Papergirl Leeds - Do Day - Day! Facebook & Twitter

I think because we were more focused on the event being at the Papergirl Leeds exhibition, we didn't concentrate as much on the Facebook event and Twitter page. Even so, we did post on there a little and got a few people involved.

Facebook

Twitter

We did get some results on the online survey, which were:

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Papergirl Leeds - Do Day - Day!

The Do Day day arrived in no time, and we were quite excited to see how it was going to turn out. In the morning we spent a bit of time putting the goodie bags together before putting our t shirts on and heading down to the exhibition space. On our way we put up posters in numerous places and left a few hotdog books around to spread the word and promote the day more.

At the space we overtook a corner and filled it with the goodie bags and balloons.

Papergirl Leeds - Do Day Screen Printing

After getting prepared, we were all set for our session of screen printing. Using the left over paint from the previous day, we mixed together more so that the colours were the same and we got to work.

We began with the flyers, getting as many as we could done on the long strips of brown paper shown on the right in the picture above. Followed by getting the posters done, having one of us printing while the other took the prints to the drying rack, and then then the same with the hotdog books. We got all of them printed that we needed, and just had Lisa come back a few days later to get the bags printed as we ran out of time to be able to get them done. In all, the printing day was really successful.

Lisa cut out the flyers ready to take down to the Papergirl Leeds location to have around as an extra way to promote the day, along with a few posters for them to put up. I cut out and folded all of the hotdog books. All that really needs to be done now is to just get the word around about the day, and wait for the things we ordered online to come in the post ready for the day. Also, I needed to do the t-shirts.

I got them done when I got back from Amsterdam as I didn't have time before. I printed the designs on to the t shirt transfer paper and ironed them on. They looked good once they were done, and I think will give a little extra to the day.

Papergirl Leeds - Do Day Blog

After talking about it, me and Lisa thought it would be a good idea to have a blog to tie everything together. We could have all of the different medias link to it, and from then people can link out to things such as the Facebook event and Twitter. The idea to use a blog for the previous day wasn't considered as certain people didn't want to, but we have decided to do one this time. I made the blog, and on it I made it so that Lisa could also post things on it too from her account.

I wanted to make the overall look of the blog to somewhat resemble an ordinary website, but still have the blog element to it. So to do this I created 'pages' which then acted like pages on a website with information about the different things, and then had an 'home' button which was the main blog part. I kept the colour scheme so that it is just the red/orange that has been used for everything, and just kept the background white to avoid overcomplicating it.

I included a page explaining about the whole Papergirl Leeds event, one explaining the idea behind Do Day, one explaining about the actual event happening on the 15th, and one with links to various ways of how to share their experiences.

The link to the blog is: do-day2011.blogspot.com

Papergirl Leeds - Do Day Facebook/Twitter

I restarted the Twitter page that was used for the previous Do Day day, getting more followers and trying to get people involved.

We set up another Do Day event on Facebook to invite people to again and to try get people to interact with, explaining that we were doing it again and this time we would be down at the Papergirl Leeds event for people to come down if they were in the Leeds area.

Speaking from Experience - Online Survey

I put together a short online survey consisting of 3 key questions that will help me progress with this brief. I didn't want to have too many so that it will put people off, and for the minute these are the most needed things to know (I think). If I come up with anything else I need to know or what ever I can always add questions or create a new one.

Click here to go to the survey.

Results

I got quite a lot of responses to the survey both from people on and not on our course, and it has been very informative in helping me make further decisions. They were:

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Speaking from Experience - Keeping Organised

Even the best people can become unorganised at times, but everyone has their own little ways to ensure they don't, as well as some people just not bothering and ending up in a right pickle. I want the pack that I am making to have a variety of different things - not too many though, that will help the student to keep organised throughout the first year. I don't want to bombard them with all the details about how stressful it can be and when because I think it will be better for them to find out for themselves.

Instead, I want the pack to kindly advise the student, with subtle hints of what it will be like without going into full blown detail. I want the overall look of it to be something that would instantly appeal to a Graphic Designer, so to keep them simple and the designs crisp throughout.

I started off by searching the internet for some keeping organised tips and ways to avoid it to start off my research. I have decided to do general research for this that could apply to anyone, and then when I come to putting it together I will focus it more for a GD student.


Research - online


How to keep organised
I found a great website with a whole list of ways to keep organised that were suggested to the person that made it by the audience (link). While some were crap and a couple repeated, there are a few useful ones.

• 3 most important tasks - writing down and making mental notes of my top 3 tasks to get done for the day. Everything else seems to fall into place if I do that.
• An easy and workable task list, or to do list - while I love all these handy... (long explanation).
• Keep ubiquitous capture devise - it might not be the same device for every location...but just being able to write stuff down when you think about it is key for me.
• Do it now.
• Put it away now - the single, simplest thing I do to stay personally organised is to put what ever tool, item, clothing, bag, hairbrush, etc away immediately after using it. I always know where anything and everything is so I don't waste time looking for it.
• A sheet of paper, a calendar and a whiteboard - I've found that the easiest way to organise myself, my days and so forth is a good paper calendar, a sheet of paper that I divide into four sections and a medium sized white board. For my paper... (long explanation).

Useful tools to keep organised

I found a list of 'tools' to help keep yourself organised, although these are more online/computer apps, but I am wanting to do more hands on stuff but I won't completely discard this idea. Click here for link.

Ways to organise and streamline your workspace

While this website gives tips for what someone could do themselves at home and isn't completely relevant to what I am wanting to do I still found the tips quite useful. (link) Here's a few good ones:

• Reboot your workspace each evening
• Label dividers
• A place for everything, and everything in its place
• Don't go overboard

FAQ for getting organised
This website has some interesting and useful answers to the basic questions people ask about getting organised. (link)

• Why is it important to be organised?
• How do I get organised if I don't have the time?
• Where do I begin?
• Once I'm organised, how do I maintain it?
• What can a professional organiser do for me?

Use procrastination to get more done

This website has some interesting tips to use procrastinating to your advantage. While keeping organised is important, some still procrastinate a lot and waste time. (link)


Student planners galore!
I saw this on a website I was looking through (link):

So I clicked to see what it was about. It is a pack of stuff for the student to keep organised, and has a list of what is in it (link), as well as a more detailed list on another page (link).

I think if someone was to give me this pack, and it had a whole list of stuff in like this list here then I would get so overwhelmed by it and think to myself "f*ck, what am I letting myself in for?" and just be completely put off going in the first place, and I wouldn't use it at all just because there is so much. So for my pack I will keep it simple and avoid as much as I can overwhelming the student.

Speaking from Experience - Ideas Workshop

In pairs, we were to discuss the different problems we came up with from the previous task (here). I was partnered with Frankie. We sat and talked about the different problems and our experiences, and each were similar to each others. So I then decided to categorise the problems into main ones, and then write down reasons as to why they were.

Blogging

• not doing it
• leaving it for another day
• leaving gaps to 'come back to'
• getting everything on there
• boring
• takes longer than you think
• more you leave, more there gets

Money

• rent to pay
• food to buy
• lunch time - expensive and all adds up
• look at ways to cut the costs
• going out - budget
• travelling home
• course costs
• bills

Organisation/Time Management

• have 5/6 briefs at once 
• prioritising
• remembering deadlines
• getting everything done on time well
• busy mac suites/digital print - work round
• knowing where stuff is
• keeping tidy - takes more time to find stuff when untidy
• turning up on time
• time management
• inductions - sign up and turn up
• how long something actually takes
• time to self - go out and have fun
• distractions
• know what is to come
• motivation - cant switch on and off
• same with creativity

Settling In

• new to the city
• don't know anyone
• new flat mates
• getting lost
• not know what to expect
• new friends
• confidence
• new course

I then started to think of little ways that could resolve the problems and prevent them occurring.

Blogging

• decidate certain time every day to do it
• do things when you get them rather than leaving them for another day
• just put everything on there
• lots of research really does help

Money

• budget
• allow yourself so much a week
• put away what is needed for when when the loan comes through and don't touch it
• save small amounts a week/month for a rainy day, just incase
• keep track of what is being spent on what

Organisation/Time Management

• keep on top of things - do it when you get it
• calendar to know when what is
• prioritise
• make decisions faster
• work when you have to, not when you want to

Settling In

• be confident
• talk to everyone, everyone is in the same boat
• explore, see what is around and where things are
• arrange something to do with flat mates so you can get to know each other better
• don't hide away

Choosing 5 of the main problems discussed, we had to come up with 5 ways of solving the problem for each.

Blogging

• motivation posters to get people to do it
• warning cards explaining consequences of not doing it
• do a blog/site with hints and tops on how to do it well
• video with people saying their experience of leaving it
• book to write everything in that needs to be blogged

Money

• budget booklet to budget money to make it last
• saving box/tin with suggestion card to save for a rainy day
• booklet showing cost differences
• iPhone app to keep on top of it all
• book with tips on how to cut costs and save money

Organisation/Time Management

• wall calendar for whole academic year
• normal calendar with motivation quotes related to the course
• notebook to write everything in with hints already in
• postcards with what to expect - no sleep, etc
• motivational posters to encourage to keep on top of things
• hours in a day calendar to plan when to do things

Settling In

• welcome pack with postcards and posters and map, etc
• map of where to go to avoid getting lost
• book with generalised type of GD students to fit in
• organise big GD night out at the start of the year to get first years to get to know each other
• animation with tip on how to settle in

Cooking

• student cookbook with easy cheap recipes
• iPhone app with recipes on
• poster with warnings of not being careful - funny version
• animation of what will happen if you don't eat properly
• shopping guide - cheap meals that taste good

From these, we were to each choose two possible ideas that we could do for this brief, and write out a question/statement for them. Mine are:

How to not get behind with blogging.

How to keep on top of everything.

Once these were decided, we wrote out rationales for both, and then got into pairs again. I ended up in a 3 with Sadie and Will, and we each read through each others and added to the rationales and gave each other feedback on how the idea could improved and if it would work, etc.

I can see advantages and disadvantages for both, but the idea I think that will be the most solid of the two if I get it right would be the organisation pack. I think this because yes, I do find blogging a problem sometimes and what not, and I am still not very good so I see it quite patronising to advise someone on how to blog and do it right when I can't do it that well anyway.

baljeet is the best

Speaking from Experience

Five problems I have encountered since being offered a place

1. Leaving blogging for another day - it all piles up
2. Having an extra 5 minutes sleep on a morning - always leaves you feeling more tired
3. Procrastinating - makes things take 10x longer to do
4. Contextual Studies - just as important as the rest so don't neglect
5. Finding a balance between work and play - too much of one and not enough of the other after a while only gets bad
6. Busy studio on a Thursday - getting a seat is hard when both years are in
7. Distractions - they're everywhere
8. Facebook - a useless way to waste time
9. Busy Mac suites - harder to get things you need printed so plan ahead
10. Booked up Digital Print - go a week or two in advance to book a slot rather than chance it
11. Not anticipating how long something actually takes - not leaving enough time makes things not turn out as well as they can be
12. Not being prepared - life is so much easier is you are prepared
13. Annoying flat mates - noisy, taking food, etc
14. Being messy - can never find anything
15. Expensive lunch - buying lunch every day can start to add up
16. Prioritising - prioritised certain things over others meaning I didn't do as well as I know I could have
17. Not knowing anyone - everyone is new to each other in the first few weeks and being confident gets you further during this time
18. Getting involved in crits and giving good feedback - especially at the start of the year

Five things I want to make as a designer

1. 'Collectable' design - something that someone will see and want to pick up/buy just because it looks good and worth owning
2. Screen prints - anything and everything. Maybe look into other methods of printing too
3. Product design/packaging - something to own and interact with in some way. Calendars, etc?
4. Book of some sort
5. Stop motion

Five subjects/themes I am interested in dealing with

1. Avoid distractions/procrastinating
2. Keeping organised
3. Making the most of the time you have - time management
4. Adjusting to moving away/living with new flat mates
5. Having fun amongst the busy piled high workload
6. Keeping on top of everything and getting the most out of it
7. Motivation when it is needed the most

Speaking from Experience - First Years Should Know..

List 5 things a first year needs to know?

1. They mean what they say when they say it's full on and hard - not over exaggerating. 
2. The chairs in studio 3 are awful. 
3. Graphic Design is a lifestyle, not a job. 
4. Studio 2 gets crowded when both years are in and it's hard to get a table. 
5. Time disappears before you know it.

List 5 problems a first year will encounter?

1. They will get lost at some point.
2. Not backing up files - something will almost definitely get deleted/lost accidentally.
3. Lack of money.
4. Lack of sleep so tired a lot.
5. Getting into digital print is hard, especially towards deadlines.

List 5 rules a first year needs to learn?

1. Always keep up to date with blogs.
2. Never be late.
3. Don't leave stuff to do until tomorrow because you only end up with twice as much.
4. Leave the studio tidy.
5. Stay on the good sides of Amber and Fred.

Visual Language - End of Module Evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have learnt a whole variety of skills through this module from the different seminars we had during the beginning of the year on things like colour theory and composition. It has shown me the importance of the basics of Graphic Design, and how the slightest things can make a huge impact over anything.


What approached to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
Throughout the whole year, after each of the seminars I have found that they have made me a lot more visually aware of things around me that I wouldn't necessarily have noticed as much, or maybe just not understood, as I would have prior to these. It has really help to boost my primary research skills over the whole course, and now feel I can make more definite decisions with different aspects of my work without the need to second guess it.


What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
A strength through this module has to be my involvement with the seminars that we have had, and my efforts to make sure I fully understand them to make sure I can take away the skills I have learnt and apply them throughout the rest of the course.


What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
My biggest weakness with this module is the fact that I didn't prioritise it as much as I probably should have, leaving me feeling like I could have done a lot better if I had have spent that bit more time doing things, especially with the What is a Line? brief. This is an important lesson I have learnt though and know especially for next year that each of the modules are equally important so I will give them all the same amount of effort rather than prioritising too much.


Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

1. I would take what I have learnt from the seminars and investigate them further to give me a better, more wide spread knowledge on each of the subjects. That way I could ensure I feel more confident when working with each of them.
2. I will prioritise a module like this more, and make sure that I make more time for it to produce more work so that I won't feel at the end like I could have done better because I will know I have put the effort in in the first place.
3. I would push the briefs further than I have, as I feel like I did what was required, but didn't really push to expand or experiment further.
4. I will blog any seminar notes and what not the day that I receive them rather than leaving it for another day, as this is a really bad habit I have picked up and want to snap out of.
5. I will do more research throughout, using more than just the internet.

How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
Attendance: 4
Punctuality: 4
Motivation: 3
Commitment: 3
Quantity of work produced: 3
Quality of work produced: 3
Contribution to the group: 3

Visual Language - What Is A Line? - Final Books

I left it a little too late towards the deadline for me to start making the books, so it only really gave me one shot of getting them right the first time.Once I started doing them I realised how difficult it is for me to make sure it all fits together perfect, and there turned out to be a few little faults with them that I would change if I had the time.

Out of all of the books, the bike one turned out the best. All of the lines met up as they should have. The only problem was the covering of  the hardback. This could have been improved a lot better if I had more time, but it was rushed because I needed to get them finished. Even so, out of them all this is the most successful.

The iPod book also turned out alright, the covering of the hardback went a little better than the previous because I knew what I was expecting to happen this time. Even so, it still wasn't perfect. If I would have had more time I would maybe have experimented better with how I could have done this to make it look better overall.

I was running out of time making these books, and covering the hardback was so time consuming. It took almost as long as it did it put the books together, and I have a lot more things to do so I decided to come back to finishing these off. Even so, I ran out of time meaning I didn't get chance to do it. I am disappointed about this because I would have liked to have got them finished. I also think if I had more time I could have got them to a better standard.

Whilst I was cutting out the pages for the pint glass book, I didn't realise but the size of them changed for each, so when I put them together they didn't fit. I am very gutted because I had used all of my paper for the books so haven't got an opportunity to do it again, and it would change the whole thing if I was to start trimming each of the pages. So because of this I have decided to leave this one and not do it, because there isn't really anything I can do about it.