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Task Three: How will I promote myself? – What do they want to hear?

As a designer, advertising and promoting my services are incredibly important as it suffices to say that I would get absolutely nowhere without it. The way in which I choose to advertise myself is again very important.

An obvious method of advertising that springs to mind is flyers, but where do these usually end up? In our bins. This is not a method of advertisement that I’m in any hurry to try out.

Advertisements in newspapers and magazines are often another idea, especially in magazines relative to my subject matter, such as Computer Arts. Now not everybody keeps and collects their issues of Computer Arts like I do, so specialist, subscriber magazines that only come out quarterly are far more likely to be kept and cherished by the owner. It is also usually a high cost venture when it comes to using things such as TV adverts.and it is a one way communication. Also, it’s not guaranteed to work.

The other methods of promotion include Public Relations which is publicity and sponsorship, including making a name for yourself and building trust via competitions within your target market, newspaper stories and involvement in charities and local events, though there is bad publicity too and it may not work out as planned. Promotions are another method of promoting oneself, through sales, discounts and incentives to use your business. This often works out as being expensive and usually temporary as people who use your services via discount may not wish to continue doing so at full price.

Personal selling has a high success right and it does exactly what it says on the tin, really, giving it a personal touch and showing that you are really interest in having someone as a client by meeting them face to face. Though it has its cons, such as travel costs and it takes up a lot of time. Although the pros outweigh it, personal selling has a high success rate and being face to face with the client allows for proper discussion about the job as well as allowing for the chance to build a relationship with the client, often a key factor in them coming back to use your services more than once.

Task Two: Where are they – How will they find me?


My areas of interest within Graphic Design are certainly not limited, as they include such things as illustration, typography, screen printing etc, I have yet to meet a module that I haven’t enjoyed to some extent on this course. I’m undecided with the direction that I want to go in, but recently I’ve started to lean heavily towards packaging design, as this has proved to be something that I thoroughly enjoy and I like to think that I’m good at.

As for the location that I would like to work in, there are so many choices though I am leaning somewhat towards London as that seems to be design central of the UK, though my other possible options include Canada and San Fransisco, although with the latter two options I would have to deal with the legalities of living in that country, like obtaining a visa, and also have to deal with the social aspects such as political issues as well as local colloquialism as there is usually an odd kind of language barrier between the UK and the USA.

Though using London as my preferred place of employment, there are still many aspects of worry about.

Political issues, such as environmental issues, sensitivity towards the current news, such as the war in Iraq. More issues to deal with are trading issues which may arise while designing for companies based abroad, even if I myself am still in the UK.

As far as funding goes, a thought to bear in mind is the fact that the entire world is in a global recession that has so far shown no signs of finally letting up, this would obviously need to be taken into consideration when pricing my services for a potential client.

Economic issues are obviously important when dealing with potential clients who are based overseas, bearing in mind interest rates and currency conversions.

The social issues previously mentioned obviously include lifestyle trends, as well as being sensitive to the things going on in the media for the location of any potential clients.

Technological issues obviously include the issue of using legally obtained software for my designs and obtaining all of the licences for the software, as well as having access to up to date software. Having access to any technology that is required is another key factor when it comes to the location of my business, such as being close to a local printers to keep travelling costs down.

There are many aspects that affect the way that I communicate with my clients, and as to whether or not they come to me, or I go to them. Having a business placed in a central, highly populated area has more exposure.

Panopticism exercise.

The modern example that I am going to base my study on is the Blenheim Walk lecture theatre.

I consider the lecture theatre to be a good example of modern day panopticism because of it’s open plan layout. It is laid out in tiers getting higher towards the back to allow the audience to be able to see everything properly, but at the same time it allows the lecturer, in our case the tutor, to be able to see everybody clearly all at once. In the words of Foucault,

“The gaze is alert everywhere.” (Panopticism, M. Foucault, pg-76)

This is true within this example because of the tiered seating system, the lecturer is able to see exactly what everyone is doing, and can therefore reprimand anybody who he deems to be not paying attention.

In the lecture theatre, everybody is required to register,

“answering to his name and showing himself when asked” (Panopticism, M. Foucault, pg-77)

And those who do no register their names to clarify their presence suffer for it later by way of their attendance records.

Under the lecturers supervision and the fear of being caught doing wrong and being pulled up on it in front of the entire class, the student strives to be productive, taking it upon themselves to not get distracted.

“So it is not necessary to use force to constrain the convict to good behaviour, the madman to calm, the worker to work, the schoolboy to application, the patient to the observation of the regulations.” (Panoticism, M. Foucault, pg-83.)

The lighting used in the lecture theatre is a good example of Foucault’s theory of,

“Visibility is a trap” (Panopticism, M. Foucault, pg-80)

Because the way that it is lit keeps the audience in full view, whereas the front of the lecture theatre I darker, one to allow the projection to be unaffected by the lighting, and two to keep the lecturer in a darker area so that,

“the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment” (Panopticism, M. Foucault, pg-82)
Or in our case, the audience can never be entirely sure when they are being observed by the tutor.

FOR THE LULZ. What an idiot.