• 

• 

This is my Instagram page which I will be using to store my best work.

(General Guidance)

Student Career Guide

The Student Career Guide is a comprehensive employability booklet that provides key information, to support young individuals looking to start their career, from University to employment. They offer a registration tool that enables individuals to receive outgoing career guidance on how to support job searching, also enabling a greater understanding of the expectations of employers and the value of transferable skills in the work place. The booklet empowers them to build your skills, experience and knowledge, in order to become the best candidate for the job. Utilising University experience and work placement opportunities is fundamental, in developing knowledge and skills. It is vital in preparing for the competitive labour market and so you can create a winning CV and cover letter. Supporting how to run a business and how to be successful, is also key to this booklet.

Learning Styles Survey

In this section of the toolkit I had to take a learning style test to find my preferred method of learning. In the test it showed that I am a visual learner, this does not surprise me, as previously in college I completed the same test, which gave the same outcome. Furthermore, the key challenges that I have faced is that I prefer practical work, where I can see how to do the task rather then reading from instructions. Sometimes this can be difficult, however, I can adapt to the situation by researching into methods, this will assist me in completing the task in hand. Moreover, I knew I was a visual learner and have already put in place strategies to support my educational journey throughout my time at University.

Skills Audit

Here is the link to my Skills Audit

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wu6cFc8OEYMDoLR07bctDO9RCT6Ru8tzMhSlh0iMSNM

Finding Employment

This section in the toolkit is a guide on what you should do when you are trying to find employment. Furthermore, it includes how to use certain methods when you start the journey from University to finding your dream job. The main support available is advice and guidance through the Career and Enterprise team. They will explore your skills and experience and will provide employment sector job profiles, where you can clearly see the expectations of the employer. Researching a company before applying for the job, by finding more about their business model, values and mission statement is key to being successful at the application stage and being shortlisted for an interview. The team offer a drop in service where you can discuss your career ideas and how best to approach the labour market. If during your search you discover a company that best suits your value base, you can create a speculative letter, whereby you approach the employer by showcasing your skills, qualities and experience, in order for them to consider a position within their company.

Networking

Networking is an important part of building your professional portfolio and presents in the world of work. There are a number of ways of approaching networking, whereby you get noticed in a positive way. Firstly, researching the company to understand and learn their etiquette and values. Discover events they are leading on or attending and to do your best to be there. Building your professional profile on LinkedIn, where you can connect with people in the industry you are interested in and follow the companies media and vacancies. By talking to people and sharing key interests will build your reputation and your networking will grow. Using social media sites, such as; Facebook and Twitter are all great ways of keeping yourself updated with local and international trends, should you consider gaining employment abroad. The main point to remember is be professional, introduce yourself correctly, show your passion and enthusiasm, and lastly always be prepared to showcase your skills and experience, if asked.

(CV & Coverletters)

CV Builder

Image of the completion of the CV Builder.

How To Write A Cover Letter

In this section I have learnt how to write a cover letter, My cover letter will be in my PDF File.

(Industry Experience)

Undergraduate Industry Experience Funding

At this moment in time the University is reviewing the current industry experience funding for students for the coming year. Funding usually allows students to attend places of work that link to the degree they are studying. This gives them the opportunity to gain sector skills experience, whilst being in a real working environment. This would definitely be something I would like to consider. This also looks great on your curriculum vitae.

Risk Assessment & Health & Safety

Health and safety in the work place is important as the rules are set out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that follow the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Risk assessments are put into place to measure if the environment, task and equipment are a high risk to the employees. If this is the case they have to put in safely measures to manage the risk, for example personal protective equipment (PPE). When starting a work placement for the first time, safety checks need to be put in place to ensure that the student will be safe and that there is a health and safety policy in place; that is being adhered too.

(Enterprise)

Registering For Self Employment

Firstly, to become self employed you need to register with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and they will provide you with a unique taxpayer reference number that is allocated to you and your business. It is law to register your self employed business and to ensure you pay the correct tax and national insurance, also so that you do not occur any fines. The process looks relatively simple and once completed your next job is to find an accountant that has a good reputation, as you will need support in completed your self assessment tax return each year, in order for the correct tax and national insurance contributions to be calculated. Making sure you keep records of your weekly income and expenditure is important.

Starting Your Business

There a few organisations that can help you set up and start your business. The key organisation that I am aware of is Outset Cornwall/Plymouth. They provide one to one support and group programmes to help set up your business, through to creating a business plan. The key focus about Outset is they tailor the support to your individual needs, as they want you to receive the correct service. They have strong networks with local employers and businesses and are aware of financial grants that are available. Being organised with your books by recording everything, from income, expenses and also keeping records as evidence to show the accountant.

Pricing Your Work (Product)

When pricing up your work before selling, you need to consider a few points; How much does it cost to make? What other overheads would I have to pay out? How much tax and national insurance will I occur? Once you have this all set up, you then need to decide whether you are going to charge by the hour or by the whole product. Graphic design, like most jobs, charge by the hour. This is what I plan to do as a starting point, if I decide to set up a business. I would then explore how to market myself and my products in different forms, in order to be successful.

Mailing Lists

Building your reputation is an important part of growing your business, but firstly, you need to create a website whereby customers can view your work and business offer, in such a way that they are drawn to your page. Building a professional clientele through meetings, sharing business cards and planning shared events will support you to build and develop a professional mailing list, that will then enable you to share offers and events from your website. If customers has received excellent customer service they will recommend you to their friends and family, which in turn builds future work opportunities for you.

Developing Your Five Year Plan

Goals Document (This can be found in the 5 year plan folder)

Questions

• What are your 3 BIG goals for the coming 5 years?

1. Work for a company to gain experience and knowledge of the industry
2. Work in a city
3. Be successful

• Why are these goals so important to you?

Because I want to grow as a professional individual and build my reputation in the graphic design world, in order to be financial independent.

• What will be different in you when you achieve these goals?

I will be more confident in my skills and ability as a graphic designer.

• What is your deadline for achieving these goals?

Ideally, by the time I am reach my thirtieth birthday but it would be great if it was before.

• What is holding you back?

The fact. I haven’t graduated as yet and I believe money could be a problem, as living in the city can be expensive but they do have better job opportunities.

• How can you overcome these hurdles?

By building my professional contacts, in order to grow and develop my reputation, whilst learning new techniques and skills. Also exploring funding and internship opportunities.

• What help do you need?

In the future, I am sure that I will need support in exploring job opportunities and living accommodation in the city.

Free Online Business Training

There are a variety of online business courses to help you explore your ideas through to setting up and starting your business. Understanding the funding available and how to market yourself is key. This toolkit offers these courses through a company called Futurelearn. You can also access other support through Outset Cornwall/Plymouth. I would considering completing these to build my knowledge, if I planned to set up a business.

(Social Media)

Social Media Top Tips

This section discusses the different social media tips that I can use when working towards presenting my portfolio and designs to the online world. But firstly, in this presentation it explores how each platform has different benefits, which will best suit various target audiences. Moreover, it explains how personal social media accounts should be used carefully, as it can be accessed by employers and family, which can be used against you, when applying for a job. The main uses for social media is that you can set up accounts for marketing events or projects. These provide help when advertising your work or events, such as; exhibitions. Furthermore, you can use social media to develop your contacts and to building an online status for your work.

How To Use Twitter

Twitter is a great tool to use when building a social media network. Firstly. Twitter is said to be an online news and social media sharing platform with the aim of “micro blogging post” which contain 140 characters. In addition, users can choose to follow other users which then can follow back and view each others posts. Twitter is really useful for a graphic designer as it can allow you to keep contact with people, which helps you expand your networks. Moreover, it allows you to engage within the industry and follow potential clients and businesses, you can also use hashtags to show your work to audiences who are interested.

Your Online Portfolio

This section talks about online portfolios and why I need one. Firstly, online portfolios are important as this is the first thing a employer will look at as it showcases your best pieces of work. In addition, for a portfolio you must constantly keep it updated and keep your most accomplished projects in a clear view when someone looks at your work. When making a online portfolio it is good to make a website with your work on it with links to how your audience can contact you, as this can be a way to receive freelance work. Moreover, a key tip is when creating a website make sure it is mobile friendly as this will effect your site showing in search results, a great tool to help build a website is Google sites or WordPress, which are well known for some of the biggest websites in the world. Lastly, I will use this information when creating my website to showcase my work.

How To Write A Press Release

A press release is a official statement delivered to a media audience for the purpose of providing information or making an announcement. In my job as a graphic design, I wouldn’t need a official press release unless I was looking for work in a news paper or a magazine, however in future to build a audience for my graphic design company. I could always advertise in this way. Furthermore, a press release can also be used as a document that adheres to a strict format and serves as marketing and for promotional services.

Getting The Most Out Of LinkedIn

My LinkedIn Page

(www.linkedin.com/in/jackberry13)

(Job Wall)

The Plymouth College Of Art Job Wall is a blog, which posts job opportunities for students to make use of. Moreover, it has a wide range of jobs such as internships or part time jobs whilst you study. I will be using the PCA job wall next year whilst studying to hopefully acquire a job.

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a law which allows owners of a piece of work to have to right on how other use it. The good thing about copyright laws is that it protects the artists work from being copied and others making money from it. Furthermore with copyright a piece of work can only be copied if the owner gives permission.

How is Copyright used?

Copyright is used to protect the artists work but the way that it is used is its a collection of rights which are automatically granted to a person that creates a original piece of work. These rights include the protection to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies and to perform and display the work publicly.

Why is it important?

Copyright is important as it protects the artist work from being copied and reproduced, this allows the artist to also have the ownership of the work which rightfully belongs to them. Furthermore it is extremely important as authors because they can protect there intellectual property and control who makes money from it and who is allowed the rights to use there work.

Types of Copyright

Copyright can be seen in all forms of work such as…

• Literary Works. …
• Musical Works. …
• Dramatic Works. …
• Pantomimes and Choreographic Works. …
• Pictorial, Graphic, and Sculptural Works. …
• Motion Pictures and Other Audiovisual Works. …
• Sound Recordings. …
• Compilations.

Copyright notes

• The Expression of the ideas
• Copyright does not affect style
• Protects you from reproduction of your work
• Automatic protected by copyright
• Keeps ownership of your work
• Orphan if you can’t find the creator of a piece of work
• DACS/AOP/AOI – Copyright websites
• Creative Commons
• Make the work substantially different from your inspiration

• 

• 

• 

Font Making/Typography Tests

In todays session we were looking at combining different types of fonts together to create a completely new look and feel for the type. We did some experiments with our initials with mine being “J”. I came up with some ideas of new type with slicing and changing the sizes of my initial to make a new look. For the next part of the session we were asked to collaborate with another designer to change their initial into a new format. Furthermore for this task I worked with Osiris so my initial was “O”. I decided to try and combine to fonts to make the “O” have a fun and playful feel, this was a very weird experiment with some of the tests looking like bold “C”s . Finally for the last task we were asked to merge both of the initials “O” and “J” this ended up looking nothing like the initials and more like a claw shape font.

During this session today I have developed my skills in Adobe Illustrator with font making and manipulation, this can be seen with my collaborative work with another designer in the class when merging two of our initials together to create a new font or letter style. Furthermore learning this new skill on merging to fonts has improved my Adobe Illustrator skills and I will use this to help develop my typography in upcoming projects. The opportunities which have come from this session is I have enhanced my knowledge in typography and to gain more understanding I can deeper research into text manipulation.

• 

• 

• 

Business Cards

In today’s session we were given the task of creating business card templates for a given company. The companies which were selected were all different with us having the challenge to create business cards each with a change of style which needed to link to the company. Furthermore I created three diffrent templates which can be used for the unique business models, I feel the designs which I have made a professional and are fit for purpose. What I have learned during this session is new key skills in InDesign and how to produce a business card which looks clean and stylistic. Moreover I have understood during this process that when it comes to me development needs I must be more smooth with my designs and include more information which makes the business card standout.

SESH Graphics Business Card Template

What is the role of the Graphic Designer?

The role of a graphic designer is to create visual concepts by hand drawing or digitally with a computer. The work which the graphic designer produces is used to communicate their ideas and to inform their clients. Graphic designers are used to develop their creative ideas and overall layout of products such as magazines,posters,advertising and branding.

What job opportunities exist?

• Graphic Designer
• Creative Director
• User Experience Designer
• User Interface Designer
• Production Artist
• Product Developer
• Art Director
• Marketing Specialist
• Multimedia artist or animator
• Freelancer

What skill sets are needed by a Graphic Designer.

The key skills which are needed to be a Graphic Designer are:

• Liaising with clients to determine their requirements and budget
• Managing clients proposals through typesetting (Design,print and production)
• Working with clients to understand the brief they are asking for, also guiding them on what style they would like such as (format,print,production and timescales)
• Understanding the font style and sizing
• Developing graphical concepts,layouts,product illustrations,company logos and websites.
• Making rough drafts concepts for the brief
• Reviewing final concepts and suggesting improvements if needed
• External prints on a regular basis to ensure deadline is met

Who do you think are the top five design companies within the UK and why?

The Yard Creative

Yard Creative is an award winning graphic design studio based in South London. The main design services which there offer are Interior design, graphic design, strategy, branding and research. On their website they state that they only work with clients who want to change a sector or create something remarkable.

Hannon Digital

Hannon Digital is London’s leading digital Marketing & Graphic Design Agency. The services which they offer include Digital Marketing,LinkedIn Training,Web Technology,Lead Generation and hd Design Labs. Furthermore they also offer 24 hour support on their website for clients.

Cefar

Cefar is a Digital Agency which is based in Leeds and London.They primarily work in website design. On their website they state they are proud of what they do and who they work with.Cefar collaborate with businesses and help them take on challenges in design, they thrive in achieving creative technical leaps which allows them to evolve and adapt.

Start Design

Start design is a design company which specializes in Digital,Retail and Branding.They also collaborate with different studios and their clients come from around the world.Start Designs slogan is “Defining Experiences and Defining brands” which shows their aims when working with them. In Addition there offices are located in London,Manchester and Dubai.

2buy1click Ltd

2buy1click Ltd is an ECommerce agency. 

2buy1click Ltd was set up with a goal to develop Magento eCommerce websites that are profitable for our customers. 2buy1click founders soon realised the struggle of eCommerce store owners had, with badly built Magento websites. So we took them over and fixed them so Magento runs as fast and as efficient to start delivering the sales and profits their owners desired.Our guiding principles are to focus on developing high-performing, low-cost to maintenance eCommerce websites that convert better and outperform those of other agencies. Along the way, our skilled and devoted Magento Development Team adopted these principles as their core values. With this Team over and over again 2buy1click took over poorly developed Magento websites and increased their sales by 100% 200% even 600% in a matter of months.

(From the 2buy1Click Website)

Which skills do you have already? (SWOT analysis).

What other skills do you need to acquire? And what steps will you take in obtaining these skills?

• Illustrator (Practice Illustrator in my spare time and take additional classes to improve possible workshop wednesday)
• Public Speaking (This links into confidence and the more public speaking you do the better you will be at it)
• Not staying on track (Make sure to take breaks from work to give yourself time to think and keep a list of what work needs to be done)
• Time Management (There are many ways to help with time management and I will make sure to keep reminders and a list of work which needs to be done)
• Drawing
• Making Money (In my spare time I will be working a job and also selling clothes to help with my Uni funds)
• Explaining Ideas (This will come with practice and more crit sessions, However I could look into different words to improve my vocabulary. 
• Rough Work (This will improve overtime with my presentation of work)
• Confidence (This links to confidence in my work and myself which will improve as I get my work more out there)

Which ways can you use interactive “Self Promotion” in obtaining job opportunities?

• Promote my skills
• Promoting my projects on social media
• Design myself a website for all my work/online portfolio
• Try gain a social media following for my work
• Collaborate with other designers so we can both help each other with getting our name out there
• Work experience at design studios, this would help me understand how a studio works and what I will be required to do.
• Ask for feedback on work, this gets your work out there without pushing it also gives you a fresh set of eyes on your work
• Compare you work to your competitors to see what you can do better
• When talking about my work, I speak with energy and passion to draw in an audience.
• Take on client work which will help get my name around and build trust with clients.
• Promote my work to a audience that wants to see it (My style of work)

Community Feedback

A very welcoming presentation, offering clear reflection.

As a reminder keep effective eye contact on the audience as there was a tendency from a couple of the group to read from the screen.

The group discussed the range of communities in contemporary existence – and reflected on Football as a problematic community. The group gave time for questions and the visuals were clear, contemporary and consistent. Well done.

Life For Graphic Designer In A City (Manchester)

You both introduced well, telling the audience what you were going to present and what to expect. Good clear verbal communication  and consistent visualisation throughout. Both of you were flexible when asked questions, and you clearly demonstrated retained knowledge of the current environment.

Great to see you are thinking about the future and gave alternatives to living costs.

You have all learnt a lot in a short space of time, and delivered it well.

Well done.

Conclusion of feedback

Finally to conclude my feedback of my two PDP presentations, I feel they both were strong and the groups which I worked in managed to deliver a professional response to the task we were given. Furthermore for my personal development I feel more confident when presenting my ideas and I think I did well at discussing my thoughts about the two topics. After these presentation I will work towards presenting my ideas in great depth to further push my mark.