Rewind - Giving a Twist to Daily Objects
Rewind is a personal project by David Fernández Atanes & Josep Prat Sorolla with the aim of experimenting and giving a twist to daily objects.
08.12.08
At Ginger Monkey I design, illustrate, write, talk, dance, swing and sparkle with passion and intent...
My outlook is colourful, open, thoughtful and honest. It's underpinned by drive and enthusiasm and peppered with an unquenchable thirst for the fruits of life and the challenges it can hold.
No Problem! Well, luckily for me I stumbled upon the subject of Graphic Design, A friend was studying photography at art collage and was experimenting more with layouts and manipulating the photographs than he was taking them. I watched over his shoulder and was intrigued. I quit my uninspiring job to go back into education and become a graphic designer. During that time I just opened up to this new visual world I hadn’t really taken much notice of and it all started to make sense. I felt this consuming excitement for the subject, what circled around it, and learning in general. I was hooked, and have been on a nice little ride for the last few years. After Graduating from my degree I was offered a teaching position for a year and looked to fill in my spare time with some freelance work. By then I was illustrating my ideas as well and I was getting some great feedback from companies and individuals I was contacting for work opportunities. With what felt like a strong portfolio for a graduate and some industry recognition from the ISTD and D&AD and the feedback I was getting, I started to feel that I was able to carve my own little place in the industry. I set up Ginger Monkey a few months after graduating and have been plugging away at it for the last 3 years.
My main tools are my Wacom tablet and my intuition! Without them I'd be a bit stuck. I use watercolours paints for creating depth, texture and colour for certain pieces but I rarely use drawn off the computer elements but I will plan to some degree in my layout pad with fine liners.
I have a cool little studio to myself smack in the middle of a very busy part of Bristol city centre. It's right next to a gym, supermarket, a few big bookshops and lots of coffee shops! I like to get to work bright and early and get cracking on what ever is cooking in the commission department or to work on the million and two personal projects I seem to have going but haven't completed! Obviously my days and weeks are dictated mostly by deadlines and the task required to meet them but I make time to do my own stuff and update my website etc as I go along. Otherwise, things will definitely get a bit out of control or neglected.
My research resources cover, the internet, mostly flickr and the numerous stock libraries and I'm always browsing the blogs. I get to book shops a lot, scouring the Art & Design section and the magazine racks pretty regularly. I have a good library of my own built with what could only be described as a slight fetish for the smell of print. I do like to get out with my own camera too.
I listen, then I listen a bit more and then get everything in writing and read my brief a few times making notes, highlighting sections, pulling out vital info. If there is something I'm not sure off, I'll get in contact and chat through. Clarity is my first step. Time, money and reputation wasted otherwise.
Then i'll look into things I've identified from the brief and get my own research done so I'm starting to get a feel for things. I'll then start to brainstorm the subject matter and make lists broken down into sections such as message, focus, depth, structure, colour etc so I'm weighting up the options.
By now I'm itching to get cracking so take what I think are the best routes and begin making the piece by what ever means necessary. I don't produce roughs though as they never indicate well enough what I'm thinking.
I'll get the piece to a stage that I think conveys strongly where it is going as early as possible so that the client can give me the thumbs up to keep going. This then continues until we're both happy and everything gets signed off and I thank them with a polite invoice!
The only cons for me come from being a freelance designer. I'm not paid when I'm sick or on holidays & I'm not always paid on time! The pros, however, completely out weight the cons. I feel the benefit of my efforts first hand. I'm heavily in control of what work I get to do. I get to wear a lot of hats, metaphorically speaking of course. I've learnt about so many new things because I needed to in order to survive. I feel there is endless possibilities to what I can achieve and what I want to create. I'm in charge of my time so I can pursue more interests.
My work is an absolute passion that has become intrinsically bound to all aspects of my life and it's a very happy one! If I'm not pursing getting better, trying new things and making the most of what I have to offer it effects my general well being. This has meant I'm very aware of what is happening out in the world. I don't necessarily read all the mags and blogs but I do heavily absorb the visual world around me. Doing what I do has given me the confidence to keep pushing and putting my mind to things. I think that really comes with the territory of being a designer, seeing problems or obstacles and over coming them.
Fun comes to me in many different ways and there is definitely no dividing line between my work and personal life, thats what I love about it! However, I listen to Audio Books (currently getting through Stephen Kings back catalogue), I go to my friends club nights to get sweaty to loud music and make a point of getting out and about with my girlfriend seeing and experiencing stuff in our local area. I work out at the gym next to my studio which I strangely find fun and I've a big HD TV with PS3 that calls to me throughout the day. I'm also pretty obsessive about film so the local cinema is a good friend of mine.
www.yahoo.co.uk - Don't why but I compulsively type it into my browser when ever I open it. I love reading about all the transfer deals and rumours in the footy.
www.newwebpick.com great website with lots to look at and read
www.ffffound.com - full of amazing inspiration
www.flickr.com - great for research and inspiration
and last but not least
www.abduzeedo.com - good all rounder
Be enthusiastic. Don't be obsessed with creating style, just be obsessed with getting better and your voice will come out. Explore, experiment and be open to learn new things.
For more information visit Ginger Monkey's website at http://www.gingermonkeydesign.com/