Peer Evaluation & Feedback

Content/Subject

How will the animation move? 

Really like the collage effect

Think you should look at MTV ads for context.

Pin down visual mediums.

Content/Visual

Fully research fashion editorials to find the correct type

Look at music for catwalks - YouTube

Comments

Look at fashion illustrations

Illustrate ove images and use the cut out models as stills with fluid drawing linking one to another - hair into clothes.

MTV collage ads.

My Own Observations

What channel will it feature on? - Online on a fashion website.

Draw over the still images to show how the garment will make you look - sinch in at the waist.

Scan in actual material to create a background.

Look at 2011 music and upcoming bands.

Show the movement of the text 'writing'. 

Enterprise and Innovation - Who Else Is Out There? How Good Are They?

Who am I competing against?

Cosmopolitan magazine

What do they offer?

They are a monthly women's lifestyle magazine features ranging from beauty and fashion to horoscopes and men. 

They are one amongst many women's fashion magazines, however I feel they offer a wider range and depth of material to their customers. For example magazines such as Elle and Vogue are more fashion based and rely on high end glamourous fashion shoots and advertisements to dominate their pages, whereas Cosmopolitan look more to 'real women' and real life stories to capture their audience. With tips and tricks to help your sex life and upcoming fashion trends they are the typical city woman's handbag essential. 

Cosmopolitan also have a magazine directed at teenagers called Cosmo Girl. This has the same type of features, however they are much more diluted and suited to the young teen girl following in mummy's footsteps. 

What makes me better?

Obviously comparing myself (a graphic design student) to a Transnational magazine company I feel is somewhat of a bizarre task. However, looking at the question and re-phrasing it slightly I feel is more appropriate considering I am still a student and this company are an inspiration to me. 

What do you feel you could bring to this company were they to employ you?

I enjoy working in an innovative way; given a task and seeing a possibly obvious and standard answer, I will try my best to look further into the problem and see less obvious way of solving the problem creating something that people will not have seen before. 

I would really enjoy giving the Cosmopolitan a new layout style, with more character. I like the layout style adopted by Elle magazine, I feel it has more of a personality and is more inviting and stimulating to the eye.

What makes me different?

Having such an established style such as Cosmopolitan's and having tweaked and improved the design for so long now it is easy to become numb and somewhat unaware of ways to restyle an already prefect design. I feel being a fresh pair of eyes I would be able to put forward new and innovative design ideas for the company. Including ideas for the cover and layout ideas for the story pages.

Cosmopolitan - Fresh but quite cluttered

Elle - more styled and clear. 

The Cosmopolitan front cover can be slightly overwhelming to look at at a glance because there is so much that it is trying to tell you all at once. The Elle magazine cover is more inviting and easy on the eye. 

Cosmopolitan layouts can lack a bit of personality and I feel Elle uses a wide range of layouts to create more of a story and less of a diary feel.

Enterprise and Innovation - Proposed Position Statement

MOCK UP:

Having studied Graphic Design currently for over 5 years, from GCSE's through until now on a BA Hons course at Leeds College of Art I feel I show a high level of commitment to to subject. 

I am skilled in software such as Photoshop, Illustrator and In Design, and also have to fundamentals needed for a variety of other Adobe programmes.

I am a very reliable person and feel that trust is a very important quality to have when being employed and designing for clients.

I am a very quick and eager learner who enjoys facing new tasks.

I work well in a team and alone, enjoying and applying myself to both small problems or taking authority and managing a group.

I can put forward an honest opinion in critical situations.

Communication is one of the key attributes to creating a professional relationship and creating a successful design. 

Innovation and exploration of ideas creating perfection.

I am able to keep level headed and calm in stressful situations. 

Enterprise and Innovation - How Will I Promote Myself?

The 6 Steps For Getting Noticed


Get Their Attention
Build Their Interest
Convince Them
Make Your Offer Irresistible
Close The Sale
Reinforce

To get noticed you need to be out there in the real world. You need to show potential clients or employers that you have something new and interesting that will aid them in some way.

There are many different ways of promoting yourself and it's all about advertising and, well, showing them what you've got.

The way you advertise yourself is the way that people will perceive you, therefore it is very important to get it right.

This advertising campaign below is for Brita filters. For such a clean pure product, this is a somewhat disgusting advert. It actually represents the amount of oil used last year for plastic water bottles to be consumed. This advertisement works well for a well known brand because even though this is a very dark and shocking advertisement, the audience still know that Brita water is known to be pure and clean.

For a designer in such a position as me I would need to take a more straight forwards 'this is me' approach to advertising myself. Because I am fairly new to the design world, I don't have a reputation or an identity for people to follow as of yet. I need to show people literally what I am like and what I do (design).

Methods to advertise yourself


Personal selling
Publicity
Sales promotion
Direct mail and direct response marketing
Sponsorship
Advertising
Merchandising
Public relations
Trade fairs
Competitions

For me, the main methods that I feel suit my style are:

Direct mail and direct response marketing... I feel talking directly to the person you want to attract the attention of is a quick and informative means of contact. Having a relationship with someone who you would like to work for is very good and can snowball into getting other important contacts. However doing this, you have to know who you want to contact, how to contact them and what you want to say/know. You are contacting the company who possibly have no knowledge of who you are and what you do.

Public relations... Knowing the right people. Part of getting to where you want to be is knowing the right people. Obviously you have to put hard work in as well. It's not all about giving a wink and a nudge and you've got the job, however the more people you know the more helpful they can be to you. The first contact you make is the hardest. What do you say? Will they care? But I have to make the step and take the risk. The worst thing that could happen is that I don't get a reply.

Competitions ... top designers are often involved in reputable competitions. This would be a prefect place to get my work out there and seen. Even if I don't win any prizes, it is still a great opportunity that I need to grasp more often. Competitions can help give a good representative of who you are as a designer. With so many different designers out there all creating different final results, I need to make something innovative and exciting to get noticed amongst the crowd. Picking the right brief for me is essential.

Enterprise and Innovation - Who Are They? How Will They Find Me?

Transnational Cosmopolitan Magazine


This is a world renowned magazine, with top designers, writers etc working throughout. The magazine started as a family business, launched by Schlicht & Field in 1886. 


Paul Schlicht said that his first publication was a 'first-class family magazine'. Today the storied featured inside have become more sexually explicit, featuring topics such as sex, relationships, beauty and health. 


Practice Safe Sun: In the May 2006 issue of Cosmopolitan, the magazine launched the Practice Safe Sun campaign, an initiative aimed at fighting skin cancer by asking readers to stop all forms of tanning other than tanning from a bottle.


International editions are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Central America, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, U.S. en Español, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam.

Political factors that affect their use of graphic design

Magazine needs to adhere to the advertising standards in all countries.

Pricing needs to be taken into account in different countries.

Economic factors that affect their use of graphic design

Pricing in different countries

Transportation

Social factors that affect their use of graphic design

Language barrier

What is socially acceptable to see in a magazine in each country.

Technological factors that affect their use of graphic design

Software available in different countries - the magazines need to relate to each other even though they are transnational. 

Communication between countries.

Enterprise And Innovation - Who Are They? How Will They Find Me?

European Harvey Nichols

In October 1991 the Harvey Nichols group was acquired from the Burton Group by Dickson Concepts, an international retailer and distributor of branded luxury goods based in Hong Kong and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

In April 1996, Harvey Nichols obtained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange and for the subsequent period of almost 7 years stayed as a listed company. 

February 2003 saw the return of Harvey Nichols to private ownership and Harvey Nichols Group Limited is now owned by the Hong Kong-based businessman Dr. Dickson Poon.

Harvey Nichols is a luxurious department store with high end brands featured such as, Chanel, Armani, Christian Louboutin and many more. Stepping into Harvey Nichols you are stepping into a new world of everything perfect. This company prides itself on meeting their customers needs. 

Political factors that effect their use of graphic design

Economic factors that effect their use of graphic design

Available budget

Seasons affect styling, colours and products to advertise

Social factors that effect their use of graphic design
Peoples want/need to buy luxury products
Language barriers


Technological factors that effect their use of graphic design.
The designers capabilities with available software
Universal signage

Enterprise and Innovation - Who are They? How Will They Find Me?

National Joy

This company's corporate identity has a lot of personality. When you walk into the stores you feel like you are walking into a unique shopping experience. Seen primarily as a unisex fashion retailer they also sell all sorts of quirky 'nik nacs'; from elaborate lamps to humorous retro greetings cards. You almost feel like you are walking into someones home and you can choose the aspects that you like to take home with you. 

Their style is very unique, yet current and appealing. Because they steer clear of well known brands seen in many hight street store, their brand is easily identifiable amongst the crowd of competing retailers.

Political aspects that affect their graphic design

Economic aspects that affect their graphic design

Season to season the design will change to match the current style.

Web design needs to be strong to engage the disengaged economy. Web design is a cheap means of advertisement.

Social aspects that affect their graphic design

People aren't splashing out on luxuries and therefore the company needs to engage with the audience and make them feel they have a need or want for their products.

Seasonal sales will encourage buyers to part with their money more easily.

Technological aspects that affect their graphic design

With the design world swarming with amazing advertisers having up to date programmes and employers fluent in these programmes will help make the company stand out amongst the rest.

PPD and Enterprise - The Basics

What is Industrial Experience?
A period of time in which a someone temporarily works for an employer to get experience in that field. During industrial experience you should be prepared to work alongside professionals. You will need to learn fast, precisely and be able to follow instructions.


How do you get industrial experience?
To get a chance of being accepted for industrial experience you first need to contact the specified company. You need to tell them a bit about yourself and your reasons for wishing to work with the company for a while; this will help them to understand what you are hoping to gain from the experience. Taking an unprofessional into a professional environment can be a big risk for managements and they need to know that you are passionate about working for the company.


What do they want to see from me?
When contacting the employer you should send an up to date CV and a cover letter. They should both focus on your achievements and show yourself in a good light. The CV should be no longer than one page, so only write the important things down, make it short sharp and interesting. They want to see a bit of individuality. For example if you are applying yourself into a design based field the CV should reflect your deign skills. You need to STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD.


My concerns
One of main main concerns within industrial experience is not having enough knowledge and not being able to keep up with the fast paced design world. I feel it is a big step going from designing as a student for set briefs, to designing professionally for real clients with real needs and expectations. What if I can't deliver? 


My dream employer and my ideal work to produce
At the moment my dream job would be to work for the women's magazine Cosmopolitan. It is a magazine I read often and have gained a lot of respect and inspiration from them. It's contents include subject's such as fashion, beauty, sex and relationships. I like the style of the magazine. It  has a high end look and feel to it, however it's contents speak to a wide variety of women, including 'real women' with real life stories. 


I'm not yet sure exactly what field I would like to go into within this magazine. It is something I need to look further into.

Enterprise And Innovation - Who Are They? How Will They Find Me?

LocalRose & co.

Owned by: Patricia and Caroline Rose (Mother and daughter)

They set up a  family business that soon became a way of life that incorporated both their interests and pastimes too. The are collectors of original mahogany fittings, glass cabinets, and used the history of the shop to begin restoring the interior to its former Victorian style and a quirky but elegant beauty apothecary was the result.

Wanting a range of products to fit in with the style of the shop, Caroline Rose created Rose & Co. – preparations based on traditional recipes using natural, old-apothecary ingredients. Her first product was Rose Petal Salve, a rose-scented beauty balm made by hand on the Aga at home. Quickly picked up by the beauty press, Rose Petal Salve became a cult must-have product with demand exceeding supply almost immediately. A range of lotions, balms, aromatic bath mixtures and hand-wrapped scented soaps followed, delightfully packaged in traditional tins, jars and French glass bottles. Boxes are richly decorated with vintage images of deco flapper girls, dancers and show girls and sumptuous gift collections.

Designer, stylist and entrepreneur Caroline uses the delicacy and elegance of the packaging in her vast collection of vintage cosmetics and perfume bottles as inspiration for her designs and is surrounded by a fairy-tale world of beautiful objects both at work and at her home, which has been featured in the Sunday Times Style Magazine and Marie Claire. She has also worked with Channel 4 on The 1940s House series, The Victorian House, The Edwardian House and Treats From the Edwardian House with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Caroline’s products are now available in Harvey Nichols, Harvey Nichols Hong Kong, John Lewis and selected fine stores and have been featured in countless magazines including Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Period Living, Red, Essentials, Vivid, You, FT Magazine, BBC History Magazine etc. The company recently picked up the Beauty Magazine Award for Best Skincare Brand and has now expanded into lingerie and retro hosiery with Rose & Co. Delicates.

http://www.rose-apothecary.co.uk/whoarewe.html

Political

Economic factors that effect their use of graphic design

Advertisement funds depend on profits and with the fragile present economy people may not wish to spend their money on 'luxury' products.

Interest rates have just increased on the 4th January therefore possibly making a higher profit from returning customers buying products. More advertisement could help increase and bring in more custom.

Social factors that effect their use of graphic design

The company is aimed at females, employing a graphic designer, their work should reflect the company's distinctive corporate identity to increase company awareness. 

Technological factors that effect their use of graphic design

Website activity, myspace and facebook awareness. 

They sell tickets for local burlesque events, giving more company exposure.