about the author: end of module evaluation

This project has possibly been the longest project I've undertaken and with it it brought a lot of struggles. Throughout it my feelings about Murakami and how I wanted to portray him remained largely the same- to me there's always been something dark and surreal about his work. At one point I started to think not just in terms of the books themselves but the relationship between author and book, and started to question how women, lust and possession were presented, and I tried to present this myself in some of my final prints.

However, by the time it came to making the final 15 second sting and prints it was hard to remember what had attracted me to Murakami's novels and what I thought about them. I started to become too introspective, developing work based on my own previous work with little regard to Murakami's, and to correct this I had to sit down and think about the motifs and themes that I had worked with right at the beginning. All along I didn't want to just illustrate scenes of Murakami's work, but my own response to the worlds he had created- but at a point the work was becoming too detached.

The length of time also presented some more problems in regards to design aspects. I went through a few significant stages of image styles and ideas. Stylistically I went through quite a journey, working less cartoon-y and more figuratively at times and really refining images down to simple abstract shapes at others, and I think this experimenting has really benefitted me. I think it is always good to be flexible with your work, because being flexible means more opportunities.

Although I'd known for a while that I had wanted to work with lino I feel the ideas for my final prints came about quite suddenly. I'd been making and struggling and making and, unsatisfied with all previous work, decided to sit down and draw something shape based, odd, and based on the motifs of the project- at least that was the brief I gave myself. I didn't develop these images very much before I printed them either, I think there is something to be said about the immediacy of an image with not too much concentration, though the months of preparation in research and image making were vital to this and fed into these ideas most definitely!

This module introduced me to many new methods of working. Print making is not a regular part of my practice or something I thought it would be. I had never seriously done lino printing before, and decided that as well as suiting what I wanted to make it would also be a good challenge- and it was incredibly challenging. It took me many many failed prints to finally get a method that would work. It was stressful but I'm glad I persisted- in the end I got successful prints and, on a personal level, showed me that I do have the effort inside me to keep going, which is reassuring, if not a corny way to look at it. 

In the end I found I could work with lino, but I'm not sure if it's something that will become a regular part of my practice. If anything I'm feeling a little exhausted from all the print making, but in time I'm sure I will be able to face it again. If anything, working with a medium that for me can feel quite restrictive has taught me about working with shape and restricted colour more. Both of these have been something I've been interested in my practice for quite a while, but using lino- which I think is the process that utilises these the most, has really challenged that way of thinking and encouraged it to expand.

I also worked with After Effects for the first time which was also an interesting process. I'm not sure I'm best suited to it, as before I have discussed how I prefer animation through frame process such as gifs in Photoshop but I think I created something adequate in the software. I'm sure it's a good skill to have, and may come in use not just for animating but other film endeavours, which may come up in OUIL503 Responsive.

about the author: final prints

The printing process brought up some surprises, some pleasant, some not so!

• It was the first time I had used the greyboard stamp method mentioned earlier, which was risky, and really I should have practiced it. That said, I did it with only one design to test that it lines up and would actually print which it did before investing time into making the stamps for the remaining four designs.

• I suppose it wasn't completely unexpected, but printing brings about missed registrations and faded prints! Going into this I was adamant to avoid all of these, but as I was printing and these came out I actually quite enjoyed the look of them. I do like these anyway, but wondered if these would suit my prints- and I think they do! I think in general it just makes things look a little less clinical and more unique, but in context of Murakami- well nothing in his books are perfect or normal! 

• There are limits to how faded or misregistered a print can be though. I made roughly ten of each design, and didn't get as many good prints as I thought I could- which was a shame considering that I'd spent a bit of money on the paper and spent a lot of effort in the process but it's a good job I did so many considering the results.

• Despite making a printing template to use a lot of the prints didn't quite match that when I got to my second layer. As such I had to eyeball and adjust a few of the prints as I made them, but because of this I'm glad I printed a few copies of each on cartridge paper so I wouldn't be wasting all good paper.

This print is my favourite, in terms of composition and print results. I was apprehensive to the black marks at the bottom of the print, but now I think they give it a bit more life and impression of a ground. I had some issues with the top head's hair looking odd and had to 'trim it' so now he doesn't match the bottom one, but I think this also adds a little to the idea of parallels- the same but different.

I was worried about this print not lining up but using a bleed on my block really helped with this! I also think it looks better here than on the digital design, despite or rather in spite of being imperfect.

Again the imperfections seem quite charming. It reminds me of 60s print making, though I couldn't pinpoint who's. 

This print was a huge struggle! I measured the stamp to fit the other lino block, and thought I was being clever by doing so but all along I had cut the yellow too short and should have left it. None of the prints came out particularly well because of this and I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to enter any of this design in my final set or have to redo them, but with reassurance from a tutor I was told that one of them was good enough and that the imperfections match the series! I'm still hesitant about this print, but I feel like it is better to at least submit the whole set.

I also forgot to add the white shape of the man in the water which also affects the design, but I can only hope that what is supposed to be his face looks like an additional abstract design. It's not good.

I thought this design would be one of my least favourites- concerned that it would be too simple but in the end that worked out for it in print making! It resulted in good prints, technically, but I also think that the added detail of the natural print process adds something more to it making it look less boring.

As a set I think they work together well, when lined together they have a good balance of black, white and yellow. They all have that moody strange atmosphere of Murakami that I wanted to achieve, and their shared imperfections and print effects compliment each other nicely. I'm quite pleased with them, but working so closely with them for so long it's hard to see them positively. 

about the author: Murakami final sting

I thought that I would have to change more for the final edition of this sting but it was well received and the  only major suggestion was that I should include his full surname on the last image- it would be too confusing to rely on the viewer to make out his name amongst the jumbled letters of the rest of the animation  especially in only fifteen seconds!

I think I did a good job making use of simple animation to make something somewhat effective- I'm not very skilled in After Effects but still managed to make something that flows. I think this comes from having a lot of scenes within the animation- it keeps the pace up whilst also distracting the viewer from the lack of complicated movement!

At this stage of the project it's easy to forget why I chose or did certain things, but I think it fits well as part of my progression of the project- using the motifs that I had picked up on from the beginning and throughout. In turn I think it suits the mood that I picked up from Murakami's work and feels suitably dark and surreal.


Things I would consider more if I was to do this again:

• Could I make the textures move too? I can imagine this being easier to control in a frame by frame animation, such as when using Photoshop to make a gif. It would have to be subtle to not distract from the more important assets of the animation though, but I think it would make it look a little livelier and less stiff.

• Does the animation fit well as a set with the prints? The colours are similar, though if I was to be a little picky two different shades of yellow are used. My biggest concern is the textures putting it out of place, but without them the animation did look very flat and clinical. 

• Although I think I did well for my first try with After Effects I still am not satisfied with how flat and stiff the animation looks. I'm not sure if it's just because of my lack of knowledge in the software, but I think animating frame by frame in Photoshop is more suited to me.

*Technical Issues*

When uploading this I encountered some technical issues with the software that I could only fix with the help of professionals! The music would not line up with the animation and only towards the end did we find out that it had been in the wrong folder. Still, it was exported into Premier Pro and the music was added into there again, which is a way of fixing it again in the future if it should happen again!

about the author: presentation

 In honesty I wasn't sure how much emphasis in the module there was for the presentation folder for the prints so focused more on practicality than aesthetic, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing as the prints are of utmost importance and need to be kept safe!

I decorated it a little, making the masking tape not quite so obviously masking tape and adding a small drawing to the front- although I'm not sure if I regret that part. It looks a bit clumsy and I'm not sure if the writing suits the project or is even necessary to the folder. The piece of string looks a bit too long and gets in the way making it look messy but needed to be that long because of the way I constructed the folder. In hindsight I just would have planned it and thought of a better way to construct it- for practical and visual reasoning.

It was suggested I separate the prints in the folder as lino prints in particular can stay tacky and rub ink off on to each other. I tried this first with tissue paper but it was very fiddly to open and close and would rip and bend within the folder. The pieces of paper might not look as good but they keep it safer and make them easier to handle.

I grouped sets of print together mostly by date and method and attached small labels to them- the labels also act as a barrier between the clip and the prints protecting them a little from crease marks.

about the author: project key points

issuu presentation of module key points with captions

about the author: project proposals

I intend to produce:

• 3-5 lino prints with a focus on shape and minimalism that evoke the dreamlike quality of Haruki Murakami's work.

The content will focus on:

• dreams
• motifs in his work
• realities

I will be aiming to communicate:

• balance
• minimal communication
• the surreal and quiet.

I intend to produce:

• A 15 second animated sting that presents the dreamlike qualities of Haruki Murakami's writing.

The content will focus on:

• mundane objects
• parallel worlds
• the frame will be split into sections / quadrants that shift and grow. But the image will start as one.

I will be aiming to communicate:

• the surreal
• some spookiness (subtly scary)
• moodiness/ atmosphere

To an audience of:

• not children
• people who relish atmosphere
• Murakami fans

responsive: war horse cover

version showing markers for bleed

I think this will be my cover for the War Horse brief! Following advice from the previous mega crit session I removed the text from the front page as it's not necessary for the brief guidelines and got too caught up in the design. I also added the colour red so the horse and figures would stand out more, and it also draws a parallel to the red used in the inside illustrations. 

I added more men that are similar to the third illustration I made for the book, and also one that is searching to represent his first owner Albert searching for him. I'd like to think that it adds some plot to the cover without giving too much away/ any more than is expected.

After using Futura last time I looked for a nice serif font thinking it would be more fitting. I'm not sure how fitting this one is, but I think it was better than before- more suited to the time period!

about the author: how am I going to print this (???)

After thinking about monoprint might not be as suitable as I thought I looked back at the possibility of using lino for the yellow. I'd still ruled out the possibility of just making a block the same size as the other with lots of negative space as that's what would always mess up the prints.

Because I'm printing black on yellow it will be possible for me to add bleed to areas where there will be black covering the yellow, which will be good to avoid unwanted white areas. It feels good to be technically prepared when looking back to two years ago, when I was screen printing a concertina book with no bleeds and no crop marks! The result wasn't great, and I'm hoping that now I have put some effort in (now I have the knowledge) that it will make something better.

I got pretty confused about what to do so sought out advice from tutors! Some of the methods explained seemed a little too time consuming when the possibility of putting stamps on greyboard could well work! But I'm trying it with this print first, as it's not the simplest but also not the hardest! Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

responsive: war horse possible covers

Looking at other Folio Society books I see that they are well suited to  bold, graphic covers with minimal colours. I'd enjoyed using gouache and lots of colours for the inside illustrations but with my previous note, fancied the challenge of making something more graphic but also fit with the other illustrations.

I mostly tried to do this by drawing in a not wholly disimilar style and using motifs that had been used in the other images, particularly smoke clouds which were used in 2/3, and the small men (in the last image).

TYPE

I'm not very experienced with type- I worry that something that I think looks fairly balanced would look horrific to the trained (or otherwise) eye, so am cautious of being too adventurous. I also find myself using Futura on every whim, and on another look I'm not sure it's suited to the book. It's quite a modern and clean looking font for a book based in a time before it was even made and is very - not clean -. Perhaps something more traditional looking with a serif would be nicer.

That said, there doesn't have to be any text on the front, and I think with such a visuals/ illustration lead project it could become almost... redundant? But there will have to be some text somewhere so it needs considering!

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All in all I think I need some feedback from others before making a decision.