Getting myself noticed...

Well after all the excitement of my degree show, things have certainly died down a little, but now is the time to do something to get myself noticed. I'm proud to say I'll be graduating with a First Class Honours degree on the 22nd July - which I am over the moon about - but now it's time for me to crack down to the difficult and daunting task of finding work.

It's safe to say, that given the time of year, agencies and studios across the country will be inundated with design graduates trying to do exactly the same as me; gain experience with them - or even better a paid job,  but how can you guarantee you'll be noticed? The answer is, you can't, but you can definitely make it easier for yourself by approaching them in the right way. I discovered this helpful site, that gives a brilliant checklist of actions to take when applying for work - http://yoo-hoo.org/  - definitely things to be considered for sure!

The approach I've taken is to produce a document, that will not only contain my CV, but will act as a mini portfolio too. I wanted to make sure it won't be missed, so I've bound it with varying Dayglo card covers, which although slightly blinding, look pretty darn striking, I must say. Here are some images; I'll be sending these off to varying well-researched agencies / studios that I would love to meet, let alone gain some experience with. If anything, they will help spread my name around my local design companies, and will hopefully help direct me to something exciting. Watch this space.

Eastern Electricity

Back when electrically powered utilities were still a novel idea! I found these adverts from a set of magazines that my dad had been given from the 40s and 50s. They were found in editions of "East Anglian Magazine", which featured many thrilling articles including "East Anglian Humour", "Small Pox in Norfolk" and "Goat Keeping".  Totally spiffing, I'm sure you'll agree.

Visual Journal 2

Visual Journal

Diving against vivid woodlands looks static. Time is the image of unchanged motion. 

Marina sat in the library then discovered the future message: approach changes confidently and create desire. Rigid graphic images took over and vanity was there. Reflections across chaos built revolution and hand-written rebellion was ablaze. 

Nature celebrated a hidden underground environment. The end is nothing was whispered The final plan was once credible but can it be trusted? 

Personal texts and numbers are metaphors and ahead of the times. Ghost towns, troubles and the sound of the rejected were being discovered.

Focus was on reason but stayed lack-luster. Fear captured imagination as dystopia took control. Sounds, texture and information is all based on assumptions from a select audience.

April beauty holds eye and the direction. Moving can change communication but optophobia will influence.

Mutant propaganda orders a clear structured movement to promote change.

The boundaries of seeing bleed with the spirit of perspective. Poetic translation touches the subverted and creates pixies that enjoy the horror.

Maps do not exist above the water but directions are clear.

*NB: This is a visual journal of my time during my third year at MMU. Not all of the imagery used in the collages is from my own work. Some are representations/small sections of other work that I have viewed/been influenced by while on my Design and Art Direction course. I will gladly remove them if this causes issues. Each piece used will be referenced in my final outcome (these are just developments). 

Edit.

A little zine I have produced to display some of the work that myself and Nina McNamara created during our  placement at Flux last year.

I HAVE [A] PLAN

Over Christmas, I worked on a live brief set by YCN. The brief was for Marks and Spencer, in which I had to "create a visual identity for our Plan A campaign and develop campaign elements to bring your identity to life." This was a bit of a change for me; I don't often pick 'campaign' or 'branding' project briefs, as it is an area I am not so comfortable with, but I wanted to try something different as a challenge and to add more variation to my overall portfolio.

M&S's 'launched Plan A in January 2007 – ‘committing to change 100 things over 5 years, because we’ve only got one world and time is running out.’ Three years on, we have made good progress against our five Plan A pillars: Climate Change, Waste, Natural resources, Fair partner and Health and Wellbeing – achieving 62 of the original 100 Plan A commitments. So, in March 2010, we unveiled and expanded a more demanding Plan A, setting out 80 new commitments for the next five years and our ambition to become the world’s most sustainable major retailer by 2015.'

I really struggled with the brief. I found it difficult to get the ball rolling, and I feel that I spent far too long worrying about branding "Plan A" than I did actually promoting it. Because of this, I was really pushed for time when it came developing my format. I chose to create an identity for the plan, as the existing logo didn't seem to stand out from the rest of M&S's branding, and I felt it wasn't memorable enough. Working with the idea of the plan having "5 pillars of change" I created a design that incorporated 5 triangles and reflected the shape of a letter A. I then used the tagline "I have [A] Plan" in order to draw the customers in. 

I chose to create a concertina book, featuring postcards that can be placed around the home as a reminder of what the plan is about. The booklet explained 5 ways for each of the 5 pillars of improving the way we live and becoming involved with M&S's campaign. I was quite pleased with the aesthetic of the piece, and even created a magnetic backing so that it could be placed in the home on fridges, for instance. I also created a set of stickers to work alongside the booklet, which can be placed around the home or in the car, to act as a reminder of the plan to the customer. 

However, during my review, John (my tutor) and I both agreed that it seemed a little clumsy; the booklet opened awkwardly and I am aware that it is not my best piece of design. With this considered though, John felt that it was a really nice attempt and that in the future I should perhaps stick to briefs that are more suitable to my style and interests - which couldn't have been a more welcomed piece of advice if I tried! I am relieved to have finished this brief, it's a shame I didn't get into it more.

Printed and Published

The Special Collections area at Sir Kenneth Green Library hosted an exhibition of book design and letterpress printing from Bracketpress (2005-10). The collection comprised of printed books, pamphlets, commercial designs and printed matter, all of which had been produced using traditional printing methods. The pieces were beautiful; I am a big fan of this style of work, as type and image seems a lot more considered and well-presented when it is printed using traditional letterpress techniques rather than digital methods. They seem far more special and precious. Here are some of my favourite pieces:


No. 26: Love Bold and in CAPS [of course], letterpressed postcard:

Nobody's Child Penny Rimbaud, pamphlet:

This Crippled Flesh by Penny Rimbaud, book:

Zines, zines, zines.

I was really excited when I discovered Teal Triggs was coming to speak to us, as during my dissertation research I had come across her name quite a lot, and her research work on fanzines. Also, I had received her “Fanzines” book as a gift, just a week before I discovered she was due to visit, which was even more exciting.

Fanzines is such a varied subject; and also very hard to define. Teal helped to explain what exactly makes a zine, and referenced a lot of really interesting pieces during the lecture. This was really helpful, as it is an area that I am looking into for my dissertation, and until now have been unsure as to what they actually are. More importantly, she spoke about the rise of the webzine which I am writing about as my dissertation topic. It was really helpful gaining first-hand insight into what the internet and online publishing will mean for the printed fanzine from someone who is so knowledgeable about the subject. I was pleased to discover that she had a similar viewpoint on the subject as me; that the internet will not mean that the future of print is dead, but more that it is a tool to help promote and distribute it. A really interesting and highly influential lecture.

Further to this, I recently purchased OWT creative's first zine, "Beginnings". The design group studied Design and Art direction (like me) at Manchester School of Art and have since set up the design collective in order to help young creatives in the North West and showcase some of Manchester's most exciting talent. The issue shows the five members of OWT's interpretation of the word Beginnings. Produced in a limited run, each 52 page zine has a hand-screened cover and centre spread as well as being numbered in its run of 100.

I loved their responses, collected in a beautifully compiled publication. They have since released issue two, so keep your eyes peeled for further work from them.

Willow.

Nice design work from Willow, who have done the art direction for LQ magazine, below.