Finding your way as a creative

We only wish someone had told us this when we started out as a creatives... it is about the best advice you could ever be given. Ira Glass is an American public radio personality, and host and producer of the radio and television show This American Life.

The Design Academy Eindhoven

The Design Academy Eindhoven is The Netherlands formost Design school. The school offers students an opportunity to study degrees & postgraduate studies based on a thematic approach. The design department offers themes including:

• Man And Activity
• Man And Communication
• Man And Identity
• Man And Leisure
• Man And Living
• Man And Mobility
• Man And Public Space
• Man And Well Being

The study program is based on Man's ability to relate to these needs & wishes.

To quote the school: "Man is able to adjust his environment to the needs and wishes of a certain time. This ability results in various outcomes, ranging from decadent to socially extremely relevant and from pitiful to very tasteful. Our faith is not in the hands of destiny, we ourselves have power over the possible scenarios for the future. And that is exactly what studying at Design Academy Eindhoven is all about. Design does not just involve tangible matters. It also tacklesissues such as the organisation of health care or the routingat Schiphol Airport.Design is not merely a matter of aesthetics. On the contrary. A designer searches for the right concept within a given context. This implies keeping a close eye at what happens around you. What does it teach you? What do your head, heart and intuition tell you? Can you use a different approach or an experiment to reach a revolutionary solution? Studying at Design Academy Eindhoven means getting some hard work done, developing your own methods, finding out where your strength lies. The academy will guide you through this process and challenge you to continuously work with your talents and develop your personality until you are an authentic and professional designer".

Their website is quite inspiring The Design Academy Eindhoven

Time to send us new applicants for 2012!

It's that time of the year again. We have almost finished 2011 classes and are looking at preparing for interviews for next year's NDS intake.

That got us thinking that we should be asking you to think about anyone you may know of who needs a year at 'Northies' (and don't we all!). We rely so heavily on word of mouth, and there is nothing quite like a recommendation from someone who has really seen the impact (first hand) that the NDS Folio Preparation year can have.

So do you have a friend, cousin, little sibling, friend of the family, neighbour, work mate, niece, nephew, or partner who "wants to do something in art & design but doesn't know how to get a folio together"?

We now offer Certificate IV in Design & Certificate IV in Visual Art & Contemporary Crafts. Students who get a distinction grade average in the course can bypass the ATAR for Monash Uni courses. RMIT takes some of our students into second year of Visual Communication. Victoria University now has direct entry for NDS students into Creative Industries. Monash Uni has NDS specific scholarships. We also offer the VCAL Senior Extension-Folio Enhancement that enables students to get a 10% bonus on their ATAR (ENTER) score.

Applicants must have successfully gained their VCE or VCAL Senior. We readily take on mature age students and are happy to cater for country students.

So... if you know of anyone, direct them to the NDS Folio Preparation Course blog  NDS _ How do I apply? for an application form.

or they can call us direct on 03 9478 1333

Help! Mucked up your preselection/VTAC app?

How do I apply to nds?

Need to put an art/design folio together? Mucked up your preselection/VTAC app? You need a year with us at the  NDS Folio Preparation Course! 


Things to keep in mind:

• It is a skills building Folio Preparation course
• It prepares you for entry into University, TAFE & the creative industries
• It is a 12-month course 
• You attend 4 days per week
• It is government funded (No TAFE fees)
• You have to be POST VCE/VCAL-Senior 
• We welcome mature age students
• It gives you a chance to put an awesome portfolio together
• It is a not for profit course
• We have been helping to launch art & design student’s careers for well over 20 years
• The staff at NDS is an experienced & dedicated team of artists and designers
• The course is well respected in art and design education, both secondary & tertiary
• It has dual qualifications (Certificate IV in Design or Visual Arts & VCAL Senior Extension - Folio Enhancement
• We are accepting applications now 

Jennifer Lea 'I Love Rabbits'

Jennifer Lea (Farrand) did NDS back in 2005 and went on to complete Honours in Computer Mediated Art & Multimedia in 2010. She is currently chewing on the possibility of a Diploma of Education!


Jen's blog is an eclectic mix of drawing, illustration, photography & multimedia projects all of which have their roots in simplicity & the everyday.

Jen says: "I'm an explorer armed with a camera and a lot of pens and paper" 

Check out her blog "I love Rabbits" here: I love rabbits.blogspot and her flicker photos here: Jennifer Lea's photostream 

*All Images all courtesy of Jennifer Lea with thanks Copyright Jennifer Lea

"Hood" by Ex-NDS student, Tegan Connelly

Tegan Connelly did NDS in 2005. She went on to do a bachelor of Visual Communication Design at Monash University. She is currently doing her Masters at Monash Uni. Although she studied Visual Communication, she has always had a passion for illustration and has done electives in Illustration throughout her studies. Tegan currently has an exhibition of her work at Synergy Gallery

Hood; an exhibition about a girl & a wolf

Tuesday 18-Saturday 22 October 2011

Synergy Gallery

253 High St 

Northcote Australia

http://synergygallery.blogspot.com

Hood is a showcase of Tegan's masters work for the past two years.

"Based on Red Riding Hood, It a story about about wolf with a choice, a girl with some unusual hobbies and a granny who's been there, done that and brought the tee-shirt".

Tegan's artworks are delicately hand cut illustrations of an age old story but have been offered a modern twist!

Tegan painstakingly hand cut her images in black card using a scalpel. The images float pinned above a gold background.

Alongside the large exhibited artworks is a small limited edition artists book. 

Tegan hopes to complete her Masters in April next year & then work as an Illustrator (If further study doesn't tempt her!). NDS wishes her all the best!

Our Sketchbooks have just arrived from the USA!

Fifty five cute little sketchbooks are sitting on my table awaiting our student's inspiration, fresh from The USA!  The current NDS - Folio Preparation students have won the opportunity to free entry to the 2012 Sketchbook Project, thanks to loads of people voting for us in the Sketchbook Project's  Community Challenge!. Our sketchbooks will be exhibited at The NGV's Studio - Fed square, Melbourne & internationally! Check out The Sketcbook Project and maybe sign up!

Kern Type, the kerning game

You just have to have a go at this addictive little kerning game http://type.method.ac/

It is made by Mark Mackay for Method of Action,  "peer to peer education for people wanting to get things done & learn by doing, participating & teaching". Our sort of people!

Have a look at their site here: http://method.ac/blog/design/what.html

Erik Spiekermann on Creative Block

http://spiekermann.com/en/creative-block/


Here is an excerpt from the wonderful Erik Spiekermann's blog, on Creative Block:

Creative block

"This seems to be a “trend­ing topic”. Just read about seven tips by Mark McGuin­ness to avoid Cre­ative Block (yes, cap­ti­tal­ized) and went on to look what I had writ­ten to Alex Cor­nell two years ago when he asked me “What do you do to inspire your cre­ativ­ity when you are in a rut?”

I sent my answer in a short email, with­out think­ing about it too much, men­tion­ing only six strate­gies. I have since added a sev­enth. BTW: Alex is writ­ing a book about the topic, to be pub­lished soon by Prince­ton Archi­tec­tural Press.

I have seven strate­gies for this situation:

1. Avoid Do some­thing else, wash the car, back-up your data, do errands…

2. Think Sit back and think about the issue, just let your mind go…

3. Research Look up stuff, go through your old projects, but avoid Google — it takes too long to find any­thing useful…

4. Col­lect We all have lots of stuff; there must be some­thing in there that is wait­ing to be used…

5. Sketch Draw­ing is great, even if you have no tal­ent. Just visu­al­is­ing the sim­plest things makes them come alive…

6. Decon­struct Take the prob­lem apart, look at the parts and then put them back together…

7. Talk Find some­body to talk to. I can­not really think unless I talk, and as I do, ideas come up.

I have uploaded a lit­tle brochure from the series that we pub­lish at Eden­spiek­er­mann now and again. This one fea­tures the essay by Hein­rich Kleist “On the grad­ual com­ple­tion of thoughts dur­ing speech”. The brochure has the text in Ger­man and Eng­lish, and the lan­guages start at either end of the printed piece. The PDF, there­fore, needs to be turned around to read it prop­erly in English".

*Article courtesy of Erik Spiekermann, with thanks

Our Sketchbook Project sketchbooks have arrived!

The 2012 Sketchbook Project 

WOW, our sketchbooks have finally arrived
AND
Australia's Sketchbook Project exhibition dates have been announced...

National Gallery of Victoria Studio
at Federation Square

November 10th-25th 2012

The Sketchbook Project is so excited to announce our Australian tour date for 2012! Between November 10th-25th, 2012 we will be exhibiting all books contributed by artists from Oceania as part of The Sketchbook Project at NGV Studio in Federation Square!

---

Have your book exhibited at NGV Studio in Federation Square and go on on a 13 city tour of the United States by participating in The Sketchbook Project.

The 2012 Tour

Brooklyn, NY

Boston, MA

Chicago, IL

San Francisco, CA

Atlanta, GA

Austin, TX

Los Angeles, CA

Philadelphia, PA

Portland, OR

Portland, ME

London, England*

Melbourne, Australia*

Vancouver, Canada

Toronto, Canada

 

Jacob Cox: Dusk Dweller

Duskdweller

Man Made God - mixed media piece - acrylic paint and digital Copyright Jacob Cox

Jacob Cox did NDS back in 2001. He went on to do Illustration at NMIT and is now a freelance illustrator. His images are dark and textural and bring together acrylic painting & digital techniques. Check out his blog "Duskdweller" on deviantart here: http://duskdweller.deviantart.com/#/d1x1c9x

New award in memory of Kate Derum

Kate Derum Award for Small Tapestries 2011

Kate Derum was the wife of (former) long time Northland Secondary College staff member Brian Derum. It is great to see that this award will keep Kate's memory alive and will celebrate tapestry as a wonderful artform. *The following article is courtesy of The Australian Tapestry Workshop... You can find them here: http://www.austapestry.com.au/

The Australian Tapestry Workshop Kate Derum Award has been established to honour Kate's memory and her contribution to tapestry. This non acquisitive award is open to all professional Australian and International tapestry artists. Finalists will be invited to submit a tapestry for display in an exhibition at the Australian Tapestry Workshop from 20 October - 18 November 2011.
The Kate Derum Small Tapestry Award exhibition of selected finalists opens at the ATW gallery Thursday 20th October 6pm, till Friday 18th November. 
This award has been generously funded by the Tapestry Foundation of Australia.

Please contact Sara Lindsay on slindsay@austapestry.com.au
or
call 9699 7885.