Task 6

Task6:: Now you have identified initially these studios you feel synergy with. Please list 8 methods you could utilize to contact them.

-Face to face
-Post promotional material (print)
-Telephone
-Email pdf Porfolio
-Skype
-Email Moving image
-Post CV/Portfolio
-LinkedIn
-Twitter (Social Media)

Task 5

Task5::

When considering these practices:

//Please CONSIDER WHO they are/who are you?

I want them to be a company whose design work inspires me  and I want to work for.
I want to be having fun working on my design work.

//WHY you are contacting them and why they should listen?

I would be contacting them to either get a job or gain work experience.
They should listen to me because my design work would/could work alongside their design and as a graduate I could provide them with fresh inspiration for future designs.

//WHAT do you want them to do next and what do you actually want.

I would want them to either give me a placement or job opportunity.

//WHY they should get back to you?

They should get back to me because they think I will be able to work alongside their designers and be an asset to their company.

Task 4

Task4:: What if none of those is your main reason for choosing to follow this organization, what is it specifically?

I main reason reason for choosing an organization is to enjoy the design work I am producing and the environment I am working in. As soon as I begin to not enjoy working on my design is the point to which I will become deflated and my design will suffer as a result of this. I need to ensure I am having FUN with my design work at all times.

Task 3

Task 3::

Is your choice based on:

LOCATION//

No. I am not that struck on living in London due to the hectic lifestyle of the Londoners, but I am aware that there is a huge design base in London so moving to there could be advantageous to me and my development as a designer. I certainly wouldn't turn down a job purely on the basis of it being in London but it is an aspect I want to consider. Ideally, I would like to remain within the creative buzz of the north; Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester or Newcastle. However, I think my location is all going to depend on the job opportunities available within the area. 

DIRECTION OF PRACTICE //

I want to work on typographically led print design with a focus on colour. However, if all of the above criteria is not available then I would be felxible and choose to work somewhere which still had design that I would enjoy to work on and utilized my design direction in some way.

THE BRAND //

This is not massively important to me, as long as I enjoy the work I am producing.

PHILOSOPHY //

Again, as long as I have a drive to design then I am not so worried about this aspect.

CLIENT BASE//

I think if I were to work for a large company, such as Topshop, this would not be an issue as I would only be producing work for their stores. However, if I were to work in a smaller studio I still do not think this would be an issue for me as long I enjoyed the design side of the work.

Task 2

Task2:: Identify the top choice and WHY you feel that they may have synergy with your practice now, or in the near future.

Topshop Junior Graphic designer is my top choice.

I have been working some fashion led briefs which also entail retail graphics and thoroughly enjoyed working on these types of briefs. Consequently, I think I would enjoy working on the type of design Topshop produces. Although it is a large corporate business, which can sometimes control your design, I find their design style similar to that of mine already so would not mind working in this way. I would also find immense pleasure in seeing my designs rolled out on an international scale and being present within all Topshop stores worldwide. I am not that keen on moving to London to work but if I were to be offered this job at Topshop I would move within an instant.

I am proposing to continue to work on fashion led briefs within my FMP which will hopefully appear in my portfolio and appeal to the Topshop design team. The interview I read with a junior graphic designer at Topshop said she was approached by Topshop after her work was displayed at D&AD and the design team saw her previous fashion retail designs within her portfolio.

Another aspect I need to consider if I want to get a job here is work experience; in the interview I read with a junior graphic designer at Topshop also explained that it was vital to demonstrate your placement experience. However, this is something I am yet to gain. I currently would not mind taking the time to do this properly after university if it was going to mean that in the end I got the job that I wanted.

Task 1

Task 1:: Identify 5 companies/studios which you consider potentially synergetic to you personally. Write a short explanatory paragraph and reasons for each.

Pentagram::

This design studio creates a diverse range of work, allowing many design styles to be brought together. However, much of their work is minimal with a hint of colour which is the design style I tend to work by. They are based in London, which does not massively appeal to me, but if the job was right then I would move to the appropriate location.

Proud Creative::

Proud Creative produce really exciting and fun work; the possibilities of this design studio seem endless. I feel I would work well on these types of briefs as it would keep me engaged and producing design I want to produce. The work they produce is fun, yet at the same time controlled with a strong design element.

Qubik::

The simplicity of the work Qubik produce is enthralling. I like the fact that Qubik is a small Leeds based studio, yet produces extremely high end design in a professional manor, on par with some of the larger studios in London. I also love the typographic element of the work, this clear focus is then applied to a variety of print methods. 

Build::

I love the diversity of the projects that Build work on whilst still keeping within print. The colours that Build use are eye catching and make the design stand out from others. They have a global reputation through creating successful design solutions.

Topshop Graphic Design Team::

I have always loved the print materials that Topshop produce as they are very similar to the simplistic style of design I like to produce and use a similar colour palette, so have looked into what the job role would be and what the job would entail. From this, I have found that I would start out as a 'Junior Graphic Designer' which would entail designing the print promotional material that goes into store for events, store openings and campaigns. This includes flyers, invites, posters, ticketing, look books, magazines and the occasional window display; all of which I am already interested in producing. Having read the article interviewing a junior graphic designer at Topshop it is evident that I would need to ensure that I work on fashion branding for my FMP and gain placement work if I am going to stand a chance of getting a job here.

InPress Meeting with Spur Magazine

As InPress we were asked by some students on Interdisciplinary Art course at Leeds College of Art to attend an interview, regarding InPress design, for a magazine they are going to launch in November called Spur. As well as this, they also asked us to produce a poster for them to include in the publication. The meeting was pretty informal and we were asked general questions about us as a collective and our future plans. All in all, it was a great opportunity to gain a little extra publicity for us and reach a new audience. 

InPress Meeting

Today we had our first meeting of the academic year. We wanted to discuss our next event, in order for us to be able to get planning and designing for it. As we are going to use InPress as a brief for  level 06 we needed to ensure that we scheduled the event for before Christmas (as this is the deadline for OUGD301). Our meeting was concise and to the point; we are going to aim to hold our next event in the Corn Exchange on the last weekend of November. This will allow us to then sell Christmas themed work; a little context for our designs rather than designing anything. We also wanted to hold it in the corn exchange over a weekend this time; we thought this would allow us to have an opening night (in which I proposed to have free prints for the first 20 people, in an attempt to entice people along). We can then have the shop open over the Saturday and Sunday, which will then give people a chance to return and buy prints, or just come along if they cannot make the Friday event. All in all, our overall mentality as a collective is to push InPress further and that nothing is impossible!

Self Promotional Material Development

As part of my PPD work, I need to produce self promotional material which I can send out to studios for potential studio visits/placement opportunities. I wrote a list of who I am as a designer and the work I want to produce.

However, I have realised that rather than stating what design I am interested in producing, I need to actually produce this work and send it out.

These are my rough designs....

These are a few I tested out....

Revolution Ink

We were invited to attend and sell our work at a night called 'Ink' to be held the first Tuesday of every month at Vodka Revolutions in millennium square, Leeds. Last night was the first night. It was a creative vibrant location to hold the night and an array of local creatives turned up to sell work. However, the night wasn't well publicised and most certainly hadn't been held at the correct time (it was advertised to be held from 9pm-3am). Needless to say, we didn't manage to sell a lot at all. We were approached by the event organiser to attend the next, to which I suggested more publicity beforeso in order to pull people in! I may also suggest that it should become a daytime event as I think this would allow more people to attend the event and actually purchase our design work.

Design Strategy Presentation

In putting together this presentation it has helped me progress and realise where I am now as a designer in relation to where I want to be as design; most importantly, what I need to do in order to get there.

Level 05/06 Transition Self Evaluation

Taking the time to complete this form has made me realise and consider who I truly want to be as a designer and the design direction I want to take. This has then allowed me to choose briefs that work towards me achieving a portfolio which exploits these skills.

Republic Tee Design Competition

I had a couple weeks between uni finishing and my paid work (at Rugby School Sports Centre) beginning when this competition brief came in, so I thought I'd give it a bash. After all, it would keep my design skills and the way I approach the design process up to date and fresh in my mind. I tackled the brief as I would a studio brief at university from start to finish. These are my final designs I came up with.

Nothing came of these designs, so I am going to propose to use them as the basis of a future brief in level 6.

InPress Shop at End of Year Shows

We held our stall at the 2012 Leeds College of Art end of year show. This was a huge success and I managed to sell a fair bit of work, as did others we were selling work for. Providing a ledge for others to sell work from, as well as our own, was very rewarding and receiving as much positive feedback as we did made it all worthwhile.

Overall, we made over £600 and made connections with the industry which has raised our profile and resulted in future opportunities.

The success from all our previous events has pushed us to want to do more, so we are already planning our next event ...watch out!

InPress at Unity Day

So we managed to get our hands on a space for Unity Day (at a small cost) after being approached to apply for a space by the college's media team. The event was big, with a creative vibe in the air. Nevertheless, the weather didn't hold out so unfortunately we didn't make as many sales as we would have like. Despite this, Unity Day provided me with a chance to get my work out into the real world and to reach a different audience.