professionaldevelopmentdy

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Logo research

In the Easter holidays I decided I should probably do some more logo research as I clearly didn't have the right idea and went a bit mad when trying to recreate my logo. 

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 7 - logo feedback from Vince

too complex 

it’s a character not a logo 

it’s an illustration which can be added to my portfolio 

change from DY design to Devon Yates

I did feel disheartened by this as I have been really struggling with finding the motivation to do things recently so the fact that the only thing I’ve managed to do isn't right for what I need it was a bit disheartening. Vince’s feedback was helpful in moving forward and I appreciate the time taken. 

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 7 - Exhibition work

This week in the session, we all worked together on the MIRO board and added more ideas as well as voting for which logo we liked best. 

These are the choices we had to choose from.

This is the winner !! 

We also created a calendar and schedule adding in when we need to complete certain tasks: 

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 6 - finalising logo

This week I decided it was time to finalise the logo in order to get some feedback fro Vince. 

I finished the hair and added the body to the character representing me: 

I added the circle around the character: 

I added more little details like jewellery. 

The product so far: 

I’ve decided I’m going to show Vince at this point because I have not yet had any feedback on this logo and before I go any further I want to make sure I am going in the right direction. 

I still need to finish the details on the hair and add some final touches. 

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 6 - CV surgery lecture

CV Surgery 

What is actually needed? 

1. Details : 

Name 

Address 

Phone number 

Email address 

Website address or URL of online portfolio 

2. Profile: 

3 or 4 lines in length. 

Write a short summary to grab the attention of the reader. 

Strictly speaking it should be written in the 3rd person but without mentioning yourself by name. 

E.g. Recent DM graduate, specialising in… 

Short and positive 

Introduction to you 

Shouldn’t write in too much detail 

3. Qualifications : 

Reverse chronological order with dates 

Current and ongoing courses should be listed 

Summarise less relevant qualifications : e.g. 9GCSE’s A-C 

Key content: 

4. Relevant experience, including paid work, placements 

Start and end dates 

Name of organisation 

Position or role 

Brief outline of responsibilities 

Achievements 

Do not repeat same skills for each job 

Volunteering 

Part time jobs 

5. Skills listed 

6. Additionals 

Any other information that may be relevant to promote you for the job in question. 

+ 

Interests: 

If they are interesting, e.g. street photography and helping the homeless. 

Try and add something that is memorable and interesting 

Style : 

Typography 

Hierarchy 

Weight and balance 

Adobe InDesign 

Create guides 

Lock guides 

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 5 - Logo development

This week, I spent some more time on my logo development.

I added details to the eyes here: 

I noticed that some of the lines around one eye were thicker than the other so I made some minor adjustments: 

I then started to add the hair, I used one colour for the base of the hair and then I used a slightly darker shade to add detail to make it look more realistic. 

Once I added all the details to the top of the hair, I added in the pony tail outline: 

Enough for today :) 

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 5 - Career roadmap

What is required ?

WHAT IS IT?

It’s a way of making a clear plan which gives you clear targets to achieve. To allow you to progress in your chosen field.

This bit (the course) is over very soon. Very Soon.

To some this will be a relief to others it will be quite a scary proposition.

No more tutor led projects, no more Uni Life flexibility, no more safety nets. You will need to be proactive going forwards. *Rarely is someone knocking on your door asking you to come and work with them.

YOU NEED A PLAN

PPPP – POOR PLANNING POOR PERFORMANCE.

You need a plan. It needs to have a target.

Ideally it needs to have targets beyond the initial target. But its one step at a time to begin with.

What have you already got going on?

You may feel a little lost or underprepared, this is normal.

But You’ve not gotten this far by not turning up and not producing.

You’ve got three years of Uni projects and learning completed, you’ve likely got college before that, maybe some other jobs for clients, possibly even jobs where you are out in the world dealing with life (i.e not design jobs, your supermarket bar work kind of thing)

This is good. It means you’ve got skills.

Bad News

Everyone’s got skills.

GOOD NEWS

You’ve got specialist skills and you’ve got amazing work and you’ve proven you can apply these skills in context.

This is demonstrated in your CV/PORTFOLIO/COMMUNICATIONS (or should be)

So you’ve got your abilites, now to point them in the right direction

Hopefully you’ve done your research and have compiled a list of employers that are of interest to you.

You know about them and the roles within those organization's

(semester one work)

BREAK THE ICE

YOU (and it will be YOU) need to make contact with these places.

There are many ways to begin a dialogue.

Asking for a job is not always the best intro.

THIS IS WHERE A PLAN/ROADMAP COMES IN USEFUL

The Roadmap becomes a mission statement it details what you have to do next. One step at a time

DIRECTION

A roadmap points you in a linear direction, albeit we can have fun going off the map occasionally

GOALS

You can’t score if you don’t shoot.

You need a target/goal to aim for.

This is what incentivises your progress.

Bespoke

Your roadmap is for you.

Barriers

What will stop you ?

List these barriers – these will form steps towards your goals

SCALE

A career can span a lifetime so its near impossible realistically map it all. You need to measure in stages

What do you want?

Start there.

Be SMART

Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timely

Skill don’t stand Still

I got my degree in the last millennium. You have to update.

NETWORKING

Shaking hands and Kissing Babies is not advisable in the current climate but the need to network is as important as ever.

Mentors

Who are you gonna ask ?

Review and Adapt

It’s gonna change. Know this in the beginning

EXAMPLES

There are 1000’s out there.

Be yourself - Be bespoke.

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 4 - Logo recreation

This was rh I started to develop a new logo design for my personal brand as I feel like the one I created last semester didn't show off my skills as much as I would have liked it to.

I really like the idea of a character being incorporated in my logo and thought it would be really cool to illustrate myself and after some research I decided I wanted to do it in the style of a 'Bratz' doll.

I started by using illustrator on my iPad and my apple pen.

This was the start of the process:

My first, very rushed attempt:

When I started again:

I then added little bits at a time:

More details :

Adding in the eyes:

And the other brow:

Time for a break from this (:

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 4

Your exhibition is YOUR exhibition

Let's be unique

Don't copy others but do be inspired by them.

What is the story of our exhibition? All about having a narrative.

All the people all the time - you can't please them, don't try.

Have one focus and do it well. Pick a target.

Make an experience. Be more than a repository - can you offer more than a look around.

Digital and physical. Touchpoints - extra content - linking in/out.

Be selective - less can be more/ quality over quantity.

plan A plan B plan C - need a plan. probably best to have a few.

Budget - cost/ time.

schedule and objectives - pinpoint from the plan.

delegation - who's doing what - let them get on with it.

accountability and reliability - be accountable for your own tasks/ roles - don't let others down.

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Research - design CVs

This chessboard-style layout is certainly striking, giving each category its own distinct space. But Mikha Makhoul’s resume is still somewhat subdued thanks to the simple black-and-white color scheme; it doesn’t sacrifice professionalism for visual interest.

Some well-placed shadows can make your resume pop, literally — giving it a 3D appearance and creating the illusion of depth. Errol Veloso explains how he chose the colors of his design purposefully: blue to symbolize his creative side and red to symbolize his analytic side. 

Try using shapes and frames for emphasis. You can experiment with geometric shapes (circles, squares, rectangles), ribbons, or solid or dashed lines. Here, Michael Long frames his name and his role to help them stand out. 

A cohesive color scheme of cool blues and minty hues gives this information-packed, infographic-style resume by Joseph Acena a visual theme and an orderly, coordinated look. 

I chose each of these examples for inspiration as they all stood out for different reasons. 

Things they have in common: 

name bigger than all other text 

states the profession e.g. photographer, digital designer, graphic designer etc... 

certain colour scheme 

logo that works well with the cv design 

sections: 

profile 

education 

contact 

skills 

work experience 

interests 

Although they all have many things in common, each of the examples I have chosen have their own individual style to compliment that designers personality. 

What do I need to do next? 

- Design my logo 

- Play around with my CV and place things in different areas, change fonts 

- Start in black and white and then integrate colour once I'm happy with the design. 

- Research portfolios 

https://www.canva.com/learn/50-inspiring-resume-designs/

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Research - logos

In my action plan I have set myself goals to research 10 logos. 

I chose these 10 examples because they all reflect in some way what the brand is. For example, the photographers logos tend to have some sort of symbolism of photography integrated into them. The design logos I have found also do the same, however there's many different ways of doing this as seen in picture 1 and 10. They both represent that persons individual design style. 

So, after looking at these logos I have come up with some things that mine should include: 

my own individual design style 

my name or name of the brand - DY design 

personality 

something that represents me as a designer. 

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 3

This week we had a look at InDesign and Vince gave us a tutorial.

We then all collaborated on Miro to create a board for our class exhibition.

https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_lTFIeEU=/

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Week 2 - Creating my action plan

After my 1-1 with Vince I started creating an action plan so I had a clearer idea of what I needed to do.

Professional Development Action Plan:

Weekly sessions: Friday 2-5

Each Friday allow an hour after the session to create my blog post on the session.

Friday mornings: Allow 2 hours for professional development.

Tuesday mornings: Allow 2 hours for professional development.

Week 2: branding research into logo, CV and portfolio designs.

Week 3: begin to rebrand - redesign my logo. - (assign roles for the class exhibition and get started on work for that)

Week 4: Redesign CV

Week 5 & 6: redesign portfolio and add some examples of work.

Week 7:

Week 8:

Week 9:

Week 10:

Week 11:

Week 12:

(Speak to Vince in tutorial about not having much/ any work for my portfolio)

I then had another 1-1 with Vince and we went through my action plan and he gave me this feedback:

Branding research : look at 10 logos

More specific tasks - tick list type

improve some projects for portfolio

Create some small mini projects - developmental work

Photography

Illustration

Instagram

Ask tom about project brief website

Interface design

Xd mockup

Make the park more pleasurable for people

Creating an application for the wider world

Screenshot developmental tests and add them to portfolio

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Semester 2 - Week 2

This week Vince went through the outcomes we are expected to produce by the end of the semester. He broke everything down in his presentation into stages so we were all clear with what needs to be done. 

In the next part of the session, we were given an activity to research into some existing exhibitions and post good ones on the padlet: https://uos.padlet.org/cfe20c59aa954f6aa91564455704808e_63107/fqouw29rgao6hfgp 

We then looked at some of the examples together and spoke about why good exhibitions are good and looked at what they included. We were then told that we are to create an exhibitions as a class and roles will be allocated at the beginning of next weeks session. 

I then had a tutorial with Vince just to discuss where I’m at at the moment. We discussed last semester and established time management was my biggest issue and to work on that this semester Vince has told me to create an action plan and send it to him to look at and give me any feedback. He also mentioned about setting myself SMART goals. 

Specific 

Measurable 

Attainable 

Relevant 

Time-based 

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Logo Research

This week I had an idea that I wanted my logo to represent me so what better way than an illustration of myself? This will be a challenge for me as I have not done much character design but I am willing to take on the challenge as I believe it would be a great logo.

I really like the looks of the bratz doll character designs so I decided to look up #bratz on instagram and found these:

I also looked at bratz inspired illustation online:

I then decided to hand sketch my own :

I think this is a good start as it is on the way to how I'd like it to look however the black pen I used was too thick for outlines and the feltip looks a but messy however this is just a sketch and the final outcome will be created on illustrator so messy pen marks wouldn't be an issue.

My next step is to have another practise with this style design with pen and paper and then move to illustator.

Also the character I have designed here doesn't look very professional so I would like to maybe add a mac to the illustation and a more appropriate outfit.

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Semester 2 - Week 1, activites

Action Plan

Feedback from last semester :

Design Industry' self branding and portfolio (40)

Personal Branding Materials: Adequate.

The development of your website and personal branding shows Limited selection and application of technique. There is no extension and evaluation of technique. Adequate utilisation of information and communication technology used, your Technique is only just adequate for purpose.

Some of the tasks have been managed well - others need work. Some technical issues seem to have played a part.The positive to take is there are foundations built, and some nice design touches in there, you now have the next 15 weeks (ish) to build up this module.

Industry Research: Adequate. The research you have undertaken into industry shows an adequate collection of data from primary sources with little analysis or description of some secondary sources with very limited extension of taught materials. There is only imited application of findings. The casebook has a some starting points but technical issues seem to have played a part in it not being fully complete. It requires development in Trimester two.

Professional Reflection : Adequate. The documentation of your process and self reflection is clearly adequate.The Blog covers this - but is a last minute rush - you need to manage these tasks as you do them otherwise they will creep up on you.

OVERALL - you are on track for an adequate grade, there is ample time to build and progress in Trimester two.

*This grade is only representative of some of the grading criteria. This grade is only representative of current work and not an representative of final.

I believe that I did not put as much time as I would have liked to into this project as I left it very last minute and this was clearly obvious within my work.

My action plan is to come up with a new theme for my personal branding. I feel the artefacts I submitted last semester lacked something that brought them all together resulting in my personal brand being unrecognisable as there isn't anything specific within the design that makes my brand recognisable.

This week: Meet with Vince and speak through my project and action plan. Come up with an idea that will link my CV, portfolio and logo all together. Research dessign logos, CVs and portfolios for inspiration. Begin to redesign logo.

Next week: Complete new logo design. Work on new CV and portolio.

I will update week by week what I plan to do throughout that week and reflect at the end of the week what I have achieved. I believe this will be an effective way to keep on track with work.

[professionaldevelopmentdy]

Semester 2 - Week 1

And we're back

Experience:

You will be expected to show evidence of contact with the industry trying to find work experience.

Learning how a studio works and building on what you know with this project and in defining further definition of yourself as a digital designer.

Self Branding:

You will need to create a brand to represent yourself including logo appropriate visual language that will feed across your personal touchpoint’s website, business cards, design deck, etc.

Develop Portfolio:

You will be expected to design and build an online web portfolio to send out to the industry as well as put together a designed CV. This will include revisiting older projects to make them portfolio ready.

Live/Client Brief:

You will be expected to complete at least one live brief to show the ability to work professionally, to a brief, and presented back with criticism. This could be a live industry brief (client-led), a brief from the University, or you can choose from the raft of student design competitions such as YCN/D&AD/Creative Conscience/RSA and others.

Semester Two focus -

You will continue to build on Semester one tasks and develop:-

Career Road Map:

Building on your industry research from semester one you will design a ‘career road map’ indicating what and how you plan to do regarding your next steps as a Digital Media professional.

Exhibition:

The culmination of your study at the University will involve being part of the school exhibition – you need to prepare for this. Alongside it, you will as a class prepare an independent exhibition/showcase for the Digital Media class of 2021. You will need to plan the logistics of this from venue (if applicable) to promotion and fundraising.

This week we are each to create an action plan for the coming weeks, looking back on last semester and decide what needs to be done to improve.