I got that feeling

I really enjoy it when I get a burst of creative energy, when it’s exciting. It’s like a burst of hyper activity or thinking. I’ve got it this morning, when you wake up having ideas…and I don’t often get any further than my bed but out comes the laptop and sketch book and my studio is step up, spread across my bed. This morning I’ve been bursting about ideas for layout and concept realisation for a friends Zine idea. 

Recently I’ve had a number of bursts…friend was a good bursting day. I hung out with Katiemaybe. A group of us are entering an open competition for the Public Design Festival in Milan, now it in it’s second year. I amazingly had the opportunity to be involved with it last year when it was born. We’re getting excited about the idea of local philosophy. Check out the poem on Katies blog to get more of an idea.

And also working on the cover for a friends album cover…I like getting excited about having ideas : )

One of my Christmas presents was Design Muesum membership. I finally got the pack back and it included this badge.

Conserve…by serving. For me it’s community.

Do the green thing

I came across Do the green thing on twitter. I really like the way they think so trying to get involved. So far I’ve just typed up the words to this video so that they can add subtitles to it. They are definately work spending some time checking out!

I can

I recently got invited to Thinkpublic for a design clinic which I applied to attend. Thinkpublic are a really interesting design studio…as case of does what the tin says! We had to do a pecha-kucha presentation to the group. I did my presentation on why I want to be a designer. The long and short of it was I think design can change the world and I want to see social change and ethical change in the way we live our lives. The picture above is from a slide about one of my motivations a verse from the bible ”Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”  To see the rest of the slides go to flickr.

Another recent adventure was my attempt with my friend Sam to walk to Brighton from London…Clapham North to be exact. The day for our adventure was the friday it snowed. Everyone said we were stupid to even try but this didn’t bother us at all…as someone said to Sam ‘people have done harder things’. The first 10 or so miles was all London and suprisingly drepressing but once we got out to the country it was so beautiful. We found walking in the snow hard work so 18 hours, 2 pub stops, some other stops, lots of chocolate and 45miles later we had to stop. Stopping only 12miles short was hard but in those 12miles were the South Downs whih after 45miles of walking in the snow we weren’t going to be able to physically get over. So anyone who fancies a walk to Brighton go for it…and of course you can do it (but aovid the snow it will be your downfall), it’s amazing, an epic adventure! I’d love to see a uprising of the attitude of I can NOT…I can’t! Do stuff!

little pieces

I’ve been getting pretty annoyed at Littlewood’s Christmas ad which advertises ‘Christmas in manageable pieces’. By this they mean buying what you can’t afford and not having to pay for it till next Christmas…which is the same thing as just don’t think about it and spend what you don’t have. Debt is crippling people, ruining lives and breaking up families. My mam works with CAP, Christians Against Poverty, who amoung many things provide debt counciling to help people really struggling. Payment schemes like this and stores like Brighthouse are creating a glimmer of hope that people can have all these things that can’t afford but instead the reality is they pay more for the items than the straight up price. One CAP client bought a washing machine from Brighthouse it should have cost £400 but she will end up paying £1200.

So this is my small frustrated response, not the prettest thing but says what I think…lies easiest swallowed in small pieces.

Design debates design

‘Design is dead long live design’ nicely leads onto something else I kinda involved with, Design debates design. It came about through some interest in what was done at New Designers on the Goldmsiths stand.

So…’the concept behind ‘design debates…’ is to encourage both the public and the design community to engage in discourse around the topic of design. ‘Design debates…’ will fulfill the twin function of 1) designing and re-designing teh context and structure of ‘debate’, and 2) creating a lively atmosphere which allows designers and non-designers alike to explore, through debate, ‘what design is’.’

In thinking about this I came up with simple little almost flashcards that are turned over and reveal an informal point of disscussion around design.

I’ve also read Why I write the essay by George Orwell this week which has left me with some things to think about and also some possible debate topics.

Design is dead…long live design

Matt Ward let me tag along to ‘Design is dead, long live design’ debate. The participants were from 2nd and 3rd year of the Ba design course and also for the first time also included master’s students. It was a good day at the debate and in the pub.  It was found that… 

“That design should not be made for an art gallery market, it is not context driven and it should not serve Industry. We also found that design should be playful and a problem solving activity whilst not being a survival instinct. We decided that design should be for the future and should aid social mobility whilst not being activism. Finally we worked out that design is blue collar and is ultimately pollution.” Read more about the debate and what’s happening in the Goldsmiths world of design at Goldsmiths Design blog.

It reminded me that one of the things that gets me excited about design is knowing how I feel about it and the strength of those feelings. I personnally think can effect the world and change it for the better…which in it’s self is pretty exciting. What’s disappointing is that I don’t think that many designers really know passionately what design is and why they believe in it.

I don’t owe you anything

I realised some important stuff today. I’ve been struggling with the feeling of failure. I have felt like I’ve already failed as a designer. This is a lot to do with feeling like I wasn’t good enough for Goldsmiths, that I haven’t lived up to how I should be doing after the course or precieved expectations. But basically not feeling good enough.

But I realised I don’t have to live up to anything. It was my degree and my learning experience. It is not an oppertunity that I was given where I now have to prove that I deserved to have it in the first place. School is an experience not about learning but achieving, about proving yourself in the grades you recieve. Unfortunately I carried this with me into my degree and my degree grade was a big blow. Understanding that my degree was about the things I learnt and not still proving myself has freed me from feeling rubbish now. I haven’t failed, I can do anything. And thankfully I do owe the people who have taught me alot because I learnt a heck of a lot. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else, even thought my grade would have been better elsewhere. Instead I was pushed and challenged and shaped. I didn’t fail, I just got things wrong. You don’t learn things getting it right.

Just keep doing stuff…

“Just keep doing stuff” is the advise I remember hearing Sam Hill saying on how to deal with finshing your degree. This is what I’ve tried to do, successfully and unsuccessfully! Today feeling a bit depressed after a busy week of ‘work’ [waitressing and creche for an english language course] without doing any design but visited Ester Kneen today at a crafty type fayre she was doing, bought one of her lovely cards and got a bit inspired! Her advise was BLOG everything so you can see you’ve done stuff! So here goes…

I was thinking about recording things with drawing instead of a camera and made a view finder to focus on what your drawing.

The drawing cam in action…just trying it out at South Bank.

The postcards were very popular so I made an actual one aimed for print…If your interested in some I’ll be getting some printed for sale.

Finally this is a piece I have been knitting for a gentleman. It was started for him by his wife 14years ago but he is now her carer and she is unable to knit. So I’ve been finshing it for them.

The association for the protection of drawing

The association for the protection of drawing is the beginning of something…probably maybe a project. It’s about drawing as a form communication, a record, an explaination of ideas, thinking…not using words and the default action of writing down ideas.

When I was in Ireland visiting family I drew my postcards instead of buying some.