Inspiration

What inspires me?
As a designer I'm inspired by many things such as other designers such as Michael Bierut and Alan Fletcher due to the clean cut minimal design style as well as photographers such as Joe Greer and Alex Strohl. Another major influence of mine is music as I'm inspired my many different genres such as country, rock and folk. In addition I'm also inspired by the environment around me such as my friends and fellow design students as they inspire me to experiment with more styles based on there influences. I also gain inspiration from magazines such as Art Review, Cereal and Kinfolk as these editorials are very well designed which inspires me to attempt to create work to thats of the same standard and quality. 

Moodboards

For this weeks session we worked in groups to create moodboards based upon inspiration. The inspiration for the moodboard (see figure 1) came from the Kings of Leon song 'Knocked Up' which was inspired by living fast and dying young which is why we chose to feature Bonnie and Clyde as well as the Mustang, it's also significant  as the band used to live out of the same car. Kings of Leon are influenced by their farther who was a Pentecostal Minister as they rebel against their religious upbringing. Another main influence for the band is guitars and they have been particularly inspire by U2.

Personal Branding

I am a hard working and determined graphic design student with a passion for digital design and branding, with an accessional reluctance to use a sketchbook or do hand-rendered work. My work heavily reflects my fondness for monochrome, however I've been trying to incorporate colour into my work more recently. I'm 5'1, yes I'm aware of how small I am (2 inches taller than a midget to be exact) but please refrain from using me as an arm rest, it's not fun anymore. Outside of design i'm determined to learn to snowboard one day and am heavily influenced by the wide range of music I listen to such as rock, country, folk and indie. 

Identity

This session was particularly helpful as it gave me an insight into different ways to communicate with professionals and those which are best to gain a response from. It showed em the need to be creative and innovative with how I interact with professional in order to be noticed as a simple e-mail won't really covey who you are or what you have to say. There are multiple ways to interact with people, however the one I found most surprising and interesting is sending a letter or a physical document to people to show you've taken the time to think about how you want to be seen. Furthermore it gives them something to physically hold and feel and to show others which will create more of an impact than a simple email or phone call. This method of communication also allows you to be extremely creative as you don't just have to send a simple letter as it could be a zine, something tactile that requires involvement or even if its just a simple letter you can be creative with the letterhead and the envelope as well. I also found the idea of sending little gifts such as a drawing with the letter very interesting as it further adds to the personal experience of receiving a letter.