Elmwood

I visited Elmwood in Leeds (Guiseley) on Thursday for a chat about my work. All went well, I gained some useful knowledge about applying for the right kind of job, particularly artworker jobs and was informed I would hear back within 1 month of a possible job opportunity at Elmwood. After showing two of the designers (Simon and Steve) my portfolio, I gave them a promo pack and new business cards I had created earlier in the week. 

Here it is (or was).

Point & Anchor

I was recently featured on the designer showcase site Point & Anchor, take a look.

Re-Shoot

I have re-shot all of my work, I'v uploaded it all onto my website. Take a look.
Here

Business Cards

Here are new business card designs, I decided to create a much more clean and sophisticated card as this is how I see my practice heading towards.

Here are typefaces which I considered:

Here is the card, I chose to use the Jula Typeface:

A finishing touch to the card, I decided to break the line with a fading gradient as I felt it was too harsh and confused the break between my name and my contact details:

Homes-Sweet-Holmes

Here is an up to date logo

Website

Set up an indexhibit site for my design work. I chose to avoid using my full name as the URL as 'patrickholmes.com' doesn't really slip off the tongue. Here is what I came up with instead, it is more memorable, fun, and the play on words relates to my design practice.

Holmes-Sweet-Holmes

New Branding

I have recently re-branded myself.
Here is my new logo and business card design.
I feel this logo represents a truer me, a graphic designer more focused with type and use of a clear, message driven style. I have also made progress with my web presence,  i have just purchased a domain; holmes-sweet-holmes.com - this is in my opinion more memorable than what might be thought best (patrickholmes.com), and i feel this will further influence people to visit. See, at the bottom of this post, my website layout design.


Logo

Business Card (Front + Back)

website layout

Grafik Design Awards

Here

Design Strategies Presentation

Presentation Notes:

Slide 2
-Start of Projects
Dedicating more time on Idea Generation
Message / Communicating is dominant factor
Clever / innovative use of design

Slide 3
Technical / Software
Experimental
Hierarchy
Communicating a message through type & layout

Slide 4
Context - Importance
Technically - Understanding of SLR
Finalizing / Shown in best possible light

Slide 5
1 Week placement
Sheffield
Old School House

Slide 6
Large Design Firm - 80+
Digital Led agency / some print
Clients - Open University / HSBC / Warburton's
Working alongside professional designers / copywriters - Sharing brief - script
Turnaround speed

Slide 7
What I did - Engage web animation - about the company
Here are initial storyboards
Snow cut placement short
Easter

Slide 8
Web Design
Type & Layout in web
Placement experience - all briefs included web

Slide 9
Print
Type & Layout
Promotion / informative / Editorial
Print Methods - Duotone / Stock

Slide 10
Photography
Type in environment - Leeds Public Arts
Interaction with subjects

Slide 11
Conceptual design
Makes you think
Play on words
Makes you laugh - Interacts with audience more

Slide 12
Simple yet effective
More memorable design

Slide 13
Branding
Logos / Identity
Range of design / application

Slide 12
Animation
Placement
Informative
Opening titles
DVD menus

FMP

Animated GIF - Logo

Look above this post (or the header at the top of my blog 'Patrick Holmes')
I have been playing around with simple animation in the form of web gifs, i think they add more to web-based design pieces and catch your eye, this is especially useful for a logo, like my own. The gif plays once only when the page is loaded, reload the page to see it play again.

Business Card - New.

Here's a better quality version of the business card. The stock is a thin cartridge paper to aid the fold of the card, and the folds have been scored to make things cleaner.

I plan to print onto an even thinner stock to reduce size and make the card more 'wallet friendly'.

Front

Reverse

Inner fold

Fold-out Poster

Close-up of Poster

Reverse inner fold

New Business Card.

I wanted to create an updated business card for myself, but one which has something more to it that any other business card. Here is a prototype of a fold-out card, the fold-out documents my design practice over the course of 1 week.
This card is printed black ink onto a regular white stock.

Michael Wolff - D&AD Lecture

I travelled to Liverpool to see Olins & Wolff co-founder, Micheal Wolff, talk about his career and the design world.  Interviewed by Patrick Burgoyne, Editor for Creative Review.

I took some good information from the talk, here are a few points.

Wolff's three qualities a designer should:
1) Inquisitiveness
2) Curiosity/Imagination
3) Appreciation

"Be bold but not arrogant, too many design firms come across as arrogant and it's not a good thing".

"When presenting to a client, be yourself, if you try to talk and present as a 'designer' and not a person, the clients will respond as 'clients' and not people".

"No one hires a portfolio, they hire a human being".

"When presenting, either show the client something or talk, don't do both at the same time, it's confusing".

"Designers need to be aware that they are not dismissive of language in their practice, too often designers are".

"My working partner, Wally Olins, believes structure is the largest expression of identity, however, i believe Culture is the largest expression of identity".

"Insist, don't take no for an answer, if you insist, people will see you".

"The look of something and the meaning of it need to be embraced together".

"A designer needs to investigate the nature of 'liking'".

"Lots of businesses are run by 'blobs'; where they believe money is all that matters, whereas I believe money is a result".

"Businesses are like people, some are shy, some loud, some stupid, some clever".

Don't think your 'right', your designing for someone else, someone else's message".

"There is too much emphasis on winning awards than solving client's problems".

"Sustainability is vitally important in design".

"Can the fututre of greed be afforded?"

All of these points are interesting to hear from a well experienced and successful graphic designer, I particularly admired his point on investigating 'liking', it feels quite an obvious thing to do now.