Personal & Professional Practice: May 2019

Monday, 6 May 2019

OUGD602 - End of Module Evaluation

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed this module and believe it has been crucial in teaching me the essential skills needed for a career in the creative industries.

During my first and second year at university, I felt that there wasn’t much talk about life in the professional world, which left me feeling fairly clueless about real industry life. During this module, Alec has massively changed this – he has taught us everything we need to know and I believe he has truly prepared us the best we can for life after university.

I have really enjoyed the sessions Alec put on for us and they have been so beneficial for going into the professional world – from sessions about getting paid, to the Creative Convos guest speaker week – I have absorbed every bit of knowledge and information given to me, all of which has helped build my confidence and prepared me to get a job in the creative world.

Following the sessions on applying for work experience/jobs/how to write a cover letter, I began applying for jobs. The first interview I went to, I got the job and I honestly believe that is thanks to Alec for all the valuable knowledge he has given us. I am now working a job I love and I don’t think I could’ve got this far without everything I have learnt during this module!

A lot of the information is invaluable knowledge I will take forward into my career and the rest of my working life. I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to be part of all the sessions during this module, and it has been extremely interesting and important.

OUGD602 - Leeds International Festival - What The F*ture Event

This year, 2-12 May, it is Leeds International Festival, described as 'a festival of new ideas and generation'.

My design director at work has booked tickets for myself and the four other designers at the agency to go to one of the events on the 7th May, 'What The F*ture?!'. This is an event with two guest speakers from both Elmwood and Contagious, who will be talking about branding and consumer behaviors.

I can't wait to go - I think it will be a super interesting event!

Sunday, 5 May 2019

OUGD602 - Design Strategy File - End of Year Show Plans

Because I have focused on packaging this year, I am definitely wanting to play on this in the End of Year show. Most of the packaging I have designed is food/drink related, or something you could buy in a supermarket.

With this in mind, I am thinking of setting up a ‘mini supermarket’ almost, with a few shelves on the wall displaying my packaging, as if you were in a supermarket. This could be emphasised by a sign implying you are in a shop, perhaps a neon ‘Open’ sign or ‘mini mart’ hanging sign next to the shelves. There could even be prices on the front of the shelf, as you would see in a regular supermarket.

To further play on this idea, I have also considered having a small trolley positioned under the shelves as a prop - similar to the children’s play ones. This would not be something to touch or move, just something to further emphasise the supermarket and packaging context.

We are yet to be briefed on the End of Year Show plans so I am unsure whether this will be a possibility yet. I have noted down some ideas to put forward to the tutors to see what will and won’t be possible.

OUGD602 - Design Strategy File - Contact List

OUGD602 - Design Strategy File - Skills Evaluation

OUGD602 - Design Strategy File - Career Plan

A career plan is less relevant for me as I have been fortunate enough to land myself a permanent design job at an agency that specialises in education. Whilst I am really enjoying working there and am loving learning new skills, working in this sector was never really something I had in mind.

My overall dream is to work in the packaging sector, as this is what I have specialised in during my time at university. I plan to work in my current role for a year or two whilst I build up my skills and industry knowledge. Once I feel comfortable I will begin looking at packaging specific roles that could potentially suit me and my practice. For now though, I am happy where I am and am enjoying working in the professional world.

In terms of my own personal practice, contemporary collage, this is something I would like to push a bit more. Whilst I have been at university and working a part time job at the weekend, I have had little time to dedicate to my collaging interest. I would like to really try and get my collages out there using Instagram, in the hope to get some paid commissions. I would love to do more collaging as it is a real hobby of mine, so I would like to use my weekends to work on this. Hopefully I will get some decent publicity which will allow me to put a bit more of a focus on doing what I love.

OUGD602 - Design Strategy File - Portfolio

OUGD602 - Design Strategy File - Manifesto/Position Statement

During my time at university, I have mainly focused on branding and packaging design. Packaging is something I am really passionate about and is a real area of interest for me, however I have found that specialist jobs in this area are few and far between. I recently applied for a role as a junior packaging designer, and was told my portfolio was great but I wasn’t available soon enough to start the job. This was a massive blow for me as it would have been a dream opportunity, and was the only role of that type available at the time.

Since then, I have managed to secure a role as a designer at an agency based on design for education. Whilst I am really enjoying working there and exploring a brand new area, it is still my long term goal to move into the packaging sector.

My plan as a designer is to work in the role I am in for the next year or two whilst I build up my knowledge and general professional experience. I will be keeping my eye out for any potential packaging designer roles in the meantime, and if I see an opportunity fit, I may apply.

Working in the packaging sector has been a long term goal for me and is not something I want to give up on just because I have secured myself a design role doing something else. Over the next year or so I will be frequently looking at websites such as The Dieline in order to keep my knowledge of the packaging market current and fresh.

In the meantime, I will be keeping up my own personal practice outside of work, which is contemporary collage. I discovered a love and passion for collaging whilst at university and it is something I enjoy doing outside of work. I like to separate my own creative practice from my professional job role - it is nice to do something a bit more fun and creative in my spare time, away from my design job.

OUGD602 - Design Strategy File - CV

OUGD602 - Self Branding - Final Designs and Mockups

I have chosen the pink colourway as my main/default design, as I feel this is best representative of myself and my work. However, there are other alternate variations that can be used in order to switch things up and represent my collage style, whilst still being recognizable.

Alternate variations;

1)

OUGD602 - Self Branding - Playing Around with Final Designs

After deciding I wanted an imagery-based branding, I started playing around with different pictures I had collected and how this could work with the blackletter type I had chosen.

For a simple business card, I arranged each image on the front with my name and title 'graphic designer and girlboss'. On the back, I swatched the main colour from each image and used that for the background. I wanted to keep the back simple, so I just included my logo in the corner, and my twitter, Instagram and email details, with my website address underneath;

Business cards;

For the letters, I wanted to carry on the heavily imagery based feel. I took each image and placed it as the background, with a slight opacity. I then added my name and title, with body copy and a signature.

Letters;

Wrapping/tissue paper;

Personally, I felt that the pink variation was working the best. I wanted my branding to be interchangable, with a variety of different business cards and letters, yet still a recognizable style. However, I felt it was best to have a 'base' or 'default' variation, with the possibility of changing it up.

The pink worked best to represent my 'girlboss' image, and represented me as a person nicely.

OUGD602 - Self Branding - Further Development

Although I quite liked the pink and red theme as it was very feminine/girl power-ish, I wasn't sure whether it was too much or too 'in your face'.

I started thinking about other aesthetics that I liked, and looked at a few particular Instagram accounts where I really vibed off the look of the feed;

I really liked the muted tones of this girl's particular feed. The oranges/blues/blacks had a retro, vintage feel but also a calming effect. I wondered whether this was something I could incorporate into my own branding.

I came across one image in particular that really caught my eye;

I just loved the colours presented in this image, so I swatched them into my Illustrator document to start working with.

At the same time, I wanted to reflect the contemporary collage background behind my personal practice. I wondered whether including images within my self branding could help represent my collage style.

I gathered a few images together that inspired me, and reflected myself as a person/brand. I still wanted that boujee/feminist/girl power/90s babe feel;