Too Far Gone?

What a week. Just where to start? I suppose the logical answer would be Wednesday, the start of the new assignment, but it all began much sooner than that.

With a 'week off' from work I decided to use the time to reflect on the year as a whole so far. I came up with many thoughts and feelings that I have associated with the year but will save them for a later blog. The main thought that did occur in my head happened to be on Sunday night when I found my sketch book had fallen out of my bag.

The sketch book.

I picked it up and put it back in my bag not thinking anything of it. But something kept going round and round in my head.

The sketch book.

Just what exactly was nagging me so much that I couldn't just have a relaxing week preparing for the new assignment? It soon dawned on me that the sketch book IS still an ongoing assignment and has been that way for the past 20 odd weeks. Sketchblog.

I am quite proud of my blogging skills, I am sure this is primarily down to my love of writing that I enjoy sitting down on a Thursday afternoon and evaluating the week gone by, and reading others experiences at the same time I feel is a good insight into my place within the group at the current time. My sketchbook on the other hand has being....somewhat neglected.

This is not to say I have thrown it to the side and not used it, no way. Despite my earlier feelings, I have accepted the sketchbook as a valuable piece of equipment that without I don't think I would have managed to get this far on the course. I have just, as was said today despite my obvious attempts to convince myself not, ignored the collection of images for the A1 assignment.

I have collected a few, primarily Muse, a few Banksy, and the odd page from a clothing catalogue, but without reading the assignment sheet, these are all useless. So far I have simply collected half a dozen images I like, explained why, and left it at that. Not only am I a good 14 images short (at least) but also I have not really gone into much detail about the cultural aspects of the images. Why did they choose such and such a colour? Why did they decide to use such and such a font?

It is not simply about liking an image; it is about explaining the reasoning behind the image itself.

With only 7 working weeks left of the course, I find myself asking - "Am I too far gone?" Hopefully the answer will be a no, and I can pull it back on target with the new assignment, but I really need to get my head down and get collecting some images over the next few weeks.

Wednesday was completely different to how I imagined. Marc Bowers came in to talk to us about working at Real Radio, and I was surprised to hear that his work was a lot more similar to The Design Mechanics in the 'Stack em high' or 'In and out' sort of working. I can't say I was overly impressed with how the company worked, though by the sounds of it, it does sound like the company is shifting it's views a lot more in the right direction, starting with expanding the web design studio from a mere 2 people.

Wednesday was also the day we were given the new assignment. With an initial presentation about logo design and corporate identities it was obvious what the assignment was going to be about. But the sheer volume of work we were to be given came as a complete shock to me, and I am sure many others.

Even until this morning, I don't think that the amount of work had hit home, and it was only when Steve showed us some style guides for various companies that I realised just how much had to be done just to pass the assignment.

Saying this, there is now 9 weeks until the deadline hand in date, although 3 of those weeks are holidays. I really need to get my head down over the next few weeks and make a big start on the assignment. I already have nearly 40 logo designs created, and I still have more to do. To top it off choosing the best one will be hard, not because of the sheer volume of designs, but because it will be the way in which people recognise the company, it needs to be right.

For my CD I chose Hearts in Space (or hearts of space, not entirely sure at this moment in time) and already have many ideas of ways to do this. As was discussed in feedback groups, I don't really want to go for the obvious 'some hearts....in space' approach, and would rather make something a little more different (to reflect the music). I thought perhaps of using a deck of cards (the hearts obviously) and using them someway connected with space, but I have yet to decide. And finally, dare I say it? I am 'eagerly' awaiting my CD to listen to so that I can gain further ideas about my CD cover. Though my logo is still my number one task at the moment in time.