A Final Word

I have really enjoyed the experience of placement work, I have learnt a lot about professionalism and more importantly about my self and my aspirations, the placement has re assured that I can do it…I am capable of working for a company, I am aiming to find more placements over the summer, hopefully preparing me for the third year at uni, and keeping my design mind exercised.

Franny also informed me that when the time comes (a couple of months form now) I could do the artwork for the 2010 Talent Show CD - CD design, sleeve design, etc, keeping the theme running from the logo, poster and flyer's. This would be great for further experience and I can use the work for the Biennial for my C.V. I will finish by saying that I am proud to be part of, and see positive things happening in my area.

On The Street Launch

Last night I went to the launch of the ‘On The Street’ project, the highlight of the evening for the residents and young people was the launch of Ed Purver’s video installation ‘In Residence’. There was a real buzz and sense of community in the air, with a lot of local press capturing the event. There was a 100 strong turnout and it was good to see a derelict and neglected area, once again buzzing with life and activity as it had done so in the past - reinvented by the presence of the people and artists. There was also live music and food, which created the feeling of celebration. I also met Ed, he spoke to me about his involvement in the project, and spoke of his ‘In Residence’ piece.

On the streets newspaper

I visited the Biennial centre office today to see how things were going, Franny informed me that their has been a great response to the talent show poster/flyers, and as of today there is roughly 16 people wanting to take part, with another 3 days left until entry closing date, this number could go up.

She gave me a copy of the first issue of the 'On the Street' newspaper, which features everything that's happening on the project, partly designed by the young people who are making the project possible. I was pleased to find that my logo design had made it's way into the newspaper.

Posted

Found that the flyer had been delivered this morning...

Where Next?

Working in collaboration has been a major eye opener for me, it's helped me to realize that getting out there and getting involved opens up doors and new opportunities, as a result of this, when May comes (after the second year is finished) I am aiming to look for a magazine placement, my university tutor has suggested that this is an area that I could do well in, and that a placement would be a good place to start to develop my skills further - I feel that the Biennial placement has given me the confidence to take on more placements in the near future.

Talent Show site - a happy accident

My younger brother walks past the site where the talent show is going to be held everyday on his way to college, he discovered that the fencing surrounding the site has been painted in the same colour scheme of my logo design, I emailed Franny to ask whether this was an intentional act, she said it weren't - a happy accident, pushing my yin yang connective theme further, result!

Regardless of being intentional or not, when people see the site they will connect and relate to the location with the logo/poster/flyer designs in mind. It was meant to be...

Franny also mentioned that there has been positive feedback from the steering group, saying that 'the designs are really fresh'

Approaching full circle

Cheers Thomas, and well done on this. Thrown in at the deep end, a flyer and poster produced, and money off secured from the printers.... A bright future beckons and we are really glad someone from Anfield could help on this.! Much appreciated, and I’ll let you have the details of meetings etc. when they are in place.
If you need anything from us for college let us know.
Cheers
Paul

Received - 24 March 2010 14:49

yeah no problem, I have enjoyed working alongside you guys, Iv learnt quite a bit in these past few weeks.

If it's not too much of a problem could you possibly write up a small reference, nothing big just a few words for me to include in my report of working in collaboration with a company, it would be really appreciated

Thanks

Tom

Sent - 24 march 2010 19:28

Good to go!

Received several emails this morning with confirmation from Sue, Paul & Franny that I could go ahead with the printing, it felt great that something that I had actually produced (outside of education) was going to printed on a large scale. Hopefully the first of many. Anyway I was at the printers and a guy next to me was paying for some business cards he had got printed there, I asked for one (just out of interest) and we got talking about design, he asked for my telephone number and email, saying he may have some potential work for me, this made me think back to a Practice Discourse talk with Iain Foxall, where he said 'the more we get out there, and the more people we meet - the more chances will become available of getting work, more doors will open to new opportunities' - simple. I feel that what I witnessed today is a prime example of this. Hopefully he will be in touch soon with some work (paid or not, it's all experience).

I have also forwarded all of Paul & Franny's relevant details to the printers for invoice procedures. Karen at the printers has said that the prints should be ready for late Thursday but definitely Friday - I have already seen a test print of what they're like (they look pretty good), but it will be exciting to see 6,000 of the flyers piled up and ready for distribution, and to go downstairs in the morning and see a flyer on the hallway floor.

Above is the final poster design to advertise the event, through the centre of the design is a yin yang style graphic that I have used again as a metaphor to show connectivity between various elements and the Biennial's statement of Connecting art, people and place.

Above is the revised version of the flyer design for the event, again I have chose to incorporate a yin yang styled graphic for the background, this tying the poster and flyer together as well as being based on the original yin yang styled logo. The finished designs have a connected feel (physical appearance) as well as the theme of 'connectivity' which I had applied at the beginning of the design process.

I chose to make the background green to give a fresh, lively and energetic feel - also demonstrated in the movement and flowing of the shapes. The shapes are playful, whereas the font choice has a more serious feel, this I feel creates a good balance on the design, which should engage the audience without creating a 'too serious' or 'too playful' feel. I am pleased with the outcome of the designs.

Designs updates

I emailed through the designs to Sue from the Liverpool City Council (on the 22nd), to get some feed back on the designs at a complete stage, I received an email back the following day (today), Sue didn't necessarily comment on the actual designs themselves, rather she asked for some additional information to be added to the designs, basically just a few amendments were needed, this was no problem, it took a few minutes. I was just a little disappointed that she never commented on the designs, considering the fact that it is the Liverpool City Council funding the printing costs, oh well I suppose I will get used to this type of treatment in the industry... we live we learn.

I have applied the updates and also tidied up the designs a little, they look much neater and the added information has actually improved the balance of the layout's. I have emailed Sue, Paul & Franny and am currently waiting for a reply and the go ahead to print.

Monday 22nd March

Soaked form the morning rain I arrived at the centre and settled quickly.

I presented my two final pieces, which I was a little apprehensive about because over the weekend I had failed to make contact with Paul & Franny (due to the Biennial's server being down since friday), meaning that this was the first they had seen of any flyer development and the first of any of the poster design work. However my designs went down well with positive feedback from both Paul & Franny. They agreed with my font choice and the concept behind it.

The designs were still missing the Arena Housing Logo (must be included), which was a pain because it meant me sending emails and making phone-calls to chase a logo that should have been delivered to me over a week ago, ideally we wanted to get the designs to print today so that they were guaranteed to be ready for distribution by Friday, but in this field of work things never seem to go as planned, and progress is being stifled by a lack of communication/pro-activity.

It's now 5:00pm and still no response from my emails, so I have resorted to the internet for the logo, not the greatest quality (quite pixelated) but still it doesn't need to be big on the design, so it will have to do. If I receive a better version over the next few hours or tomorrow morning, I can easily switch it over.

Today I have witnessed a very professional working environment, things seem to be getting busier each week I attend, Im enjoying the professional vibe, the staff seem content but extremely driven, the reason being that there are a number of deadlines approaching for the 'On the Streets' project, including the launch of the 'On the Street' project and the launch of Ed Purver's video installation called 'In Residence' (mentioned in an earlier post), Connecting Communities Day - a Free Family Fun Day and the Talent Show. Plus several more high calibre events.

It's odd, I haven't been attending here very long, but I can feel a real sense of acceptance and appreciation for my help, this may be because at uni I am doing it for myself and therefore what I put in is what I get out, there isn't a great sense of appreciation - I mean why would there be? But at the placement I am doing it for a large number of people, many people who I will never know or even see, it feels good, I feel like a segment in a massive chain, a chain that without my input or my segment in place would essentially collapse, (maybe not for long but you get the picture), all in all I feel valued. I also spoke to Franny today about my uni course for about half an hour, it was good to talk to a working professional other than my tutors about my progress and where I think or would like things to be heading, at the moment there is so much going on at uni, you never really get a chance to sit down and talk so it was a refreshing change.

The designs are now at a complete stage, I have emailed them around to the appropriate people, hopefully they'll be a response by the end of the day or by tomorrow at-least, so I can move onto the printing stage.

Flyer Development

Still haven't received a reply for the updated flyer designs, so I am going to use my own judgement for the typeface choice. As I have previously mentioned I feel that the typeface needs to be bold and concise, after carefully sifting through my font book and a few websites, I have decided upon the typeface 'gunplay' - a stencil typeface inspired by

the 1972 Steve McQueen/Ali MacGraw film, The getaway.

My reasoning for this font is simple, it has a high visual impact, it's legible, clear and the natural breaks in the letterforms of a stencil font create a playful element, which helps to create a balance of serious yet playful, which in essence is what the Talent Show is about.

Flyer Feeedback

Paul asked for 200 posters and for me to get a quote for these:-

I worked on the flyer design this afternoon and came up with a few concept's for layout and colour, etc. I used the same typeface as was used for the logo design, at the start I thought this was a good (aiming to keep the theme going), soon realizing that the design had too much of a playful feel, which seemed to lack in what you could call variety, regardless of my feelings I wanted the second opinion of the Biennial team to support my thought's.

Hi Paul, yes 200 is fine, il get in touch with Karen about a quote for the poster's, iv produced 2 basic mock up flyer's for the show, the flyer has a manly typographic feel due to the amount of type included, I will explore the flyer design further, but for now can you tell me what you think of where it's going. Iv attached them as PDF's.

Just rang call print, iv got 50% student discount on the posters, so it's £0.97 x 200=£194, managed to get it down to £150 (not sure if that's with V.A.T, but thats still very cheap) - single sided 100gsm stock.

Sent - 18 march 2010 17:42

Thomas I like the white background, but I think it needs a clearer text for the wording..... We have to think of all age groups.

Received - 18 March 2010 20:13

Confirming my thoughts, I now had a new direction to pursue, I decided that the font needed to hold a bold and concise aesthetic I began by applying a selection of different fonts to the white background design which Paul had commented on, (all fonts with subtle differences) in order to gain a better picture of what they may be after. I sent this to Paul & Franny - currently waiting for a reply.

Flyer Development/An idea

Hi Franny & Paul

Today I am working on the flyer design so I will keep you informed with what I get done later in the day, I spoke to Karen at Call Print yesterday and I managed to get the original quote of £285 down to £250, below is her email.

Hi Tom

Please find below the price for the leaflets:

A5 single sided colour on 120gsm stock

Qty - 6000

Price - £250.00

(no vat on leaflets)

Regards

Karen

Plus I had a thought about the remaining 1000 flyers, perhaps we could get them put into a school/schools in the area, I was thinking of the North Liverpool Academy which when opened was a merger of kids both the original Anfield & Breckfield schools - so naturally the flyers should reach kids from the heart of the area. I rang the school up this morning and asked if this would be possible and found that it shouldn't be a problem. There are around 700 students currently in the school. Maybe a few posters could be put in the school as well?

That reminds me - how many posters did you want printing?

Thanks

Tom

Sent - 18 March 2010 12:15

Client knows best

One of my developed designs was agreed on by both Paul & Franny for the final logo, however I had hoped that they would of chosen a different one (purely for personal preference). In this field of design the client is always right, if the client wants or chooses something - that's what the client gets. In the real world as such, they're the ones paying me my wages, so their decisions must be pursued and respected. So I have learnt to accept that the client's decision is the most important.

Whereas at university, I would, to a certain extent get my own way, obviously the tutors would have some influence on the final outcome, but essentially I would be my own boss and my decisions would be mine. So not getting what I want has been a very new learning experience for me, something that I have learnt to accept. Regardless of this it's my design that will be used so whatever way I look at the situation it was me who designed the one that has been chosen and me who designed the one that I would have preferred - so I am happy.

Above - Final logo design, which may be subject to small changes (if needed, colour, colour shade,etc...).

Above - my preferred design.

Decided

Hi Tom,

We really like number 6 from the final.pdf attached to the email you sent below. Do you want to work on the layout of the whole flyer and if you can pop in tomorrow to discuss that, that would be great!

Before 2:30pm tomorrow is best for me, does that suit you?

I think the meeting you mention was last Monday so it has already been and gone, no meeting this coming Monday (22nd) so don’t worry about that!

Next Monday 22nd is when we need to get the final version of the flyer to the printers so that it can be distributed by the end of the week. I think for ease we should go with BNENC and ABCC doing the distribution, they are both represented on the projects steering grp and it’s important that we enlist them to do this, it helps with their overall participation and ownership of the project you see.

So by Thursday we need about 2500 to go to ABCC and 2500 to go to BNENC (we can give addresses) and then another 500 somewhere and another somewhere (TBD).

It's good to know about the Anfield and Walton Star though!

Good stuff and look forward to seeing you tomorrow,

Franny

Received 17 March 2010 11:36

Logo Design

Hi Franny,

I have attached a pdf of the most recent logo designs based on the feedback that I received today. Hopefully it’s clear enough to view properly. I have numbered the designs so that you can refer to them through this, also if you want to change anything, for example: - change a colour combination or the layout of type, or you want a certain type layout with a different shape layout, etc… anything at all… that’s fine Just let me know.

I have also forwarded the email from Carol a (Anfield & Walton Star), it may be useful in deciding whether to use the delivery service.

I think I will come along to that meeting, Il let you know before hand though.

Have a good weekend

Regards

Tom

Sent - 15 March 2010 22:31

Above are some examples of the direction in which I took the logo based on the meeting on the 15th March, these are the ideas which I felt had the strongest presence and best provided what they asked for on Monday.

Positive Feedback

I arrived this morning at 11 am, I worked for half an hour or so and then I presented my logo development work to Paul & Franny, I regularly present work to my tutors at university, and it's always a slightly nerve racking experience, however today was on the contrary, I felt confident in presenting my vision of the logo, I spoke clearly and accurately and I feel that my brief presentation of my work was a success.

The feedback was positive and I feel that they were a little surprised by what I had managed to get done over the weekend. I also met a few more people which was good. As they were looking and discussing my ideas it was nice to hear that my logo design (shapes/colours, etc) could be a running theme for the 'On The Street' project, that would be great!

Paul & Franny both came to the agreement that they liked this idea, they wanted this to be the foundation for development upon the logo, (colour scheme, shapes, chosen typeface, etc). My next move is to continue working on the logo based on this and I will email The Biennial my development work throughout the week, which should take us to a potential final design.

Currently working on logo

I spent the vast majority of the weekend working on the logo design for the 'Anfield and Breckfield 2010 Talent Show', I began with some basic designs that didn't hold much significance to what the Biennial or the Talent Show are trying to say, from these initial ideas I developed a concept based on the yin yang symbol – the two segments each representing Anfield and Breckfield. I began experimenting with various layouts and colour combinations, but I soon figured that the ‘On The Street’ project is actually more of a triple collaboration – Anfield, Breckfield & the Liverpool Biennial, so I made the decision to introduce a third segment which would represent the Biennial’s influence, this, being the connective influence – bringing the two areas together through the ‘Talent Show; and the ‘On The Street’ Project. Another contributing factor for basing the logo on the yin yang symbol was Liverpool Biennial’s statement of - Connecting art, people and place. Therefore the third segment is a metaphor showing the Biennial’s connective influence of the two separate areas, and collectively the two areas are intertwined by the Biennial segment.

Above are some examples of the logo designs that I produced over the weekend, in total I have produced 9 A3 sheets of development work which I will be presenting to Paul & Franny tomorrow morning (monday 15th march). Hopefully I should get some positive feedback, which will help to push the logo development further.

First experience in the workplace

I was scheduled to meet at the Biennial centre on the 1st of March (last Monday) for my first day of work. However my grandmother passed away early that Morning. I made contact with Paul & Franny who were very understanding and re- assured me that it was fine for me to not attend on that particular Monday. I assured them that I would be there for the following Monday.

(08/03/10) Here I am, in the working environment of the Biennial team, I arrived at about 10:30 am, and was introduced to a couple of members of the staff, I felt a little nervous and unsettled at first because of the new surroundings and people, I soon settled down and got busy. The working atmosphere feels friendly, professional and relaxed. I was allocated an area to work in. I suggested the idea of possibly contacting a local newspaper (The Anfield and Walton Star) in order to establish if it is possible to use them as a vehicle for mass distribution of 6,000 flyers into the Anfield and Breckfield area. Paul and Franny were pleased with this suggestion - I made a call and I managed to get a quote of £108.00 + v.a.t, which I felt is a relatively good price. Carol Collins the lady whom I spoke to on the phone from The Star sent me an email with a breakdown of the distribution points and levels of distribution which was very useful, she also mentioned that they can offer competitive rates for leaflet design and printing, I would be more interested in the printing side of this.

I have only been here for about 3 hours and I feel at home, there's a good vibe in the air, I was concerned that for some reason I wouldn't be actively contributing to the team, but yeah I feel confident to say that I have. I received my brief via email on the 5th of March and today I had a good talk with Franny about some of the required items of which I wasn't sure about. Things are clearer now, and it's been a relatively good day.

Monday 22nd February meeting

Yesterday I went to my first meeting at the Biennial centre were I met Paul Kelly, and was introduced to Franny George who are both involved in the 'On the Street' project which kicks off in Spring 2010, the project deals head-on with issues in the Anfield and Breckfield regeneration zones of North Liverpool, which will be delivered over 3 years or more. The aim is to engage young people aged between 11 and 17, who are not currently engaged in education, employment or training, through a series of artist/architect interventions to develop an alternative, young persons 'masterplan' for the area.

I myself was born and live in the area of Anfield, so it was a pleasant surprise for Paul & Franny when I told them of this because it means that I know and understand the area just as well as the young people themselves do, in a sense I can relate to them and communicate on the same level and understand what they are talking about and appreciate their opinions and views.

I am proud to be involved in a project that's at the heart of where I live, it was great being able to discuss ideas that originate from my experiences and memory's of childhood in the area. It made me wish i was young again so that I could picture the ideas in my mind as an excited child would, rather than a rational thinking adult who's main concerns are orientated around production costs and deadlines. However I am still excited by the ideas discussed and I am eager to get involved in the coming weeks/months.

"On the Street intends to contribute positively to the neighbourhoods of Anfield and Breckfield economically, environmentally and socially. It will assist with the development of sustainable communities by providing the tools needed to help young people improve their chances in life. The project will also aspire to tackle social cohesion issues, re-connecting the young people with their community and engaging them in productive discussions about the future of the area where they live, ultimately, improving the urban environment and future thinking."

"The work produced will result in a high profile and visible intervention within Anfield and Breckfield, temporarily making creative use of redundant buildings and land within the neighbourhood."

A link to a video that the young people made with Ed Purver in October last year.

http://www.vimeo.com/7817288

"I just got back from Liverpool where I had a fantastic 10 days working on a short video with some young people from Anfield. I’ve proposed a site-specific video installation with the ‘On The Street’ program of the Liverpool Biennial, and the purpose of this last visit was to create some renderings to visualize what this installation might look like.

Anfield, like some other neighborhoods in Liverpool, has rows of disused housing, that have been standing empty for years, and I am proposing to evolve something related to my previous project ‘There are giants in my building…", in collaboration with local young people and with the Liverpool Biennial. The video installation will be called 'In Residence'.

We had a very quick shoot, probably a total of 6 hours over two days, and then a two day turnaround for me on postproduction. A rush, but enough time to produce some sketches". - Ed Purver

Stills from the video made by Ed Purver and the young people from Anfield.

During the brief 30 minute meeting I found that I was surprisingly clear and confidant when it came to discussing my ideas and thoughts, I felt that I was able to talk about my myself without the discomfort usually associated with meeting new people and being in new surroundings. I feel that this placement could offer me a good vehicle for self reflection which will give me an opportunity to discuss my personal progression with someone other than University tutors and classmates.