The post where I prove that I actually have been doing work.

So in the midst of all the fun I have been doing quite a bit of work. I've already done two projects with two more to be assigned on Monday. Phew. But yeah here's a look at some of the shtuff.

We did another group project within the frist week that was an exercise in research and development as well as use of resources. Our tutor gave us 500 sheets of paper, and told us that in 4 hours we had to create an army that is both well designed and functional using those sheets of paper. Since none of us really knew origami or anything of the sort we went into the library and researched and all learned how to make planes, tanks, snakes, boats and even rockets.

The result was pretty cool. We were in three groups (the other two being red and blue) and in the end had a massive paper fight. It was a fun and interesting way to start off the year, and did show that through research and a goal in mind, things can be done.

Now for the real stuff. At the beginning we were given two assignments, one being a drawing based project and the other was a research and development based project.

The first one was called "Finding The Elephant" and was basically about going through and discovering the area where the college is located and creating a piece based on our findings and drawings. Our tutor approached it in a simple yet effective way. He wanted us to spend more time on our research project so one day he gave us a stack of 100 post its and we all went out and began to draw and explore for two and a half hours. In the end we only came out with about 20 completed post its, and the rest of the assignment was to take all of them, tape them together and create a sort of image map of the area. So this is how mine came out.

Here's a little collage I threw together so you can see some detail.

A challenge I had was how to present it, seeing as it's quite a huge project. A quote my tutor said at the beginning of the process came to mind. "When you first came to Elephant and Castle you probably thought... what a shit hole." So...

I put it on a toilet roll! Lolz.

The next project was called "Metro Remix." We were given about 15 headlines from the newspaper "The Metro" and were told to choose two to connect through a narrative using twenty images. The two headlines I chose were "Models Dive Into Underwater Fashion Show" and "Bus Driver Proposes Using Old Tickets." There was quite a bit of experimentation in medium and thought process for me through this one but it was a lot of fun. First some sketchbook things...

I wanted to use transparency in the project, and through quite a few ideas I finally found something that was the right fit. The story I ended up going with was quite simple. Model dives underwater, almost drowns, is brought outside where a bus driver sees and runs to the scene, romantically saves here, through which they become very close and he eventually proposes.

Final piece:

I think I want to go a bit further with the whole thing so we'll see where it goes but if I do anything I'll post it here! In the process I also did my first trial in screen printing which was time consuming but extremely rewarding.

And that's all folks!

Galleries, Concerts, And All That Fun Stuff.

So as you can imagine while I've been here I've been doing quite a bit. So I'm going to do my best to try and show the more important or interesting things that have been going on.

First off, the past week was Design Week in London, where all over the city there were events and exhibitions open based on design. Unfortunately since I was so busy with school I didn't get to see much, but I did get to go to the V&A, a fantastic museum, and see some pieces they had going.

A beautiful staircase engulfed in frames.

A metronome with a golden orb at the end of it in the middle of a Victorian room.

Miniature set design in an exhibit on the subject of theatre.

Beautiful masks.

An owl made of cell phone parts. You could actually text/call them!

A while ago I also revisited the beautiful LED ground thingy. And it was different colours!!

Went out with a friend and stumbled upon a church that had been converted into an expensive and creepy antique shop. 

Random street art.

An amazing art shop, it was like Willy Wonka for artists. They had little machines that would move along marks you made, trinkets that made hands clap... It was awesome.

Just a pretty sunset.

One of my favourite galleries I've been to was the Saatchi Gallery in Sloane Square. It was completely free and had a lot of stuff that was different from anything else I had seen before.

This whole room was filled with OIL!

One of the artists that really caught my eye, Ged Quinn. Look him up. Note the tine metropolitan city at the bottom. Incredible detail.

Couple random pixz...

GIGS!

I've seen a few concerts while I've been here. I saw one of my more recent favourite bands, Wild Beasts at an amazing art deco venue. It was fantastic.

Went to a random one in Camden where quite a few bands played, all pretty good.

And THEN I got to see a band called The Irrepressibles in rainy Victoria Park. I only found out about this band within the past week and randomly this came up. They only played three songs but they were absolutely fantastic. If you haven't heard them yet, go HERE.

After them was one third of the band Houlette. She had a beautiful voice and it was a pretty fantastic experience hearing her sing by herself as the rain fell around us. 

It was all part of a thing called Bandstand Busking, which is where they get modern bands to play in random bandstands around the city. Cool stuff.

I'll leave you with a picture of what I walked into the other night. This is in my halls, most of my flatmates sitting in a hallway drawing together. This is why I'm in the right place.

School, My Room, and Other Musings.

Why HELLO THERE! 

Sorry it's been so long since my last blog. Cause I know you were worried. I know you were all just wondering what had happened. Where had I gone? "Did London eat Liam?" you asked. No. I am here. Just redonkulously busy. So let's get going on this thing, shall we?

So, I started school. I did! I really did. Here's the main hall, filled with a bunch of artistic creative types or whatever.

We were all told to fill that wall on the bottom right with images of things we found around the school that started with the first letter of our last name. A bit different than how some schools back home treat things.

Here's the PUB inside my school. Yes. You read that right. Open for drinks from 10:30 in the morning. Beautiful.

So my schedule here is quite different from anything I've experienced back home. In my course there are about 400 Foundation students, a large portion of those being Graphic Design pathway. Because of this we have been split into a bunch of different groups that consist of around 20 people, and we all have a tutor (basically a mentor). My group is called Canis, and I'm extremely glad I got this one as it truly seems to be the best fit for me and I've met some great people. Anyways, Monday the entire of Foundation students go to lectures which last about 4 hours total and can be anything from talking about our upcoming projects to learning photoshop tricks to being lectured on different artists or designers. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are studio days with just my group and my tutor where we work on our projects one on one with him or go out and do drawing assignments. And then Thursday and Fridays are "Self Directed Study" days which we basically use any way we want to. I can work at home, go to workshops on different areas within the school, do research etc. It's very independent and feels much more flexible than anything at home. 

We were assigned a mini project on the first day as a group. We walked into the classroom and sitting on the fives desks were one brick, tape, scissors, paper and a copy card. The assignment was to basically somehow write the word "CANIS" on the wall outside using all five bricks in about 3 hours. SO, this was the result.

We basically ended up photocopying the bricks and creating a pattern and using that to spell out the letters. Came out pretty good, methinks.

A typical day in the studio.

So that's about it for school! I'll have another post about all the work I've been doing very soon. Now, for the home life!

Here it is, the infamous Bernard Myers House. My home for the next eight or so months.

And here's my room!

Please note the beautiful gold mannequin I captured for FREE. Amazing, yes? Also happened upon that awesome thing hanging in the middle there. Pictures above and below the bookshelves are from a sixties design calendar I picked up.

My "pimpin" bed as my flatmate calls it. Remember those post its at the foot of my bed, as I'll be coming back to those later.

And here is the kitchen/sitting area. Boring I know but some peeps wanna see what it looks like so here you go!

And yeah that's it! I'm really really happy with the way everything is turning out. I'm feeling extremely inspired, motivated, and pushed. I love where I live, I've made some amazing friends already and the area is actually really quiet so it's a good escape from the hustle and bustle.

And now for those post its.

Basically I've made it a little tradition for everyone who comes into my room to make a little post it for me to stick on my wall. And if you're reading this blog, most likely I miss you a lot and wish you were here with me. SO, you should send me a post it to put on this wall! You can put anything you want on it. A picture, a message, a dot. I don't care! But let's fill this wall. So here's my address, get crackin'!

Bernard Myers House

4-6 Havil Street

Room 120 Flat E

Camberwell, London

SE5 7RU

UK

Thanks for reading!!

Brick Lane

So one of the last days of our holiday we all went to Brick Lane and Spitalfield's Market. For this I'm going to let most of the pictures do the talking, but the place was utterly fantastic. It's in the East End and I'd never been there prior to this. The whole area was so diverse and creative, in that way it reminded me of Camden. 

An oversized pop up book just sitting in one of the walls. Amazing.

VESPA!

The area has a very heavy Indian population, hence the gorgeous lamp posts.

One of my favourite stores we went into was the Rough Trade record shop. Just a wonderful and concise collection of CDs and vinyl. You could just really tell that the people there cared about every single thing they sold.

We then met up with our friend Lee and his girlfriend Anna and had a lovely curry and a great time at the pub.

LED TIME.

If you know me well you know I love LEDs. A lot. And to my surprise, this area was full of them. Once night fell, I was definitely in heaven. Gorgeous.

Once Lee found out about this mild obsession I have, he told me he had to take me to some place. He took me here.

This is just a business courtyard by the tube station. The lines would change colours and do different patterns and whatnot. It was mesmerizing. It was surreal. It was beautiful.