Soft skills cover a variety of issues, and include a range of both personal and interpersonal qualities. I am of the opinion that soft skills are often undervalued, and this is an unfortunate situation. Many soft skills are considered transferable, as they are not industry specific and carry between careers/sectors.
Below are what I consider to be some of the more important soft skills I've been developing over the last year:
Time Management
Coming to this course I had no hope of managing my time successfully. I'd never really needed to before. However, the stresses and strains of a bigger workload and juggling this with other commitments had made me need to develop my time management skills. I now feel so much more confident with my self-management.
Personal Development/Reflective Work
I feel I now have a much greater ability to be self-critical, analysing my weak (and strong) points, and working out a way forward. This has helped me to move on over the past year, and develop new skills as I've needed them.
Ability to Transmit Energy, Enthusiasm & Confidence
Steve recently mentioned this one on a thread on Das Forum. It struck me that this is something I've improved on. Believe it or not, I used to be pretty nervous about showing any of my work to anyone, and I used to hate having to ask for help in shops, using the phone, etc. Now I don't have a problem with this as much. I've developed a new confidence, and I hope I can begin to show this through the way I act during presentations and pitches (hopefully I don't touch myself as much anymore!)
I also feel I have a variety of other soft skills, but that the above are the ones I've worked on most over the past year. However, there are great many skills that I still need to work on a lot over the coming months and years. These include:
• Team working/communication
• Leadership skills/people management
Word Count: 324
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Job Advert Response
More details of the job I have found can be found here.
I initially selected this job as it seemed to be relatively attainable even at this point in my education. As a 'Junior Web Designer' role, I feel that it is intended for younger, less experienced designers, and perhaps those coming from education. Hence it seemed ideal for someone in my position.
The skills identified for the job include a knowledge of 'XHTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, Flash, AJAX, Fireworks, Photoshop & Illustrator' being an advantage. I feel I have a good knowledge of the majority of these, with the exceptions of Flash and AJAX.
I feel confident with my XHTML/CSS skills, and as part of this my ability to use Dreamweaver, and I am more than satisfied with my abilities in the other applications mentioned, particularly Photoshop and Illustrator.
I believe that, in truth, I have maybe selected a job with less skills than I would like to have developed by the end of the course. This is due to my very limited experience with PHP and other technologies mentioned in other adverts, and I felt selecting these other adverts may have been a bit ahead of time.
Over the next year, therefore, it needs to be my priority to meet the skills requested and required in both this job and others I have seen. These skills involve PHP, CMS and Flash, amongst others. I also believe I need to further my experience, particularly commercial experience, as this is something that is mentioned in a lot of the job advertisements I have seen in the past week.
I would hope that by the end of the course that I would be skilled beyond the skills requested in this advert, and would feel more comfortable selecting a higher skilled (and hopefully higher paid!) job.
I initially selected this job as it seemed to be relatively attainable even at this point in my education. As a 'Junior Web Designer' role, I feel that it is intended for younger, less experienced designers, and perhaps those coming from education. Hence it seemed ideal for someone in my position.
The skills identified for the job include a knowledge of 'XHTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, Flash, AJAX, Fireworks, Photoshop & Illustrator' being an advantage. I feel I have a good knowledge of the majority of these, with the exceptions of Flash and AJAX.
I feel confident with my XHTML/CSS skills, and as part of this my ability to use Dreamweaver, and I am more than satisfied with my abilities in the other applications mentioned, particularly Photoshop and Illustrator.
I believe that, in truth, I have maybe selected a job with less skills than I would like to have developed by the end of the course. This is due to my very limited experience with PHP and other technologies mentioned in other adverts, and I felt selecting these other adverts may have been a bit ahead of time.
Over the next year, therefore, it needs to be my priority to meet the skills requested and required in both this job and others I have seen. These skills involve PHP, CMS and Flash, amongst others. I also believe I need to further my experience, particularly commercial experience, as this is something that is mentioned in a lot of the job advertisements I have seen in the past week.
I would hope that by the end of the course that I would be skilled beyond the skills requested in this advert, and would feel more comfortable selecting a higher skilled (and hopefully higher paid!) job.
Friday, 3 October 2008
Back for Year 2 - But Why?
Over the past year, I have learnt a great many things. Therefore, it would only make sense to intend to do the same over the next year. After all, I am on this course to learn.
The thing I have been looking forward to most for the second year is getting engaged in the process of actually building websites more frequently. Having only built one for college during the first year, I look forward to getting to grips with the new processes and learning more about technologies such as XHTML and CSS.
I also hope to gain experience in more advanced technologies such as PHP and CMS. As such, I look forward to the SMLP (Self Managed Learning Plan) section of A10, as well as A13: Content is King. I believe developing these skills is crucial in increasing my employability when I am looking for a job in the future, as looking at many job adverts reveals that these are prerequisites of applying.
A further aspiration of mine is to develop my portfolio work. This, again, is important for my employability. I want to ensure that the quality of work in my portfolio is high enough to ensure that potential employers are impressed and engaged by my work. Additionally, the design of my portfolio is just as important as the content, so this is a part of the year which I look forward to.
So, all in all, most of my aspirations for this year are in some way linked to my employability. Being on a vocational course like this is surely the best place to be in order to meet my aspirations. In many ways, I can't wait to get this year done so I can move into employment, but I also want to savour my opportunities and education this year.
The thing I have been looking forward to most for the second year is getting engaged in the process of actually building websites more frequently. Having only built one for college during the first year, I look forward to getting to grips with the new processes and learning more about technologies such as XHTML and CSS.
I also hope to gain experience in more advanced technologies such as PHP and CMS. As such, I look forward to the SMLP (Self Managed Learning Plan) section of A10, as well as A13: Content is King. I believe developing these skills is crucial in increasing my employability when I am looking for a job in the future, as looking at many job adverts reveals that these are prerequisites of applying.
A further aspiration of mine is to develop my portfolio work. This, again, is important for my employability. I want to ensure that the quality of work in my portfolio is high enough to ensure that potential employers are impressed and engaged by my work. Additionally, the design of my portfolio is just as important as the content, so this is a part of the year which I look forward to.
So, all in all, most of my aspirations for this year are in some way linked to my employability. Being on a vocational course like this is surely the best place to be in order to meet my aspirations. In many ways, I can't wait to get this year done so I can move into employment, but I also want to savour my opportunities and education this year.
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
End of Year Evaluation
To say the least, the past year has been very significant for me. This hasn’t just been in terms of the development of my skills as a designer, but also a number of other personal, transferable employability skills. Looking back at where I was 8 months ago, I really do feel a sense of pride at how far I’ve come and how much I’ve developed.
After this year on the course, I now feel that I have a better sense of direction in my life. In some ways, I joined the course as a way out of a dead-end job, and web design was something that interested me. It was almost a ‘why not?’ approach to the course. I now feel that joining this course, and taking up design in general, is the best decision I’ve ever made. It’s a great feeling to know that you’re heading towards a career in something that you not only enjoy, but you have a passion for. I want design to become less about something I do, and more an integral part of who I am.
Looking back through my old Journal entries and work today has really shown me how far I’ve come. Looking back on my first ever screen design for the ‘Great Briton’ website, it strikes me how poor the design really is. Comparing that to the work I’m putting out now is possibly the best way to illustrate my development. So what skills have I developed to get me where I am now?
Principles of Design
Throughout the year, a number of basic design principles have been talked about. These include the P.A.R.C. (Proximity, Alignment, Repetition, Contrast) principles, Colour Theory, and Newspaper devices, amongst others. By developing knowledge of these aspects and consciously using them in my work, I have developed my design skills and have been able to become more consistent in creating aesthetically pleasing and effective designs.
Ideas Generation and Development
One of the key areas that has aided in my improved work now is the process of ideas generation and the consequent development of these concepts. Through a number of ideas generation techniques, including sketching, mind maps and mood boards, I have been able to explore a number of solutions for each of the design briefs assigned to us. This, I feel, has been an area which I have improved most towards the end of the year, particularly in the final A7 assignment. Despite this improvement, however, I feel I still have a long way to go in terms of forming a truly effective ideas generation process. Therefore, I have set this as a key target for development over the summer and into next year.
In terms of the development of these ideas, I feel I have become more efficient at self-criticising my work and analysing whether the design is competent or not. Therefore, I am more able to produce a well considered, effective design which fits the brief successfully.
Time Management
During the first assignment of the year, ‘A2 – That’s The Plan’, one of the significant issues was my difficulty with time planning. Some of my earlier Journal entries reflect the issues I had with this. Prior to starting on the course, I had done little, if any, time planning in any aspect of my life. As a result, I found it difficult to both plan, and stick to, my time sheets. For the subsequent assignments, ‘A3 – Back To Basic’ and ‘A4 – Image Rights’, which ran alongside each other, I set out to improve my time management skills. I found this to be a success, and since then I have found my time management skills have massively improved with each assignment.
To further develop my time management skills into the second year, I plan to produce a new way to plan and record my time, rather than using the standard production schedule and time sheets provided.
Feedback Processes
Important to the production of work this year has been the feedback processes I have used. These include the Journal entries and comments, the Seminar Groups and Das Forum. My feeling is that although feedback has been scarce at times, the results of these processes have improved throughout the year, and have definitely helped me to improve my own standard of work. This is a crucial aspect to continue developing into next year, and is something which needs to be a priority for development for the whole group, in my opinion. I also intend to take my own feedback processes further by extending away from College and gaining feedback from other sources.
Over the year, I have also developed a tendency to critique random pieces of design. This has ended up with me having a more rounded approach to design work, in that I have a stock up in my mind of what I’ve seen work and what I’ve seen not work. By being immersed in the design world, I find I naturally begin to evolve as a designer. I think that when I do this, I need to stick these in my sketchbook and annotate. I have done this with a lot of pieces this year, but need to work out a way to get those things I see out and about into my sketchbooks.
Other Knowledge and Skills
This year has brought about the development of my knowledge into a number of aspects of both print and web design. I have found that the more I know about these, the more I want to know. For example, the little bit of CSS used to format text for the ‘A5 – Builder’ assignment spurred me on to look further into what CSS can do, and I am now more proficient with it, although there is still a long way to go. This applies too for the print process, a subject which confuses me in many ways, but this inspires me to want to look deeper into it.
What’s Next?
Looking back over the past year, I can see the skills I have begun to develop. However, I can’t afford to oversell myself and believe I have become the final product. I still have a long way to go, in terms of developing the aforementioned skills, as well as skills to come in the future. I still haven’t got a distinction grade. I still need to develop the ability to consistently create professional designs. I still need to develop my coding and web developing skills. There’s a lot of work still to be done.
In the short term, my focus needs to be on improving my ideas generation, specifically allowing myself to become more creative. This is something I have been scared of in the past, although it has got better recently. I need to continue developing this, without the fear of attracting criticism or controversy. Another priority for working on over the summer is to improve my coding skills; becoming more efficient and gaining a deeper knowledge of CSS, XHTML, etc. I also need to continue developing my time management and feedback processes.
In the medium term I need to begin planning for employment. The fact of the matter is that employment is only 12 months away. To do this, I need to begin to gain some experience working in a commercial environment. Experience is crucial in the design industry, with many employers asking for a minimum of 2 years experience. Thankfully, I have the opportunity before me to work in the design department for a golfing magazine, which will provide me with some worthwhile experience. I also intend on trying to get some additional web design work over the summer, as this will also be important when it comes to job hunting next year.
In terms of long term aims, this year has altered my perceptions somewhat. Looking back on the first ever Journal post, I spoke about it being my long term goal to work for myself. This was also the case around Christmas time, when the review of the first semester was posted online. Since then, however, it has become clear to me that this might not be as easy as first thought. It still would be a dream of mine to do freelance stuff, but I think that it’s going to be important to work in the business for another company/person for a good few years before seriously considering moving on to freelance work.
In shot, these are my goals:
After this year on the course, I now feel that I have a better sense of direction in my life. In some ways, I joined the course as a way out of a dead-end job, and web design was something that interested me. It was almost a ‘why not?’ approach to the course. I now feel that joining this course, and taking up design in general, is the best decision I’ve ever made. It’s a great feeling to know that you’re heading towards a career in something that you not only enjoy, but you have a passion for. I want design to become less about something I do, and more an integral part of who I am.
Looking back through my old Journal entries and work today has really shown me how far I’ve come. Looking back on my first ever screen design for the ‘Great Briton’ website, it strikes me how poor the design really is. Comparing that to the work I’m putting out now is possibly the best way to illustrate my development. So what skills have I developed to get me where I am now?
Principles of Design
Throughout the year, a number of basic design principles have been talked about. These include the P.A.R.C. (Proximity, Alignment, Repetition, Contrast) principles, Colour Theory, and Newspaper devices, amongst others. By developing knowledge of these aspects and consciously using them in my work, I have developed my design skills and have been able to become more consistent in creating aesthetically pleasing and effective designs.
Ideas Generation and Development
One of the key areas that has aided in my improved work now is the process of ideas generation and the consequent development of these concepts. Through a number of ideas generation techniques, including sketching, mind maps and mood boards, I have been able to explore a number of solutions for each of the design briefs assigned to us. This, I feel, has been an area which I have improved most towards the end of the year, particularly in the final A7 assignment. Despite this improvement, however, I feel I still have a long way to go in terms of forming a truly effective ideas generation process. Therefore, I have set this as a key target for development over the summer and into next year.
In terms of the development of these ideas, I feel I have become more efficient at self-criticising my work and analysing whether the design is competent or not. Therefore, I am more able to produce a well considered, effective design which fits the brief successfully.
Time Management
During the first assignment of the year, ‘A2 – That’s The Plan’, one of the significant issues was my difficulty with time planning. Some of my earlier Journal entries reflect the issues I had with this. Prior to starting on the course, I had done little, if any, time planning in any aspect of my life. As a result, I found it difficult to both plan, and stick to, my time sheets. For the subsequent assignments, ‘A3 – Back To Basic’ and ‘A4 – Image Rights’, which ran alongside each other, I set out to improve my time management skills. I found this to be a success, and since then I have found my time management skills have massively improved with each assignment.
To further develop my time management skills into the second year, I plan to produce a new way to plan and record my time, rather than using the standard production schedule and time sheets provided.
Feedback Processes
Important to the production of work this year has been the feedback processes I have used. These include the Journal entries and comments, the Seminar Groups and Das Forum. My feeling is that although feedback has been scarce at times, the results of these processes have improved throughout the year, and have definitely helped me to improve my own standard of work. This is a crucial aspect to continue developing into next year, and is something which needs to be a priority for development for the whole group, in my opinion. I also intend to take my own feedback processes further by extending away from College and gaining feedback from other sources.
Over the year, I have also developed a tendency to critique random pieces of design. This has ended up with me having a more rounded approach to design work, in that I have a stock up in my mind of what I’ve seen work and what I’ve seen not work. By being immersed in the design world, I find I naturally begin to evolve as a designer. I think that when I do this, I need to stick these in my sketchbook and annotate. I have done this with a lot of pieces this year, but need to work out a way to get those things I see out and about into my sketchbooks.
Other Knowledge and Skills
This year has brought about the development of my knowledge into a number of aspects of both print and web design. I have found that the more I know about these, the more I want to know. For example, the little bit of CSS used to format text for the ‘A5 – Builder’ assignment spurred me on to look further into what CSS can do, and I am now more proficient with it, although there is still a long way to go. This applies too for the print process, a subject which confuses me in many ways, but this inspires me to want to look deeper into it.
What’s Next?
Looking back over the past year, I can see the skills I have begun to develop. However, I can’t afford to oversell myself and believe I have become the final product. I still have a long way to go, in terms of developing the aforementioned skills, as well as skills to come in the future. I still haven’t got a distinction grade. I still need to develop the ability to consistently create professional designs. I still need to develop my coding and web developing skills. There’s a lot of work still to be done.
In the short term, my focus needs to be on improving my ideas generation, specifically allowing myself to become more creative. This is something I have been scared of in the past, although it has got better recently. I need to continue developing this, without the fear of attracting criticism or controversy. Another priority for working on over the summer is to improve my coding skills; becoming more efficient and gaining a deeper knowledge of CSS, XHTML, etc. I also need to continue developing my time management and feedback processes.
In the medium term I need to begin planning for employment. The fact of the matter is that employment is only 12 months away. To do this, I need to begin to gain some experience working in a commercial environment. Experience is crucial in the design industry, with many employers asking for a minimum of 2 years experience. Thankfully, I have the opportunity before me to work in the design department for a golfing magazine, which will provide me with some worthwhile experience. I also intend on trying to get some additional web design work over the summer, as this will also be important when it comes to job hunting next year.
In terms of long term aims, this year has altered my perceptions somewhat. Looking back on the first ever Journal post, I spoke about it being my long term goal to work for myself. This was also the case around Christmas time, when the review of the first semester was posted online. Since then, however, it has become clear to me that this might not be as easy as first thought. It still would be a dream of mine to do freelance stuff, but I think that it’s going to be important to work in the business for another company/person for a good few years before seriously considering moving on to freelance work.
In shot, these are my goals:
- Improve ideas generation and creative work;
- Produce my own method of time management;
- Continue to develop feedback processes;
- Develop coding skills.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Busy Bee
The past week has been very, very tiring. I've had a lot to concentrate on, not just college work. Thankfully, I've managed to prioritise my college work, but prep for an interview/trial day I had a Sports Publications LTD, which produce National Club Golfer and Lady Golfer has taken a lot of time, specifically in the recreation of a better portfolio site. Thankfully, it paid off, and the day went really well. Part time job, here I come...
I'm feeling really comfortable with the deadline at the moment. I feel that sticking rigidly to my production schedule from day 1 has again paid off, and leaves me feeling comfortable with what I have left to do. Specifically, I need to finish off my advert for The Wire magazine and complete my Merit and Distinction List and Evaluation.
I'm happy with the process of producing my ad so far, and feel quite comfortable with this. To be honest, my trial day today has put into perspective how common a task like this truly is. I had to design 3 adverts like this in 2 hours, and that was very generous timing. Put in a professional setting, stuff like this needs to be rolled out like it's nothing. I guess it makes me appreciate the time I have with college work to get things just as I want them.
In terms of the evaluation, I definitely feel comfortable with this. Evaluation is something that comes to me quite easily when I spend the time thinking about things. Although perhaps this hasn't always been portrayed through my blog, I feel my evaluation of each assignment has really aided my progression on the course so far, helping me target my weaknesses and carry on the development of my strengths.
I've now got together what I consider to be my final artwork proposal, and hopefully this will be what is included in my submission next week. I'm really pleased with the work I've produced for the CD artwork, so without further ado...
Digipak® Outer
Digipak Inner
CD Body
EDIT: I've now done my Advert for The Wire:
I'm feeling really comfortable with the deadline at the moment. I feel that sticking rigidly to my production schedule from day 1 has again paid off, and leaves me feeling comfortable with what I have left to do. Specifically, I need to finish off my advert for The Wire magazine and complete my Merit and Distinction List and Evaluation.
I'm happy with the process of producing my ad so far, and feel quite comfortable with this. To be honest, my trial day today has put into perspective how common a task like this truly is. I had to design 3 adverts like this in 2 hours, and that was very generous timing. Put in a professional setting, stuff like this needs to be rolled out like it's nothing. I guess it makes me appreciate the time I have with college work to get things just as I want them.
In terms of the evaluation, I definitely feel comfortable with this. Evaluation is something that comes to me quite easily when I spend the time thinking about things. Although perhaps this hasn't always been portrayed through my blog, I feel my evaluation of each assignment has really aided my progression on the course so far, helping me target my weaknesses and carry on the development of my strengths.
I've now got together what I consider to be my final artwork proposal, and hopefully this will be what is included in my submission next week. I'm really pleased with the work I've produced for the CD artwork, so without further ado...
Digipak® Outer
Digipak Inner
CD Body
EDIT: I've now done my Advert for The Wire:
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Not long left....
It's really hit home this week how little time we have left of this year. Only two weeks to the last deadline of the first year!
Having mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I wasn't looking forward to the CD artwork design, I'm pleased to say that it was an erroneous prediction. I've actually really enjoyed the process of developing the emotions and thoughts I put down in my original mind maps and mood boards, and conceptualising them to create a piece of design. What's more, I'm really happy with the design that I have come up with. For those of you who don't know, I've gone down the route of the 'Headphones' idea from my last post. I'll post up a 'final proposal' of the Digipak® Inner and Outer in the next few days if all goes to plan.
The CD body, at the moment, is non-existent. This is something that, probably unwisely, I've been side-lining. I just haven't had any instantaneous ideas to jot down, and I've been concentrating on other things up until now. However, the latter half of this week is going to have to be focused on the ideas and development process for this. My production schedule tells me I need to complete this before the beginning of next week, so I can move on to the magazine advert and my evaluation, and I do feel confident I will be able to achieve this.
This week also brought around the task of creating a Preflight Document to accompany the CD artwork. Having no clue where to start with this, I spent a bit of time researching into the process of preflighting last week. It's become clear that this can be a really useful exercise when in the final stages of producing work for print. It's not just a process for printers, but can be useful for designers too. In the long run, spending a bit of time checking through things can save time for both professions.
Having a seminar group based almost exclusively on feedback today proved to be a useful exercise. A few things were raised which can improve my work, and even the most minor of things are so important. After all, design is in the details (thanks to Steve for that article).
On Tuesday morning we had a discussion about the progression onto the 2nd year of the course. This was another occasion that it really hits you how fast time's moving on, and how much we're progressing. It really got me thinking about how far I've come in a relatively short amount of time. But I'll leave this for the year's evaluation in a couple of weeks... I don't want to use up all my material! The fact is though, I'm really looking forward to progressing further and moving on with my studies.
Having mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I wasn't looking forward to the CD artwork design, I'm pleased to say that it was an erroneous prediction. I've actually really enjoyed the process of developing the emotions and thoughts I put down in my original mind maps and mood boards, and conceptualising them to create a piece of design. What's more, I'm really happy with the design that I have come up with. For those of you who don't know, I've gone down the route of the 'Headphones' idea from my last post. I'll post up a 'final proposal' of the Digipak® Inner and Outer in the next few days if all goes to plan.
The CD body, at the moment, is non-existent. This is something that, probably unwisely, I've been side-lining. I just haven't had any instantaneous ideas to jot down, and I've been concentrating on other things up until now. However, the latter half of this week is going to have to be focused on the ideas and development process for this. My production schedule tells me I need to complete this before the beginning of next week, so I can move on to the magazine advert and my evaluation, and I do feel confident I will be able to achieve this.
This week also brought around the task of creating a Preflight Document to accompany the CD artwork. Having no clue where to start with this, I spent a bit of time researching into the process of preflighting last week. It's become clear that this can be a really useful exercise when in the final stages of producing work for print. It's not just a process for printers, but can be useful for designers too. In the long run, spending a bit of time checking through things can save time for both professions.
Having a seminar group based almost exclusively on feedback today proved to be a useful exercise. A few things were raised which can improve my work, and even the most minor of things are so important. After all, design is in the details (thanks to Steve for that article).
On Tuesday morning we had a discussion about the progression onto the 2nd year of the course. This was another occasion that it really hits you how fast time's moving on, and how much we're progressing. It really got me thinking about how far I've come in a relatively short amount of time. But I'll leave this for the year's evaluation in a couple of weeks... I don't want to use up all my material! The fact is though, I'm really looking forward to progressing further and moving on with my studies.
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Digipak® Outer
Here are 3 ideas for the Digipak® Outer that I've decided to digitise in order to give you a better basis to give feedback on. I'm going to give a bit of a blurb for each so you can understand the thought processes behind each.
Binary
This is the first idea I digitised. Essentially, it is based on the digital aspects of the music. I've used binary code to spell out 'Beatsystem' and '2297' repeatedly on the cover, with the artist and album names placed within this in bold. I feel this idea isn't particularly strong, and is somewhat clichéd. Probably my least favourite.
Headphones
This idea is based on a concept I had whilst listening the the CD for the first time. It gave me a sense of frustration and discomfort, so I really wanted to personify this somehow. By taking a stock image and giving it an abstract feel, I'm happy with the way I've managed to do this. Some people say it's a bit scary, and would therefore discourage people from buying the album, but I disagree. The best way to sell a product is to attract attention, and this, in my opinion, would do this.
Invade
This concept came from the title of the first track on the CD, 'Invade Areas Where Nothing's Definite'. Again, I've gone with an abstract feel with this design. I've used Adobe Illustrator to create both the military vehicles and the sign. The strongest point of this design is the contrast used, but overall, I'm not sure about it. I like the concept, I'm just not sure I've made it work. It just seems a bit empty.
Obviously, feedback would be brilliant.
Binary
This is the first idea I digitised. Essentially, it is based on the digital aspects of the music. I've used binary code to spell out 'Beatsystem' and '2297' repeatedly on the cover, with the artist and album names placed within this in bold. I feel this idea isn't particularly strong, and is somewhat clichéd. Probably my least favourite.
Headphones
This idea is based on a concept I had whilst listening the the CD for the first time. It gave me a sense of frustration and discomfort, so I really wanted to personify this somehow. By taking a stock image and giving it an abstract feel, I'm happy with the way I've managed to do this. Some people say it's a bit scary, and would therefore discourage people from buying the album, but I disagree. The best way to sell a product is to attract attention, and this, in my opinion, would do this.
Invade
This concept came from the title of the first track on the CD, 'Invade Areas Where Nothing's Definite'. Again, I've gone with an abstract feel with this design. I've used Adobe Illustrator to create both the military vehicles and the sign. The strongest point of this design is the contrast used, but overall, I'm not sure about it. I like the concept, I'm just not sure I've made it work. It just seems a bit empty.
Obviously, feedback would be brilliant.
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