Natural Collection

Your standard spot illustration, but I had fun with this one. It started out as rather a pain and I'd done a lame planty tendril running through the article (which didn't work and was just annoying to try to fit properly and... just ugh!). I think I've got it working in much the direction I want now.
I hope it's elegant-looking enough. I might add a planty border (unless I decide that's too tacky! haha).

edit: I updated my portfolio, so please check it out when you get a chance :)

♥

Egmont!

Recently we've had a (mandatory) live brief with Egmont (via uni) to "design an illustrated Christmas 3-d object suitable for a child to create out of a single flat piece of card". I have so much fun with things like this. I just love it!

elf with a jet-pack (His name is Christopher. Named by Helen)

I'd done something similar in college where I had to create a frog box, but this was even more fun. Most people just used nets they found online then wiped and resigned them, but I made my own net from scratch to my exact measurements and such! That meant testing and adjusting which can be tedious, but it's all part of the process I think and still very fun...even when you get it a little wrong. And, at the risk of sounding cocky, I'm fairly good at judging/measuring so I never really have to make major adjustments anyway (hehe).

More shots of the little guy:

I've added a string to the back so he can be hung up on the tree and he can fly about with his shiny Christmas-Green jet-pack! I'm probably going to send one or two net sheets home to my brother for him to make and a few friends will probably receive one as a little surprise too! hehe (depends how many I can afford to get printed...).
Egmont will be choosing two people to take up summer placements and those people's designs (and presumably any others that Egmont like) will be included in Egmont's Christmas activity book. Very good opportunity that simply had to be taken advantage of! Incredibly stiff competition, though. Can't honestly say I'm that optimistic about poor little Christopher Elf's chances, but we can dream... And I'm very pleased with/proud of Christopher in any case.

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Lolo

We have an assignment to redesign 8 Penguin book covers (although only 3 of them need to be finalised and printed for hand-in).

I'd wanted to do them all screen printed, but I'm having trouble getting access to the screen printing facilities at the moment. Ugh! /sadness. So I'm having to Photoshop them instead to reach the deadline (I hate Photoshop. It is the devil. In many ways far inferior to openCanvas, in my mind, but it'll have to do for now...).

 Lolita: Vladimir Nabokov

Also, I will have a special print done hopefully by next week that I intend to put up for sale both online and in the next vintage/craft fair thingy I see in Cardiff if possible. I will keep you all posted : )

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Sketchbook up for grabs

forty-six page A6 sketchbook filled with my sketches
£55 incl. s&h
(preferable methods of payment: paypal or international money order)

The following are examples of the kind of content in my sketchbooks (although nowadays my sketches tend to have more colour in them).

Those sketches are not in the sketchbook I will be selling. In fact, none of its contents has ever been posted online (oooh! exclusive, one-of-a-kind, mysterious merchandise!).
 
I'm very(!) attached to each of my sketchbooks and I don't like parting with them, so I really hope it is treated with the same love and respect that it would receive in my care.

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Scatter (and Barca) +photos

I have a lot I could rant about and post and such, but I'll try to be brief (because no one likes having to trawl through too much mindless babble, do they?).

Scatter-brained

CSAD Year 2 show, Scatter, is fast approaching! Check out the show blog for more information about the show, artists, work, etc.

DanHam and I worked on several poster proposals for the show. It was very time consuming* and drove home the idea that you can't please everyone all of the time (or even some of the time it seems...).

This is my favourite of all our (many!) designs.

*and now we're having to really get crackin' on our show piece(s) which will be a collaborative effort again

A different design was chosen for the show poster (go to the show blog to check it out!). The preferred design was done by Louise Smith and James Southall.

* * *

Also(!), I tried screen printing yesterday (for my show piece) and I am sooo in love with it! It is a magical process; I will be doing much more in future. I'm going to post some work after the show is set up.

Dan from yesterday's screen printing session

"Nicole, I'm working! Stop bothering me! GTFO!"

"tehehehehe, no. lol"

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Year 2 show

Year 2 show coming up so I'm busy as fook!

...working with groups - particularly large, very diverse ones - can be very, very frustrating...

The Birds project (Dec 2009)

More importantly, though, I want to try my hand at screen-printing (still!) and I've been looking for a job (still!) that allows me to be creative...or at least one that allows me to exercise my social skills, so I can make a bit of money and not starve to death in the coming weeks.

Also, I've been thinking about what happens after uni... that magical place of true independence, poverty and wonderment...

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Amsterdam

So a friend and I went to Amsterdam two weeks ago. My digital camera ran out of batteries so we bought two disposables from Boots. I love the nostalgic feel you get with disposable cameras. I did that when I went to Paris with my friends Deedz and Naj too... maybe I'll start a travel trend born of my ineptitude/unpreparedness...hrm...

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sketchbook mini posters

Hey hey, dudes and dudettes!

I got back from a three-day-weekend in Amsterdam earlier this week. I was meant to meet withLois van Baarle, but that didn't end up happening.... Anyway, it was still fun. Might upload trip photos later if I remember :)

Barcelona next week ;)

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panties!

I had a lot to choose from in the way of posting. That always makes me feel good. So today I shall post the second set of structured 'collections' originally intended to be used in my Obsessions & Eccentricities project.

Aaaand it's my underpants! How's that for getting intimate with an audience for you? haha!
I thought it was interesting that, for me anyway, it's the clothing that no one sees that is most expressive (and colourful...which you can't see here...) and that I choose very meticulously.

I had further plans for this one that I may well continue with so you may see more of my undies later.

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