electric angel /design for life

installation II

some pics taken on cameraphone of rachel’s installation – click on the small images to view a larger pic. it’s set out in two disused cattle stalls and explores themes of memory and tears – hence the salt in the sack and the bags of water (which look like huge icecubes) suspended in nets. the second stall has sillhouettes made from a translucent material sewn into a thin felt(?) – very effective. it had a similar look to when clear oil is spilt onto paper.

the images behind the suspended sack are a mix of video and stills with overlayed type. rachel said that the type was the part she was least happy with and that the piece is a work in progress, but i think the type is quite sensitively done. the layering of multiple images and simple sans serif type reminded me of the kind of visuals i helped create when i was part of host which at times was a cross between installation and non-linear act of worship.

installation

at electric angel hq installation often means cd-roms, computers and reboots. but this weekend at least some of the electric angel team will be taking opportunity to experience something a bit more arty at rachel howfield’s installation at dale farm, hunmanby.

it’s part of the north yorkshire ‘open studios’ event – you can download a brochure here. rachel’s is the only installation in the event which makes it a must for starters, but she’s also a pal so we’d want to go anyway. if you’re in or near north yorks this or next weekend, do yourself a favour and go visit a studio.

dog rough

well not so much a rough, rather a prelude to the ‘clean it up’ signs we’ve been comissioned to design as part of a revamp to public information notices in the borough. this is the doggy poop design adapted to an A3 poster to promote biogdegradable dog mess bags. the permanent signs will probably be the same format as the antisocial drinking signs i blogged about a few weeks back on which the illustration will have a tighter crop and bleed off the sign (which looks best. it just wouldn’t work like that on A3).

the same idea follows as with the drinking sign – the illustration is almost entirely constructed from letterforms just with bits deleted and some straight lines connecting them. you can probably spot the capital ‘B’s for his legs, the ‘U’ for his tail and of course the asterisk for his, ahem, bottom. i’m kinda pleased at using eszett’s for ears – you usually only see these in the german language these days but were regularly used in english until about the 18th century (gotta confess i only learned this recently. if you’re intrigued you can read more about eszett’s on wikipedia. go on – you know you want to.)

what we’re listening to [3]

helen from creative york was in the studio with us yesterday as part of the ‘creative surgery’ drop-ins creative coast is offering. we took the opportunity to play her some home-grown scarborough music, namely ‘finding our way back home’, the debut lp from adverse effect. adverse effect is one of kista’s projects – check out his myspace page and listen to the very fine ‘talk with god’ featuring tableek (Maspyke, New York). it’s received some deservedly good reviews.

creative coast – reeling them in

just about to head down to the merchant for this evening’s event – looking forward to hearing some of shirlie’s experiences from both scarborough museum’s and gallery service and her career in the music industry. all welcome so come on down – kick off is at 6pm, upstairs in the merchant, eastborough, scarborough.

from YO to EU

euforic is the european urban forestry research and information centre – it aims to co-ordinate, promote and develop urban forestry research, practice and education in europe. as part of the european forest institute it required a logo that would communicate in 35+ countries.

we were invited to design the logo after branding a previous EU urban forestry project that was now drawing to a close – the delightfully named neighbourwoods. the initial sugestion was that we might adapt the neighbourwoods logo as it was ‘too good to disappear completely’, but as we identified differences in the aims of the two projects it became clear we should start afresh. the source material for the woodland silhouettes came from woods and parks around scarborough which rather handily include trees native to different parts of europe. the fictional skyline is a composite of many buildings to suggest diverse urban landscapes.

the logo is designed to reveal more detail as it is enlarged – at a small size it’s a treeline and townscape, at exhibition size (a regular use) individual tree varieties and styles of architecture can be identified. the logo was received with enthusiasm and thought to perfectly embody euforic’s aims and attitude.

studio space available

the office above us is available to rent. it’s an attic-type space with skylight window plus a separate storage room/cupboard and has just been repainted and carpeted. you also get use of the shared kitchen area and the opportunity to hang out, drink coffee and discuss fonts with me, james and rebecca. it’d be nice to have someone else creative in the building so if you’re looking for a studio/office at a very reasonable rent give malcolm abrams a ring on 01723 376921.

electric angel remixed

feeling all arty today after yesterday’s creative coast brainstorming session. we came up with ideas to go forward to the creative driver partnership and hopefully then to the sub regional investment plan. if that sounds rather dull the ideas certainly weren’t – i was especially excited by ideas for a purpose-built creative hub for the town featuring studios, multipurpose exhibition/performance space and cafe-bar that would have both a daytime and nighttime life, possibly on the harbourside. it was also telling that visual arts was considered vital to having a stimulating place to live – it wasn’t just the artists saying that.

it was fun to spend a couple of hours throwing around ideas with fellow creatives, the only disapointment being that more people didn’t come and take advantage of the opportunity. i tend to think what’s happening right now in scarborough is the best opportunity the creative community will ever have – they’ve often quite rightly moaned and now finally have some genuine opportunities to transform the area with culture. sure, it may not happen overnight but ears, doors and crucially, wallets are open right now. what a pity that many of the moaners are now nowhere to be found. perhaps they just wanted to moan?

so onto to artiness. the image above is this website remixed by shredder – a piece of new media art from the late 90′s that remixes websites. it acts a little differently each time you use it, this was my favourite image it created. although it’s fairly random i think there’s a certain typographic beauty to it, reminds of the sort of graphic design that was so influential at about the same time – especially the work of david carson.

and if you fancy owning art by gilbert & george you only have until 11.30 tonight to download it: planed

giz a job

it appears to be that time of year when students flock to our door looking for work. so firstly we need to say that we believe small is beautiful and we’ve no immediate plans to enlarge the electric angel team. but… we are nice folks and want to help how we can. so here are our top 10 tips for approaching potential employers, mostly based on the top 10 mistakes that students seem to make with us.

1. be ready for some hard work. your studies are a walk in the park compared with doing the rounds looking for a job. approach it with enthusiasm and determination – this is the point in your life when you may actually get paid for what you love doing. if you don’t feel that enthusiasm ask yourself if you really do want to work in design.
2. do your research. firstly find out the name of who you’re writing to or calling on. ‘to whom it may concern’ suggests you’re not the least bit interested and will guarantee your letter goes in the bin. likewise, turning up somewhere and not knowing the name of the designer or creative director just makes you look a bit lost and hopeless. our names are on this website but people still write and ring obviously not having bothered to take a look. secondly find out a bit about the work they do and when you meet ask some intelligent questions about it – it will go down well and prove you’re interested in working for them, not just looking for any old job.
3. look for advice as well as a job. don’t just put the phone down if you ring and are told there’s no job going – ask if you can come in anyway and have someone take a look your work. you’re out in the real world now and you need as many perspectives as you can get.
4. always ring first. designers are busy people and the chance of being able to turn up and see someone there are then is pretty remote. but many will make time to take a look at your portfolio and give some advice (us included) if you give them some notice – be prepared to fit in with their plans.
5. continue to learn. remember what people say about your work and if a pattern emerges make some changes. don’t be afraid to ask if you can go back to the same company and have them take a second look if you’ve made some changes – it shows you’ve been listening to them. if your work gets slated smile and say ‘thank you’, go away, cry, and then get out some paper and a pencil and start again to make it better.
6. market yourself. you’re a designer – prove it. think about something clever you can put in the mail or drop in at their studio that will make you stand out from the crowd. if you have an interview or chat have something to leave that will remind them of you and your work. if you’re sending/leaving work on a cd – make sure it at least has your name on it!
7. read the papers, browse the web. the yorkshire post is good for media news in leeds, websites such as bmedia (bradford and area), digital & creative york and leeds media have news stories from their members about what contracts they’ve won. a big contract or a company doing will may mean they’ll be looking for staff.
8. join a network. networks such as those listed above often have student membership and are valuable for meeting industry professionals. the north yorkshire coast’s network of creatives is creative coast and it’s free to join. always take your portfolio along to events – you never know who might be there and want to take a look!
9. work for free. ok, this isn’t viable in the long term but if there’s a company you really want to work for or would just value spending some time at then ask them if you can have a placement. they’ll respect that you need to still go for interviews during this time or even be working part-time to fit in with a job that’s paying the rent, but it shows that you’re motivated, you’re picking up valuable experience and who knows – you may even impress them enough to secure something more permanent.
10. don’t give up. if this is what you really want to do in life then stick at it. it may take time but it will be so worth it.

good luck!

helvetica the t-shirt (and the movie)