Personal written piece

Having studied Graphic design for a total of 8 years, ranging from GCSE, extended diploma and finally at Degree level I consider my self very familiar with the processes involved when designing and the considerations that must be made when creating a piece of design.<br>The 8 years of studying an art and design course has an impact on my life away from education/work, influencing my interests and thought processes. Criticality and an investigatory way of thinking has been established over the years, figuring out why Designers and Creatives have made they choices and believing no stone is left unturned in the creative world, no decision was arbitrary.<br><br>With a history on courses that entwine graphic design with traditional art , I believe in certain circumstances, combining traditional mediums of design can provide an exceptional aesthetic when combined with digital methods of design.<br>Self taught digital skills have been established to such a level of confidence where a project or brief would never be declined due to software capabilities. This freedom and expression when using design software means any ideas can be quickly transferred and created on a computer screen.<br><br>My time at university has been my most recent examples of working as part of a group or team. Plans to create a functional and operational design business with a group of other creative have been ideas that were executed to a professional level. Collaborations with other artists inside the university and even in further cities have always proven successful, enabling my to collaborate with illustrators, film makers and so on.<br><br>The ability to gather hands on feedback on my work by interviewing peers, other creatives and tutors is an ability that comes naturally and freely. Any opinion on my design outcomes and processes is something that I will always take on board and also the ability to question members of the public on how effective a piece of design would be.<br><br>Wanting to develop my knowledge of outcomes at the end of a project, I embarked on work experience at a large scale commercial printers (Evolution print, Sheffield), during my time here I worked closely with the managers of this company, got hands on with the processes involved in this large scale way of printing and witnessed the stages a design must go through to then become a final, mass printed product. This experience was massively beneficial to my journey as a designer, when a project or design is finished I now how the knowledge of how to prepare files for large runs of print and also communicating with the printing managers.<br><br>My current role of being a student ambassador at Leeds college of Art for over one and a half years, has boosted my confidence and public speaking to levels higher than ever. I find myself very comfortable talking to a range of people from those younger than me looking to study at university level to those in a higher position of authority, and even more famous designers and creative who visit the college. I am constantly commended on my levels of clarity in communication, being noted as a very helpful individual.<br><br>Competing and taking part in live briefs and competitions has broken a barrier of confidence, enabling me to source my own work, produce design for a real world audience and also interact with companies outside of my university life. The time frames, quality of work and deadlines associated with these briefs and competitions have always motivated me to complete brief professionally and to the best of my standards.<br><br>Confidence, public speaking and asking questions are abilities that come natural to me, always finding ways for other people's opinions and knowledge to benefit me as well as providing my own educated knowledge. The abilities to listen to other people and follow instructions are also crucial for working as part of a team and meeting important deadlines. Listening, conversing and taking orders from people of all levels is something I do really well, respect is something I have for other people and other people's knowledge can be crucial.<br><br>From researching styles of Graphic Design over my time in education has provided me with the skills to communicate messages effectively, even in situations where type shouldn't be used. <br>Advertising methods, design principles and theory have been researched extensively resulting in a knowledge of what methods can be best used to address an audience. <br><br>Research trips, tutor feedback and direction, investigating design styles and competing in a range of briefs has provided me with a vast knowledge of design, audience and overall communication. These are skills that will never leave me and only grow in the future. <br>Creative can be applied to most roles in the workplace and having an informed creative mind is something that I definitely feel I possess.&nbsp;

Design boards 9. Z3 Film studio branding

The brief
The brief was to design online branding for Z3 film production, a pair of film students at West London university who study film production and are looking to start their own business.
Online branding wasn't a project I had done before but I felt it important to at least have minor experience with this field as it was a large one within graphic design. Also my interests were in film and film production so it would be great for future applications.

The Research
Research into this field was inspired by previous branding and other innovative ways to design for a company. I looked into other film studios to get an idea of how they branded them selves and what was seen as professional within this industry.
I was given a lot of pointers and a brief to fulfil by the clients which I followed closely but attributed my own graphics influences as I have more experience in this field than the clients.
Idea generation
Idea generation began swiftly after research where I sketched out logos relating to the name of the company, Z3. After dozens of logos were sketched out I sent them back to the client for his feedback and approval.
Playing around with the letters and the name achieved many different styles of logos, some obviously better than others.
Development
I began to develop the better logos using illustrator, the client demanded a metallic brush effect over the logo but from my past experience researching these designs, they have a tendency to look cheap and nasty, I attempted these but the idea was to dissuade him away from these as my ideas had more longevity as a brand rather than looking cheap.

Many logos were experiment with, using brush strokes, masks and illustration styles.
Again these were sent to the client for feedback and direction to where this would lead.

Outcome

I am very pleased with the clean contemporary outcome that has been achieved. I am still waiting for Z3 to update their online presence with my branding, youtube twitter linked-in etc but they love the designs.
Business cards are a future consideration if the clients want these, they have been designed and are ready to be printed.

time plan

September - October 

Brief: Creative Networks 

Type: Competition/Collaboration (Alex Phipps) 

Completed 

November - December 

Brief: Will's Branding 

Type: Live client brief/External collaboration 

Completed 

Brief: Cocoon 

Type: Self directed/Worked Individually

Completed 

January - February  

I concentrated mostly on my dissertation. 

February - April

Brief: IFB2016 Icons

Type: Job/Live/Worked Individually

Completed 

February - March 

Brief: SIA's (The Specialist Institution Awards)

Type: Competition/Worked Individually

Completed 

Brief: End of Year Show 1.0

Type: Competition/Collaboration (Alex Phipps) 

Completed 

Brief: Razzle Dazzle Ship

Not Completed 

(Unfortunately I was unable to under take this brief as planned due to winning the EOYS and gaining a job working on IFB2016 so my IFB2016 icons replaced this brief)

March

Brief: End of Year Show 2.0

Type: Live/Collaboration (Alex Phipps and Peter & Paul) 

Completed 

March - April 

Brief: YCN Royal Opera House

Type: Competition/Worked Individually

Completed 

Brief: Photography Zine

Type: Live client brief/External collaboration 

Completed 

May

Brief: Milk Brief

Type: Self directed/Worked Individually

Completed 

Evaluation 

Overall I stuck to my plan however due to gaining a job I was unable to start one of the briefs I had planned, the job as a graphic designer meant I worked on live briefs and I simply replaced my live brief I had in work with the self directed brief I had made for this module, overall I'd say I managed my time well and depute winning the EOYS which meant more time was taken up regarding my plan which was unforeseen I still managed to work hard enough to stick to the plan of achieving 10 rather substantial briefs. 

OUGD603 EXTENDED PRACTICE Statement of intent

OUGD603 EXTENDED PRACTICE

Statement of intent

Brief 1: Creative networks

Brief 2: LCA triptych 

Brief 3: Clockwork orange penguin book cover

Brief 4: End of year show

Brief 5: Colours may vary

Brief 6: YCN Independence Day 2 campaign

Brief 7: James bond posters

Brief 8: BMX Manchester Campaign

Brief 9: Z3 Film production studio Branding

Statement of intent

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 1: Creative networks

Competition – Collaboration – Live brief

Both Jamie Smith and I shall tackle the creative networks brief, we have chosen to collaborate on this brief due to our joint interests in Creative networks, our fast, efficient methodical way of working and individual skills we can both bring to the team.

Collaborative briefs will build my portfolio evidencing how I can work well as part of a team, whilst designating roles and successfully managing another’s and mine time.

Live briefs will show I have confidence in my design skills to the extent of designing for large scale city wide campaigns to a successful design company.

An experimental approach shall take place, creating more interactive design pieces, rather than static 2D posters as usual.

Our research shall begin by looking into previous LCA creative networks branding, other universities visiting professional’s campaigns and generally successful ways to brand and advertise a visiting professional night in a unique way.

Our design process will be influenced by stylish, contemporary design combined with concept and as much interactivity as possible.

Regular meetings and crits will take place throughout the process of designing for this competition brief, discussions with tutors and members of LCA’s marketing.

Statement of intent

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 2: LCA triptych 

Live brief

With triptych being a very open and interpretive brief the extents of this are completely up to me as a designer. I ensure that a piece of design will be created that reflected my creative interests and sends a positive message that communicates the mantras of LCA BAGD, as this poster could represent the course.

The brief will be approached with the best intentions, creating a piece that I am proud of and will also represent the area of BAGD in LCA correctly, also being posted to instagram, representing me as a designer on social media.

Documentation will take place on my blog and also through design boards, explaining research, ideas, development and the final piece in context.

As this is a small scale brief, discussions with friends and peers will take place to ensure my design is relevant and then finally a submission to the curator of the brief will finalise the relevance of my design.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 3: Clockwork orange penguin book cover

Competition – Live brief

Designing a book cover will show how my design skills have grown since level 5 (as that is when I last designed a book cover), also how to design commercially onto a piece that could potentially be displayed and sold publically in book shops across the world, and finally represent how I can use the plot of a story or other messages to influence my design and give me direction.

Experimental approaches will include a breakdown and evaluation of the book’s story, gathering information in a primary manner. Investigating the writer’s messages and how he interprets the ideas surrounding the story and finally choosing the method/style of design that best reflects the story of this book.

The design process will be documented using blog posts and finally design boards, evidencing the reasons why and why not an idea was not followed, and summarising the final design to explain why that was the best avenue to pursue.

Crits and tutorials will take place with friends, peers and course tutors, taking influence from how others are completing this brief and the rules that the penguin competition states the designer must follow.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 4: End of year show

Competition – Live brief

Competition – Collaboration – Live brief – Visiting professional

Both Jamie Smith and I shall tackle the end of year show, we have chosen to collaborate on this brief due to our previous methodical approach working as a team in creative networks, our fast, efficient way of working and individual skills we can both bring to the team.

Live briefs will show I have confidence in my design skills to the extent of designing for large scale city wide campaigns to a successful design company.

An experimental approach shall take place, creating more interactive 2D paper pieces, compared to normally working digitally and very flat.

Regular meetings and crits will take place throughout the process of designing for this competition brief, discussions with tutors, members of LCA’s marketing team and potentially Peter & Paul design agency.

Our research shall begin by looking into previous LCA creative networks branding, other universities exhibition branding and generally successful ways to brand and advertise an exhibition in a unique way.

Our design process will be influenced by stylish, contemporary design combined with concept and as much interactivity as possible.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 5: Colours may vary

Competition – Live brief

Live brief – Visiting professional – External exhibition

The completed brief could fit in my portfolio (which is my main focus for level six) as a means of displaying my experimental side, the fact that I haven’t lost hands on traditional skills and also how I am willing to leave my comfort zone, using all of my skills and attributes to create and design digitally. 

This brief shall be tackled as a method of integrating more with Leeds’ design scene, hopefully getting my name out there by exhibiting my print in Colours may vary through Leeds print festival whilst printing and becoming comfortable using G.F smith stocks.

This brief will contain an experimental approach for me due to the fact that I have got hands on with traditional ways of printing since Level four of the course, these skills have drifted way from my initial skill set and I generally work digitally for most briefs, using traditional ways of printing could unlock newer methods for me to design and other ways around briefs.

Working process shall be documented via blog posts, design boards and finally a visit to the exhibition to see my final piece as part of the collection.

Crits and discussions with other students will take place including advice with printed textiles students onto how to print in traditional ways. Finally discussions with my tutor will take place ensuring my design fits the brief and will be exhibited at colours may vary.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 6: YCN Independence Day 2 campaign

Competition – Collaboration – Live brief

Having developed a growing interest in film and film poster campaigns this brief sounds perfect for building the portfolio I intend to have by the end of the course.

Submitting to a large, creditable competition will also look professional on my CV, showing how I have confidence in my designs and can get my work into the professional world.

Choosing to collaborate with Aaron Major, a second year Graphic Design student with a history in intricate and experimental print will enable us as a team to create designs that are not limited by printed materials.

I have experience will large campaigns and an interest in film, collectively we have both studied and designed for many years, working together in the past successfully.

Work will be documented via a blog, design boards and finally a presentation that will be submitted to YCN along with our final designs.

Discussions will take place amongst the group, with peers and tutors and also with current design professionals such as Lee Goater, asking for advice, feedback and direction with our campaign.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 7: James bond posters

Independent brief – extension on essay – EOYS submission

This brief will expand the outcome of my dissertation response. Making use of LCA’s recourses to create a hand made looking series of prints off the back of the topic discussed in my essay.

I currently have the idea of expanding this as a resolution to my end of year show submission, this brief will reflect my growing interest in film poster design loosely entwined with the concepts and key theories founded from the research in my Context of practice module.

The process of design will replicate the process used in my dissertation response, researching into the films, designing an appropriate digital response and then printing/ illustrating these using the vinyl-plotting machine found in the print room.

This process isn’t one I’ve seen used before as part of LCA’s Graphic design course therefore conveying a unique approach and creating an innovative piece that represents my skills and interests alongside LCA’s facilities.

My working practice shall be blogged and then collated into design boards, whilst then receiving feedback and advice from the back of the end of year show.

Crits and tutorials will take place through the development of these posters also discussions with my course tutor will be had to explain the relevance and functionality of displaying this in the exhibition.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 8: BMX Manchester Campaign

Work experience – Live brief – Collaborative

This brief took place at Rockfield media as part of a pitch to the Manchester BMX Company. As I arrived graphic designer Jamie and the name Xraces had been firmly put in place had already developed the brand.

The task now was to create an advertising campaign off the back of this brand that would be found over Manchester promoting this BMX event in 2017.

This brief suited my design future as I have an interest in Ad campaigns and as this stage was the career I felt I wanted to go into.

Working under a boss and being managed was an unusual process to the previous university briefs I had tackled this year, but this was a vital part of agency life.

Research will be made into finding the most effective way to design for this campaign, including sports concepts and other successful advertising campaigns. Also paying a massive interest to target market, trends in design and tone of voice.

The project shall be thoroughly blogged as part of the module along with design boards for final submission. This piece will take part of my portfolio due to the professional experience and exposure it will gain for me.

On going discussions and feedback took place between the boss of the company, the account handler who would pitch the brief and myself with Jamie, who were generating concepts and designing for the project.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 9: Z3 Film production studio Branding

Live brief – External

This brief is one that I sourced my self, contacting students at other universities I managed to source a brief to brand Z3’s online social media. The client studies at the University of West London therefore this is a great piece of work to get my name out there, designing for a client in a city other than Leeds.

Working with film is an area of interest to me, hence the relevance of this brief. Branding is not particularly my strong point therefore the final year of university is a perfect time to improve this.

It will be useful for me to gain connections with film producers and any one in the art/design industry for my future career, any outside influence is greatly valued by me.

Research and discussions with the client will take place to ensure this branding is unique to Z3 and stands along from other film production studios.

Online social media presence and branding is not a field I am familiar with so this will be a new challenge for me but I will learn skills that I don’t currently have.

Work will be documented via my blog and finally design boards, along side conversations with the client and feedback from peers and tutors.

The project will be time managed to ensure I meet deadlines with modules and also the client.

OUGD603 EXTENDED PRACTICE Evaluations

OUGD603 EXTENDED PRACTICE

Evaluations

Brief 1: Creative networks

Brief 2: LCA triptych 

Brief 3: Clockwork orange penguin book cover

Brief 4: End of year show

Brief 5: Colours may vary

Brief 6: YCN Independence Day 2 campaign

Brief 7: James bond posters

Brief 8: BMX Manchester Campaign

Brief 9: Z3 Film production studio Branding

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 1: Creative networks

Competition – Collaboration – Live brief

The subject matter for this brief was a competition for pitching to design for the creative networks nights for the rest of the year.

Campaigns for both Daft punk visited and also Andrew graham Dixon were to be designed for.

The marketing team at LCA who were in charge of the creative networks nights briefed us.

We approached this brief by researching previous design campaigns for creative networks, looking into their success where the designers went right and wrong.

Working together with Jamie we approached these briefs as conceptually as possible, trying to apply a theme and concept to designs that would resonate across Daft punk and Andrew Greyham Dixon as a personality.

Conclusively, the brief was a great addition to my portfolio, getting commercial advertising/marketing work in there. I feel the Andrew Greyham Dixon side of the brief let us down. It was hard to think of concepts to apply to him as a personality as he has a range of expertise.

I guess the reason we didn’t win the pitch was due to not designing successfully for the main visitor.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 2: LCA triptych 

Live brief

Conclusively, Triptych went unsuccessfully, missing the deadline as part of a team evidenced how I should have jumped ship when the team were not coming up with ideas and were preoccupied with other projects.

I was pleased with my design despite how vague it may seem.

The brief wont be taking place in my portfolio as the project was rather unprofessional and the design doesn’t communicate masses of graphic design skills which I have learnt over my education in design.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 3: Clockwork orange penguin book cover

Competition – Live brief

I feel the outcome for my clockwork orange brief went very successfully, managing to design using my own style and concepts, fulfilling a professional feeling final outcome.

Comments have been made on the piece that without the bold use of orange the title is lost and the audience would feel ‘ripped off’ for buying the book without the colour. Part of my design was to stray away from the orange colour, not necessarily seeing no relation of orange and the plot of the story.

I feel reasons why I did not win the competition were due to final quality of the product, towards the end of the design process the title was rushed and not executed as well as it could have.

I hope the use of colour grey communicates the grittiness of the tale successfully and overall the book can be conveyed without the use of orange.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 4: End of year show

Competition – Live brief

Competition – Collaboration – Live brief – Visiting professional

Mine and Jamie’s process when designing for the EOYS went successfully, completing a design with a concept we were both pleased with and felt commercially viable.

The design began to become rushed towards the later stages, we felt more was possible than we did manage to achieve.

Our design made use of claiming this year’s show would be better than any previous shows and ripping up the previous branding to convey hierarchy of this year’s show.

I guess this conveys a level of destruction, which may have been why we did not win the competition, defaming previous students. Also our poster didn’t represent the entire talents at LCA, mainly just conveying graphic design with the use of previous posters.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 5: Colours may vary

Competition – Live brief

Live brief – Visiting professional – External exhibition

Experimenting with traditional print methods was relieving as part of this year’s module, after completing various digital design briefs along the way the use of traditional printing was refreshing.

The print was not the most visually appealing at the exhibition, but I feel it made very good use of unique printing methods.

The message may have been lost and certain viewers could misunderstand the relations between the colour of the stock and the sweets.

Fundamentally, the piece will not be taking part of my portfolio due to a disconnection between my other pieces of design and the career/future I intend to go into doesn’t require much use of traditional print. Also the quality of the prints could subtract from my portfolio, not achieving the clean and professional look I am intending to convey.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 6: YCN Independence Day 2 campaign

Competition – Collaboration – Live brief

Collaborating with Aaron Major went successfully, having completed the brief to a standard we were happy with. I do feel I carried him through parts of it, with my design skills overshadowing his, but as an overview the brief meant more to my progression than it did his.

We haven’t yet heard back from YCN, so I do not know the results of that competition.

The brief will be taking place in my portfolio if I can find a visually appealing way to communicate the messages. The problem with the ambitious design projects as part of the brief is that they were mocked up and generally just ideas to convey, therefore the designs are more explanatory than visually stunning.

I learnt various pieces of information when designing on this brief and working under YCN that will all help my progression in the future.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 7: James bond posters

Independent brief – extension on essay – EOYS submission

The way this brief expanded on my dissertation piece in such a successful way I am pleased with.

Comments have been made on how the concept doesn’t relate to my dissertation but I guess the brief used the theories and opinions learnt from my essay research and put them into practice redesigning Michael Gillet’s own posters, which are very derogatory and make use of objectifying women.

The final A2 prints came out in excellent quality, which I am very happy with. It was great to make use of LCA’s other equipment and getting hands on with modern design technology.

I am yet decided if the pieces fit into my portfolio, as the concept is hard to explain and quite detached from the design pieces. All the justifications are hard to make, such as why it has been sketched with pen, why the posters still contain females etc.

The piece will be submitted to the end of year show purely because I feel the piece will be of amazingly quality presented onto A0 size on a wall, this piece will be different to most other work in the exhibition.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 8: BMX Manchester Campaign

Work experience – Live brief – Collaborative

This brief went amazingly and has excited me to start work at Rockfield media. Collaborating with Jamie went very successfully in this instance whilst having feedback and direction from the boss of the project.

This piece will be involved in my portfolio, if not one of the main displays in there due to how it conveys successful team work, a good quality visual outcome,  a real world commercial piece that shall be advertised in Manchester etc.

Working with interesting briefs, getting pieces of my work out there in the real world and building up an impressive portfolio are my aims for my time at rock field media and if this brief is anything to go on, I should achieve those.

OUGD603 Extended Practice

Brief 9: Z3 Film production studio Branding

Live brief – External

Completing a live brief for young professionals was an exciting project. I had not had much experience designing branding for online use, which this project entailed, and feel I did this successfully and branded the company with a professional identity.

The piece wont be taking place in my portfolio due to not being very conceptually driven and also straying away from my career goals which don’t involve branding.

The time scale for the brief was not set as the clients were not urgently requiring these designs therefore I left it towards the last brief of the year.

Design boards 1. Creative networks

The brief
A brief that was being tackled by Rockfield media and also the project I began working on the day I arrived as part of a team. The branding for a large scale Manchester BMX racing competition had already been completed with the name being developed from Manchester Grands to Manchester X races. The advertising campaign was the next stage of this brief, something being tackled by me and Jamie Smith, where I'd be taking an advertising role and working with Jamie to design.
The problem en counted by Rockfield was that the competitors in the competition couldn't be named Xracers as it would sound as if they were retired BMXers, they were looking for suggestions to replace the name to which I commented "they could be called Xtreme races, Xplosive racers, Xcting races" etc, which the idea went down amazingly, forming the basis for an entire advertising campaign.
Essentially branding BMX as a UK sport due to the fact that BMX isn't massively popular and doesn't have any immediate colours or styles associated with the sport.
The Research
Research commenced into BMX branding, looking at previous examples, main focuses included BMX at the olympics which uses a lot of red and union jack colours. Generally BMX and skating has a relationship with graffiti culuture and a strong connection to rock/punk music, since Xraces was going to be a commercial family friendly event in Manchester looking to draw in existing and new fans to the event, strong use of graffiti or a punk style could scare away a certain audience.

It was stated how the image of certain BMX racers should be used, one of the racers being Liam Phillips as he is currently a massive name in UK BMX and also his dad would be at the pitch for the brief therefore would be very relatable for him to see.

Emphasis was made on the racers appearing fluid and in motion on the posters to display how exciting the sport could be.
Research took place into other currently popular UK sports that worked across as wide audience of men and women and the design surrounding these, football was the obvious choice for UK sports, being respected by a massive audience and earning masses of money worldwide.
Idea generation
The colours black and yellow stood out massively as no other sports made obvious use of this colour scheme, black and yellow signified the colours of a warning which younger fans found to be really cool and also yellow was extremely eye catching and related to punk culture subtly.

Fluidity and movement in sports was looked into and it was discovered that FIFA Ultimate team had great branding, was really popular and also seen as a cool and contemporary game for younger people to play. FIFA's Ultimate team's branding revolved around gold colours which obviously in sport represented winners and the elite, these colours were implemented in conjunction with the BMX racers but didn't work as successfully as the original black and gold colour scheme.

Development
Ongoing feedback was being given between me, Jamie and the boss who was overlooking us completeing the project. The was the collaboration between me and Jamie took place is I would research ideas and concepts, begin to mock them up using software and then feed the ideas to Jamie who would then develop them using his more improved design skills.
Together we work well as a team, working fast and efficiently managing to complete the entire campaign after two days on the brief.

Feedback and comments between us, the boss and the account handler (who would be pictching the brief) kept the project rolling and the brief being honed down to suit the clients.

As the designs came to an ultimate stage I was the one mocking up the designs onto billboards and poster located found all over Manchester, these were then mounted onto boards which would be taken into the pitch with the client.

Outcome

The final designs for this brief were some that I am very pleased with and as a team we were all happy with the outcomes.
The pitch to the client went amazingly and Rockfield have been selected to complete the designs therefore we will be revisiting this brief later in the year and the advertising campaign created by me and Jamie will be up all over Manchester center, including their biggest central shopping center, Manchester Arndale.

The design for the campaign will be developed with not many aesthetic changes being made, but with more BMX riders being involved and then websites, tickets etc being created.

PPP overview

Business cards and personal branding

Throughout my time on the course I've always known a role in an agency would be right for me in comparison to working as a freelance designer. An agency feels relevant to me due to the capacity to learn from mentors and people more experienced in the fields such as bosses etc.

For this reason the traditional business card never had much relevance to me as I don't aim to seek freelance work or individual design projects, for this reason I treat business cards as more of a calling card, a way for a potential employer to remember my name and my details, hence the design of my Level 6 personal branding.

My business cards and personal branding for level 6 were developed from the ideas created in level 5. Knowing I would treat this design as a calling card the concepts were always limited and began to get exhausted in level 5, but I feel the design I created last year was a good representation of my design attributes, therefore recycled and developed it to use this year.

The business cards and logo/mark created work well in both monotone, black and white, and also with colour. A black background with a white mark and white text represents me the best possible ways due to the minimalism, professionalism and smartness associated with those clean use of colours.

Web landing page 

The logo mark was easily transferable over to my website, where I created a landing page style theme inspired by Lee Goater's own practice. The meeting and conversations with him were very inspiring and I personally consider his career to be very successful with the clients he has worked with and the large scale commercial work he has produced. In ways I would like my own career to compared to his in the large scale scope of his projects, the audience reached and the high profile clients he has had the privilege to work with. 

The landing page website would be a simple way for anyone interested to view a sample of my portfolio, easily contact me, see how I am professional and also see the projects I like to work with.

Avenir was the chosen font for my logo and business cards. As a designer and fan of design I have always preferred bolder, smart, clean fonts, hence my choice in this situation.

Mailer

A mailer could be considered for me in the future when I am looking to progress my career. Sending a mailer and a cover letter type of document to companies I am interested in, with my expanded professional portfolio. Creating a mailer would have been my plan of action if I didn't land on my feet with Rockfield media and gain a job offer earlier this year. 

Creative CV

I have never personally liked the idea of Creative CVs for designers to use, but I see the functionality in them, with a designer being able to display their layout skills and other design features in a document that promotes their experience and history. 

The feature of rating ones Adobe suite capabilities out of 10 or 100, is laughable to me. How can a designer claim they are a 9/10 using illustrator when it is such a vast and immersive piece of software.
If for example a famous, successful designer such as Shepard Fairy would be a 10/10 on illustrator then for a graduate to claim they were a 9/10 coveys a very high level of arrogance, which I do not feel is a good trait to have on a CV or for any graduate to have.

The decision to have my CV in brighter colours compared to my personal branding came from the reason that in black and white or vice versa the CV would be very bold and harsh on the eye.

Cyan is a very trusting colour, as learnt from colour theory.

Level 6's engagement

External

The external part of this statement will contain any professionals who I contacted outside of university.

Milkshake brief

Towards the beginning of the year I responded to a post where the company Tropic foods were looking for a graphic design to design for one of their products.

I enquired as it was early in the year and I was seeking out more live briefs to complete.

The brief turned out to be part of designing packaging for a milkshake brand. 

Packing is not generally my forte but I was willing to attempt it due to to broaden my portfolio and because I like milkshake.

It turned out the client of this brief purely wanted me to copy an existing Oreo logo so he could use the design as the logo for his company. I was not happy with this request, or his lack of professionalism, therefore declined the brief.

I considered designing milkshake packing off the back of this as one of my brief, using screen printing methods and classic glass milk bottles, I never completed this brief due to my interests changing to films and advertising and it not fitting in my portfolio. 

Warp studios

I contacted Warp Studios after Josh from marketing informed me of their presence in Sheffield. It was difficult tracking down anyone higher than the receptionist and she recommended to email any questions to the bosses and they'd reply after the weekend, but I intended to ask if a short notice work placement would be possible over easter.

I emailed and discussed my portfolio but nothing came of that discussion, my portfolio was underdeveloped at that stage and contained no film work.

Rockfield media

I commenced with a week of work experience at Rockfield media, creating campaigns and taking part in idea generation with Jamie Smith.

After 2 days at the company and designing a BMX brief for Manchester the boss decided to offer me a full time job which begins at the end of May, 2 days after final hand in.

A situation I am really pleased with due to beginning a junior account handling role, working with clients, pitches, social media, and also idea generation for campaigns etc etc, a field I feel I will excel in and find very motivating and rewarding.

The boss commented on how myself and Jamie have great synergy working together and complete briefs professionally and methodically, therefore both working at the company in different roles should be very positive. 

NQ photography photoshoots

Visitng NQ photography studio in Manchester to get involved with fashion model photoshoots has introduced me to a new side of business and the working world I hadn't encounted.

Also the reality of leaving university and not having easy, free access to facilities such as photostudios and high quality printers.

It has also inspired me to enquire about starting a small business, looking into the details involved with this and how achievable it would be.

Z3 Film production

Working with a pair of students from West London who operate under the name Z3 film production has broadened my horizons and enabled me to get work in other parts of the UK.

I find it very beneficial building connections and relationships with anyone, not knowing what situation I may be in in the future and who may have design work or a job vacancy that could suit me.

Internal

Student ambassador role

Having been in the student ambassador role for over year and a half now (since September 2015) I have had a lot of encounters with members of the marketing team such as Andrew Crask and Emma Morris 

Emma Morris from Marketing

Emma Morris seems to really value my opinions on student life and also studying at LCA, having emailed my many times for a quotes on interviews at art university, to feature my work in the Guardian and various other interview type things.

All of which I took as a confidence boost in terms of getting my design profile out into the world 

Josh from Marketing

Conversations with Josh in marketing have been interesting and insightful as he is a few years older than me and working in a similar role that I could potentially be interested in. 

When I informed him that I was looking for experience in a design studio that worked with film and film campaigns, he told me about Warp films in Sheffield, which was discussed in my presentation.

Fabio and David in Advertising

I approached these two advertising tutors as the year progressed, after the dissertation period due to the fact that I realised advertising suited me as a career slightly more than graphic design, as covered in my presentation.

When I asked for recommendation of studios in Leeds or Sheffield. Their advice was to leave Sheffield and go to Manchester or London. Fabio explained how he would have a think about agencies in Leeds and Sheffield and email me his findings, he never managed that.

John Watters

John Watters as been thoroughly useful throughout the 3 years with anecdotes and confidence boosting pieces of information. 

Lee Goater

I approached these two advertising tutors as the year progressed, after the dissertation period due to the fact that I realised advertising suited me as a career slightly more than graphic design, as covered in my presentation.

Ingrid Career assistance

I booked a session with Ingrid earlier this year to gain some direction and form a list of objectives to get my design motivation back after the dissertation stage. Not much was gained from this session, the very obvious basics which I already knew and the website Prospects.co.uk was recommended, not a very useful website from what I found.

Nice to have the option to use her skills though, but I knew most of it.

Maraid

Maraid were a very unusual couple of designers compared to the image and stereotype that someone would have. They talked in a very monotone and under confident way not conveying much passion for being a freelance designer.

Another reason re-enforcing why freelance wouldn't be for me.

DBA

The design business association were different to any other company that had visited our course in the past. The idea of their visit being very formal and dragons den like excited me as that was an unfamiliar situation from our course.

Their influence and feedback upon the project was very useful and different, but in a presentation like that with straight talking blunt people, I feel I thrive in, being able to give and receive feedback in a very straight talking way.