Mark McConville Graphic Design

Lego house

2009-10-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

James May and his full-size Lego house

Top Gear presenter James May has just built the world’s first full-size Lego house – including a working toilet, hot shower and a very uncomfortable bed – using 3.3million plastic bricks.

James May and 1,000 helpers built the 20ft-tall Lego house on a wine estate in Surrey.

A close up of the fully functional house, which was built using 3.3million differently coloured bricks.

The bathroom with a working taps and basin made from Lego.

The home even comes with its own cat!

James even used Lego to make kitchen utensils, including a toaster, whisk, bread bin and iron.

The idea itself is something I would never of thought of in a million years. The sad thing about it is that the amount of work and money put into to creating the house, it will be knocked down as where it is situated (a vineyard) needs the space to grow crops.

James May is a presenter on Top Gear, a car show. So when I found out that he was doing this I thought what a good way to promote the show, but I also found out that last year here appeared in the Chelsea flower show and created a garden entirely out of plasticine. He produced the the garden as part of his BBC 2 series James May's Toy Stories, where he aimed to 'get kids out of their bedrooms and away from their Playstations'.

What a great idea!

Farmer sheep lights

2009-10-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

I think this is amazing how they were able to gather the sheep in a way to create an animation. Click HERE

Summer work

2009-09-22T04:02:00.001-07:00

Over the summer I have been working full time as we all do for a bit of money. After a month of working my sister asked me if I could paint her a canvas for moving into her new house. A house warming gift.

I thought it would be a great way of continuing design and creativity over the summer in the few months that we are off from university, and also to be able to give my sister a more personal gift instead of something like a saucepan out of a catalogue.

So she gave me an abstract design in the colour scheme for her living room. I decided to use that design but when drawing it onto the canvas I made a few changes. I have taken a few photos of the canvas to show below:

When I finished my sisters canvas I forgot how good it felt when I used to paint as a hobby. I thoroughly enjoyed painting it for my sister and it gave me a boost.

Then my auntie approached me as she had seen the canvas I had done and she wanted me to do a canvas for my cousin's birthday. I agreed and also remembered that my cousin enjoyed the posters I was looking at when I done the Russian Constructivist design in year 1. Below shows the canvas I finished for my cousin.

I was pleased with both canvases and hope to do more. There is a lot of space on my walls in my room so they could be filled up pretty soon!

Matt Stuart

2009-09-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

My girlfriends father enjoys doing a bit of photography and we were talking about photography and the variety of styles used. He suggested I have a look at Matt Stuart's work as he said he liked his approach to photography. I had a browse through Matt Stuart's website and was pleasantly surprised. At first glance you would imagine the scenes had been set up and choreographed to get the picture the way he wanted it. However when researching the artist he explains how he 'spends a great deal of time walking the streets to capture moments'. Matt also goes on to explain that to get the perfect life picture he doesn't ask for permission but trys to be a quick and discreet as possible and move on.

Matt Stuart’s photography has an element of spontaneity as he takes pictures out of the blue after walking around all day for an image. He also shows he has a great eye for choosing the place where he feels will be the most productive but I am sure that would come with experience because it can’t just be luck that gets him these sorts of images.

As you can see he has also done a bit of advertising for sony ericsson . I really enjoyed looking through his photos and it gives some inspiration for future.

Animation

2009-09-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

We had to create an animation for our class in Year 1. My idea first came about with a nightmare I had a previous night, which was I had finished my hair for going out and then my mate who has a skinhead gripped me and shaved off my hair. So I felt with the idea of getting my head shaved and also with a song in mind which was Blur's Song 2 it would combine well together. It shows a bit of my personality and humor. I really enjoyed creating my animation and it would be something I would be interested in continuing in the future.

Anne Marie Robinson

2009-09-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

Anne Marie Robinson

When in secondary school I had a great last term with Ann Marie Robinson who is an Irish artist who specializes in ceramics. Her work is a bit like herself full of colour and imagination. When working with her I have to say I didn't realize how well known she really is. To this day I can say I still use her approach in my own work.

When doing this blog I had to give her a mention and as you will see her work speaks for itself.

Her teapots get the most attention from admirers however I like her animal creations.

When taking her class we created our own designs of what our subjects were on. I created a fish plate. Looked a lot better than its sound. I'm going to try and get some pictures of it from her and upload them if possible.

Ricardo fx

2009-09-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

I really love the use of colour and illustration for this photograph.

The lighting effects work really well with the shapes and colours. I have the perception of a war in space with this image.

I don't know why but with the colours and image this feels like it would have a place in the advertising of the film 'Death proof'.

RICARDO FX

Finished first year of university and second year coming in fast but when envisioning my future in graphic design or what I could aspire to, this is the kind of work I would strive to do. Photography and design in one.

Inspiration

2009-09-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

This type of design for me personally is the reason why I wanted to do graphic design and it is my ambition to be able to create such work.

I have always been amazed with how good someone could be with illustration. It takes a lot of time and effort and a lot of the time the use of colour greatly affects what the audience feels about the image.

I came across a link of 32 pieces of inspirational graphic artwork.

Diarmuid Toman

2009-09-05T17:37:00.001-07:00

Diarmuid Toman, my uncle from New Zealand, sent a few pictures of his latest shots of the New Zealand scenery. He lives in Christchurch and has taken up photography as a hobby.

He has a flickr account with many great photographs and if you would like to see more let me know. I need to link you to the next picture because of the size, the picture almost gives you the feeling that you are there while it is being taken.

I have travelled New Zealand and was one of the best experiences of my life. Great for photos and the scenery is amazing.

Examples of Last Years Work

2009-08-23T03:10:00.000-07:00

My Guardian Design

The Project Brief was to construct a four page guardian spread. I enjoyed this project as there were a number of skills needed to finish this brief correctly. The layout and typeface were the main sections that needed great accuracy. Also the use of photography, as we needed to go on the street to take photos of what we thought were interesting for a story or what we felt would be a good picture in general.

Some of my pictures shown below:

My Book Project

For this project we were given a choice of three titles and had to choose two. Then once deciding on the books we had to design our own covers for them. The books I chose were Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Marshall McLuhan's The Medium is the Massage with some examples shown above.

Artist Singh

2009-08-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

Great video I found. The artist painting without touching the canvas.

Click here to see

Artist Singh is a local Southwest Michigan artist who has been characterized as "The World's Best Parrallel Processing Stunt Painter". Want to find out more click here to view his website.

They say Singh's work was inspired by Jackson Pollock as he too created paintings in a manner like no other.

Jackson Pollock

Below shows a few examples of his work.

Young Graphic Designer

2009-08-21T04:43:00.000-07:00

I came across this website while browsing online, www.younggraphicdesigner.be . From the first page to the last I enjoyed the variety of his work. I found his use of typography and layouts inspiring.

Check out some of his work below.