Vicky Walsh's Blog

More developed Roughs…

A few developed roughs of the glyndwr student mag logo - No name as yet, so for now, its called blag. Hopefully the concept will work with the final name. Please comment and make a girl happy!

Reminds me very much of the first piece I did at NWSAD tracing IP address.

First Experiment: Using orange skin as packaging for fruit tea bags (My hands now smell like orange ) ):

It works extremely well, apart from a minor issue: It needs to be stored in the freezer or needs to be pickled so it doesn’t decompose – Back to the drawing board!

After looking more into copyright, It amazing how although technology has brought cultures together with mediums such as the internet etc, when it comes to copyright law, we have never been so split. In previous years, countries have always been united in dealing with forgeries as a united front and worked together to protect the rightful parties – this is especially true in cases such as artists creating fraudulant painting and trying to flee the country. In these cases police forces worked together to catch the criminal.

However with the introduction of technology, in many countries (both MEDC’S and LEDC’s) branding and modern copyright laws are laxed or in some cases non existant. This means that it is easy to take a design from the UK and use it limitlessly.

E.g. In the canary islands, there are many cases of small electronic shops using the names and logos of large stores in the UK.

But who actually cares about copyright? One critic recently said: “Anyone who cares about copyright must be a cog in a gigantic money-grabbing corporation because there aren’t any writers, photographers or musicians out there desperately trying to stop people from pinching copies of their work.” – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/nov/25/filesharers-freeloaders-creative-industries

People like being told they are loved by customers… thats what i’ve learnt so far this afternoon. Although it is not play, and I am probably going away from the brief here, it does improve daily life. Appreciation does go along way, and I know this myself from the work that I do. When a client is friendly with you and Appreciation what you do, you feel a sence of pride, and want to help them more. (not that i’m hinting to all the companies which I have been working crazy for in the last 3 years…honestly, your all great!)

Furthermore to thinking about this, I rung up O2 this afternoon and as the guy which I spoke to me this morning was so friendly, spoke to his manager I asked whether he could have a bonus or promotion as he was so good. (My deed for the day!)

So another point to consider which improves daily life; Appreciation.

Lunch time. Ahhh finally a break. The first thing I wanted to do was to get out of here. It’s warm, the phone doesn’t stop ringing, and the florescent lights are driving me nuts… Now, I am lucky, I am practically in shrewsbury town center, so I can go out, get some air, and have a wonder about, but for those on business parks, they would be stuck.

Really the way I am feeling at the moment, I don’t want to think or do anything (could be down to a hardcore week of work, or because i’m a “student”). Therefore it needs to be something really simple yet entertaining to improve a persons daily life. I feel a product specification coming on after today…) .

After a little surveying, I have found out what others do for their lunch. And they generally did a similar thing to me. (I am normal!!) Some went home, some hit the shops for some shopping but 90% left the office at some point.

After some homemade butties, I am back in the office, posting all my blogs from this morning. I have noticed I have missed my one from when I got up,  so i will write up my notes after.

ok, so I am in an everyday office. For the purpose of an average working
day, I will not comment on any interface relating to my everyday job
(design). However, I comment on things such as the windows GUI..(I make the rules here…!)

So windows XP, pretty average in an office I would say. mineswipper is a lot
of fun to be honest, but it is dull looking. I speaking with a bunch of my
wonderful colleges, we all have a consensus, that after looking at the
screen for 5 hours, you do want to look at it at lunch time. So would an
on-screen piece of digital media really improve daily living? I will have to
check my brief on this, because this finding my stuff it all up. I might
have to be, if you are forced in front of your screen for the whole day
non-stop, how could your daily life be improved?…actually, this could
work…people who sit in front of a computer all day want to do something
physical just to do something different. Now, if it had to be on-screen
digital media, then I could use other input devices which use flash to
work…Do something like a virtual walk in the park. This could actually
work for those stuck in a business park/industrial estate all day.

…the cogs are moving people, the cogs are officially moving….

After a nearly missing the train, and an abusive call to O2 Wrexham due to not being able to receive calls for the past week (now listening to bight eyes to calm myself down a little before work), I am finally settled on the train. And there’s not really a lot going on…

A few people reading the paper, others dosing off to sleep, well the rest admire the Shropshire countryside, and well me, sitting here with my laptop. Age range is probably around 18 – 90 and obviously they are all on here for different purposes but it is their daily life. From ease dropping some have mentioned going to AGM’s others seem to just be train fanatics.

In terms of the signage around here, it is an old train and so there is not a lot of graphic design to look at (obviously when this one was made, Arriva never seen the marketing opertunity it has with a captured audience.) There is a lot of safety signs and also abstract systems for opening or closing the doors (see image below). But it is generally limited.

[will upload images later today as they are on my iphone][don't expect anything glamorous]

Now, one biggy (thanks to big brother I am down with the slang.) which I have forgot to mention is the tickets and receipts. Printed media.

Everyone has a ticket and a receipt on the train so this is one other common denominator Most people keep this to hand due to the fact the ticket inspector is hot on their heels. – Could be a potential. These are in my folder for those reading this online.