Legendary creatures have often been incorporated into heraldry and architectural decoration. This is particularly the case with those symbolizing great strength or other powers. In contemporary times, many legendary creatures appear prominently in fantasy fiction. These creatures are often claimed to have supernatural powers or knowledge or to guard some object of great value.
Mythical creatures have been part of human culture throughout the ages and across all parts of the world. They are not just the “talking” creatures, animals able to communicate using language and also rather clever, as in Aesop’s fables. Mythical creatures are in themselves beyond normal reality, often composites of existing animals or animals and humans.
Part of my ‘journey’ to overcome dyslexia has been writing a story. This started as quick little descriptions and scenes and eventually developed into a full story.
I decided to use this as the basis of my FMP, imagining quite child-focused illustrations.
A full analysis of my text and deep, sustained research into the teen-fiction genre, however, led me on a different path.
My initial reaction to recognizing my narrative as teen fiction rather than children’s fiction was that I would have to adapt it into a graphic novel, if I wanted to create illustrations. The work of the Folio Society mad me realized that readers of books such as War Horse, Noughts & Crosses and Sophie’s World, enjoy full page illustrations accompanying the text.
I set myself the challenge of working in watercolour or inks, but had to admit after some tests that the experimental way I enjoy working and find most successful is digital.
Lockdown has meant I was not able to plan my work to include a printed book, but the work will continue and that will be the eventual outcome.
As an artist, I work hard to develop illustrations that are presented exactly how I envision them during the creative process. Part of my process before I begin working is to take several photographs of myself and/or others to gather reference material for my ever-growing portfolio of expressions, posture and form which I can use to help me in areas I find difficult and later recycle and adapt to other projects. I rarely deviate too far from my original vision for a piece, but I like to try new techniques regularly and occasionally experiment with different medias though the latter is a recent development.
For my FMP I challenged myself to create my first short illustration-focused comic book in a professional quality using techniques and formats I’ve researched and taken from bestselling books. I chose to adapt a music video rather than create my own narrative, due to it being my first tactically-planned and executed attempt and wanting to focus my efforts and attention on the art, research and quality of the project rather than creating commentary. I believe this effectively worked out in my favour and the experience has provided me with a new lens to view my creative process through.
The theme of my Project has been influenced by not being able to go out for months because of the virus. As being limited on where to go and things to do, having a garden made lockdown easier for me and it inspired me to make something to go into the garden that would last a number of years. I decided to design and create a high-quality bird table. I used this FMP to concentrate on my practical skills because it kept me focused during lockdown. With lockdown and only being able to work from home with no workshop made this project much harder but made me a much better problem solver and made me realise at what a high standard I can work. I visited various places to collect research in the form of taking photographs of different bird tables of all different designs and sizes. This then gave me different ideas on how to design my own and the different practical skills I could use. To draw out my design, I decided to use a 3D CAD software called sketchup, this was useful because I had a visual representation on what it was going to look like throughout and helped me plan each stage throughout the project.
I have found the lockdown periods boring more than anything and as a person who naturally draws and creates, I have found those two aspects of my character have been hard at work.
But I have noticed that regarding the subject matter, following a brief has not been as important as usual – it’s the actual process that provides the satisfaction.
I seem to choose techniques that follow a repetitive process. This would be very obvious if I was sewing or knitting, but I would say that the creation of digital work, particularly if I am creating several versions of a decided theme, is a definite set of technique procedures, varying only slightly, that are repeated. The work is never gestural or expressive, but limited, focused and complementary.
This has been my theme in my illustrations – the people and the objects involved in making and marking as a mindful exercise.
For my FMP, I was inspired by The Rolling Stones and their album, Exile on Main Street. This inspired me, as this album cover shows a collage of so-called ‘circus freaks’ which then inspired me to create work inspired by them. I used appropriation in this project to create Illustrations inspired by these ‘circus freaks’, incorporated ‘found’ images of the Rolling Stones and utilised different physical and digital methods to distort and change them. I then presented the illustrations I had created in this project within a zine.
To do this, I had found already existing images which I then developed using paint, embroidery, collage, typography and distorted digitally. This was inspired by multiple artists such as Andy Warhol, Hannah Hoch and Rossana Taormina. I took inspiration from their work and used this to create a variety of designs using digital and
hand-rendered techniques. I was able to successfully communicate my concept of body altering and distortion throughout my work due to the mediums and techniques I had used. This then led me to creating a successful
20-page zine.
My aim for this project was to communicate the idea of ‘circus freaks’ and to raise awareness of them while also raising awareness of people with deformities and how they are treated within society.
I have spent this academic year on an ambitious mission. I set myself the target of getting into Central St Martin’s college to study graphic design. I, like many young black British people, also had another matter on my mind. I had to ask myself where I stood and what I felt as a Nigerian British girl. How could I communicate this, when I was still finding out myself? That was the problem to solve and I feel I must have made a good attempt as I will be going off to CSM in September.
During the period of FMP, I developed my research while still finishing off my portfolio, so within the timescale I completed a range of work that explored what it feels to be a young black girl in Britain, the ambitions of young people of colour, our heroes and aspirations, the impact of the pandemic on mental health, a multi-cultural examination of typography and all this culminated in a project that takes a curious approach to Face Blindness.
My work explores Wales and its importance to everyone living there. Having been here for several years on holiday, I want to express why I like visiting this country so much. And, by doing this, I aim to show all the different places you can visit.
My ideal audience for this project is people who want to go somewhere different on holiday. In my opinion, Wales fits the bill perfectly, due to its many unique, fascinating and historic locations – all of which I was keen to incorporate into my work. This process was important in my project, because I wanted to show the creative process from beginning to end.
This body of work explores a world within a world that blends magical, mythical creatures with familiarised human forms, seen in everyday settings.
I have chosen a style of artistic presentation that I am passionate about which is comic book/graphic novel/story board format. However, within the development of the project I have explored a range of styles and skills to further enhance my artistic range and ability.
When pondering on this theme a phrase that I find conjures inspiration and images in my head is the famous quote from author, Arthur C. Clarke, who states: “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
I have experimented and explored a familiar world that the audience will relate to, where mythical creatures take on personas the reader can identify with.
Within the theme, I have brought to life familiar mythical creatures such as The Loch Ness Monster, The Kracken, Bigfoot and a host of other diverse creatures from folklore, presenting them in an innovative, exciting manner.
Throughout the course, I have developed a range of digital skills and techniques through my use of the Adobe suite. These are skills which I applied to my year two FMP, based around the theme of Juxtaposition- juxtaposing the narrative of The Queen’s Gambit with the concept of chess being a manifestation of human nature and social hierarchy. Throughout this project, I took inspiration from a range of artists such as Andy Warhol and Loui Jover to develop illustrative collages and graphic designs, which I presented in my own magazine and zine.
My aim for this project was to create digital illustrations and graphics, which communicated not only my concept but also the concept of familiarity to my audience, allowing them to see themselves or situations relevant to their lives within my work. Shown within my digital collages, created using Illustrator and Photoshop – combining my illustrations inspired by the incomplete portraiture style of Sam Green and the collage style of Loui Jover to create a series of collages based around the main characters of the show. Utilising my ability to address my concept, retaining control through chess and manifesting their demons of addiction or trauma into the game. This allowed me to address societal issues such as mental health and addiction alongside the powerful control of chess – the hierarchy of chess. Visually exploring the idea of ‘It’s an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it.’ To inform and support the development of my collage series.
Alongside my illustrations, I also worked with photography and typography inspired by Andy Warhol’s Stills. This allowed me to juxtapose the modernity of my peers with the 50s and 60s time of the show to create simple yet visually interesting pages for my magazine.
A comprehensive, environmentally-based project that has links to tradition and the aesthetics behind packaging design.
Initial ideas for this project came from the book ‘How to wrap five eggs’ which celebrates traditional, sustainable Japanese packaging, known to be innovative and aesthetically pleasing.
The message is one that cannot be ignored – the need for a modern society to be a sustainable society. The fact that 70% of pollution is plastic-based packaging spurs me on to not only consider aesthetic challenges in my work, but to be attentive to the materials on which my designs are printed. Graphic designers must learn and communicate the efficacy of packaging and product materials that are sustainable and eco-aware, such as non-carbon based plant ingredients, algae, seaweed and fungi – materials that have always been used in Japan.
My course has not only given me the opportunity to expand my design knowledge but develop a social and political point of view, which I have used as source material for my ideas throughout this year.
Previous Education: Wolverhampton College
Destination: Employment
This project developed from a previous theme where I was creating illustrations for tarot cards. Here I have explored multiple dualities, looking at the most powerful approach to visualise two differences within one image. The image included here explores the idea of love and hate, where the voodoo doll makes you imagine someone else’s pain, maybe distracting you from your own. I work illustratively, always trying to produce detailed representations of the objects I’m drawing, and merging different images to create new ideas and to provoke new thoughts. I’m not afraid to challenge expectations and to highlight stereotypes.
Previous Education: Wolverhampton College
Destination: Employment
The digitally manipulated work presented here is part of a wider body of work taken from the popular animation titled ‘ Coraline.’ The work aims to reimagine characters from the animation, exploring new colours, shapes and forms. My response to this stop motion animation is entirely linked to the myriad of mental health conditions, that are clearly prevalent in the narrative. Research will focus largely on the descriptions of mental health conditions and how these relate to each character. Illustrators that I will explore include Cath Riley and Dave Mckean, as they directly relate to the story and could inspire both a conceptual approach and drawing/image making techniques. I started the project by analysing social media logos, with the intention of drawing issues affecting teenagers and young people and their mental health. I’m focusing on two characters, Coraline and The Other Mother, from which I will reimagine through drawing and digital manipulation and text. Primary photos have also informed aspects of the final response, such as flames and other symbolic objects.
Previous Education: Pedmore High School
Destination: Birmingham City University BA (hons) Fine Art
My project is based on a reimagining of a popular NETFLIX series ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.’ This ‘reimagining’ intends to provide a new visualization of the Eldritch Terrors. I chose to do a final piece on the eldritch terror ‘The Imp of the Perverse’ as I felt like it has the most detail in the drawings that I did, and I feel like it matches the theme the most out of all of the eldritch terror drawings. The artist that influenced my work is Joyce Pensato based on how she interprets popular and familiar images from cartoons and comics in large scale paintings and drawings through fine art.
Previous Education: Birmingham, Quinton – Four Dwellings Academy
Destination: Birmingham City University – Architecture
The concept for this project was to produce a vision of architecture that resembles today’s ideas of Utopia. I was trying to achieve this impression of utopia by adding these elements to the buildings I was designing.
For example, nature, that some of us are missing living in some housings/apartments or improved energy consumption by creating bigger windows, to let more natural light in, and use less electricity. The two artists that I took the most inspiration from, were architects: Zaha Hadid and Tom Wiscomb. They allowed me to come up with the ideas for the shapes of the architecture I produced, which their work was the most beneficial to look at, since they presented Utopian architecture. Through my work I am presenting ideas of Utopia, which is the constant want and greed of humanity to achieve something better, but unreachable, in architectural form. From the audience, looking at my work, I would like them to recognize something that is missing in real life buildings, that could be found in my work. If this concept was to become reality it would be made out of concrete, steel, glass and wood for the interiors. Since it’s just a concept, there would be regulations applied, to make it as energy efficient as possible. The apartment building itself, I would imagine being surrounded with a car park and a green belt surrounding it.
Previous Education: PTC
Destination: Foundation Art and Design
For this project, I had decided that I would create a body of work based on folklore creatures which make people feel uneasy in the place they feel the safest, their own home. For the project, I had decided that I would create four of my very own folklore creatures from scratch, with their own backstories included, as well as a list of what they do, where they can be found. I then produced multiple drawings of each and smaller developmental model sculptures of each. I have designed the creatures based around domesticity, in places such as the bedroom, kitchen and then living room, which are by far the most commonly used places in a house hold. By doing this I will trigger an uneasy feeling from the audience. I had created my sculptures out of clay, as well as using a range of materials and objects which are typically found in the home to further cement my work into the uncanny valley.
I believe that the Chapman Brothers and Clive Barker were the two most influential artists to me and my work because of the specific artworks styles they produce and work in. The Chapman Brother produce heavily detailed models of gruesome and scary scenarios and creatures, it was these models which had inspired me to work in a 3D sculpture medium. Clive Barker has inspired me from the many drawings he had done, ranging from the nightmarish landscapes, to his demented creatures. The creatures specifically were what inspired the design for one my sculptures entirely, as well as attempting to achieve a similar style to his own with my drawings which i had produced of models.
Previous Education: Year 1 Diploma BMET
Destination: Employment
The concept of my final piece revolves around mental health and how it affects people. I wanted to capture how it may look from an inside point of view, seeing what other people may not notice. I used a range of different materials and media to come up with my final pieces. Both digital and physical to produce these portraits. The heavy, expressive brush strokes are designed to reveal the internal ‘mental health’ that we all have. Marlene Dumas and Urs Fischer were my two biggest inspirations. The use of Dumas style of portraits and the way Fischer collages his work together were incredibly significant in my work. I enjoyed the way Dumas created her work using ridiculously small amount of detail, focusing more on the emotion it conveys. Using this and the surreal collage techniques Fischer used in his work allowed me to create multiple different portraits in my own style trying to portray how someone may feel on the inside. I want to communicate how mental health can look so different for different people and it is not just one thing. I also wanted to display how it may look on the inside when someone seems “normal” using something everyone has (like a face) to show this but distorting it into something bizarre, and how mental health makes you feel like you are someone else. I want people viewing my work to think about how mental health affects people, and how many people are affected by it. I want people to think about the effects it has on other people and hopefully start a conversation and to show other people that its normal to feel like this.
Previous Education: The Wordsley School
Destination: Foundation Art and Design
The concept for my FMP was inspired by the past events of lockdown and the global pandemic, inspired by games and films. I was playing and viewing Cyberpunk 2077 and and the seminal movie Blade Runner during lockdown and considered how I could visualise my own dystopian type video game through characters and environments. Throughout the project I experimented with a variety of techniques because of the limitations and time, I managed to experiment with pencil, fine liner and digital programs such as photoshop and aftereffects. The significant artists that informed the work included Syd Mead and Stanley Donwood as their art styles and work interested me the most and had a powerful influence when creating the artwork for the cityscapes. The fine liner drawing technique was inspired by Donwood’s Linocut work and how the images looked after the process was completed. Bold and wavy lines highlighting small details which paired well with Syd Meads futuristic cityscapes that helped inspire my own designs.
Previous Education: Year 1 Diploma Art & Design
Destination: Employment
I am fascinated by Gargoyles as their aesthetic intrigues, amuses and confuses me. The two paintings presented here form part of the development stage, where I was experimenting with how to create a contemporary gargoyle, linked to historical ideas yet new and dynamic. Gargoyles were created initially as creative water spouts on cathedrals and historical buildings and were popularised in the 13th century, they were also thought to ward off evil spirits. During this project I want to create my own gargoyles by exploring collage, drawing and sculpture. I want to create artworks that seem monstrous, disturbing or unsettling. I want to exaggerate, and combine disparate elements to form a new and sinister response, using the Gargoyle as a start point. I also want to experiment with using political figures like Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Margret Thatcher and many more. I’d like to poke fun of these people by turning them in to a gargoyle sculpture through the art of satire and mockery.
Previous Education: Art and Design Level 1 Diploma, Art and Design Level 2 Diploma
Destination: Foundation Art and Design
To acknowledge the hindsight of this piece the “Helhiem Longboat” is one that may, at a glance, appear distorted and disproportional creating an underlying sense of uneasiness. This imbalance is, however, intended due to the premise of the piece being a personal recreation of the Viking Underworld “Helhiem.” Therefore the key aspects of this play a part it summarising a feeling that presents a sense of caustic reality and existential questioning. The ‘Sea’ for which is the foundation for this Artwork, is almost metallic in appearance with streaks of dark blues and purple to contribute to the overall unfamiliarity of it all. The ghostly Sea dissipates into the infinite black void and instead of having our usual Sun shine brightly in the centre, the horizons only source of light is an off-centre Longboat, carrying the dead through the Abyss. The longboat is reminiscent of historical design based on the ones we have recovered in the modern era, with the Ghosts of the long dead being ever watchful as they stare into darkness for eternity. The giant burning effigy is actually one of the Viking “Runes” which each symbolise different specific aspects of life in a general sense, with this one being the rune of destruction, hence why its the sole shining light in the infinite dark of Hel, as destruction, chaos and death all unify under one conceptualization of this specific belief on the afterlife.
Other than the lonely boat with the burning rune, the misty Sea of Helheim shows us nothing, but the reflection of the damned in the murky waters. Surrounded with an expanding and contracting banner of Runes that encircle the fate of the lonely longboat. The Runes in their design are inspired by the rune stones that exist all over Scandinavia which have the same encircling banner that represent an esoteric story and meaning.
Also note how the Runes don’t encircle the entire piece, this is intentional and whilst it may not be entirely obviously at a glance, this is done for the metaphorical aspect. The Runes in Viking Lore dictate our fate, and the inclusion of leaving a gap at the bottom of the piece is to signify a change in fate. Weather that may be a way out of Helhiem for the lost souls, or just further into the darkness, it shows us things can change and our fate can always change, provided we go on the right course.
This piece was made by utilizing Blackboard paint and different colours of Chalk, the reasons for doing so can be incorporated into two different answers: Number one being the textures and blending that are beneficial with using Chalk provide strong colourful outlines whilst also being able to develop almost transparent effects, this was useful in the creation of the ghostly Sea and the encircling Runes. Secondly, I was inspired by an artist called Tacita Dean who specializes in Chalk pieces with an unparalleled attention to detail. I also think it’s worth mentioning that Tacita Dean has done several Chalk pieces with giant boats in the water clashing with waves and being blown around in the wind, completely different from my own work of course but was ultimately the inspiration for using Chalk in my final outcome. I’d also like to mention that each and every other artist I’ve researched for the project has been beneficially inspirational not necessarily in terms of context (Besides the ancient Rune masters, Föt and Asamund who inspired the encircling runes) but in terms of colours and proportional value, not to mention mythological value and how to translate the ancient mythological Norse poems into decipherable art like many have done before me and achieved it with such a high standard.
Previous Education: Year 1 Diploma BMET
Destination: Employment
For this project, my idea is to create drawings of characters which embody an exaggerated emotion with different designs for each one in an anime/ manga style. I also looked at different career roles which may have a good link to the emotion, for example a butcher could represent rage or anger, and a doctor could represent kindness or joy. I wanted to implement special weapons or half human hybrids which have links to certain job role. I also intended to make characters which embody aspects of a mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety. I started by researching emotions and what different types there are to help me develop with ideas. I will then research a range of artists such as Edward Munch and Manga artists such as Sui Ishida. I experimented with drawing to create characters and will also use photoshop and procreate to add colour and detail. I looked at backgrounds for these characters and used painting, collage and photography. The enduring connection between art and mental health and wellbeing is well documented, especially where artists and illustrators have attempted to document and communicate their own experiences of mental health struggles and or insights. Hollywood may well use caricatures and stereotypes of mental health to provide a character with an edge, or belonging to a subcategory or subgenre within society, which also happens in anime. I also felt it might be useful to provide a brief summary of the difference between anime and manga, as explained in the following quote, ‘Put simply, manga is the term given to Japanese comic books and graphic novels, whereas anime is the name given to Japanese animation. … Although both tend to be considered genres in the West, in reality they are a description of how the content is produced.’
Previous Education: Pedmore High School
Destination: Birmingham City University
My project theme is ‘Timelessness’, and during this project, I have used various mediums to express my emotions. I choose timelessness as my theme because it associates with my sentiments towards the pandemic. My aim for this project was to create a visual representation of how I felt about the lockdown and covid-19. I wanted to express that we as people are just walking another path, and when it ends, we will only walk another. My concept is all about Covid-19 and the problems and issues it has brought to people’s mental health and stability. In my eyes, I see covid-19 almost like a curse, it’s like we as a society are getting punished for taking advantage of things, we would usually be able to do every day without cost; for example meeting up with friends or going shopping. Especially in the modern generation full of technology, we seem to detach ourselves from the nature around us; Ignoring the beauty and tranquillity behind the natural cycle of life as we stare at our digital screens. It’s only now that some people have noticed how much we miss the little things in life, and how our timeless development in advanced technology has almost, made us blind. We can only miss something until it’s gone and I believe this ‘curse’ can only be broke until we all notice our senselessness towards the little things and work together as one instead of multiple different groups.
For my final piece, I used soft pastel, graphite, newspaper, and acrylic paint. My backdrop was a collage of newspaper pages about covid and lockdown. I decided to do this to reference what my concept is about but also create an intricate background. I used a stamp I made out of cardboard to create an alinement of hand sanitiser prints across the painting to refer to repetition and the rise in PPE (Personal Protection Equipment). My final piece was crowded and manic because I wanted to communicate how stressful and confusing everything has been.
Benjamin murphy was someone I found on the Saatchi gallery website. He was hosting a new exhibition during lockdown called antisocial isolation, which was intriguing. My acknowledgement of the upcoming exhibition ‘antisocial isolation’ lead to my discovery of his work. I was interested in his plant charcoal drawings, and I used them as inspiration throughout the project. My concept for my project was to create dark and lifeless drawings of plants and nature to communicate how time and life has almost stopped because of lockdown; this ultimately leaves everything to become dull. Benjamin Murphy’s charcoal drawings was a great start point for my project, and soon enough, I was creating/developing this idea into prints and even paintings. Franz Kline was another painter that got recommend to me, his work was bold and defined, and that factor inspired me to create black acrylic paint paintings and prints. I didn’t work with abstract but instead aimed to achieve the dark, bold and thick line-work he possessed in his abstract paintings.
The second year commenced with COVID 19 measures suggesting that we had been through the worst and that the educational landscape was returning to normal. And so, began, for many second years, the creative boot-camp of refocusing upon finding their creative pathway, exploring progression options and getting their work portfolio and exhibition ready. This was no mean feat, considering no-one could be sure what potential impact remote-learning and unprecedented assessment procedures may have had upon their social and skills development.
It would appear that the previous 18 months has made them into more curious and questioning individuals. Their return to studio has allowed them to embrace the physical space and access the materials, techniques and processes that ‘lockdown’ had denied them. Released from their confines, they had rediscovered ‘beginner’s mind’ and as the year progressed their work became more personal to them and showed us qualities we, and perhaps they, hadn’t seen before.
With so much of their educational time having been achieved through the medium of near-instantaneous digital communication and social media platforms, there has perhaps been a resurgence in the analogue. What is clear is that art students communicate most effectively through their creative practice. It is a sincere, insightful and effective language that society needs to experience again.
Martin Doyle, lecturer, visual arts
It is fair to say that Extended Diploma Art & Design has its challenges. No one could have anticipated the impact Covid would have on the last two years. The students on the second year Extended Diploma art and design have embraced this challenge with creativity, imagination, determination and good spirits. Having experienced a significant part of their first year with limited access to studios and equipment, they tackled industry-level project briefs using whatever materials and resources they had at home. The second year began with the hope that they might explore their creative pathways accessing the full college’s facilities. Lo and behold they went back into lockdown at what is often the most crucial point in their creative journey. It was heartening to see them continue undeterred and produce their university portfolios and coursework with little change in pace. Much of the last few months has been conducted in preparing them for the first professional exhibitions. They ably demonstrated that they could produce and exhibit work commencing with the entirely digital Silent Gallery. Returning to the studio they then had a very short space of time to conceive, produce and exhibit their first physical show despite the fact there was every chance the public would never be able to see it in person. This did not dissuade them from producing imaginative and thought-provoking pieces, showcasing the creative resilience and professionalism they have developed in these atypical times. It is testament to the dedication that the following work can at least be enjoyed in the digital realm.
We are delighted once again this year to have had Hereford College of Art support our learners’ progression into HE via their ‘One To Watch’ initiative. Tutors from their Fine Art, Graphics, Photography and Fashion/Textiles areas have judged entries from our corresponding courses and awarded those learners whose work shows potential for excellence beyond FE. Look out for the banners next to the recipients’ work who will also receive a book for their efforts. This recognition undoubtedly motivates learners to aspire to greater things.
Martin Doyle, lecturer, visual arts
Interior design of a spacious living room, home space. Targeted at those who love a spacious and comfortable living space with cultural, modern/contemporary design. I am interested in marbling and repeat work.
The passing of time and events are constant and is not altered for anyone. No one gets more or less time.
You will never truly understand someone’s internal emotions
We reflect ourselves on time which makes us regret afterwards that we dont have time to fulfil our small or big requests. As time passes we think about what we done in the past and how can we improve in the future but never do anything properly in the present.
The way we see ourselves can be distorted, different to what others see and media can have a negative effect on this.
This is my interpretation of Alice in Wonderland where the characters are on a tablecloth along with home-made scented candles that I feel remind me of these characters and the story in general.
Researching into adverts and the reality behind them inspired this range of clothing graphics for ‘Inverse’ – a new brand that celebrates both new and old.
What do people use to escape reality? With stress being a main point, most people try to escape by using things such as Music, Art or books.
The fear of trusting others.
My work is about showing the beauty of the world that we continue to destroy everyday through simple things. It raises awareness for all ages to get involved and learn how we can make a change. Because as Sylvia Earle said “Start with someone. Some “one.” And no one can do everything but everyone can do something”.
From a shamanistic practice within the roots of both love and war, to now modern times it’s always been a show of self-expression.
I want to create a piece of work about the idea that no matter how small or insignificant a controversial topic may seem to some people it can completely change your perception of a person. I want people who view my piece to have a moment ambiguity and to challenge their own thoughts and develop new ways of thinking.
As an interior designer, I want to push the ‘scare maze / tour’ to a different level.
I’m learning to fall in love with the twilight, spent a lifetime trying to.
For my project I looked at drag queens, taking into consideration the culture of Hawaii and how ‘mahu’ (the third gender) could be the future of drag.
Similarly to Muppet style characters in media, I have created a mascot to teach young children the creative side of recycling and how it helps the environment. Clutter, the Gryphon!
What if you over-thought until you can’t distinguish assumptions from reality? The lines between the real world and a fictitious world conjured from your mind becomes blurred. When you lose touch with the reality around you, the atmosphere can become sinister; plaguing your thoughts and emotions.
“Those kids with their spray paint, God love ’em” A physical demonstration of trashy teenage rebellion & the ageing process.
What we do impacts the ocean
Set in the near future of 20XX, Morgan escapes to a world which they consider their perfect world
A short film exploring how a sense of uneasiness can be achieved through sound and visuals. The character explores a forest that has a strange aura, causing him to get increasingly more paranoid as the film continues.
Translating to “House of books”, the design is a reminder of where society began and that knowledge and learning are part of our fundamental growth as humans.
My work is a visual representation of anxiety, and how it can feel isolating and take over your mind.
Developing my art skills to help me get better with my future in becoming a concept artist.
What you wear never justifies ‘asking for it’.
In the style of Kirigami, I have created a piece that combines the spiritual meaning of the Pegasus with the peacefulness and creative freedom that making an Origami piece provides.
I want spread awareness of what anger is like in a creative way. Anger issues can cause severe mood swings and you can go from really angry to really happy quickly, I want to use masks to show this.
Currency’s deplete. Memories made. Human nature undefined. Built on others.
In this project I worked to achieve a proposal / 3D model design for a living studio space. The reason why I chose a studio space is because when searching for a studio apartment online the square footage size is very miniature with almost no room to move around.
Panic attacks suck. Simple as. They are humiliating and painful. For me my breathing speeds up and my heartbeat becomes all I can hear.
Legendary creatures have often been incorporated into heraldry and architectural decoration. This is particularly the case with those symbolizing great strength or other powers. In contemporary times, many legendary creatures appear prominently in fantasy fiction. These creatures are often claimed to have supernatural powers or knowledge or to guard some object of great value.
Mythical creatures have been part of human culture throughout the ages and across all parts of the world. They are not just the “talking” creatures, animals able to communicate using language and also rather clever, as in Aesop’s fables. Mythical creatures are in themselves beyond normal reality, often composites of existing animals or animals and humans.
Part of my ‘journey’ to overcome dyslexia has been writing a story. This started as quick little descriptions and scenes and eventually developed into a full story.
I decided to use this as the basis of my FMP, imagining quite child-focused illustrations.
A full analysis of my text and deep, sustained research into the teen-fiction genre, however, led me on a different path.
My initial reaction to recognizing my narrative as teen fiction rather than children’s fiction was that I would have to adapt it into a graphic novel, if I wanted to create illustrations. The work of the Folio Society mad me realized that readers of books such as War Horse, Noughts & Crosses and Sophie’s World, enjoy full page illustrations accompanying the text.
I set myself the challenge of working in watercolour or inks, but had to admit after some tests that the experimental way I enjoy working and find most successful is digital.
Lockdown has meant I was not able to plan my work to include a printed book, but the work will continue and that will be the eventual outcome.
As an artist, I work hard to develop illustrations that are presented exactly how I envision them during the creative process. Part of my process before I begin working is to take several photographs of myself and/or others to gather reference material for my ever-growing portfolio of expressions, posture and form which I can use to help me in areas I find difficult and later recycle and adapt to other projects. I rarely deviate too far from my original vision for a piece, but I like to try new techniques regularly and occasionally experiment with different medias though the latter is a recent development.
For my FMP I challenged myself to create my first short illustration-focused comic book in a professional quality using techniques and formats I’ve researched and taken from bestselling books. I chose to adapt a music video rather than create my own narrative, due to it being my first tactically-planned and executed attempt and wanting to focus my efforts and attention on the art, research and quality of the project rather than creating commentary. I believe this effectively worked out in my favour and the experience has provided me with a new lens to view my creative process through.
The theme of my Project has been influenced by not being able to go out for months because of the virus. As being limited on where to go and things to do, having a garden made lockdown easier for me and it inspired me to make something to go into the garden that would last a number of years. I decided to design and create a high-quality bird table. I used this FMP to concentrate on my practical skills because it kept me focused during lockdown. With lockdown and only being able to work from home with no workshop made this project much harder but made me a much better problem solver and made me realise at what a high standard I can work. I visited various places to collect research in the form of taking photographs of different bird tables of all different designs and sizes. This then gave me different ideas on how to design my own and the different practical skills I could use. To draw out my design, I decided to use a 3D CAD software called sketchup, this was useful because I had a visual representation on what it was going to look like throughout and helped me plan each stage throughout the project.
I have found the lockdown periods boring more than anything and as a person who naturally draws and creates, I have found those two aspects of my character have been hard at work.
But I have noticed that regarding the subject matter, following a brief has not been as important as usual – it’s the actual process that provides the satisfaction.
I seem to choose techniques that follow a repetitive process. This would be very obvious if I was sewing or knitting, but I would say that the creation of digital work, particularly if I am creating several versions of a decided theme, is a definite set of technique procedures, varying only slightly, that are repeated. The work is never gestural or expressive, but limited, focused and complementary.
This has been my theme in my illustrations – the people and the objects involved in making and marking as a mindful exercise.
For my FMP, I was inspired by The Rolling Stones and their album, Exile on Main Street. This inspired me, as this album cover shows a collage of so-called ‘circus freaks’ which then inspired me to create work inspired by them. I used appropriation in this project to create Illustrations inspired by these ‘circus freaks’, incorporated ‘found’ images of the Rolling Stones and utilised different physical and digital methods to distort and change them. I then presented the illustrations I had created in this project within a zine.
To do this, I had found already existing images which I then developed using paint, embroidery, collage, typography and distorted digitally. This was inspired by multiple artists such as Andy Warhol, Hannah Hoch and Rossana Taormina. I took inspiration from their work and used this to create a variety of designs using digital and
hand-rendered techniques. I was able to successfully communicate my concept of body altering and distortion throughout my work due to the mediums and techniques I had used. This then led me to creating a successful
20-page zine.
My aim for this project was to communicate the idea of ‘circus freaks’ and to raise awareness of them while also raising awareness of people with deformities and how they are treated within society.
I have spent this academic year on an ambitious mission. I set myself the target of getting into Central St Martin’s college to study graphic design. I, like many young black British people, also had another matter on my mind. I had to ask myself where I stood and what I felt as a Nigerian British girl. How could I communicate this, when I was still finding out myself? That was the problem to solve and I feel I must have made a good attempt as I will be going off to CSM in September.
During the period of FMP, I developed my research while still finishing off my portfolio, so within the timescale I completed a range of work that explored what it feels to be a young black girl in Britain, the ambitions of young people of colour, our heroes and aspirations, the impact of the pandemic on mental health, a multi-cultural examination of typography and all this culminated in a project that takes a curious approach to Face Blindness.
My work explores Wales and its importance to everyone living there. Having been here for several years on holiday, I want to express why I like visiting this country so much. And, by doing this, I aim to show all the different places you can visit.
My ideal audience for this project is people who want to go somewhere different on holiday. In my opinion, Wales fits the bill perfectly, due to its many unique, fascinating and historic locations – all of which I was keen to incorporate into my work. This process was important in my project, because I wanted to show the creative process from beginning to end.
This body of work explores a world within a world that blends magical, mythical creatures with familiarised human forms, seen in everyday settings.
I have chosen a style of artistic presentation that I am passionate about which is comic book/graphic novel/story board format. However, within the development of the project I have explored a range of styles and skills to further enhance my artistic range and ability.
When pondering on this theme a phrase that I find conjures inspiration and images in my head is the famous quote from author, Arthur C. Clarke, who states: “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
I have experimented and explored a familiar world that the audience will relate to, where mythical creatures take on personas the reader can identify with.
Within the theme, I have brought to life familiar mythical creatures such as The Loch Ness Monster, The Kracken, Bigfoot and a host of other diverse creatures from folklore, presenting them in an innovative, exciting manner.
Throughout the course, I have developed a range of digital skills and techniques through my use of the Adobe suite. These are skills which I applied to my year two FMP, based around the theme of Juxtaposition- juxtaposing the narrative of The Queen’s Gambit with the concept of chess being a manifestation of human nature and social hierarchy. Throughout this project, I took inspiration from a range of artists such as Andy Warhol and Loui Jover to develop illustrative collages and graphic designs, which I presented in my own magazine and zine.
My aim for this project was to create digital illustrations and graphics, which communicated not only my concept but also the concept of familiarity to my audience, allowing them to see themselves or situations relevant to their lives within my work. Shown within my digital collages, created using Illustrator and Photoshop – combining my illustrations inspired by the incomplete portraiture style of Sam Green and the collage style of Loui Jover to create a series of collages based around the main characters of the show. Utilising my ability to address my concept, retaining control through chess and manifesting their demons of addiction or trauma into the game. This allowed me to address societal issues such as mental health and addiction alongside the powerful control of chess – the hierarchy of chess. Visually exploring the idea of ‘It’s an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it.’ To inform and support the development of my collage series.
Alongside my illustrations, I also worked with photography and typography inspired by Andy Warhol’s Stills. This allowed me to juxtapose the modernity of my peers with the 50s and 60s time of the show to create simple yet visually interesting pages for my magazine.
A comprehensive, environmentally-based project that has links to tradition and the aesthetics behind packaging design.
Initial ideas for this project came from the book ‘How to wrap five eggs’ which celebrates traditional, sustainable Japanese packaging, known to be innovative and aesthetically pleasing.
The message is one that cannot be ignored – the need for a modern society to be a sustainable society. The fact that 70% of pollution is plastic-based packaging spurs me on to not only consider aesthetic challenges in my work, but to be attentive to the materials on which my designs are printed. Graphic designers must learn and communicate the efficacy of packaging and product materials that are sustainable and eco-aware, such as non-carbon based plant ingredients, algae, seaweed and fungi – materials that have always been used in Japan.
My course has not only given me the opportunity to expand my design knowledge but develop a social and political point of view, which I have used as source material for my ideas throughout this year.
Previous Education: Wolverhampton College
Destination: Employment
This project developed from a previous theme where I was creating illustrations for tarot cards. Here I have explored multiple dualities, looking at the most powerful approach to visualise two differences within one image. The image included here explores the idea of love and hate, where the voodoo doll makes you imagine someone else’s pain, maybe distracting you from your own. I work illustratively, always trying to produce detailed representations of the objects I’m drawing, and merging different images to create new ideas and to provoke new thoughts. I’m not afraid to challenge expectations and to highlight stereotypes.
Previous Education: Wolverhampton College
Destination: Employment
The digitally manipulated work presented here is part of a wider body of work taken from the popular animation titled ‘ Coraline.’ The work aims to reimagine characters from the animation, exploring new colours, shapes and forms. My response to this stop motion animation is entirely linked to the myriad of mental health conditions, that are clearly prevalent in the narrative. Research will focus largely on the descriptions of mental health conditions and how these relate to each character. Illustrators that I will explore include Cath Riley and Dave Mckean, as they directly relate to the story and could inspire both a conceptual approach and drawing/image making techniques. I started the project by analysing social media logos, with the intention of drawing issues affecting teenagers and young people and their mental health. I’m focusing on two characters, Coraline and The Other Mother, from which I will reimagine through drawing and digital manipulation and text. Primary photos have also informed aspects of the final response, such as flames and other symbolic objects.
Previous Education: Pedmore High School
Destination: Birmingham City University BA (hons) Fine Art
My project is based on a reimagining of a popular NETFLIX series ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.’ This ‘reimagining’ intends to provide a new visualization of the Eldritch Terrors. I chose to do a final piece on the eldritch terror ‘The Imp of the Perverse’ as I felt like it has the most detail in the drawings that I did, and I feel like it matches the theme the most out of all of the eldritch terror drawings. The artist that influenced my work is Joyce Pensato based on how she interprets popular and familiar images from cartoons and comics in large scale paintings and drawings through fine art.
Previous Education: Birmingham, Quinton – Four Dwellings Academy
Destination: Birmingham City University – Architecture
The concept for this project was to produce a vision of architecture that resembles today’s ideas of Utopia. I was trying to achieve this impression of utopia by adding these elements to the buildings I was designing.
For example, nature, that some of us are missing living in some housings/apartments or improved energy consumption by creating bigger windows, to let more natural light in, and use less electricity. The two artists that I took the most inspiration from, were architects: Zaha Hadid and Tom Wiscomb. They allowed me to come up with the ideas for the shapes of the architecture I produced, which their work was the most beneficial to look at, since they presented Utopian architecture. Through my work I am presenting ideas of Utopia, which is the constant want and greed of humanity to achieve something better, but unreachable, in architectural form. From the audience, looking at my work, I would like them to recognize something that is missing in real life buildings, that could be found in my work. If this concept was to become reality it would be made out of concrete, steel, glass and wood for the interiors. Since it’s just a concept, there would be regulations applied, to make it as energy efficient as possible. The apartment building itself, I would imagine being surrounded with a car park and a green belt surrounding it.
Previous Education: PTC
Destination: Foundation Art and Design
For this project, I had decided that I would create a body of work based on folklore creatures which make people feel uneasy in the place they feel the safest, their own home. For the project, I had decided that I would create four of my very own folklore creatures from scratch, with their own backstories included, as well as a list of what they do, where they can be found. I then produced multiple drawings of each and smaller developmental model sculptures of each. I have designed the creatures based around domesticity, in places such as the bedroom, kitchen and then living room, which are by far the most commonly used places in a house hold. By doing this I will trigger an uneasy feeling from the audience. I had created my sculptures out of clay, as well as using a range of materials and objects which are typically found in the home to further cement my work into the uncanny valley.
I believe that the Chapman Brothers and Clive Barker were the two most influential artists to me and my work because of the specific artworks styles they produce and work in. The Chapman Brother produce heavily detailed models of gruesome and scary scenarios and creatures, it was these models which had inspired me to work in a 3D sculpture medium. Clive Barker has inspired me from the many drawings he had done, ranging from the nightmarish landscapes, to his demented creatures. The creatures specifically were what inspired the design for one my sculptures entirely, as well as attempting to achieve a similar style to his own with my drawings which i had produced of models.
Previous Education: Year 1 Diploma BMET
Destination: Employment
The concept of my final piece revolves around mental health and how it affects people. I wanted to capture how it may look from an inside point of view, seeing what other people may not notice. I used a range of different materials and media to come up with my final pieces. Both digital and physical to produce these portraits. The heavy, expressive brush strokes are designed to reveal the internal ‘mental health’ that we all have. Marlene Dumas and Urs Fischer were my two biggest inspirations. The use of Dumas style of portraits and the way Fischer collages his work together were incredibly significant in my work. I enjoyed the way Dumas created her work using ridiculously small amount of detail, focusing more on the emotion it conveys. Using this and the surreal collage techniques Fischer used in his work allowed me to create multiple different portraits in my own style trying to portray how someone may feel on the inside. I want to communicate how mental health can look so different for different people and it is not just one thing. I also wanted to display how it may look on the inside when someone seems “normal” using something everyone has (like a face) to show this but distorting it into something bizarre, and how mental health makes you feel like you are someone else. I want people viewing my work to think about how mental health affects people, and how many people are affected by it. I want people to think about the effects it has on other people and hopefully start a conversation and to show other people that its normal to feel like this.
Previous Education: The Wordsley School
Destination: Foundation Art and Design
The concept for my FMP was inspired by the past events of lockdown and the global pandemic, inspired by games and films. I was playing and viewing Cyberpunk 2077 and and the seminal movie Blade Runner during lockdown and considered how I could visualise my own dystopian type video game through characters and environments. Throughout the project I experimented with a variety of techniques because of the limitations and time, I managed to experiment with pencil, fine liner and digital programs such as photoshop and aftereffects. The significant artists that informed the work included Syd Mead and Stanley Donwood as their art styles and work interested me the most and had a powerful influence when creating the artwork for the cityscapes. The fine liner drawing technique was inspired by Donwood’s Linocut work and how the images looked after the process was completed. Bold and wavy lines highlighting small details which paired well with Syd Meads futuristic cityscapes that helped inspire my own designs.
Previous Education: Year 1 Diploma Art & Design
Destination: Employment
I am fascinated by Gargoyles as their aesthetic intrigues, amuses and confuses me. The two paintings presented here form part of the development stage, where I was experimenting with how to create a contemporary gargoyle, linked to historical ideas yet new and dynamic. Gargoyles were created initially as creative water spouts on cathedrals and historical buildings and were popularised in the 13th century, they were also thought to ward off evil spirits. During this project I want to create my own gargoyles by exploring collage, drawing and sculpture. I want to create artworks that seem monstrous, disturbing or unsettling. I want to exaggerate, and combine disparate elements to form a new and sinister response, using the Gargoyle as a start point. I also want to experiment with using political figures like Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Margret Thatcher and many more. I’d like to poke fun of these people by turning them in to a gargoyle sculpture through the art of satire and mockery.
Previous Education: Art and Design Level 1 Diploma, Art and Design Level 2 Diploma
Destination: Foundation Art and Design
To acknowledge the hindsight of this piece the “Helhiem Longboat” is one that may, at a glance, appear distorted and disproportional creating an underlying sense of uneasiness. This imbalance is, however, intended due to the premise of the piece being a personal recreation of the Viking Underworld “Helhiem.” Therefore the key aspects of this play a part it summarising a feeling that presents a sense of caustic reality and existential questioning. The ‘Sea’ for which is the foundation for this Artwork, is almost metallic in appearance with streaks of dark blues and purple to contribute to the overall unfamiliarity of it all. The ghostly Sea dissipates into the infinite black void and instead of having our usual Sun shine brightly in the centre, the horizons only source of light is an off-centre Longboat, carrying the dead through the Abyss. The longboat is reminiscent of historical design based on the ones we have recovered in the modern era, with the Ghosts of the long dead being ever watchful as they stare into darkness for eternity. The giant burning effigy is actually one of the Viking “Runes” which each symbolise different specific aspects of life in a general sense, with this one being the rune of destruction, hence why its the sole shining light in the infinite dark of Hel, as destruction, chaos and death all unify under one conceptualization of this specific belief on the afterlife.
Other than the lonely boat with the burning rune, the misty Sea of Helheim shows us nothing, but the reflection of the damned in the murky waters. Surrounded with an expanding and contracting banner of Runes that encircle the fate of the lonely longboat. The Runes in their design are inspired by the rune stones that exist all over Scandinavia which have the same encircling banner that represent an esoteric story and meaning.
Also note how the Runes don’t encircle the entire piece, this is intentional and whilst it may not be entirely obviously at a glance, this is done for the metaphorical aspect. The Runes in Viking Lore dictate our fate, and the inclusion of leaving a gap at the bottom of the piece is to signify a change in fate. Weather that may be a way out of Helhiem for the lost souls, or just further into the darkness, it shows us things can change and our fate can always change, provided we go on the right course.
This piece was made by utilizing Blackboard paint and different colours of Chalk, the reasons for doing so can be incorporated into two different answers: Number one being the textures and blending that are beneficial with using Chalk provide strong colourful outlines whilst also being able to develop almost transparent effects, this was useful in the creation of the ghostly Sea and the encircling Runes. Secondly, I was inspired by an artist called Tacita Dean who specializes in Chalk pieces with an unparalleled attention to detail. I also think it’s worth mentioning that Tacita Dean has done several Chalk pieces with giant boats in the water clashing with waves and being blown around in the wind, completely different from my own work of course but was ultimately the inspiration for using Chalk in my final outcome. I’d also like to mention that each and every other artist I’ve researched for the project has been beneficially inspirational not necessarily in terms of context (Besides the ancient Rune masters, Föt and Asamund who inspired the encircling runes) but in terms of colours and proportional value, not to mention mythological value and how to translate the ancient mythological Norse poems into decipherable art like many have done before me and achieved it with such a high standard.
Previous Education: Year 1 Diploma BMET
Destination: Employment
For this project, my idea is to create drawings of characters which embody an exaggerated emotion with different designs for each one in an anime/ manga style. I also looked at different career roles which may have a good link to the emotion, for example a butcher could represent rage or anger, and a doctor could represent kindness or joy. I wanted to implement special weapons or half human hybrids which have links to certain job role. I also intended to make characters which embody aspects of a mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety. I started by researching emotions and what different types there are to help me develop with ideas. I will then research a range of artists such as Edward Munch and Manga artists such as Sui Ishida. I experimented with drawing to create characters and will also use photoshop and procreate to add colour and detail. I looked at backgrounds for these characters and used painting, collage and photography. The enduring connection between art and mental health and wellbeing is well documented, especially where artists and illustrators have attempted to document and communicate their own experiences of mental health struggles and or insights. Hollywood may well use caricatures and stereotypes of mental health to provide a character with an edge, or belonging to a subcategory or subgenre within society, which also happens in anime. I also felt it might be useful to provide a brief summary of the difference between anime and manga, as explained in the following quote, ‘Put simply, manga is the term given to Japanese comic books and graphic novels, whereas anime is the name given to Japanese animation. … Although both tend to be considered genres in the West, in reality they are a description of how the content is produced.’
Previous Education: Pedmore High School
Destination: Birmingham City University
My project theme is ‘Timelessness’, and during this project, I have used various mediums to express my emotions. I choose timelessness as my theme because it associates with my sentiments towards the pandemic. My aim for this project was to create a visual representation of how I felt about the lockdown and covid-19. I wanted to express that we as people are just walking another path, and when it ends, we will only walk another. My concept is all about Covid-19 and the problems and issues it has brought to people’s mental health and stability. In my eyes, I see covid-19 almost like a curse, it’s like we as a society are getting punished for taking advantage of things, we would usually be able to do every day without cost; for example meeting up with friends or going shopping. Especially in the modern generation full of technology, we seem to detach ourselves from the nature around us; Ignoring the beauty and tranquillity behind the natural cycle of life as we stare at our digital screens. It’s only now that some people have noticed how much we miss the little things in life, and how our timeless development in advanced technology has almost, made us blind. We can only miss something until it’s gone and I believe this ‘curse’ can only be broke until we all notice our senselessness towards the little things and work together as one instead of multiple different groups.
For my final piece, I used soft pastel, graphite, newspaper, and acrylic paint. My backdrop was a collage of newspaper pages about covid and lockdown. I decided to do this to reference what my concept is about but also create an intricate background. I used a stamp I made out of cardboard to create an alinement of hand sanitiser prints across the painting to refer to repetition and the rise in PPE (Personal Protection Equipment). My final piece was crowded and manic because I wanted to communicate how stressful and confusing everything has been.
Benjamin murphy was someone I found on the Saatchi gallery website. He was hosting a new exhibition during lockdown called antisocial isolation, which was intriguing. My acknowledgement of the upcoming exhibition ‘antisocial isolation’ lead to my discovery of his work. I was interested in his plant charcoal drawings, and I used them as inspiration throughout the project. My concept for my project was to create dark and lifeless drawings of plants and nature to communicate how time and life has almost stopped because of lockdown; this ultimately leaves everything to become dull. Benjamin Murphy’s charcoal drawings was a great start point for my project, and soon enough, I was creating/developing this idea into prints and even paintings. Franz Kline was another painter that got recommend to me, his work was bold and defined, and that factor inspired me to create black acrylic paint paintings and prints. I didn’t work with abstract but instead aimed to achieve the dark, bold and thick line-work he possessed in his abstract paintings.
Progression: UAL Foundation Diploma in art & Design Inspired
The idea of what the future might look like and how each preceding decade predicted and imagined it, is central to my FMP. Retro-futurism is a movement in the creative arts that blends old fashioned retro styles with futuristic technology. “Retro futurism is the pasts version of the future” it is, what previous generations, thought their future might look like. The 1960s, for example, had an optimistic view of the future sparked by ‘the golden space age’ originating in 1957 and advancements in technology and science. The 1970’s was more pessimistic, the promises of the liberating 1960s didn’t happen.
I will draw on key events and features of the 1960s and 1970s, challenges to masculinity and femininity, as well as the visual identities of range of youth subcultures.
The collections of contemporary fashion designers such as Iris van Herpen, Gareth Pugh and Alexander McQueen often seem to reference the future and inspired my initial ideas. My final collection is a celebration of many different things, the overall look is eclectic borrowing from the past and the future!
Due to Lockdown, this project has been developed from home as well as college, I had to be more selective in the techniques I chose to work with do due to the lack of resources and subject specific equipment. Where possible I found I could substitute other, more attainable materials and methods such as hand rendered work, sketchbook work, small scale draping work and digital processes in the place of more sophisticated techniques only available at college. One specific challenge I set myself was to develop my fashion illustration, I wanted the theme to be conveyed in my drawing. The final pieces have a slightly surreal wonky quality that I think is in keeping with the concept and are very Indidualistic. I’m looking forward to developing my skills in fashion on the UAL Foundation Diploma in Brierley hill.
Progression: UAL Foundation Diploma in art & Design Inspired
The aim of my project was to produce a range of textile samples based on an investigation into the theme ‘Urban Decay’. I was drawn to this because, across the world there are cities, or parts of cities, that are spiralling into decay and buildings that were being abandoned. In these areas there are high rates of unemployment, low living standards and crime rates, as well as pollution and sprawling graffiti. Many of these factors lead to the depopulation in places like Detroit, USA. In contract to these issues, I saw that you could beauty in what you were faced with; Derelict buildings incorporated worn and distressed surfaces that I thought would be interesting to use as inspiration for textile prints. Artist Susan Hotchkiss inspired my initial ideas as she also looks at the process of ageing and decaying. I started to look into the different physical surfaces and textures of decaying places and played with recreating the patterns into my work experimenting with destructive marks spills, splashes, rips, burns and tears.
My time on the course has been a valuable experience and staff have encouraged me to keep motivated but more importantly keep on top of things. This has helped me to generate a lot of work and helped me to improve my practical skills.
Progression: Birmingham City University
The theme I have chosen for my FMP is ‘Forms- Biological’, a broad enough theme that encouraged an exploration of a number of exciting starting points and utilised lots of different materials and processes. I have used a variety of subject matter throughout this project such as the human body, its systems and functions, plants, animals, cells. I produced a range of furniture designs, small scale prototypes in a range of every day accessible materials. My work has a target audience of those who appreciates working environments with a more abstract and contemporary design aesthetic such as an abstract office space.
I gathered information and inspiration from product designers and sculptural fine artists such as: Ron Arad, Alessandra Baldereschi, Constance Guisset and Tord Boontje. I found focusing of those designers allowed my strengths of this project to be, increasing quantity and quality of relevant artist and designer research, and exploring different pathways within my project ideas. I feel I demonstrated resilience within my problem solving and the development of my skill with digital work processes. If I was to complete it again, I would manage my time differently and explore colour in more depth, push my material experimentation and manufacturing methods to give a more interesting range of techniques used.
Going forward from this project my plans for next year are to go to University studying BA (hons) Product and Furniture design at Birmingham City University.
Progression: Employment
The theme for my Final Major Project was looking at flowers, especially those that were blooming and at their best. I thought of this theme while we were in lockdown, I noticed little flowers starting to bloom everywhere, It made me think the whole world had to stop and slow down but the flowers were still growing through this challenging time.
The main artist who inspired me was Ambrosius Bosschaert and his still-life paintings. His flowers were displayed against a dark background to show their colours, shapes and textures to the fullest. I wanted to create a range of drawings using different media including ink, colored pencils, oil pastels and crayons. The idea was to create a range of patterns and print designs based on my stylising flower drawings that could be used for interiortextiles.
This second-year experience has been challenging but very exciting. I have developed my skills on the heat press and the screen printing and also learned to manage my time more affectively through setting aims and reflecting on what I made – this helped me to independently manage my work and come up with ideas without relying on staff too much.
Progression: Employment
I wanted to explore the idea of emotions and struggles within each one of us, not just through the obvious facial expression. I felt the topic was relevant to the times we are in now as all of us are in quite a stressful and potentially damaging situation right now due to the worldwide pandemic caused by a virus.
We have had to adapt to lockdowns and social distancing with many people having to go through this alone. This has resulted in changes to mental behavior or challenges to ones emotions. I wanted to see how I could explore this experience using fashion and textiles techniques.
I took inspiration from a range or artists and designers such as Henrik Vibskov who created sculptural garments, draping and fabric distortions to create body sized faces as part of the garment, and Karina Thompson’s who communicated moods and emotions in a less literal way by using surface manipulation and colours which I found exciting. Emotions are not just black and white, most of the time they intermingle with one another. During the practical stages I explored a wide range of ideas to determine the most successful ones to go forward with, these included the use of text and typography..
The second year has allowed me to be much more creative than the first year because I have been able to produce more experimental work. This has allowed me to be much more expressive with my practice and given me an easier time with the work in the sense that I am not always trying to perfect it. I have also been able to research more broadly to find new ideas to explore.
Progression: Beauty course Halesowen College
My FMP is titled ‘Floral Clash’. I wanted to explore botanical illustrations of exotic plants and flowers and juxtapose these with those native to this country. I chose this as I felt it would give me endless scope in terms of specialist techniques and processes to work with and enable me to experiment with drawing, colour and composition. I wanted to keep an open mind about my approach to drawing and experiment with different materials, and techniques and how they can be used in my textiles work.
Inspiring my initial ideas were artists Henri Rousseau, Elizabeth Blackadder and Matisse. Rousseau created work based around landscapes in the jungle which were vibrant, although he never went to a jungle, he was able to use existing exotic plants and flowers to recreate his vision. Blackadder used watercolours with a loose and painterly approach which I thought was interesting and a contrast to the bolder blocky cutouts that Matisse produced. I liked the idea of combining these different techniques used by the artists and to recreate a visual language that appealed to me. I mixed drawing, painting and collage together with further exploration into line, colour, texture and scale as the work developed.
This year I have had to become much more independent and have worked with tutors to keep up to date with work. I was introduced to new techniques that influenced my work for the better and allowed me to develop my confidence. I have learnt that the more research and practical work I carry out, then the more ideas I am able to play around with, enabling me to extend my work in ways that I was not expecting.
Progression: UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Inspired
My focus for my FMP was to focus on design details in menswear and construct a range of samples.
I took inspiration form a number of contemporary fashion designers, some mainstream including Maison Margiela and others, with a more niche market, such as Carol Poell. Many of these designers explored deconstruction techniques in their collections and, the idea of defects as a positive, became my main focus. I also researched defects within the human brain, learning disabilities, birth defects and bone structures.
My main strengths in my project were my documentation of work in progress. I was meticulous in this as I wanted to record every experiment as I was never sure on the outcome and I was tried to explore the unusual and unpredictable in the samples I produced.
This project has broadened my understanding of contemporary menswear design but also how designers use social media and nontraditional advertising to promote their work while keeping it exclusive.
Next year I want to continue to study fashion design and plan to join the UAL Foundation course at the Inspired campus.
Progression: UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Inspired
My work revloves around discovering the beauty in Decay, focusing on the colours and patterns that happen naturally. Environment issues are important at the moment with a lot of waste and rubbish being piled up. Although it can be grotesque and unsightly there is an also a beauty in the patterns and colours that have formed within these discarded things. I thought it would be interesting to develop work around these. Artists such as Ruth Lee, Carlie Trosclair and Cas Holmes inspired me to look at pattern and texture as well as surface distortions. With my own practical work I was able to develop a range of drawings and ideas that informed my knit and embroidery samples. The aim was to create a 3D sculptural piece but the process of knotting was quite labour intensive and restricted how fast I could work. Nevertheless, I felt I was pushed out of my comfort zone and develop creative samples that work well as individual pieces on their own.
The projects that I have taken part in this year have been very different and experimental. I have been allowed to explore a wide range of techniques and processes that I had not been exposed to before. This has helped me to think differently and to challenge myself on what I am able to produce. I have enjoyed the second year as it has been experimental and broad in terms of research and hope to develop on these newfound skills further.
Progression: Employment
The concept behind this project was to challenge the value of mass production furniture. My aim was to show appreciatation for the value and beauty of everyday, discarded items and to explore their potential usefulness by repurposing them, an idea which was inspired by a quote from artist William Morris who stated, ‘have nothing in your house that you know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” By repurposing items I wanted to elevate them beyond their original design. I researched a variety of designers work such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Phillipe Starck and Pauline Darley in order to draw inspiration from some of their designs . Through investigating drawings and the process of etching I was able to generate designs and patterns that could be applied to existing furniture. I also experimented with lazer etching to apply my design to an exisitng piece of furniture.
This second year experience has taught me that valuable skills such as drawing and experimenting is important so that you do not rely on the frst ideas that you have. Through staff encouragement I have been able to take myself out of my comfort zone and try out ideas that have added interest and variety to my work.
Progression: UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Inspired
I have been very interested in the Regency period, 1795 to 1837, especially the interiors at the time. The show “Bridgerton” was based around this era and my idea was to exaggerate the trends and movements of the time by juxtaposing historical elements with contemporary ones. I was drawn to the glamour and opulence of the interiors in the TV programme; they were over the top, full of gold accents and ornamentation form all over the world. The show itself also mixed in modern day elements in its use of music and makeup. With this in mind, I wanted to mix the past with present. I researched into the scenes of the show to find the own inspiration that went into the costumes, music and interior décor to see how I could interpret the Regency style in my own way. I looked into stately homes and trends popular in the 18th century period. I used collage to combine visual elements form the past with recognisable objects of today as a starting point for my design ideas. Although Bridgerton was my initial source of inspiration I wanted to expand on this to give myself a wider range of ideas.
Through experimental drawing, collage and surface manipulations, I was able to generate a large body of practical investigations that I combined using hand rendered and digital processes. I also considered embroidery, applique and print so that there was depth and interest to the work. Through creative play I was able to generate surface designs that could be used in different ways such as wallpapers and fabrics for furnishings.
This second year I have been I have been encouraged to improve on existing skills and elevate them to a more inventive level. This was done through testing and trying out ideas so that they were not predictable,
I have also learnt how to develop from my mistakes and not become too precious when things go wrong, this has helped me to understand myself and my work better.
Progression: De Montfort University, BA (Hons) Fashion Design
My FMP was inspired by the 2018 Met gala theme of Heavenly Bodies. The designer that influenced me the most was Oscar de la Renta who made a dress for Nicki Minaj that stood out the most because she came to the event in a design that was dark and devilish whereas everyone else that attended came in angel-like creations. I decided to adopt a darker approach to the design one off evening wear designs for a similar event. I was inspired by various fashion designers including the Chinese Haute Couture designer Guo Pei, and her exaggerated eveningwear and Mani K Jassal who specialises in Asian bridal wear.
My eveningwear collection is teamed with accessories I designs, in keeping with the idea of specialist occasion wear I designed crowns too.
The strengths I have in this project would be the range of designs I produced, ad my use of digital processes to make the process of illustrating my ideas quicker and more efficient.
If I was to do this project again, I would make more textile samples and construct one of my designs.
My plans for next year is to attend university and study fashion as I want to start my own business and be a fashion designer in the future.
Progression: Angela Ruskin University Cambridge. BA (Hons) Gaming arts.
I am a gamer and wanted to incorporate my interest in fashion and illustration to produce Concept Art for an existing game. Apex Legends is a fantasy and Sci-fi first-person shooter game, developed by Respawn Entertainment. The game has 16 characters, all having different backgrounds, aesthetics and abilities.
For my project, I created a character for this game. She is female and from a planet in the same universe as the other characters in this game. My character is a shape shifting Burlesque dancer. I designed costumes for her, and the assets she would use in the game. Using this work I produced promotional material in the form of posters, images for loading screens and a gif. I have used this year of the course to improve on my illustration and confidence in using digital software
I look forward to developing my illustration at university.
