Evaluation of the course so far.

This course has been epic! Free studio space, complete freedom, workshop chucked in and gives you an excuse not to do too much shifts at work! Love it. I chose business before this coure for a month because I felt I could do this on my own and had looked at building my own studio because renting was way way too much of an expense but after that failed I really was shit up creek without a padle (I think is the saying). And after visiting FAD while enrolled on business I saw all the cool creative stuff that I was missing out on and just had to come back. That why I say at the start about free workshop and studio space, I was thinking of this from a business mind and what I needed and what I didn't want ti pay for it. 

I've had so much help with the business side of things as well, we had Alister Clarke come in and give us a quick lecture on owning your own business, which got me keen and perked up. I spoke to him after about how to get a grant and he passed he on to Catherine Pearson who helped me get a grant for a pop up shop in Camden but after much deliberation I decided my studies and uni application was important and I wouldn't give tine to do it. So Ki decided to set a shop up onLine, a proper one where you can buy from, get a proper name and logo design and business cards. The grant also slowed for website fees equipment costs and stocking costs, and ice got to tell you it's been great! Pesci g someone else's money, loved it. 

Though out the course I have been trying liars of upcycling ideas amfim still pushing the idea of upcycling bring a genre in art and not just a phase. 

I've made cotton reel lamps which were a hit until it came to stability which I had a few tries at and still working on. Made some robots which are a hit because they are yo do with 'smile in the mind'which is were you make a emotion connection with the viewer and make them 'smile in the mind' so I've been told by my manager who studied graphics design which is all about 'smile in the mind'. I made my fan chair which I love, I think it's photographed perfectly, so strong, ambitions and has a successful pose about it. I have challenged the 'maybes' I've had in the past and just going full steam ahead. 

Met some cracking people and love the diverse grapevine we have. 

Camera lamps

I found great pleasure in making these camera lamps after the first one last year, I love the response, and how recognisable they are. Two were donations and there rest came from antique shops and a mad EBay bid were I had to drive around Manchester for hours on Christmas Eve to pick them up! If that does show passion and commitment I don't know what else I can do!

I decided to put the lightbulb where the lense would have been. I thought this would be a quick and easy project but is it ever with upcycling?! As with all thing up cycled, the artist has to keep as much as the original piece as possible to appear authentic. 

The whole camera had to be taken apart as the lens aperture is never big enough for a light fitting. There were lots of problems that had to be overcome as the camera was never meant to be used as a light fitting! 

I had to drill the back of the camera to enable the cable to come through. It was a very tedious job and took nearly all day to get every single little tiny screw out of the camera and then put it all back together. Once I had done that, some things still didn't fit so then I sawed through another part of the camera which allowed me to fit the light bulb holder and bulb in, all the while trying keep as much as the origin astetics for it to remain recognisable. 

There was also trouble .with the actual electrics, I love being the jack of all trades and last year I went over to the electrics building and learnt a little about electrics and how to wiring works in a lamp so I could write up my own so I've done a few in that time since then but this once lamp had blown ip and the buter was planning to sue me for my ten pound payslip! I now get all of my electrics PAT tested before selling but still Eire them up myself before going to be tested.

I used To buy all of gage electrics one by one so bulb holder, wiring plug and switch but then I saw that in IKEA (try not to be a fan) do a lamp that has all the wiring in, switch, plug and plastic lamp attached (which can easily snap off) for just £3.00! WOWZA, you can get that anywhere else, the bulb holder alone is £3.00 at B&Q. Do some of the lamps now have the IKEA wiring in the, to cut costs. 

I love fat I haven't had to changed the original astetics and compromise on too much of the design. 

The camera lamp.
I didnt have to look up an artists for thisinspiration to me it was obvious and the bulb should go there and i always think functionally wit design.
I have found someone who is doing camera lamps also, she is from Texas and loves doing lots of different things and doesnt really have a niche, she like to share all her discoveries with the world and post tutrials of how to do them.
Her way of doing them is simple but the astethics dont look as origional and doesnt keep the orgional deatures of the camera, she takes the back off the caera to make it easier to feed the wire to the lens of the cammera for the bulb which bi dont totally agree with because you lose the orgional look of the product and it doesnt look like acamera anymore. Sje uses the same bulbs as me, ive seen some people using leds, which hold right in the lens but agree with the globe bulb being a prominant feature to the camera.

Heres the link to her tutorial. http://pandoras-craftbox.com/2013/07/diy-vintage-camera-tripod-lamp.html

Personal Staement

This is my personal statement.
Bayle Band was the main stably in my granddad repair kit. I come from generations of resourceful farmers from both the white and red rose counties. Although we have left the farmyard behind the resourcefulness has remained genetically embedded. The drive to problem solve and reuse motivates and informs everything I do creatively. My parents has been an inspiration, my mum can dress up a piece of poo, making a monstrosity into a masterpiece. And dad? Constructive and creative, he's shown me the lay of the land and how to work hard. I am a very driven young woman who see' s beauty in the ugliest of objects, who's grown up in a creative environment surrounded by creative people. I want to go to university to continue homing my skills, develop my creative intelligence, meet like-minded people and gain a degree. The locations of my chosen institution also is a motivating force and will give me the opportunity to make new contact and net work, an ability my tutors say I excel at. This will also help me develop the professional side of my practice and important aspect of the designer's life. After completing the level three I thought I wanted to open my own business, following in both of my parents footsteps as they made the overnighter account sessions and longs days work look easy. I have took a dip in the business pool trying to open a business in my local area and online. I am a wiz at networking and can bleed dry the tightest of pockets. I managed to get a stall at an antique centre free of charge, have exhibited at The Whitaker Gallery and Museum, have made connections so I could pillage abandoned buildings and have won the Anges Eccles award at Blackburn College. From the FAD up to date I've gained the chance to take part in a residential trip forcing me to work in the landscape with natural materials. The visiting lectures have given me insight into how professional artists and designers can work across several fields. Within 3D I am continuing on my mission to up cycle and redefine undesirable disposed of objects. Problem solving is a big part of my production, with every piece throwing up different issues. I have an ongoing battle with function over design or design over function and which should override the other. I work best with ready-mades, things that have had a previous life or purpose as their age and distress is an inspiration. My inspiration in anchored in design. I appreciate strong structures informed by industrial design. I find designers with a background in architecture produce fantastic furniture, transferring their aesthetic across disciplines, my favourite are the retro and iconic styles George Nelson or Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. I also have gained inspiration from contemporary designers such as Max McMurdo, David Kemp and Paul Firbank, as they work in a similar we to me and give me hope that there's a place for me in the creative industries. Some places on the Internet you can find my work: http://alicesecowonderland.weebly.com/ http://bethanycobbfadartanddesign.blogspot.co.uk/

Interviews.

After applying for five choices I nly ended up going to two of my choices interviews because I couldn’t afford to g to them all.

Brighton

Manchester Met

Bath

Birmingham

UAL

Ichose these because ive obsessed about brighton since the UCAS fair, Manchester met sounds awesome and is like twenty mins on the motorway. Bath because it is supposed to have amaxing facilities for 3D. And Birmingham because it did the course I was determined to pick five because I played for five anyway. UAL because I wanted to see for myself, and weather I would get in.

I prioritized my interviews for just Brighton and Manchester Met, which were both in the same week one a day before the other and as Brighton was so far away I had to stay over and so moved Manchester’s to the week after.

It was going to cost like £300 on a train down and back and because my mum and dad wanted to visit Brighton anyway we all went and drove down. IT TOOK SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS… that’s mental; it doesn’t even take that long to get to France on the train…

So after so many coffee and butty stop and trying different butt workouts in the car to stop it going numb we got there and I’ve got to admit, it wasn’t what I expected it wasn’t like the Ted Baker seaside house design. It was a little grubby way outdated and everyone was dressed like they were from the nineties, double denim, the Matilda haircut…socks and sandals?! And I got looks for what I was wearing??

We went on the coldest day as well, as soon as you started walking it was that cold that just takes your breath away and thank god it wasn’t windy beside the sea! But we had a wonder, saw where the uni was and planned our route, all that first day I was shocked by the look of everything and the image I had in my head didn’t quite match up but I wanted and needed to love this place! I wasn’t feeling nervous…I didn’t until the night before when my gums just started randomly bleeding from my chewing the inside of my mouth from just thinking too much, crazy...

I really wanted to fall in love with Brighton so I walked everywhere and anywhere I could, we walked the beach, the lanes and ate really great food and shopped and just didn’t all the stuff your supposed to do in a new town. And then night fell and that’s when it started kicking in the obsession I’ve ha for months, the beauty Brighton holds, all the lanes had been lit by tiny lights scattered like firefly’s in the summer. Although it was cold I felt warm with the scenes I saw and how it felt homely for the first time. We found the best tapas bar, brumming with all kinds of people; the busiest restaurants are the best…

The next day I fell quiet, nervous and pegs to keep my eyes open because I was trying to stop my gums bleeding all night, I felt confident, I felt like I had this, tutors telling me for months I will walk this, they will tear my arm off but being sat in that building like I was an outsider in a different time zone I felt nervous. I had definitely over packed and these people can stare at me because it was like being an exhibition and they wanted to make you nervous. I was determined to speak to everyone I had the chance to, I wanted make at least one friend while I was there to make the thousand mile move easier in the summer. The first girl that came and sat down spoke to me asking what I had applied for and then this girl next to her chatted and then I thought maybe this would be that bad? But it got worse after waiting till twelve where I had been allocated an interview time they dragged us upstairs, luckily the girl I has sat with helped carry my things or I would have been screwed! We put out stuff in this room and then got divided and toured the uni; I saw the facilities they had and was getting excited about this uni once more. They took us to a house that was completely made from recycled materials, even the insulation was piled old jeans, I was thinking the whole time, this is so me, I’m the perfect student.

Then we got back and had a lecture on the success stories of Brighton University, and there were loads! I was so excited by this point to have these opportunities and teaching, the guy next to me was beaming as he had been interviewed in the morning and got told had bagged himself a place. He made me feel a little better that they would tell you there and then, great!

After the lecture we got sent away a given half an hour time slots, luckily because I lived the furthest away I was second. They got you to set your work to what you thought was your most successful piece I put mine to the fan chair because the photos were beautiful.

After half an hour it was my time, the woman came to get me and was really nice, until the interview started, the guy that interviewed me was on the phone at first which made me a little nervous, then he got off and they both looked at my work. They didn’t seem to get it, they looked and signed and nodded and were almost silent about it, that really made me nervous, I’d never had such a ‘weatfart’ reaction to my work before, someone always recognised it and had something to say… I was a little shocked and just felt drained. They asked what it was all about. Why I had done the robots? They said they didn’t get it? Why I had done the robots. Then they asked what would I do if they said ‘no more upcycling’? I answered with well I would start in the workshop, maybe with metal as in the past I have found wood very temperamental to use as I don’t feel it’s a flexible, but I want to be the jack of all trades to learns everything they had to teach me. Then they just nodded, stayed silent. I didn’t even know what I was talking about I was just so weirded out by their reaction; I mean id sent a digital portfolio down, they knew what I was bringing to the interview? But they looked at it like I’d just poo’ed on the table and gone ‘tada’. They finished after fifteen minutes with any questions? I asked if they did glass work and the woman perked up and said a firm NO. Not in my kiln… and then they said they had plenty more interviews to do and would get back to me.

After nearly eight hours getting don there they gave my fifteen mins out of the thirty I could have had. I was fuming. I just was speechless…I couldn’t understand, all these questions were whizzing round in my head, what did I say? What did I do? I didn’t even show them that! They could have seen this! I should have asked that!

I got onto the uni website and got the guys email, I felt I need to do something to say something to get my place, that interview cant of been enough. I held my head up high and had to pretend everything went okay waiting in the lobby for my folks to come, I could let of the other people waiting to interview that I didn’t get in. I got to the car, to the restaurant and then my mum finally asked what went wrong and I just burst, I was so shocked and so disappointed, all day I thought about going back to uni asking to see him again just for another five mines, I wasn’t myself in that interview, I’ve blown it.

It’s been three weeks and I have'nt heard a thing. Still gutted, I had Manchester the week after and just didn’t want to go, Manchester met was a group interview and didn’t want that reaction to happen again in front of other people interviewing, it knocked my confidence so much for them to ask that question what if we said no more upcycling? Is what I’m doing not good enough? Is it not seen as serious? I didn’t want that same question to be asked in front of people.

Anyway I got told and told to go and see, so I went to Manchester, and it poured it down on the day of my interview so I drove and then I couldn’t find an car park for life of me and I would have been late if I did park up soon. I parked in a two hour bay near the uni and legged it. Two hours will be enough?? My interview lasted for four whole hours…… £50 I got fined…I’m a student I can’t afford my daily rate of £4.00 never mind fifty! Oh well it was worth it because I loved it!

Start from the initial interview, there was five of us, all really great people who I would have chosen to have my interview with happily, they told us to stand so we could see over everyone’s work and comment if we wanted. The two interview’ees were so lush! Both my future teachers and just so smiley and welcoming. Then I had to go first, I was literally trembling, on a normal day I would have been fine, I’m usually so confident talking about my work but after Brighton and being the first up out of five was pretty nerve racking. They were so great at commenting back, there was constant dialog and got everyone to chat about it, recommending artists and asking who and why I did it. Never asked me to change what I do and were so supportive. You know like when you get so nervous but something works out so well you get that lump in your throat and yours eyes start going but it would be totally inappropriate to cry? Toes happened to me, didn’t let them know that.

I had some great people in my work, all with diverse range of work and someone was from Brighton that had come to Manchester and she was so lovely and said she had heard similar reactions from some people she knows that interviewed there. I asked f this was their first choice because I really wanted them all to pick it because they were a great bunch of people I would deffo keep in touch with in September if they came.

AND THE UNI….humanahumanahumana…. it was so lush, the spaces were vast, big and industrial, and the workshops….there’s like fifty of them! And then the win, you get like£200 on a card from materials….totally bought by all she was selling, they do glass, clay, wood, metal, concrete, what more can a girl want! The no individual studio space was a bit of a turn off but I could deal with that... this uni is awesome.

I got an email an hour after that really lifted my mood and gave me a little more confidence.

I’m torn if I was to get both offers, I love Manchester but Brighton is amazing and has so many success stories and to grow my business, London id literally half an hour on the train away. 

Ucas fair.

For people who haven’t been to a ucas fair, it is hosted in a big sweaty hall, free of charge and is a great way to get to know the university’s, collect free goody bags and loads of prospectuses. –my view anyway.

I had presumptions of what unis I wanted to go and see like UAL, Huddersfield, UCLAN, Manchester Met, but then when I got there and actually asked about the unis my views changed.

UAL – I walked up and said hi to this guy with a badge on, he did the head to toe look, I then continued to ask what kind of course do UAL do for ‘like’ 3D design, I say like in very sentence and yes, it’s a bad habit butt I’ve never had someone pull me up and correct me on it until this greased hair, skinny tie, pointy shoe’d man from UAL did. Then I lost all interest after that, bad start to the UCAS fair.

Huddersfield – Don’t do my course.

UCLAN – Don’t do my course.

Manchester Met – Was very talkative, welcoming and had the tutors there to chat to you and let you know who’s stuck teaching you for the next three years. They did loads of cool things like glasswork and work with concrete if you wish, as well as the typical 3D course basics, like woodwork, clay and metals. –winning.

Then at the end of the room was this fantastic display and it was for Brighton uni, id never thought about Brighton and never even been but the feel it had and the preconceptions I’ve heard and had about the place made me obsess over the chance to go.  So I walked up and had a chat and it sounded fabulous! 

This is the website I set up for myself; I can sell work from and publish posts to ‘world-wide-web’.

I chose the green to ecological minded and ‘Alicesecowonderland’ after my middle name and a play on words and titles, also creating recognition with my audience.

I have recently changed the name of my ‘business’ to COOANDCODESIGNS, I think it says it all, I design and my last name is Cobb, I need to promote myself and skill in a catchy name that will stick to the mind.

I had an opportunity to get involved in a ‘small business grant’. Wanted to have a try at a pop up shop in a popular quirky area, like Camden Town in London. I started what I planned to do and applied for the money for it. After researching about it, it was too much money to go down live down and do up the pop up shop so I re-thought. I thought about all the things I’ve wanted and needed for my business and wrote it down, I re-applied and got through. I was really pleased with my efforts and have already received the grant, as soon as I got it started getting things sorted, I got Ian Godfrey a work college of mine to design my Logo and business card design.

This is the final logo design and business card design, I’m really pleased with our efforts and how we managed to pull it off in two days. –teamwork!  

First logo design. Loved the antique burnt-out effect. But i
wanted to change the name to Cobbandcodesigns for a more
professional look and sound. 

Second logo design was better but too clinical for my work.
The blue wave against the yellow background reminded
me of a clinical dentist feel. straight no for that design.

Then it was clear that i needed to show what Cobbandcodesigns
mean. I decided i needed some of my work on the card and
around the logo so we came up with this design and added the
colour to match the effect of the metal. Love the design and logo.

Derick.

Derrick has been dismantled, thrown away and discarded. A lonely man who once had a spark such like a spot welder he is looking for an owner to re-light his life.

Derick has been made up from many materials I found from Bills room (the teachinition), Bill was happy to give them me for my project as he is quite a holder, and seems to keep very beautiful melts and strong materials that can be used again, that what I like about working with metals is that they are very strong with age and can be changed or aged easily.

I used the middle part of an old spot welder that had mounds of copper wrapped and knotted in the middle part of the big clump of metal, because copper in a good conductor, it took me a whole day to get that copper out, I swear there was so much, I almost took it to get weighed in at the scrap yard. Then I added the arms with was attached to some mechanism in Bills room, once I found them they were such a perfect happy accident. Then the bow tie that had Bill had a big bag of spares for the easels. At this point I was getting all excited that it was coming together perfectly and then the head. The head was the hardest most terrifying part, because inside that ball of metal was a compressed spring and no matter how much we tugged and sawed and ripped we could get it open to release the pressure, so I decided to drill into it, the outside of the head was soft metal which melted of, but the once I had got down to the spring the whole room trebled because of the harsh steel spring that was rumbling about and would not drill! So I pushed it a little further so that the head wouldn’t tilt from the shallowness and would just sit nicely. Then I felt it as too chunky and not representing a bot, it needed feet, it just looked to box’y without them, I found some old teaspoon with the tea still on in the old mechanics building and stuck them up the gaps in the spot welder part, but the gaps were wide and the spoons wouldn’t sit, so I used a block of wood to wedge the spoon handle into place and sit strong. I then continued to add more of a personality with my bot, adding a bike chain with an old little lightbulb on the end. I thought it added character, some would say a childish, sad characteristic that you want to make happy or feel emotional to.

I love the outcome and that I show off some personality and bring the viewer closer to my work by adding the characters and the emotions to the work. It means the viewer may think they can relate to the emotion or the personality or that they bond with the character. 

Keith.

Keith is an all-round lad; he loves having a laugh and always has a spring in his step. He en’gages’ with everyone all around and is always offering a helping hand’le. He is a no pressure guy and goes with the flow. He has a bouncy and strong personality and is just looking for someone to filter his days with.

I loved making Keith, it was such a happy accident and no mess project, there were a few problems (as always) to look past but he was pretty straight forward once I had all the components and just fell together almost.

The air filter and spring came from Adam, (sis’s boyfriend) and the pressure gag in one from Bill archive of exciting stock him hordes.

I think I found it easily because I had all of the stock on one day and didn’t have to wait of go find stuff to use which made it seem effortless and so smooth. I hate having half a project and no materials.

So I started with the head, I placed the pressure gage on to and tried screwing it on, I used a big bolt and a nut to keep it in place, the head moves around but won’t fall off. I tightened it with a pair of plyers to keep it in place. Then the body was already attached to the head so I placed the spring under as a joke and then it really worked and Bill said it reminded him of ‘Zebedee’ from an old programmed called ‘The Magic Roundabout’, which I watched after and found it the trippy’est thing I have ever seen and just wanted to turn it off but couldn’t… weird. So I kept the spring and then really needed arms because it was just too round without them and didn’t show enough character without them. I pondered…I walked round Bill room twice rummaging and came across these kitchen handles and asked and it turns out they were Bills old ones... told you, -horder. I came to a stump of ideas when it came to the arms because I needed it to look seamless but be story, so I tried drilling into the filter but it just kept getting caught up in the padding. So I tried sanding down the holes to make them bigger, once sanded down the handles look lifeless and just hung. So I then ripped it open with plyers, to allow room for movement and then found hybrid glue to stabilise it and now the arms can’t move, but have a pose to them that into lifeless and create a gesture for the bot to the viewer.

This bot is great for old-middle-aged people because it does remind them of the magic roundabout, creating a bridge of recognition and connection, memory and happy memories. I always seek to connect with the viewer in my work through emotion or recognition and feel I have succeeded in the bots. 

Harrison

Harrison is a bright a bubbly character who has a spring in his step.He is great with numbers and is looking for someone to 'gauge' a no pressure relationship.

I started making robots to broaden my range of sculpting to settle to argument function over design. These robots are purely for design and a non functional sculptures. I still stuck to upcycling because..in my eyes robots are Industrial and kind of 

You may be thinking about the names and the personality and looking at my with a head tilt and guilty look for thinking I'm a little crazy... But they are made as characters, as personalities and as little companants all jumbled into one thing which builds a profile, an age and a story. 

I collected all these parts from a college building that was being knocked down, the old moto machanics building where they just leave things that holo get have a use or has been outdated. I took these pieces because they had qualities to them, I don't feel I need to sketch out my ideas most of the times because I already have an image of how it's going to look in my head or an artists reference I look upon. I see these pieces and familiarise myself to the image I have set to make or the theme I have set myself and know that that could be a head or a waist. I take stud because of the chuckles or the spring because they are astectically pleasing to me, the numbers on the gages or the tightness of the curves on the springs just the sheer metal or the sketches will raise my mood and get me excited for an idea I've had for months or thought or last night. 

I respond to materials not ideas. I'm a realist and know that if I create ideas I could not have the materials for then I will be waiting for a while.  

I chose to place these materials in this way because they are recognisable, such as the pressure gage reminds me of two eyes and a nose or very round mouth, the spring that came from the old machanics building too and made great bounching legs for the character. The black box which is from a car, (i think someone called it a spark box, or battery), made a great body for the characyer to hold onto. 
Ichose to keep the orgional design with no arms because its more humble and the battery wasnt gret for screwing things into, once i had placed the legs on, the springs kept leaning forward because the head was so heavy and the bodys  wight went with the head so it had to be screwed into the wood base to keep the weight at the bottom. 

I love this new section to my portfolio and experiment and continue to make bettre and maybe even bigger bots.