Creative Report Networking — OUGD602

To stay in touch with my chosen practitioner from the creative report project back in OUGD502, I printed off another copy as well as some vinyl stickers as a thank you for taking the time to answer the questions.

Michael later posted the booklet onto his instagram:





It is great to know that the he was pleased with the outcome and that I was able to maintain contact with Michael if need-be for the future (and vice verse of course).

Personal Branding — Brief — OUGD602

Feedback Preference Session — OUGD602

As a quick exercise in the morning, we discussed what we want to see in future feedback sessions, and also what we wouldn't like to see. Overall everyone had the same final points as shown from my group (group 4) list sown below, these will be abided to when attending the crit sessions in the future:

Crit time: Thursday November 17th 10am
Group one
1. Start / Stop/ Continue
2. Be prepared and bring questions
3. Scribe and time keeper
4. Everyone say something positive and negative


Crit time: Thursday November 17th 1pm
Group two
Your crit rules:
1.Scribe
2. Key points
3. Constructive criticism
4. Set goals
5. Everyone give feedback


Crit time: Thursday November 17th 3pm
Group three
Your crit rules:
1. Have work to talk about
2. Sit at table
3. Questions you want answers
4. Everyone should say something
5. Don't make it too long or boring


Crit time: Friday November 18th 10am
Group four
Your crit rules:
1. At least one positive and one negative comment
2. Prepare questions and discussion points
3. Scribe
4. Come open minded
5. Practical work


Crit time: Friday November 18th 1pm
Group five
Your crit rules:
1. Bring the brief
2. Bring up to five questions
3. Physical work/mind maps/notes/research
4. Be enthusiastic
5. Be aware of the time

Evaluation — PPP2 — OUGD502

Creative Report Design Boards — Studio Brief 01 — OUGD502

In order to make myself more organised—rather than blogging about the individual briefs, I opted to create design boards, this just felt as if the project was more complete and becomes clearer upon submission.

Below are the design boards for the creative report.

Design Strategy Design Boards — Studio Brief 02 — OUGD502

In order to make myself more organised—rather than blogging about the individual briefs, I opted to create design boards, this just felt as if the project was more complete and becomes clearer upon submission.

Below are the design boards for the Design Strategy.

Email Exchange — Studio Brief 01 — OUGD502

Below is a brief screenshot as proof of the back-and-forth emails I had with Michael a couple of weeks ago.

Identity — Studio Brief 02 — OUGD502

My identity is simply the same as it was last year. This is because to avoid having to change every aspect of my online identity would be a bad idea at this stage in time. This s not the only reason for keeping it the same as I am very happy with the current logo and strategy. 

Everyone that has commented on it has only commented positively, there has been little to none critiquing of the identity so this furthering my reasons for not altering anything as this is how people see me now—to change it would jeopardise the exposure the current identity has.

Social Platforms — Studio Brief 02 — OUGD502

As a self initiated task, it became clear that my name wasn't out there enough. To fix this, I have began posting more to platforms like Instagram and linking with professionals through LinkedIn.

This goes hand-in-hand with my website. All external sites will like to my website, and vice verse, thus creating a more seamless experience for potential clients to find out more about me and my work.

Instagram:

Instagram has been a great tool in terms of connecting with professionals, the artist who I interviewed for the creative report came from this very technique. Averaging out around 40 likes and rising on each image posted, I only have higher hopes that I can gather a good following of industry professionals and engage further with them.

This also helps gain contacts with people in other aspects of the creative industry, such as architectural and many others—further spreading my name on the internet.

LinkedIn:

A pretty standard tool for all professionals out in the field looking for potential employment is LinkedIn.

Linking with potential work experience employers has been my goal within using LinkedIn. Not just connecting with fellow peers from university, but past graduates who may view my profile and gain some interest with my work—meaning if I choose to contact them in the future, they will more than likely be aware of who I am or even recognise my name, furthering my chances of gaining that much needed internship or work experience.

Creative Report — Studio Brief 01 — OUGD502

Product Photography - OUGD502

Having only taken informal images on a mobile, it is now possible to say that there is a fair amount of work produced in second/first year that need some more complete images, that can also be proudly uploaded into the wilderness of the internet in the form of an online portfolio that will be built from the ground up by myself—dedicated to creating a more complete user experience and further establishing my own identity as a designer in not just education but in industry.

Using a DSLR gave a more professional feel to the work, compared to an iPhone camera, the images are a massive improvement. It adds a whole new aesthetic to the work and does it some justice.

Here's a quick comparison of an image taken on a mobile, and an image taken on a DSLR using a macro lens (Both processed in Photoshop):

Mobile:

DSLR:










As you can see, the quality of the images aren't even comparable. It gives a whole new perspective to the work and allows the viewer to see every little detail.

Up to now, the only projects that have these professional shots are all from this year. So the amount of content is limited, this may be an issue when developing my website and will have to be accounted for in the layout.

The Design Process:

Design in Context:

Amongst others that cannot be revealed just yet (Secret 7).

This will be a continuous part of my professional development throughout not just level 5/6 but the rest of my career. The skills learned using this process are invaluable to my self promotion as these images will be the basis of my online presence. Finally, it is much better to take your own shots of your work rather than to use mock-ups that do not necessarily reflect the best aspects of your work and often seem impersonal as often the same mockups are used by other creatives, the only exception being the creation of your own, however personally—this is only applicable if the work is online based and not physical.

Presentation Script - OUGD502

Slide 1 —

(Ethan,  Gaby and Drew) We are Hot Content


Slide 2 Introduction —

Introduce ourselves in order as seen on screen.


Slide 3 Ethos —

Our style and our ethic is something we take great pride in.

With so many different styles and skills housed within us as a collective we push ourselves to be the forefront of digital design.

With iconography and logo's being something we want to generate a lot of income from. We also like to work with the publication design sector for larger more extensive projects giving us more room to play with, and generate, ideas.

We are inspired by our clients ideas and desires but also look into the real world around us at studios such as Hey and Herringbone for their sheer consistency.

However all of this aside it is passion design that inspires us most.

Slide 4 USP —

Our USP is our broad range of abilities & skills we collectively harbour as a group.

Each team member has something completely different to offer to the table in terms of skills & ways of creative thinking.

This allows us to take on projects & clients from all corners of the industry, as well as the added factor that while working we are still learning, from one another.

We offer a community based ideal, with ability for diversity & open minded likeness.

Slide 5 Identity —

As seen on screen. [Give a brief explanation of what it's all about — Leave it up for interoperation for the listener(s)].

Slide 6 Manifesto —

As Hot content, we have to take pride in the work that we do to make sure that it is as creative and inspired as possible. 

However we also do not want to limit our selves in terms of what it is we do and for whom we do it. We want to mix corporate ideas and packages with the independent and self made businesses. This way we can handle those bigger projects with the same care and attention as the smaller projects. Companies to work with will say as a result, hoping to work for bigger than life brands as well as the local smaller companies. 

From Natwest to the local clothes line, every project will be treated with the same energy. As long as we are passionate about the project we will undertake it and make sure the best results are met.

Slide 7 Studio Space — 

Studio space is something that often thwarts the start up creative. However at Hot Content, we know its how you use the space that makes it beautiful. So for us it is about an area that has our stamp on it and suitable for meeting clients, however dose not have to be a permanent strong hold.  So long as we are in leeds and within our budget we will be happy. 

East Street Arts and Castleton Mill both offer the spaces we would need in desirable city locations at rate that are perfect for our early days, With weekly rental plans to full time lets. these average around £200pcm. 

With the 3 of us working closely together and our own equipment, what we need from the office space is massively reduced. 

Slide 8 Financials —

For all creative industries the initial start up costs are the most restricting factor. However for us using a minimal but well thought approach will keep our costs down as well as making it possible for us to do everything that we need to as a business. 

A basic run down includes hardware to make our personal mac books suitable for use on a professional scale ( monitors, mice, tablets etc), the stationary and backup hard rive/ equipment protection. Priced with leeway brings us to £2707.00 for the first month. Including software licences in both the start up figurers and the first annual outlay brings the first year investment total too £4307, excluding rent. 

Monthly we must consider our over heads, rent, licence agreements and internet providers. On average a business internet plan with unlimited downloads and hosting abilities is £35-50 pcm including fitting and wifi router. This means that regardless we have to cover £410 for the software licences, rent and internet service. Add a leeway onto this for the purpose of travel and meetings, but these are precautionary costs.

Slide 9 Legal —

As for the legal elements of this we have worked to the model of a limited liability partnership. This means that we cannot loose anything we haven't directly invested into the partnership. It also means the debts are settled by the business account not by us as partners. 

This means that we have flexibility as a company as well as maximum and equal profit shares. this legal structure gives us equal cuts of all work undertaken under the business name. As a result we will reserve all of the rights to our designs unless the rights have been brought by the client. 

Slide 10 Future —

Our future is based in our clients, to work with these clients from start up through to success and the result is that we will have a loyal client base as well as the skills and potential to handle any project we choose. 

With the legal structure as well as the dedication of the team there is no reason at all that we shouldn't be able to achieve international trade as well as a profile that will gain the attention of out competition. 

Slide 11 —

Thanks!

Presentation - OUGD502