Studio Brief 1 - Reflection

I instantly knew that I would want to focus on the Socio-Political Poster brief, although, I took it on me to make some designs for the Hookworms brief as well seen as though the deadlines were so distant from each other.

Making a design with little to no context isn’t something I usually do, making the Hookworms poster extremely difficult. I couldn’t grasp at an idea that would be appealing to the band and their current vibe. Starting with the text seemed to be most appropriate until I gathered up a strong enough starting point for the visual side of it. The photocopier became my best friend.

Using the photocopier seemed to strengthen my ideas massively, it creates textures and the mistakes are sometimes unexpected accomplishments. Accidentally overlaying the text on one of the copies became one of my strongest designs (according to my peers in a group crit) so I went away with a lot more confidence to make the designs more appropriate for screen print using Photoshop, always considering the scale of the poster and the short time that it had to be completed for, making my ideas as simple as possible with minimal colour.

Overall, I just couldn’t wait to get that brief over with and move onto the political poster where I knew I would be a lot more confident in my own practice.

As soon as I started focusing on the political poster I felt a lot more comfortable. Making a list of all ethical/political/social issues I am passionate about allowed me narrow my ideas down for what would be most suitable for the brief. Veganism is a passion of mine, although, I felt like the brief didn’t want this subject covered, so I interpreted my views in a more environmental and health orientated fashion. Whilst developing my ideas, I heard about the Conservatives cutting back free school meals, which is what my most finalised idea was based on, considering the number of children not being able to eat their lunch, represented by the apple cores in my design.

I only sent one poster off to Poland for the competition as problems with my personal life seemed to have a huge impact on my work, meaning I haven’t done as much as I would have hoped for this brief. I plan on possibly making more designs for the poster brief if I get time before the deadline (without it taking over Studio Brief 2).