Mailout

As I want to send somwthing physical out to studios and then send a follow up email, I experiemented with folds and came up with this design as I wasn't happy with my previous attempts. They seemed too big and something smaller is cuter.

Inside the envelope (and attached to it) will be a sample version of my first print created for the Pop-Up Shop. This links 2 professional networking and practices together. Also I any prints that I do not sell at the shop will be given away to studios when I visit them.

Postcards to post!

Printed my postcards today so I can now send all my emails off and send these little packs first class!

IMAGES

Promotional postcards

I want to send something physical to the studios and professionals which I am emailing. Postcards would be a nice way to show off my work in the printed form and would nit be very expensive to create As there are now 4 projects in my sampler, I can create 4 postcards. Here are my simple ideas. The front of them will be printed on satin (as this looks great quality), but as you cannot double side print this, I will use vinyl on the back to stick the information.

IMAGES

I think the block of colour on the back cheapens the look of these postcards. By simplifying the design and making it more in relation to my sampler. it looks better and more professional. The outside black stroke will just be the edge of the sticker and will not show on the final postcards.

Timba Smit Intern

Seems everyone is looking for interns around this time of year! This is about the digital side of things, not my strong point at all! But maybe I could go and visit the studio...

VNA intern

I am hoping to contact VNA in the future, when my portfolio is more complete and see if they have another opportunity for a short placement over Christmas possibly.

Twofold

I am hoping to submit my posters for Brief 05 and the pop up shop to this independent magazine and hopefully get featured!

List of contacts

Eskimo Creative - Manchester studio
VNA - London street art magazine
Like Minded Studio - Austratlia studio
A2/SW/HK - London studio (A2-Type - Type foundry)
Underware - Amsterdam based Type foundry, workshops and typeradio
Daren Newman -
Luke Lucas -
Studio Makgill - Brighton studio
Demian COnrad - Switzerland based studio
The Entente - Brighton studio (Colophon Foundry - Type foundry)
Timba Smits -
Because studio -
Why Not Associates -
Generation Press -
Seb Lester -
Nicolai Sclatern -

Print, Digital and Experimental

Eskimo Creative are running this in conjunction with GF Smith. Gutted that I am unable to make it as it would be great if I got to talk with Eskimo and also good for research on my OUGD301 briefs.

Twitter

I have been tweeting my new projects and retweeting others and replying to professionals. I think this is good, especially now they have begun to then retweet me.

I have posted photos of my new projects and also promoted myself and LCA at the Manchester Book Fair, which if I had more presence and importance it may have got more people through the door, can help to try! I have been retweeted by Blanket Magazine, Imagine That! and Eskimo Creative. I have found it a great source of information and a good way to keep in touch with past BAGDers.

Update

Ok, I've been pretty rubbish in doing any PPD stuff and I think it must be because I was focussing on getting some design I am happy with so that I can show professionals. I really want to get a placement and really need to get myself out there. I seem to keep missing events that are happening in Manchester and it is getting frustrating.

I am hoping to email some studios next week and my list is growing.

October

Sample portfolio

I think this is a good time to update my portfolio. I am happy with more pieces of my work now and hope to get a few placements beofre I finish my degree. Through research for my briefs for submission of OUGD301 in relation to my rationale I have found more studios where I would like to work for and also have some contacts for my dissertation who I may also be able to send my portfolio to in the future.

PORTFOLIO

Inspire. Create.

Recieved an email about this but didn't do anything about it, gutted! It is certainly a wake up call to write things in my diary and book events as and when I head about them!

"Organised by Leeds Media and Social Alchemy, Inspire. Create is a FREE event, combining an exhibition of budding creatives’ work with a series of seminars and workshops in a bid to support Yorkshire’s rising stars. Students and freelancers are given the chance to showcase their talent to the region’s media and digital sector through an exhibition / competition. Workshops and seminars will be held by representatives from some of the UK’s leading agencies, including Ogilvy, jelly London, Coolpink, Clearsilver, Creative England and What!?"

As this is a feww event and held at The Faversham I have signed up for some talks and put myself on the waiting list for a student day ticket. 

3 - 4PM Seminar: Being Creative In A Commercial WorldA talk by Brand Nu & jelly focusing on the process of monetising the creative process when leaving college; paying specific attention to briefs, deadlines, IP rights and general survival tips. Find out more: http://www.inspirecreateleeds.co.uk/brand-nu/

5.30 - 6PM How to Approach an Internship [Professionals/Agencies] LIMITED PLACES
Louise Leach & Pip Rogan provide insight into how businesses and organisations should approach a placement. Find out more: http://www.inspirecreateleeds.co.uk/clearsilver/

6 - 7PM Seminar: Media Without Barriers
jelly & Brand Nu will demonstrate how they produce content and design across all media, with a consistent approach to quality and creativity. Find out more: http://www.inspirecreateleeds.co.uk/jelly-three-blind-mice/

6 - 8PM Networking Drinks
Come and join us for a drink and a chat! Bring your business cards and portfolios and take this opportunity to find placements, new talent or new business! All are welcome!

Just realised that some of these overlap! And after some more research, I think one or two of these events is not necessarily relevant to my practice. So I will have to think about which would be most beneficial to attend. 

Manchester Book Fair

I helped out on our stall at Manchester Book Fair and was glad I did. I hoped to talk to more people, but it is hard to start making conversation! We sold a few items, but not as much as I thought we would. The book fair was more craft based than design based and there was quite a bit of illustration rather than type. After saying that I am surprised that I sold one of my books, it was also the first item to sell (so I was pretty happy!).

On reflection I think it may have been better if I had produced something more illustrative, than a type specimen booklet for this event but it is part of my submission for OUGD301. It would have also been great if I could have collected some more business cards and spoke to more professionals.

Pop-up shop application

Submitted my pop-up shop application and it has been accepted! This will form part of my submission for OUGD301 but it will also aid in my commercial practice.

Tutorial with Fred

• Define deliverables
• Be confident
• Overlap briefs
• Make own decisions
• Experiment and conclude
• Type a focus for OUGD301

Group tutorial with Fred

Really helpful to see what others are tackling in their third year. Some have chosen similar briefs to myself but are approaching them with a different focus.

A revision of my briefs has happened through this group discussion. I need to stop worrying and thinking about what is going to be produced at the end of the process and see where it goes through development. Some of my small briefs for the book fair and pop up shop could relate to my larger briefs.

Brief 01 - Typefaces. Explore the collaboration of different typefaces. By next week I need to aim for a whole load of different examples of possible typefaces, then at the tutorial I can show what I have and discuss what is working and where it can go from there.

Brief 02 - Publication. Headline fonts for a series of publications based on window designs in the Midlands. By taking the elements from one window from each city (Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Sheffield) and create a typeface for a publication on each city. Also create a working interactive web version of the publication.

Brief 03 - Identity. Exhibition of possibly my own work or maybe black and white film photography. Identity across different deliverables.

Brief 04 - ISTD.

Common Room - Graphic Design

Collaboration would be good possibly for my final major project. I would like to be able to work in a collaboration with a photographer, and create a publication to show off their work in an editorial format.

I put out 15 business cards, and 13 were taken which made me feel pretty positive and I saw alot of people looking at my 'Hate Week' brochure which was encouraging. I think people like to physically hold and look through stuff. However I was disappointed to hear that beer had been spilt on the typeface I had been working on all day. This means photoshopping out the imperfections, which was an avenue I wanted to avoid to have the purest hand-drawn type.

September

PPD group tutorial

John emailed asking to reflect on any work experience I had over summer. The three questions didn't really relate to my summer as I did not seek studio placements once I left uni at the end of second year. I am glad I had a relaxing summer and stayed sane and ready to come back into third year. One thing I have definitely learnt was that I do not wish to work as an in-house designer. Since coming back, my outlook on the type of designer I want to be has changed, so I do think the type of summer I had, even though it may not have been professional, was personally for the best.

LCA pop up shop

I am going to enter myself into the pop up shop and hopefully be a successful applicant. I want to do this in order to get some of my work circulating, to see if my work is commercially viable, and also make a few pennies!

I get discounted print on large orders form digital print, so my profit will be a pretty high percentage on anything that I sell. There is a £10 application fee, and the college add a 20% commission.

After having a word with Amber, I have decided to print posters and possibly tote bags also as she said these sold well last year. Initially I would like to typographically illustrate song lyrics.

Hg identity

I undertand that my initial brand identity does not fit with my rationale anymore, and so I need to have a re-design of this! I think this will be quite a big task as I will need to rebrand my website, business cards and blogs so am going to address this over reading week.

For the next few weeks I will be using my existing brand and have quickly bashed out these business cards.

Website

www.hazelgage.co.uk

Response to design strategy presentation

I realise that I didn't communicate what I actually want to do to Lorenzo and Joe. I got across the illustrative typography side, but not that I want to work with print and in particular, publications.

Also as a reflection, I need to re-brand myself with this new rationale in place. I think I might do this later in the module as I want to get more experienced with illustrative type before I brand myself as that.

I have a pretty specific area of illustrative type that I am interested in, more than creating letterforms of my own, I want to take structured typefaces and add some character to them. Illustrating them within the stems and serifs. Here is one example which incorporates pretty much everything I want to do (except for the actual content being fashion, which is a bit no for me!)... illustrative letterforms, editorial and print.

Design strategy

Open publication - Free publishing - More design

Design skills

Open publication - Free publishing - More design

Manchester print fair

Manchester print fair wasn't as good as I'd have hoped. There were only a small number of stalls and I think due to this, the atmosphere was pretty quiet. Also, with it being named a 'print fair', I expected more of a range of printed items. I really wanted to pick up some zines as research for my dissertation, but all of them (that I saw) were illustration based, not typography. I took it as a good opportunity to pick up some business cards anyway for inspiration!

Next door is THE MOST amazing book store... Such a great resource for design books and magazines. Ended up spending way too much money, but all of it worthwhile!

On this little day-trip, I saw things on a huge scale. At one point realising how much of a geek I am by wondering what point size a M&S logo was and thinking I was seeing the worlds biggest poster, along with dining in the worlds first pop up bowling alley 1050s style and beautiful old letting in Victoria station which I absolutely love. Each time I go to Manchester, it makes me more determined to move here after Uni.

Statement of intent

Smile - stay positive and sane throughout third year and into the world of work.
Fontographer - design a typeface to a professional and usable standard.
Praxis - learning through doing.
Research visits - get inspired by the world outside the studio.
Business cards - contact information so I am always prepared and do not miss opportunities.
Dreamweaver - HTML/CSS need to learn to be able to make my own website for me design presence.
Photography - photograph my work to a high standard for my portfolio.
Contacts - make contacts!

The other day, I made a different sort of statement. My friend had been assulted by a man who looks remarkably like Michael Cera. Unlike this doppleganger, I want to make a positive mark on society. I reckon that is what keeps me going. I want to make others smile. Design may be useless in the whole spectrum of life, (all we really need is water, food and light, like plants I suppose) but in the manufactured world of luxury we have become accustomed, I am glad that I am involved in something to make the world a brighter, cheerier place.

I always thought I wanted to be designing printed resolutions and typefaces rather than motion and image. Now I know it. The end of year show (just gone) metaphorically 'kicked me up the arse' by showing me what I could potentially become. Nay, what I will become. In one year, I am going to have a portfolio that says, on a personal level; involved, professional, fun-loving, forward-thinking, committed, and on a professional level; print, illustrative/decorative type, branding, small team. It will not say; advertising, retail, fashion/music, screen, craft, in-house, freelance.

10 briefs

Link to my chosen 4 briefs.

Inspired by the last graduating years portfolios I have come to decide which briefs I wish to undertake in my final year of my degree.

I wish to focus in areas which I most want to be a part of in my career. This includes publications, typography, print and branding. I have found many more studios which have inspired me and some briefs I have adapted from their solutions. 

1. Identity a day (DC initial inspiration)
The Brief
Create bespoke branding for 10 diverse companies of different sizes and apply across a range of marketing stationery.
Concept/Proposition
Each design must be unique and effective for that company.
Target Audience
Be aware of costings for each company and what mediums will be most suitable for each.
Tone of Voice
Professional but obviously dependant upon each business.
Considerations
Fast turn around, however do not churn out bog standard ideas. Also crafting considerations must be to a high level as these will be representing businesses. Stock must be taken into consideration and possible web presence.
Mandatory Requirements
Each company will have a unique brief created with alternate deliverables.
Deliverables
10x branding solutions
Studio Deadline
2 weeks.

2. Interactive magazine (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief
Learn through doing. Understand the elements of a digital interactive magazine. 

Concept/Proposition
Content taken from an existing, not well designed (in my opinion) magazine and redesign for the web. 

Target Audience
That of the original magazine. 

Tone of Voice

Considerations
Make it easier to access the information provided by the magazine through suitable links and correct metadata, think about impaired vision audience. 

Mandatory Requirements

Deliverables
1x interactive PDF, placed on a web page with all links working.

Studio Deadline

3. Ornament typeface (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief
Create a working decorative typeface.

Concept/Proposition
Development of letterforms through a window as inspiration. Elements of window are the only details allowed on each letterform to create an entire alphabet. 

Target Audience
Designers using the font for single words or sentances. Typeface not designed to be used for paragraphs of text.

Tone of Voice
Ornamental, architectural, elegant.

Considerations
Do the letters work next to each other, is it easily read and understood?

Mandatory Requirements
Uppercase typeface

Deliverables
1x typeface.

Studio Deadline
2 weeks, possibly more if I use this for something further... could tie in with my publication brief below.

4. Publication (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief
Find an avenue to explore and inform an audience through a free publication. This could be an extension of my ornament typeface and an avenue to demonstrate this working as I intend. 

Concept/Proposition

Target Audience

Tone of Voice

Considerations
Cost of printing, methods of distribution, form and function. 

Mandatory Requirements

Deliverables

Studio Deadline

5. Competition brief (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief
Taken from either ISTD, YCN or D&AD. Preferably an ISTD brief, as they seem to more in-depth, and specifically typographically based. Also, when looking through other graduates work from different universities, I noticed alot of students have included YCN briefs in their portfolios. I think it would be better not to have such a generic brief as something for 'Ted Baker'. This years' ISTD Briefs will be published on 1st October.

Concept/Proposition

Target Audience

Tone of Voice

Considerations

Mandatory Requirements

Deliverables

Studio Deadline

6. Exhibition design (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief
Promote a photographic exhibition.

Concept/Proposition
Design the layout of the exhibition guide and promotional material for a photographic exhibition of old black and white photographers. (Heller, Atget, etc).

Target Audience
Photographers interested in film photography, particularly black and white film from a certain era. 

Tone of Voice
Reflective, respectful.

Considerations
Delivery method and audience. 

Mandatory Requirements

Deliverables

Studio Deadline

7. Restaurant range (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief
Create the concept for the branding of a new/existing restaurant. Based upon a previous ISTD brief 'Mutton Quad'.

Concept/Proposition
A new egg restaurant in Leeds.

Target Audience
People who like good food and like to eat out. Probably are working and are couples. 

Tone of Voice
Professional, clean, considerate, tasty!

Considerations
Needs to communicate the good quality and range of food available, even though they all share the same ingredient. 

Mandatory Requirements
Logo, menus, branding.

Deliverables
A range of items for the restaurant including menus all branded with a recognisable identity. 

Studio Deadline
2 weeks.

8. Greetings cards (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief
Tigerprint brief. 

Concept/Proposition

Target Audience

Tone of Voice

Considerations

Mandatory Requirements

Deliverables

Studio Deadline

9. Personal identity (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief
Create personal identity for Hazel Gage.

Concept/Proposition

Target Audience
Potential employers in the creative field.

Tone of Voice
Professional, with some personality.

Considerations
Must communicate graphic designer and the areas which I am most interested in. 

Mandatory Requirements
Personal identity (logo, typeface, colours).

Deliverables
Branding range including mailshot to send to potential employers. 

Studio Deadline
1-2 weeks. 

10. Zine (DC initial inspiration)

The Brief

Find the creative Hazel in a 24 hour period.

Concept/Proposition

Express myslef over paper, make copies and sell at the book fair. Could also be sent to studios I want to work for and an introduction to my personality, not just me as a designer. 

Target Audience

Myself, and anyone else who wants a snapshot of the workings of my mind, when left to nothing else except my own thoughts. 

Tone of Voice

Personal.

Considerations

Communicate my brain.

Mandatory Requirements

Must be 24 hours of thoughts.

Deliverables

1x zine. 

Studio Deadline

1 day. 

Berg

Wooow. Berg studio is amazing. Just the kind of place I want to work for, beautifully crafted typographic resolutions, but not overwhelming. Just stunning.