End of the logo dev

I have come to the end of the logo development for the Zen brief. I have now entered the branding for the logo concepts. Things are going slowly but smoothly, and I have 3/4 different concepts for a logo.

Wheelscape brief.

So i tried to get this project done by tonite. I made a start at least, but haven't come close to finishing it.
...I did get kind of busy at the weekend.

I at least have a good direction with the project, and it still shouldn't take long to do. Just with no real deadline for it and it not being a lot of work to do, its tough finding incentive to do it sometimes.

making a start on wheelscape.

About to make a start to the banner design for Wheelscape. My aim is to have this half of the Wheelscape brief done by Sunday evening and them send it off to Wheelscape. I am only spending a couple of days on this project to try out the fast paced working method as mentioned in a blog post earlier.

This is also a good time to be able to step away from the zen work.

Feedback

I have received feedback on the logo concepts for Zen Creative. Although I will have the feedback written up in my sketchbook properly for each concept. I generally received some good feedback, as well as some very helpful constructive feedback on where they can be improved. I am happy to get this feedback before I went through with developing some branding for them. The feedback also backed up some thoughts I had been having about a couple of my ideas. For instance nearly everyone preferred the lower-case font usage of the Conduit ITC font. I had been in favour of the lower-case over the upper-case myself. From this I know I will not be continuing development with the upper-case font.

 I will be amending some of the logo's and they will hopefully be much improved through slight adjustments over the next couple of days, and then I am going to take a quick break from the Zen brief to work on the Wheelscape brief as I want to get the banner to him before Christmas.

Zen 2nd meeting info

Being close to some finished logo designs, I contacted Zen Web Solutions again to try and arrange a short meeting or review of the designs. Unfortunately he is busy until after Christmas and I can't get in till January. Even though this is a little late on in the project, I will instead of waiting with my designs until then I am going to carry on on with them and create some branding things which are required for the brief. That way I am not wasting time.

Research document

I have changed the layout of my research document once again, to make it easier to read. This time i have used 2 columns rather than 1. I have also adapted it to my logo's colour scheme to fit in with my branding more.

I am happier with the look of this currently on screen. The blue added to it really brightens the document up. I may look into changing the page size to slightly wider in order to escape the A4 size for final printing. However untill then i will stick with a4 to allow for easier printing for reviews etc.

Wheelscape project intention.

As the Wheelscape brief is only small, I will be including this within my work. I do plan to use the short 3-day method way of working to complete this as this is a new way of working for me. I would like to see how well it works for me and how it compares to my usual way of working. which is much longer deadlines and a lot of research. I would like to just simply do the Banner and Card for Wheelscape. and seeing how the design quality compares.

Sketching

So i have begun sketching and development work for the logo for Zen Creative. I did decide on a name change from Zen web solutions as I thought it was a bit long. That was probably my first major decision. I am currently trying out development and using the guidelines within the brief they have sent.  Which is using their colour scheme of black and orange, as well as using the Conduit ITC font. I am also thinking of ways to implement the 3x3 squares and changing and experimenting what can be done with them. This is what i am doing before I essentially start from scratch with a new logo design not based off the old one.

Quick way of working.

I came across the blog/site of a talented young designer called Andrew Kim. He had recently done a proposed re-brand for Microsoft. During this project he gave himself a very small time limit to come up with something and finish the project.

The calender shows he only spent three days on the project. I thought this was a great way of working, giving yourself a very short deadline enabling you to really force a good design out as quick as possible. I personally think shorter deadlines are better for design rather than really lengthy ones. I would like to try out this form of working.
Since the wheelscape project is a shot project. It might be worth setting aside a few days, to try this out on it.

Time management

I am stopping the weekly tasks from now on. Simply due to me changing and doing other things throughout the week than originally planned. I still create small paper lists of weekly and daily tasks, but even they change on a regular basis.

From now on I will just be using my Gantt chart for time management due to it covering the project as a whole.

PC Paramedics

A potential client from a while back only just got to emailing me back asking if he could still get some work done. I will not be doing any work for him as part of this module as I feel I have sufficient workload with a re brand and potentially something from Wheelscape. I may undertake work from him personally however, but definitely not part of this module.

Sketchbook

I have finally started sketchbook and development work for the Zen Web Solutions brief. Initial ideas and a breakdown of their current logo are in. I will be mostly working on the sketchbook now that a lot of the research is completed.

I will be exploring potential new logos within their current logo, experimenting with what is possible with it, before starting a fresh idea. I think this is a good way to undertake a re-brand. Most companies that have re-branded successfully have done this such as Starbucks and KFC. On the other hand Gap re-branded a few years back which led to dreadful feedback since it was so different to their well known and well regarded old logo. 

Although starting sketchbook work is a little behind schedule to say the least. I still think I can hit the other deadlines from now on as well as stay on track on my Gantt chart.

Wheelscape update.

I have had a lot of contact with Wheelscape however their last email stated they were busy but would come back with a brief for me. Currently I do no think I will undertake the brief as part of the module due to time restraints. If this week gets me a lot of work done then I will consider it. However if this turns out to be another lazy week, I do not feel like I will have time to undertake a brief from them as part of the course.

Week 7

Still not been doing much of anything as of late. No idea why, just not really motivated to do so.
Feeling much more motivated now. Might actually be able to get back on track of things soon.

Week 7 plan is much the same as the past 2 weeks.

• Gantt Chart 
• Final Statement of Intent
• Intellectual Property research/statement
• Start sketch book for Zen project!
• Finish Zen research for folder. 

Intellectual Property

Four kinds of Intellectual property.
Finish at home, and do research page on it.

Week 5 review and week 6 plan.

Wow a pretty slow week this one. I really could of done more.
On the plus side I have received the brief from Zen and with a little bit added and a quick touch up it can be a rather nice and full creative brief. I am happy with the content and the deliverables as well as some of the directions on the brief I think it will allow for a good creative challenge for me.

Now that I have the brief and everything is more or less confirmed I don't think there will as much wasted time. As before receiving the brief i felt it potentially wasteful doing lots of research for it when I things could fall through or go cold.

So now my plans are all good, I will continue research and I will also start developing ideas. I will also redraft a second Gantt chart which fits in with some of the dates and times on the brief.

Week 6

• Refine and complete brief to a higher standard.
• Second Gantt Chart draft.
• More Zen related research.
• Start sketching ideas.
• Statement of intent draft.

Wheelscape response.

Just sent the email to Wheelscape. I tried my best to avoid taking a long trek to Bristol, but I think it might be a good idea to go. If I hadn't of heard anything from Zen about a brief i would of gone down to Bristol to sort this out asap as it is a good opportunity. However I do not want to overload myself with work for the project. I feel this would just be a bad move.  All these emails will be included within the client liasing folder on the hand in.

I don;t really want to be turning down either of these for their work so I am trying my best to get the most out of each situation without overloading with work. Head hurts.

Wheelscape progress

I have received an email from Wheelscape who are inviting me to their office for an informal design meeting in the office. This is all good however it is in Bristol! So it is a little far to be travelling when the Zen project along with other things re keeping me a very busy person during these times.

I am unsure whether I should go all the way their. on the down side it is far, and i am currently working with Zen on thier project .which is a big project in its self. However Wheelscape has many benefits such as i'd be working with something to do with skateboarding, I am also still waiting for the Zen brief to come through properly. Which I will be following up on in the next day or two.

I think I will take a day or two to decide on this.

Week 5 Actions.

After week 4 I feel as if I am not directly sticking to the actions set on here. But instead using them as guidelines, as I often re-define the importance of some other none listed things throughout the week.

I have managed to look a bit more into some already researched topics and i have 90% completed self branding. This is about as far as that list goes though. Even so i have managed to complete a rationale and get feedback and complete my artist biog. On top of this i have done a first draft Gantt chart. So overall I am happy with this weeks development even though I did not do what i originally set out to do.

Week 5 Actions.

• A little bit more on already researched topics.
• Begin researching into competition of Zen Web Solutions.
• Begin research into Zen Web Solutions and Zen internet's company history.
• Second draft of Gantt chart
• Write up and finish development of Artist Biog.  

2nd client

Even though the Zen web solutions brief is more or less in the bag. I am still thinking about taking on a potential brief from Wheelscape. This is only based on my hopes as to what they might set. As they have hinted towards a print  based document sucjg as a portfolio or brochure for themselves. And obviously I am excited to be working with a skateboard based company.

Stefan Sagmeister

After learning and watching a TED talk with Stefan Sagmeister I was intrigued and impressed enough to buy his book entitled "Made you look". Which is a collection of his studios work. After looking at some initial examples of his work on his site. My overall impression of his work particularly with branding is he goes beyond basic principles of branding, and thoroughly strong brand and identity concept which often has a very simple look to it to create a very unique look to it.
I hope to gain some good creative influences from this book, which may help either my own personal branding or for my client project.

Meeting with Lee Matthews

So I had my initial meeting with Lee Matthews from Zen Web Solutions at Zen internet. It couldn't really of gone better. He mentioned the brief or actually project I would be working on which will be a re brand for Zen web Solutions themselves as they are currently looking into it.

He was very enthusiastic about helping out which was greatly refreshing to see and also helped me to relax a little, and aloud me to relax a little rather than being my usual nervous wreck during interviews and  Overall I don't think there is much different I would of done, I got all my questions cleared up and he mentioned sending the full brief for the project early next week.

All in all it went great.

WheeeeeelScape.

I can't help but stress how excited I am about the potential with working with WheelScape skatepark for a brief. Keep thinking this could be my ticket into the biz I've wanted to work in for a long time!
Still I'd like to remain calm and keep seated.

Week 4 Action Plan

This week I need to push forward on branding for myself to enable a more professional approach for when needed. It will also help my research documents to be come easier to manage as well as quicker to complete.

• Look more in-depth into my already researched topics. 
• Finish developing branding for myself. 
• If I gain a client create a draft copy of my brief for the project.
• Also create a draft copy of the statement of intent to go alongside the brief. 

I did not manage to get much done last week, however the recent interest in new potential projects has sparked some motivation for me to get some of the less creative stuff such as some outstanding research out of the way to clear a path for the creative work. 

New options

Having sent out soem emails over the weekend, I have already recieved a couple of promising and interesting replies.
The most exciting reply i have had is from Wheelscape.com who design and build concrete skateparks around the UK. This is great for me as i have a huge interest in skateboarding. So the chance to do some work for these is almost a dream come true for me.

I have also recieved a text message from Green Deal Consortia, who is a small company based in my local area of Urmston. This might be a good option based on how close and reletively easy it potentially is to gain good feedback and consulting with as a client.

Meeting arranged with Zen Internet

After speaking with my brother about possible work with Zen Broadband, he has stated it is probably best if I come in and speak with the graphic designer there. He arranged for me to come in on Wednesday 17th October between 14:00 and 14:30 for a quick chat.

Hopefully this goes well and I can obtain a brief and a working client for this project.

REMEMBER TO TAKE NOTES.

In the mean time i will email some others about a possible client project. I hope to use the site www.freeindex.co.uk as it lists hundreds of small companies across the UK.

Week 3 Action Plan

Week 3 Action Plan

• Client brief draft, if anything an indicitive version of the brief. 
• Email, lots of potential clients and start a client contact folder.
• Identify and document my competitors. 
•  If a potential client arises, create a short rational about it. 

Artist bio first draft

Nick Ainsworth born 1991 in South Manchester England, is a Graphic Designer who currently still resides in his home town of Manchester. His main areas of design are layout and editorial as well as branding, however he also uses his own photography within his work. Nick graduated from Salford University 2011 from a two year HND Graphic design course. During this course Nick took part and learned of in numerous areas of design from web, to packaging, animation video production and video editing. At the Salford end of year show he was awarded with a student award for graphic design on the HND course. He then went on a gap year from education where he worked on a few personal projects along with a few clients. In 2012 he returned to education to  complete a BA degree course in Creative Media and Visual Communication course at The Manchester College. After education Nick plans to get a junior level or better job within graphic design, either working for a company or working with an agency. Aside from design Nick is also interested in skateboarding and has been skating since an early age.

This is a first draft of my artist biog, it covers all the information I think is relevant from research and looking at other short artist biog's.

I think this is good enough first time round, however it may be subject to a little change if i feel necessary later on in the project.

Possible client soon.

I spoke to my brother briefly a few days ago about a possible brief from his work. He has come back with good news, the seem very interested in helping out, and they are going about to try to arranging something for me.
Good news indeed.

Bio bullet points.

To start this artist bio, I need to think of a few points to base it about.

• Quick overview of background born 1991
• Based in Manchester
• What I currently do in design.
• Education history briefly
• Notable achievements?
• Currently up to?

I think with these points i should be able to get around 200 words, well maybe. 

In order to get a slightly better understanding I will look at some existing bio's for designers and artists etc. to get a better idea of what content should be in there.

logo ideas.

I have quickly over the past couple of days spent a little bit of time developing 2 potential logo's.

The first idea.
This logo is more or less complete, only unsure about colouring of the orange. However I think if it is left quite open and colouring could be subject to change and have no true colour, allowing some flexibility.

The second idea.
There is a few still undecided things about this logo if I were to use it, such as colouring and whether or not i want the word "creative" there, however the general look is there to it. I originally had a square rather than a circle, however I removed when i added the word creative. as it made the whole logo look too blocky. On its own though, I think it was on even par with the circle, mainly down to preference.

I think I will continue some development into these, and progress to a business card with both to see how they look when branding becomes a factor, and it is not just a stand alone logo.
I will also try to seek out some quick feedback from some sources if possible, as i do not want to spend more than another 2 days on the entire branding thing for myself.

What i want from my logo.

After looking through a selection and variety of logos for freelance designers, to get more of an insight into what i would like my own logo to look like i have decided on some things.

• I would like it simple and iconic.
• I want it to be my initials.
• Doesn't necessarily have to have my full name in it, as it will hopefully be almost always on something with my full details on it such as business card, or website in the future. 

In short I want to use this as a good basis and example of what I want my logo to be.
image taken from http://www.john-williamson.com/ 

Logo/self branding thoughts.

If i am to appear professional to clients, I need to have a brand identity. This is actually something which has been bugging me for a few years, I personally find branding yourself THE hardest thing to do in design. I am just never satisfied with what I come up with.

However, since I more or less NEED a brand identity for this project, I am somewhat forced to create one and fast. I am not seeing this as bad, maybe a real short deadline is what I've needed to be able to finally brand myself. 

business card

Having to create a business card for myself has reminded me off one of the greatest movie scenes of all time.
I seriously love this scene.
From a design point of view, being able to invoke that kind of response in someone is probably what we all secretly want.

Week 2 actions

Week 2 Actions

This week i will be looking into and following up on any leads of work i can find or create.

• Follow up on freelance.co.uk. Find 5 decent looking briefs/work posts and contact the poster. 
• Ask my brother to see if his place (Zen internet limited) has anything they would like doing. 
• Contact my work (MUFC) to see if they have anything they would like doing.
• Get my business card up and going. This is crucial if i am to be having i am to be having contact with anyone in person. 
• Get in contact with past friend from Salford to see if he would like any work doing for his business.
• Ask around my local area (Urmston) to see if any of the small business's would like some free work either in branding or advertising. 
• Make contact with the 2 businesss's on Liv's list.

Hopefully if all these actions are followed through properly i will be able to generate a good client with some work.

Other job sites review.

Sadly these recommended sites came up short and nothing on these sites were of any value. creativepool despite having a freelance section it is very small, with only 1 "brief" available in Manchester.

Aiga.org was a bit of a let down with it all being USA based, and in total did not have nearly as much vacancies compared to others.

Carbonmade was also a let down, claiming to have over 1,200,000 projects available  However after signing up i could not find a way to view or see these projects, at least not with a free account.

www.coroflot.com is less of a portfolio site and presents itself as more of a general design orientated jobs site. Despite this it is more of the same as behance. With mostly staff employment jobs rather than freelance work and jobs. There was very little in terms of freelance potential work.

freelancers.net is another site supposed for freelancers to find briefs and work. In my opinion I found the site to have very little brief style work and the majority of that was web based and programming based opportunities, in total the site only had 5 smallish pages of job listings. Also the job listings where mostly staff vacancies rather than briefs.

www.freelanceswitch.com is a site which specifically has one off briefs posted, the major downside that to apply for any of them you need a paid subscription. Even though I am currently not prepared to do this, after looking through some of the briefs available they were potentially very good and professional although with a limited number. unfortunatly without paying or subscribing to the site there is no way of viewing the full brief or even contacting the poster.

Although at a glance freelancer.co.uk seemed like the best potential place for all sorts of od designs jobs and even some full creative briefs, however after trying to pursue one of the posts, I found out a paid subscription is required to make contact with the poster.

Behance.

After checking Behance a little more in-depth It was clear that it was not the type of design job website i had hoped for. Nearly all job listings where for actual full or part time jobs either in house or working for a design agency.
On top of that nearly all the job listings were for and based in America. In the entire website there was only 1 Manchester based jog offering, and this was for a PHP web developer.

Job/Portfolio sites.

After being set the task of researching into portfolio sites and job sites specifically. I have decided to look into and list a few of the more recommended sites. After having knowledge of a few different ones, I will compare the types of jobs and work offered, in both quality and quantity of the jobs as well as types of design areas.

http://www.authenticjobs.com/ 

http://www.aiga.org/

http://www.behance.net/

http://carbonmade.com/

http://www.coroflot.com/

http://www.creativepool.co.uk/

http://www.freelancers.net/

http://www.freelancer.co.uk/

http://freelanceswitch.com/

After reading through a few forums and lists, It became clear which jobs sites were apparently better for finding work as a graphic designer. After having a quick glimpse through some of them I can honestly say that these do not seem to specifically post freelance work and briefs as such, but more full and part time jobs within agencies and also freelance jobs available within agencies. Despite this I will thoroughly browse them and potentially more sites for a brief style job.  

Where to start looking?

To start this brief I have to pick a brief.
And to pick a brief I have to look for one.
I do not know much about finding singular briefs and freelancing. I feel this is a good opportunity to try and find our how freelancers get some work. In order to start looking for them I should make list of potential places to find work.

Portfolio websites such as Behance and Carbonmade.
Gumtree
LinkedIN
Up coming business's
Local business's
Notice Boards in supermarkets etc.
Social Networking
Networking events such as Manchester Chamber of Commerce
D&AD
Job fairs
Up and coming Bands/musicians and photographers
Art galleries such as the Cornerhouse and Whitworth
People, friends and family who might know someone who is looking


Currently these are the places I have in mind.
I think this is a good start to finding a brief as there are lots of leads and interesting places to look, weather or not I will find what I am looking for is another story. I think even though this is the first part of the brief, it will also be the most challenging and difficult. To learn how to find work and to learn what the client wants is precisely what I've wanted education to teach me, so far this is the only chance i've had within education to properly see what its like.

This helped me for more than one module.

What is your current practice/specialist area?
I currently would say I do not have a specialist area. Even though there are areas that I do have more experience in such as branding, editorial based work and advertisement. At the moment I am trying to develop my specialist area from a small list of subject areas I have tried and liked. After dismissing other areas of design I am not to keen on such as animation, motion graphics. It is down to wanting to learn web as I currently see web design as a necessity to some level, I also have a interest in interface/layout design as well as branding.
  

What are you passionate about?
My passions tend to lie in and outside of design. I love playing games and skateboarding, these are the two main things in my life which I can always go to to relax and have fun, regardless or what mood or situation I might be in. Design is obviously a passion of mine and it is a wide spread passion having interests in a lot of areas, this relates to my specialist area above. I have the passion to design, but I am yet to find where to put it. 

What and who are your influences/inspirations?
My first and major influence in design was the workings of Saul Bass and in particular his movie posters. Seeing them for the first time made me realise I do not need to be a technically good drawer to be good at design, sure it may help. But you don't need to be able to draw life like drawings to be able to be creative and to create a good solid piece of design.
 

Where and how do you get inspiration for work? (reading about..? drawing from observation? Listening to…? testing theories, science, philosophy and nature., architecture., automatism..)
My inspiration usually relies on the given topic I am working with. for instance if I were doing a packaging brief i would search for great looking packaging until I find something which breaks the mould of conventional packaging and has a great look and feel to it. Finding something like this helps me think outside my current box and hopefully come up with something more creative and original.

What is your working process? (research, gathering info about what already exists, direct observation, test pieces, gallery visits, talks seminars, entering alternate reality)
I have used the same process since college, I start of by researching around the given topic of area, looking at competition, target market etc.  If there are currently any seminars or galleries related, I will try to visit, however it it not priority.  I tend to work primarily with sketchbooks as it is a method i am very comfortable with, however i have used blogs in the past. I find using a blog better suited for some projects such as anything video related as it is much easier to store and show video related research. After research I will then create some concept ideas and work with a few of them till it is obvious or clear which is the idea I will go with. I enjoy having feedback on all areas and all times of development as i find the more the better. However when constant feedback is not available I make sure to at least gain feedback on chosen concepts and when I feel the project is coming to a close I will want feedback then.

What are the most exciting strengths about your work? what makes you stand out from the crowd? sell yourself.
I have been told I have good determination and i strive to get things done as best as i can, even if they are not particularity working for me. I felt this was correct as I had been through an example of this with a recent project. I worked and put a lot of time into a design and it would not work for me, however I was running out of time for the brief and was too late to start a new idea from scratch, so I had to stick with my current idea and make the absolute best out of it that I could. At the end of it, I can honestly say I came out with a piece of work that i liked and was happy with. 

Would you like your work to change/ improve something in the world with your work?
Cheap and tacky packaging and adverts.

Are there any areas of weakness that could be improved? Explain how they could be developed, consider technical and theory issues
I would definitely like to improve on my knowledge on people in the industry as well as technical skills and industry standards for things. I feel in education things like this are left out a bit. The creative side is encouraged and developed which is great, but its not use when you don't know how something simple would be published in the real professional world.
 

Is there an area you would like to investigate specifically that you haven’t had the opportunity to do before? (use of sound, graphic design theories, visual communication, semiotics, human computer interaction, interactivity, chance)
I would say I have at least touched every part of design I am interested in. However as above I want more opportunities in it to really know what I want to do. I would like to know more about going past the design aspect of things like advertising, as a whole campaign will involve more than a few posters and some banners.The things I have tried and would like to know and practice more of are;
Web design/programming.
Magazine and editorial work.
Branding and logo development.
Advertising.

What benefit would that have on your current practice?
I think having known more about these topics would allow me to create a fuller and better piece of design. Having more knowledge in the subject also allows for more creativity and experiments within the given subject. 


Even though i answered this questionnaire for another module I think it does a great job of giving me a good insight and idea into what i want to get out of this module, I want brief in an area I have already tried, but I wish to develop further. However due to the nature of the module i feel like taking on for example a web based maybe too much for me as i am new to the area and have next to no technical skills in the area. But for something like magazine or editorial work i could really push my own limits and use a variety of media such as photography and possibly illustration to really create something better I have ever done. 

Introduction

My Name is Nicholas Ainsworth and this is my blog/journal for the Professional Practice module for the BA Creative Media and Visual Communication course.
On this blog will be posted research, experiments, mind maps etc. as well as my on going thoughts about the project.