Creative CV

Research for promotional materials

Working to a brief worksheet

1) Define the following words in relation to types of brief:
Competition - A competition brief is used to address people/groups that are entering competitions. Its main purpose is to inform competitors of how they enter and the rules of the competition. This brief is often found more intense with the audience.

Commission - A commission brief is where one company will hire another, smaller company to produce some work for the larger company's client. This type of brief is just between the two companies and doesn't include the client.

Tender - A tender brief is where more than one company will come up with an estimated cost for their work whilst also providing evidence/description of the kind of work and quality of work that would be received for this cost to give to a client.

Co-operative - A co-operative brief is where two companies will join together to produce a piece of work for their client (this could even be two major companies). Both companies will then work together to finish the final piece that has been set. A negotiated brief will be needed because the two companies are likely to clash over ideas.

Contractual - A contractual brief is used so that the company and their client are able to make sure that they both understand what is required from the company and what the client will receive from them. It is a legal contract between both parties, with items such as payment and the expectation of the quality of the work.

Negotiated - A negotiated brief is where two parties work together and have to come to an agreement on what idea's they are going to use to create and finish the work they are joining over.

Formal - A formal brief is between an employee of a company and the client.

Informal - An informal brief is similar to a formal brief as an employee of a company and their client will discuss what work would be produced and how long is will take. It is more likely that the pair/group will come up with new ideas together. However, this is seen as unprofessional, meaning that the client might feel that their ideas haven't fully been taken on board.

2) Which of the above is the best to get and why?
I think that the best brief to have is the Co-operative Brief. This is because it has a combination of ideas from two companies. This means it could result in being an even better developed product/design because of having more input.

3) What is important to look for when reading a brief?
When reading a brief, it is important to look for the main qualities that you are after for your business. For instance, you should look to see whether or not you will have much input in the process and who exactly will be designing your work for you. You must also look at the price and time agreement.
What are classic mistake which can be made?


4) What can be open to negotiation with a client?
Negotiations could include payment terms for an upcoming project or amending changes to a design based on feedback. However, the designer/team must be politely forward as they can't let the client take advantage of them if the negotiation is not done correctly.

5) What purpose do you think your promotional materials need to serve?
They need to be able to identify my business and provide information. There are three main objectives to promotion, these are:

1. to present information to consumers as well as others
2. to increase demand
3. to differentiate a product

6) What are the best ones for your business, and why are they?
The promotional materials that are most suitable for my business will be a Facebook page, poster, and ISSUU. The Facebook page would be a great way to advertise my business online and gain an audience. It will also allow me to keep the audience updated with different events and deals going on with the business. A poster will be a great way to use the 'word of mouth' marketing strategy. Lastly, an ISSUU is a great way to show off a portfolio of photography work and it is easy to keep updating and using different pages to show a variety of skills with a mixture of photo objects.

Materials I will need to achieve my ISSUU:

•       Own photographs
•       Graphic designs
•       Writing (draft of content)
•       Layout designs
•       Drafts
•       Research

 External help needed:

•       Alissa (model)
•       Paul Parsons (graphics)
•       Barry (layout)

Materials I will need to achieve my poster:

• Own graphic designs
• Own photographs
• Writing (draft of content)
• Design ideas

Materials I will need to achieve my Facebook page:

• Written content
• Own photographs
• Plan of action for gaining followers

7) What is a CV? What are its contents and uses?

A CV is a summary of your career history that is often the first phase in getting yourself noticed by potential employers. It can be lie tally translated as 'course of life'. The contents can vary, although there are three sections that every CV should include:

• Personal details
• Education
• Experience

Other sections that don't matter as much but are often included could be:

• Personal statement
• Skills
• Hobbies and interests
• References

The contents should be listed in reverse chronological order; the most recent at the top. This allows the reader to see what you've done recently, then to continue reading fi they think it's relevant to their needs. It's important to remember the uses of a CV; Employers want to know how your experiences match their requirements, it's about quality not quantity, and it's designed to get you the interview, not the job.

INSPIRING ISSUU:

http://issuu.com/freckledmag/docs/freckled_spring_2013

MY ISSUU:
http://issuu.com/laurenhamblen/docs/issuu_design2
All photos were taken by me during the end of 2013 to present and then edited in Photoshop.

MY FACEBOOK:
www.facebook.com/hamblenphotography

INTERVIEWING BARRY BROOK ON FREELANCE WORK (WRITE-UP):

Barry Brook is a freelance graphic designer who runs his business with his wife. Their graphics are mainly print and web designs. Barry use to work for a design company doing flyers, which taught him to be quick at designing things and coming up with a variety of ideas straight away. By being a part of this company, he found that he wasn’t being given the chance to do different designs such as brochures and web designs so he started freelance work. By working freelance, it gave him many opportunities for different things, provided him with flexibility, and allowed him to be independent.

Although there are many positives with working freelance, there is also a fair share of negatives. When we asked Barry about this, he mentioned the struggle of having to do everything yourself, from finding the clients to ensuring you do the work, otherwise you don’t get paid. Time management and organisation skills are very important.

Social media is very useful when finding contacts for clients and keeping in touch with clients. It is the fastest way of spreading the word and show what you can offer people. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter will most likely be the effective sites because of the popularity of them. Barry says twitter is time consuming but allows you to start trending.

Other options would be to start up an online magazine (e.g. ISSUU) so that clients can see visuals. I asked Barry if ISSUU helped his business, and he said the online magazine increased their business/clients really quickly. This is because people can visualise the design on a piece of paper somewhere in their house, and it’s a good way of doing it because you can email links to clients. “Imagery is very important”.

Barry sells the skills he has at design and computer work. These designs are varied, such as brochures, logo designs, packaging, posters (advertising work), prints and collages. Barry is inspired by many different artists, including David Carson, however he tries to do his own thing and not let his inspirations influence his work too much, “if you’re passionate about something then it’s your own design”.