Tagged: identity

editing my CV / online presence

instagram: @hollytem

Rather than creating a separate online presence to document my creative work, I have decided to incorporate it more into my personal Instagram, as a lot of the concepts and ideas behind my work resonate with me personally. Instagram has become an important tool in how people – artists and otherwise – can present themselves online, and by using it as a curated space to showcase my personal life and work, it ties the two together. My Instagram provides direct links to @fillerzine and my portfolio website, to display other ways of seeing my work and/or contacting me.

I’ve worked at using my Instagram to not only share personal and social images, but also progress of creative work, experimentation, exhibitions and events I visit or am a part of, and material and images I find inspiring. There are colours and themes that appear repeatedly in my work and my Instagram mirrors this, for example my interests in food styling and art direction, printed matter and self-publishing, and talk around mental health and wellbeing.

Fold-out CV poster on newsprint

I also edited my CV’s layout and design to match my online identity and the work I have become more interested in producing. My interest in printed matter and book arts inspired me to create a more engaging presentation of my CV, turning something that is usually a boring document into a piece of artistic work in itself. I used the same typefaces as seen throughout my website (here) to link both my online and offline material into a cohesive visual identity. I’ve printed my CV onto newsprint paper (similar to how my final major project will be presented) as a fold-out print, showing a print of one of my still life images on the back. This means that my CV can become a hand-out or takeaway at exhibitions and events, reminding potential employers of my work and its aesthetics, as well as detailing my skills and experience.

promotional material

Promotional material mood board

I particularly like the idea of creating an innovative takeaway as a form of physical promotion. After researching into creative business cards and printed matter, I’ve decided to create simplistic business cards that match my online identity and colour schemes. In terms of packaging, I was particularly inspired by this example of visual identity created by  Swiss graphic design studio Badesaison for Metzg, a speciality butchery.

Visual identity for Metzg, Zurich

Their cohesive identity includes simplistic business cards in mini envelopes, notecards and paper, and matching food packaging. The themes of food I have incorporated into my current work mean I want to start thinking more about creative packaging as promotional material.

The Cook Book Zine by Olivia Park is a publication centred around food and cooking. Packaged in a small paper bag reminiscent of grocery, bakery or sweet shop bags, it features surprise inserts, for example, a small portioned bag of cereal. This made me think more about novel material and items I could use to create a ‘promo pack’ of sorts, if not now then in the future.

The Cook Book Zine
Box of Books by Tiny Splendor, screen printed box by Kenneth Srivijittakar

This ‘Box of Books’ by publishing press Tiny Splendor, consists of a screen printed pastry box holding 20 different mini zines by different artists. This could be an interesting way of presenting work, perhaps experimental pieces or mini projects as zines, and holding them collectively in a creative piece of packaging.

 

the physical portfolio: inspiration

Portfolio research/inspiration

I began researching into the presentation of physical portfolios to think about how I want to present my work physically. I have never wanted to use a typical portfolio folder, binder or box as I feel this better suits two-dimensional work or image-based pieces. The work I want to include in my graduate portfolio includes a selection of zines and booklets I have created, as well as some photography and other print-based work, so I want my portfolio to reflect my love of materials, printing and tactility. I started to look at innovative packaging for portfolios, for example, envelopes, bags or obscure packaging.

We Sow is a project by French graphic designers Léa Beaubois, Marion Cachon and Paul Faure, who ‘sow’ packages of printed matter throughout Lyon and Ghent, of reworked pieces of text in the form of pamphlets, flyers, zines or little scrolls of paper. The packages of risograph prints will be left on streets or in public places, or hidden and left to find by passers by.

“We Sow is an independent self-publishing initiative which was launched in Lyon, France in summer 2016 by Léa Beaubois, Marion Cachon and Paul Faure. Created in response to the current socio-political state of affairs in France and beyond, the project seeks to sow seeds in the minds of its readers, in a thoughtfully designed and printed form that also offers the group a chance to flex their design muscles.”


Other forms of packaging that have inspired me include >>Robynne Redgrave’s portfolio<< which has a similar aesthetic, placing all elements of her portfolio and documentation into a transparent package, almost like an evidence bag or important piece of mail. I like the idea of using bulldog clips or other basic stationery fastenings, to allow the recipient to take apart the portfolio and look through it in whichever order they like; being able to look at items up close, touch them and turn them over.

>>This stationery packaging I discovered on Pinterest<<, (but unfortunately cannot find the original source or designer) uses playful links to food and eating, packaging a notebook in what looks like a takeaway box or lunchbox with a branded cardboard band around it. Linking this to the food/fashion concept of my final major project and where I would like my future work to go, I like the idea of using food packaging within a visual portfolio. (Even rolling up a CV or cover letter like a napkin could add to this effect?)

portfolio: creating an identity

(a collation of a few selected images of my work, with recognisable colour and theme similarities)

After examining our current collections of work as a group in Daniela’s workshop, it was easy for me to spot repetitive themes, styles and colour palettes in my work that help tie it all together. This helps me recognise that I do have a personal style and identity to my work, for example I often feature pastel or feminine colours in my images, as well as experimental text and textures.

My work is more centred around still life and art directed shots, as well as creative collage and illustration in my more tactile pieces. There are also recognisable themes and concepts in my project, including topics of femininity, sexuality and wellbeing/mental health.

I recognise my portfolio of work as quite young and contemporary, often commenting on youth culture, lifestyle trends and attitudes towards sex, the body, social media, nature. I was pleased that this is clear in my work as I often worried that my interests within fashion communication were quite broad, and that it isn’t clear where my interests lie – but when looking at my work laid out next to each other it is obvious that I do have themes and ideas I return to and enjoy working around.

This has helped me to think about forming and developing my own visual identity for my portfolio, online presence and promotion of myself/my work. The repetition of pink and feminine qualities in my images mean there is a simple starting point for an aesthetic that would compliment my work, and the contemporary nature of my images mean that I can start thinking about designs for my website, portfolio and promotional material that complement this.

North: Fashioning Identity @ Somerset House

I visited the North: Fashioning Identity exhibition at Somerset House to collect ideas around how I can research within fashion and culture and curate a creative outcome. The exhibition was curated by Lou Stoppard and Adam Murray, and Lou Stoppard is a constant source of inspiration to me in the fashion journalism and curation world. The exhibition was a vast, detailed display of how the fashion and art industry has taken inspiration from the culture and history of the north of England.

The exhibition space was curated into sections that unpick different areas of how the North is depicted and drawn up – looking first at documentary and fashion photography throughout the ages that has featured recognisable symbols and stereotypes (architecture and landscape, ‘the quintessential Northern woman’ and the Northern family and lifestyle).

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