Digital Promotion - summary

Throughout this project i have created a range of promotional websites, some of them have a similar use and some are completely different. For my project i had chosen to create a Tumblr, Instagram and a Cargo collective. within this project i have also decided to document my existing sites such as Blogger and Facebook and how they have helped to implement my work into an online space. My Blogger is used to document developmental work and final pieces from the college, it gets updated every couple of weeks and will continue to do so until the end of my course. My Instagram and Tumblr are going to be used as a pocket portfolio which i will have access from using my phone meaning i can get up my work and update my online space on the move. Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook are all connected meaning that i can update everything simultaneously. Finally my Cargo will be used as my core portfolio site and will only contain finished images that are completed to a professional standard, this will be used when i apply for illustration jobs and general promotion.

For my blogging sites i chose to upload my sketches and developmental work because i believe that is what a blog would and should be used for, the work that goes on my Tumblr has a general colour matching themes which i think may have been accidental but it works really well with the green theme that i have. A lot of my work that went onto cargo was my recent colourful artwork which has a really high rendered finish and it works well with my custom header which was created using the same style. The site is a portfolio site and it should show of all of the different things that i can do so there are some different styles of work on there also, for example my editorial work is mostly drawn with fine liner and then coloured digitally, there are also some black and white files.

After looking through various artist websites i have noticed that simple is sometimes better and large icons seem to work really well, a lot of sites also featured side bars which really helped to navigate around the page so naturally i added one to my portfolio site.

I was content with using blogger and Instagram as my blogging pages but i realized that Tumblr had millions and millions of users and it seemed appropriate to make one, it just makes my work more accessible and i am more likely to reach my target audience this way.
Finally i can see that in the future i will more than likely to continue making prints and resin toys, my blog sites are perfect for this medium as i can capture the textures and feel of the real thing. in comparison my digital files look really crisp on my cargo site so i have got the best of both worlds when it comes to promotion in a digital space.

Digital self promotion -Cargo Collective

When we first started this module our lecturer  mentioned to us that we would need to have a core portfolio website, one that would show off all of our professional work. I was a little intimidated at first because i knew that this meant that we would have to make our own website which had always looked so difficult. Normally i am quite good with programs and software and i seem to pick things up pretty fast but the thought of making a website from scratch seemed like a hard task. I looked at various website making sites in attempt to narrow down my choices.

our lecturer  first introduced us to Cargo Collective which was a basic site builder, he also mentioned that he himself used cargo along with artist Jack Teagle!



This is a screen shot of our lecturers website, it features a simple navigation bar to the left and a medium sized header image above the listings. To the right of the text there are 14 panels filled with work, a few of them are actually animated so that the image changes every couple of seconds giving off the idea that there will be more work within that little square. the squares have no boarders between them and instead the images colours work as a natural boarder.

The side bar features links to his online shop, his blog, contact details and various websites which are relevant to his portfolio. The site has a plain white background which i think helps to isolate the work tiles as there is nothing to distract.
Our lecturer also pointed out that he has a custom domain name which added the finishing touch to his website.

After doing some research i found out that cargo collective features two kinds of account, one that is free; giving you access to most of the templates and allows up to 10 projects at a single time; or you can opt to pay for an account which gives you full access to all of cargo's features. Paying for an account also allows you to add custom HTML code to your site which could alter a variety of qualities about the site such as font style, custom icons and animated layouts. Buying an account also gives you a full domain name of your choosing and you also get up to 30 projects that you can have on show at once. It was not that expensive to buy an account but I feel that i do not have enough professional work for me to need 30 slots, but as my portfolio grows in size buying a site name will be something to be considered.

Cargo has a lot of options and it deals with CSS which is all new to me, i know that despite how hard the learning curve initially was this was only really entry level website design. Cargo has a feature called projects which is what you would use to manage your work that is on the site. Above there is a screen shot taken from inside of the projects menu. I added a project thumbnail which is what will be seen on my home page, i cropped a part of my image into the square. uploading images is pretty simple, you just click on 'upload images' and then you simply select the images that you want. Within the project menu i am also able to add tags to the post which makes it easier to link my pieces together, it also helps viewers navigate my page.

Originally i chose the 'Polaris' set up which featured a side bar to the left which allowed viewers to easily navigate my page, hovering your mouse over the link also highlights the appropriate project so that you can see which link goes where before you click it. This was not the case when i first loaded the page up, i could see my projects and my header but i could not see the side bar. After searching around the internet in attempt to troubleshoot this problem i eventually emailed the guys at Cargo for a direct answer. They told me that my header my simply too large and all i needed to do was go into the CSS and go into navigation and then change the position. Above you can see that my drop down bar is now present and works accordingly. The CSS inspector allows to me individually take apart features of my site and change various things, at first this was incredibly confusing, after an afternoon of deleting number to see what happened it gained a basic understanding of the method.
Below is the basic roots of my website, this is pretty much what i want it to look like although i found that the project icons were way too small, that is something that needs to be changed.

To the right of the page you can see a large drop down bar which is my admin panel, i would use this to access the CSS inspector, site settings, support links and display options. From here i can also turn projects on or off which then indicates which projects can be seen by the public. I can also insert page links, links to external sites or add additional projects.

After messing around with the display options managed to change the size of my project squares, they are far too big now but below i have shown how i made them this big.

In the display options I was able to change the size of my project squares, i started off by making them 500 by 500 but as it appears they are too big so i needed to tweak the size of the squares until it fitted just as i wanted it to. Below you can see the final image sizes.

I forgot to take the admin bar into consideration, i need to close the side panel so that i can see my webpage at it's full size, this may change the layout of the squares and may require further attention.

This is my finished website so far, i need to add a few more projects to bulk the site out but over all i am pretty happy with it. I am yet to add an about page but that is something that can easily be added in my own time. Down the left hand side you can see my interactive drop down menu which features all of my project names and a contact section which shows links to my Tumblr, Instagram and Blogger.

Digital Promotion- Instagram

After having Blogger for a while i decided that i would use that for college work mainly, last year i used to post a lot of my sketches on there and i feel like it just clogged up the blog. I also liked the idea of keeping updated on the go and felt like a blog which allows me to photograph my work as and when i liked would be great. This is why i signed up to an Instagram, the app almost exclusively works within a mobile phone making it the ultimate travel blog. Instagram is also great because i can add hash tags which increase the chance of my work being seen by other people around the world. There arent many customization options but i like the layout that is provided anyway, above is an image of my Instagram homepage, it features a profile picture and a little details section which tells everyone what the page will be used for. To the right there are boxes that show how many people are following me, how many people i am following and how many posts i have made. The view above is different from the regular view as this was loaded within a web browser, the phone version is a lot more contained. The larger header at the top contains a random slideshow of all of my work that has been posted, it also transitions randomly and the squares change size, i think the site flows really nicely.

When you scroll down the page you can see all of my work which is then tiled to normally fit 4-5 squares per line depending on your screen size. As you hover your mouse over the images they magnify slightly and show the date that it was published. Below the image there are two small icons, a heart; depicting how many users have liked the image; and a speech bubble which shows how many comments are on that image.

Above is a screen shot taken from my girlfriends computer, I only did this to show my page from another users perspective. Clicking on the image enlarges it and opens up a generic comment and like interface, Above in the right hand corner there is also a green 'Following' button which just shows the user that she is already following me, if a user was not then a gray 'Follow' button would be there instead. Finally you can see all of the tags which i had used for this particular post and the comments below.

Instagram works for me as portfolio site because it shows a lot of my finished products and imagery though there are some developmental sketches on there also. I use this app a lot because it is incredibly easy to use and i also seem to have a lot of followers that are from all over the world meaning that the use of tags is very appropriate. Users can filter search using tags as keywords meaning the more tags that i use the more likley someone is to find my work. Finally i like using this app because if is mobile, i can take out my phone and show people my work wherever i am which is incredibly handy.

Digital Self Promotion- Tumblr

It took me a while to lighten up to it but i eventually came around and applied for a Tumblr account, it is actually pretty cool and has a surprising amount of customization options. It works the same kind of way as Instagram though Tumblr can be fully customized from within a web browser as well as from a phone. I chose Tumblr over Facebook because i felt like my work was more likely to get noticed through Tumblr because of the unique tagging system which does not really work so well on Facebook. I also wanted to use this site as a fresh new version of my Blogger, This blog will contain all of my developmental work along with some final pieces, the difference being that this blog will feature work that i also do in my spare time as apposed to Blogger which contains just work from college.

 Tumblr comes with a bunch of cool presets concerning layout, font and general content. I managed to change my background to a mint green which matches the flow of my work throughout this blog, i like to use strong toxic colours when i create my images and green is one colour that i use a lot. My profile picture was taken from one of my recent images that i had made for the self promotion module, the green hills fit in perfectly with the green boarder that was given along with the green background. The chosen font also seems to work with my imagery, it looks a little quirky is slightly rough around the edges yet it is pleasing to look at. I chose this font because a lot of my line work is done using a brush pen and it has a similar line quality to that of the font.



As you can see the layout is incredibly similar to Instagram but this time my green background flows down both sides of the post which helps to keep the blog consistent. One really great feature that i like about Instagram and Tumblr is that they are able to share information between the two. As you can see above, my Hell Boy image which is on my Tumblr page comes with all the tags that are featured on my Instagram page, this is because i shared this image from Instagram. This feature is incredibly useful as i can update two of my web pages simultaneously which helps to keep my work both consistent and efficient. Below you can see the same image that is posted on my Instagram, both are very similar.

I have a personal Facebook page, i use it for keeping in contact with my friends but i occasionally upload some work there if i am particularly proud of it. Tumblr and Instagram allow me to also share my work to my assigned Facebook page which is a pretty good feature, i can also add a status to the image before posting it which can alter the post slightly to fit into the standard Facebook layout.

Here is a screen shot of my Facebook page, if we ignore the 'fitness motivation and bodybuilding' links on the left you can see that my Hell Boy image is present with all of the tags, it even tells viewers that it came from Instagram. Facebook obviously has a separate  like and comment engine so any information like that from the other sites will not carry over onto this site, the likes and comments are separate.

I seem to have a lot more people liking the image on Facebook as opposed to Tumblr and Instagram, maybe this is because i have had this site for a lot longer, or maybe because a lot of my followers from Instagram are people who i do not know where i have only friends on Facebook.

Id thought about making a Facebook page for a while because it seemed like the easiest one to create, all of my friends are on Facebook and it would be easy for them all to see my work. I chose against making a Facebook page because i didn't really care much for the odd 'like' from people that i already know where as using an Instagram and Tumblr made it easier for my work to get noticed by people world wide.

Digital Self Promotion- Cargo

Above is an example of my cargo site that has been opened up in a different browser. I personally use Chrome and when i had opened the site. For this example i used Firefox and it seems like my images have piled up on top of each other, I am not sure how i would go about changing this but i think it still works, the navigation bar on the side will allow viewers to see my work regardless of whether you can see it on the initial start up of the page. It looks quite cool with everything tilled up the the left, if i were to add more projects perhaps it will eventually add more columns which will ultimately fill up the page. When you click the project image it opens up the project and shows more images within, these images are a lot larger and can be zoomed in on even more if required. I think it was a stylistic choice to have thumbnails so large as i like to show off as much of my image as possible, even within a thumbnail.

Here is a screen shot of an opened project, there is a scroll bar in the right hand corner of the project window and that allows for easy navigation, if you were to scroll down you would also get the other project thumbnails at the bottom. 

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.