Updating my Digital Portfolio

After receiving feedback from Fionn, I worked on updating my portfolio to a more consistent professional standard. Using a grid helped to create a consistent layout throughout my portfolio, whilst my branding gave it that little touch of myself that it didn't have before prior to having self-branding.

Feedback from Fionn @ The Craft Agency

After meeting just over a month ago with Fionn from the Craft Agency, she gave me some super helpful feedback on my portfolio. Keeping in contact with her I sought feedback on my current CV and portfolio before sending it off to apply for an Internship over in Copenhagen.

Having a professional recruiter oversee my portfolio and CV definitely helped to give me confidence in them both. This will help as I plan to apply for more internships moving forward.

Developing my personal branding

I wanted my branding to be simple and clear, my name and what it is that I do as a professional. I wouldn't consider myself an eccentric person, hence there being no need for eccentric branding. I feel that for the most part, my name would suffice if done correctly.

Initially choosing a typeface that fits me as a person was difficult. Typically my preferred choices are sans serif for their simple, clean look. Experimenting with upper and lowercase helped me quickly narrow down to lowercase; uppercase feels too loud and obnoxious.

I finally settled on Bio Sans, a typeface that is a smooth combination of structure within the letterforms whilst still possessing a smooth, slightly rounded touch.

When used in italics it makes for a sleek look.

I wanted to focus on the idea of my practice being collaboration focused or at the very least focused on meeting and working alongside other people as this is where I thrive the most.

I initially experimented with the + & signs but felt they were too cliché. Instead, I opted for a more ambiguous underscore which is suggestive of someone or something else to be able to fill the gap.

Example of how the branding could potentially expand into the collaboration space.

I also thought about how typically on old computer the underscore would flash as a suggestion to type something or in other words for something to be put in its place.

I feel like this idea could work as a gif.

Starpack student awards shortlisting!!

Me and Courtney got shortlisted for the Starpack Student awards for our packaging piece that aimed to reduce food waste! This is exciting as it's the first time my work has been considered for an award.

We won the pitch!!

Absolutely over the moon with the news we received the other day. The work we developed and proposed for The Elephant Room last week, won the client over! 





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By complete coincidence also, since then Jon bumped into Katy whilst down in London for the D&AD festival and she asked us to actually produce the final designs for the campaign. Of course, we said yes, but only when we finish university as the workload would have been ridiculous. This is exciting as this is the first genuine piece of client work we will have had as a duo - maybe the creative duo might happen after all!

Learning how to letterpress business cards

Seeking help from the traditional print tutors to develop hand pressed business cards for my extended practice was fun and useful. Traditional print has always been so far distant from my practice (aside from when I finally tried my hand at screenprinting last year) so after advice from Alec to get them letterpressed I figured this was something I could learn myself.

Around 200 business cards would have cost £120 to be letterpressed by a company. Instead after coursing enough free samples from GF Smith and buying the woodblock letterpress plates (around £50) the project all in all cost less than half that of outsourcing to someone else (no doubt not as high quality but a high enough standard that the client was happy with).

Mixing Inks

Test printing business cards

Final Cards

The one gripe I had with them was the quality of print on the back, embossing didn't work as well since the type was so small so by mixing a slightly darker ink than the colour of the paper, it enhanced the emboss creating a subtle print.

Feeling confident in my abilities to letterpress business cards now (after doing over 100 of them) I think this is something that I could potentially do for my own personal branding as the finish feels much more tactile than digitally printed business cards.

London in a nutshell