Dear diary, part five

July 5, 2013September 16, 2014 | Anna Cull

ABN logo – sketches and final design
Visual diary, two-page spread (student project, 2011)

logo © Access Broadcast News, 2011

I worked on this logo while I was at design school and so I included it in my exhibition but, really, it was a freelance project that I did in my ‘spare’ time. Access Broadcast News is a media-monitoring company based in Wellington. They wanted their logo to be vibrant, dynamic and creative. I liked the idea of putting a new spin on the more traditional images of news communication such as radio waves and old television sets (which is why they appear in the sketches). My final solution is a cheeky nod to the RKO radio tower. I brought it into the 21st Century by adding multi-coloured dots to represent modern fibre-optic cables.

The diary pages are from a journal I designed for my Design & Arts College exhibition in 2012. Two years of research, ideas, word maps and sketches had to be reduced to a mere 72 pages. It was no easy task but I now have a beautiful, professionally bound diary that I’ll always treasure.

Amy

July 3, 2013September 15, 2013 | Anna Cull

Amy – ink and watercolour on paper, 255 x 205 mm, 2013.

My friend Amy may have lost her fob watch. It’s not easy being a Time Lord if you can’t remember who you are. (Happy birthday, Amy.)

Shoot it, Sketch it: Going with the flow

July 1, 2013March 26, 2014 | Anna Cull

Flow – acrylic on canvas, 505 x 405 mm, 2013.

To see the photograph that inspired the painting and the poem, visit last week’s post.

Dear diary, part four

June 28, 2013July 7, 2013 | Anna Cull

Beat book cover design – sketches and layout ideas Visual diary, two-page spread (student project, 2011) — Beat book cover design – sketches and layout ideas
Visual diary, two-page spread (student project, 2011)

'A meme that launched a millions trips' – final cover design — ‘A meme that launched a millions trips’ – final cover design

For this project we had to use found images and a limited colour palette to design the cover of a book about the beat poets. My cover is a paper collage of photographs, censored texts and deconstructed poetry. The background features excerpts from the works of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs that I have retyped, rearranged, printed, torn into pieces and transferred on to paper using an acetone printing technique (the same technique I used for my book without boundaries). The acetone transfer produced a wonderful, imperfect, aged sort of effect which you can see in more detail below.

The diary pages are from a journal I put together for my Design & Arts College exhibition in 2012. Two years of research, ideas, word maps and sketches had to be reduced to a mere 72 pages. It was no easy task but I now have a beautiful, professionally bound diary that I’ll always treasure.

An old-fashioned panorama

June 26, 2013April 23, 2014 | Anna Cull

Lake Taupo, 2013 – click on the image for a slightly better view

New Zealand’s largest lake: nine photos side by side; nine distinct moments in time; one grand view.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Flow (WIP)

June 24, 2013March 26, 2014 | Anna Cull

Flow (work in progress) – acrylic on canvas

This week’s Shoot it, Sketch it painting is an abstract inspired by the reflections in the crystal clear waters of Hamurana Springs. If you’re ever anywhere near Lake Rotorua in New Zealand, this magical spot is nearby and well worth a visit. It’s the largest headspring in the North Island and is an impressive 15 metres deep (15 metres!). If you want to know more, click on this Envirohistory NZ link.

The painting is still a work in progress. I hope to have it finished next week…