PPP2 // Module Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

  Throughout the whole of this year, PPP2 has kind of always been hidden away in the background, but we have learnt a lot to support the fundamentals of our practice, and even thought I am still a little clueless, I have more of an idea how studios / collaborations  are formed.
I have grown a little more in confidence with the work I am producing, especially towards the end of this year, and this module has helped me understand how I would go a bout approaching studios, John has re inforced the fact that networking is the most important element of a graphic designers life. Even though I hav't started contacting studios as of yet, I still have more confidence of both the types of studios I would like to work in as well as how I would get my foot in the door (so to speak).
 Working as part of a group in Life's a pitch wasn't as fun as I initially thought it would be, I realize that it was finding all the duller important information that would help build the foundations of a business, but our group struggled to ever get any time where we were all together, so therefore the collaborative element was lost a little bit.  However i learnt about necessary costings that you can apply to your practice whether you are freelance or part of a studio. everything costs money so charge them for it.

'DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR MONEY'  - John

2. What approaches to/ methods of design production have developed and how have they informed your design development process?

 

I havn't really developed an specific design production methods in this module, this is mostly down to the fact we hav't had to do that much designing in this module, However I intednd to take the progress I have made on my self branding material and develop it furtehr trying to incorporate some more interesting production methods which would help me stand out from the crowed. I don't think I am completely happy with my branding, espeically after watching some of the design strategy presentations. and some peoples self branding is incredible, and they have really captured their individual personality in the brand they have produced. and I am not sure tht mine does, i think I could improve on my brand concept and the link between my visual identity and the info pack and product range I produced.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/ will you capitalise on these?

Again, anything I have learnt this year that has developed my design work or skills was learnt in the other modules, I couldn't confidently point out a strength in my self branding as I think I am going to change it as I don't really like it any more.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

The main weakness I found for my branding was the fact that I faild to analyze myself and my interests enough to know actually how I would brand myself. it is a really difficult question to answer when someone says 'describe yourself visually' where are you meant to start? and I often find that I what I think are my strengths are often not and factors I just take for granted are actually my main strengths. I need to conceptualise my self branding more, I want to come up with a concept that not only visually represents me and my practice, but also is a really clever idea that would help grab the attention of who ever I eventually send this to.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

- Ensure that I develop a solid concept for my self branding rather than just trying to design a logo that I like for myself, which is what I did this year. This will help bring all my product range together as well as hopefully represent myself more appropriately.

- Contact studios, go to design events, start emailing designer I like, getting more of my work out onto the world wide web, as at the minute I have no networking progress, and I would ideally like to have a few visits and placements under my belt before I complete third year, I think at the minute even though my confidence in my work is growing, I am still not overly confident with what I have produced, enough to send it as my samples of work.

- Contact studios, go to design events, start emailing designer I like, getting more of my work out onto the world wide web, as at the minute I have no networking progress. An online presence is very important for all creative industries and it is something I want to develop so I am ready to represent myself when I am no longer at LCA.

-  Organise myself and my time better, this will avoid the rushing and panicking stages towards the wend of the module, which is probably why I have ended up with  some self branding that I don't actually like.

- Spend more time researching studios or freelance designers that  really appeal to me and my taste in design instead of just looking at more main stream studios that everybody looks at, I really want to have a large list of studios and designers I like. I forget that looking at others work can really inspire you and make design a really fun thing to do. I think I forget that I enjoy design sometimes and this is mostly down to stress on the course and a large work load that I am still trying to manage myself around

6. how would you grade yourself on the following areas? 

Attendance -3

Punctuality - 4

Motivation -3

Commitment -3

Quantity of work produced - 3

Quality of work produced -3

Contribution to the group - 4

PPP2 // Design Strategy Presentation

Today was the day of our Final Design Strategy Presentation for ppp2, a 10 minute presentation based on the progress we have made this year as well as elements that have hindered your progress. I was quite happy with how my presentation went, the boards them self could have been designed a little more consistently as the grid changes throughout depending on the images I have used.

However I feel I summarised my year to the best of my ability and tried to focus on both the positives and the negatives.

I was quite surprised to realise how much work I have actually produced this year, even though it doesn't feel like I have done alot.

It has been a quite stressful year for me and I don't want to repeat this stress when going into year 3 so I made sure I highlighted all the areas I need to improve over the summer so I can come back fresh in September ready to jump straight into it.

PPP2 // Creative CV and Self branded info pack with examples of work

At the stage I am at the minute, I still would like to produce a few more pieces of nice quality design that is not just the briefs we get set at LCA, The responsive brief this year was a great opportunity to practice real life briefs and I enjoyed the fact that they were set briefs with guild lines and boundaries, where as the briefs I have produced for uni and I am happy with and would be willing to present them to a potential studio, were all quite broad and self motivated, which shows my visual and conceptual skills but doesn't really prove that I can apply it to real life briefs.

However I have produced this infopack that contains my creative CV, information about myself and my design as well as a few examples of my work focusing on the areas I am most passionate about.

I think I will develop my self branding over the summer period because I am not 100% sure at the minute if this is how I want to brand myself but I will experiment with different options and see if I can incorporate more of a concept to my brand rather than just a logo.

PPP2 // Creative CV - Written content

Mikey Scott Creative CV

About

I am a Graphic Designer from Leeds, currently studying second year BA (Hons) Graphic Design at Leeds College of Art. I see myself as having a creative personality with my main aim in life to be as happy as I possibly can and a passion to make people just as happy as me.
My design practice interests span over a broad area and I am willing to attack any project head on to complete it to my full potential and I am always looking to take on inventive and creative briefs to improve my conceptual development. However my main interests and skills are brand and identity, product and packaging, photography  and print production.

As well as Graphic Design, I have spent a number of years of my life studying Music, Drums are my instrument of choice and I have played for 15 years and studied in London's Tech Music Schools 2009 - 2010

I also have a huge passion for travel and have spent a year traveling Australia in 2009 as well as various other trips around the world including most of Europe and South Africa.

My Name is Mikey Scott. Please shake my hand and have a gander at the samples of work I have included in this publication.

Software

Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe InDesign
Adobe DreamWeaver

Production methods practiced

Laser cut
Screen Print
Foiling
Embossing
Letter Press

Skills

Brand & Identity
Brand Campaign
Photography
Print Production
Product and Packaging
Publication and Editorial
Typography
Copy Writing
Type / Grid / Layout
Information Wayfinding
Signage
Infographics

Studies

Leeds College of Art
BA (Hons.) Graphic Design
2011 - 2014

DrumTech
Tech Music Schools
(Merit)
2009 - 2010

Wakefield Thornes Park College
BTEC Graphic Design
(Merit)
2005 - 2007

PPP2 // Business Card Design

For My business card I wanted to keep it as close to the style of design I produced for my logo as possible, I therefore started out by considering having a business card that follows the same shape of my logo. and to be honest I really like the Idea of this but I am worried that it would get trapped in peoples wallets as it is square rather than standard business card size 85 mm x 55 mm,

However I still do like these designs aesthetically and would consider trying to produce these if I don't create another business card that I feel represents me and my brand.

 I then started to play around with similar visuals but on a standard sized format, I still want to incorporate the rounded edges of logo border as on it's own I thought this was a strong visual theme that could continue throughout my self branded products.

These are my two favorite outcomes from all the designs I have done I think it is simple enough and captures the essence of my brand while still containing relevant contact information.

PPP2 // Self Branding - Logo development

I actually found creating a brand for myself was really really difficult, you don't realise how complicated it is to try and represent yourself and your design practice, I had a few ideas which I played around with below.

My first idea was based around simple shape, the formation of the triangles form the shame of an 'M' and an 'S' in the gaps of the pattern. This isn't that obvious but it is noticeable once you have realised it is there, the fact that is not obvious does not really seem like a problem to me as I think the pattern itself is aesthetically pleasing enough. 

I didn't really know how to take this idea to the next level as some of the results just seemed a little random and was moving away from portraying my design personality.

I tried various different layouts to create shapes that kind of represent the shadows of a box or some kind of building girder. 

 Again some further development trying to incorporate my favorite colours into the logo, but I felt it was getting a little too messy and not as obvious that my initials an incorporated into the design.

 The next Idea I had was again based around my initials with a flat wavey M and S creating a simple snake like patter, again i did like this logo but I didn't love it and thought it would need quite a bit more development to get it to a stage I was happy with and to be perfectly honest I thought i had a better idea so I just moved on.

These are just 2 quick ideas I had while playing around with shapes and the Viking Alphabet, but I was getting quite frustrated as I really wasn't producing anything that I would be willing to use to represent me and my graphic design practice.

The problem I was having was I think I wasn't thinking conceptually when trying to brand myself, which is strange because that is exactly how I do it when I produce other logos for set branding briefs, however here I have just focused on aestheticas because I know what style of design I like and I should design a logo that I enjoy to look at.

This idea started off of me thinking about the shutters and lenses of cameras, the the central ball representing the focus point and the outer shapes forming abstract shutters.

I was happy with this logo but thought it was missing something that I would usually incorporate, solid black space, by adding the thick curved border, it brings everything together and I also discovered that it now kind of looks like a cartoon face? with the M and S forming the eyes. I was finally happy with something I had produced for myself and by doing this I have developed quite a good idea of what the rest of my branded products will look like.

PPP2 // What is a Creative CV?

1. I Want Design Ltd.

 

A: The Corner House, 2 Grove Park,London E11 2DL 

T: +44 (0)20 8989 2501 E: info@iwantdesign.com

Twitter : @IWANTdesign 

 

2. March Design Studio 

 

 

A: 66 Garstang Road, Bowgreave, Preston, PR3 1YE 

T: +44 (0)1995 608 961

E: hello@marchdesignstudio.co.uk 

 

3. Analogue 

 

 

A: City Mills Business Center, Peel Street, Leeds, LS27 8QL 

T: +44(0) 113 341 0330

E: studio@madebyanalogue.co.uk

 

4. Magpie 

 

 

A: 1-3 Springfield Mount, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9NG

T: 0113 318 3051 

E: hello@magpiecomms.com

 

5. Spitfire 

 

 

A: 82 Derby Road, Nottingham, NG1 5FD 

T:  +44 (0)115 8451824

E: matt.d@wearespitfire.com

 

6. Eighth Day Design

 

 

Brighton

 

A: 40Arundel Place, Brighton, BN2 1GD

T: 01273 623088

E: info@8dd.co.uk 

 

Edinburgh

 

A: 97b West Bow, Edinburgh, EH2 2JP

T: 0131 225 5558

E: info@8dd.co.uk

 

7. Emerge 

 

 

T: +44 (0)7858 357 135

E: hello@emergestudios.co.uk  

 

8. Candy Black 

 

 

A: 119 Roman Road, London, E2 0QN

E: info@candyblackdesign.com 

 

9. Ascend 

 

 

A: 57 Ferringdon Road, London, EC1M 3JB

T: 020 7419 1170

E: info@ascendstudio.co.uk 

 

10.  Sparrow

A: Bromley by Bow Centre, St Leonard's Street, London. E3 3BT

T: 020 8709 9758

F: 020 8880 6608

E: hello@sparrow-studio.com

 

PPP2 // Samples of work.

1.  Publicis

Strengths - strong concept, very unique, eye catching, clever relates well to sports, gyms and personal training. very durable

Weaknesses- probably wouldn't easily fit in a wallet, easy to lose, not the most legible type

Opportunities - brand a gym out of similar concept. apply concept to actual sports wear or gym equipment.

Threats - costs of printing may be high, wouldn't be very easy to print, so I am sure once you have run out it is difficult to replace quickly and cheaply.

2. Ajoto

Strengths - good strong link between each piece of packagine, simple, most of aesthetics produced by the material used to package.

Weaknesses - You can't tell what the product is when the packaging is closed,

Opportunities - create a similar to 'Parker' the pen company, nice aesthetics will sell anything, even if it's just a pen.

Threats - obviously adds more cost to the final product, but this is a high quality product and I think it needs the packaging to highlight the quality of the product.



 3. Project Graphics

Strengths - brilliant use of space and colour, very simple but still visually appealing, follows the colours of the Norwegian flag

Weaknesses - Information included on the design is too small for good promotion, even though asthetically it looks great, it is a promotional poster for a theatre production so you would have thought they would have wanted people to be able to understand the message with just a glance.

Opportunities - this visual idea could be actually created in a 3D interiror or exterior environment which means it could be be the visual identity of this specific theatre prduction.

Threats -

4.  Proximity

    
Strengths - really clever concept, This would definitely  appeal to many musicians and music lovers, they would just buy this fridge because of the packaging and the link to the 'Marshall' name

Weaknesses - it doesn't look like a fridge, packaging makes it still look like an amp, but I guess this is the point.

Opportunities - in this case, Marshall could literally sell anything they want and just package it in the same way they do their musical hardware, and people would buy it, The concept is simple and mainly uses the popularity of the Marshall brand to sell itself

Threats -it may be seen as a little bit pointless, even though interesting, people might not be silly enough to buy a fridge just because it is made by the people that make their amp.

5.  Simon Frouws  

Strengths - Visually these look fantastic, the  production really stands out from standard playing card design, The cold gives a finish which makes the cards look almost noble.

Weaknesses - because of the finishing techniques used, the cards could become more easily permanently damaged

Opportunities - visual theme could be applied to a range of games,

Threats -probably more expensive to produce and purchase than regular playing cards.

  6.  OTOTO

Strengths - a fun office product,

Weaknesses - Not particularly any mmore practical than normal paper clips and I can guarantee that these would be much more expensive to purchase for much fewer paper clips

Opportunities - obviously they could possibly take it further and make paper clips or stationary out of many kinds of tinned foods.

Threats -A little bit pointless, they might be a bit of fun but they don't really change anything about the product or sardines.

7. Sergio Gaspar

Strengths - Nice consistent grid and type layout, nice use of image and photography. Great use of white.

Weaknesses - The publication is called 'Dress Me' you can read that from the typeface used but it isn't instant recognition

8. Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann

Strengths - good opportunity for consumer interaction, really simple and un complicated design,

Weaknesses - I don't really think the bottle that they have chosen and the pop cap, the shape of the bottle is good but the pop cap doesn't suit their the shape or colour of the label

Opportunities - possibility to change labels as and when you please, the labels can be used by collectors, especially if the labels change through the years.

Threats -because there is a slit to remove the label, this could possible fill with either beer or water, which would damage the aesthetics,


9.  Tom Lane - Ginger Monkey

Strengths - I like the use of traditional style decoration is being applied to a modern and fashionable brand. you would never expect to see patterns and illustrations like this associated with a huge sports brand, but I think this works really nicely.

Weaknesses - possibly looks a little flimsy in it's production

Opportunities - the fact that this is a such a different design to what is usually associated with Air Jordan it could possible introduce a new / different target audience as well as the old.

Threats -It is possible that some current supporters of Air Jordans would not like the traditional style of gold etching and feminine traditional  box.

10. Ryan Romanes

Strengths - Beautiful packaging, I like the fact that different types of wood have been used to produce the same box. simple laser cut design look great.

Weaknesses - You don't really get any idea what is inside the packaging