SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// Message to Myself

1) GAMING IS FUN BUT TOO MUCH IS A WASTE OF TIME

WHY

i) Wastes time you could be socialising

ii) Wastes time you could be working

iii) Digs into sleep time

iv) Solitary activity

v) There are no real benefits if you are honest. Other that short term stress relief.

SOLVE

i) Gaming is fun and is a good source of entertainment. But it needs to be done in moderation.

ii) Allocate time per day and make sure its a maximum of 2 hours total.

iii) Buy some 2 player games and play them with friends.

iv) Instead of playing games do some exercise.

v) Do work in studios so you cant be tempted by games.

PRODUCT

i) Some kind of program that blocks games

ii) A pop up message offering guilt.

iii) Posters with game characters working jobs.

iv) Books offering time management

v) 'How to not game' Instruction booklet with 50's style self improvement guide. Offer other things to do and use gamer knowledge to affiliate with them.

2) CALL AN OLD FRIEND EVERY WEEK

WHY

i) You dont want to lose friends.

ii) You will become worried and stressed.

iii) Homesickness

iv) You can organise to see each other

v) You can talk about something other than Graphic Design.

PRODUCT

i) A call calendar where you can fill out the names of people you would like to keep in touch with.

ii) Develop a home sickness pack where the central theme is calling people from back home

iii) Android/ App store app that helps you and reminds you who you have been speaking to, for how long and when you last called with countdown timers and a calendar.

iv) Make a poster series highlighting the effects of losing friends and alienating yourself.

v) Draw up a jokey flow chart which will help you discover which friends need to be called and if you should stay in touch etc. 

3) DON'T TRY TO KEEP YOUR HOME LIFESTYLE

WHY

i) You have less time to yourself now

ii) You cant spend money on 'luxuries' anymore

iii) This is a tuning point in your life, you need to work hard

iv) You have to look after yourself, everything is reversed

v) Its fun to live in a totally different way and to be responsible for yourself. 

PRODUCT

i) Make a catalogue of things that you would be use to at home and the student friendly version next to it. 

ii) Create charts of infographs demonstrating the difference between school and uni in terms of time and money. How you spend ti, where it comes from. 

iii) Create timelines that exaggerate the future of the student who does not attend uni of try hard

iv) Create some visuals that show how work builds up and up to unhealthy levels if it is not correctly managed. 

v) Posters visually explaining how close you are to being totally self dependent. Moving out of home, getting a job to make money for yourself. Doing absolutely everything for yourself.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE// 3 Problems

1. MONEY

WHY?
i) Always need more money

ii) Money for materials 

iii) Money for good food
iv) Money to go out
v) Money to have fun
vi) Money to preserve lifestyle

SOLUTION.

i) Get some part time work, sell design work, spend wisely, Beg parents, Deal with it, accept that your poor for now.
ii) College sells materials at a huge discount, don't be greedy.

iii) Go shopping more frequently. Buy less and only get stuff that is no offer. If you need snacks go to Home Bargains.
iv) Go out for student nights. Avoid posh bars. Attend Dives. Only get cheap beer. Do pre-drinks. Find free nights. Avoid entry fees. Sign up for guest lists.

v) Allocate small amount you can only spend on yourself. Once a month treat yourself to something. Clothes. Good meal out.

2. TIME

WHY?
i) Always need more time

ii) Time to work
iii) Time to have fun
iv) Time to sleep
v) Time to do chores
vi) Time to keep in touch

SOLUTION.
i) You cant solve this
ii) Do no procrastinate. Go to College every day and do not come home until 4 earliest.

iii) Follow tip above and I reckon a first year could take every evening and weekend off. 

iv) Cannot skip sleep. Get eight hours a night. Get to bed latest at 1, get up at 8.
v) Do chores as they come. Do not allow them to build and build. 

vi) Call old friends if there is no time to visit them. Spend every weekend you have free visiting them.

3. PEOPLE

WHY?

i) Difficult to stay in touch with old friends.
ii) Juggling social and work

iii) Other peoples perception of art school.

iv) Right impressions when meeting new people

v) Working with long distance relationships (girlfriend/ boyfriend)

SOLUTION
i) If you cant see them, call them
ii) Turn work into a social activity. Chill with peers in a strong studio environment. 

iii) Learn the importance of Graphic Design and now to defend your future profession.
iv) Talk to as many different people as possible everyday.
v) Call, text, see them every week. Make time even if you don't have much.

INDESIGN// Mikeys Final DPS

INDESIGN// Mikeys DPS/ Design Dev 2

Using the same grid as before I added the transcript from the interview to the DPS. I also added a rocky block of colour underneath this as a sort of reflection, cutting the design in half. One column of text flows over two columns on this grid. 

The font I used is Futura which is Mikey's favorite font, I used Cyan to mark my dialogue and black to label his.

I have also added this vintage style header to the article. The header appears in an unusual place, the bottom right instead of the top left.

After this I darkened the design and included a gradient to the deep blue. I believe this adds some depth to the work. My dialogue has also changed to the same colour.

INDESIGN// Mikeys DPS/ Design Stage 1

 Based on some tutorials we have had in Indesign I have created some initial design layouts for the DPS. The grid system is 6 columns wide with standard default margins.

With this I filled some blocks of text with placeholder text, placeholder is just random words in the Latin language. I did this to see how the text would fit around an image of a bass drum. An interesting mechanic in Indesign that can form text around an image or shape. I have included Mickeys full name in this test to see of that could look good on a page.

I realise that this is terrible design, mostly this has been an experiment into how I could fit text and image on the page at a later date.

INDESIGN// Mikey DPS/ Mikeys Designs

I have collected three designs that Mikey has done so far this year to be included in the DPS. I have picked these based on their diversity and quality.

 For example these first images are good examples of Mikey's proficiency in Photoshop, with the manipulation and arrangement of image and text.

This second design is an example of illustration, where parts of the drawing forms the words 'rain' as a pattern in the sky. Here every flower represnts one Kingdom in the UK; Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. This is a clever manipulation of illustration for the Eric Kessels rain brief.

Here Mikey shows some skill in the manipulation, of type with a clock face representing a medical cross and hour hands of text branching off of this.

INDESIGN// Mikeys DPS/ Interview

Where are you from?
An average village called Ackworth. Just north of the great city of Leeds, which is a redeeming feature I guess.

Tell us about it.
There’s nothing really to say, there is nothing there. Oh, it is the longest village in England. Na, but seriously… its shit.

What is your earliest memory?
Hahaha! When I was very little, maybe about 2 years old, I was traveling on a bus with my child minder. I remember waking up and seeing that she was covered in my dribble. I haven’t changed one bit.

Which living person do you admire most and why?

What a creepy question, ‘living person’. I guess it’s the drummer Aaron Spears. Man, can he shred on the drums.

Do you prefer cats or dogs?
I prefer catdog, the cartoon show. Naaaa, really I enjoy dogs the most. I have both cats and dogs back on the family farm but I prefer dogs, they are just so loyal. Cats are evil bastards.

Where would you like to live and why?
I guess I’d like to live on a secluded Indonesian island. Out in the ocean with the tribes. Plus the women don’t wear tops.

What would your super-power be?
Man, it would be sweet if I could stop time! Imagine all the stuff you could do, all the work you could get out of the way so you can spend more time chilling with your mates.

You wouldn’t use it for evil supervillan stuff?
Probably not really man, I’m too lazy to take over the world.

If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?
I would bring back Parliament, the 60’s funk band.

Really?
Yes really, out of all of the brilliant people who have ever lived, I would choose to bring back the members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

Ok. What is your most unappealing habit?
I can’t stop mastur…. Wait… I leave all my dirty washing out on the floor. It’s really smelly.

Moving on, what is your favorite word?

My favourite word? Who wrote these questions? Would you like me to tell you what my favourite colour is next?
I like Bollocks. And when I say that, I mean the word Bollocks. It sounds good coming out of my mouth and its very expressive.

What is your favourite book?
Well, seeing as I can barely read, I guess I do like ‘The Guinness Book of Records’. I find looking at mental people interesting. Treeman blows my mind.

Which four people would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Will Smith, Andy Samburg, Nick Mason and Julian Barrett. Got some funny people, got some interesting people. Should be a good dinner party. Actually, to be honest, who the hell has dinner parties at our age?

If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I always wanted to play more sports. Oh, and I would go back and smack this bully at school. I would say “this is the last time you will bully, bully” and then proceed to bash his face in.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?
Hmmm, a hard question. I would go back to Geek mythology times. I could ride a Cyclopes and shit. I’m pretty sure this time period existed in real life and not just my mind…
If not I would be a Viking. All those big Scandinavian men sharing just one little longboat. That’s true freedom.

What would you consider to be your greatest achievement?
Another difficult question. I suppose I’m proud that I’ve become so sick at drumming.

That was a nice answer. Tell us a joke?
Ok, erm. What’s E.T short for?

I don’t know, what is E.T short for?
Because he has little legs.

Nice, that almost works. Ok last question. Tell us a secret.
Ha ok, I secretly really fancy Joanna Lumley…
Naaa! Got you! My real secret is that my voice didn’t break till I was almost 17.

That is no less embarrassing.