OUGD201 evaluation

Through this module I have developed my communication skills through typography. Illustrative typography was an area of design which I wished to explore and I have used these skills to create a memorable image, branded with my logo, to use on promotional posters.  The concept of creating illustrative typography using my product (my chosen 'what is good') give it more purpose, meaning and substance.

I have carried out alot more research than in previous modules and through this, have a better understanding of my subject, allowing my communication to be clearer. The majority of my research has been secondary and I should have gained more primary data. I could have definitely researched more into printing processes and explained why I chose the limited methods I did.

Since returning from Summer my own capacity to carry out tasks currently has been effected through personal reasons and this has impacted on the quality and quantity of work produced. I am saddened greatly by my response to this module and work I create presently. I cannot identify one thing which is weakest in this module, rather the whole submission is weak.

In terms of strengths I can identitfy that I was keen to explore illustrative typography and I undertook the task of creating some myself. I designed and devloped the logo and furthermore applied this to bread. Through the process of toasting, my logo was printed upon the material. In the future, I aim to capitalise on this and carry out more experimentation within typography. Through crits, my idea developed while still keeping to my brief. An example of this is when I decided to package a few slices of bread rather than a whole loaf. This, teamed with audience made much more sense and helped to get the ball rolling. 

There are many things I would do differently if I could. I would ideally like to re-sit this module once I am mentally back on track and can unleash my full potential upon it. One key difference I would make to my working style (and can immediately) is to be more active with my research, in terms of making mock-ups and testing ideas rather than thinking about them and giving the internally giving them a thumbs up/down without exploring the physical possibilities. 

Proposed position statement

1. My design direction is print based editorials with a large focus of typography. Stressed but always passionate. Work hard play hard. Trends are cool if you're the Shepherd, not if you're the sheep. 
2. A picture tell a thousand words, but which words? Words are exact. 
3. Morning glory - I work the best in the mornings when I first wake up. I wish I worked as-well throughout the day.
4. Passion for print relative to costings, either low or high end budgets, an appropriate and considered solution can be reached.
5.  Bouncing off ideas is how I best develop my ideas. Great at digitising my ideas after jotting down initial concepts. 
6. Layout and typography is my direction, this needs to come across in my portolio and be appropriate for the studios I apply to. 

Who else is out there? - How good are they?

In responding to this task you will need to consider the following questions: Who am I competing against? What do they offer? What makes me better? What makes me different? 

Based on the principles that have been introduced in lecture 4 of the Enterprise module and your responses to the previous tasks, evaluate the Strengths and Weaknesses of three practitioners or design agencies as objectively as you can. What opportunities for your own practice have revealed themselves to you as a result of this analysis and evaluation? Do not use subjective language or make unfounded comments about other peopleʼs businesses. It is essential that you make references to SWOT and evaluate its usefulness as an analysis or evaluation tool.

The results of your research should be posted to your Enterprise blog. and summarised by a 250 word statement/evaluation. You should am to illustrate your opinions with relevant examples of contemporary design practice.

How will I promote myself?

By knowing the marketing methods (communication mix) suitable to my practice and applying a range of them I can reach my audience of editorial and typographic orientatied design studios in a more effective manner and communicate myself as a designer. I intend to be a designer in the outside world at the same time as fulfilling my degree. This will include competition and live briefs, demonstrating my passion for graphic design outside of normal college hours.

By focussing on getting their attention, building their interest and convincing my possible employers I hope they would take me on board and achieve a respectable career as a Graphic Designer.

To get their attention I hope to create a self-promotional piece much like Alison Carmichael has done (see below). Something that reflects not only my work and what I want to do, but my personality. I would demonstrate my personality through the design style and concept they could expect if they hired me. For me, it is massively important to have a good relationship with other colleges and be comfortable at work so that I can show my true personality. I would not want to work somewhere that takes itself too seriously and is strict with design. We need rules to know how to break them. I would also run a blog and set myself personal briefs... these would be ideas which I have but do not have a way to execute them to a set brief. I have already started this project and it has made me more confident in my design and shows a real passion for design.

Once I have grabbed their attention, I need to build their interest. I would aim to do this by carrying on the initial motions and keeping a blog up-to-date and personal work/blog relevant to todays PEST factors. However, alongside these continuing developments I could send through a portfolio or an information pack a few days or weeks later as a teaser. I would hope this to be reflective of my design direction and again, personality and so therefore be print based and not too serious, but polished and of high quality.

Convincing them is important I believe. To be able to give evidence that you are a worthy employee could come in many different forms such as recommendations and statements from other professionals. Another way to convince them would be if I won a competition and received a commendation. This would link getting their attention and convincing them in one go, so competition briefs could open up many new opportunities. However, I do not want to rely on these as a method to get myslef noticed as there is such a slim chance of winning. This would only work well as part of a bigger plan as mentioned in this statement.

Touch Branding - self promotion

Alison Carmichael - self promtion

Use of crayons for self promotion

Where are they? - How will they find me?

Where are my potential clients/employers located? What media do my potential clients/employers use? What do you need to communicate and how does it match what your clients/employers need?

Based on the principles that have been introduced so far in the Enterprise module, as well as the previous tasks, investigate, analyse and critically evaluate where your potential clients are located. Identify four examples of your selected client group, 1 for each of the following profiles:

1 x Local   1 x National   1 x European   1 x Transnational

Analyse and compare these examples in relation to the Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST analysis) factors that affect their use of graphic design, choice of designer and trends that will influence their decisions regarding graphic design. Once you have done this summarise your findings by focusing on 1 example and discussing how the clients location and/or use of media will affect what you need to communicate to them and how you might go about doing this. 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.

The results of your research should be posted to your Enterprise blog. and summarised by a 250 word statement/evaluation. You should aim to illustrate your opinions with relevant examples of contemporary design practice.

Local SBT Design
Political - Below example of their work is for etc magazine is for schools and sixth form students. As schools are government run this would have to be in keeping with their views.
Economic -
Technological -
Social - As the audience is young for this editorial they need to keep up with young trends and social changes to their audience. If they do not look appealing t the young, they may find themselves without any readers.

National
The Church of London
Political - Political factors can include things such as the writers strike which affected how many films were produced in America. This may have impacted upon the magazine as there were less big budget films to focus their editorials on. But In terms on a direct effect, I guess this is limited.
Economic -
Social - If the general interest in films plummets then there could be an issue. However I am sure that The Church of London do not entirely rely on 'Little White Lies' for income. They have other projects and skills as a company.
Technology - As technology in films increases, the scope for design grows too. For example with the recent trend in 3D they could do one publication on this, if their chosen film uses it in a big way. However I know this is difficult to reproduce in print. But also technology advances in the design world could open up possibilities for editorial design. I think that good designers in this film can communicated the screen effectively to print, and I think The Church of London do this well, so there is not a big push to go digital.

European
Futu
Political - Distribution among countries depends on political relationships.
Economic - As the design sector grows, the publication will have more choice for content and more studios will come forward offering more choice for the editorial.
Social - Social factors will change the design, and communication between countries is pretty difficult I thought, but it does look nice from my point of view.
Technology - As technology in printing increases, they could print on new paper stock and distribute faster. This may be an opportunity where web may be a positive for this editorial and could reach a larger audience more cost effectively. Although that may sacrifice the actual magazine.

Transnational
The New York Times Magazine

Political -
Economic -
Social -
Technology -

PEST analysis of The Church of London and application of this to effectively communicate with them.
The Church of London rely on the film industry for their main content for one of their magazines, 'Little White Lies' and without this social interest in the media of film, the magazine would be a flop most probably. They have a very loyal fan base and their publications 'embody our passion for creating something of our own, and in doing so connecting with other like-minded individuals.' They must keep up with the social trends, but also be knowledgeable about past designs as some films may be set in past decades (such as This Is England). I will need to demonstrate my understanding of new technologies and new design trends, as well as have a clear understanding of the basics and how these can be adapted for a given situation. Know the rules to break the rules. Although, they create their own style for the publications and communicate the screen to print. Not only do they do in-house publishing, but The Church of London also do contract publishing, art direction & design along with motion & video. As I do want to focus on the print side of the design process, especially editorial design focusing on typography, I think I should focus on this to demonstrate my talents. As they are based in London, I could post something to them... maybe do my own mini-zine based on one of my favourite films which demonstrates my ability as a designer. (Or worst, this may show more designer flair if I can make something I am not keen on look good.) I could package this in the same way they package their mags. However, other student may have done this, so maybe something more special would be needed to stand out from the crowd. I could also find out what cafe's are near and post flyers/mini-zine around there so they see my designs not only in the office but out on the street too, almost like a gorrilla style, grabbing on the social aspect of The Church of London. 

Who am I? - Who are they?

Thinking of myself as a product is tricky. I see myself as one element of a team and work best when I can share and explore my ideas with others, even though I like to create my work individually, I want to work in a small group of professionals. Editorial design primarily layout and typography are my ambition and passion in Graphic Design. I wish to work creatively for a editorial specific for Design such as Elephant. 

InDesign is my software of choice and I know this extensively. I used it for 2 years in my full time job (pre university) to design brochures, leaflets and catalogues at a high production rate. In my previous employement, my designs have been very commercial and were required to fit with the look and branding of the company, which limited my creativity. I am a committed to typography and layout design. I believe in trying out new approaches to communication. I love juxtaposition and entropy in design and wish to design using these techniques.  

Skills that are needed to work in editorial design is a more consise knowledge and experience of communication through typography. I am currently taking a module on type for improvement in this area. Specialising in type through all my future modules on the course will ensure that my portfolio and type journal will be ideal for promting myself to my intended clients. I wish to create original headline designs such as Alison Carmichael, but also structured typeface design to be used in the copy. 

My professional aims are to be an effective and original designer for editorial print publications and have recently found such an array of companies which I would like to be a part of. Location is important to my future design practice and intend to stay in England. I feel that different cultures communicate and decode messages diversly and am determined to become a master in conversing in a culture comfortable to me.

Time management - Week 6

Group tutorial prep

1. What is industrial experience? 

Industrial experience isa chance for me to get a greater understanding of areas of design which I cannot get through sitting in the College studio. Industrial experience will allow me to see and feel first hand what working as a designer is really like. Different places have different ethics and ways of working so a variety of industrial experience is a great idea. 

2. What can you learn from industrial experience?

I can learn about real deadlines and how the system works between designers and others staff members. It is important to know others peoples roles in a team and industrial experience will give me an insight and help me learn about this so that when I finish my course, I have more of an understanding and can adapt better. 

3. What form/format could industrial experience take? 

At the moment, industrial experience for me is all about visits. I hope to get quite a few visits in place over the next few months. Initially I need to find out designers I like and explore/research places where I could go. In the future, industrial experience could mean placements. I would love to go to a studio but also se how a freelancer works also. Over the summer I hope to get quite a few placements and make good contacts. 

4. What areas of industry are you interested in? 

I am really interested in typography and layout. I would love to go and do some industry experience for a freelance illustrative typographer and also a large magazine such as Grafik or Creative Review to see how they work in such a big team. I would hope to make some great contacts and be memorable to these places as these will be valuable when I finish my degree. 

Alison Carmichael is on my list of people I would LOVE to get some industry experience with.

Dan Tobin Smith is a photographer who I would love to gain some knowledge from. I love the images he creates by using perspective. 

Grafik is coming back in January and I would just love to do a placement there. Layout is a massive part of what I want to do as a designer. 

5. What are your concerns about industrial experience?

I am concerned that I will not be memorable and have limited interests. I don't have any hobbies or many views on things and so sometimes I think this makes me seem a bit boring! My main passion is graphic design. I am also concerned that I will not learn alot from some places as they will get me to do demeaning tasks such as make tea. I want them to treat me as a designer with potential, and to see that I am there to learn about the industry, not how to be a tea lady.