BENJAMIN LEGGETT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.
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BENJAMIN LEGGETT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.
UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION 2014 BEN LEGGETT FINAL YEAR PDP
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SECTION 01
UPON REFLECTING
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UPON REFLECTING
I am going to approach this reflection as a sequence of events, let’s start when I was fourteen. My older brothers friend made me a forum banner for my online games guild, I loved it and asked him how he made such a wonderful creation, he told me that he knocked it up in photoshop, to this day I remember that moment when I realised making designs on a computer was a “thing” that people did. In hindsight it wasn’t a masterpiece, a cropped drawing with a bevelled border and bright red text in god knows what font, but it was good enough to make me download photoshop, jump on www.good-tutorials.com and start learning how to make stuff in photoshop. Fast forward a year or two and I was making my own websites, using photoshop to create web “skins” as I thought of them and constructing the pages with basic html tables. Jump forward a few more years and I have decided to study a-level music, I.C.T and politics, I hadn’t realised at this point that design was something I could take seriously, in the end I dropped out of 6th form without any qualifications because I had no idea what I was even doing there, I didn’t want a job in music, in computing or in politics. Eventually I decided I should have a serious go at education and do something I like, so I chose Graphic Design. I studied design at BMC for 2 years and finished with a high enough grade to get an offer from my first choice of university course, Viscom at the Art College. I enjoyed it well enough but started to really think
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about the future, thinking about whether this was what I wanted, after all I am still to this day trying to figure out how I am going to become hugely rich and famous, but then again aren’t we all? I enjoy design but I also enjoy plenty of other things and I have struggled occasionally to dedicate myself due to this worry that I might be focusing on the wrong interest. First and second year let me try quite a range of briefs but I was still unsure about what I really wanted to do, I enjoy illustration, I enjoy making game art, I enjoy animation and I enjoy design but I feel like I really need to hone in on one of these and master it. Jump forward a better to final year, semester one, I decided to do illustration as my main module, I wanted to explore this side of design but unfortunatly I discovered after the first couple of projects that it just wasn’t for me, I enjoy drawing comics and making short animations but I don’t really enjoy commerical illustration, things like book covers etc. So that pushed me torward design more, I moved to the art direction module and have enjoyed the projects far more, they are what I am good at and simply starting work doesn’t feel like a challenge. Jump forward a bit to now, it is semester two, I have worked hard and have nearly finished my degree in viscom (as I still think of it, despite the name change), I have gotten to this point through a combination of working hard, which I do, despite my somewhat interesting relationship with attendance, and perseverance.
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I say perseverance because despite the fact that I don’t know for sure what I want to do after University, I am willing to follow design to a conclusion, to see if this is what I’m good at and what I want to do for my career, it can be hard to push yourself sometimes when unsure but I still did. I have chosen briefs that play heavily to my strengths, my projects focus mainly around layout and typography, two things I feel I am good at and enjoy. I have pretty strong beliefs about design, mainly that design shouldn’t be about putting as many bells and whistles on something as possible, but rather making something simple and clear, something that demonstrates a message without screaming it, these briefs will let me apply all of this. I hope to finish my degree with a 2.1 and pursue my multiple interests, including design, writing and illustrating my own graphic novel and a few other things. You can see a small sample of my interests to the right.
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SECTION 02
SELF ASSESSMENT
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STRENGTHS/ STRONG TYPOGRAPHY/ GOOD SENSE OF LAYOUT/ HIGH SOFTWARE SKILLS/ GOOD SENSE OF COLOUR/ ATTENTION TO DETAIL/ CREATIVELY GEARED/ WIDE RANGE OF INFLUENCES/ DEDICATED ATTITUDE/ WILLING TO LEARN/ OPPORTUNITIES/ INCREASE SKILL SET/ DEVELOP PROFESSIONALLY/ EXPLORE DESIGN AND DISCOVER MY CAREER/ APPLY MY STRENGTHS TO PROJECTS SUITED TO THEM/
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WEAKNESSES/ CHANGE INTERESTS OFTEN/ BAD AT PLANNING TIME/ NOT CONFIDENT WITH PUBLIC SPEAKING OR PITCH/ A TAD ARROGANT/ HAVE TROUBLE FOCUSING/ SOMETIMES DONT FOLLOW A DESIGN PROCESS/ THREATS/ CONSTRICTIVE BRIEF RULES/ TARGET AUDIENCE PROFILE TOO BROAD TO BE ACCURATE/ TIME CONSTRAINTS/ BRIEFS NOT AS CLOSE TO MY INTERESTS AS THEY SEEM AT CURRENT/ -13-
DREAM
What do I want? Everything... No but seriously, I would like to find a career that makes me feel rewarded, not just financially but creatively. I love Art, in all of its countless forms and a future in which I could practice my art as a living would be perfect. My hopes are to keep doing things my way, to find a career that lets me practise and work in my own style and where my creativity isn’t stifled by soul sucking briefs and bad clients. While a career can unlock potential, it can also act like a prison if chosen poorly. I feel sometimes we are pushed to choose too early, to conform to structure from the day we start primary one, by the time most people finish education they have grown so used to these creative prison walls that they have come to really on them (Or in other words, look right). I do not want to become used to the concept that I have to choose one thing and stick with it forever, not until I am sure that one thing is what I want.
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THESE WALLS ARE FUNNY/ FIRST YOU HATE EM THEN YOU GET USED TO EM/ ENOUGH TIME PASSES YOU GET SO YOU DEPEND ON THEM/ SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION/ -15-
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SECTION 03
S.M.A.R.T GOALS
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TO HAVE MY OWN FREELANCE DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION BUSINESS. DOING WORK THAT IS FULFILLING SPECIFIC/ -18-
WORKING FOR A RANGE OF CLIENTS, EARNING A FULL TIME WAGE & ENJOYING MY WORK/
MEASURABLE/ -19-
I HAVE THE SKILLS REQUIRED. THERE IS PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR CREATIVE FOLKS IN THIS COUNTRY & ABROAD/ ACHIEVABLE/ -20-
MANY PEOPLE CURRENTLY WORK IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES. IT IS A VERY REAL CAREER/ REALISTIC/ -21-
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SECTION 04
FUTURE PLANNING
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OF THE FUTURE
STEP ONE/ I will continue to complete briefs, so that I may build my portfolio to a professional level. I will choose briefs that play to my strengths, which are type and layout. STEP TWO/ I am going to need clients, I will start advertising myself online and building an online presence. I will also try applying for studio positions so that I can improve my knowledge of the design industry. STEP THREE/ I want to have built a professional level of experience and/or business and be working in a job I want to do. I will have the knowledge and experience to know that I am where I want to be.
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RATIONALE
As I have switched modules a short while into the second semester, I am writing about my art direction rationale from this point. I have chosen two main projects that focus heavily around typography, layout and branding. These briefs are intended to hone my skills and add a strong and varied range of work to my portfolio. In my first brief, “Monotype Specimen for the Future”, set by ISTD, I am to create a series of type specimens, showcasing a range of Monotype fonts, from their classic and modern collections. This brief will really let me showcase my typography and layout skills. For my second brief I have chosen the D and AD listing, “Rebrand Purdeys”. This brief is fully focused around branding, I will be able to create work focused around choosing a target audience, understanding that audience and then understanding the brands values and message and displaying that visually.
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BRIEF ONE
A TYPE SPECIMEN FOR THE FUTURE/ Monotype has been a global leader in typeface design for more than 125 years, its history spanning every major era of type. With more than 16,000 typefaces, and growing, the company’s extensive libraries and ecommerce sites are home to many of the most admired and widely used typefaces in the world – as well as the next generation of type designs, in both Latin and non-Latin languages/ Design a Type Specimen that showcases at least one font family from each section of Monotype’s chosen new and classic releases/ New Agmena Metro Nova Egyptian Slate Classics Trade Gothic Next Stempel Garamond ITC Bodoni Target Market Design, UX & UI professionals, typographers and typophiles or discerning members of the public.
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BRIEF TWO
REPACKAGING PURDEYS/ With the world increasingly looking for products that work in harmony with our bodies, it’s time for Purdey’s, in its own way, to share its secret more broadly. Your challenge is to create packaging designs which enable this to happen, without losing the curiosity of the brand. Repackage Purdey’s Rejuvenate and extend its range to include one new product – Purdey’s Natural Energy. FAQs Q — Can I make changes to the Purdey’s logo? A — You can change the background colour – this is silver as that’s the colour of their current packaging. You shouldn’t change the logo itself, though. Target Market Health and Fitness people, gym goers etc.
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SCHEDULE
LIST OF IMPORTANT DATES/ MARCH 13th BRIEF 1 ISTD DEADLINE MARCH 16th STARTING BRIEF 2 APRIL 18th BRIEF 2 D AND AD DEADLINE MAY 1st STARTING SELF PROMOTION MAY 8th SELF PROMOTION DEADLINE MAY 19th FINAL DEADLINE
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BENJAMIN LEGGETT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.
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