PORTFOLIO

FRASER MONRO
S13160675

CONTENTS
Pages 2-8 : Retrospective
Pages 9-13 : Inspiration
Pages 14-16 : Skills Audit
Pages 17-18 : Manifesto
Pages 19-27 : Learning Plan & Current Work
Page 28 : Future Plans
Pages 29-32 : Brand of Me

R
E
T
R
O
S
P
E
C
T
I
V
E

A bit about me...

I have had a lot of personal experience within design,mostly
stemming from modules that I have studied at school and
university. This means that there is a lot of work for me to
reflect upon. From an early age I really enjoyed the creative
side of different subjects. From composing and performing in
Music to creating detailed drawings in Art & Design. After
taking these subjects and realising that I loved creative
design I decided to take Media Studies, Music and English
Language & Literature at A-level.
For me it was Media Studies that offered the creative fix that
I was longing for. This then lead to me deciding that Media
& Communications was something that I wanted to study at
Birmingham City University. I slowly started to specialise and
guide my degree into a design focussed one. I studied Visual
Design in year one learning the basics on software such as
Indesign and Photoshop.
I then took Magazine Production in second year furthering my
knowledge of the software, learning how to respond to briefs
and finding my style as a designer. Throughout the first two
years I also took on the role of Visual Communications
Manager in any group work that I did. This meant more
consistent practise of design and more work to showcase.
My third and final year was very design focussed. I chose
Visual Design Studio, Media Enterprise (where I started a
freelance branding & design agency) and my final year
project was to design a full advertisement campaign for a
client, including three A3 posters for both on screen and print.
Outside of education I have always admired various design
works. From advertisements to vinyl sleeves and DVD
covers to promotional posters, I find aesthetic appreciation
and inspiration.

Past works:
Before talking about inspiration and my strengths and weaknesses as a
designer, I wanted to give a brief overview of some of my work from the past
three years. Showcasing these publications will give some information on my
development throughout university, as well as how my style of design has
evolved. I have collected a diverse selection of work that I am both proud of
and not so proud of. This provides an idea of what I am capable of
designing. Performing this task helped me to realise that the experience I
currently have could collaborate well with new skills to create beautiful and
innovative designs that I have never considered attempting to manufacture.

1) For our first task in Visual Design in our first week of our first year of

university we had to produce a business card on InDesign. The brief was to

create a business card for a company called Bright Ideas. Considering this
was my initial encounter with InDesign, I was reasonably pleased with how
the card looked. Of course there are some elements that could be a lot
better such as the logo, but it shows that I am I a quick learner and that I can
work accurately to a brief.

2) Our second design brief was to create a CD cover or vinyl sleeve from

one of our favourite albums. I chose Blacklisted by Skepta. It is clear that

my love for minimalist style really shines through here. I was very happy with
the finished product and learnt new skills in Photoshop as well as InDesign
to create this publication.
SKEPTA BLACKLISTED

BLACK
LISTED
ORGANICALLY SHAPED BY

3BEAT RECORDS - BBK - ABSOLUTE - WIGLP318

1. SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT DAY

2. CASTLES
3. BADMAN IN TIVOLI
4. WE BEGIN THINGS FEAT. MEGAMAN
5. ACE HOOD FLOW
6. TOUR BUS MASSACRE
7. MASTERMIND FEAT. ETTA BOND
8. SIMPLE LIFE
9. SOMEBODYS EVERYTHING FEAT. JEWELS
10. LAY HER DOWN SKIT
11. YOU KNOW ME
12. 2 + 2 x 2 FEAT. BBK

SKEPTA
MATTHEW WALKER - NEESHA - JME - JEWELS - RALPH
HARDY - AINE ZION - ETTA - TICO - LUKEY - BLAY CHANTELLE FIDDY - LEAH

Definition of blacklist in English:

noun
A list of people or groups regarded as unacceptable or untrustworthy and often marked
down for punishment or exclusion

3) The main piece of work that we had to complete during Visual Design

year one was a portfolio surrounding a magazine called Trashion. This is a

part of the portfolio, but not of the magazine. This additional element was a
mock up of the magazine for an iPad or tablet. I was quite happy with the
colour scheme, lay out and attention to detail on this piece. However, I feel
that with more experience I could have made it much more recognisable as
a tablet/ipad screen mock up.

4) In second year for Magazine Production we had two briefs. The first was

to create any magazine we wanted as long as we researched the target

market and understood that there was a gap for it. I chose to create a free
student pre drinking magazine. The second brief was to create a magazine
for a hospice for patients with serious illnesses. These two briefs really
tested my abilities as they have to differ so much in content, style, layout and
information. These are the two front covers which I was reasonably happy
with. I feel they each portray the general feel of the two magazines they
belong to and look quite professional.

ample

5) I studied a Music Promotion & PR module in my second year and took on

the role of Visual Communications Manager. This meant producing all
graphic design aspects of the promotional campaign for our artist and some
business elements for the PR team.
Main logo and tagline

PR

All the best music grows underground

Sample

PR
All the best music grows underground

Secondary logo

Sample Roots PR & Promotion

Vinyl sleeve for a three track EP release

Sample Roots PR & Promotion

THE ANIMATED POET - VANITY

SAMPLE ROOTS PR - BCU - TAP - WIG07789

1) RESONANCE
2) PENDULUM
3) PLATEAU

Sample Roots PR & Promotion

presents...

THE

ANIMATED
POET

samplerootspr@outlook.com

@sampleroots

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Examples of business cards for the team

Abi Hand:

Fraser Monro:

Artist Liaison &

Online Publications
Manager
07921257041

Visual
Communications
Manager
07568088812

samplerootspr@outlook.com

samplerootspr@outlook.com

@sampleroots

Sample Roots PR

@sampleroots

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Promotional poster for the artists event

Abi Hand:

Artist Liaison &

Online Publications
Manager
07921257041

Head of
Public Relations
07532187314

samplerootspr@outlook.com

@sampleroots
Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample
PR
Sample Roots
PRRoots
& Promotion

Emily Smith :

samplerootspr@outlook.com

@sampleroots

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

presents...
Emily Smith :

Jerssey Opoku:

Head of
Public Relations
07532187314

Social Media
Director
07894594512

samplerootspr@outlook.com

samplerootspr@outlook.com

@sampleroots

Sample Roots PR

@sampleroots

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

THE

Jerssey Opoku:
Social Media
Director
07894594512

ANIMATED
samplerootspr@outlook.com

@sampleroots

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

Sample Roots PR

POET

I was very pleased with my contributions as I thought they were consistent

with their style and colour schemes and created to a high standard. There
were a couple of pieces (vinyl sleeve) that I feel maybe could have contained
slightly more detail. However, I thought the business cards looked good and
a clear improvement from my initial business card in my first year. Once
again my minimalist style is blatant in some of these publications. As well as
making all of this on InDesign, I also came up with the name, logo and
tagline of the company.

6) This final piece was something I created for my Media Innovation module
in second year. I came up with the idea for a new app called CookFlix which
was essentially Netflix for cooking. It contained recipes and weekly meal
plans for you to use and design personally to your diet. This publication was
an on screen mock up for a monitor. I wasn't too happy with how it looked. I
felt that it was rather bland and lacked creative attention. Although I thought
that it was a slight improvement from my Trashion mock up.

INSPIR

ATION

What inspires me?

I find inspiration for my designs in anything really. Usually ideas for
designs come to me when looking at art or forms of advertising or
promotional content. I will often find inspiration in art galleries or from
graffiti on street walls. Similarly a billboard design for a new phone or a
television advert about a new cleaning product can spark inspiration. On
the other hand, how a tree is caught in the sun light or how a mountain
looks on the horizon can also give me inspiration for creative design. If
the design of something is one that I find beautiful, aesthetically pleasing
or simply clever then it gives me inspiration. I have prepared some case
studies and simple posters of a product, artist and agency that
particularly inspire me.

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Case study one:

an inspiring product...
The Nutribullet is one of my favourite products out there at the moment.
Its unique and sophisticated design is inspired and it is very competitively
priced. I use the nutribullet everyday at home and it makes eating and
drinking to a healthy and balanced diet very easy. Below in the poster I
explain exactly what it is that really inspires me about this product.

The NUTRiBULLET
1) The NUTRiBULLET is the best blender
for your money on the market at the
moment. It cuts through almost every
type of food to create anything from
breadcrumbs and marinades, to soups
and smoothies.

2) I have one of these products at home

and love it, using it everyday. It not only
inspires me in design as it is unique and
sophisticated, but it also inspires me to
live a healthier lifestyle by making
drinking healthy smoothies very easy.

6) Overall the
NUTRiBULLET is
innovative, simplistic,
minimalist,
sophisticated and
durable in its design. It
is the perfect blender.
All of these aspects
inspire me to create
similarly good designs.
To design something
that is essentially
perfect for its purpose
(like the
NUTRiBULLET) is truly
inspirational.

5) Also, the uniqueness of the

NUTRiBULLET is very inspiring. Before
this product, making a smoothie was a
messy business. You had to make it in
the blender and then pour it into your cup.
This meant washing the blender and the
cup you drank from. With the bullet, your
cup is the top half of the blender. All you
do is wash that one small piece when you
are done. It is truly innovative and that
definitely inspires me.

3) You can trust the

NUTRiBULLET also. Its
design is sturdy and
durable. Due to the
weightiness of the main
blender and its
accessories, you know
that it is well made. Just
with the general feel of
all of the pieces, you
know they are well
designed.

4) The majority of inspiration that I get

from this product is in its minimalist
design style. All of the different parts of
the NUTRiBULLET are expertly designed
to look simple and sleek yet perform to
the highest of standards.

Case study two:

an inspiring artist...
Jeff Koons is an American artist known for working with popular culture
subjects and his reproductions of banal objectssuch as balloon animals
produced in stainless steal with mirror-finish surfaces. His works have sold
for substantial sums of money, including a world record auction price for a
work by a living artist. It is the original ideas of large scale reproductions
and contemporary point of view pieces that really inspire me to create innovative and beautiful designs. Over time Koons has secured much greater funding for his work, has begun to explore more unique and interesting
artistic techniques and has upped the scale of his operations. As well as
his designs it is his work ethic and creative mind that inspires me.

Jeff Koons!

Innovative - Unusual - Reproductions - Contemporary - Minimalist

!
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!
!
!
!
!
!
!
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!
!
!
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!
!
!
!

Exploration - Funding - Scale

Large scale reproductions - Point of view (illusions)

12

Case study three:

an inspiring agency...
The poster below outlines key facts and information about the branding
and design agency iDC. Of course most designers will find inspiration from
other agencies, their work, their clienteleetc, but iDC have something
more to them than other similar agencies. They have a diverse team with
loads of experience and skills across many platforms of design. Also, they
have an outstanding twenty one year track record of producing first class
designs for their clients which is inspiring. With regards to their work, I love
the patterns and hand drawn graphic design aspects. They look great and
give the publications a personal feel. This inspires me to create personal
designs that provoke feeling and emotion. I want to be able to turn trade
marks into love marks.

Graphic Design prole!

Design Philosophy:!

To provide well thought out, logical and creative design solutions whilst keeping up a good
client relationship and satisfaction rate!

!
Approach to Work:!
!
They look to exceed client expectations with a clear and innovative approach to all work!
!
Design Manifesto:!
!

Showing that clients return time and time again because they recognise that iDC produce
truly powerful design solutions!

!
!
!

Transferable skills and knowledge across roles:!

Mainly creative and management skills are used to react effectively to a brief and are
transferable across all work and roles within the agency!
Examples of work:!

Some of the clients:

SKILLS
After looking at some of my previous work and evaluating various
experiences, I can now create my skills audit. Over time I have learnt to use
different software's and completed a variety of publications. All of these
designs require a different yet specific skill set. It is very important to
understand what skills I already have, what skills I need to develop, and
what skills I need to attain to become a more well rounded designer, and
therefore more employable.
I have to acquire new skills in order to produce work that is of a higher
standard than what I have designed before. Some of my skills may now be
dated which isn't an issue currently, but in time they may need to evolve.
Moreover, It is equally important to stay up to date with the latest softwares
and continue to develop and qcquire certain skills and attributes.
When applying for a job they will of course look at your current skill set. The
more diverse your skill set is, the more you will stand out from other
designers. I must evaluate my skills by doing a skills audit to find any
aspects within my design capabalities that need working on.This will help
me to create a future learning plan.

AUDIT

1
2
3
4
5

=
=
=
=
=

No current knowledge or skills

Some awareness
Confident and familiar with skill and good knowledge
Higher knowledge of skill and capable of teaching the basics to others
Expert in this field with high skill set and outstanding knowledge
= Selected number

Behavioural
Organisation

Creativity

Time management

Decision making

Design skill

Self motivation

Problem solving

Communication

Active listening

Effective speaking

Teamwork

Leadership

Presentation skills

Written skills

Numeracy skills

Work ethic

Technical
InDesign

Photoshop

Illustrator

Typography

Colour pallet

Summary
After completing the skills audit it is clear that the main section that needs
to be worked on is Illustrator. I will create a learning plan based around
Illustrator and develop a new skill within the software.

16

MANI
FESTO
As I have been developing my indentity as a designer by looking at my
past work, completing a skills audit and looking at what inspires me, I
feel that I should also create a manifesto. This will be made up of
statements and aims that I hope to keep consistant in all future design
work. These aims and statements would make me start to consider my
approach to design as a whole and see if there was a way I could
establish my own style. My manifesto will act as my design guidlines and
should state what I plan to do with my work and learning. The manifesto
is highly important as it helps to create and define a brand identity.
With this project I want to make a design manifesto that is clear and
precise. By trying out this new approach to design and sticking to my
personal guidelines, I hope that I will learn and develop more. I want to
use the project as an opportunity to try new and exciting ways of
creating and designing so therefore I will create my manifesto with that
in mind. Specifically, Id like to experiment with new software and style.
Over the page is my manifesto.

The 10 Commandments
Get Coffee
Be Creative
Stay Curious
Be Confident
Have C l a r i t y
Stay Comfortable
Keep Calm
Get Cultured
Be Clever
s
u
o
i
t
u
a
C
s
y
Alwa

18

CURRENT
WORK

After evaluating my skills, acknowledging inspiration, and reviewing my

past work to date, I have been able to decide what project I will
undertake. I have realised that my biggest weakness is within Adobe
Illustrator, therefore, I have decided to set myself the challenge of
learning to use the software whilst learning how to use a graphics tablet
and stylus.

The task
For the project I have decided to do a rebranding of Bull Dog (skin care
for men). Bull Dog is an international cosmetics brand. Its products are
focused solely on skin care for men, such as shaving gels, facial
washes, facial scrubs and moisturisers. It is marketed as a higher end
and almost hipster and desireable product which could be considered
luxury. I was inspired to do the rebranding whilst discussing 'lovemarks'
with my tutor. I then researched 'lovemarks' and realised that they are
something that I would love to try creating. I love the Bull Dog brand
and their products and use them at home. I want to see if I can turn this
trademark into a lovemark. I will need to make it more personal and my
design must provoke some form of emotion to trigger a love for it. I am
going for humour.

Learning Plan
The main skill I wanted to learn was using a graphics tablet and stylus
on Adobe Illustrator. This will mean that the project I am undertaking will
improve me as a designer by giving me new skills to use in the industry.
I will aim to re-brand Bull Dog, try and create a 'lovemark' for the brand,
and learn how to use the tablet and stylus in Adobe Illustrator to help
create my new designs and improve my skill set.

Logo Design
I wanted to first change the logo of BullDog to make it more
personal. To do this I decided to use free hand drawing of
Illustrator. I thought that this hand written technique makes the
brand more personal and human, which helps when creating
a Lovemark. I also decided I wanted to take the bull dog out of
the logo. I want to use the bull dog further down in the design
which will put more emphasis on it when it comes to
incorperating humour. Below are my first four attmepts at
creating the hand written logo. The fourth one is my chosen
logo for the re-brand.

1)

2)

3)

4)

20

Tag Line Design

I wanted to come up with my own taglines for the three
products that I wanted to attempt to rebrand. I wanted to keep
the humour in each tagline whilst keeping them clever, and
relevent to the purpose of the brand. There will be a relevent
hand drawn dog image to go with each tagline. Below are the
taglines for the three products.

Shaving Gel:
"Groom the man,
Channel the boy!"

Moisturiser:
"A bull dog interior
with a puppy exterior!"

Facial Scrub:
"Belly rub? Nah!
Facial Scrub!"

Main Image Design

For each product I wanted to have an funny image of a bull
dog puppy to go with each tagline. I have kept the same
personal feel with each image by making them all hand drawn
from the tablet on Illustrator. The images will match up with
their corresponding taglines and products.

Product 1: Original Shave Gel

Image of Bull Dog puppy sitting at the bottom of the bottle as
if taking a poo. The Gel inside acts as the dogs remains. I feel
that this humour is exactly what this brand needs.
Below shows my development and learning curve in making
this image. After three attempts I was satisfied.

1)

2)

3)

22

Product 2: Anti-Ageing Moisturiser

Image of Bull Dog puppy jumping up to retrieve a ball. This
image is slightly less funny and more sophisticated and
playful. I feel that I should be too intense with the humour.
Below shows my development and learning curve in making
this image. After four attempts I was satisfied.

1)

2)

3)

4)

Product 3: Original Face Scrub

Image of Bull Dog puppy lying on its back/side and looking as
if he wants a belly rub! This image is funny and endearing.
I think that the humour mixed with the cuteness of this image
will work really well. Below shows my development and
learning curve in making this image. After three attempts I was
satisfied.

1)

2)

3)

24

Mock up design one - Shave Gel

SKIN CARE FOR MEN

Original Shave Gel

"Groom the man,
Channel the boy!"

Mock up design two - Moisturiser

SKIN CARE FOR MEN

Anti-Ageing Moisturiser
"A bull dog interior
with a puppy exterior!"

26

Mock up design three - Facial scrub

SKIN CARE FOR MEN

Original Face Scrub

"Belly rub? Nah!

Facial scrub!"

FUTURE
PLANS
I was really happy with the general ethos of my rebrand. I feel that the
branding is consistent and well produced. I liked how the hand written feel
of the logo and images of the bull dog puppies made the brand more
personal, funny and playful. Also, I was in keeping with the general, light
cream/white background colour and the recognisable greens for the main
lettering of the product. I think the taglines work well with their respective
images and create humour in th brand indentity.
Unfortunately the mock up designs do slightly hinder to overall aesthetics
of the re-brand. I annoying ran out of time when it came to polishing up
the mockups. They are very basic but I still feel you can visualise what the
finished product may look like.
The main future plans with this project would be to possibly go back and
touch up the logo design and the puppy images just to make them a little
more suave. Of course I would then move on to actual replicas using much
more information from the real packaging, such as ingredient listings and
bar codes. Finally after completing a realistic product design I would create
mock ups of the shleving in which the product would sit. I would possibly
create a custom/bespoke stand for the new product launch and re-brand
launch. This would create more sales and success.

28

BRAND
OF
ME

When thinking about the 'brand of me' I wanted to start thinking about my
future as a designer and how I would like my brand image to be
communicated. I began with the idea of developing my own freelance
graphic design/branding agency. When taking a Media Enterprise
module this idea came to me. I wanted to start a business that created a
basic branding package for other start up organsations.
I came up with the name Trio. The meaning behind the name is related to
the three things that Trio can provide you with:
A name for your business
A logo design
A slogan or tagline
These three elements form the make up of a basic branding package.
They are the first three things that any clients will see, and first
impressions count.
On the next couple of pages are the logo design, mission statement,
slogan, and business card design for my new enterprise creation:

TRIO
30

Logo Design (with slogan)...

Mission Statement...
"We don't like looking at dull logos, reading unrelated taglines or
hearing the names of brands or products that are boring and
unoriginal. We like interesting logos, influential taglines and intellectual
names, that's why we make them that way."

Logo Design (with slogan)...

Front side:

Professional Branding
& Design Agency
Contact us:
@ Trio.design@hotmail.com
07568088821
13 Holdenby Close, Market Harb.

Reverse side:

"We don't like looking at dull logos,

reading unrelated taglines or hearing the
names of brands or products that are boring
and unoriginal.
We like interesting logos, influential taglines
and intellectual names, that's why we make
them that way."

32