:: COLOURBOX

Colourbox is the graphic design company I am lucky enough to have got some work experience with for a week in the summer. They are based in York, and are a design and print consultancy, which is probably my main area of interest, so checking this place out will be really beneficial....I hope!!


"Our priority is to deliver inspirational design and outstanding service that achieves winning results for our clients. We apply our fresh approach to corporate identity and branding, marketing and promotional concepts, print and display solutions, to provide a design, artwork and production service that adds value and makes a difference." - Colourbox
That's the profile about themselves...I like it. Sounds good.
I'm really looking forward to going and seeing what it's like in the big wide world of Graphic Design, as I have only ever seen it within the four walls of Leeds College of Art and Design...not that that's a bad thing!
Hopefully I'll come away with a good understanding of what it's like, what I need to improve on in my own working practice for me to be more prepared when I'm set free next year.

Below is a handful of some examples of there work...

:: VISIONAIRE, SCENTS

The brief I have written for myself is..
"To take the mundane and make it beautiful"
To be format driven. Focusing on the weird and, for some, not very interesting topic of the ability to smell. How a smell can trigger a memory of either a person, place or moment in the past"

And for this I am "capturing" smells. For example...
My dad - Deep Heat (the muscle cream, don't ask!)
My Mum - Coffee
Summer - Freshly cut grass and suncream
Wet sand - Primary school
Burger vans and dirty street meat - Festivals
My Grandad - Mud and Potatoes
My teenage years - hugo boss perfume

..to name a few.

But I'm well on my way with it and have recently come across a fashion and art publication called "Visionaire" and their issue 42 "SCENTS".
Not sure if I'm quite sad about this, as I thought my idea was totally unique..but I guess shows I may not be loosing my marbles just yet...




"What does cold smell like? What does it look like? And what about heat? Electricity? Softness? Visionaire, the fashion and art publication, explores the exciting world of SCENT. In collaboration with International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), Visionaire develops an innovative roster of modern scents that have never before been conceived. Experience abstract scents mixed by the best "noses" in the perfume industry and visually interpreted by leading image-makers from the world of fashion and art. The issue will consist of individual vials of exclusive scents that can be enjoyed over time, as well as full-color images, housed in a customized case." - artbook.com

The 21 smells that they have captured/created are...
Cold, Noise, Heat, Hunger, Gigabyte, 2am, Sadness, Success, Violence, Softness, Electricity, Mother, Wasteland, Fear, Fetish, Strange, Drunk, Wet, Space, Broken Glass and Instinct.

Absolutely LOVE IT!!!

:: WISH YOU WERE HERE...

I am currently half way through a brief called "Wish you were here..." and I have to design a set of 3 traditional post-cards.
We have to consider where it is being sent from, anywhere, any place and any moment in time. It can be completely made up, somewhere you wouldn't normally send or receive a postcard from.
So, I have decided to send my postcard from the 'bottom of the garden'. But, not basing it on your usual stuff, like garden sheds and compost heaps and stuff, but more the magical side. With fairies and elves and other stuff you imagine happens down there in the middle of the night, when no one is watching.
(I think I was still drunk when I decided to do this....)

As Im not an illustrator, but would like to incorporate this into my postcard designs, I've decided that the most suitable way for me to work is with photo montage...
It's something I've not really looked at before, but have come across some AMAZING work that has been really inspirational.

Firstly...

:: PIXELNOUVEAU










I came across Pixelnouveau in IDN vol.14 Cut and Paste Issue.
It is very similar to the work I am looking at producing, he works with a lot of typical garden and mythical imagery, in particular, fairies!
The founder, Diego Vargas produces short videos with visual narrative applying 3D and layering animation techniques. He describes his work as "images of unfinished arguments, monumental and absurd representations laid down through photomontages and digital illustrations."
Montage is a method of fooling people, of making a lie look real. That's what it's all about: to add or subtract value.
The object of montage is to manipulate.

:: JULIEN PACAUD

Another designer I have relooked at is Julien Pacaud.
I have previously looked at his work, you will find a blog entry all about it on Thursday 4 October 2007.
Claiming his work to be "happy accidents". If only my "accidents" turned out so well.
But yer, another designer who I'm finding to be really inspirational in producing my postcard range..

Watch this space for more photo montage....and eventually....an example of my own work!