Portfolio review feedback

Portfolio review  

Today I had a meeting Andy Lodge to review my portfolio, it was a chance to see what my portfolio will look like when i finish and things that might need changing or things that don't work well. Its also just a good chance to get feedback from somebody who is working in the industry as it would be somebody like hm who will be viewing my portfolio.

By this point i hadn't finished my portfolio but this is what i took to show Andy. 

From this we went through each brief individually and i explained each one. Andy then gave me feedback on both the design and also how I can have the boards set up to get the most out of them. 

He commented on how i had vinyl sleeves and the briefs were very short, he said if all i did was overlay 2 images then i should take it out of my portfolio because it doesn't offer much to talk about when in interviews and speaking to somebody about it. He really liked they about i had but i should just maybe increase the size of some of the images i had so i could show off the work to its best quality. Next showed him by DSM branding brief where he really liked the concept behind the retirement home and the imagery used as a full bleed across the page, but he said i could maybe have a few more detailed parts to the brand such as typeface and colour choices which would be nice to see. 

The next brief I showed him was Intern magazine, where he had some really good ideas for what we could do with this, he said the concept was really good and it is something he thinks he would have, he suggested that he thought that he could see the book small and fit in the pocket so it is easily carried around and there as quick access to see different directors when needed. He said also that i could maybe make the images bigger and extend the brief a little maybe. 

He then looked at the organic jams, he really liked the aesthetic of the jams and the set of illustrations, reading the concept though he thought that it could do with a little work in terms of how the jams are used, such as the recipe on the back which could be changed, my images weren't ready for this brief so it wasn't fully finished at this point and needed some work.  

Next he looked at my dr me posters and vinyls, he again really liked my work which i was pleased about hearing from a working professional, he said for the brief like the previous vinyl sleeve briefs that i could maybe extended it to a set of album sleeves so i could show how they worked in a group. 

We then talked about my PPP branding and how I have been contacting studios. I had an idea of a set of small cards that had little explanations about me on them that would then stack to form a structure, that structure is then in effect me. He liked this idea as he said its good to have something to send to studios rather than an email because that is more likely to get there attention and have them contact you back.




On top of this Andy gave me a list of studios and people who I might be interested in, one such studio was Thoughtful, who are based in Manchester and produce, they are a conscious design studio who like to do work for good. 

I really like this studio and think that it is a good place to contact in the future regarding a placement or visit 


Andy then gave me some illustrators who he thought i might like 

Robert Samuel Hanson

Jason Munn

Malika Favre

Andy then gave me a studio to look at and see if i might like them, they are based in america but he said the are worth a look at

sadly there website is down so i cant look at there work. 

To cap it off Andy said i should just add a few more projects to my portfolio and maybe expand on some of the ones i already have and go into a bit more detail. Apart from that keep going with the strong work. 

Conscious Creatives meeting 3

From the last meeting Bobby was able to pass the green spaces project so we can then start to work on the green spaces down at vernon street and right here in the old smoking area in university. 

To fund this project Bobby is going to apply for green exchange funding 

Since the last meeting Grace, Bobby and I have been design the logo for the group, Grace had chosen the typeface which works really well with the small seed like logo we had made 

From this I thought that we could maybe have a seen that surrounded the logo, something that represented a scene of sustainable design, this could then be animated to create a moving images for the web side of this brief 

DBA Crit

Crit

Today we had a crit for our DBA brief, this meant we had a chance to speak to people within the industry. Within this crit we showed one of the guys from DBA our logo we had created and the concept behind what we had made. Talking to him was very insightful, although not as prominent as the others he he clearly knew what he was talking about. He told us that to have a stone concept we needed to focus of every little bit of detail and not look at London as a rival to capital north but to have capital north as something on its own. He describes how his studio worked, explaining that when working in a group they met up everyday to discuss progress and to bounce ideas off each other this kept the work flowing at a decent pace. Not only this but because they kept on meeting they studio as a while benefited with a better moral and work ethic. 

In terms of the what we showed him he had to say that the logo, although strong, didn't really resemble capital north and had too much of a reference to the London underground which was the intention to start off so there could be that link but i agreed in that it was too similar to the tube map, he said there were aspects of it that worked such as the connectivity and the 4 colours but maybe looking at using that in a different way would work better. He also liked the course and thought as as et of 4 they worked really well. 

He then finished it off by telling us what he wanted from the brief: 


A well considered thought out concept 

A detailed logo that was again well considered 

A range of mock ups and appropriate things that were not there just to look good but had a purpose, something he said was very imprint in any brief. 

And something fun and playful 

Sustainable designers second meeting

Another meeting of sustainable design took place today, we found out some things that had been going on for 2 weeks since the last session 

Vernon Street has a terse that we can use for some sustainable design or a green space. There is a project at Leeds university called the Green exchange where people can apply for funding that aids sustainable practices.  Bobby has offered to write this proposal.

We had been struggling for a name for the group in the past few weeks but today we have finally settled on a name that we all think works quite well, it is something that says we are a sustainable group but also in tune with other areas of sustainable design. 

That name is Conscious Creatives.

Me Bobby an Grace said we could design the logo to go with this name 

Presentation 2

Slide 1 and 2 and 3

Statement hasn’t changed that much

I think because I was interested in the subject a lot and enjoyed writing my essay that the final outcome for the practical was stronger      something I am proud of

I think from doing my CoP module it has made me more aware of sustainability within design and the importance of it, which is why my statement has changed slightly and I’ve become more interested in sustainability

Slide 5

Some of my completed briefs, or my most favourite ones

DSM branding brief, creating a retirement home

Found it interesting and was happy with the final outcome

Really enjoyed, reinforced the fact that I like branding and is something I want to go into

Slide 6

Another one of my favourite briefs

A magazine about directors and there films

We came up with a strong concept, and hopefully is something me and pri are actually going to make at some point.

Again reinforced the fact that editorial is something I would like to go into

Slide 7

Organic jams

A brief I created myself because I really like the aesthetic of organic food packaging

Thought it would allow me to be quite playful with the imagery and is good to have a packaging brief in my portfolio so I can show I can create strong packaging

Slide 8  

Rugby world cup brief with ant

On-going brief

Brief im enjoying because it involves a lot of my interests in sport, editorial (programme) and branding (of the event)

Slide 10

Aqua Technique

Scuba diving school

Asked to change this logo and make it more legible 

This will improve my communication with the client

More realistic with the professional world because im working with something I don’t really like or think is good

It also gives me a chance to paly with type which I haven’t done much of this year

Slide 11

Brothers branding, sports nutritionist

Again this involves a lot of my interests in sport, food and branding

Slide 12

DBA, is hard brief

But slowly but surely we are getting there as a group and feel we have quite a strong concept for our logo

Its good to have the connection with professional people

Slide 14

I have put together a PDF of my work which I have sent to these 3 places

Good mix of places, m360 is a big studio and Attitude is just a handful of people

Good to go to both of these types of places

They all do the areas I am interested in,   branding and editorial

Slide 15

Sustainable group within university,

Students working closely with the sustainability committee at the university

Me bobby grace Jordan have all gone to

Has show me there is a lot of interest in sustainability within university

And opened my eyes to other areas of sustainability not just design related

Has a lot planned within university, such as changing the old smoking area to green area, with things like moss graffiti, plant beds

Meet every other Wednesday, anybody interested can come

Sustinable designers first meeting

Sustainable Society 

The Sustainability Society has been set up within college to raise awareness amongst all students and staff about the importance of sustainability, not only this but also to create a much towards sustainability both inside and outside university. 

In this meeting we discussed what happened last week.  I feel doing this in is really good for my practice because i am really interested in the environment and go about things sustainably at home so doing this gives me a chance to engage with this in university but also outside of graphic design. 

Things to take away from our meeting 

We have a meeting in two weeks time

Infographics made from recycled materials will be displayed at an exhibition on 17, 18 & 19th March this is named InformARTive 

Any responses to sustainable design or anything that can help with collection of scrap material should be posted to the Facebook wall

Studios, Visits/Placements

Studio Search 

Today i have been searching for studios for placements in Nottingham because that is close to home but also Nottingham is becoming a lot bigger in terms of design and creativity so it would be worth considering looking into studios here. 

m360

I really like this studio and the work they produce, well i feel some projects aren't that strong but i think that might give me some confidence in that i could create work that is stronger than people that work there. 

A2B Designers

A2B is another agency that i really like, i think form there website you can tell they are a strong studio, looking at there work some of it is also very strong, again its another studio in Nottingham so is close to my house. 


De facto

Samphire Creative

Attitude design

I really like the design of there website and  know someone who knows someone form this studio so i could be able to get a visit to there studio. The work they produce isn't really what i am interested in and some of it isn't that good quality but it would be worth visiting a studio with a small number of people.

Fuse Design

Fuse design are again a studio in Nottingham, they are bigger with a studio also in London, i really like the work they produce especially there editorial and publishing work and so is another option for a visit