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!

PPD; My PDF portfolio.

I used the projects and things I'd written on behance to create myself a PDF portfolio than could also be sent out to clients if preferred over sending a behance link. This can easily be updated with new work and contains all my 'best bits' so far. 

Dreamweaver workshop 3.

With padding on buttons you add 10 on for each side. 

Insert > Image object > rollover image. 

Insert > Object > Editable region.

Link > Click folder and choose home (with button selected) 

PPD study task six; Spreading the word pt 2.

As a starting point for my online presence I created an email address simply for anything design related. This means I can link up accounts I may make showcasing work on things such as twitter, facebook and behance so that any emails I may get off the back of those don't get mixed in with my every day emails. I can also include this sort of information on my business card and it seems more professional to have something specifically for design related elements. The email I created is kirstyaldersondesign@gmail.com.

www.behance.net/kirstyalderson

I created a behance portfolio as a way of cataloguing my work as this is a huge creative network and may lead to me making new contacts. It's such an easy site to use once you get the hang of it and you can keep track of how many page visits you have so you get an idea of whether the work you are creating is interesting to other people. There is the option to comment so you can get feedback on work which could inform future projects. Another reason to create this was that it can easily be linked to social networking platforms and the link can be passed on to potential clients/studios so they can easily access your work too. This is the first time i've ever set anything like this up so i'm quite nervous for the response but looking forward to updating it with new and exciting projects!

www.twitter.com/kirstyaldo

I already had a twitter account but I have applied my branding to it and i'm hoping to make this a bit more design focused because as you can see it's currently like a 'dear diary'! I do already have creative contacts here and i'm hoping to build my contact based on it even more through the use of behance. It's a great way of keeping up to date with what people in the industry are getting up to and also to promote yourself. Also seems drastically more professional than facebook. 

PPD study task six; spreading the word pt 1. (My website)

Scamp I drew for my website design in a workshop with Lorraine. This was the inital idea I had when thinking about my website but upon reading feedback about it being a bit unbalanced I decided to change it slightly when I began experimenting with my proposal digitally. 

With the image on the right the idea is that you would click on a picture that would then take you to a page with a range of photos from that brief and an explination of what it was all about. This is so that people wouldn't have to scroll forever more to find specific elements. 

I kept a minimal number of pages because I felt the most relevent things in the ones i've included. Tried to add a bit of an illustration twist on the design due to this being one of my passions. Wanted to keep my website design quite minimal so its in keeping with the rest of the things I've created and also won't take long to load. It's not overpowering and I find it quite easy on the eye and simple to navigate around. The idea of having everything in the center is just something I find pleasing from a design point of view because it looks balanced and neat. 

Final proposed pages for my website. I've only proposed one for one piece of work to give an idea of what it would look like as all will be of a similar layout. 

PPD study task five; Making your mark.

I found a font I liked the look of online that I felt represented me as a designer really well due to it's hand drawn nature. I then took the font and tailored it to look exactly how I liked. These are the initial sketches I had for font ideas and how I was going to lay my name out. Initially I just want to use my name because nobody is likely to know who "KA" is and on its own it reminds people of Ford KA. 

I then decided it would be really relevent to have a logo because this can be applied to certain elements such as profile pictures on social networking and still be seen where as my full name can not. The two together make a lot of sense because they are the same style, I just added a unique twist on the intials to make them look a bit different and more exciting. These are the digital versions of my branding. 

Business Card

Initially experimenting with layout and where to include to relevent information on my business card. Again, using blue as with the creative CV as this is my favourite colour so is 'part of' me. Due to my full name being able to be larger on the business card, it actually works in blue. Also exploring the idea of having a plain blue back to my business card, again in keeping with the design of the creative CV in terms of a minimalistic look. I feel my business cards might look quite good with rounded edges with being quite plain at this stage of my design ideas. Justified left also looks better because you read from left to right. 

Experimenting with the possibility of pattern but not sure because theres no real reason for it to be there. 

Satisfied with this layout because it utilises the white space and my name will be the first thing the client sees. 

Could print a range of different colours to reflect my personality and add a bit of variety to my simplistic design. 

Logo could also be included but I feel this doesn't look as good and it doesn't need to be there as my name is clear on the other side. 

Letterhead

Could have a blue back to match the business card and also include the logo so when the letter is folded this could be a unique 'stamp' clients will recognise.

Just experimenting with general layout but justified right works best as there is so much information on a letterhead, it brings balance to the whole design. Although at the moment it doesn't seem to balance out perfectly, once an actual letter is written it will look fine. I also realised having the 'stamp' where it is would work because the letter would be folded the opposite way so the clients address would be seen through the envelope. 

Compliment slip

The compliment slip didn't take much experimenting as I took the design from the letterhead but applied  it to a different format.