OUGD602 | Studio Brief 01 - Brief Analysis & Considerations

BRIEF -

'Produce a range of self promotional material for delivery through print and/or electronic media as appropriate to your individual professional and design practice.

To include:

• Print based portfolio 
• Appropriate online presence (may include social media)
• Self promotion material (business cards, letterheads, creative cvs, stationary etc.) and methods (mail shots, websites, blogs. etc.)'

The brief states that the promotional material should be created with personal practice in mind. The main aim of my personal branding will be to attract/appeal to design studios based in Liverpool. Therefore, the material will primarily be used for job applications and networking purposes. With this in mind, a strong CV and portfolio (including print and digital for various applications) will be prioritized, followed by an online presence (online portfolio, and Twitter).


'You may be good, you may be the best and you might be exactly what the world is looking for, but you need to tel the world you exist.

Developing an effective design presence requires a clear sense of what you want/need to communicate about yourself combined with an informed understanding of what your potential clients, employers or collaborators expect to see. Consider the following questions ...

The brief also states that what potential employers want to see should be considered. Reflecting on this, it would be expected that potential employers would want to see a demonstration of professionalism, skill, innovation and strong presentation as well as a general engagement/interest in the creative industry. 

What do you want/need to say about yourself? 

• A communication of the design that I enjoy to make as well as the design I am capable of creating.
• Professionalism/sophistication
• Care in detail/presentation
• Skill and awareness of graphic design theory
• I would like to emphasise my motivation and organisational skills
• I would also like to emphasise my love for the subject

What makes you "YOU" and how do you communicate this?

• This will be covered in detail later

Who is your audience? What do they expect to see and what do they want to see it? What are they looking for?

• Covered earlier

Do you tailor your material to specific audiences or aim to create a uniform identity and how will your audience/s receive your material? (consider humour, sophistication, individuality or convention)'

• I plan to tailor my portfolio to general design studios in Liverpool. 
• In contrast to previous years, I will not make business cards. This is because I rarely found the opportunity to use them. Therefore, my focus will be on making a well presented print portfolio that will be convenient for storage (flat publication). This is because during the CV workshop, it was recommended to keep any collateral flat as employers usually find it more inconvenient. I do however need to find a way to stand out in this format, perhaps through providing a gift? 

OUGD602 | Studio Brief 02 - Career Track Tuesdays - Volunteering and Professional Awareness

I did not attend this session with a great interest in volunteering, however the speaker opened my mind to how volunteering can lead to employment. He described how he had never applied for a job as volunteering roles had always lead to employment in one way or another. Pros of volunteering included how many events only take up a few days and therefore are not too much of a commitment during a job search. He also provided an excellent list of events that we could potentially volunteer for. I plan to utilise this strategy if job searching in Liverpool becomes difficult.

The second part of the session explored professional awareness and raised many issues that I had not considered. Important points gathered from this were as follows

-Employers often have biases that can affect an applicants chances e.g. a weak handshake. These should be researched before any application/job hunt.
-Research into the company is extremely important.
-Ensure your CV is up to date.
-Keep up to date with news within the industry to impress potential employers, especially news about the company.
-Be highly aware of codes of conduct for the company e.g. appearance.
-Anything posted on to social media is within the public domain which means not just your friends will be able to see it in certain circumstances. Be highly aware of what you post on any social media as this is an extension of your CV.

OUGD602 | Studio Brief 02 - Career Track Tuesdays - Finding a Job

The 'Finding a Job' session was extremely useful for considering alternative ways to job search than the internet search. In particular my eyes were opened to the hidden job market. I had not considered how most creative jobs will not be advertised and this therefore raised my awareness to the importance of networking. I did however discover that my personal network is larger than I expected and I now have creative contacts all across the North West. I now plan to utilise these contacts as much as possible.

Other methods I am now more aware of for Job hunting include
-Speculative Applications
-Graduate Recruitment
-Job Fairs
-Social Media (I have already used this but have found many more feeds to follow since the workshop)

Importantly, I've learned that if I don't ask I won't get. As I am confident that I would like to work in the creative sector in Liverpool therefore I should be focussing my questions and networking in this area as much as possible. I am also planning to improve my Linkedin profile and connect with more creatives.

OUGD602 | Studio Brief 02 - Group Feedback Crit - Penguin

Idea/visual Presented for feedback

ISSUES RAISED

-The current character illustration looks too similar to Harry Potter, define the character from the competition.

The shape of the glasses will be altered and the clothing will be altered to steer away from a Harry Potter Style. 

-Diary on the spine is misspelt

This will be changed, spelling checks will be carried out for the final design.

-Question raised as to whether the character would wear red glasses.

Research glasses from the time period that teenagers would wear. Find any direction within the book.

ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN 

-Develop the jumper, try some textures.
-Try an analog approach, physically make the illustration.
-Experiment with previous idea to show faces going through emotions/experiences
-Try a minimal style e.g. just definitive features such as glasses and spots.

GENERAL FEEDBACK

-The front and back could mirror each other to demonstrate mood swings/changing personality
-Handwritten text is cliche for a diary entry book, explore type further.