Blog

Monday, 23 April 2012
Rory Muldoon

Earlier this year I took a trip into the city to view an up and coming painter's premier UK show. I went with an open mind (although years of art school have left me feeling slightly bitter towards the more ethereal end of the art spectrum). The work was of a good standard. There were some good ideas. Some of the pieces left me wanting more. All par for the course for a good opening show.

But I left angry.

On one of the information panels was a description of the work within. The curators, or agent, or artist himself (who writes these things?) flippantly told the story of how the artist had taken '…record covers, comics and other more mundane media and transformed it'.

When someone elevates one form of art over another it creates a class system. Art, and it's enjoyment should be about unity, not separation. Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion, but using other peoples creative platforms as the jacket that you throw down over a muddy puddle is verging on egomaniacal.

A couple of years ago we had the great opportunity to work with paper sculptor Jeff Nishinaka. He was briefed by us to create a series of sculptures that represent the work of Novae Group PLC. The final pieces were received so well by the client that senior members of the Novae team wanted to keep the sculptures and display them in their homes. Not as reminders of their day jobs, but as works of art.

And that's the great thing about creativity. It's not just the artist who is the creative but the beholder and their ability to see beauty in the work. I have no 'fine art' adorning the walls of my home because I choose other things to inspire me with (namely record covers, comics and other 'mundane media' actually…)

Monday, 27 February 2012
Rory Muldoon

Everyone has a bit of creativity inside them. Choosing what shoes to wear on a night out requires it. Picking vino from a wine list requires it. Just about any decision you can think of usually requires a bit of creative brain power.

Think about it like this. You get home from a hard day at the office and you're dog tired. As you slump down on the sofa your phone goes off. It's a text from a friend asking you to come and meet them in town for a few beers. Most of us will weigh up the pros and cons of going out/staying in. Your creative brain begins to imagine what the night out could be like, how you'll feel in the morning etc. Whilst your train of thought is based on logic (previous outings, your friends' overly ambitious consumption of alcohol), your imagination is pure creation.

Sure some people are better at expressing elements of their creativity than others but it's definitely not an exclusive character trait. Like learning a new language or studying the piano, creativity can be honed and refined. You just have to understand where you sit in the creative spectrum.

Producers
Producers produce. Artists, musicians, writers. Anyone who creates original content is a producer.

Consumers
Everyone is a creative consumer but some are better at it than others. Choosing where to extract content from (blogs, newspapers, locations etc) requires creative flexibility.

Distributors
Networks like Tumblr and Twitter have pushed the role of distributor into the spotlight. Taking the work of producers and spreading it around is bigger than it's ever been

Most of us will fall into all three categories but will probably excel in one. And there's nothing wrong with that. Understanding where you sit in the creative spectrum allows you to focus in on what your good at and what you're not.

And the best part?

All three groups rely on each other for a creative culture to flourish. Producers need consumers for their work to be appreciated and neither group can connect without the work of distributors.

Friday, 10 February 2012
Rory Muldoon

"a brand is more than a logo or a marque" is often how we start a brand presentation. Even though we try and deemphasise the role of the logo in a brand project theres no denying its power in conveying a message or thought, particularly to a board of directors who often need something tangible to rally behind.

Forpeople's recent re imagining of the British Airways crest is a great example of how much can be communicated through a graphic device. 'To fly, to serve' has long been BA's essence and, despite choosing to downplay it in recent years, has stuck as a figurehead for what the company stands for. The crest (above) depicts two creatures dancing across land and ocean - their wings outstretched, and a fleet of concordes bursting from a blazing sun. What does this communicate to me? Well, I see an organisation whose conquering of the skies has had global reach. I see an organisation approaching a new dawn and, perhaps even, an organisation harking back to former glory.

Heraldry has historically been considered a language in its own right (wikipedia has a pretty in depth write up on it here) and whilst we may have forgotten some of the intricacies involved in translation, a logo or marque can still be a powerful tool for communication.

I've had a little go at creating my own coat of arms. What does it say about me? Well that's up to you to read into.

Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Rory Muldoon

In the 1940’s an advertising exec by the name of James Webb Young published a paper on the techniques used for creating ideas. Young believed that great ideas weren't born from spontaneous eureka moments, but rather a series of exercises that anyone and everyone could follow.

The paper, ‘a technique for producing ideas’ which later went on to be published, is still widely regarded in the branding and advertising world as a must read (It can be found super cheap on amazon, and is still well worth picking up 50 years on).

Young’s first stage in the ideas process is all about data gathering. Obviously in the 1940’s this meant trawling through newspaper articles, reading books and listening to the radio. Crucially, Young makes the distinction between targeted data gathering (i.e. research on your subject matter) and contextual data gathering (anything and everything else that might have resonance). With a wealth of relevant and non relevant data at your fingertips you’re ready to start trying to piece it all together to form your idea!

Despite Young claiming his process could be used by anyone and everyone, it seems to me that a creative mind is still needed to hunt down which articles or books to read. Telling someone to effectively ‘research anything’ is a big hurdle for many to overcome. If, for example, I’m trying to come up with an ad campaign for a milkshake, which 6 books would I borrow from my local library? A book about the history of milk? An illustrated book of British dairy cows perhaps? How about Jamie Oliver's chocolate and cocoa recipes? There are literally hundreds of sources of information that could prove useful – narrowing them down is the problem!

Fortunately for us data gathering took a huge leap forward with the introduction of the internet. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg is a prime example of someone who levied the power of the net to pieced together data from multiple sources (human psychology and online networking to name just two) to form an idea.

These days data gathering is even easier. Using Twitter and RSS feeds we can literally feed ourselves a constant stream of relevant information. How do I come up with an ad campaign for a milkshake in 2011? Well one place to start would be following dairy farmers, smoothie makers, chefs and taste experts on Twitter. Add in RSS feeds from blogs like Lifehacker and I can sit back and let the ideas come to me.

Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Rory Muldoon

A good friend of mine recently found himself in need of business cards and an identity. As a birthday surprise I designed him a logo and card and had them printed and delivered to him. It's a pretty good feeling when you can positively use your profession to impact those closest to you.

Friday, 3 June 2011
Rory Muldoon

A few years ago we had the opportunity to get involved with branding one of the UK's greatest art heritage sites - the Stanley Spencer gallery. It was with a real sense of pride that we helped establish the gallery in the heart of Cookham; the home town and inspiration of Spencer.

With record prices for Stanley Spencer and L S Lowry claiming the headlines of last weeks 20th-century British Art auctions, having a solid home for Spencer's work is more important than it's ever been.

Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Rory Muldoon

More iPad doodling

Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Rory Muldoon

When creating personal work I often struggle with the inertia needed to create images in a series. Singular pictures represent far less of a commitment and the energy needed to finish them is often generated entirely from the excitement of the concept. For me, the end of one drawing usually represents a dissolving of that excitement and the motivation to continue with an idea has to be built elsewhere. With the above sketches the excitement to persist with a theme came from the tools I was using to create. Every drawing I do on the iPad still feels like a learning experience and for me it represents the perfect time to capitalize on creating that most elusive of beasts, the three part series.

NB. Number one of the series can be seen further down the blog

Thursday, 10 March 2011
Rory Muldoon

I've dabbled with a few different sketching/painting apps for the iPad but few have captured my attention long enough to create something of note. For anyone familiar with digital desktop sketching, iPad drawing can often be a frustrating experience. A stubby digit is much less precise than a mouse pointer and a lack of keyboard really starts to show when short cut commands have to be selected from a menu (or worse by using complicated finger gestures).

For me Adobe Ideas gets it right. It doesn't try to recreate a desktop drawing experience but rather limits the controls at your disposal in favour of a streamlined interface. You can't cut/paste, create perfect shapes, fill, scale or even draw straight lines. What you get in the absence of all that is a piece of software that genuinely feels intuitive to use with one finger. Above is my first crack at finger painting but already I feel pretty hooked by it.

Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Rory Muldoon

In a recent de-clutter, I found myself with 8 pieces of framing quality mountboard and decided to put them to good use. My personal brief was to use the 8 pieces of identically sized board (about 4" x 6") to create an illustrated story that could stand alone as a narrative piece. The above is just one of the scenes that will eventually make up the tragic tale of the misguided knight Sir Ralph.

Monday, 22 November 2010
Rory Muldoon

Started as a doodle, ended up as a 6 hour illustration.

Friday, 9 July 2010
Rory Muldoon

Perhaps it's my love of 16bit era video games that makes me swoon over this awesome Douglas Coupland sculpture. Seen bursting out of a Vancouver promenade via engadget.com