Personal Logo Development 3

After receiving some feedback on my initial designs, I've refined my logo so the connection between the "e" and "w" is better and used this design to come up with a stationary system. I plan on using the diagonal slashes as a reoccurring element throughout all of the design pieces as well as the teal color. I'm not exactly sure how I want to have my logo and personal information (address, phone number, email) arranged at the top of the page, so I have a few versions mocked up. I also have a few versions of my business card. I haven't decided if it is better to have it be two-sided or one. Also, I was playing around with the idea of reversing the colors so the background is teal while the text is white. That way my business card stands out against other plain white ones. I was also thinking about using a grey color for the text rather than black so it is a little softer, but I'm not set on that idea since grey might not be readable if it is at a smaller scale. Once I finalize the designs of these pieces, I will use the same design approach to make a reference sheet, bid sheet, and my email portfolio.

Revised logo design

Cover letter

Resume (header option 1)

Resume (header option 2)

Resume (header option 3)

Business card options

Thank you card (cover and inside)

AIGA Detour 2

Last Thursday, I attended the AIGA Detour event at BitMethod. It was really great seeing their space since they came in and talked to our Mobile App Design class last semester. Ever since I had that class, I have had an interest in mobile app design, so hearing about what BitMethod does was really interesting. I thought it was good that there are multiple smaller companies all working in the same space. There are a lot of creative people all working in the same area, so it must be helpful for them if they need to bounce ideas off of each other. It was also reassuring to hear from Amanda (the designer at BitMethod) that not many companies have specific positions for mobile app designers, but these positions are rapidly growing and appearing in companies. She mentioned that she is the only one in the area that does a job like this. Another good thing that happened at this Detour event was that some other Drake students and I met with a student from Grand View who wants to start up an AIGA chapter for her school. Hopefully our AIGA student group can plan an event before the end of the year and invite some Grand View students so they can have an incentive to start their own group!

Playing ping pong with other Drake students at BitMethod

Personal Logo Development 2

I developed some logo designs in Illustrator to see how they would actually look on the computer. I think I'm at the point now where I just need some feedback from other people to determine which direction I should go. I have three logo versions of one idea (shown larger and to the right) and also a color swatch for the color featured throughout my stationary system. I incorporated one of the logo designs onto what would be a letterhead that would be on my resume and cover letter. I like the idea of the continuous diagonal line as long as it is not too overwhelming. I think that this design element could easily be transferred into the various stationary system pieces in multiple ways.

A few personal logo options

How the personal logo would appear on a letterhead

Personal Logo Development

I made several different versions of my personal logo to go on my stationary system. Many of the ideas that I drew I do not want to use, but drawing out all of the possibilities allowed me to expand on some and also realize what I didn't want. After drawing several different options, I figured out that I liked the options that involved my initials of "ew" the best, and have them both be lowercase. I knew that I wanted to keep it simple to keep the aesthetic consistent with my overall design approach. In order to keep it simple, I also want to make the font be sans serif. However, in documents such as my resume, I will use a serif font for body text (and use the sans serif as a headline). At this point, I am going through all of these options and actually creating them on the computer to see which one looks best.

Page 1 of personal logo options

Page 2

Revised Portfolio Project Brief/Timeline

Objective:
The main objective of this project is to create a cohesive set of well-executed portfolios that will ultimately hep me obtain a job and impress future possible employers. I will find a system and way of organization that will resonate across all three portfolios (presentation, e-mail, and online). Each portfolio will reflect my personality and style as a designer, but will also be presented in a professional manner. The strongest pieces of my design work (either class, extra curricular activity, or internship pieces) will be arranged to present myself as a professional designer and show my range of capabilities. Each project will also be representative of an experience I've had while working on a design project (such as working in groups, delegating others, etc.). Much thought and time will be had on this project because a portfolio isn't just a container for showing my work; it is a design piece in itself as well.

Criteria for Success:
In order for these portfolios to be successful, the pieces in the portfolios must have a consistent organization. This would mean that the same pieces would be in the same order in each of the three portfolios so there is a consistency among them. The display of each one will be clean and simple to reflect my personal style and appear professional to potential employers who view it. The prints in the presentation portfolio will be printed by an outside printer so the quality is the best it can be. The e-mail portfolio will not exceed 5MB to make sure it is easily e-mailed and anyone it is sent to will be able to open it. In order to keep track of the process of the portfolio creation and to make sure I am accountable for completing tasks on my timeline, postings will frequently be made on my personal blog.

Items Included in the Project:
There will ultimately be three different portfolio presentation pieces. The main portfolio will be the presentation portfolio. A leather-bound case will be purchase in a size that will be acceptable for transporting and displaying to employers (14x17 inches). This portfolio will be given the most time and attention, although the others will be made at the same time. The content within each portfolio will be the same for all three. The pieces chosen will be well-executed and recent as well as show my design abilities. The pieces will be arranged starting with my strongest piece, and ending with another strong piece so the beginning and end of the presentation is memorable. The rest of the pieces will be arranged in a way that shows a wide variety of design skills, and a diverse selection of types of design pieces.

Completion and Execution:
The presentation portfolio will be used in professional settings such as a job interview. The people that will be viewing this will be potential employers as well as other professionals who will critique it (so I can make revisions). The online portfolio will be on a website that allows individuals to display their work and view others' as well (Behance.com). The link to this portfolio site will be beneficial to send to potential employers once an interview is set up so they can view some of my work before the interview. During the interview I will then have the chance to further explain my pieces because they will be familiar with them already. The same idea will go for the e-mail portfolio. This one will especially be useful if the interview cannot be in person, or I want a more direct way to show someone my portfolio. The e-mail portfolio will also be beneficial because it shows my design abilities, rather than just displaying my work on a generic site. It will also accurately be cohesive with my stationary system. In all three portfolio pieces, the content will continue to change as I design more recent work. I will be sure to update each portfolio with new and better work once some of them get older.

Timeline:
- February 4: Project brief/timeline completed
- February 4: Review all work and choose some for portfolios
- February 14: Class meeting (review project brief)
- February 23: Presentation portfolio case ordered online
- March 3: Place in various design projects into presentation portfolio (ready for critique)
- March 3: AIGA Get a Job Bootcamp (multiple portfolio reviews)
- March 15: Choose content that will be included in each portfolio (with room to add more later)
- March 15: Continue to place in work on online portfolio site
- April 5: Class meeting (discuss stationary system)
- April 5: Take photos of projects after class (keeping a consistent style among the photos)
- April 8: Start finalizing e-mail portfolio with newly decided stationary system
- April 9: Start setting up portfolio reviews with professionals
- April 22: Multiple portfolio reviews are completed
- April 24: Class portfolio review
- April 24: Revisions from critiques are made and all portfolios begin to be finalized
- May 10: All work is turned in

Revised Stationary System Project Brief/Timeline

Objective: 
The purpose of this project is to create a cohesive, functional stationary system for use in a professional setting. This stationary system will effectively show my design aesthetic through my personal logo and the treatment of the various pieces of text on each printed piece. There will be use of white space on a ll pieces to communicate how I take a simple, clean approach to design. All stationary system pieces will be treated similarly so they will look cohesive when viewed together. Another main component of this project is my personal design statement. This statement will describe who I am as a designer and how I approach a design project. It will also mention what sets me apart from other designers and how I will be an asset to any company. The writing of each of the stationary pieces will be written in a manner that shows my professionalism. This means that there will be no grammatical or spelling errors and will also use professional design vocabulary. My talent, range of abilities, and level of professionalism will be accurately communicated in the statement.

Criteria for Success:
This stationary system must be functional as my resume, cover letter, business card, etc., and also reflect my personal style as a designer. Since employers merely glance at resumes and cover letters most of the time, I need to make sure that the design is memorable as well as clean so the information can be easily found. Every piece of the stationary system must be cohesive so they look like one system. The e-mail portfolio will also reflect the style in this stationary system, so the design will again be simple and clean so the focus is on the work. It would not be beneficial if the design of the stationary system was so overwhelming that it is distracting people from looking at the content. In order to make sure I am accountable for my work and stay true to the following timeline, I will periodically post development updates on my blog.

Items Included in the Project:
One of the main pieces of the stationary system is my resume. This document will contain a list of all of my relevant experiences and accomplishments. However, this list will change depending on the situation the resume is use. Different positions might be searching for different talents or experiences, so I will tailor the content to each position. The cover letter is also an important document. This will further explain my resume experiences in more detail so I can better describe how I would be a good choice for a job position. Like the resume, the text of this cover letter will change depending on the situation and the job applied for. In this letter, I will mention my strengths and capabilities as well as how I could be an asset to the company. The information will be presented in a straightforward manner, and it will be clearly seen how the potential employer can contact me. The thank you note and business card will utilize a similar style based off the stationary system design, but will appear differently since they are not the usual text document like the resume or cover letter. The design statement will be similar to the cover letter, except it will be more general because it will be used in a variety of situations instead of one specific job position.

Timeline:
- March 11: Personal logo ideas developed and ready for critique
- March 15: Color options researched and one chosen for the stationary system
- March 15: Logo options are gone over with others and one is chosen
- March 25: Stationary system (preliminary) is developed
- April 5: Class meeting (review all stationary system items and finalize design)
- April 8: Develop other materials with the stationary system (reference sheet, bid sheet, e-mail portfolio)
- April 17: Incorporate stationary system design elements into the various portfolios
- April 24: Class meeting (portfolio reviewed)
- April 24: Start refining all stationary system and portfolio pieces
- May 10: All work turned in

ColorFX Printer Tour

A couple weeks ago, Laura and I took a tour of the ColorFX printer facility in Des Moines. I have been in contact with some employees of this printer because they are helping us print our Plans Book for the Advertising Capstone. Just in these few weeks, I have learned a lot about what it takes to have something professionally printed. I had to request for estimates from several places, and also keep in contact with people there to figure out how to go about the process of actually giving them the files to print. In order to make sure I knew exactly what I was getting myself into, I wanted to actually see where they print everything, so my contact at ColorFX gladly offered to give Laura and I a tour. We were able to see all of the different areas where the different printing steps take place. The first area we saw was where the employees receive the files and look them over on screen before sending it over to have them printed. The most interesting part was when we were taken into the big warehouse spaces where the big printers are. At the time of our visit, they were in the process of printing a mailer for Mediacom, so they had thousands of those being printed while we were there. The actual process of printing it was so fast. We saw how the sheets of paper would feed into one end, and then go through each of the four colors one at a time, and then eventually make their way to another part of the machine to be cut and folded. One thing I learned while I was there is that if there is a gloss or metallic element on the print, it is added as a fifth ink in addition to the regular CMYK. Another interesting part of the tour was seeing a special type of printing machine that is fed the paper from a giant roll rather than individual sheets. This makes the whole process move more quickly and efficiently, which also gives ColorFX an advantage over their competitors. Overall it was a very interesting and insightful tour, and I now have a greater appreciation for everything that printers do!

Business card I received after the tour from the contact I have at ColorFX

Needed Changes

Looking back at my original timelines, I realized that I am very behind on the schedule I planned. I have ordered and received my portfolio presentation case (and used it for several portfolio reviews) and have started to add work to an online portfolio site on Behance, but I have not been able to start on my stationary design options yet. In my psychology class we recently learned about the planning fallacy (thinking you can do too much in a short amount of time), and I think I have fallen victim to it. I didn't realize earlier in the semester when I was creating the timelines how much time I would be investing in my advertising capstone project. For the past two and a half weeks, that is basically all I have been focused on. Now that this project is almost complete, I can start to focus more of my attention on other classes. By this weekend, I plan to revise my timeline to make it more realistic, and also start working on identity system/stationary designs. With a little planning and some catching up, I'm sure I can get back on track to where I need to be!

AIGA Get A Job Bootcamp

Last weekend I attended the AIGA Get A Job Bootcamp at the Des Moines Central Library. Overall I thought it was a really great experience. The guest speaker from Saturday Manufacturing had some great tips about making your portfolio and your work stand out. I really liked when he said that the work in your portfolio should show thinking behind the work (rather than it just look aesthetically pleasing). I know when I'm working on projects I have a lot of thinking behind each decision, so I will remember to mention this thinking process in future portfolio reviews. Listening to the panel of recent graduates was also very insightful. I was glad to hear that they have struggled with some of the problems I am struggling with right now (mainly working with printers and getting things ready to be sent to clients). This just reminded me that there are a lot of aspects about this profession that can't be taught in a classroom. The best part of the day in my opinion was the portfolio reviews. I sat down with four individuals and discussed my work I have in my portfolio (which finally came in the mail!). Everyone had nothing but good comments to make about my pieces, which was great to hear. One of the pieces I included in my portfolio was a mobile app I designed for a class last semester, and most of my reviewers said that it was a great piece to include because it's different than what most people have. I know that I have to do some tweaking to my portfolio and include more recent pieces, but overall I think I have a good start on it, and this Bootcamp gave me some other insights on how to make it better.

Folder of materials I received at the AIGA Get a Job Bootcamp