Yesterday myself and Lauren from Uni had another little meet up and decided to visit the DJCAD/Dundee University Masters Degree Show. I originally had heard about the show last week when Aaron had sent me the link for it and I instantly wanted to have a look at it! 

Within the show there was work on display from the MSC Animation & Visualization, MFA Art & Humanities, MFA Art, Society & Publics, MSC Forensic Art and MSC Medical Art courses. I was mostly interested in seeing the MFA displays though as I've been considering maybe doing my Masters after I finish Uni next year or the year after. But in general, I was pretty blown away by all the work on display from the courses and obviously a lot of work went into each project.

If you're in Dundee or around the area up until the 29th of August I would definitely recommend checking it out as you may get some inspiration yourself! 

Images below include artwork by the following people:

Samantha Wilson (1&2), Dina Mack (3),  Jae Ferguson (4), Laura Hope (5) Lynda Watson (6), Annina Engelbrecht (7), Penelope Matheson and Ayesha Juma (8)

A few months ago I was sent the Graphic Design: The New Basics* by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips to have a read of and then review for you guys! 

The book sets about to try and explain the basic terminology and understanding of graphic design. Throughout the entire book it covers a total of 22 topics including the likes of Formstorming, Color, Layers and Pattern. Each topic has an introduction to that terminology and then further using visual examples of student and professional work to explain how these tools can be used. 

Throughout reading the book I thought it was great tool for designs, whether that's those just starting out, in the midst of studies or those already professionally working. Personally for myself being someone who is in the middle of studying it is a great tool to have to give a bit of a refresher for all the knowledge and also be able to have a reliable source of information if I need to reference something related it in my dissertation this year. 

One problem I had with the book was that I did find it hard to continue reading for long periods of time, usually reading a chapter at a time. However, with this book mainly focusing on the visuals it still doesn't take too long to get through. So I also could look back and either reread certain sections again or look up the designs created I used marker tabs to keep track of these and trust me it's pretty full of them now! 

Obviously this book is aimed towards those wanting to gain knowledge about graphic design but a large amount of the information in the book also relates to the same terminology used within fashion design, art and surface pattern so would also recommend it to anybody studying/working in those fields as well as graphic designers. 

*Disclaimer: I was sent this book free of charge by the . This does not in any way affect my opinions. All views and thoughts are my own

It's been a while since my last inspirations post so I felt it was time to share a new one with all my current and recent inspirations! Within this update I don't have any Blogs/Vlogs just due to the fact I haven't really been reading blogs too much nor watching much on YouTube! What I do have instead are tumblr inspirations as that's the corner of the internet I've been hiding in the past few months. 

Portraiture- It's been a long time since I have sat and drawn people but I really want to start doing this again so I can mix it in with more of my own artwork.

Journal- I have just ordered a midori travellers notebook so have been looking for inspiration in ways to set it out. I have also got a moleskine coming to use for my honours project so journals are a big thing for me right now!

Anna Jane Seane- I do just love Seane's work but I also love how much detail there is within side this piece in particular. I also love the kind of mythical/spiritual vibe throughout her work. 

Autumn Outfits- This year the UK haven't really had a very striking Summer so I'm looking forward to Autumn coming and being able to layer up and be cosy!

Colourful Dip Dyes- Charli (from Charli Marie TV) shared a review & process of how she made her hair colourful like this a few months ago but I still love it. I really want to do something similar with mine!

Rings/Suns&Moons- This is a bit of a different one for me as I never really wear rings but I've been seeing so many adorable ones as of late that I want to pick up! Also suns, stars, moons, generally anything astrological has been appearing in my life so much lately!

 Cocktails- All I'm going to say is that this sounds amazing and I think I'm going to have to make a ton of cocktails for my 21st next year (if not sooner)!

Rocky Road Pancakes- Since my last visit to the Pancake Place was a while ago I've been trying to make my own versions since!

Chicken Ramen- I tried chicken ramen for the first time a few months ago and I've been craving it ever since so I'm deffo needing to try a recipe for it!

Nature- My tumblr has always been very 'nature' driven but lately it's gone a bit OTT! I'm craving the outdoors so much (ignore the irony), plus it's making me want to go travel a-lot!

Moon- As I said before I've been loving the moon a lot as well, but I've also been doing a lot of my 'creating' when the moons came up. 

Tattoos- I still haven't got me original tattoo design done yet but I've been seeing so many on tumblr and it's giving me loads of ideas for other ones I want to get done!

Design Books- Since reading this post by Polly, my design book has grown so much! They've been a massive inspiration and will help so much for Uni this year!

Mark Making- I've been looking at and watching quite a few videos that kind of encourage(?) mark making and I can't wait to try some of the techniques like this one out!

Once again it's been a while since I've posted anything on here. I think I'm still in a place where I'm deciding what direction I want to take with this blog and trying to find the motivation and inspiration to actually move it forward. I've also still been trying to get out of this rut or block that I've been in since April time-ish. But for the mean time I'm enjoying just sharing little updates and photo diaries!

Anyway, last week I spotted something for the first time this Summer- a ladybug! I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in saying this but ladybugs are one of my favourite little bugs. So last week with camera in hand, I followed Bob around my garden, snapping away to see what he got up to! 

Have you spotted any ladybugs this year?