Personal branding - business card print out

The first print out of the business cards also produced white edging, but this was easily solved by adding a bleed to the image. I also added the logo to the reverse of the card with the contact details so that it would tie in to the card front; and reduce the size of the logo on front.

The second print out produced full bleed of colour, however the front logo still came out too large so will have to be adjusted prior to circulating them. The cards were printed on 250gsm card due to the printing services having no 300gsm card. When the logo has been resized the cards will be re-printed on the heavier duty card.

I think it will be interesting to experiment with having the logo T design embossed in gold,  or to have the butterfly and/or jewels stand out.

Personal branding - portfolio print out

Print out of portfolio produced a white print border. Different settings were tried both at home and in the digital copy services but was unable to alter this. As I would have preffered full colour pages this is an issue which I will have to explore in more depth in the future.

To allow for frequent handling of the portfolio I opted to use 160gsm paper to allow for rigidity without being too stiff. I also decide on glue binding as opposed to comb binding as I didn't want holes through the pages

Personal branding - CV

I edited my CV so that it fitted on one page only with my new logo in the top right hand corner. I also inorporated the honeysuckle and green palete used within the logo to colour the font of certain words within the text to enable certain words to stand out.

Exhibition - conclusion

I was disappointed at the level of communication within the group and feel that the budget of £30 per person was way too high considering the donations I had been offered from companies, which were not taken up.

Overall I thought the design of the exhibition went well and I was pleased with the game I produced. The last-minute change of the display boards meant that there was too much white space around the printed signboards. I suggested that we cut out some more of the Pac man shapes and stuck these around the boards to fill in the space. This idea worked well.

In my opinion the sign boards could have benefited from a larger font size for the text and a contrast in background to help with readability.

I think that more companies could have been invited to attend the exhibition, especially on opening night, however, I personally did invite some people from the art class I attend.

Personal branding - portfolio

This was an even harder decision to make than choosing the images for the board. I chose to differentiate between the different types of work by adding a different coloured background gradient to each section. I also included some work in progress images to each page. I have decided to have text on the page adjacent to each item.

Personal branding - final logo design

I decided to combine the idea of using typography with that of a ddesign which contained a hand drawn wing design, and using photoshop I designed this image:

Hwever I thought it still contained too much detail, so I went back to the drawing board and finally settled on this idea:

The main outline is shaped arount the letter T, whereas the butterfly design in the centre gives the wing design, but also represents my love of nature. The entire design was hand drawn. I chose the honeysuckle colour for the butterfly wings as this was declared colour of the year 2011 by pantone, and one which I found pleasant, and used a complimentry green for the jewels.

Personal branding - logo

I came across a typography tutorial in Advanced Photoshop magazine which looked interesting so I had a go at designing just my initial, then trying out different combinations of my name.

 I thought adding my name to the design made it look too busy.

This was then followed up designing my first name and using brighter colours. I thought this design looked more attractive that the first one, but I am still not convinced that it represented me.

I think the overall result is quite effective, however I would rather create something of my own than that designed by a tutorial.

Personal branding

Creating the final faerie would involve too much work forthe sake of this project so, under advisement, I am going to concentrate on the wing design only. I did some more drawings of different wing types. I'm not sure which sort to go with yet as want to compare them coloured in.

Exhibition - pacman board game

Here is the finished game design.

It was created in A3 size using photoshop and will be printed out and laminated for use during exhibition week

Exhibition - lounge area

For the lounge / seating area I suggested that we create an interactive games area using popular 80's games such as connect 4 and guess who. I also thought we could create our own board game version of pac man. I went ahead with this, which isn't yet finished but this is what it looks like so far

Personal branding - text

I wanted to use a text which I could design myself without it being too complex or illegible. I find street art inspirational so went on a search for street art texts. I came across this one from Ripo, he created the alphabet by using white paint on a mirror then placed this in the street and photographed it. This created individual images on each letter.

Using this idea I plan to select only the letters which I need, and use Photoshop to superimpose them with fantasy art. This way I could use it as a logo on business card, CV and portfolio

Personal branding

I found it difficult to pinpoint something that would represent me by using the exercises of adjectives and things I do, make etc. This made me think that perhaps I needed to approach this in a different way. As such I decided to think of what inspired me creatively and this was fantasy art. I then produced some quick pencil sketches of things that I could use.

Exhibiion - unwanted voucher

It was with quite a shock when I read the exhibition team leader had gone out and actually bought sweets for the exhibition although I still had the £10 voucher for Farmfoods and the opportunity to approach local supermarkets if only I had been informed what to purchase, or been offered to go with them

Exhibition - Farmfoods voucher

I have received a £10 voucher from Farmfoods towards sweets for the exhibition. This information has been passed on to the group. I am happy to go shopping for these items but do not know which ones we are planning on getting, so will leave it to the decision of the exhibition team leader.

Exhibition - signboards

The team leader informed the group that she had put an order in for the printed boards at a cost of £25 per board at a different company to the one that I had suggested. This discrepancy was pointed out to her and as such she agreed to visit and check out the work of Signtec. Fortunately this lead to the group being able to go for the more cost effective boards as both companies produced same workmanship

Exhibition - Tesco

I have received a phone call from Tesco, who inform me that in order to be considered for donations we need to put the request in writing and go along in person to an extra store and speak to the charity champion. I checked online for the whereabouts of the nearest extra stores, which are in Colchester and Cambridge. I am happy to go along to both stores, but as Cambridge is quite far from me I have posted up on the fb group asking if somebody nearer would be happy to do it.

Exhibition - Sainsbury

Sainsbury head office emailed back to say they are unable to help at present time, but that each store holds it's own community budget so we can apply to them directly.

Donations update

Farmfoods have kindly replied to email and are going to send out a voucher for our use.

More funding

I have emailed Farmfoods, Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury requesting support through in kind donations.

Exhibition - floor design

A couple of other team members decided to meet up and have a trial of making and sticking some pacman shapes to the floor. The trial worked really well and it was great to see my idea in practice, however, to achieve this they went out and bought supplies despite me offering them for free.

Exhibition - decoration and props

I brought into class an array of coloured paper, card and craft items so that we could make a start on producing items for the exhibition. I suggested using the pacman game theme and cutting out circles and relevant pacman shapes to map round the floor to act as a guide as well as decoration. Sadly I returned all the stuff home, with nothing having been done

Designing a brand

Using adjectives I have tried to describe some aspects of me.

I DO:  
   photo manipulation
   3D art
   watercolor painting
   digital painting
   film making
   photography

I AM:
   creative
   determined
   parent
  
I LIKE:
   digital painting
   being with my children
   making and editing film
   taking photos
  

Exhibition - chosen images

This was not an easy decision to make but I finally settled on the following three items:

Image 1 represents a video filmed and produced about female boxers. Filmed using an Sony HDR-FX1 camera and edited in Final Cut Pro

Image 2 is  of the jelly baby character which I modelled and animated in 3DS Max for a character animation study.

Image 3 represents the Hare and the Tortoise animation created in 3DS Max and Adobe Premiere Pro created in response to a brief to design an animation of an Aesop's fable.



Exhibition - signboards

I am pleased to announce that after a lot of phone calls and emails I have managed to get a favourable quote from Signtec, Chelmsford of £35 per 2 printed boards. This information has been passed on to the group.

props

I emailed adams discount store asking for a quote on the rubik's cube keyrings and if they were able to donate any items.

I have a badge maker which will be passed onto graphics team. A refill pack may have to be purchased at a cost of £9 for 30 3cm badges, because there are no more plastic overlays in set.

I will also be bringing in an assortment of coloured paper and craft supplies so that we can start to look at making some props

Printers

I followed up on the emails about sponsorship and donations from printing companies. I had some favourable outlooks. Offsite Ltd inform me that they have a small budget precisely for community projects, however it needs to be approved by the managers first so they will email with result in next few days. Redlin requested that I call back on Weds to speak to the person concerned to discuss the project. Signtec also show promise of being able to help and on speaking to one of their sales team I was advised that it would cost us £35 for 2 A1 printed boards. This price will be reduced further as we require 20 of them and he is going to email me a revised quote.

MS awareness

I have contacted the MS Trust in regards to using our exhibition as a means to raise awareness for MS. This is a copy of the email that I sent:

Dear Sir / Madam

I am writing to you on behalf of 3^rd year undergraduate design students at Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford. From 30^th April to 4^th  May 2012 we will be arranging and hosting an exhibition “Retro Revolution” of our works at the university. As this coincides with MS Awareness week we would be honoured if you would be able to provide us with any information and products in order for us to raise awareness during this time. The exhibition will be supported by in-kind donations and outside funding. 

The Retro Revolution Exhibition is a culmination of works from students studying:

·        Computer Aided Visualisation

·        Multimedia, Animation and the Web

·        Sustainable Design and Innovation

and is expected to draw in a large audience both through invitation and walk-in. The exhibition is open to everyone. There is no charge for anyone to attend the exhibition as a spectator.

As a previous nurse I was made aware of MS, then in my 2^nd year as a design student we were commissioned to design a logo for a local charity ‘CHARMS’. This raised my awareness further and I would love to be able to pass this awareness onto others.

Respectfully

Sponsorship letter

This is the basic sponsorship request letter which will be sent out. It can be tailored to individual companies if necessary.

Dear 

We the 3^rd year undergraduate computing and technology design students of Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, invite you to sponsor, in part, our annual exhibition “Retro Revolution”, which will run from 30^th April 2012 to 4^th May 2012.

The Retro Revolution Exhibition is a culmination of works from students studying:

·         Computer Aided Visualisation
·         Multimedia, Animation and the Web
·         Sustainable Design and Innovation
and is expected to draw in a large audience both through invitation and walk-in. There is no charge for anyone to attend the exhibition as a spectator.

The exhibition is an occasion for the students to display a selection of their works over the past 3 years to both businesses and the public alike. Images of the works are to be printed and displayed on A1 boards. Memorabilia will guide the retro theme from the 1980’s. Interactive material and refreshments will also be available.

 
In response to your sponsorship, either in-kind through donated goods and services or financially, your business will have the opportunity to have your logo displayed at the exhibition, inclusion in printed materials, as well as press release mention in local media.

You will also be recognised as a supporter through our exhibition website http://aru-exhibit2012.site11.com/index.html although the site is currently under development.

Respectfully

Theme change

It has now come back to us from a small group of the whole class that the theme will now just be "retro" and can therefore incorporate any item from the past ranging from polaroid cameras (mainly used in 1960's) to rubik's cube (related to 1980's). I think this makes the choices too diverse and can be too confusing as a theme. Also the colour theme from each era is different, which would take away from the continuity possible with a more precise era for the theme.

Promotional items

The promotional items and attractions should run alongside the theme of "80's retro", although we do need to be careful of the overall cost and keeping things simple so as not to overpower the display. Some of the best items would be interactive ones that could be taken away as a souvenir such as:

• rubik's cube keyring - available at:Adams Discount Store. These are 0.79p each, however the website advertises a wholesale discount if more than 10 are ordered.
• pac man - the anniversary of pac man is on 22nd May, although this is after the exhibition there are free online games available.

Establishment of props

The props need to go with the chosen theme of "80's retro". This could include things such as:

• rubik's cube
• pac-man
• walkman's
• sliding puzzles
• boombox
• maze game

Organisation of exhibition group

We need to organise the groups tasks better as a group and not as individuals. I have been allocated the task of approaching companies for financial and in-kind sponsorship, however some individuals are approaching companies requesting discounts etc., which is encroaching on what I need to do. I don't think this comes across as being very professional, particularly if a company is approached asking two different things. Either we're asking for sponsorship (financial or in-kind) or we're asking for a discount.

We also need to work as a group to devise a standard letter template requesting help from outside companies so that we're all on the same page. I suggested to the group that we needed a name for our exhibition before we could write to companies as this would be an easier way to identify ourselves. A small group of people went off to decide this and came up with the name "retro resolution". The name works well with the final chosen them of "retro".

In order for us to work better as an exhibition group it would be more beneficial if we split up into smaller groups and concentrated on different sections within that group. e.g. 2-3 people to work on marketing (sponsorship, advertising etc); 2-3 people to work on the layout plan (floor plan, display boards etc). Each section could then arrange to meet during the week to arrange workload within their discipline so that work can be carried out in time for the next lesson, instead of several people doing the same thing and other things getting left out.

The Theme

As a whole it has finally been decided that our exhibition theme shall be "Retro: The 80's".

This theme doesn't exactly fill my with inspiration or enthusiasm so I think it will actually be quite a challenge personally.

MS Awareness week

The week of our exhibition, 30th April-6thMay, is also MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Awareness week. I am wondering if it would be possible to incorporate this into our exhibit in some way and if this would help towards gaining sponsorships / donations (financial and in-kind) from companies in setting up our exhibition.

I think that this would also show that as a group we are able to consider others whilst still being able to promote ourselves as individuals. I'm sure there are plenty of successful designers who are coping with a disability such as MS within their life.

Group meeting

I have booked a study room again for 14th Feb for all group members in order to go through the presentation.

Meeting 10th Feb

All group members were present and Helen Son was allocated as minute taker.

I used the white board to write up the pros and cons of each idea we had as a group. Ultimately we decided that the most viable idea was that of "film" as this seemed to best incorporate our different courses, and could be fitted out with easily obtainable props such as cameras and studio lighting hired from media at the uni.

We each chose an area of the presentation to research, then all the information was sent to me to prepare the powerpoint slides and basic notes. 

Group meeting

To discuss our group presentation for our chosen theme I booked out a library study room for 10th Feb. I opted for one with a white board for ease of noting things down.

Theme Idea

Cinema
As a lot of our work pertains to the audio-visual field I think that setting up the exhibition as a cinema could be an interesting theme.


Features:
foyer; tickets; refreshments; screenings; colour scheme; use of clapper boards as plaques;

Turner | Barnes | Gallery

The entrance to the gallery leads directly towards the reception desk. The gallery goes round in a U shape to the left of the reception desk. This causes the area immediately to the right to be left out. Even on the way out it is easily missed as the pillar supports and reception desk create a natural path back out the door. This area is also the only part of the gallery flooded with natural light.

Other lighting was by means of flourescent lighting and two small spotlights. This type of lighting proved to be too harsh in the gallery.

The spotlights created an unsightly reflection on the glass of the display cabinet nearby, detracting from the contents within.

  The display cabinets situated away from the glare of the spotlights had a softer look, being only lit by the interior light of the cabinet.

The tree in the centre at the bottom of the U shape helps to guide the onlooker round the display and back out again.

It is not clear whether the chairs situated in the corners are for public use or display purposes only.

The oil painting situated through the opening gives the illusion of the gallery being more spacious.

However when you step throught the opening towards the oil painting it becomes apparent that this is a staff / storage area, which is actually quite unsightly.

Simple white plaques are used to display the painting's information. The only colour is the logo / name of the gallery at the top.

Gallery visit

To help us understand how an exhibition can attract or repel customers we were advised to visit an art gallery / museum / exhibit. As part of the exhibition group we chose to visit the Tate Modern Gallery, however on the scheduled day of the visit I was unable to go due to having to pick an ill daughter up from school that morning. My next opportunity to go to London to visit a gallery was impeded by snow! When the roads cleared and children were well again I decided my best option would be to visit a smaller local gallery. I chose to visit the Turner | Barnes | Gallery, Wells St, Chelmsford. I think this proved to be a better idea than going to a more major gallery as it allowed me to see how a smaller place could utilise their space.

Which group?

The entire class has been split up into 3 different groups:
Exhibition
Graphic
Web
I have chosen to be part of the exhibition group. We will be responsible for the set up of the exhibition, and creating awareness for it by contacting gthe media and relevant companies.

Introduction to web gallery and exhibition module

This module will consist of two main elements:
1. To design personal business cards and cv
2. To organise and display work in an exhibition of a chosen design