To kickstart my project I brainstormed a few initial ideas, taking into consideration a few factors. Firstly, I wanted to pick something that was relevant to my degree as this would obviously be beneficial. I also wanted to choose a project that I am interested in as being passionate about a subject is useful for maintaining motivation throughout a long term project.
I considered the different skills I have, such as previous experience in graphic design as well as some photography skills, contemplating how I could bring these skills to the final artefact. Finally, I considered contacts I currently have as working with a client I have already established a relationship with, might mean they are more co-operative than someone I haven't met before.
The three main artefacts I thought about creating were a book, a "bloggers magazine" (which I will go into more detail about in a moment) and some sort of social media campaign. For each of those artefacts I thought of potential clients I could work with.
I thought that creating a social media campaign would be a good idea as it is relevant to my degree of Digital Marketing and is also an industry I'm interested in working in after I graduate. I liked the idea of creating a campaign for a local business as I am passionate about supporting small, local businesses and think that there are plenty of them in Portsmouth, who would like someone to help them in this area.
I used to volunteer for Made With Hartt, a local "community/charity gift shop" and thought they would be a great client as they are always looking to spread awareness of their work, so this is a potential client for me.
I quite like the idea of creating some sort of book, as I have previous experience with graphic design and a keen interest in typographic layout, photography and illustration. I did consider making some kind of children's book but felt it wasn't very relevant to my course or what I want to do in the future.
I did like the idea of creating a cookbook, again for a small local business, either in Portsmouth or in my hometown. Potential clients include Pet Lamb Patisserie (a bakery in Newcastle) who have a strong pastel, Americano aesthetic that would be interesting to incorporate in the book, The Olde Young Teahouse who create homemade bakes and teas, also have a strong brand identity that would be good to work with and finally Wild Thyme Foods.
Wild Thyme Foods are a Portsmouth based, organic, natural, vegan grocery store and cafe. Working with them to create a healthy baking book could be very interesting and also quite popular as this kind of lifestyle is on trend at the moment.
The final idea I had was a "blogger's magazine". I have been running my own beauty and lifestyle blog for over three years and have a strong connection with the blogging community. It is something I am passionate about and believe there is a gap in the market for a magazine that is created by bloggers, for other bloggers and blog fans to read.
Again, it would involve my skills in graphic design and photography and would be relevant to my degree as I am currently applying for placements in the social media/blogging marketing industries.
As I have contacts with other bloggers, I am also confident that I would be able to find bloggers to collaborate with on this project, which would hopefully lead to a strong piece of work.
I brainstormed a few ideas for what the magazine could include, covering topics such as beauty, fashion, health and culture as well as features like a book club, an agony aunt and interviews with bloggers.
Identifying the Project
Out of all of my ideas I am strongly passionate about creating a magazine aimed at the blogging community. Although I won't be working with one specific client, there is opportunity to collaborate with other people and involve them in the creative process.
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