Extra Curricular- Dot Lung

This weeks @thisisntern's Extra-Curricular Insta live featured Dot Lung in which she went through social media strategies for creatives. This session was really useful in getting tips on how to get work through social media, finding new opportunities and growing a following.

This was especially useful for the situation were in right now (Covid-19) meaning that I probably won't get work in a design studio for at least a year or until things go back to normal, so social media will play a big part in how I find work online instead and make a living out of design.

• It’s gonna be difficult to grow a following if you don’t know yourself, as people don’t know what  they’re following you for
• Speak to people that have the same interests in things as you do
• Fundamental steps to growth: the power of networking and making meaningful connections, find genuine people that you want to be friends with and collaborate with
• S - service, A - ask, L - listen, E - emphasise, S - summarise (SALES)
• Find what you have in common with the person that you’re reaching out to, it shows that you’ve done your research! 
• There will be rejections, there’s no need to take it personally. You should never feel bad for giving someone added value 
• Use niche hashtags 
• LinkedIn is where marketing people will find you, use it !! 
• It’s not always about having loads of followers, it’s about having the right followers that have similar interests to you

Reflection and Future Plans

Over the past year I’ve gained most of my clients through Instagram so my plan moving forward is to use it more frequently for freelance work whilst working in a design studio as my main job (once things start to get back to normal after Covid-19). Social media is going to play a big part in the way I get work for the next year or so, as well as being a great way for me to have my own voice and express my interests.

As well being a Graphic Designer, I would also love to explore areas of design which include art direction, marketing and social content design. My work experience at Cohorted allowed me to collaborate with the marketing and social teams which I really enjoyed so I would definitely take up opportunities in that area.

Doing a number of different collaborative projects across the past year has made me realise my passion for collaboration as I love meeting new people and sharing ideas, especially if they are in different creative fields to me (Illustrators, Photographers, Writers). I also want to travel and work abroad in the future so collaboration and networking will play a big part in this.

I’ve also realised that as well having great work (obviously) it’s just as important to have a good relationship with clients and people that I work with as it leads to further opportunities and new connections. I’ve also realised the importance of having a contract in place which includes deadlines, deposits and additional charges, this is important as clients can often take advantage of your talents and projects can end up going on forever if a deadline isn’t set in place.

Social Media Branding

It was important that I use my personal branding across my design social media accounts as well as my physical and online branding, this creates consistency across everything- especially when employers are looking through my portfolio whilst also requiring links to my social accounts.

My LinkedIn profile is designed using my personal branding in the banner through the use of colour which gives it a personal touch (using the two colours from my logo). My bio description also provides information on what I do and the areas I specialise in design. Link to my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laveeza-zahid-b466a3175/

My design Instagram is branded using my logo as the icon, my bio has personal and friendly feel to it which encourages people to contact me about work or collaborations. Link to my Design Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laveeza.zdesign/

LinkedIn

Design Instagram

Updated Invoice Template

I have updated my invoice template as previously I was using the one that Alec had sent over, I thought it was better to have my own template as it makes it more personal and I didn't want to copy a pre-made one. I did some quick research on invoice templates and found that the simpler ones were most effective, the client should find it easy to understand the invoice in terms of what they're paying for, how much each item is, the total, payment options (card or straight to my Paypal) and additional charges (if necessary).

My updated invoice template uses my logo alongside a simple template and font.

Updated Invoice template

Updated Final Timetable

Below shows my updated time plan for the year, this is quite different to how my original time plan was as some projects ended up running over others or starting at different times to when planned due to collaborations and having to match my timetable with the people that I collaborated with. This wasn't too much of an issue though as I was able to swap things around and I also like working on a couple projects at once and allocating specific days in the week to work on different briefs.

The time plan shows all 10 of my briefs that I've worked on for 603, time was dedicated to COP towards the end of first term and all of December. I'm also using most of this month to work on PPP and go over my briefs and design boards for extended practice so that everything is ready for submission.

Further Personal Branding

As well as my logo, business cards and website design, I have decided to create some extra little personal branding mockups which show how my personal branding would be used when sending work to clients or when sending work off to studios. 

For this I decided to create stickers and envelopes which will be used to seal and send studios my work/proposals, I’ve found that often something physical often has more of an impact than an online application and it'll mean I won't be easily forgotten about if my work is physically there.

The envelopes and sealed packaging would include my business card as well prints/postcards of my work alongside the proposal that I send over. The prints would show an example of my work that I feel is suited to their design practice as this will show them that I am right for them and encourage them to respond, the mockup shows the front and back for how this would look.

I also decided to create an email footer as a most of the time when I first contact a studio, designer or apply to a job, it'll be via email so it's important for it to be branded.

Original logo and colour palette

Stickers

Envelope

Prints/Postcards of my work

Email Footer

Additionally, below shows the invoice template that I have used for client work this past year which follows my personal branding through using my logo in the corner alongside an easy to understand template. This invoice includes the remaining cost of the project after the deposit that was paid prior to starting the design work, hours, terms and who I was billing to.

Final Business Cards/Personal Branding

I have now finished my business card designs, I decided to go with Design 2 for the final front and back (see previous blog post). I felt that this design reflected my personality and design practice most successfully through the feminine and playful aesthetic, I felt that it was important for the business cards to reflect this as I wanted them to have a personal feel.

For the front I played around a little more with the arrangement of the text and logo (which can be seen below) I then asked peers on which they thought worked best; most of them voted for the middle one which I also agreed with.

The final business card front and back:

Mockups:

Peer Feedback

Today I asked peers and friends for feedback on which business card design to go for and which they think represents me and my design practice best. Below shows the two designs (front and back) that people liked the most, which were also my favourites.

Design 1:

Design 2:

Peer feedback suggested that the colours and shapes in design 1 were fun and contemporary, they also mentioned that it's similar to my work as I often use bright colours. 

However, feedback mentioned that the imagery in Design 2 is a lot more me as it's so playful and feminine, I also created the collage myself so it clearly shows an element of my design practice and the type of things I like. Peer feedback also suggested that having a business card with a full image makes them less likely to forget about the business card and throw it away.

Business Card Development

I have now started to develop designs for the front and back of my business card. As mentioned in previous blog posts, I want my business cards to reflect my personality and design practice which is very playful, feminine and vibrant.

I experimented with a range of different compositions, layout, imagery and colours. It was important to use my logo and pink shade in my business cards as I want my personal branding to be consistent throughout each application.

Below shows different ideas for how the logo could be displayed on the front and initial layouts for the information on the other side:

Below shows some more experimental designs through the use of imagery of my work, vibrant colours that reflect my design practice and playful abstract shapes:

When deciding on which of these designs to develop and use for my final business card, I will ask peers and friends on feedback for which they think work best and reflects my personality and design practice most successfully.

Business Card Ideas

I've decided to create my own business cards, these will be a good way to give professionals my details at events and interviews instead of having to write down mine or their email which isn't as professional.

The business cards will be branded following my current branding with additional detailing such as images/backgrounds of my work or finishing such as embossing or spot varnish. Unfortunately, I'm not sure when will be the next time I attend a design event/meet a professional so there isn't really any point in me getting them ordered yet, so for submission I will show the final digital files of them alongside mockups.

I started by creating some sketch ideas and gathered research on business card designs that I found interesting.

I want my business cards to reflect my personality and design practice: playful, feminine and vibrant, instead of going for a minimal more corporate looking design.

Inspiration: