Branding guidelines

Craig Oldham

Got so much from my talk with Craig Oldham today when he saw my portfolio...

• Work more with imagery, it is clear that type is a focus, but how can this be incorporated with imagery such as 'I'm Still Here'.
• Think about talking like design rather than type.
• Get in contact with Timothy Donaldson for feedback, if he doesn't get back, tell Craig. Haha. 
• Show images in context. In 'A Type Of Show', its not clear what was exhibited. 
• Take physical items as well as a portfolio.
• Show the process of production, especially on'The Specials'. Doesn't matter if cannot be produced on a large scale and cannot have a real life application, have fun. 

He had confidence in my work, and it was great to get an opinion face to face with a professional not from the course team or another student. I gave him the 'Rat Race' poster from 'The Specials' brief with a business card inside the tube. He seemed pretty happy to receive this and I will do this in future with any professionals which I converse with.

Andy Lodge

Andy was really helpful, however I was in a bit of a mood so probably would have got more out of this surgery if it was a day before or after. He picked up on a few of the same things as Craig, in reference to my portfolio in terms of which images I have used. Other points he made were

• Get a placement, stand out, be different. This gave me an idea to write to studios I like asking if I could come and have a look round. 
• Photograph my work again, to a high quality. Consistency with colour.
• Post-rationalise so my briefs make more sense. 
• Understand everything written in the portfolio so if I get asked about it, I don't get stuck. Know the answers to everything and be able to give a reason for my design decisions clearly. 

Website re-brand

Wowee... got my website up and running with my new branding and all relevent projects... really happy with it and people are visiting it which is great! Need to update and get my business card printed ASAP and send our hand written letters to potential studio visits... Also I have updated my Twitter so my branding is consistent across all mediums. The colour I have used is suitable for print and web and likewise with my font choice.

visit - www.hazelgage.co.uk
message - hello@hazelgage.co.uk
follow - @hazelgage

Portfolio

Open publication - Free publishing - More design

Rebrand

I am tiring of my personal branding. Jonny asked me why I was using Georgia on my boards as this is a web font. I had no idea. I just like it and at the time was a bit dismissive, but on reflection, as a typographicly focussed designer, I really should think more about my font choice! Also looking at previous graduates portfolios, they look more polished and my layouts are beginning to look dated. I have relied on simple layouts for too long, and now is the time to shake things up a bit and step outside my comfort zone.

I am giving myself 1 hour to come up with a new branding identity. Seriously.

Here is what I achieved... This will be changed when I get back to Leeds by adding shading on some elements of some of the letters such as the right hand side of the H and right hand side of the G. (similar to letterforms of Exhilaro... But this will do for now.

Portfolio ideas

Here are some portfolios from the previous 2 graduating years from LCA BAGD that have caught my eye. I wish to utilise elements from these to make mine more interesting and professional looking. They includes, Scott Colley, Edward Webb, Vicky Simpson

Small studios are not a training camp for the big world

Posted by Mind design and I came across it on a previous 3rd years blog. Making me get more excited about mine and Stephs little studio/business adventure!

"Most interns want to work in a small studio because they assume that those are more 'creative' and somewhere between art college and the big agencies. What they often forget is that small those studios hardly ever employ new staff and usually struggled quite a bit themselves to achieve their 'creative' status. All small studios started at some point with very little experience from nothing with just one or two semi-reliable clients. They took risks, made many mistakes, worked through quite a few bad jobs and put up with difficult clients in order to pay the bills. Instead of assuming that there is a shortcut to great creative freedom or a half-way house between college and the big world graduates should just be braver and start their own thing. It actually seems easier nowadays to find your first client than getting a full-time job. The more small design studios there are the better and we have always been happy to help if someone asks for a printer recommendation or how to structure an estimate. The sad thing is that many interns after they have done their rounds through the small studios end up in a big commercial agency because they need to earn money and those are the only ones hiring (and firing once the project finishes). In a way small studios come into a position where they are training the future staff of their own competitors who put profit before creativity."