last session of 09

In this session we learned about who we were as designers in an interesting new depth, we had this scale and had to place a mark where we thought we lay in creativness and how much we would charge for work, I thought that I got into the college at Leeds so I was obviously at least above the Y axis, so I then thought I was about 45% of the way up with where I would place myself, At the moment my confidence is not very high due to a lack of free lance work, So I don't believe I would charge a lot for the work I produce, Just what I think would be reasonable for what work I produced/ what I was producing.

We were then asked to fillout a questionairre which involved rating ourselfs out of ten being extremely and 1 which is negligible after this was complete we then had to choose our 5 highest ranked, mine where.

1 Decisive

2 Humourous

3 Calm

4 Team player and

5 Open

After i chose these we were then assesed by another person to what they thought of us, the results where then

1 Decisive

2 Humourous

3 Energetic

4 Team Player and

5 Generous

and my bottom 5:

1 Prudent

2 Sincere

3 Perceptive

4 Ingenious

5 Dilligent

Which I think is an even better come back than I had expected/ gave as my top 5.

we then had to answer the following questions to task 2:

How often are you asked to use your top 5 within your studies/ work?

I'd say that decision making is crucial and happens all te time within the briefs and life for that matter, energy is a posative thing to have in keeping keen to doing the work which is very much needed in order to be on time with all the work, team player is always handy but isn't always a problem in the studio unless the studio is full and an order has to be given for using equiptment. Which keys in with being generous and sharing etc

How does that make you feel?

This makes me feel quite good to know how much of a posative person I am to have on the course and does make me happy that I am seen that way.

How often are you called on to use your bottom 5 studies/ work?

The bottom five are some of the five words I struggled even understanding until i looke into them, I believe that these areas are used quite as often as my top 5 so I need to try and incorporate this into my workm uch more often.

How does that make you feel?

This is a bit off putting but gives me a strong goal to aim at and gives me an added confidence in myself that I am heading in the right direction.

After this we then were asked to write 3 statements about ourselfs and select ten words out of them, My statements where:

- Overall I believe that I am a very approachable designer that supplies freiendship and humour to the design group which would make everyone relaxed.

- My main ambitions are to criticaly improve key areas in my design practice, I believe I need to do a lot more team things in design terms so i can feel more comfortable if I was put in a group in a future carreer.

- According to my questionairre I am a very social designer that shares a posative impact on designs as well as a critical one and is willing to help anyone who needs it.

From these sentences I chose the following words:

Approachable

Friendly

Adaptive

Team

Conceptual

Honest

Opinionated

Critical

Logical

and Decisive.

This then makes me realize that I am a very social designer.

Proposed Position Statement

At this moment in time, I would like to gain a greater understanding in different cultures, gaining a stronger informative background knowledge upon different areas and thier design perspective, and most improtantly knowing what to say and what not to say (incase of offence) this is a big task as I would also have to learn about the area I wish to work as it is important to know who my audience is and where I should advertise.

- At the moment in time I would like to gain a greater understanding on Graphic Design and I have a strong ambition to do a Masters in Design in New York, Originally I wanted to study at Parsons New School of Design in New York, However the prices to do so are far greater than I can afford, So I am still looking where I can go.

- I would like to develop some freelance work at the same time as this. A few places I would be interested in advertising are some rock bars, bus and clubs, I'd like to make some posters/ flyers or other forms of advertising for the following companies, Rio's, Cockpit, Dry dock and Bar Risa. However I'd love to design for any clubs or promotion nights.

- Over the summer I would like to see a range of different design companies to gain a greater understanding of how the different companies work/ respind to briefs given. I have contacted a few agencies I have had an interest in: The Factory, Fifty five five, Jam spread, Tiger print and a few others but I have lacked replies.

- If my plan goes wrong (economicaly) for the Higher Education Course, I would like to travel to different places based in the US/ Canada. I have been gathering together A portfolio of different design companies based in Newfoundland, and New York. I'm still looking at a few more agencies around the US but I need to think about where I would actualy like to work and where my design would fit the best.

- As I am relatively young in comparison to a lot of designers around the world, I would like to get as much under my belt as possible (hence the masters) I believe if I do not get to New York straight away, I may never go. I will need to do an A level in English before I go to New York as it is required to have a college level of English to work at with/ get accepted in New York.

- If I was to work for a Design company of my choice, I would love to work for MTV Music Channels. I'd love to produce promotional material such as I-dents, Characters and stuff like that, Another channel I love is E4 the advertisment approach appeals to me in a way.

- I really like to manipulate things and change the way people think about everyday life and objects we use in everyday life. I really love coming up with small tag lines which gets people thinking. I need to develop a greater technology understanding in different media effects.

- I am not fully aware of where I'd like my Design career to take me or where I am going to end up after education finishes. But I have a strong goal for after the BA Degree finishes which is all I need at the moment in time, the rest is to far ahead for me to understand.

- I wouldn't mind making a little online store where I could sell clothes that I have designed along with posters and stickers, But that isn't for a economical bennefit.

- In conclusion I believe what I want to do with my life is make the most of it, experience things that not many people had the chance or confidence to do, I'd like to make a change, I want to make a name for myself. Within it all New York is the major goal to end up (settle down) but the rest is still unwritten, who knows what will happen, But I have full confidence in myself that I am going to make it happen.

Task 4

Who are my competitors?

Within the context of where I would like to end up after I achieve my graduation I have researched into Graphic Design agencies based in New York.

One company I found was called Enigma, which on first appearance gave off a good vibe because of the simplicity and layout, Enigma give a brief introduction on what they do on the Graphic Design kind of thing, but do not drown you with information which then made me want to look further into them for details.

The design company gives a strong sense of competition with other agencies which therefor makes them appear to be the top dog. Which if I was a customer is exactly what I would want to hear from such a company. Confidence.

From everything I saw of the website they appear to be built up purely on strengths, the website is flash but simple, there isn't too much information about, everything is split into tabs showing what they do which there by leaves a lot of threats for other design companies as they contain information on 'About us, Graphics, Exhibitions, Products, Socials and Contacting' all of these tabs are sub categories and then goes deeper into who they are as designers and all the different things they can do for you.

One of the only things I found a problem was that the terms tabs didn't work which included key elements such as 'Client Area' which is a big deal, also the tabs only open on firefox which can be a problem for some corporates to access.

The contact details are spot on and provide all the information you need to contact them, without experimenting and emailing them I am not at the minute able to show you whether or not they are as good with replying.

Searching through over sites based in New York I found one called www.nagatadesign.com

Which is an interesting site which states that Graphic Design is used although in comparison to the first website, in a much more complex manor.

Instantly when looking through the site I think it lacked some enthusiasm and it did not have he appeal to carry on, until I noticed the link tabs, which linked to a portfolio the woman had provided.

Again at first this seemed a little jumbled at first glance, until I gave it full attention, the work produced was laid out quite neatly and clear to what we were looking at. I liked how when you clicked on the thumbnail a bigger and more clear image came up in a separate window showing the brief and considerations and client.

I think the fact she has a design tips to clients page is pretty cool and informative for an unsure claimer. But is she bios to what she says? and does this link more to her form of design work?

The client list is quite big and shows a good body of successful advertisements. I do not like the contact details being at the top, they seam quite bleak and It does not make me feel as comfortable with contacting her as than with the other design site which had a much more friendly appearance.

Task 3

The secen roles of marketing are essential to promotions and audience,
Creation of new products, targeting markets, promoting the products,
placing the products, pricing them, value/ services and the monitoring
of the products are all key to finding out how I will begin to promote myself
as a designer in the real world.

I plan to promote myself by sending out freebies with a smart tag line which
will show who I am and what i do. This attatchment will be very
subliminal to my identity and the work i produce/ who I worked for.
This is a risk but it is giving the audience a chance to contact me if they
are interested.

Not forgeting the communication mix which is how I promote myself:

Personal Selling - When out in the world there are many ways that
you can begin to promote yourself and advertise. This could be by
setting up an exhibition and inviting different agencies, designers and
clients to come view the work and get feedback. This then could lead to
making formal conversation with businesses or clients, which will help
get your name out there and promote you. The only downfall with this
is the preperation of it all, making sure people come and the cost of commuting.

Public Relations and Publicity - At the moment I have enjoyed engaging
with live briefs such as the 'Electronic Poet' and the 'British Legion' to which
I designed a rememberence belt buckle aimed towards the british motorcyclists.
Not only does charity work make you feel good about yourself but also it
gets your name out for the right reasons.

Advertising - Trying to get into newspapers can be quite difficult unless you
are willing to pay. However My charity work for the Legion just goes
to show that When you do something for a good cause you get repaid.
By this I mean the fact that my designwork will be in the Newspaper
in December which will get my name out there to other designers.
This to me is a good starting point. Advertising can build brands, support
customers and depending on where it is placed I.E. magazines/ ad shells etc
then by depends on how long it will be there for the public to see. However
this is an expensive risk for a novice designer and also you cannot tell whether
the ad's are working or not.

Direct Marketing - Sending out mail shots, invitations, gifts and even business
cards to clients and promoters is a good starting point for getting attention
and making your name familliar (building personal relationships).

Promotions - Advertising deals for products such as BOGOF, Free delivery
and free gifts when you spend over a cetrtain amount. Even half price gifts
for certain seasons when you spend over £20 or more. This keeps the buyers
interested on how they can make the most out of thier spendings on your products.

The Internet - A blog/ website which show your work and advertise your
capabilities and what you can do as a designer. This is a good 24/7 way for
marketing and creating good interactive relations with customers. This also shows you
a data base of which people are particuly interested in your products and
rewards can be given to them for being a loyal customer. However feedback is a good way
to see how the site works. Remember that a bad peice of design out there can be evaluated
and tarnishes your reputation online and in the real world if you are not careful

session Two plus one

So in more depth and detail we looked further into the Enterprise & Innovation.

We were asked to take into consideration what our marketing enviroment is. we learned about P.E.S.T which is a really useful term to keep in mind. Politics, Economics, Society and Technology. This is basically about what is going on in a customers world, the best thing to do to gain this information and knowledge is to simply pick up a news paper and read the industry and sport section in the given country.

Is the business going to be local, national, european, transnational? e.g:

Tesco - National

Luckys pizza shop - one off

is the company going to be placed in a cluster? for support and discussions such as Badfords National film archide? Also if distributing to Europe, do you have a License to import and export goods? also tax? perhaps a 50/50 local partner in Europe who knows peoples feelings in the area has good knowledge on where products are to be sold and knows the local currency to price products.

Which then leeds us to economics, Price sensitivity, cheap or good value for money? who is the market for this - students, tutors, sportsmen, vegatarians, foreigners. A broad market for exchange rates. Also, sometimes it is cheaper to import than export although there are people whom predict the change in currency (whether it is going to go up or down) which leads to expansions in aconamys.

Society, what new issues in society have happened to acknowledge a concern, as i mentioned earlier, cultural sensitivities, we cant assume that they do the same things we do and that they have the same festivals and holidays. Also colour pallets, medateranian isn't going to be black and red, it's going to be sky blues and oranges to give a warm feel. In all what does society want from us. what is it's attitude to us what are the trends, what is luxury and what is sustainable.

We need to keep into consideration, what is tomorrows technology,this is based on knowledge awareness and can save lots of money and make jobs for products or advertising a lot easier. Are the products appropriate to the product though? decisions need to be made, will they make profit in the long run ? Is there new software out? in all the Guardian techno pages and the new scientist. A magazine with all the latest software and lasers advertised for release. Technology needs to be on top all the time. Imagine promoting bitmap scaled up in comparison to vector.... do i need to say more?

3 GOOD BULLET POINTS, LETURE 2 PAGE 3. PAGE 15 HANDBOOK.

Social awareness to things that our going on i.e global warming:

"Being hippy and saving the planet is where the real Green is at ££££"

Christopher Francis Matthews, October 2oo9

Defining our customers - what are the facts and figures, how old are they, what gender, jobs, ethnicity, health, how do they commute, what music do they listen to. It's all to do with Demographics. knowing the customer so you can provide for them.

Geographic factors include: seasons, fashion and locations, Density and sparcity, Rural and urban, is it cheaper in development areas in comparison to city centers? What are the customers user rate? (How often will they use you?)

Psychology, what is the lifestyle, occupation, sport, innovators? are the religious, green, goths, aged, punk, chav etc.

The interesting thing i loved with this lecture was this little analysis:

A child is a user not a buyer

8-10 is an influencer

16+ Independant

18+ making thier own family

repeat: then it is based towards the elderly who need to downsize in house.

then unfortunetly widows.

Behaviour towards the product/ practise, how will it change their life? what media do they use in advertisments:

Radio - car

Football - stadiums

Commuters - metro

3 bullet points on segmentation, handbook page 18, 2 different customers may be approaching semetation

session Two

In this session we got to complete a very daunting task which was to work out

our living cost in a ear on items from food to clothes to holidays and even paying bills off.

So in essence it was to work out how much we would have to earn when we leave university to pay off our loans. This was more than useful as I now know that I am an alcoholic... and I spend £660 a year on gym to counter the alcoholic weight.. oh dear. But in a shock horror situation I only need to be earning 13k a year to live off. But in further consideration I believe that rent would be more expensive than here and that I may want a holiday... even though i haven't had one in 3 blinking years. this test was a real eye opener to reality. p.s. i may want to learn how to drive.

Session One

in our first lecture we learned about the roles and responsibilities which in summary ended up as 7 bullet points:

Target specific markets

Develop products they want

Promote your products

Place your products appropriately

Price your products to sell

Add value and services

Monitor performance of your product

What is meant by product?

A product is something that we do, what we make, what we create.

Which i believe in essence are major factors in industry that most designers would not even consider which makes me happy to be learning about E&I on this course rather than finding out the hard way in the real world were a lot more money and reputation is at stake.

I learned a lot about the clients in this lecture, about their reaction to brands and products, what people want, what they need, what needs to be changed in society etc.

We were asked to define the term of a few things:

Core product - Which is basically a product in which the soul of the company/ industry relies on it being sold i.e companies with products which are mass produced such as a brand of food perhaps.

Tangible product - "Tangible goods are merchandise that you can put your hands on. Stuff like jewelry, computers, clothing or even CD's are all tangible products.

When you go shopping in a store, everything you place in your shopping cart would be tangible goods. You can also shop online and add real products to your shopping cart there too. As long as something is shipping to you it will be a tangible good.

On the other side of this are Intangible goods which are products that cannot be seen or touched. Things like domain names or computer programs are intangible goods. Even music you download from the web is considered intangible even though if you buy the CD it would be tangible."

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_tangible_and_intangible_goods_and_services

I found this link appropriate in allowing me to find out what tangible and in-tangible products actually are.

Augmented product - These products are to do with brand and colour and consist of items such as t-shirts, shorts, equipment etc and brands such as Nike, Adidas and Fred Perry etc

We also learned about placement! which in this tone is to do with where the product is sold, its price in delivery and what competition is in that place, i.e. apple mac store next to a Pc world.

Features and Benefits are a major factor to take into consideration for the wholesale of the product, a good location is needed so it is convenient for the buyers, customers will not want to be traveling to a Tesco by Stone Henge when they live in the Yorkshire.

Internationally - will the products sell world wide? will this be cost beneficial to the company? Would it be cheaper to sell in Europe because of the exchange rate changing so often? France? North America? How much will it cost to post products? Plane? Drivers? Boats? How long will it take to arrive? How much would the product have to be sold for to make a profit on the above?

An overview of questions which the answers to will change depending on the economy at the range of time.

Promotion - What people read, where they go, what they hear. Products need to be as cheap as possible. People need to know it exists, advertising. even discounts on the product to make it seem like a bargin. even peak time, what events are coming up? christmas? is it seasonal? do they celebrate such holidays or do they have others. What are their religious beliefs. Will it offend? etc

This whole lecture makes me consider every thing i put on a design sheet as it could be seen out in the real world and will protect me from getting in trouble for offence even if it was not intentional i.e. the french and the two fingered swear word. (history lesson - the English cut the French's f-off fingers because in the war it was what they shot their bow and arrows with.