OWT INTERLACE PROJECT

A quick update. I'm now teaching on graphics and occasionally fashion and interiors at manchester met while running OWT and studying to be a teacher. This has led to me neglecting my blog, and for that I apologise. Here is a little something I've recently done with OWT. The ‘Interlace Project’ was a zine created in the form of a live event. We asked for 15 second videos on the theme of ‘Interlace’, of which we received 105. Using various methods of projection we then relayed, manipulated, overlapped and ultimately projected the zine. The submissions were constantly overlapping and changing, while also being interspersed with live cctv footage of people interacting with the various elements. This meant the zine became a living entity that evolved as the evening progressed. The zine existed only for that evening and the same results cannot be reproduced. Through the input of Sam Meech we were able to projection map individual tiles within Manchester’s Vault space, allowing for each individual tile to react differently. For the event we also collaborated with Matt Lee. His coding allowed for instant critique of the zine to be offered through the medium of Twitter. Related tweets were taken from the internet, instantly projected into, and became part of the zine. We wanted to initiate spontaneous and serendipitous collaborations, altering the context of the work through the editing process and the use of the atmospheric projection space while also challenging the preconceptions of 'what is a zine?'

Interlace from OWT creative on Vimeo.

Research Publication Event

As a final process in the making of 'Reprocess' we invited people to come down and create their own zine. Here are some photos from the event and a little bit of video footage too. Are you allowed to sit a book drill on a bar? Who knows, but we did. Thanks to everyone who came down to the event and made it such a success.

See more images from the event HERE

Research Publication #13 'Reprocess'

Fallen behind with the blog, been so busy, prepare for 30 posts at once. Here's the first, we received a research grant from Manchester Met to make a publication. Here's a bit of a brief breakdown and some pics/vid

When we started OWT zine we agreed on a run of twelve issues. This is our thirteenth.

Commissioned by the Manchester School of Art and in collaboration with the Graphic Design team, Issue 13 : Reprocess follows a different approach to usual. We not only focused on how work can satisfy a theme, but also, how it changes meaning when juxtaposed with a different creative’s work.

Submissions from the OWT back catalogue form a background layer of pre-existing themes, ready to be manipulated and reprocessed by new work. This changes the context and makes new interpretations while initiating serendipitous collaborations. GF Smith Colourplan and six-colour Riso printing help add further variables. No two zines in the run of 150 are the same.

See more of the project HERE

Aesthetic Trust Feature

I have been featured along with the rest of OWT creative on
The Aesthetic Trust website. The interview was about how we set up the business after leaving uni, the zine and the rest of our creative endeavors. I think we sound a lot cooler than we are. In fact I know we do. You can read the interview HERE.

OWT ISSUE #10 'DISPLACEMENT'

This is OWT issue #10 'Displacement'. It features interpretations by eighteen different Northwest creatives as well as the members of the OWT team. It comes in three different flavours with cover design by Barney Ibbotson. The zine contains several added extras that make each one individual, with us working into the zine and a screen-printed cover as well. If you'd like to purchase a copy, you can do so from HERE.

My piece pictured below focused on the idea that our memories become altered/eroded by exterior forces. I included 125 individual pencil drawings and the text on the left hand page invites the reader to 'please erase the tower', some will, some won't.

Article Magazine Commission - Beacons Music Festival

I was asked by Article Magazine to create a piece for a mini issue they were creating for Beacons Music Festival, Sheffield. The issue was to be released in the form of a poster and they asked for a one colour graphic on the theme of village fetes. Here's my interpretation... Unfortunately I have plenty of prior experience when it comes to village fetes. I myself was always forced to don fancy dress and stand humiliated on the floats that would go through the town. So this piece is in fact a self-portrait. That's me, aged 7, dress as a knight and looking thoroughly unimpressed. I have uncomfortable memories of being sandwiched between Darth Vader and a crying Robocop while they drove us through a wet and miserable north-east high street. I've tried to channel my mood of the day combined with the reassuring words of my parents.

I also included this piece in my Masters Degree show, that's me posing with my poster at the bottom, looking like a gimp.

An Update

Not been able to blog in ages, been so busy. Just finished my Masters and did pretty good, which is a relief. I've got myself a sweet job working as a teaching assistant at MMU on the course I graduated from only 2 summers ago, I've got my own timetabled slot with the second years and everything. I'm also volunteering one day at City College teaching photography students graphics, it doesn't even feel like work most of the time, it's such a good laugh. With this in mind I managed to last three whole days as being a non-student before starting a new course, much to my father's distress, studying for my PGCE teaching qualification so I can look to move into lecturing alongside my own practice. Our studio in Ancoats is now up and running and we seem to be working constantly, which is great, if a bit tiring. I'll pause for breath now. More stuff soon.

Oh! And if you're in Manchester you should come down to the MA show at the Holden Gallery MMU, it's on until Thursday the 20th.

WHP Horrors

Off to the warehouse project tomorrow night to see the horrors, not looked forward to a gig so much in ages.

D&AD Feature

I wrote a piece recently about OWT that would be featured on the D&AD blog. We were really flattered to be asked, it's nice to see that people take notice. If you're a D&AD member you can read the piece HERE.

OWT creative Issue #4 Direction

It's been a couple of busy months for OWT, but we're pleased to finally announce that issue #4 Direction is now on sale. It features the work of the five OWT members as well as twelve other North West creatives and their interpretation of the word 'Direction'. A lot of effort went into this issue with us clocking up over 900 individual screen-prints putting together the one hundred and twenty five issues and we're really proud of it. You can purchase issue #4 from HERE.

We'll be putting up a new call for entries for issue #5 and a review of our unbelievably successful first exhibition shortly.

OWT #3 Reality Out Now

It's been a busy couple of weeks but it's finally here. Big thanks to everyone who submitted, we're really proud of it. You can find out more about OWT from our website HERE, or if you would like a copy of the zine it is available from the OWT SHOP.

Busy

As OWTcreative's popularity grows I'm increasingly finding that the time I have to spend on other things decreases. I'm not complaining, in fact quite the opposite. The growth of OWT has amazed no one more than the OWT team. It was only just over 3 months ago that we came up with the idea and now we find ourselves with a zine stocked in Manchester and London bookshops, blogged by MTV, featured twice on the Creative Review feed and are in the midst of planning our first exhibition amongst other things. We're receiving emails all the time from people wanting to get involved or support OWT in some way, it's a really exciting time. We were also invited to give a talk to the 3rd year graphic design students, a terrifying but at the same time enjoyable experience. We've had a couple of positive messages from them, it's hard to tell if they're just being nice though!

Aside from OWT my Masters course is now in full swing. Research wise it's been a real step up from the Undergraduate course and the workload is intense, but I'm also enjoying the recommended philosophical readings (Perec, Baudrillard, Deleuze etc) as well as my own reading into the history of independent publication. I'm also on the lookout for some kind of internship/placement here in Manchester to give me some professional experience, it turns out they're hard to come by. I can't complain though, everything is good, except maybe the weather which feels more Siberian than Mancunian at the minute. Even the canal, which is more traffic cones and shopping trolleys than water, is frozen.

OWT Issue #2 Reflections Out Now

OWT Issue #2 Reflections is out now. The zine contains contributions from the whole OWT team as well as six other contributors from around the Northwest. It contains a hand-screened cover, poster and several inner spreads. We're really proud of Issue #2 and we're delighted with the high standard of contributions we received. If you would like to purchase a copy you can do so from the OWT shop All money received goes towards the printing of future OWT zines.

OWT 1 is taking shape

Everyone involved in OWT has been so busy recently but we're finally starting to see some of the results. The website is up and almost finished and issue 1 of the zine is taking shape nicely, and looking incredibly content rich if I do say so myself. It's launch date set for the 3rd of October at the Picadilly Self Publishing Fair and we'd love to see everyone there. If you're really lucky you may even receive an OWT present in the post but that's for another time. On top of all this 3 of the members of OWT each start their Master's degrees next week (an incredibly daunting but exciting notion).

If you don't know about OWT's blog check it out by clicking HERE please follow and keep updated with what's going on. In the meantime here are a few teasing photos of issue 1 being put together.

WARNING! These photos do contain a large Welshman.

New Collective...

I've recently formed a collective with a few fellow design graduates called OWT creative. We're looking forward to undertaking lots of exciting design based projects in Manchester and beyond. Please follow our new blog HERE

OWT creative

I've been busy, hence not so many blog posts, forming a collective with four of my fellow graduates. I don't want to give too much away at the minute about our plans, but we're all really excited about the coming months. Have a look at the website (it's still under construction but the blog is up and running) More soon, Peace OWT.

It's finally here...

Our end of year show opens to the public this weekend (19th). This year has flown over and it doesn't seem like two minutes ago since last year's show. It's showcasing all of the best work created this year from all the the students and really shows the diversity of the work that can fall under the d&ad name. Come down to have a look if you get chance, you can find out more information HERE