I had previously designed a business card as part of my self promotion pack, however I wasn't happy with the outcome and wanted better quality. I was given the recommendation to check out Moo.com who produce slick and high quality business cards.
The cards will arrive in plenty of time before the end of year show. The main purpose for these are for me to have when I move back to London and am reaching out to professionals and visiting studios.
My Design:
The quality has been compromised slightly when uploading to my blog, but this is the simple design I chose for my cards.
PDF Version:
Confirmation that they have been ordered:
I have ordered 50 'Luxe' Cards with a 'Tiger Orange Seem'
I received an email back from a woman called LinYee at MOLD magazine. She was very friendly in her response and has said that if I ever find myself In New York, I am more than welcome to visit their studio. She also said that they would be more than happy to organise a Skype call between myself and the team. This is a good opportunity to find out more about their work and hopefully build a stronger relationship.
This experience has once again given me a boost in confidence and has motivated me to reach out to anyone I come across that interests me.
Reaching Out to Bruce Usher...
When speaking to a designer at Wieden + Kennedy, they told me that I should get in touch with a designer who recently left W+K and has since started a couple of independent magazines. As I am still interested in editorial design and as I have work experience at Wired magazine in June, I thought I would reach out to Bruce to see if I could start a conversation with him.
I am still waiting on a response, I was warned that he isn't great at replying to emails however I am glad I contacted him anyway as a boost of confidence to keep doing the same. After all, persistence pays off!
During my week at W+K, I spoke to a designer called Kelly. She ended up being someone I spent a lot of time with that week and have since been emailing her.
When we were chatting, she asked if I had any work for her to see... I had a website but I really didn't want to show her as it hadn't been fully updated and I was not at all confident with the content. However, I explained that I have work that is yet to be uploaded and I will make sure to do that ASAP.
She told me that when I got round to it, she would love to see the rest of my work. I have since updated my website and I am a lot more confident with sending it out. This is why I have since contacted Kelly, among others, letting her know that the site is updated and that she should check it out.
It is a nice feeling to finally be proud of my website. It is also an amazing opportunity to have contacts at such a global company who are interested in what I am up to. I am going to use this to my advantage as much as possible.
I am still in conversation with the Account department which will hopefully result in more work at W+K. Fingers Crossed
I was deep into research for my last extended practice brief. I was researching into the future of food when I came across a magazine called MOLD, a magazine that specifically looks at the future of food. This was perfect research for the brief, however I didn't stop there.
As I am now very interested in the topic, and MOLD have seemed to cover a huge amount of it through their website articles and magazines, I decided I would find an email to contact and go from there. I started to write an email just to say that I love the magazine and content, I then decided that I would introduce myself and then go for it and ask whether it would be possible to visit their studio to see how they work ( I worded it a lot more sucky than that). I then realised before sending that I hadn't found out where their studio actually is.... it turns out its in New York. For a moment I started to think that this was a stupid idea, but then realised I am about to graduate and so if the opportunity to go to New York was every a possibility, I am now in the position where I can take it!
This only happened a few days ago and so I am eagerly awaiting their response...
As I was leaving the office last Friday to complete my work experience, I was having a conversation with an employee I had met earlier in the week. She recommended that I emailed everyone that I had met that week to say thank you. This would hopefully result in them remembering me and could potentially result in me being invited back.
One person I emailed was Matt, the Accounts Manager I met in the week. He was the one who inspired me to aim for a job similar to his. I have asked if it would be possible for me to return, focusing more on what he does in the company. I recieved a response the same day that said he would talk with the head of his department to see what he can arrange. I will be persistently emailing him until something is arranged for later this year.
I also emailed someone called Dan, who was involved in the brief I was set to complete throughout the week. I emailed him a png of some developments I had made after our meeting. I am going to try to stay involved in the brief, despite me not being there.
Examples of logo development as part of the brief:
Gaining Valuable Insight into The Creative Advertising Industry
with Wieden + Kennedy
Monday the 30th last week marked the start of my one week placement at the global advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy. After being treated to breakfast around the corner of the office, the morning started by sitting in on an editing suite where I met some of the members of the team. They were reviewing highlights sent to them by Formula 1, one of if not THE biggest client they have at them moment. I sat in and watched them go over the footage and decide on the most important events of the most recent race to be used in the promo vid for the up coming race in Spain. Within the first our of my time there, I was blown away by what they produce for their clients as well as the sheer scale of what they do on a day to day basis.
Wieden + Kennedy promo video to launch their campaign:
I was lucky enough to be shadowing the Creative Director who worked very hard to allow me to gain insight into as many aspects of the company as possible. My first day also included sitting on on their review of progression for the new Money Supermarket ad campaign. From this, I learned how they presented their ideas and process; using something called 'the wall'. It was very interesting to see how they operated as well as how they gave and received feedback.
Every meeting or review I sat in on over the course of the week involved an eclectic team of employees ranging from designers to account managers to creative directors. I was able to see how each job role, of which there were A LOT, worked together in making an otherwise daunting challenge much more manageable through team work and communication.
Throughout the week, I was also given the opportunity to begin research for a new project that the Creative Director I was shadowing wanted to explore. The brief included research into the amazing work of the White Helmets over in Syria. The idea in a nutshell was to champion their work whilst at the same time get people who may have lost interest or turned a blind eye to the conflict in the middle east to start talking about it more. I don't think explaining the brief in anymore detail would be a good idea for confidentiality reasons.
Documentary following the work and lives of The White Helmets that I referred to for research, available on Netflix:
Wednesday, I was taken offsite to an external editing suit with a free-lance motion graphic designer. In the afternoon, I met with a designer and had a chat with her about what she does. I am unsure whether I want to carry on being a designer and so this insight was very valuable in knowing more about what they are responsible for in the process. In the same afternoon, I met with Matt who is an Account Manager. Before this week, I had never heard of such a job role and this meeting ended up being one of the most valuable aspects of the experience. He explained to me what his job involved as well as what attributed you ned in order to do his job successfully. When he explained it all to me, it made me realise that I would be very well suited to a job that nature.
What I have realised this week is that I am not interested in the production side of design and have now learned that there is such a huge variety of job roles within the creative industry, and ones that are much more strongly suited to my interests, ambitions and skills. The meeting has given me something more specific to aim for as well as reconsider my MA option. This has confirmed that I will be looking for MAs that are more business focused. Every meeting I had, I made sure to ask their opinion on if an MA is necessary or beneficial.
Each person gave a slightly different opinion, however a majority said that it would be more beneficial to get stuck into the industry. The decision I made from these meetings and insights was that I am going to continue to research and eventually apply for an MA, however I am going keep all options open.
I aim to gather as much work experience this Summer as I can and get a wider scope of the creative industry as this week as extremely beneficial for me and so gaining more will only add to this. The rest of the week I carried on with my own brief, sat in on more reviews and met mine of the team.
I tried my best to get noticed, however this was a hard ask considering there are nearly 200 people working their. I managed to gather a few contacts which I will be emailing as well as some studios to get in touch with. I will be emailing each person I met at the office to say thank you and hopefully start up conversations with. I will try my hardest to get invited back to W+K through persistent emailing. They also offer an internship through a programme over Summer which I will try to get involved in.
The Rewarding Experience of Hosting a Show of my Work
One of the most rewarding experiences of this year has been contextualising my work through hosting an exhibition of work produced by myself and two other designers. It's one thing to design something 'nice' on a screen and maybe do a couple of mock ups with it, but its another to actually present the work to the public and spark genuine interest.
This is definitely something I will be doing more of, it was extremely enjoyable, rewarding and it taught me a lot more than my other briefs did. The most rewarding aspect of the experience was seeing people look at my work and talk about it, pointing and commenting. Whether they were admiring or critiquing, it was a great thing to experience and I am very glad that we decided to go through with it.
As well as our work, there was also live music and free drinks flowing which made it feel like more of an event than an exhibition which really worked, especially for our young target audience. Combining a music event with work is an amazing idea and something that I hope to develop.
I have been to an event similar where there was music, crowds, drink and creative work. It was on a much larger scale than ours but it has inspired me to do something similar. With the number of creatives, musicians etc that I now know, it is definitely possible to throw large events of this nature. This is something I will be looking into over the Summer period in London as there there is even more opportunity for this kind of project.
An Email from Previous Work
I recently received an email from a design studio I worked with a couple of years ago. They reached out to me as they caught wind of the fact that I asm finishing Uni very soon. I have never been reached out to like this and so it was a very rewarding feeling to think that they chose me personally to ask whether I would be interested in doing some more work with them.
I have replied saying that I am unfortunately very busy with other work experience and trips away but that I will stay in touch and if they still need me later on int he Summer period that I would be more than happy to come in.
Admittedly I didn't love my time there, however I had only just come out of first year and so I wasn't very able to do many tasks. Whereas if I were to revisit, they would have a lot more faith in my abilities and hopefully give me more rewarding work.
One of their new clients is Chelsea Football Club, and as I am a fan of this club I am very interested to be involved. It would be a great project to add to my portfolio.
Before I begin to write my personal statement, I thought it would be a good idea to do some research on what I should be including. Below is a website I have found which I will use, along with some other sources.
As well as website, I will be talking to as many people as possible who have gone through the postgraduate process to and ask them how they went about it.
I have just booked a place for the London College of Communication open day on the 25th April. This means I'll have to go to London for the afternoon and return on the same day. I would like to learn a bit more about the courses available as well as the application process.
Booked another open day at Brunel University at the end of May.
When I found out that they were exhibiting some of the set designs from Wes Anderson's new animation film 'Isle of Dogs' I made sure not to miss it. Whilst in London, I managed to visit The Store X, a new exhibition space in the city. I was absolutely blown away by the models featured in the show and has made me want to watch the film more so than I had before. I have always been a fan of Wes Anderson films, however animations are a bit hit-and-miss for me. However, this has changed since seeing this show as I now have a slight gage on the intricacy and detailing involved in producing something like this.
The other aspect I enjoyed most about the show was the Graphic Design elements of the show and of the film itself. The logo, pictured below, caught my eye and is one of my favourite pieces of branding that I have seen for a while. I have always loved asian culture and design and this is a beautiful example of this.
Over the Easter break, whilst I was in London, I used my time to visit a studio I have been talking to for a few weeks hoping to get some experience. Up until that point, they had mentioned the possibility of some experience but that was as far is it went. I was determined to make it go further and so I made the 40 minute journey to brick lane, where there office is, with my newly made self promotion pack as well as a small gift. I hand delivered the package to the studio, unfortunately the person I have been talking to via email was not available that day and so I handed it to the receptionist to pass on.
The studio I have been in contact with for the passed couple of months is Wieden & Kennedy, a creative advertising agency in London. I am a huge fan of their work and they have been involved with a number of high profile campaigns. Creative advertising is definitely something I have an interest in and so is why I have been pushing them for experience for a few months now.
The Result
After not hearing back from them for a week or so, I decided to nag once again and email them to ask if they had received my pack and gift. I then received this response...
They have offered my a week working along side their creative advertising team. I have responded saying that I can do the week commencing the 30th May. I have made the decision that I have enough time to complete the week of experience whilst finishing my degree work.
Updating my Design Instagram
I have come to realise more and more that Instagram is a really useful tool for creatives to share their work. It provides an informal platform that allows you to promote your work and have it seen by millions of people around the world. Creatives are making use of Instagram more and more and so is a good idea for me to have an account specifically for my designs that I update regularly.
I have included my best work on my feed, and will continue to update it as soon as a finish a project.
Already, I have been contacted by a number of creatives. It also allows me to get feedback on work from creatives from all disciplines.
I have also updated the Instagram icon to fit in my with new personal identity.
This week I decided to focus on giving myself and my practice a brand and identity. Up until now, I haven't made an effort to brand myself but as the year progresses, I deem it more and more important. Another reason for focusing on this is because, when back in London over Easter, I plan to visit a studio or two. For these visits, I thought it would be a good idea to produce something physical that I can then deliver in person to some studios and designers. This will act as a conversation starter and hopefully lead on to further things.
Logo Design
I wanted to create a logo to use throughout my self promotion including Instagram. I knew I didn't want anything too fancy, just a simple use of letters that represented my name and me as a designer. I wanted the logo to be sophisticated, formal, minimal and clear in what it is.
I chose the font Baskerville to form the logo as it is one of my favourite fonts that I use regularly. It is also suitable as it is a formal, serif font that will look professional in context.
Below are the 4 designs I drew up as possibilities. I liked the idea of spelling my whole name out as the logo. However, it proved to be too long and wouldn't work in a smaller size. I ended up choosing number 4 as it is the most versatile and simple.
Promotion Pack
My first application of the logo is the promotional pack I have designed for the purpose of taking to studios to advertise myself as a designer and start networking.
The pack is designed with an outer envelope which includes both an introduction about myself, examples of my work and contact details. I intend to deliver this by hand to a studio in London over the Easter break.
Research
I used Pinterest and Behance to research examples of successful self promotion that I liked and that would inspired my own designs.
Branding Guidelines
I thought it would be necessary to produce a set of branding guidelines that I stick to so that the branding is consistent throughout.
I decided to source some stock, green and blue, that I thought would work well with my promo pack. I often use soft colours in my work and so thought it apt to use it in my branding.
