Text
January 06, 2013
2 notes

Where have you been?

It’s been a very long time since I visited tumblr, but I felt it was time for an update seeing as I quite like keeping this tumblr lark going.

I probably last posted about my business venture Kaleid…It’s going amazingly well & I’m so flattered. I’ve learnt so much already in the few months I’ve had it up, both on the business side of it & actively using/teaching myself html/css. I’ve also met some lovely people through it, that I otherwise would never have met. Building these relationships has been fantastic, but also great for networking & developing the business. I now have bits of Kaleid on the lovely Charlotte’s site The Vintage Set. We’ve got some plans for March, which I can’t say anything about though yet, sorry! I’m so glad I started it - I honestly urge anyone that’s thinking of starting up a business or selling things online to do it. You learn so much more by doing. 

I’ve still been applying for jobs, but as of yet with no joy. In the mean time, as well as all the Kaleid stuff, work & job hunting, I have been doing some small freelance briefs to keep on racking up the portfolio & experience. I’m doing one at the moment for a childcare business, which is very different to anything I’ve done before. I’ve found that I’m loving giving constant feedback to the client - it reassures them & yourself that you’re heading in the right direction.

Best I can hope for now is to hear back from the several jobs I’ve applied for - if not, there’s always New York to look forward to in March! Come have a cheeky look at Kaleid in the meantime? 

Video
September 19, 2012

Just come across this & I just bloody love it. I’ve only watched this one video, so I’m not completely certain of the story of the game or what the objective is, but who cares? Just look at it! It’s basically a 2D platform game, but the different gradient silhouettes help it to achieve a sense of depth. It’s great that it’s not limited the character to running only on white backgrounds as well. With his eyes being white, you can also control the character through darker areas, giving the game a sense of different environments like caves. These techniques would make a fantastic video for something…

Photo
September 19, 2012
1 note
Another wee little piece made for Kaleid! (Tumblr seems to have done something to the little photos, but you get the idea!) Different message to the other poster, but still quite clearly within the same vain & branding umbrella. https://twitter.com/KaleidBracelets

Another wee little piece made for Kaleid! (Tumblr seems to have done something to the little photos, but you get the idea!) Different message to the other poster, but still quite clearly within the same vain & branding umbrella.

https://twitter.com/KaleidBracelets

Photoset
September 07, 2012
1 note

Another design element for Kaleid…

When I started this little venture to add some more self initiated pieces of work to my portfolio, I thought it would only involve some branding & packaging work, but it has stretched in to so many other directions that I’ve been kept very busy! Here is a little promotional piece for the Facebook/Twitter that I’ve been working on tonight. Only really simple, but I think it carries the branding well. At least it’s another string to add to the bow of this whole new design/business venture at the very least!

*Opens tomorrow by the way, not tonight!

Photoset
September 06, 2012
1 note

Moo have done it again!

I was far too excited to see that my Kaleid business cards had arrived this morning! I just love Moo, the quality of the printing & paper stock is just fabulous. Decided to get mini cards as the regular felt a little too large for my packaging. Plus, you can put a different design on nearly every card with the mini’s! I honestly cannot stop looking at them. The Etsy shop is up & running so hurry up & get buying so I can send you these lovely cards with the packaging! Oh, and with a bracelet too.

Photoset
September 04, 2012

A little extra info…


After I finished updating the Kaleid Facebook page with photos of all the example bracelets & items you could create your own bracelet with, I thought it still wasn’t clear enough that you can literally design your own bracelet through Kaleid. To communicate this more effectively (and to add something else in my portfolio of branding/design work for Kaleid) I decided to create some little info graphics pieces for each album, explaining the process of creating your bracelet in said album. This was the first time I’ve properly had a go at some info style graphics & I’m pretty pleased with how it came out. I’ve kept the hexagon shape and used it to represent each step, rather than just plain boxes. Each colour represents the colour given to those types of bracelets. They’re only really simple - but it’s just what was needed to highlight how to make your own bracelet.

Photoset
September 01, 2012
1 note

Kaleid Process…

Thinking up a name for these bracelets was actually the hardest part of the whole process. I’d already made a few experimental bracelets, so I wanted to name them so I could start on the branding side of it. I had a massive list of names - each one I tried out on google & each were already in existence. I realised however I was going about it all wrong, I wasn’t thinking about what my bracelets were doing, I was just trying to think of a good name. Once I noted down the main features of my collection (able to customise, lots of choice, array of colours) I looked up things to do with this. After much searching, I came across kaleidoscope - we all know what it means, but I was more interested in where the words came from. ‘Kalos’ in ancient greek means ‘beautiful’ and ‘eidos’ means ‘forms/shapes’, so the literal translation of the name I ended up choosing is ‘beautiful forms’. The kaleidoscope reference also lent itself really well to the changing of colours aspect & an interesting route to go down when branding…

Logo:

So the shape of the logo was pretty much dictated from the start. With it being linked to kaleidoscope shapes, it had to be some sort of polygon. After initial drawn designs, the hexagon stuck. I felt the name lent itself to more of a script/handwritten font - it’s ornate without taking too much away from the design.

Packaging:

Packaging isn’t my strongest design point, so I was a little worried that I wouldn’t pull this off. To make my simple bracelet designs stand out, I wanted each one to be packaged in hand made wallets, just to add that extra touch. I firstly went through what packaging options were available & which would be most cost effective. I made quite a few nets & tried them out just to get the sizing correct. Although the design looks complicated, it’s actually very simple. With the design route I had already taken, it was obvious I’d have to create some sort of kaleidoscope pattern for the packaging. To achieve this, I just experimented with building up hexagon patterns - which is basically all the finished design is! I left the background colour white as a) it’s more cost effective with printing/ink and b) It became too complicated with 2 colours. Keeping it white and one other colour means that when I make packaging for an order, I can alter the packaging colour to match the order (hence why the logo is in 8 colours). It looks stylish and slightly more up-market, to match the quality of the swarovski beads used. Finished off the packaging with tissue paper wrapping & a kaleid logo sticker.

Ordered some mini cards from Moo to complete the design which I will post up when they come! Awaiting the cards before opening the shop, but there is already a facebook/twitter set up to browse the photos & keep updated!

Text
August 31, 2012
4 notes

Shameless advertising…

Few links!

@KaleidBracelets

https://www.facebook.com/KaleidBracelets

Will pop up the actual design work for this in due course. A lot of the design work wasn’t as documented as it would’ve been for uni work, but still got some snaps to share!

Text
August 27, 2012
1 note

A very late (and overdue) tumblr check in

So it’s been a VERY long time since I posted on here…

Since I last posted on here, I finally graduated with a 1st (woohoo!) and had my incredibly offensive text posters put up for our exhibition, which was a top night - filled with wonderful advice from industry. I also took a few trips to Soup last month to fully render my Dennis & Lois project & create a showreel to send out. After finishing my portfolio/behance/cv, things started to slow down as I started to look for a job. The most disappointing thing about looking for a job is that you don’t always get feedback about why you didn’t get it. I was lucky enough to receive feedback from one place however, which has resulted in a complete overhaul of my cv & it’s now much stronger as a result. I’m still searching, but I’ve also started a new business venture to keep my occupied in the meantime….

I don’t know if anyone else got this when they finished, but I felt at a loss not being busy, or doing any design work. I felt like I NEEDED to do something creative whilst I search for a job & I’ve just set the wheels in motion for ‘Kaleid Bracelets’. I work in an accessories shop & for the 4 (nearly 5…) years I’ve been there, I’ve always wanted to set my own online shop solving the problems I found that our shop had (I.e nice design, but not enough colour choice, crossing design styles, on trend styles etc) I’ve been learning to make different styles & getting a collection together to launch soon. It’s nothing groundbreaking & it won’t break the fashion headlines, but they’re really versatile - it will be almost like you’re designing your own bracelet. Either way you look at this venture, it’s win-win for me. As well as the creation of the bracelets/ potential money it might make, I’ve also been doing all the branding and packaging design for it - which I can put in my portfolio & on my cv. Don’t get me wrong though, I haven’t given up the job search, I just need something to do on my own terms due to the inflexibility at work at the moment.

So, I’m creatively satisfied at the moment. I will post up all my Kaleid work on here for you to take a look at & post up the twitter/facebook/etsy link when I have everything finalised. I could start now, but you should know by now I’m an anal perfectionist, so it won’t be up until I’m satisfied everything looks & is amazing. All I ask is that you give me a follow on twitter/facebook & maybe even a cheeky purchase on etsy!!?  

Link
May 30, 2012
Finally got my Behance sorted!