Two little ducks

It was my 22nd birthday this week and my first birthday abroad, to celebrate  we had a few drinks, BBQ and a trip to Nissi Beach over the weekend. I received some lovely thoughtful gifts from the group of friends I've made here from Coventry and will be celebrating on my return to the UK with my family.

This week I have also booked to travel to Crete over the Easter break with Alex, we want to explore as much as we can there whilst close enough to book cheap flights. Hopefully our little adventure will create some more inspiration for the Erasmus poster and film I am working on.

Nissi Beach to ourselves for the day

 

NAP x

Erasmus isn't a year in your life, it's a life in a year

Thinking about branding and identity with my projects, I have started to look at my body of work and the branding outlook for my platforms (blog, CV, portfolio, online portfolio, social media). I am currently in the process of adding my international experience, I have previously undertaken and currently am now being an Erasmus student, to my CV. As part of my course last year I created my creative CV for print, I have took the design concept and applied it to my blog now to create a brand for myself (seen below). This year I am required to produce a CV on my experience gained from the Erasmus year of study I will have passed. I want to include the grades from my studies here at Fredrick university and the benefits studying abroad has given me in a short paragraph to hopefully promote myself in a positive light and give that extra advantage of employ-ability.

My online blog portfolio and printed CV

 

I have recently been thinking about the poster required to promote the Erasmus scheme and my experience here in Cyprus to connect with people thinking of taking part of international studies. I plan to start looking at possible directions I could document the positives of being an Erasmus student and creating my poster in the next few weeks.

I also want to create a short video capturing my experience and fun here meeting new people, exploring the island and how Erasmus has changed my outlook. I plan to compile all the videos I have taken so far along with the help of Rosie, one of the Scottish girls I met last semester, to create a montage of all the adventures and experiences Erasmus have given us as a group this year. 

NAP x

Hercules & Eris

It was another goodbye this week, as the kittens we took in last winter Hercules and Eris finally flew to their new home in the UK.  I took them in from the storms and did all I could by taking them to the vets for their vaccinations and health checks. It may have taken a toll on my finances and my health but their adoption is complete and finally at my home waiting for me to return to the UK.

To anyone wanting or thinking of adopting or rescuing animals from a foreign country I highly suggest to look in your own country first and help the animals around you. This has been a very expensive process, but to me it has been more than worth it and in my eyes I have brought the best part of Cyprus back with me and will always have them to remind me of my Erasmus year here.

Then & Now 

I found a short post on buzzfeed about the myths of rescued cats and I love it!

NAP x

Corporate Idenity

So with flying back last week I gathered some research and inspiration for my project that I hope will help with the creation of my logo and branding for Cyprus Air. I want to capture the identity of Cyprus in my branding with an international language and create a unique design. I feel that being a visiter  on this beautiful island its hard to represent its history and culture in the branding so I would like to delve into its rich background more as a possible concept. I would also like to see if I can create a brand for Cyprus from how I've experienced living here for the past 7 months. 

NAP x

TBT China

I visited home this week for Valentines day and to start making plans for next year by viewing houses and apartments for my last year in Coventry. I landed just in time to see Joy and Elaine, who I met last year during my time in Changsha, on their last night in Coventry visiting from China. It was great to see them again and reminisce of our time together last year, I also met some of the second year students from the class I will be returning to taking part in the Changsha / Coventry exchange this year. It was so good to hear their plans and excitement for the trip and telling them my stories from last year.

I was staying with one of my closest friends who didn't take part in the trip last year but will be travelling to China this year in just over 3 weeks. He had heard all the stories upon our return last year and felt he had missed out on a great opportunity so he then made the adventurous decision to go and meet new people this year. In the same week I returned to Coventry it was the start of the celebrations for Chinese New year, we celebrated with a feast of (English) Chinese food and some Chinese beers with friends. It was a chance for me to brush up on my chopstick skills from last year and for him to practice ready for his visit. It was great for everyone to get involved with the chopsticks and see who could eat with them or not. We also mixed our Chinese New Year celebrations with Pancake day, a very traditional English holiday. 

This week has reminded me of my trip to China last year and how experience studying and traveling abroad has enriched my studies and myself (Read more about my trip to Changsha in my blog posts CovinChina and ChinainCov). I am hoping to reconnect with the Chinese students once again in my final year of studying in Coventry. Being an erasmus student this year, I can really feel the difference travel has had on my confidence in my work and effected how I network with people. 

NAP x

New Modules

This week I was able to re-choose my modules for  the next upcoming semester. I was able to talk to my tutor from my favorite classes in the hopes he could recommend classes for me to fit with my own goals and aims and what he thought would benefit me. I have decided to join his new class Corporate Identity to help build upon my portfolio with my work from the class and hope to strengthen my skills in creating logos and applying a brand identity. Looking back on previous projects part of this module, it has become clear the task will be to update the branding for the airline service of Cyprus airways. I plan to start my researching into airline branding before the class begins so I can take my inspiration and ideas with me and begin my work as soon as possible. I think this will benefit the progress my work with take in comparison to my last projects.

 I really enjoyed my history class before and really want to continue learning about the history of graphic design as much as I can. From the experience of having many projects last semester and the cost of printing and difficulty I faced with my work, I have only chosen 2 modules to study and focus on. However I feel the Corporate Identity module with consist of many elements and have enough work to stimulate my studies and creativity whilst also giving my time to explore Cyprus and enjoy my final months here.

The credits I gained last semester and aim to achieve by the end of the year will be enough for me to pass this year of Erasmus. I  obtained many credits last semester form the many modules I undertook, more than half than I need for the overall credits needed. Therefor I would like to take the minimum of credits this semester and focus on getting as much as I can personally from the experience and way of life here in Cyprus.

NAP x

Portfolio Work

As I mentioned in my finals post here the work I created and produced as part of my projects last semester in their printed format. I've included a little description of the projects with a title and a photo. To see more of my work and projects follow to link to my behance portfolio in the side column or by clicking the titles of each project to see more.


Design for Production 
12 Typographic Postcards 

A set of 12 postcards each focusing on a design quote, the main subject matter is type. Only abstract photography and patterns were allowed as part of restrictions set in place to allow to type to be the main design feature. For each postcard I took what I considered the quote to mean and transformed this into a concept for each design. I kept to a black and white theme to connect all postcards with the a single postcard in full colour to show the vibrancy of the background to represent the paradise of design quote.


Design for Publishing
Full 24pp Magazine 

 

Conceptual magazine focusing on travel, food, culture and fashion with some hard hitting reports and campaigns. All spreads consisted of articles, the use of advertisements were prohibited in the design and creation of the magazine. The full magazine is constructed of 24pp spreads, all articles were found online and then condensed with the use of my own photography and other sourced materials. 

History of Graphic Design 

Art Deco 24pp Booklet 

We were asked to create a conceptual booklet on a design period and integrate the definition of that art era into the booklet. I choose to represent Art Deco and chose to do this with the statement and recognizable patterns and feeling of a celebration of design in my work. My booklet consists of 24pp spreads in which I created patterns, illustrations and typography designs for along with displaying black and white stylized photography that suited well with the time period.

NAP x