My week in Somerset (Part 2)

Waterside

Day 2- Bristol

After having such a surprisingly action packed day yesterday we decided to go for a stroll around Bristol. Due to it being sunday we didn't think there would be much to do as everything would be shut however when we walked over Prince Street Bridge we found the Balmoral docked by the M Shed. The Balmoral in my family means a lot as my granddad was a draughtsman in his younger years, which he helped design the Balmorals diesel engine. I learnt from my gran that the boat used to sail for day outings however not many tourists used it due to financial hardship and the "lovely" english weather.

After taking some photos of the Balmoral we then carried on walking by the docks. As we walked past the M Shed we saw that it was open. M Shed is a museum about bristol featuring bristol places, people and life in the city. I have never been in the M Shed before so it was an opportunity not to be missed. When you walk around the museum you can find various artefacts such as old milk bottles from the milkmen of Bristol or the old Bristol bus where you can hop on and listen to people talking about the past. 

Front of Bristol Bus

Back of Bristol Bus

M Shed 

M Shed Upper Floor

When we finished looking around the M Shed we decided to walk down to the S.S Great Britain restaurant to have a drink and a bite to eat. Along the way you can see the new building by waterside that will soon be flats, all the buildings are different shapes. We also passed a little building called Brunel's Buttery which my gran told me was renown for the bacon butty and has been going for over 30 years.

Electric Cranes

Matthew 

Birds Nest Matthew

After lunch Gran and I got a little ferry across the River Avon to the other side of the docks. On the way to the bus stop we walked past the Matthew which was sailed by John Cabot in 1497 to North America, the boat that is docked in the harbour is said to be a replica of the original. We the proceeded to walk by the water features outside At-Bristol. I love the planetarium there as the reflections on a nice day look amazing.

At-Bristol Planetarium

Reflections

After a busy day around Bristol we headed back home to catch the sun set behind Wales and managed to get another glimpse of the Waverley leaving Clevedon pier.

Sunset

Waverley Alight

Type Design

Recently I brought the book 'Creative Workshop' by David Sherwin, which has 80 challenges to test and sharpen you designs skills as well as helping you create work for your own personal portfolio. The main feature I like about the book is that is give you a time limit to complete the challenge meaning you are working against the clock to finish the task. The most recent challenge I undertook as Easy as ABC where you had to create each letter of the alphabet with any objects that you could find which at the end to the challenge meant you created your own typeface.

Before I got stuck into this task I decide to undertake in some research about typefaces. I found out that a typeface is a style of letters, numerals and punctuation, these are normally grouped in families. For example a typeface would be Helvetica whilst the font is regular, light, italic and bold. Type design is when you design and create a typeface. A typeface used to be measured by points.

The structure of the typeface is the 'graphic element' which builds the typeface to be different.  There are two types of stroke, this is the straight such as 'k, l, x' which can be horizontal or diagonal and the rounded such as 'c, o, s' which can be open or closed. Instroke and outstroke are terms that typographer used, instroke is when the you are writing the letter it started at the top like 'c, f' whilst outstroke is when you have to take the pen off the paper at the bottom of the letter such as 'g, j, y'.

Here is some more terminology that I found out whilst doing my research;

• Stem is a vertical stroke such as the 'm' has three stems.
• Spine is a centre stoke like an 's'.
• Ascender is a stem that is normally is higher than the x height such as 'l, b, d, h'.
• Descender is a stem that is lower than the baseline such as 'q, p, y, g'.
• Arch is when a letter has an arch like an 'n'.
• Bowl is a rounded stroke such as a 'p'.
• Tail is a trailing outstroke such as 'y'.
• Bar is a horizontal stroke such as 't'.
• Arm this is a horizontal stroke that is either at the top or bottom of a letter such as 'T'.
• Loop tail is a bottom of a loop such as a 'g'.
• Ear is a short stroke on the top such as a 'i'.
• Apices is an angled stoker at the top such as 'w' which has one apices.
• Vertices is an angled stoker at the bottom such as a 'v'

After my research I had an hour to now think of what object I wanted to represent each letter and how it would look. I decided that I wanted the background to be plain and the colour black so I used some black card that I had lying around my house to create the backdrop. Then I focused on the lettering being an object that I use everyday and was important to me. At first I choose to use my headphones but this proved to hard to get the wire stay in the place and you couldn't see the what letter it was. I then came up with the idea of using pencils as they are an important tool that I use to design all my work. The pencils looked great against the backdrop so I start taking the picture of the individual letter.

I am extremely pleased on how professional it looked and has inspired me to create my own typeface when I am next creating a poster as I feel it stands out. Below is a close up of one of the letters and the whole alphabet I created.

'G' 

Pencil Alphabet

My week in Somerset (Part 1)

Every summer for one week I go and stay with my gran who lives in Clevedon. When I stay we go out every day, this varies from bus rides around Bath to shopping in Bristol. With each day being different I get to learn different things about the area that my grans lives in and where my mum was raised, this also gives me a chance to use my camera. This year I travelled down to Bristol to meet my gran on a train in first class. Not only did I have a comfy seat for the 2 hour journey which actual feels like quarter of an hour but I also had a complimentary free drink just to make my ride that more enjoyable.

  

Day 1- Weston-super-Mare

White Flags

On the first day gran and I decided to visit Weston-super-Mare. Seeing that the both of us can't drive we took the 125 bus from Clevedon to the seafront of Weston. During the journey we happen to go past a couple of places that I used to go when I was little such as Cadbury Garden Centre, my grandparents and parents used to look around especially at christmas time when I went to visit Santa. We use to spend half a day there as the adults were avid gardeners whilst I was bribed by the chance of looking at the animals in the pet section and a bag of sweets at the end.

                          

                             Octopus

Mermaid

When we finally arrived at the seafront we decided to go to the see some sand sculptures on the beach that my gran had heard about however we got there we were a bit early, so we deiced to go for a wonder along the Marine Parade, this is when we saw kites in the sky. At first we thought the kites were to do with the Aquarium as they were next to the building and there were sea animals shaped kites. When we looked closer we found out that it was a two-day kite festival where they displayed different unusual kites and had kite displays. My favourite kite was the octopus as I loved colours used and how it was grand in size, whilst my gran preferred the mermaid as the way it moved in the sky mirrored how it would move in the sea. We were lucky as that day even though it was very sunny it still was a bit windy perfect for the kites.

Happy!

Bright Kites

                                   Hollywood Sign

After spending some time looking at the kites we went to see the Weston Sand Sculpture Festival. This year the sand sculpture theme was Hollywood, this featured sculptures of paparazzi, the Oscars, film characters and the famous Hollywood sign. Now I must admit I wasn’t expecting much as it was in a small area that was cut off from view to the general public. However as soon as we paid our entry both gran and I were amazed at the height and detail of all of the sculptures. There was not one where we had to guess what movie a certain sculpture was from. By each sculpture there was information about the sculpture, the artist and what they did whilst at Weston.

                                                                                                           

Davy Jones

Hitchcock

Batman and the Hulk

After the sculpture we went for a walk along the Royal Parade until we go to Dr Fox’s Tearoom where we both had a hot chocolate. My gran was raving over the hot chocolate and wanted me to try one, now I am a bit of a hot chocolate expert but this was the first time I tried one with the chocolate on a stick and melting it in the hot frothy milk. This is one of the best hot chocolates I have ever tried and must say I will be back again. After this we went down by the marina then took a slow walk back to the bus station.

Pier

Sponsors Names

Waverley

I was exhausted by the time we got home, however I soon got excited when the Waverley sailed past close to my grans flat. It was a real treat to hear the paddles go round powering the steam boat. After the boat had gone the sun began to set and I managed to get some photos however I don’t feel my camera did the colours of the sky justice.

Sunset

Waverley silhouette

Sunset over Wales

My Best Photo's of 2012

I have decided to look back at last year and choose my best ten* pictures of 2012. On each photo I have wrote why I chose them and why I took them.

1. Moon

One day last summer when I was back home, I used my dad's new telescope to test it out and get a chance to look at the moon. When we finally got the moon into the viewfinder I decided to try and capture it with my camera phone. I didn't expect much as I didn't think my phone would focus but after a couple of tries this was the result. I could have changed the composition of the moon but after much hassle finding it I didn't want to move the telescope. I am very pleased with this photo as my hopes weren't high.

2. Painting of a Flower

On a sunny May day I met up with my Dad and decided to go to some local gardens. After a while the heat got to me so I was just pointing my camera and shooting blind. It didn't help with the sun blinding my camera screen so I couldn't see what I was taking until I was home. When I came across this photo it struck me on how much the flower head looks like a painting. I am also pleased on how the pink flower contrasts the dark background giving the photo more depth.

 3. Wax Iris 

This was taken on the same day as the above photo. I choose this photo as you can see the waxiness of the petals on the iris head. I also loved the yellow and dark purple colours as I would have never put them together in any of my design work but after seeing this flower I started to experiment more with colours.

4. Metallic Mallard

I choose this picture purely as I like how the Mallard duck head looks as if it was metallic showing lovely green colours. I took this photo on the same day as photos 2 and 3. However I took this at the start when there was some shade so I could see what I was taking. I tried to align the head more to the left however as it kept moving it seemed that it was always centre.

5. St Michael's Sunset

This photo was taken on one of my favourite evenings of last year. I stayed with my Dad and Grandparents at the start of October for a week in Cornwall, I decided to go on a walk by myself to the beach when the sun was setting. I can literally say it blew my mind and I got some clarity. I wish I could go back to that evening when I was sitting on the wall watching the sea go in and out, the wind surfers reflecting the last sun rays of the day and the sun slowly disappearing behind the headland. This photo instantly brings back the memories of that night. I love the darkness of the mount and the sun hitting the harbour with the gradient blue sky behind.

6. Jersey Cow

This photo was taken on the first day of my holiday in Cornwall. After staying up 27 hours I was quite tired and got bored as my Dad kept making me wait whilst he took photos. During one of these times I was waiting, I decided to try my macro setting on my camera. I like this photo as it is natural and as the cow was sitting down it gave me time to set up the shot.

7. Sea King

Again this photo was captured on the first day of my holiday in Cornwall. I was purely testing out my cameras zoom and didn't expect to capture such as clear shot of a Sea King. I love the stillness of the helicopter as it really does capture a minute in time. I am pleased that the sky was blue that day as it makes the red stand out better than if it was a grey day.

8. Shapes

This photo was taken when I was on a bus tour around Barcelona. I chose this photo as it was simple yet eye catching due to the different shape in the image. I also like the sphere balancing on the edge of this building.

9. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'

I saw this when I was visiting a cornish mine on a bleak grey day. Not only was the position of the quote perfect (on a wall that was half demolished) but it got me thinking wether it was true or not. I came to the conclusion that it was partly true. Sometimes when you love something so much it can overshadow your instincts and make little things 10x more worse than they really are.

10. Behind Enemy Lines

I took this photo on the last day of my holiday in Cornwall. This photo was taken at RNAS Culdrose in the afternoon where I got to see a lot of flying action. I like this photo as the colours are bleak just like a war zone and the barbed wire in the foreground to show the harshness. Seeing as I was in competition with my dad for the best photo of the helicopter I think I won hands done as this photo has emotion of a war.

11. Casa Soldiers 

This photo was taken when I went to Barcelona with my Gran last year. I chose this photo as it is one of the best memories of last year. I enjoyed it so much that I keep thinking back to it and I am tempted to book another weekend break away with my Gran this year. I love these soldiers head sculptures by Gaudi as I felt that they look abstract but you can still tell what they are meant to be. As well the view from Casa Mila overlooking Barcelona was amazing. 

*have added an extra photo that was featured in a previous blog about my time in Barcelona.

2013 Goals

Resolution is a term that I am not keen on. In previous years I have had new years resolutions, that I had hoped that I would stick to, however I always seemed to lose interest. I feel that is partly due to the fact of the pressure and that in the middle of January there is always a new report saying that most people have given up on their own resolutions, so I start to think what is the point. Instead this year I have changed the word to goals as I feel this sounds more achievable and not so scary. I have tried not to have goals that I knew that I wouldn't achieve. I have made my personal goals quite easy to help improve my design work and my life. I have chosen ten goals although I feel that I won't complete all of them but if I have at least accomplished three of them, then I will know that 2013 will have been a success.

1. Life after University

As I start my final year of my course this year I feel that it is time to start thinking about what I want to do after university. There are already two ideas of what I could do, these are either stay on and complete a MA in Digital Design or go into the industry. If I was going to go into the industry I feel that I should start brainstorming ideas of what area I want to go in. I feel that I have been putting off my decision as I felt it was still too early, however the rest of my housemates already know what job they want and how they will get there.

2. Take a photo everyday

Last year I created a bucket list of 100 things I want to do before I die. All of these tasks were to make sure I live a full life. One of the tasks on the list is to take a photo everyday for a year, I felt this would challenge me with a chance of some photo's to go into my portfolio. The photo's will be random with one day it featuring a landscape image and the next something that I had done during the day. This is a chance for me to take more photo's and show off my skills. If you want to follow my progress I have set up a Flickr account Photo of the Day 2013.

New Dawn, New Start- Day 1

3. Get a work placement

For the final year of my course it is advised that I get a work placement from a local firm. I feel that loads of students will start applying March time so I need to start now if I want a place. I feel that I will get many benefits from the placement, not only will it look good on my CV but I will get experience on how a design company runs. I have learnt at university how the design process works and was able to put it into practice last semester with a live client however I feel that seeing it done in real life will be different. I feel that a placement might help me decide where I want to work in a design company.

4. Achieve grade 2:1 in Year 2

I want to graduate my course with a First degree however at the end of this year my aim is to get a 2:1. Last semester I spent most my time doing university work and making sure I was ahead of my classmates as if I had down anything wrong I could go back and redo it. I want nothing less than a 2:1 as I feel it will show me it was worth the time spent and that I could go on and get a First.

5. Maintain my fitness

At the end of summer last year I suddenly became very health conscious resulting in some changes in my life. After a while the effects began to show which made me feel brilliant. During the christmas period I have still tried to be healthy but allowed myself some slack as it was the holidays. I am now ready to get back into the lifestyle I had at the end of last year.

6. Do a 5K charity race in less than 45 mins

This year I want to do the 5k run Race for Life as it is a charity close to home. I previously did it in 2010 with my finishing time of 58 minutes with no truing before hand, I also applied to do it last year but sprained my ankle the day before the race meaning I had to pull out whilst my friend ran by herself. This year I want to do it again but beat my previous time by 13 minutes. I shall start training early February for the race which is normally in July. The training will also help me with number 5 of my goals.

7. Learn to drive

I started to learn to drive when I just turned 17 but that was over 2 years ago now and I wished that I stuck with it. I have some money saved up so I can learn to drive over the summer and hopefully be ready for a driving test near the time I go back to uni. Seeing as when I am home I live in the middle of nowhere relying on my dad and friends for lifts I feel that I should become independent.

8. Do more designs

I want to create at least one design a month with some mock designs each week. I wanted this on my goals as I feel it will benefit me as I can add all the work into my portfolio and will help showcase my work at the End of Year show in March.

9. At least one blog post a month

Last semester I was very lazy with my blog. Seeing as I had a lot of work given to me I kept putting of posting on my blog with the excuse that I would do it next week. I felt that if I had this as one of my goals I would make my blog look relevant and up-to-date not abandoned like it has done.

10. Go on holiday

When I went to Barcelona last year I seemed to realise what I was missing. This was going abroad, I loved the different culture around me from the trip last year I was left motivated to do more design work and take photographs where as before I had to force myself.

48 Hours in Barcelona part 3

42-48 Hours

Back Street

After another peaceful night sleep gran and I decided to go on the other bus route which took us to the to the west side of Barcelona. We choose to spend our last morning in Barcelona going around the back streets of the city followed by having lunch back at Attic with the afternoon set for the sightseeing tour.

Balconies

As the restaurant doesn't open until 1pm we had four hours to explore the centre of the city. After we followed one of the back streets we found ourselves outside the cathedral. On a whim we went inside and found not only was it nice to be shaded from the sun but the interior was breath taking with displays made out of gold.

Cathedral

 Seeing as it was free entry we decided to go up in the lift to the roof for a couple of euros. When we got out of the lift you could see Barcelona around you with great photo opportunities to take close ups of the spirals.

Spiral

After the cathedral we went to a little cafe to have an ice cold drink. When we were refreshed we set off some other streets that would lead us back to the Rambla in time of our lunch.

Street Sign

After lunch we headed back up the Rambla to Catalunya square were we caught the orange bus route. The tour soon took us to the harbour again however this time we were heading west where we got to see the Columbus Monument which was erected in 1888 for the world exhibition. 

Cable Cart- Port Veil

 Near the monument was one of the many sculptures on this route. This sculpture was metal arches in different positions which was said to look like waves. Another sculpture along this route that has stuck in my mind was by the Olympic stadium which was suppose to look like a olympian bending forward to collect his medal.

Waves

After the harbour we started to climb the mountain of Montjuïc. Here we got to see all of Barcelona though this time from a different perspective. When we were climbing the mountain we passed the first set of cable carts that went from the mountain to Port Veil.

Cable Cart

Down the road there is another lot of cable carts that took you to the top of the mountain. Me and gran decided to go up there to see the views. However when we got to the top we choose to come right back down again as we didn't have much time left.

View of Barcelona

Whilst waiting for the bus there was a little cafe that was shaded from the trees though you could see parts of Barcelona through the branches.

Through the trees

When we got back on the bus we agreed that, that would be our last stop. Whilst still in mountains the tour took us outside the Olympic Arena where you could see the torch for the Barcelona 1992 games were held. After this we saw the magic fountains of montjuïc, old bull ring now turned shopping centre and the Barcelona football ground. Soon after the ground we headed to Avinguda Diagonal to take us back to Catalunya square.

When we were back in the square we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and then headed to the airport.

Apartments

After all that we were both very tired though next time I hope to stay for week even though the 48 hours felt like a long time. I would also like to learn some local language so I didn't feel too much of a tourist. I know it is corny but I fell in love and hope to be back very soon.