Work Experience Evaluation

Thursday 09 February 2017-NEW UNIT BEGINNING

Began new Work Experience unit this morning. I started off by asking Jim Ryan in the HE Hub whether he wanted me to design him a business card as the one he has at the moment looks a bit dated and he was more than happy for me to do this for him. Not only this, but he wants me to design him a booklet as well of an up and coming event called “We are all Immigrants” that is coming up at the college in a couple of weeks time. He supplied me with all the documentation that I need to put into the booklet and both deadlines set for after the half-term break. I am starting by adding the evidence of what I was given today into a sketchbook and this blog.

In the meantime here is the proposal for Work Experience:

This proposal details my availability for Work Experience.

I got the ball rolling on this by doing a series of jobs around the jobs around the college, voluntarily of course, starting with doing a couple of jobs for the college technician, Jim Ryan.

This is the creative brief viewed and signed by Jim Ryan below here for the We Are All Immigrants Booklet:

And now for Jim's Business Card:

Friday 10 February 2017-Thursday 23 February JIM RYAN'S BUSINESS CARD AND SEAN VERNELL'S DESIGNS BEGIN

Jim emailed me with the documents for the booklet this morning and I will begin putting this together over the weekend.

Here is the email sent to me by Jim:

If the text is a little bit difficult to make out, here it is in normal text:

"hello Joe,

attached is the text to put in the exhibition flyer.

I will give you the images later today.

Thanks

Jim"

Today I began put together his business card using Adobe Illustrator. I am keeping it minimalist in colour choices and adding a camera lens designed by me using a YouTube video tutorial. I will design a few of these to show him next week.

I might completely cock it up if I was to think about it myself, so I found this interesting video tutorial on YouTube to aid me in the design for the business card. I designed it all my own way of course, but my take on it was done to almost the same standard. It is vibrant in color and looks like a real camera lens.

I designed a few good designs for Jim's business card within the last few days. Here are some interesting designs that I've done for him so far that are the same design but different colors:

Upon presentation of business card designs, Jim was delighted with them and looked very impressed with the designs that I have created. I too am delighted with the results of each and every outcome here, but as this is not for me, but for somebody else, the final say is up to the client himself. Impressed as he was as well as myself, as in all contests, there can only be one winner, and the winner is this one here:

The one in the shiny yellow is the chosen one, but a few tweaks had to be fixed up in order as I stipulated above, the client has final say and here is what had to be done:

The black on the back is making it look different to the color of the typography at the front. The white typeface is preferred and is more brighter in contrast. I will then fix this up and make it look the desired effect that is requested of me.

What is liked about it is the minimalistic style, such as the color combination, the composition and the hierarchy as depicted on the front part of the card and the bands surrounding the name and occupation at the back. There is also a good sense of tracking in typography as it kind of takes up most of the card and the layout with the icons and contact details at the bottom.

The color of the font is preferred on the front as it is on the back and must be changed to the preference of the client.

However:

The email icon for a start has been noted that it resembles slightly of the saltire flag of Scotland and looking at it now, I tend to agree. I only used a rectangle and 2 vector lines to create this as I thought that this would look as good as an envelope that resembles the icon of an email.

The Saltire Flag of Scotland, which the first attempt of my email icon and to look closely at it, it DOES resemble this. I will change this and improve it to make it look convincing.

Which is what I have done here:

It looks a lot better and far more brighter in color. It is even more minimal and brief. I even changed the email icon as well to the shape of an envelope and an @ sign as this is common in all email addresses and seen in most icons for email.

See what I mean as I give it a more close up shot so I can show what I am talking about. I think that this does look better alright.

The finished outcome, which I think now looks a whole load better than the first design. It is brighter in contrast and retains it’s minimal use of color. The only thing showing more color is the camera especially in the lens part, it’s many colors, really makes it tick.

The finished outcome. Jim was delighted as was myself. I think it looks good. The camera I also drew with the help of a online video tutorial.

Put put my very own take into doing this by adding the camera lens that I used with the video tutorial above. I think that it looks good.

NOW THE ABOVE ARE DONE, ARE THERE ANY OTHER ISSUES?

The front of the red card is fine, easily noticeable in text color, but the back color however, the black is putting it a bit out of place as the white is fine for it’s brightness and contrast. The green card however, there are most elements that could have a white color on them as when these go to print, it would be more readable when printed. I will bear this in mind if someone should want this card for their photography business.

This one looks fine, except that the contact details could be brought down a little bit to give it a little more scope and to make the hierarchy more even. I like the way the shutter lens logo is positioned on the red rectangle and the camera lens on either side of the red rectangle. It looks minimal in colors and type and the glare on the lens also makes it look good and believable for a photographer’s business card.

All in all, I found this process easy enough to do, I looked up a few business cards for photographers on the internet and I felt inspired by the work that they did in putting these business cards together. This is the first of a new line of jobs that I aim to do for clients and I consider this a starting point for my future as a graphic designer. I just need to consider color choices and their connections to each other in order to do a good job.

Here are all the finished business cards that I did for Jim below here:

Please place Jim's business cards here.

In addition to this, there is an event coming up in about two weeks time called "We are all Immigrants". And for this, I have been assigned by Sean Vernell to put together a booklet poster to commemorate this.

This is the booklet in progress. It is coming along, but there are a few little tweaks that need to be done as discussed via feedback. The text on the left, was suggested that was to be spaced out a little bit rather than indented and growing the font to the next one than the font size used here.

The images next to the text above, to look at them now are a bit stretched width-wise. Maybe it would look better if there was only to be one portrait image here. I will fix this up in due course.

Migration Booklet 3

Migration Booklet 2

There are concerns as well about elongated imagery being in the booklet, such as the stretched imagery on the right image and the top third image on the top right hand corner on the left screenshot. I will put these right in due course.

All this feedback came in the form of an email sent to me by Sean Vernell below here:

Here is the email copied onto the blog if you cannot get the gist of how it looks on the screenshot:

Sean Vernell <Sean.Vernell@candi.ac.uk>

Sun 19/02, 10:46

​Hi Jo

thanks for this . It looks great.

Just a few of things:

1) Can you simply space the text rather than indent the next lines and if possible slightly enlarge the text. Perhaps the next one up?

2) The pictures next to the text I think would perhaps be better with just one image. The black and white one of the boy wearing a hood perhaps would go well here.

3) Some of the pics have been elongated ( the bw one of the boy with a hat/headdress on and the ones next to the text). Can these be sorted?

Not sure if any of this will mess with the space of the design.

Don't worry about college logo.

Thanks very much for doing this.

Best

Sean

So here is what I did to fix this:

As suggested in the feedback, I left aligned the text on the left of the image on the right in the screenshot here. I did this course of action in front of Sean himself and it was instantly approved and changed the image to the hooded man in the black and white photo as suggested and to look at it now, it looks amazing and much better than it did.

The title on the left in the screenshot looks fine as it is laid out. I did not create this title by the way, this was provided to me by Jim Ryan to create this along with the images. But the images on the right of the title look really good as they are aligned now, like the one with the boy wearing the headdress was the one that concern was raised about, I think that this does look better as it is where it is now positioned.

This the finished piece. I've changed it around to make it look more and more interesting and to get the imagery in the booklet to look a good enough resolution, which I think now that it does.

In addition to this I designed a grungy urban Londony kind of background to accompany the front cover which gives it a good feel and goes well with the front urbany image of the South Sudanese boys. Here is the texture in a more higher visability:

I think that this grungy urban texture fitted the booklet really well, especially the title as stated above. This was created with Photoshop but placed in InDesign. I think that it looks good and can be useful for future designs.

Thursday 23rd February 2017-PRESENTATION

Upon presentation of the booklet with the tweaks completed with help from Ian Busby my tutor, I presented this booklet to Sean Vernell at the HE Hub and he was very impressed with my work as was Jim Ryan respectively. I am still awaiting documented feedback from Sean in regards to this.

However it looks good as far as the folding is concerned, this feedback was given to me by Jim earlier on today when he was looking at it, so far it is only the fact that I need to add my name to the booklet that is the only weakness here, it has to be cleared with the appropriate authority in the college if this is good enough though, but in my mind I think that it looks OK and I feel that I have done a good enough job on this. It is debatable whether or not the City and Islington College logo should go on this, this to be cleared in due course. It has been confirmed that the logo of the college wasn't necessary to go on the booklet.

During the week I found this job quite easy going and easy enough in terms of talking to the client as this is someone I know extremely well and I found this quite a good success and this has inspired me for any future tasks and I look forward to tackling them head on and flourishing in both my design and social skills alike. I just need to be careful in color choices and clear this with future clients and put right any alterations to both the appeasing of the client and the best of my abilities. I am going to take these skills on board and use them rightly to become a good designer.

Thursday 02 March 2017-RESEARCH

I am currently researching into suitable design companies for work experience to advance my skills as a graphic designer. This is only just the beginning though as I made a brief start doing basic jobs for college. There is one interesting company that I found which entails branding as this uses the skills that I am capable of as i consider myself a whiz on programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

Here is the research I did into working in several different companies for Work Experience if possible:

The company I discovered is Pentagram.

"Pentagram is the world’s largest independent design consultancy. The firm is owned and run by 21 partners, a group of friends who are all leaders in their individual fields. We design architecture and interiors, books,branding and identities, digital installations, exhibitions,films, products, posters, and websites from offices inLondon, New York, San Francisco, Berlin and Austin."

(Source: Pentagram.com)

Another company discovered in my research is called The Chase, which I find quite weird as The Chase is known more for Bradley Walsh's quiz show during the week, I find this weird that there is a design company known as the name in question as well.

"We have consistently been one of the UK’s most awarded creative consultants. For three years in the last decade we have held the number one spot in Design Week magazine’s creative league table."

(Source: http://www.thechase.co.uk/about/)

Work Experience requirement in 2 JPEGs:

Another company where I started doing jobs for so far is in my college where I am at now, this is where I began doing jobs for Jim Ryan and Sean Vernell. This has concluded about a week ago now and I got good feedback for they are here below taken from Word:

"Joe made the whole process very easy. I had an original card which I wanted to make changes to. I wanted to incorporate a ‘signature’ style of my name and look at the logo which I have used previously. I was considering using the same colour scheme which I have used previously which fitted with my website but this could also be changed. I was shown a number of designs and sat down with Joe to consider my options. I was pleased with the choice of styles and had a number of new options. I made my choice and Joe has supplied me with a design which I am happy with. Joe took a different route and produced a design which turned out to be the right choice, Joe was on hand if I needed to ask any questions and listed to my suggestions and requests and produced the cards on time."

Appraisal by James Ryan.

"I asked Joe to produce and A3 document to accompany the’ #weareallimmigrants’ photography exhibition held recently at the college. I liaised with Joe after being given the brief by Sean Vernell who produced the photographs. The brief required attention to detail and layout, as the document had to be folded from A3 to A5 and also required to be printed double-sided. Using a mock up to work from Joe produced the document and consulted myself and Sean regarding any changes in design. Joe worked well within the deadline so the job was completed for the Private view as the exhibition guide was on sale at the venue. All the way through Joe was available and competent in his working practice, and both I am Sean were pleased with the final result."

Appraisal by James Ryan.

Now here is the appraisal from Sean Vernell:

"Joseph Kelly - #weareallimmigrants exhibition guide Appraisal.

Joe was asked to produce and A3 document to accompany the’ #weareallimmigrants’ photography exhibition held recently at the college. I liaised with Joe after briefing him on what I required. The designed required a lot of attention to detail as the document had to be folded from A3 to A5 and also required to be printed double-sided.Using a mock up to work from Joe produced the document and then contacted me to discuss what he had designed. Joe worked well within the deadline so the job was completed for the private view as the exhibition guide was on sale at the venue. All the way through Joe demonstrated a professional and competent approach to his work. I was very pleased with the final result. The end product was of high quality and he managed to capture what I was looking for in relation to a flyer for the photo exhibition.

Sean Vernell"

Feedback like this means a lot to me and makes me feel good about myself and my efforts. I had a meeting with Tim Chaundy the other day and he wants me to do a brochure for all the many performances that are going to be scheduled within the college over the next few weeks.

Tuesday 07 March 2017-MEETING WITH TIMOTHY CHAUNDY

Tim and I had a meeting at around 1PM to discuss design ideas within the college performing arts courses as there are going to be shows happening within that particular dept. He wants me to design a brochure with all the up and coming performances and to be completed by 23rd March.

As of today (Thursday) I've had nothing to begin with such as images or text, I've been assigned to research this to help Tim come up with a mock-up design of how the brochure should look. I will begin this accordingly, but I must consider other college work around this.

Another interesting site I've discovered this morning (Thursday) is http://creativeskillset.org/. It is very interesting with some good jobs (freelance) with good money which would have fit me just fine except that the jobs are temporary and not permanent and I don't want to lose the job in a few weeks/months and back again to square one again. I would like a job that I can hold down for a year or two perhaps and then change over again.

I might consider going into being an apprentice perhaps and earn a bit while I learn, but my age could be held against me as this in research done in the past is only for those up to 24, but will research further down the line into this.

Another thing that could hold me back from apprenticeships is the fact that I am in full-time education and not part time, (even though I am only serving 2 days in college and do not understand this at all as 2 days is REALLY considered part-time in the workaday world). This is as quoted here via research:

"Apprenticeships have different entry requirements, but you must be aged 16 or over and not in full-time education (England only. Find out about Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). If you haven’t got good GCSE grades in Maths and English you may need to take a literacy and numeracy test.But don’t be put off! Employers are more interested in your skills, enthusiasm and commitment than your qualifications. They look for genuine interest in the Apprentice role along with strong communication skills, creativity and the ability to work well as part of a team."

(Document source: http://creativeskillset.org/who_we_help/young_creative_talent/ways_creative_industries/creative_skillset_apprenticeships)

Another useful design company found is a design company called Fifteen. This looks good except that the company is based in Nottingham and I live in London and it would be impossible for me to go to Nottingham everyday. The link for this is here:

http://www.fifteendesign.co.uk/

All in all this is a worthwhile company that offers a lot of good services such as Creative and Digital Designs, and marketing. They have clients such as Boots and Specsavers even Nikon. The one and only downside for me is the location.

Thursday 16th March 2017 GETTING THE BALL ROLLING INTO BEGINNING MY CAREER PATH

Today I am considering visiting the careers department in my college to get advice on how to go about beginning my career and at least get some work experience or part-time work respectively. I hope that this will be an easy task but I was told in the past that they only cater for the FE students, but I myself am an HND student, so it might be difficult, but it might not be a walk in the park for me, but time will only tell in this case.

I have been working a lot on getting my CV up to date as well, but there are tweaks that I need to make on this, such as my logo for instance:

Due to constructive feedback given to me, it was stated that the logo was fine, but the initials could be a bit away from the edge of the circle to give it a bit of a border and bring the bottom of the J and the top of the K a bit closer together diagonally, from NE to SW, I am going to try this out now and see how this looks.

Now to me, it looks better (the stroke color is only for the purposes of the work in progress and doesn't figure at all in the final outcome. Except the bottom of the J and the top of the K now looks a bit crowded, so I must tweak on further.

Now I took it upon me to use diagonal lines in the form of a compass to assist me in aligning my letters. This is now coming along somewhat, for instance,

Where the bottom right hand of the J is sticking out, it sits nicely on the diagonal line which makes it look pretty nice and neat.

The K sits nicely on the lines as well, so it is now time to take the lines away and the stroke color on the circle and see how nicely this reflects I think.

And it is complete. The stroke on the circle is only for the purposes of viewing on a white background. I must now add this to my CV and see how this looks

And here it is and I think that it now looks better than it did before and there is at least a good border around the circle. I've tweaked the logo and must now add this to other stuff that has this on.

Another issue raised to me was my profiling on my CV, I've added information that would be more or less valid on a Covering Letter rather than on an actual CV.

Which is very true enough, so I must research into this a little bit and check it out and see how I would go by doing this.

I checked one of my old CVs out and added in my statement from the old CV

which looks a bit more like it and I think that this is good enough for me to add to my personal profile.

However there were a few tweaks that had to be done in order for me to visit the careers section of the college, so this might not be possible for me to visit the careers now as I had to fix a few tweaks to my CV. This is an email from my tutor who oversaw my CV and this is his feedback:

Incase you cannot see the email word for word, this is it below here:

My New CV and Cover Letter

2

IB

Ian Busby <Ian.Busby@candi.ac.uk>

Reply all|

Thu 16/03/2017 11:59

To:

JOSEPH KELLY

"Hi Joe, some feedback on the CV and letter.

I think the letter is fine – fit for purpose.

With the CV, I think you could make some changes:

1. Delete the words Curriculum Vitae – old-fashioned and unnecessary. Instead, put ‘graphic designer’ where ‘Curriculum Vitae’ currently sits.

2. PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT ME get rid of this whole section – it is unnecessary. You don’t need to put Name, DoB and Marital Status – and the languages spoken bit is only relevant if you speak a second language. You can say you’re British (or Irish) in the Profile section.

3. PROFILE Change this section to say what you like doing as a designer, what types of design work you are best at and what skills and technological advances you plan to develop in the future. What you have written at present is more the type of content that belongs in the covering letter.

4. WORK EXPERIENCE Change this title to ‘Job History’. Only put graphic design jobs, so document what you are doing for your ‘Work-based Learning’ stuff for Sean and Jim and so on.

Thanks, Ian"

So I am going to have to fix this up and will send this back to Ian tomorrow for re-evaluation and hopefully I will go there next week.

Ian has not seen the changes I made to the CV. I might email him the copy now and let him see it for himself whether it looks OK or not. This was well over a month ago when he saw this so I might email him now. (Written 13:48PM, Friday 21st April 2017)

Thursday 23rd March 2017 THE HUNT FOR WORK CONTINUES

Today I must do a short proposal for work experience, it is a daunting process for me due to the fact that I have other assignment work to do, one is more important than the other and all that, I try my utmost to finally secure a part-time job on this side of June, but events are conspiring against me such as trying to prioritise my coursework around my possible new work.

This morning I met up with Tim and I am trying to keep up with the brochure mock up, but according to him there is no major rush, but the work would be preferred to be done by after the Easter break, so a point on both counts must be made to put this into motion and Tim says he'll try to get the relevant info sent to me within a week. Meanwhile I must plow on with my proposal now.

Proposal done and am going to do some practical graphic work now.

Around 2 weeks ago, Cordelia approached me and I offered to do some work experience for her and this idea came up. The NUS card for next year is going to be up for sale in the college premises shortly, so I took it upon myself to offer to do the poster for her. I am currently researching past posters of NUS Extra and I am going to do it in vaguely the same layout as this poster here below:

Images going into the poster are found from nus.org.uk.

This is the creative brief designed and signed by both Cordelia and myself below:

I could put them up, but there are going to be a good few and found from the same source, so I shall just add the web address above here.

Other elements used for the poster range from the following: The card

Showed Cordelia this afternoon and the work is coming along great. First draft to be handed in by next week and the final draft to be handed in by after Easter break. Here is the screenshot of the requirements requested of me which is the email by Cordelia:

To display the email in full, I added 2 screenshots. If you cannot see the email due to the grainy image, here it is in pasted text:

Cordelia Cembrowicz <Cordelia.Cembrowicz@candi.ac.uk>

Reply all|

Thu 23/03/2017 16:22

To:

JOSEPH KELLY

Cc:

Neil Phillips

Dear Joseph,

Thank you for the offer of designing promotional material for us to sell NUS cards.

Here is an outline for our requirements:

Item to design: A4 landscape colour poster

Product Research:

www.nus.org.uk

The poster should include discounts that you think our students would find appealing.

The poster should say the following:

BUY YOUR NUS CARD HERE

£12 one year £24 2 years £36 3 years

Pay by Cash, get a voucher code, and purchase the card online.

It would be useful to have a draft by the end of next week.

Best Wishes,

Cordelia

Cordelia Cembrowicz | Student Engagement Coordinator (Learner Voice) City and Islington College Centre for Business, Arts and Technology 444 Camden Road, London N7 0SP Tel: +44 (0) 20 7697 1732 www: www.candi.ac.uk

Thursday 30th March 2017-NUS Extra Poster in progress

Had a meeting with Cordelia this morning and the poster I think is coming along fine, but there are tweaks to be made with the poster in question. Here is a few screenshots of the first draft:

Looks good up the top, except that there wasn't any real need for the "Should I buy a card" text highlighted in blue as the poster is meant to look powerful. It was recommended that the SU logo should go inbetween the NUS card as stated up here with the initials and the cross drawn above and this is what I did so far.

I added the Candi Student Logo which is below here:

It was also stated in the meeting this AM that the font could be heightened in places as shown and stated here:

By looking at this I've had the font size relatively low around here, so I've changed this by doing this:

It looks more powerful and stands out a lot more than before and really stands out compared to the way it was before. I think that it is looking good so far, but I've to add a few more tweaks to the poster before it is completely done and to the client's satisfaction. Like for instance:

I added an offer of 12 weeks of The Economist for a pound a week, but it was stated that students might not be interested in this, so it was recommended to add in the Domino's offer in it's place as stated here below:

So I have done this as shown below here:

But I've just realised that I've covered over The Gym offer rather than The Economist offer, so I've once again have to change this by tweaking it again and this is the result:

and this has now been changed to suit the client hopefully.

It was also stated that where I have the following text "Head to nus.org to check out all the fab other offers out there!!!" as shown below:

There are parts that did not need to be in the poster such as the "out there!!!" and the words "fab" and "other" were to be rotated and switched and this was done as shown below here:

Which now looking at it, it looks a whole lot better and more consistent and more friendly to the audience. The City and Islington college logo has also been added as it is going to be in the C&I building and this also looks good and now looks like a professional poster.

The logo for C&I college has been added below here:

Designing this poster was easy enough to do, but having to do research to add in the correct info is a bit tricky as I do not know what to add and what not to add and knowing what people would like to see. I am going to meet with Cordelia now to get her input for the second poster to see if this is what she requires to see.

Here is the finished piece as designed by me:

Looks good and effective and attractive to those who wish to purchase an NUS card. Cordelia liked it a great deal and this is her appraisal for the job done:

Screenshot of email:

Email copied and pasted:

Cordelia Cembrowicz

Reply all|

Thu 20/04/2017 17:00

To:

JOSEPH KELLY

Dear Joseph

Thank you for completing the poster design job for the Candi Student Union. Here is some feedback..

"Joseph has worked well to the design brief. He listened carefully to our needs and conducted background research on existing posters and advertising on the NUS Connect website. He provided a first draft and responded to suggestions to changes well. I would suggest as an improvement providing a variety of design options to choose from, and perhaps exploring more creative marketing strategies for us to use. Overall I am pleased with the job. Thank you Joseph!"

Best Wishes,

Cordelia

At that point I was pleased with my efforts with the business cards and the booklet as well as the A4 poster. I had little set backs along the way obviously, as any designer would do. These were rectified via constructive feedback given to me by these clients.

This evening I created an infographic based on the pros and cons of being a freelance graphic designer. Here it is below:

This was designed by using research from the following link below here:

http://www.idesigni.co.uk/blog/working-as-a-freelance-graphic-designer/

I used the information in the webpage to create the infographic and drawing the icons to represent their meaning. I did not put in too much text as the text in this infographic is telling a big story which is accompanied by the graphics. This is inspired by my professional practice unit of last year.

I used this YouTube video tutorial to assist me in this:

Thursday 20th April 2017 THE HUNT FOR WORK BEGINS

This morning I went to Waitrose to get a couple of local papers to begin my hunt for work there.

I am looking at the Islington Gazette here now and so far there are no jobs that match my line of potential work here, so this way of me looking for work I must reject. I will check the Ham and High paper next and try my luck there. No luck there either. The Guardian advertises a good range of jobs, hopefully it would be 3rd time lucky.

I will try online and see if I can find any luck there. There is one job in particular that I have seen and I might consider applying for and it is this Junior Graphic Designer with Habitat:

I am only starting out right, so I am thinking of beginning as a junior graphic designer so that I can learn a bit more about the industry. Here is a really good example of a Junior Graphic Designer with Habitat that I might go for, here is a bit more info about the job from reed.co.uk:

Junior Graphic Designer

Posted 10 April by Habitat

• London, South East England

• Permanent, full-time

• £24,000 - £25,000 per annum

• 100+ applications

• "Since 1964, Habitat has been synonymous with outstanding design and products that are enduring, inventive and unexpected. We’re going through exciting times: alongside our three long-standing London flagship stores and extensive website, we’re opening up a network of Mini Habitat stores in Sainsbury’s and Argos. About the role: Habitat is looking for an enthusiastic and talented Junior Graphic Designer with 2-3 years experience to join its busy in-house Design team. The right candidate will be passionate about design and producing all types of collateral, from web banners, to marketing advertisements and promotions to POS and email. It is an ideal opportunity for a visually talented and technically skilled individual, who works well in a fast-paced environment, and able to deliver varied high-quality design output to tight deadlines. You will carry responsibility for manifesting the visual brand identity, working with Habitat’s Brand Guidelines which you will adhere to ensure quality and consistency of graphic design across all media. The role is varied and covers a myriad of projects across web and print. You will contribute to the day-to-day design work involved with the graphics team and bring your creative mind to problem solve and provide design solutions to the brand. Essential skills and requirements: Educated to degree level or equivalent in a creative discipline. Experience working in a Design role. An impressive portfolio showing a passion for good design A good eye for detail Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines Organised and able to juggle a varied workload Flexible, personable, a good team player Excellent oral and written communication skills Excellent knowledge of the following programs: Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign

Reference: 32078341

Bank or payment details should not be provided when applying for a job. reed.co.uk is not responsible for any external website content. All applications should be made via the 'Apply now' button."

PROS

• The roles are varied and covers projects across web and print which is in my field of expertise.

• The pay is quite good for a Junior Graphic Designer.

• The work is based in London which is where I am currently where I am living so this proves good to me in this case.

CONS

• Well over a hundred people have applied for this position so far, so I could be one in a thousand applications for all I know.

• The term junior could be downsizing for me as my work could be more advanced than a junior's position. This would be a starting point for me and progress to something more promising in a year from when I would get the job.

Here is how I went about applying for the job:

I was transferred to networkrecruitment.com to progress on with my application.

I had to fill in my details such as my name and address and so on.

The application is submitted. I left it this long to take a screenshot due to privacy purposes.

My candidate account is created. I can keep tabs on my applications by accessing this.

Sometime after the application, I received this email from:

resourcing@homeretailgroup.com <donotreply@networxrecruitment.com>

To:

josephkellygd83@yahoo.com

20 Apr at 1:40 PM

Hi Joseph

Thanks for applying for the Junior Graphic Designer role.

We’ve received your details and our Resourcing Team will be looking at them as soon as possible.

Don’t forget - you can view and track the progress of your application via your candidate account. (We’ve emailed your login details to you.)

Can you help us? Right now, we’re improving our careers website. If you looked at our site before applying, please let us know what you think by completing this really quick survey – Thanks and good luck with your application!

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/F9Y8SLM

Kind regards

Argos Resourcing Team

Junior Graphic Designer

Posted 19 Apr 2017

• London, South East England

• Permanent, full-time

• £20000 - £24000 per annum

• Posted-19 Apr 2017

• Closes-17 May 2017

• Ref-AHG-05035

Contact-Anthony Gregson

• Contract Types-Permanent

• Hours-Full Time

• Design Disciplines-Branding, Digital / Web,Print

• Job Functions-Designer, Other

Junior Graphic Designer Creative Agency London to 20K. Doesn't sound too bad. Here is more info about the job from designweek.co.uk:

"An established design agency is looking for a talented Graphic Designer to join their busy Creative department. The ideal candidate will Design, develop and execute creative concepts in brand communication for exhibitions, events, conferences, web base content and product launches. Implement corporate brand guidelines across all collateral. You will be actively aware of all areas of design across trends, lifestyle and brands - essentially you will just 'get it!' This is a fantastic role for a Junior Designer who is looking for a long term Career opportunity within a friendly but expanding team. To apply for the fantastic opportunity, please submit you CV and provide a portfolio bursting with excellent and relevant work. To receive up-to-the-minute job info, just follow us on at Twitter.com/networkrecruit Network is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy and is an Equal Opportunities and Age Positive Employer."

CONS FOR THIS JOB APPLICATION

• Having to upload a portfolio rather than submit my website address, it could work at well over 8MB.

ON THE OTHER HAND, THE PROS

• It sounds like a fantastic opportunity and pays well.

• It involves roles that fits my areas of expertise and experience, such as branding.

I am considering taking consideration to the fact this role rather adequately due to having to put a portfolio together to accomplish this a great deal.

Another role I applied for last night, was this interesting looking job out in Watford below here:

looks interesting, the pay is the same as the above 2 that I found. More on that in the Pros and Cons. Here is the job in more detail taken from totaljobs.com:

An incredibly successful global organisation within healthcare is seeking to fill a Junior Graphic Design position. This is a great opportunity for a Graphic Designer with at least a years commercial experience under their belt to grow and progress their skillset in a varied role as part of a growing creative team in Watford. The experience we need. Skills and experience required:

• Fluent in Adobe CS suite skills (Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop)

• Preferably 1 years experience within the design industry

• A relevant Graphic Design/Communication Degree or equivalent

• Able to produce designs under tight time frames

• An eye for detail

An understanding of HTML & CSS would be preferred but is not a necessity. The role. The multi-disciplinary in-house design studio is responsible for designing a global brand identity as well as all promotional material. We are looking for a Junior designer to join the creative team to design packaging, exhibitions, brochures, ad campaigns, app development e.t.c, in a variety of languages for export markets. The company. An innovative, international healthcare company based in Greater London with distributors in over 60 countries. One of the largest and most well recognised names within the UK’s healthcare sector. They have a rapidly growing international business with a large and expanding geographic footprint. To help take the international business to the next level we are looking for a talented graphic designer to support the International team and network of distributors with their marketing. What you’ll get in return. A competitive basic salary is on offer dependant on level of experience. They also have an annual bonus scheme. 24 days holiday as standard. Healthcare is offered after 6 months of service. They have lots of social events, company activity days out and takeaway Friday’s. How to apply. If this sounds of interest, then please click the apply button right away! For more info on this or similar roles please give Rachael Ellison a call.

• Contact: Rachael Ellison

• Reference: Totaljobs/04313REA

• Job ID: 68578798

PROS

• The requirements of Adobe software such as Photoshop, Illustrator and inDesign which I am fluent in.

• Designing stuff that is in my area of expertise.

• The pay is reasonable enough.

• Good holiday number of days

CONS

• Going to Watford on a day to day basis 24/5.

• The term junior could be downsizing for me as my work could be more advanced than a junior's position. This would be a starting point for me and progress to something more promising in a year from when I would get the job.

I started by opening an account with totaljobs.com to make this work.

The application is completed and now I've got to play the waiting game to see how this went. Here is the email confirming this fact:

totaljobs@totaljobsmail.com

To

josephkellygd83@yahoo.com

20 Apr at 9:35 PM

Hi Joseph,

Thank you for your application on totaljobs.

Graphic Designer

WD24

£20000 - £23000 per annum

Henry Nicholas Associates

04313REA

See details of all your applications in My applications.

This is the screenshot:

Today I came across this interesting part-time job which would he beneficial to me until at least the autumn so that I can accomplish any plans I have planned between now and then: taken from: https://www.totaljobs.com/job/graphic-designer/charter-selection-job68767333?JBE=1&entryUrl=&WT.mc_id=R_EM_CLC_AOLConf_recommend

Graphic Designer - Part time

London, South East

£15000 - £18000 per annum

CHARTER SELECTION

Permanent

Posted 10 days ago

Our client, a well know retailer based in London, are seeking a graphic designer to join them for three days per week. The role will be working with the client on a number of projects from point of sale to brochures, to digital banners for their website. The ideal person will also have some experience with video editing. The ideal candidate will have one year experience in graphic design and be able to work with the wider team to deliver on a number of creative projects. - Use of Adobe Creative Suite – Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator - Designing for print - Designing for web - Technical understanding of image assets - Awareness of design trends - Basic knowledge of the print process - Knowledge of our brands, brand guidelines, and key partners - Experience with video editing.

• Contact: James Beacham

• Reference: Totaljobs/JB124/B

• Job ID: 68767333

Application of job in progress.

My CV is already stored in there and remains the same.

The salary would be the required amount for a part-time graphic designer.

Mission accomplished. Job applied for.

PROS

• 3 days is a nice amount of time for a beginner like myself.

• Designing stuff that is in my area of expertise.

• The pay is reasonable enough.

CONS

• Video editing is involved in this job. This is not in my area of expertise.

This is the confirmation email received:

Hi Joseph,

Thank you for your application on totaljobs.

Graphic Designer - Part time

London

£15000 - £18000 per annum

CHARTER SELECTION

JB124/B

See details of all your applications in My applications.

Screenshot of email:

There is this email also received from James Beacham

Hi Thanks for sending your Cv through in response to Graphic Designer - Part time . This email is to let you know we have recieved your application and will be shortlisting for this role shortly. In the meantime please follow our company page on Linkedin.

We look forward to working with you in your job search. Kind regards James Beacham Charter Selection

Screenshot of email:

That is 3 jobs applied for so far. I will wait until my next Work Experience lesson before I apply for anymore so that I will not have too many lions in the fire at this point.

A few days later I am getting a lot of jobs coming to my email account that I could apply for and some are good ones too, so I am going to see now if I can really get my foot inside the door and be taken on and I found this one below here found from https://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/digital-graphic-designer/32150050?CampaignCode=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jbalert&utm_campaign=jobseeker_email_jbalert_standard_April24,2017&utm_content=:

Digital/Graphic Designer

Posted 3 days ago by Demon Recruitment Group

• Ealing, London

• Permanent, full-time

• £25,000 - £32,000 per annum

• 34 applications

We are working alongside our client based in West London who are looking to bring their design 'in house’. So we are looking for an experienced Digital/Graphic Designer.

The company are an award winning SaaS organisation who are currently going through a huge stage of growth, as a result they are growing their UK marketing team. We are looking for an experienced, highly motivated and passionate graphic designer to support key marketing activities.

Duties

-Take ownership of projects from concept to delivery.

-Designing and developing digital content, product literature and marketing collateral.

-Working closely with the social media and digital marketing teams.

-Providing general creative support across the business.

Experience

-Previous commercial designing experience

-Highly skilled with Adobe Creative Suite

-Experience with wordpress, and dealing with apps would be highly advantageous.

Screenshots of job:

PROS:

• The salary sounds good, from around 20 to 32K per annum doesn't sound bad.

• Designing and developing digital content sounds like my area of expertise, just so long as it is design only.

• I am highly skilled with Adobe Suite and can pretty much get the hang of it all.

Another worthwhile job I applied for is this one below here found from totaljobs.com:

P6662 - Graphic Designer

• Watford (WD17), Watford

• £40000 per annum

• White Recruitment Ltd

• Permanent

Graphic Designer - £40K - Watford

£40K

Mon - Fri, 8:30am- 5pm

24 days holiday

A large construction company are looking for a Graphic designer to join their team of 4, on a permanent basis at their Head Office in Watford.

You will be working as part of a team to deliver creative design for bids and internal communications. A creative flair as well as ability to multitask on projects is needed for this role to ensure a high standard and completion of work to deadlines.

Graphic Designer Responsibilities:

• Produce reports, proposals and internal & external marketing content

• Collaborate with the Proposal team to produce design solutions that satisfy clients brief

• Present ideas for design concepts, based on briefs given and convert these into creative visual graphics

• Ensure all design is in line with corporate branding

• Assess the technical capacity of various external printers and evaluate submitted quotations

• Establishing client's ideas and building an accurate brief which can then be used by anyone in the team to develop the design

• Understanding the needs of a client and communication through the process

• Communicate creative ideas verbally to both clients and the team

• Continually look to improve and develop through personal objective setting and review and creating a personal development plan

• Make suggestions of new techniques and software that could benefit the design department

Graphic Designer Requirements:

• Very organised and able to work to deadlines

• Excellent knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite. HTML knowledge would be desirable

• Previous experience in the construction industry would be an advantage

If your experience matches please forward your CV immediately White Recruitment Ltd is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy

• Contact: Sophie Bourke

• Reference: Totaljobs/00062099

• Job ID: 68597907

The screenshots of the job as there is a whole load of text.

This is proof of the job I applied for:

And the confirmation Email:

totaljobs@totaljobsmail.com

To

josephkellygd83@yahoo.com

Today at 20:19

Hi Joseph,

Thank you for your application on totaljobs.

P6662 - Graphic Designer

WD17

£40000 per annum

White Recruitment Ltd

00062099

See details of all your applications in My applications.

So far I am not having any luck with these job applications, I'll give it until tomorrow and if still no joy, I will go to the World of Work at the college on Thursday and get some advice about going into freelancing like most of my fellow students are doing.

Yesterday morning I have had correspondence from somebody that I have applied for a job with in the form of an email which is below here:

"We have received your cv from Total Jobs, it looks interesting but it’s all about the portfolio really so would you be able to send me some examples of work.

Ideally I just need a PDF of 5 or 6 examples of work with just you name and no bigger then around 5-8MEG, we have found that this is what clients prefer

But for Web positions then 5/6 URLs examples websites that you have been involved in that the client can have a quick look at.

For other design roles, product, packaging, interior, exhibition - again a 5/6 page PDF document of work

Please don’t send a drop box or zip folder as mentioned just a small showcase at this stage is perfect

Regards,

Anthony

Anthony Ovenden

A1 People

Direct Line: 01323 741195

Fax: 0203 0700192

Mobile: 07887 923909

Email:anthony@a1people.net

http://www.a1people.net

You can now follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/A1People

You can also follow us on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/A1-People/734150179942399?fref=ts

For all the latest jobs for A1 People please click www.a1people.net

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and may contain information that is privileged. If you are not the named recipient, or responsible for delivering the message to the named recipient, you must not disclose, distribute, forward, copy, store or use this e-mail or its attachments in any form. If you have received this communication in error, please accept our apologies and promptly inform the sender by email or by telephoning the above number. Please also immediately delete this message and any attachments from your systems. Thank you.

Although this e-mail and its attachments have been checked by an up-to-date virus-checking program before transmission, it is your responsibility as recipient to ensure they are actually virus free when received.

Registered in England & Wales - Registration number:5960709 Vat Registration number: 896702773 Registered office: A1 people Ltd, Suite10, Highlight House, 8 St Leonards Road, Eastbourne BN213UH"

Screenshot of email below here:

Today I responded to this by putting a portfolio together containing a few pieces of my work to show and also gave my website address as well which contained a wider arrange of my work. This is my correspondence here to him:

Joseph Kelly <josephkellygd83@yahoo.com>

To

Anthony Ovenden

Today at 11:30

Hi Anthony

Thank you for your email yesterday. Apologies for not getting back to you sooner as I've been putting some examples of the best pieces of my Graphic Design work together for you and here are a few examples of work that you might find appropriate enclosed as a PDF with this email.

Hope you find these useful. Alternatively you can check out my website for a wider array of my work at Home

Clicking on the link should take you to my website.

Thank you.

Kind regards

Joseph Kelly.

I must now await the reply. Which came in this very short and vague response in my opinion:

"Thankyou

Regards,

Anthony

Anthony Ovenden

A1 People Recruitment

Direct Line: 01323 741195

Fax: 0203 0700192

Mobile: 07887 923909

Email:anthony@a1people.net

http://www.a1people.net

You can also follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/A1People

You can also follow us on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/A1-People/734150179942399?fref=ts

For all the latest jobs for A1 People please click http://www.a1people.net

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and may contain information that is privileged. If you are not the named recipient, or responsible for delivering the message to the named recipient, you must not disclose, distribute, forward, copy, store or use this e-mail or its attachments in any form. If you have received this communication in error, please accept our apologies and promptly inform the sender by email or by telephoning the above number. Please also immediately delete this message and any attachments from your systems. Thank you.

Although this e-mail and its attachments have been checked by an up-to-date virus-checking program before transmission, it is your responsibility as recipient to ensure they are actually virus free when received.

Registered in England & Wales - Registration number: 5960709

Vat Registration number: 896702773

Registered office: A1 people Ltd, Suite10, Highlight House, 8 St Leonards Road, Eastbourne BN213UH"

Also this morning Tim Chaundy approached me once more about the possibility of designing a poster for an upcoming concert at the college called The Little Shop of Horrors. For the moment I have no emails of this approach, just word from mouth, I've done a mock up design onto paper below here:

inspired by these poster designs for their minimalistic approachs, colors, hierarchy and so on:

Little_Shop_POSTER_PLANT_WEB_5

tumblr_li13txhhb41qe2w1uo1_1280

83af3ab42a69e328539fff91968fa5ee

115cefdb6a0e2d6efa9d7e7bd88a8868

image 1: http://www.whrhs.org/Page/2872

image 2: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/466122630165541762/

image 3: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/466122630165541762/

image 4: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/little-shop-of-horrors/

This morning I emailed Tim for the creative brief and the job appraisal as stated on the email below here:

This is the Creative Brief from Tim below here:

Apologies for the date error on the brief. Will bare this in mind for future official briefs for clients for real jobs.

I've designed Tim about 7 different posters below here so that he can have a good few to choose from:

This version with both Green and Blue backgrounds I liked for it's minimalistic approach, simplicity and not too much going on.

This one below now I would have personally gone for had the ball been in my court over this, but unfortunately it was not. The hierarchy is good and i think that it looks like the way it is supposed to.

The one below though doesn't look quite so good in my opinion. It looks a bit childish for a college theatrical production.

Looking good, but too much green and red and very little other color.

This one also looks OK. Looks a little bit Manhattany with the type though.

The one below is the chosen poster by Tim and his group. They like it for the way that it looks and it's composition and hierarchy.

Most of mine and Tim's meetings were mainly discussed in person regarding this.

As stated, I would have gone for the third one down from above as it looks really good in terms of it's hierarchy, witty and horrifying outlook, spoofish if you will. i did not make a point of this to Tim as at the end of the day, the ball is in the court of the client I am doing the work for, so at the end of the day, it is down to them which one of my work that they choose.

This morning Tim wrote me his appraisal. Here is what he had to say:

Creative Brief

Timothy Chaundy <Timothy.Chaundy@candi.ac.uk>

Reply all|

Thu 25/05/2017 09:10

To:

JOSEPH KELLY

Hi Joe,

Hope you’re well…

Here’s the appraisal:

I commissioned Joseph to create a poster to advertise a student production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ that was performed in early May 2017. He responded to the brief well and quickly created a few designs that we could choose from. I was impressed by how quickly he responded to the brief and also at his communication with me which was clear and considered. His poster designs worked well within the style of the production. After choosing one design that I though was the most fit for purpose I asked him to make some amendments which he did straight away. Joe worked well in tight time frames and took the work seriously.

I would work with him again in the future on a similar project.

I hope this is ok?

Thanks for now,

Tim

Here is a screenshot of the email in question:

A couple of months ago, I've opened up an online art gallery with https://www.artgallery.co.uk/ this I think could be a career in itself exhibiting my landscaped photography manipulated with Photoshop.

About the Art Gallery:

"The Art Gallery At Spencer House, Tetbury, Gloucestershire.

THE ART GALLERY is our new showcase for ArtGallery.co.uk artists and comprises the ground and lower floors of Spencer House, a splendid Georgian property in the heart of the beautiful Cotswold town of Tetbury, Gloucestershire. We do hope you get the chance to visit us to view our wide range of high quality, affordable art. We will be welcoming all visitors, whether you want to browse or buy. We are looking to create a friendly, relaxed place for you to select the perfect artwork for your home or office.

We hope to see you at THE ART GALLERY very soon. We're just a hundred yards or so from Prince Charles’ famous Highgrove shop.

Phone +44(0)1666 505152.

Our address is:

Spencer House

34 Long St

Tetbury

Gloucestershire

GL8 8AQ"

Taken from: https://www.artgallery.co.uk/the_art_gallery/

I thought that this was a very worthwhile thing to do as this was a way of making money out of photographs that I have taken and can transform into digital watercolour paintings.

I have spent so much time taking photos whilst out and about with either my phone or camera that look watercolour friendly. I would like to go the extra mile and see about making money out of this hobby I have created for myself.

I began by contemplating doing this via eBay in the beginning, but if I was to turn this into a full grown hobby, tax might be due due to the fact that I would be trading according to this article here below taken from http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2671967/Do-I-pay-tax-selling-eBay-I-auction-personal-items-going-Im-thinking-taking-seriously.html

"I have been selling personal items on eBay for some time now and with enough success to encourage me to take it a bit more seriously.Can I continue to present the goods I offer as personal property and avoid bothering with tax? What are the rules governing online trading like this?

By email.

Lynne Rowland, personal tax partner at Kingston Smith LLP, says: "If you are selling items on anything other than an occasional basis then tax may be due - whether you’re using eBay or selling items at car boots. There is no hiding place: the taxman can access information from eBay (including the credit/debit card companies involved) and he has sophisticated software to trawl the internet. Where you sell a few items that have been gathering dust in the attic for years you are very unlikely to be considered trading. If you repeatedly buy things to resell, make things with a view to selling them, or frequently sell items on eBay, with a view to making a profit, then you are trading and should notify HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). You will have to file tax returns and any profit will be taxable. You may also have to pay National Insurance Contributions and, if the value of your sales exceeds £81,000, you will have to register for VAT. You should also make sure that you keep records of your income and any related expenses

There are two particular problem areas that may affect you even if sales are below this level. Firstly, where you already run your own business as a sole trader, for VAT purposes you will need to treat any eBay sales as additional sales.

Secondly, if you make sales to anyone outside the UK you may need to consider the VAT rules of your customer’s home country and possibly register for local VAT there. The rest of the EU has much lower thresholds than the UK for VAT registration – many countries have no minimum level.

Finally, if you are selling particularly valuable items (over £6,000 individually or as part of a set) you could be liable to Capital Gains Tax. Items such as stamps, coins, antiques and so on may be affected by this.

If you have been trading for some time or have sold any valuable items but have not disclosed the fact to HMRC, you should get your affairs in order urgently.

Potential penalties and interest on late paid tax could be due, but the level of penalty can usually be reduced for unprompted disclosures made by a taxpayer".

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2671967/Do-I-pay-tax-selling-eBay-I-auction-personal-items-going-Im-thinking-taking-seriously.html#ixzz4fY19A0ue Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook"

So that put me off slightly as I feel that eBay sales should be fun and non tax related, so it brought me to the Art Gallery.co.uk where I was in awe of so many artists work, this inspired me to go ahead with my art gallery, I began by making this enquiry via email, sent on the 8th February 2017:

Name: Joseph Phone: Email: josephkellygd83@yahoo.com

Good morning I am thinking of applying to become a new artist and before I do this, I want to ask a few questions regarding this. My type of artwork are photographs of landscapes outside and transforming them into Digital Watercolour Paintings and enhancing them to an A1 paper standard, feedback given to me has stated that they do in fact look like real paintings and I would like to do something with them. The questions I would like to ask are: Would I need to be a UK tax payer to do this? If I was to join and someone buys my work, how would I go by printing this and can the work be framed as an option? Could I make a career out of doing this? Could I cancel my account at any time if I was no longer happy? I could send you an example of my work if requested just so that you can see for yourselves. I am only researching this for now, and if happy I will make the arrangements to join in due course. Thank you. Yours faithfully Joseph Kelly.

2 days later, I had this response from Chloe at the Art Gallery:

help@artgallery.co.uk

To

josephkellygd83@yahoo.com

10 Feb at 1:39 PM

Hello Joseph, Thank you for your interest in Artgallery.co.uk. No you do not need to be a UK tax payer, we work with artists all over Europe and in america too. You are able to cancel your account whenever you choose and it is possible to make a career out of selling your art, many of the artists that have joined us have managed to. However there is no way I would be able to say that you would for certain. Printing, framing, packaging and posting is all down to the individual artist. You can read more about joining us by following this link which is also near the foot of the HOMEPAGE: https://www.artgallery.co.uk/blog/page/sell-art-online You can sign up for free as a Silver member (and show a maximum of 3 unsold artworks) but do remember that you need to upgrade to Gold membership within 3 months of joining to ensure you are featured in the New Artists Gallery. Gold members can exhibit up to 150 artworks and therefore have a much better presence on the gallery. Good luck. Kind regards Chloe ArtGallery.co.uk

The reason for the emboldened text above is the fact that I do not need to be a UK taxpayer to sell my work on this gallery site maybe because that they take 35% commission charge off whatever work I sell, so this I think is OK as long as I am making a good enough profit from my work. I joined the gallery thereafter, but it was sometime before I really put the wheels in motion on this by adding work to my gallery due to lack of time because of assignments and so on.

Over a week ago I decided to add work to my gallery at last, so here is how I went about it:

This is how I would submit work to my gallery, I would have to describe it's type, subject, style and media used as well as it's size.

I am using Zippi to print the work onto Canvas once purchased and using the highest canvas dimension to put the work onto print.

The other advantage of this company is that if I was to order the canvas for print, it would be despatchedwithin 24 hours, allowing me to receive the artwork and despatch it to the client within 5 days.

The largest dimension size is of 30X40 (75x100CM) whereas in the Art Gallery the dimensions are in inches.

so to my calculations on Photoshop, these are my results. Hope these are proven to be correct.

I am describing the title of the artwork, describing it and the surface it is to be printed onto.

I am pricing the artwork and delivery charges as of that moment, I am charging at £970.00, but 35% will be taken from me as commission charges, so that will be £630.50 given to me once the work is sold. I am hoping to make a fortune out of doing this.

These are the artworks that went into the gallery in the beginning:

Loughshinny Rock

Camden Lock

The Orbit

So far I thought these to be 3 in about how many decent pieces of work created above here. I thought they looked good enough ti go onto my gallery as digital watercolour paintings.

However a few setbacks came to the surface:

The following day, I had 2 emails rejecting the 2 of the works created below here:

For those of you that cannot make out what is being said, here it is copied and pasted below:

help@artgallery.co.uk

To

josephkellygd83@yahoo.com

21 Apr at 11:28 AM

Loughshinny Rock, County Dublin

Dear Joseph

We just reviewed your artwork "Loughshinny Rock, County Dublin" but found some problems that prevent us from being able to list the piece for sale. The main problem was:

Open edition prints are no longer allowed

We no longer sell any open edition prints and we are in the process of removing these from the site.

You can find out how to rectify this by checking our Help for Artists page. Once the problem has been solved you can normally submit the artwork for review once again so it can be listed for sale.

Help for artists

• The review process

• Help with photographing your artwork

• Help for artists

If you need any further help with this please don't hesitate to respond to this email.

Kind regards, ArtGallery.co.uk

Artwork problem is emboldened

Secondly:

help@artgallery.co.uk

To

josephkellygd83@yahoo.com

London Orbit

Dear Joseph

We just reviewed your artwork "London Orbit" but found some problems that prevent us from being able to list the piece for sale. The main problem was:

Photos of edge of artwork required

More photos are needed which show the edges of the artwork

You can find out how to rectify this by checking our Help for Artists page. Once the problem has been solved you can normally submit the artwork for review once again so it can be listed for sale.

Help for artists

• The review process

• Help with photographing your artwork

• Help for artists

If you need any further help with this please don't hesitate to respond to this email.

Kind regards, ArtGallery.co.uk

Again artwork problem is emboldened.

I took this rejection not too much to heart as I decided to reject one of the art pieces and add a totally different one and it happened to be this one:

As quoted by me taken from https://www.artgallery.co.uk/work/221530:

"This amazingly beautiful vibrant autumn scene is a photograph taken in Regents Park on a beautiful Autumn Saturday morning. Nice colors make for a beautiful masterpiece for the front room and would look outstandingly beautiful on those autumn days."

I could not have been truer than that. As stated regarding the Dublin rock piece that it was marked as an open edition print which no longer exist in the Art Gallery.co.uk, so I changed it to a one off original and it got accepted immediately.

By that point all 3 of my artworks have been accepted and the other snag was that my gallery had to be reviewed before it was finally put online for customers to buy. Here is the email:

help@artgallery.co.uk

To

josephkellygd83@yahoo.com

Today at 10:26

Your art gallery is now live!

Hello Joseph, this is the Artist Liaison Manager at artgallery.co.uk. I am delighted to say that we have accepted your recent submissions and have set your art gallery live online!

Your dedicated gallery can be seen at: https://www.artgallery.co.uk/artist/joseph_kelly

Checking sales, enquiries and payments

We'll email you and text your mobile when we make a sale. However, you can log in at any time and review your artworks, and check the number of hits (views) each one has had, and the number of times a potential customer has placed them in their shopping baskets. You can also check your enquiries, sales and payments. Log in at https://www.artgallery.co.uk/login

Your photo

Do we have a photo of you for your artist page? We have found that artists with a photograph sell up to twice as much artwork on average as those without. Even if you are no oil painting (groan) your photo will definitely help customers to choose your artwork over other artists. Login to upload your photo now.

Manage your availability

If you are going to be unavailable or unable to fulfill orders for more than a week, you must hide your profile until you return. If an order is placed while you are away and you cannot fulfill it, your artist reputation score on the site will drop and we may remove your gallery permanently. To set your art gallery to show or hide, log in and click "Update artist profile", and untick the "Show box".

Postage and packing

Finally please remember that you are responsible for covering the postage and package charges of your artworks within the UK, so make sure your prices are set to include this. Only you will know how much your artworks cost to ship, and you may want to contact some courier companies to obtain quotations for shipping before you set your prices.

I am here to answer questions. Email me on help@artgallery.co.uk with any queries.

Many thanks

Artist Liaison Manager ArtGallery.co.uk

I am impressed, may the sales hurry.

I've been applying for jobs over the past week, but so far, not so good. I must keep looking and applying, hoping something will turn up for me.

I am currently looking through the Cassart website looking for Graphic Design roles there and here is one really good looking one that I find beneficial to me taken from https://www.cassart.co.uk/customer/careers:

• GRAPHIC DESIGNER-Permanent

• Reporting to the Senior Graphic Designer and working as part of the wider business commercial team, you will perform an integral function in the business, responsible for graphic design and delivery of creative initiatives for the company’s online and external initiatives. You will undertake a high volume of design led tasks covering brand marketing and seasonal campaigns.

Key Accountabilities & Responsibilities (include but are not limited to):

• Create campaign artwork in partnership with the Senior Graphic Designer and creative team.

• Work closely with the Senior Graphic Designer to review existing web banners and regularly optimise banners across the website to ensure customer engagement.

• Design and creation of a high volume of Cass Art newsletters to a high standard.

• Liaise with external partners to deliver newsletter or advertising creative.

• Ensure Cass Art brand guidelines are always met both internally through company signatures and documents.

• Research and report on current trends in image and typography, and where appropriate incorporate into brand communications.

Desired knowledge, skills and experience

• Proven experience in a Digital/Graphic Designer role, experience of working within a retail Head Office would be beneficial.

• Excellent proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe Creative Suite, HTML, CSS, Acrobat Pro.

• A creative flair, originality, imagination and a strong visual sense

• Excellent negotiation and time management skills

• Ability to achieve full potential from projects

• Exceptional, highly skilled communicator

• Energy, enthusiasm and passion

• Strong organisational skills- a keen eye for detail.

• Affinity and passion with the Cass Art brands and products

Most of these skills required of me I have, only downside though is that the location was not stated and neither was the salary. This is the screenshot of the job I applied for below:

I applied for the job and here is the confirmation email below:

in case you cannot make out what it says, here it is in writing:

Cass Art <jobs@cassart.co.uk>

To

Joseph Kelly

"Hello,

Thank you for your application for a position with Cass Art. We appreciate the opportunity to review your application for the position of Graphic Designer posted on our website.

Due to the high number of applications we receive, we are only able to reply to candidates selected to attend an interview. If you have not been contacted within 10 working days then please assume that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. Please however continue to visit our website for future job vacancies, news and updates.

Thank you for your interest in working at Cass Art.

All the best with your job search.

Kind regards,

Cass Art Recruitment Team"

In addition to this, here is another interesting job advertising for a Graphic Designer from totaljobs.com:

Graphic Designer

• St. Albans (AL1), St. Albans

• £20000.00 - £25000.00 per annum + benefits

• Understanding Recruitment

• Permanent

• Today

Graphic Designer

St Albans - £20,000-£25,000

We are looking for a creative, multi-disciplined Graphic Designer to work across various media from marketing campaigns, editorials, leaflets and brochures work as part of in-house team.

As a Graphic Designer, you will be self-motivated individual with a lot of creativity and enthusiasm who keeps up to date with the latest design trends.

The role requires flair, knowledge of the industry software and excellent time management skills.

Graphic Designer Key Responsibilities:

• Confident working across both print and digital media.

• Collaborate with product, UX and developers to produce outstanding design across multiple projects.

• Outstanding portfolio of previous work including UI, Interaction and branding from first tier brands.

• Strong communications skills to manage client and consumer relationships.

• Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite(Illustrator/Photoshop/Illustrator)

Working in a completely creative environment - we want to encourage creativity and stimulate new ideas. You will be highly enthusiastic about new technology and will play a hugely significant role within our team and the company. Graphic Designer - St Albans - £20,000-£25,000 Apply now for further details on this excellent opportunity. Understanding Recruitment is acting as an employment agency for this vacancy.

• Contact: Sam Sullivan

• Reference: Totaljobs/BBBH3066

• Job ID: 73764379

I applied for the job just now and here is the proof that I did this:

The confirmation email:

The online confirmation:

As of today I am still applying for jobs, but still no good. I posted my portfolio to Behance in the hope of opening a few doors for myself. Here is the link to my portfolio on Behance:

Last week I attended the World of Work facility at my college. It was a pretty much straight forward experience for me. Here is the email of everything discussed in that meeting:

"Careers Interview Notes

SS

Shabina Sultana <Shabina.Sultana@candi.ac.uk>

Reply all|

Fri 28/04, 16:41

JOSEPH KELLY

Action Items

Dear Joseph,

Please see your notes below from your careers appointment.

You are currently doing the HND in Graphic design and you showed me some of you brilliant work.

You came in to discuss freelance work and advice on sole trading.

It was suggested that you could do a short course on setting up your own business. Please look on:

https://www.nwes.org.uk/london-small-business/

You have already applied for a few jobs and have sent off your portfolio, however you prefer freelance work as you want to build up your own client base and work the hours you want to work.

We reviewed your creative CV and I recommended some changes such as adding in a section that shows your key skills such as:

- Ability to use various IT programmes and software’s

- Ability to work on your own and in a team

- Can manager your own time and follow briefs

- Good communication skills, can liaise with clients for further clarity and make recommendations of ideas

It was also recommended that you continue to show and present your work through social media to develop a client base.

If you need to come in and see me again please pop by during drop in sessions 11am to 1.30pm everyday at CBAT.

Kind regards,

Shabina Sultana

Employability and Skills Coordinator

WKCIC Group

City and Islington College

Centre for Business, Arts and Technology

444 Camden Road

N7 0SP

Tel: 0207 700 8641

shabina.sultana@candi.ac.uk"

Today I discovered a really good website that I could sign up as a freelance graphic designer. It is called Freelancer.com and it looks to be a completely worthwhile site and easy enough for me to sign up as a designer and hopefully get some work going for myself.

This is a record of my Work Experience so far.

Finally Cordelia approached me a week ago and wanted me to do a poster warning students to treat the toilets with respect but in a playful and not a harsh way, here is a rendition of how I went by doing this:

Here is the Creative Brief from Cordelia to do this:

Again, my apologies for the date on the brief. I will improve this for the same reason as stated above.

This is her appraisal for the job:

Email screenshot:

The email copied and pasted below:

Dear Joseph,

Appraisal

Thank you Joseph for your work in designing a poster for the college toilets.

Positive feedback

You responded well to feedback after the initial design, and created something that will work well. The poster employs a cartoon like style, which is pleasurable to look at and conveys the message in a friendly manner. You changed the written content immediately as requested, meaning the job was finished quickly. Also I am pleased with your attitude when speaking about changes, even after the job was complete you didn’t mind adding the Student Union logo on, retrospectively. The colours look great. All in all I am very pleased with this job.

Areas for improvement

An improvement could have been to tell me when the design would be ready, and describe the job in a written format for my records.

Best Wishes,

Cordelia

HOW DID THIS WHOLE UNIT GO?

So far I think that I have learnt a lot of good skills for future possible employment possibilities. It has given me a chance to improve my creative skills in terms of design work as well as communication skills in terms of dealing with clients and know what they want from the work I am doing for them. I have been given lots of good feedback as well as constructive, if given constructive feedback, I went back and made the changes given to me and this further improved my self as a potential graphic designer. So all in all, I think that this unit was a good starting point for me and a strengthen to my work portfolio.

MY ANALYSIS OF LEARNING?

As stated above, it gave me a chance of improving both my design and my communication skills in general. My designs have since come a long way given the good feedback given to me by the people I did the work for and also the constructive feedback in which I went back and made the given adjustments that were required of me and taken all criticism to hand and not let it get to me or get me down. It has also given me confidence in applying for work with ease and purpose. Also it was stated to me that an improvement would be to tell clients when designs would be ready and describe them in written format for their records, I must bare this in mind for the future and it will be great work.

RECOMMENDATIONS

I might have left it a bit too late to apply for real regular work as I wanted to get some experience under my belt first as well as approaching a design company and applied to them for work experience. I have begun applying for real work as of a fortnight ago though, but so far, not so good. I will keep applying for jobs on a more regular basis though and just got to hope for the best result in my job search.

If I was assigned this task again, I would approach myself to more people and take on more jobs for various other people, maybe if I had more time to do so, with all the assignments, study and all the half-terms and holidays that come inbetween. I thought in this particular case, 4 clients was a good enough starting point for me and it was mainly jobs involving the skills that I've learnt on the course.

The software use was satisfactory to my needs as I am fluent in Adobe Software which was used in this particular case for the business card designs, booklet, poster designs and so on. Communication between me and the clients was easy enough both verbal and digital, but I understand they are busy at times, so sometimes in this case, patience is infact a virtue here.

I know I could have done more stuff for other people, but I've had other commitments due to other assignments and so so, so this was far from easy at times, but if I would have had more time on this I might have enhanced this experience further. I've also started applying for jobs as well as stated on this blog above, I've had few responses, but no invites for interviews as of today, so I will press on fighting the good fight on this one and hope that something will turn up.

I thought this whole unit in general was a good kickstart for me in putting my foot in the right career direction and I found this to be beneficial in this particular case and it was helpful as it strengthened both my research and design skills alike and from this moment on, I think that I have what it takes to be a successful designer if anybody will be willing to take me on that is, but as stated above, I will fight on the good fight and hope for the best on this occasion.

Evaluation concluded.

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