Task

1. Identify 5 companies/studios you think have a synergy with you, and why.

Room For Design

They are a small studio and working in this kind of environment is something I've started aspiring to because I prefer the comfort factor. They have a substantial client base with some being known to me so this gives them a good reputation. Due to visiting I can comment that the general atmosphere within the studio is automatically inviting and the room they work from appears to have a good creative atmosphere. Due to them being multidisciplinary they under go a range of different projects and I personally like having the opportunity to do different things within my own briefs but with a focus on image. 

Tigerprint

They are everything I love about image based design. Bright, bold, colourful and exciting works seem to come from this studio. Although I'm not familiar with the working environment of Tigerprint, I am aware that they take on freelancers for projects and the area teams are quite large so this would be a good opportunity to meet more like minded people. Tigerprint is restricting in the sense that for me although I love the image side of the company and this element of my own practice, you would be creating artwork the majority of the time and as explained above, I like to mix it up a bit.  

Paperchase

I've always been a huge fan of Paperchase and although they aren't strictly a design company they will have their own in house team. I feel a connection with this company and my own practice due to the style of work that is being produced. Much of the designs are hand rendered or have an element of this to them and I've really got a thing for surface pattern at the moment which links to the fact Paperchase's ranges tend to be made up of surface pattern designs. I connect more with the product side of this company rather than the advertising again due to my love of image based design. 

Paul Windle

This studio create some of my favourite characters so this automatically made me quite fond of them. The team is relatively small so again this is the sort of environment I enjoy because I feel as though you get to know people more. They have both digital and a hand rendered element to their work which is again something that links to my own personal practice. Each team member has a specific skill they are assigned to so this is good in the sense that it creates creative focus so the best can be made of the designers strongest skills. 

Young

For me, Young is a little bit different because it's an illustration and animation studio. Although I have no interest in the animation side of the studio, I was quite drawn to this because it's unique. The illustration maybe isn't quite the same as the sort of things I like to design but I still really like it because it's bright and bold. Both are characteristics I like to interpret into my work too. Really, It was nice just to find a studio that actually has a focus on illustration because although I love talking to illustrators, I don't think freelance is for me. 

2. Top choice and why you think they suit your practice/future practice.

I can't really choose just one because I have two in mind that have both pro's and con's based on my own practice. The first is Room For Design, because they are multi disciplinary this would give me the opportunity to be doing different things all of the time and progressing a range of my skills rather than just one or two. It would also give me the experience in different things that could be noted for future opportunities. The biggest thing however is the fact it's a small and comfortable working environment. My practice is obviously going to be about building relationships and in this sort of environment you are definitely going to be able to do this. My image skills being really strong could also be really relevent because I'd fit in with this skill alone. 

The second is Tigerprint because they do the sort of thing I love all day everyday in the relevent area of the company. Although image making is already a strong skill I'd be able to further improve this and 'perfect' it. Image making is something I really want to stick with throughout my career if I can do well off this and the Tigerprint studio allows this. 

3. Is your choice based on- location, direction of practice, the brand philosophy, the client base?

Both choices take location into consideration because I know I will more than likely be living at home so I look for places that are accessible to me but this is definitely not the most important factor. The direction of practice is also influential for both of them as explained above because of the skills I would be able to utilise and develop.

4. If it's none of the reasons for choosing, what is it specifically?

With Room For Design, there's also the fact that I've met two of the guys from the studio and they are really nice people!

5. When studios are identified, list 8 methods you could utilise to contact them.

PDF portfolio sent via email

My actual portfolio sent by courier to see the real quality

Telephone

Email

Mail out (something creative and unique!)

Skype

Mini PDF of samples to give a feel for my design practice but not give everything away

Letter

End of module evaluation.

Throughout the module I have capitalised on existing skills but also learnt new ones that are going to be very relevent to my practice as a designer. I have also gained a lot of knowledge on areas that I was aware of but had linear understanding of. I'm going to evaluate below each brief induvidually because each has been so relevent to my growth as a designer but in many different ways. 

Black and white print

Originally, for me, the main focus of this brief was to gain a greater understanding of print processes but also apply these processes within my design work. I feel i've got so much more than anticipated from this brief because of the depth of development within the pattern design and also the product range became quite significant. This has however, not over-ridden the understanding of print processes because I found how each of my induvidual products would be printed and although I'm not able to apply all of this yet, It will be really useful to have this understand for the industry. I had no problems as such with this brief because everything was really straight forward, the techniques, processes and stock used were all so well considered that nothing seemed to go wrong. I changed the brief slightly so that the products had a realistic context (being sold in paperchase) but feel this didn't hinder the brief because it extended my research and my knowledge of the retail sector the products fit within. 

Strengths: The development undergone throughout this brief has been a definite strength because it has informed the final product range and in particular the visual aspect of this. The fact the product range works together is another strength because each product was created induvidually so it wasn't really until the end result that I saw whether it was successful. 

Weaknesses: The products weren't made for the purpose of submisson and really, if I'd have taken more care crafting then this range would have been quite nice to submit. 

Penguin Design Award 2012 'The Wind in the Willows'

I think this is one of the only briefs that stayed very true to what I originally wanted to get out of it. Initially I didn't have any idea what I was going to do with this brief because it was a new area of the industry to me. This put me off starting the brief for a while but I found once I got into it and just went with the flow of the design process, I was really pleased with the work I was creating. The design process I used meant that I focused on the competition half of the brief initially which was the book cover design because I knew that once I had this, the rest of the products would come together because they would be based on it. I still realistically have time to go back and re-visit the bookcover design for the purpose of the competition because I can't submit my entry until next year. There were no problems during this brief as such, things just seemed to take a lot longer than I initially anticipated. 

Strengths: The character design is really strong because they all stand out induvidually from each other and have their own characteristics but at the same time when they are put together they work as a set due to the illustration style. This was the first time I'd properly vectored characters too so this skill is definitely a strength. 

Weaknesses: Again, the crafting of some of the products has been a weakness because although the majority are put together really well, not all of them are and it would have been nice to submit these as a range together. Although it's not necessarily a complete weakness, I got way too into this brief which meant I neglected some others for a while. In future I need to prioritise all briefs equally. 

Illustrative type

I initially got really stuck with this project because I didn't know how to stylize the typefaces in order to make them fit to the particular film's I'd chosen. Due to the fact the whole type sector was relatively new to my personal practice I just didn't know where to start so for quite a while I put this brief off instead of trying to plough through it. In the end I spent a lot of time sketching typeface ideas and relating back to my visual inspiration because I knew I had to push on with the brief and didn't want this to hinder my overall module. I actually surprised myself because once I came up with ideas for typefaces the rest of the elements just seemed to come together quite easily so in future I'll definitely just encourage myself to stick at something until I feel i'm making progress. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to drawing too so although the typefaces took me a while I feel as though it was well worth it. As well as achieving everything I said I wanted to from the beginning I also learnt a bit more about the film industry in terms of merchandise and I've realised I quite like this area so this may be something to extend within future projects. Theres so much research and so much to learn that I just find it really engaging and interesting. The overall outcomes do what they were intended to but I feel the product range could have maybe been larger in terms of the elements I found within the merchandise range. This isn't a huge worry though because the focus was on hand rendering, branding and type and not product range. 

Strengths: My hand rendering skills seem to have definitely developed. I have my own unique style when it comes to type and illustration now which is something I can continue to capitalise on throughout the rest of my practice. My persistancy not to just give up on a brief must be a strength too because I feel what I have achieved in the end has been worth it. 

Weaknesses: The product range is a weakness but I think this is more of personal thing because many of my other briefs have considerably more so I know I can achieve more. The general development of the brief isn't that consistent and comes from the typefaces mainly and this module is very heavily weighted on development so I maybe should have thought more about this. 

Coca Cola

This brief was the final one that I started and has definitely been neglected because I spent the least time on it. Despite this, I have still really enjoyed the brief and feel as though there are many positives that have come out of it. This was another brief that once the character design was done, the rest of it just seemed to fall into place because everything needed to be consistant. Due to the fact I was using an existing brand and think this is another thing that made the brief so successful because I already had certain elements given to me such as a brand colour and logo so it was just a matter of what I was going to do with this. Initially I was panicing a bit about this brief because i'd left it so long but as soon as I started designing I relaxed and really got into it. There was a lot of existing material that I had access to in terms of the brand and previous advertising campaigns so I used this to my advantage and used it for inspiration. I feel that my dissertation has helped me relate to the brand better because a lot of the research i've done is balanced so i've seen both sides of it which means I can speak to the audience properly with the designs. I've enjoyed this brief because it's allowed me to explore branding in a different way by being able to research and existing brand and it's values and also what makes a brand so successful. I feel i've got everything out of it that I originally intended to which is also very good. Initially the brief wasn't meant to be completely digital based but I feel this has been another plus because it's made me consider context more within all of my briefs and how things will work in the real world. 

Strengths: Consistant design has been a strength throughout this project because I've taken one element and applied it throughout everything in order to create a successful campaign. The ability to apply research properly to a brief is another strength because the Jean Paul Gaultier campaign definitely inspired my own. 

Weaknesses: Time management has been a definite weakness with this brief because it could have been so much more if i'd given myself more time on it. This has definitely been a lesson learnt though and will make sure I don't do it again. 

Design Strategy; Manchester print fair and Papercut exhibition.

A group of us went through to Manchester to the print fair and Papercut exhibition. We weren't sure what to expect from the print fair as we'd never been before but although it was small, there was a lot of great work and designers so in true style, I went round collecting various business cards and used it as an opportunity to pick up new contacts. Seeing this was also good because they hold them regularly so it's something we could all get involved in, in the future. Going to such events reminds me why I love print so much! We then went on to the Papercut exhibition and although this was a bit more arty, it was still applicable again due to my love of stock. There was some amazing work and it's surprising what can be done with paper, some of it was so detailed. I really enjoyed this day out so would like to do something similar in the future. 

Detailed statement of intent; week by week.

As a starting point for my statement of intent I decided to draw myself a timetable of what i'm going to do week on week. It's quite specific in the things I need to do so that I don't miss anything out and make sure i'm keeping on top of everything. I haven't timetabled reading week in as I plan to be working hard on my dissertation but if necessary I will catch up on anything I fall behind on in this module, hopefully it will all go to plan though for the most part. I've left myself time for things to go wrong in other weeks so I don't have to rush to get things done and can finalise things to the best of my ability. I hope to stick to this plan as it makes me feel as though I will be able to complete everything I need to do for my briefs. 

Task

Task one
Five things I didn't know before the summer break that I know now;
- The type of studio I would like to work for when I graduate.
- A definate area of design i'm going to presue.
- A brief history of Coca-Cola.
- I'd prefer to be based in the North when I graduate.
- I would like to work in a studio and possibly freelance on the side.

Five things I would address differently than I did this summer;
- Contact more studios and pester people.
- Visit more exhibitions//galleries.
- Spend a lot more time illustrating.
- Keep a constant flow of research going through my blog so I keep up to date with current design.
- Secure a definate work placement. 

Five specific things I will address this semester; 
- Create a body of personal research into illustration for inspiration. 
- Contact more studios about visits. 
- Illustrate more in my spare time. 
- Go on a few visits.
- Utilise time spent in uni. 

Five things we could address as a group; 
- Contacting printers
- Hourly rate
- Meeting straight talking designers to give us a realistic view of the industry and their experiences
- More print visits to refresh this area of our knowledge
- Possibly being able to invite our own contacts in to give a talk

Design Strategy; future visit to Newcastle.

I'm also going to try and plan a visit to the Newcastle gallery for contemporary art (the Baltic) in dissertation week. Although i'm not sure if there is anything directly linked to my dissertation topic, I still feel the visit should inspire my general design practice and it will be good to see what is happening at the moment. 

Design Strategy; future visit to Manchester.

A group of us have decided we are going to visit Manchester at the end of the month for both the papercut exhibition at the art gallery and the print fair. Due to my interest in print based design this should be a really good day out! 

Design Strategy Presentation.

Statement of intent.

This year for me, is all about finding my definite place within the industry and also gaining experience. I feel as though i'm not far away from this goal but there is still a number of things I can do to reach it. 

5 things I want to do; 

- Focus on illustration and branding

- Gain a greater understand of print and the processes

- Collaborate 

- Use book binding within some of my briefs

- Take part in competition and live briefs

5 things I need to do; 

- Explore design for web further

- Focus on my dissertation

- Make sure I put equal effort into each of my ten briefs

- Use different printing processes 

- Find a work placement

5 reasons why; 

- To make the most of my final year and the knowledge that I currently have surrounding me

- To pepare myself for the industry with a varied range of skills

- Printing processes with give me a more varied portfolio and showcase the knowledge and skills I have

- Taking part in live briefs will give me a realistic idea of what it's like to work for a client

- Collaborate to show myself that it isn't so bad afterall and prove that I can work with others well. 

To add to the above, I would also like to visit a few different galleries and shows this year so i'm not just constantly glued to my macbook. This will inform my personal practice and also may have effect on my interests within certain areas of the industry. 

I am determined to make sure all of these things have been achieved by the end of my third and final year. 

Studio visit; Room For Design.

20/7/2012.

During the summer break I have visited Room For Design which is a local graphic design studio in my home town of Northallerton. I was initially quite nervous because i'd never visited a studio before so wasn't quite sure what to expect. I realised however, that when I arrived at the studio, all my nerves had been for nothing! I automatically felt really comfortable and was made very welcome by Joe Essex and Paul Banks who were in on the particular day. The studio itself is based in one room, quite small, but very cosy and an appropriate work environment. There were a few other desks possibly indicating that there are usually a few more people in and part of the studio. I had quite an informal chat with Joe and Paul just generally about their backgrounds and how they got to where they are now, this was quite interesting because they've both had very different experiences. The studio is based above the Cornish Gallery and has been there for over 20 years so really it's quite hidden away if you don't know it's there. Joe told me they rely on word of mouth more than anything to gain work so this obviously works quite well for them with being there so long. Whilst I was visting, Paul was working on something for Leeds university so they obviously have well known clients too. The one peice of advice that really stuck in my mind was that gaining experience via placement is really important if I ever have the opportunity. At the end of my visit we discussed the possibility of a work placement and i've been told that if I get in touch I would be welcome to do some work with them or work on some of my own briefs in their studio environment so that's really exciting! I'm definitely going to get back in touch with them soon. 

The overall experience has given me an insight into a working studio environment and made me think more about what i'd like once I graduate. 

Contacting illustrators; Chris Jevons.

I again, contacted Chris because I love his style of work. It's very quirky and he's worked with some very respectable/ well known clients. His response was almost instant too despite him being really busy so I appreciated that. 

By the final email, I felt as though i'd set myself up with my first industrial contact that I could refer back to if I need further advice on my practice so this overall was a great result. The answers Chris gave were also very detailed and have given me a lot to think about. 

Although these contacts were not made during the summer period I feel they have informed a lot of the decisions I have made during the summer about who I want to be and also where i'd like to be within the industry! I'd also not got round to blogging them before hand. 

Contacting illustrators; Vicki Gausden.

I contacted Vicki because I really like the style of her work, I think it's fun and the colours being so bright and bold make it really eye catching. Upon contacting her it didn't take long for her to reply which I was very pleased with because I know how busy people can be.

This was the first reply I had from Vicki, I then went forward and sent her the questions I had come up with about illustration. The responses were really detailed so again, I was very pleased with this because it put into perspective more so what it means to be an illustrator. 

Level 05/06 progress evaluation.

Level 06

PPD; end of module self-evaluation.

1. What skills have you developed throughout this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? 
I have developed skills in branding, creating a presentation and talking to professionals. Branding has been applied really effectively because I have produced self branding that reflects me as a designer and also some of my personality in terms of colour. Another reason it has been applied effectively is when i've come to attach it to various outcomes, it still works on different scales and will also work in black and white so this means i've considered the overall branding well. My presentation creating skills have also been applied effectively because the final presentation I have created is more visual where as before it used to contain a lot of text too. The general layout is also conisidered and can easily be followed. Talking to professionals is the final thing that has been applied effectively and this is evident with the emails I have sent out. Before doing this module I hadn't really taken the time to contact anyone so this has been a new skill for myself, I feel it has also been effective as I have gained a few responses already. 

2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? 
The main method of design production I have developed is creating all the elements for this module in a particular order. For example, I created my branding first so it then could be applied to all the other products I would need as a designer. Then by creating things such as my letter head I had a layout that could be used consistently throughout the rest of my products. This has meant there has been as much design development but because everything can be linked together, there doesn't really need to be. Although everything has been created digitally I still took the time to hand drawn things and by doing this it meant I could experiment with personal styles a lot easier than I could digitally. This has informed my design development because without using this hand drawn method I wouldn't have the branding that I have ended the module with. 

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? 

Time management has been a big strength throughout this module because I feel I have organised my time really effectively. The reason for doing so is because I had a lot of motivation with this module being aimed around my own future. If I didn't put the effort in, I wasn't going to get the things out of it that I really wanted. Sometimes I feel I may have prioritised this over other projects too. In future I will make sure I manage my time effectively for all projects, and when there is more than one going on at a time I will make sure I share the time I have between them. Consistency has also been another strength within my work because all my branding elements such as my logo, letterhead and website link together through the use of style and colour. Even my presentation links to all of this. In future I will make sure that I apply the same techniques I used to create this consistency in any projects that involve a range or a whole re-brand. 

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in future? 
Although I was motivated with this module once I got into it, it did take me a while to get into the tasks etc so there may be quite a large gap. In future I will take the time to have a go with something as soon as I know it's exsisting because then I may come out with better results than I already have. Another weakness is my confidence in getting in touch with studios and illustrators because it did take me quite a while to do this. If faced with the same challenge in future I will make sure I do it asap because then I could realistically have got in touch with more studios than I need to therefor getting me feedback or studio visits. 

5. Identify five things you will do differently next time and what you expect to gain from doing these? 

Spend more time researching. This could result in a list greater than just ten professionals giving me more contacts to add to my list. It may also mean I find hidden gems that i've not already come across. 


Start the workload sooner. Although i'm really happy with everything i've done for this module I feel that everything i've done could have been capitalised if i'd have started sooner because I would have had more time. 


Talk to tutors more about what im doing. On the one ocassion I did this, this time I found that one of the studios I was looking at was also familiar to a tutor on a personal level. If I have more discussion it means they could really help me get those contacts i'm striving for. 


Get more feedback from others. We didn't really have crits for this work so although I like it, I'm not really sure what others think of it. (Apart from my business card) If I speak to other people more too they may have some really good suggestions for my work that could make it look even better. 


Share contacts with other people more. Initially I was a bit reluctant to do this because you feel as though you're competiting but in future if I do they may have found someone who really suits my interests that I haven't come across and share this with me too. 

6. How would you grade yourself in the following areas: 

Attendence 5

Punctuality 5 

Motivation 4

Commitment 4

Quantity of work produced 4

Quality of work produced 4

Contribution to the group 4

PPD; Presentation.

PPD; Printed branding.

Kept my business cards quite simple so that things can be written on them if need be and then they are also straight to point and do the job they are designed for. After designing these everything else came together quite easily and has a similar design asthetic so that it all works as a range. Blue has been used throughout everything as this is my favourite colour so is reflective of my personality but isn't an 'in your face' statement. 

PPD; Emails from design studios and illustrators.

The Touch Agency

Rubberband

Room For Design

Chris Jevons

Vicki Gausden

After sending emails out to various studios and illustrators I got a few responses soon after which was great, a real confidence boost when it comes to contacting people. The studios that responded advised me to get back to them nearer the time about studio visits which is completely understandable as they are very busy people so I will follow this up in due course. The illustrators seemed more than happy to answer any questions I have which is also brilliant because it means I can get feedback on any concerns or just general thoughts I had about being freelance. All in all a really good response so far and i'm looking forward to arranging studio visits and getting feedback on my questions!