Interactive self promotion is something that has become standard for graphic designers and artists to promote their work in the hope that it will lead to a job oppertunity. Interactive promotion includes; websites, blogs, digital booklets, posters, videos, games, powerpoints.
For example, a company called "Launchfire" create interactive self promotions for companies, and display case studies to show hwo successful they were. Upon looking at it I can see that using something interactive increases the chance that the user will be interested in what you have to offer and thus will greatly help to promote you and your work.
Launchfire
Thursday, November 24, 2011
What other skills do you need to aquire? And what steps will you take in obtaining these skills?
Due to the experience within graphic design already, I have learnt a lot of the skills that will be required of me. However, as I have only been in one type of graphic design, I feel that there is a lot more that I could learn but am unsure of where and what it is that I need to learn. Upon my initial thoughts I think I have more within Adobe Illustrator to learn, more about creating logos, and I've always wanted to learn how to digital paint with my tablet, but just never had enough spare time since purchasing it to do so.
So how will I obtain these skills?;
So how will I obtain these skills?;
- Adobe Illustrator - Use the sessions with Andy Way to gain a better understanding so that I can then research anything I then which to learn afterwards and know what I need to look for.
- Digital painting - Do some research into tutorials and how it's done, and find some time to practise some digital paintings.
- Creating logos - I have an upcoming oppertunity from a friend who I created a logo for a family member of their's business. They will be creating websites and I have been asked to create graphics and the logos for them, should the business work out.
What skills do you have already?
About 4-5 years ago I had a very boring summer and decided to teach myself photoshop, from the influence of computer gaming and the community around it. I began learning how to create cool forum signatures for members when they post, which I then later moved onto experimenting with different types of imagery and effects which I could create. Within the community there were weekly SoTW competitions (signature of the week), where you would be given a brief with a specific theme and you had to create a signature for this. It was an excellent way for me to test what I learnt each week in that summer and onwards, to be restricted to what you can create and to make the most of it.
In November 2008, I was asked from a family friend to join them in a new business, as they wanted to start doing clothing printing instead of just selling fashionwear. I took up this chance and began learning other software such as SignGo, Versaworks and Adobe Illustrator. From this I learnt about vectorising images, how to prepare them for this (converting the image to black and white, vectorising, then separating for different colour prints of vinyl). As the years went on we then gained new machinery and were able to create multicoloured transfers, where I was then confident enough to see how people who had been using it for a few years were doing it, to then propose a new idea to them for preparing the images and for it to be more accurate and simpler to do.
During my time at the course in Plymouth University, I learnt the basics of Adobe Dreamweaver and Flash to create; my own website and a small game. Though I may not use Flash again it was good to see how it's done, and the difference in coding compared to Dreamweaver. I did learn alot from learning Adobe Dreamweaver, but it was mostly because I wanted to know more and did the research to satisfy myself for this.
We are now getting an embroidery machine in which I am now learning how to "Digitize" an image, so that the images can be created to be embroidered onto clothing. Due to the previous programs that I have learnt from the beginning and the techniques that I have picked up along the way, I was able to easily interpret the program and understand what needs doing without much support.
To put it in a list, the skills I have already aquired are;
In November 2008, I was asked from a family friend to join them in a new business, as they wanted to start doing clothing printing instead of just selling fashionwear. I took up this chance and began learning other software such as SignGo, Versaworks and Adobe Illustrator. From this I learnt about vectorising images, how to prepare them for this (converting the image to black and white, vectorising, then separating for different colour prints of vinyl). As the years went on we then gained new machinery and were able to create multicoloured transfers, where I was then confident enough to see how people who had been using it for a few years were doing it, to then propose a new idea to them for preparing the images and for it to be more accurate and simpler to do.
During my time at the course in Plymouth University, I learnt the basics of Adobe Dreamweaver and Flash to create; my own website and a small game. Though I may not use Flash again it was good to see how it's done, and the difference in coding compared to Dreamweaver. I did learn alot from learning Adobe Dreamweaver, but it was mostly because I wanted to know more and did the research to satisfy myself for this.
We are now getting an embroidery machine in which I am now learning how to "Digitize" an image, so that the images can be created to be embroidered onto clothing. Due to the previous programs that I have learnt from the beginning and the techniques that I have picked up along the way, I was able to easily interpret the program and understand what needs doing without much support.
To put it in a list, the skills I have already aquired are;
- Knowledge within programs: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Flash, SignGo, Versaworks, Design Studio, Amaya, Windows & Mac OSX operating systems and software.
- Competant with machines: Summa cutter, Roland VersaCamm, Amaya XT embroidery machine, Heatpress/Cappress, Scanner.
- Creating designs for: Car wraps/designs, Stickers, Advertising boards, Clothing, Posters, Logos, Website layouts, Profile pictures/signatures for websites.
Who are the top five design companies within the UK?
According to a blog post by "Design Intellect" the top 5 'award winning' design agencies are;
However, here are the top 5 'award winning' advertising marketing agencies;
These results may be inaccurate however due to the blog posts being for the "top 50" for their category, however the bottom 5 are agencies which have worked for many well-known companies therefore I presume they are some of the top companies out there. For example, "1HQ" has worked for: Coca Cola, Cadbury, Nestle, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and more. Wieden and Kennedy has worked for: Nokia, Nike, Honda, The Guardian, The Kaiser Chiefs and more. Given the businesses that they have worked with, even though the blog posts are somewhat inaccurate in the order of "top 50" I feel that these companies are somewhere near the top 5 design companies. I feel that the website is reliable as the creator of it has 15 years freelance experience within website and graphic design, meaning he has done a lot of research prior to the posts; it's what a freelance graphic designer does, so that they can know what's happening in the industry and keep up to date.
- 1HQ
- Wolff Olins
- Why not associates
- Williams Murray Hamm
- Venture Three
However, here are the top 5 'award winning' advertising marketing agencies;
- Wieden & Kennedy
- We Are Social
- Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest
- Universal McCann
- Tullo Marshall Warren
These results may be inaccurate however due to the blog posts being for the "top 50" for their category, however the bottom 5 are agencies which have worked for many well-known companies therefore I presume they are some of the top companies out there. For example, "1HQ" has worked for: Coca Cola, Cadbury, Nestle, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and more. Wieden and Kennedy has worked for: Nokia, Nike, Honda, The Guardian, The Kaiser Chiefs and more. Given the businesses that they have worked with, even though the blog posts are somewhat inaccurate in the order of "top 50" I feel that these companies are somewhere near the top 5 design companies. I feel that the website is reliable as the creator of it has 15 years freelance experience within website and graphic design, meaning he has done a lot of research prior to the posts; it's what a freelance graphic designer does, so that they can know what's happening in the industry and keep up to date.
What skill set's are needed by a Graphic Designer?
As a graphic designer you will need some passive skills to be able to have a basic understanding of the area of work and the programs/materials that you will encounter. There will be specific skills however that you will need to know for a chosen job within the Graphic Design area. For example;
- Logo design - Knowledge of Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator, basic understanding of colours, understanding of copyright, layout and how images are conveyed.
- Clothing printing - Knowledge of Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator, Sign cutting software, Embroidery software, ability to vectorise images, understanding of copyright, previous experience within t-shirt printing or willing to learn the process to produce a design onto garment.
- Website design - Knowledge of Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop/Illustrator, Flash, understanding of copyright, competant with HTML, JAVASCRIPT, CSS.
Friday, November 04, 2011
What job oppertunities' exist?
As a graphic designer, you have a varied range of jobs available, due to your type of work. As a graphic designer, you can adapt to the jobs of illustrators, fine arts and other professions, as graphic design links with them. This all depends however on your preferred aspect of graphic design; you may prefer creating 3D woodwork art and thus become working for theatres in helping to create stages, you may enjoy animation and then become working for companies such as Coca Cola and Sky for promotional advertisements on TV, you may prefer creating digital artwork and thus gain a job working for a games company creating concept artwork/models, or creating illustrations/logos for companies.
The best thing about being a graphic designer is that you are not tied down into one specific area of jobs, there are many different jobs which are graphic design related, as the meaning of the word can mean most things which are art related. This means that once you have found an aspect that you enjoy, if you then try to get work for it and it doesn't become all that successful, you will then be able to move onto something else which is similar and not find it too much of a change.
A lot of the work may start out as freelance, to gain fame and word of mouth from others. And then as you progress and get a name known for yourself, you will possibly move into making your own business with people who you got to know from networking at events and shows, or follow up a job offer from a company who you are interested in.
The most common jobs within Graphic design are; Web design, Logo design, Clothing printing, Animation, Printwork (magazines, newspapers), Photography, Packaging. A good place to search for jobs and also to look for similar artists/graphic designers who are currently freelancers is at Creative Pool. You can view the freelancers' work and contact them, or view the businesses wanting a graphic designer and contact them to inquire about their job offer. It's a nice start to the graphic design industry and to see what kind of opportunities are about there.
The best thing about being a graphic designer is that you are not tied down into one specific area of jobs, there are many different jobs which are graphic design related, as the meaning of the word can mean most things which are art related. This means that once you have found an aspect that you enjoy, if you then try to get work for it and it doesn't become all that successful, you will then be able to move onto something else which is similar and not find it too much of a change.
A lot of the work may start out as freelance, to gain fame and word of mouth from others. And then as you progress and get a name known for yourself, you will possibly move into making your own business with people who you got to know from networking at events and shows, or follow up a job offer from a company who you are interested in.
The most common jobs within Graphic design are; Web design, Logo design, Clothing printing, Animation, Printwork (magazines, newspapers), Photography, Packaging. A good place to search for jobs and also to look for similar artists/graphic designers who are currently freelancers is at Creative Pool. You can view the freelancers' work and contact them, or view the businesses wanting a graphic designer and contact them to inquire about their job offer. It's a nice start to the graphic design industry and to see what kind of opportunities are about there.
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| http://www.creativepool.co.uk |
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
What is the role of the Graphic Designer?
Experimentation and determination is key for a successful graphic designer. If you stick to one type of media and don't adapt your technique or try new ideas, you are not giving yourself the full oppertunity to succeed, and will not progress much from where you began. A good graphic designer is someone who can express themselves in their work, and can push the boundaries to create something new; something that you wouldn't expect. Examples of this are the likes of Banksy, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Michael Craig Martin; artists that don't just do a painting on canvas, they go out of their way to get their work out there and do the unexpected, always experimenting with new ideas and giving the shock factor to the public.
Banksy is a worldwide known graffiti artist, who uses spray painting for designs which are controversial to what is happening in the society at the time. No one knows what he looks like, but everyone admires his work. The sense of mystery is one thing which makes this artist exciting; no one knows who he is, but we love his work either way because it's not something we see in everyday art, and we then have the anxiety because we don't know who he is, but we want to see more of it.
Banksy is a worldwide known graffiti artist, who uses spray painting for designs which are controversial to what is happening in the society at the time. No one knows what he looks like, but everyone admires his work. The sense of mystery is one thing which makes this artist exciting; no one knows who he is, but we love his work either way because it's not something we see in everyday art, and we then have the anxiety because we don't know who he is, but we want to see more of it.
Source: Newyorker
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