Freelance & Live Work

A lot of the freelance and live work I have been working on lately has been towards final major project, as well as what I have done on my placement.

Over the summer, if I am still looking for a job, I aim to get a bit more experience of live work. This will include: setting up own etsy, offering commissions, and entering a few competitions. At the moment, I have had to put FMP first, and as I don't actually intend to work freelance, it is just a back up plan, I think this is a good idea. I already have a few projects lined up, such as creating wedding invitations.

The most important piece of live work I have worked on is the printed textiles & surface pattern yearbook, alongside Sophie, Kirsty H and Kirsty A on the course. This is the piece of design that will be seen by the most people, and maybe something will come off this. I have gone for a few opportunities, working in collaboration with others, such as submitting for the LCA prospectus pitch, as well as for the LCA Fashion branding. I didn't win either of these pitches but the experience was useful, especially at preparing me for not winning pitches in real life.

Considering all options

What next?

Although working at a design studio may seem like the obvious option to come to after a three year graphic design degree, I wanted to show how I got to this decision, as I did consider lots of options.

In second year I went through a period when I was a bit unsure about what I actually wanted to do, and even for a while considered doing a PGCE. [see blog post] However, I realised this was because I thought I wasn't good enough to work in a studio, not because it was something I actually wanted to do. I considered setting up my own business after the enterprise module, but don't know if I want the instability of this. To compromise, I think setting up my own etsy and creating some products and images to sell on online shops, is a way to still work for myself, but without the risk.

Masters 

In march, I even considered doing a masters degree. I attended a meeting at the college about their upcoming masters in creative practice. The masters is about independence, project management, personal development, planning, and research methods.

Info from LCA website -->
http://www.leeds-art.ac.uk/home/our-courses/postgraduate-education/

"The Master of Arts in Creative Practice is new for 2013 and has been specially devised for creative practitioners; recent graduates and professionals who wish to examine, strengthen and deepen their practice within their own context. This course is all about the individual.

The unique programme encourages you to pursue an individual research proposal for the duration of the programme which will allow you to examine and strengthen your own practice and place it at the centre of your studies. It addresses the needs of graduates in art and design, who want to continue to develop their practice; develop their identities in the context of the creative and cultural industries; maintain contact with other creative practitioners; develop freelance or other career paths in the context of a portfolio career.

The programme is intellectually demanding, but not theory heavy. It’s ideal if you have experience as a practicing artist and a need to devote time and energy to your work in a real art-school community and atmosphere. Learning will be dynamic and interactive, and cohorts will be encouraged to share and collaborate with one another."

During the meeting I thought this all sound amazing, but after putting more thought in to it, I realised that this just wasn't feasible, as there would be no way I could afford to live, even if I could somehow get the actual money to cover the course. I, alongside Beth and Baljeet who attended the meeting, considered the pros and cons of doing a masters:

FOR.

- Only £4000

- Develop your practice

- Learn new areas (such as surface pattern)

- Stay in Leeds

- Work freelance at the same time

- More internships and placements

- Be a master of design!

- No dissertation

Against.

- Need that £4000

- Living in Leeds costs money

- Won't just be graphics people on the course

- Putting off real life

- No Fred, Amber, John, Andy etc to help!

- No BAGD structure that keeps us motivated (crits, surgeries, sessions etc)

- No student loan

Although I would love to say I have a masters degree, at this stage in my life, its not relevant enough to justify the money, but it is an option I could always come back to in the future. However, I don't think any education experience could compare to my time on BAGD, as although it has been intense, I have always had a tutor willing and ready to help, and I'm just not sure I'd get that on a masters degree.

Personal & Professional Development Presentation

Slides:

1. First off, I will start by talking about my branding. It's changed four times over the three years, but finally I am happy with it, as it reflects both my practice and my interests in design. This change came after my portfolio reviews, especially my talk with Ben from The Beautiful Meme. My previous branding didn't reflect who I was as a designer. I had been going for something type based, trying to be what I thought I should be rather than what I wanted to be, but Ben reassured me that my illustrative style was nothing to be ashamed of and instead I should bring in my use of crafting and material to create branding relevant to me. I am in the process of re-creating my promotional materials.

2. I am in the process of creating my website from scratch on dreamweaver, as I am interested in website design, especially after the workshops. I didn't want to just use a template design from cargo, I wanted to stand out. I am currently using twitter and tumblr mainly to advertise myself and talk to others, but I also use behance, linkedin and pinterest.

3. So, who am I? These are some examples of my favourite pieces of work that show off my skills. I am mainly image based, predominately interested in type as image. I like print finishes, and so the care that goes in to presentation is also important. The underlying themes in my projects tend to be product and packaging, or branding.

4. I have been to Manchester based advertising agency Holden & Sons three times, working on a variety of live briefs. I have improved existing skills as well as learning new ones, learning from others. The most important thing I learnt was more about being professional and how to deal with clients, and I needed this real experience to learn this. The placements have made me grown in confidence, and to feel genuinely useful and have work sent to clients made me feel like I am ready for the real world. I have been invited back whenever I want, and would love a job there eventually.

5. I have struggled with contacting studios, as I mentioned before, before my placement I didn't feel like I was good enough. The purpose of the 'Geek Table' collective 8 of us have formed is to make new contacts, and sell ourselves, and the security net of doing this in a team is good. This is something I need to work on as I can't underestimate the importance of contacts.

6. Here is some first year work, from the alphabet we had to create before we joined, just to show how much I have improved. I didn't even really know what a typeface was. It was created on a pc that was from aldi and looking at this I'm lucky I'm even on the course. Now I feel confident about my work and  happy to show it off.

7. Each week for over a year I have been completing an ongoing evaluation, recording my progress and setting targets. Most of the targets I've set myself I have achieved. A few examples of targets I set at the end of the last module to do with fmp include: working with other graphic designers, collaborating with people off other courses, gaining freelance work, doing live work, and sending work to print, and I have achieved these targets, and am very close to achieving others, as reviewed in the interim evaluation. My proudest achievement to date is winning a YCN commendation award last year.

8. After uni I'm starting off my having a bit of a break, and attending degree and design shows. I want to set up an etsy as a relevant way of earning some money and doing something I enjoy. I want to keep learning, so want to get a few placements, to try and find a studio I would want to work with. Ultimately I want to get a job in a small studio, and stay up north, near Manchester. I don't want to freelance and don't think I'd ever want my own company. I have considered everything from doing a PGCE to doing a masters to get to this decision.

9. Finally, a bit of motivation for me to work hard at graphic design. I have worked at mcdonalds for 6 years and don't want to go back! I want to be happy, and I will be through continually learning new skills and pushing myself further.

Feedback:

I felt quite confident presenting my presentation, which is a world away from first year where I was unbelievably nervous. I think this is proof alone of how much I have progressed. I used to hate presentations and wonder why we had to do them so much but now I can easily talk to industry professionals and tutors about my work and hopefully come across in a professional manner, so I'm actually really grateful! It was good to have an audience that seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say, and hearing other peoples plans, knowing that other people also don't have a plan set in stone was reassuring that we can all do it.

Here are a few notes I've made based on what John and Andy mentioned to everyone:
- Look at 'the drum' for jobs
- Contact professionals through linkedin to ask questions
- Look in to webdesign studio unico from Leeds
- Ask contacts for other people you should be talking to
- Best to present yourself as positive and confident

Interim Evaluation for OUGD303

After the progress crit, I have filled in this interim evaluation to help me realise where I am up to. I have been continually evaluating my progress weekly, which has been useful. At the start of the module, I also made some FMP targets, based on my evaluation for OUGD301.  [See blog post]

I've split this evaluation in to 2 parts. Part 1 is an evaluation based on my crit feedback I have received over the module, and some general strengths and areas for improvement. Part 2 is based on my targets.

1.

Strengths

- Well organised, this can be seen through the documentation of work on blog and in folder
- Improved photography skills, which can be seen through the out of view photographs
- Improved overall design skills, in particular, branding, and knowledge and use of typography
- Hard working, progress is visible
- Lots of work, including development
- Designs are relevant for their purpose and the target audience
- Deliverables are pushed far, with lots of ideas for thinking big

Areas for Improvement

- Improve presentation skills, make things neater, in particular, packaging
- Present work on boards for crit
- Need more evaluation of research to show the relevance
- More use of print finishes to make work stand out

2.


Strengths

- Have worked on a few collaborations in this module, which have been beneficial to learn new things and to improve team working skills
- Work is looking more professional, this is due to taking on a few live projects. The experience of dealing with clients has also been useful, preparing me for the real world
- I have experimented with website design, which is something I have been wanting to do for a while
- My work is relevant to my interests shown through my design context, which has effected my branding decisions. The design context publication has been a useful task

Areas for Improvement

- I still need to have more experience sourcing my own stock and dealing with professional printers. I have started a bit of this with my live briefs and hopefully will have more experience by the end of FMP
- I need to further my skills with website design, which I did on my placement. This may be something that still needs improving after FMP
- I need to use the facilities more, and make the most of my time left
- I need more confidence to talk to industry professionals, to ask for help and to make contacts. This also links back to PPD, and on my placement I have gained in confidence, but need to continue to do so.

Portfolio Feedback

Portfolio feedback from Dave Bird, senior designer at Holden & Sons. I will be going back to discuss my updated portfolio after FMP hand-in.

I showed my updated portfolio. [see blog post]

General:

- when viewing the portfolio as a pdf document, the front page should be the same format as the rest of the document

- try a new project to show case type skills (such as daily drop caps), and create more examples of a-z posters of typefaces

- include geometric book and patterns

- pick top 5 projects for interviews

- update website

- use interest

Peacocks:

- Put the website in browser frames 

M&S: 

- mock-up 3d images of products, as badly lit photography spoils products

- the illustrations are stronger than the packaging, so include more examples of these

- doesn't look realistic as a 'm&s' product without the logo, consider how it could work with other m&s products

- think about product design, such as more interesting choice of bottles

- could lay out the font as an alphabet

UK Greetings:

- Have the type laid out so you can see the pattern better

MCDL

- Include the identity by itself 

- Show more detail about the invites so you can see the different textures used

Holden & Sons Placement 3

holdenandsons

Over Easter I spent two weeks at Holden & Sons, where I have been to twice previously before, in September and October. Again I have been invited back whenever I want to. I also had a portfolio review from the senior graphic designer.

I was working on a variety of live projects, such as helping with the launch of the new website:

I also created this typeface, (using Edmondsans), which is going to be turned into a limited edition set of prints. The placement has given me a lot of confidence, making me feel as if I am almost ready for the industry.

It was really useful to talk to other designers, including those whose skills are different to mine. It is still interesting to know about other skills, such as 3d modelling, filming, and website development. On the course lots of us have similar interests so it was good to see a taster of things I haven't tried before, that I might like to in the future.

Other skills I worked on while at placement included:

- Creating a font

- Good practice of presentation and sending content to clients

- Website research 

- Website design templates

- Logo design

- Social media and digital communications

- Proof reading

- Website testing

- Copywriting

I was given lots of advice and encouragement on my placement, and will return for another portfolio review after I have updated my portfolio with FMP projects.

Logo Idea

Just an idea... added a shadow to the logo as this is a technique I have used in lots of typographic designs before. Not really sure if this actually adds anything to the logo so might ask others whether I should use this or not.

I also had the idea to get the logo printed as a stamp so that I can add the hand made touch to my deliverables. To bring in the pastel colour theme, I was thinking I could buy pastel paper, then stamp my logo on to it, and then use this as my letterhead paper. Or I could get my logo made as an embossing tool, to hand emboss things. I need to concentrate on getting the hand made luxury craft theme throughout my PPD deliverables.