Promoting Myself to Employers: Target Market Senior Digital Positions

As research for this small project I have looked at my target market, these are employers who are looking for Heads of Digital Design as this is what I advertised myself as in my promotional video. 

The first job I looked at it for a make-up and skincare company Charlotte Tilbury, London.  In real life, it would be highly unlikely I would choose to work for a make-up and skincare company however I chose this as the Head of Digital Design job description did match some of the skills and experience I have. When looking for jobs or looking for jobs that you aspire to it is important to really research your industry and find out what employers are looking for. 

This job description begins with 'This role will see you working on a variety of creative projects across the business. With leadership experience, you will have a demonstrated passion for navigating a team of talented individuals in improving digital marketing creative, and have a keen eye for detail in all things digital marketing.'  On my video, I stated that I had leadership skills, creativity, and innovative digital solution in marketing, so good start in the expected skills.  I then looked at 'Key Selection Criteria' this is most important to discern whether I actually have all the skills needed for the job so let's look at these and whether my skills are up to scratch!

Key Selection Criteria:

• Proven experience in team management and leadership of an army of creatives 

At present, I lead and manage a team of very creative art, design and media tutors so I am hoping that this would be provable experience that I have clearly stated on my CV

• Experience working on digital + ecomm design, ideally agency experience

Here I clearly work in Digital and I understand e-commerce and digital design through building websites and through working online, however, I have never worked at a design agency therefore in my cover letter I need to ensure I highlight the key skills I have in this area.

• Experience in, and enthusiasm for, developing creative ideas for digital platforms, as well as 360 campaigns, from brief to delivery

Clearly I have experience and enthusiasm for developing creative ideas on digital platforms and I have work online to show this skill.  I have not worked on a 360 campaign but understnd the process from brief to delivery through academic teaching and working online

• Ability to marry art (creative) and science (data); analytically looking at data, reporting and applying it to future projects and creative

In my job now I can give very good examples of working both creatively with and art and design but also in management we use data and statistics throughout the year which we create reports for quality assurance and board meetings.  This again would be outlined in my Cv and could be discussed at interview 

• Understanding of online accessibility, UX / UI

As you are aware from last term I discussed with you the importance of UI/UX design and this is something I have an in-depth knowledge of through working in digital design 

• A strong track record in project planning, including accurate estimation of costs and timings

In academic work planning is everything to ensure that everything is delivered in a timely manner so this again is a provable element of experience.  However, I do not work with budgets or costings and this area would be a weakness.

• Expert knowledge of user interface, application, mobile and responsive design, using the latest prototyping and design tools

I am very up to date on current design tools and strive to keep ahead in this area of digital design as it is part of my job

• Great sense of design and composition with a strong eye for layout and appreciation of brand guidelines across all devices and channels

I do have a strong eye for good design and I have worked to brand guidelines at DMU and for other companies online so I understand and can execute this very well

• Ability to work at pace, with a confidently calm demeanour

I do work at pace, not sure I am always calm but for the most part I would say as I am confident in my work and therefore I do carry out tasks with ease

• Exceptional information presentation (visual and written) experience

I think writing the programme for IYZ Art & Design and IYZ Media and preparing and making the majority of the presentation resources I am confident that I have in-depth experience of this.

• Infectiously positive and passionate energy

I am passionate and positive about my work and working is art, design and media and I think this comes through when discussing this aspect of my work.

• Proficiency in Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, Google Suite (email, docs, drive, slides)

I am clearly proficient in Adobe Suite and Google as these are digital tools I use every day.  I had not used Sketch before but as I was doing this I checked it out however I think that it works more for Apple Mac users 

• Experience using Dropbox, and project management tools such as Trello

Have experience of using dropbox and I am aware of management tools programmes and how they work but have not used Trello before. 

From looking at this and considering my skills I might be tempted to apply for this as I do think that I have the digital design and management skills required.  I think doing this and considering carefully each requirement is key to success when applying for jobs.  Essentially you should apply for jobs that you want and that you are genuinely interested in but also that you have the right requirements for, as you can see above I did not have every single requirement but I would consider I had enough to apply and send my CV.  if the company think that I am suitable they will invite me for an interview but if not nothing has been lost by sending my CV and giving this a go.

While I was doing this I found several jobs as Head of Digital Design, as I stated at the beginning I perhaps would not want to work for a make-up and skincare company as this is not an area of interest, particularly for me but I would enjoy the design and marketing elements of this job.  On further research, I looked at several jobs of this kind and discovers that the key criteria and skills needed were very similar.  Therefore if I was looking to move into this sector I think I would work on familiarizing myself with more digital business and management tools and looking at budgets and as these are my weakest areas here.

Overall this was a interesting exercise and it did make me consider my skills, knowledge and employability and what transferable skills I have from the education sector. 

 

Biteable Video Process

 In the first session of the term, we were creating a Biteable video with the aim of promoting ourselves online to potential employers/clients.  

In my video, I wanted to go for the role of Head of Digital Design. I began by opening Bietable.com and then going to 'Templates and choosing a CV/resume template.

After choosing the template I started by editing the text by clicking on the text and changing the wording in this slide below I changed the wording to '20 years experience in Digital Design'  and tried to briefly outline my experience.

I also, replaced the colour background and the graphics and text colors by clicking on 'Edit' and then going into the left-hand style menu to change the colour combinations, I changed it to this purple hue however I think I will change this again as I am not sure I particularly like this shade. 

I added a video on each slide by clicking into the advanced editor and 'Replace Background' so I could search for a suitable stock video, I chose videos as I think this moves the narrative forward and add more life to the presentation. 

In the editor, you can see the overall presentation and in the advanced editor, I can individually change the slides.  I then also changed the music by just clicking under the timeline on the musical note and choosing suitable music.  My final actions were just lengthening some of the scenes, I did this by just dragging the scene on the timeline to add extra seconds.  I deleted any slides I did not want by clicking on the scene in the timeline and then the blue arrow at the top to delete the scene.  I did some final quality checks of spelling, and timing, adjusted the sizes of text and video in places, and then I clicked on 'start free trial' to publish.  Please follow the link below to view the video.

Zoe Van-de-Velde: Promotional Video

Overall I think it could be a great personal marketing tool in addition to a formal Cv and would work well on a website to promote my skills. 

Welcome to Spring Term 2023!

 Welcome to the new term!  Another Spring Term and I am hoping that it will be exciting both academically, and practically, and that we will get the beginning of some lovely warm weather.

Gérard de Nerval

I would like to kick off this term with the poetry of Gérard de Nerval (1808–1855)  De Nerval was a French experimental poet who liked to take his lobster for a walk!  Whether this is true or not is highly debatable however De Nerval was quite eccentric and he stated; 

'[De Nerval] had a pet lobster named Thibault that he took on walks in the Palais Royal gardens of Paris, using a blue silk ribbon as a leash. When asked why he did this, he replied. Why should a lobster be any more ridiculous than a dog? Or a cat, or a gazelle, or a lion, or any other animal that one chooses to take for a walk? I have a liking for lobsters. They are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the sea, they don't bark, and they don't gobble up your monadic privacy like dogs do. And Goethe had an aversion to dogs, and he wasn't mad!' (Museum of Hoaxes: 2013)

De Nerval wrote both books and poetry which 'explored the uncertain borderlines between dream and reality, irony and madness, autobiography and fiction with his groundbreaking writings.' (Waterstones n.d)

De Nerval influenced many other writers and poets including T.S. Eliot who uses a quote from De Nerval at the end of his epic poem The Wasteland.  His travelogue Voyage en Orient was widely acclaimed.  De Nerval's later work mixing poetry, prose, and journalism influenced Marcel Proust and Aurélia influenced Andre Breton and the Surrealist's work.  

De Nerval achieved much in his short life, and his influence on other writers' and artists' work is impressive.  De Nerval committed suicide on the night of 26 January 1855 by hanging himself from a lantern post.  The artist Gustave Doré depicts this in his work below. De Nerval was indeed insane and spent most of his life in and out of an asylum, his doctor Emile Blanche commented; 'he hung himself because he looked madness in the face' (De Nerval 1996)

La rue de la vieille lanterne: The Suicide of Gérard de Nerval, by Gustave Doré, 1855

De Nerval belonged to a group of eccentrics known as Bousingos (rowdies) who were 'notorious for their orgies, eating ice cream out of skulls, holding literary seminars in the nude [and] for playing loud musical instruments none of them knew how to play' (De Nerval 1996).  In his pocket upon his death were the final pages of Aurelia which some consider to be his greatest work.  It is about his descent into madness, brought on by his unrequited love for an actress. In the book De Nerval talks about his dreams and visions, these are beautifully written, and reading this there is a feeling of being lifted magically, mystically, seeing something beyond the ordinary.  I will leave you with one of these to ponder.

'Stretched out on a camp bed, I thought I saw the sky unveil itself to me as to make me full of remorse for having wished, with all the strength of my spirit, to step down again on the earth I was leaving....Immense circles took shape in infinity, like the orbs formed by water when something falls in and disturbs it. Each region was peoples with radiant faces and took on colour, moved and melted in turn, and a divinity, always the same, tossed away smiling the furtive masks of its various incarnations and at last imperceptibly took refuge in the mystic splendors of the Asiatic skies.' (De Nerval 1996:10)

References

Did Gerard de Nerval walk his pet lobster through Paris? (2013) Museum of Hoaxes. Available at: http://hoaxes.org/weblog/comments/nerval_lobster (Accessed: January 6, 2023).

 Selected writings by Gerard de Nerval, Richard Sieburth | Waterstones (no date) Waterstones. Available at: https://www.waterstones.com/book/selected-writings/gerard-de-nerval/richard-sieburth/9780140446012 (Accessed: January 6, 2023). 

Doré, G. (no date) La Rue de la Vieille Lanterne: The suicide of gérard de nerval, The Art Institute of Chicago. Prints and Drawings. Available at: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/105494/la-rue-de-la-vieille-lanterne-the-suicide-of-gerard-de-nerval (Accessed: January 9, 2023). 

De Nerval G. (1996) Aurelia & Other Writings, Translated by Geoffrey Wagner, Robert Ducan & Marc Lowenthal, Exact Change, Boston 

Reflection

 Over this term, I have created a small book using text and images called 'Woman'.  This book represented the woman through her life and was a feminist view of being a woman in the world. 

Woman by Zoe Van-de-Velde

This project evolved in development at the beginning of the term through the research I carried out, considering how other artists had represented women through stages of their life.  I realised that I wanted to use Barbie in the Photos and purchased a mini studio that I could use for the images to create consistency throughout.  I the images of each stage I reshot several times until I go the look that I wanted.  While I was doing this I was also redesigning my website and writing the text for the book.  I felt that the development of this work went well and it was the right amount of work for a small project, in the time given.  I managed to stick to my own plan and deadlines and so on time and workload I managed this well throughout and by Week Eight my book and website were ready and I had also ordered a hard copy book on Blurb as well which although was only the Trade book (so it was fairly cheap) the quality was very good and I was very pleased with the outcome here. 

Most of the photographs I was very happy with but this was because I did reshoots to ensure I got what I wanted in each image.  If I had more time I would have worked more on rewriting the text as there are some parts that could be smoother and flow better if I had rewritten this. 

Overall I was very happy with the outcomes I achieved but also my time management was very good this term, sticking to my deadlines and even with the reshoots I managed this project well.

The final outcome is both a flipbook on my website and a hard copy book I am happy with both versions and I like the fact that it lives in the real work for sale on Blurb!

Website UX Testing

 I tested the website with the class, and these are the responses I got from my feedback form

Most students thought my design was 'good' however perhaps the site is not as appealing to the younger generation!

Pleased to see that most people thought the navigation was excellent, since this I have improved this further as I was not happy with the mobile navigation, I think now this area should work very well.

Again most people thought the design and style was 'good'  I think that this is okay as perhaps it won't appeal to everyone and I think most importantly the site is easy to use and if you are interested in my work it is accessible here.

I am pleased mot thought the bio was excellent, somebody thought it was poor and in the last one this is the case, it is a pity someone really did not like it, but we all have our own tastes!

Most thought this was excellent or good apart from the one who clearly hates my site - so all is okay here.

Good and excellent and the one who hates my site again- I think that this is a good sign and my work is presented well here

Again/good and excellent apart from the one...

Most tested on the PC but I was pleased to see some tested on the tablet and laptop

One said that LinkedIn does not work and the homepage cut off however I tested Linkedin again and it seems to be working just fine but I will be checking this again live on other devices.  The Photo Portfolio is unfinished as this is for another class so I am doing this with them this coming week.  The CV is a CV and I think you would probably only read this if you were interested and so I do not mind that it is a little longer.

Overall mostly good and I do still need to keep updating and working on this to make sure it stays good and improves all of the time.

Finalising the Book

Once I had completed the book photographs and text, I began adding this to Blurb pages using Bookwright.  When this was completed I uploaded this to Blurb  

On Blurb, I created a short summary of the book and added the price.  I then ensured the preview was working correctly as below.

I then downloaded the book as a PDF and then uploaded this to Flipsnack so I could embed this into my website - Flipsnack link is here: Woman

Once this was completed I embedded this into my website in two places - I added it to a button and linked it under the Photo section 

I also embedded it as a link in the dropdown navigation box - the book now opens in Flipsnack in both places 

I will now check this on the desktop and mobile version to ensure it works correctly.   

Overall I think the book has worked well this term, the final version is simple and effective and works well on the site, I still may change this so I can write more of an introduction on a page however by embedding the links may make this more challenging in terms of website design.  I still need to work more on the design of the site but this should be an ongoing process.

Finalising the Website

 To complete this project and website I added my work to the portfolio pages.  I add buttons and then embedded the link so that the flipbook I created just opened up in a new window.  I did this by clicking on the 'Add' and then 'button' in the menu and then I placed the button in the correct position on the page and set up the links to either the website page or in the case of the flipbook the website address.

I also embedded a link into the navigation so the project can be accessed two ways on the site. I did this again by add and button and then customising the button - I changed the font on all buttons to Caudex 17 pts to be consistent throughout.

I then checked the mobile view and made sure all of the portfolio is working correctly and that the buttons are in the correct place.  The flipbook will not preview on mobile view so I checked this on my phone as my site is published 

I had to change the front portfolio page and I had some issues as my portfolio page used a repeater and I had to add a section on the desktop to ensure I did not get three buttons every time I added instead of one.  I did this but then on the mobile version this did not work - I, therefore, changed this, and at present, on my actual mobile the Woman project and Photo sections work well the other two sections,  I still think have some issues. 

I will need to change the repeater into three sections to make this work so I will have to work on this further!  Otherwise, though the project is embedded and this does work well in both places where is accessed on the site. 

The design of the site is consistent and I think that it is now (almost) as I want it, I will just work on the mobile version further to complete this.