During the workshop we were asked to write two lists - things we have done / intend to do with regards to our PPD design strategy and our design presence.
Looking at my own design strategy I want to continue with my recent online networking success. From by behance profile I had my work put onto FFFFound and a few more design blogs. Also had it posted on some peoples Twitter accounts. Not bad for having it up for a week. I want to build on this buy being active on twitter and Behance - giving feedback etc to other designers, in turn networking and scoping out possible future collaborations.
Another important thing in my design strategy is my need to organise an Easter work placement or at the very least a couple of studio visits. This will be done through continued correspondence with agencies and contacting of new ones. This could be done under the guise of research through my Design Context Book.
On a similar note I want to design a mailer to send out to studios which hopefully impresses them and directs them to my portfolio website. It will also help me with building a relationship with them and give me an opening for a follow up phone call.
I addition to the above entering competition briefs will help to give me exposure and recognition in the industry (hopefully some awards too!). Engaging and talking to visiting professionals will also help with contacts and insider industry knowledge.
With regards to my design presence, my Behance profile seems to be a good stopgap whilst I design my own portfolio website, already having got my work on design blogs. Another benefit of having it is that people are actively searching on it so they will stumble upon your work. This won't happen with a portfolio site. It would however be good to have a professional site that viewers of my Behance / blogs I'm on could be forwarded to. Another key thing to do with my Behance profile is keep it up to date with all my work. It's a great netwoking / exposure tool and I'm glad I finally got round to setting it up.
Most important of all though is my need to design self promotional branding for my practice. I've had a few attempts (see earlier posts) but can't seem to find one I really like. I've come round to the idea of using pure type as it will be neutral and not suggest too much about my work. I don't want to conjure up preconceptions, just simply direct possible client to my site where they can make their minds up from the work and not just my business card. Obviously it has to look good and represent me though. A level of care will be needed on that respect.
Once I have settled on an identity I will be able to apply it to my website that will be live in a couple of weeks. I intend to use indexhibit and all of the photos are ready for upload because I sorted them all out for my Behance profile.
At this point in time my own branding is the key as I can then apply it across my own stationary, promo, mail shot, printed portfolio (page icon), invoice, compliment slip etc. Once my identity is designed I'll feel like a real graphic designed.
Whilst filling out both sides of the sheet I found that many things crossed over. Self promotion and networking is the key and I need to get bang on that side of my practice.
After filling out the sheet Fred asked us to put ourselves into groups of 5 that we would feel happy working with. The point of the exercise is to build a safety net of people within our year that we can use for support. We ended up with 7 but Fred said it was too big so have since split into a three and a four. Our intention is to remain a 7 but the smaller groups will help make it easier to meet up and organise certain things. The 7 are myself, Emma, Liam, Ian, Ross, Tim and David. Great group. We discussed our lists from earlier in the day and came up with some vital things to work on from the outset of the FMP.
First of all we agreed it would be a good idea to meet up every Monday afternoon and have meetings on our position. This time could also be used to see if any of us need any photography, printing etc done that week so we can economise and do it at the same time - e.g. hiring lights for all and setting up a photography studio or combining print jobs onto one document so we can print it all in one go rather than going separately. This economising of time will be crucial during our FMP. In addition to the organisation the meeting will be a valuable place for feedback on our work.
A facebook group has been set up as a place to exchange research, discuss ideas and organise our time. This will hopefully prove to be very useful.
I mentioned that I would like to visit more printers to build on my experiences at Generation Press. The others also expressed an interest so we will be contacting printers for visits who should be more receptive to a group rather than individual requests. Looking forward to the visits.
On a more personal note, I wanted to be in a group with Liam because he has a good understanding with indexhibit and will be able to troubleshoot any questions I have when building my website. The great thing about the group is that everyone has skills they are able to bring to the table. I think this is going to be a very happy little relationship.
No comments:
Post a Comment