Thursday 6 September 2007

Progress and damnation

I have been awol too long long, since my last past (which has been a very very long time) i started to work full time at my weekend job, Habitat, which lasted for what seemed to be forever and left me feeling terribly....uninspired. My creativity was literally sucked right out of me and it has only been with the discovery of Core 77's Hack2school that i have felt inspired enough to pick up this blog and continue todocument my soon to be student life! So thankyou Core77, you have been a big help (and im sure once i have explored your juicy juicy links you will help me much much more).

So what has happened other than full time work at Habitat?

Short answer-Lots
Long answer- Ive some how become some kind of brilliant organised 'independant' person. Seriously over the past few weeks i have organised accomodation (which i will come to later), Bank accounts, Paypal accounts, Budget, Provisional Driving license, Tax, Uni (conditional offer - Unconditional) etc etc. I have to admit it has been a massive stretch for me but it has been a very big eye opener to the real world....and i don't think it could of come at a better time. Saying this i do have a few things left to do including sorting out a passport which i am dreading.


And over the past few days i have managed to pack everything i value highly, be it sentimental or not, into 4 suitcases and one huge rucksack! haha....does that sound a little excessive? Tommorow i move to Glasgow, i am very very excited but also nervous. What will my room mates think of me? Ill have to wait and see i guess!

Monday 16 July 2007

Holga Photos

As promised:






Saturday 14 July 2007

Lessons in Language

With all the spare time i have now i have finished college i have pushed myself to take active steps towards learning Japanese (At least how to speak it anyway) and following the advice and reviews of various websites i decided to invest in a text book called 'Japanese for busy people' im only a little way through the begining but i am making sure to go over each section again and again untill it is memorised, although i don't think i will make a point at learning the Characters associated with the language untill after i have finished the book (that way i will have less to take in(Is this the right approach))

Hajimemashite. Luke desu. Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu (sp?)
How do you do? Im luke. Pleased to meet you


Hahaha, it feels good to understand the structure of a Japanese sentance...but i want to read it so badly....all in good time!


Today in the post i recieved my bi-monthly issue of Frankie Magazine! To get an idea of how much i enjoy this tasty morsal of Australian Lifestyle i giggled with glee (like a little GIRL) when i found it on my desk this morning then i debated with myself wether to leave it sealed shut or open it...before i went to work that is! This is the only magazine i read from cover to cover, repeatedly, i treat it much more like a book than something that is meant to be read through casually?


Frankie Magazine

My favourite Writer would have to be Mia Timpano just because. I mean come on how can you unot enjoy the writing of someone that i can quote saying:

"8. Comic Sans. This font offends me on a personal level. I would therefore advise not to simply disable this font, but to actually disable those who use it."

Yes! Please! Preach to me sister! Comic sans is Satan in font form. Next Post expect Holga Photos and magazine scans!

Friday 13 July 2007

Inspiration 002

Alot of my inspirations will be designers and artists that i have researched for past projects during my time taking the course at Milton Keynes college. For one of these projects i had to create a Magazine Consisting of 3 Articles (1200 words) based on Cultural, Historical, Contemporary Designer/s and 3 Reviews (Magazine, Exhibition and Book). We had to do 2 of these magazines and for the latest one i didn't do much work as far as presentation is concerned but i did write an article on one particular designer whos work i thought was very interesting!

Stuart Haygarth



His designs are really origional and i love the way he catalogs things he finds and arranges them in a way that can be interpreted in a range of different ways. One particular theme carries on popping up and that is the 'Throw away culture' that we all live in at the moment, this i can really respect. I love the way he can take a simple plain object and turn it into something that alot of people would desireprooving that one mans trash is another mans treasure!

Apologies

Ah it seems that im slacking again in the post front, but i have alot of things to talk about and post about! Since getting my FMP grade i have been more and more excited about going to university, so much so i have been checking Track on Ucas on a day to day basis...to see if my grades have got through to the university and my place be confirmed for sure! As well as this it will be a weight off my mind to have my accomidation secured (Because i was given a conditional offer there is no certainty when it comes to having a place in the halls) and then i can continue to look for a job.

Today when i woke up at 11am (I have to try to stop doing this, its such a waste of time) someone directed me towards this website:

Golden Compass

This Film is an adaptation of the series written by Phillip Pullman known as 'His dark materials'. Now i can't remember much about this series because i read it about 4 years ago now, but what i can remember that it is an Epic story perfectly suited for the big screen. I only hope that they stay true to the story and capture the Dark Fairytale feeling that the book gave me when i was reading it. This film could easyly be a Blockbuster but at the same time it could be a massive flop although the Trailer looks amazing and sends shivers down my spine!

Thursday 12 July 2007

Monday 9 July 2007

Of festivals and end of exhibitions

For the last year or so i have been volunteering at Milton Keynes Gallery with the young peoples project to help get the youth of MK involved with Art. That means people that wouldn't necesserally get involved with art in the first place 'Hard to reach people'. This weekend (The weekend just gone) the youth group was involved in a festival in Campbell park, MK4U, we spent in excess of 5k!

The festival went really well. On the Saturday we got grafitti artists to paint the inside of our marquee on some canvas that we used to create atmosphere on the second day when we had bands playing. The first day went well when it was light but when it got to later on in the event the tent was dead! Overall i would rate the Sunday to be the most successful day that we had at the festival....so here is a couple of pictures!



(Some of the Graffiti inside the tent)




(The sun hanging low, late saturday evening)

The rest of the pictures, especially on the sunday, i took on my holga so i will have to show you some of those later, or you can check them out on my Lomo Profile which i should be setting up over the next few days considering i have so much free time on my hands! I really liked the event because it gave me a chance to practice working with other people, experience what it is like to run/co-run a stage event and stay out in the great weather all day! Although next year i will just be a visitor and so stress wont be a factor, i suppose that will be a good idea.

Today i had to get up at 8am, which was really tough considering i was up till 10:30 on sunday cleaning up the marquee and etc, to take down my exhibition and later on in the day i got my grades for said project. I didn't feel anything untill me and my friend Cherry went to the college to pick up the grades, then i started to feel a little bit nervous....i mean i knew that i only had to pass but part of me wanted to get at least two merits and thankfully I DID! I won't know what my final grade is for another month but i know i have passed so i WILL be going to Gsa...im so excited. The sun is shining down on me~

Thursday 5 July 2007

Exhibition001

For the last few months at college i have been working towards completing the Final project that we have been given. This FMP (Final Major Project) will go towards a large portion of my final grade that i get from completing this course, im not very fussy about what grades i get but i need to get at least Pass, Pass, Pass so that i can complete the course and NOT come out with a Partial Achievement.

Anyway i decided to base my FMP on a form of photography known as Lomography, the history of which can be found in detail Here along with the 10 rules of LomoGraphy:

  1. Take your camera everywhere you go
  2. Use it any time day and night
  3. Lomography is not an interferance on your life but part of it
  4. Try the shot from the hip
  5. Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possibleBe Fast
  6. Don't think
  7. Be fast
  8. You don't have to know Beforehand what you have captured on film
  9. Afterwoulds either
  10. Don't worry about any rules

For this project i baught a Holga 120 CFN with book, CHECK IT, which i really enjoy working with and took alot of pictures...which i will pick and choose a few to show you when the exhbition is over, for now here is a picture of the exhibition itself~

I Don't really like the final product but i do like the idea behind the picture wires/inspiration wires which i think i will be re-using when i go to university to hold my various clippings and interesting finds.


Inspiration 001

This will be the first 'Inspiration' type post that i have made so far in my blog, hopefully by bringing together a collection of things that inspire me i can create a database of images, designers and artists for whenever i get a dry spot (In terms of creativity).

As a designer i feel that i must accept anything remotely creative with open arms and with a clear mind as to weigh up my own reactions and get the maximum result from what i am viewing (the result being inspiration or de-inspiration) Polly Morgan is british born artist who works with animals who have left this world and gone into the next AKA Taxidermy.

A little about her

As you can read from her profile that she has had a very interesting training background and her pieces really catch my attention, i origionally came apon her pieces when brousing through a random magazine (I think it was Living ETC although i have a feeling that they wouldn't put something like Morgans work in that magazine).

My favourite:






I love how delicate the bird looks, you can tell it is dead but....it seems so peacefull! The Mini chandelier is adorable...the antique book is attractive and reminds me of one of my own! Id imagine something like this on a large mahogany desk in a private library somewhere in England.


Tuesday 3 July 2007

Virgin Blogger

Hello im luke,

Right now i am in a very turbulant stage of my life.
For the past 3 years or so i have been studying towards university, granted my first year was a bit of a flop but since then i have tried to focus as much as possible on my goals and aspirations in relation to the future. Two Years ago i began an Interior Design course at Milton Keynes college with, and lets be honest about this, hardly any inclination into what i wanted to do but luckyly i found my calling and now im going to try my hardest to get there.

Why is my life so turbulant at the moment? Well i have been applying, visiting and considering different universitys over the past 6 months or so and after an exhuasting interview process i have been offered a place at The Glasgow School of Art for BA Interior Design. All i have to do is Pass the course i am on at the moment...and according to my tutor i will get at least a MMM (3 merits which i think is about 3 C's in a level?). So This september i will be attending the course and i can't wait....a new city, a new start, a new chance to devlop my skills and get closer to my goals.

In this blog i will be posting various things that i find interesting which could range from: Fashion, Culture, News, Music. As well as this i will be updating you on how my studys go, what i have learnt, what i found interesting in lectures/lessons etc. If you have any suggestions or questions please feel free to ask/say anything you want...answering them is obviously up to my discretion.

Thankyou and Happy reading~