At the start of this academic year, Ben and I put all our focus on WYS, in turn developing who I am as a designer and finding my particular style. I have focussed my design work towards editorial, using research to heavily inform much of the work I produce. This has helped me to learn about distinctive figures within the industry such as Catalogue and Kiosk Books.
Because of this, my engagement with industry has been directly focused on the studio throughout the year. Because of WYS, I spoke to professionals i wouldn't usually interact with. I did this solely to talk about WYS, whether it be asking for feedback on the studio or asking about their practice to help inform our own. One such professional we spoke to was Rose Nordin who explained how we could make a living creating books. As WYS has pushed me to speak to professionals, I have also learnt how to act professionally towards my peers, learning that it is all about having confidence in myself.
To help develop my professional skills I attended the short courses at uni that help to set up independent businesses. I found these were valuable as taught about components within a creative business we had not previously considered. These sessions were also useful as we were introduced to Sharon Heleine who also run the summer business school and interviews applicants for Duke Studios. After graduating, Ben and I hope to move into a small studio in the hope we can develop WYS into a fully fledged graphic design studio. Research on Duke Studios showed up this would be our best opportunity and creating a relationship with Sharon is one of the best opportunities for us to get to where we need to be.
Our hope is that we will spend next year kick starting the business by working freelance whilst also producing exciting publications that we strived to do. Despite planning to move into Duke Studios, I have started to look at internships that may be appropriate if I decide to go down a different route. This consequently gives me a back up plan if all else fails.
It would be important that my personal branding away from WYS is of a high quality so potential clients and employers can see what I am capable of one my own. It was decided that my WYS business card would be used whilst talking to clients as this is the best way to promote the studio face to face however I designed a personal website/ portfolio on Adobe Muse so my own work can be seen in one place. This also enables clients to contact me easily
Overall, this year has been successful in term of ppp however I hold the work I have done for WYS responsible for this. I also feel my tutor Alec has helped considerably; pointing me in the right direction and helping me to focus on considerations that I hadn't previously thought through. Because of my development as a designer this year I am confident that I will progress into professional industry with ease. I look forward to graduating and producing work for clients through WYS.
Monday 14 May 2018
Sunday 13 May 2018
OUGD602 - Placement
I wanted to go on a placement that would be appropriate for my decision to focus on editorial design. To do this is contacted a wide range of sources from magazines and publishing houses to design studios with no avail.
Later on in the year I received a promising reply from a guy named Ash who works for ASBO magazine. We spoke briefly by email however he soon asked to speak to me on the phone.
When I asked Ash whether it would be possible to spend some time working at the magazine, learning about the role of a graphic designer. He agreed and offered to let me spend time working with their creative director who designs the magazine as well as work on producing a website that was in line with the magazines aesthetics. After speaking to Ash on the phone I went to London to discuss what I would be doing further.
I decided to look more into ASBO magazine online to see what the would have to offer me. I found that their target audience is young creatives and the focus on being able to give them a voice and a chance to produce work for a magazine. The identity of the site was dated however, over the phone Ash spoke about how the were looking to update it, which could be something I got involved it.
There were a number of things discussed at the last meeting
- Will spend 2 weeks with the team in June shadowing the creative director
-do one day a week on ASBO work researching website design and thinking about how the can be translated into the new site.
- start producing ideas to show Ash and the creative director.
-Come down as often as I can to accompany the team on photoshoots
The next time I went down to London for a weekend I was able to spend more time with Ash and the rest of the team. Here I learnt more about the magazine and their plans to expand in the future. This gave me an insight into what life as a creative director at a magazine is like as I was able to speak to him about his design process before print whilst archiving work from their website.
I was fortunate enough to attend a photoshoot where Ash, the fashion director was styling and Chris, the creative Director was Art Directing. Here I was running clothes and speaking to Chris about the shoot.
This weekend showed me what was in store for my placement in June which I look forward to completing. Although the only in house graphic designer they have usually takes the role as Art Director, I feel that the placement will be a good opportunity to meet more creatives in London. Building my networking relationship is essential down south as it is where the money is and where we hope to relocate WYS in the future. I also thought about the positives of ASBO in terms of making money in the future. This magazine may give us the opportunity to redesign the identity as well as meet new clients through the magazine.
Later on in the year I received a promising reply from a guy named Ash who works for ASBO magazine. We spoke briefly by email however he soon asked to speak to me on the phone.
When I asked Ash whether it would be possible to spend some time working at the magazine, learning about the role of a graphic designer. He agreed and offered to let me spend time working with their creative director who designs the magazine as well as work on producing a website that was in line with the magazines aesthetics. After speaking to Ash on the phone I went to London to discuss what I would be doing further.
I decided to look more into ASBO magazine online to see what the would have to offer me. I found that their target audience is young creatives and the focus on being able to give them a voice and a chance to produce work for a magazine. The identity of the site was dated however, over the phone Ash spoke about how the were looking to update it, which could be something I got involved it.
There were a number of things discussed at the last meeting
- Will spend 2 weeks with the team in June shadowing the creative director
-do one day a week on ASBO work researching website design and thinking about how the can be translated into the new site.
- start producing ideas to show Ash and the creative director.
-Come down as often as I can to accompany the team on photoshoots
The next time I went down to London for a weekend I was able to spend more time with Ash and the rest of the team. Here I learnt more about the magazine and their plans to expand in the future. This gave me an insight into what life as a creative director at a magazine is like as I was able to speak to him about his design process before print whilst archiving work from their website.
I was fortunate enough to attend a photoshoot where Ash, the fashion director was styling and Chris, the creative Director was Art Directing. Here I was running clothes and speaking to Chris about the shoot.
This weekend showed me what was in store for my placement in June which I look forward to completing. Although the only in house graphic designer they have usually takes the role as Art Director, I feel that the placement will be a good opportunity to meet more creatives in London. Building my networking relationship is essential down south as it is where the money is and where we hope to relocate WYS in the future. I also thought about the positives of ASBO in terms of making money in the future. This magazine may give us the opportunity to redesign the identity as well as meet new clients through the magazine.
OUGD602 - HS2 Posters
I made these posters for a photograph friend who is campaigning against the high speed rail way currently being built in the UK.
OUGDS602 - Sam Hughes collaboration
Collaboration is large part of WYS and we had decided earlier in year that we would with Sam Hughes on a project. Between us, we decided that we would produce t-shirts in collaboration with his 'brand' Visual Stimuli. These would include the WYS logo on the front and a illustration by sam at the back. We set Sam a short brief, focussing on the WYS core conept and gave him creative freedom to produce 10 ideas. From these we would choose one single idea to use of the back of a t-shirt. These will then be screen printed by hand like the t-shirt made within the WYS brief.
The chosen design is called 'the elephant man' and is an adaptation of one of my own drawings. The confused look is meant to represent how lost you could be before WYS can help you out.
The chosen design is called 'the elephant man' and is an adaptation of one of my own drawings. The confused look is meant to represent how lost you could be before WYS can help you out.
OUGD602 - Al branding and look book
To help out a friend, I produce a one da brief where I produced a logo and lookbook for his work. We decided the logo would be based off his own hand writing and drawing style. The final logo is seen below.
After helping him produce the logo I produced his look book. He was looking for a simple and eye catching zine that worked appropriately for the photos he had taken. The final layout used a simple grid system and the typeface Matter on the front and first two pages.
After helping him produce the logo I produced his look book. He was looking for a simple and eye catching zine that worked appropriately for the photos he had taken. The final layout used a simple grid system and the typeface Matter on the front and first two pages.
Thursday 10 May 2018
OUGD602 - Unknown Flavours
After producing the flyer for Slump Sounds, i was asked to produced another poster/ flyer for a night in Leeds called Unknown Flavours. They wanted this to be made in a similar style to Slump however I wanted to experiment further with textures and type.
OUGD602 - Slump Sounds
I have been asked to produce a poster for a techno night in London named Slump Sounds which is run by two of my good friends. They wanted this poster to include their logo and to have low-res or static features.
Below shows development and final outcome:
Below shows development and final outcome:
Wednesday 9 May 2018
OUGD602 - Creative convos
This week, Alec organised a variety of professional creatives to come into uni to talk about their practice. I found these useful as gave more option on how I could progress after uni.
Rose Nordin
I found Rose's presentation to be one of the most useful as her practice is similar to mine, focussing on publication design. She is part of the OOMK collective and spoke about how she has used funding to fund her career. The notes are shown below.
Always work in print for interviews
Bookworks (good to stock work and have designer residencies)
Serpentine gallery
artist residencies
(some may not be paid however your own day rate comes from funding. £175 day rate when starting)
British Council
Rabbits road press
go to publishing fairs
Arts fund,
Art links,
Art Quest
Somerset house
Avoid doing any work for free
photocopy club
southyard zine fair
ASP fair
The Book Club
magculture talks once a month
Jeremy Lesley
Kiosk
Robot Food
Start with a workshop with the client
understand who you are designing for
Shout about the USP of the produce use TOV to bring personality to life
Identify a consumer who is not being catered for
design for the audience
spends a lot of time on research
Time spent on a project
2-3 days research
5 days - 2 weeks for a project (couple of designers work on each brief)
Tailor portfolio for where you want to work
Abraham from The Pop Up Agency
Check-in before every session to understand the team you work with.
why
challenge themselves and the industry by solving brief in 24 hours
no roles so constantly evolving and growing
we are a reaction of our time
always define a process for how you will work.
Asking clients if they know anyone who we can work with.
Understanding your business
Make a video explaining what you do
Use time wisely. Can't do it when you're done
try everything to evolve as a business
charge what you are worth. Nothing Less!
Abraham and the pop up agency were originally charging £600 for a consultation. changed to £36,000
divide salary:
salary 33%
expenses 33%
Savings 33%
Business must focus on:
Sales
Development
Execution
Need a good understanding of how to divide time.
60% of time on sales
20% development
20% doing client work and making money
Understand what value you are providing
The value of guidance
Being sustainable is the most important value.
Create your own opportunities.
Don't lose sight of the goal as it can often changge and adapt
Rose Nordin
I found Rose's presentation to be one of the most useful as her practice is similar to mine, focussing on publication design. She is part of the OOMK collective and spoke about how she has used funding to fund her career. The notes are shown below.
Always work in print for interviews
Bookworks (good to stock work and have designer residencies)
Serpentine gallery
artist residencies
(some may not be paid however your own day rate comes from funding. £175 day rate when starting)
British Council
Rabbits road press
go to publishing fairs
Arts fund,
Art links,
Art Quest
Somerset house
Avoid doing any work for free
photocopy club
southyard zine fair
ASP fair
The Book Club
magculture talks once a month
Jeremy Lesley
Kiosk
Robot Food
Start with a workshop with the client
understand who you are designing for
Shout about the USP of the produce use TOV to bring personality to life
Identify a consumer who is not being catered for
design for the audience
spends a lot of time on research
Time spent on a project
2-3 days research
5 days - 2 weeks for a project (couple of designers work on each brief)
Tailor portfolio for where you want to work
Abraham from The Pop Up Agency
Check-in before every session to understand the team you work with.
why
challenge themselves and the industry by solving brief in 24 hours
no roles so constantly evolving and growing
we are a reaction of our time
always define a process for how you will work.
Asking clients if they know anyone who we can work with.
Understanding your business
Make a video explaining what you do
Use time wisely. Can't do it when you're done
try everything to evolve as a business
charge what you are worth. Nothing Less!
Abraham and the pop up agency were originally charging £600 for a consultation. changed to £36,000
divide salary:
salary 33%
expenses 33%
Savings 33%
Business must focus on:
Sales
Development
Execution
Need a good understanding of how to divide time.
60% of time on sales
20% development
20% doing client work and making money
Understand what value you are providing
The value of guidance
Being sustainable is the most important value.
Create your own opportunities.
Don't lose sight of the goal as it can often changge and adapt
OUGD602 - Start up Wednesdays
As Ben and I are hoping to kickstart WYS next year an independent studio, we decided to attend the short courses on starting a new business and developing ourselves after graduating university, we attended as many of the sessions we could as we found these useful as we had previously not thought about the business and money side of things as much. Below show the notes I made on each of the sessions attended.
Being self employed
must learn a bit about everything however sales and marketing are most important.
starting up
profit, income and expenses
Printers find it easier to get work as a LTD company
changingcourse.com
have multiple sources of income
spend 4 days a week doing boring freelance work
2 days a week building business
provide a platform to expand the business.
Tax free until you earn £11,500
tax return tells government how much money you make each year up to the 5th April.
Don't pay tax until 31st Jan
29% of profits in tax
every business has:
sales (eg. £20,000)
costs/ expenses/ purchases (5000)
profit (15,000)
Copyright Laws
How to use copyright
Who owns copyright
Post-it trick - in order to prove that you were the creator of something you can post it to yourself to prove that you are the original creator (kept sealed)
How long does copyright last - 70 years
Copyright restrictions
Creative Commons
Public domain
Moral rights - Paternity/integrity/privacy
Marketing and PR
Building marketing approach
7p's of marketing (Product, price, place, promo, people, physical evidence and process)
Understand your product - Who are your competitors and target audience
Setting objectives - What do we want to achieve
40% Marketing 50% Making 10% Admin (time)
Features and benefits - Whats in it for the user
Pricing a service
Measuring success
Action Plan - Where do we want to be in 6/12/18 months
Business Structure
Sole Trader - easy to set up (GOV.UK) easy to go bankrupt
Limited (LTD) Company - Has a business structure and business is libable to invadiual
LLP Limited Liability Partnership
Checking business names - Company House website
TM - Free to use
R - Registration fee
Keeping records (Tax, transactions, achieve value, ownership)
Managing Money
Budgeting
Costing and pricing as an artist
Cash flow
Accounts
Overheads - Fixed cost and variable costs
Research and Development
Labour
Time costing (what is my time worth)
Targets (income)
Profit and loss
Tuesday 17 April 2018
OUGD602 - Risograph Workshop
After speaking with one of the artists in residence at The Tetley about their Risograph machine we found out that Orlando, a tutor on our course often puts on courses and workshops to learn about zine making at the Tetley. Me and Ben decided to book onto this workshop to learn about Risograph and the other equipment the have available. Luckily for us, we were the only two people attending the workshop meaning we had the best opportunity to learn about Riso and how it can be used within our practice. We learnt how unpredictable Risograph can be because of how old the printers usually are. This can often cause the drum to bleed leaving unwanted marks on the resulting image. Despite this, Riso printing has benefits such as the ability to produce large print runs for a lower cost. Once the printed work has been transferred onto the drum the only print cost will be for paper. Because of this, Riso is useful for when a large quantity of prints are being produced.
Ben and I had the opportunity to experiment with Risograph ourselves, producing a poster to see how the process works for ourselves. The result is seen below:
Ben and I had the opportunity to experiment with Risograph ourselves, producing a poster to see how the process works for ourselves. The result is seen below:
OUGD602 - Presentation layout
To stay consistent through WYS and my PPP module I decided to produce a layout for presentations. This layout can be used for an presentations I have left to do on the course as well as if I ever need to present a piece of work to a client in the future. The design of this has been kept simple to work well with our identity showing only the logotype and contact info.
OUGD602 - Print Fairs
Print fairs can bbe a good way to promote ourselves as a studio and publishing house. In the future we hope to have a stall at various print fairs however, for now it will be useful to visit as many people as we can. We have already gone to the Artist Book fair at the Tetley (seen in an earlier blog) however below shows a list of other book fairs we hope to go to.
OUGD602 - Competitors
As part of the research we completed as part of the WYS identity we looked into our competitors and how we differ from them. This blog post looks more in depth into who they are and how they can influence our studio progression.
Kiosk
Catalogue
Palm Studios
(other publishing houses)
Kiosk
Catalogue
Palm Studios
(other publishing houses)
Monday 16 April 2018
OUGD602 - Promo Pack
As part of the identity for WYS, Ben and I created a promotional pack to send out to people, raising awareness for WYS. This pack will be used to invite artists to work with us, invite professionals to any events we put on and also to sell to our target audience through our site. We have produced a list of creatives we will send the promo pack to as well as why we are getting in contact with them.
Rose Nordin (OOMK)
Oliver Shaw (Catalogue)
Nick Greenbank (Kiosk)
Antenne Books
Village Bookstore
SJ Hocket (Wonder Room Studios)
Housework Press
AA Bronson (NY Print Fair)
Liam Hodges
SCRT Store
Nasir Mazhar
+ any photographers we want to work with
Rose Nordin (OOMK)
Oliver Shaw (Catalogue)
Nick Greenbank (Kiosk)
Antenne Books
Village Bookstore
SJ Hocket (Wonder Room Studios)
Housework Press
AA Bronson (NY Print Fair)
Liam Hodges
SCRT Store
Nasir Mazhar
+ any photographers we want to work with
OUGD602 - WYS within PPP
Ben and I have recently discussed the possibility of continuing WYS next year as an independent graphic design studio and publishing house. This was something we had always aspired to do as we had never wanted to work our way up at a large studio from junior designer but rather work on the briefs we enjoy. After Developing WYS within extended practice, we looked at created a brand which represents us as designers. This means using the assets we have created to work freelance as designers and photographers. Doing work under WYS will promote the business and help us become more recognised within the creative industry.
The first part of the promotion of our studio, whilst things are in the early stages is networking. The deliverables we have produced within the WYS identity have helped this significantly. Our business cards and website have been useful when talking about what we do to potential clients and customers. They have meant we can better explain ourself but as there is a physical aspect, the audience will usually revisit our site or contact us directly.
Although this has already been useful, in the future their importance will become more apparent as we start talking to bigger and more influential people within the creative industry. So far our business cards have been given to photographers we wish to work with, people within our identified target audience who we believe may be interested in the products and those me have met, who we aspire to be like and may help us with feedback. These business cards can be seen below.
As seen in the images of our business cards above, mine and Ben's cards differ slightly meaning we stand out when both cards are seen together. Having a portrait style card layout is unusual however works well to catch the attention of our audience.
The first part of the promotion of our studio, whilst things are in the early stages is networking. The deliverables we have produced within the WYS identity have helped this significantly. Our business cards and website have been useful when talking about what we do to potential clients and customers. They have meant we can better explain ourself but as there is a physical aspect, the audience will usually revisit our site or contact us directly.
Although this has already been useful, in the future their importance will become more apparent as we start talking to bigger and more influential people within the creative industry. So far our business cards have been given to photographers we wish to work with, people within our identified target audience who we believe may be interested in the products and those me have met, who we aspire to be like and may help us with feedback. These business cards can be seen below.
As seen in the images of our business cards above, mine and Ben's cards differ slightly meaning we stand out when both cards are seen together. Having a portrait style card layout is unusual however works well to catch the attention of our audience.
Monday 12 March 2018
OUGD602 - The Artist Book Fair
Over the weekend I was able to attend the artist book fair at the tetley where 60 stalls exhibited publishers and book makers from around Yorkshire. Although some stalls weren't of interest to me, there were a number of creatives who I was interested in and was able to speak to concerning their practice. Of the creatives I spoke to was one was an artists in residence at The Tetley who explained to Ben and I about the facilities available as well as some of the work that is being currently being produced. The cheap risograph available for use gave us an option for printing in the future. Explaining the day to day life of an artist in residence also gave me more of an idea of what I could do next year.
Another book making I was able to talk to was photographer ________. We were able to explain the idea behind WYS in detail, giving the opportunity to practice our elevator pitch for potential clients. By talking to ______ I found more about how many photographers self-publish which many struggle with. The platform we are hoping to create gives creatives the opportunity to work directly with the publisher to create the most personal work they can. ______ felt this was a good idea as
We were also able to talk to one of the artists in residence at the tetley who explained what was available to people who wanted to use the facilities. We were particularly interested in the risograph printer as this was something we have little experience with. Although the printer they have at the Tetley isn't the best quality, visiting the workspace to look at how it works would still give us a better idea of how it works. After speaking to the artist in residence we learnt that one of the practitioners at the art space is also one of the tutors for 1st year graphic design. Ben and I spoke to Orlando when returning to uni and discussed visiting to better understand the printing process.
Another book making I was able to talk to was photographer ________. We were able to explain the idea behind WYS in detail, giving the opportunity to practice our elevator pitch for potential clients. By talking to ______ I found more about how many photographers self-publish which many struggle with. The platform we are hoping to create gives creatives the opportunity to work directly with the publisher to create the most personal work they can. ______ felt this was a good idea as
We were also able to talk to one of the artists in residence at the tetley who explained what was available to people who wanted to use the facilities. We were particularly interested in the risograph printer as this was something we have little experience with. Although the printer they have at the Tetley isn't the best quality, visiting the workspace to look at how it works would still give us a better idea of how it works. After speaking to the artist in residence we learnt that one of the practitioners at the art space is also one of the tutors for 1st year graphic design. Ben and I spoke to Orlando when returning to uni and discussed visiting to better understand the printing process.
Monday 5 March 2018
OUGD602 - Personal Branding - Website
One of the first tasks set by Alec within this module was to create a website as this is the best way for people to view my work and get a better understanding of who I am as a designer.
I decided that I should include both my design and photography skills. I wanted the site layout to be simple so it is easily adjustable when my personal branding is updated later in the year. Despite this,
I first looked at a number of designer's websites as research and inspiration for my own project. some of the best examples are seen below:
When it came to creating my website I found some programs which could help me do so. This included Wix, Squarespace, Adobe Portfolio and Weebly. After trying all the available programs I felt I wanted more customisation; because of this, I opted for Adobe Muse. Muse is a program part of the creative cloud which gives me the opportunity to design and build my website myself without having to use code. Although complex, learning this program enables me to offer website creation within my skill set.
After some quick wire frame sketches I was able to produce a simple site which clearly shows all my existing pieces of work clearly. It is also navigable making it simple for anyone to use.
www.gravelvss.com
I decided that I should include both my design and photography skills. I wanted the site layout to be simple so it is easily adjustable when my personal branding is updated later in the year. Despite this,
I first looked at a number of designer's websites as research and inspiration for my own project. some of the best examples are seen below:
After some quick wire frame sketches I was able to produce a simple site which clearly shows all my existing pieces of work clearly. It is also navigable making it simple for anyone to use.
www.gravelvss.com
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