PPD//CV Edits

Edits to my current CV design, working around my existing letterhead design and prints for cost effectiveness, with content changes in regards to my recent employment, and keeping information more direct and condensed. 

Personal Development III//James Maxwell Business Cards

Yesterday morning,  I received the moo printed luxe business cards for James Maxwell through the post, and was able to go on to cut down the designs (with the corner trim).
I was really impressed with the duplex finish by moo (the cards seem to be getting better and better!), and I hope that James will be as pleased with the results too.

FMP | Small Town Ink Event

www.fedrigoni.co.uk

After visiting the Fedrigoni showroom in Farringdon yesterday, I was really excited to hear about the Small Town Ink event (of which Fedrigoni have supplied stock for) happening at Leeds University next Thursday.

Continuing on with the celebration of traditional print methods in Leeds and throughout the UK, The Print Project will be demonstrating letterpress with workshops, exhibitions, and talks throughout the day. The free event is accessible throughout the day, and I'm certainly looking forward to the experience!

Personal Development III//Elle Decoration Task Design.

Today I spent the vast majority of the day working on the design proposals for submission (by Monday) from my interview at Elle Decoration earlier in the week.
Assigned the task by the Art Director, I felt this would be a really good opportunity to showcase my knowledge of the industry, my skills, and, most importantly, at this point, my ability to contribute new and exciting ideas to the magazine, which, as stated on Thursday, was really important in this position.

I'm really looking forward to hopefully hearing (positive) feedback soon, and feel it was a great opportunity for me to experiment with a very different type of editorial design to what I would ordinarily work with (but hope to do a lot more so in the future).

Personal Development III//Portfolio To - Do.

After two portfolio reviews from the past couple of weeks (and an edit in - between), the first with Ben Haworth of The Beautiful Meme, and the second with Tayburn in Edinburgh, I feel as though I have been given some really constructive and useful advice and feedback as I move forward with my project and design development, and, hopefully, to create the best possible portfolio outcome as I graduate and seek employment over the next few months.

Written below are important notes and a portfolio 'to do' list before graduation.

-

NOTES

* Contextualise all work - especially logos.
* Design a Day is an unnecessary project to include.
* Show photography is context. Clearly skilled (composition / appreciation for colour) - demonstrate all most effectively.
* Around 10 briefs would be best.
* Work on the photographing / photoshopping of my work for presentation.
* Think about the "bigger picture" of my concepts. Brand logos aren't the "be all and end all".
* Take out 'Write About Love' brief (logo issue... argh).
* Showcase Jessie's photography in her brief outcomes more effectively.

* Take out Wes Anderson brief - not necessarily ambitious enough / too personal.
* Bring separate folder for tactile print materials, no to- ing and fro- ing with pages.
* Take out all portfolio pages not needed.
* Showcase my developing interest in type and editorial design throughout a project in my portfolio.
* Start portfolio with a WOW... with a really bold and high - impact project.
* Don't excuse myself or projects (revealing when the projects were carried out, etc.)
* Tell a story when presenting my brief - the journey of the design and how the deliverables came to be.

Personal Development III//Talent Spot Leeds & Warehouse Design Submission

www.warehouse.co.uk/leeds-talentspot/content/fcp-content

This afternoon I took time out to submit work through to the Warehouse Talent Spot Leeds competition, whereupon selected designers, filmmakers and writers will have the opportunity to showcase their work at the new Leeds Trinity store over the opening month- providing a great chance to introduce my work to a larger audience, as well as, potentially to industry professionals.

Submitting work that I feel reflects my own personal style and design direction (as well as being eye-catching for a busy, retail environment), I am not entirely sure this will be what the company is looking for (they may well go for a more fashion- orientated route), however, I really felt it was too good an opportunity to miss, and look forward to potentially hearing back from the event organisers in the near future.

Personal Development III//Job Hunting.

Just applied to my first Graphic Design job today (scary stuff!), after being tipped off with a potential job vacancy working within marketing and print.

At this stage, I think it's really important for me to start actively looking for employment. Come July, I will have nowhere to live, and no student loan to depend on, so, ideally, I want to have secured a job before finishing Uni. This way, I hope that I can also learn a lot from the inevitable rejection feedback, and hopefully be at my full potential come summer- ready and eager to become an active member of the Graphic Design industry.

Personal Development III//Re - Designed Portfolio.

This afternoon I spent some time making some quick changes to my portfolio, in reflection from my time spent with Ben Haworth, of The Beautiful Meme, in my portfolio surgery last week, in order to reprint tomorrow before my trip to Tayburn in Edinburgh at the end of the week.

Only a few small changes made- cutting down on body copy a little (but still being clear and concise, should I need to send my portfolio for studio visits, etc.) and promoting and contextualising my briefs a little more- particularly highlighting my branding and logo design with confidence, as this is the discipline and field I want to specialise in.

Personal Development III//BAGD Yearbook.

This evening I spent some time completing the information and feedback for my own personal page content for the BAGD 2013 Yearbook, to be designed by Matt Tucker, Dom Rugman, Oli Cassell and James Flanagan. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the finalised design, and hopefully having something to go away with, not only to act as a means of communication and an addition for a networking portfolio, but also to have a memorable source of design and biographies of the course, and the people (and designers) I shared my time at Uni with.

Personal Development III//Fedrigoni Acroprint White Lies Exhibition at Leeds Gallery

This evening I attended the Fedrigoni Acroprint White Lies exhibition at Leeds Gallery, with a room filled with prints designed by The Design Project, printed by Team Impression, and on the stock of the new Acroprint Fedrigoni paper, showcasing the 'White Lies' as frequently told by designers.

With an innovative and playful exhibition concept, this gave way to a great source of idea generation for the proposed Geek Table exhibition, to be held in May (see my Final Major Project blog for more information), as well as being able to take away some great stock samples including business cards, two A1 poster prints (beautifully screenprinted), a sample book, and more.

A great find, huge thanks to friend and fellow BAGDer, Lisa for giving us the heads up about the exhibition. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for more events like this in the future (...particularly the free ones!).

Personal Development III//Fedrigoni Event at Leeds Gallery.

www.fedrigoni.co.uk/events-more.asp?id=46

Tomorrow, I, along with a small group of friends and fellow BAGDers will be going along to Leeds Gallery for Fedrigoni Acroprint White Lies exhibition/opening night, to showcase their new stock range, in collaboration with Team Impression, with each guest also recieving a limited edition poster.

Excited for free print, as ever, myself and some of the other members of the Geek Table Collective are excited to learn more about the exhibiting and promotion of work in the support and hope to presenting our own exhibition in May.

Personal Development III//BAGD Studio Promo.

My new promotional branding design for the LCA BAGD Studio, just in time for the visiting professionals and portfolio review week, to keep in balance with my existing branding and to ensure consistency throughout the projects, also reflecting my ambitions to travel with my work, along with a friendly and more personalised approach to business that I always aspire to maintain.

Personal Development III//Leeds Print Festival Exhibition Visit

Image Source | www.designweek.co.uk/whats-on/leeds-print-festival/3035901.article

After attending the Leeds Print Festival last weekend, one of the clients I am currently working with, Alex Warren, throughout the Final Major Project module, and I attended the open exhibition, which provided a great platform for me to introduce new print methods and designs to the client, as well as being able to get more of an opportunity to see the work.

Coming from a design background (Architecture/Architectural Design), it's great working with a client who actively engages with print, and I could tell he was particularly interested in the production methods used, which should provide me the opportunity for a great deal of experimentation and conceptual thinking throughout Alex's rebrand brief, which, hopefully, I should be starting to initially develop and explore throughout next week.

Personal Development III//Trip to Pressision

www.pressision.co.uk

Today myself and a small group of BAGD friends were invited along to a print and studio visit at Pressision, a Leeds- based commercial printers, after I had initially been in contact with them a few months ago (after being given the contact via Graphic Designer, Joe Gilmore of Qubik, Leeds).

Although unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to document the visit, the work they carry out in their small unit space was remarkable, and it was a great opportunity to be reminded, in particular, of the lithographic printing process that we first looked at over a year ago in the Design for Print Level 05 module of the course. 

We were also given free reign of the studio floor to explore the different mechanics, such as binding and folding machines, traditional letterpress and foil flat bed presses, and the ink channels for the litho printers (which played the theme tune to ET when it was being programmed... amazing).

As well as getting a feel for the print environment, we got to meet the staff, and in particular, the Managing Director, James Taylor, kindly showed us round, and let us get a feel for some of the samples and work produced in the studio (we were particularly impressed with the fluted foil- a combination of embossing and foiling that had always left us scratching our heads).

A great insight into the printing process, which, much like the Leeds Print Festival just a few days ago, has certainly left me inspired to get designing. Really looking forward to getting stuck into work for my Final Major Project now.

Personal Development III//Portfolio 2013.

Today I finally got round to updating and redesigning my portfolio, with the addition of new work and projects and, most importantly, in preparation for some important studio visits and portfolio surgeries commencing next week.

I decided to keep the portfolio really minimal, like my work, reflecting my ethos of simplicity= effectiveness, as well as only adding the projects which I felt were really significant or demonstrate my design work well, hence having just six projects in there (perhaps a concern, but I feel positive that by the end of year show there will be at least another 3/4 projects to add from the Final Major Project module, along with other personal work). 

As the printing was been cut quite fine (with James in print at Uni fully booked up for this and next week), I decided to take the recommendation from a friend and fellow BAGDer, Baljeet, to use Dox Direct printers online. Despite being based in South Africa, prints can be sent, and received, anywhere in the world within 24 hours. Although, of course, it is costly, it's certainly worth it in regards to the quality (as shown in Baljeet's portfolio) that I'm assured will be produced.

I'm really happy to finally have a portfolio that I can start to feel proud of, particularly with the addition of more personal and developed projects, and I look forward to hearing feedback during the surgery sessions next week.