johnsonbanks

We had a guest lecture last year from Michael Johnson. Ever since he has become a "hero" of mine. Check out his website and the thought of the week.

ISO50

I was introduced to this guys work last summer and it blows me away. Such fantastic illustrations. Scott Hansen works on everything from album covers, posters, magazines to snowboards. There is also a really cool soundtrack playing in the background to the site! Take a look and you wont be disappointed. Easily the best 5 minutes of your day.

Piano Stairs?

This is fantastic. A really innovative approach from VW trying to put

two completely different things together to make everyday boring

tasks more interesting. So what if it doesn't contain cars, it is

memorable and different. Follow the link to youtube where they have

also approached how to make people use bins more too! Would work

for me!

Behance

http://behance.net

I've been trying to think of something really inspiring to post for a while now, and it's only just occurred to me that I could actually link a whole fount of inspiration for you!

Behance has loads of categories for you to choose with some really great work... If you're looking for something to kick start that awful brief have a browse and you might find something interesting.

Once again, life made simple.

Thanks to Lawrence for pointing this out. It really does show how fantastic and innovative apple are and why they charge so much - to fund their R&D department!!! Take a look at the new mouse for your christmas list. They never cease to amaze me and make me think - why isn't that so simple- WHY hasn't it been done before!!! I could go on forever about how fantastic they are but i'm told i waffle too much :D

If you are determined enough...

Howard was one of my old friends from college. I am not just posting him up here because he is a friend - in fact, he doesn't know he is on here, but he is living proof that if you push for things and are determined, you will get where you want to be. Although he trained as a designer, his passion lay in wildlife photography and film. Every camera crew we saw wherever we went he would go up to and ask for work experience and talk about the equipment they were using. He got himself a job doing lighting at a theatre. He manipulated his foundation degree project to a job for a film company. He devoted all his spare time to it. All this determination lead to where he is now two years down the line working for Ammonite, a wildlife film company in Bristol, where he is assistant camera operator on projects for companies such as National Geographic and the BBC (in just two years!). He has just got back from Arizona and now travels all around the world doing what he loves.

In short, if you believe in what you do and have the determination to succeed you will make it.

Ryan Thompson

Although a graphic designer based in Scotland (with some pretty amazing and inspirational work), this is the image which most caught my attention. How do we really define what we are? Should we just be labelled as creative people. Do we really come under one category? As a Graphic Designer at the University I am expected to take my own photos or do my own illustrations or make my own films. Illustrators are expected to put together their own books and lay them out. Same with Photographers. There is no commissioning yet. This could open up a whole can of worms about who we really are and defining people (could be a pretty nice brief in there somewhere) but I just thought was quite a nice image.

Shellsuit Zombie

How to describe them in one sentence? "Shellsuit Zombie is a project run by graduates that encourages interaction between graduating students and the creative industry."

They are a group of graduates from Loughborough who are trying to do exactly as we are and provide a way of getting students more knowledgeable about the world of design and into the industry. They are the next step up from our society. I met them at the D&AD new blood show and they were really friendly and helpful. They run events and host a gallery of work on their website from students. They are just trying to do as we are and make the gap between a degree and industry small and how fantastic. Hopefully they will come and talk to us some time next year.

Take a look at their website - I'm positive they can help you in some way.

And keep your eye open for their really cool poster soon to appear in the designers society studio base - level 7.

FontFabric

After showing this to several different people over the last two days I thought they deserved a mention. FontFabric are a type foundry in Bulgaria launched last year who really stand out amongst the crowd. Not only are their fonts quirky and unusual but for each one they show them in context, combining photography, illustration and design to create something that looks amazing I know I probably would never be able to achieve!! And the best part is - 9/24 of their fonts are freeeeeee!

Evian babies

Something not only for the media art students but everyone out there. What a wacky advert! Evian do seem to come up with some really random but cool things.

Democracy

Our first post! Fantastic!

I thought I would point out a website which features a few of our committees work (Luke and Evan), plus has some really nice visuals for a competition brief based on the theme of 'Democracy'. The competition went on over the summer and I think you can still vote on your favourite designs which will appear in a book and exhibition later on in the year.

http://www.createdemocracy.com/home.html

Welcome to the Designers Society Blog!

The Designers’ Society has been created to help students of the University of Plymouth become the best designers they can be. The society offers free guest lectures to its members with a wide range of speakers showcasing their work and offering advice, talking about ideas, creative thinking, getting a job in the industry, working with real clients and everything else in between.

The designers society wants to get young designers from Plymouth heard amongst the crazy world that lies ahead as a career in the creative industry. The society also aims to get students work exhibited outside the university.

Another focus of the society is a range of competitions testing our design ability. These will cover a range of topics and outcomes and often feature cash prizes and the chance to have work produced on a large scale. Members also receive a reduced entrance fee to the 4 Designers Conference held annually in London, staying with our sponsor Jurys Inn at a reduced rate where you can go and listen to the top designers of our time.

The society has a membership to D&AD. We will also have a subscription to Creative Review that again students will have access to. We intend to hold exhibitions of work throughout the year.

The designers’ society is all about getting students throughout the university together, whether you are a typographer, illustrator, photographer, 3D designer, architect or any creative student within this university.

There will be an extensive social calendar throughout this academic year to bring together all creative people for a big knees up after a long day in the studio.

For more information, feel free to email or come talk to us.