OIGD603: My Brand

I want to get some studio experience this year and my biggest issue with applying for it/emailing studios is not having a brand in place. Last year I tried to get the brand sorted before I applied for experience, however by the time I had a complete brand I didn't like it anymore, plus when I had finished it was the end of the year and over summer I got over relaxed and never got around to emailing anyone. And now a new year has started, I need to get experience but my old branding is now outdated and I really don't like it, so I decided to get something in place, at least a CV that I can adapt and change later, but send out now while the year is young.

So for a part of our welcome back briefs I produced a poster explaining how my spirit animal is an overly opinionated hamster and decided this might be a good start to apply to my brand, I wanted to start with an icon/logo and a CV.

I decided to use the hamsters as icons to display both my digital and physical skills combining design and illustration in a simpler and more stripped back way. I also messed around with layout ideas trying to display a good balance of text and image at the same time. I also stripped back my content deciding what to and not to add into my CV.

 In the digitising phase there were some I preferred over other, especially the layout of the first design however I had an issue with the whole hamster concept. I feel that last year although I managed to strike a balance between design and illustration and produce something bold yet cute, I don't think these style of designs would be taken all to seriously in the professional world. I want something that hints subtly at my illustration abilities without relying heavily on something cute or character based. So I went back to the beginning to come up with a new logo/icon.

It was then that I noticed the little speech bubble with the scribble inside I had included on one of my original doodles and I realised what a good concept it could be for potential branding. The speech bubble not only reflects my love to talk and share opinions but also hints at comics and illustration (with the speech bubble starting its life in comic books). It could also be a representation of the dialogue I hold with my clients as I am a fond believer in back and for feedback. So I went on to develop this into a similar layout style as my previous CVs using the bubble as a logo and an icon.

OUGD602: Chip Kidd TED Talks

I love TED Talks, I have a TED app on my xbox and watch them as and when I want to and I love it when one comes out on Graphic Design. I recently watched two talks by famous book designer Chip Kidd where he talked enthusiastically about his work in book design as well as the importance of communication and making a good first impression in graphics and design.

Designing Books is no Laughing Matter. Ok it is.

The Art of First Impressions- in Design and Life.

I found these talks not only amusing but very informative. Both of them talk about clarity of message, and finding the right balance between clarity and mystery- producing intrigue and interest without causing confusion and loosing the message.

I'll certainly be referring back to these talks for future briefs especially the penguin brief seeing as one of the talks focuses purely on book design and the other mentions it.

OUGD502: Module Evaluation

There are some things I always struggle with for PPP; I'm not good at juggling tasks so setting aside enough time in between other modules and briefs to commit to PPP was difficult. That being said this year I did persist and managed to give a good amount of effort and time to this module spaced out over the course of a few months. The main downside of this was leaving large gaps between work bursts made me more critical of what I had already produced making me go back over it, changing things, wasting time and over thinking the projects.

For the taking care of business brief I had some issues, but nothing out of the standard issues that come with working in groups. I felt that all the initiative, drive and organising was done by me alone and although most task set were completed it was a struggle to pick up after others and make sure everyone was staying on task. Consistently I was the only member to attend every meet up and complete everything on time and this was frustrating, especially when one member didn't even turn up for the presentation, I think if there had been more commitment on all parts we would've been a lot stronger. Complaining aside I did really enjoy what we achieved and I think it could've been a viable business, one I perhaps might pursue over the summer when I have more time and less commitments.

The self branding was the first time I had tackled a branding project this year and I did enjoy the challenge, however there was a lot more I wish I could've done with it. While working on my own brand I also produced some branding for a few other projects and learnt a lot from these, however when looking back at my own work I didn't feel it fully measured up to what I was capable of. I was reluctant to start again seeing as I had already committed a lot of time and effort to the project so I persisted and tweaked but it was never as strong as I hoped it could've been, but that's a lesson for next year, more branding practice will make sure I produce a stronger brand next time.

As far as personal promotion, studio visits, exhibitions and work placements go I haven't done anywhere near enough. I work myself up and get scared when it comes to emailing and phoning people and this holds me back in so many ways. I struggle to maintain the basic forms on social media and so have signed up for linked in, twitter, behance etc but haven't done anything with the profiles, for this I am disappointed in myself and it's something that needs to change drastically if I hope to ever forge a career in this industry. I've become determined to gain work experience in a graphic design and illustration studio to fully understand and learn about both of my disciplines and I need to start the work for it now. It all comes back to my struggle to make a first step and to keep spinning different plates, its difficult to keep on top of so many little things, all of which I can remember to do when I have no time and forget the minute I'm free. I have gotten better at organising myself, keeping a diary and timetabling my weeks, but I need to be persistent and more thorough with this in order to fully evolve into the professional I want to be.  

OUGD502: Studio Brief 1- Presentation Slides

OUGD502: Studio Brief 1- Final Designs and Evaluation

I finally got the pack and stationary printed and the online presence and portfolio sorted and ready for submission.

Online Portfolio: rosalynhalford.co.uk


Stationary

Promotions Pack

Evaluation

There's a lot that I like and a lot that I hate about this brand. Let's start with the negatives.

The cover letter and the CV are horribly laid out, they looked fine on screen and even when printed (I say fine, I mean passable, nothing overly special) but when cropped down to their awkward sizes to fit into the pack they look so bad it hurts, and it lets the whole brand down.

They look dull, uninventive and unoriginal, I think I've tweaked and changed things so much towards the end I ended up rushing the layout just to get ready for printing for the third time. I've lost some love for this brand as a whole. 

I put this down to the fact that this (although I've produced two other brands in between) was my first branding exercise and as I've created new brands for different people it just showed more holes in my own branding. I genuinely can't wait to start again next year to produce something better and stronger learning what I've learnt, it's just down heartening to have to hand in what I've produced and not really like it. It's just a shame I spent so much time on something only to hate it.

So the positives, this is so much better than what I handed in last year, the whole idea is stronger and well rounded, I still really like the illustrations and the layout of the letterheads, postcards and business cards are something I am happy with, plus the stickers make me smile. So there is definitely improvement from last time, just not as much as I'd have hoped.

Although there is a lot to work on overall I think this years brand communicates me much better than last years, it fits more with a style I've been developing over the year, it's just not quite there, which on reflection is probably where I should be for second year so, well done me. 

OUGD502: Studio Brief 1- Cleaning up the Brand and Staionary

I printed out my 'final' designs yesterday and as I was putting the pack together I realised the brand lacked something, it was creative and fun but it lacked the cleanliness and sophistication that a well designed pack should have. Everything looked a little bit unprofessional, un researched and as if it were put together in a rush. After thinking through the brand I applied a slight rebrand and cleaned up the original concept.

I've scrapped the logo- I barely use it and it's just an awkward symbol getting in the way most of the time.

I've cleaned up the business cards rearranging things. I've scrapped the patterned ones and kept the single image designs for a crisper look (besides I haven't used the patterns anywhere else other than the business cards throughout the pack and brand so they felt a little out of place).

I've changed the style of the envelope. After folding the pack I came across a few problems with the design, it was bulky, childish and there was no way to get that crisp professional feel from an origami fold so I've opted for a much simpler style of folded pack. Besides origami didn't fit in with the brand at all, I was trying so hard to be 'individual' that I forgot to make everything work together.

I've changed the CV and cover letters to fit in better with the rest of the brand- taking out the unnecessary detail, adding in subtle changes and laying out the text again to make better use of the white space.

Here's a brief look at some of the style changes.

Today I also began work on the stationary to be mailed out to potential customers/clients and to accompany my brand. I decided to created a letter head, envelope and postcards for my stationary.

The Design Museum: Exhibition

I went along to the design museum to have a look at the design of the year exhibition. It was really wonderful to be in a museum setting that was celebrating the practical design over the expressive art and just looking at all the well designed, beautifully executed pieces from all different aspects of design.

One contender was a graphic campaign for ugly fruits, attempting to reduce food waste by making ugly food acceptable to mainstream society. The layout of the posters was something I just fell in love with, so clean and elegant balanced with a quirky image. 

Another project that really made me smile was branding the 99c stores of the future. It was funny, each product made me laugh, it wasn't just graphic design but product design too, cobbled together from random bits and pieces.