​​The current pandemic leads to billions of citizens to encounter a distinct lifestyle, and the more I have been doing self quarantine the more I sense how my life, even the design I am doing is highly ralated, or to say depends on technologies.

It exert its best capacity that it prove their importance to human being and it is also presumed the COVID-19 could be a portal for human beings to get into a post-internet life. 

The other day when I was reading Peart's article  ‘Automation Threatens to Make Graphic Designers Obsolete’ . He mentioned that artificial intelligence is tending to bring the multiple creative opportunities that eliminate the digital design process, which leads to the duty of a designer shift to, in his word ‘directing, selecting, and fine-tuning, rather than making.’ When some computational procedures are starting to be capable to develop as a designer, what left to the human designer is that to be a ‘conductor’, a ‘manager’ rather than a ‘musician’, an ‘executor’. 

This makes me ponder, what is the position of a graphic designer in 10 years? People have been saying it's crucial to train oursleves to be a T shape person, but in lights of designer's position might shifted from executor to conductor, should all the creatives be generalist in the future?

Can data and algorithm replaced designer, to fulfil the whole process of the design, from coming up with idea and brief, to deliver results, without any external assistance? There is already existing automation called generative design is born that it releases designers from making from scratch. Generative design, by quoting chief technology officer of Autodesk Jeff Kowalski’ word, it is ‘a method of achieving results by 
sharing your goals, objectives and constraints with the computer, and partnering with it to explore the solution space before you commit to just one and take it through to manufacturing and delivery.’ This indicates the generative design is authorizing the ‘maker’ position to the computer, aiming at discovering the best design by algorithm showing designers the complete solution and enabling creators to navigate and explore what some of the trade-offs are before they pick one prematurely. 

Those facts make me realise the importance of mindset value, and the way of seeing the world. At my first year in LCC, I am quite frustrated that uni doesn't teach me enough 'skills' such as c4d, typeface design, and so on. But the more I think about it, the more I value the effort of making students to knowing what the society's need is and being more minded.
​Yuan.

Technology plays a large role in today’s society and increasingly so since the pandemic. We have seen the importance of technology when it comes to social issues and how social media is used to connect communities but today I will be exploring how technology has impacted the graphic design industry. In a time where there is a seamless flow of information as well as a constant need for personalization, the design industry is in a possible state of human replacement. Is there a need for bespoke pieces of communication? I am fascinated in how designers have manifested these antithetical ways of working into their design processes resulting in work that is mechanical, and hand driven, systematic and humane. How do systematic processes and templates manifest themselves in brand identities which revolve around emotion and the visual connection? In the electronic focused environment, we live in today there is a constant search for new graphic languages that bridge art and technology. Paul Mcneil and Hamish Muir also known as MuirMcNeil are graphic designers who push the boundaries in creating typefaces from original forms and patterns. Generated from mathematical systems their distinctive modular style exists in the brand identities of Typecon and London College of Communication as well as collaborating with Eye magazine to produce a set of 8,000 unique covers. Graphic Designer and typographer Phillipe Apeloig states ‘If you want to bring an emotional dimension into the work it’s interesting not throw yourself into technology but to really do something that you can do with your hands this suggests web-sites such as Brandmark that generate logos lack the emotional connection of that brand. Therefore, it is questionable that the templates used on these sites are incapable to contextualize designs that are perceived as humane, this is significantly important in the world of branding where brands are almost conceived to be ‘living’. Investigating the symbolic value of visual thinking in relationship to the need of bespoke communication. Muriel Cooper states ‘progress in designing intelligent interfaces for graphic design applications, such as electronic publishing and lustration, will depend on the application of symbolic programming techniques from artificial intelligence’ this could suggest that the developments in technology will result in human replacement of visual problem-solving activities such as book design. However one cannot ignore the essence and craftsmanship behind the thinking process of book design to which in this day is still highly demanded indicating its irreplaceability by machine. In the introduction of notes on book design by internationally renowned graphic designer Derek Birdsall, he states ‘Book design is the process of discovery, guided by reading the contents of the page, studying the illustrations and captions and simply putting oneself in the position of the reader’ therefore proposes the idea that there is no such thing as generalisation in terms of layout. After reading Derek’s notes you understand very clearly how each book design derives from its content to where he constantly asks himself ‘Why this? Why that?’ The kind of visual thinking that one would believe could never be programmed into a computer.

Humiraa Firdaws BA IVM

“The difference between technology and slavery is that slaves are fully aware that they are not free.” —Nassim Nicholas Taleb
 
Social media is ubiquitous. It’s in our pockets, under our pillows and constantly on our minds. In an age where it seems like every designer, artist, poet, dancer etc. has an online presence acting as a portfolio, it begs the question what happens if you don’t use social media?
 
In her book, F*ck Being Humble: Why self-promotion isn't a dirty word, Stefanie Sword Williams describes social media as an online vetting process through which people form their initial opinions of you. A digital validation process that is here to stay. One post of yours could be the make or break of your career, but if you are not online how can people discover you? (Williams, 2020) Williams argues that your assumption that employers will just find you is more arrogant than just going ahead and sharing your work.
 
“From not regularly updating your platforms to shying away from asking for referrals or sharing personal work, there is still a significant disconnect between the lives we want to lead and our ability to build and maintain them. We expect the pay rises, the recognition and the belief from others, but we don’t give people enough reason to provide them … and then we complain when all our stars don’t perfectly align.” - Stefanie Sword Williams
 
In the 1950s Leon Festinger identified what he called ‘social comparison theory when people are unable to evaluating their own opinions, they incline towards comparing themselves with others. This is one of the major issues with social media because it induces feelings of anxiety and depression, especially amongst members of Gen-Z.
 
In his book Digital Minimalism: On Living Better with Less Technology, Cal Newport states ‘Outsourcing your autonomy to an attention economy conglomerate—as you do when you mindlessly sign up for whatever new hot service emerges from the Silicon Valley venture capitalist class—is the opposite of freedom, and will likely degrade your individuality.’ Newport explains how we are now able to completely expel solitude from our lives. This in turn affects our levels of creativity, happiness and general life satisfaction. Newport discovered that tech companies encourage behavioral addiction via intermittent positive reinforcement and the drive for social approval.
 
Newport argues that you do not need social media; as a creative you can spend the time you would do scrolling through feeds on actually upskilling and improving your practise. As someone with a shaky track record of posting work to Instagram this sounds appealing but then I also agree with Williams who says ‘You could spend your entire life waiting to perfect a skill – and in doing so, miss out on the chance to discover how good you really are.’ The dilemma seems to be to post or not to post?
 
In her book How to Break Up With Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life, Catherine Price explains the effects on technology (specifically mobile phones) on creativity and the ability to come up with ideas. Our brains contain networks of memories called schemas that allow us to form ideas.
‘The more nuanced and detailed your schemas are, the greater your capacity for complex thought.’ (Price, 2018) However if our brains are overloaded and cluttered with likes, shares and retweets is significantly reduces our ability to reflect and produce meaningful and new insights.
 
After reading these books and watching many Ted talks, it seems the answer is: balance. As Newport says ‘It’s about cultivating a life worth living in our current age of alluring devices’. I want to have a personal brand and an online presence because there are many benefits to social media but I don’t want to be sucked into the rabbit hole of social comparison and anxiety over likes and shares. Price explains that ‘our goal isn’t abstinence; it’s consciousness’. I have learnt that it is possible to be on social media and also be mindful about it and not lose your sanity in the process. Whether is setting up time limits or scheduling posts automatically, there are ways in which we can fit the ever-growing presence of technology and social media into our lives as creatives. One of the ways in which I have started doing this is to give my phone a makeover, making it less like being a kid in a candy shop and more about making intentional and mindful choices.

De Coster Lola 
Design Management & Cultures 
@loldecos
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​Not every collaboration is deemed to be a success. Sometimes, even after the best first impressions and the promise of an amazing brief, it can still feel like you’re working against the current. I started working for David since I started my studies at UAL. I assisted him on several projects, helped him with his branding, pitches, and proposals. As I helped him for little to no fee, in return, I would benefit from his experience and network. The following blogpost discusses one of my personal experiences and gives some context on the nature complications in such collaborations.
A first determinant aspect is our generational differences: David is in his late 50s, trained in economics and business, and proceeded with design later in his career. His generation is known to be competitive, goal-oriented, and feels comfortable in hierarchal structures. The nature of his education, with his personality, puts him in natural leadership and a dominant position. I am currently training in design thinking and identifying as generation Z. Along with my generation’s trends I tend to value flexibility and ethical design. My studies make me more inclined to be interested in the process rather than the goals. These differences were never striking when we did small projects together, but they became clearer once we started to collaborate on bigger projects.
A factor that enforced these generational differences is the nature of our relationship: I always assisted and helped him complete his briefs. This of course resulted in a client-designer relationship and a natural hierarchical structure between us, he was the one calling the shots and deciding on the outcomes. After my internship I felt more secure in my skills and my role as a designer: I now take more ownership of my work and see myself more as a design thinker and design manager instead of a graphic designer or assistant. My role was still unclear in this project and I naturally broke out of my previous role which David probably did not expect. I hoped David would acknowledge this evolution, but I saw that this shift in how I positioned myself and my spontaneous increase in participation confused him. I was often met with a controlling attitude on his side while also blind spotting me on further developments. Even as I tried to discuss my points of view, I felt increasingly uncomfortable, blocked, and ultimately undervalued.
Lastly, our different views on design and the design process along with current debates. I am currently very involved in inclusivity, ethical and participatory design.  I believe in involving the user and a more transparent relationship with the client and a flexible design process that adapts to the evolving need of the client and the user. Contrarily, David follows a strict design process, he makes personas based on secondary research and assumptions, and the user has the right to give feedback after the product is made. This naturally puts the designer in a controlling and dominant position towards the user which I am actively trying to break out of.
While these three factors were never troubling our dynamics in the past, they started to become visible as a gained working experience. These gave me the chance to compare what I already experienced and understand my preferences in the workplace. As I am still navigating my purpose and goals as a designer, I know that this dynamic could have been solved with better communication and transparency on both sides.  I could have expressed my struggles with the design process and communicate my views on design in general. Ask him if these were aligned with his before agreeing on collaborating. It is not because a certain dynamic was installed at the beginning of the relationship that there is no room for self-actualization on both sides.

Since my last wow blog I’ve undergone a few different changes and had new experiences in the world of graphic design. It’s been a difficult time putting myself and my work out there, I have applied for different internships and been rejected with no understanding of why so the last few months have been a journey for me to accept rejection and focus on myself and the work I want to do. 

I am currently working on my photo manipulation and composition skills to further the quality of the work I wish to produce, this has included my understanding of lighting and perspective to a greater degree than I had before but I’ve noticed an improvement in my work because of this. I use a lot of stock photography and my own photography in my work which can make it difficult to get the resources I need especially with a restricted budget but I’ve managed to find alternative methods such as free stock photography websites. The main part I find interesting in creating composites is how using so many different components in a workspace can bring a still image to life but you can also achieve this through different effects and fully understanding the scene of which you wish to create. To further my work I’d like to learn 3D modelling and rendering so that I can create my own assets to be used in either static or motion design, through the university I can get access to lynda.com and this is likely where I will do some tutorials. 

Internships have been difficult to attain recently for me, I started the year strongly with working with Alan Kitching and working with MA students creating posters and visual work but the most recent positions I have applied for have not been as successful. An example of this was Atlantic studios a film and documentary company in London that I produced a live sample of work to prove my skills and this sadly did not get me the job, I would like to hear back from them some feedback from my work but have had no response. An upside to this is I’ve recently started working with Miguel Ramos Artime a filmmaker on the MA LCC course and he has appointed me quite a lot of work that surrounding the film he is to be producing in the up and coming year.

For my self initiated project I will be travelling home to the southeast coast to work with Paul Crawley in Margate. Paul is an old tutor of mine and worked at UCA (University of Creative Arts) he’s worked in the industry for many years and has access to some amazing facilities. Paul co-owns a letterpress and design studio in margate and has invited me to come and work alongside him helping to produce some work of his, I will also have access to the full facilities meaning I can produce my own letterpress prints. I am very keen to make some strong political posters in correlation with the recent black lives matter protests depicting the message of “All of the Power to All of the People” this to me is a very strong message in light of recent event from all around the globe and I’d love to show my support to the cause.

​

​Lola De Coster 
Design Management & Cultures 
@loldecos 

Before starting my DPS year, I wrote a piece to reflect on an event byt Second Home Spitafield about the future of work. Conscious that AI is a lingering and worrying concern, I share with you some answers to very legitimate questions:
 
Some context
AI & the Future of Work was an event hosted by Second Home Spitalfield and organized by Studio Zao. The three guest speakers on AI & the future of work were Teresa Kotlicka from People Development Director at Sony Music which gave an enriching outsider point of view and helped non-AI experts get closer to the subject; Iain Wallace as Head of Innovation at ACE UK GOV that had a refreshing view on startups, today’s entrepreneurial culture and its new technological challenges and, Anton Fishman, HR and tech start-up advisor which thanks to his teaching experience, created an accessible space for debates and reflections. The event was introduced by the panel’s host, a collaborator from City.AI about artificial intelligence and its current statistics and its position in society. 
 
So what is the place and space of AI in a world with constantly growing and aging demographics? With challenges such as environmental collapse and an increasing technology dependent upcoming generations? 
Statistics have shown that by 2025, 52% of the world’s labor will be replaced by machines and algorithms. However, 72% of people believe that AI will be incapable of fully replacing humans. On this, Anton Fishman adds that the scale and panic around AI is widely misinterpreted. People tend to believe in the myth of machines taking over the world, leaving humans useless; they are too concerned about progress without really thinking about its deeper meaning. Fishman reassures us that in fact, machine learning is still at its early stages and that compared to humans, artificial intelligence has the only capability of a worm our of outmost a mouse. He insists that AI taking overcoming close to human capacity is as far away as us populating Mars. Yes, machines can replace human tasks but we must not forget that humans have jobs that can vary in complexity, emotional intelligence and the number of tasks required to complete it.
 
But what if a job can be separated in chunks of multiple tasks, would it then be replaced by a bunch of different machines? For Theresa, this question seemed abstract: what kind of job would be completely replaced by machines?
According to her, jobs also include empathy, collaborations between people, and are part of networks of systems and people; a machine would never be able to replace this completely. Fishman finds that this depends on the level of the task. In accounting and law, for example, tasks like finding the right document and that took ages are now being found by AI which is saving a tremendous amount of time but also at the loss of jobs mostly of people in junior levels that were given the task in the first place. Other jobs on the contrary such as those in healthcare can still rely on AI for help but have still a high bonding, relation-and empathy oriented core, which can hardly be replaced by machine learning. 
 
On another note, Theresa adds that a healthier vision on the topic is to focus on what empowers humans rather than what technology is replacing. In her opinion, one of our advantages is the fact that we can give meaning to the world around us whereas AI can hardly make sense of the multitude of tasks it is preoccupied with. If robots are going to replace unfulfilling tasks this should be seen as something that would give us more time to focus on other pressing issues that require human capacity; AI is not replacing us but enriching humanity. So what do jobs with a meaning look like? Kotlicka’s answer was not that straightforward but it comes down to jobs where human interaction and connections are at their highest. This is supported by Iain Wallace, which points out that in the list of the 10 jobs for the future were those of storyteller, chief network/communication officer, and teaching. 
 
What about those who will be replaced by machines in 5 years? Is there enough time for them to learn new skills and adapt to their changing lives? Are we actually challenging ourselves enough while facing AI?
As an entrepreneur and head of innovation himself, Wallace gives us examples of corporations that actively organizes programs to coach, train and raise awareness on the issue aimed at employees that would be most affected by the (r)evolution. On a bigger scale, Finland has created a free program available for its citizens to use in order to learn about machine learning. On our ability to take on the challenge against AI he finds the answer in his own definition of philosophy of entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship is about constantly challenging the status quo and retaliation against society. AI is just the next challenge or the new commodity to tackle.
 
To conclude, this panel insists that there is no need to be worried about AI, but rather to look at it as an opportunity to move forward and reinvent ourselves. After all, the best examples of what AI might do to our jobs are found in the design field. With new programs and tools, design has gone through a huge technological evolution years ago. It came with its challenges and losses, and definitely, not everyone managed to keep up with the change, but willing or not there is a credit to be given as without this evolution design would not have been as innovative and relevant as today. AI gave design the opportunity to go beyond arts and crafts and to explore design thinking, creative problem solving and branding as a strategy. If in Fishman’s opinion designers are the ones that are the less worried about robots and algorithms taking over, is because they ended up embracing it and they realized that the only thing that changed are the tools they used.

Hello everyone! My name is Nicole, I am an illustrator and animator enrolled on Illustration and Visual Media. In this blog post, I am going to guide you through my journey around sustainability and how it has impacted my practice so far.
 
During November of last year, I had the opportunity to participate in a Live project brief called ‘Not Just a Shop’. This project was about designing a new product or a product range for retail sale within UAL’s shop located in Holborn and their online store. I was really excited to take part in this brief because it gave me an opportunity to design and produce products for a business. 
 
For me this was like a trial, an opportunity to experiment with materials, designs and a range of different types of products. A part of me wanted to see if I had a chance at selling my work to customers or to see if the type of products I was selling, is something someone would buy. This was important to me because I would like to open my own business one day, selling a range of products from stationary to art prints to cuddly soft toys of my characters.
 
Originally at the beginning of the project, I wanted to sell art prints of my Inktober 2020 illustration series. But then I was opened to the world of business. I found that my Inktober illustrations were not fit for purpose. This was because all my illustrations were of different dimensions, the tiger character in each illustration had a different design and for this to work each piece had to be consistent throughout. I found this to be quite frustrating, but I was open to the new possibility of creating something new.

​I found out the reason why they had to be consistent is because not only it would look visually pleasing having all illustrations from a collection the same size, it would also help customers to identify the character if that character has been designed the same way each time. For example, you would always recognise iconic characters like Mario, Hello Kitty, Pikachu etc. because they are repeatedly drawn the same way each time making them stand out and known to everyone. Where my character looked different every time I sat down to draw him. I honestly think this was because the shape of his head kept changing as I kept experimenting with different styles and materials.
 
Another problem that I faced was how to make my products and packaging environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. To be honest this was a challenge. It was something I’ve never thought about or done before and I felt that I knew so little about the subject, that made it difficult to apply the knowledge to my practice.
 
I started my research into other illustrators that I admire who have their own business selling products within the line of work I would like to go into myself. The first illustrator I looked at was Catherine Kay, she created Katnipp Illustrations in 2015 and sells her product line through Etsy. Being a fan of Katnipp, I’ve bought a number of Catherine’s products and I’ve noticed they come in a bio-based film plastic bags which is compostable, biodegradable and recyclable. You do have the option when ordering to leave out this packaging especially if you’re cutting down on using plastics.

​The other illustrator that I researched goes by her illustration name EllievsBear. Ellie sells a range of products from art prints to stickers to pins of her lovable characters on her own online store on her website. I wasn’t able to find out if she uses sustainable materials as I was more interested in the type of paper, she was using to print her artwork onto. She uses archival paper with a matte finish. The archival quality of the paper and inks prevents the colours from fading over time. Which I believe is definitely worth the price you’re paying for your prints. This was knowledge that I needed to know as I was planning to make my prints and vinyl stickers in house, although I believe Ellie outsources her pins and stickers.

​At the time, I was only looking at how to make my packaging sustainable. This was until I changed my ideas which then lead me to thinking of making the products sustainable too. My new idea was to create a series of 3 A4 art prints that comes with a pack of vinyl stickers, which focuses on the tiger character and the themes of Japan & Food. During a tutorial, I was given the idea of looking into sustainable bamboo paper to print these art works onto. I thought this was an excellent idea as the bamboo paper goes well if the themes and I felt like this would be an ideal gift to have at home or in someone’s office.
 
At first, I found it difficult to find sources that sold individual sheets of bamboo paper that allows inkjet printing. I was mostly coming across sites that allows you to place orders of prints to be printed within their studios and mixed media bamboo paper that was used for watercolour painting, acrylic etc.
 
I was able to find a pack of 25 A4 Bamboo paper on Hahnemühle’s official website. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise how expensive sustainable paper can be. Currently I am thinking of outsourcing my art prints using ‘dStudio’ as I can order a sample pack, which contains printed examples of all 14 papers that they print on. I also think this might be a cheaper option for me in the long run as I don’t need to test print my artworks which could save me money on costs and materials. Ideally, I would like to make my own vinyl dire-cut stickers from home using waterproof vinyl sticker paper. But with all the tests I’ve done so far, they are not at a good quality standard to be sold to customers. It’s possible that I might have to op to outsourcing the stickers too.

​At the moment I am in the process of transferring my practice over to sustainable methods. About a month ago, I purchased a new dotted grid A5 journal from Yop&Tom. This journal was exactly what I needed to get creative with my day-to-day planner! This journal comes with pure white acid-free sustainable paper, the paper is extra thick 160GSM uncoated which provides no ghosting or bleeding. It has a lay flat binding which allows you to design across 2 pages and the cover is vegan leather that is soft to the touch and stain resistant.

Planning my day-to-day is very important to me as it helps to keep me organised and keep track of what I’ve accomplished. But there’s nothing nicer to see your own designs in a journal to help brighten up your day! My next step is to see if I can switch my sketchbooks over to a more sustainable method. 
 
Author: Nicole Briley
Course: Illustration and Visual Media
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinyinuko/
Blog: https://nicolebrileyillustrationandvisualmedia.photo.blog
 
 
References:
 
https://www.katnipp.com
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/katnippillustrations?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=979679833
https://www.ellievsbear.com
https://www.ellievsbear.com/store/treehouse-limited-edition
https://dstudiouk.com/eco-fine-art.html
https://dstudiouk.com/papers-hahnemuhle-bamboo.html
https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/digital-fineart/fineart-media/natural-line/p/Product/show/202/1036.html
https://hahnemuehle.co.uk/bamboo-a4-x-25-sheets.html
https://www.yopandtom.com
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