Graphic Design at Bolton University, 2000-2003
In 2000, I was working in the paper-making industry in Ramsbottom as a Technical Service Engineer, traveling around the world vising paper mills. The option for voluntary redundancy came up and I decided it was time to leave what was a shrinking industry to change careers.
I looked for available courses in IT Design and applied to Worcester University to do a joint IT Design and Art & Design degree. It was an odd combination, but Worcester didn’t offer a full IT Design degree and it was the only course that seemed close to what I wanted do (and could apply for as a mature student). I’d always loved art and had a talent for drawing and painting, I just hadn’t practiced much after leaving college, but that half I would be happy to do and enjoy.
To gain entry as a mature student I had to write an essay on how to build a PC to satisfy the IT Design half, which I passed OK. To be accepted for the Art & Design half, my old A-Level drawings weren’t sufficient evidence so I had to complete and pass a three week summer school module at Worcester.
The summer school I loved and the theme was landscapes and how we connect with our environment. Over the three weeks I did watercolours, charcoals, collages and sketches, with my final project being a display of manmade objects found in a river – to highlight pollution and how we impact our environment. I passed the course with an A and received great feedback from the course lecturers about my art.
It caused a rethink about my choice of course and I looked for something that would combine art with technology into a single subject. In 2000 there wasn’t the same number of graphic design and digital degrees available as today, but I discovered Bolton University had a Graphic Design BA course with a significant illustration component. As a bonus, one of the leading tutors was renowned illustrator Pete Beard. I applied and Bolton accepted based on my maturity, A-level drawings and some of the work I did at Worcester.
Discovering Adobe Illustrator and Vectors
There were some outdated modules in the first year that didn’t seem current or well connected to graphic design and the expanding digital world. It was a foundation year, but the linocut print-making module whilst fun and arty wasn’t graphic design related at all.
The illustration modules though were great, as we had freedom to choose to work in different media and most students worked in PhotoShop or Illustrator on the Macs. I predominantly worked in illustrator and it became my go-to software and medium for most of the three years, where I would deploy illustrative solutions to design briefs.
Something I liked about Adobe Illustrator and vectors is the simplicity and boundaries of the software. I liked that you could draw and not ‘cheat’ using the PhotoShop filters. I’ve always been inspired by art deco and Illustrator is perfect for working in that and similar styles.
First prize in national competition for poster design and meeting the Mayor of London
During the foundation year as part of the Ideas in Reality module we had to enter a national poster competition. The winning poster was going to be used to promote hand safety in workplaces. I won the competition taking first prize. I don’t know if my winning poster was recreated exactly as I illustrated it, it could have been just the idea and concept.
The award and cash prize for first place were presented by the Mayor of London at a special dinner in the capital.
3D Illustration
On the course I did find myself using Carerra Studio quite a lot to create conceptual illustrations. The process started with Illustrator and vectors that were then imported in the 3D software to form the building blocks for 3D shapes. This was a great way of learning to break down objects to 2D elements. Shown below was ‘Square Pegs into Round Holes’ for an idiom assignment.
Graduation 2003
In the summer of 2003, I graduated with a First Class Hons Degree in Graphic Design and set out on a new career. In part two I will cover some of the work I did in the ten years as a graphic designer. I’ll share more work from my Uni days if I can locate it, I think its good to look back at your early illustrations and see the development in vectors.
