#delivery company sent th package to a different state and then when he arrived here i had to get him from the post office directly

[laugtherhyena]

IN MY POSSESSION AT LAST!

[annasdesignblog-blog]

Week 8 - Group Project Pitch

The preparation for the group pitch on 22nd March took place a couple of weeks beforehand. Once the style of artwork was decided on and ideas created, me, Alison and Anniko met up to discuss the content of the presentation as well as to present the final ideas we want to develop. After a productive meeting, we came up with the following list of what we want to cover in the pitch, and sent those on our group chat to catch up the members who weren’t available to attend the meeting: 

The presentation PowerPoint was created by Alison, with the help of everyone who sent in their content. I proofread the PowerPoint once it was completed and made any necessary changes, which weren’t many. The finished PowerPoint can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NPGDdb-VBDIASNLx1XiVrJMBzl4e_kbd. We decided on having three speakers instead of having everyone speak to make the pitch run more smoothly – those three speakers included myself, Georgia and Alison. Anniko was allocated to change the slides to match what we were saying, whilst Karolina came to support and help to answer any questions that were asked at the end.  

The script used during the presentation - my parts were in blue.

Unfortunately, Tom wasn’t at the presentation and so far and hasn’t contributed in anything we have produced so far – no ideas or sketches as well as not turning up to any of the group meetings outside of scheduled lesson time or replying in the group chat used in between meetings, so the question of keeping him came up at the end of our pitch. We felt that it was harsh to completely remove Tom as the group project was only halfway through, so instead we decided on trying to contact Tom to give him another chance to contribute. However if that were to fail, we will have to ultimately remove him as he isn’t putting in an effort to take part. 

The feedback received from the tutors was positive, with only a few improvements that included having some kind of feature that makes the quotes and theme consistent, so something that makes it obvious that the quotes are all a part of the same ‘collection’. Additionally, the interactive element we briefly outlined is something that was encouraged for further development; the idea of having a QR code to scan to show a video of the activist was really liked. We also received positive comments about the originality of our idea and not going for the obvious images of birds and birdhouses, and a suggestion to take on board was to find a way to engage the audience and make them think about activists they found important and inspiring. This again could be done through the use of QR code scanning, or perhaps a wall display could be created with the contribution of people who want to tell others about their inspirations.

Contract signed by present members, along with a statement of what we want to achieve.

The group, from left to right: Anniko, Anna (me), Georgia, Alison and Karolina.

I think the pitch went really well as everyone contributed something to it; we will take on board the feedback and suggestions made to us, as well as trying to contact Tom and try to decide what the appropriate action to take next about his situation is. 

Action Plan - Review from Week 7:

In the last blog post, I have stated that I was given a lot of useful portfolio advice from the designer I met up with, which I want to follow up on by researching further into what makes a good portfolio. I have looked at two articles; the first one is titled Top Creatives’ Advice for Grads on Putting Together a Portfolio (9th July 2015) on It’s Nice That which is an online platform full of advice, articles and news from Graphic Design, Illustration and Animation worlds. The article can be found here: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/graduates-advice-portfolios. The article is aimed at graduates, straight out of university and advises them on how to put together a successful portfolios in order to get noticed and ultimately get the job. The following is a list of things that will ensure your portfolio is a success, in note form so only the key information is included:

Length – Less is more; you have to make touch choices about which pieces of work to include, don’t repeat yourself by including similar pieces of work, show a variety, don’t put in work you aren’t proud of.

Quality – Don’t put in work that you can make better; make it better, then put the work in. When including school projects make sure they feel ‘real’ and look professional.

Tailor to your audience – You have to think about your audience and how you want them to feel when they see your work and what you want them to take away from it. Don’t try to impersonate the style of the artist / studio you’re applying for, and show what you are interested and passionate about developing not what you think people want to see.

Can you talk about it? – Portfolios need to serve as tools to facilitate a conversation when you’re meeting a potential client or employer face to face, otherwise they’re useless, Make sure it enables you to talk about your work so create pages that you easily can talk about, and that can then spark a conversation.

Presentation - Consider not just the work but how also it’s presented, from the type to layout, make sure your portfolio shows an aesthetic that is true to the work you want to create, and also feels original enough to hold the attention of your potential clients. If you get stuck, look at how your favourite magazines progress through interesting layouts and take this into account when designing your own portfolio, the most important thing to remember is it should speak about your interests and define you as an individual artist.

Practical advice - They can go missing, so with a physical portfolio, remember to label it clearly with your name and address. Don’t include your CV.

The second article I’ve looked at appeared on the Lifewire website, which is a well known technology information and advice website. The article I’ve looked at is titled Graphic Design Portfolio Projects (3rd November 2018) and it states what kind of projects to include in your portfolio. The article can be found here: https://www.lifewire.com/graphic-design-portfolio-projects-1078707. This article is extremely useful to me as recommends what is needed in a portfolio when you have little real-world experience and no clients, which is where I am at right now. It lists the following projects, again in note form:

Web Design - In addition to including samples of any live web pages you worked on, include individual elements such as logos, navigation buttons or animations.

Logo Work - Include completed logos and the variations you went through to arrive at the completed version if you have them. Also, hypothetical redesigns of a well-known existing logo can show off your imagination and style.

Print Designs - These are "traditional" portfolio content, those projects designed for print. Even if you don't plan to work in paper on ink, the designs show your strengths and approaches to design.

Business Cards - Start small and design your own business card or redesign an existing company's card.

Brochure - Ubiquitous letter-fold, three-panel brochure is often the star of a print portfolio because you have to know where the folds fall and how to adjust the positioning of the text to accommodate those folds.

Packaging - Packaging design shows off your design skills and your ability to visualize the special requirements for a piece that requires intricate folding before delivery; you have to take into account the folds and the glue areas.

Poster / flyer - Even if you have to include a reduced version of a poster, include a poster or flyer. Your portfolio is a conversation starter, so be prepared to answer questions about how you designed the samples in your portfolio.

Lastly what I’ve looked at are some examples of graduate graphic design portfolios on the Digital Arts Blog website, which can be viewed here: http://blog.fidmdigitalarts.com/blog/14-fresh-graphic-design-portfolios-from-recent-fidm-graduates/. These are portfolios by recent graduates from Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Graphic Design programme, which is all about preparing students for future careers in Graphic Design within the apparel and entertainment industries. These are the examples shown that have really caught my eye:

This is a magazine cover and inside content created by Carrie Rooney. I really like this due to the consistent colour scheme that isn’t only found on the front cover, but also in the article. It creates a really professional feel.

This is the second example that caught my attention. I like the use of what the work would look like if it was real and accessed on a computer, or what it would look like appearing on a bus stop advert. This again makes the work feel real and professional, and shows an understanding of different formats. 

All this has inspired me to attempt to create my own portfolio, ready to use in case any opportunities come up. I will use this research as a way to ensure that I am putting in the right content in my portfolio, which is key to get noticed by employers.