Jean Jullien

Jean Jullien is a French Illustrator and Graphic Designer currently living in London. He is famous on numerous social networks for his witty and playful ways of conveying messages through illustration and graphic design. On Instagram he is a regular uploader of images related to current world news conveyed in a humorous or clever visual way. In 2012 he started a visual blog with a few of his friends called News of the News. He uses  marker pen for his illustrations which gives him a mix of thick and thin lines. He has worked with clients such as The New York Times, Nike, Channel 4, BMW, Renault & Transport for London.

Stanley Chow

Stanley Chow is an illustrator currently residing in Manchester. He started out as a DJ where he began designing flyers & posters for gigs he was playing and that is where his career kicked off. He is well known for his illustrations, chariactures & cartoons using geometric shapes and regular work for The New Yorker. His design for The White Stripes USB stick was nominated for a grammy award.

Exhibition Review

Paper Persuaders - First World War Posters at the RAMM. 

Exhibition details

The exhibition I visited was at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM). The exhibition was called Paper Persuaders, a collection of First World War propaganda posters by many different designers and artists. The exhibition is from September 2014 through January 2015.

Layout of exhibition

The exhibition is situated in one large room and has about 20+ posters overall. When walking through the door into the room there is a large selection of the posters in front of you as well as more to the left and right. They have a large wall with information about the exhibition in vinyl decal along with the paper persuaders logo type in red/blue. The posters are hanging perfectly on the walls and are not too close together or too far away. The walls are not too crowded with posters either, there is plenty of white space which gives a good effect.

Artwork review

My favourite piece from the exhibition is the 'Britons! Your country needs you.' poster, it features a creamy white background with a light grey silhouette map of the United Kingdom with red typography overlaying. When you look closely you can see the text has jagged edges which shows that the poster has been screen printed onto a fabric looking stock. The bold red type is the main part of the poster and it's very visible and sharp. 

Conclusion

There isn't much information about this exhibition in the museum or online unfortunately. I tried to find all of the artists involved in the exhibition but failed to do so because of the lack of information which I think should be underneath each poster in the exhibition.

Work in Graphic Design

There are many different fields of Graphic Design you can work in including, Advertising, Typography, Illustration & 3D Artwork. Advertising in Graphic Design is probably the biggest market in graphic design with many brands looking for print ads like posters, brochures, leaflets and billboards. 

There are many pathways to becoming a Graphic Designer whether it be working in an agency or working freelance. A freelancer is a person who works for themselves and gets commissioned by different clients and people. There are pros and cons of being a freelancer - A pros being you can quote clients with your own rate for the job - Cons being there might be a lack of work coming in and that's very bad because no commissions mean no money. 

Working with an agency is always a pro as you're always going to get paid but sometimes not as much as you could charge if you're a freelancer. Most designers have have a foundation degree or HND in Graphic Design or an art & design based subject. Work requirements include discussing projects with clients and and colleagues, proving a quote for the project, thinking about the amount of time it will take you, providing mock-ups/sketches to show the client before proceeding further into the project. A must is completing work before the provided deadline. A lot of designers/artists seem to work during the night to finish work before tight deadlines but a normal job in an agency consists of hours from 9am - 5/6pm. The skills of being a Graphic Designer include good creativity and imagination skills, IT skills, a good knowledge of current trends and techniques, good communication skills and the ability to manage your time well. 

Context (Review of Artwork)

I have chosen 2 pieces of work from the cover of Bloomberg Business Week magazine. Business Week is a weekly magazine that provides information about the business world at the current time. 

The first cover I have chosen is from May 2012. The cover is a destructed China flag with interesting typography cut into the fabric of the flag. The type says 'Lies, Lies, Lies' in stacked format. I think the overall colours of the china flag, red & yellow, fit in perfectly the white text and white background. I'm not sure why the text reads 'Lies, Lies, Lies' but I think the design is very clever and eye catching. Bloomberg Business week have a reputation of designing very clever and abnormal covers. The credit mostly goes to the former creative director Richard Turley who recently left his position at Bloomberg to work for MTV. 

May 2012 China Issue

I chose another cover from Bloomberg Business Week, this time from February 2012. It's a concept image of a two different branded Boeing airliners on top of each other in mid flight with the caption 'Let's get it on'. This image sends across the idea that two major American airlines have been getting closer as a pair and it is being hinted that they will slowly become the same company. This image portrays the funnier side of this message be cleverly positioning one aeroplane on top of the other, possible highlighting the fact that Continental airlines will be dominant in this relationship. They also portray this image in a sexual sort of way which is quite weird in people's eyes but then again it gives a humorous approach. 

The contrast between the sky and the clouds makes the image very interesting, also with the sun shining through the back of the two airliners. It's almost as if the two aeroplanes are going to fly off the page. These Covers have been produced by using strong photography, retouching skills and very professional looking sans-serif typography. When Richard Turley left Bloomberg he obviously inspired and influenced the whole design team as they have been producing covers with their witty/clever look ever since. His legacy lives on.

February 2012 Airliner Issue

Specialism Choice

As a Graphic Designer you need to be able to solve problems and be as creative and imaginatively inclined as possible. You need to have a good idea and knowledge of current trends and styles but don’t necessarily have to incorporate them into your own work. Being understanding of briefs is a must and communication skills are compulsory in a competitive design industry.

 I have chosen Graphic Design as my specialism because its something i've always loved to do and something I'd like to choose a career path in. I have lots of experience in Graphic Design and i've been working in the industry for 2 years in the Advertising category. I have been designing graphics for a popular football YouTube channel's social media outlets to help promote new videos and current football news/scenarios. 

Barack Obama 'Hope' Poster

I love bringing typography and image to life in my own unique style and i'm very inspired by designers like Shepard Fairey, Alan Fletcher, Saul Bass and Paula Scher. I especially like Shepard Fairey's work. His work looks very retro but he uses modern techniques and I love the way he uses colour to give contrast into his posters and other work. I particularly like his famous Barack Obama 'Hope' poster and controversial street art for Obey.  

Creative ideas is the heart beat of graphic design and how you transfer those creative ideas into real life and how you do it is up to you. 

Paula Scher Typographic Poster