting up our project folders efficiently to keep artwork and output separate. Through illustrator, we then sourced the artwork and changed the file type to illustrator 8 so that we could edit through Cinema 4D software. We also changed the centre direction so that the shape would fit within the new software.  We then merged can shape and create two Lathe Nerbs which gives the overall can shape. We then added a background object, a floor object and a named material object. We then added the material to the floor and background. We then adjusted the mapping to add the overall tint and can aesthetic to our shape. Through the use of test rendering,...

In our second Studio Session day for our second Brief on Imminent Self, we got the opportunity to develop research ideas into more tangible themes that would make sense for starting to think about ideas regarding producing some design work.  I found more work on an editorial design and found work by Need and Supply Co that looked at taking away the self-indulgence notion often seen in editorial campaigns; for example, focusing on ideas about what makes a person and what makes them unique. I then had ideas about linking this to ego and how a personal ego can be heightened by the use of photography and design. I am very fascinated with ego and cultural trends which could link very nicely to the idea of imminent self: looking at how culture can form the type of person we are today and how creating a brand new ego can make for a completely new "look" and aesthetic. I was also interested in looking at people in place and how brand identities, for Camden Market, for example, is...

Here are the first ideas surrounding the Idea of Imminent Self and the three required briefing subjects; Autopoiesis, Sociomaterial, and Network Ego. I researched into each one thoroughly and provided visual and creative examples of how my work could evolve through the creative process.