Business Card Designs
The first aspect I wanted to begin working on when we were given our assignment was the business cards. Business are a great professional method of networking in any industry, they allow someone to contact you easily while also promoting the type of work that you will be doing and also give potential clients a initial impression. When I began my own research into designing my own business card I first went to Pinterest, as it is a great source of reference material and also shows similar work to the photos that you have already saved on the app, to help you find something that will be more personally appealing.
What really stood out to me with the business cards that I had been looking at was that they were minimalistic, colourful and only had the necessary information that would be needed. The composition was neatly laid out and the contact details were easy to read.
Youtube was also a useful source for my business card design research. The design of the business card should be consistent both on the front and back of the card, meaning if there is a certain colour scheme which is used on the front of the business card then it should be used on the back also. The overall placement of text is a very important aspect when designing a business card. Things like your full name and job role should be present on the front as wells as your contact information either below or on the back of the business card. I was able to find a few different channels which went into reasonable depth on the logistics and design requirements of a business card. The main advice that I took for my design was:
- Keep the design simple
- Ensure the information is easily readable
- Good quality paper, to give a professional and lasting impression
- Make sure its unique
I began creating my own designs for a business card, adding my own logos which I had previously created to give the card a logo and make the it more noticeable. I initially decided to use a tattoo design for my logo, that I had created for a friend of mine a while back. Along with my contact detail on the back of the card, I also added a QR code which will leads to my instagram account.
I also experimented with different colour combinations, to see which I prefered. Personally I liked the first design more as I liked the fiery colour palette and I felt it made the business card more eye-catching, the black however gave the card a more professional appearance.
After receiving some feedback I was told to go with a design that would less corporate and more fun, so I tried to draw a cartoon version of myself:
Whilst I liked the design of the previous business cards I felt that the overall use of colour was a bit jarring and I felt that including some empty space in the design might allow for a more pleasant aesthetic, I changed the job role which was initially generalised as 2d animation and 3d modelling as I was more focused on the actual design of the card.
Preferred Design:
I’m pleased with the current design of my business cards however I’m open to making changes in the design, layout and colour palette before the finalising the design.
Poster Designs
Soon after I was happy with my business card designs, I began my research for my poster designs for my animation. Posters are a great way to market an animation or film, they give essential information such as the film title, release date, cast and who the film is by. They are a great tool for marketing the animation to the audience and a good way of initially capturing their interest.
I began looking at posters for both “Elden Ring” and “Adventure time” , as the setting of Elden Ring and the art style of Adventure Time heavily inspired me to create my animation, in its medieval setting.
Something which became immediately apparent was the centre placement in both of the franchise posters. They direct the viewers attention right to the middle of the poster with the backgrounds being more of a form of filler. Another two poster designs I really liked was the Ana De Armas “Blade Runner 2049” poster and the poster for “Sideways”. These both also use centre alignment in their design and I especially liked the simplicity and minimalism of the Sideways poster as it draws your attention closer to the illustration.
Before beginning to design posters for my own animation, I decided to watch a few videos on YouTube to further my research and give me a better understanding of what it take to design a good poster. There were videos about how grids can help with the composition.
When Sketching out my own ideas for my animations poster I used a variety of different poster grids some more linear and one other which used a curved grid. I knew I wanted the poster to revolve around the main protagonist but I wasn’t entirely sure of how I wanted him to be depicted in the poster so I made a few posters with the main character in different poses/positions and also one with the characters “bucket helmet” laying on the floor as a hint to what happens later on in the short film.
I was happy with the initial designs for my posters and the overall layout of each of them, I found my research into gridlines came in very handy when deciding on the composition of the poster.
Eventually I decided that this would be the poster design that I bring forward and continue to work upon because it works well with the events that take place in the animation itself. However, I would like to spend a good amount of time deciding on the colour palette, adding finer details such as improved line work and crosshatching/shading as well as other detail such as battle scars.
CV Designs
When researching CV designs from other animators I found that they didn’t have there layout in the typical format of most CV’s and there was a bigger emphasis on visuals as well. On top of showcasing skills, qualifications and work experience, showing some of your work on your CV makes the document more eye-catching and also makes it more personal to yourself, giving a potential employer some insight into what kind of art style you may have.
When comparing the CV’s of animators to my past CV’s I quickly realised that there was a distinct lack of visuals in my CV as a whole, and that there wasn’t enough character in the design to make me standout from other applicant that would be applying for the same job as me.
When designing a layout for my CV I decided to implement the character from the animation that I’m currently working on. Although there isn’t as many graphic visuals at the moment, they can be added in in a later draft. These two design layouts are just ideas to make my CV more personal to my work rather than using a Microsoft template like I previously had.
I think for future reference I will be swaying more toward the design on the left, however there are some aspects such as the shaped textboxes which I would consider implementing in my final draft of my CV.
Social Media
Social Media is a a platform which is already popular continuing to grow at in popularity. It’s a great way to promote yourself easily and for free, and you are also able to link social media accounts together. This allows you to branch out further and try and get notice towards your work. Instagram specifically is a great way to find animators and artists alike, many animators will show drafts or animatics on stuff that they’re currently working on to gain attention before the project is done. Its typical for most artists to have a link in their bio which can give clients access to different ways to contact them, as well as the ability to direct message the artist themselves on the platform. When post a picture or video of your work, you will able to leave hashtags in the description which will allow for your post to reach out to a certain audience. For example if you were to type #art or #animation, those who follow animation or art accounts will have a higher chance of seeing your work when they go into the discovery tab, located to the right of the home icon.
I was able to find some videos on youtube which will help getting my current IG account more notice:
Here are some animators that I follow on my own instagram and how they layout their work on the app:
Here is my current instagram account. While I’m happy that it is already created and beginning to grow, there are still steps I can take in the future to try and make my account more accessible.
Design Deck
For my Design Deck research I used a couple of different videos on youtube. Although I wasn’t able to implement all of the aspects that the video’s suggested, I plan to revisit and improve my design deck in time for submission.
My Design/Pitch Deck will be a brief presentation that will give an overview of the plans and process that had taken place during the production of my animation. It currently mainly consists of character designs and sketches, frames from my animatic and the finished backgrounds of some of the scenes in my animation. I will most likely use one of my business card designs as my front cover for my Design Deck. I’m going to be continuing the animating process of my project and taking screenshots/photos along the way to show the progress throughout the production. I will try to make my Design Deck speak for the project through small amounts of text on each page. However it is subject to change depending on the feedback given to me.
Conclusion
In the future I plan to work on my business cards, posters, design deck & CV alongside working on my major project for this final semester. I would like to get a proper coloured draft of my poster done in the upcoming weeks as I feel it is an important asset to attracting to my animation. I would also like to devote more time to the design deck as it will also serve as a valuable asset for if I am not present during one of my animation viewings, as it will give the audience some background knowledge and understanding into the processes that took place to produce the end product. I would like to get some more feedback on my business card designs as soon as possible so that I can finalise the design and then begin printing some out when I find a reliable printing company. From there I will be able to hand them out to family, friends, work colleagues and random members of the public. I am eager to continue working on all of these assets so that I am able to further improve my chances of future employment.