Self Branding 1.3

Delivery

Thinking about how I will deliver my personal branding is important because it will influence my designs and also allow me to get the most out of it. I need to design something that I will be proud to give to a designer I would like to work with/for in the future. 

Email is a quick and easy way to get in contact with a client, however it is faceless and doesn't show your personality. Actually being present with them is a lot better because it allows them to actually talk to you and ask questions about them. It is a more sensitive and personal way of meeting and creating contacts. Turning up at the design studio shows that you're proactive and confident. Design studios often get lots of emails from students showing there CVs and design qualities, however the design studio often doesnt get a chance to see them because they're busy. 

Posting your personal branding leaves more scope and opportunity to send a bespoke screen print or smart publication because the design studio/client will be able to take their time to look at it. It is also their decision whether they look at it or keep it. The composition can include my details and even a QR code to my social media account/website. 

Going to an exhibition or magazine launch provides the opportunity to go up to successful designers and have a conversation with them. It is important to ask them questions and be polite and professional. Personality is very important because if the client like you as a person they'll want to work with you.

Concepts

• Posting a bespoke screen printed poster on quality stock that is very visual and demonstrates my style of work. 

• Create a business card on a thick stock to hand to people when I meet them. Could be inside a small envelope:

Delivering my business card in an envelope adds class and quality. It won't force my information the clients as it leaves them the opportunity to choose whether to open it and also keep it inside. 

Having a heavy weighted stock for the business card will make the envelope rigid and ultimately add quality. 

I need to think about the stock I will use to create the envelope as it can't be too rigid as I need to be able to fold it. The colour and texture of the paper will also connote the quality and uniqueness. Like the images above, the envelope can be patterned, plain or made out of pages of books. There is a lot of scope for experimentation and I need to find a stock that's suitable. 

As a response to my research, I have decided to experiment with the envelope and business card concept because I think it is a realistic outcome that I will be confident to give to a designer/client. 

Anatomy of a classic envelope:

Sketched out some concepts for the shape of the seal flap:

Interesting to see how changing the seal flap can change the connotations of the envelope. The curvaceous flaps are friendly where as the sharp spike suggests a more traditional approach. 

Front:

Made my own envelope to see how I can make them out of my own stock and pattern. There are a few variations of the net which can connote different qualities:

A really easy and simple net for an envelope that was very easy to create and also manipulate. The side tabs simply need to glued to the bottom flap. 

The seal flap is very small and straight which is effective, however it is limited and boring. I want my self branding to be intriguing to stand out and make the potential client/employer want to consider me. 

I adapted the original net to make the seal flap a more traditional point:

I prefer this because it is more enticing to open and is a classic and traditional shaped envelope. The arrow makes the form of the envelope balanced. 

Placed a piece of thick stock into the envelope and realised that the audience wouldn't be able to see any of the stock even when the seal flap is open. This will also make it hard for the audience to get the card out of the envelope to read the information. To overcome this, I simply cut a curve at the top.

There is another net that can be used to create a different type of envelope:

This type of envelope is for a friendlier purpose, for example a birthday/thank you card compared the the previous envelope which is commonly used for banking and bills. This envelope is easier to open and makes pulling the business card out easier due to the large throat. 

Self Branding 1.1

CREATIVE LIVES

EXPLORE COLOUR AND TEXTURE TO CREATE GRAPHIC ART, PUBLICATIONS AND BRANDING

BRINGING MUSIC, FASHION AND ART TOGETHER

Graphic Video
Create a video with music showing my creative processes, the way I like to work and current outcomes.

Take pictures of print rooms, fashion, creative lives - Work from these to draw from to create stopmotion vid?

Business cards/Publication 
- Interactive such as scratching layer off (like scratch card)
- Paper folding
- Flaps to rip off

Poster
Instead of a business card, I could create a poster demonstrating my skill. The poster would need to be attractive so that people can keep them and put it up on there wall. This will give a visual influence to remember me by.
-Poster can also have my details on
-Screen printed
-Posters could all be different - bespoke

Crit
I discussed these ideas with a variety of people in my class and the poster idea was positive as people liked the idea of having something visually interesting and attractive to take home and keep. Could be an A5, A4 or even A3 print in a tube with my brand name down the side of the tube. The business card concept was strong but we all felt like it had been done before as a range of interactive and individual business cards have already been produced. When I was discussing the video concept everyone thought it would be a good idea because it would give me digital coverage as well as a materialistic poster or business card/publication. However, there is a lot I would need to learn to take this further but I can come back to this when I gain more experience and more material to include.

Self Branding 1.2

Self branding is important for any designer because it gives them confidence to give your own business card out into the real world. Self branding isn't just business cards, it can be digital (video) or physical. I think both are relevant in this digital age.

Uploading work onto social media websites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Behance is a brilliant and free way to get work into the world. However, it is important that the content is professional and relevant so that it is taken seriously. The images also need to be good quality so that the work looks as attractive as possible.

Sagmeister and Walsh - Made You Look

Publication pushes the boundaries of what a publication can do using optical illusions and manipulating the pages to make it really engaging and playful. 

Red sleeve reveals angry dog once it's removed - Optical illusion
Colour theory

Cutting shapes out of the cover page means that Sagmeister's face changes depending on which publication is at the front:

There are a range of responses that the audience can choose. This makes the publication interactive and allows the audience to have the freedom to choose which creates a personal relationship with Sagmeister.

Behance

Created my own Behance account because it allows me to post my work online so more people all around the world can see it. As my work progresses, I will have more content to post, however it is important that the photographs are high quality and professional. 

The design company Alphabet have had huge success as a result of having a Behance account. 

A lot of my work hasn't been photographed to a quality that's suitable for the professional standard that the website reflects. Behance allows me to follow artists and designers that I like and wouldn't have found from browsing google. I am also able to see what work they appreciate which provides me with more inspiration.

Saxon Campbell 

I use Campbell as inspiration and research for publications, branding and layout because of his contemporary graphic style. He focuses a lot on fashion. 

Moodboard:

Placing images that inspire creativity or journey of a final outcome would be a useful cover page for my  design boards as they are visually stimulating. 

Self Branding 1.0

Beginning to think about what styles I want to bring into my work and what really inspires me. This will help me to gain experience and find a field I enjoy. I like design that is more conceptual over practical as it pushes the boundaries of graphic design and it innovative. Particularly with artwork, I like a range of styles. The bauhaus movement has impacted my previous designs as I like the geometric shapes and limited colour palette. However, I really like expressive work such as Jackson Pollock and Ian Davenport as they use colour and line to create interesting texture that enters the unconscious mind. 

Paul Insect

I like the way Insect simplifies the human form by adding blocks of colour and texture. The choice of colours definitely bring the compositions together which I will take note of because I always struggle to find colour schemes that work.

Ian Davenport

Davenport uses a really simple technique to create his vibrant, colourful composition. He simply uses gravity to run paint down the canvas, making sure the consistency of the paint is thick but still watery. Again, Davenport has chosen strong colour schemes. In some of his compositions, he manipulates how the paint falls to create angles: 

I found both of these artists inside The Art-Form magazine which is a publication celebrating successful artists. This is an example of how looking at design blogs/magazines can inspire. 

Matt Willey

Gained more of an interest in editorial due to designers such as Willey because I like the way he has freedom to put typography and imagery together. His design is clean and concise and shows evidence of using grids. I would like to have the opportunity to create a magazine like this, using crisp and interesting imagery to back up the typography in an expressive way. 

Leif Podhajsky

Podhajsky has been a huge inspiration to me, mainly for his impact on the music industry. He has created art for Tame Impala, Mount Kimbie, Bonobo and a music video for Foals:

Again I like the colour schemes and shapes created. His work is diverse because some of the compositions are very expressive where as some are made out of separate shapes. The use of media that he uses is very diverse, he creates videos, LP sleeves, advertising and editorial.