Ian Anderson Workshop - Visiting Professional

Ian Anderson came in and I was lucky to be one of the few that got to attend the workshop.

I didn't know what to expect really but it was very straight forward. He first got us to each tell a joke (no matter how good or bad) and then discussed how a joke functions. The basis of a joke is that it has a narrative, it tells a story. After this he spoke about the importance of answering a brief, you need to give the client what they want and make sure the design communicates the story to its fullest potential. At the same time there is the idea of 'breaking the brief' which is a tricky thing to pull off and should only be done with confidence and reassurance that it will be better done that way.

So here was the task for the workshop.

   - design an A3 poster
   - you can use any colour you want but as long as it is black and white
   - you can use any font you want but as long as its Helvetica
   - and it has to use only the words 'You' and 'Me'

These were my responses.

http://issuu.com/charliecrosby/docs/me_you?mode=window

PPD Presentation - self evaluation

Having done the presentation and gotten it out of the way I feel relieved and it was actually quite relaxed. Once you get over the idea that your having to deliver the presentation you can really understand that its about you, your experience and your practice and it doesn't have anything to do with anyone else, with the exception of the people you want to work with.

I discussed most of what I planned to talk about but I never rehearse presentations because they come across to formal and wooden and usually I'll get flustered so doing it on the day is the best way for me personally.

I enjoyed everyone else's presentations too and noticed a few things that I could have mentioned. I could have reflected more on the previous 2 years and maybe even further before that to show the development on a grander scale. Also I could have used more slides to illustrate what I'm talking about instead of having 10 uniform slides. Its a consideration for future presentations that I may have to make in the industry.

Si Scott - Visiting Professional

I'm a big fan of Si Scotts work and I really appreciate that he's always stuck with drawing and and made a career from a fundamental skill that all creatives should have. His talk was quite interesting in terms of the clients he's worked for and he was a very genuine person which is great to see. I find it slightly unsettling or off putting if someone is too uptight about their work or tries to deliver an overly professional lecture.

The key thing that I took away from the lecture was that if you don't do work for yourself and put yourself out there then people wont notice you. Self initiated projects and work can really kickstart and/or refresh the interest in your skills and services as a designer.

PPD3 Presentation slides

This is my final edit of my presentation boards for OUPD301.

http://issuu.com/charliecrosby/docs/ppd3presetation1?mode=window

Cargo Collective - online portfolio

I've at last got round to give some more thought and effort to my online portfolio. With the presentations coming up I want to actually have it up and running properly. To begin with it only have one page with 4 projects on and they were not up to a professional standard. I've made a list of things that can be improved.

   - needs an about page
   - needs a contact page
   - needs an up to date logo
   - apply a favicon symbol if possible
   - upload more recent work
   - make work look more professional
   - adjust the layout of the pages/thumbnails/artwork etc
   - maybe revamp the personal branding

There's a lot to do on the face of things but its just a case of tackling one thing at a time. Firstly I added more pages and set up editing windows for each project that I will have up. The pages are now titled ABOUT, PORTFOLIO and CONTACT. Very straight forward and easy for viewers to understand. The about page will have a bit about my practice and my views and so on so they can get a feel for who I am. The portfolio will house any project based stuff or jobs etc and finally contact will have my details and possibly in the future I can added a client list so people wanting to know more about what I was like to work with can go a contact them.

Three pages is the maximum I can have at the moment. I'd have to pay to get a few extra privileges which I wont be able to afford alongside a lot of other expenses that will be coming up.

Secondly I wanted to edit the thumbnails of the page because they were too big and in your face. It's not great to look at on screen.

These are the new thumbnails.

Making the Favicon was quite easy as Cargo as and uploader for it. Using the dimensions given it was a simple matter of finding a favicon generator on Google that would reformat it for me. This is the favicon on a large scale.

And here it is to scale.

I've replaced the CPJC logo with a simpler letter C in Gotham Bold. I'm contemplating phasing out cpjcdesign and rebranding myself with something thats more personal, current and to the point. At the moment I'm going to stick with the Letter C whilst I work on a some more concept development.

I still need to add a lot of content to the projects and work on a better layout to display the work but Its a very long winded process working with Cargo so I'll come back to it. But for now there is a massive improvement.

Professional Opportunities

OTTO

Since starting the brand as a project purely to make some of my own screen printed shirts, its really progressed and their is potential for it to become a fully functioning business that will allow me to explore and practice my creativity through screen printing and eventually clothing design.

I've been having conversations with my parents and their is the possibility for me to do a kickstarter funding scheme and buy my own printing carousel along with a few other bits to set up a small studio.

Dots Printhaus - internship screen printing

I've been in touch with Johnny and Joe at Dots a few times over the year and last time we spoke Joe mentioned they were considering taking on interns and doing workshops in screen printing. This would be a great opportunity to really learn more about screen printing and whats possible. So far I've been working on my technique and developing the skill purely to have practiced the method, however my knowledge and creativity through screen print has so much more potential.

Creative Director/ designer VHL

View Holographics Ltd is in need of people to create artwork and designs to promote their products and services. This would be a convenient and paid opportunity to work with new technology and methods of communication. As to whether it's what I want to be doing as a major part of my career I'm unsure.

Freelance C2 studio

I've already had a few people come to me through friends looking for some design work to be done so I want to keep the creativity going and get more projects under my belt/help out some friends by taking the briefs on as freelance work. This will be a good chance to push my new personal brand C2 further.

OTTO - the business

Following the success of the OTTO launch event at Outlaws Yacht Club, it has had a great response and I feel that all the effort that went into it was worthwhile.

I feel more confident now that this is something that I would like to pursue as a business venture. Other clothing companies such and Hype, Abandon Ship Apparel and Represent started off in similar fashion and thats the kinda of success and potential OTTO has. It will have to be a steady development which will need to have some financial backing and help from others who have more of a business orientated mind.

Rough plan:-

   - 2013/14 - work part time for living costs and spend the rest of my time on the business. Running it mostly online and through popup events and collaborations.

   - 2014/15 - improve quality of the clothing and work on new collections, getting manufactures to create the clothing more than myself having to order and print them all the time. Get clothes into boutiques and shops in Leeds.

   - 2015/16 - leave part time work by the end of the year and focus on the business. Push the clothes out to shops and boutiques in Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Possibly London. Get a proper website.

   - 2016/17 - open flagship store in either Leeds or Manchester (depending on the success up to this point and the state of the economy) with in house screen printing facility.

   - 2017/18 - launch brand campaign to promote the label and reach out to more places across the country.


This is all an ideal plan which can be realised but there is still a lot of things to sort out before any of it can go ahead. With local interest from boutiques such as The Allotment, Bo Carter and Audere Couture there is a lot of hope and potential for the brand.