Friday 30 November 2012

Study Task 5: "Who are they?"

Task

Based on the principles that have been introduced so far in the PPP2 module, investigate who you are as a creative in relation to who is out there looking for creative talent.

Write a list of all the possible client groups that use graphic design in the development, production, distribution, promotion and/or communication of their products or services. Identify one client group that reflects your current ambitions within the graphic design area (music industry, retail, publishing, education etc.) and focus on identifying:

What skills / interests you have and how they relate to the needs of your client group?

What skills are needed and what skills do you want to develop?

What are your professional/creative aims and how do they relate to the needs of the client group?


It is essential that you make references to the ʻ4 Psʼ from the PPP2 Presentation. This is an exercise in applying that theory – it is not appropriate to write about the theory itself. Demonstrate your understanding of it by actually using it.

List of client groups within graphic design:

Publishing
Music industry
Advertising
Printing
Web design
Illustration
Retail
Fashion industry
Education
Packaging
Animation
Branding

What skills / interests you have and how they relate to the needs of your client group?

I am quite a skilled image maker and I have a passion for print especially after the module OUGD504 where I have extended my knowledge of print finshes. Therefore my interests lie in editorial and publishing, branding and print making. I am a confident photographer to so I can mix and match a different range of mediums to my portfolio. When it comes to relating to the needs of my client group, a broad range of skills and interests are needed. I think my interest in print could help me push my interest in branding as I could use my craft to produce innovative prints. 

What skills are needed and what skills do you want to develop?

The skills that are needed to tackle the client group list includes a good knowledge of the Adobe suite. I also think that you need the right mindset to push and break a brief but at the same time feel confident enough to communicate ideas. I want to develop my conceptional skills as well as craft based skills including book binding and more complicated screen printing methods.

What are your professional/creative aims and how do they relate to the needs of the client group?

My creative aim as a professional designer is to become more confident, as I feel this will benefit my practice when it comes to pitching ideas to clients. I would like to work on my idea generation skills as concepts are key when it comes creating innovative and industry standard pieces of work. 


Sunday 25 November 2012

Life's a pitch : Logo

On Friday me, Luke and Tani worked on our logo. The design sheets show the progression and various stages that the logo went through before the final decision was made. I was responsible for most of the design sheets as Luke mostly worked on the computer.



















Friday 23 November 2012

Life is a pitch : Meeting 1



Over the last week our class has split up into various groups for our life is a pitch brief. My group consists of Luke, Lisa and Tanida. We are a group of laid back people who want to have some fun with this brief and yesterday we met up for a meeting at the end of college.

The previous evening I put together a small presentation of ideas to show to my group as a starting point. I was aware that everyone was interested in learning a new skill and putting to use our skills in a craft. Tanida especially is very good at packaging and Luke has previous experience of screen printing.

5x Services that we are providing:

Approaching indie bands and music promotions
Club/ Bar Promotions in Leeds
Zines focus on Politic and Art in Leeds
Designing one-off artworks that are sustainability and recycling materials.
Promotion packs for events in Leeds, Independent Night.

Our discussion:

Less digital, more experimental
Craft/ Craftsmanship
Martin's book- Screen Print, Images [Manchester College of Art]
Screen print / Laser cut
Materials and Cardboards
Finding rubbish to print on
One-Off piece
Pop Up Shop
Donation of unwanted
Business- 'Invest into something, invest into business'
Gather free materials
Not clothing specific, we are a range
Layering
Target Market: Young Adult, Interested in Art, Sustainability and Recycling
Also, people who are interesting in being individual/ one of a kind
Competitions: Other groups, Art & Craft people and Other clothing boutiques in Leeds
Products: Original Artworks, Furniture, Clothing, Zines and many more
Context: Galleries, Cafe, House Opening etc.
Our production plan: Every Friday Morning for Printing time
Every Other Thursday evening- Preparation time for screens and other, this will also be swapping swifts in pair.
Element of unexpected outcomes
Experimental
Flat-Pack Furniture
Direction toward the format more than content.
'Artwork'
Craft elements
Continue change- rotate every certain months
Context: Fairs- Book fair/ Art & Craft fairs, Pop Up Shop, Website- Etsy?
Handmade, not mass produce
Surprise- Our purpose
Manipulation
Charity shops
Vinyl and Vinyl Covers/ Sleeves
Selling it
More fun
Recycle the screen
Arty, Fashionable and Original
Not a chore, no hassle
Artists of Designer World
" We make shit good! We make good shit! " Luke

Preparation for Monday...

Name ideas in order for us to vote which is the best and bring some ideal materials to share with the group.


Final Idea

We will be screen printed onto different found / donated objects. These will then be sold on in a pop up shop and regular events. The pop-up shop will appear in various different locations across Leeds. We wanted to focus our business on recycling old products, as this also meant ti would be cheaper to run as we would not need to invest into elements of the company first.

The pop up shop would also be created at a really low budget using flat pack cardboard furniture to display our items that we have also created ourselves and screen printed onto.

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Study Task 4 : "Who am I now?" (continued)

My chosen areas of practice as of now:

Branding
Iconography
Typography
Editorial
Screen printing
Music
Clothing
Photography
Film

My main strengths as of now:

Iconography : For my 'History of' summer brief I designed iconography books
Branding : Summer placement I rebranded a Gaming Company
Editorial : An area where I have always enjoyed grid and layout
Photography : I feel that I have good eye when it comes to taking photos
Music : I set myself the small task of design some record covers over the summer for Alt-J

My identified weaknesses as of now:

Web design
Confidence when it comes to competition briefs
Craft based skills like book binding and screen printing

A set of main goals for this year:

Collaborate with someone in the class and produce a piece of work to a high standard
Enter a range of competition briefs
Produce some freelance work
Learn more about print
Push my craft based skills further.
Go to the print studio more.
Extend my knowledge on software
Get a placement
Get a part time job to help with finances

Wishes:


Get nominated for an award
Get a placement
Build up my portfolio
Work hard, Play hard
Push my fancy dress costumes further!
Party more
Enjoy living in my first house with my friends
Make new friends
Go outside of Leeds every once in a while

Ambitions:

Win or get nominated for YCN / D&AD
Go to an amazing studio and work for them for a while.
Get paid for a design job
Get on to a blog / in a magazine article


Monday 19 November 2012

Study Task 4 : Continued

Identify the top choice and WHY you feel that they may have synergy with your practice now, or in the near future.

Two Times Elliot

Two Times Elliott is a design consultancy based in Notting Hill, London. Headed up by Creative Directors, James Horwitz and Ross Gunter, Two Times Elliott produces a diverse range of work across multiple disciplines including print design, identity and web.

I have been interested in this style of work for some time now, as I consider it to be a step forward from what I was interested in a couple of years ago. I follow multiple design blogs on Tumblr that celebrate Two Times Elliot design work and it would be a dream to have a studio visit or even collaborate with them. I consider their work to be very current and quite edgy as it often explores alternative print methods, experimental typography and layout design. I quite like the photography and some of their corporate branding design too as they show off a broad range of skills and knowledge. I love this about Two Times Elliot as it proves that they are not a one trick pony and they can mould themselves to the fast pace of the design industry that involves a broad range of clients and projects. Over the next few years I wish to build up a body of work as strong and as diverse as this one.








Is your choice based on:

Location : They are based in London, a place I would love to push myself to go and approach studios.

Direction of practice : The print basis of their work really interests me, especially as they are at the forefront of branding and style at the moment amongst the online blogging community.

The brand philosophy : 

'We like to work with all our clients as creative partners and to this end we think it is important to involve them in the design process as much as possible. We also work hard to manage our design work alongside a clients budget. We deliver bespoke design solutions and advice to a wide range of clients, from individuals to large organisations, in a variety of different sectors. Our team is made up of passionate and experienced designers all of whom are experts in a variety of disciplines. We are also passionate about giving new young design talent studio experience where they can work with the team to boost the vigour of our projects and generally augment the creative process.'

Client base : They have a wide range of clients and throughout their website each project show a clear and customised creative direction.

Please consider :

WHO they are/who are you?

Two Times Elliot are a design consultancy based in Notting Hill, London. Headed up by Creative Directors, James Horwitz and Ross Gunter, Two Times Elliott produces a diverse range of work across multiple disciplines including print design, identity and web.

I am a second year design student who has a keen interest in branding & identity, editorial and print. I have studied graphic design since the age of 16 so by the time I graduate I would have studied it for five years.

WHY you are contacting them and why they should listen?

I am contacting them because they are an independent studio who have a team of passionate and experienced designers all of whom are experts in a variety of disciplines. I should contact them because in their contact info they talk about 'giving new young design talent studio experience where they can work with the team to boost the vigour of our projects and generally augment the creative process.'

They should listen because I am a hard working individual with a passion and a talent for graphic design who has the mindset and drive to learn new skills and meet new people.

WHAT do you want them to do next and what do you actually want.

Straight to the point. I want them to reply to me! I want a placement. Simple.

WHY they should get back to you?

They should get back to me because I may bring something new to the table. Fresh eyes and ears and brain. 

Now you have identified initially these studios you feel synergy with. Please list 8 methods you could utilise to contact them.

Email

Phone

Letter / Post

"Creative CV" (Pinterest, Twitter, etc)
Produce a poster / piece of work that expressed my interest in them
Send a video clip of me talking about my interest and my work
Send an interactive info pack about me and my work
Send them a photo of me, and a bit about myself. It's always better to visual somebody and know what they look like.

Monday 12 November 2012

Study Task 4 : Two Times Elliot

Identify 5 companies/studios which you consider potentially synergetic to you personally.

Write a short explanatory paragraph and reasons for each:

Identify the top choice and WHY you feel that they may have synergy with your practice now, or in the near future.

Two Times Elliot

Two Times Elliott is a design consultancy based in Notting Hill, London. Headed up by Creative Directors, James Horwitz and Ross Gunter, Two Times Elliott produces a diverse range of work across multiple disciplines including print design, identity and web.

I have been interested in this style of work for some time now, as I consider it to be a step forward from what I was interested in a couple of years ago. I follow multiple design blogs on Tumblr that celebrate Two Times Elliot design work and it would be a dream to have a studio visit or even collaborate with them. I consider their work to be very current and quite edgy as it often explores alternative print methods, experimental typography and layout design. I quite like the photography and some of their corporate branding design too as they show off a broad range of skills and knowledge. I love this about Two Times Elliot as it proves that they are not a one trick pony and they can mould themselves to the fast pace of the design industry that involves a broad range of clients and projects. Over the next few years I wish to build up a body of work as strong and as diverse as this one.





























Study Task 4 : Johnson & Drake

Johnson & Drake

Identify 5 companies/studios which you consider potentially synergetic to you personally.

Write a short explanatory paragraph and reasons for each:

Identify the top choice and WHY you feel that they may have synergy with your practice now, or in the near future.

Johnson & Drake is a studio specialising in identity and design for creative industry clients. They offer art direction and a range of multimedia services such as photography, film, artwork, editorial and web development.

 I find this studio very exciting because they explore a wide range of medias. I am very interested in the music side of their design work which explores experimental and manipulated photography. I find this a very exciting way of creating album artwork as it adds to the music and an artists image. I feel as a designer it is important to support the music industry and as every graphic designers dream, I would love to design a good record cover or two. The design work they produce is quite contemporary and mixes fine art with graphic design to produce beautiful abstract designs that is applied to album covers, posters and clothing. I love the fact that this studio is into image making because that is a big passion of mine.