Erasmus Film

I previously mentioned the possibility of me creating a film of my experience here in my last Erasmus post. I have finally started compiling all of my videos from my time here in Cyprus and also had a few videos from my friends here to include. I wanted to use the film as a documentary of my Erasmus year and all the memories and new friends I've made. I would also like it to inspire people to travel and perhaps even think about becoming an Erasmus student in Cyprus.

I have been using both Aftereffects and imovie to edit and compile all footage to create the film. So far it is almost 10minutes long and I hope to capture everything from this year in my film. I still have some work to do until the final cut will be ready to showcase, I think my final stage of the project will be finding fitting songs and music to put over the film. I have tried to keep it in chronological order to show how much fun we've had from start to end. I hope it will show how our friendships and relationships with one another have formed and become stronger throughout all our experiences and trips together too.

Making the film has really made me reflect on my time studying and living abroad more and how it has changed me and benefited myself and my studies. Not only has it opened my eyes to another culture and way of living but also allowed me to view design differently from my studies here. With my time here and studies winding down to an end, and finals at the end of May, I have began to reflect on my time here. I have also began to think about my future with moving forward into my third year at Coventry University and how my studies here will aid and stay with me throughout my degree and career.

NAP x

Cyprus Air

Whilst visting Crete we flew from very small airports with the airline Ryanair, an Irish company. I wanted to use my travels as inspirations and gather more research and understanding of branding an airline. Our aircraft colour scheme was the colours I had considered using for my Cyprus Air identity, however seeing the colours on a real aircraft I felt some changes needed to be made to my chosen colours. I hope that this will not only allow my brand to stand out from the competing company but in my opinion allow the contrast of colours to work together better than that of Ryanair.

Discussions with my tutor have led me to futher develop my two stripe logo, representing the terrain of the Island and the two sides of the Island meeting together. I feel I still need to develop my typefaces and style choices to create the professional outlook I want for my airline and to connect the name if the airline to the logo.

My logo

Once I have my logo looking professional, I will then feel ready to implement it onto all aspects of design promoting the the company. I have already sketched layouts for the business documents, such as letterheads and envelopes etc and have brainstormed a few possible directions for my advertising campaign consisting of postcards, posters and a magazine spread.

NAP x

Spring Break

During our Easter break here in Cyprus I really wanted to travel to somewhere near whilst I had the chance with such cheap flights. We settles on visiting Crete, another large Island part of the Greek Islands. We stayed in Chania, a quiet, picturesque and historic part of the Island and visited the harbor and neighboring beaches. I felt it was good to escape and emerge ourselves in another Greek island to get an idea of Cyprus' Identity to help with my current project. It was just our luck to arrive to a week of freak weather with rain, wind and cold temperatures, however we did get a few spells of sunshine.

Crete

Stavros 

 

   

 

 

 

We visited the Venetian harbor and lighthouse in the main town of Chania and also explored the side-streets and bazaars. We had researched into visiting the Typography museum in Souda about half an hour from Chania, however with the timing of the year and weather we found it difficult to travel there.

Chania Harbour

 

 

On our return to Cyprus we felt we should visit some historical sites as we missed out on the museum visit in Crete. We found the archelogical site close by to our hotel in Paphos and explored the park. I have always loved visiting such places in the UK to see roman ruins and found our day very intriguing and throughly enjoyable.

Paphos  

The Light house and Odeon 

 

 

 

Subterrean Complex

Saranta Kolones Castle ruins

Theseus Villa

With so much to see and do in Paphos we have decided to come back as a group to visit the tomb of the kings and the whole Coral bay area. Visiting all the places I have this week made me realise how much I miss sketching and how much I should be to document what I see and do here. I found the archaeological site to be very inspiring with the ruins of colours and arches. I have decided to start carrying a small sketchbook around with me in case the overwhelming urge to sketch strikes me again.

NAP x

Discovering Nicosia in a different light

So as a way to gather some more understanding of Cyprus and inspiration for my corporate identity, I thought what a better way than to go out and indulge myself in my surroundings and enjoy the sunshine. I explored some familiar places in the hope to see them differently for inspiration for my logo and colour scheme to apply to my project. I also set out to ventured unexplored areas of Nicosia to gather more understanding on how to represent Cyprus. I took my research findings and picked out new cloud combinations I found interesting to show my tutor along with traditional patterns and deign I found in people homes, on items for sale in markets and tourist shops. 

I began by looking at the architecture of buildings and outlines of the skyline and terrain of Cyprus.  Heres some of my shots I took throughout the day

 

 

Colour combinations and traditional patterns within Nicosia and Cypriot items.

 

 

 

Later in the day I came across a bar with some boardgames and fun activites to do amoungst friends to socialise around. I found some plastic shapes that I created these variations of logos and shapes out of from my previous findings in the day. These represent the mountains in Cyprus and the two sides of the Island (Greek and Turkish) to form one (Cyprus), some also represent the significant iconic animal of Cyprus which is very similar to a ram.

Some more development and discussion is still needed to reach my final concept. I hope to work on my logo designs with a more conceptual view of Cyprus and representing it in a simple format along with informed colour choices.

 NAP x

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