Friday 23 December 2011

Self Branding - Logo Change

Not happy with my logo I decided to revisit it and make it better:

Looking into various typefaces I want something quite simple and classic:


I noticed the ligature that can be made with the K and the i, and also if I arrange 'Hair' it can make the ligature of the 'y' from Kirsty with the 'i' from Hair:




I really like how this has turned out, it is simple yet intriguing. I will see how it can be used across stationary

Tuesday 29 November 2011

SEA Design

http://www.seadesign.co.uk/Work/Publishing/Grafik.html


SEA Design
70 St John Street
London EC1M 4DT
Map

Bryan Edmondson
bryan@seadesign.co.uk

John Simpson
john@seadesign.co.uk

Tuesday 15 November 2011

FACE

ww.designbyface.com

A design studio I found that do some really great work. Both printed and digital.

However they are situated in Mexico!

Monday 24 October 2011

Euro RSCG

http://www.eurorscg.com/

Opportunity for Summer Scholarship 2011 at Saatchi & Saatchi

http://www.saatchi.co.uk/working_here/graduate_recruitment

''Fancy a job at the world's most famous advertising agency?

Each summer we offer up to ten grads a place on our famous Summer Scholarship Programme, at the end of which a lucky handful will get hired.

Just like working at Saatchi & Saatchi, our Summer Scholarship is a unique experience because we conduct all but the final stages of the recruitment via Facebook.

Last year over 6,000 hopefuls took part in a series of fun, creative challenges designed to test the skills needed to work at Saatchi & Saatchi.  Ten of the best joined us for six weeks last summer; six got hired.

They had to do stuff like create a new Facebook group and get as many people as possible to join.

Applications for 2011's Summer Scholarship are now closed, but keep an eye out for the results of this year's exciting challenges.

2012 Summer Scholarship applications will open January 2012.
''

Friday 21 October 2011

FOUR IV

I really love this design studio I found from London. They design for sectors that interest me, including retail, hospitality and luxury. They have some great work, and are the ideal type of studio I would like to work for, as they are right up my street. I just wish they were up North!

Click Here for Website

''FOUR IV is a leading London based graphic and interior design agency. We are the creative agency behind some of the worlds most exciting and commercially proven retail and leisure luxury brands.
The company was founded and is jointly owned by
Chris Dewar-Dixon and Andy Bone. It has been established
for 22 years and currently has a team of 30 people.
The team is made up of strategic thinkers, graphic designers, interior designers, architects, project managers and support staff selected for their creativity, experience and innovative design skills.''
Here is some of their design work:

FOUR IV
4th Floor
11 Northburgh Street
London
EC1V 0AN
Tel + 44 (0) 20 7336 1344
Fax +44 (0) 20 7336 1345
Email andyb@fouriv.com
For recuitment queries please contactjobs@fouriv.com

Tuesday 18 October 2011

PPD Progress Review with Jane

Here is the formative feedback I received from Jane:

Friday 7 October 2011

Self promotion - Business Card

Using my logo idea I created a business card/mini portfolio to hand out to students at the common room event, for possible collaboration opportunities for FMP:

Within this I included a few images of previous work I have done, so the students can get an idea of what I am about, along with my statement/rationale.

The form of the business card is a long strip with  the logo on the froth and my contact details on the back, this of which unfolds as a concertina to reveal the images of my work, with my statement on the reverse:


 2 variations of the imagery composition:





Friday 30 September 2011

Design Strategy Presentation 01

Here are the slides from my presentation of what I plan to do over the course of my third year:



And here are my notes of what I spook about for each slide:


Design Practice/Independent Research
SLIDE 1: (umbrella)
-Umbrella Statement - defines me
-branding, promotional, editorial, publication design
SLIDE 2: (3 lists)
  • What drives me - areas of interest
  • Print V Screen 
  • -physical result - stocks
  • developing design industry - progressing more digitally
  • enjoyed second year module - web design
  • In House design team - Plan A
  • Plan B - freelance opportunities - gain clients now - find briefs
SLIDE 3: (self promotion)
  • Self Promotion - design presence - how?
Dissertation/Theoretical Research

SLIDE 4: (dissertation title)
- Hitler --- political parties in the UK - Saatchi Campaigns
  • propaganda strategy to change the way people see things - manipulated
  • effect on elections
SLIDE 5: (communication theory)
- Relate to my practice - Communication Theory - clarity - right message - get them to see how you want them to see things
  • reading - quotes - writing blocks
  • academic support - structuring - help
  • high grade - don’t want to bring down my final grade
  • Christmas
Work Placement/Professional Research
SLIDE 6: (PAB)
-PAB placement
SLIDE 7: (design agency)
- more industry contacts 
  • contact (dialect) and arrange visits - when?
  • portfolio advice received
  • by Christmas - get more advice
  • send something quirky - memorable impression - quick turnaround brief
  • Gain placement
  • Internship / Job when I leave
  • CV
Negotiated Briefs
SLIDE 8: (statement of intent)
  • Why briefs? - relevant to my design practice - areas and subjects of interest
  • allow me to explore creative concepts, take risks, test boundaries, experiment, challenge my own abilities - fundamentally will help me grow as a designer
SLIDE 9: (4 Briefs)
  • Leeds College of Art Graduation - event - promotional
  • Fedrigoni - stock - craft - design for print
  • Ice Cream Parlor - branding, logo, signage, packaging, website, flyers
  • Competition Brief - YCN, ISTD, D&AD (enter as many as I can - opportunities)
  • Other briefs -
  • Pitch for The Brinsop - menu’s, website, business card,
  • Cake Shop - branding, logo, signage, packaging, website
  • Dress Maker - logo, business card, yelow page ad, look book
  • The Relays (Band) - logo, album covers website, app, merch
SLIDE 10: D&AD
- D&AD poster
  • more quick turnaround briefs - confidence - informed design decisions
  • prove I can meet deadlines - make quick design decisions and solutions
SLIDE 11: (AH groundworks)
- rebrand AH Groundworks - logo, b.card, letterhead, machinery stickers
- Collaboration (after Christmas) important to show I can work with others effectively
  • fashion
  • photographer
  • Illustrator
  • common room - pick up clients
- design team - Bridget
- pop-up shop - products to sell
  • need to produce resolutions - relevant to practice - improve my skills to allow me to do so
SLIDE 12: (Software)
- improve software skills - important
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- QuarkXpress
- Dreamweaver
-learn more about print productions and web design - Design for print/web workshops
SLIDE 13: (MAC)
- finally! - adobe CS5.5 - help improve my skills faster - out of uni
  • Personal Skills - focus on improving as they are important for project management
  • time management (timetables)
  • organization (multiple briefs in order)
  • action plans
  • -problem solving
  • Practical Skills i want to improve
  • use of typography
  • layout and grid system
  • drawing/visualization
  • concept building
  • book binding - workshops
  • photography - for resolutions - portfolio
  • reserach - alternative than library/internet/magazines - go out and visit 
  • make it more interesting - informed decision from
  • if research is boring then the resolution will be boring 
SLIDE 14:
Overall I want to design excellent quality, well executed resolutions that are effective and look professional.

Self Branding - Logo Ideas

Experimenting with my initials to create my logo:





Colour:

Thursday 7 July 2011

Wieden+Kennedy Portland, United States

This agency has been rating No.1 in The Pencil Rankings from 'The One Show' and 'D&AD'.

http://www.wk.com/

I found a Placement opportunity on YCN - don't know if it is still available but contacting them is worth a try:

http://awards.ycnonline.com/opportunities/view/4041/graphic-design-internship9-at-colville-walker/



We're looking for a fresh and enthusiastic design intern, brimming with talent and great ideas to join us atColville-Walker. You'll gain valuable hands-on experience within our small but busy studio based in London's east end.
You'll be involved in creating inspirational design for our clients in the fashion, luxury and media industries, so naturally an interest in fashion and modern culture is favourable. An understanding of basic web design (HTML, CSS, etc.) is an added advantage.
This is a great opportunity to grow and hone your skills within a young and friendly design studio. The 12 week internship is paid at £100/week.

Monday 6 June 2011

PPD Presentation

Here are the slides for my end of year PPD Presentation:


Friday 27 May 2011

End of Module Evaluation - OUGD203

Throughout this module I feel I have learnt alot abotu my own design practice. I enjoyed collaborating for the YCN brief and found that between us, our workload increased dramatically to what would have been if we were alone. However, compromise was a big part of this, and when it came to Product Raneg Distribution brief, I then felt I hasd the freedom to explore my own creative interests. I enjoyed the Design for Web brief, as I have never doen this before, and it know gives me another area of graphic design to look into developing my skills further.

Through the duration of the briefs I have realised I spend far too much time at the beghinning doing all the research, and then not having as much time to design. I have spotted this as sopmething to consider, as starting the design work earlier will allow me more time to develop and push my work to its full potential. However, it is still important to research to allow myself to make informed decisions.

I have really enjoyed designing logos, and brand identitys in this module, and would like to expand on this within third year. Managing my time is also something I need to think about further in third year, so I can make the most of my time designing, and not squander it away.

One thing I have noticed as a weakness in my design work is that I tend to prioritise which idea I think has the most potential, and don't explore the other ideas as deep. I realise that I should make sure I exhaust every direction to see which styles and outcomes I could end up with, becuase I could surprise myself and end up with totally different, more effective outcomes.

Thinking of what I woudl do differently, I will definately start designign earlier in the next brief, to allow myself more time for development. I need to stop stayign safe with my ideas, and coem up with some really clever, intriguing concepts that I am proud of. I have kept on top of my blog in this module, and will carry on doing so. And also I will make sure that when it comes to crits, that I bring enough work and make sure it is clear with the ideas/concept I am trying to get across, and ask what I need to know about my design work and how it could be improved, so I come away more benefited with help toward my design development.

Attendane - 4
Punctuality - 3
Motivation - 5
Commitment - 5
Quantity of work produced - 4
Quality of work produced - 4
Contribution to the group - 4

Thursday 26 May 2011

Portfolio PDF

My selection of work that I wish to send to design agencies to gain some feedback and to create a dialect with them...


Thursday 5 May 2011

Meme Media

Here is a studio I found and liked from Bolton:

''We're a team of strong-minded, likeable individuals, passionate about providing outstanding design across whichever medium the project requires. Good ideas and strategic thinking are always at the forefront of any work we deliver. We try to work with a smile on our faces, because to us, happy designers make happy clients.
Since our birth in 2003 we have grown steadily to meet the needs of our long term clients (and plenty of new ones too). We immerse ourselves in our work; to us it's a labour of love, which we feel is why our clients keep coming back for more.'' 
http://www.mememedia.co.uk/mememedia-digitalMedia.html


Contact details:
3 Tonge Bridge Way
Bolton
Greater Manchester
BL2 6BD
t: 01204 381283
f: 01204 848019
e: info@mememedia.co.uk

Here is some of their work:












Tuesday 3 May 2011

OUCE255 - End of Module Evaluation

Throughout the course of this module, I feel I have learnt a great deal, and found out about alot of important areas to consider when I move from university into the industry.

I have found the module to be challenging, especially with the tasks consisting of analysing other design companys out there, as I felt I was in no position to judge their well established businesses. I tended to leave the harder tasks til the end, but then felt once they were completed, I had learnt alot from them. With the Enterprise mdoule working alongside PPD it has helped in my quest to realise who I am as a designer, and has created some clarity as to what I would like to do more of and learn more about.

I enjoyed the lectures, and could understand and keep up with what Bridget was talking about due to her enthusiasm, clarity and optimism. She was very inspiring. I also completed a few of the quizzes that helped reinforce the information that had been given to us, and make it memorable.

I am pleased with how well the presentation went and feel we covered the main issues of setting up a business in the allocated time of 8-10minutes. I found it difficult to manage time and get us all meeting up together due to timetable clashes and other commitments. This meant meeting outside of college time and keep in touch through email and our blogs. I tried to work as the project leader as we split up our responsibilities and I created the flow of our presentation. I also covered the costings (a real eye-opener) and found a location for our studio to be based. With the commitment of our team we managed to come together in the end and it worked, and we recieved positive feedback.

Overall I feel I definately have a better insight into the industry and the basics of setting up a small business. Although it is not something I would like to do straight away after university, it is always a possibility for the future, once I've had experience working in the industry and made contacts.

Presentation Slides

Here are the presentation slides and what I will say in the presentation:



Slide 1: Logo

Charlotte - Introduction - read out mission statement

Slide 2: Photo of us
Charlotte - What we do - skills/specialisms, services we offer

Slide 3: Location
Kirsty - Studio base
''We will be based in Leeds, renting a studio at Umbrella Creative. The location is convenient as it is easily accessible to get to from the motorway and city centre. The train station is about a mile away, but there are bus routes that can bring you to the studio.
Umbrella is a collective of various disciplines, which means it is not just a place to network, but also a place to keep an eye on the competition. It will cost £3144 a year in rent, inclusive of business rates, insurance and utilities. We will then need to invest £12,000 for equipment such as iMacs, software and furniture. With parking and cafe's nearby, Umbrella also offer meeting rooms that can be used when meeting with clients, or alternatively we could meet them in the city centre if that is more convenient for them.''
Slide 4: SWOT
Becky - Swot analysis of our studio, unique selling points, competitors/other practitioners, marketing plan/methods

Slide 5: Viral mail out
Ellie - Getting ourselves out there, who are our potential clients and how do we reach them (love hearts)

Slide 6: Brand Identity
Charlotte - Business cards etc (costings/trademarking)

Kirsty - Costings
''For a total of 208 chargeable days, we estimated a daily charge rate at £735, which covers £615 in labour and £120 in overhead rates. This works out at at £22 hourly rate each, and our yearly salary will be £30,000 each.
The start-up costs will be around £24-25,000. To cover this we propose to contribute £3000 each, and the bank will match this at £12,000.
In following years, the indirect costs will be around £12-13,000 and equipment costs will not need to be included again in the overhead costs, meaning around £12,000 will go towards profits.''
Ellie - Accountant
 
Charlotte - Wrapping it up

Monday 2 May 2011

Presentation Flow

I worked out what needs to be included and considered for the presentation and tried to come up with some sort of flow. 

 We also have to decide who says what, we decided that we should each just talk about the areas we researched into, so we know exactly what we are talking about and are confident. Together we have covered these main areas.

Friday 29 April 2011

Overall Costings


For a total of 208 chargeable days, we estimated a daily charge rate at £735, which covers £615 in labour and £120 in overhead rates. This works out at at £22 hourly rate each, and our yearly salary will be £30,000 each.
The start-up costs will be around £24-25,000. To cover this we propose to contribute £3000 each, and the bank will match this at £12,000.
In following years, the indirect costs will be around £12-13,000 and equipment costs will not need to be included again in the overhead costs, meaning around £12,000 will go towards profits

Thursday 28 April 2011

Umbrella Creative Studio

We will propose to base ourselves in Leeds, renting a studio at Umbrella Creative.
Here are what is inclusive of the rent:
- Inclusive bills (electricity/insurance/rates)
- Free WIFI connection
- Mail sorting
- Half price rental of the photographic studio
- Business address registration
- Mail forwarding
- Sample portfolio on the website 
- Registered on the members list
- Monthly email newsletter
- Ability to book hot desks and meeting rooms 
- Affiliation with Umbrella Agency on freelencers list for work.

The location is a convenient as it is easily accessible to get to from the motorway, and is also close to the city centre and railway station, which ensures that we will be able to access the studio easily, as well as clients. It also offers meeting rooms that we could use for meetings with clients. A
 It is only 2.5miles away from Leeds College of art as shown in this map:

Images from Umbrella Creative Studios website:
Meeting room-
Photography Studio-
Caravan offices/meeting room-

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Equipment

Studio Eqiupment can be classsed as start-up costs as we will only need to buy them in the first year. Here is what we think we will need:

4xImacs
 We would need the best iMacs to ensure we have the best tools to create our design work.
 We would also need the Office Software and also Applecare.

Applecare we would only have to pay for once
We also need the Adobe Creative Suite
All together this comes to £9447.76 incl. VAT

Printer - Found this one on amazon that prints A4 and A3 colour for £242.89
amazon.co.uk
Epson GT-20000 A3 Flatbed Scanner on google products £698
Epson Stylus Office BX300F Colour Ink-jet - Fax/copier/printer/scanner  £55
The price for the separate Printer, scanner and Fax machine = £995.89

Or to have it all as one machine to save space in the studio = £1,999.99
amazon.co.uk
£1000 extra is alot of money so we will use the separate machines in the studio, this will be more convenient when machines need to be used at the same time. 
Camera -
-SLR - £483

Office furniture:
1 x bench for iMacs - £520
wantdontwant.com
Desks x2 = £98
wantdontwant.com
Chairs - I think comfy chairs are essential, I foudn these on  cheapofficefurniture.co.uk
£76 each x4 = £304


Studio Equipment:
-A1 lightbox = £135
amazon.com



Sub-total = £11,983.65

Prmotional Costs

Advertising
Printed Materials
Public Relations
Samples
Photography
Design Services
Web Services
Web site - £800
Signage - £100
Branding

Overhead costs

Public Liability:

Premises costs:
-Rent - Umbrella Creative Studios - £265 per month = £3144 per year including Wifi, insurance, business rates and utilities

Telephone:
-Land line costs - £520
-Mobile Phone - £30 pppm = £1440 per year

Postage: £200

IT costs:
-Software - Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium £1508.33 + AppleCare Protection Plan £118.33 = £1626.66

-Paper-  A4 £4.49 for pack of 500, A3 £6.99 for pack of 500. So 6 of each = £26.94 + £41.94 = £68.88
and A2 £40 for 5 packs of 250 = £108.88


-Repair - £150
-Ink cartridges - £500
-Portable mass storage - (hardrive) - £200


Sub-total =  £7889.54

Profession Services Costs

Accountant: £600 per year

Legal Advice - Solicitor: £150

IP (intellectual Property)
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types.htm

Patents - £230-280
 Trade marks -
Designs - £60 to apply and register a design, for additional in any multiple application, £40 per design.
Copyrights -


Other - D&AD membership: £200 per year

Sub-total: £1100