Cups of Tea 314 - 320

A lot of work and a lot of tea done today, stuff that I'm happy with an all!

Started off the day by coming back to sunny Port Talbot, drank some tea and started on my badges for Colony (you'll see these soon...) before getting asked to knock out some freelance work, which obviously being a hungry student, I got onto. I'm abit meh with the finished result as I didn't have all the info for the flyer (there's another band to add and afew other pieces of info, but they wanted a "teaser flyer" so people see it during the camden crawl this weekend). So take it as a quick knock up atm... wouldn't post it usually but I quite like the illustration at the bottom :)



Other than this, Colony pictures have started to come back! The contriubtors shall remain nameless on here for fear of getting them in trouble, but thanks to Fish, Major and Suede, Scotland and Norway are coated in stickers from these guys... unfortunatly I don't know what i've done with Fishes photos so I can only show you those from Dramman and Berswick... enjoy!



Dramman, Norway.



Berswick Coast, Scotland.


Tomorrow I'll upload the 40+ badges I've done... but I wanted to give those people who've sent in pictures some props and my thank yous :)

M x

Cup of Tea 0313

Not alot to say or do today... it's been a pretty uneventful day! Watched Cemetery Junction with Gem ala cinema (which was a fantastic watch) and then came how and pretty much did bugger all...

Gem showed me a great vid on Vimeo though... check it out!

UP THERE from Jon on Vimeo.

M x

Cups of Tea 0306 - 0312

Apologies for not posting last night... I was fan-stalking Eddie Izzard... he played a secret gig literally at the bottom of the street I live on! So I had to y'know ;)? He was nice, didn't speak to him for long because there were loads of people waiting but I did get my box-set signed :) Oh, and a photo ofc :D!



So I scrapped the eye poster. I wasn't 100% feeling it to begin with. It felt a little bit tacky and looks nothing like my original sketch or (maybe more importantly) how I pictured it in my head... which is a shame, but I liked the message. So keeping with the theme of my other work for the project (which you actually haven't seen!) I stripped it back down and tried to summaries the impact of how many bees are dying in Britain alone (last year over 6 million bees...)



I think it works nicely, though at the advice of Rhysboi, I'm going to try and rework the original eye concept to how it looks in my head, so watch this space.

I also reworked my older slogan poster. As much as I love Hexagons, their shape makes them impossible to weave together varying sizes... so as a result, here's a new (to your eyes at least) poster that's really a reworking of something one or two of you might have seen already! One totally stripped down and one with a little depth. Think I prefere the stripped down version, but i'll see how they look printed!





And I know quite afew people are reading this now (via conversations...) so please comment! The whole point of this thing is for feedback after all!

M x

Cups of Tea 0301 - 0305

Not alot done this weekend because my sleeping patterns been fucked and Ive had to do a stock take at work... meant I got out at 8 this evening so my work's been minimum. Hell, I haven't even had chance to watch Saturday's doctor who yet...

So this is what meager scraps I've managed to produce today... I'm really not too sure about it but I need some feedback on this one... so plix comment!



M x

Cup of Tea 03000

Just a short blog today, a quick post of my latest en devour into street art. It was prepared last week (remember the street art speech...?) but I needed some paint and a decent marker to finish it. Now its up (or at least it was... my Dad went and took it down because he wanted to freak me out... it's going back out somewhere else) here are the shots. Thoughts on it please.



Next piece will hopefully be in the center of Swansea! (and bloody left there....)

M x

Cups of Tea 0297 - 0299

So hai. I did absolutely nothing today. Well, I printed. That's about it. I sat in lecture hall feeling like I was being talked down too in terms of my dissertation proposal, then I had some printer trouble (my music posters are slightly yellowed...) and then went around town a little / came home. I walked Gem back and browsed town for some books on my intended dissertation project, then came home and read one. Also found the names of some sick street artists while I was at le Waterstones, check them out :)




Swoon. (No Official Site I know of...)


Faile. (Not The World's Most Optimised Site...)

Anyways, I'll be commencing work tomorrow and I've got the first of the bee project pictures in :) Come back tomorrow to see them :o

M x

Cups of Tea 0294 - 0296

A little bit of tea and a whole lot of luck... (10 points if you get the reference)

Anyways, mixed day in terms of productivity. Got my tickets done, so that's all sorted. Started running today in all the nice new gear I bought yesterday... seriously rocking the Nike atm (don't give me that SUPPORTING CHILD LABOR stuff, I'm aware and feel dirty for doing so...) Got some new and smexy lime green Air Tailwind 2s, a few Dri-fit shorts / shirts as well as socks n crap. Good times!



Ran 7.1 km in 33 mins, not far off my old pace for 10k before disaster struck. I hadn't worn them in enough, which resulted in them beginning to rub my foot around about where The Uni is... by the time I got to blackpill I was limping... had to walk the whole 7km home with said limp, took over an hour :/ Knew I should have just gone to the bridge and back! Fortunately, I stopped at the right time so there's not a blister atm... worn the tough leather in a little by rubbing some Vaseline into it. Hopefully I'll be able to take them out for test flight 2 on Friday.

Anyways, enough babbling... its bedtime! Let me know what you think of the ticket plix :)



M x

Cups of Tea 0292 - 0293

Just another quick post. My BEe project is going well, well in the fact that day likes it and the direction i've taken, good times! Other than that, I've only got a little done today... in the form of my Screen Print idea / Next month's cool for Cats flyer (pending Ellie's approval of course :) ) Here it is, let me know thoughts and feelings plix :o!



Tickets for my poster project will be uploaded tomorrow, think I'm gonna change the colours of the Jazz flyer though, thing the browns abit meh...

M x

Cups of Tea 0288 - 0291

Just a short one tonight... most of my design has been for bee work and paper based at that (well, and I did my etching). Had four ours sleep last night after being kidnapped by Aaron and playing Splinter Cell most of the night. Productive day today anyways, now bed time :) Nos Dar Plant!
M x

Cups of Tea 0285 - 0287

As some of you might have noticed at the moment, I'm doing a lot of work but not mentioning it. It's a hard place to be in as while I find myself being slightly steered towards Branding and the conception of a brand's values / ideas (hell, dare I say it... Advertising :O?!) I also find myself moving slightly in the direction of street art. Obviously, this is abit of a legally gray area (what I'm doing atm is from what I can gather, 100% legal...) but I'm still on the fence if I should be sharing it with you.

I mean it's all well and good having work in a public domain, it's one of the things I want to do. Bring my ideas to the real world, away from this blog and it's seemingly decreasing readership and brighten up the lives of commuters, joggers and people stuck in traffic jams. But in my quest to do that, I have to expect that there could be future implications in posting a day by day of my own activities within the realms of street art.

I mean I know I'm defiantly not going to be a writer (as in graf writer, not pen to paper / finger to keyboard), I haven't got the skillz, the time to practice or even the knowledge to go around throwing up sick pieces like some I've seen around Swansea and the surrounding areas (a certain avian artist comes to mind here). I could stencil, hell I've been doing stencils in projects for years now but haven't hit the streets with them because I haven't felt they were good enough. I've sticker bombed for quite a few campaigns (and recently my own) and thought it was quite a rush, something within my comfort zone (something pre-designed on in illustrator and printed for mass publication...) to which the only considerations have been where to bomb that won't get me a night in the cells / really fuck up anyone's livelihood. But I also like the idea of "street art" as in graf influenced pieces, pre-made and pasted up / placed in a location where they might only be a temporary fixture.

This brings me onto the two foot mammal sat on the floor behind me.

Next week (it would have been tomorrow) I plan to make my way into the realms of street art subtly. It won't be something everyone will see, I'm focusing on it more from a location where the idea hit me for a photo shoot and then leave the sucker there. If anyone takes him, it'll be a shame but nevermind, especially as the sucker's hand drawn. I've gotta get away from the feeling of preciousness if I want to do this.

Anyways, the final unveiling of my 4th music poster and how it fits into the entire theme itself. Jazz Daddy-o.



And how the posters work as a whole -



Tickets to follow tomorrow hopefully!

M x

Cups of Tea 0280 - 0283

Such a simple day I say! Not really done a lot tbh, just been getting used to certain new social networking sites! I'm loving Twitter atm, if you haven't got me already, add up Teasigner :) If you're a new reader from twitter, welcome!

Got a lot of ideas going on in my head for my bee project but for now, really can't progress on it for completely cocking up the flow of my research... I've sketched it down on some other paper but it doesn't feel right out of tome of research I've created.

Anyways, here's the 3rd of my four flyers... enjoy! If anyone's still reading, let me know what you think via comment!



M x

Cups of Tea 0277 - 0279

Sorry about no post last night, I was otherwise indisposed! That and I hadn't drunk any tea. Seemed hardly fair to post something up again after not having a good cuppa! Dew Dew... Though saying that, even though it's apparently more sensible to have a warm drink on a warm day... even if she can't spell Science correctly...

But yes, there has been some design done and yes, I like it! It took me awhile... I had to go away, watch the Leader Debate and come back, but I honestly love my posters... I'll show the collective posters together later in the week (I'm getting increasingly paranoid about people stealing my ideas in uni work...), but for now here's a cheeky peak (which is un-rendered, the A1 file is HUGE and I'll need to shut everything else to do it...) at one of them... tickets to come!



On a slightly off-topic political note as pre-mentioned, I watched the Leader Debate on ITV in Tommy's room and it was quite interesting... good to see that Clegg's getting pushed forward as a possible front runner (finally...) and I for one, agree with Nick. Will be interested to see next week what happens next week when the main topic is the war on terror... with Clegg's opposition to Trident and British Defenses, it might be a tough one... But as some people are dubbing him "the white Obama" (lol) I think he'll be alright! At least for once I think me voting for Lib Dem's won't be a waste of my vote :)

M x

Cup of Tea 0276.5 (Not a cup tonight :O!)

No tea drunk but some work at least... Here's one of my four music posters in a series for a uni project... more to follow :)



M x

Cup of Tea 0276

Not alot done today at all. It just goes to show there's a correlation between lack of tea and lack of creativity. Hell, I wonder if I can get a grant to prove that...

Anyways, something pretty for you to look at! Found these awesome series of film-inspired posters. You have no idea how much I want half of them, especially the Reservoir Dogs one...



http://ibraheemyoussef.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21&osCsid=628fb0a0395161ae2b90e58699274d68

Cups of Tea - 271 -275

So yeah, it's a very strange day when you realize that some ideas that've been stewing around in the back of your head for years are based on both personal experience and the progression of other people's ideas that you've unknowingly synthesized into your Psyche. While I'd like to imagine that most of my own ideas are derived through research and are specific, I find that my own ideas for personal projects, ideas that have festered in the darkest, most repressed areas of my mind are expansion of idea's I've seen or read about that have crept into the box clearly marked imagination.

I had to think about this earlier. Was this a bad thing? Was it true that recycling design is the way to go or should I throw a fuck you to the people who tell me this and strive to be original? I mean my imagination is probably my biggest tool, sometimes (well alot of the time) I feel that my idea outweighs my design skills. It's like I know what I want to do, but even though I render it to the best of my ability, feel it is compromised by my own self-doubt or ability to illustrate.

But I then realized that I'm being a tool! There are always original ideas. Where it is applied, what point in time it happens and how it is conducted. In being apart of it, you make it original and this was quite an weight from my shoulders. The ideas might be related on some basic level, but the view from which it is seen and the tools and hands used to craft it will forever change. To these idea's we bring our own values, skills and aesthetics. This is what originality is, the realization that everything is itself original.

Well, unless you're plagiarizing. If so, naughty boy/girl!

Anyways, deep but sleepy thoughts :) Here's something to bring back the creative spark that you might have just lost in the mist of a serious conversation.

http://www.iamnotanartist.org/index.php This is the best thing I've seen in a long time :)

M x

Cups of Tea 265 - 270

OMG! OMG, OMG, OMGUH!

How the hell did this slip my radar? Jesus, I'm considering buying an American 360 to play it... announce a UK relase date goddamit!
[/fanboy]

Ok, breathe in. Not alot of design work done today, I've written alot of copy for my Street Team Guide and watched the Three Ipcress File movies staring Micheal Cane (first two are wicked, third is abit meh... more bond than the other two which spoils it...) but what can you do?

Anyways, sleepy time now. Night Night!

M x

Cups of Tea 217 - 264

Yes. A lot of tea has been drank in the weeks off I've had. It's all good, here comes an effort to contribute to Teasign once a day again... I'm so adamant that I'm going to keep this up that last night I went around searching for content I loved so that if I'd had a busy day, I've got stuff to quick post that's interested me. Winnar.

Where to start? I got some vinyl sticker's through today for my Beekeeping project, I'm quite happy with them :) It's quite a strange feeling having your own stickers... It kinda brought home to me how far I've come as a graphic designer, and how much importance we a graphic designers put on ourselves, when the basics of what we do can be done with anyone who's visually creative. However, I won't post them up yet until I've sent all the packages off to the far and distant lands of people who're prepared to street team this for me! I can't thank you guys enough :)

Other than this, THE DIGITAL ECONOMY BILL IS THE BIGGEST INFRINGEMENT ON OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES SINCE THE DAWN OF THE INTERNET. I won't lower myself to obscenities like some Scottish Labour mp, (yes, this just got political haha...) but it's honestly a joke. The Lib Dems have been very clever boys and girls by speaking up about it, they certainly won my vote in doing so... But that's enough about the news, almost every story I heard today annoyed me... maybe I'm just getting old but sheesh. Also the "Frankie Boyle Goes Too Far!" thing made me laugh. It's not half as bad as some of the thing's he's said and they kick up a fuss... I mean Jimmy Carr can talk about Pedophiles and nobody bats an eyelid... Man up.

Other than that, did another flyer in the style of the rainy one I did for Club Smith a few weeks back.. so here it is for now, if you couldn't tell... I'm in a bit of a strop haha!



M x