Portfolio Year

The brief for this work was to look at shape, form, and negative space to create tonal studies informed by the work of Frank Pudney. we were also told to focus on creating a focal point using the rule of thirds. Pudney’s work has an almost fluid quality to it, the different forms and areas of tone blending together to create an organic form. This was the main aspect of his work I wanted to replicate in these drawings. This was in part down to the way I positioned my weave piece, so I made sure to allow the different materials to form intriguing shapes with lots of shadow to create tone. I explored different compositions before concluding that a less compact shape allowed for a more interesting use of negative space. I made two smaller compositions before committing to my final, larger piece. These smaller pieces allowed me to explore different possibilities before arriving at a more developed and successful piece. The final piece was successful as the previous pieces allowed me to ...

I am currently considering applying to Duncan of Jordanstone college of art and design for their foundation course. I still don’t know what I want to specialise in, but I’m leaning towards design over fine art, possibly graphic design, illustration, or environmental design. I think the foundation course is a really good option for me because it would allow me another year to figure out which specialist area would suit me best, and to experiment with other courses. I think I would do well with the self motivated study format there, especially after doing this course for a year. Aside from that, Dundee is a really nice place and somewhere I think I would enjoy spending four years at uni. Central St Martins also offers a foundation course. This course gives the opportunity to explore four different subject areas (fashion and textiles, fine art, graphic communication design, and three dimensional design and architecture), or specialise in one of these right off the bat. The focus is on p...

The main schools I looked into in relation to Communication/ Graphic Design were Glasgow School of Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, and Central St Martins in London. Each of these schools vary greatly in their approach to this course and prioritise different aspects of the subject area. First off, the Communication Design course at Glasgow is very open- the course covers graphic design, photography, and illustration, although students are expected to specialise in one of these fairly early on. This course model allows for more general briefs that are up to interpretation by the student. The GSA website has less information about specific modules etc in each year of the course, but overall, the course focuses on each student’s individual development. However, there is less focus on industry placement than other courses. There is also opportunity to study abroad at one of GSA’s international partners.  The graphic design course at Central St Martins als...