Branding myself and giving myself a whole aesthetic on stationery is extremely important for business. It is what separates the more detail orientated freelancers/companies from the ones who overlook the minor aspects of the business. It is a small thing that can boost my business to generate revenue. With the internet, television, and all other forms of technology, branded stationery is one aspect that people think is dying out of marketing when in fact, any place my name or logo can be seen means another potential customer or client.
Because i still do a lot of freelance work i’ve decided to update everything and go beyond just updating a new business card. What i have created is a full new stationery set which are listed below;
Business Card (C)
Stickers (C)
Envelopes (C)
Portfolio (C)
Cover Letter (C)
Curriculum Vitae (C)
Invoice (C)
Letterhead (C)
Complimentary Slip (C)
Webiste (C)
Repeat Pattern (C)
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All stationery provided finished in Folder!!!!!!
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Colour – #e0ddd2
Typeface – Courier & Courier New
Note; for printing purposes I’ve changed the colour stock of the paper to ivory on all stationery. Also Vistaprint messed up on my envelopes and didn’t print them on ivory however i have complained and received a full free order and half my money back!
As you know im so anal about consistency this has just come at the wrong time.
Ive decided to create a portfolio to go alongside my CV. a portfolio is a living and changing collection of records that reflect my accomplishments, skills, experiences, and attributes. It highlights and showcases samples of some of my best work, along with life experiences, values and achievements. The personal information that I incorporate into the portfolio will greatly reflect on my abilities as an individual as well as become a useful tool in marketing myself to employers, corporations, colleges and universities. A portfolio does nottake the place of a resume, but it can accentuate my abilities and what i can offer in a chosen field.
Why do I need a portfolio?
A portfolio can set me from other applicants, whether in a professional or academic setting.
It allows me to be more personal and creative in order to expand on and exhibit my skills, knowledge, projects and experiences.
A portfolio is a method of self- discovery and confidence- building.
It is a multi-faceted way to organise my accomplishments, goals, aspirations, and personal thought. It showcases my personality to potential employers and organisations.
It is a useful tool to include in an interview (learned from experience). It provides tangible proof of my skills and abilities and demonstrates to the employer that I am qualified for that specific job.
It can be helpful in applying for bonuses, scholarships, grants and negotiating promotions and raises.
The graphic design field is very competitive. In order to succeed, I need to set myself apart from other designers. This is difficult when I am still studying so I’ve tried to reach out as much as possible when I can. Because I also freelance, I need a way to build a client base, give myself an edge by being social the more people i know, the better. Networking is the key to finding new projects and clients, learning tips from other designers, and promoting myself and my business.
Branding myself.
I like to think of myself as a brand. Publicise myself by talking to as many as possible and mentioning my career in graphic design. I like to think how I would like to be viewed and give off that vibe. Although I am very loud and can be intimidating to others, when it comes to networking I will still keep my personality but tone it down and act professionally and create a positive image for myself.
“Look for your design heroes on Twitter and strike up a conversation. Follow those who inspire you and periodically ask for opinions or advice on your own work. Pointers and tips from those in the know are invaluable for pushing you in the direction of those who can help make your work reach a wider audience.” https://www.creativebloq.com/career/network-with-designers-712372
—Notice how quickly James has increased in followers over a period of two months.
I came across James Lewis on after having a massive following on instagram, his work is shared all over and as you can see he has over quarter of a million followers. He is a passionate artist who enjoys sharing his creative process by teaching workshops globally, public speaking, and creating viral video content. He combines his love for letterforms with his graphic design skillset to craft bespoke lettering which is famous for standing out. James’s work has been featured by a number of publications including Creative Review, The Guardian, Creative Bloq, Expressive type (book), Good type (book) and Behance. Along side that he has work along side some big brands such as BBC, WIX, Red Bull and Samsung.
For a while now I’ve been curious on how he drops the shadow on his letterforms, what technique he uses to create this effect as i would like to implement this into my lettering work. I’m curious to see his creative process as his videos don’t justify enough for me as I just want to ask questions direct. So, i decided to contact James via email just out of curiosity if there is any possible way he could help me after bouncing emails back and forth he invited me to his workshop in Amsterdam…
On the day of arriving at the workshop, after being introduced to 30 other hand lettering artist’s and designers from different countries such as Russia and USA, so I thought it would be a good idea to hand out business cards as it would be good to collaborate on projects and help get my name out there., We were presented with a handbook which broke down what we were doing in the day, a set of tools including pens, brushes, rulers, paper stock, transfer paper and so on.
Firstly we was going through the basics of letterforms and he taught us about the term ‘optical compensation’ this is something id heard before but not in great detail and it would really effect my letterforms.
“The human mind needs to decide whether something looks optically correct or not, because we can see and understand a context when a computer can’t. Understanding these subtle differences and knowing how to adjust them is what makes a good designer even better — few will notice if it has been considered, but many will notice if it hasn’t.”
Basically it was very important as it was in the early stages of the workshop process. As we moved onto discussing this subject further, we spoke about how our brains perceive the size of objects specifically text. If we think about this in terms of circles and squares, a 100cm square has a larger surface area than a 100cm circle, so the circle must be larger to compensate.
Where overshoots on curved letters drop or rise above the cap-height, baseline, etc. If you write a line of text in Garamond and draw a line on the baseline and x-height of the text, you would see the curved shapes overhanging these lines. If these overshoots didn’t exist, the individual characters would feel too small next to their siblings.
Optical adjustments also apply in colour but are more subtle. again, it is about the weight of the object, and how much of the colour appears. If you have a logo (for example a square) next to a thin typeface and they are both red. The type will look a lighter shade of red so you have to compensate and make it darker.
after this discussion we started on the handbook of scaling letterforms up by 4x just to get a feel for when we paint and to test our ability. Personally i found this easy but its all part of the process.
The second task was creating bevel and shading them with a light source from the top left hand corner. Again, this was easy but i think it was just a feel for him to gather everyones knowledge on shading with a certain light source.
after the bevels we moved on to talk about the way to add depth and dimension to your letters so that they appear to have 3D characteristics. It was very basic with the whole vanishing point but what i found interesting and very useful is how the shadow will react and appear on the side of a letter (it was hard to grasp) but i think practicing these basic principles until they make sense will help me create more complicated perspective pieces in the future, and take my lettering to a whole new level!
THE TECHNIQUE!!!
This technique looks simple but infact its a lot harder than it looks, i managed to video James doing an example while talking us through the process before attempting ourselves. Unfortunately it won’t upload to wordpress so i will leave all videos on the USB stick.
Watch James Lewis Video 001
Watch James Lewis Video 002
ok so firstly when drawing on the grid we had to re-create this ‘H’ letterform using the technique. again i found this easy because i had something to relate too. notice how the shadow is formed from the third letter ‘H’ this is something ive been trying to do for a while.
Next attempt i decided to challenge myself by drawing my own letterform of the letter ‘H” from my custom typeface Hamley. this wasn’t so easy because of the flourishes, but in the end i gathered the process and it went down very well even all over Instagram.
James seemed very impressed with my sketch along with thousands of other people. he tagged me in a video and my instagram took off!!
Painting.
When it comes to painting i haven’t got the steadiest of hand, its something i need to practice and i will consistently keep practicing till Im perfect. But for now James taught me a technique that is similar to using a mahl-stick if you look in his videos he’s uses a mahl stick regularly to help steady his hand. The 3rd video shows the technique on how to keep a steady hand.
Watch James Lewis Video 003
The whole workshop was an experience it has give me an insight into hand lettering and helped me understand more in depth how to create the shadow behind and on the letter itself. In the future (also exhibition) i will be using these techniques to show off my typeface and how it can be adapted off screen.
My old website was created on Adobe muse which is brilliant because you can literally do anything and even implement your own HTML/CSS to create parallax screening also creating my own widgets was a massive bonus i still use Muse to draw up some wireframes involving a 3-step sign-up process, However having something to showcase my work keeping the website updated was very time consuming it consisted of changing one thing on every page size so i decided to take a step back from code and build a new website on a template based program (Adobe Portfolio).
The first thing i wanted out of this website was to keep it as simple as possible for user experience and for me to maintain, nobody wants a life story they just want to see your work and what you can do. so i began looking at websites for inspiration.
Am studio have a clean and simple website that is easy to maintain with the logo on the left and navigation bar on the right. Ive turned against having a welcome page like my old website and decided to jump straight into the portfolio to avoid all the BS!
WNARTDESIGN have inspired me a lot to keep the website Greyscale however in the future i might implement my ivory colour when Adobe manages to sort a plug in or something that will change all the pages, i have tried but the colour changes from portfolio page to the bio page and its just Annoying.
Content for website
As much as i have learnt from university it is more about the creative process and research so i have nothing to show that’s good enough for my website, However working as a freelance designer alongside i gathered some of my favourite pieces of work to exhibit on and in my portfolio.
IRONHORSE Branding
Typography
Logos
Climbers against Cancer
Blackburn Youth Zone
Oakwood Coffee Roastery
Already having my own domain name ive decided to transfer it over to my new website. The reason i pay for a domain name as much as some might find it pointless is;
Most people will forget about changing the favicon, A favicon is what appears in the tab of web browsers.
Meta Tags are pieces information is what will appear in search engine results for your site. So ive decided to input some key words to help create traffic.
What we had to do in this lesson was practice networking through speed dating. At first I thought it was pretty pointless and awkward. What I tried to do to ease the tension was ask a daft question such as “what do you prefer bourbons or custard creams?” in doing this it eased the awkwardness and I began to learn about the other persons strengths and weaknesses. I learnt that I am very stubborn when it comes to working I do work better on my own but for the sake of the task I tried to find somebody that would be suitable and have strengths to my weaknesses. I found that Clerese and Natasha are best suited to work alongside me as they both focus on research as to actually designing, Research isn’t my best quality and this is something I need to improve on in the future.
When it comes to networking I feel I have a strong personality to engage with others this isn’t really a problem for me. However, sometimes I can be over enthusiastic which leads me to be less professional which again is something I need to work on in the future.
Idea: Rape alarm disguised as something that isn’t a rape alarm for men:
Rape alarms now a days have obvious designs and for men, probably quite embarrassing. As male rape happens, along with male assaults, it can be normalised for men to have a rape alarm on them to help them in times of stress.
Target audience
Men of any age
What will you learn
product design
networking to sell the product
connect with other companies (eg totally wicked for egic designs or an alcohol company for a bottle opener)
How will you divide the work/profit
Me: Ideas, designing, finalising.
Natasha: Ideas, advertising, social media work.
Profit will be halved
SWOT
Strengths:
No competition
Original idea
Networking to build profiles
Weaknesses:
Sensitive topic area
Design issues ie battery life
We don’t know much about product design (cinema 4d)
Opportunities:
Not been done before
Gets people talking about a sensitive topic
Different designs could be made
Big companies could get on board
Threats:
Campaigners
Feedback:
Worked quickly in short amount of time
Commercially viable
Develop the logo
Working with Natasha on this quick project really shows how we can work well together in a professional manner. The concept under a short time I feel was excellent and it received fantastic feedback.
The logo i whipped up in class although the idea wasn’t was a Pi** take however the visual style could work as a branding minus the ‘ASS’ part.
Personally applying for jobs I try to avoid agencies for the fact they hardly ever respond. Because I am a self driven individual with little patience I like to get the job done. I just email companies directly, ring them or just simply walk in to companies and ask if they have any job vacancies. I do feel this works better because I have gone out of my way to tailor a cover letter specifically to the employer, making the whole waiting stage of CV viewing a lot quicker.
The interview is a critical aspect of the hiring process. Once I have made it past the curriculum vitae/Emails overview process and now It’s time for me to have what might be the only face to face interaction with my potential employer before they decide to hire me or not.
From personal experience it is essential that i put my best foot forward and allow the interviewer to get to know me as a person. They have already learned about my accomplishments from my CV. I now have to show them my personality and how I handle myself in a professional environment. This means the preparation stage.
Research. I make this a priority to get to know the company that I am interviewing with so i can answer their questions well and in the right context. Doing this also shows I am interested in the company, whether I am or not… (if I don’t I just try to use it as practice and still fully engage myself)
Prepare questions beforehand. So from experience I already know the answers to basic questions that they will most likely ask me. But I also come up with a few questions about the company or position I am applying for to show that I am interested. Also a most recent occurrence I’ve come across when working for some companies is that they don’t allow you to freelance outside of work, so I tend to ask that question a lot more recently as I would like to freelance in my spare time other wise ill be bored!!! Also I always have a sheet with a list of strengths and tailor them to the company I’m being interviewed for.
On the day of any interview I always make sure that I’m well-rested, prepared and at the designated location a little early. During the interview process because I’m a loud character (BIG PERSONALITY!) I try to be submissive, so as to not offend the interviewer. Being in an interview is more about being professional at a high level. If I can stay in that mindset I will most likely be fine and wont overcomplicate things.
Entropy Design.
So for my first application using my old CV and a cover letter which Talia amended from my original i directly contacted the director about the position and managed to get an interview which went well…i don’t know if it was beginners luck but i actually got the position, but for now i just work part time because of university commitments. the full position is open to me when i finish university.
Although i currently have a job i believe there is no harm in looking for other jobs because there might be something better suited for myself out there… in fact i know there is! With me haven’t the drive and the constant need to better myself I’m always looking for work/work experience and opportunities to do so, i think its in my nature as i am a slight workaholic.
Arena Creative.
I am contradicting myself when i say i don’t apply through agencies but i had read reviews and i had received really good feedback about Total Jobs so i thought id apply for a couple of jobs that would be suitable for me. Straight away i got an interview for Arena Creative and it was an experience to say the least, from the off set of walking through the door i was welcomed into the studio and introduced to all the employees and we all sat down (had a brew) and had a general conversation. Very clever of Arena for doing that because it put me at ease straight away and it allowed me to get my personality across and keep the conversation flowing with questions back and fourth… to be continued…
Freedom Finance.
Freedom Finance contacted me by telephone after viewing my CV online after a long chat /phone interview they invited me out for an interview. Travelling from Blackburn to Wythenshawe i already knew it was too far to commute everyday but i went for the experience. However, the interview went well but it was a little too formal for me and same with the work environment it just doesn’t scream creative! being in the position I’m in i wouldn’t leave my job for this, even if it was double my salary id rather be happy in a job for less money than hate it and be loaded!
Design or re-design a consumer toy and it’s product packaging to eliminate waste, using circular design principles.
Concept
Necessities:
For children
An element of reusing materials from packaging
Creating a collection of cardboard furniture that mimics ideas furniture in a miniature self build way. These will be assembled similarly to the way in which full size furniture is made from IKEA; but will be the size of children. To glue these things together using a colour coded system. This line includes drawers, wardrobes and accessories and the materials used will be made from cardboard recycled from old Ikea packaging as these would be going to.
After presentation feedback:
How will it be printed on the box
Will the net be on the outside or the inside
Will be good to keep children occupied whilst parents are assembling furniture
Would be cardboard be durable
It could be adapted into storage options to go with furniture such as shoe organisers insead of having to buy plastic/fabric storage things
Hypothetical task: How will the product be advertised
The idea of integrating this idea would be through the adverts or billboards when entering Ikea itself. Television adverts like these with a family orientation would be the best way to get this message forward.
When you whip out your business card at a networking event or as you meet a new prospect, the objective has to be that your name and contact information are easy to spot and remember. A business card that’s heavy on design and content is going to simply obstruct this from happening. That’s why i made myself and services stand out with ease and impressiveness, I went with clean and minimal!! also the logo is a smart, functional design.
With my previous card i tried to keep it as minimal as possible but in the last year my design work has changed dramatically and with this module set now I’ve got a chance to update my card to suit my current identity of a more retro feel. This 1st draft used three neutral colours to work with great effectiveness to create a memorable design for the client to admire.
The second design was not a final design it was just a concept i had in mind that i had to sketch up to get a visual (something i had to get off my chest) hence, the under developed acanthus leaves etc… i decided not to go with this as it doesn’t fit with my final brand a stationery.
Moo.com/Vistaprint
My previous business cards are from Moo.com and i can honestly say they are the best ive had quality wise however they come at a price. i decided for exhibition purpose that ill create my new ones with vista print. The quality however isn’t as good but 250 cards for the same price as 50 is worth it.
As you can see Vistaprint give a lot
of options for a standard business card so i decided to go with Premium matte for £25 for 250.
The letters CV stand for curriculum vitae which is Latin for “course of life.”
When used in a job seeking context, a CV is a detailed accounting of not only a person’s past history of education, experiences and qualifications but also related accomplishments and is used when an individual is looking for a job.
The difference between a Resume and Curriculum Vitae
People who use a CV format when applying for a job are generally applicants who need to convey a large amount of information which will not only help to tell an employer who they are but help define them and their work within a specific discipline.
CVs are traditionally used for individuals who are looking for employment in academic, research, or scholarly positions. Many PhDs, educators and teachers working at the university level will use a Curriculum Vitae rather than a resume to outline not only their work history, but their published academic papers and professional accomplishments as well.
Resumes are used by individuals looking to define themselves in professional terms, showcasing the specific skills they have. A CV is used by an individual looking to define themselves in scholarly termsand showcases their education and areas of expertise.
First attempt at a Curriculum Vitae
OutsideInside
Second Attempt
After reviving feed back from this new CV I’ve created, although they look the part and fit my brand style their is just not enough job information with previous work so I’ve decided to offer my services to friends to practice writing for CV Experience. Below are some examples i have created;
Sarah asked me for a while to create a clean minimal CV using a sort of blush pink for a colour code. what i found challenging with this was fitting the amount of information onto one page without if feeling too cluttered. Another problem i came across was the photo, the original photo she sent me had a bottle of Moet on it so i had to photoshop it out to make it look more professional.
Before and after shots of image.
Sarah Brady CV
Final CV
After receiving feedback on my CV there just isn’t enough job information on there because being a designer i thought id only put my design work on but ive had various jobs in the past. So ive decided to go back to my original trifold design and re-work it as i can fit a lot more content just by changing the layout also i think this could be down to the fact i enjoy editorial design and i love creating layouts so getting bored easily i choose to rework my designs often.
CV Contains;
Contact
Profile
Education
Work experience (after receiving feedback from Talya ive put all my work experience on even things that are not design related, this has actually gone down well in interviews because a lot of the jobs and skills i have in other areas are creative?
Software
Professional interests
Hobbies and interests
Attached business card
With the new CV I’ve tried to create a sort of ‘pack’ so it works both online and it can be sent so employers have a tangible object with a business card that attaches to the CV. The whole pack will be trifold and fit nicely into an envelope.
Here is an example of how The trifold works
Also i have a variation for an online CV
Online CV
Since these designs I’ve updated slightly such as the education is all backwards see stationery for final design…
Everyday I scroll through instagram looking for inspiration for work but what I’ve found on some profiles is how the layout has a massive Impact on the viewer. Below are some of the profiles that have caught my eye just because of the layout using just more than one tile to create a bigger picture. The only down fall to this is scrolling through your Instagram feed when you see it: the disembodied hand or indiscernible part of an image. It’s not a mistake, Its just the Instagram #setofthree.
The #setofthree and its variants, #setofsix, and #setofnine take advantage of Instagram’s grid layout to use three consecutive posts as one. I’ve seen it for a while in many posts, but the other day I spotted it in The Creative Pains as well as previously in jackwill.i.ams and I realised the phenomenon of grids for panoramic images has spread.
The Creative Pain (www.instagram.com/thecreativepain/)
JackWill.i.ams (www.instagram.com/jackwill.i.ams)
The Cons.
While tiling is an interesting idea, it’s terrible from a design standpoint. Consider that while on a mobile device, someone will more or less see this: (left mobile/right computer)
It’s a basic rule of web design: it’s got to work on as many devices as possible. And while thinking like a photographer/Designer, these tiles may work, in practicality they don’t look how you think they look in all platforms. Instagram was designed to work with single images (or galleries that load from a single image now), and so that’s generally the best practice. As long as you have a compelling image at the extreme left or right of the image, a gallery is a better way to show panoramic image, but only on mobile devices. On a computer, instead of getting a smooth scroll with your finger and the ability to enlarge each image, you just get a page refresh and your next image. Again, the medium is the message. While a gallery or set of three may be the way you want to tell your story, it may be better to serve it up in a way that works with Instagram’s intended way of doing things. The other aspect to consider is that by posting a set, you’re stuck posting in threes. One single image post after tiling will offset the whole grid and your images will be “broken” until you reach three posts again; also not a good look. And if Instagram ever goes to four columns or two, then you’re stuck again. With resolutions and screen sizes increasing every day, this is not an impossibility.
So if tiling is bad, and galleries are only marginally better, is there a technique you use to share images that don’t quite fit into Instagram’s way of doing things? I’m all for single images and making it work but for my instagram I’ve considered both by using the logo initial design as a single tile then various artworks to do with the design as multiple tile for mobile purpose.
I find that using the #setofthree actually works as long as I keep the initial logo as a single tile AND TAG THE SHIT OUT OF IT!
From uploading a load of work content onto my instagram page Ive already created a lot of traffic and managed to get two jobs on top of that Ive become an ambassador for Livingstone brand in Canada.
Hashtags
If I include the right Instagram hashtags on my posts, I will likely see higher engagement than I would if you didn’t have any. Because hashtags—a combination of letters, numbers, and emoji preceded by the # symbol categorise content and make it more discoverable. Anyone who clicks on a hashtag or searches for it will see a page with all the posts tagged with it.
The hashtags i use a relatively similar in all my posts such as tags like #Graphicdesign but some are tailored to each post.
Professional Practice 