Study task 1: Why am i here and what do i want to learn

5 reasons why you chose to be on the programme:

-college/ course has a good reputation

-wanted to learn how to be a designer

-wanted to learn new digital skills

-good facilities 

5 things you want to learn:

-how to use my time effectively

-how to work at a professional level

-lots of design skills

how to use photoshop properly

5 skills you think are your strengths:

-drawing

-using illustrator

-thorough research

-typography

-use of colour

5 things you want to improve:

-time management

-concentration skills

-photoshop

-documenting work/ blogging

-use time effectively 

5 ways to evaluate your progress:

-look through the progress of my designs, development

-blogging

-crit feedback, end of year feedback, tutorials

-evaluating myself and my designs

-constant development of skills

5 questions that you want to find the answer to:

-will i ever get a 2:1 or a 1st?

-will i survive the year?

-will i get a job after uni?

-is there placements available in 2nd year?

-where's the best city to live in when your a graphic designer?

Identify and explain 5 things that inspire you:

Research

I found that doing a lot of research over the summer for our 'a history of brief' helped me to find new points of interest as well as come across more designers and artists to use as inspiration for my work. With out research i think that i would be limited to the designs that i could produce as i would be cut off from all sources of influence. 

Pinterest

At the beginning of summer i joined pinterest which is an online sharing website linked up to majority of the social networking sites. It's been my addiction for the past few months, enabling me to gather imagery and categorise it onto boards helping me for certain projects. By collection a selection of subjective imagery i have gained an understanding in different elements of design, type, interior, decor, fashion and many other points of interest.

  A link to me pinterest

http://pinterest.com/lisamarinaburns/

Art

I'm a huge fan of many different arts including fine art, photography, installation and illustration. i like to keep my self familiar with the other types of artistic design going on as sometimes just being inspired by graphic designers can get a little repetitive. 

Fashion and self style

I think its important to reflect elements of my style or creative interests into my work as it embellishes my designs with an aspect of me as well as serving its purpose. I don't necessarily have a style within my graphic design yet as i don't know enough about it to be set in a style as such. In addition i am a huge follower of fashion and vintage trends so occasionaly i like to add aspects of mode into my work to break away from clean cut design.

Comfortable workspace

I like an area to work in which is clean and tidy - tidy room tidy mind. I find it difficult to concentrate on work when things are a mess. So being in a clutter free place usually leads me to being inspired by someone or something or somewhere. 

Identify 10 examples of design that illustrate your fields of creative interest:

1. Perfume packaging

For some reason i've always collected perfume bottle and boxes, due to just liking the feminine packaging. Until i started studying graphic design i never realised it could be an aspect of design which i could actually design. Throughout first year i became more and more keen to design packaging but i never fulfilled it, this year it's my aim to get more practical and design anything i am keen on. 

Here are my two favourite perfumes/ beauty packaging designs. 

Kate Moss and Givenchy

2. Cosmetics Products/Packaging

I quite keen to experiment printing onto different medias, so an ideal example of this is products used for cosmetic purposes, for example glass, plastic and card. I think packaging if a field of design i am eager to get involved in. 

3. Clothing design

I felt like last year i didn't use my time very effectively so this year given that we have Friday's left blamk on the timetable, i am going to use that day to do something productive along side of my set work, i wish to start illustrating more often and apply these design to clothing, i believe this is a worthy idea as it will keep me creative and perhaps earn me some money to get me through second year. 

Here are some example of clothing from the designers 'Illustrated People' who have links with Topshop. 

4. Type Design

Before starting this course i was never familiar with the art and process of designing a typeface, and i surprised myself when i enjoyed it for the 'what is a line' brief last year, therefore i wish to continue developing an understanding for type and design as i think its a useful skill to how knowledge about as well as to be a potential type designer. 

Here is a type designer i like called Aron Jancso

5. Word as images

Something i should experiment with a little more is word and image play, i like to design logos so i think looking into imagery like below can give me an insight into clever design. 

6. Unconventional designs

I love unconventional ways of doing things, and i think doing designs like below is something i show be getting more involved in. I enjoy working in mixed media when doing my personal art work so i think adding elements of that into my graphic design work could end up quite creative and different.

Here is some makeup art/type design i came across whilst researching the subject of typography.

Font Face is a project by Spanish design studio Atipo.

7. Layouts

I realised over the summer how much i learned in first year about different aspects of graphic design. When designing zines, posters or leaflets i spend time in applying grids to my work to ensure me that my work will look neat and align. Without layouts magazines, newspapers and websites would look awful and ineligible. Therefore i am going to better my understanding of layout design this year to further my knowledge and ability of using it; perhaps in the future i maybe designing for a magazine.

8. Music advertising

I love collecting cool album covers and old record vinyls, and designing them is something i'm keen on doing.

Below is a few of my favourite designs. 

9. Colour theory

I think that understanding colour is a huge part of graphics, choosing particular tones to suite certain designs is essential. Colour theory is something i've always been interested in from the fine art side looking at the likes of Jackson Pollock's art work to learning pantone colours within a swatch book. 

10. Inspiration drawing, keep creative.

Melissa Murillo Illustrations

Illustration is my favourite sector within design, illustrations by the likes of Melissa Murillo are something i like to do in my spare time however i feel i should use aspects of my drawing ability more in my work instead of playing it safe and digitalising majority of my designs. 

Life's a pitch - Presentation/ Part 1

OUGD502 Personal & Professional Practice

Life’s a pitch PART 1 – Who are you?

WHO ARE YOU? – WHAT DO YOU DO?

• Your Business
• Your Resources
• Your Customers
• Your Costs
• Your Prices
• Promoting Yourself
• Monitoring Success

Your Business

THE BIG PICTURE or The Master Plan 

• Business name – Who are you?
• Business activity - What do you do?
• Mission Statement – What do you aim to achieve?

Your Business

The Important Details

• Business objectives
– What are you plans to achieve your sales target in the first 12 months?
– What new products or services will you introduce in the following two years to grow your business?
– What is your long term / 5 year goal?


Your Business

What is the structure of your business?

• Describe the organisation – draw a diagram if appropriate
• Who are the people in the business?
• How many people are employed?
• What are their individual roles?
• What are their individual/joint responsibilities?

Your Business

The legal status of your business.

• Is it Limited Company or partnership, social enterprise, cooperative or are you a sole trader?
• Why have you chosen this status – what are the advantages

Your Resources

• Products or Services (or both)
• Describe the range of goods/services you are selling.
• What percentage of turnover each will
provide ( e.g. – 20% clothing, 60% jewellery, 20% hats)

Your Resources

• What resources do you require? (e.g studio space, retail area, storage capacity)
• What equipment do you need?
(e.g. office equipment and furniture, display and lighting for a
shop, studio equipment, company car / van)
• How much will these cost ? ( to the nearest £3,000 )

Your Resources

• How much stock do you need?
• Do you need stock to start your business?
• How much will your sales stock cost ? (to the nearest £3,000)

YOUR CUSTOMERS

• What evidence do you have that anyone will buy your product / service?
• Is it a popular product / service currently provided by lots of others
• Is your idea completely new?
• Is there increasing demand for your product / service?

YOUR CUSTOMERS

• Who are these people?
• Use segmentation to describe your typical consumer or consumers
• If yours is B2B – describe the market sector (e.g. retail, food, leisure, SMEs, local bands, entertainment industry)


YOUR CUSTOMERS

• Where are they?
(It may help to include diagrams or maps)
• Where do they go?
(this could be geographical or virtual)
• Where do they want to go?
• Where would they go if they could?

YOUR CUSTOMERS

• How many groups of customers are there?
• What are the facts, Figures, Statistics about them?.
(e.g. population, tourist visitor numbers, number of local bands, number of retail outlets)

YOUR CUSTOMERS
• Why would they buy from you rather than anyone else?
• Provide a SWOT analysis to show that you have analysed your strengths and
weaknesses in comparison to your potential competitors

YOUR CUSTOMERS

• How much will the average customer spend with you?
• How often will they spend that amount with you?
• Will your sales fluctuate due to external forces ( e.g. seasons or cultural / sporting events)

HOW WILL THEY KNOW?

How will you advertise your products / services?
(advertising is not compulsory)

What other marketing methods would be effective for you?

• Personal Selling 
• Promotions 
• Public relations 
• Direct Marketing (Targeted marketing) 


NEXT WEEK

• Your Business
• Your Resources
• Your Customers
• Your Costs
• Your Prices
• Promoting Yourself
• Monitoring Success

Studio brief 3 - Life's a pitch

Brief

Working in groups of four you will construct a business plan or business proposal for a creative design studio and present it to your peers and tutors in an formatively assessed, oral presentation.
Your plan/proposal and presentation should be based on the analysis and content that you have been introduced to throughout the module.

Background / Considerations

Four heads are better than one as long as they communicate. You will now have the luxury of four pairs of hands. How will you use them effectively? You will need to consider the following:
◦ What skills and services do you have to offer?
◦ Who is your target market?
◦ Who is your competition and how will you compete?
◦ What are your costs, charges and financial considerations?
◦ How will you structure your studio?
◦ Who will be responsible for what?
◦ How will you promote your services? To who? Using what media?

Mandatory Requirements

It is essential that you refer to a range of marketing models and recognise business ‘start-up’ principles in order to gain a pass. You must make reference to the course materials, books and web sites to demonstrate your understanding.

Deliverables

The presentation will be 10 mins long.
You should use appropriate visual aids and printed material to support your presentation.
Evidence of the research and development of your presentation and visual material should be posted to your PPD blog and labelled with the module code. You should also post pdf versons of your presentation, notes and handouts to your PPD blog.

Studio Deadline

29 / 01 / 2013 - Group Presentations

Module Deadline

31 / 05 / 2013 - 4pm

Studio brief 2: A design presence

A DESIGN PRESENCE

Brief

Create an appropriate print based and online presence that can be used as a focal point for your design practice, professional communications and visual identity.Think about how you can stand out from the rest, make yourself recognisable and communicate your professionalism as well as your cre ativity. You will also need to include relevant contact details. Your design Presence should consist of:

PART 1: YOUR VISUAL IDENTITY.

Your own professional visual l identity for 'Brand You' and apply it to an appropriate range of stationary and promotional material as discussed in the studio sessions. You should aim to create a simple but effective visual identity that communicates the essence of your creative 'image' and details about your emerging design practice. You will need to consider the practicalities of your identity which may include a logo or bespoke typeface. How readable, legible and usable is your identity?

PART 2: YOUR PROMO PACK.

A promotional package the communicates your skills, abilities creative concerns and professional competencies to appropriate sectors of the creative and cultural industries. This pack should include a business card, introductory information, samples of work a creative CV, contact details and other relevant material and information.

PART 3: YOUR WEBSITE.
You have been introduced to the fundamentals of web design and web design software through a series of workshops in previous moduels. Based on these workshops propose/produce the structure and content of your own personal website. Keep it simple and make sure that your visual identity forms the basis of your online brand.

IMPORTANT: You will be responsible for any online content uploaded and/or distributed as part of this module. Can you please ensure that all material is original, belongs to you and complies with the guidelines for online activity outlined as part of your general Mac suite induction. If you are unsure about any content that you intend to upload please discuss this with your tutor

Background / Considerations

You will need to consider:

Scale: Your identity will need to work across a range of scales and formats from the the size of a projection screen to that of a letterhead.

Content: Too much and it becomes confusing, too little and it will not communicate. Too complex and it will not be practical. Too simple and it will be unrecognisable.

Colour: It will need to work in monochrome (one colour or b/w). It will be cheaper, more practical and easier to (re)produce. Think how the colour of the stock can help.

Production: The quality of the stock can say as much as your design. It can also make your design unreadable and illegible. Consider how it will be produced, by who and using what processes.

Mandatory Requirements

Your visual identity will need to tested and shown to work across a range of appropriate media including, print collateral (stationary,business card, mail outs etc.) your creative CV and online presence.

You should include up-to-date (but editable) contact details (mobile and email as standard).

Evidence of research into appropriate online social/professional/creative networks. This should include evidence of engagement with networking activities, online presence and contribution to identified sites.These should be included a links on your PPP blog- Please label them clearly

the development and documentation of your design presence should be documented through postings to your PPP blog. Your final designs applications and products should be presented in pdf. format via issuu on your PPP blog. It is not necessary - at this  stage - to deliver a fully functioning website.

Deliverables

1 x 8 -10 minute Powerpoint presentation. Evidence of critical engagement with personally relevant contemporary design practice in the form of a blog.

Studio Deadline

Assessed presentations will take place on

30 & 31 / 05 2013

See estudio for more information regarding groups and times

Module Deadline

31 / 05 / 2013 - 4pm

Studio brief 1 - A design strategy

Brief

Collect, catagorise and reflect on a body of investigative research, creative references and responses to set tasks in the form of your PPP blog. You should make regular posts to your blog that demonstrate an increasingly individual/independent exploration of Graphic Design, the broader creative industries and general visual culture. You should use this brief as a starting point for the development of an increasingly informed understanding of the nature of contemporary graphic design practice and its role in our local, national and international culture

You will need to maintain an ongoing evaluation of your individual progress in Level 05 of the programme by regularly reflecting on what you have learned, how you have developed and how this relates to your own creative ambitions. As part of this process you should post copies of each End of Module Self-evaluation to your blog in order to maintain an ongoing recorded of your reflective skills and analytical responses to your own development.

StudyTasks will be set and you will need to record your responses to them but you should use them as a starting point for your own independent research activities

Background / Considerations

We are not asking you to simply produce a scrapbook of images or a day-to-day diary of what you
have seen/where you have been. Keep your reference broad by searching out new and interesting connections.

Take the opportunity to attend lectures, events and exhibitions. Organise study visits to studios, galleries etc. and remember to record and reflect on all that you see.

Set time aside on a regular basis to reflect on the work you have produced and its relation to your emerging creative interests and areas of individual focus

Mandatory Requirements

All posts to your blog. should be labeled in line with the programme's naming conventions.

All posts should be date stamped and supported by appropriate levels of self reflection, analysis and evaluation.

Work should be referenced and sources should be acknowledged where appropriate

Deliverables

Evidence of responses to set tasks independent research activities, personal reflection and ongoing evaluation demonstrated through regular postings to your PPP Course Blog.

Studio Deadline

24 / 05 / 2013 - 4pm

Module Deadline

31 / 05 / 2013 - 4pm