Sketchbook Research (Tom Gauld)

These are photographic examples of the original research I produced for the illustration brief focusing on Tom Gauld.

Presentation Artisit Research (Tom Gauld)

Self-portrait.

He regularly travels in America and Europe to take part in comics festivals.

Since 2005 he has been illustrating a regular column for the letters page of the Guardian’s Saturday Review.

Tom's clients include: The New Yorker, Coca-Cola, The Guardian, Wired Magazine, Granta, EMI Records, The Walrus, The New York Times and Penguin Books. 

Source: http://theillustrationgallery.com/artists/tom-gauld 

I sit and think and doodle in my sketchbook until I have a good idea. Then I’ll make rough pencil sketches on copier paper till I have things worked out visually. Then I hone these sketches on paper and in photoshop till I have a rough version of the image which I can send to anyone who needs to approve it. Then I will print out the image and use a lightbox to trace an ink version which I crosshatch then scan back into the computer where I can clean it up, tweak bits and add any colour. I love using the computer but I try to stay away from it till I’ve done most of the thinking for an idea, looked at it from all sides, because I feel that once the computer is involved things are on an inevitable path to being finished. Whereas in my sketchbook the possibilities are endless. 

Cartooning heroes: William Heath-Robinson, Gary Larson, Roz Chast, Richard McGuire, Ben Katchor, Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, Jochen Gerner.  

Source: http://www.casualoptimist.com/2011/08/23/q-a-with-tom-gauld/

Interviewer - It seems that a lot of your work — from Hunter and Painter, to your illustrations for The Guardian — also explores the nature of art. Do you think that comics, which seem to straddle the high- and low-brow, are a good vehicle for criticism? 

Going back to the idea of contrasts, I think there's a fascinating (and funny) contrast between the near-perfection a work of art can achieve, and the messy imperfection everyday-ness of its creation and of the artist’s real life.  

Interviewer - It seems that a lot of your work — from Hunter and Painter, to your illustrations for The Guardian — also explores the nature of art. Do you think that comics, which seem to straddle the high- and low-brow, are a good vehicle for criticism? 

I think because comics can have a lightness about them they are a good way of looking at, criticizing and making fun of anything, but High Art and its occasional over-seriousness is a good topic to have fun with. 

Interviewer - I notice that in your sketchbooks you’ll often riff on a topic — like the Bronte sisters, or pigs — over a whole page, then eventually we’ll see some of those ideas appear in your illustrations, fully formed. I was wondering if you could talk a little about your process of producing your Guardian illustrations — how much lead time you’ll have, how much art direction you’re given, and so on. 

I've been working for the Guardian since about 2002, not long after I left college. Roger Browning the art director of the Review hired me to do a spot illustration; I've worked regularly for him since, and in 2005 took over the illustration on the letters page every Saturday. 

Source: http://www.graphic-e-y-e.com/2011/12/interview-tom-gauld.html

 

 

The Brief

 

Issues in Graphics

Notes from Sheffiel Hallam What is a Desinger? Video

An idea.

Creative.

Communicates ideas. Problem solver.

Compare creative ideas, product outcome.

Innovator


Feedback from the group

Take idea + enhance for different purposes.
Solve a problem.
Vision combines ideas + forms.
Sharing + communication.
Visual communication.

My thoughts on a designer:

• Visual communicator who feature subtle and/or direct messages in their work.
• Produce an engaging final product.

BA (Hons) Fine Art – University of Bedfordshire

BLURB

• If fine art is your passion, then you'll feel right at home on this course. You'll focus on contemporary artistic practices, some of which are traditional, such as painting and printmaking, while others embrace new media such as video, photography, digital imaging and installation.
• Throughout the course you'll be encouraged to consider, through practice, the context of a rapidly developing multicultural and predominantly urban and technologically-based society, in which the traditional notions of artistic production are being continually challenged by new and exciting conceptual alternatives
• http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/courses/undergraduate/fine-art

MY THOUGHTS

• I like the broad approach to this course since it does not constrict students to a particular area of design and art. I want to pursue unexplored areas such as sculpture, video, installation and film if possible because I believe I am an artist not a graphic designer therefore I have a creative need to branch out and ‘touch’ as many fields as possible.

Graphic Design BA (Hons) MDes –University of Brighton

BLURB

• Graphic design communicates, it touches everything that we do, everything we see. From luggage label to record label, headline to road sign, kid's book to text book, billboard to skateboard, film title to beer bottle and bar code to web site -graphic design is all around us.
• Graphic design starts with an idea - this course will develop your understanding of the discipline intellectually, as well as practically.
• You can choose to take a three-year BA (Hons) degree or a four-year MDes integrated masters-level qualification.
• http://www.brighton.ac.uk/courses/study/graphic-design-ba-hons-mdes

MY THOUGHTS

• The combination of BA and Master’s degree level within the same course is an appealing element of MDes as it can prepare students for employability quicker than that of finishing a BA (Hons) and applying for Masters afterwards which may take a number of years.

BA (Hons) Graphic Design – Leeds College of Art

BLURB

• This course explores the communication of ideas through type, imagery, meaning and message, and will equip you with the understanding and skills you need to operate effectively within the competitive, fast-moving and continually developing design sector.
• You’ll be encouraged to develop your own voice, opinions and individual understanding of your position within graphic design while developing the discipline and skills to apply that understanding in a professional environment.
• You will benefit from a wider understanding of the creative, social, cultural and ethical context of contemporary visual culture.
• http://www.leeds-art.ac.uk/home/our-courses/higher-education/ba-hons-foundation-degree/ba-hons-graphic-design/

MY THOUGHTS

• I am seeking a broad course that focuses on not just one area of design or art but the majority of it with a traditional emphasis since I consider use of only digital media to be lapsed and lazy.
• A professional environment combined with creative encouragement is one of the attractions of this course as I do not want to attend a university/degree level location where tutors allow students to pursue worryingly high amounts of free reign and a noise intensive atmosphere.