OUGD602 - End of Module Evaluation

This year my main goal for PPP was to have a job lined up for after I'd finished uni. After reading countless articles online and in design magazines and hearing countless stories from creatives about trying to break into the industry I knew it would be difficult and I wasn't getting my hopes up.

After growing up and living in the countryside for 15 years it has always been my goal to move down to London after graduating from uni, and after living and working there for a month in the summer it only made me more determined to find a job and make it work. I knew I wouldn't be able to afford an unpaid internship as I don't have any friends or family living in London who's house I could crash at for 2/3 weeks, therefore the only choice I had was to find paid work because moving back home to the middle of nowhere wasn't an option. 

After getting the initial email about the iTunes internship I knew it was an extremely long shot and the probability of getting the position was 1 in thousands but I knew I would kick myself if I didn't at least apply. For every stage of the application process, I made sure I was fully prepared and did everything possible to make sure I'd given it my best shot. For the initial application, I sought advice from Sue, the careers advisor, before the online interview I got advice from Will at the Elephant room and fully prepared an elevator pitch of what I would answer for every potential question. For the actual assessment day I'd made sure I'd prepped myself well for anything they could throw at me as well as attending a portfolio workshop to make sure my work would be presented as professionally as possible. For an opportunity this big, preparation is key and I was leaving nothing to chance and astonishingly everything paid off and I got offered the position. 

The way the programme has been run this year has prepared me for the industry far more than I was ever expecting. Without building a professional looking website and putting together a strong CV and Cover letter there is no way I would have been in with a chance of getting offered the job at Apple. Our engagement with the industry has built my confidence in talking to professionals and growing my network of people I can go to for mentorship and advice. 

I've tried to visit more design conferences this year but went to the ones that actually interested me rather than for the sake of 'PPP' and this has provided me with a breadth of knowledge and advice I wouldn't have otherwise found. 

I start my new position at iTunes on the 25th of June and I'm extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity, as it is something thousands of students in the same position as me would kill for a chance to do, therefore I plan on making the absolute most of every second and definitely will not take for granted this amazing chance I have been given. 

OUGD602 - Self Branding - Finished Collateral

As I am a multidisciplinary designer my work features a range of different styles and I enjoy experimenting with a number of different processes. Therefore I wanted my branding to be sleek and minimal, acting as a blank canvas to let my work do the talking.

In keeping with the bright, white and minimalist theme of my website and CV, my business cards act as an invitation to be doodled on and customised. Featuring only crop marks, a colour bar and registration marks, the blank space in the middle mean I could potentially make every card unique by adding additional decoration such as stickers or a hand-drawn illustration.

The font used is Houschka, a clean and legible modern sans serif typeface which shares the humanist qualities of Gill Sans and Johnston but retains a uniquely charming character of its own. The monolinear structure, rounded corners and rolling curves give Houschka a soft and friendly appearance, which will hopefully make me come across as an approachable designer and collaborator.

The same clean, minimal style can be found on my website which also uses the font Houschka throughout for continuity. Descriptions and headings are cut down to the bare essentials to make the browsing experience less cluttered.

The images on my website are all professionally taken and feature a carefully selected range of shots to showcase the projects in a clean and clear way.

My other forms of social media such as LinkedIn and Behance also flow seamlessly together with my branding by featuring the same icon and work as Instagram.

My LinkedIn page is slightly different, featuring a picture of my face as the icon, as this creates a more trustworthy account and enables visitors to put a name to the face.

My design Instagram account features a structured grid consisting of 3 related posts in a row to make the feed look neater and to showcase different aspects of the project simultaneously.

The icon at the top matches my buisness card by featuring a registration mark symbol.

OUGD602 - Self Branding - Design Development

As a designer, I feel my style is very varied but I haven't quite yet found my niche. This is why on my business card and visual identity I want it to be quite neutral, open to interpretation and not limited to the work I produce. However, a completely different angle could be to make something that is fun and interesting and that you would want to pick up as a visitor at the end of year show.

Inspiration and ideas for a business card and self-branding:

One thing I would say is that I am very hard working and a perfectionist, always putting my all into everything I do, trying to push myself and achieve the best standard I possibly can. At the same time, however, I do enjoy playing around with my work and believe play is an important aspect of design because you need to allow yourself time off for inspiration to come your way. This is why one idea for my business card was to have the quote 'Work hard, play hard on the reverse.' It's a fun, well-known slogan setting the tone that I don't take myself too seriously, but also subtly conveys the message of my values and what I stand for. 

Fun concept for the design:

I've worked a lot with duotone images this year so thought it reflected my work well to use this style as part of the design. A Renaissance painting depicting a dancing party scene I felt fit the quote well and was quirky and playful.

A more neutral concept I thought was to set out the back of the business card as a blank page with just crop marks, registration marks and a colour bar. One thing that is consistent about my practice is that I'm a graphic design, therefore, this could symbolise a blank new strart for fresh projects with the possibility to design anything on top. 

The crop marks could also work well as a symbol for my design accounts Instagram icon as at the moment it is an illustration of a mouth with braces. 

OUGD602 - PPP Presentation

OUGD602 - PPP Presentation Notes

When it comes to presentations I get extremely nervous beforehand, therefore, I find it extremely useful to practice multiple times beforehand to not only ensure I know exactly what I'm talking about but to also make sure I'm within the time frame as usually, it tends to go a lot slower than you think. I practised the presentation at least 4 times before the real thing to ensure it was around the 10min mark. 

Notes:

Slide 1

- Introduction to my personal practice 

Slide 2 

- Talk about Design Manchester and Glug - engagement with industry 

Slide 3 

- Integrate advice from Emily Forgot with my aims for this year

Slide 4

- Showcase the style I've developed in Level 4 and 5

- Talk about how I'm trying to get away from it

Slide 5

- Portfolio workshop at craft agency and the advice they gave me

Slide 6

- Showcase the work I am fond of from other designers and what I'm aspiring for my work to be like. 

Slide 7

- Show the work I have completed this year to prove how I've moved away from illustration in Level 6

- Talk about how I aim to continue my practice

Slide 8

- Introduction to professional practice and engagement with industry 

Slide 9

- Talk about experience working at Penguin over the summer

Slide 10

- Show the range of book covers I worked on

Slide 11

- Show the other sorts of briefs I worked on 

Slide 12

- Talk about involvement on Roger McGough 80

Slide 13

- First experience showing my work in a porfolio at branding agency William Murray Hamm

- Missed their email for about 3 weeks because they'd messaged me on LinkedIn and I wasn't very active

Slide 14

- Joined LinkedIn to ensure I wouldn't miss anymore opportunities and to engage myself more with the creative industries

Slide 15

- Email from University for iTunes internship 

Slide 16 

- Updating website, CV and Instagram to create a more professional application 

Slide 17 

- HireView interview practice. Recording yourself beforehand is a good tip to practice speaking to a camera and noticing any bad habits you may have. 

Slide 18

- Assessment day in London, talk about the process 

Slide 19

- Talk about the structure of the day 

Slide 20

- Talk about waiting for the results

Slide 21

- Getting the call, starting on the 25th June

Slide 22

- Going to New York in June so planning on contacting some studios for a studio visit such as Ro and Co. 

Slide 23

- Any questions? 

Evaluation 

Overall I'm pleased with how the presentation went. I remembered everything that I wanted to say and didn't let my nerves get the better of me. I also managed to finish just within the time at 9 mins 30 seconds which means my practice paid off. 

OUGD602 - Glug Event - Ey up Glug Vs Ladies Wine & Design

Glug HQ's Malin Persson

Olivia Downing

• 'How to get lucky' - Sick of people telling her she's lucky to have her job even though shes put in a lot of hard work to get there herself. 
• She became a copywriter at an advertising agency as a day job
• #schoolofthought graduate programme. 
• As long as you build on your own experiences and put the graft in anyone can be 'lucky' 
• Find that time of the day to dedicate to your own projects and do your own thing
• Relate to lots of different people in a very short space of time - element of empathy - our words are less important than our abilities to relate. 
• There is somebody on the receiving end of your work. Knowing this makes you better. 
•  Ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen - fight the fear and do it anyway! 
• Do more things on your own - the more things you do by yourself the more opportunities you open yourself up to because you have to make friends and speak to new people.
• It's not all roses all the time, people do have wobbles.Take the time to look after yourself and then get back into it. 
• Don't wait for the change - be it. 
• When you enter the industry you find out lots of facts 
• The industry has moved on but the statistics remain the same, all the panels are the same and nobody is doing anything. 
• Wasn't seeing the results she was expecting to in the creative industry so set up CIA - Chicks in Advertising, a group of women who talk about their experiences of being a woman in the creative industries
• Chicks in advertising Student Busary - Helps female creatives with travel costs after university going to interviews etc.
• If you have an idea for something that could be a big thing then DO IT! You never know whats going to take off. 

Marlin

• 27 years old from Sweden, works for Glug
• If you want a job, do your homework
• We're a man made industry
• Make sure you realise that if you have a bad situation at work
• 'Oh shit' moments are your intuition telling you something isn't right and you need to listen to your gut instinct. 
• Be interested rather than be interesting
• You don't need an elevator pitch, you need to be a good listener
• Work on your own dreams, or find one you want to adopt 
• Do your research and find what makes you stick and where you draw your line.
• Type in the job titles you're interested into linkedIn, stalk the people and see how they got to that point. 
• You need to figure out the commercial ladder if you want to climb it. Why did the client choose the other pitch? 
• Everyone is looking for maximum profitability. 
• You can look at the competition and what the stakeholders are doing - if you figure that out you'll be in an irreplaceable position. 
• Dare to ask about business, dare to ask about money and talk about money. 
• Talk about projects you're not involved in
• Dare to be seen as serious. Climb the ladder, be ambitious
• All the jargons you hear, google and figure out. 
• Knowledge is power. Ask your pals.
• Confidence in knowing what's going on gives you the confidence to ask for pay rises etc. 
• Give people an opportunity to place you into context and where you want to be so you need to leave a trail to be relevant in peoples minds. 
• If people around you know what you're opting for and aiming towards if they hear those opportunities arise they will put you forward. If they don't know about it they will never suggest you for the interview.
• A job is like a gym membership. You need to show up, do more and do it today. Figure out a routine and change it every now and again. 
• Perseverance and stick to it. 
• The robots are coming and it's going to be amaing. We don't have to be worried in the creative industry because we are practising emotional problem solving every day. We are practicing being human and bringing the human factor into whatever we do so whatever jobs that can be automated arent really that exciting anyway.
• But unless you start being aware of them and get to know them now they're gonna start getting more and more complicated, get to know these things and you'll be less scared by all the media propaganda etc. 
• The future is freelance. 
• Stay relevant.

Cari

• Part-time marketing manager from team cooper in Sheffield and full-time mum
• Flexible working 
• Flexibility is the future 
• Account executive at an Agency in Sheffield was really good at it and loved the work
• Then had a baby, got peed and pooped on and was off work for months then expected to get back to it. 
• At 11 months old she went back to work at the agency for 4 days a week
• He cried every day she left him at nursery
• She picked up the lions share of the work while her husband was at work 
• Then had another baby which made it twice as hard
• She was dropping the ball all of the time, she couldn't make meetings because she was dropping the kids off at nursey and she just lost all confidence in what she did and didn't feel like she could do it anymore, she didn't feel like she was doing a good job at home or doign a good job at work and she became a statistic.
• 43% of qualified women leave their careers when they have a family
• THAT'S SHIT
• That shouldn't happen. If someone doesn't do something about this we're going to still be having these conversations about gender ineuality, about 'the confidence gap'
• Nothings going to change for the next 50 years 
• That's why flexibility is the future. 
• She went back to stay at home with her kids but after 6 months she was tearing her hair out and was itching to get back to work.
• It's ok that being at home with 2 kids isn't enough. She wanted more from life and didn't want to put her career on hold.
• So she did some freelancing, picked up a few clients here and there.
• Then she found a job that was both part-time and flexible and they called out for women who perhaps had been on maternity and were looking to get back into work.
• That's really progressive and doesn't happen very often. That was team Cooper.
• But it's not just for mums. She felt like she is much more productive when she has control over her day. It doesn't matter where she is, she doesn't have to be in front of her allocated desk everyday so that she can get her job done.
• She can be at home, she can drop her kids off at school, she can then go into the office if she wants to, or a coffee shop...wherever she's feeling most productive. As long as the job gets done it doesn't matter. 
• 72% of global businesses reported increased productivity when they offered flexible working. 
• You can't argue with that.
• It's about attracting talent. 
• We all want it but we don't have it and if we did have it, it could take us on a journey to a better place. 76% of employers saw increased staff retention. 
• She's really happy where she is now. She can manage her own diary and has a balance between family and her career. She doesn't have to choose. 
• It's about reaching out and having a network of people.
• If CIA was around when she was having kids maybe things would be a little different. 
• She couldn't see anyone in her position when she was going through having to make these difficult decisions and hapily balancing family life and work.
• You can't be who you can't see. If you surround yourselves with people who are in the same position and have a network you might be able to talk each other round and talk about it. 
• She's in a WhatsApp group with 27 women who look out for each other, look out for opportunities for each other and support each other. 
• As long as you have people in your network who you can talk to it really helps. 
• Talk about how you're feeling. Go to your bosses with the stats and the productivity and take that to the table and talk about it. 
• Can we have it all? If we really want it. Yes we can. 
• Companies that offer flexible working will be the ones that reap the benefits. 

Ellen Ling 

• Copy writer
• Worked on Pepsi Ad, Simply Be - Rules ReWritten
• Worked at D&AD in the New Blood Awards Section 
• Commercial Creativity Industry 
• Joined the D&AD content team 
• What makes a winning piece of work? 
• What do you think the gaps in the industry are?
• What would you want to see in a CV? 
• Applied to a copywriting job at LOVE
• Design, advertising, packaging design, 3D
• Roses without the prick - Fun Copy
• Survive your experiences 
• Hungry talent meets starving industry 
• You are that fresh perspective and that thing that they don't know about yet
• All the things that they have learnt over time that the more you know the less you know
• Disrupt the system 
• Studios need a jolt of energry from students to break up the stuffy routine
• Need people to come in and shake it up  
• The industry should be built on exchange
• Intern article - If you're not hearing different opinions it should be alarm bells you're hearing instead
• Not a box-ticking exercise it's in your interests to have different people around you with different opinions 
• If no ones challenging you what the fuck are you learning 
• Ego gets in the way
• Diversity in terms of culture, background and dicipline. 
• Royally fuck it up and think your way out of it - don't blame the brief
• Without clients and their problems we have nothing
• I can't be a novelist so don't give me a blank page. I need some kind of stimulus, a problem to solve that your brain can get around
• Problem-solving - everything we do in the creative industries is about solving problems
• Find your gut instinct for what the solution is.
• Build up gut instinct and be a detective.
• You can so easily be mediocre and be like 'that will do'/that makes sense/that's sensible/the client wants this/we'll give it to them. But it's hard to be like this is the right answer, I worked fucking hard for that. I did the groundwork and this is it. 
• Because you'd done the detective work and knew this is the right answer you can argue your point more efficiently and convince others. 
• This is where award-winning amazing work happens when you've got ideas from fully doing the research. 
• That's your job. 
• Work out who you are and be that. Your feelings, your opinions, your perspective on things is all that you have. It's what you can bring to the table and the brief. Personal interpretation of things, your craft, your experience of the culture. There's no point wasting time being someone else. 
• Don't grow a wishbone where your backbone should be. 'I really hope I get that job, I really hope the client likes it.' You have to go out and have conversations with people and make your path. 
• If 2 people are in a room having a conversation and your name comes up, what is the 1 word that you'd want them both to describe you as? Live up to that and be that.
• Be a genuine person that people will come back to time and time again.
• What's the box you want to be in? How do you want people to see you? 
• Be less credited on something way better. 
• Doesn't matter if your name was on it or not - who gives a shit? Care about making something that's amazing. 
• Be the dumbest person in the room. Be a good listener and learn something new. You learn nothing when you try to pretend you know everything. 
• Be honest. There are enough egos in the industry. If you don't know something, ask about it. It's good to ask questions - be confident to ask questions and you'll be much more enriched. Who gives a shit if you know everything? Nobody knows everything. Ask someone and you will learn so much more.

OUGD602 - Client Work - Poster for ProjectOn - Networking Event

At the iTunes assessment day I got talking to Lily, a fine art student from Oxford Brooks who had recently got funding for a networking event for young creatives in Oxford. After finding out I was a graphic designer she asked if I could redesign the poster for the event to which I agreed and she sent me some images and the information for the event. 

This was the original poster they were using - 'we like the trees but we got feedback from some people who said they wouldn't know what the event was, so we thought maybe an installation shot would give more away, would loove if you wanna go completely different and do some digital drawings or anything like that tho!' 

Original Poster

Shots of the space and previous images used

Image of the projection installation

After hearing the feedback Lily had recieved I decided to use a shot of the installation as the focal point of the poster because it looked really cool and made it a bit more clear what the event was about. Going for a more minimal look I reduced the point size of the information and used a clean, geometric sans serif font as to not distract from the image. As the event was called ProjectOn I had to play around with a few different ways of designing the header so it looked as if it was meant to be spelt that way as I got feedback that it looked like they'd spelt projection wrong. Below is the first draft of the poster I sent to Lily. 

Feedback: 'We looove your design! Big big fan, especially your text, we are now thinking we aren't so keen on our image tho haha could you change the background to this on (below) think it will go so much better with your text. Sorry for the faff! We really love it!'

I changed the image and also reduced the size of the O in projectOn because changing the colour did the same job as separating out the word and looked a lot sleeker. 

Feedback: omg looks greaaat! you da best gonna post it everywhereee thanks so much Beth xx 

This was a a really fun quick brief to do and I'm glad Lily liked the poster. We've planned to do a redesign for the next event which should allow me to play around more with the design.