portfolioprofpractice-blog

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Mobile and Tablet Friendly Portfolio

I have decided to touch on the fact that my portfolio has to be mobile and tablet friendly. Having a mobile friendly website is more important than ever due to an algorithm change within Google. More information on this can be found here that supports the importance of mobile friendly websites 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/20/google-mobilegeddon-will-shake-up-mobile-search-results

I can guess that most people who will be looking at my portfolio will end up looking at it from a smart mobile or a tablet. Having the site mobile friendly will also make my website more accessible. Luckily the layout of my portfolio works with the mobile interface as you can see here. 

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Journey Into the Design Industry

Jules has sent us a link to an article from a web design and brand agency about the journey into the design industry. Although I am not looking for a job in that sector of the industry I still think that this infographic applies to me as my desired sector requires the same journey. 

http://www.fifteendesign.co.uk/journey-into-the-design-industry

I think this is a useful article and I have gathered a lot of useful information from it. It begins by saying how important it is to have a well prepared and organised portfolio which at the minute I think I have but I believe there can be stronger work within my portfolio and I intend to improve this by creating my own work after we have handed in our final work. It also mentions have a variety of work included in your portfolio which I think I have. 

The next step in the journey is to design a creative portfolio which is something I am yet to do. Alex, a fellow peer had suggested that I could create a video CV which is something I could look into, I have created a motion graphic video before and I could incorporate this technique into a CV.  The article then goes on to work experience and job hunting and I think the most important information I gathered from this section is that there will be a lot of competition in this industry and other people that will be applying for jobs will have job experience behind them. It mentions that doing free work experience for companies in the industry will help you gain experience and will give you a true insight into the industry and this experience will be useful for the next steps in the journey. 

I think that this article will be useful to keep referring back to once I have graduated and it is a good place to get your portfolio reviewed and get some opinions from an established company within the design industry. 

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Internships

From an email that Jules sent out a while back about a possible video editing internship, I decided to look into what internships were and what they could offer someone like me who has just graduated. 

An internship is an opportunity offered by an employer to potential employees that provides them with useful related work experience within the desired industry of the employee. They can last anywhere between a week to 12 months and can be full time or part time. They provide practical experience within the industry which helps relate the graduates studies to “real world” work experience. 

I decided to look into possible internships that I could apply for after I have graduated including the one that Jules sent to me. I found that a lot are more vague and just require previous editing skills, and tasks will include other creative activities which could help me grow experience in other aspects of the industry. here are just a few of the internships I found; 

I feel that an internship is another avenue that I could take as opposed to finding a runners job within a production company and working my way up. I feel that showing that you are willing to work unpaid will show that you are dedicated and enthusiastic and will look good on my CV. 

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Chosen Career Context

From the interim feedback Jules mentioned to give “ More evidence of appropriate understanding of chosen career context as evidenced through discussion of job market research would be good. This would also allow you to evidence your analytical thinking and reflection” and also in the career trajectory feedback he mentions to look at skillset.com for more relevant information, so I decided to look at film editing within this website. I decided to start thinking about how I can get a foot into the industry and on the website and in this section it mentions that traditionally you would start as a runner to a trainee then second assistant then finally runner to a first assistant. Then with that experience eventually become an editor. 

After a look through some job search websites I struggled to find specifically runner jobs within TV production companies however I feel that contacting production companies myself could provide some experience as a runner, which reminded me of a talk that we had with a graduated previous student and he mentioned that after a few failed interviews he decided to call up companies personally and he found a runner job for the BBC. 

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Final Design Feedback

In today's final tutorial with my tutor group we gave feedback on each others portfolio. I received really useful feedback from a mixture of creative peers which has helped finalise the design of my portfolio. With this feedback I intend to make some design iterations that will hopefully improve the look and design of my portfolio. This post is also in response to the feedback I received for the interim portfolio submission where Jules mentioned “No evidence of design iterations of your portfolio.”  Here are the pages for my portfolio before the changes; 

So from the feedback the main points that I agree with and will apply are;

More colour as it is quite plain, and because there is little work it looks very bare

Change all titles to capital letters 

Harry suggested that to solve the bare, plain portfolio page, put all the “about” information on that page

Re-word some of information on the “about” page

So I decided to take on this feedback and apply it to my portfolio and here is my final design. 

I have moved all the information on the “about” page to the portfolio page, which has resulted in the page looking less plain and bare and I have added colour to the header which I think helps the video thumbnails stand out. 

On the contact page I have decided to remove my mobile phone number and then centre my email address. 

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IBM Visit

To help us with working in collaboration and global design awareness, we had a visit from three IBM designers. They began with a slide show that explained the company goals, how the company has developed and how they plan to develop in the future and then went on to explain the structure of their design team and what tasks they do in each stage. The design team and there tasks are set up like this;

Design Research

Empathy Map

Contextual Inquiries

Stakeholder Maps

User Experience Designers

Journeys

Wireframes

Flows and stories

Visual Designers

Moodboards

Visual Language

Explorations

Design Developers

Prototypes

Code

Interactions

So from the slideshow I got a better understanding on how the design team is structured and I now understand what IBM actually does as I did not know before.

Hackathon

We were then set a task to create a solution for a bank which can offer its customers in Kenya a revolutionised way to bank online using the technologies provided by IBM. We were split up into teams and I was with Harry.

So to begin with we decided to follow the tasks that the visual designers from the slideshow did and started creating an empathy map that would help us to understand on a deep level what the user actually wants within the product/service. So we decided to start creating made up people from Kenya who would be in situations that would relate to online banking. We started off with a student who had lost their bank card because we could relate to that. Here is the empathy map;

We then started to look at contextual inquiries which is like user centred design so we used our own phones and played around with the online banking to see how we felt when using it and see if there was anything that we thought could be improved. We found with this task that we discovered more about the layout of the interface.

We then looked into the technologies of IBM and found that they had technology that can store massive amounts of data.

After putting all of these findings together we came up with an app that stored all of your identification and your personal details within the app, so you would take all of your information into the bank and within the app you could pay for things like the contact-less payment cards out now,your mobile phone. We spent a lot of time thinking about the idea and didn't really get chance to design the interface but had these diagrams to show how the app would work.

This visit was very helpful because it helped me understand how to design a product for a national audience and it also helped me gain experience working within a team

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Individual Video Pages

Now I have decided on the lay out of the portfolio page I have decided that I want each video to have their own individual page like in Ian Kalmbaugh’s portfolio. So I began by changing the videos to images so that when you click on the image it takes you to the page as shown here. 

Now when you click on the image of the video it takes you to the individual video page as shown here. 

So as you can see I have taken aspects from Ian Kalmbaugh’s and Tribe’s portfolio and incorporated them into my own, here are the two examples of the aspects. 

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Layout of Work

Now I have a finalised base layout and colour scheme I want to test and see how to layout my videos on the portfolio page. In an earlier test I had a look at the thumbnail design which is the design I think that I am going to go with but I will test other layouts just in case they look tidier or are easier on the eye. So here are three layouts I looked at. 

So after playing around with some layouts I decided that I couldn't just estimate and decide what looks good, I would need to read into some grid theories on web design and generally layout design. So I had a quick look around on the internet and found this image that helped me with layout. 

http://www.designersinsights.com/designer-resources/using-layout-grids-effectively

I found that luckily the top two designs fall into the “column landscape grid” and I have decided to go with the top design for the layout of the videos. 

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Beginning of Designing

So to start with I looked at the home page and from looking at existing portfolios I decided that I wanted my portfolio to look similar to Ian kalmbaugh’s and Tribes. 

So in Wix I started to create my own homepage and came out with this simple design, very basic so it is easy to navigate around the web page. Title is clear and the navigation buttons are easily seen in the top right. 

So once I was set on the layout of the headings and borders I decided to look at different colours and in a previous feedback a peer mentioned that a white background helps make work stand out. So I decided to drop some work in and see which colours would be best for the page. I decided to test a dark colour, bright colour and a colour in between to see which helped best to make the work stand out. Here are the colours;

White

Grey

Black

From these colours I have decided that the white does help the videos stand out and I will be using white within my design 

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Tribe Portfolio Thumbnail Experiment

After looking at Tribes portfolio I found a certain aspect of the portfolio that I thought I could use in my own. I decided that I could use a thumbnail feature for my videos which will then lead to a series of screenshots that would explain certain editing techniques that I have used within that video. So I decided to just draw up a quick template of what it would look like I have decided to include images in response to my formative feedback. This is what the portfolio page would look like;

Here is tribes layout which I have tried to imitate however in my design I have included a paragraph that explains the video. 

So when you click one of the thumbnails it takes you to a page that would look like this similar to the page on the Tribes portfolio; 

And under each thumbnail it could explain each shot and why I decided to do the edit in that way which also relates back to the advice that we was given to by the employees of the Tribe as it shows the process and decisions I made within the edit. 

I asked a few peers what they thought of the design and this is what they said.

I really like the simple design, its all really well organised and I think the white background doesn't draw attention away from work which helps the work stand out. I really like the screen shot idea however I don't think as an editor, it isn't relevant to include screenshots of specific shots because these will of been decided by the director so it does not show your input. However maybe a series of three photos to show an editing technique in action could work. 

From this feedback I have decided that I agree and I think that including a series of images would be better. I think I will be using this design within my portfolio it helps document my process well and I think is quite an organized way of displaying my work.

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Tribe Visit

To get a different perspective on our work and portfolios, we visited the design agency Tribe, at their Nottingham based office for a tour and a Q & A session. This was very useful because it gave us the chance to see how a design agency worked, it gave us a chance to get some information about their portfolios and what to include in ours. 

I found the tour very useful and the most important information I took was when including work in my portfolio I should show the design process of how I got to each aspect of my work and explain why I got to those decisions. I think the way I could show this within my portfolio would be to show existing examples of techniques that I used from existing sources and maybe show practitioners work that has inspired me. 

After looking at Tribes portfolio I really liked the layout and the thumbnails that took you to a collection of photos for that project, the photos think boast the professionalism of the companies work, these photos made me think that I could have a similar thumbnail feature within my portfolio but have a collection of screenshots of a specific technique that I have used in a video, and under each image explain my reasoning for doing this technique. I’m not sure how this would look or if it would be a strong aspect to my portfolio but I plan to experiment with it and see what other people think to it. 

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Content and Feedback

This next video that I will be looking at is a fashion end of year show video that I edited in college. I think this video showcases my editing skills which is what I want to do however I personally don’t think that the work is at a strong enough level for what I want to showcase. I think some of the camera work is shaky and some of the timing is out on some of the cuts, I made this video at the very start of becoming a video editor and my inexperience shows, however I do have a limited amount of work to show and this could bulk up my portfolio and besides that is just my opinion so I will ask a few of my peers to see what they think and I can make a decision after that.

So too get a second opinion I asked a fellow student who said;

I like the video, the shots are relevant to the theme, the pacing to the music is good which gives the video a dynamic viewing, I think the repeat shots are quite tacky and I feel the intro isn't visually appealing and seems out dated and again quite tacky. Overall I feel it does show your editing ability but it is really old work and I feel that you should not include this. 

So after this feedback I have decided that I will not be using this in my portfolio. 

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Content and Feedback

The next video that I will be looking at is a video that I made with a fellow student for a friend who needed an advert making for a project she was doing at university. I feel that this video is appropriate for my portfolio because again its shows my editing skills and within the video I use a sequence of fast paced cuts which I sync with the music which helps build tension for the end of the video. I think this will show future employers that I am skilled with editing and that I have taken the project and given it my own touch which hopefully might impress them. Also we have worked with an outside client with this project, it was not organised by the university which also shows that we have gone out to find projects which shows enthusiasm which is what employers are looking for, I know this because in my research into skills and requirements I found that employers want  “ Work experience and plenty of determination are key to getting into film and video editing” and I think that this video will demonstrate this. 

So again to get a second opinion I decided to ask a few peers whether they agreed which they did. here is something that a peer said. 

I think that the quality of the video could be better, this could be because of youtube though, an employer may ask why the quality is bad, I think its a  good piece of work otherwise and I think you demonstrate some good video techniques. I like the colouring of the video also and sticks to the creepy theme which links with the music. I think this should be in your portfolio. 

So from this feedback I think that this piece of work will be worth including. 

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Content and Feedback

The next video I will be looking at is a group video that I made for another university project, this video was for a competition brief that involved us creating a campaign celebrating Paul Smiths career and how Nottingham influenced his career. In this video it showcases my ability to animate text and work with designing an animated video. I think that this video demonstrates a different side to video editing because it shows that I can animate text within After Effects which also shows that I am versatile with the programs used within video editing, which is what future employers will be looking for, I know this because of my post  “ What do employers look for within a future employee? “ which describes that “employers are looking for people with experience in a range of editing software” and I believe that this piece of work will demonstrate this. 

So again to get a second opinion I asked a few peers to see what they thought and they agreed, here is one of their answers after I asked them. 

Do you think this piece of work is suitable for my portfolio? 

This piece of work is a strong piece to include within your portfolio because it shows that you have had experience with working as a group and you have been able to share ideas and be creative within a group. It also demonstrates that you can animate text which is a strong attribute to have for this industry. 

After getting feedback I have decided that this piece of work is suitable for my portfolio and I think that I should include it. 

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Content and Feedback

So now I have decided how I am going to document my portfolio, I am going to start looking at the work that I have and decide which work is suitable and which is not. 

The first piece of work I am going to look at is a video that me and a fellow student made which was a documentary style interview with a parking attendant with an MBE. I feel that this video is very appropriate for my portfolio as I edited the video, and this will showcase my skills within video editing which is what I want to achieve. This also shows that I have knowledge of how to create a documentary style video and that I can work with other people, this is what a future employer will be looking for and I know this because in my post about “what employers will be looking for in an employee?” I found that they want the skill of “the ability to listen to others and to work well as part of a team”. 

With this being a university project I feel that I need to include a variety of different projects such as work from work experience and work that I have created off of my own back, this is something I need to consider. This work also shows that I have skills within Adobe After Effects however this is something that the viewer will not know so I may have to mention this within the video description. I like this piece of work and feel it is a strong piece to include within my portfolio. 

To get a second opinion I asked a few peers a couple of questions to see if they agreed. All peers agreed, here is one of the peers answers.   Do you think that this work is suitable for my portfolio? 

I feel that this work is very strong and I feel that its very suitable for your portfolio, personally I got a little bored towards the end but that's just personal opinion. It demonstrates your ability to edit and I think you should put this work into your portfolio.

So after getting some feedback I have decided that this is a suitable piece of work for my portfolio and I will be including it in my portfolio. 

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Interim Feedback & Formative Feedback Response

Interim Feedback 

After receiving my feedback I am quite happy, I feel that I am working to a good standard and I feel that with a bit more work and improvements in certain areas I will be able to bump my grade up. 

Now I have read through the comments on the areas that need improving I have created a list of things that I will now do in the next couple of weeks to improve this project, here are those things; 

I will begin by reading back through the description of my own work and making it an easier read and try and sound a bit more professional. I will also explain the roles that I  undertook within these projects to explain to anyone that reads it what jobs I did. 

I will also start to get some feedback on the design and content of my portfolio and respond to this feedback. This will help me choose the correct work for my portfolio and will also give me a second opinion on the design which will help it become more suitable for the viewing of future clients and employers. 

I need to show how my portfolios design has developed and show why have made certain decisions within the designing of the portfolio. I will do this by showing screen shots of different layout designs, get feedback on these designs and then show which one I have chosen and why. 

I need to show more understanding of chosen career context. I will do this by discussion of job market research, and I can also do this by reflecting on my own work and other peoples work. 

I need to explain why I chose the work that I have put into my portfolio, I will write posts explaining why and I could also ask fellow peers if the work I have chosen is suitable. 

Formative Feedback 

For the formative I was quite disappointed in myself I think I needed to spend a lot more time on this project and is something I have considered with these next projects. I think the feedback was fair and have taken on a few improvements that I will be doing in the next projects. 

The first point that I will be improving will be to make my work more visual, with the PPP assignment being a visual piece of work it needs to be appealing so I intend to include more images of my plans for the portfolio and just general imagery that relates to my work. 

The second point raised was that I had some good ideas but I didn't follow through with them so I intend to think of some good design ideas for my portfolio and actually follow through with them in this project.  

The last point was to manage my time better, in the last project my work needed another draft and I intend to get my workbook finished a week before the hand in and have a group discussion about my workbook so I can get some feedback. 

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Wix.com

So after doing some research on how I can display my portfolio and having a go on the different website builders I have decided to use www.wix.com. I think this was the easiest to use and a lot of the portfolios that I looked at were created on this builder.