21 April 2013

My latest venture is ....Croodle: A social networking site for creative graduates based in Scotland!




www.croodle.co.uk

I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my latest venture 'Croodle'. In essence it's going to be a social networking site for creative industry graduates based in Scotland - to be used by graduates as well as employers. 

Graduates will be able to create a profile with details about themselves and upload some images of their work. They'll then be able to chat in industry specific forums about portfolio/CV tips/their industries and anything else that takes their fancy....They'll also be able to join and search job 'groups' where admin will post links to the latest jobs (and employers will also be able to post opportunities directly here)

As I said before employers will be able to create a profile and post any opportunities or jobs they have in 'groups' relating to their industry (paid/unpaid/voluntary etc). They'll also be able to join in forum conversations and contact any graduates directly who catch their eye. 

Another main aspect of 'Croodle' is the blog where every week/month (still need to clarify dates!) we'll have a guest blogger which could be an employer giving graduates tips on how to improve their portfolio, or a successful graduate telling us how they landed their dream job. (get in touch if you fancy writing a blog for us). Bloggers can include as many links as they want to their work, online portfolios etc so it's a great way to get noticed! 

The idea for 'Croodle' came about in the middle of last year when I was thinking about the time just after I had graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University with a 1st in Applied Graphics Technology...and the trouble I had trying to find a job (which was actually relevant to my course) and how this experience could have been improved. I think one of the main reasons for the my struggle (and I'm sure the struggle of many others) was that there was no place online where graduates could be directly connected to industry employers. I think this is especially true for graduates living in Scotland, as I remember scouring job sites with 1,000+ creative jobs only to be hit with '0 results match your search' when putting in Scotland as the desired location - although I'm sure this isn't the case. It wasn't the problem of not 'looking in the right place', but one of the 'place' not existing!  Croodle aims to be a place where graduates can form a community to share their knowledge, experiences and opportunities and also a place where employers can connect directly to the people looking to work with them. 

I'm hoping to launch Croodle in May/June this year and although there may be a few teething problems I hope people will bear with me! :)

If you'd like to hear more about Croodle, would like to write a guest blog (as a graduate or employer) or would like to chat then email hello@croodle.co.uk


Follow Croodle on Twitter @Croodle_tweets

Join Croodle on Facebook

Check out the Croodle website and join our mailing list!









5 April 2013

Recent design work and MOO business cards

I thought I'd give you an update on some of my latest freelance design work. The last project I worked on was 'Pete's Photo Adventure' - which required a logo design, CMS website and business cards produced. 

Pete is a photographer based in Lanark and I think some of his shots are great (maybe I'm biased!) ...no, they really are. You can check some of them out on his website: http://www.petesphotoadventure.co.uk/



The logo was designed to convey elements of photography in a simple and easily recognisable format. The bold and capitalised text was used to convey a sense of adventure and is reminiscent of photography magazine features. The logo also works well as a silhouette and watermark which is perfect for using over photographs as copyright. 


Petes photo adventure website

Petes photo adventure website

Petes photo adventure website

 The website is built on the Wordpress CMS platform so Pete can upload his own photos, write blog posts about his 'photo adventure' and make other small amendments. The colour scheme is subtle but classic and I think the grey/black gradient background really make the logo pop, and the colours in the photographs stand out. Pete is also very active on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr so there is social media integration throughout the site with live feeds and the ability for users to 'share' individual photos. 






The front of Pete's business cards are bold and simple - conveying all the relevant information. However, using the magic of Moo.com the back of the business cards come to life with some of Pete's best photography - allowing potential clients 


I'm available to take on design work just now - anything from flyers to social media support. Get in touch > melissa@247-design.co.uk

My website > 247-design.co.uk

My Facebook page > 247 Digital Design

Thanks for reading!x


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