Thursday 28 April 2011

Final Pieces for Jon Maxwell

These are the final pieces I have produced for Jon Maxwell for his film "Fall North". After a lot of conversations and changes Jon has decided not to use the titles for his short but is continuing to use the credits. As I have spent a lot of time on the titles and a lot of time on the build of the Golden Gate Bridge I am still handing them both in as part of my Major Project and I am continuing to build my own response and body of work.

As I have said before there have been a lot of ups and downs with this project but it has been more like a job I would actually get when getting into the business and I feel I have grown as a designer and gained a lot from the experience. I have enjoyed working on something that was actually going towards something. Even though the job was unpaid I still had the drive to get my name out there and on a project that is going to be going around festivals and hopefully collecting some awards. It has been a pleasure to work on something like so early in my design carrier. I know I will only get better and having an experience like this before leaving university and going off into the big bad world I have found has already helped. It has helped develop my professionalism, communication skills, creativity as well as my time management. All these skill will still be developed but it is great to gain what I already have.

This along with the Tandem Films and Neighbourhood briefs have helped prepare me for the future and given me the much needed experience.

Fall North Titles

Fall North Credits

Monday 4 April 2011

BBC UX & D Conference

I was invited to show my work at a BBC conference in Preston earlier in the year. Even though I am not on a user experience course I thought it could be a good opportunity to show my work off, get some feedback and see how my work could hold up in the industry. It was a great day of meeting people and speaking with them about the industry and what I can look forward to.

I had an early start and with a power cut in our building getting ready and putting contact lenses in was a struggle to say the least. But on the bright side surely things couldn't carry on that way... After nearly missing my train I sat there looking at the map of Preston University preparing myself for the day.

Once I arrived at the right building I realised that I was the only one there and after all my rushing, everyone was still getting ready. This then meant I could set up and get cracking with things. I was greeted by Kimo who showed me to my space and left me to set up. I just took my laptop and showreel as I didn't know we could take more if we wanted. It seemed quite a small setup but I still got quite a bit of attention.


Shortly after the other students started to arrive with their user interface products which came in the form of projectors, huge plazma screens and musical mushrooms. My stand was next to a guy called Dave from Liverpool John Moores Uni and he was great to talk to and he was my first connection I made. In fact we have kept in touch since and hopefully might be able to do a project together at some point. We were all stood outside the canteen so everyone had to walk past us for their free lunch. Perfect time to grab some of their time.

I spoke to people in all areas of the industry and even make some connections while charging up some Iphones. I came away with quite a few business cards as well as passing some around. We also had the chance to go to a workshop that the conference had on but myself Daniel and a couple of the others stuck around to catch more people between sessions and more people at the lunch break. It worked as there was a more or less constant trickle of people through the day coming round and with it being quieter you could speak with them more.

All in all it was a great day and I had the opportunity to sit in on the awards ceremony and interview with Victoria Wood. It was a really enjoyable day where I made some great connections, a few mates as well as gaining some great feedback and experience. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to do something like this again at some point as I feel it helps my confidence is grow and grow.