Friday 30 April 2010
Sunday 13 December 2009
TASK FOUR
WHO ELSE IS OUT THERE? HOW GOOD ARE THEY?
I used the SWOT analysis system to look at two design agencies who I really admire, one is a big multi-national award winning company and the other is a little closer to home for me. I love both companies but for different reasons. Ideally, they are the kind of agencies I would love to work with in the future.
Firstly I turned to Pearlfisher, packaging giants fbased in NY and London. I tried to be unbiased, but to be honest it's difficult when I've been in love with everything about them for a while now. The front page of their website- www.pearlfisher.com is christmas themed at the moment, it features photographs of the comapnys workers in festive attire along. It's a formal and friendly feel, the rest of their site is well laid out and proffessional to a tee, without any of the far-too-common-these-days-design-snobbery. They do however, know how good they are. I don't think it's a bad thing. If you're confident about something you should show it...just not too much. The only real thing that had a mild whiff of arrogance (but rightly so as one of the best design agencies in the world) is their header which reads "Pearlfisher - No.1 for desirable design and effective results".
Their online portfolio is smooth and runs nicely, the images are as perfect as can be and they have a good range and quantity to look at. Under every piece in the portfolio is a short paragraph stating the task they had been given and the scope they had taken on it.
Their site is full of useful content, some interesting and some a little tedious. The only real faults I felt were that aside from the tempoary christmas home page, the site can feel a little clinical at some points. Maybe if they displayed a level of friendly informality all the time it would give the company a nicer feel.
In a recent issue of Creative Review they took a look at design studios from around the world, not the people in it or the work they did but the actual physical space in which everything runs. I think this is a inventive touch for any design agency to apply to their site. It's good to see how things work.
The second company I took a peek at was Cambridge based The District. http://www.thedistrict.co.uk/
I love this company. I've made it a personal aim to work alongside them one day. As a company they are everything I admire and want to be as a creative professional in the future. Their studio is a little terraced house on a residential street in Cambridge, just like all the other houses but inside something very different happens. Reading about them, they seem to run more like a family than colleagues. Their website is lovely to look at, and a little troublesome to navigate around. The look is contempoary and a little bit quirky. A bit more splash of colour than Pearlfisher and ultimatley more soul. I actually found it hard to find who they have worked with so in a sense their web space is counter productive which is a shame. The sense of humor about the place is nice, it's such an informal feel from the word go. It also feels young which implies fresh which for design is a good thing. Not the same old recycled ideas floating around.
I used the SWOT analysis system to look at two design agencies who I really admire, one is a big multi-national award winning company and the other is a little closer to home for me. I love both companies but for different reasons. Ideally, they are the kind of agencies I would love to work with in the future.
Firstly I turned to Pearlfisher, packaging giants fbased in NY and London. I tried to be unbiased, but to be honest it's difficult when I've been in love with everything about them for a while now. The front page of their website- www.pearlfisher.com is christmas themed at the moment, it features photographs of the comapnys workers in festive attire along. It's a formal and friendly feel, the rest of their site is well laid out and proffessional to a tee, without any of the far-too-common-these-days-design-snobbery. They do however, know how good they are. I don't think it's a bad thing. If you're confident about something you should show it...just not too much. The only real thing that had a mild whiff of arrogance (but rightly so as one of the best design agencies in the world) is their header which reads "Pearlfisher - No.1 for desirable design and effective results".
Their online portfolio is smooth and runs nicely, the images are as perfect as can be and they have a good range and quantity to look at. Under every piece in the portfolio is a short paragraph stating the task they had been given and the scope they had taken on it.
Their site is full of useful content, some interesting and some a little tedious. The only real faults I felt were that aside from the tempoary christmas home page, the site can feel a little clinical at some points. Maybe if they displayed a level of friendly informality all the time it would give the company a nicer feel.
In a recent issue of Creative Review they took a look at design studios from around the world, not the people in it or the work they did but the actual physical space in which everything runs. I think this is a inventive touch for any design agency to apply to their site. It's good to see how things work.
The second company I took a peek at was Cambridge based The District. http://www.thedistrict.co.uk/
I love this company. I've made it a personal aim to work alongside them one day. As a company they are everything I admire and want to be as a creative professional in the future. Their studio is a little terraced house on a residential street in Cambridge, just like all the other houses but inside something very different happens. Reading about them, they seem to run more like a family than colleagues. Their website is lovely to look at, and a little troublesome to navigate around. The look is contempoary and a little bit quirky. A bit more splash of colour than Pearlfisher and ultimatley more soul. I actually found it hard to find who they have worked with so in a sense their web space is counter productive which is a shame. The sense of humor about the place is nice, it's such an informal feel from the word go. It also feels young which implies fresh which for design is a good thing. Not the same old recycled ideas floating around.
TASK THREE
HOW WILL I PROMOTE MYSELF - WHAT DO THEY WANT TO HEAR?
As a young designer, self promotion is an important thing to get right. Looking at the marketing communication mix is a good way of finding out what could work best for me. Firstly I looked at the obvious choice which is web based promotion. It is an effective and efficent way of self promotion, but only if you have something to back it up with. It's a bit like having a book with a pretty cover but blank pages. Another thing to think about with web based production is that the user or client unless instructed to visit the site either 1) find it themselves or 2) accidentally stumbles across it. To create a sucessful website you need something behind it to make people visit it, which in itself is promotion. I really like the idea of having my own site and hopefully it's something that will materialise next year. However I feel as though the website itself will need it's own promotion which could be where magazine/publication adverts and bussiness cards would come in.
I really like the idea of one on one communication with my clients, i.e. having my own shop/gallery space underneath my studio or a regular stall in somewhere like Spitalfields Market in London. This kind of contact would be good for me as a designer because I would like to get feedback from the public and my clients which is more readily available in that kind of environment.
Also this is the kind of place which people could access things like bussiness cards or other promotional material which would instruct them to visit the website and so on...
Overall I feel like I would like to have a space in which to sell or promote my design company and a web space to do the same thing. I feel this would cover two bases of self promotion, and would give me more scope to develop into the future. I think a physical space is also important, a base if you like. For a potential client to walk into a friendly, contempoary and professional environment will make much more of an impact than a website.
As a young designer, self promotion is an important thing to get right. Looking at the marketing communication mix is a good way of finding out what could work best for me. Firstly I looked at the obvious choice which is web based promotion. It is an effective and efficent way of self promotion, but only if you have something to back it up with. It's a bit like having a book with a pretty cover but blank pages. Another thing to think about with web based production is that the user or client unless instructed to visit the site either 1) find it themselves or 2) accidentally stumbles across it. To create a sucessful website you need something behind it to make people visit it, which in itself is promotion. I really like the idea of having my own site and hopefully it's something that will materialise next year. However I feel as though the website itself will need it's own promotion which could be where magazine/publication adverts and bussiness cards would come in.
I really like the idea of one on one communication with my clients, i.e. having my own shop/gallery space underneath my studio or a regular stall in somewhere like Spitalfields Market in London. This kind of contact would be good for me as a designer because I would like to get feedback from the public and my clients which is more readily available in that kind of environment.
Also this is the kind of place which people could access things like bussiness cards or other promotional material which would instruct them to visit the website and so on...
Overall I feel like I would like to have a space in which to sell or promote my design company and a web space to do the same thing. I feel this would cover two bases of self promotion, and would give me more scope to develop into the future. I think a physical space is also important, a base if you like. For a potential client to walk into a friendly, contempoary and professional environment will make much more of an impact than a website.
TASK TWO part two
WHERE ARE THEY. HOW WILL THEY FIND ME?
My potential clients are almost everywhere, as an illustrator and designer the type of work I will be doing and am starting to create now is versatile and can be applied to many formats (advertising, publishing- books, galleries, public information, prints, web etc) which gives me a wide client base. Obviously any young designer needs to stand out from the rest and I hope to do this by making my style as 'individual' as possible but putting my work on a range of different medias for a range of different clients. Again Sara Fanelli is a good example of a designer who does this to an extent.
My clients would probably be based in the UK as I don't speak any other languages than English this would limit multi-national clients. However increasingly, people outside of the UK speak English as a second language so on their part this could be achieveable
Communication is essential and how I will communicate my work is something I always think about. At present I rely on my blog and flickr to get my work out there. I aim to have my own website and online portfolio online within the next year which is something I'm very exciting and am currently in the process of updating my portfolio for this.
As a young professional, whatever I choose to promote myself on needs to reflect me as a designer so when the client views whatever it is they will gain an instant snapshot of my personality as a designer. Web based promotion is an obvious choice but also an incredibly effective one, if used to it's full potential. I would not bother with disposable promotion like flyers, but I would like to create promotion which is long lasting, always there. Another example of self promotion is advertising inside a publication such as Creative Review. Perhaps it's more disposable than the internet but unlike the internet, once you have opened the magazine you can't pick and choose what you view as it's been laid out for the reader to look at. With the internet it's dependent on the user to seek the website, not the other way around.
In conclusion, I feel that in the future I would like to communicate and publicise myself through my own website, as the internet is a tool which can be acessed world-wide at a low matienence cost. I also find that one of the best ways of 'putting yourself out there' is just simple word of mouth. I have started doing this by talking to other illustrators and designers, entering competitions and going to design events. Making contacts is essential to this.
TASK TWO
SEGMENTATION:
Demographics:
The demographic would depend on several things, like who the work is for and where it will be placed. A student/young professional/young adult would be more likley to see a promotion for an album release in NME magazine, but a middle-aged/professional/over 40/intellectual customer would be more likely to see a book campaign in the newspaper.
Thinking of the kind of demographic I would appeal to, I always think the designer Sara Fanelli has a wide range of demographic. She does work which is aimed at children to young adults (childrens books - the Tate Modern children's section etc) to more adult-based demographics (pizza express menus, NY Times book review cover).
Geographic Factors:
Geographic factors are crucial for money saving. Having a workspace/office in a city center makes me as a designer far more acessible for clients and vice versa. Ideally London is a good place to make design connections however to afford a workspace in london can be expensive. A good starting compromise would be Cambridge, which is easy to commute to London for buisness and itself has a thriving design industry. See http://www.thedistrict.co.uk/
Psychology
What are my interests as a young designer? What are my clients interests? How will I relate to my client's interests and values?
Behaviour
What kind of relationship will I present my clients with? Will I be formal or informal? What kind of behaviour will my client group have? Building trust and having responsibility is important to me as a designer. This will help bulid a secure relationship with my clients.
Sunday 29 November 2009
The four P's in relation to me as a designer:
Product:
Graphic Design - Illustration
Place -
UK, East of England, North, London
Possibliity of being multi national. Have experience working in the Netherlands.
Only speak English, would be eager to work in America. Have family in Australia.
Price -
I would ideally like to work from my own studio, as a base which could save on a lot of costs. I imagine the pricing would depend on a number of factors. Mainly what the client's requirements are and how long and labour intensive a job is.
Promotion -
Promotion can be a funny thing. It's ultimatley hit or miss however to guarantee more hit than miss, finding somewhere the client would see it would make it easier. In my short experience, promotion through association and association via web is quite a valuable resource.
Product:
Graphic Design - Illustration
Place -
UK, East of England, North, London
Possibliity of being multi national. Have experience working in the Netherlands.
Only speak English, would be eager to work in America. Have family in Australia.
Price -
I would ideally like to work from my own studio, as a base which could save on a lot of costs. I imagine the pricing would depend on a number of factors. Mainly what the client's requirements are and how long and labour intensive a job is.
Promotion -
Promotion can be a funny thing. It's ultimatley hit or miss however to guarantee more hit than miss, finding somewhere the client would see it would make it easier. In my short experience, promotion through association and association via web is quite a valuable resource.
Thursday 22 October 2009
TASK ONE
What skills do I have and who needs them?
In terms of being a creative person I have many positive attributes. I work primarily as an illustrator, I enjoy working with shapes, colour, and the message behind the image. This course has secured my identity as a designer. I know what I do best and what I enjoy doing. I feel as if I can only truly identify with designers who have their own personalised style and adapt that to whatever product they are commissioned to produce. And it is because of this, I have always had a great interest in packaging graphics and design. The idea of applying a message and image to a shape that will contain something that has a use. I really like the process of packaging.
The design giants Pearlfisher (http://www.pearlfisher.com/) are the company I idolise. They believe in making something beautiful, something that meets demand, something fresh that the customer wants. Working to achieve a fresh look for every product is like a never ending cycle.
Aside from creative skills, I have been lucky enough through my personal work to spend time directing and managing a team in a creative environment, albeit music. I take pride in my organisational and managerial skills, when I’m serious about something I will do anything I can to make it work.
With these two aspects of my personality, I feel I could be a valuable member of any creative -based team.
What are my professional /creative aims and how do they relate to the needs of the world at large?
In the foreseeable future I want to gain as much experience in design for print based media as I can. I am planning to spent two weeks with UK Greetings based in Dewsbury next year. I spent a few days with them in 2006 and found it challenging and interesting. Although I’m not interested in designing for greetings cards, the experience is valuable. It’s a large studio space with a close-knit feeling. Seeing the process from initial design through to the finished print on the shelves, is in essence something that I hope to be doing in the future, but with a different media.
The main thing I can establish from the list of my professional and creative aims is that I need to be providing something for someone. I would like to be using my illustration/design principles and applying them to products that the consumer needs. It could be packaging, advertising, branding. The idea of making a visual mask for a product or a face for something which would be a boring object is what I enjoy. Making a product that without its pretty outer shell would look boring and might not be that exciting in itself into something that stands out and looks enticing.
In the future I would like to be part of a successful design team who strive to deliver innovative, exciting and visually stunning product packaging. It would be to do with the broader meaning of packaging, a poster to package an idea or an envelope to package an invitation.
In terms of being a creative person I have many positive attributes. I work primarily as an illustrator, I enjoy working with shapes, colour, and the message behind the image. This course has secured my identity as a designer. I know what I do best and what I enjoy doing. I feel as if I can only truly identify with designers who have their own personalised style and adapt that to whatever product they are commissioned to produce. And it is because of this, I have always had a great interest in packaging graphics and design. The idea of applying a message and image to a shape that will contain something that has a use. I really like the process of packaging.
The design giants Pearlfisher (http://www.pearlfisher.com/) are the company I idolise. They believe in making something beautiful, something that meets demand, something fresh that the customer wants. Working to achieve a fresh look for every product is like a never ending cycle.
Aside from creative skills, I have been lucky enough through my personal work to spend time directing and managing a team in a creative environment, albeit music. I take pride in my organisational and managerial skills, when I’m serious about something I will do anything I can to make it work.
With these two aspects of my personality, I feel I could be a valuable member of any creative -based team.
What are my professional /creative aims and how do they relate to the needs of the world at large?
In the foreseeable future I want to gain as much experience in design for print based media as I can. I am planning to spent two weeks with UK Greetings based in Dewsbury next year. I spent a few days with them in 2006 and found it challenging and interesting. Although I’m not interested in designing for greetings cards, the experience is valuable. It’s a large studio space with a close-knit feeling. Seeing the process from initial design through to the finished print on the shelves, is in essence something that I hope to be doing in the future, but with a different media.
The main thing I can establish from the list of my professional and creative aims is that I need to be providing something for someone. I would like to be using my illustration/design principles and applying them to products that the consumer needs. It could be packaging, advertising, branding. The idea of making a visual mask for a product or a face for something which would be a boring object is what I enjoy. Making a product that without its pretty outer shell would look boring and might not be that exciting in itself into something that stands out and looks enticing.
In the future I would like to be part of a successful design team who strive to deliver innovative, exciting and visually stunning product packaging. It would be to do with the broader meaning of packaging, a poster to package an idea or an envelope to package an invitation.
