1.29.2012

Top 10 progress crit

Feedback group 1

Strengths
Who - Strongly associated with music lovers, naturally.
Topic is clearly evident
Good test videos, really enjoy the smoothness of the text & image of Jimmy.

Areas for Improvement
More relevant context > imagery - music?
Sound considerations.

Considerations 
How are you going to achieve the smoke effect?
How many artists are you going to show in the minute clip?



Feedback group 2
Strengths 
-Clear test pieces to give idea of how it will go.
-text & image combo made clear
-obvious broad target audience and channel
-test animation works well
-layered effect is effective.

Areas for Improvement
-Possible audio
-Intro isn't clear
>is text formed by the smoke
> is it feasible?
-Will the type be consistent?
- their personal logos or a neautral typeface for all.

Considerations 
- Sound - clips from live shows? or one song throughout
- gig posters research - imagery could be a basis for your animation (alongside photography stills)
- Content (stats) is this going to be shown through image? text, video or audio? or a combination
- How will you integrate a colour scheme or is colour defined solely by the photography stills with all other content white?
-add lighting which will shadow the layers
> under Ae layers.

1.26.2012

Top 10 concept crit

Strengths
Research
Use of existing imagery

Areas for Improvement
Think About style > Old/New
Pace?
Movement? - think about camera movement/blur/effects etc.
Possibly simple line drawing over the stills.
Re-create the atmosphere with a still - texture/smoke/sound etc.

Considerations
Decide on either crisp or retro
-depth of field within the image
tracking?
Moving components of the image over the backdrop.

ACTION PLAN
Action - Define style of the animation. old? retro? new? or spanning all for the different guitarists?
Reason - So I have direction and a more defined idea that I can take forward.


Action - Source stills & vector imagery
Reason - provide assets for the animation.

Action - Sort out after effects > look into how I can animate the stills...
Reason - to see whether animating the images is possible/plausible and to see how effective it would be.

Action - Storyboard.
Reason - define seperate elements and the specifics of the animation.



Tasks...
Come up with a defined/specific statement for my motion graphic.
Target audience > time it would be shown/channel
Think on the idents - when will they be show? taken from titles or seperately animated?

Think about the DVD cover and the translation of type and image from motion graphics to print.
SOUND!

I found this a really useful crit session and I think I've gained some invaluable feedback on my chosen topic, direction and also knowledge of how it can be produced in after effects. Something that I may not have considered up to this point.

Top 10 concept boards



1.25.2012

Enterprise Task 4 - Who else is out there? How good are they?

Catalogue

Due to staying in Leeds or in the North of England being very likely for my early creative career, working in a small creative practice on projects focusing on the music and culture sectors of industry, Catalogue are a very obvious competitor. Another small, fairly new practice focusing on very much the same sectors in industry.




Branding and stationary for Forex Trading company, Invictus capital. Really interesting take on a branding brief, especially for a client like invictus.




Programme for a conference at Leeds College of Art. Really like the mark for this event especially, really interesting use of the type. 


Strengths 
- Focus on client relationships and return business
- In house printing facilities.
Weaknesses
- Niche market with graphic style.
Opportunities
- Small practice, possibility for collaboration
Threats
- Printing facilities mean they don't always have to out source printing, can offer work for cheap!

1.23.2012

Enterprise meeting 3.

After deliberation over the press ad after our second meeting, the third meeting brought on a whole new area for deliberation. We decided to get together and design a business card as a group, keeping the simplicity we achieved in the logo and press ad and applying it to a different format.

The problem here then became the orientation.
 We liked the landscape format as similar to the press ad it gave a nice feeling of space and is a general format for business cards.
However we also felt the portrait format had its cons, in that it somehow felt a little more professional and slightly more high class.

A nice photo of the design process in action.
Luke, although pretending to be on the phone for the picture, did actually enquire with Anand at Generation Press about the production of our business cards because of an opportunity for a little promotion at the Leeds Print Festival.
He came back to us with a quote of £175 for 250 business cards to our spec. possibly a little out of our student price ranges at the moment but something definitely worth thinking on.

Enterprise group Final press ad.

After finalising the logo type, in Neutra face with an 800pt tracking and also choosing the body copy as Gotham, we went ahead designing the press ad.
Although we had an idea of the visual we were looking for, a composition with plenty of space and hopefully a bit of impact, this process was one of much deliberation. Despite settling on layout very early, looking mainly at the logo type, and as little clutter as possible, it was the introduction of a line that became our problem.


 as is visible here we went for a very minimal layout, the line in question is the line below the logo type and in this case we chose a fairly heavy weight of line, probably around 8 pt.


 Above we went for a line weight about half the previous example. 4pt.



In the example above we removed the line altogether, but felt it gave a nice balance to the ad with it included.


Above is our final press ad, with the thinner of the two lines, and as little information as we could probably have got away with putting. We liked this because of the space it creates and impact of the logo...

Enterprise meeting 2

Following the workshop in which we were given the task of creating a press ad for 'Craft' to go in creative review we got together a a group for a second time. This was to decide on the format and specifictions of our ad in order to work out how much it would cost as a group to actually do this.

In order to do this we took a trip to the library to use one of the meeting rooms and also get hold of a copy of Creative review to decide how we wanted the ad.
This is a picture of us graftin'.
During this highly professional meeting we decided that we didn't want too big an ad, with only being a small practice starting out, we didn't want to be spending too much money.
So we chose to look in the directory and creative services sections towards the back that allow you to purchase space in units of 15mm by 35mm

In order to get started we thought about how we wanted to come across, and decided on an ad that was almost square, without a background colour so as not to have a border. This would mean that the ad would hopefully have more impact due to its simplicity and the amount of white space.
We then worked out the costing. 

Costing:  Ad space: £400, (8 units at £50 each.)
              Gotham type: £130
              Neutraface display: £150
              Site URL: £11.49
The total cost, including downloading the type for commercial use is:  £691.49

Enterprise - Craft Branding - Mark .

After the enterprise workshop, we all decided to go away and design a few ideas for a logo for 'Craft'. The page above are the designs that I came up with... because of the name and the statements identified in the workshop, we focused on simplicity, clarity and detail for the designs.



After coming together again we found that everyone had gone with a similar aesthetic, mainly type based experimentation, focusing on simple combinations of type and line. We had also looked at including the asterisk that we used in our initial drawing in the workshop but thought this may not be necessary overall.
We eventually decided on a very simple idea focusing mainly on type treatment.
 Above is a screen grab of my original design however as a group we decided it was the type that made it good, so we removed all the unnecessary items and also changed the font to a very similar font that was easier to aquire.
Above is the end result.


Enterprise Workshop.

After a short discussion we were given half an hour with the task
Come up with a Company Name 
and What we'll offer.
A list of 10 Key skills//services//things that we will offer. 
Slogan//tagline//statement that sums us up.

So we got together as a group, and began as logically as possible by writing down words that related to the way we want to run our practice and also words we thought just sounded 'nice'.
After roughly jotting down our ideas, we went with the name craft, as we felt as a name, and as a word, it had the most potential in terms of a business.
We also looked in detail at the list of 10 services that we'd offer and tried to create some kind of unique element to our practice.
We thought as a group we have a wide range of skills, all bringing something to the table, so we tried to get all of this into our 10 statements.

After producing a page of mind magic, we then went ahead neatening it up for presentation and making our statements more succinct and specific. We decided we wanted to be a fairly small practice with a focus on branding, working mainly with other small independent businesses. Focusing on all the best bits of us as a group, passion for detail, quality finish, craftsmanship, different creative approaches and very importantly the idea of building lasting relationships with a friendly and professional work ethic. Very pleased with this!

At the end of the session we were given the task of creating our company's press ad that would go into creative review. 

Enterprise - Lecture 7 - Don't get ripped off!

Soul right to produce copies of your work.
No one else is allowed to copy in any way

- Property of your intellect
This is the copyright logo. 
Students are legal thieves - as long as part of an educational organisation you are allowed to use copies of things.
IP- Intellectual property.
> refers to creations of your mind

- Patents
- Trademarks
- Copyright
- Registered designs

Patents
1714 - Henry Mill took out the first copyright for a typewriter
QWERTY keys (number 385)

Ring pull
Tremolo - C.L.Fender 1954
Patent leather - Seth Boyden 1818

Trademarks & logos
TM - means that it has been applied for
R- means that it has been granted

Heinz beans packaging 
Everything about it is patented
- blue colour
- shape of border
- typeface
etc

BP & Shell 
Cannot use the same colours for the forecourt of a garage. They have patented the use of those particular colous for that job.

Registered Designs 
Iphone trademark of Apple Inc.
£60 to register a product...

Copyright
- Art, literature, music, animation, film, games
- Automatic
- Date & record your work
date stamp from the post office.
ISBN numbers.

Shepard Fairey vs Associated Press
Copyright infringement
HOPE > Obama photograph > Obama posters > Obama logo.
all used without copyright

Johnny Cupcakes vs The world
Urban outfitters > Benny frying pan
using for commercial gain > you must obtain a license

Fair use legislation.
Securing copyright
Add copyright symbol - Date - your name to your work...
then publish it on a blog etc.
> keep a log of your significant creations
give them numbers with which to identify them and write where they are.

How long they last...
Patents - maximum of 20 years
Trademarks & logos - Forever  but renew every 10 years
Design rights - up to 25 years but renew every 5
Copyright - 70 years after death

George Lucas
- gave up part of his salary at Fox Studios for a share in the box office revenue and merchandise sales.

J.M.Barrie
- Left the copyrights for Peter Pan with Great Ormond Street hospital earning them masses of revenue

Association of illustrators
- Will agent for you.
University of arts london
> website for stuff about it. Q&A
www.ipo.gov.uk
intellectual property office.

Enterprise - lecture 6 - Don't just get a job.

Johnny Cupcakes..!
Why start a business?
Have to be passionate - if you're not you won't put everything into it.

Collaborate - Disney, Warner Bros.  
Go big. aim for the top first.
4ps
Product > T-shirts
Pricing > Regular & limited editions
Promotion > US Tour
Place > Fantasy Bakery

Copyright
Marketing
Brand > Longevity > scarcity.

- Do what you love
- Start your business as a student or while you're employed
- Don't do it alone
- Write a business plan
- Do the research
- Get professional help
- Get legal and tax issues right first.

> Come up with a good business idea first 
-Why you're starting a business
- Company structure
- Skills
- Funding
- Competition
- Marketplace
- Business plan
- Staff
- Professional advice
- Biggest cause of failure? find out what it is

Find out 
- what you're going to do
- what is the value proposition
- what resources you will need
- how much will it cost to start
- how will you pay for it
- who are your target customers

But why do we need one?
> to focus your efforts
> get some clear objectives
> enable you to track your growth
> to raise finance
> attract collaborations

www.freelanceuk.com

Where to find a business plan...
> a high street bank
> the arts council (social enterprise)

www.businessballs.com
} writing a business plan
www.businesslink.gov.uk

Finding Funding.
- By helping others to get grants
- Crowd funding
- we did this - funding website
- co-operative

Meredith Belbin 
Team management author

Action
Completer
finisher

Implementer

Sharper

Social
Co-ordinator

Resource
investigator

Teamworker

Thinking
Monitor
Evaluation

Plant

Specialist

Power culture   |     Role culture
Task culture      |    Person culture


Power > family restaurant
               Mafia family
               buddy (cake boss)
Role > Large organisations
           LCA > principal
                    > Departments
                    > Support structure
Task/Matrix >  Group coming together
                           Temporary
                           Hollywood. Film 
                           Freelancers all coming together
                           One project
                           No heirarchy
Person >  Key people
                 supporting people        } dental practice.

What you need to get the job done?
Income Streams
- private commissions
- free lance design work
- workshops                                           }     slow build > long burn
  part-time teaching
- Royalties from book sales
- Professional seminars.

Status is determined by
> what you do with the profits
Legal status
- Sole trader
- Partnership
- Limited Company
- Limited liability partnership

Choosing the wrong legal status can be detrimental
> loss of trust
> Lack of investment

Business link.
Taxation
Tax allowance > £7,475
Above £35,000 > 20% tax

NICs (National Insurance Contributions)

Sole trader 
Partnership - shared profits. not necessarily equal

Limited company 
- Directors & shareholders. liability for debts is limited to their % of ownership
- You are an employee of the company
-AGMs to receive and approve accounts
- Annual return to company's house
- Need to be at least 2 employees.

> NIC payments
> Corporation tax payments
> VAT payments

Corporation tax 21% of profits > get a good accountant
Value added tax
- 20% on all goods and services
- 5% on some things.
VAT exempt
£7000 VAT threshold

Can claim back on everything you buy
not so great for creative businesses.

1.18.2012

Enterprise Task 3 - How will I promote myself?

The first point of call in terms of marketing and self promotion will be a self identity as this is what will give any potential clients or collaborators an idea of me and my aesthetic style. I believe that a really strong personal identity is invaluable, as it's usually the first thing that anyone will see of yours and will use to make a judgement about whether or not they want to work with you. This will focus, I think, upon the business card. Just as I mentioned before it's the first thing that anyone will see of your work and can have a huge impact on how they see you. They are also really useful, being able to carry them with you where ever allows you to take advantage of any opportunity that may arise, and leave people with something that they'll hopefully remember you by.

This means that in attending any exhibitions, trade fairs, print fairs, or festivals which I also intend to do as part of my personal promotion. I will be able to take advantage of any situations that come up by giving out business cards.

The next part to my self promotion would revolve around building and constantly keeping up an online presence. Firstly, an online portfolio which would be given as a point of contact on my business cards so that anyone who receives one would have access to more of my work. Online is such a predominant vehicle for promotion due to the speed and ease at which it can be accessed. The fact that it is an intrinsic part of most peoples lives, and is used throughout industry only improves the chance of it having an impact. Especially in the areas in which I'm interested in working, design for music, culture and the arts etc. The other elements to this online presence would include the upkeep of blogs, outlining where my interests lie in the design world and also social media such as twitter, which allows you to follow studios to keep up to date with what they're up to. Most studios now have twitter accounts as it also helps with the contact of clients.

I think building relationships with clients will also be an important part of my practice, as promotion through word of mouth and testimonials that can be put onto my website will be massively influential in terms of whether a client chooses to work with you or another designer. These give people a sense of trust and help them gauge whether you'll be a worthwhile investment.