Wednesday 24 February 2010
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Sunday 21 February 2010
The use of a blog
I have found writing a blog a lot easier this year. Last year I was embarrassed to show my thought processes and ideas. I have now realised its actually a great help it lets you explain yourself, also you can keep an online recored or your inspiration etc I find it hard to keep up to date with my blog when I have a lot going on at university but I do eventually get my self up to date when I get a spare minute. I find blogging really refreshing. Whilst blogging I have often realised mistakes I have made etc which has helped me correct them before its too late. Not only do I use my blog for inspiration and PPRD but it helps me remember what I need to do next, plan my life so to speak but I do also keep a diary so my thoughts and to-do's are spread out throughout both. I find it useful looking at other designers blogs to see what is going on in the working world and what inspires them. For my Professional Project, I plan to start a new blog that is purely for that only, Im going to keep a record of my research and development
Friends of Forest Holme
So this is going back a bit to last year. Ben, Gemma and I, together worked on designing a logo for "Friends of Forest Holme" this was a very successful live brief and has led to other work for us including business cards and newsletters and potentially a website at some point.
Evaluation
We where asked to design a logo for "Friends of Forest Holme" which is a charity, this project got underway pretty quickly, but the time is first came about was summer holidays and everyone being if different places at different times made this project a long process, we managed to meet up and get most of the design done at uni and come up with a pretty strong logo, after a few emails back and forth with Debra we changed a few things including adding a tree, adding the "Friends of" into the logo as we where unsure whether we could take it out also Debra wanted the colour changed to this red/pink. Debra was one of the good clients, pretty much straight away she new what she wanted even though she had to run it past a few other people first we had no real problems and are very pleased with the final out come. Working with Debra Dennet on this logo was an honour. It was a really enjoyable and rewarding project and I feel that I have learnt a great deal from the experience.
Forest Holme have just unveiled there new logo and we where on the front page of there newsletter, slightly embarrassing but it shows are hard work payed off.
TOP FONTS OF 2009
http://www.youworkforthem.com/blog/2010/01/02/top-fonts-of-2009-ywft/
Now it would be useful to find the top fonts of 2010 :)
Metro- D&AD
RECAP- we had to Create a transport advertising poster campaign and strapline that cuts through the visual noise of the everyday commute to promote Metro newspapers. We have collectively as a group come up with a concept that hopefully answers the brief. We decided the Metro needed a personality, the idea we came up which is, using info graphics to illustrate the other uses of the Metro i.e. using it as a crowd dispersal device, using it as an umbrella when it rains etc.. we are still in talks about a strapline, which at this point in time is becoming very hard for reasons unknown, the strapline needs to reflect the slight witty humor we are going for with the illustrations but we are very concerned about making it cheesy, as whilst doing our research on the type of person that already picks up the metro, we found that the people that don't, tend not to due to being embarrassed by being seen with this "gossip mag".
This is just one of the 5 poster campaign.
This is what we have come up with so far, it is by far finished, the strap-line needs a lot of work and the typeface/typography needs polishing.
the type faces we have used so far are:
*AmplitudeWide-Regular
*Kabel Md BT
Which are the exact typefaces they use in the metro as there logo and headlines.
Evaluation
We had to Create a transport advertising poster campaign and strapline that cuts through the visual noise of the everyday commute to promote Metro newspapers. We have collectively as a group by brainstorming, come up with a concept that hopefully answers the brief. To start we decided the Metro needed a personality. Using info graphics we decided to illustrate other uses of the Metro newspaper i.e. using it as a crowd dispersal device, using it as an umbrella when it rains etc.. We are still in talks about a strapline, at the moment though we have decided on using "feel free" playing on the fact it is a free newspaper. The strapline needs to reflect the slight witty humor we are attempting with the witty personality and info graphic illustrations but we are very concerned about making it cheesy, as whilst doing our research on the type of person that already picks up the metro, we found that the people that don't, tend not to due to being embarrassed. Obviously there is always going to be a few conflicts of interest, but I think it also helps with the design to take criticism and put it into your work to achieve the best possible outcome. We are pretty happy with the concept and outcome so far, and happy were its leading. I think that this could be a very effective campaign when we finally get everything together and finished.
Folio Talk with Emma from Aquent
Emma was very inspiring and a great help, she came in to speak to us about our portfolios and design CVs. She talked to us about what makes a good and a bad folio and CV. Emma explained that we need to think about the layout and the font for our CV's, these are two very important parts to your CV, when applying for a job, the agency in which your CV was sent to wouldn't even bother reading it let alone hiring you, another thing which goes hand in hand with this is: attention to detail, including spelling, she mentioned getting at least 5 different people to read over your work and check you designs before print. These minor mistakes will be the deciding factor in whether you get the job or not! Your CV also needs to be well spaced out, clear and easy to read and kept to two pages or less, Its also important your CV gets straight to the point, no-one cares whether you got a gold medal in a race etc. This is because the reader tends to no what they need to know about you already and needs to know exactly where to look to find it.
Emma then went on to our portfolios, she had examples of good and bad portfolios and it was very clear who then would hire on the basis of just those, every piece of work we do should have a story behind it and we should not be afraid to tell it, this needs to be shown in our folios: what the client wanted, what I persuaded them to have, who was in the team, and what came out from the brief. You must always open your portfolio with a strong piece of work and have a strong piece of work at the end and one in the middle, to keep them interested throughout. This is so that when talking about your work, you can talk positively and with a constant pace in your voice. Another thing Emma made really clear was to never put a piece of work in your portfolio that you don't really like. If you are negative about it in anyway then the person you are showing it to will pick this up also and wonder why you are showing them the work in the first place. Also always ask for feedback after showing the client or potential employer your folios. Emma also mentioned getting your work photographed in context a well as showing the flats, this ads depth to your portfolio and shows the finished outcome or your design.
All in all this talk was brilliant I stayed alert throughout and will be looking forward to seeing emma again next year.
Emma then went on to our portfolios, she had examples of good and bad portfolios and it was very clear who then would hire on the basis of just those, every piece of work we do should have a story behind it and we should not be afraid to tell it, this needs to be shown in our folios: what the client wanted, what I persuaded them to have, who was in the team, and what came out from the brief. You must always open your portfolio with a strong piece of work and have a strong piece of work at the end and one in the middle, to keep them interested throughout. This is so that when talking about your work, you can talk positively and with a constant pace in your voice. Another thing Emma made really clear was to never put a piece of work in your portfolio that you don't really like. If you are negative about it in anyway then the person you are showing it to will pick this up also and wonder why you are showing them the work in the first place. Also always ask for feedback after showing the client or potential employer your folios. Emma also mentioned getting your work photographed in context a well as showing the flats, this ads depth to your portfolio and shows the finished outcome or your design.
All in all this talk was brilliant I stayed alert throughout and will be looking forward to seeing emma again next year.
Learning agreement-PROFESSIONAL PROJECT
For my Professional Project I would like to research and document the process of higher education from the viewpoint of a student. Using info graphics, I will explore and map the experiences and troubles students go through at their time at university. Universities and student services will be where the campaign will be mostly used. My target audience is students between the ages of 17- 30. A lot of the time will be spent finding different research methods and collecting information from students by arranging meetings with them over the cause of my allocated research time. I will interview students from the AUCB and other universities, also student councilors and tutors, people whom these issues also affect. How I decide on my next step will be based on the information I gather from doing my research. The methods of research I have used so far are the Internet, books and surveys (sent via Facebook, Twitter and the University email). I myself find there are a lot of obstacles to over come as a student, from juggling university work to depression/anxiety. These are problems that affect me personally and I have recently found out it is an issue that also affects almost all students, getting in the way of them being able to work to the best of their abilities. I feel that setting myself this project will improve my studies, and hopefully also help other students facing the same problems as me in the process.
My proposed vehicle for assessment is to design info graphically, a campaign that will be placed in areas such as universities around the country, towns with students, doctors surgeries etc. I will design and create a map, this map will potentially show the students that are stepping up from college to university and current students how to overcome the problems they encounter during there time at university, whatever their problems maybe. Juggling work and university work, depression, anxiety, shyness, hangovers/drugs and many more tend to be a common problem that near enough every student at some point in time will encounter. This can affect either their grades or their social life at university making them unable to live their lives to their full potential and achieve their goals. My aim is to give students a map of how to overcome and deal with these issues they may face or be facing. Choosing this topic and final outcome will help me kick-start my career in the direction I wish it to go. My dream job would be to work for a company such as "Saatchi and Saatchi", possibly the best global advertising agency in the world. I am really interested in the campaigns they have come up with, especially "The Basics for Life" campaign they designed for People in Need. This ad campaign is attention grabbing and highly effective and was the reason for me wanting to pursue a career in this field of advertising.
My proposed vehicle for assessment is to design info graphically, a campaign that will be placed in areas such as universities around the country, towns with students, doctors surgeries etc. I will design and create a map, this map will potentially show the students that are stepping up from college to university and current students how to overcome the problems they encounter during there time at university, whatever their problems maybe. Juggling work and university work, depression, anxiety, shyness, hangovers/drugs and many more tend to be a common problem that near enough every student at some point in time will encounter. This can affect either their grades or their social life at university making them unable to live their lives to their full potential and achieve their goals. My aim is to give students a map of how to overcome and deal with these issues they may face or be facing. Choosing this topic and final outcome will help me kick-start my career in the direction I wish it to go. My dream job would be to work for a company such as "Saatchi and Saatchi", possibly the best global advertising agency in the world. I am really interested in the campaigns they have come up with, especially "The Basics for Life" campaign they designed for People in Need. This ad campaign is attention grabbing and highly effective and was the reason for me wanting to pursue a career in this field of advertising.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BRJBS5S - survey for my research
Wednesday 17 February 2010
Anna Steinberg
Anna Steinberg came in to talk to us about freelance illustrator, although my aim is not tobecome an illustrator I dound her talk very interesting, Key points I picked up:
What to ask when first given a job:
- client contact details
- deadline
- subject, theme, what they will use it for
- ask where they've seen your work to establish the promotional techniques that are working.
Acceptance of commission form:
- create a template
- one for every job, keep for your records
- send the form to client with terms and conditions
Money
The fee is a difficult aspect of being a freelance designer. Negotiating a figure can be awkward but Anna assured us that we would get used to it.
Motivation
There are many distractions, there is no boss watching you work, when juggling projects and looking for work you have to be self-motivated.
Organisation
Here's a link to Anna's site. The painted illustrations are quaint, I like her style of illustration.
http://www.annasteinberg.co.uk/
What to ask when first given a job:
- client contact details
- deadline
- subject, theme, what they will use it for
- ask where they've seen your work to establish the promotional techniques that are working.
Acceptance of commission form:
- create a template
- one for every job, keep for your records
- send the form to client with terms and conditions
Money
The fee is a difficult aspect of being a freelance designer. Negotiating a figure can be awkward but Anna assured us that we would get used to it.
Motivation
There are many distractions, there is no boss watching you work, when juggling projects and looking for work you have to be self-motivated.
Organisation
Here's a link to Anna's site. The painted illustrations are quaint, I like her style of illustration.
http://www.annasteinberg.co.uk/
Monday 15 February 2010
San Serriffe
Back in the hazy, distant days of 1977, the annual japery of April Fool's Day was far from a fixture in the UK's newspapers. But then The Guardian ran a seven-page feature on the remote island nation of San Serriffe, in the Indian Ocean – complete with descriptions of its two main islands, Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse, its capital Bodoni, and its ruler, General Pica.
I happened to find this "interesting" joke whilst browsing on the Metro online newspaper (research for D&AD), most of you will see that the names are references to typographer's terminology. This joke was printed in the Guardian for april fools day but a huge number of people fell for it, aided perhaps by the fact that the paper roped in many legitimate advertisers, including Guinness and Kodak, to play along with the gag. The Guardian's office switchboard was apparently flooded with phonecalls from gullible people wanting more information on the fictitious islands.
Any way just thought Id share that with you guys before going into detail of what i've been up to the past month or so..
Im thinking the D&AD competition brief is a good place to start, basically we had to Create a transport advertising poster campaign and strapline that cuts through the visual noise of the everyday commute to promote Metro newspapers. We have collectively as a group come up with a concept that hopefully answers the brief. We decided the Metro needed a personality, the idea we came up which is, using info graphics, illustrate the other uses of the metro i.e. using it as a crowd dispersal device, using it as an umbrella when it rains etc.. we are still in talks about a strapline, which at this point in time is becoming very hard for reasons unknown, the strapline needs to reflect the slight witty humor we are going for with the illustrations but we are very concerned about making it cheesy, as whilst doing our research on the type of person that already picks up the metro, we found that the people that don't, tend not to due to being embarrassed by being seen with this "gossip mag" we are working on this today so I will keep updating on our progress.
This is a pdf we created quickly for our presentation with our initial ideas.
I happened to find this "interesting" joke whilst browsing on the Metro online newspaper (research for D&AD), most of you will see that the names are references to typographer's terminology. This joke was printed in the Guardian for april fools day but a huge number of people fell for it, aided perhaps by the fact that the paper roped in many legitimate advertisers, including Guinness and Kodak, to play along with the gag. The Guardian's office switchboard was apparently flooded with phonecalls from gullible people wanting more information on the fictitious islands.
Any way just thought Id share that with you guys before going into detail of what i've been up to the past month or so..
Im thinking the D&AD competition brief is a good place to start, basically we had to Create a transport advertising poster campaign and strapline that cuts through the visual noise of the everyday commute to promote Metro newspapers. We have collectively as a group come up with a concept that hopefully answers the brief. We decided the Metro needed a personality, the idea we came up which is, using info graphics, illustrate the other uses of the metro i.e. using it as a crowd dispersal device, using it as an umbrella when it rains etc.. we are still in talks about a strapline, which at this point in time is becoming very hard for reasons unknown, the strapline needs to reflect the slight witty humor we are going for with the illustrations but we are very concerned about making it cheesy, as whilst doing our research on the type of person that already picks up the metro, we found that the people that don't, tend not to due to being embarrassed by being seen with this "gossip mag" we are working on this today so I will keep updating on our progress.
This is a pdf we created quickly for our presentation with our initial ideas.
Dr Anna
So we had our first session of the year with Dr Anna today, a 2500 word essay is just another little task to add to the pile. The subject for the essay will tie in with my professional project; I will be researching and writing about branding and
advertising.. For Monday I must decide on a working title for my essay and choose my images and key texts.
advertising.. For Monday I must decide on a working title for my essay and choose my images and key texts.
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Charles Bukowski-also inspiration for my Professional Project
I have found myself quoting Charles Bukowski a lot lately, for those of you who don't know, Bukowski was an extremely talented American poet, novelist and short story writer from the 1920's through until 1990's when he unfortunately passed away.
I feel I can relate with a lot of the poems he wrote, this one especially:
"There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you."
Firstly, when people read this they automatically think deep and depressing when I read this I see myself, I am not a deep or depressing person in the slightest in fact i'm possibly the exact opposite. Yet I can sometime feel trapped/ anxious and not have a clue why!?
What is anxiety? I have been asking myself this for a while now, I assumed there was something missing in my life weather it be a person or a journey I hadn't yet foreseen, I have now come to the conclusion, its my lifestyle and where my priorities currently lay... I feel a shift in balance is in order for me to shift this horrible feeling!
I feel I can relate with a lot of the poems he wrote, this one especially:
"There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you."
Firstly, when people read this they automatically think deep and depressing when I read this I see myself, I am not a deep or depressing person in the slightest in fact i'm possibly the exact opposite. Yet I can sometime feel trapped/ anxious and not have a clue why!?
What is anxiety? I have been asking myself this for a while now, I assumed there was something missing in my life weather it be a person or a journey I hadn't yet foreseen, I have now come to the conclusion, its my lifestyle and where my priorities currently lay... I feel a shift in balance is in order for me to shift this horrible feeling!
Monday 1 February 2010
Something that put everything into perspective
"Dont make someone your priority, when your just there option"
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