Monday, 18 January 2010

This is my HR CV. Funnn.


Yep, it's definitely a HR CV. Up to date and everything.

-HJ x

Sunday, 17 January 2010

CVs and Portfolios

What is a CV?

Well. A CV is:

-A way of advertising and 'selling' yourself to a prospective client.
-A summery of achievements, awards.
-Personal to me.
-A brief summery of my history, qualifications, (relevant previous employment).

What should a CV contain?

-My name.
-Contact information.
-A brief overview of my education and qualifications.
-Who I am as a designer.
-My strengths.
-Relevant work experience.
-A link to my portfolio.
-It should be tailored to be personal to person/company receiving my CV. (This of course doesn't really include the 'online CV' part.)
-Hobbies perhaps? Could be included in who I am as a designer.

What is a portfolio?

-A careful selection of my best (and most relevant) work.
-Can be a physical object, or online, or sent out on a DVD.
-Is completely personal to me.
-A way of displaying my strengths and skills.

What should a portfolio contain?

-My name.
-My contact details.
-It should definitely have a feel of consistency.
-The best pieces of work at the start and the end.
-A limited selection of my work. Don't overwhelm any prospective clients.
-A brief description with each piece of work.

Friday, 15 January 2010

Creative CVs

Here are some examples of graphic design CVs I have discovered through trawling through the internet. These are some of the more interesting ones that I've come across, because some have been atrocious. We are graphic designers. There is simple, and then there's just not bothering at all.

Chuck D. Lay

I like this because of the way it has been laid out to look like the classified/job section of a newspaper. Nice pun.

H. Sercan Tunali.

I particularly like this because of the strange format, and the fact that one has to physically turn it in order to keep reading. Also, it's absolutely beautiful, a mix of traditional and digital work. Which I love.

Plus, the CV, just by looking at it, makes it obvious that the designer is into his illustration.

This is why I want mine to be print based, because that is what I love.

This CV below, by Hilary Babcock, is my favourite out of this batch. Why? Because I love things that you can hold. I prefer something tactile to something on screen. This is why I like designing for print so much. I want to have a CV that somebody can hold and feel the texture of and play with. I want something that will stick in people's minds.

I don't want to be another online CV that will say pretty much the same things as everyone else's. Obviously, I will need to have an online CV for people who are finding me over the internet, but for the most part, I want my CV to be tactile.

Even if I have to mail it out.

Krista Gregg
This, by Steve Frampton, is another favourite out of all of the CVs I have come across and it is one of the first that I found. I like it because it's tactile, and it's different, and it is remarkably similar to a Pantone colour swatch book, which all Graphic Designers should be horrifyingly familiar with. So as well as being an interesting, hands on idea, it is in a format that links directly to industry. How clever.

Sunday, 3 January 2010

Portfolio Worthy


It seems to have taken me a long time to produce something that I consider to be 'portfolio worthy', but the product of the previous module is something that I'm proud of. I tried new techniques, and produced something that looks professional and I actually like how it turned out.

It made me realize that design for print is where I want to be.

Monday, 21 December 2009

Found this.

Handy little excerpt in Computer Arts this month. 'Create a Stunning Print Portfolio'.

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

End of Module Evaluation OUGD201

For my 'What is Good?' brief I chose the statement 'pyjamas are good' and quickly did some surveys and questionnaires to get some primary research to get me going, as well as looking into the history of pyjamas both in books and on the internet. Through doing this, I quickly discovered that pyjamas are definitely more of a female thing, and this helped me to move foreward in my project.
I really got into this project and quickly through myself into experimentations and investigations, including fashion illustration, where it was quickly discovered, that I'm not very good at it. I chose to look moreso into information graphics and pictograms, using books such as 'Neubau Welt' as inspiration.
The idea of having a blank product for the individual to customize came to me quite quickly, and while I looked into making packaging that would pursuade men to wear pyjamas, I decided that the 'diy pyjamas' were a better idea to go along with, as surveys suggested that this would be fun and exciting to our age group.
This project allowed me to try out new techniques that I had wanted to before, but hadn't the time nor the need for, such as foil blocking and screen printing. I have been wanting to do more screen printing and this project certainly allowed me to do so. Had I been a little better organised, I would have also tried my hand at embossing properly, though I did have a go at doing it by hand.
I am incredibly pleased by the outcome of this module and feel that I have done well. For documentation, I produced almost 3 whole folders of design sheets, though obviously this has been whittled down for the PDF, while the majority remain on the blog to go into a little more detail. While I did not have to create the mock up of my packaging, I am very pleased that I did and I think that it looks very professional.
My final product related to the brief in the 'Packages and Instructs' section because within the product there is an intstructional guide that tells the owner how to use the product and how to care for it. Also, in a way, the fact that the cover is a visual representation of what's inside, it relates to the 'packages and informs' option. I believe I have utilised my time well.

On the other hand, while I thoroughly enjoyed working on 'What is Good?' I let my 16 page print booklet slide and only completed it once I had finished the other project to the best of my ability. I wanted to keep my 16 page booklet quite simple, and I feel that I have employed the used of layout quite well as well as the information within it being quite helpful. Several of the processes covered were personal to me as they are techniques that I have discovered a taste for, such as foil blocking and screen printing.

In the future I know that I need to:

-Give equal attention to all of my projects.
-Turn up prepared for any workshops.
-Read the brief properly and realise I didn't need to get carried away with design sheets.
-Not ignore other modules happening alongside.
-Not forget to change images from RGB to CMYK when designing for print.

Monday, 2 November 2009

Industrial Experience

These are two commissions that I've done recently and my client was the Xtreme radio station in Swansea. They chose to use me as their designer because I have done some work for the University of Sansea student union in the past and my name was passed along to them.

The first design that they wanted from me was to design for a hoodie using one colour ink. This was the design that they chose out of the selection that I offered to them.

I count this as my first pice of real industrial experience because this is the first that I've been paid for and it was a proper discussion between client and designer as to what was required of me.

In the past I've designed posters, and the clients seemed ready to accept what I first offered them. This client and I had to work together properly in order to produce something that both parties were happy with.

This is the design put onto a hoodie template to give a good idea of where the designs were to be placed. The boombox on the pocket never made it onto the hoodie and I'm glad because I look at this design now and wish I'd never put it there. It looks ridiculously out of place. Good call, client.

These are two photographs of what the product looked like in use when it had been mass produced. Apparently they sold out very quickly because they were in such high demand. That makes me feel pretty good because I got some very good feedback for the design.

He seems pretty happy with his. Mine is in the post.

This is the second design that I hav done for the same company a little more recently. The wanted t-shirts to wear and to sell while taking the radio station on a bit of a tour. These haven't yet been produced but I'm loking foreward to seeing them in action.
Again, this design required a bit of negotiation between client and designer. I've already been old that the next time they need something doing, they're going to come to me because of how popular the hoodies seemed to be.