SWOT Analysis

Below I'm going to do a little assessment of my current thoughts, goals and skills as a graphic design. This will help me understand where I am with my progress at the moment and where to go from here to improve and develop.

Strengths:

I'm very happy and comfortable when it comes to my knowledge of Photoshop, current trends and the industry as well as my ability to be creative on demand and idea generation. Although I'm use really starting to loosen up with my sketches and ideas and not be so perfect in the initial stages of a visual. I'm also an illustrator and draw constantly in my free time too.

Weaknesses:

There is so much more I could know and want to know when it comes to Illustrator and InDesign. I'm a massive fan of vectorized art work and the use go gradients in graphic design at the moment, but I'm still unsure when it comes to creating these things myself.

I also need to stop deciding on one design from the initial stages, give some of the other ideas a chance and develop a whole lot more. I usually really rush this stage.

Outcomes:

I would love to come out of this course fully confident in my skills and being able to go straight into a work environment. This would mean becoming equally familiar with all Adobe design applications. I also want to come out with better presentation skills and being more relaxed when it comes to speaking to a group of people.

Threats:

Going into industry, it is an incredibly competitive line of business and there are thousands and thousands of designs going for the same jobs as you every day. You need to be at the top of your game and be offering some special that puts you above the rest. Because of this, although the money involved in projects can be very good, the work isn't consistent in many cases so you can hit dry spots.

Coming into my own

I've never been one to focus on my personal development outside of Uni and the work environment and haven't ever made the time too. But with intentially restricting my freelance work take on, and getting my head down while at college, I've had alot more free time to just research into artists, refine and realise my personal tastes alot more and get to know whats going on right now.

I was spurred on to do this after finding out so much more then the obvious about some of my favourite artists writing my contextual studies essay. It was so nice to find out that they had all had pretty similar stages of career and achievement that I have at this age, it was comforting to know I was doing things write.

It also make me really look at the way the focussed, structured their work process and methods, and prioritized and organized then goals and aspirations from a young age. I am still not dead set on a particular avenue in design that I'd liketo take and put my stamp on, I'm a perfectionist and would like to be skilled in many different ways. My illlustrative skills are strong, aswell as my Photoshop knowledge and design eye, but there is still so much more I want to learn. I've only lightly touched on Illustrator, and as big of a fan of typographical design as I am, I'm am SO interested on what that design application could offer me and what stuff it could help me come up with. Vectorized design and design elements are very current and apparent in design right now, so I've downloaded myself a copy of the Adobe program ready to experiment and get on with!

I've also been drawing and illustrating alot more. I really enjoy completing celebrity portraits and working on achieving realism and likeness, but lately I've been trying to not overthink my hand strokes and think about likeness and technique too much. It's been more about the overall look, the colour, the materials and just having more fun with my work. And scanning it and playing with my work about more on the computer too. I feel this helping my mind know my strengths and personal drawing style more with each sketch.

I think person development in and outside of college really help eachother out, and is something I will continue to make sure to do. I feel myself really coming into my own in terms of knowing my style, where I want to go, how to approach more types of briefs and complete current, quality work.

Time is up!

Today I'm handing in my third Unit, my D&AD Ministry Of Sound brief. I have to say, I am extremely pleased with the final 3 outcomes. I working very hard on creating the visuals and piecing together the figures out of typography was very time consuming, but was so worth it. I think the outcomes are unique, striking, vibrant and current, and exactly what I aimed to create for the project! Very pleased. You can view the final pieces below.

Half way point!

Research done with, time to take what I've seen, liked, hated, the trends, the techniques and the layouts and start to create.

I think when it comes to the Ministry Of Sound brand, the is SO much variety and such a giant market to cater to, that you can get pretty creative with it and give it your stamp of style. But a few things that are consistent within their visuals, neon, vibrancy, clean cut design and their logo is the main focus of their design most of the time. So it's really commendable that they have managed to transform and use their logo so many times!

I plan to do something very digital, text based, with a strong concept and message. And really try to capture the spirit of the music they play and try to capture the vibe of the actual club experience itself, because that's what we're promoting after all.

I have been really inspired by Navile Brody so far, his abstract, flat and layered work is something that really hits

a cord with me and I think adapted and developed, could really work for this brief. Below is a few more random images I've found which I really would love to draw from when developing my ideas.

LOVES!

Vector, contrast, pastels, striking, flow, statement, movement, light, shade, layers, flat/textured, photography, abstract. All words I draw inspiration and ideas from, that represent what I'd like to achieve with my Ministry of Sound work.

Lets get started

I'm not quite sure what to post about on my very first blog post, so I thought I'd talk about what i'm working on currently.

I've started my third unit within my graphic design degree. The brief has been given to us by D&AD and it is to come up with the promotional campaign for Ministry of  Sound and their 2012 Summer Sessions. What a fun brief! I've decided to go down the modern root and totally re-brand them and not give them a 3-D electro look and try and create a vectored/experimental look. With autumn elements incorporated.

I'll post my finished visuals in a few weeks as I progress with this. I'm excited to start developing my initial ideas.

And just as a last note, I'd like to post my final visuals from my last project. The brief was to predict and create an album direction, concept and cover for the Ting Tings new album. I decided to use the Punk era as my inspiration and execute my visuals using illustration. I'm very proud of the final outcomes!