PORTFOLIO

As well as the FMP module, we also need to produce a portfolio that will be a collection of all the work that I have produced over the years at university and any other extra work I wish to show. The idea behind doing a portfolio is so I can present my work as well as giving an insight to my personality and work ethic for future employers to see.

Lecture notes are linked below by pressing on them.

LECTURE ONE- brief and introduction

LECTURE TWO – social media and online skills

HOW AM I FEELING?

In terms of the portfolio project, I feel a lot more confident in producing the content we need for the portfolio. This includes:

  • Postcard/ Business Card
  • CV
  • Portfolio sketchbook showing research and development
  • Website
  • Database showing what brands we are interested in and why
  • Digital Archive
  • Portfolio Outcomes

In terms of how I am feeling towards the portfolio project, I feel good! I think it will be interesting for myself to see how I produce my brand identity through choosing my brand aesthetic, colours, website making etc, and to see all the work I’ve ever produced collected together in one place (on my website).

My first steps include making the database and constructing my brand identity.

DATABASE

The brands I have picked to feature on my database include brands that are my fashion based and others that are more magazine and zine based. The reasoning behind picking different brands that I wish to work for are because I believe they are brands where my skills set would shine more as well as being brands that I am generally fond off! When imagining myself in a workplace, I think my skills are pretty transferable and are not constricted to one specialism. I believe I am good at most things but do not excel at a particular aspect and therefore the brand I have chosen to feature on my database are brands where I may use different skills. As well as this, when imagining the type of brand I want to work for there are a few aspects that I look for:

  • A team that works together and uplift each other. I work better alongside a team and so something I look for in a future workplace includes a strong team ethos. Ideally a small team so that I can have a large input in a brand however I’m not too picky.
  • A fair brand with good morals: E.g treats everyone equally, no misogyny or treating people as unequals.
  • Fair pay.
  • Local: Brighton or London based or local to Brighton.

 

What i believe I could offer to a brand:

  • Very eager to learn and therefore would love to experience and learn new fields of work.
  • Photography- Not my specialism however have experience in it, studio settings, lighting experience.
  • graphic design and digital illustration.
  • Market research.

Brands in my database and why:

  • SneezeMagazine: A skating magazine. Small team and fond of their brand aesthetic and laid back vibe.
  • Huck Magazine:
  • PeachyDen: London based sexy smartwear fashion brand. Personal fan of their brand and all womens team.
  • ClobberZine: Small zine. Not active at the moment however would be interested in the future. Small team. London based.
  • BuffaloZine: Fun, care-free aesthetic. London Based.
  • TimelessWear: Vintage, re-seller fashion brand. I am a personal fan of their brand and admirer for vintage wear. Brighton based.
  • Remass. Vintage re-seller brand. All womens team. Londan Based.
  • Loutre: small skate focused company. London based.
  • Stussy: Largest brand I picked, skating brand. Highly fond of the brand and purchase from a lot, therefore have a lot of knowledge on the brand. However based in California but do have an office in London.
  • SophsShop: Small London based vintage reselling company. All womens team.

Overall doing the database was quite tricky! Trying to find brands where I believe my skills set will align with, a local brand as well as a brand that I am fond off was a lot harder than imagined. I think because I have only been in the fashion industry since being a student where I also did not opt for a placement year, I have not worked in the industry yet and therefore it’s quite hard to know what sort of places would work for me. I tried to vary my options by adding some small brands and some larger brands as well as brands that are different from one another. For example some brands were clothing brands, some were magazines/zines and some were vintage re-selling brands. I think my database overall shows a variety of different brands I could work for instead of focusing on one main specialism or direction.

BRAND IDENTITY

As part of the portfolio module, we need to think about creating a brand identity. Brand identity is the visible elements of a brand such as logo’s, colour and design that distinguish the brand in consumers mind.

When thinking of the type of brand identity I have, i need to think of my personal identity first. I think I am quite tom-boyish but also love girly things too. My style is quite comfy and messy, I love wearing anything oversized and baggy. I often wear dark colours and am fond of urban styles. SO… from this I want to create a mood-board to see visually the type of aesthetic I think I bring.

 

This is a section of my Pinterest. Pinterest uses algorithms to show you what type of content best suits you and therefore this small section of my Pinterest perfectly encapsulates the type of aesthetic I have. Theres a lot of artwork, blues and greens etc.

I think for my brand colours I want something that relates to who I am and the type of vibe I give off. Through brand identity research shown in my sketchbook I ended up settling for black and green! I feel like these colours both go together, are quite tomboyish but cool and the green stands out against the black. I also used these colours in my zine for the FMP project where they are now my favourite colours! These colours will be recurrent themes throughout my website, business cards etc so that my work is cohesive and personal to me.

CREATIVE CV – press to see

We also have to create a CV that is creative and showcases all the skills, education and details needed for a CV. This is so future employers can see our CV that highlights all the information they need to know. I already have a CV however i feel like it could look a lot visually better. Crafting a creative fashion CV allows me to blend my design skills with professional presentation. I could use playful typography or innovative layouts and more.

Overall I really enjoyed making my CV. The creative process was actually quite fun as well as adding new skills I have developed from university in the last year being here. I particularly liked the freedom I had in incorporating my brand colours, contributing to its unique and personalised aesthetic.

The cv included:

  • name in large and bold
  • previous employment
  • previous creative work
  • skillset
  • a bit about myself
  • contact details

BUSINESS/ POSTCARD- PRESS TO SEE

This is the business and postcard I’ve made and also printed out for anyone to take. I continued the brand colours so that all my work is cohesive to my brand as well as adding my logo font and some imagery that I have done. I think the business card is effective as it shows the type of work I have created so that consumers can see what I have to offer as well as showing all the needed information. the postcard is slightly different as it has information on my FMP, so that when people walk past my work in the exhibition, they can see what my work is inspired by, the influences behind it and more. Overall happy with both of these pieces of work as they were simple to make yet once seeing them printed off, it was nice to see my work in a professional manner like that.

SOCIAL MEDIA MAKING

WEBSITE:

https://maddiemaewarne.myportfolio.com/work

To see my website press the link. This is my final website/ digital portfolio I have made. The process in making the website was extremely tedious and lengthy and ended up taking me a lot longer than imagined. I think this is because online website building apps make it extremely hard to do simple tasks where some even include coding. I tested making websites on Canva, Wicks and SquareSpace however I found AdobePortfolio worked best for me even though I had to pay a subscription fee. Adobe portfolio was a lot easier to navigate and therefore made it a nicer experience when making my online portfolio. I did extensive research on other creatives online portfolio’s so that i could see what attributes make a successful online portfolio (shown in sketchbook).

What I noticed was:

  • Big logo saying name
  • about section
  • different pages for different themes of work
  • contact page
  • social media’s feature on
  • highly creative but dont have to be

I feel like my finished website reflects my work well and is easy to navigate yet still remains professional and interactive. I specifically love the different tiles that when hovering, say the work and dates. My website layout and background is quite minimalistic as i didn’t want it to take away from any of my work yet I think it still remains in being fun and creative. Overall my website has all the attributes needed for a successful portfolio website and despite it being a tedious process, i think it the time spent on it paid off.

INSTAGRAM/LINDKEDIN

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-warne-932701308/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madswarne/?hl=en

I also considered making other social media platforms to market myself and show my work. After researching what other platforms creatives use, I decided on making an Instagram and LinkedIn. Instagram would be a more casual platform where i can have more fun with it, posts images and story highlights as well as personal images too if i wanted. Having an instagram will make it easier for other creatives to see my work and get in touch if needed. LinkedIn is a  business and employment-focused social media platform that works through websites and mobile apps. This platform is a lot more formal where I would only put information such as past work-places, experience, schools and universities i attended, current job etc. This platform is more for other professionals or creatives to find me and connect.

When making both platforms, i did research (in sketchbook) of what aspects are needed to make a successful platform. I annotated other creatives work to ensure i knew what was needed for my platforms. Overall i like both my instagram and LinkedIn. Due to not having these platforms already and having to make them from scratch, they are very new and have not got many followers or connections yet however i hope in the future, as i progress into the industry that the platforms will have a lot more interactions.

EXHBITION

REFLECTION

Despite the portfolio module being quite short, i want to reflect on the module and about the process. I overall found the process of creating my brand identity quite simple and easy to do as i knew what sort of aesthetic i wanted and i think i reflected that in my work well. I found doing the database and making the website the hardest as they were both lengthy processes however i think the database reflects the type of jobs/ workplaces i wish to work at in the future as well as having a variety of different types of workplaces (clothing brands, magazine’s, re-selling brands). I think that all my social media platforms of a website, linkedin and instagram are cohesive with my brand aesthetic as well as having all the needed information on all. Overall i enjoyed the portfolio module as creating my brand identity from scratch as well as a sketchbook including research has taught me about what is needed to make a successful brand identity, well made socials and different brands and opportunities I am attracted too which i had not considered much about before

 

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