Omari McCarthy

Flex Student Newspaper #24

2011-11-26T16:26:00.001Z

Flex Student Newspaper Cover #24

Social Networking Inforgraphic

Re-designed lifestyle pages (and below)

Flex Student Newspaper #23

2011-10-26T15:45:00.000+01:00

#23 Cover

Rugby World Cup double page spread

London Fashion Week double page spread

Lifestyle section

Flex 2011 Redesign Complete

2011-10-01T14:01:00.001+01:00

You can see the full design process 'here'

Flex Re-Design: Freshers Guide

2011-08-31T11:25:00.003+01:00

On of the articles in the Freshers Guide is called '10 Things To Do Before SecondYear' by Hollie Anderson. I asked if I could see the articles before it was proofed so I could get an idea of what I have to work with. I will also be doing with for the other sections too.

After reading the article I felt that it would lend itself well to a poster quality approach. As you scroll down you will be able to see how the design has developed. I plan to experiment with illustration for maybe 5 of the 10 'things' and upload this later. But i personally feel that the last one, the most simple is the best and will continue to develop this.

Flex Re-Design: Lifestyle Section

2011-08-27T03:07:00.002+01:00

Today I decided to take a shot at the lifestyle section. Photography will play a large part in this section and is ideally at the forefront of the writer and editors mine. The only catch is that Flex has had consistently poor not to mention low resolution images. I want to take much more of a magazine approach to lifestyle as I feel it would lend itself well. Text-over-image is something I have been discussing with Henry but I will also need to run it by the printer. I would like to get the editors confident enough in letting us run full page, full bleed high resolution photos. Below is what I have in mind for lifestyle.

Flex ReDesign Progress

2011-08-17T12:39:00.005+01:00

Over the summer me and the Flex Design Team began redesign the student newspaper. Just to remind that the work you will see from Flex posted here has been a team effort and could not have been done without them, the editor and our new but small marketing team. Below is a sample of that design. We began by looking at typography and grid systems. The 12x12 grid was chose because fo the flexibility of use for a grid. It can be used at 6, 3, 4 or even an off number of columns for white space. Being newspaper we felt this was the best option.

I have decided on some general rules for design and layout.
1) Establish a visual hierarchy: Every page is structured from topleft to bottom right. Important articles are placed in the top left, the less important ones are placed in the bottom right. Don't use the same headline point size for each article, it must vary.
2) Big pictures, big info graphics, use thestrength of the paper medium (the photography is dependant on the story so this may not always be possible.)
3) The center foldshould be like a poster and fill the field of vision. The centerfold should be so nice that you want totake it out and hang it on the wall. (I have begun to develop some info-graphics to go in the centre pages and online.)

12x 12 grid for Flexibility, 10mm Margins, 5mm Gutter.

Visual Hierarchy test

When it comes to typography we new the old Mercury and Ziggurat typefaces had to go as they did nothing for the publication. We wanted a much stronger serif/ sans-serif mix. We all settled on Baskerville, designed by John Baskerville in 1757, for body copy, pull quotes and captions quite easily. It was chosen because of its good legibility as a result of the difference between the thick and thin parts of the letterforms. We have used slightly looser leading; Baskerville will be sued at 9pt on 12pt leading where as Mercury G1 was used at 8.7pt on 12pt leading but when you realise Baskerville has a smaller 'x height' we wend up with looser leading making any long runs of copy look softer in tone and easier on the eyes.

Baskerville Regular for Body Copy.

Baskerville Test

The headlines were not that easily decided. We put forward font such as Gotham and Futura but found although they work alone they did not have what it takes to be a headline. When Knockout came into the picture we experimented with several weights and were eventually able to settle on it.

Knockout: Headlines

Knockout Test

We have been talking with the editor about changes in production, distribution and design over the summer. It looks like the future of the paper will be exciting. I would also like to send it to Its Nice That magazine as well as a few others to see if we can get featured and some exposure. For now the deadline is fast approaching and there are still a lot of changes to be made as well as the looming Freshers Issue deadline. Keep an eye out for the full redesign at the start of September.

Katrina Aleksa

2011-06-07T23:00:00.013+01:00

An old friend Katrina Aleksa asked me to design a portfolio for her photography. The image below were taken by her. I have done the editorial design.

http://www.katrinaaleksa.com/

Flex: Student Newspaper Issue 19

2011-05-09T20:44:00.005+01:00

This term the design team says farewell to Rachel Maria Smith our regular Lifestyle section designer who is leaving the paper since being with us from the start of 1st year. She has done a great job and being a Designer for one of the UK's few student newspaper will look very impressive to employers on her CV. We are still looking for a new designer to take up the mantle. If you know anyone then tell them to get in touch with directly.

Despite our loss I feel this is the first issue of Flex that has been published after easter. I feel it is one of our best covers yet, something which we all need to put more time in. As you know I am Head of Design for the paper a role which involves working closely with the editors to achieve a quality and timely publication, managing a design team of of now 5; Mo, Nadya, Guro, Henry, Lou, designing a providing feedback on various designs, ensuring consistency across the publication, pre-press and enduring the printer gets the files on time.

There are only three issues for this final term so they should not conflict too much with course work and if they do it usually means I am up until about 3am on a Thursday night/ Friday morning with the printer screaming at me. (No, I kid. he does not scream he always seems very calm, I am the one who gets stressed.)

Next year there will be a new team of editors who are currently shadowing the 2nd year editors. I plan to arrange a meeting with them an improve the relationship between writers/ editors and the design team. Its will only the make the paper stronger. I have also had a few ideas about launching an online magazine to run a long side the paper. But i'll save that for another post.

Silver In Black Identity

2011-04-07T19:43:00.003+01:00

Blogger App test

2011-04-05T23:32:00.001+01:00

Sending this off my android to see if it work. Will delete this post soon.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Tumblr

2011-03-06T14:50:00.000Z

I set up a tumblr over my christmas break from university and I am starting to become a regular mircoblogger. Whats I like about tumblr is its simplicity when compared to blogger and wordpress. Its is incredibly easy to use.

www.ThunderInTheSky.tumblr.com

Feel free to check it out and follow or re-blog anything you like. All the images on there are found on other peoples blogs or on the lesser know design blogs hidden in the corners of the web. The work is not mine. I merely collect random sources of inspiration and eye candy.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Character Design on the way...

2011-03-04T18:55:00.000Z

Flex: Student Newspaper Issue 15

2011-01-25T01:39:00.003Z

Life Drawing Session Fri 19th

2011-01-24T21:28:00.000Z

I did not feel confident in the last session at all. For soem reason as a soon as I put charcoal to paper things seem to fall appart. I felt one drawing I did was good but felt too stylized. Below are photographs I have taken from the sessions. Although I was told the work was good I will have to be better next session. I will be better next session.

Safety Focus Magazine Re-design/

2011-01-24T00:01:00.002Z

I saw an advertisement in a student newsletter about working on magazine for Africa. Although this was a little vague I had plans in the future of etting up my own magazine so getting some experience would be useful. Although I had already begin working on Flex the student newspaper it would just be case of careful time managent to get it done. However this was only my first term and I was involved in too many things to give the magazine the attention it required.

To see the full project please click 'here'

This Year Will Be Different (2011)

2011-01-07T13:33:00.002Z

Be Fearless/
Allways bring Your 'A' Game/
Organize & Prioritise/
Embrace & Collaborate/
Be the Best you can Be at what you Do/

Be Fearless
This is something I begin to do towards the end of 2010. Especially what I started university in September. Don't new afraid of change and taking on new things. Even though critics may doubt you its okay to believe that there is no cant, won't or impossible. Its okay to believe. Loot at it like this; worst case senario you fail and you learn something. Best case senario you succeed and learn something. Either way its a win-win situation. In life the only things you will regret are the things that you didn't do not the things you did. This year, be Fearless.

Always Bring Your 'A' Game
Dont expect to excel by doing enough to get by. If you must do, it do it well. You have to work hard to win. You have to want it. To be the best you can be at what you do you have to give 110%. I never said it was going to be easy. It's going to be hard. But dont pray for an easy life, pray to have the strength to overcome obstacles that stand in your way. Trust me, you will be better for it. This year, Bring Your 'A' game.

Organise & Prioritise
It's all fine and dandy having a good plan but to execute them you have to push yourself. Before you go to bed every night make a list of what you have to do the next day. Wake up early every day and make sure you do something to inch closer to that dream, take for first executable step towards that goal. Do this every day and you will make progress and get things done.

Embrace & Collaborate
You can't do it all by yourself. This embrace team power and work with those around you. Your strength maybe someones else's weakness and vice together. Together you are solid. Find and surround yourself with the right creative people with the right talents and nothing will impossible for you.

Be the Best you can Be at what You Do
You cant be good at everything. There is no use being a jack of all trades who has their abilities diluted just to cover every creative discipline. Instead focus on a few career related skills Dont use words like impossible, cant's or won't. Speak the truth and stand tall. This Year Will Be Different.

Research/

2010-12-21T03:47:00.002Z

When it comes to design projects the more you put in at the start the more you ge out at the end. What follows are a series of questions I have devised that should be put to clients before a project begins with the question I feel that are most important highlighted in red. This would usually be in the form of a brief. How ever these question shave not yet been broken down yet. As you can see the questions are not a linear process and certain questions affect other answers. My plan is to put these into a more effective brief for clients to make it faster for me to give them a quote, understand the project and weather it is worth pursuing.

About the Organization:

Who are you?

What is the name of you company?

What are your brand values? (key words)

What is the message you want to convey to you target audience?

What product/ service to you provide?

How much are is your product/ service?

Given the economic climate and target audience is this a realistic price?

How long has the company existed?

How many employees do you have?

Who are your Funding/ Founders?

What are the short term goals of this company?

What are the long term goals of you company?

About the Project:

What type of design work did you need?

What is the purpose of the design work? What do yo hope to achieve?

Is this the best channel to reach the target audience?

Current Design:

What design do you currently have?

How effective has it been?

Are your brand values reflected in this?

How do your target audience feel about your current design?

How do you founders/ funders/ stakeholders feel about current design?

Client Industry:

Are there seasonal fluctuations in sales/ services?

Can we produce design to accomodate that?

Competition:

Who is your competition?

What are the competition doing? Why? Should you do the same?

Is there a gap in the market?

How many are there?

What is the name of thier company?

What are their brand values? Do they reflect your?

What range of product/ service to they provide?

How much are there products service?

Who are their suppliers?

How long has the company existed?

How many employees do they have?

What are their long term goals of the company?

Accessibility?

Price?

Stakeholders?

Geography?

Funding/ Founders?

Target audience?

USP (Unique Selling Point)?

Training?

what are there Methods of selling?

methods of promoting?

Target Audience:

Who is your target audience; Primary and Secondary

Age,

Race,

Gender,

Religion,

Employment,

Income (disposable),

Geography,

Politics,

Hope and fears,

Marital satus,

Lifestyle,

Day/ night hobbies,

Aspirations/ interest,

Mucis,

Food,

Sports, etc

Describe your ideal customer?

How are you catering for your current customers?

How are you trying to pull in new ones?

How do your audience current see you?

How do you want them to see you?

What emotion response do you want you audience to have?

Design Trends:

What are the current design trends in the clients industry?

Can anything be adopted/ developed from them?

What are the design specifications for the final pieces?

When is the deadline for this project?

What is you available budget for this project?

University College Falmouth: First Term/

2010-12-15T22:57:00.002Z

With my first term at University College Falmouth complete I am back at home in Birmingham enjoying some well earned rest after 13 weeks of lectures, questionares, late nights and of course parties. I was expecting the worst from Falmouth but it has been good to me. The course is great and I feel I am definitely in the right place.

I have been really involved in student life; I am head of design for the student newspaper, I am student representative in an open position as well as being course representative for the animators, all of which will look very goo on my CV. I am also doing a short course in business startup with Outset Cornwall once a week for three hours. But despite all of this I feel I could have been more productive while on the course. At any given moment I felt I was behing several other. This is not because of my ability to animate but because of time management.

I realised once I have this under control I will be unstoppable. But it all starts with planning, making sacrifices and getting things done. 'Click Here' for a link to my course blog. Below are some photographs of my time at university in Falmouth.

Flex: Student Newspaper Issue 13/

2010-11-29T18:18:00.004Z

Now that i had some previous experience working on the paper I knew that we could do better this time. After having a meeting with the editors we proposed that there was much are feedback between the designers of and editors of each section

The team for this issue was Me, Morwenna, Rachel, Nadya, Lou, Henry and Guro For this issue below I had to put together Sports and heavily alter another section as well put in a lod of last minute adverts and prepare the paper for the printer. The cover was designed by Guro.

This issue the paper was much better. There were only issues with names of certain sections of the articles. To counter this I have made myself a strict checklist to run through before sending the paper off to print. One of the strength of this issue was in the process; the idea of having more feedback between the editors and design team made the work much smoother and meant I had to do much less tweaking in the end. I hope next issue there will be zero mistakes as it will be the final issue before the christmas break.

Flex: Student Newspaper

2010-11-22T14:37:00.006Z

Before I had even arrived at University College Falmouth I knew I wanted to get involved with the student newspaper. I signed up at the freshers fair and before I knew it I was the only designer. The previous designer Ben Satchell, now in his third year studying graphic design, has had to hand over the existing designs as his course takes priority.

The new design team currently consist of Omari, Morwenna, Rachel, Nadya, Lou, Henry and Guro. We have one designer per section although there are 7 design and 6 sections. This way someone can cover if a designer decided to drop out. For this issue below I had to put together Arts, Sports, heavily alter the lifestyle section as well as prepare the paper for the printer because such an issue occurred. The cover was designed by Rachel and Nadya.

When the paper was finsished it was not perfect. There were mistakes that would only be noticed by those who worked on the paper, and the editor was not pleased. As I was design manager a lot of the responsibility fell onto me as I am the last person to see the paper before it goes to print. We evaluated the process and had a meeting with the editors to dicuss what went wrong. Next issue we will definiely be stornger. Considering we are all first years I think we did a very good job.

Falmouth University

2010-10-04T17:20:00.000+01:00

I have been in Falmouth attending university for a week. There are some good things and some bad things but you deal with it. Thats life. I love Falmouth itself. The people are friendly (despite some of the looks I receive of old men) and the weather is nice. I have been surfing for the very first time (pictures will be up here soon). The course and the tutors are nice.

Although I am shearing accommodation (not only because Falmouth have taken on more students that they can provide accommodation fo but also because the government has given additional places for student within the creative industries because of our importance to the economy) the people I am with are great. I could not ask for better flatmates.

I may also have the opportunity to write for the Falmouth University newspaper 'Flex'. I may be able to get involved in not only the design side but the writing side also. More on this as i get it. In the meantime here are some pics of Gylly Beach in Falmouth.

Missile Experiment

2010-09-02T15:17:00.003+01:00

It occurred to me I had not done any animating in a while. I decided to experiment with some of after effects built in tools. Using one of the tutorials from video co-pilot and some new plugins I was able to create this in after effects. Believe it or not but this has been made from a stock image of New York city and a photograph or a single cloud.

Missile Tutorial Test from Omari McCarthy on Vimeo.

Missile Tutorial Test 2 from Omari McCarthy on Vimeo.

Poster Ideas

2010-08-22T21:25:00.004+01:00

In my spare time I enjoy designing posters. You know when you get those quick ideas that come to your head. I always think to myself 'that would be such a good idea for poster'! Below are two posters I designed recently; 'Whats give you the right', is a poster about opinions on design. 'A4 is a Bore', is a poster making a joke about the constraints of the generic A4 paper and my attempt to break free from it.

Save the British Film Industry Identity

2010-08-12T21:41:00.004+01:00

This is a self initiated project based on a fiction brief for a real company. The aim as to produce an identity and promotional material for the cause and to raise awareness. I plan to submit the finalised materials to the company to see if they wish to use them for their identity.

To see the full project please 'click here'

Birmngham 64th Scout Group

2010-08-11T11:45:00.000+01:00

My older sister is an honorary leader at her local scout group. The group decided to get some hoodies designed for the group that everyone could wear. However they needed an icon or logo to feature on the hooded tops. With me being in the right place at the right time I was able to provide my logo design services to them.

Brief: I was asked by my local scout group to design an icon to feature on their hooded tops. The icon must work against a black background and be suitable for embroidery. The hooded top will be worn by scout member while they are with scouts and they are out and about. A limited colour palette is advisable as printing cost can spike.

Research: I looked at the history of the scouts and the symbols that they have used such as the reef knot and the scouting portal as well as any potential icons I could use to symbolise birmingham.

Although it has not been requested these are some stationary mock-ups.

My Design Process

2010-08-10T15:07:00.002+01:00

Below is my design process broken down into stages for you. I have done this to demystify the design process and so you can understand how extensive this process is. I believe it is a common misconception that designer can jump in front of the latest version of photoshop and begin designing immediately as this is not the case. Each stage has a brief explanation going over what this stage consists of so you as the client know what to expect.

Brief/
I will supply you with a template brief that can be found 'here'. The purpose of the brief is to ensure everyone involved in the project understands what to expect and by when. It also serves as a reference point for me as it will contain the important details such as the intend message, target audience and keywords. The brief will outline things such as; who you are/ what you do/ how you do it/ why/ target audience/ 'the message'/ project budget. All of these areas will need to be filled in thoroughly as possible. The more we put in here, the more we get out at the end.

Agreement & Meeting/

Once I have received a brief I will send you a design agreement. I know many people get concerned when agreement gets involved in business, I know I used to. The purpose of the agreement is to protect ourselves and make sure we all know what to expect and by when, but it's okay, the agreement is negotiable and I often alter it for specific projects. I usually meet with the clients if this is possible, or relevant. If it is is a small project then a phone call or e-mail will suffice. I prefer to meet because I feel when people talk online some meaning is lost an their can be communication errors. Also t this stage we are tying to build trust an nothing will do this better than a face-to-face meeting. It is likely that we will have a few questioned for each other; me based and the brief and you based on my a my work. The agreement will cover things such as start & end date/ stages of design & payment/ design rights &confidentiality. The sooner we get the agreement & meeting out the way the sooner I can begin the research.

Research/

I will begin to research immediately. Some of this information I will get from the brief and through talking to you in the meeting. The research will also consist of me looking into your current brand, the history of your company, history of clients industry, what designs client do/ dont like, the future of your company, potential competition, marget/ industry trends, gaps in market/ industry, design trends, analysis, target audience, what sets you appart from the competition. The more in depth my research at this point the better the results will be in the next stage.

Brainstorm/ Idea generating/ Sketch/

This is where I begin brainstorming. I take the intended message and key points from the brief as well as the target audience and avoiding design trends into consideration. First I produce a brainstorm based on words. These words are used to spark images. I focus heavily on quality of ideas here over quantity though often enough plenty of ideas are generated.

This is where sketching begins. I focus heavily on quantity of ideas here trying go generate as many solutions as possible in the space of 15minutes then trying to beat it. I create a variety of logos including but not limited to; typographic, image only, combination of both, reversed out, silhouette, etc.

Prototype/ Mockups/

I will then whittle down the ideas to the best 10 and execute them using Adobe Illustrator. This may either involve sketching the brand mark and scanning it in or woking into Adobe Illustrator. These ideas are then put into context by presenting them in real scenarios; stationary/ multimedia/ display mock ups, print outs.

Client Review/

I will send you the designs as PDF document with several pages. The logo design will be presented in black and white/ greyscale. I do this because colour is subjective and will affect your interpretation of it. It is also important that logos work in black and white and do not really too heavily on color. (Colour should 'elevate' a logo not 'make' it.) At this point it is important that we focus on the form of the brand mark. Once the client has seen the logo they may with to take it as it is or make refinements. At this stage it is important that the client make these decisions based on brand values/ target audience/ the message beging conveyed/ where the brand mark will be.

Refinement/

I will then make the appropriate refinements specified by the client. Colour is then considered based on brand values/ target audience/ the message beging conveyed/ channels in wich the brand mark will be implemented.

Final Submission/

I submit the brand mark to the client in various formats, sizesblack and white/ grayscalce and full colour.

Additional Material/

If the client has requested Stationary/ Animation/ Motion Design/ posters/ leaflets/ flyers/ etc, then these will be executed with reference to all of the above.

Customer Service/

I am available to the client at any time to answer any design questions, give tips or advice as how best to implement the designs.

Typography

2010-08-04T12:55:00.003+01:00

I often have a hard time remembering all of the correct type terms. I decided to crate a few posters to reming me. Here they are in all their glory.

Illustrations

2010-08-02T16:08:00.006+01:00

These were some random designs I put together in my spear time. I have used pencil, ink, water and photoshop CS4.

Aaaaaand Cut!

2010-07-30T15:47:00.008+01:00

It was announced by the government on the Monday 26th July 2010 that the UK Film Council will be abolished. I have read several newspaper stories about an I was not happy. As I plan to to woking in animation and special effects not having a Film Council could be terrible for a lot of people in the UK.

My plan was to see what I could do to help the best was I know how. Through design. I began searching for any organisations that were trying to help the British Film Industry and found one: http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/ On this sine I was looking for someone to get in touch with who needed promotional material for what I assumed to be a good cause. I e-mailed the man who appeared to be in charge only to find out that the history of the British Film Council appears to be a scam. After an hour long phone call I understood. The British Film Council appeared to cater for 75 employees; fat cats that were being paid hundreds of thousands per year so they could live the high life, stop diversity and stand in the way of british film.

Although you would all like to think that films such as James Bond and Harry Potter are british, they are not. They have been funded by hollywood studios such as warner brother and paramout. This is an opportunity for the british film industry more specifically the west milands. A large number of studio sound stages are based around London but they are running out of room. There is a lot of space in the midlands for their large studio sound stages but the bosses of the film council were not allowing these areas to expand to other parts of country. If we can convince the council an by extent the government to invest in this it could not only provide long term jobs but also see the revival of the British film industry. For more information please visit http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/

Motion Graphics Identity

2010-07-29T16:30:00.001+01:00

I have just made my first motion graphic identity for Omari McCarthy Design. Check it out here.

Untitled from Omari McCarthy on Vimeo.

Too see the full project Click here

Dyslexic Brian Idenitiy

2010-07-22T22:09:00.002+01:00

After attending my Final Major Project exhibition at the end of last month I went to a small seminar. There I met a lovely couple, Antonio and Goga, Co-Founders of Dyslexic Brian who just happened to be looking for a logo designer. As I never leave my house without my business cards so I was able to give one out with turned out to be a great conversation starter. Before I knew it I had my very first commission.

To see the full project 'Click Here'

Lessons Learnt

2010-07-21T16:50:00.005+01:00

I have been freelancing since the 16th June 2010. I have worked on several projects some have been more successful than others. But they have all been worth it because of what I have learnt. Below are several pieces I created to articulate what I have learnt and my opinion on certain things in design.

Never work for free: it causes people to undervalue design. This includes spec work and competitions especially under the disguise of good exposure. Design is more than worth its price and designer should not have to prove themselves to client who come to them for jobs.

...

Listen to the client: Communication is key. This also works both ways. It is important for the designer and client to listen to each other and accept they do not fully understand each others field. To avoid erros later down the line and streamline the entire project it is important that their is a clear line of communication between the designer and client.

...

Do not underprice yourself: you will be branded as the "cheap guy". This is very true for freelances like myself who are just starting out in the business. It is easy to think that you will get more client by dropping you price however this is not the case. When you have a lower price client will asume that you are worth that price and find someone else. It is safer to overprice and negotiate back down that to underprice.

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Netwok Netwok Netwok: you never know who you might meet. This is true for all areas of design. Personally i never leave my house without a stack of business cards to hand out just in case. Attend exhibitions, talk to other designers, talk to non designers, family, friends and just let people know what you do. If you dont tell anyone then how will they know to come to you when they need design work. This has always worked for me I have not been without a project since I have begun.

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Be a businessman first, designer second. I have heard some say that most people get into freelance for the design but the successful ones get into it for the business. This must be true as I have heard freelancers make between £5,000 and £100,000 per year. As much as we enjoy the creative side its time we put down out pen tablets and picked up some business books.

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Fight for your rights: Or no one lese will. As a designer. You have more rights that you know. To find out more please visit: The AIGA Copyright Basics.

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Quote early and honestly: It avoids a lot of hassle later. Coming back to price this is one of the things that freelancers often stumble on. It is best to decide on a rate once a design brief has been completed and both parties know what to expect. There are a load of variables to consider such as cost of materials, times taken, research, printing cost and many more all of which have to be weighed up agains bills, software cost, overhead cost, taxes and making a profit on top of that.

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Doodle before you Mac: Never underestimate the power of the pencil. Raise your hand if you have you had an idea, jumped strait onto your mac book pro and begun working (*hand raised*). i think we are all guilty of that. What we need to do is sketch, sketch and sketch some more. You woud surprised how often getting an idea down onto paper can help ideas flow a lot faster. They dont have to be works of art, it is about idea generation not creating a masterpiece. Try it. You will be pleasantly surprised.

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Project 52

2010-07-01T14:36:00.000+01:00

Project 52 is personal project by Omari McCarthy. Coming soon.

Glastonbury 2010: Guardian Guide

2010-07-01T12:59:00.006+01:00

I know it is a little bit late but I made a few posters fro Glastonbury. These posters were actually made on my Art Foundation course at BCU. Our brief below was fairly open brief which instead of being a breath of fresh air, most found daunting.

Brief: "You have been commissioned to create the front cover publicity material for the Guardian Lounge and the Glastonbury Festival 2010. This will include designs for the front cover of the Guardian Guide, Flyers, Pass Badges and other items for the interior of the lounge."

Research: I began my research by looking at past issued of the Guardian Guide. I observed, analysed an critiqued the different covers looking at the design aesthetics of each piece, their purpose and effect on the audience. Many things had to be taken into consideration such as the size of the magazine (roughly A5), target audience, existing fonts and logo.

Ideas: I began to brainstorm possible solutions to the problem using a mind map. Focusing more on quantity of ideas and generating a large amount regardless of weather they could be executed kept the process free and open. Once I has several ideas down I began to look at the swiss deign movement, retro design, the work of James White and color psychology.

Glastonbury 2010 Kinetic Type from Omari McCarthy on Vimeo.

Grade Received: Merit

2010-06-28T00:23:00.006+01:00

I realised I needed to learn to use type and image more effectively in my design. The following are random ideas that came to my head that were made into posters. The fundamentals of design were considered carefully within each piece and I have combined an unrelated image too see if I can blend it seamlessly with considered content. These are my attempt to ove forward as a designer.

(the above image was taken by Shukura)

Project 52

2010-06-23T18:25:00.004+01:00

Project 52 is personal project by Omari McCarthy. Coming soon.

Made in the Midlands Exhibition

2010-06-11T15:10:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was the Made in the Midlands winners Exhibition is Snow Hill train station in Birmingham City Centre. The of myself and fifteen other students from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD). I was the only Diploma student that won the rest were all Degree students. It was a good day and I handed out several business cards that I designed (see my first business cards) to some of the coordinators of the exhibition as well as the students. Our work will be featured in the Metro and on the BIAD website. There were rumors about turning the work into postcards, a collective book and being featured in the Creative Review, but these are just rumors. The co-ordinators will get back to us as to the exact date all of the work will be published. I am very grateful for this exposure where ever it may lead to. I also have an exhibition of my Final Major Project on the 16th June that is open to parents, teachers and the general public. As I am pretty confident in my work I am sure I will have a good grade. Seeing as I was given an unconditional offer to Falmouth University the grade is irrelevant but I am aiming for a distinction just to prove to myself that I can do it.

(Me and 15 other students at BIAD that were chosen in Snow Hill station)

(Me posing for the photographs that will be in the Metro and online)

(The poster that was chosen to feature in the exhibition)

Falmouth University... Here I Come!

2010-06-10T23:51:00.006+01:00

I was given an unconditional offer to Falmouth University for which I am grateful. Some of the work that was featured in my portfolio can be viewed here. I will be doing a BA (Hons) in Digital Animation in September 2010 once my Art & Design Foundation couse is finished on 16th of June 2010. I will admit Falmouth was not my first choice because of its distance but because the couse is very good I applied and am so grateful for the acceptance. Below are images of the postcard I received through the post. I have decided to post it here because of the quality of the design on the postcard. it is simple and yet is able to convey everything about the university and choice i've made. I a looking forward to university in September although I am concerned about the distance.

My First Business Cards

2010-06-09T16:44:00.008+01:00

As I will have a press shoot at my 'Made in the Midlands' exhibition in Snow Hill train station from tomorrow I thought it would appropriate to get some business cards designed. There will be press there but I am unsure as to how many. I got 20 printed and below are photographs I have taken of them. This is part of a larger project called I_AM_THE_BRAND.

Business Card Mock Up

To see the full project 'Click Here'.

Lady Gaga: Alejandro

2010-06-08T18:59:00.003+01:00

Lady Gaga premiered her new video Alejandro was the 305th person to view it in the world. I have to say when the video began I was impressed by the lighting and the direction. But as it went on I just found it plain wired. I began to focus less on the music ad more on the video trying to make sense of what was happening. If feels as though producers have spent a lot of money on what i essentially an 8 minute empty video. I have not learn anything and I am no closer to discovering who this 'Alejandro' character is. However this video does not reflect Lady Gaga's true talent as I would applaud all of her previous songs.

Made in the Midlands

2010-06-04T18:14:00.004+01:00

I was chosen to exhibit a poster after entering a competition called 'Made in the Midlands.' I received the e-mail this morning asking me to attend the opening of the exhibition because there would be press present. I am extremely excited and I see this a the perfect opportunity to gain exposure.

Birmingham City University and London Midland have joined forces to provide a showcase of student talent. They will be exhibiting poster design of 15 students from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD) from a range of disciplines; graphic design, photography, textiles, architecture, painting and illustration. The diversity of the background of the students and The selection of posters will be on display in 70 train stations in the west midlands including Snow Hill train station from Thursday 10th June 2010 until October 2010 and will aslo be on the BIAD website . There will be press at the opening and the public are more than welcome to come and visit the exhibition. As it will be in a train station millions of pople will be able to view the exhibition that do not usually have the chance to visit exhibitions.

Birmingham Institute of Art and Design:

http://www.biad.bcu.ac.uk/madeinthemidlands/

(Below- The poster I created for 'Made in Birmingham' that will feature in the exhibition.)

This image was made using the usual design software packages. The aesthetics of design were carefully considered when crafting this piece. The use of the Bull is one of Birmingham's icons along with the bullring itself. The Bull was a photograph I took that was given an RGB offset as well as placed within orange/ red circles to draw the audiences eyes towards it. The words that have been added to the background reflect parts of the west midlands as well as names of places such as; diversity, industry, millenium point, etc.

(Below- The other posters I submitted that did not get featured in the exhibition.)

Final Major Project

2010-05-21T18:13:00.025+01:00

The Brief:
Envy is a multidisciplinary graphic design studio that specialise in print, design and new media. We focus more on finding appropriate design solutions rather than applying a particular 'house' style to a brief. We pride ourself on our diversity and our work with clients from around the world. Create an identity for the graphic design company that specialise in print design and new media. Find an appropriate design solution for the following; logo, business card, letter head, invoice and posters an official website and blogspot, motion graphics identities and advertisements.
The deadline for this project is May 20th.

Research:
To begin with I pulled research from a wide range of sources from design books such as The Fundamentals of Graphics Design to online blogs such as logodesignlove.com to journals such as Computer Arts magazine and Creative Review. I knew from the very beginning I wanted to avoid design cliche's associated with design companies such as the use of the CMYK color palette, and ink splatter like images as a logo. I looked into the use of color in brand identities and the meaning of connotations in color of different countries and cultures as well as the most used color for corporate identity.

Ideas:
Because of the nature of the company I found myself heading towards a more typographic logo playing around with various ideas but not dismissing any to begin with. I eliminated any obvious ideas fist with my sketches such as the use of initials of images that symbolised envy or a green color palette. I needed somehting that could work across print, websites and motion graphics. This meant the logo would have to be simple and work just as well at 10 millimetres as it would at 10 meteres.

Logo Design:

Print Work:

Envy Style Guide:

Posters: Envy Design Principals

Online: Official Website & Blogspot

iPhone Application Mock Ups:

Motion Graphics:

Envy Motion Identity from Omari McCarthy on Vimeo.

Envy Me: Boxes from Omari McCarthy on Vimeo.

Final Major Project Exhibition:

Grade Predicted: Distinction

Grade Achieved: Distinction

Evaluation:

I feel this is one of my most challenging, productive and most beneficial project I have ever worked on. By getting out of my comfort zones and exploring new media I have a better understanding of a few areas of design such as branding and identity (as well as the diference between the two), web, motion graphics and preparing work for print. I have also learnt that there is no better way to lear something than under the looming pressure of a tight deadline; such as Dreamweaver, very basic CSS and animating in After Effects.

After doing the art and design foundation course I have realised the course has not befitted me directly, but deep down inside I know if I had progressed strait onto a degree course not only would it have been in a course such as illustration I would also not be ready for the standards of work, presentation and time limits. The course has benefitted my by giving me a year to experiment and decide what I really want to do; Digital Animation at Falmouth University. I have found a love of logo design that I think I will peruse by attempting to brand myself very soon. This has been an an enjoyable course, project and I look forward to more in the future.