Abby ScottExternal Positioning

Unit: EGRD3013

This semester has been really beneficial in gaining an understanding for where i stand within the graphic design industry. I have been able to reflect on my past and current practise to focus on my skill and knowledge. External positioning is a way in which I have been able to assess my previous and current practise to identify key themes and methods. Upon reflection I work with a hand crafted ethos. Although I have identified a theme within my work it is hard to decipher my route on completion of my degree. I feel more research in the form of work placements and internships would benefit me. Thinking through doing has allowed me to focus on experimentations and record my thought processes and the journey of my work through producing images.I find the make do and mend ethos interesting and fitting for todays economical climate. Creating tangible and sustainable work in todays recession is definitely something to be considered in graphic design.My dissertation is examining the craft culture throughout the twenty-first century. I am focusing on the debate between handmade versus machine made and how do the two coexist in the twenty-first century. Investigating this subject matter further within my practise will help me reflect across my studies.An aspect in which id like to further investigate is paper craft. This is a process which is reflected across my past and pres-ent practise. Paper is tangible and a sustainable resource. Experimenting with paper would benefit my exploration with hand made processes and techniques.

The brand Koodle Doodle was created by Kirsty Norris and originated from her many years of textile design experience. Kirsty designs each product from scratch to make her style at unique and fresh. Some of her products co-ordinate across the ranges in her shop to give customers a broad choice to mix and match products as they choose.Kirsty studied textiles at the University of Brighton and after 6 years of training she gained experience in London and New York designing collections for a range of prestigious companies. She then moved to Australia to pursue an opportunity de-signing bedlinen ranges for a leading home furnishing company. After 10 years of designing for adults and children’s home wears she created her own brand, and focused her experience on producing a great range of products for children with an emphasis on quality and design direction.Kirsty has done jobs as Managing Director at Swatch Loft, Editor/Co-owner at The Baby Buzz, Managing Director at Koodle Doodle Design. She worked as a Designer at Kas Australia.

I went to see Kirsty in her shop based in Worthing in West Sussex. Living locally and knowing of Kirsty through a friend she was willing to spend some time answering my questions and giving me a tour of her shop, the software and equipment she uses. Talking to Kirsty was really inspirational. She was happy to look over some of my work and give me feedback. Although tex-tiles isn’t my focus I really admire her drive and set up of her own business. It is a small run shop however she has a large client base and is contracted to do designs for larger companies. She has an online store and catalogue as well as her shop front. Like Kirsty I would like to gain experience working within a company while freelancing in my own time. Eventually like Kirsty I would like to succeed in creating my own brand.

Work placement

I was able to set up a weeks work placement with Quentin press, a print press in the Gemini group. I was fortunate enough to work throughout the company and follow a brief from a client throughout the office and onto the factory floor. As a graphic designer this was a great opportunity to see and fully understand the process in which a piece of work takes to be printed. Although this isn’t a role within the industry I see myself working, it has been very beneficial in my understanding for the processes and techniques used to mass produce work. One department at Quentin press I particularly focused on was the cutting and creasing department. They dealt with Cutting and Creasing, embossing and debossing and pattern perforation.From here I’d really like to gain experience in a small hand printing studio such as screen printing and letter presses.

Wedding InvitationsI have been asked to design and make stationary for a Wedding in Sussex, Still in the process of creating the stationary for the big day such as the table plan and place settings. I have finished the invitations. The couple asked for a handmade feel to the finished product, they requested I used natural colour such as greens and browns and incorporate a parcel tag and brown parcel string into the design. I’ve really enjoyed designing and making the invites and working with a client. On reflection, having done wedding invitations before, this is something I am very interested in and enjoy the paper craft ap-proach. I would love to further develop and gain experience within this field. After visiting a craft outlet I have arranged a series of workshops in card making, paper crafts and stencils.

From visiting craft outlets and suppliers it has given many ideas and prompts with ways i can revisit and further explore past projects. I feel further investing in tools and equipment will improve some of my work. Equipment such as a hole punch and eyelet device would give a cleaner finish. I have purchased a few corner cutters and shaped hole punches which give dif-ferent effects, which I feel gives a more professional quality to my work. Partaking in a few craft classes and more booked I feel this is giving me a more extensive understanding and knowledge of how to quickly and effectively reach the quality and finish I am aiming for.

Ivy Ellen is a wedding invitation business based in Hove, Sussex. They have gained a huge popularity and now stock their stationary in Harrods and Confetti. Gaining a work placement with Ivy Ellen would be hugely beneficial in my investigation of the industry. I am keen to gain a knowledge of their processes and techniques.

Confetti is a company that supply wedding products such as stationary and decorations. They have a selection of designers who supply invitations to them. Something that is up and coming is the ‘do it yourself’ packs they supply. This is something to take into consideration when designing invites as some clients prefer to customise a template invite to keep costs down.

Sunte AvenueLindfield

Haywards Heath RH16 2AB

01444 414 504 Food served Wednesday to Saturday 12-2.30pm & 6-9pm,

Sundays & bank holiday Mondays 12-4pmBar open 7 days

We source fresh local produce from surrounding businesses and suppliers to provide our customers with the best quality

seasonal menuOur garden is the perfect setting for a family lunch or an afterOur garden is the perfect setting for a family lunch or an after-

noon drink, while our restaurant offers a relaxed environment to enjoy our a la Carte menu.

www.thewitchlindfield.co.uk

The Witch Inn

The Witch Inn Branding and AdvertisingA local pub restaurant asked me to design their business cards, postcard and advertising after a refurbishment and new management. I was fortunate enough after my work experience with a print press to form contacts to have my designs made up. My advertisement has been published in Lindfield Life magazine, a monthly publication. A few other publications it has fea-tured in is the Midsussex times, Archant and Sussex life magazine. The advertisement has been extremely popular and has attracted a lot of business for The Witch Inn and future job aspects for myself.

Photo Cards

I’ve been finding different ways to externalise my work and sell my photography. A way which has sold well is my photo cards. Ive been setting up crates of cards in local businesses to sell them to the public. From marketing my cards with a business card i’ve had further interest from clients. Ive been asked to print a few of my photographs onto canvas as paid freelance work.

The next step for me would be to expand my audience and set up stands in a few of the boutique shops in Brighton and publish my work online and sell through websites such as Folksy and other handmade and craft websites. Eventually i would like to create my own website and this would be especially beneficial in showcasing my work and portfolio.

Handmade Christmas crafts

Using my own lino prints I’ve created a series of festive cards and gift wrap as well as decorations.

Penguin Designs

This has been a great opportunity to design for publishing during my studies and to experience real jacket-design of a book. Trying to avoid cliches when designing my book cover I wanted to be original. The idea of the cuckoo bird although obvi-ous was one that played on my mind so to overcome this I got it down as an idea. I’ve tried to give it a unique approach by incorporating the notion of sanity and medication. There are many themes within the book such as sanity, social behaviour, violence etc.

One I particularly focused on was freedom, and the idea of breaking free.

It has been a great opportunity to design for a live brief which is standard industry format. Designing a book jacket is defi-nitely something I would consider beyond university. Although I have yet to complete this brief I feel I have presented a selection of different ideas so far. I want to focus more away from the main stream concepts and come up with something more visually challenging and representational of the storyline. For the purpose of my portfolio I have created a mock cover design to show my idea layout.

RSA Stamp design

Looking at the Deutsche Post: chest box by advertising agency Jung von Matt Spree GmbH, Berlin, Germany. Published in 2009 the advert shows the internal viscera promoting the idea of a heart felt letter. I like the idea of the letterbox chest but

not the literal visual of the heart.

Again it has been very exciting working towards a live brief for a real client. I have shown development within an idea, how-ever I still feel I am in the process of reaching a final outcome. The hand written element of a letter is important and this is reflecting my hand crafted practise. I am enjoying experimenting with this brief and researching the various directions I can take it. Having this opportunity have given me drive to submit more work live. One website I have been keeping a close eye on is www.graphiccompetitions.com and hope to continue my externalisation of work flowing beyond university.

EvaluationI find the make do and mend ethos interesting and fitting for todays economical climate. Creating tangible and sustainable work in todays recession is definitely something to be considered in graphic design.My dissertation is examining the craft culture throughout the twenty-first century. I am focusing on the debate between handmade versus machine made and how do the two coexist in the twenty-first century. Investigating this subject matter further within my practise will help me reflect across my studies.Reflecting on my past and current practise, my work has taken a handmade and tangible approach. I most enjoy working with practically working on materials with different textures and this is reflected with previous projects where I’ve focused on paper crafts such as origami and collage. It is also the hand made processes I favour such as Lino printing, mono print-ing and stencil art over the on screen approach. I generally use the computer to aid the final presentation of a piece of work.External positioning has allowed me to gain an understanding within the design industry. I have begun to explore the po-tential routes in which I can take after university. I have been able to explore the possibilities of putting my name out there and advertising myself. I feel this is important to attempt to stand above the rest when promoting myself to a possible job interview or client. Externalising my work has really helped me gain experience when talking about myself and the way I work. Selling my work as a freelance designer has been very exciting, and has allowed me to contextualise my practise. It has taught me that I may not always feel completely satisfied with the outcome, but it is what the client wants. I want to further explore exter-nalising my work and feel this is something i should always strive to do. Having research the print press industry, networking with practitioners and examining becoming a freelance designer I feel my exploration for industry is still on going. Until i gain experience in a variety of industry areas it is hard to reflect my prac-tise to one particular job role. I am still exploring potential career paths, and a huge part of my exploration is to continue to part take in work placements and internships within the design industry. This unit for me has been a lot about reflecting on my practise and outcomes and given me an insight in what I want to push forward.

Bibliography

Puplications:Parquin, Marc. My own business card : designers onlyWiedemann, Julius. Advertising now! Print Schmidt, Christine. Print workshop : hand-printing techniques and truly original projects The beginner’s guide to papercrafts Hollis, Richard.Graphic design : a concise historyDormer, Peter.The culture of craft : status and futureLevine, Faythe. Handmade nation : the rise of DIY, art, craft, and design Parquin, Marc. My own business card : designers onlyFarrelly, Liz. Business cards : the art of saying hello Klanten, Robert. Papercraft : design and art with paper Klanten, Rober. Tangible Making magazineKasey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Penguin Modern Classics)Walker, Bruce Edward. ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (Cliffs Notes)

Websites:www.shop.confetti.co.ukhttp://www.thersa.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/411358/RSDA2011-12_Postage_stamps.pdfhttp://david-thingsthathappen.blogspot.com/2010/10/love-letters.htmlhttp://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/deutsche_post_chest_box?size=_original http://www.jvm.com/http://villageofjoy.com/33-cool-and-creative-ads-part-i/http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/penguindesignaward/index.phphttp://www.graphiccompetitions.com/

Museums and Galleries:Victoria & Albert museum- Power of makingBritish Museum - Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman

Glitter Pot- Arts and crafts outlet: Classes and demonstrations

Abby ScottExternal Positioning

Unit: EGRD3013