Invites To The End Of Year Show

I have sourced a list of companies and people who I would like to invite to the end of year show

I have chosen these companies in particular because I think they would benefit from meeting new young designers and obviously it would be a good opportunity for the students to network. I have chosen a wide range companies from design to film and all Brighton based this way it's not an inconvenience for them to get to. 

Jump Start is an independent feature film production company. They are based in Brighton they specialise in making low budget independent films with new talent. The company has been around 6 years and their latest feature film has to date won 6 international awards. I think they would be a good company to invite to the show because looking at their website they seem like a friendly, inviting team.

http://www.jumpstartproductions.co.uk

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Fruitmedia is a video production agency founded in 2004 I really like the work they produce. But unlike Jump Start the people who work for fruit media are older this isn't a bad thing i think it shows they're a more experienced team. I Think it would be a good idea to invite them to the end of year show. 

http://fruitmedia.co.uk 

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WildDog Design is another award winning design agency the company to a range of different design work but excel in branding, responsive web design, travel brochures, iPad apps, and social media integration. I thought wilddog design would be a fantastic company to invite to the show as they cover a wide range of digital media that lots of students could be interested in.

http://www.wilddogdesign.co.uk

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Fatsand is a film and video company who have worked with big name companies such as Disney, Sony, Nokia, Microsoft, ELLE, O2 and many more. The company started out as a group of friends filming surfing videos back in 2003 and since have expanded immensely into a successful "cinematic story-telling films" company, I find these people really inspiring and think they're perfect to invite. 

http://www.fatsand.com

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Focus is a yet another award winning digital agency, they're mainly a web based company and they specialise in making custom websites for businesses. Though I'm not internally into web a lot of people on the course are so i thought inviting this company would be great for those. 

http://www.focus-dm.co.uk

Portfolio Website.

I wanted to update my portfolio website because I think its good to keep it fresh and up to date. Below are some screen shots of what my website used to look like. Though i still like this and it does work really well I think it was time for an update. 

Since updating my website I think its improved immensely, I personally think it looks much more professional and would be taken more seriously than my old style. 

this theme allows me to have social media icons and when you hover over them the colour swaps to the branded colour. I also have videos and projects as a redirect link. I am pleased with how this has come out and I will be uploading a lot more of my work onto my portfolio page. I can upload videos and pictures. This theme enables you to be able to click on an image then it will come up bigger with a caption next to it so i get a chance to explain what its about to whoever is looking. 

Career Pathways

When I apply for a job I'm unsure of where I am going to apply for a job, at the end of the day I want to do something with film, for a while I've wanted to edit movie trailers but that's probably quite hard to get into. I will list the skills I am confident that i would be able to do in a work place. 

Photoshop: I have been using photoshop for years now, I am pretty good at editing photographs people often comment on how well i can do this, to which i thought i could apply for some magazine jobs, Some of the pictures you see on the front cover of magazines are dreadful and i personally think i could do a little better. 

Indesign: A software I am also familiar with since before university, in college I actually made a magazine which I created within indesign. 

Illustrator: I had never used this software before university, in school we got taught how to use Adobe Flash though a lot of people slate it I really enjoyed it, but since using illustrator I couldn't imagine going back. I am not an amazing drawer but I can make simple designs and also trace. 

After Effects: I learnt how to use this software in class and it's probably my favourite one. I use AE all the time for my youtube intros and other effects and love continuing to learn different things it can do. 

Final Cut Pro: I have been using final cut pro for a while now and it will always be my favourite film editing software, i think its one of the easiest to use with great effects. I think i would be confident in having a job where i could use this software.

IMovie: though iMovie isn't exactly a professional editing software, it's still great for simple and fast editing, I know the ins and outs of iMovie and could create a really nice piece just using this. 

Premire Pro: I have only recently started using premiere pro but I really enjoy using it, there are lots of cool effects and i like playing around with it, at the moment id say I'm not fully okay with having a job that surrounded this software but i think i could learn in no time. 

Searching For Jobs

Recently I have been searching and applying for jobs, here are a few that I have applied for: 

I was reading through a blog of a man who used to edited together movie trailers, which is exactly what I've always wanted to do, at the end of his blog he left a link to a website with lots of trailer house companies: http://www.goldentrailer.com/trailerhouse.php though they all seem to be in America that doesn't exactly bother me, i would love to look more into this and see where it could take me. 

Other Jobs:

ASOS

ITV

Self Promoting.

Since studying digital media at university i have become more and more into video and film editing, uploading videos to youtube gives me a chance to stay creative and learn new things along the way. 

For about a year now I have been promoting myself on social media, because I make weekly youtube videos people all over the world watch and then get in contact with me through social networking, telling me how much they like my videos and how I should do more. Since uploading I have gained over 1000 subscribers, which I'm proud of because its very hard to get noticed when you're just starting out.

I think its good to keep up to date with the new social media trends, especially being in the digital industry you need to stay relevant and I think being involved with several communities helps do this. Since promoting myself on twitter I have gone from 800 to over 8000 followers, having a big following on twitter means everything I upload gets noticed by more people. 

I have only recently made a Facebook page because I never felt the need to make one in the past, I didn't quite realise how much a Facebook page would benefit me, under all the posts you upload it says underneath how many people it has reached. Its also a great way of promoting yourself. 

I have the following set up: 

YouTube

Twitter 

Facebook

Instagram

Tumblr

Blogger

Vine

Snapchat. 

Creating My Brand.

For a while now I have been forming my online persona into a brand, making myself into a brand looks professional and helps people find my social media sites quicker. I have made myself a logo and use the same fonts and colours for everything I do. I am happy with what I have come up with and i think it works well for me. Everything i have created will appear on all my websites and social media, this way everything stays linked together. 

I use the same fonts and colours at all times.

Fonts: Billabong, Cubano and Simplicity 

Here is what I have created: 

The Logo: I have created two in different colours because I wanted options, my main colour that i will always use is blue but pink works for other things such as my blog which is the same pink colour. The reason for GXA is because it's my initials Gina Xanthe Allen. 

This is my intro, this goes before any video that I create and upload. 

Professional Practice - The Brief

You are to design and build a portfolio of your work for the End of Year show and in order for you to begin looking for employment. The site must be responsive and MUST BE ONLINE by deadline day so you will have to sort out hosting and uploading as part of this brief. You can use HTML, CSS, etc. or you can use a Wordpress template if you prefer.

Responsive portfolio website

Career Pathways – A short study of the different career pathways within the design industry with a focused emphasis on your chosen specialty – (this will be in the form of blog posts)

Self Promotion - A detailed list of companies that you will promote your Portfolio to and invite to the End of Year Show. Each entry must have a short paragraph justifying why you have chosen them and a link to their website.  

Portfolio Research - A study of the professional portfolios of a series of practitioners that have inspired you personally – this is evidenced in your blog and must contain analysis of visual language, composition and the use of social media.