officalheydenjh

[officalheydenjh]

MIXED MEDIA EXPERIMENTS

15/04/2024

I decided to do some experimenting with a variety of materials that I hadn't used for this project yet. I had bought a sticker book from a charity shop recently and was very eager to use them and so I decided to create two collage pieces with them. I also used coloured card to create text and odd little shapes around the page. I used sketching pens, colouring pencils, soft pastels, paint pens and biros to fill in the blank spaces to add interest and busyness to the piece.

I used the same materials for this collage also but widened the colour palette. With my first collage, I used mainly red, orange, yellow and black as these were the colours I wanted to focus on in the duration of my project. However, I also wanted to try out more colours and to incorporate colours more associated with the pride movement.

I also sketched out some of the photos I had taken in the photography studio which allowed me to test out my ability to construct human features with paint and pastel. I'm not used to doing this, but I feel that for my first proper attempt in a long while, it was quite successful.

[officalheydenjh]

POSTER CREATION

19/04/2024

I wanted to test different effects and compositions for my poster making.

[officalheydenjh]

OFFICAL BRIEF

10/04/2024

My official brief for this project will be:

"How can I effectively share a unifying message to trans people?"

My intention for this project will be to reach out directly to other trans people. I have noticed that some of the activism and equality work I have seen has been aimed toward oppressors, which can and has been effective in the past but I wanted to create work for specifically trans people.

[officalheydenjh]

AT-HOME SCREEN PRINTING

19/04/2024

Due to the difficulty I was having with the booking system for screen printing (due to a tight schedule on my part), I decided to buy a screen printing kit that I found for £15 at the imperial war museum whilst visiting with my CTS2 class.

I first turned my design into a vector image which made it easier to translate into screen print. I used tracing paper to trace around the shapes so I could cut the vinyl as accurately as possible.

After cutting the vinyl, I followed the instructions and stuck it onto the mesh screen. I had to take away some of the detail, unfortunately, as it was very intricate and would become too delicate even with an exacto knife. I then used the excess vinyl to create a border which allowed my design to be a bit more compact.

I then went to several charity shops to look for plain t-shirts, which turned out to be quite a challenge. A lot of the shirts I found were ludicrously expensive. I settled for 3-4 plain shirts I found that ranged from £3-£4.50 each. It was really important that I didn't buy these shirts new as I wanted to keep everything as sustainable as possible.

Here are my progression pictures (featuring my assistant):

I cleaned the screen as best as I could but the leaflet that came with the kit assured that the ghost from the print wouldn't affect future prints.

Overall, I think the prints were quite successful (apart from the very last one as the t-shirt was quite stretched)! If I were to do this again, I would duplicate the text so it would add a bit more interest.

#art #screenprinting #ual

[officalheydenjh]

10/04/2024

CREATIVE BRIEF CREATION

We were shown a short film about creative briefs and how important they are to the artistic process. The interviewees went in depth about what they expect from a brief and what creates a strong and engaging brief. These are some notes I made:

In this film, briefs were described in many different ways. Some see them as pragmatic and concrete and others see them as romantic and inspiring.

#Youtube

[officalheydenjh]

08/04/2024

Today, I did a photoshoot in one of the studio facilities in LCC. The technicians were very helpful with lighting and camera settings :)

I will post some of the unedited images once I have curated them a bit!

[officalheydenjh]

ZINE DESIGN

25/03/2024

A rough-ish draft of my zine design!

[officalheydenjh]

LINO EXPERIMENTATION

16/03/2024

I had been thinking about using Lino printing for my zine. Lino is one of my favourite methods because it gives such a rich texture. I really enjoy how rough-looking lino printing can be.

To test this, I created a stamp of the transgender symbol which turned out okay- I feel it may have been too small and would've been more effective if it had been larger.

I then tested one of the ideas I had for a page in my zine. This page would be pointing out the invasion of privacy that trans people are expected to be okay with simply because of their identity. I would like to incorporate this idea but I will develop the design a bit more as its currently not very interesting to look at.

[officalheydenjh]

IDENTITY AND PLACE: POSTER MOCK-UPS/EXPERIMENTATION

15/03/2024

I took a few of my slogans from my idea generation phase into illustrator. I used a typeface called "Queering" created by Adam Nac. It was made to emulate the activism posters used to empower the LGBT community. This typeface was used on the cover of "The Transgender Issue" by Shon Faye.

I tested my ideas using various colours and layouts.

I ended with four slogans that I believe will demonstrate my ideas well.

I want to incorporate photography in my poster designs so I have booked the LCC photography studio to create images. For now though, I have "recycled" some images I had taken a few years ago in a studio environment.

I tested my idea to include photography by using a clipping mask to turn my images into text and by using image as a backdrop for my text.

I had a lot of difficulty with the clipping masks on illustrator. I have been a procreate user for many years and haven't really delved into adobe in the same way but I decided I would when starting my second year.

I eventually managed to use the clipping masks in the way I wanted to achieve my desired look.

I then took one of my images and turned it into a backdrop. I added a black and white filter onto the image and then used halftone to add some texture. I also feel that the use of halftone offers an homage to posters made in the 80s.

I think I want to use clipping masks and image as backdrops for my final outcomes because both offer an interesting effect.

[officalheydenjh]

BADGE CREATION

IDENTITY AND PLACE

I decided to take some of my slogans and turn them into badge designs :)

I have used the website sticker mule to order 10 badges with this design! If I am happy with the quality I will order 10 of each design.

[officalheydenjh]

MOCK-UP WORKSHOP

06/03/2024

We were asked to create some very rough/early mock-ups of our project outcomes. Here is how mine came out!

[officalheydenjh]

LIFE DRAWINGS

UNIT ENQUIRY

[officalheydenjh]

FURTHER PROGRESSION ON SSP

04/03/2024

After my tutorial with Johnny, I went down to the photography department and booked a studio slot to take place on 08/04/2024.

I booked the larger studio to ensure I would have room for people who would be photographed that day.

[officalheydenjh]

ZINE TEST

SPACE AND AUTHORSHIP

29/02/2024

These are some experiments I did with zine creation using some of the sayings and comments I have come up with.

[officalheydenjh]

LOCATION VISIT: QUEER BRITAIN

03/03/2024

Queer Britain was the first LGBT museum to open in the UK which opened its doors in may 2022.

This is an image of their community board where visitors can write on magnets and stick them to the mural, I added to this of course;

This museum was a really pleasant visit, the staff were so nice and friendly and the exhibition was great too.

It was also nice to see some Welsh representation involved too as the LGBT community and Welsh community have leaned on each other in the past. It’s also a huge intersectionality of my identity as a Welsh trans man. The museum also had a few books available to read, one of which I recognised from the author’s name; Jamie Raines. As a young trans person, he was one of my favourite YouTuber’s and really helped me understand my identity.

This museum, despite being as small as it was, had so many examples of activism in art. This was very helpful in furthering my understanding of activism in art.

[officalheydenjh]

TYPE MASKING TEST

IDENTITY AND PLACE

01/03/2024

My idea for my final outcome is to create a design that will be made into series of posters and t-shirts. For this outcome, I want to use overlayed text using clipping masks. I want to use this method as it allows for some really interesting textures. I will be creating these designs in adobe illustrator.

These are the steps I took to create this effect:

I selected the boldest font I could find so that the image I used would be mostly visible

I dragged my image into illustrator

I then used the halftone effect to texturise my chosen image

I selected the text and edited image

I went into the drop down menu and selected "clipping mask -> make"

I added a colourful background to distinguish between the text and page

I decided to try this again without half toning my image:

I think this works also. I added a shape with the halftone effect just to see how it looked around the text, I think this shape would have to be full opacity without any blur to work better.

I think I want to incorporate the halftone effect in my final outcome for my design as I really enjoy the texture from it.

[officalheydenjh]

FURTHER RESEARCH

24/02/2024

I wanted to think more about radicalism as a form of activism/protest so I started to think about some of the things I saw earlier in my trans journey that stuck in my mind.

CASS BLISS

I remember seeing the response to Cass Bliss' bleeding while trans image back when I was 15. This was around the time in my life where I really struggled with my gender identity.

People were furious about Cass' message and images. They were referred to, previously, as "the period prince," and their message was that women aren't the only people who menstruate. This was also followed up by a song they created called "let us bleed" which had the same message but in the form of a song. I feel that while this was a radical way to convey the message, the execution was too crude for its time, especially when considering what state the transmasc community was in during that period. I agree with their message and I advocate for gender neutral sanitary products, as seeing feminine imagery on these, when I as a man continue to use them, make me feel uncomfortable and invalidated. Furthermore, this imagery doesn't make cisgendered women feel any better about purchasing and using these products as they are an important utility, and the usage of them does not threaten their gender identity. I feel that while this may not have been the most ideal way to spread this message, it did so regardless.

I need to pause this blog post to bring attention to some of the disturbing "related searches" I have come across in order to provide evidence of the oppression of trans people. While searching for trans liberation stunts, these were some of the related searches:

"Scientific revolt against gender ideology"

"Is gender dysphoria a mental disorder?"

"If gender is a social construct then why transition?"

"Why is transgenderism being normalised?"

Even whilst researching this topic, it is quite affecting. It has been difficult to interact with gender identity online as there is such a toxic culture surrounding what should be normalised, and it does have lasting effects on your mental health.

Being a trans person in our current world is a constant battle. Can you imagine how exhausting it is to always wonder if the person opposite you hates you despite not knowing you? Constantly being othered, treated as a statistic, and not an actual person takes a huge toll on you. You're expected to lay down and allow people to misgender you, and talk about you with contempt without you ever getting upset. I remember seeing a meme about this which actually really resonated with me, as strange as it sounds. This is mainly due to the irony of how the right wing will claim that trans people are "overly sensitive" and can't handle "criticism" but then cry from the roof tops when a trans person retaliates against discriminatory comments.

KEITH HARING

Keith Haring was a New York based artist with a bold and vibrant style. He is one of my personal favourite artists. He was a gay man living during the AIDS crisis which took upwards of 300,000 lives in the USA alone, he contracted the disease himself in 1988, he started creating imagery and work to bring awareness to the disease and to dispel some misconceptions about it in 1989. This started with a mural which read: "todos juntos podemos parar el sida"