Monday 5th November 2007

23:13

Feeling much more confident about the course after college tonight. The 3 of us degree students presented our PERSONAL BRANDING projects to Patrick and the HNC/HND group.

Louise gave a very interesting presentation of her ideas for using a pomegranate in her ID. One or two of the ideas were a little disturbing to my mind - what with the nails and pins inserted into the fruit! But, the ideas behind the use of a pomegranate - fruitfulness, ideas, seeds etc - make great sense. On the whole, I was very impressed at the brand at this stage.

Once again, Jo has put an amazing amount of time and energy into researching her brand - I wish I could put a fraction of her effort into the background work. These notes and musings will steer Jo onto the right path.

The HNC/HND mob gave useful feedback for J & L; which I am certain will be beneficial. Also, some of the points raised gave me other avenues and paths to consider - even though it was J & L's work being critiqued, I considered there work in some new ways.

My brand/logo was presented to the room and received fairly favourable comments. An odd thing to be presenting my finished brand to a group only just beginning to develop theirs.

Interestingly ,Patrick thinks I can use my brand as part of PDP5 (? - I think). He seemed to think that I covered the concept, design and use of my original logo and how it has since developed into my current design. Also, I voiced my opinion on how my brand changed have (or have not) worked.

So, somehow, the impromptu brand "critique" seems to be a useful contribution to the degree course.

Began an ACTION PLAN for the PDP5 module.

Thursday 25/10/2007

00:28

This journal was bought in New York last Friday from a paper shop called "Kate's Paperie". The shop is quite large and is devoted to supplying all types of paper and pens; it stocks journals of all sizes and design, writing paper fore very occasion, card and paper for crafts and hobbies and pens for every hand.

"Kate's Paperie" is just a few doors down from The Parker Meridien Hotel and is on the same block as Carnegie Hall. The store gives you, well me anyway, the desire to be creative. So, this small journal has been bought to be my "reflective journal" and I have just finished copying my original notes into it. It was only $3.00 - about £1.60 at current exchange rates.

Bargain.

I was a little disappointed with the vehicle signwriting on the cars and trucks in NY. With very few exceptions - I mean VERY FEW - the vehicles have signwriting that can only be described as terrible. Many of the trucks have the company name, address and telephone details on the cab doors. As big as possible with little regard to design and style; and not done very well at that. The moto "bigger is better" seems to be in fashion.

In contrast to the UK, there were very few vehicles that employed the use of full colour graphics - vehicle wraps as they are known. The use of "traditional" vinyl livery was very scarce, at least to my experience.

Also, the shop signage was disappointing to me. With the exception of the higher class shops, boutiques and hotels, the majority of the signs were not well done. It seemed to be an "all or nothing" situation.

Having said that, the signs in one particular area of NY was very impressive; those in Times Square were incredible - magnificent examples of neon and LED signs. They light up the nighttime and can be seen from many blocks away - they must look incredible from above.

I was impressed by the advertising billboards. They were very eyecatching and impressively designed with superb photo work and typography. I did like them.

The menus for the diners and coffee houses seem to be very keen on showing photos of the foods available. This is not uncommon - but appeared to be much more widespread than in our country.

Talking about design icons - the New York taxi cab is a very powerful and recognised icon. The yellow cab is such a familiar and recognisable sight from so many movies and TV shows and I was delighted to see them for real. And to actually ride in one.

Mind you, our cabbie was a lunatic!

I was surprised at how many yellow cabs they have. Hundreds.

Friday 12th October 2007

20:26

I am not sure what I need to do with this "reflective log". The whole idea seems a little "woolly".

Why "woolly"?

Well, as a self employed business man, I am very busy and my time is most often spent designing, producing, quoting, undertaking site visits, working on site, visiting clients, liaising with suppliers, researching or resourcing materials, ordering, delivering, invoicing, general paperwork and numerous other activities.

Where I am going to find the time to write a reflective log is a little bit of a mystery at this moment.

The above may sound a little pessimistic but, in my defence, I am tremendously busy at present and my energies are currently concentrated on ensuring that I hit several deadlines that are looming fast. Quite simply, I cannot afford to let any of my customers down - I have not missed a deadline in over 20 years in the industry and I do not intend to start now.

Not now that I work for myself!

20:43

Great news! City have just scored against Morecambe - we lead 1-0 with two minutes to the break. Come on City!!

Foolscap.What an odd word. Where does it originate from and what was it used for? *REMINDER TO LOOK INTO THIS*

The degree course initially appears to be a hugely different beast to that of the HNC. With the degree course we are expected to, and responsible for, choosing the areas that we want to study and design. I am, at this stage, certain that I would prefer to have a specific and "finite" menu to work towards.

Q? Shall I submit my "reflective log" as a handwritten journal or shall I use InDesign to produce a brochure, pamphlet, PDF file or some other such format?

A brief explanation...

I originally wrote my reflective log in a small notebook that I recently purchased in New York from "Kate's Paperie", a charming shop selling all types of papers, journals and pens. I will now add the 31 pages of my scribblings to this blog.