Johnny Hardstaff

Johnny Hardstaff is a director and designer.  He has directed and designed innovative moving image work across a broad spectrum of both commercial and non-commercial strands of the visual arts. Some of his clients include Sony, Radiohead, Orange, Toshiba, Sony PlayStation and the BBC amongst others. 

On the 6th of October he came to give us a lecture where he showed us some of his work. Below you ban see some of his sketchbooks from 1990-92 ( doodled a monster body of work).

He also showed us some of his motion graphics and commercials. One of my favourite pieces was one of the Orange adverts 'orange paint'. Check it out.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mILY4hHQIOg

 I think the advert is very safe and intended. The message of all the paint over flowing is out of the vessels, is saying that Orange give you so much that you cant contain it.

( very much about corporate manipulation )

'Future of Gaming' add for Sony.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDttY8-fLLk&feature=PlayList&p=157BB652E96220A0&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=22

He told us that Sony hated this piece......but they put it places. "Sony loved it but they just couldn't say it".

I also really liked his Radiohead video 'spinning plates' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qZbMNo-NWI

I love the complex graphics of the machinery and diagrams. The visuls are impressive and work really well with the track. The siamese twins in the video draw attention....... and almost make you feel uncomfortable.

Resistance

I have chosen to do the D&AD dont panic competition brief. 'Create an image for don''t panic that captures the theme of resistance'. The brief is asking me to capture on paper resistance to the politics of existence.

Politics of existence is awareness of the identity of particular aspects of reality.

research

I really like this advertising campaign by Tria (colour shouldn't matter). I love that it is not a poster and that it becomes interactive with the viewer.

This is an image i came across for discrimination. It appears cliché, but i think its a simple and effective idea that gets the message across.

I think these advertisements for FARM 'don't eat meat' are really effective, they grabbed, but more importantly held my attention. They are designed by Sandra Scher. I think its the harsh imagery which some people might find hard to bear that really garbed me. I don't like the imagery of the dead animals but I like how they have replaced a dinner plate, and how the cutlery is arranged in a place setting to amplify the consequences of ones choice.

victory poster by Fang Chen.

"The capitalised V represented by the two fingers is a universal symbol for victory and is understood by viewers of all races and cultures". The missing fingers also speak to the reality that human beings often experience suffering in order to achieve triumph.

Helen Murgatroyd

I really like Helens work, I was familiar with some of her pieces from when i met her in my first year at uni. Helen told us about her first final year on Design and Art Direction and showed us some interesting work she had produced.

These are some maps she had produced which was part of an investigation, recording the human movement. They are screen prints created from original drawings where she traced the movement of someone in the kitchen whilst they prepared food.

She made various maps for different meals, I love how she has presented the posters in the tubes above. They look wonderful and very intriguing .

Helen had a gap year when she finished her third year because she was unsure what she wanted to do, she did apply for an MA at the Royal College of Arts. I was inspired by her decision not to give up. She decided to become a post lady so she could deliver post in the morning whilst earning money and then use the rest of the day to produce work.

I found this comforting to hear as I am sure im not the only one who is not quite sure which road to take when finishing my degree.

After her gap year she re-applied for the MA of printmaking and got a place.

One of the main things I liked about Helen was that she was interested in the in the process of making design rather then the final outcome itself.

Here are some more pieces of her work which I really like.

Hand made powerpoint presentation......based on the topic of hand made design.

Kate Gibb

I have just come across Kate Gibbs work in the book "visual thinking". I have seen her work on albums such as the Chemical brothers, Simian mobile disco and the magic number, but i did not know they was by her. She has also produced book covers for H.G Wells and worked with fasion brands including Levis, Lee and Adidas. She produces lots of one of screen prints to which you can buy through her blog......take a look there fab!!!!

I love her work, i thinks she has a really cool style, I like her compositions and the way she layers colours and imagery. Her work has a very raw cut and paste feel which I love....... great influence.

Sublime music design

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Dazzle Ships

I love this record sleeve design for OMD, designed by Peter Saville.

I think the colours work great against each other, I especially like the small amount of the peach coming in, but then is more apparent inside the sleeve. I really like use of the abstract shapes. It has such a retro look........... I love it. I would buy it just for its cover!!!!

Habitat catalogues

Here are a selection of Habitat catalogues from 1999. I really like the format of the brochures. Each one folds out to A3 size.

Here you can see the brochure folding out ...

I really like how each brochure uses one flat colour plus stock.

Each brochure is detailed with linear images of various furnishings. They just look so intricate and make me want to look at them in more detail. I really like the concept of the brochure, i think as a set they work really well together.

I was looking at these brochures as primary research for part two of the silence brief.

inspiration

Susan Sontag

I have just read a book on photography by Susan Sontag as part of my research for my essay. I loved her book, she examines a wide range of problems, both aesthetic and moral raised by the presence and authority of the photographed image in the lives of everyone today.

I love the way she describes the result of a photographic enterprise. "To give us the sense that we can hold the whole world in our heads as an anthology of images."

large numbers of people travel out of there environment everyday, for short periods of time. It seems positively unnatural to travel for pleasure without taking a camera. I love travelling everywhere. Everything I see and do feeds my visual intelligence, and inspires me in many ways, so I always have my camera at the ready. With the click of a shutter I feel satisfied that I have captured a memory of that pacific time or place. I love taking and collecting photographs, to me they are having an interest in in things as they are, and converting an experience into an image or a souvenir.