Costa del Sol Chadwick level 6 graphic design

https://solchadwick.cargo.site/

"A typographic designer starts from the word up; a graphic designer starts from the picture down"  - Erik Spiekermann This first effort was a bit big and obnoxious so I went back to the drawing board 

A couple of weeks ago I emailed a portfolio to Rob Boyd as a reply to an open call for type orientated graphic designers. It was a nice affirmation for him to ask for one based on my Instagram profile but I haven't heard back from him so I'm assuming he wasn't interested as he knows were to find me. Rob is a fashion designer with a passion for technical wear, I have been following him for a while and free like I could provide some interesting designs for his specific industry. He was asking for logotype work for 'soar' a running brand for whom he is the chief designer. With this in mind, I compiled a custom portfolio to send to him with a rethink of a tiny personal brief that I did over summer for my dads running club. This practice in tailoring a portfolio for a very specific industry is a useful development for me and hopefully, I will be in his mind a tiny bit even if my work wasn't right for the call in question. Here are some Instagram screenshots and t...

For a while, I have been exchanging pleasantries with SE London artist and videographer Cal Beasley. Cal has worked with a host of streetwear industry names from Nike to Samuele Ross to Liam Hodges. I understand he works as an assistant to Will Reid on shoots. Will does photography for one of my collaborators/clients from this year DENIAL so I presume this is where the connection started. I am a fan of Cals work and recently was invited to participate in a publication he is compiling featuring images of creative in quarantine, so I obliged a somewhat cringe image of myself for the publication and asked if he'd be down for some collaborative work in summer. I think the fact that Cal is linked to Liam Hodges whose name keeps coming up through different projects is a good omen and I'd love to work for Liam one day, perhaps with Lou Alsop if that comes up. Anyway, any project with Cal is as yet unconfirmed and I need to set the ball rolling with ideas as I was the one who suggested...

@solchadwick By today we had to submit a summary of our 36 characters from start to finish. My set was eclectic and colourful as I had set out for with an interesting set of visual trends that picked up intermittently throughout either through unconscious design or coincidence. I displayed the full 36 on one tile, then a spelt out message 'THANK YOU 36 D.O.T" and then my top 3 most liked posts. Coincidentally 2 of the 3 top liked came from the set of number, maybe a reflection of my growing confidence, experimentation and time committed as the project progressed.  I think my response did certainly increase in complexity as the days passed and there were certainly some lulls in the middle as it became tricky to maintain a certain standard. I also found that attaching the letterforms to certain artists or movement and then tagging said artist/movement helped to generate likes from non-followers. I certainly found myself becoming increasingly immersed in the production of each ...

An interesting article I found on Creative Bloq has made me realise that producing a type foundry right now wouldn't be the best use of my time and therefore I'm going to scrap brief 8. The original timetabled proposal was to use some of my final month to get a physical specimen out in collaboration with a craftsman, however, with covid-19 it doesn't look like that's going to be possible and I have taken advice that there could be a few headaches with setting up my own digital foundry, namely around licencing and without interaction with the buyer there could be some issues around licensing that I don't have the financial means to enforce. It's probably better to sit on the idea for now and look into selling fonts through a mediating third party.      "You've created your own typeface. Now what? Whether you harbor a secret desire to see designers and  creative directors  around the world using your fonts, or simply put some recent downtime to go...

Following on from my collaboration with Emanuele Piarulli before Christmas and acting on my secondary passion, continuing to target interaction with fashion designers and those working in the industry. I generally believe that if I can get a foothold through projects with designers I respect then I can grow a reputable name within the industry at whatever level. From my experience so far word of mouth appears to be the best way to get my name out there.  I have had a few interactions with Lou Alsop since before Christmas as I featured her in my COP essay. As a continuation of this over the last couple of months, I have been reacting to her stories and generally trying to be kept in mind for an internship of sorts whenever that may be possible. I asked after my essay if working with her would be possible and she replied a bit delayed but didn't shut it down suggesting she would give me a shout if she needed some help with graphic elements. Working with Lou would be a dream on tru...

You should all have a website live for the final PPP submission in May.  Draft sent to Alec via Estudio by March 17th. Must-haves:    Consistent application of personal branding. A curated selection of your work  An engaging bio  Include contact details and relevant socials via working links including :mailto link Always give your projects some context with rationale copy Image quality is essential Intuitive layout and navigation Either build or continue to refine a custom site  Squarespace Persona.co Cargo Collective Adobe Portfolio ReadyMag Format Fabrik  Make sure your site is live for assessment Inspiration at:  siteinspire.com awwwards.com goodweb.design readymag.com/explore Professional sites: Claire Köster clairekoster.com Fanqiao Wang  cargocollective.com/fanqiaowang Jules Morin  julesmorin.com Zack Wellin zackwellin.com Mariano Pascual mariano-pascual.me Rob...

As part of my 'fashioning the industry' PPP project, I have produced a logotype for Gramm. the Manchester-based fashion/street and techwear house. I included these below images in my recent studio practise crit but here's the information for my PPP blog. The prospective work came about through a friend and LAU alumni who does 3D work for Gramm. He said they enjoyed my response and would be in touch but still nothing. I think in hindsight the response was too dated and needed some refining. Hopefully, I will work with Gramm in future and get another chance to innovate. With regards to the Gramm. logotype I submitted as part of their competition. I showed the brand Instagram as well as a means of gauging how appropriate the identity was. The crit group appeared to agree with me that maybe it was a little too true to my calligraphic style and not digital enough for the brand in question. I think the dynamism of the type fits the fast pace of a streetwear brand but just ...

Being published online is good but in print is more notable and doesn’t get as lost in the continuous feed. Instagram accounts to consider tagging: @thebrandidentity @certainmagazine @graphic.index @collectgraphics @icographica @graphic.directory @curatory_  @typegoodness Design boom rbd@itsnicethat.com Keep personal Instagram private and separate from the main work account. Consider cultivating a twitter account and following on there. Becca Jones, Beth Lyon/Nara Design Try and get some kind of press coverage via the various means this year Case study: Michael William Lester - Character Building Task for blogs: write a fractions feature about yourself I have decided to write about the type family I made for Emanuele Piarulli before Christmas: ' Sol Chadwick is using Typography to Help Fashion Startups Sew Customers from the Global Megahouses The Leeds Art University student recent collaboration with menswear graduate and fellow LAU alumni Emanuele Piarull...

Creatives have come up with a whole host of self-branding solutions that either bypass the need for an internship or allow a more innovative progression into a dream job via a custom made portfolio. First, we should envision our dream future job/a realistic position achievable with a project straight out of uni: I would like to be a midweight/junior typographer at a foundry or type first studio, preferably within Europe or the UK at first. To find this position I feel that I need not only to have a strong portfolio displaying a beautiful range of typography but also I must show innovative methods of displaying said typography. We view type increasingly digitally so removing my faces from the screen or allowing some interplay between digital and tangible mediums is important to help me stand out. I found one example of a project that is a little similar to the examples given this morning but more specifically for typography, within this horribly dated Kickstarter campaign from 201...

Unfortunately, I found out today that I haven't been offered an internship at studio GOLDEN. This didn't come as much of a surprise as I didn't feel like I was a very good match for the studio, they are not very typographically focused which does beg the question why they asked me for an interview after seeing my portfolio but it was a good experience anyway. It does make me think I should broaden my portfolio a bit and make sure I ask still focusing on the whole picture instead of just the type within projects. I feel like I can do the whole thing and am not just a typographer but I understand that my portfolio might not be the best reflection of this. I originally approached the interview thinking I would love to suggest to them that I work as a freelance typographer alongside their projects but it soon became apparent that they do everything like that in house which is a bit of a shame because I feel like a specified typographer would really help some of their campaign...

Last week I received a DM from a lady called Catherine from Leeds based studio Golden (@togetherwearegolden), to say some representatives had attended our Out of Context exhibition for the COP practical work. This was the first I had heard of the studio as was a very affirming message to receive. She asked for my portfolio which of course instantly inspired panic as I didn't have one at all but I said I was updating it and would send it over asap. This was, of course, perfect timing due to the upcoming portfolio crit that happened yesterday and allowed me to get it all sorted way before the Tuesday. Golden replied via email a day after I submitted last Thursday to say they would like me to come in for an interview, which I attended this Monday just gone... a quick turn around. The interview itself went okay, I felt like the two representatives liked my work and thought my type was engaging and interesting. However, I fully didn't know how the practicalities of their studio work...