Digital Self Promotion- Blogger

Before this module started the only online portfolio website that i had was blogger which comes free with every google account. Blogger has quite a lot of customizable options, you can change things such as the layout of the page, size of the header and you can even have a custom background.  At first it took me a while to get to grips with Blogger's engine but after a couple of hours of tweaking around i was able to make a pretty successful blog. Blogger comes with a tagging feature which allows me to tag every post with an appropriate name, this helps to organize my work and it also makes it easier for people viewing my work to find the post they want to see. Whilst customizing my blog i figured out how to add a sidebar which shows all of my tags, at first i did not use that feature as it confused me but now i see how useful it is to see all of the tags on the main page.
I am pretty happy with my blog although there are some things that i need to be careful with. I always upload my images with their actual size meaning that they are massive and fairly easy for people to steal. Our lecturer taught us how to save our images for the web using a setting in photoshop, when i have time i may have to re upload all of the images that are currently on the blog so that i can protect them.

I also extended the page width so that my images are nice and large when you open up the page, as you can see in the image above roughly 70% of the page consists of content whilst the tags and archive side bars only take up a small section to the right. It was a stylistic choice of mine to make the links purple, looking at how my work has changed throughout the second year i can see that i actually use a lot of green colours, maybe it would be good to change my text colour to match the content. 

Once logged into Blogger there are a load of customization options that are available, a lot of them are pretty self explanatory. The drop down bar on the left allows you to change the template of the blog as well as the webpage settings. You get an option between simple and dynamic layouts.

 The simple ones feature a static background and the information will usually get centered to the page where as the dynamic pages allow for animated sequences and transitions upon opening the page and clicking chosen images.  

This is one of the dynamic layouts that you can select, this window allows to to preview how the blog will look before anything is made permanent. This 'Mosaic' layout looks a little like an online newspaper, this test window also allows me to preview the animations of the page and i can also see how the images work and tile together. This layout is pretty cool as it comes with an icon magnifier which enhances the size of the box that your mouse is currently hovering over. This window allows you to instantly apply the template to the blog, or you can choose the customization option which will allow you to tweak the template to get the exact look.

Above i have opened up the customize screen and it then opens up a new set of menu options, i can change the width of the entire blog or just the right hand sidebar. I can also add in backgrounds which will then look and act different depending on which layout i have chosen for my blog. 

Within that drop down menu there was also a 'layout' option which essentially strips down the site to its bare basics from there i can then move things around, edit headers, content and even order the sections on my side bar. Above is an example of my current layout and all of its elements, each white dialog box contains separate parts of my blog, clicking on each one allows me to edit what will be shown in that are of the web page. 

I personally have the simple layout as it works well enough for me, a while ago i used the 'mosaic' template, it worked well as a portfolio site because of the large image sizing but as a blog it was not very productive and it became harder to navigate once i started to build up the posts. 

Blogger also works as a mobile app which is a great feature as i can keep updated on the move, upon logging into the Blogger i am able to select an options menu for the mobile apps settings. I can choose to view the page as if it were within a browser or i can use a custom blogger app view which changes the view the match the phone screen size. I do not really keep myself updated on the go but it is nice to have this option her . 

Self promotion - the final product and presentation

Above is an image of the final product separated into it's elements, there is an a6 print which has my details printed on the back, a green Aztec banner which will hold the small green tiki head badge. there is also a large alien sticker and a folding tiki head print. all of this will be presented within a white monster envelope.

And this is everything all packaged up, the pack also includes my hell boy sticker, i have also made a second pack which i will present to hallmark when i travel up to Bradford and their pack will also include a sticker of my face as shown above.

I managed to track down a large blue envelope which matched the blue that was on my CV and packaged it accordingly. on the reverse of the envelope i placed a large sticker of my face to act as a teaser to what is inside, it also kept the boring blue envelope from being so dull.

 I had been under a lot of stress during this module as i had to hand my work in early because i am to go on a internship with Hallmark the day before the original deadline. With that being said i have accomplished so much within such a short amount of time and i am extremely happy with the results. with my original badge packs aside, everything else was created parley for this module and i feel like i have produced a large array of visual images and products. Now it's time for me to seal it all up and hand it in, I will get back just in time for the summer show which is looking up to be something awesome!

Finally i handed in the large black book on the left. That book was used as my summer research sketchbook, it was made last summer and i nearly filled the whole book. The task was for us to make a research journal which would hold artist reference, lost and found objects that we find interesting and anything else we deemed fit to go in there. At first i did not really see how this would help me but looking back at it at the end of this year i can see where my influences have came from. That book holds information and reference to artists such as Chris Riddell, Tony Moore and Skottie Young, in the past those guys were my absolute favorites and my style was heavily influenced by them. Looking further into the book i can see artists such as Micheal Slack, Brandon Scott and Thomas Flintham who are amazing artists, they have all inspired me to change the way i make images, i do not rely so heavily on the line work as i used to, instead i use colourful shapes to convey movement and emotion, a skill that those three artists utilize in every one of their pieces. The book works well as a reference guide as i can look at it if i ever want to try out a new style, it was because of exploration that i found Micheal Slack and which ultimately lead me to work in a new way.

Self promotion - making business cards

I took some of the basic sketches from my book to show potential ideas for my business card. I liked the idea of having a monster mouth which would have my details inside, i also liked the simple Aztec boarder design, it was hard to pick one as they all matched my theme. After remembering that i will be using my monster print from the envelope task i though that maybe it would be best if i used that image for my business card as it was my strongest image.

I mocked up a business card for print at my house and this was the result (above). The back of the card featured the stamp image of my face and all of the necessary details where as the front had the original envelope design. I was going to order some cards from MOO.com but i did not think that they would arrive on time so i knew that i would have to make a mock up business card.

The cards were glued back to back, they had a green and black layer of card in between so they were nice and thick. The downside however was the fact that my template was the wrong size, thus the micro card was born!
The small business cards actually worked as you could still read all of the important information and the images were still nice and crisp. With it being smaller i could also add this to my little promo package quite easily. This was a good mistake.

Self promo - general research

After the first business card task we were given i then proceeded to scan Pinterest for some interesting business cards so that i could gain some inspiration when making my own. I found so many awesome cards it was unbelievable, there were so many good ideas it was hard to narrow my choices down to the ones above. I chose some cards because of their simplicity, quality of print and strength of image where as others were chosen because of the material, concept and quirky gimmick. The fluorescent space invaders were a particular favourite of mine because they look like they had been laser cut out of coloured perspex which gave it a really nice look and finish. The little skateboards were also quite a good idea, they reminded my of the small fingerboards you could get as a kid. The skateboard card featured a 'Powell Peralta' logo which is a skateboard company so the link could not have been any more obvious, quirky and to the point.  It was nice to see some cards that were breaking out of the traditional rectangle shape, it showed me that my cards can be unique, as long as it fits in my pocket it is good to go. The leather ones labelled 'Franks' and the triangle shaped cards were good examples of unique shaped cards.

Finally i wanted to mention the gimmick cards such as the personal trainer card in the top right and the double sided x-ray card near the centre. Both have the standard rectangle shape but there is something unique about them both, the x-ray card is printed on some kind of clear plastic which allows the viewer to see the skeleton of the character from both sides of the card which is a pretty simple yet effective idea.
The personal trainer card in comparison is not transparent at all but it does have an interactive element as you can peel away the person on the front and that then reveals a different character underneath which symbolises the change you go through when you begin fitness training, the first character also doubles as a sticker.

Self promotion - making a font.

My friend showed me this cool website that allows you to make a font using your own handwriting, the site was called MyScriptFont.com. The process was pretty easy to get my head around, you start off by printing out one of their alphabet sheets, you then follow the guides and trace your own letters over the top, finally you add any additional letters you need and then scan it in. I was never really any good at making fonts but i thought i would use this opportunity to give it a try, most of the fonts that i made looked pretty similar and not all of them worked, some had too many curls and edges. The plan was to make a font that would then go onto my CV as the finishing touch, unfortunately i did not really like any of the fonts that i made and i much preferred some of the existing fonts i had installed on Photoshop.

Here is a test sentence for one of my fonts, as you can see some of the letters are faded and none of it seems to line up properly. It was a good first attempt but it was not strong enough to be used as part of my creative CV.

Self promotion - The final plan pt 1

After creating an illustrated CV, a folding tiki head, some prints and badges i believed it was time to start visualising how my promo pack would come together, whilst i was making the products i did really consider how i would package them. Below is a basic drawing taken from my sketchbook, it maps out the general idea of what i had in mind.

The plan was to make a simple box that would have a monster version of my face printed on the lid, inside there would be a large monster sticker, a set of three badges and my folding tiki heads. I was also going to include a miniature poster but at this point i had only made the items above (minus the box) so i drew the diagram based on that. The though of making packaging intimidated me slightly as i know how long it took me to make boxes before, also getting each unit to look the same is a tedious task. I took a break from packaging and drew out some more monsters, i coloured them and printed them onto envelopes as an experiment. It was then that i realised that my packaging could consist of a custom printed envelope. I decided that i would use my monster print from the envelope task, create a new banner, tuck my stickers and fold out items in the back of the print and then slide it all into an envelope. Maybe I was thinking to far outside of the box and in this case, simple is more effective. 

I think i prefer the white over the brown, it makes the monster pop. I tried to incorporate all 8 of the monsters on the envelope i could only print on one side because of my printers restrictions and if i made them any smaller i would loose too much detail. I tried to add a couple of them to the sides but the print margins were too big and it would not print all the way up to the edge. I like the four singular monsters on the white envelope, it delivers the right amount of info without giving too much away. I thought that it would be cool if i made my own custom stamp that i could use on each envelope along with a real stamp when i send my work away, it would add the finishing touch to the envelope. I decided to use my face as a stamp because; like a regular stamp there is normally a profile image of a person present on the stamp, it is also a good idea because the promo pack is trying to sell me and my work. 

Pretty happy with the finished result, my moustache is as pointy as ever and i look like i haven't slept in about 3 weeks, seems about right. I polished the design off with a green Aztec boarder which helped to crop the image nicely. 

Self promo - Ideas

I did some general research using pinterest, i was looking for ideas that were interesting and a little outside the box, i wanted something the focused more on the quality and presentation of my work as apposed to the informative data that will be present. Following on from the previous module i was interested in making some small resin toys which would have their own retro packaging like the example above in the top left.

It was a good idea but then i remembered how long it took me to actually make these toys, it took around 15 - 20 hours to complete the toys and that was time that i did not really have on this short module so i soon scrapped that idea. There were some really good ideas that i had found online, a lot of them had a quirky little gimmick but It still managed to work as a stand alone print. The Mario dress up print was a particular favourite of mine as everyone knows that character and all of the accessories made complete sense, maybe it would be cool to illustrate a version of myself in that style. Other note able ideas include paper cut tribal masks, wooden carved robots and books with fold out interaction flaps.

In the top image there were quite a few monster themed images that popped up, the envelope task was heavily inspired by monsters and i thought it would be good to research them for the second stage.

Fore the envelope task i made some rough monster stickers, i thought that it would be cool this time if i made some bigger stickers with a lot more detail. Everyone loves a sticker, I also thought that the vibrant colours that come with my style accompany the sticker medium perfectly. The large image in the centre above showed an awesome collection of monsters, i particularly liked the transparent green one.

After looking through my monster board on Pinterest i decided that monsters were definitely the way to go and drew out this transparent alien/monster. I had an idea to use the photocopying technique to layer up some colour and then print the insides over the top so it would give it the transparent look, I instead decided to colour this image digitally as i believed i would get a better effect.

After a long time tweaking layers and messing around the opacity of my colours i eventually ended up with this result (above) I am super happy with the outcome, i managed to change the colour of the outline to green, this seemed to contain the linework whilst merging it with his jelly like body.
I eventually chose to make this monster into a large sticker because a thought the application suited the colours. Keeping with the sticker theme i started to draw out some character designs for Hellboy, i thought he would make a pretty awesome sticker and it would tie in with the general monster theme. Below are some basic sketches, i tried to draw him in a geometric way so that it would tie in with he rest of my work, it was pretty fun to draw an already existing character in my new style.

I went for the centre design in the end because the composition just worked a lot better for me, this way i could also see the whole character which i though was good.  When i get around to printing this one out as a sticker i will more than likely scale it to palm size so that it can neatly tuck into the rest of my work.