BELAS ARTES ARIST RESIDENCY 2016 (LISBON)

THIS SUMMER 2016 I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE ONE OF 15 INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS SELECTED TO TAKE PART IN THE BELAS ARTES ARTIST RESIDENCY IN LISBON, PORTUGAL. BELOW IS A BIT OF A LAZY PHOTO DUMP SHOWING THE BEAUTIFUL ARTISTS STUDIOS, FELLOW ARTISTS, MENTORS AND SOME OF MY EXPERIMENTAL WORK DURING THE RESIDENCY AS WELL AS A FEW SNEAKY SHOTS OF BEAUTIFUL LISBON. I CAN'T SPEAK HIGHLY ENOUGH F MY TIME THERE AND HAVE A BUNCH MORE PHOTOS AND THINGS TO SAWY ABOUT IT BUT IT WOULD JUST END UP BEING A MASSIVE, GUSHING ESSAY :) SO I'LL JUST SAY I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE RESIDENCY TO ANYONE LOOKING TO LEARN AND EXPERIMENT WITH NEW WORK PROCESSES IN A BEAUTIFUL, SPACIOUS STUDIO ENVIRONMENT LOCATED IN THE PERFECT PLACE TO BE CONSTANTLY INSPIRED <3.

MURAL PAINTING

I'VE JUST SUBMITTED A PROPOSAL TO DESIGN AND PAINT A MURAL FOR A BEAD AND CRAFTS SHOP IN LEEDS - THIS IS MY ROUGH IDEA INSPIRED BY RUSSIAN FOLK ART AND FRONTISPIECE ILLUSTRATION. 

I'VE ALWAYS FANCIED PAINTING A MURAL - BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW MY WORK TRANSLATES ON A LARGER SCALE...

= KIM =

PLAYING CATCH UP...

I'VE BEEN FOCUSED ON FINISHING THE REDESIGN OF MY PROMOTIONAL STUFF RECENTLY SO MY USUAL 'WEIRD WEEK' PROJECT IS UNFORTUNATELY A BIT DELAYED...THIS WILL BE REMEDIED BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK THOUGH. IN THE MEANTIME, HERE'S A DRAWING I DID YESTERDAY OF MAX (FROM AN OLD PHOTO).

= KIM = 

TRANARCHY PRESENTS...CHRISTEENE!

POSTER I JUST DREW FOR THE HOUSE OF TRANARCHY EVENT WITH GROSS-HOTT DRAG ARTIST CHRISTEENE - COMING SOON TO ISLINGTON MILL, MORE DETAILS SOON HERE, CAN'T WAIT! #FIXMYDICK 

NEW SELF PROMO WORK

SPENT THIS MORNING REDESIGNING MY CV/SELF PROMO STUFF  HERE IS A SNEAK PEAK OF SOME OF WHAT I CAME UP WITH - I'LL POST THE FINISHED WORK WHEN I'M DONE, I'M ALSO HAVING A RE-THINK ABOUT THE BUSINESS CARD DESIGN I PREVIOUSLY POSTED...MIGHT CHANGE THE COLOUR PALETTE AND DEFINITELY THE FONT.

=KIM =

NEW BUSINESS CARD (DESIGN PROCESS)

IT'S RIDICULOUS, BUT UP UNTIL NOW I HAVE NEVER COMMITTED MYSELF TO DESIGNING A BUSINESS CARD THAT I AM 100% HAPPY WITH. I HAVE ALWAYS COME UP WITH RUSHED ONES OUT OF NECESSITY (EG. BEFORE AN IMPROMPTU CLIENT MEETING OR EXHIBITION LAUNCH). HAVING AN INTERESTING, WELL DESIGNED BUSINESS CARD IS BASICALLY ESSENTIAL TO ANY SERIOUS, NETWORKING FREELANCER, SO IT'S TIME TO SORT MY LIFE OUT AND DO ONE!

EXAMPLES FROM HE BLOG OF FRANCESCO MUGNAI

FIRST OF ALL I DID SOME RESEARCH FOR A BIT OF INSPIRATION.  THIS BLOG HAS SOME FANTASTIC EXAMPLES OF INNOVATIVE BUSINESS CARD DESIGN WHICH I FOUND REALLY HELPFUL AND REALLY GOT ME THINKING - IT'S AMAZING WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH ANY PORTABLE SHAPE WIH A PRINTABLE SURFACE AND YOUR IMAGINATION! I REALISED THAT BOTH IN ORDER FOR ME TO ENJOY CREATING IT AND POTENTIAL CLIENTS TO ENJOY RECEIVING IT, MY CARD NEEDED TO REFLECT MY PERSONALITY AND INTERESTS AS WELL AS MY SERVICES.

FOCUSING ON MY FAVOURITE THINGS (B-MOVIE MONSTERS, EC HORROR COMICS, ANYTHING RELATED TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE) I CAME UP WITH THESE INITIAL DESIGNS (SEE ABOVE, A SKULL AND ME AS A ZOMBIE. APOLOGIES FOR THE BAD PHOTOS, I LIKE TO WORK PRETTY MUCH IN THE DARK WITH JUST A LAMP #GOTH4LIFE, HAHA). I'D DONE A BIT OF BRAINSTORMING WITH MY BOYFRIEND TO WORK OUT HOW THE CARD COULD BE INTERACTIVE, AND WE CAME UP WITH THIS FOLD OUT DESIGN BASED ON THINKING ABOUT PAPER MONSTERS WE USED TO MAKE AS KIDS AND THE EXQUISITE CORPSE GAME:

I SETTLED ON THE SKULL DESIGN AS, BECAUSE MY CARD WILL BE TRADITIONAL SIZED, SIMPLICITY OF LINE WORK AND FOCUS ON GOOD DESIGN WILL WORK BEST ON A SMALL SCALE. ALSO I HAVE AN IDEA THAT THE FINAL DESIGN WILL EMPLOY THE STYLE OF EC HORROR COMICS PRINT AND 1950S BRITISH BOOK JACKET DESIGN (MY WORK IS VERY MUCH INSPIRED BY THESE AESTHETICS!). HERE IS THE SIMPLE FINAL DRAWING I DID OF MY EC HORROR COMICS-INSPIRED SKULL, WHICH I THINK DEMONSTRATES MY ILLUSTRATION STYLE WELL:

THIS IS ANOTHER MOCK UP I DID AFTER ADDING 

COLOUR AND INFO, THOUGH THE PROPORTIONS ARE COMPLETELY WRONG (THANKS TO MY DAD FOR POINTING THIS OUT BEFORE I CONTACTED A PRINTER!):

THIS IS ANOTHER MOCK UP I DID AFTER ADDING 

COLOUR AND INFO, THOUGH THE PROPORTIONS ARE COMPLETELY WRONG (THANKS TO MY DAD FOR POINTING THIS OUT BEFORE I CONTACTED A PRINTER!):

THIS IS A TRUE COLOUR IMAGE OF THE (ALMOST) FINAL DESIGN, WHICH STILL NEEDS SOME TWEAKS:

I'LL POST THE RESULTS OF THE FINAL PRINTED CARDS WHEN I GET THEM DONE SOME TIME NEXT WEEK. TO ANYONE ELSE STRUGGLING TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING BUSINESS CARD DESIGN I WOULD REALLY ADVISE DOING SOME RESEARCH (DON'T BE AFRAID TO 'BORROW' IDEAS...) AND THINKING 'OUTSIDE THE BOX', I HATE THAT CLICHÉ BUT IT'S TRUE - PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING CAN BE A BUSINESS CARD!

= KIM =