Tumblr

http://cvanniekerk.tumblr.com/

My tumblr account gives a good overall feel to what kind of designer I am at the moment, I have also put some of my own stuff up there I do in my personal work or with my friends to give you an idea what I am about.

Business Cards

1st batch of business Cards. I don't like these already, but they will be sufficient for the time being. I took my tutors advice and just sat down for an hour one morning did a design and send it off otherwise it would never get done. 

These are some letterheads which I applied my brand to. 

Some Letters to Studio within the UK (Creative CV?)

Some letter I have been sending to studio's. Decided to instead of sending them work kind of produce a letter which works as a show piece at the same time. I duplexed the paper with 2 nice stocks and put it in a plastic sleeve with a business Card. 

End of module Self evaluation

What skills have you developed throughout this module and how effectively have you applied them? The main skills I have developed and started to apply is definitely type and layout from Graeme's type module, this gave me the understanding and the foundations of type design to start exploring it for myself, this project gave me a good opportunity to capitalise on what I have learn so far. Another skill is my photography skills, I have always been good with a camera and I saw this project as an opportunity to explore that, which allowed me to not only work with type and image but to have a lot of freedom on what image I am using and what kind of design would fit with it. My web design skills have also developed as I had to do my first real attempt at doing a mock up this gave me an idea of what dimensions web has and how to work with it. Photoshop and Indesign skills are the two, which benefited the most, I now comfortably know my way, round photoshop and I now automatically go to layout all my work in indesign. Communication with other designer, getting into contact with other designers to use their work not only helped me in my own practice but helped build connections within the industry. Designing with the idea to apply across a range is definitely a skill which I have developed as throughout this project everything I did I tried to keep in mind that it needs to be functional across various platforms and formats. For YCN I developed my packaging skills, something I have not been that interested in but yet I have learnt how to apply design across a three dimensional format much better. It has also opened my eyes to ridiculously strick rules when it comes to clients proposing briefs, this in future will inform me much better if I am willing to attempt a brief or not depending on the restrictions. It has also developed my collaborative skills, I have learnt that I now much prefer designing on my own but the concept development with 2 heads is definitely better than 1. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? I have developed my planning stage a lot more as this project before starting I planned out my content well which lead me to start my project far better as I was incredibly clear to what Image and type I needed which delegated what software I had to use. I also developed my Stock and colour schemes knowledge and planning as these were key to keeping everything within a range. Drawing, got much better at drawing up packaging models when working on a packaging brief I find drawing is by far the only and the best start for a project It helps rationalise shapes in my head and allow me to design better to apply design on a 3 dimensional scale.  What strengths can you identify in your work and how will you capitalize on these? Photography, I forgot that I am pretty much a self taught photographer over year and years of curiosity and practice, not sure why I haven't capitalised on this until now but this is something I am going to keep working on in future projects as I feel this comfortably sets me apart from my peer group. Using my own photographs also means endless options when it comes to compositions and post production. Typography, my type and layout has significantly improved this project and I feel that my style of layout's clarity is something I want to keep working on to see where it will take me. Indesign and photoshop skills have been a strength in this project as well, it has given me much more confidence and I will keep capitalising on these skills. I have become much more confident in my idea and drawing process' of my design, I use to believe I am purely a process driven designer which is still true to an extent but I now love concept development, If I get a good idea I work twice as hard to make it a reality. Being able to dumb down my over complicated idea's, this has been a major problem for me in the past making things which are far too complicated, but taking a step back rethinking things has started to sink in well. Working with interesting materials like high density foam, this gave my project a somewhat different and unique feeling which allows it to stand out against the market. Interesting materials are also much more fun to work with then your standard formats and choices. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you adress these in the future? Colour schemes, it might not necessarily be a weakness but I feel as my colour scheme was a little bit all over the shop, when looking at my design I can clearly see that I am incredibly structural in my work but in reality my notes and initial designs are a organised mess, it's been hard for me to go from these two extremes and colour schemes have obviously been slightly neglected especially as I constantly want to do something new instead of sticking to a range. This feeling of always wanting to move on to the next project can probably be seen within my project a little bit, I touch on various area's of ranges (stationary, promotion, web) instead of just really capitalising in one area.  Not being able to fold packaging very well, I have realised this in the first module of the year and now I have confirmed it. I cant fold a complicated packaging model... Its a 1 in 3 if its going to be accurate or not even if I have measured every dimension down to the millimeter, my hands and brain just do not work together on packaging. Identify 5 things you would do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from them? 1. Buy another A4 sketchbook, this has been the first project where I haven't worked side by side with a personal sketchbook. I have had notebooks and layout pads but just does not feel as personal without a sketchbook. 2. Start blogging earlier, this project has not been bad for blogging at all. But can still be improved. 3. Blog more systematically and clear, I am incredibly disorganised in my notes ever since I can remember and I need to try and make it more clear on my blog. 4. Ask tutors for feedback, found that this project as much as I like student crits getting feedback from a professional is more beneficial. Getting direct feedback would be far more beneficial... 5. Be more open to web, I have been avoiding web a lot which is unlike me mainly due to my interest in type/layout and print but this is a gap I need to close this summer. Attendance: 5 Punctuality: 3.5 Motivation: 5 Commitment: 5 Quality of work produced: 4 Quantity of work produced: 4 Contribution to group: N/A 

YCN Final Products

Open publication - Free publishing - More brief

This project in my view came out alright but upon reflection I should not of picked this brief, Its really not my style as a designer. To improve this project It should of had a far greater online presence due to it being Google and so on. The packaging models were far too hard to make as well for their appearance. This project also had far too many restrictions which looking back already delegated what it was going to look like. The concept as a whole is good to give Google a physical presence but maybe something other then a box like a memory stick or a CD something which can be directly put into your computer, cutting out that idea that people will bother to follow a link they find in a box, a CD or memory stick is slightly more memorable than a QR card and I fear that people will just not be interested enough to follow the link. 

FMP final products

Overall I feel that my Type and layout has gotten a unique personal style to it. I based my design on modernist layout and type with my own unique influences. If I had more time I would of made a whole range of flyers with all the stock photography I still have left. I feel that this design fits within the industry and market (dance music industry), but yet its still unique making it stand out strongly against its competitors. I could also definitely improve on my type and layout, I notice a lot of tiny errors and mistakes but due to the learning curve I have only started to adress them. I would say that my potential Hierarchy is not a 100% full prove but I feel that Its close enough for a viewer to follow the message I am trying to convey to them. Colour schemes are a little bit off for a range but at the same time keeping the black as a standard and the white for stocks made the 1 other colour I added kind of work across a range due to its variation, that sentence contradicts itself but when you look at the overall design you can see what I mean, The colours fits and they dont. I feel like I have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this project. 

Crit feedbacks for my last project.

some logo ideas...............

These are all designs I am willing to go for with my Logo and branding. I really liked the "Sup" idea but was kind of heard to apply it across all my stuff without being too clear that it was my work, going to attempt to apply this after the deadline when I have some more time.

Business Cards

Designing for yourself during this point of my life is probably the hardest thing I can do... As i am not entire sure on a lot of my own direction within Graphic Design so this is like a completely open ended brief... I Got stuck and made some Plumber Cards instead, these made me laugh and in my view are pretty alright.

These are just a selected few of some of the tons of variations I did but all my idea's steered me kind of into this direction. Sans serif, monocrome, clear, modern. 

Placements/Studio Visits

1) Grid Creative Manchester

I'd like to go for a studio visit at Grid Creative because its based in Manchester which is too far from leeds so travel wouldn't be an issue. Manchester is also somewhere i would consider working after leaving university if i had the opportunity. The work they put out is also in my favoured sectors of industry: Music, Photography and then some more high end industries like Property, Accountancy and Fashion. The work they do is very clear, simple and effective.

Contact details:
Info@gridcreative.co.uk
02033718981
Unit 4B
The Landmark
Manchester
M41FR

2) Filthy Media

Filthy media is based in Brighton which is kind of on the other side of the country but from all the design agencies i have come across this is what kind of industry i want to go into the most. Filthy Media has a lot of links with the music industry, the majority of which are artists i have seen live. The work their studio produces seems to be focused on Identity, Print, Type and music all the area's which interest me, especially type as image.

Contact Details:

29 Kensington Gardens

Brighton

BN1 4AL

02173683591

studio@filthymedia.com

folio@filthymedia.com

3) RAW Creative

Raw is based in Manchester which is just around the corner so ideal for a studio visit. I like that there is a good mix of work within the studio, the work which stood out to me most is the Photography based projects and the After effects. They also have a very simple clean style of design throughout all their projects, the only problem is they do a lot of football based briefs and i am not the biggest football fan. The photos of their actual studio are pretty amazing, i really like the environment and its somewhere i could see myself working.

Contact Details:

01618392260

info@weareraw.co.uk

Raw design Studio

James street

M35HW

4) May-Ninth

http://www.may-ninth.co.uk/studio

5) Glorious Creative

Glorious creative is based in manchester and the work they produce is mainly editorial/layout and identity. They seem to design mainly for the Arts & Culture sector but there is a wide range of clients they have worked for.

The work which most interests me from this studio is their magazine layouts, I really like the way they approach their designs and layout, especially the style of photography and type they use.

10a Stevenson Square

Manchester

01612373575

info@gloriouscreative.co.uk

http://www.gloriouscreative.co.uk/

6) Made by Six

This studio actually gets me excited about graphic design, the majority of their online portfolio shows a very large range of disciplines in their work, more specifically branding and Identity. What interest me most about this studio is their attention to detail even on presenting their work online, everything seems to fit really well and have a reason for being their, they even suggest how the design should be used. This graphic design studio communicates their work incredibly well. 

The Loft

20 Narborough Wood Park

Desford Rd, Enderby

Leisctershire, LE19 4XT

01162386555

hello@madebysix.com

7) Instadesign 

http://www.instadesign.co.uk/

8) Fluid Creative

Unit 6 Hyde Point

Dunkirk Lane

Hyde

Cheshire

01613689814

info@fluidcreativity.co.uk

9) Black & White Studio

Castleton Mill

Leeds

LS122DS

01132454200

info@bandwstudio.co.uk

Black and White studio has some really interesting work, from their online portfolio they show mainly editorial work which is very photography heavy. This aspect of photography and layout really attracts me to this studio, their use of type is also really well balanced. Another reason Black & White studio stands out to me is their client list which seems to be mainly within the architectural/property sector, they have also got a large partner list consisting of photographers. 

They are based within leeds so would be perfect for travel and accommodation. 

10) Bite and Bark (motion graphics)

Leeds

hello@barkandbite.com

01133470377