I’ve tried to keep a consistent brand identity throughout my portfolio, website, instagram and business cards. I wanted coherent designs that would be recognisable as my designs, with my final project I also tried to keep a similar design theme so it would be noticeable while still relating to my most recent project. 

The issues I had throughout this project were all with printing, the unpredictable nature of print compared to digital is unfortunately you never know how it’s going to look unless it’s physically in front of you printed. This is what brought the majority of the problems with my work. 

With my business cards I’m really happy with my final prints however the original copies were unfortunately too light therefore basically illegible, the card and soft touch paper changes the way the ink appears and is printed. This usually isn’t taken into consideration when you’re ordering online as you do the proofing and if you’ve never printed on that style/paper before you’re going into it quite blind. 

I’m really pleased with how my final business cards turned out as I feel they follow my aesthetic and have a concise simple design on the back which includes the important information. It’s also legible which is a major plus! 

Similar to my business cards I had a massive issue with the printing and delivery of my portfolio which unlike the Business cards unfortunately wasn’t able to be rectified in time for the deadline. This really upset me as I’d left myself what I bought was enough time for a contingency plan if anything went wrong with the printing. How wrong was I! 

The printing for my illustrations looks really good and I’m really pleased with the impact it gives however the photography is just absolutely horrendous, the yellows take over the photographs with the rest of the photograph being completely over exposed and loosing all detail. 

Unfortunately due to a issue with the delivery they arrived late and aren’t able to be rectified and reprinted until the Wednesday after my deadline which is frustrating but there’s nothing more I can do.

The front page of my portfolio is absolutely ridiculous as well, you can BARELY read any of the writing and the pink background has been printed EXTREMELY light. When talking to customer services at newspaper club they apologised and admitted to there being faults on their part with the printing not my files. 

I’m reasonably pleased with my website as I feel the minimalist feel is very much my aesthetic, however I do wish I had a more developed website due to financial reasons however I went with a free template that I edited and changed myself. In the future I want to build on this and develop my website paying to get a personal theme design specifically for me. 

With my instagram with t being quite fresh and new I need to build a bigger following which I plan to do with sponsored posts and Facebook advertising. I’m pleased with the aesthetic and design I went for as I feel I utilise the grid layout and make it my own. I want to continue posting with hashtags to build a stronger presence. Using the Instagram business tool it already allows me to see the interactions and follow the engagement, allowing me to make improvements and continue doing what works well. 

Overall I’m pleased with the majority of this project, unfortunately I’m quite disappointed with my final outcome for my portfolio as I feel this was the most important element and it doesn’t do my work credit or promote me in a good light. Other than that I think I have a strong brand identity with a simple minimalist aesthetic alongside my bold illustrations.  

My website isn’t necessarily my ideal format however I am pleased with progress I have made with it.

Due to having a blog I already had a hosting plan which is free to add additional websites to as long as you have already purchased the domain.

Using format and other portfolio websites would have given me my more aesthetically ideal appearance however due to my financial situation this was not an option.

My website is a wordpress site, which gives me freedom however with images and the arrangement of them it’s quite restricting especially depending on your website theme. Mine unfortunately I haven’t yet bought which again limits me to what I can do and how I can present my work through it.

I do however like the easy navigation and simple menu, with the subtle colours I think the initial page as you first go on has got a impact and represents me well, using my current work and an image which I’ve feature heavily throughout this project to keep a consistent and memorable impression.

From my research I followed the minimalist styles with little writing leaving it up to the visuals which I much prefer, it lets my work speak for itself without any distractions .

I want to improve the portfolio areas, after you chosen on the main main menu I’m not keen on the following menu with the categories of my work. I don’t think it looks its sleek and professional as the rest of my website which is frustrating. I also wish my images had the full width of page however I still like the arrangement and layouts I’ve used on each section.

With my instagram and portfolio I have used the same small logo icon in my profile photo on my portfolio instagram and again in the address bar of in the webpage, continually keeping a consistent brand identity.

Website:

http://www.LaurenMoody.co.uk

Well printing, what can I say.. you just never know.

I ordered my Portfolio with Newspaper Club (love them, really good company) BUT I don’t really know what to make of the printing. I’m not a photographer so I’ve never been as fussed as the photographers I know over printing quality, I still want a good quality but I’m not as bothered if some detail is missing.

But omg some photos have just printed so over exposed and some are just contrasted to the high heavens.

I knew it was always a risk printing on newspaper, I’ve NEVER done it before but it always looks so good and I wanted something different yanno.

The regret now.

Okay not regret, I still like the aesthetic, but the front cover you can legit not read my name, my contact details are practically illegible and I don’t have enough time left to reprint!

IT’S LIKE THE BUSINESS CARDS ALL OVER AGAIN.

But this time I don’t have the safety net of time, there is a week until my deadline but it’s cutting it too fine to get it reprinted, the customer service said it could potentially arrive Tuesday and they didn’t specify if they would be covering costs or me.

Reflecting on all the printing I’ve done this project, it’s so hit and miss, you really just don’t know how it’s going to go until you print it. Due to all the different companies/printing processes I’ve used I just haven’t had time or money to do test prints on everything.

The only think that has smoothly printed is my FMP outcome which wooooo looks great print quality wise.

With newspaper printing, you really have to take into account the colours, you think you’ve used a bright enough colour, wrong, you have not it will not show up.

I don’t regret getting a newspaper portfolio, it’s a bit different not just generic photos in a book, but boy oh boy do I wish the quality was different it doesn’t necessarily show my work it’s best light lets say.

I think for my future portfolio’s I’m definitely going to do a test (number 1 rule) and try using block colours, less photography work.

There’s photos with basically NO DETAIL?! HOW?!

Newspaper Club have said they will reprint my portfolio free of charge however it will be too late for the deadline, which is really frustrating as I purposefully ordered the portfolio to arrive a week before incase I needed to reprint and for it to be delivered in time. Because of an issue with the delivery company I didn’t get the newspaper today which has really just made it impossible.

I have the original print to submit for the deadline but the print quality is absolutely atrocious for the photography which is not what you want when you’re trying to demonstrate how good your work is!

Well oh lord these were an absolute mare.

I decided for my design I wanted to use one of my own illustrations, not only to showcase my work on my card but also to keep a theme, as FEMME the cover is an illustration and my portfolio cover is an illustration (albeit a different lip illustration) there’s a coherence and common theme. Therefore my choosing a cropped version of the lips seen on FEMME when exhibited it portrays a conformity and can be recognised as my work.

The illustration printing was really nice, I chose a soft feel paper to give a more luxurious feel which I’m really pleased with but omg the reverse side printing WHICH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT is really really bad.

Printing is so unpredictable, it looks one way on the computer and completely different on paper!

The writing is so light SO SO SO LIGHT, I also had an issue with my illustrator and had to use photoshop to design the back which meant instead of it being made up of vectors it’s pixels which has also affect the quality but unfortunately that couldn’t be helped.

I used Vistaprint (such a good company, always has discounts and offers and really good customer service) and they were more than happy to reprint (woooo), I’ve edited the text on the back enlarging the font and making it darker, I also changed it from saying Fashion Communications to Art Direction as I decided to put that in the uni book as my specialism to make it again uniform.

Original reverse side of card

New improved reverse side of card

Front illustration design on card

My other options for the image on my business card are below, I chose not use these as I wanted to use the same illustration as the cover of FEMME as felt at GFW and the exhibition the consistency will be recognised and associated to me making me more memorable.

I do however like all these options and in the future I would get additional cards printed using at least one or two of these images. I think having more than one option enables you to portray yourself differently depending on who I’m giving the card to.

Following on from my website research I decided to also look at how they artists presented themselves on social media.

I looked at a couple of the same artists as previously, comparing the coherence of how they display their work and aesthetic on social media where it’s a lot more difficult o be creative and unique showcasing your personality due to the conformity and basic layout each persons account must have.

Alongside these I looked at agents and companies who represent creatives and how they post on their instagrams. Using the grid design to their advantage.

Molly Soda 

Molly Soda’s is quite interesting as I a mixture of her personal life intertwined with her work. This is get her style and I feel really promotes her work and her approach to art. I feel however it’s not as professional or obvious she is a fully fledged artist as even though it follows her brand identity, it’s not as clear what’s personal and what’s work. 

Her grid has no layout she clearly posts as she wants, letting the photos speak for themselves with no clear format design. She also has an instagram handle that is not her name therefore difficult to search and not an obvious name you would search for when looking for her profile.

Maisie Cousins 

Maisie Cousins sticks to a simple biography including her representation and website which I think is important, the simplicity of it allows for easy navigation being clear this is her work account. There’s no obvious grid format but have a satisfying appearance, she doesn’t just share a single image but by sharing multi-image posts she allows more visibility on one post. 

I think the simplicity of her bio is important with the multi-image posts as you’re able to get more exposure on a single post. If you were to pay for an Instagram sponsored post using the multi-image is a more affordable way to maximise exposure with only paying for one post. 

Laura Carlin 

Laura Carlin has no Instagram presence, she has a decent following considering she has no posts however does have a biography which states her website and dialling area. This is not something I will take inspiration from as I feel it’s not taking advantage of the free exposure you can get through Instagram if you use it the correct way. Carlin is reasonably well known artist however doesn’t utilise Instagram to further her reach or presence. 

Aesthetica Mag 

Aesthetica Magazine have a clear format, maximising the grid creating satisfying and clear layout. By using the 3 photos width of the grid to post multiple photos all relating either in their aesthetic or from the same artist/editorial/feature it gives enough of an insight into that work to create intrigue. 

I really like the thought in the layout of Aesthica Mags Instagram as I think it gives it depth and creates an originality to a layout that’s very uniform. Doing this format isn’t completely original however doing it well and using images together that work is what really brings this style to life. 

Nowness 

Nowness tend to post a lot more videos compared to static art, they don’t necessarily use their grid to display a clear format style however they do take into consideration the tones/colours/brightness of their photos subtly arranging them to give a satisfying aesthetically pleasing layout. When posting Nowness decides on a theme or genre which will then foreshadow the following so many posts following that concept. I like this style as it’s something different and not often done on Instagram, using it almost as online instalments of artists as if a gallery changing the exhibition every weekly.

Bernstein & Andruilli 

Bernstein & Andruilli are agents representing various artists, they use the grid layout similar to Aesthetic Mag by posting 3 images across the grid width that all relate to each other and work well together. This allows for a lot of different styles of work to be posted but to not have a chaotic jumble feel to it. Mixing different aesthetics together which doesn’t allow for the work/artists to be appreciated or seen as their own entity. Bernstein & Andruilli give each artist their own row which I think also shows a fair representation of each, allowing each the same amount of space and exposure. 

Machine-A 

Machine-A is similar to Bernstein & Andruilli in the fact they’re agents representing artists however the similarity ends there with their Instagram styles. Machine-A doesn’t have a clear style or format when it comes to showcasing the artists they represent. They don’t have a set way in which they posts, just posting artists randomly and only usually doing one post per artist at a time. The overall grid is quite nicely presented, giving a pleasing arrangement, the mixture of work following no themes or concept in their posts, I don’t like inconsistency and randomness is the layout of this grid. I think as they’re showcasing a variety of different artists work they should make the difference in Work and each artist clearer. They don’t let each artist be seen in their own right which I don’t feel  gives them fair representation. 

Summary

From my research I want to try and stay simple but have a original personal touch, I want to focus on my grid layout leaving my biography quite simple with just my website and location. I want to incorporate a structured layout which doesn’t necessarily appear effortless but more memorable.

Once you get out of uni it’s all about jobs jobs jobs, the stress of applying and trying to find someone to actually hire you above alllllll the other graduates!

Below I have 11 companies who I will be applying to after uni, I chose to include companies I already I have connections or close relationships with which gives me an advantage over other applicants.

With my portfolio I’ve always done this big ass A1 or A2 folder with those glossy dreamy sleeves that give your photo that additional lushness.

BUT I wanna change it up, I want something else I’m not a photographer nor do I really need a portfolio for the jobs I’m hoping to go into after uni, but I still want to display my work nicely and professionally.

I’ve looked at various different ways to present it, looking at a magazine option, hardback book option (which I’m not very keen on as I’m thinking of doing that as my final outcome and I don’t want them to be too similar), and newspaper. I think as I’m not a photographer I don’t really want leather A4 portfolio book with the laser sleeves as that’s not my aesthetic alongside the fact I don’t promote myself as a photographer.

I would look to get around 10 copies of the portfolio purely for interview circumstances where I could leave it, and also GFW to be able to give away to potential recruiters who are interested.

Magazine 

The difficulty with doing a magazine layout would be the vast amount of work I’d need to include to make the spine large enough so it didn’t look pathetic. I would only be including around 20-30 images so I would need to bulk it out with either writing or title pages.

The glossy sheen and appearance of a magazine would however look quite slick and give a professional appearance, with the paperback style it would be easy to handle and look through.

To print a magazine I have compared three websitesMixam, PixartPrinting and Blurb comparing the quotes from each for 10 copies.

Mixam gave a variety of different options and finishings to help calculate a quote and indicated that you are offered this much control over your magazine. The price I feel is a reasonable quote.

Similar to Mixam, they gave you a variety of options however their price is nearly double but with a different finishing as the gloss finishings was not given as an option.

Blurb doesn’t give you a quote for your specific preferences, estimating an extremely low cost for the magazine for one copy. Until you begin creating the mag you are unaware of the final cost, which can become a pricey option.

For magazine printing I would definitely go with Mixam as the options and transparent pricing makes it easy to budget and know what you’re expecting.

Hardback Book 

Hardback is quite a formal way to present your work in my eyes and I’m not sure how effective it would actually be. For a portfolio I don’t really see that as I way I want to represent myself. I looked at BookPrintingUK, Blurb and Mixam comparing the prices of 10 copies, hardback image wrap, matte finish where the option and standard delivery.

This website was probably the most professional in terms of book printing with the vast amount options and the fact they include a draft print and delivery in the price quoted. This however is absolutely out of my budget and no where near affordable.

Unlike on the magazine price estimation, the hardback book section gave me options which it then calculated the price for a single copy. This is a more affordable option, plus as it starts at 20 pages I know that a lower number of pages is an option unlike the BookPrintingUK where there was only an option of 50-100 pages. For 10 copies this would be extremely expensive but as a single printed portfolio this could be an option.

This is the most affordable option with 10 copies coming in under £100 including delivery. The options are also quite extensive giving a variety of different finishes which doesn’t reflect the economic pricing of the book. If I was to print a hardback I would most likely use Mixam, even though Blurb are very trustworthy and I have used them before the difference in price for 10 compared to what blurb would be is massive making Mixam and affordable alternative.

I don’t think I would go for a hardback book as it’s not the feel I want when someones looking at my work, I want it to feel tangible and in a way humble. With a hardback book you’re immediately coming across pretentious as if you deserve to be published therefore you’ve self published.

The finishing would be beautiful but I don’t think it’s the impression I want to give.

Newspaper 

I really like the idea if a newspaper printed portfolio as it has quite a basic but original feel to it. The size and the way you have to hold a newspaper is quite personal as you end up holding it up and looking directly into it. You have to be aware of what you’re otherwise it fall apart, so you have to pay attention to what you’re doing and be involved in it.

I like this idea as you’re manipulating the person looking at it to be completely involved in it and your work.

I looked at NewspaperClub and PrintOnPaper comparing the cost of 16 pages with 10 copies.

PrintOnPaper also offer an additional 15% discount to students making the final cost £39.10 which is £10 less than Newspaper Club. This price however is not including delivering. I have never used or heard reviews from this company before therefore I’m unsure on the quality, with printing on newspaper being such a risky option to print on it’s difficult to know the quality without receiving samples.

Newspaper Club are the more expensive option however the send out samples showing the print and quality type of the papers. This is something which I think is important when printing on a paper you’re not used to. The price for this does include shipping which is quicker than PrintOnPaper, therefore even though slightly more expensive without any student discount the delivery and free samples are what would make me more inclined to use this option.

Summary

Comparing the different printing options and prices alongside thinking about my own work, I think I would happiest going with a Newspaper print as I think although done before it is quite original and a quirky way to represent your work. As a lot of my work is illustrations I think it will create impact alongside the side and personal way you have to look through it. Whether hunched over it on a table or holding it up.

So I didn’t really know what to look at for my portfolio as you don’t really tend to see other peoples portfolios unless looking at uni or at your friends, so I started by looking at various artists websites to try and get ideas and inspiration for my own website.

Below are a couple I looked at and analysed taking away the positives that I might want to use on my website alongside the negatives which I don’t necessarily think works well.

Laura Carlin

One of the first artists I looked at was Laura Carlin, I looked at her work because similar to mine it’s a mixture of different specialisms.

http://www.lauracarlin.com/about/

The minimalist aesthetic of Laura’s website I really like, I find the simplicity allows her work to really stand out. By not distracting the viewers eye it doesn’t take anything away from the her work. The slide format Carlin uses to present her images allows each piece of work to be observed individually and appreciated. The 3-dimensional effect used on each piece of work adds another element to the portfolio making it much more tangible and interesting, even though it’s a simple white background the addition of the shadow really adds depth.

This style and format is something I really relate to and think could work well for my work, with the white background and standard simple font, it allows for the work to speak for itself and the colours to really pop and draw your eye into the detail. As I use pale colours with my illustrations I feel a white background would work well to allow for them to have more impact.

Ronald Dick

I looked at Ronald Dick’s website as I found it was quite a different aesthetic to mine and other websites I’ve looked at.

http://ronalddick.com

Ronald Dick’s portfolio is very sparse in terms of the amount of work he displays, showing his most recent on his personal website and his larger portfolio on his agents website

I prefer the style of his agents website as the clean finishes and uniformity of the size of images it’s a lot easier to look at. The background Dick uses on his website is quite aggressive and detracts from the work, the size of the images are too large resulting in the full image not always fitting completely on the screen unless you have a large computer screen.

Molly Soda

Molly Soda doesn’t use a conventional style with her portfolio which is partly to do with the fact she only exhibits her work online therefore her website isn’t about displaying her work but reinforcing her aesthetic and making it a piece of her work in itself.

http://mollysoda.exposed

The informal nature of Soda’s website is what I really respect, for her style of work and the way she pushes boundaries and concepts. Having a black background it allows for all the emoji’s, gifs and work to stand out, with the organised chaos of Soda’s website it has no clear structure or layout follows in her style however makes for a confusing set up. It doesn’t allow for each of her artworks to stand out on their own or for you to really know where one starts and one ends. It is very much a chaotic jumble of work which I don’t think would work with my work as it doesn’t have a clear flow or any clean blank areas giving the eyes a more satisfying arrangement.

Maisie Cousins 

https://www.maisiecousins.com

Maisie Cousins using a very simple slide theme for her website, Cousins using format which is a portfolio designed website hosting service they create themes specifically for displaying your work. I did look into format when building my website however due to my host and the fact my website is built by wordpress I’m unable to use formats themes or migrate my site to them without a large price tag.

Having the simple menu down the left handside and photography taking up the majority of the webpage maximises the space and immediately draws attention to the photographs. The slide feature allows her to showcase a large amount of photos very quickly and immediately. Without the arrows or buttons however you must swipe on your mouse pad to move the images which I do think is obvious but I don’t think having small arrows wouldn’t hurt. The colour that each of the option on the menu changes when you’re on that page ensures easy navigation on the website alongside the simple menu. I definitely think having the simple menu with the highlighted sections works really well and something I want to incorporate into my website.

Francisca Pageo 

http://franciscapageo.es/Photography

Francisca Pageo’s website has a variety of different on, combining her photography and illustrations. I looked at her website as I found the variety of her work is similar to mine.

Similar to Maisie Cousins website Pageo highlights which page you are to help with navigation which I think is quite an important feature. Pageo however doesn’t use a slide theme however groups her projects by date or name of project, to them see the entire you click on the photo and there are the static collective images. You can scroll manually through the photos without opening the projects page up, changing the initial image until you reach the last one of the section. Pageo’s about page is the longest I have read which I don’t think is necessary as I feel some information she has included in this area can be separated and made more concise and manageable in other sections of the website. I enjoy how static Pageos website is, it’s quite basic in that sense with no sliding illusion or anything moving, just a manual clicking slide show or static images on a page which to an extent I think works well but I think sometimes as we live in such a digital age you need a little bit more.

Summary

I feel minimalist style is definitely the way forward for my website, I’m also going to look into creating shadow definition on my illustrations to create a similar effect to Laura Carlins work as I think it really works well to create the illusion of it being 3D. I like the slide format as well however as my website is a wordpress site the affordable themes are very limited to the designs and features that they offer. To get a theme with a slide format would be a bit pricier which at the moment I unfortunately can’t afford however it is something I would look to do in the future and develop my website into. I do also like the way that Francisca Page displays her work, with a photo displaying the theme of that collection of photos allowing you to choose whether you want to look at the entire collection. All of the websites I have researched none of them feature an introduction or About section on the initial front page apart from Laura Carlin, with majority of them leading straight into the work which I understand and do think it’s important to have visuals immediately however I do think an about section is quite nice as an introduction.

Bibliography 

“About + Contact”. Laura Carlin, 2018, http://www.lauracarlin.com/about/. Accessed 19 Mar 2018.

“Ronald Dick”. Shotview.Com, 2018, http://shotview.com/artists/ronald-dick. Accessed 19 Mar 2018.

“Ronald Dick”. Ronalddick.Com, 2018, http://ronalddick.com. Accessed 19 Mar 2018.

“DO I SEEM MORE PROFESSIONAL TO YOU?”. Mollysoda.Exposed, 2018, http://mollysoda.exposed. Accessed 19 Mar 2018.

“Maisie Cousins – Grass, Peonie, Bum”. Maisie Cousins, 2018, https://www.maisiecousins.com/#0. Accessed 19 Mar 2018.

“Photography – Francisca Pageo”. Franciscapageo.Es, 2018, http://franciscapageo.es/Photography. Accessed 19 Mar 2018.