James Diffley: Here's My Card (02/13/14)

This week I had a few things to get started on towards creating my portfolio.

I am becoming more and more aware of just how essential my portfolio is. It will be a way for me to market myself in a competitive world.

I have to begin to organize and collect all the work I have created. As I look my work over I know that I will need to tweak or to re-do some pieces. But before I consider that, I need to decide exactly what direction I would like to go in. What story will I like to tell, and who do I want to tell my story to? From my readings in No Plastic Sleeves, I have found out that somewhere around 12 pieces of work seems to be a good number for my portfolio. Quality is more important than quantity and that although all pieces must be good, it is advisable to lead with and to end with my best pieces. No Plastic Sleeves also emphasis the importance the process book is in helping to convey my thought process. By showing my potential employer my process, I am able to present a better picture of who I am. I will keep all of this in mind when deciding on my pieces.

But first I need to decide what my identity design would be. What is my brand? I know that I would like to do animation. It is what I enjoy the most and what I am most proud of. In reading The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook, I am reminded of all the areas that an animator can work. Animation companies, the movie industry and the gaming industry are just a few places an animator can find work. That is good news. The not so good news is, the industry is very competitive. It is a desirable and popular profession and many U. S. companies hire outside the country.This is more reason why I need to do a good job in conveying my brand in my portfolio.

How do I tell a story about who I am as a creative professional? That is not easy. No Plastic Sleeves gave a few exercises that are helpful in this. I started with listing 5 words to describe myself. dedicated, patient, detail oriented, considerate, gamer.

Then I tried the brand statement. “I am an animator with strong skills with Adobe Flash and Maya who is dedicated, thorough and detail oriented. I have a strong belief that animation has infinite possibilities.”

My logo is an infinity sign shaped like a D for my last name. I believe that there are an infinite amount of ideas. Some ideas on based on others but can be developed and created into whole new ideas. Now it is time to design a business card, letterhead and envelopes using my logo.

In looking for inspiration for business cards, I came across the February 4, 2014, Wall Street Journal article, “The Business Card Cannot Be Killed”, by Joanna Stern. I recommend this article because it talked about the different apps being developed to scan the business card. It was at first surprising to me that the business card is not obsolete in today’s day and age of technology. It seems however according to Stern’s article that the technology is not quite there yet. But as I thought more about the business card I see the importance of having it in your hands. The visual image of the card can quickly bring up an image of the person. To get more research I looked at the book, The Best of Business Card Design 6: No. 6 by Blackcoffee Design, Inc. The book states, “In this digital age of laptop, cellular phones and PDAs the business card has ironically proliferated. The more memorable the card the more memorable the contact.” p.6. The book gives 400 examples of cards that communicates information in a legible manner. It based its criteria on functionality, communication and wow factor.

Here I sketched a few of my favorites.