FMP - Primary Research

British Tattoo Art Revealed - National Maritime Museum

As Part of my Primary research, I thought it was very appropriate to visit the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, where they held an exhibition all about the history of British tattooing. I learned some much but also saw some really cool art work by current artists in the UK. 

One of the main attractions was the '100 Hands Project', where 100 silicon arms where tattooed by selected artists. 

  

 

At the exhibition, there were also some really cool collectable items, such as old fashioned tattooing kit boxes. 

Another thing I thought was quite interesting was their set up of a 1980s tattooing room. which compared to todays, looks very plain and quite boring. 

FMP - Proposal

For my Final Major Project I intend to explore and create a body of work based on the subject of the tattooing culture, but apply it in the context of Graphic Design by creating a fictitious event or convention. I want to research and investigate a wide range of styles, artist and events that are involved in the world of tattoos. To make this project successful I will have to do primary research: I’m likely to start off looking at some local artist, and how they work and what inspires them. Secondary research will include visiting library’s and reading up on the history and culture of tattoos and where and why tattooing began. One source I will definitely be using is tattoo shops’ and tattoo conventions websites and social media sites. In Addition, I will be looking at advertising, as I want my project to look at the promotion of a non-mainstream interest such as tattooing.  I intend to explore poster design, product branding, logo making and associated ephemera. I am interested in Marc Ostlund who is a blogger who looks at the connections/cross overs of graphic design and tattoos. Through my research, I hope to grasp the subject right from its roots and create a really informed outcome. The reason behind this theme is firstly that Visual Communication is a relatively new subject to me so I want to allow myself to explore it in a subject matter that really interests me and that reflects who I am as an individual. Also, I really wanted to give myself a subject that allowed as much creative play as possible. I hope to utilize my drawing and design skills to successfully communicate my ideas to a given target audience.

Because this project is a mere interest, I’m not sure what my final outcome will be, but this excites me and it allows room for flexibility, mistakes and the unknown of what my project could develop into. I look forward to where my research and development will take me until I come up and create a body of work that I am excited by for my final exhibition.

Aleatory - Exhibition

For the aleatory exhibition we had to make sure our pieces were 1 squared foot. The piece had to relate to our

Final Major Project  theme, mine being tattoo related I started off by drawing some traditional designs. 

 I wanted to use those designs to create a magazine cover or something of the sort. I quite like the idea of it being a bit daring, and almost old fashioned, to contrast the modern take on tattoos. 

My tutor introduced me to misprintedtype.com, a website dedicated to a Brazilian artist, where you can look at and even buy his work, but also where you can download some really interesting brush strokes for photoshop. I downloaded the strokes I liked and played around with them to create an interesting, collage inspired, old looking, background, adding splashes of colour here and there. 

I then added a person and the tattoo designs in the foreground. Coloured tattoos against a black and white image for the modern feel I wanted. finally I played around with some font, settling for a stamp like title: Ink'd. 

Below is the final piece which was displayed at an exhibition in Bristol for a week. 

The Cube - Final Poster

The Cube

The Cube Cinema in Bristol is a very interesting place. Very humble and true to the fact it is volunteer run. Whilst on a trip there I took some really cool pictures of some of the features found in the building which were most authentic.

Interestingly, according to one of the directors there and one of the course teachers, the place is haunted...

The reason for the trip there is due to us having to do a live brief. The brief is that we have to pick one of the events they have happening there in March or April and design a poster promoting the event. The person who designs the best poster will have it printed and displayed all over Bristol and at The Cube, which is pretty cool.

One of the options is the film 1984. I think I'm going to pick that one because I have read the book, and dystopian aspect of it could be portrayed in a really cool, bold way.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took at the venue...