Here Endeth Year One

It's the end of my first year at university. That is a very scary thought! I have had my final lecture, my final presentation, and I only have one major piece of work left to complete! What a whirlwind it has been of what is essentially 24 weeks - can't really call it a year can I? I've met some great people, I have a wonderful crazy cohort and fantastic support from everyone around me. I have learned some really cool things and I look forward to what my second year brings!

As it is the last day of my first year (24 weeks) of self inflicted education, I thought I'd share with you what I've been up to on the creative side of the course.

Throughout the year we have completed four major group projects. For these projects we have created a website, an online game, a mobile device (prototype) and an interactive application. Also in our first semester we did our own individual creative projects. So here are my contributions to the projects and my own individual projects.

Cohort Website - Group project

The brief for this project was to create and develop a website for our cohort so we can publicise our work. The most popular website would be chosen and used. Our group were unfortunately not chosen. In a future post I'll give you the link to the winning website, which was a very nice design!

Here are a couple of screen grabs from the pages of our website that I designed - I unfortunately cannot show you the rest of the website as I don't have access to it.    

I was in charge of designing the student page. I cannot take credit for much of this design as it was a group decision. The background on the live website would be moving in a wave like motion. Each diamond would be a link to each students personal profile and rather than the diamonds showing a photograph of the student it would show a part of their work. We decided this so that if any potential employers went on the website their first impressions would be on the work not the person. The diamonds would keep changing showing different links.

Once you clicked on a student's profile, it would appear like this displaying a short bibliography about themselves, examples of their work and a link to their own personal website or blog.    

Sports poster - Individual project

Our first individual project. The brief, pretty self explanatory, design a sports poster taking note on the layout. Thank you to Sam and Michaela for being my frisbee models!   
 

Typography animation - Individual project

Some of you may have seen this as I posted it on my facebook page, this typography animation was inspired by BBC Sherlock and my very first attempt at an animation! The audio belongs to the BBC.

Promotional flyer concentrating on colour use - Individual project

My flyer promoted a new sweet at the fictional shop Honeydukes, for this flyer I produced everything from scratch.

Sketching on campus - Individual project

We had to go out during our lecture, sketch something and come back within 45 minutes or so. As I cannot draw because of my disability I took photographs instead.

Digital art - Individual project

The brief was to produce a piece of static digital art taking inspiration from a traditional artist - I chose Vincent van Gogh.

Original photograph - taken during the previous individual project











 
Typography Stamps - Individual project

The brief for this project was given to us from the International Society of Typographic Designers. We had two briefs to choose from, to either produce a typography animation using one of their given fonts or produce a set of 5 stamps with artwork that focused on typography that depicted something or somewhere that meant something to you. I chose the stamp brief and chose Winchester as my subject. The stamps are meant to form the English rose, personally this isn't my best piece of work.

3D Ident animation - Individual project

We had to create a 3D logo for a TV channel or a title sequence for a TV programme and turn into an animation. Unfortunately the video will not upload on here but here is the still from it. This again, in my opinion, is not my best work.

 

 Online Game - Group project 

The brief for this was to design and develop an online game for children that would educate them in some way. Our game was called 'Abandoned' and was focused on this alien that had committed a crime so as it's punishment had to help restore different planets. I cannot show you the final game as I don't have access to the files. However here are a few of my digital sketches from the initial design stage.

I also drew up some concept art for an alternative game, a maze that had puzzles throughout for the child to complete - not dissimilar to the maze in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

 
Mobile Device - Group project 

The brief for this was to come up with a device that 'solved a problem'. Our chosen target audience was the extreme sports demographic. Our device was a sort of smart watch, a device that would connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth. The device was designed so it would strap to your forearm, have big easy buttons to press and an e-ink screen (like you would get on a Kindle) so you could see it in bright sunlight. We focused it on skiing however it could be used for other sports also for people who struggle to use touch screen phones. We named it Go2, as in the Go2 smart watch. I was charged with digitally 3D modelling it. We also 3D printed it but I annoyingly don't have a photograph. This was probably my most enjoyable project.

  
The device displayed at night. 

   

Interactive application - Group project

For our last project the brief was to create and develop a working concept interactive application for The Royal Green Jackets Military Museum in Winchester. Our target audience was children between 7 and 11, and the app was a character that would 'travel through time' with the child around the museum. In each area there would be a puzzle or a quiz for the child to complete. I was charged with creating the leaflet and designing the character.

  
So that was a summary of my creative work this year! I hope you have enjoyed looking at what I have come up with and thank you for making it to the end of this unintentionally long blog post!

Until next time!

K x

This is new...

So... Blogging... A very new concept to me so please bare with me! Never really had the inclination to write a blog before, but one day I thought why the hell not! I headed here, wrote an intriguing and original title (Ok, perhaps not, but just go with it...), came to writing my first post and drew a blank. Awkward. The next day in lectures we were told to start writing a blog and I thought great! I clearly have some sort ability to predict the future. Consequently for about 3 months after that lecture I haven't written a word. Again, awkward. Not really sure why or what made me come back and write here, it just sort of - happened - not much more I can say about that!

So here I am! Blogging! No real clue with what I am meant to do, but I endeavor to enlighten and amuse you. Having said that, I suppose that is what all blogs want to achieve so I guess that isn't a particularly ground breaking piece of news to you. I don't think any blogger has ever stated and set out that they are going to be boring or mean. I would hope not anyway!

For this blog I will take you through my journey (I'm sorry, I succumbed to a cliché!) as a digital media design student at the University of Winchester. As you've probably deduced from my title, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the digital media world, and probably life too as I am prone to go off on a tangent. I apologise now. Don't say I didn't warn you!

After saying all that I probably ought to write something digital media-ish! Today a very exciting parcel arrived at uni for my course...

I took this photograph off one of my course mate's Facebook - Sorry!

For those of you who don't know, this is a 3D printer. A very cool piece of machinery that uses plastic to print out, yep you've guessed it, 3D models. I love 3D printing, I was first properly introduced it at college. I love how you can create a model on a computer and then see it being produced right in front of you. 3D printing is steadily growing in popularity, in time I believe it will be affordable to the mass market. 3D printing is great to mock up prototypes for products, it gives a clean professional look to your product, which can be easier to pitch to clients or investors. I have seen that it is now possible to print food (chocolate to be precise) which as a concept sounds amazing, however I'm a little wary and sceptical of the reality...


There you have it! My first blog entry! Thanks for reading! I hope it wasn't too painful for you and I hope just as much that you enjoyed it and found it, if only vaguely, interesting. I don't know when I will be back but until then, take care lovely people! 

K. x