Summer Brief

Prior to starting at Leeds College we were given a Summer Brief to be completed for Monday 21st September. The task was to create an alphabet that visually communicated who we were as individuals, and could represent what we liked, what we didn’t like, where we were from etc. We then had to use the 26 letters of the alphabet to communicate this to my new year group, this could take any form, e.g. it could be hand drawn, photographical, printed…
The only restrictions were that each letter had to be in an A6 portrait format, 2 dimensional at the time of presentation, and must work as a set, series or sequence of 26 letters.

I first began to brain storm the basics, my name, family, friends, where I live, what I like, what I don’t, pets, favourite places etc. And from here I was able to put a word next to each letter of the alphabet, along with a definition, which was either written by me or taken from a dictionary, because some of the words may have come across a little random. After I had my words and definitions I was able to start thinking visually and deciding how to create each letter form, some of the letters are taken from recognisable sources, others had been digitally manipulated.

Here is a list of the words I used and the definitions:

addict n a person who is dependent on something e.g. COFFEE :)
bubbly n cheerful, lively personality.
cat n a domesticated animal who also makes a great companion.
disney p a world famous company that created some fantastic films and characters.
energetic adj being lively and active.
forgetful adj unable to remember things.
gemma n a name that means precious ‘gem’ or jewel.
hyper adj an increased amount of energy and excitement.
ill n feeling unwell.
joke n something which when told brings smiles and laughter.
koala n a cuddly herbivore that is commonly mistaken for a bear.
love n a strong liking for someone or something.
musician n someone who can play an instrument.
neat adj being tidy and neat.
obvious adj easily seen.
party n a social event which brings people together.
quiz n a game in which questions are asked.
random n left to chance.
street art n art that is created in a public area.
typography n is the art of designing type.
umbrella n an accessory that can provide shelter.
victim n someone who is harmed by someone else.
wild adj crazy.
xmas abbrev. December 25th
youthful adj being young.
zestriddle n an addictive online adventure.

Some of the words represent my personality, e.g. bubbly, some represent things I like, e.g. koalas and some relate to interests e.g. typography, and of course things I don’t like, e.g. being ill.

I like this example as it shows my love of cats, (particularly my cat Mo, who lives back at Scunthorpe) through my interest in typography. I have created the shape of a cat out of many C's based on the shape of an image that I found on the internet.

This one wasn't quite as obvious, but once I pointed out that the smile made a slightly exaggerated J, people noticed it as a J in a yellow circle rather than half a smiley face. I love listening to jokes and funny anecdotes whether they're from comedians, friends or random people and I like to make people smile.

This isn't as sinister as it sounds, this is just a dig at the Student Loans Company who are an appalling company and I am one of the unlucky students who has still not received their money yet :( so I created a V out of two ten pound notes... which is probably what I will be living off for the next year!!