Additional Thoughts...

I am really happy with my new portfolio site it definitely helps with my personal branding and it looks far more professional than my last attempt. As well as this it will be easy to maintain and add to as I continue to design. After much research I have found some jobs to apply for (that I have applied for) that I am suited to, all of which are aimed at me gaining some experience. I have also researched various designers and illustrators that I find appealing to see how they have marketed themselves and have taken inspiration from them. I intend to invite some of these people to the end of year show in an attempt to offer potential job opportunities to any of the BAs present and so that they could be interviewed on a personal level to assess any kind of strategy that we could all similarly utilise.

Rectifying my previously assessed weaknesses  
I have a new portfolio site- which will help me viewed in a better light

I have joined and updated my twitter and my linked in account - which will help to get my work out there and will also be useful in finding future employment opportunities.  Twitter in particular should increase the range of people that my work is being received by.

I have an illustrative self branded cv that I can send out to potential employers.

All of these elements could hopefully lead to potential jobs that could give me invaluable design experience.

Invite Possibility 3

I absolutely love the stop motion works that fat pebble create (I have always harboured a love for Wallace and Gromit and claymation). Since I am creating a stop motion animation project for the independent project I think it would be well worth inviting them - as they may be able to offer a possible job opportunity.

                                               http://fatpebble.com/fat-pebble-jobs.html

Reasons for Invite
They came to talk to us at university so they may be interested, they could (for me at least due to the nature of my independent project) offer possible job opportunities, they are local and they create brilliantly quirky motion pieces which are inherently fun.

Freelance - Illustration Agencies

Although I am looking at design company/agency jobs because I don't think that I have enough experience to go free lance initially I felt that looking into possible collectives and agencies that would contact me with various client briefs could be useful for the future.

http://www.lemonadeillustration.com

Lemonage is an illustration agency that advertises various illustrators and designers, who brings in more collaborative opportunities for those that are a part of their agency. They are London based and have worked for clients that include Nestle, Mcvities and Easy Jet. Though I think I would need more of a portfolio under my belt and I would have to have a research into fees and the logistics of it, it seems like a viable option for my kind of work.

Illustrator and Designer End of Year Show Invites

I wanted to include individual designers that could also be invited to the end of year show as well as companies- and I had two local designers in mind because they helped me greatly with my dissertation. 

Jim Howell

Jim Howell is a motion and graphic designer who used to teach us on the course, he has made some really good work, worked with a load of companies and he is someone that knows us and would probably be interested in coming. 

http://www.jimhowells.com/

Reasons for Invite

He is known to us, he is local, he has made a great deal of diverse work and has many contacts within the industry. He is also currently a freelancer- and it would be good for some of us to learn more about the freelance avenue.

Lizzy Stewart

Lizzy stewart is an illustrator and artist whose work I completely adore, she helped me a great deal with my dissertation and again has experience as a freelance/client based designer.

http://www.abouttoday.co.uk/

Reasons for Invite

I love her work, she is semi localish (London based), she helped me with my dissertation so she may be interested in coming and she has experience as a collaborative/client based artist. 

End Of Year Show Invites Design Companies/Agencies

Company 1

This is the first company that I plan on inviting to the end of year show, they are a relatively small London design agency that specialise in anything from branding to illustration.  I like how they think in terms of craft too and I am particularly enamoured by some of their various invites. The 3d craft project is lovely, and utilises this lovely visual style that translates well into the pop-up structure. I also love the hand-drawn illustrations that is a common element throughout many of their branded invites. 

http://foundrystudio.com/

Reasons for invite

I intend to invite this company to the show because they are semi local (London) they specialise in a range of skills (branding, photography, advertisements and illustration) key elements throughout our course. They are a relatively small studio and there is the possibility of work experience (I think their work suits Connors visual style so I think it would be good for him especially). I intend to send my own personal cv to them as well since they offer the possibility of work experience (which is one of my skill weaknesses) and I imagine it would offer some good drawing opportunities with real world clients. 

Company 2

Agency rush is an agency in Brighton that essentially collects various illustrators and designers and then contacts specific ones with various job opportunities as and when clients contact them. It is a good agency for illustrators and freelancers and would offer the opportunity for collaborative efforts as well.  It looks like a good agency for me in particular and it would be amazing to be contacted by any of the clients that they have worked with and that some of the designers and illustrators have worked with- Harper Collins and Penguin are both companies I have looked into and would love to work for. 

http://agencyrush.com

Reasons for invite

They represent a diverse range of illustrators and designers, all of whom exhibit different visual styles and work in a variety of media. They are local and reside in Brighton and I think they would be very intrigued by some of the work we have produced. Again I intend to message them with some of my work examples - it can't hurt - and I think that my illustrations could possibly fit right in. I am going to hold of on doing so until I have completed my independent project since it would be nice to also offer some more motion image examples.

Company 3

Crush is an illustration branding company with a small team of designers who have worked on a range of projects, campaigns and book covers.  They have worked with companies including, Disney, Penguin and MTV. I think they have made some very illustration driven pieces and I love the graphical style of the green peace campaign which is probably my favourite piece. 

http://crushed.co.uk/

Reasons for invite

They are Brighton based, highly graphical and illustrative and they make lovely work and I think that we can offer designs that they may appreciate. 

Following and Followers on Twitter

In order to successfully promote myself on social media it is imperative that I generate followers (who will see my tweets and retweet them so that my circle of impact will increase). I have also followed various design agencies in the hopes that eventually my work could possibly get to them. So far after two weeks of being on twitter I have amassed a total of 12 followers- which will hopefully continue to increase.

Linkedin

 In order to make myself as accessibly for jobs as possible I have also opted to promote myself on Linked in. This will help me to get possible job alerts and will be another method for employers to contact me. It will also help to traffic possible employers to my portfolio site and twitter feed.

I have set up my basic profile, included some of my skills, and generated a post about my portfolio site. I have made contacts with 6 people which I will widen throughout the project.

 

Final Site Design

Desktop

 Portfolio Home Page

This is what I have created as my final portfolio page, it is also the home page since it displays all my various projects. I have kept my images uniform which helps to make them look more professional and less bloggy like me previous portfolio site. I have also made my name heading a little smaller and less dominating to allow the work to become the main focus. 

Project Page Examples

When the main squares are clicked on it links to its own project page. My pages follow a similar archetype image or video on the left with text on the right.  This keeps the continuity of the site nice and constant which also helps to make it look more professional. 

About Page

I have placed a link to my twitter feed at the bottom of every page (which should help to better optimise it and generate some additional traffic).

Contact Page

Mobile

Home Page

I am really happy with the mobile version, which I have made into a one column scroll and I think it offsets my sight well. 

 Navigation

Text

Slideshow

I am really happy with my new site, its professional but it still has a sense of my visual style which helps to brand it. Everything is simple and clean and well organised qualities which will hopefully come across to potential employers. 

Link to site: http://jesshislop.wix.com/jesshislopdesign

Making A New Portfolio Site

After researching portfolio sites and failing to figure out how to make the alterations that I want to on my Tumblr I turned to using the Wix free website builder to make mine. Initially I intended to use a Wordpress platform since we did have to make a whole project using it but I found it to be really really complicated. So instead I opted to use Wix which in comparison was a really easy method to create a site and suited my lack of coding skills completely. It was a very easy visual tool, simple drag and drop elements that could be adjusted. No coding required. After a bit of clicking and testing I found that I could add galleries, slideshows and links to project pages which could each be individually designed. The only downside of not upgrading was the url which included the name Wix (don't think this was too much of an issue) and the small Wix banner at the bottom of the screen (again I have no issue with this since it doesn't interfere with the sites aesthetics and is in fact a small element). 

Although I was going to try and utilise a side navigation element a theme I had noticed throughout many of the portfolios researched, I quickly discovered that I did not have enough work to divide my designs in this way. So I opted to go back to the familiar - same size photographs that would link to their project page with a top heavy navigation and a clear heading (my name) as a header image and link back to the home page.

I integrated a slide show on one of my project pages which allowed me to display all the work within that project.

This is the image editor available for use, images can be edited, cropped, framed and adjusted in order to fit onto the site.

The mobile version

The mobile site had its own editor so elements could be adjusted for the mobile platform without editing the actual desktop site. It was really handy and allowed me to get rid of and condense certain elements in order to optimise the site for mobile viewing.

Current Portfolio Site...

My Current Portfolio Site

The Changes I Want To Make If I Continue Using This One 

So this is my current portfolio site, and though its perfectly serviceable I am not sure If I am going to continue using this one (I am going to try out some other platforms and the see if I can link this to those so it comes across as more of an additional blog much like Briony- May Smith has done). If I opt to continue using it (If I am not happy with my portfolio experiments) then it does need some adjustments. 

Number 1- Attempting to make all the print stuff the same size (the video sizes cant be adjusted so they have to remain as the are). I think making it look uniform in this way will help to make it look more professional and will keep everything organised.

Number 2- Getting rid of the goggles that appear in the middle of the image that allow for the zoom and making so that clicking on the image will enlarge it instead. I'd also like to set sizes on the enlarged image so it doesn't then look pixelated because the image is being stretched.

Number 3- Links to social media to better promote myself

Number 4 - Possibility of a sketchbook section - to show more of my process and my physical drawing skills. 

Portfolio Inspiration

I had another look at some other portfolio sites and noticed that a lot of them used a left side navigation design, allowing various pieces of artwork to be show cased on the right. Although I am considering this I'm not sure I have enough headings to cover much on the side navigation but it's something I intend to try considering it showcases of the work well.

https://danidani.carbonmade.com/

This is the kind of layout I have at the moment which I may revert back to if the side navigation experiments go badly.

Existing Portfolio Inspiration... Rafael Mayani

I found Rafael Mayani's work on Pinterest which then linked me to his portfolio site - after looking into so many handmade artists it was nice to find someone who was a bit more digital. I liked the visual style of his portfolio too which was a basic side navigation area underneath a personal logo and then to the left one large piece of artwork that filled the entirety of the screen. It could work very well considering my portfolio is not as extensive as his. It's simple- with the personal logo touch - and really shows off the work. 

Existing Portfolio Research Inspiration... Sonia Poli

I was researching various portfolio sites in order to see how I could edit and possibly remake mine- I stumbled across Sonia Poli's website which I thought was particularly unique.  I love the black and white elements which had this lovely quirkiness to the photographical backgrounds.  Essentially her website is a simple premise (although I'm pretty sure you would have to know code to get to work) you land on the base image which is a logo- a few bits of illustrative artwork and her twitter, linked in, Behance and Facebook links. You navigate upwards to an about section and then up again to a contact section all the while various picture frames display pieces of her work. When you click on the art it expands in a light box so the work is enlarged and visible. I think its a really well made and fun website and its defiantly got the nice thematic link of a really long wall with photo frames on - its a more visually intriguing portfolio site than most.  Having said this I'm pretty sure this type of site is well outside of my website skill set and though I love it and it suits her work to the ground (in a sense the website is a work of art) I'm thinking of utilising a simpler framework for mine since a lot of my portfolio work contrasts in colour and style it cant really be linked in a theme in the same way. Nevertheless I think its visually very intriguing and if I had the code knowledge I would happily create something like this (perhaps when I have more work and a constant visual style).

Promoting Myself On Social Media- Setting Myself Up On Twitter

So I first had to set up my twitter username and account (I did have the account previously but I never used it so I made some adjustments to personalise it to me and brand myself). So my name is JessicaHislop1 because JessicaHislop was unavailable (I don't think this is too big of a deal though and there is nothing I can do about it). I kept my description simple and fun although as I develop more of a Twitter presence I may adjust this. I have also provided a link to my current portfolio site but again I could change this once I have made my portfolio tweaks.  

 Cover Photo Experiments

I played about a bit with cover photo experiments- Initially I was going to use the photograph with my light name (a photography I took a few summers ago) but I felt that after looking at the twitter sites for some of my favourite artists that using something that I have drawn will better market myself.

First Tweets

I was very much inspired by Briony-May Smith and her tweets so I opted to take a similar route- by first tweeting my work - as I develop and draw more I also intend to include some sketches and end of year show stuff to give it a bit more of a daily blog feel (than just finalised pieces which I will of course run out of).

Social Media Inspiration- Briony -May Smith

I think I have mentioned Briony-May Smith in every one of my projects this year- but I just love her work, I find her way of creating really inspiring especially since she has only just graduated herself.

I wanted to assess how other designers went about using social media to promote themselves to give me some inspiration into how to present myself. Briony- May Smith was the first designer/illustrator I thought of because I have been aware of her and her twitter presence since I interviewed her for my dissertation.

Twitter

Profile

May-Smith has used her designs to form her profile (something I intend to mimic with my own work since I feel like this is the best way of promoting my work and therefore my skill set). Again I love her work and the hand drawn nature of it her textural pencil marks are something I would love to emulate within my own designs.

 Tweets

Twitter is reliant on tweets so I wanted to explore the kind of things she tweeted about so I could figure out what to tweet about. The most recent tweet was a finished piece depicted below. 

 The second was an image of her sketchbook and the third was a photograph of her desk and recent sheep toy purchase.

Obviously images are going to be integral to use as a designer, something I should make the most of because I feel like the range of images I could present (finalised pieces and sketches) will more more visually intriguing than simple text based tweets. Because I am an illustrator using images in this way will display my process and my work and will as such essentially brand myself in a visual way.


Tumblr

I am currently using tumblr and the host for my portfolio site- but I intend to look into some other options and I intend to make some tweaks to it if I continue to use it - and I liked how her main site linked to her original tumblr one - which she had used previously as a portfolio - it had a very blog like feel to it and I liked how it mirrored her twitter- more platforms - hopefully equals more impact and design dispersal.

Thoughts On Jobs So Far... Weaknesses and Strengths

So far throughout my job hunting I have found some various jobs that definitely appeal. Many of the jobs that I have pointed out have been suitable in terms of skill set but not in terms of experience, although most have been subject to my portfolio. I'm going to list my strengths and weaknesses below based on the job requirements I have seen so far- this way I can get an idea of what I can work on improving.

Strengths

Adobe Software- I have a pretty good knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator and a basic knowledge of Indesign and After Effects which have been the four softwares listed so far. (MY AFTER EFFECTS KNOWLEDGE WILL BE EXPANDED UPON THROUGH THE INDEPENDENT PROJECT)

Highly Creative- I am a creative visual thinker

Ability To Adapt And Adhere To A Brief- Something I do on a regular basis for uni and have done for other issued briefs including D&AD and YCN.

Passionate/Highly Motivated/Well Organised- Again qualities that I feel that I possess - the well organised aspect is something I regularly have to ensure whilst at uni.

Ability To Communicate With Other Designers- Our last project required us to work as a team, something we all managed well, as well as this when we had to work with Latest TV we also had to communicate with the client. In my own work experience I was in charge of managing blogs and emails for Comic Domain so I have further experience in terms of communication.


Weaknesses 

Design Related Experience-I do not have any real design experience- not in terms of a design company so this is not a point in my favour. Having said this I worked for Comic Domain for a year organising their emails (using Mail Chimp) and blogs (using Wordpress) so in this regard I have a bit more design related (ish) experience than my other part time job affords me. OUT OF MY HANDS

I Haven't Graduated Yet- I am currently a bit undesirable because although I hope to graduate in a few months I have yet to actually graduate so I am currently in that in-between state.  NEARLY THERE

Portfolio Site- I do have a portfolio site but its not as up to date as it could be and there are a few tweaks that I feel will make it stronger- which is something I plan to do so I can promote myself for jobs and for the end of year show. WILL WORK ON

Social Media- After looking into some of my favourite designers I have realised how influential twitter and social medias can be - not only to look at design companies but also to promote and market myself. I intend to start using twitter to promote myself and then to promote the end of year show.  WILL WORK ON

Visiting Lecturer Advice- Will Cheyney Design Director

Will Cheyney is a design director of the London Company Poke design who came to give us some advice about the industry. He explained all the projects he has been involved in and outlined how he got the job- the notes that I took from his lecture are below- Although the work he displayed wasn't my cup of tea since it was more web and user experience related I feel like we should invite him to the end of year show since he took the time to come talk to us and did the same course. I know that others in the class really enjoyed his work too and as he mentioned he is in charge of recruiting new designers so it could be really beneficial for some of my classmates. 

Poke London Notes

http://www.pokelondon.com/

Did the same course- 2002-2005

NOW - he did freelance- and then got a job at Poke. 2006 wired there ever since. 

Poke- 60 staff - digital agency - advertising world- clients who want to sell things- web stuff- lots of web design. 

Here East Project

There was a large area in London (Warehouses that were used to house the press throughout the Olympic Games) that needed a purpose. Poke were involved in the strategic planning of how the space could be repurposed. 

The Product

A technical hub that would become the most connected place in London. Infinity data centre, two tenants - Bt sports broadcast from this building. Degree of office - but also allows for independent sellers- centre of the buildings wrap around a courtyard- the idea is that companies share the space, big and small companies collaborate which isn't possible anywhere else. Also responsible for the branding and the marketing - websites and agents - apps etc. Clients wanted a flexible name , various logos and branding - presented the website as various visions for what it could be - selling the concept and the idea of the space. 

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones exhibition, actors, props, costumes within America - Now they wanted to make it bigger so they opted to include various countries within this.

The Product

Branded the exhibition with an additional logo, created the website to sell the event and also created some interactive virtual reality experience and interactive photographs that promote the show. Once you have a ticket - you have a digital companion - which links all the various photographs to your account. 

Ted Baker

Interactive christmas app/game find the various elves to win prices. Using Facebook and Instagram - possibly buggy but was risked and was supposedly very popular- fast quick project.

Mulberry 

Redesigning a luxury brand online.

The Product

Went to the store for some research about the experience in order to create branding that retained the continuity of the in store branding. The Website includes sizes, care info, size information, shop the look. Poke also improved the search optimisation, the sales process and  also encouraged the company to join twitter. The checkout process was further refined on its various platforms in order to ensure usability. The idea was that the website should reflect the skill and craftsmanship used to generate the bags on the site. 

4GEE Remaster

The Product

Using the original Youtube video (Fenton) Poke created a short higher quality version of the video which they used as an advertising background for 4GEE. The video was inspired by the slogan - 4GEE makes everything epic so Poke capitalised on how Youtube shorts could be made better and more professional. 

Lonely Planet

Advertised the books online. Redesigned the website.

The Product

Makes the books more accesible - create your own book based on various snippets that the audience could curate.

Orange - Predict- A- Chick

Ran a campaign for Orange- a game and app etc in order to promote brand awareness. (Before EE)

The Product

Predict a Chick was one of the ideas from the website - every week promoted a new brand awareness idea- Poke turned this into a game - people had to guess which egg was going to hatch first, second and third - and people one prizes if they got it right. It used a live stream of real eggs as they hatched. Small quick fun ideas that helped to promote Oranges brand.

Orange -Chattery Teeth

Chattery teeth were powered via tweets and went round a track. Again involved audience interaction in order to get it to move and used a live video stream method. It promoted the new tariff the more you talked the more money you got of. The idea reflected this.

THE ENVIRONMENT

POKE has a good culture and atmosphere.Dress up days, internal briefs that help with team building. 

Poke Radio- Communal music system that is powered through spottily - collaborative playlist system. 

HOW HE GOT THE JOB

Showed them how to make a cup of tea- the role of juniors etc

Created a little interactive element - in order to sell himself- designed a html email. Followed and explored the company in order to sell himself in the right way. Tailored CV towards the company made the difference. 

Freelance

Positives

Your the boss

Flexible

Variety 

Negatives

No defined career path

High pressure

Don’t get to own projects

Full Time

Positives

Part of a team

Time to develop and grow into new job roles- hone skills

See a project from start to finish

Stable

Negatives

You aren’t the boss

Less Flexible

Own Business

Positives

Your the boss

Collaborate with the right people

Hugely satisfying

Negatives

Hard work

High risk

Business mind essential

Common Sense Dressed Up

How to get a job

THE FEEL OF THE COMPANY

Find a good match- get a feel for the industry look at what agencies are doing, follow and favourite on twitter. Like dating, good ones, bad ones and some stinkers. Follow agencies blogs, work, twitter so you can get a feel for the company. All about the culture of the company which has a massive impact on the job.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Find out everything about the company 

Find an angle

Know their portfolio 

Tailer your portfolio

Have Questions- prepare answers

Be Different

Interview situation is a two way thing- interact with them make sure you are proactive.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITES

What stuff do you do outside of work? Inspiration - show them who you are

Personal projects- don’t have to relate to the industry.

Designer we hired about 2 months ago - be inspiring - be fresh. 

Be passionate

Be hungry to learn

Go in be very open - etc

BEING A NEWBIE

It’s a good thing

Fresh pair of eyes

Flog it- eager keen

YOUR WORK

Present it clearly 

Show your workings out - process.

Be Selective- all projects

Less is more

Only the best

MAKE STUFF UP

Set yourself your own briefs - personal projects.

Personal Projects can become real things - etc

You are a swiss army knife- lots of skills

COLLABORATION

Have to work as a team in harmony with everyone else. Get in sync with that. Rewarding, better results more variety and complements the overall design.

Jobs Specialising in Illustration/Artwork/Print Design

Because I want to focus on illustration it made sense to look into jobs that revolved around this strength. Although I love the book design area it is a particularly niche area so I am going to look into illustration design as a specialisation as well. 

Job 1

This is an example of a freelance job that is advertising for a designer that can be commissioned for two weeks. I feel like I wouldn't be able to undertake this particular one because again it requires experience and due to the short time frame of the job I know that I wouldn't get taught the particulars. Having said this its important to note that this freelance commissioned job is one that could lead to a permanent position so I wont rule out any freelance jobs that I may see its also important to note that because its a freelance/commissioned piece they are also probably looking for someone more local- on the other side aside from the experience it would give me it also wouldn't be worth my while travel wise).

 Job 2

Again another freelance job that is dependent upon experience- aside from that details aren't really specified in the ad. After a bit of research into the company I discovered that it was actually a recruitment agency - definitely not an option judging from the clerical website they present.

Job 3

This was a design agency position - that is aimed at my skill set, again the softwares they are asking for are ones that I know and although they are looking for someone with some experience they specifically mention that recent graduates would be considered is the portfolio is something that appeals.