Too Many Tweets Make a Twit

As well as work I intend for my portfolio to have all relevant information needed to get in touch with me. Containing all of the relevant contact details and social networking resources I use.

I do have a personal Facebook account but feel very strongly in keeping this away from the eyes of pottential employers and using it ONLY for friends and family and social use.

I also have a Twitter account. I use this as a compromise between social and business. I think it is important for employers to see some of your personal side, and i think twitter is a good way to come accorss as a little bit more human not just a designing machine with no social life. I have used my portfolio logo and colour scheme on my twitter to stay consistant and remain proffesional for anybody in industry for the first time however I also use it to follow my hobbies and close friends aswell as industry contacts.

"For the vast majority of people, social networks aren’t business tools – at least, not in the conventional sense. People use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and share what’s going on in their lives, while Twitter’s arguably at its best when used as an informal conversational tool, tapping into a powerful global network of thoughts, opinions and collective knowledge.

Treating either of these networks as a platform to broadcast promo-speak propaganda won’t win you many fans, and might even get you branded as a spammer, and nobody wants that. Accordingly, self-promotion through these platforms takes an added sprinkle of ingenuity"

www.laskeyanimationdesign.co.uk

So today i bought the domain name www.laskeyanimationdesign.co.uk!

I also paid for 2 years hosting through the company Vidahost.







So this is my website right now. I have created a simple holding page which just contains information about how to contact me via twitter untill the site is up and running

www.SomethingSimpleButWittyButStillProffesional.com?

So a  big challenge I have had which i did not anticipate was coming up with a name for my portfolio. I wanted something with a play on words that was still simple but also in some way design related.

With each name i created a logo to see how it worked on paper. I have never been trained in logo design but it is something i do quite naturally because i have a good eye for shapes and composition.

After various attempts at creating an origonal name which didnt make the employer think i was lazy, or completely un-imaginative and cliche, i realised how unique my surname asctually was. It's not something that you see every day but the sight of my name featuring in a logo was something that just made me cringe! I figured i would have to get used to it and started with a play on 'Laskey'

Quite quickly into my second or third  logo I found the type face I wanted to use and there abouts the colours I was going to use. I also experimented with reversing the logo's I had created to see them work in the alternative colour scheme for various different mediums.

After recieving feedback on the most recent logo (the last one) It was suggested that the pencil was a) a little generic and doesnt make me stand out. and b) a little bit too bold on the white background.

Feeling disheartened I went back to the sketchbook and started scribbling away, and by complete accident I had another sheet of paper covering one of my printouts and it was hiding the pencil. I thought it looked great. So rather than a redesign I just took away the pencil and was left with the 'squiggle' which I had recieved great feedback on. I realised that the 'squiggle' was very unique and very eye catching in both backgrounds so I started using it without the type face and decided that it could be used when I didnt feel the text neccessary.

Branding.

In the same article on Portfolio Masterclass in Computer Arts I found an important section on the design of a portfolio.

A logo is fundamental. Even a simple motif will add an instant feeling of professionalism and trustworthiness; the two elements potential clients search for. Contact details must be clear and easy to find.’

I realised that it is important for me to create an identity. A consistant colour shceme at least would be neccesary but a log of some kind would help portray a more proffesional outlook and also using it on business cards, letters, emails etc would also show consistancy.

Larry Huber Advice

'A little careful editing of your portfolio to fit the job you're being interviewed for, might save us both a lot of bother. The television animation industry employs hundreds of artists, many of them filling specific classifications. You don't have to be good at drawing everything if you're just real good at drawing the something that fits the classification'

First Things First.

Before I even started i knew that because my work is image based because I have gone down the animation design route rather than actually animating that the only sensible format to hold my portfolio would be an online portfolio.

This lead me to an article in Computer Arts magazine which was specifically about online portfolio's.

'It’s important to showcase your best work, but within that, to show diversity. Quality, not quantity'

Learning this important information so quickly is only going to help me throughout this module because it keeps my focus on quality, rather than panicking if i dont have a lot of work at the end.

Getting Started.

The aim of this blog is to gather research and document my findings throughout the Portfolio module.

The main areas I intend on researching and document are;

• Existing Studios which could be pottential employers
• Decide on an appropriate format for my portfolio
• Explore what pottential employers would like to see in a portfolio
• Research alternative resources for portfolio content prefferences
• Document any articles or websites that have helped through the design, progress and development of my portfolio

In addition to these points I will also post any articles or videos that I find of interest about creating a portfolio or the industry in general. I will also post studio's which catch my attention.