Level 4 Personal Branding: Review

Above is the self branding I designed near the end of Level 4. Looking back at it now, I'm not happy with it and I aim to completely change it.

First off, the use of a gradient isn't to my taste anymore, and the colours aren't complimenting enough... I used to like the effect but now I feel it doesn't reflect me.

The eye illustration is too ambiguous and doesn't have much of a meaning. The hand rendered type could definitely be made more stylised and less scruffy. The strokes are too thick which makes it harder to read.

Evaluating my past branding has made me realise that our progression is very fast paced, and our work is ever changing... whatever I design to promote myself this year, I will probably want to change in 6 months time.

Self branding

I chose to hand render my name because that is something I am strongly drawn to in my designs, and it gives a very personal feel.
The eye is something that I doodle a lot and find therapeutic and a reflection of my playful style and personality.
I chose the gradient to add colour and something to catch attention. I didn't want something too bright and in your face, just something sleek and smooth.

Presentation

•       When I started the course I didn’t have much graphic design knowledge at all, as I’d only studied it at GCSE level and my foundation course was pretty self led.

•       I feel like my most valuable knowledge has come from being constantly surrounded by other designers in the studio.

•       Throughout this year I have gained so much confidence in my work and I finally feel like I know what I’m doing.

•       Having to present all my designs to groups of people has improved this, and I’m more welcome to constructive criticism.

•       At the start of the year I had trouble keeping up with the workload and ended up designing things really last minute

•       but now I’ve improved on it and gotten used to the amount of work. I still have a long way to go in terms of organization though.

•       I have been introduced to new printing methods including screen printing which I enjoy and I now feel comfortable doing it.

•       Being taught how to book bind in various different ways has helped a lot.

•       Here are my designs from months ago, which seem really dull to me now and make me realize that I have developed as a designer.

•       These are some of my most recent designs.

•       I’ve become more expressive and I can now use colour more confidently.

•       The bottom one is my publication for CoP.

•       I created this book based on my essay about the values of fine art and graphic design.

•       I wanted to create something that would present statements on the subject to the reader who would hopefully form their own opinion.

•       I hand painted the cover with textured acrylic paint.

•       I like white space, but strong contrasting features work well with it.

•       I really enjoy using paint as I love making art as well as design.

•       Hand rendered design gives me a lot of freedom and I don’t feel restricted.

•       I can add my own unique style rather than designing something really similar to other stuff out there.

•       Hand-rendered type is expressive and it lets me achieve the look I want, as I often sift through digital fonts trying to find the perfect match for a design.

•       I’m so bored of seeing sans serif fonts – I prefer type with personality, it really catches my attention.

•       However its very time consuming and it makes me realize why people use already-existing fonts.

•       And I’m a perfectionist which doesn’t help.

•       In second year I want to push myself to experiment more with design methods and printing methods, which I didn’t do enough this year.

•       I also want to produce more all round professional work, including how I design, and printing, and taking proper photographs of the finished products, which I think is very important for getting your work out there.

•       I want to step up my organization, and make sure I plan and think ahead, without leaving things till the last minute.

•       Hopefully I can figure out my strengths and pinpoint areas of design that are right for me, so I can create a suiting identity for myself.

Personal branding research

https://www.behance.net/gallery/16190567/Personal-Branding-2014

https://www.behance.net/gallery/16452243/Der-kleine-Antikladen

https://www.behance.net/gallery/11553411/APETHI

https://www.behance.net/gallery/16486349/Gabbie-Lee-Branding

Self-branding ideas

Business card

• gold pen, my name written differently on each business card
• coloured paper
• black edges
• eye illustration - my identity
• gradients

PPP Presentation content ideas

• self-branding ideas
• design interests
• struggles with first year
• accomplishments in first year
• my fine art work

Design interests

• not delicate
• looseness
• feel that digital is limiting
• paint
• hands on
• vivid
• hand rendered typefaces - can create exactly what you need
• not inspired by the ordinary - serif/sans serif - perfectly rendered - seen everywhere
• like type to have personality
• expressive
• making a visually creative piece rather than layouts/websites etc.
• an artistic way to portray something
• unrestricted
• style and taste has changed since I started first year
• white space with strong features
• like modern but not too much
• moving away from swiss style and unleashing my art side - feels like ur copying everyone else.
• not interested in trends

Next year

• Take professional photographs of work
• push myself further and take risks/ experiment

Yoke - Dialogue exhibition

Above is my design in the middle collaborated with another design. I really enjoyed the exhibition and seeing my work there. It has definitely inspired me in terms of collaboration, and also getting my work into the real world.

Partner brief: Ian Anderson

Me and George Boreham worked together on a piece of graphic design for Ian Anderson to keep forever.
We followed our manifesto and focused on how you shouldn't design to make money, but design for yourself and for others. By doing this you will expand your knowledge and design skills.

Manifesto

This is the manifesto me and George Boreham created. 

1. Everything should have a purpose - don't clutter up your work.
2. Be aware of the connotations of colour/type/image.
3. Experiment as much as possible.
4. Push boundaries and create unique work.
5. Do work for causes you believe in and be proud of your work.

Yoke - Dialogue

Definition:
a conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or film.
take part in a conversation or discussion to resolve a problem.

My design:

I decided to take dialogue literally and make a very minimal design from it. The illustrations I did myself, which are speech marks. I'm hoping to see my work in the exhibition, and excited to see the work it will be collaborated with.

Ian Anderson - Research

For one of our tasks, we have to email a piece of graphic design to the designer Ian Anderson. We have to create this work with our partner who we created a manifesto with.

I'm going to do some individual research into the kind of designer he is, as we have to design something that he will want to keep forever.

http://www.madenorth.co.uk/ian-anderson-the-designers-republic/

From my perspective, because I didn’t study design, just doing creative things interests me – why wouldn’t a designer co-curate and architectural biennale?
It’s design in the bigger sense. The terminology of designer – to me there’s that sense is design equated to French dessiner/to draw – or design as in terms of designs for life or grand designs. For me it’s grand designs and the idea behind it. It’s about ‘I’ve done this by design, for a reason’.
Collaboration changes the nature of what you put in and also changes the nature of what you need to satisfy. For me working on either a book design or the EXD Lisbon Biennale there’s not a great difference in thought or work process. 

With the problems TDR went through in 2009, what’s your advice to other designers?IA. You can turn around everything I’ve just said and say that’s why you went out of business. All the cliches about being true to yourself and not growing too quickly; there’s a whole sense of ‘be careful what you wish for’. When we first started working with Coke in Atlanta they said be careful, what you’ve got is quite special which is why we’ve come to you but by doing this work with us you could go and shake the money tree. If every job you have is worth £100k – £200k you only need two of these to go and there’s a big hole left. It’s relatively easy to get a £2k – £5k job to replace a £5k one that goes. You can’t just go and say we need a couple of £100k jobs by end of the month – you need to cultivate the clients.
There was a clear tension in what I wanted to do creatively – I was told “The problem you have running a business is that you’re just not interested in money”. I feigned I was – you want to make money but it doesn’t drive you.
If you have a business employing 20 people your motivation has to be profit and money at the expense of creativity. Is that advice or exorcism?

What are you working on right now?IA. We’ve got quite a few exhibitions coming up this year. Also some TDR book projects that we’re working on. One of the things we’re doing is returning to a working process where we’re funnelling our creativity into commercial clients which always used to benefit the clients – the right kind of clients. The right kind of client is anyone who will say we can see the value of working with you let’s celebrate what you do and help you do it for our benefit. That takes a certain kind of person and client. It’s worked for some of the biggest brands in the world. 

Who or what inspires you?

IA. It’s difficult to answer that question as I don’t really know – I can say I like that piece of design or that style but there’s a low boredom threshold so that will change. Inspiration can come from anywhere, travelling on a train, watching a film – you just have to allow connections and ideas to form. There’s things that over 25 years keep coming back – like immediacy of communication, rawness of communication.

PPP Task

Why is networking good for ME personally?

It helps me make contacts in the design world for future opportunities and growth. Being involved in the design world is something vital as a designer.

For what I may get out of it is it worth it? YES/NO

Yes.

WHAT can I get out of this?

Collaborations, job opportunities, friends, advice.

Am I doing this simply because I am being asked to?

Yes, however it is a push for us to realise how important networking is so we can hopefully learn how to do it off our own backs in the future.

WHAT do I think that I am NOT doing as far as networking?

Talking to others in the college in 2nd and 3rd year due to shyness and not knowing how to go about it. Even at exhibition openings etc I need to learn how to approach people and be confident.

Do YOU think that in this kind of communication, language is a major barrier?

No, as design can speak for itself.. and there are ways of communicating things.