Inspiration can be drawn from absolutely anything. I truly believe literature especially fiction is the most immersive form of media. This is why is it invaluable for me to read. I love stories and I’ve always been drawn to fantasy and sci-fi. To create a world such as Middle Earth or Earthsea is just unfathomable to me. It’s a testament to creativity and the ability to formulate something from nothing.
I love directors such as Kubrick where each frame can be paused and intricately dissected, meaning being drawn from the composition alone sometimes. I’m particularly fond of animation for this reason. Every frame is hand drawn. The care and detail that goes into animated films is amazing. One of my favourite films of all time is Akira. Recently I’ve watched The 1977 Italian Psychological horror film Suspiria and Battleship Potemkin and have drawn from their graphic qualities. The use of colour in Suspiria is so striking it’s interesting how the colour red is used in different ways sometimes is a rich natural blood red, some times a striking artificial neon bright glow. This was 5 years before Ridley Scott made this neon lit visual language so iconic. It also has a great poster and a hand written font that really reminds me of some of the iconic Kubrick posters which I managed to see at the Kubrick exhibition in London.
Battleship Potemkin was a product of the Russian Constructivist movement which I had previously been aware of through it distinctive graphics utilised in posters and book covers. It was really stimulating seeing how the core principles of the 2D design was converted into moving image. It also pioneered a new style of cropping where grouped imagery was more thematically and creatively cropped rather than based on line of sight of chain of events as was common at the time. In the cinema recently I have seen a modern art house film “We the Animals”. I love films where not a whole lot plot-wise really happens but rather moments are captured without much canonical implication. Other examples I can think of “Mid 90s” and “Dazed and Confused” which have a similar effect. “We the Animals” has elements of magic realism.
At the moment I regularly listen to the podcast; “design observer” which focuses on mainly graphic design. It’s eye opening to see sometimes different perspectives so tightly focused on subjects that revolve around design. I also listen to another design podcast which is slightly more broader called “99% invisible” which highlights specific design case studies and bounces around between subjects of architecture, film, fashion. After reading Sapiens and having scientific theory presented to me in such an engaging way, I became aware of the science based podcast – “Radio lab”. I learn about cutting edge science and technology and have recently become exposed to this whole world. It is absolutely fascinating. Complex theories are explored but made really easy to interpret and understand. Like “design observer” the debating discourse is particularly engaging and exciting to see such a multidimensional approach to the scientific subjects talked about. Some of my close friends are pursuing careers in medicine and engineering and I love being able to talk to them about what they’re studying and the impact of their fields on society. Another more recently discovered Podcast I listen to is “Techish.” Here sociopolitical issues and subjects regarding technology and pop culture are discussed. It presents people of different cultures who hold similar ideologies discuss issues such as race and gender.
I’ve also become more interested in architecture. This has mainly been through my sister who hopes to study it at university as has been excited to begin starting a architecture portfolio. Whilst at Brookes I managed to sit in on a few 3D critiques where I was blown away by the different methods of idea generation in an architectural approach. I was lucky enough to see the Bauhaus school in Boros, just outside of Berlin. I have expanded my knowledge of modernism and other such movements as new functionalism which I saw architecturally in Sweden a week ago when on holiday with my family.
After completing my course, I immediately went on holiday to Italy and France to stay with some friends who were on my foundation. When in Paris, I managed to visit 3 galleries: Palais de Tokyo (a modern and contemporary art gallery), Jeu de rue – a photography gallery and the Pompidou which houses a range of art. It was a great experience to visit these places and stay in Paris with a local. I think Alongside the Saatchi and the Boros in Berlin, Palais de Tokyo is one of my favourite galleries of all time. It was particularly inspiring for my graphics and lots of the art was focused around street art and punk culture which I was particularly drawn to. The space is also huge and has big installation rooms which have been created using movable walls (which is a really clever way of utilising such a space) but also winds down into a smaller basement section with corridors. Some of the pieces exhibited were spread over the whole space so you had to keep in mind this series whilst making your way through different areas.
(I apologise for the quality of image, I mainly use gallery pictures as references so I can go back to them in the future.) Whilst there I also manged to go to the photography gallery “Jeu de Paume” and the Pompidou permanent collection.
I was glad to see how this approach was valued by the graphics course when I received an email from the head of the course encouraging such explorations. I have been recommended some graphic design magazines such as “It’s Nice That” and “Eye” as well as some Ted Talks. One of my favourite shows – Black Mirror was also mentioned. “All visual arts are relevant to your graphic design studies, whether they’re films, gigs, art exhibitions or theatre productions. You should aim to see as much as you can over the summer, and then at least one a week once you move to London.” which sounds good to me
Cameron Aitken Graphic Design 