My Everyday Art Tools

To me, it's so interesting to know what art tools other creatives use on a regular basis. What are their absolute staples and complete essentials? What could they not do a days work without? What do they carry around with them in their pencil case? Today I thought I'd share the tools that I'm constantly reaching for and that probably would be in my pencil case if they weren't sprawled all over my desk! I haven't included any wet materials here such as paints or inks, just the real basics that serve me very well.

DIY: Luggage Tag Business Cards

Today I've got a little DIY post where I'll be showing you how I made my own handmade luggage tag business cards. A business card is often your first opportunity to make a good impression, done right and it's a chance to show a little bit of what you're about and hopefully it might lead to something more. I am of the belief that there's no point in selling yourself as a creative person and then handing over a poor quality, boring, seen-it-a-million-times-before business card. Something out of the ordinary will show straight away that you're an innovative thinker, and there's also more chance that your card won't just get stuffed to the back of a pile, never to see the light of day again. Plus, who doesn't love something handmade right? 

Art Foundation Final Exhibition (FMP #4)

So it's all over. One year (or 9 months if you want to get technical) of blood, sweat, tears, sweat, stress, hard work, sweat and late nights. Before I started my art foundation, I was something of a lost confused soul, watching all of my friends go off to uni but having little idea of which path in art and design I wanted to take myself. Twelve months on, I can now whole heartedly say that a foundation course was the best thing I could have possibly done for myself and my future. I have never worked so hard and created so much work in such a short space of time, or developed my creative capabilities in such a profound way. 

With the end of the year comes the final exhibition. This is the culmination of everything from the year, but in particular the ten week final major project. I've done a few posts on my FMP previously which I will link here, here and here. The foundation exhibition goes up alongside all of the degree shows at Manchester School of Art and is ultimately a big part of the final grade. 

On the surface, my FMP has stayed consistent to my original subject as experimenting with letterforms has been central throughout the ten weeks. However, discovering textiles was a defining turning point for me and what I initially intended to be a short research test turned into a change of direction. From that point onwards, the craft, process and materials became key. I taught myself how to knit and crochet and my focus changed from illustrating phrases with typography onto testing, exploring and developing the potential of traditional textiles crafts in the context of graphic design and typography.

After weeks of testing, developing, refining and many balls of wool later, I have created one piece to showcase what I have been working on in my FMP. I will insert a few photographs but as a general outline, my final show is a wall piece in which I have recreated the definition of 'TYPOGRAPHY' with crochet and knitted letters, replicating the links, fonts and punctuation of online dictionaries...

I am really genuinely happy with how my exhibition has turned out. As a huge perfectionist it was difficult to let go of the fact that this is a handmade piece of graphic design, and so imperfections are necessary to its character. The 'homemade' element is, I hope, a part of the charm. It's been a labour of love to bring this exhibition to life and I feel at a bit of a loss now that its all over!

On Monday I handed in all of my supporting work from the year, my portfolio, sketchbooks and artist research for marking over the next couple of weeks. After this time the Manchester School of Art degree show will open to the public (which I will do a little post on with more details), so essentially I am finished for the summer now. I have loved every single minute of being in a creative environment this year, I have met such amazingly talented friends and tutors and I truly wish I could do it all over again.

Now though, it's time for some chill time...