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What kind of spatial designer am I? #4 Grant Armstrong

Posted: 14/05/21 09:22 | 2 Comments

Studying Interior Design, Spatial Design, Interior Architecture – or any kind of design of the built environment – can lead to many different careers. In this series of blog posts we are looking at the experience and careers of different design professionals and finding out what inspired them to study in the first place. Our fourth design professional is Grant Armstrong, an experienced supervising art director and production designer for film and television.

In conversation: OCA student Mel Brown & tutor Bryan Eccleshall

creativity sustaining practice

Posted: 06/05/21 09:40 | 0 Comments

As a tutor that’s seen a lot of these projects, it’s perhaps important to mention that no two projects are the same and there isn’t really a ‘right’ answer. The important thing to take from this is that a complex project doesn’t arrive fully-formed but is developed over time. The final format (at least for now) of this work is a recreation of Mel’s teenage bedroom – something that she couldn’t have imagined when she started.

OCA Textiles: Observational drawing as research

creativity experimentation

Posted: 05/05/21 09:31 | 0 Comments

Observational drawing can be a great start to any project research. By observing and responding to a subject matter directly, qualities can literally be “drawn out” that you can use to develop into new ideas. It is interesting to see the variety of different approaches there are to observational drawing.

Student stories: Martine Elliott

creativity engaging sustaining practice

Posted: 29/04/21 09:24 | 2 Comments

This painting ‘Cabin Crew 20 minutes to Landing’ was created during the lockdown in that studio from many photographs and the memories from coming into land after days away on long haul trips. I painted it for my fourth assignment Practice of Painting and decided to submit it to Grayson Perry’s Art Club, the travel episode.

The ergonomics of interiors

creativity

Posted: 28/04/21 09:11 | 3 Comments

Now a lot of times, when we say the word ergonomics, we might think of funky looking desk chairs or computer equipment belonging to someone who takes their job very seriously. But for an interior designer, ergonomics needs to mean so much more than that.

Art-Scientific: A student collective. Are you interested?

collaboration creativity cross discipline engagement

Posted: 26/04/21 09:32 | 12 Comments

Art-Scientific is a cross-discipline collective recently set up by a group of OCA students interested in exploring scientific themes within their art practice. The group is open to any student with an interest in exploring links and connections between art and science.

Student work: Suzanne Conboy-Hill in conversation with Hayley Lock

careers creativity sustaining practice

Posted: 22/04/21 09:36 | 5 Comments

OCA student Suzanne Conboy-Hill has negotiated the use of one of her art works by the internationally renowned company Swatch®. The story touches on so many aspects of life as a working artist; the power of Instagram for Visual Art, copyright and intellectual property, pricing and contracts, that I asked Suzanne and her tutor Hayley Lock to share a conversation about Suzanne’s experience with Swatch®.

Old and new: Riddle Songs

creativity innovation

Posted: 03/11/20 09:21 | 1 Comments

Working with ancient texts and dead languages might give one cause enough to steer away, presenting the composer with all sorts of challenges in interpretation and performance. Add into the mix historical instrumentation and such projects could easily lose focus, become too academically dry, or even a pastiche of itself. The key, in my opinion, to the successful combination of old and new, is that the composer needs to respect what both sides have to offer any potential soundworld and then somehow keep them in balance.

What is experimental writing? Part 2: Poetry

creativity

Posted: 12/10/20 09:14 | 2 Comments

In that sense, any kind of creative writing – a poem, a play, a story, etc. – is an experiment. A person sets about creating something utterly new, something that hasn’t existed before, and has often very little idea what the end product will be like. But I believe that some kinds of writing are more ‘experimental’ than others.

Explore #WeAreOCA

Browsing Category:

creativity

What kind of spatial designer am I? #4 Grant Armstrong

In conversation: OCA student Mel Brown & tutor Bryan Eccleshall

OCA Textiles: Observational drawing as research

Student stories: Martine Elliott

The ergonomics of interiors

Art-Scientific: A student collective. Are you interested?

Student work: Suzanne Conboy-Hill in conversation with Hayley Lock

Old and new: Riddle Songs

Virtual study event: Paradise, Garden.

What is experimental writing? Part 2: Poetry