Are you studying our Art & Design UAL Level 2 Diploma at Alton Campus in September? If so, you’re in the right place!
We have put together the following activities for you to get stuck into over the summer, ready for your course.
We can’t wait for you to start at HSDC!
Art & Design is often described as visual communication. ‘What does that mean?’ I hear you say. Visual means that you can see it and communication is like a message. It can also use the other senses as well, but we’ll focus on ‘seeing’ for the moment. So, we can suggest that art is more about evoking a feeling. Evoking is when you experience something that has been suggested, not the real event.
Wow! So, art can encourage even stronger emotions in us? It can make us feel happy or sad, it can make us want to gaze in wonder or even, and this is the big deal…it can inspire us! Our first project on the course will be about being ‘Inspired by Art’.
There have been many exciting artists in the world, some with weird and challenging ideas too! We will explore some of these to help develop your own creative style!
An ambitious designer needs to look around and make sense of what they are looking at. You may think that you are already doing this, and you probably are, but let’s just check to make sure. Here are a few tasks to start you off looking and thinking.
Are you familiar with communication using letters and words? Of course you are! There are 26 symbols that make up our alphabet which we arrange into words to spell out what we want to say. The alphabet has 26 small letters: a, b, c, d… called ‘lowercase’ characters and 26 large letters: A, B, C, D… called ‘capital’ letters, also known as ‘uppercase’. We won’t worry about punctuation and other symbols like ‘@’ now, just letters!
For this you will need to find a digital camera or use your phone camera, either will do. Now look very closely at the many objects and shapes around your home and try to find some of the letters that are hiding in there! Just before you start though, try not to ’find’ actual type letters like the H on a can of baked beans! Instead identify letters that are formed naturally by shapes or through clever compositions. Be as creatively cunning as you can and hunt them out. Don’t forget to look outside in nature for inspiration as well as inside where you live.
Find and photograph examples of each letter to complete one alphabet (all 26 characters).
They can be either upper or lower case or a mixture of the two:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Here are some examples for inspiration:
Now, select your best letters and arrange them into an alphabet. Keep them the same size and shape so that they fit together nicely, they can also be in colour or black/white.
They look best if arranged into a square shape roughly 5 characters across x 6 characters down. Make this finished piece digitally (Photoshop or any paint package) or instead, print out each letter about 4cm x 4cm (approx.) in size and make a collage using glue. Photograph the result so you have a record of it.
Make the words ‘secret typography’ out of your new letter forms, either digitally or cutting them out again. Then make another word, this time using your name, or your pet’s name, or a word of your choice.
Collect and save these finished products into a folder called ‘art and design’ and make sure that you can find it again!
Spend as long on this project as you wish; it can be a quick exercise or something you try to make better by having another go. Just keep looking and seeing…
Deborah Cracknell
Darrell Kingsley
We look forward to seeing you soon!
