OUGD402 Things that inspire me

Packaging
Everytime I go food shopping I have to restrain myself from buying food just because it has nice packaging and remind myself I am a student now. I love looking through dieline, my package design books or just when I am shopping to admire and be inspired by packaging. I love that the designs have a use, and how illustration and type can be so emotive and persuasive. I particularly like food packaging, and I just find it really fascinating how each aspect is there for a reason. Packaging has so many constraints as there are many things that have to be included, such as a barcode, sell by date, ingredients, instructions, health and safety etc, and I find it impressive how designers overcome these by creating innovative and clever design. It is definitely an area of design I would consider after my degree. 

Lana Del Rey
I find her songs very emotive and I can relate to a lot of her music. I like to listen to the lyrics of her songs and involve the themes in my own work and thoughts. When I am doing my work I like to listen to her because the tone and theme of her songs are very relaxing and they help me focus.

Granddad
My Granddad is an artist and every weekend when I visitied him, he encouraged me to paint and have a good work ethic. He has taught me so many techniques including pastels and oil, and how to not give up when it doesn't go right first time. 

Papercutting
Papercutting is a technique that requires a lot of patience! I really enjoy doing this as I find it very therapeautic and although it takes a lot of effort to do, the end result is definitely worth it.  I also like the feedback I recieve as the designs are quite intricate and people are always interested in how they are made. It has given me confidence to see that papercutting is used by designers, on etsy and in packaging.

Naomi Shiek
Naomi is a papercut artist, and I follow her blog regularly as I love the technique and by looking at her work I understand how much can be achieved using the method. I become more determined to do my own papercutting after looking through this blog as they are something to aspire to. I think what inspires me the most about her is that she makes a living out of it, which is very encouraging because it shows it can be done, and is used in industry. I also like how honest her posts are because she seems very down to earth, and they are interesting to read.