Bradley Johnson - Drawing for 3D Design

Tonight saw the first of 4 drawing sessions for the L6 & U6 3D designers, run by Bradley Johnson.

Bradley has worked as an interior designer in the Middle East, and in the region, has a First Class degree from NUA for Games Art and Design and is a Bafta Scholar undertaking an MA in animation and sound at NUA, alongside a job working for a games developer and some other visualisation jobs.

This first session focused around building up muscle memory and looking at repetition of line and form in maturing and strengthening drawing skills. all pupils engaged well and were given a variety of skills and methods to practice, whilst building up their knowledge of how to construct forms. Some examples of Bradley's are below.

It was particularly impressive to see every single L6 & U6 3D design pupil attend and we will all look forward to next weeks session.

If you would like to see more of Bradley's work then please visit his blog and website from the links below.

http://bmj-nuca.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.bradleymj.com/

The creation of The High Line, ‘An urban masterpiece’ in New York

By India Gill U6

The centrepiece to the revitalised west side turns the heart of the meat packing district into one of the country’s most unique parks.

In 1840s to 1900s the railway was the primary artery for getting people and cargo into and out of the city. However, so many deaths and injuries were caused by the trains on 10th avenue; it became more commonly known as ‘Death Avenue’. ‘West side cowboys’ were employed to walk in front of the trains with red flags to warn people trains were coming, yet despite only going 6mph, the trains were still causing many deaths.

In 1929 the West Side Approval was agreed, which led to the construction of railway lines 21 feet above ground to carry cargo above the streets, safely away from pedestrians. Warehouses were rebuilt to handle freight at the 2nd and 3rd storey. This raised railway was completed in 1930, and by 1934 was coined the ‘lifeline of New York’, thanks to providing the city with precious food and trade. There were over 250 meat wholesalers in the neighbourhood. The High Line went right into the warehouses, and the meat hooks can still been seen hanging next to the High Line today.

Post world war two, the need for heavy freight diminished, and the High Line fell into disuse. In 1960 part of the High Line was demolished. The High Line had many issues such as ongoing law suits, and was not structurally sound. The last train ran in 1980, and it sat neglected until it was scheduled for demolition.  In 1990, more was demolished, leaving what still stands today.

Locals Robert Hammond and Joshua David didn’t want to see it go, so formed ‘Friends of the High Line’ in 1999. When they went up onto the High Line they discovered the beautiful mile and a half long vista of wild flower meadow. Old urban infrastructure had become a paradise in the sky.

Robert and Joshua employed Joel Sternfield to take photos. CSX, the owners, gave Joel permission to photograph it for a year. Joel’s photos of the High Line in spring, showing delicate, beautiful lavenders in a revitalised industrial area allowed the public to fall in love with the High Line. The photos showcased the power of nature, and its ability to conquer this massive steel structure. An Art deco masterpiece of industrial design, massive yet elegant, defined by the geometric layers of steel and the hundreds of thousands of rivets, had been magically enhanced by the wildflowers, and beautifully framed the Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building, and other scenes running parallel to the river.

Not everyone saw its potential though. It was rusty, dark, and frequently inhabited by the homeless and drug dealers. Many people wanted to tear it down. Landscape architect and urban designer James Corner saw this challenge as a great opportunity to turn around people’s perceptions.

The design subtly integrates the new with the old. The extraordinary design of the planting is based on a classic design principle; scripting a path. The various meandering paths and views dramatise the way in which you see the city. The designers wanted to keep the experience ‘slow’, making a contrast from the busy streets below, for example by making the treads of the steps up to The High Line slightly wider, with several landings to slow you down.

Ascending the steps from the street walks you under the structure of the High Line, showing off the rivets within reaching distance above. The three storeys of steps deliver you in lush woodland, planted in only 3 foot of soil.

The beauty is in its natural, wild looks, despite being far from it. The planting is meticulously thought through, thanks to Dutch designer Piet Oudolf, a garden designer renowned for his use of grasses. The High Line is highly designed and highly cared for to look natural.

Nowadays, the streets lined with boutiques, hotels and exclusive clubs, which juxtapose the few remaining neighbouring diners and meat stores.

Visit http://www.theHigh Line.org/ to find out more.

A New Souvenir From Russia

By Ross Pitcher U5

The wooden stool with a twist, Designer Zhukovets incorporates a slice of a natural tree with this classic stool design. A series of three separate stools have been created all in different sizes and presented as: “For small”, “For the smallest” and “For adults”. The “Stool” project was created under the impression of a fairy tale names "Buratino".

The idea is very simple, designer Zhukovets Vladislav, wanted to create a design that was beautiful, close and warm. He wanted to create an object that is pleasant to touch and feel but also pleasant to sit on. Perhaps most importantly is that it is pleasing to the eye and can be presented or bought as a souvenir from Russia.

Jetman

By Samuel Carding L6

Swiss inventor, Yves Rossy, developed and made a jet pack that allows him to fly at heights up to 6,500ft. The jet pack is made of small 4 jet engines attached to carbon wings. His first real flight was over the English Channel, where he jumped from a plane over Calais and flew 200 mph crossing the English Channel in 13 minutes before landing in Dover.

The inventor says the suit will eventually be available to the public but it's still a few years away. This is the first step of many towards a future of human flight.

This is a link to a video of him going across the Grand Canyon:

Photography & Graphics Trip To Southwold

 Lower 6th graphics and photography pupils recently enjoyed a sun-filled trip to Southwold. The seaside being a starting point for the pupil’s projects, this trip was a great chance for them to gain some first hand research. The objective of this visit to Suffolk’s most famous coastal town was to investigate a place through photographic documentation. To enable the pupils to do this they were set mini briefs as we explored around the various areas of Southwold. The titles for these briefs were, above and below, coastline, the boat yard, human remnants, typography, beach huts and stones. These prompts were to push the way one views such subjects and how to explore a more unique and interesting approach. This exploration was not only filled with great seaside imagery but we managed to also fill up on fish and chips! 

V&A Design Festival

Miss Cant, Artist in residence at Norwich School, had the pleasure of attending V&A’s design festival last week; she shares with us her experience…

The weekend of the 13th of September saw the V&A open its doors to The London Design Festival. Pieces of contemporary design sat alongside the museums, 4 million strong collection.

​Award winning Zaha Hadid Architects created Crest for the festival and is situated in the John Madejski garden. The wave-like form hugs the shape of the pool and the surface quality mirrors the patterns made from the moving water.

Moving inside to the Raphael gallery, Designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby have worked with BMW to create Double Space for BMW. The ceiling has been replace with mirrored panels that move gently transforming the view and feel of the room. With every movement the viewer is invited to renegotiate the space and the Raphael paintings that share the room. 

The Design Festival also saw the resident ceramist studio doors opened to the public. Nao Matsunaga has been in residence at the V&A for the last six months in which he has explored the Wild Beasts that appear throughout the V&A’s collection from Japanese Prints, to ceramics to paintings. The ceramics Matsunaga has produced are often combined with painted woodcarving and the way in which it is displayed is of great importance.

The festival also included a lecture series. New North Press discussed their letterpress company and their exciting newly developed 3D printed letterpress font. The video for this can be found at: http://www.new-north-press.co.uk. The font was produced in collaboration with A2 design and is said to be the first 3D printed letterpress of its kind.

By Miss Cant

Biomimicry

Biomimicry, the idea of taking inspiration from nature for design, one of the most exciting stories of biomimicry around at the moment is Lilian van Daal’s revolutionary new chair concept. Breaking the mould of conventional chair design, this piece is made completely on a 3D printer. Van Daal took inspiration from plant cells and gave the chair an intricate layered design, this compliments her overall aim to reduce waste in the design world, she said “A lot of materials are used in normal furniture production, including several types of foam, and it's very difficult to recycle because everything is glued together” with this elegant design Daal has reduced the number of materials used but not scrimped on comfort. Nature again inspired Van Daal when it came to the comfort; she looked to plant cells and noticed their flexibility, from this she realised that parts of the chair could be made flexible by increasing the layers of plastic but also by making each one thinner and reducing the overall density of the structure, allowing the seat to cushion you. 

The Mercedes Bionic concept car, without a doubt the ugliest car on the planet, but yet boasts minimal drag and a rigid structure. It too is a design inspired by nature. Taken from the shape of a boxfish which has low flow resistance, which is vital to good aerodynamics.

So why look to nature for inspiration? Nature has evolved over millions of years to adapt and evolve to certain tasks; giving us interesting and functional forms that can be applied to our aesthetic, structural & aerodynamic needs. 

By Sam Ings

Housing The Homeless

Here are two architectural design projects both aimed at housing the homeless.

Firstly, a Slovakian design team called DesignDevelop have been designing small elevated contemporary shelter houses behind billboards. This project has been named the Gregory Project. (http://www.projectgregory.com/en/).  They will be fully functioning, two room apartments all fitted into the triangular space behind the billboards.  Although the team have not yet built any, they have made some visual representations of what they may look like (see below).

The other project is based in California. Gregory Kloehn has been creating tiny mobile homes from salvaged materials from fly-tippers and skips.  Although far from fully-functional (they are one-roomed boxes with no facilities) they are a dry and private space for the homeless to sleep

http://www.gregorykloehn.com/

​

It is refreshing to see people in an industry so wealthy spending their time and money to help the homeless in a way that also brings beauty and inspiration to the cities they live in.

By Joseph Burrell 

The Apple Watch

Apples first look into a new technology market is introduced with the Apple Watch. The wrist based tech syncs with your iPhone (5, 5c, 5s, 6 and 6+) to make receiving notifications, messages, calls, emails etc. a whole lot simpler.

The watch has been designed to have one suitable for everyone with a choice of either a small or large face, with over 15 default watch display settings with thousands more a simple download away. The watch casing also comes in a choice of stainless steel, space-black stainless steel and 18karat gold or rose gold.

Straps for the Watch come in many varieties, from a plastic-type silicone for the Watch Sport to "Milanese Loop" straps for the Watch Edition along with stainless steel link strap for the standard watch. The changeable straps use magnets to automatically clip into the watch on either side of the wrist.

It has many traditional Apple features such as Siri, Touch screen, photo viewing through the icloud and a variety of apps. The new watch also has some additional features like a heart rate monitor and a ‘tap’ function as a replacement to vibrations.

Prices for each of the specified ranges and strap varieties haven’t been specified yet, other than the range starting off at $349 (£219). However, with the huge popularity around Apple products, I have no doubt that we will see many of them being sold shortly after release in early 2015 no matter what the price.

 By Cameron McLaren 

A Conversation With Alice Cary ( Upper 6th Design Scholar)

Alice Cary, one of our talented upper 6th design pupils, shares her exciting summer experiences with us, how she went from work experience at Helen Lawrence, a renowned London knitwear designer, to a fashion design course at central St Martins, and how she feels about being part of London Fashion Week!

 Hi Alice, tell us all about your work experience with Helen Lawrence, what did you get up to?

Hey! Over my week at Helen’s, I did a mixture of very hands-on work; hand sewing labels, sewing jumpers, brushing mohair and washing knits, and also running errands; grabbing fabrics from Soho, going to the factory, delivering clothing to photo- shoots, boxing-up items and much more! Her studio is based in Stoke Newington, Dalston. Her work is absolutely incredible - It ranges from delicate knits to chunky, felt coats. It was a great atmosphere with a few other interns, music and Helen herself!

Above- Shows an image of a Helen Lawrence creation on cat walk

How was this work experience beneficial for you and your work? And would you suggest other design pupils to apply for internships?

I have become much more drawn to knitwear design, and appreciative of the lengthy process it takes to manufacture a garment. It also allowed me to meet an immensely kind and talented woman (Helen) who was willing to take-on someone so young (not a graduate/fashion student). I am delighted that she has asked me to help at London Fashion Week- it’s a prestigious position that any young creative would love to have. I would definitely recommend applying for an internship or work experience in your field of interest, as no better experience is gained than being placed within the industry itself. It’s a very different environment – previously, for two summers I did work experience at a Graphic Design firm in London, and found that the work of Graphic Design didn’t suit my very artistic nature of working.

Wow London Fashion Week, how do you feel about being part of one of the most prestigious fashion events in the world?

I’m so excited! It’s amazing that I’m able to be involved in such a huge movement in fashion. I feel confident as she has a lovely team and an incredible new collection coming out. I’ll be adding finishing touches to the collection, making sure everything is at the venue that is needed, and making sure the show runs smoothly. I know it’ll be late nights and very busy days, but I can’t wait!

 Tell us about your time during the fashion design short course at central St Martins…

Above - Collage wall of initial experimentations, Central St Martins, Fashion Design short course

I was nervous to begin my week at Saint Martin’s, as I had no idea what was ahead of me. I was also staying in Halls of residence in Bloomsbury- so it really was a full university experience! We started off being introduced to our initial tutor, Jane and began to collage images in order to become liberal with shape and form. We were then told our project to focus on would be ‘Subcultures’. Following being told this theme, we had access to the incredible library to conduct research for our projects.

During the week, we went to the Jean Paul-Gaultier exhibition at the Barbican, and had a great illustration class with illustrator Helen Bullock. I chose to focus on the subculture – ‘skinheads’ which originated in Britain in the 1960’s. I particularly focused on the piercing jewelry, the shaven heads and the doc marten boots that used to be on-trend (as seen in the mood board/ finals).

Above - Alice's mood board, Central St Martins, Fashion Design short course

 Would you suggest other pupils to go on summer short courses?

My short course was amazing, as I met many new people, most from other places around the world. You also get to checkout the facilities and tutors the university have, and the way they teach the course. I found that Central Saint Martin’s was an inspiring creative environment, and the independence you had was so liberating.

Overall how has your jammed pack summer influenced your ideas for your A2 projects and about your future in design?

Both the short course and internship allowed me to experience the educational side of fashion, and also the working environment of fashion. I learnt many skills that I will be able to use in my A2 projects, and a new love for yarn and experimental art/ combined with fashion, which I will consider when I make my swatches for my current graphics project. At Saint Martin’s, I was exposed to a new way of working in a sketchbook and translating ideas that I will definitely make use of!

Above - Alice's collage from Central St Martins, Fashion Design short course

London Design Festival

This coming Saturday marks the first day of the London Design Festival, one of the worlds biggest and important design events. The festival takes place from the 13th-21st of September all over London, with over 300 events and exhibitions. First staged in 2003, the festival was aimed to increase London's existing design activity and celebrate the design that the city of London has to offer. The festival offers a huge variety which caters for all, as well as giving inspiration and ideas to the thousands of annual visitors.
  I encourage you to take a look at what is on offer on the website during the 8 day festival, and if you have the opportunity, to go down to the festival and join in the celebrations.
/http://www.londondesignfestival.com/

Written By Design pupil Robert Brett

Barcelona Art and Design trip

Barcelona is a city immersed with beautiful architecture, galleries, working artists and culture that made an unforgettable adventure for our Graphics, Photography and Art History pupils. The design trip to this buzzing city took place in the last week of the summer holidays, taking 30 pupils from U5, L6 and U6 on a 5-day tour of some of the most influential art spots in Europe.

The trip included a visit to Gaudis crowning achievement, The Sagrada Familia, where the pupils were able to ascend one of the eleven towers, gain astonishing views of the city and visit Gaudis workshop and the cyrpt where he was buried. Gaudis tremendous work is scattered all over the city, though one of the marvels for staff and pupils was The Parc Guell. The modernist park is largely made up of re-claimed china and porcelain, and a wander around the gardens gave us a great opportunity to photograph, draw and study this masterpiece.

One of the most memorable elements to our time in Barcelona was the individual atmosphere that the city provides; spending time on the beach, watching flamenco and wandering around the old parts of the city. The boqueria market is situated half way down Las Ramblas, it offers a bustling, noisy, colourful and wonderful market place selling everything from garlands of red chilies to fresh fruit and vegetables, cured meats, Serrano hams and seafood. This offered us a great opportunity to capture all the action and excitement that this hub creates.

The talented Will Jarrold L6 took the above images; his eye for pattern and composition give a unique view on the trip.

One of the most inspirational visits was to the Museum of Contemporary Art, where the pupils were challenged with contemporary and contextual pieces of art. This experience prepares the pupils for their future within design, giving them the chance to experience conceptual work from an audience’s point of view and also broadening there knowledge of what art can be.

Overall pupils and staff returned home full of new ideas and experiences ready for the exciting new projects that this year has in store for them! 

This fantastic image was taken by a group of pupils in response to the painter Sorolla, whos exhibition they saw at the Caixa Forum.

U4 Gothic Project

A couple of fantastic images by 2 of the U4 in Miss Mcdonald-Bell's class I say when walking through. Great work guys!

Harry Cullens

Gabriel Davis

Warner Brothers - Harry Potter Visit

On Tuesday 21st January, half of the U4 went to Warner Brothers studios on a Design Department trip to look at the Harry Potter Museum. The vast spaces are filled with intricate models, animatronics, original sets, prosthetics, costumes and props that have been synonymous both within the films and the pupils' childhoods.

Model of Hogwarts

Although being a highly enjoyable and fun trip for pupils (and staff!) it was also incredibly insightful and, all who went learnt a great deal about the film and creative industry. Along with the museum all of the pupils attended a lesson within the working part of the studio and here they learnt about the process of taking an idea from concept to production. It was fascinating to hear and discuss all of the roles and jobs within film production of the Harry Potter series. These included everyone from writers, concept designers and model makers to location scouts and animal trainers. It was particularly pleasing to see the pupils so engaged and enthralled by the variety of creative careers, which Warner Brothers proudly claimed, is now ‘the country’s second largest source of revenue’.

The museum housed a spectacular array of artefacts in a huge variety of mediums, exemplifying the diverse and talented workforce involved in the films’ creation. This, backed up with enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff along with clear written information gave the students a tremendous educational resource to challenge even the biggest Harry Potter fan! 

A2 pupil Oliver Kearney features in the LA Times

An Article about Oliver's trip to Detroit to photograph so of its abandoned buildings. (Click link below)

M5 Thetford & Cambridge Trip

On a beautiful, bright and dewey Tuesday morning in late September the Design Department took 44 middle five students to Thetford Forest, armed with 11 DSLRs, 11 white sheets, 3 voile sheets, 11 mirrors and 3 kaleidoscopes. The brief was simple - In a group of 4, experiment, document and discover what you can in an hour and a half. We set an expectation of no less than 100 images and coaxed our pupils into thinking creatively. M5 came away with some exceptional images, which they are currently in the process of editing during Mr Passams lessons.

We are setting up a new exhibition space within our department building on the high walls of the stairway up to A2, where we would like to showcase photographs from our Thetford trip. We would like to hold this as a competition amongst our pupils to hand in in their best images. We will then curate the best 15 - 20 images effectively within the space. If parents and staff would like to pop in towards the end of Michaelmas Term to see the work in situ, please do!

Amsterdam Photography Exhibition - Savills

We will be showcasing our Amsterdam Trip through a photographic Exhibition at Savills Estate Agents next week! Over these past couple of years we have been displaying various A-Level artwork of all disciplines, in and around the office space at Savills. This year we are inviting our students and parents to come and view the excellent work in a professional environment, where it will be appreciated all year round!

Savills are kindly hosting our Private View on Wednesday 16th October from 6.30pm onwards. If you would like to come, please RSVP to design@norwich-school.org.uk

See below for more details ... 

Draw me a Democracy

For our L5 design students this year, we will be following the briefs set by 'A poster for tomorrow'. Currently the brief is to 'Draw me a democracy'. In collaboration with the politics departments at school we will explore this theme and challenge our students to come up with some exciting and creative ideas.

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“Draw Me Democracy” is Poster for tomorrow’s new project and it’s also one of the few global projects that the UNDEF, the United Nation Democracy Fund, has ever financed.

The aim of DMD is to help young artists, designers and communication professionals in taking an active role in all democratic and/or human rights-related processes and it wishes of doing so by helping them in finding their own strong creative voice. 

http://www.posterfortomorrow.org/en/projects/draw-me-democracy-poster

Amsterdam Trip

Towards the end of the summer break, the Design Department took 41 students on a 5-day tour of Amsterdam. The itinerary covered a range of inspirational visits; from visiting the best collection of 17th Century Dutch paintings at the Rijksmuseum to a meeting with the founders and designers of Anomoly Studios, one of the leading cutting-edge creative agencies in the world.

Our aim was to provide the students with a vast range of stimuli that would then act as the catalyst for the work to be done at A Level. Touching interviews given by Otto Frank at our visit to the Anne Frank museum, the documentary photography of Walker Evans at the Huis Marseille museum and the stunning work of Edward Steichen and Tim Hetherington at the Foam museum all provided them with truly unforgettable experiences.

Other highlights included a major exhibition on Federico Fellini, one of the most image-defining masters of post-war Italian cinema at the Eye Film Institute and included large projected film fragments, photographs, archive documents and posters, which provide an insight into the obsessions and motivations of the man behind La strada, La dolce vita and 81⁄2.

One visit took us to the Kroller Muller Museum, which is beautifully situated in an expansive national park. The visit started with a 15 minute film about the Kroller Mullers, the museum building and the collection itself, which actually includes more Van Goghs than the Van Gogh Museum. In addition, many of the students made use of the free bike hire to cycle on the special paths through the most beautiful countryside and sculpture garden that surrounded the building.

On our return journey home we spent the final day in Bruges, one of the most beautiful towns in Belgium, with its winding canals, cobbled squares, ancient town hall & historic cathedral. We took a steady walk through the ancient cobbled streets to arrive at the central square, where they were able to enjoy some free time to explore the town & visit the shops. It was a wonderful end to a superb tour.

Forum Exhibition

This year the Norwich School Design Department and the School's Fine Art Department had their biggest exhibition at the Forum to date. Taking over the whole of the ground floor of the Forums Atrium and the Fusion gallery, over 90 pupils exhibited their 2D, 3D and Fine Art work.

Not only was this the biggest exhibition to date but it was the most diverse. Pupils work spread across the mediums of film, annimation, photography, graphic design, graphic illustration, screen printing, ceramics and painting were on show. This year the pupils raised the bar again, delivering not only meticulously and expertly delivered aesthetically pleasing work but work that was thoughtful, intriguing and concept driven.

Over the course of the week hundreds of visitors came to the exhibition with some superb feedback. A couple are below.

"The imagination, creativity and talent of the pupils, as nurtured by the Faculty, is amply demonstrated by the variety and quality of what’s on display" - Paul Todd 

"Superb display of work, well worth a visit and many to look for in the future" - Peter  

 "  thought this was the Norwich Art School's exhibition, I was impressed, but astounded when I realised the people involved were only in 6th form"  - Janet