New Business Card

Research



I noticed these barcodes on a few business cards from the degree shows so used this website to create my own, which links back to my homepage, c-griffin1013.blogspot.com. I'm going to try and incorporate it into a business card re-make. My previous business card was only one sided, but after looking at business cards of other students I think a double sided one would be more interesting.

Here are some business cards that I think are successful:

PPD Presentation

Brief: Produce and deliver a 5-7 minute presentation that communicates a reflective summary of your experiences on the course to date. You should aim to identify who you are as a learner and a designer as well as how the things you have experienced over the past nine months have affected your current aims and ambitions. You should also attempt to communicate your ambitions for next year.

Ideas

To start with, I had a look through my PPD blog for evaluations and targets I'd made throughout the year. Things such as the interim self-evaluation and end of module evaluations proved very useful when reflecting on my year. I decided that in my presentation I would write about: who I am as a designer; who I want to be; how changes outside graphic design have affected me; work that inspires me; work of my own that I like and dislike and my plans for the summer.

Illustrations

As what I think I want to be is an illustrator, I thought it would be fitting to produce some drawings to decorate pages, rather than using stock images. 

 

First Draft

I initially had 35 slides, mainly only images. I decided that a few pointers for what to say would be good, especially if I got nervous when presenting. I also thought I should cut out some slides which weren't as interesting to make sure I wouldn't be in danger of going over the 7 minutes. 

Final Slides

I've tried to keep these slides as simple as possible to stop me from just reading off the slides. I think what I will be saying is more important than what is on the slides.

Things I hope to achieve next year...

In September I made a list of 10 things I want to achieve this year. I looked back at this list a couple of months ago, and was happy with my progress, but now the year is almost over, and I am preparing for my PPD presentation I am going to evaluate how much I have achieved, and also things I want to achieve next year.

Old Targets

1. To improve confidence for talking in front of large groups
- I am still a bit nervous when talking on my own, but feel better about presenting group work to a large group. I have had lots of experience of talking in front of lots of people in crits and presentations, and find it easier the more confident I feel about my work.


2. To learn how to use software other than Photo shop
- I have learnt how to use lots of different software this year, which is a big achievement as I started the year with only limited knowledge of photo shop. I'm not an expert with all of it and may need to ask help with the technicians for a refresh. However, I now feel confident with Photo shop, Illustrator and In design and completing the briefs for these inductions. 


3. To experiment with print and other relevant areas I don't know much about
- I have had inductions in screen printing at Vernon street and here at Blenheim so I now feel like I know what I am doing however I haven't actually put these new skills to use yet


4. To learn to print on different sizes and different materials instead of what I am used to
- I've printed in digital print where possible, printing on a range of sizes up to A1, on different materials such as gloss, matte, tracing paper and more. I've learnt how much a good quality stock can improve a final piece, and how important presentation is.


5. To be organised and update my blog regularly
- I feel I have really achieved this target as I update my blog almost daily and feel I am organised with my work by keeping good time management, especially after the time management sessions earlier on in the year. I now make lists of what I need to do, and stay at college later when I need to.


6. To be more selective about my research to help aid my briefs
- I think I am looking at more relevant research that I did on my previous courses and annotating it to explain how it helps. But I think I need to make it more obvious how it links in to my design practice work.


7. To explore areas of graphic design I haven't previously given much time to as they were not my favourites
- Previously I was most interested in illustration, which still remains my favourite, but I also have really enjoyed learning about all the different areas, which I didn't know much about, from typography to moving image and more. I have really enjoyed all the type and grid work and this is something I'd like to make good use of in the future.


8. To improve presentation of final pieces
- By printing in digital print and choosing good stock, I feel I have improved the presentation of final pieces. Also by just taking more time to be accurate and using things such as a bone folder when folding work have improved presentation. I think I could still improve by making things a bit more interesting with book binding and screen printing and other techniques.


9. To make sure every project is unique and I am constantly trying new things
- I think I now have better concepts than at the beginning of the year, and especially after learning about primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative research, I feel that I am now more aware of what I should consider before starting a project to ensure that I'm not just doing something that has already been done many times before. 


10. To work as hard out of college on my work as in college
- I have found this difficult as I don't have a mac, but hope to invest in one soon. To get around this problem, I make good use of the mac suites at college and stay late or come in on a Saturday when needed.


New Targets

1. To take advantage of the printing facilities, such as screen printing
2. To not be lazy and use the resources at Vernon street
3. To be able to ask for help when I need it
4. To create a moving image and learn how to use the required software
5. To put in to use the new skills I have learnt in inductions
6. To use initiative and take it upon myself to learn and try new things that what we have been told to
7. To feel more confident and proud about my work, and enter competitions or try to get some freelance work
8. To get the most out of every day at college by arriving early and staying late
9. To update my design context blog more regularly and make sure there is a link between the work I am putting on there and my design practice work 
10. To make my briefs 'live' and actually usable and useful

Re-designing my Blog

After researching successful blog designs for my current brief, 'Speaking from experience', I thought it was about time that I re-did my blog to make it more attractive, and also easier to use. This is the design I have been using since September. It is quite boring and there is nothing about who I am as a designer reflected in it. 

This is the new design, which looks much better in my opinion, and makes it easier to navigate around the different pages. I have introduced a new page, called 'things I like', which is a bit like an online notebook for me to record inspiring images and websites which may not be relevant to any current project. I have recently been experimenting with creating my own business cards, and so I think there should be a link between the design of my blog and these business cards.

This is my final blog design, bringing in one of my favourite business card designs, but with the colours altered to match my blog. I tried this logo with and without the line used in the business card, but think it looks better without it. I am much happier with my blog after this re-design and feel it is a lot more personal, sophisticated and easier to use now with the new link scheme. However, I think there will probably still be many blog re-designs to come over time!

Final Design:

Identity

After seeing examples of second years business cards in a seminar with Fred, as well as looking at other first students blogs, I have decided it is time to create an 'identity' for myself. This isn't a marked project, it is just something I wanted to do to improve my blog. 

To create my business cards, I have used the same process that I used to create posters in the 'communication is a virus' brief. This is to draw letters (CRG - my initials) by hand with fine writer, from typography books and from downloaded fonts, and then to scan them in. I then live traced the letters in Illustrator, and then took these images back over to Photo shop to create my business cards.

Letterforms

Experiments

Adding Colour

To start with, I have used the same colour scheme that we used in the 'communication is a virus' brief.

I think these colours are more personal to me, but at the same time could still appeal to a male audience.

More Experimentation

I decided to take a step back from colour and try some more designs in black and white.

Final Business Card

This is my final business card (for now). I am also using this logo for my blog re-design. I changed the colours of the logo based on the colour scheme of my blog. I don't really need a business card at the moment, so there is no doubt I'll be creating many more experiments before I actually need one.

Interim Self-Evaluation

List five practical skills that you have developed. When have they proved useful?

• Using a mac - As a PC user, I had never used one before this course, so it took some getting used to, but now I feel confident and have even been able to help friends out.
• Using illustrator - This new skill, which I am still learning more and more about, has improved the quality of my work as well as making certain processes quicker and opening up many more possibilities.
• Screen printing - I now feel much more confident than I did before this course about screen printing, having properly learnt the processes, which has proved useful in creating prints which I feel have much more of a special quality than digital prints.
• Colour theory - This is something I didn't really think about before, but after the visual language sessions with Fred, I have realised how important it is and I now feel that I am choosing colours that work well together and have relevance to my design instead of just random colours.
• Grids - Learning about grids in Lorenzo's visual language sessions has made my work neater, easier to read and has made it look more professional. This was especially useful when creating my own book, and when designing a magazine article.

List five transferable skills that you have developed. What have you used them for?

• Time management skills - I have had to develop these skills to make sure that I am not behind with the amount of work for different briefs set. These skills are transferable as they help me to keep on top of other things and stop me from wasting time on pointless things such as watching lots of TV as I would have previously done.
• Organisation - The main thing I picked up on after Jo's time management workshops was the importance of organisation. I have always made to-do lists, but sometimes ignored these, so learning more sensible ways to organise my lists means that I am now more capable of keeping myself organised in more ways that just to do with course work, for example, remembering to take library books back on the right day and keep appointments.
• Sticking up for myself - In group work I had to explain and defend my ideas, and I have also had to do this in crits. This skill is a confidence skill which can be transferred to many different aspects of life, such as making me feel more confident with dealing with messy/noisy flatmates.
• Team work - Having to work in three group work briefs already this year, I think my team work skills have greatly improved. I now feel that instead of agreeing with others ideas, I am confident to put my own across. This is a transferable skill which will be greatly beneficial in other areas, such as in my job.
• Trying different things- Instead of sticking with my first idea, and keeping work the same dimensions and media as I would usually do, I have done a lot of experimentation this year. This confidence to not just stick with what I know works has been transferred to other things, such as trying out new recipes in cooking.

List five things that you have achieved. How have they helped you progress?

• I have achieved a first in my critical studies essay which has made me feel more confident about my writing skills. Everything I have learnt in this subject has helped me to understand more about the origins of Graphic Design which has helped my design context progression.
• I have achieved 98% attendance, which is the best attendance I have ever had. This has stopped me from missing out on any work.
• I consider being able to look after myself now an achievement. I can now cook, clean, do my laundry.. etc. Looking after myself properly has helped me to progress into a more responsible adult.
• Being able to take criticism of my own work now is also an achievement to me. Previously, I felt insulted/put off after hearing negative responses to my work, but after the crits we have faced this year, I know now that constructive criticism is the best thing to help my development, by letting me know what I need to do to improve.
• I count positive responses I receive from my peers and my tutors towards my work to my an achievement, as they show me that I am improving and learning. They help me to progress by making me feel more confident about my own work, as I believe we are all our own harshest judges!

List five problems that you have had to face. How have you overcome them?

• In my third group work brief, we changed our idea half way through, however, I preferred the previous idea, so didn't feel as enthusiastic about the brief at that point. I overcame this problem by discussing our new idea with Jo in a crit, and ended up feeling more motivated about this new idea.
• In each group work, there have been people in the groups that have not contributed as much as others in the group. To over come this problem, I have kept my blogs up to date, and annotated which work I have done, so I feel that I will be fairly marked.
• At the start of the year, I felt that my limited software knowledge was slowing me down, especially as so many others seemed to be so confident with the software. However, after the inductions and speaking to technicians, I now know a lot more about software, such as illustrator, and am enjoying learning more all the time.
• I have had to face disappointment with my module grade, which was really off-putting as I felt I worked especially hard in the module. After my tutorial with Amber, I realised what it was that I hadn't done, so will overcome this with more experimentation in the next module.
• I haven't been able to afford things that other students have, such as Macs/course books/software, so to overcome this problem, I've made good use of the mac suites and library, and spent longer days at college. I think I have got more work done this way than if I owned the items myself anyway now.

List five facts that you have learned. When have they been useful?

• I have learnt that there is no such thing as free time for Graphic Designers! This was told to us many times at the beginning of the course by Fred and Amber, but I didn't realise how true this was until we first starting receiving the briefs. This fact has stopped me from wasting time doing pointless activities, as I feel guilty when I do, knowing that there is always graphic design work or research I could be getting on with.
• I have learnt to book a slot for digital print or to get here for 8.30am, as otherwise I will be wasting precious times in queues with other stressed out students!
• I have learnt that three hours worth of work done at home can be done in an hour at college. This has made me stay behind to finish my work at college, which has been useful, as it has saved me time in reality.
• I have learnt that 12 hour days at college are actually really rewarding and make you feel like you have achieved something. This has been useful, as it has allowed me to get a lot of work done.
• I have learnt that mistakes are often more useful than having the right idea initially. Through changing my mind, having bad ideas and making other mistakes, I have probably saved myself time in the long run, as I now have a better idea of what I need to know before continuing on with an idea to know if it will work.

List five things that you will never do again. Why?

• I will NEVER choose a subject that it is impossible to get primary research for, this really effected by observation for my dinosaur project, which also happened to be the longest brief of the module!
• I will never forget to put the eggs in my typogateux cake again, as it looked good, but tasted disgusting.
• I will never leave blogging until the end of a brief again, as it is so hard to catch up on, and it means that bits inevitably get missed out.
• I will never choose a subject that I am not interested in out of choice, as it meant that I didn't really enjoy the brief. I believe the no news is good news brief could have been so much better if I had chosen something really gripping, rather than choosing an article about Katy Perry and Russell Brand's wedding, however, we did not know what the brief would be when we had to choose our article.
• I will never leave an important part of a brief until the last minute, as I did with the packaging side of the product and packaging collection 100 brief, as it meant that I rushed this aspect of the brief, whereas I spent a lot of time on the other aspects of the brief, leaving me quite unhappy with result, and I think this poor response also effected my grade.

Which of these words describe the way you work as part of a group?

- Confident - Passive - Ethical - Open - Vocal - Decisive -Informed - Critical - Determined - Considerate - Tolerant - Withdrawn

Which of these qualities do you most appreciate about yourself?

- Honesty - Originality - Commitment - Responsible - Flexibility - Creative - Ambitious - Focused - Punctuality - Humorous - Organised - Criticism

Which of these attitudes best describes the way you worked at the start of the group brief?

- Organised  - Impulsive - Entertaining - Focused - Laid back - Direct - Informed - Critical - Objective - Committed - Flexible - Entertaining - Passive - Unrealistic - Indecisive - Ethical

Which of these attitudes best describes the way you work now?

-  Organised  - Impulsive - Entertaining - Focused - Laid back - Direct - Informed - Critical - Objective - Committed - Flexible - Entertaining - Passive - Unrealistic - Indecisive - Ethical

 

After completing this self-evaluation after a briefing with Fred on 31/03/11, I looked back at my targets for the year, which I wrote on 25/9/10 (link), and I am pleased to say I have achieved, or am on my way to achieving nearly all of my targets. This really makes me feel pleased about my progress and everything I have learnt, through mistakes and successes. Soon it will be time to think of some targets that I will be aiming to achieve next year!

Time Management

Week One

Activities

In the PPD session we noted down activities how we think we spend our time, then put these into categories which we gave an estimated percentage for, based on how much time we think we spend on these activities.

College Activities

Travel, tutorials, library, mac suites, workshops, visual language, cts, crits, studio time, blogging, lunch, breaks, procrastination, ppd, lectures, research, planning, library shop

Domestic Activities

Washing up, tidying kitchen/bathroom, preparing food, cooking, eating, putting stuff away, tidying bedroom, washing clothes, sleeping, showering, getting dressed, weekly shop, hoovering

Social Activities 

Facebook, nights out, phone calls, shopping, days out, texting, conversation

Other

Part time work, watching TV, reading, travel, going home, going on computer, drawing, general wasting time

General Activities

1. College work 25%

2. Travel 5%

3. Tidying/cleaning 5%

4. Shopping 5%

5. Eating 5%

6. Speaking to friends 15%

7. Going out 5%

8. Relaxing 5%

9. Sleeping 30%

College Activities

1. Blogging 20%

2. Visual language 10%

3. CTS 10%

4. Travel 5%

5. Breaks/lunch 10%

6. Mac suites/library 10%

7. Studio time 15%

8. Tutorials/workshops 10%

9. Briefs/lectures 10%

This week we all have recorded what we have been doing and how long we have spent on each activity to help us to see how we really manage our time.

Week Two

Ways of time wasting

- Oversleeping - Naps - Staying up late - Lack of motivation - TV/Games - Facebook/Socialising - Sitting around - Not getting work done on a Wednesday as not in college - Procrastination

How to stop wasting time...

- Combine tasks together e.g. cook with friends - Write what you need to do in a list, either colour code, order or give a letter to determine which task needs to be done first - Set watch faster than the actual time - Do a little bit everyday rather than leaving everything until the last minute - Plan ahead for the week - Leave time to plan every day - Try to stop doing things that make you feel guilty for wasting time

Why manage your time?

- Sense of accomplishment - Professional - Prepares you for a working environment - Makes you more employable - Time is money - Feel less stressed - No guilt - Be on top of your jobs 

Long term goals

What do you want to achieve by the end of the course? I would like to achieve a 2:1, have great knowledge of Graphic Design, have done various work experience placements and made contacts in the industry.

What is your ideal job? I am not yet sure as I am still learning about Graphic Design and am not sure how I would like to specialise.

What kind of practice/business do you aspire to be a part of or do you want to run your own? This depends on the circumstances, but I think I would like to go freelance and be my own boss.

Do you want to work in this country or abroad? In this country.

What special interests are important to you? My hobbies are important to me although I do not get a lot of time to do these because of the time spent on the course. Ideally I would like to have more time to pursue my hobbies, such as rock climbing and hiking, however now because of the course I don't have a lot of spare time so when I do get time to relax I usually do something which seems like time wasting such as watching TV.