This is where I leave you

Personal Branding_15

Me as a designer and my practice.

My design methodology publication and my personal branding have directly influenced and informed each other. Who I try to be as a designer and who I am as a designer, I hope are the same, I try to avoid green washing in my design at all times, although I have been guilty of it before and hope to never do so again.

With my own desire and self improvement I have changed the way I design and the way I think about design. My journey of design has been one which has seen refinements on a personal level and I have tried to show this when placing my thumb print on my business cards. This attempts to demonstrate and to be a statement that this is me and this is how I design, and how I hope to further my professional practice in the future.

Branding Personal_14

The stamp in action and being used on some excess stock which I used to screen print by design methodology publication. It can be argued that al my cards are now bespoke and individual and can transform a piece of paper which may be considered waste. By my own preprinted stock, it is twice recycled and really demonstrates how I actually practice what I preach and use, reduce, recycle as much as I can when designing. 

Personal Branding_13

With the design having to glue involved it makes the stamp a much more environmentally friendly as well as being more transportable and more compact. With this I aim to create packaging which will also mean I can print as and when I need it. What I will need to is consider how I will transfer the ink, and how the components will fit.  

Personal Branding_12

Cut down stamp with no excess pieces, this was done by using the bandsaw;

Wood selected for handle;

The two pieces of wood side by side, I am hoping that the two will contrast nicely when finished;

Beginning of smoothing the handle;

Creating the size of the handle, with an additional test cut;

Marking the peaks and marking the angles which will inform the shaping;

Shaping and sanding the design;

Creating the hole so that the handle fits in, by doing this there is no glueing agent involved;

In action;

Personal Promotion

This product is an improvement on a project I did a year ago. With improvements with a stock with a higher grammage to make the swatch book more durable and longer lasting. As well as alterations with the copy, making it a more concise and coherent. On the reverse cover I have also placed my contact information, creating a dual purpose of the swatch.

To also act as a business card and instructional guide to making your own stock. By doing this it enhances the longevity of the product, I have also used it for my own promotional work when visiting studios or having interviews with agencies who have also have a similar manifesto to myself.

I left this with thomas.matthews when I went for a portfolio surgery and it was mentioned that I might have to edit the work with some line lengths and stocks. Some of the ways I could develop it further is to create a variation and range of different stocks which could demonstrate a varied stock which can be made by oneself. 

Personal Branding_11

Laser Cut/Rastered Stamp;

Measurements for cutting before sanding to achieve the correct size. The excess will be used at the End of Year Exhibition for placing my business cards, or another approach I may take is leaving my stamp out with ink so people can engage with my stamp and brand, this again only means print as many as needed and not to overprint. 

Personal Branding_10

Personal domain name;

bobbyjones.co
Personal email:

hello@bobbyjones.co

I have changed my basic cargocollective domain name to one which is my own. This now serves as my own website with a personal touch and one which I can call my own. this will be now placed onto my business card stamp which shows further knowledge of the professionalism and understanding. 

Before my old cards from this year my website was a behance link which not only looked long but showed lack of presence in the professional world, as well as having my old emil address which I used to use for most things.

Old (January 2015 -) business cards;

With these developments online for myself I hope to gain further recognition for my own and it being my own, as I do not want to over print for my personal branding I think having a strong, independent web presence is key. 

Personal Branding_9

Jelutong wood, after purchasing the wood which is know for  not being listed in the CITES Appendices, and is reported by the IUCN as being a species of least concern. Making it a sustainable wood and one which is know for its pattern-making and carving, making it a very informed decision to use.

Ideas by Music_Portfolio Review

The portfolio review I think went well and while looking around the studio and talking to some of other members of staff I found it was a very inviting and friendly environment to work in and just to be at. Much more so that thomas.matthews.

The location as well was fantastic being in the creative hub of Manchester's Northern Quarter. I would love to work there as the work they are producing is brilliant and the range of clients they have are from MNC's to local independent Thai restaurants, which I think is a great mentality to get the 'pay days' as well as giving something back to the community and investing time and money into local businesses.

After reviewing my portfolio and discussing where I wanted to be after LCA, he asked to see more of my my ASPECT project as he was interested by the subject matter. I emailed him and he replied;
Thanks for sending this through.
I’ll make sure it gets shared round the office for everyone to have a look.

It was great to see you guys last week, 
good luck with the final hand in!

I’ll definitely be down to see the end of year show,
so I’ll see you then.

Cheers,
Dan.

Dan Lancaster
Senior Creative

Ideas by Music_Digital Portfolio

Personal Branding_8

The solution to what I would be able to achieve is a stamp (made from either lino or wood block, lime wood or jelutong wood, as they are the flattest and will give the best finish) and on the stamp there is a dotted line which would become the crop lines. 

This process would be easily done and it would be very achievable in the time available and cost effective. This option is also one where I can push my own brand furthest with through packaging the stamp. This could become a branding 'tool kit' for myself, feeding into my hands on approach to projects.

Examples of something which I could make for the project:

I feel I have already created pieces like the one above, out of cardboard or card. so for my final now personal professional practice, I want to create something more durable and polished. Such as the items below: 

A possibility for the outcome could be a 'tagline' or manifesto which could be printed onto the product:

Personal Branding_7

Technical workshop with Roger Berry:

After emailing Roger and telling him of my product we arranged to have a meeting on Wednesday 22 April. The meeting started by discussing the potential product that I wanted to create and what I wanted from it, a sustainable, bespoke business card. After this discussion we spoke of the practicality of the cutting mechanism and it safety issues in college, the problem being that the stamping motion when cutting needs to be coming from a huge amount of pressure, pressure that I could not do myself. The pressure cut is very demanding and if I wanted to do it I would need some sort of mobile hydraulic mechanism, he joked.

The cutting from a blade is made from pressure applied to a surface area which when angled slices through the stock. When using the same pressure is used the distribution of the of the blades surface area it does not have the same outcome as there is an imbalance of pressure and distribution. As my stamp will have one continuos blade and be flat the cut through that I want will not be possible through the pressure of the push down motion of my own hand.

The solution to what I could be able to achieve is a stamp (made from either lino or wood block, lime wood or jelutong wood, as they are the flattest and will give the best finish) and on the stamp there is a dotted line which would become the crop lines.

Another option would be to screen print directly onto the 'Make-ready sheets' and then to kiss cut the cards and create a perforation and it would act like a book of stamps.

The most interesting of the solutions would be using a mobile digital printer. The mini printer has a rechargeable battery and can connect with smartphones and PCs. It also allows the user to print on any size of paper.The device works by using a sliding hatch underneath.When the printer is activated, this reveals the inkjet.Wheels then move the robot across paper, printing out whatever is required as it goes.An omni-wheel system enables the printer to turn and drive accurately in any direction.To print something, a user merely needs to send their request to the device via Bluetooth.The device itself, made of polycarbonate, will come in either black or white.