Exhibition – Opening Day

Today was the opening of the exhibition. I arrived at the exhibition around 1pm due to work issues I had to arrive a little later than the others. On arrival I assisted with the setup, cutting out and making of displays and the exhibition as a whole. I also brought in some display props such as a couple of retro games but there wasnt enough room to put these out. I will leave them in the Exhibition area for the duration of the week.  

Unfortunately on the night I didn’t have my proper business cards due to the Digital print service being unable to print them and the local Staples. However, I did manage to create some colour paper ones at the University Library. (Tuesday) The business cards have now been printed and are on display along with my board ready for the rest of the week.

On the evening I assisted with the exhibition and prompted my board, talking to viewers and explaining my work in more detail. A few businesses cards were handed out but there wasn’t a great deal of people there, a little less than expected. The exhibition was a success and I felt that everything had turned out the exact way that the group had planned for it in terms of food, display and graphics.

Portfolio Design

I decided that I wanted to create a portfolio that would be creative, different from the usual portfolio that is often taken to an office interview.

At the very first stages of development I decided to create my portfolio as a folder filled with imagery of work that I had produced. This idea turned out to be very presentable but not for the line of work that I was wishing to enter into.

After receiving some vital feedback on the design of the portfolio I have drafted up a more creative portfolio design.

I have designed this so that it is suitable for an A4 design and is compact, holding up to 8 of my images in a single A4 flat design. It will also provide flexibility so that it can be used in graphic design interviews and also interviews that would may be for web design or animation creation.

This design allows my logo to be presented with the abilities that I’m skilled in, held around the edges of the portfolio. If an employee wishes to view a particular piece of work they can do so by pulling out the piece (what will be card) to view an image of my work and also some details regarding that piece, such as how and what it was designed on.

 Images can be placed on both sides of 1 piece of card, allowing up to 8 images to be used in this portfolio.

I like this design as I feel that it is flexible and displays a level of creativeness, easy to carry and compact.

After having begun to cut the card that I had purchased to build the Portfolio I soon found that it was becoming increasingly difficult to shape the card in order to create the design that I wanted. It would have also been difficult to print onto the card so it was time to return to the drawing board and begin to create another design.

I wanted to create a design that would meet the requirements of the specified A4 size so I decided to create a Portfolio format that would still look compact but display my imagery and information without the need to remove sectors of it.

I soon came up with the design of creating something similar to a picture frame, so I used the card that I still had and decided to begin to cut it up. I wanted a full A4 size on the front displaying most of my important images and work. On the back I would then have another couple of images that I could use to expand on my work if the front became too full or overcrowded.

Once I had created the boards or the main frame of the portfolio I then sprayed them black as the card I had purchased was white. I felt that the frame being black would make the colours used in the display stand out more.

After printing out the designs that I had created on the computer I then pieced the entire Portfolio together.

Within the portfolio I have stuck to keeping the same font in the title and in the main text as my CV and Business card. It was important that I stuck to the same colours and I used a colour line technique that linked all of the images and information together. The lines also linked together the images and logo. It was important that I kept to the same theme throughout the portfolio to ensure that my personal branding remained connected and linked all together.

I feel that the layout of this Portfolio has kept to the theme of my personal branding extremely well and is a vast improvement from the original. The colours that I have used sell my work well and present the portfolio by expelling the colours and images more sharply. This design meets all of the rerquirements I wanted from the design before it.

Front:

Back:

Team Minutes

Wednesday 25^th April 2012

Today the group met for the final time before the exhibition. It was decided that a camera would be arranged and booked out (Possibly a Nikon D90) and that a dress code was necessary. I gave an idea that we should perhaps dress in black trousers and a white shirt/top for the opening night with badges. This is because its clothing that everybody would have and easy to get hold of, plus it would make us appear formal and stand out from the public. The group didn’t seem too keen on the idea and decided that the idea could be discussed on facebook later on in the week.

It was decided as a group that a meeting time of 9:30am would be the time that everybody met. This is so it would give us enough time for preparation and displaying/building props and was most convenient for everybody. It also gave everybody an opportunity to arrive and participant, especially for those that would also be late.

The group mainly focused on their personal branding work, so not as much communication was used within today’s meeting. However, much of the communication will be made through facebook group chats and will update everybody who wasn’t available today.

Communication Techniques

In order for the group to function efficiently and effectively communication has played a vital part. It has enabled the group on a daily basis to transfer information to one another when outside of university. It has maintained a concrete structure for the group and has enabled us to develop, plan and arrange the exhibition.

When outside of university 95% of the communication has been made through facebook. There are currently 2 facebook group contact blogs. Myself and up to 90% of the group have used facebook as a daily source of information and contacting group individuals. The other 5% of communication has been made through mobile via voice calls and texts. I currently have and regularly maintain communication updates with everybody in the exhibition group via mobile phone devices, although much of the communication is still made through facebook.

Facebook links can be found here:

Main contact facebook blog:

http://www.facebook.com/oliver.j.dolton?ref=tn_tnmn#!/groups/220242104733705/

Exhibition Blog 2:

http://www.facebook.com/oliver.j.dolton?ref=tn_tnmn#!/groups/198371823594282/

Minutes Update - Mid April

So far the group has managed to display posters around the university. Some of these posters have been given to some students such as myself to display in external locations outside of the university.

Due to the delay in the process of creating the groups invites I have so far used verbal communication and computerised written ‘Welcome’ cards to invite a number of individuals to the Exhibition. So far the numbers appear to be very promising.

It can now be confirmed that the Exhibition appears to be on schedule. During this week, myself and 3 others from the Exhibition group researched into the availability of cardboard boxes. These cardboard boxes can then be used to create the giant Rubik’s cube that is currently in the process of being designed. One member from the graphics team has so far purchased the card that will be used to create the colours on the large Rubik’s cube while, myself and another 2 members will assist in the painting of the boxes to turn them into a base black colour.

*Boxes have now been purchased and confirmation today can confirm there delivery to the team leader.

*The banner for the exhibition has now been designed by the graphics team and will be sent to the prints as well as the design for our exhibition boards by the end of next week.

Expected delivery date for the boards and banner are yet to be confirmed.

Poster Placements in local Village

I was provided with the file to enable me to print some of the posters at my local printing office. I then used these posters to place them within my place of work to encourage people to acknowledge the exhibition and perhaps come and attend on the opening night. I have also placed one in my local village notice board after gaining permission from my local parish council through contact in email.

I have attempted to place more posters in nearby villages but it has been difficult to obtain permission in all of them. However I have placed a poster in another 2 villages 3 miles from me after gaining permission from the local ground keepers.

These posters may not do a lot in their current locations but if it increases numbers by 2-3 then it’s made a difference.  

Location Example:



Poster:

 

Website Portfolio

I have designed the layout of my portfolio website to match a similar style that reflects the style used within my CV and business card.

The website itself is laid out in a very standard format. At the top are the main 4 page links that will direct a viewer to any of the main sectors within my website. I have used this particular layout as other formats are difficult to achieve. My coding abilties are only limited to HTML and javascript with elements of PHP used for transferring information on the contacts page to a mail box.

Home – This page contains all the information such as my qualifications, course studies, technical abilities, work abilities and a brief on the history of my background. At the bottom of the page are links that can direct a viewer to my facebook page, flickr and twitter should they wish to contact me or obtain more information. This page also details that the services I can offer. If details my abilites in certain elements of employement. These are as follows:

Technical Skills

Create and Render 3D Objects and Designs

Produce 3D Animations

Develop Graphic Designs

Microsoft Windows Maintenance

Hardware and Software Configurations

IT Skills in Windows and Networking

Web Design

XHTML and PHP

Photography Shooting and Editing

Software Skills

Autodesk 3d Studio Max

Photoshop CS4

Illustrator CS4

IN design CS4

Premiere Pro CS4

Flash CS4

Dreamweaver CS4 (XHTML - PHP)

Windows XP - 7

Work Abilities

Excellent Team Player

Excellent Communication Skills

Abilities to Work on own Initiative

Develop, Adapt and Learn New Skills fast

Motivate Others

Work under Pressure

Excellent Punctuality

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Multimedia, Animation and Web Design

HND Level 5 Business and Management

NVQ 3 - Health and Social Care

11 GCSE’S (8 Grades *A-C)              

Learning Disabilities Awards Framework Level 2

Adult English Literacy Level 2 

On opening this page, there is at the top a roundabout gallery viewer of some of the best parts of my work. This is a selling point when a potential employer visits my site and is immediately introduced by my work.

Gallery – This page is the main page that details images of my work so that a potential employer can view the standard of my work and to obtain knowledge at the level I will be working at. Each of the images is detailed with the title and a brief description of the work, noting what it is, why it was produced and how.  All the images open into a letterbox format for larger images and better viewing.

There is also a link at the bottom of the page that will direct the viewer to another page so that I can expand my work should I wish to add more to the website.

The link transfers the user to this page:

The page is basic and may be enhanced later on. However it allows the user to view an acknowledge extra sectors of my portfolio work.

About Me – This page contains all the information about me, my history, where I studied, what I studied in and my experiences that I have, including details of the work I have previously undertaken. This includes my personal interests and development. There are links on this page that will allow the viewer to obtain more information through contacting me on facebook.

Contacts – On this page the viewer can obtain a copy of my digital CV and business card via a download direct from the website. These downloads are in PDF format only. There is also a contact submission form that any viewer can fill out and send me a message in the form of an email. Javascript and PHP coding runs in this page to ensure that the contacts form is filled out correctly and mistakes are identified. Should a viewer wish to not use the submission form, my email address is available on this page so that they can contact me direct via Enquires@oliverdolton.com. No other contact information is available unless they download my CV or contact me through flickr or facebook.

I have designed the website in this format as it keeps the navigation of the website very simple. It’s easy to read, easy to navigate and the top page bar is always available on every page. There are easy ways to contact me and to view any of my work. The layout and structure of the website details my abilities in html coding and I have kept the website format in html form so that employers can view my coding abilities through the ‘view-source’ method, available on all internet browsers.

This website is currently live and can be accessed at: WWW.OLIVERDOLTON.COM