Crowe About It - Self Branding.

Pink one for me. It works because of the double meaning.

"Something to Crowe about" - shouldn't it have a question mark, if it's the leader to a flyer maybe?
 
Wardy said:
Pink one for me. It works because of the double meaning.

"Something to Crowe about" - shouldn't it have a question mark, if it's the leader to a flyer maybe?
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Sorry what is the double meaning? I may be overlooking something. I intend to use a variety of colours not just these ones.

As for the question mark, using that could show doubt over my own work whereas how it is now is stating that my work is something to crowe about.

Thank you.
 
Yes, the double meaning is probably a bit tenuous, but it could be read as:
You are "about" it, as in "all over it" ? Maybe not. :(
 
I love the idea of the card, however, my main issues are that firstly, the font you've chosen looks like it's been cut out with a pair of scissors. Think newspaper Photoshop jobs - not good! The R, N and W all look rather mangled to me.

Secondly, as inspired as I am with the uniqueness of the card, when I get to the contact page it all seems a little... lacklustre. Other than the shape, there are very few designer elements to this business card of a person who specialises in graphic design.

Lastly, I think the font size is too small for the contact details and some (older) people may struggle to read it.

As for your mailer idea, well it may be because I'm very tired, but I really don't understand your proposal. You send out stickers (door to door style?) to people who then put these stickers on newspaper articles/magazines they find interesting. Presumably articles/magazines they have already bought and are sitting at home? Why would they do this? If something like that came through my door I'd more than certainly put it in the recycling bin.

I'm not being overly critical, I'm just trying to highlight potential questions that I think should be addressed before you go ahead with a project that could potentially waste your time and resources. As I said, I may not have understood correctly so please feel free to correct me.
 
I personally love the look and idea of the card, I would perhaps but more emphasis on the 'Crowe' and definitely increase the font size on the back. One thing I would say though (having shown my girlfriend your card) is that without any idea of what you actually do as a graphic designer it might be hard to pull people over to your website or contact you. With a vague background in design I would definitely check you out, my girlfriend on the other hand who likes fairies and cake probably wouldn't bother with the info she gets from the card.

However, if people do check your details out you more than back yourself up with the work you've posted on your blog, especially your recent valentine cards which are great!

Loving your work.
 
Squiddy said:
I love the idea of the card, however, my main issues are that firstly, the font you've chosen looks like it's been cut out with a pair of scissors. Think newspaper Photoshop jobs - not good! The R, N and W all look rather mangled to me.
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You're right. The font was originally a grungy one(as shown on the first page of this thread(I think)) Which I decided did not represent my style of work and was no need or reasoning behind it, so I pen tooled around it to get what you see. However this was quite a rushed process so I need to re-do that. I didn't want the letters to be uniform but instead more 'moving around' to try and represent someone talking/crowing about my work.

Squiddy said:
Secondly, as inspired as I am with the uniqueness of the card, when I get to the contact page it all seems a little... lacklustre. Other than the shape, there are very few designer elements to this business card of a person who specialises in graphic design.
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For the back I just wanted to show contrast from the front, but again, I think you may be right, however I am not sure what to do to show that I am a designer. Any ideas?


Squiddy said:
Lastly, I think the font size is too small for the contact details and some (older) people may struggle to read it.
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I will see what it looks like up a point size or two. Because the cards are slightly bigger than standard business cards the font is somewhat lost(I went for 6 or 7pt, the business cards I have researched seem to be around 6pt)

Squiddy said:
As for your mailer idea, well it may be because I'm very tired, but I really don't understand your proposal. You send out stickers (door to door style?) to people who then put these stickers on newspaper articles/magazines they find interesting. Presumably articles/magazines they have already bought and are sitting at home? Why would they do this? If something like that came through my door I'd more than certainly put it in the recycling bin.

I'm not being overly critical, I'm just trying to highlight potential questions that I think should be addressed before you go ahead with a project that could potentially waste your time and resources. As I said, I may not have understood correctly so please feel free to correct me.
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I forgot the main point(my bad). The newspaper will be a designed portfolio to show my work. The paper could be called 'The Designer' for example, and the main story 'Aspiring Designer Seeks Work Placement' which will then have a little information about myself and my style of working. Then inside would be a selected few pieces of work representing each area of design I specialise in. The sticker idea may or may not work, the concept is that the businesses I send them to(inside the newspaper) would use them to mark my work if they like it, something for them to refer back to. I hope this has cleared things up.

This is the kind of criticism which is highly useful so don't be afraid of giving it. Praise will not get me anywhere so I thank you for the help.


yellowdog said:
I personally love the look and idea of the card, I would perhaps but more emphasis on the 'Crowe' and definitely increase the font size on the back. One thing I would say though (having shown my girlfriend your card) is that without any idea of what you actually do as a graphic designer it might be hard to pull people over to your website or contact you. With a vague background in design I would definitely check you out, my girlfriend on the other hand who likes fairies and cake probably wouldn't bother with the info she gets from the card.

However, if people do check your details out you more than back yourself up with the work you've posted on your blog, especially your recent valentine cards which are great!

Loving your work.
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That is something I hadn't thought of, the business card typography was done in this way to fit it onto the card as tightly as I could. I will have a play around to see if i can improve it highlighting 'Crowe'.

As for the second point, I'm not sure how to convey what I do, this is what stumped me when first designing them. Apart from the bright colours I use in most of my work being shown in the cards.

Thanks again for the helpful criticisms! :)

My behance, I am working on getting a website going, Croweaboutit.com needs work:
http://www.behance.net/matthewcrowe
 
Hi Matthew, sorry I've been quite busy lately and haven't had much of a chance to check the forums!

I think the newspaper portfolio is a great idea, and most certainly something that will make you stand out from the crowd - as long as it isn't viewed purely as a CV and thrown into the pile with the rest of them. I still don't think I understand your sticker idea enough to comment on it unfortunately.

Have you re-done the font? If so, lets have a look. As for the design part, that's your job! You should know how to make something look interesting whilst communicating a specific message. (i.e. Graphic Designer). Call me crazy but I've always thought that putting a graphic design onto something would promote a graphic designer well, especially if you haven't yet created every element of your brand. I'm talking about random shapes, lines etc. Google image "graphic design" and have a look around.

Let us know how you get on.
 
Squiddy said:
Hi Matthew, sorry I've been quite busy lately and haven't had much of a chance to check the forums!

I think the newspaper portfolio is a great idea, and most certainly something that will make you stand out from the crowd - as long as it isn't viewed purely as a CV and thrown into the pile with the rest of them. I still don't think I understand your sticker idea enough to comment on it unfortunately.

Have you re-done the font? If so, lets have a look. As for the design part, that's your job! You should know how to make something look interesting whilst communicating a specific message. (i.e. Graphic Designer). Call me crazy but I've always thought that putting a graphic design onto something would promote a graphic designer well, especially if you haven't yet created every element of your brand. I'm talking about random shapes, lines etc. Google image "graphic design" and have a look around.

Let us know how you get on.
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Here is a sample of the newspaper design I have come up with. It is designed to show my work as a portfolio but also ask for a placement. I wanted to keep the newspaper quite stripped back, so used only black and white photography and colours.

This says I can make professional looking designs come up with interesting concepts...but then, in the middle page will be the bright colours I use in my work, so possibly a large copy of my logo. If I send a fair few of these out to each company then the logo colour can be different per paper such as:


I want to try and have small, clever details within the paper. 'Free Paper', 'are you crowing about it?' etc, still need to think of more. But i feel these small details will add to the overall strength of the concept.

I need to decide on how the front cover will look, could it be a cheeky picture of myself? to throw a bit of humour into it? Could it be my designed CV on the front? Or should this be on a separate piece of paper loose inside the newspaper?


As for the business card, I have looked again at it and have to say I quite like how it looks, I have tidied up some of the edges so they are more smooth. After thinking, I'm not sure if it is absolutely necessary for the card to scream I am a graphic designer. What will attract people to it is the bright coloured and unique shape/nature of it. The front contrasts from the back which is good as the front logo should not be overpowered.





Thank you for the reply.
 
I like the cards, loving the colours too. Glad the distressed text from a while back is gone.
 
The business cards look like a cool idea. Do you plan to have them printed just on card stock? It'd be interesting to see those on semi-gloss plastic, but I know the regular paper ones are cheaper.

You'll likely already know that the printed colors may be slightly different than how they look on screen, but wanted to mention I like most of the colors except for that one that is kind of a yellow but with lots of green. Maybe its just my eyes, but seems like there is too little contrast between it and the white letters.

Though it is only a business card which usually only gets glanced at anyway so maybe its not so important.:)
 
Rhonda said:
The business cards look like a cool idea. Do you plan to have them printed just on card stock? It'd be interesting to see those on semi-gloss plastic, but I know the regular paper ones are cheaper.

You'll likely already know that the printed colors may be slightly different than how they look on screen, but wanted to mention I like most of the colors except for that one that is kind of a yellow but with lots of green. Maybe its just my eyes, but seems like there is too little contrast between it and the white letters.

Though it is only a business card which usually only gets glanced at anyway so maybe its not so important.:)
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The one below the black? I have asked the printers I use to print these colours as samples so I know what they will look like before I put forward a large print.

Thanks
 
I absolutely adore your business cards Matthew and I think it’s very clever to have them printed in a variety of colors. I also love your slogan’s play on words. The yellow card blends a bit too much with the words, but when it all comes down to it I think they are very well done. Please keep us posted and let us know how they look once printed!
 
Hello! I got my papers printed a few weeks ago now and they turned out better than expected, sadly I found a small typo but nonetheless they are great. I would post some photos here but there are so many I will just link you to my blog. I send these out to four design agencies around the Bristol area. Two of which I manage to hand deliver which was a great experience. Using two lengths of string I tied up 4-5 newspaper for each company, this would let the whole agency have a read rather than just the Direct etc. I then slipped a personal letter under the string which would set them up for what I am looking for(work placement).

My business cards also turned up, I love the magenta, cyan and black, sadly the green isn't as good as it could be and the yellow is mightily bright! Curse the printers! I will try and get some photos of this up soon!
 
Its a shame about the typo as this is a major no-no, If I was a creative director and noticed it, (which they will) I would question what if that was on one of my jobs, costing potentially thousands of pounds?
 
I like it, if I got that through my door I would sure take a look and give you an interview. I like the presentation using the sting think its a nice effect. Just out of curiosity how much did it cost to produce?
 
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