Project completed...

...and handed in to Patrick tonight.

I have just returned from presenting Patrick with half a rain forest's worth of papers and notes.

My PDP 5 / PDP 6 "Action Plan" is now finito!!!!

Have fun, Patrick!

1. Who Am I?

I am me - Gavin Dimmock. 39 years of age. Self employed since July 1st 2005 and running my own business, KramersDesigns.

We specialise in vehicle livery/graphics, graphic design, signs, banners and many types of graphics.

Likes:

My family. My dog Maggie. Bradford City. Photography. Many types of music. Claret & Amber colours. Curries. Bollywood films. Jimmy Stewart. Adobe software. Billy Bragg - The Bard of Barking. Making a profit and getting paid by clients - always nice. "Comfortable" deadlines. Radio 4. The Archers. "Sailing By" and the Shipping Forecast. Rugby Union. Football in general. Cricket. Pickup trucks and my L200. Dita Von Teese. Sherlock Holmes stories. John Steinbeck. The West Wing. New York. USA. The Chrysler Building. The Brooklyn Bridge. Grand Central Terminal - absolutely stunning. Rain. Snow. Rupert Bear. Jack Daniels. "The InDesigner" podcast by Michael Murphy. Myriad font family. Pantone.com. SignPig.com. Good socks. Good quality shoes. Steptoe & Son. Hancock's Half Hour. Dad's Army. Open All Hours. The Two Ronnies. The Simpsons. Seinfeld. The Mighty Boosh. Comedy. Midget gems. Chocolate milk. Pecans. Chestnuts with my Christmas dinner. Sausage and beans (fried) with bread and butter and a good cup of tea. Mussells. Cockles. Whelks - when I can get them. Hat-tricks from City players.

Dislikes:

Far too many to mention but here are a few.

Bananas. Earl Grey tea - yuk. East Enders. Coronation Street. Russell Brand. Daytime TV. The people who call to try to sell me electricity/gas/telephones at the exact time that I sit down to eat my tea. The yobs who put their keys down the side of my truck in September 2007.

2. Which Area Of The Graphics Industry Suits Me?

My business, KramersDesigns, is concerned with vehicle livery, signs, banners and graphic design.

Consequently, these are the areas which suit me. Also, as I have been lettering vehicles since 1984, I have built up considerable experience and skills over the years. Therefore, the vehicle livery side of the graphics industry is the area that best suits me.

3. What Research Have I Undertaken? Interviews? Books? Websites?

I have, at present, not undertaken a huge amount of research. This is due to an extremely busy work load at present. However, I have been dipping into various books, periodicals and websites.

Interviews

Paul Nini - via my blog

Books

No Logo - Naomi Klein
Breaking The Grid - Timothy Samar
Nikon D70 - David D Busch

Periodicals

Computer Arts
Computer Arts Projects
Digital Arts
Digital Photo
Sign UpDate

4. Where Did I Visit As Part Of My Research?

MoMA (New York, USA)

SignUK (2007 and 2008 - sadly not 2008 as was too busy)

I have also visited the printer that does all my print work and taken the opportunities to learn further about the modern print processes used. This has helped me to set up my print files correctly at the first attempt - valuable for saving time or reworking artwork!

5. What Did I Learn From My Research?

I learnt that the exhibition on Helvetica at the MOMA in New York was very disappointing; I am so glad that we visited after 1600 hours on a Friday when entry is FOC.

Also, I learnt (not a great surprise really) that technology changes so rapidly and results in greater flexibility for designers, allowing ever more elaborate and complex designs. The expectations of customers is also changing as they become aware of the availability of large format, full colour outputs as an increasingly more cost effective medium in which to advertise their services and businesses.

In order to survive, you must be prepared to know your limitations as a business; when to go beyond them in order to satisfy a client and when to say "I can't do that...but I know someone who can".

Outsourcing is entirely acceptable at times.

6. What Skills Do I Need In My Career?

I need several different, but complimentary and interchangable, skill sets.

Personal Skills

Openess. Honesty - up front and transparent (terrible "buzz words"). Persistence. Confidence. Ability to take criticism and rejection. Questioning. Hard working and diligent. Reliable. Personable. Thorough. Questioning. Flexible. Networking skills. Numeracy. Negotiating.

Technical Skills

PC (and Mac) literate

Adobe CS2 - Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat

Microsoft Office - Word, Excel, Powerpoint

SignLab 7

Photography - City & Guilds

Practical Skills

Site working experience. Problem solving. Manual working. Graphic application skills.

7. What Project Will I Undertake For The Graphic Design In Context Module And How Will This Help My Career?

I have chosen to study the designs and art that has graced the covers of Playboy magazine over the last 50 plus years.

I hope this will be an interesting study; particularly the early years, as I believe the covers between 1953 and the late 1960's to be the most evocative and exciting covers that Playboy has produced. Despite the many issues published over the years, it has been quite a challenge to acquire research material and information about the design and production of the covers.

My study has been titled, "Playboy - Under The Covers".

8. What Project Will I Undertake For The Creative Graphic Design Module And How Will This Help My Career?

As of today, Sunday 20th January, I have yet to finalise the area that I will study for this part of the course.

The leading contender is, currently, the area of "vehicle wrapping". This is not anything to do with rap music or gifts but is, instead, one of the growth areas of the vehicle livery industry. Vehicle wrapping entails covering an entire vehicle - truck, car, commercial vehicle etc - in full colour printed graphics.

An area that can be quite lucrative financially. The setup costs for the machinery can, for a small business such as mine, be prohibitive but the impact these types of vehicle can create is very impressive. Increasingly, more and more customers are looking at this as a way to advertise their businesses.

Full or partial wraps can be achieved.

By studying this in greater depth, I hope to determine if this is an area I am prepared to move towards as a business. Or should we stick to our current strengths?

9. How Will New Technical Skills Help Me In The Design Industry?

By studying the area of "vehicle wraps", I hope to obtain plenty of technical information about how the large format printers are used in the industry.

This information should include details:

• The software required to successfully create and output the prints required for vehicle wraps.
• Which printer is best for the types of prints I will need for vehicle wraps?
• The types of media that is used for printing onto and the best media for different applications.
• What other areas of business could a wide format printer allow me to move into?
• The inks that need to be used to achieve the most vivid colours and the longest lasting prints.
  
• Colour reproduction - will the finished prints appear correct and match standard colour references, eg. Pantone?
• The costings required to introduce this technology into my business.
• The anticipated profitability - both in terms of financial and time saving.
• New skills required to successfully apply the finished prints onto vehicles.
• Additional tools needed to apply the prints.