Self Promotion

My first idea for the self promotional piece was to do a poster with 5 of my projects along the bottom. (blogger has done a great job of reducing the quality)

I decided not to use this format because it didn't display my work very effectively. The images of my work and the main design on the poster fight for your attention, and the colours didn't print as well as I expected.

Here are some photos of design I decided to go with. I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Its made up of a business card and a concertina folded leaflet with examples of my work. They both fit inside a slip case which is sealed with a sticker.

Fred didn't like the logo I designed, he said it made him think of a "brown rice eating hippy" but I don't agree! It is super simply but eye catching, which reflects my belief that simple design is most effective. It also has a resemblance to a flower, reflecting my interesting in sustainable design and environmental awareness. Thirdly it is made up of three colours which mix to make many more reflecting my interest in design for print.

The concertina fold allows a lot of space to display examples of work.

A couple of the things I think could be improved with this design are the fact that, its not a standard format so it could be fiddly and expensive to produce in large numbers. Its also too small to be sent through the post by itself, meaning it would have to be put into another envelope. If a potential client or employer received it they wouldn't get the impact of an uniquely designed package.

Self Promotion Development

When I started to develop my piece of self promotion work the first thing I did was to develop a logo. I quickly did some rough sketches by hand, then I moved onto Illustrator.

I started looking at some interesting shapes and transitions using the blending modes.

Different shapes and colours

I liked the idea of using a magnet in my logo, to communication the idea of strength, energy etc. I don't think this design has quite the right feel or tone of voice.

I tried using some Illustrative hand drawn lettering, I felt that it gave the impression that I might be an illustrator, it also didn't relate to the overall style of my work and didn't look as professional as I would like.

I started working with these rosette patterns, I like them because they are very versatile and could work in lots of different colours. They have a fun and friendly feel, but when set with precise typography I think they look professional and reliable.

I experimented with some possible layouts for my business cards

I had the idea to make my business card a stickers sheet with 6 miniature stickers on, I think it would make the business card unique and something that people would want to have and keep.

One I had decided on the overall style of my business card I tested out a couple of different layouts. I decided on one of the simplest designs because I think it is very eye catching, it communicates the type of work I do and it has a professional and stylish feel.