NCAD brief

Xenzo

Anyone have any good tips or advice?
I'm just wondering how anyone else who's doing the brief is finding it?
I'm on the last section now with about 12 days to the deadline, its becoming quite the pain with my mocks starting soon as well!
Its got to be the most time consuming thing ever, I know they said you should spend 30 hours or something for the whole brief but thats a bit ridiculous..


I've got some portfolio things i've done uploaded in my deviantart gallery if anyones interested http://xenzo.deviantart.com

spinandscribble

i only starting working specifically on the brief two weeks ago, i think its grand, wish i'd started sooner but c'est la vie. I'm in a plc course so its handy getting daily feedback but it'll come to the crunch i'd say. Its not the only college i'm interested in but i'd still like it to be a option. there will definitely be some late nights coming up.

kanedaly60

I've been doing the brief on and off since June, but I've really only done any proper work on it in the last two weeks. I've hardly slept or done homework, and I've still got to finish half the sheets. :S I'm starting to panic!

spinandscribble

don't panic, seems you've alot of the background work done, just focus on what needs to be done and set yourself a schedule. I'm pretty much just hoping to focus alot of a few things and just tick the boxes on some.

Xenzo

Yeah same with me i've been working on it on and off since june but the last month or so been working alot harder with it. Havn't been doing any study at all, its difficult mixing both!

Xenzo

spinandscribble wrote: »

i only starting working specifically on the brief two weeks ago, i think its grand, wish i'd started sooner but c'est la vie. I'm in a plc course so its handy getting daily feedback but it'll come to the crunch i'd say. Its not the only college i'm interested in but i'd still like it to be a option. there will definitely be some late nights coming up.

Wow I couldn't imagine trying to get the whole thing done in two weeks that must be a lot of pressure!?

spinandscribble

well i'm in a full time plc course, so nothing else is in the way, plus i have been working on two of the objects for months.

Xenzo

spinandscribble wrote: »

well i'm in a full time plc course, so nothing else is in the way, plus i have been working on two of the objects for months.

Yeah well thats cool it would be so much easier just been able to focus on the portfolio. What courses are you applying for?

spinandscribble

edinburgh, lsad, galway and ncad.

Mark Douglas

Hi Xenzo
I appreciate what your going through right now as I have done the brief myself and know the deadline is looming. I run portfolio preparation courses, with specific knowledge of the NCAD brief, so if you would like some help finishing the work - look me up www.myartclass.ie.
Best wishes
Mark

Xenzo

Mark Douglas wrote: »

Hi Xenzo
I appreciate what your going through right now as I have done the brief myself and know the deadline is looming. I run portfolio preparation courses, with specific knowledge of the NCAD brief, so if you would like some help finishing the work - look me up www.myartclass.ie.
Best wishes
Mark

Thanks Mark appreciate it!:)

kanedaly60

How heavy can it be again? I nearly broke an arm plodding mine up and down the stairs. :S

Xenzo

kanedaly60 wrote: »

How heavy can it be again? I nearly broke an arm plodding mine up and down the stairs. :S

The maximum weight is 10 kilos mate. Have you got much left to do?

kanedaly60

Is it definitely? Oh dear... fecking portfolio case alone weights 3kg... I've got all the sheets pretty much done, just four to touch up and I've gotta fix up my notebooks. How about you?

Chorcai

Anyone else find they just did endless amount of sticking photo's+prints down for memories ?

Emmpty

The brief has swallowed up my life for the last two months or so and it seems never ending. I've got loads of notebook stuff done but haven't a clue how to do the worksheets, are they supposed to be kinda like prep sheets or what?

Chorcai

Emmpty wrote: »

The brief has swallowed up my life for the last two months or so and it seems never ending. I've got loads of notebook stuff done but haven't a clue how to do the worksheets, are they supposed to be kinda like prep sheets or what?

Yea you kinda put lots of ideas/ cuttings/ collage/ drawings/ very short and to the point notes/ etc on to a sheet ie A1/2

Emmpty

Crap thats what I've been putting in the notebook. I think I've been doing this arseways. But would it really matter once the ideas are good?

Chorcai

Emmpty wrote: »

Crap thats what I've been putting in the notebook. I think I've been doing this arseways. But would it really matter once the ideas are good?

Not really cause everything relates to your worksheet, Im only going on what we have been told, but then again the brief is so fookin vage its anyone guess as to what is right/wrong should be done/not

Xenzo

Emmpty wrote: »

Crap thats what I've been putting in the notebook. I think I've been doing this arseways. But would it really matter once the ideas are good?

As long as you've got how you came up with your ideas in your notebook and how you explored them etc you should be fine

Xenzo

kanedaly60 wrote: »

Is it definitely? Oh dear... fecking portfolio case alone weights 3kg... I've got all the sheets pretty much done, just four to touch up and I've gotta fix up my notebooks. How about you?

Yeah I still gotta weigh my case should be ok tho:) I've just got my notebook now really to finish(I kind of neglected it) and a couple of other bits here and there:) Yeah nice one man its nice having that pressure off your shoulders isn't it? I'll be dropping mine in on Friday afternoon with my mate who is also doing it.

spinandscribble

does anyone know how i can use a video i made on a mac fit the formatting?

kanedaly60

It has to be in quicktime format, yes? Did you make it on imovie?

Chorcai

Got this email from IDAT, fecking laughed when I read it

"What if I have prepared a 'special project' portfolio for NCAD - do I have to prepare a second portfolio for IADT?

Some institutions now limit you to the completion of a “special project” as the only content for your portfolio. At DIT and IADT, we do not ask for a “special project” because we recognize that every applicant is different, and as such the portfolio should show your individual abilities, interests, and readiness to join one of our innovative programmes.

If you have completed a “special project”, or you are working on one – that’s fine. If you are pleased with it, do include it in your portfolio. But please remember, we want to see the work that clearly shows you are ready for the exciting, individual opportunities offered by our programmes."

sligo.

hello there! im a 4th year student in sligo (obviously:L) so i will have all this ahead of me next year!! id love 2 go 2 NCAD! last week seeing as i was on my hols i took part of the brief you guys did. it was in section c...make a map of your face! i just attacked it really and did it all in 1 week, 2 worksheets. did any of you do the same part by any chance? i should put up pictures of my worksheets i was thinkin of doing "half destroyed" this week....ideas?!!

spinandscribble

sligo. wrote: »

hello there! im a 4th year student in sligo (obviously:L) so i will have all this ahead of me next year!! id love 2 go 2 NCAD! last week seeing as i was on my hols i took part of the brief you guys did. it was in section c...make a map of your face! i just attacked it really and did it all in 1 week, 2 worksheets. did any of you do the same part by any chance? i should put up pictures of my worksheets i was thinkin of doing "half destroyed" this week....ideas?!!

while its nice to practice, the brief we did will be useless to you if you try and complete it as they release a new one each year. so until 6th year you will not have the right brief for your entry. I just did the brief and was accepted with a good score so heres some advise i have if you'd like some.

its all about discovering your objects, exploring them and the ideas that arise from them. Start with an object that interests you. For example I had chicken feet as one object. The textures, shapes, meaning and what it reminded me of, made it an object with a long life span. studying objects isn't about lots of "finished" pencil drawings of it from a foot away, you need to fill pages with studies of tone, contour, colour, texture ect you can use any medium you want to do this. through this you'll see different things coming through, reminding you of things, take pictures or notes of these things, record them in a book as you go along, the more unlikely the better. If you get into the habit now, in 4th year, you'll find the brief easy when it's your time.

I'd recommend practicing on your drawing and painting skills and try to get them to a higher standard. Even if you're great now and everyone says so you can always improve. There's no point settling.

It would also be good to experiment with different media/materials, photography, video, stop motion, print, making clothes, clay, jelly, sand, lights, sellotape, anything. I think this is important and can show a love of learning. Plus its fun!

I loved the part of the brief that was section B (i think thats what its called) where you take one object and make it take on aspects of another and vice versa.

Edit: Oh half destroyed That was great, had a very interesting time with it. lol Probably my favorite part of my whole portfolio

sligo.

thanks for replying spinandscribble! i'll take all your advice on board as someone who has been through this already:D congrats on getting in...i'm determined to work for this now!

I loved the part of the brief that was section B (i think thats what its called) where you take one object and make it take on aspects of another and vice versa.

you know for that section your on about taking two objects and merging them together, well how did you go about it? do you have a wild imagination? or could you make it up mostly from what you observed? im just interested:o i could be still asking you questions this time next year:P

spinandscribble

I wouldn't consider my imagination "wild" but i really like thinking, I over think like crazy lol.

The work sheets for section be is just that. I'll give you an idea of one of my sheets. an
egg taking on aspects of a camera.
-I made a pinhole camera in the shape of an egg, then took pictures of what a chicken might take photos of (market in town as if a chicken was on holiday for the day)
- Made a musical instrument out of an egg by punching holes in it and experimented with the sounds it could made. an artistic instrument the same way a camera is also one.
- A camera holds information so what if an egg held information? fragile egg? fragile information? I carefully filled an egg with little notes on information that was fragile on a string through a small hole and recorded it as i pulled it out.

There were other concepts that I just drew, collaged, made notes or diagrams for on that specific sheet. Thats basically how I approached those sheets, sometimes trying to actually make my ideas real and messing around with how it would work and other times just explaining other ideas. Really just filling the sheets but not just with the first thing that came into my head just putting the more developed ideas down. Honestly though out of the 6 sheets for that section I tossed two after NCAD for my next interview.

sligo.

yeah i suppose if you think about things enough and tease out all the options you could get from something. because really i don't have a deep imagination haha:) did you make many 3D objects as you did yur portfolio spinandscribble? and what about these visual notebooks? are they just like sketchpads with lots of sketches/notes and thoughts in them? did you have many of these notebooks?

spinandscribble

A few 3d, I do remember everyone saying to do more painting to me, I assumed I'd get a low score because I didn't have much, but I had one strong painting and a few little bits.
While I did try to follow advise about the brief I knew I actually had Intermedia at ECA as my first choice. I had an idea of what they wanted by going to the open day and by emailing a staff member so when I was doing the brief I tried to steer my work to suit.

I had maybe 3 ideas/sketch books by then, feb 5th but I could only include two due to weight restrictions. For ECA I had 5, lol I went into overload when I heard I got an interview lol. They are meant to be you exploring your ideas and tbh everyones looks different. I write alot of notes, thoughts and collage images, put photos in it, quick drawings, studies ect. when you're making 3d work its useful for taking measurements and making plans.

The books are important to show how your work develops, lol was so annoyed I couldn't include more for NCAD in the time but thankfully it didn't go against me.

sligo.

so did you do exactly the amount of sheets and worksheets they asked for? or did you add in any extra bits? (apart from the notebooks) yeah obviously they liked what they saw anyways, congrats again!:D