Briefing and Session Notes

Studio Brief Three - Creative Presence

Part 1
My visual identity, branding myself, print and online, promotional material, communicate my creative image, possibility of a logo or typeface, readability, usability, letterheads, creative cv, appropriately representing myself, make it about me!

Should have at least 50 or 60 contacts by next year. Invite them to grad show, open a dialogue with them. 

Part 2
Online presence, blogger, tumblr, issue, vimeo, make a website, domain name. 

Deliverables
Print and screen based outcomes, any additional materials, blog, active online presence, website. 

CV
Who I am, what I do, experience, give something practical or a gift so they remember you. 

Anatomy of a CV - avoid templates, should be flexible and tailored to who/where you are contacting, flexible order, emphasise the most valuable strengths. 

Standard CV Information - Name, address, telephone number, email, website or URL of online portfolio. 

Profile - 3 or 4 lines written in the third person. Skills, strengths and relevant interests, where I want to be, who I should be employed, what I do, make it a short summary to grab someones attention, try not to be too generic. 

Qualifications - name educational establishment, start with the most recent thing. Think about what is relevant. 

Employment and Experience  - Only relevant to position, competitions, clients, live briefs, exhibitions. 

Skills - financial, communication, presentation, creative, digital.

Additional - achievements, scholarships, awards, exhibitions, competitions, languages. 

References - make these available 'on request' so that people aren't being contacted without previously being told about it and also the references you give can always be up to date and the most appropriate for the position. 

DON'T - attach a photo, title the document as 'CV' or 'curriculum vitae'.

Writing a Profile
What am I good at? What are my skills and strengths? What do I do? Who am I? Where do I want to be?

Me - hard working, challenge myself, problem solving, aim to exceed expectations, efficient, good time management, consistent, professional attitude, 

My practice - interdisciplinary product, packaging, editorial, reportage, surface pattern, product ranges, homeware, textiles, stationery

My skills - visual skills, drawing skills, observation drawing, varied media, exploration, 

I found it really difficult thinking about what to write about myself, its hard to take a step back from what you do every day and summarise it in this way. My mind went almost blank. I felt like the responses I was coming up with in the session were too formal and wordy. I wasn't able to get my personality across. 

A hard working, interdisciplinary creative practitioner who aims to challenge and exceed the expectations of a brief. 

A hard working, determined creative practitioner working across disciplines to challenge a brief and exceed expectations. 

...with the potential to be applied to product ranges or packaging design. 

Clearly, this needs a lot more work. I think this is a task I will be battling with for a while, I don't think I'll be able to crack it entirely without exploring deeper into my own practice which is what is happening in the applied illustration module at the moment. I think at the moment it is about finding the balance between being specific enough to avoid sounding generic but also broad enough so I don't restrict myself. 

List of tasks for myself...
Continue with this task and come up with a few concise sentences. 
Re-read the brief. 
Analyse what I have so far in terms of self promotion. 
Explore methods of self promotion and find what would be appropriate for me. 
Research, research, research.