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.

Modern Designers Studio Placement

Similarly to Creative Concern It was two years ago and I failed to keep in touch with them. However, a can recap the experience nonetheless. It was much different to Creative Concern as the size of the studio, the amount of people I was working with and the kind of work/jobs they were doing were much different. Going from a big studio at the top of a cotton mill with a great view and lots of books and interesting things on the walls to a small white studio with 2 windows and a dog was quite a transition. I didn't fall in love with it like I did at Creative Concern but I appreciate the experience more now as it was a more hard working environment. And I spent less time following people around and observing and more time getting involved with some of their work and doing a lot of research.

I only spent a week at Modern Designers but it was a long week and I wanted a rest at the end. Now I would say it was a good week and it gave me a good taste of whats to come from the industry. If I could have done anything differently, again I would have prepared some questions and tried to get more out of them instead of getting on with the tasks they set me. I suppose that is part of a learning curve and a development of my understanding of how to get the most out of placement or studio visit.

I'll be sending them a thank you soon.

Creative Concern Studio Placement

Although my placement at Creative Concern was two years ago now I feel its a good idea to recap on my experience and how its informed my practice and my views on the design industry.

Firstly, my taste in design and my design approach was much different then to what it is now as well as my skills having come on leaps and bounds. I would be very narrow with my design approach and only  aim for one thing when given a task or a brief to respond to. Now I'm more open and I let as much of my surroundings, findings and experimentation direct my response.

Working in a big studio was really nice because I got to meet a lot of people that all have different roles and experience. Some were more business lead and worked with organising things, and others were the designers that worked on the projects. For a few days they had a programmer/coding freelancer come in to code a website.

By the end of the placement I was pleased to have done it because I learnt a lot about how studios operated. If I could have done it differently I would have asked more questions, got more contacts and kept in touch more after completing the placement. But at that point I didn't think ahead enough to do anything.

I want to get back in touch and thank the studio so I'm going to make them a customised print/gift that they will hopefully appreciate.

Ian Anderson Lecture - Visiting Professional

Ian Andersons lecture, following his workshop, was interesting. His work is nothing like what would catch my eye today. But with that said, he is a very good designer and his ways of thinking are what really gripped me.

It was also interesting that he'd had success with Designers Republic and then it failed and has been revived. Gives young designers like myself a reassurance that you can come back and pick yourself up if something goes wrong. This is one of my main concerns as a professional. I just don't want to be a disappointment.