Be a Brand

Research report:Personal branding as a CMD student.

Steven Abelmann1605965

Rob van den Idsert6/13/2014

table of contents

Page 1 Executive summary Page 2 Introduction Page 3 What is Branding?Page 4 What is Personal Branding? Page 6 How does Branding work? Page 7 How do you present your versatility or specialismin Personal Branding? Page 10 What’s the most important difference between versatile Personal - Branding and specialist Branding? Page 13 How can we recognize the education of a person in his Personal - Branding? Page 15 What’s themost imported difference in skillset between CMD students and - art school students? Page 19 Final ConclusionPage 20 AttachmentPage 22 Reference

Executive Summary

Why this research?We are almost done with our study, and when we are looking for a job or a final internship it is good to think about how you promote yourself to the world. CMD is not an ordinary study and we have something unique and we should use that. We are true generalists who can adapt to different working fields. But how do you promote yourself as a gener-alist?

BrandingIn a world full of brands and products, which are almost doing the same thing, it’s im-portant to brand a product by adapting extra qualities to the product:- Physical qualities- Emotional qualities

Personal brandingPersonal branding is the same as branding a product but now it is about you. It is about putting the physical and emotional qualities of yourself together. But there is more: It is also about packaging and telling an authentic story of yourself to promote yourself.

Generalist or specialistPeople claim that they are a generalist or specialist but there are almost none true spe-cialist around. Most people are generalists who are specialist in something. They use the word specialist to promote themselves.

Can we recognize the education of a person in his personal branding?It is really hard to see the education of a person in personal branding. It shows what the person does and what he loves to do. The most important thing to remember is that you have to have a passion for the things you are doing and in this way you can brand yourself.

Art school student vs. CMD studentThe most important thing to remember is that art school students are much more fo-cussed on one particular thing. CMD students have a variety of skills but should promote themselves more to the world.

ConclusionPersonal branding is about who you are. As a CMD student we should specialize in some-thing but must not forget the bigger picture. We should use our skillset to think about alternative ways to promote ourselves. We should build up a discussion between gener-alist and specialist with people and when we have a job interview.

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Introduction

I wanted to use this opportunity to do research about personal branding and how to use it to live up my dream of being a freelancer after graduating Communication and Mul-timedia Design. I always thought that when you brand something you keep the focus on the thing where you are good at. On the Internet you can find so many great examples of people branding them selves like graphic designers do now a days. When I did my internship, I wasn’t the only intern there. There was another intern from art school and he was much better in graphic design then I was. On the other hand I could help him out with several things: which made me question myself if I could become a freelancer be-cause clearly I’m not the best out there. I had something different then the other intern: a versatile background but how should I use that in my advantage? With this knowledge I formed a research question with sub questions. Because CMD is a new study, I think it is very useful to find out how we should brand ourselves as a CMD student. I want to find out about the theory behind personal branding and see if I can make a connection with our education and find differences between art school students and CMD students, so we can use the differences in our advantage.

Main question• What’sthebestwayforgraduatingCMDstudentstobrandthemselves?

Sub questions• Howdoyoupresentyourversatilityorspecialisminpersonalbranding?• What’sthemostimportantdifferencebetweenversatilepersonalbrandingand specialist branding?• Howcanwerecognizetheeducationofapersoninhispersonalbranding?• Howdoyoupresentyourversatilityorspecialisminpersonalbranding?• What’sthemostimporteddifferenceinskillsetbetweenCMDstudentsandArt school students?

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What is branding?

In a world full of several kinds of products and services, a lot of them offer the same thing. When we use branding, it is all about in what kind of way a product or service attracts the consumer. To distinct a product or service you need to give it something unique. What makes the difference between a Dell and Apple laptop? Besides the price tag they are ba-sically doing the same thing, but the feeling what people get by a Dell or Apple determines what they want to buy.

Branding is combining the physical quality of a product together with emotional qualities.

According to Huub van Zwieten and Martine van den Hoed in the book, De zzper als merk: (van Zwieten, & Van den Hoed. 2011)

When we use emotional qualities into a product or service we need to keep in mind four basic things.

• Relevance• Differentiation• Authenticity• MissionandVision

RelevanceThe feeling what people get from a product, needs to cooperate with what the product or service provides. For example: You do not want to put the emotion ‘reliable‘ on jeans but you do want it on a car.DifferentiationYou want to make sure you are not doing pretty much the same thing as the competition. Also, you need to create something unique to stand out the crowd. Look at the difference between Pepsi and Coca-Cola. For some reason Coca-Cola shouts happiness and Pepsi doesn’t.AuthenticityThe things your product does with branding needs to fit the product itself. For example: Bacardi comes from Cuba and it fits into the tropical mix drink scene.Mission and visionWhat your product or service stands for must be clear.

When we look at brand templates, most of the branded products or service got something what looks like this:40% physical brand values60% emotional brand values

An example of physical branding values: Volvo is all about safety of the driver.

An example of emotional branding values: Harley Davidson is all about freedom, adventure and courage.

David Aaker says there is one more thing important for a brand, what is called the brand essence. He states that brand essence is “A single thought that captures the soul of the brand“(van Zwieten, & Van den Hoed. 2011).

By this thought the physical and emotional brand values are created and kept together.

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Bryan Eisenberg – Author of Waiting for Your Cat to Bark“Branding is the sub-total of all the “experiences” your customers have with your business. For successful branding you need to understand the principles of Ivan Pavlov as my brother Jeffrey and I discussed in our Waiting For Your Cat to Bark.”

According to Bryan Eisenberg you need three things to make branding work:ConsistencyPavlov never offered food without ringing the bell and never rang the bell without of-fering food.FrequencyThe bell rang several times a day, day after day.Anchoring.Pavlov tied the experiment to something about which the dog was emotional. Frequency and consistency creates branding only when the message is associated with an emotional anchor. This is the most difficult and essential element to get this correctly. However, keep in mind Pavlov had an easier time because he chose dogs which are much better at following a leader, today’s customers are more like a cat and not as easily persuaded or motivated. (Cohen, H. 2011)

So there are statements what branding exactly is and how it should be added to a brand. Personally I think the difference between marketing and branding is quite simple to explain. Marketing is mainly focused on selling things and making profit. When you use branding, you try to add extra values on a product or service to stand out from the compe-tition. This is accomplished by adding non-visible value called emotion to the brand.

To be successful in branding you want to use a few things:

• Authenticity• Consistency• Differentiation

Using these three elements, you want to achieve the ultimate goal to anchoring your brand into someone.

What is personal branding?

It started in 1997 when Tom Peters published an article called ’The brand called you‘ in Fast company magazine. In this article he talks about how important it is to stand out and stand for something within a company. Because the upcoming new developments within companies, it is important to distinct yourself.

“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called you.”(Peters, T. 1997)

After reading this article there are a number of ways people define the term personal branding. The term personal branding becomes more and more familiar, and related to the definition of personal branding, it becomes more vague.A few examples:

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Peter Montoya“Your Personal Brand is the powerful, clear, positive idea that comes to whenever other people think of you. It’s what you stand for—the values, abilities and actions that others associate with you. It’s a professional alter ego designed for the purpose of influencing how others perceive you, and turning that perception into opportu-nity.(Montoya, P.)

Gary Hyman“Your Personal Brand: Your skills, your passions, your value, your uniqueness, and a receptive market”(Hyman, G.)

Huub van Zwieten & Mark van de grift‘’Branding is een manier om onderscheidend vermogen te creëren en dit herken-baar en consistent te communiceren” (van Zwieten, H & van de Grift, M. 2005)

Samuel John Hodgett“Personal branding simply refers to how you are positioning yourself as an expert in front of the world. As a cow, you need to differentiate yourself among the other cattle. (Seth Godin would call this the principle of the Purple Cow) You all look the same and sound the same without branding. It’s your brand that sets yourself apart from the competition.”(Hodgett, SJ. 2012)

Peter Montoya with Tim Vandehey (The brand called you)“First of all, your Personal Brand is you, enhanced and expressedusing polished, well-crafted communication methods. It is designedto convey two vital pieces of information to your target market:1. Who you are as a person2. What you specialize in doingYour Personal Brand is the mental picture your prospects get whenthey think about you. It represents your values, your personality, your expertise, and the qualities that make you unique among your competitors.That’s why it’s so important to remain authentic to yourselfas you create your brand. People want to work with you, not withsome slick marketing creation. “(Montoya, P & Vandehey, T. 2009)

So there are a lot of ways to explain the term ‘personal branding’.

I like the way Peter Montoya tells us what branding is but I see a problem.Samuel John Hodgett states, when you use personal branding you have to be an expert in something. As a CMD student you’re not an expert like people from art school. We follow a specialism to get a deeper understanding but it is not the same as other educations.

Personally I think personal branding is all about identifying your personal strengths and communicate that to your target audience in other words:

Personal branding combines your personal qualities, skillsets and unique skills with a statement you make for others to recognize it.

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How does branding work?

Branding is everything you do, once you decide to create a personal brand of yourself. Ev-erything you do will be a part of your personal branding: (Montoya, P & Vandehey, T. 2009)

• Whatyoudrive• Whatyouwear• Whereyoudine• Whatcharitiesyousupport• Whereyouattendchurch• Howcleantheexteriorofyourbuildingis• Howyourhomelooks• Howyoushakehands

I have told about the definition of personal branding and what personal branding is about, so now it is time to show yourself-online and offline, but how?

There are two places to show your personal branding, online and offline. With offline we mean the basic things like: your own image of your brand, what typefaces you use, usage of your logo and colours like for example your business card. Get your curriculum vitae up to date and combine that with your brand identity you have just created with your logo and typefaces. Think about how you want to dress yourself. It’s the first impression people get when they see you. Find a workplace that fits you when you are a freelancer.When you go online, you must consider if you need a personal website or not. You might want to write a blog and talk about the things that interest you or keep it simple and use Twitter. You want to keep an up to date LinkedIn profile and connect with people you have met. It’s important to ask yourself what you need to do to be seen by your target group. (van Zwieten, & Van den Hoed. 2011)

The most important thing to remember when it comes to personal branding is:“Your visibility is more important than your ability.” (Montoya, P & Vandehey, T. 2009)

As soon as you made yourself visible for the target group, it is time for one more im-portant thing: building the emotional connection with the target group. But this is also the hardest part to do. People will do business with people they like and trust. When you feel familiar with someone, you are banding and finally get a different connection with that person then with someone else. You are more likely to tell someone else that they should get in touch with this guy that you like. He might not be the specialist the person needs but his personality is more important then only his skill set. (Casserly, M. 2012)

Peter Montoya with Tim Vandehey (The brand called you)“This is why all the informative brochures and information packagesin the world, no matter how much they tell prospects about youreducation, certification, and experience, will never get people throughyour door as effectively as a Personal Brand that creates a level of comfortand familiarity. The hard, cold facts might sell people once you getthe meeting, but to get past people’s sales resistance, you’ve got tomeet their need for you to be someone they can trust and relate to. “(Montoya, P & Vandehey, T. 2009)

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How do you present your versatility or specialism in personal branding?

There are two types of persons: generalists and specialists. But what are the consequences when you are a generalist or a specialist? And what does it mean to be a generalist or a specialist? How is the type of person you are influencing how you brand yourself?

Generalist: A person with a broad “general“ knowledge with a versatile skillset in several areas.

Specialist: A person with an expert knowledge in a field with a depth skillset in a specific area.

So there are two ways to describe yourself and it depends on your personality if you are a generalist or specialist. But how do you show that with your personal branding and what do other people say about which one you should be.

Peter Montoya with Tim Vandehey (The brand called you)“Specialization is the single most important Personal Brandingstrategy in your arsenal. You simply cannot build an effective brandwithout being a specialist. Specialization builds on the ideal clientyou chose in the last chapter and uses that information to help younarrow down the scope of your brand communication(Montoya, P & Vandehey, T. 2009)

Eric Deckers“We live in a world of specialization now. When you look at the amount of knowl-edge in the world today, and the amount of knowledge in your own field, it’s nearly impossible to be a generalist anymore. You can’t know most things about your field. Gone are the days of the marketing generalist or the attorney for all seasons. Even general practitioner physicians are becoming endangered. “(Deckers, E. 2013)

Dan Schawbel“You need to be known for something and don’t try to be everything to everyone. Being a generalist will help you adapt to new jobs because the market changes all the time, but specializing will make you more desirable to hiring managers. In fact, 71% of hiring managers are looking to fill “specialized positions” while 61% of job seekers considered themselves to have “broad skill sets”. Companies are looking to hire experts in their fields to solve real business problems. Become an expert in an in-demand field and you will have leverage over the recruitment process, make more money, and securing a stable position. “(Schawbel, D. 2010)

So most people suggest that we should be specialists when it comes to brand ourselves because now everyone needs a specialist. Personally I always thought that it is great to be a generalist with a few in-depth knowledge and skills. When people talk about a specialist, most people think about the top 10 of the world. You spend so many hours to become great in something that it is really hard to become. It is strange to say that we all keep in-dicating that we all should be specialists. Because this will mean, we all need to take more and more time to rank ourselves above the other specialist around us. So I think when most people are completely honest they are not true specialist.

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John Saddington“You’re only a true specialist if these things are true:

• You’rethebestofthebest.Really.• You’rethebestofthebestatonething.Really.Ifyouhavemorethanonetrade interest you’re no longer a specialist, by definition. Get over yourself. Really.• You’reextremelycomfortabledoingonethingandonethingonly,especiallyas your trade.• Youknowexactlyyourtargetmarket,audience,andbusiness.Youknowexactly what they are looking for and the services they need. “(Saddington, J. 2011)

So we can say that most people are generalist and have a deeper knowledge in a few areas that separates them from other people in the same field. We can still distinct ourselves by using other skills. Skills that are less related to your job field are still useful for some em-ployees or clients. When we use personal branding it’s important to look at your unique selling points (USP). Most people find a balance by calling themselves a generalist with a specific specialized skill or level of expertise.

How do you show you are a generalist with a specialized skill or expertise?You can put it on your website or your portfolio is one of the best ways to show what spe-cialized skills you have. Your CV and business card will get to places where you normally don’t get access to, so writing down your specialized areas on your CV is a good idea. Also your business card should have a tag with who you are and where you are specialized in.

There are a few tools to use: (Nort, S. 2013)

• youronlineprofilephoto(s)• yourpersonalbrandstatement• yourLinkedInProfile,Twitterprofile,Facebookprofile• yourCV• yourwebsiteand/orblog• yourbusinesscardsandemailsignature

We are not the first one who is a designer but when you are specialized in designing A3 pop art posters you are more unique and still you have a basic understanding of designing other things as well.

I think the most important thing to do is not to call yourself a specialist. Be completely honest, personal branding is about authenticity. Use your USP to position yourself and transform that into your visual look of your brand. It is good to have a few areas where you focus on but do not forget the bigger picture.

So let’s take a look at two examples of people who brand themselves:

Jamie Oliver.

Most of us know who Jamie Oliver is and what he does. He is a British chef with his own TV show and he has published a couple of books. Now what makes Jamie Oliver so unique? It is his food revolution campaign. Because obesity has increase in the United Kingdom and the weight gaining of the youth, Jamie Oliver decided to make a personal campaign of bringing healthy food into the schools. Thanks to his Ted talk (Tedtalk, Oliver, J. 2010) the name Jamie Oliver become a great brand. His foundation (called Jamie Oliver food foundation) is for the education of people about food. He uses a website, Twitter,

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events and his TV show to promote his revolution and his personal brand. (Rosales, F. 2010)

Jamie Oliver“My charity aims to inspire people to reconnect with food. It’s all about raising awareness and individual responsibility, resuscitating dying food culture around the world and, ultimately, keeping cooking skills alive.”

Steve Jobs.

We all know Steve Jobs co founder of Apple and his ideas of changing the world, as we know it. Presenting his ideas in his classic black turtleneck, round glasses and blue jeans. Steve Jobs got his personal brand connected with Apple. He was a great designer, a dreamer and a great expert in branding. He builds the brand Apple and with that he builds himself. He is considered the greatest corporate storytellers in the world. His presenta-tions inform, educate and entertain and can be seen as one of the best. (Tomfohrde, M. 2014)(Gallo, C. 2010)

Steve Jobs “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.“

We all have a picture in our mind when it comes to Jamie Oliver and Steve Jobs but we can say they are both generalists. They both have a couple of skills.Jamie Oliver is a chef but he is specialized in cooking simple and healthy foods. Branding himself as a caring person with a passion for food combined with taking care of the youth.Steve Jobs was also a generalist when it comes to designing but he was specialized when it comes to presentations. He stayed authentic when he presented and practised his presen-tation for hours to schedule the timing and words right.

Conclusion: How do you present your versatility or specialism in personal branding?

Because most people are generalist, they should promote that with their branding. By making use of their CV and business card people can distinguish themselves by showing their extra skillset, which makes them unique, or like Steve Jobs. Using this technique makes them a specialist in one of their skills. Transforming your portfolio by showing only the things you are really good at, you can leave a good impression about what you do and why people should hire you (for example the A3 pop art poster designs combined with illustrations).

At the end you have to make your own decisions about how you want to brand yourself and how people should think of you. Personally I think we should specialize ourselves in more than one item. You are not the only one with that same type of skill and when you combine your skills, it cannot only be useful for yourself but also more interesting for the client.

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What’s the most important difference between versatile personal branding and specialist branding?

In my last research question I described that there are almost none true specialists around here. Of course there are a few who are a specialist: for example the medical world. There are so many doctors around and only a few are a specialist. So I was happy to read a post written by James Fruth, talking about specialists. He claims that there are 3 basic specialist types. (Fruth, J. 2012)

• AudienceSpecific• TechnologySpecific• MissionSpecific

Audience SpecificWhen you use one or more talents or skills for a specific audience or client.For instance, when you design a website about gluten allergies.

Technology SpecificThis is the most common thought-of specialty: when talents are used towards a single piece of technology or platform.This is a more specific type: people who love doing one thing in particular are normally this type. The platform changes a lot so you have to be able to adapt new technology and ideas.

Mission Specific“More of a goal-oriented specialty focused on a specific outcome or message. Think of it as choosing an audience and creating something for them to USE rather than create something FOR them.“ (Fruth, J. 2012)

So there are some specialist types, and it takes time to become a specialist. It is all about educating yourself about the topic you love. Get familiar with everything about your speciality. James Fruth

“If you want to be a mobile web design specialist, you should know every phone and every tablet screen that comes out. Be aware of how they interact with each other and what the best option is for almost any scenario.” (Fruth, J. 2012)

Other than only education you need lots of passion for your speciality. You read con-stantly about the same topic and that could be boring. But if you love your speciality it won’t feel as research work but more as improving skills and knowledge.

So what are the benefits of being a specialist?

DifferentiationIt is easier to set yourself apart from other people. You can tell exactly what talent you have, in which field you work in and what kind of knowledge you have.

Presumed expertiseWhen you say you are an expert, people think you have a better skillset than other people so they are willing to pay more.

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Clearer client understandingPeople do not always understand what type of work you do and are not willing to pay that much. But if you can specify your work, they are more willing to pay you.

A focus on your strengthsBecause you are a specialist you have a clear focus on your work field. Because you are the best in the field you work in, you can ask extra money.

Clients prequalify themselvesYou are the expert and you can tell exactly what you do and whom you work for. So it is easier to figure out if a client should work with you or not. “(Montoya, P & Vandehey, T. 2009)

There are benefits of being a specialist: the time you spend on your work to get the best will eventually pay off. It is a long run but if you make it, it will be great for a living. You do something you really love so working will feel less like work and more like a hobby.

What are the risks?

Old and new mark segmentsYou might turn away from a mark segment what is not profitable for now but will be in the future.

Losing clientsLosing old clients because when you become a true specialist, you will be focusing on one part, which doesn’t provide the needs of the clients.

Too narrowBeing too narrow in your field of specialty can be a real danger. That’s why it is very im-portant to find out about your target market and find their needs to be a specialist in. “(Montoya, P & Vandehey, T. 2009) (Kenjin .2010) (Malvik, C. 2013) There are risks and benefits of being a true specialist. You begin to wonder if being a spe-cialist fits your personality and if you have the stamina to become one. On the other hand the rewards are great but what about being a generalist? What are the pros and cons of being a generalist? What are the benefits of being a generalist?

You are commercialThe idea is simple: you can do a couple of things so you will fit into multiple jobs. Instead, companies hire a few specialists but they can also hire you for doing the same job de-pending on the quality and speed they need the jobs to be done.

You can see the bigger pictureBecause you know a lot about different disciplines, you can work great with specialist. When you work on an assignment you have a better understanding of the influence from each different part of the assignment and how they are connected. Another great skill you have is to make new connections. You have multiple skill sets and if you combine those you can create something new.

Multiple requestsWhen a client comes to you for help you can help them out. But when the assignment is done your client is done. But because you are a generalist and the client is happy with the way you worked together with him, he can ask you for another type of assignment and

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you can handle that as well. (Malvik, C. 2013) (Kenjin .2010).

So there are a few benefits of being a generalist or a specialist but what about the risk you have when you’re a generalist?

What are the risks?

OutsourceBecause a generalist has a broad view, they don’t have the speciality for some part of the assignment when needed. So they have to be turned down or that part needs to be out-sourced which costs extra money.

JuggleWhen you work in a team for a project you have been working on multiple things instead of focussing on your strong suite.

Lower feesThe price quality is different than from a specialist. Because there are more generalists around, your fees are lower than a specialist because he’s one of the few who can help you with the specific task. (Gregory, A. 2009)

Conclusion

Now we have seen the pros and cons from being a specialist or generalist.When it comes to personal branding generalist and specialist brand themself differently. When it comes to a specialist you can be specific about what you do and what your skills are. You can change your portfolio to only show what your strengths are. Thanks to that it is easer to make yourself unique. On the other hand your target market is a lot smaller and makes it harder to find a new client. But if you find one he will hire you for sure because you are the only one who can help him. When you are a generalist you have to show a couple of skills you have: your portfolio got a few examples of different things you do and also the way how you reach your target market is different. It is hard to distinct yourself from the rest. On the other hand when people are happy to work with you they are more likely to ask you to do another job in a different field you are also familiar with.

I personally think we should keep a clear focus on what we want to do. Focus on the things you love to do and never lose the bigger picture out of sight. It is not only your skillset you have but also your personality that helps a lot by getting a new assignment. So of course are there people in the world who are better than you. But if you can connect with your client and do a great job I think you have a great competition position. So being a gener-alist or specialist doesn’t matter, it is about your actions with the client that counts.

So what are the most important differences between the branding of a generalist or spe-cialist?

The most important difference is the way they present their portfolio, their CV with their skillset, their job title on the business card and the way they manifest themselves with clients and their client list.

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How can we recognize the education of a person in his personal branding?

We know now what personal branding is, but is it possible to recognize the education of a person in his personal branding? I want to show the personal branding of three persons and draw a conclusion if I could figure out what their education is.I will show three screenshots of their websites and other things I could find which shows their personal branding. After that I will draw my conclusion based on the look of what I found without really reading about the person self. After that I compare it with the things I did found of the person.

I found three people with a great personal brand. I tried to find as much of them as pos-sible like business card, websites, twitter account, blogs and CV. Some of them I could find a lot off and from other less but I can still draw a conclusion.

The three people are:• MartinGrohs

o Websiteo Portfolioo Business cardo Social media

• JoshuaFieldsMillburno Websiteo Social mediao Portfolio

• ChaseJarviso Websiteo Social mediao Portfolio

Martin GrohsWhen you go on his website and take a look around, the first impression is that it is really creative. It is a well designed website with personal quotes at the top of every page you visit. When you take a look at his portfolio it is clear. He is a designer mainly focussed on digital painting and logo design. His business card states “Graphic designer and artist“.

Social media used• Facebook• Diviantart• Behance

Based on watching his portfolio, seeing his website, Facebook and Behance page. I would suggest he has been a student of the art school but without watching his about page it is hard to really confirm.

Joshua Fields MillburnThe first time I looked on his website I noticed how clean and white it was. Mostly he uses white and black with a few blue elements. You see a big picture of Joshua Fields Millburn with an about part of him. Below that there is a full list of social media he uses to stay connected with him.

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Social media used• Facebook• Twitter• Google+• Pinterests• Instagram• Youtube

His portfolio mostly exists out of books and essays he wrote. Together with Ryan Nico-demus he tours and they are telling about their ideas of minimalism. They call them-selves The minimalists. Based on that I would suggest he got a background in journalism or some kind of cultural background.

Chase JarvisAt the moment you start up his website you have a ‘wow’ effect from the pictures you see. The slideshow shows directly what type of person he is. He must be a photographer type of guy. It is a really basic website with mostly just pictures in his portfolio. Besides making pictures he also shoots movies.

Social media used• Facebook• Twitter• Google+• Broadcast• Youtube• Blog

Most of his picture he takes are from people with some stunning effects. He also works in projects like books and other things. Because his website is pretty basic and his blog isn’t that spectacular I would suggest he is a self taught photographer.

So I took a first look at how three people brand them selves. Now was my first suggestion about their education right or was I totally wrong? Lets take a look.

Martin Grohs“I’m a 26 year old self-thaught graphic designer and artist based in Leipzig, Germany. I’ve specialized in the area BRANDING, ILLUSTRATION and PHOTO MANIPULATION. My passion is primarily the PRINT range.“(Grohs, M 2009)

Joshua Fields Millburn“I don’t have a college degree of any sort. But I did work in the corporate world for 12 years. (Boring!) I used to manage more than 100 people in 16 retail stores as a regional manager. I was also the director of operations for 150 retail stores. In 2011, I quit my boring six-figure job at age 30 to become a full-time writer. Writing is my deepest passion, espe-cially literary fiction. I like to think of my writing as one part David Foster Wallace, one part Christopher Wallace, and one part William Wallace.“ (Millburn, F.J. (n.d.))

Chase JarvisChase Jarvis got a degree in philosophy at the San Diego State University. He found his love for the camera thanks to the grandfather who passed away and gave him the camera. (Dizon, K. 2007)

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Conclusion

I think it is an interesting outcome. You cannot tell if someone has a degree or not by only looking at his personal branding. Only in the CV you can find the education of the person. Most people use their portfolio for finding clients and wheeling them in by showing what they do and what their positive points are. Most of them do not have an education of the field they are in. They are self-thought people. You can say they found their passion and followed it. They put time to teach themselves what they found interesting and con-formed that into a personal brand to make a living.

What’s the most important difference in skillset between CMD students and Art school students?

Now we know what branding is, how we can distinctive ourselves, the difference between a generalist and specialist and it is difficult to tell about the education of someone in his personal branding. Now the big question is: What is the difference between a Commu-nication and multimedia (CMD) student and an art school student when we look at the skillsets?I am going to have a look at two students from CMD and two students from the Willem De Koning Academie. I am going to have a look at the next five things:

• Websitedesign• Socialmediause• Personalbrandlook• Skillsets• Workexperienceintheirfield

Willem De Koning Academie

Jim Jansen (Graphic design)“I’m a Rotterdam based graphic designer and illustrator currently studying at the Willem de Kooning Academy and working part-time as graphic designer for Agency No9. “ (Jansen, J. 2013)

Website designHe doesn’t have a personal website. He is using a Behance website, Facebook page and Cargocollective. Social media• Facebook• Behance• Linkedin• Cargocollective

Personal branding lookHe uses a red-white combination in his personal brand. It is a very clean and simple look combined with some modern touches like in his logo. His logo is build up like a paperclip and stands for his name Jim Jansen. The double J’s are used to build it up.

Skillset• Branding&identity• Illustrations

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Work experience• Internship

o 3 times a 5 months• Freelancer

o 2 companies

Jim Jansen continued studying graphic design from MBO to HBO. Thanks to that he got work experience and design. His main focus is branding and personal projects mainly with illustrations.

Sharon de Groot (Advertising)

Sharon de Groot is a 23 years old graphic designer based in Rotterdam. She continued studying after she graduated “Vormgever Ruimtelijke Presentatie en Communicatie, Graphic Design “ at Nimetro Utrecht.

Website designShe has her own website using Cargocollective website to show her designs.

Social media• Cargocollective• Pinterests• Linkedin• Facebook

Brand lookShe uses a clean and white design to show her work and projects. She describes the client and what the idea was and how that transformed into something visual. Analyzing the looks of it, she didn’t really use personal branding.

Skillset• Creativeconceptdesign• Productdisplaydesign• Productdesign• Advertisementdesign Work experience

• Internshipo 3 times a 5 monthso 1 time a 1 year

Sharon continued studying after finishing her first education. Thanks to that she got a pretty specific portfolio and a good base to continue working. She doesn’t really use per-sonal branding yet. Which might bring her into trouble later on.

Communication and multimedia design.

Willem Heirman (UXD specialization)

Willem is a 26 years old CMD student with a specialization in UXD. Before CMD he fin-ished his AV-Media education at the Koning Willem 1 College.

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Website designHe uses an out-dated website from Wix for finding an internship. He uses round circles to highlight texts and combines that with red and white with some grey areas.

Social media• Facebook• Linkedin

Personal brand lookHe doesn’t use personal branding.Skillsets• Storytelling• Movieproductions• Onlinecontentcreation

Work experience• Internship

o 1 times a 5 monthso 1 time a 1 year

Most of his work is based on the project made in CMD. Because he got a background in AV-media his portfolio also contains a number of movies shot by him.

Iris Vermaas

Iris Vermaas is 20 years old student based in Utrecht. She already finished her Minor Ap-plied psychology. Currently she works as an intern at Anna Scot as a marketing and visual designer.

Website designShe uses an own website design. When you pop up the website you see her portfolio straight away. Her projects are shown in picture frames and she got a menu at the top below each other. Social media use• Facebook• Twitter• Linkedin• Pinterest• Blog

Personal brand lookShe uses a black and grey-based look. Mostly her website is white which make the art-work made pop out more.

Skillsets• Photography• Illustrator• Photoshop• InDesign• Illustrations.

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Work experience• Internship

o 1 times a 5 months• 1Freelanceclient

I based this little research on what I could find of the people on the Internet, their website or other uses of promoting themselves and showing their portfolio.The skillset names are copied from which they applied on and one of the website or other places I could find.

Conclusion

The main thing that I found out is that people from the WDKA are busy promoting them-selves and showing what they made. This is really different to CMD students. Because they have a narrower field they work in and it can also be seen in their work they show. On the other hand their main focus skills are based on one or two things. When we take a look at Iris Vermaas she got an internship in two departments of the company: marketing and design. So it shows how powerful the versatile education of CMD can be for some companies. Also a thing that I noticed is that the way WDKA students describe their skills is more directly towards the field for instance Illustration. CMD students tell more about their software skills than the field they want to work in.

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Final conclusion

What’s the best way for graduating CMD students to brand themselves?

Personal branding is about whom you are and how you want to present yourself to the world. It is a way of packaging yourself and showing it as a product to someone else. It’s not up to me to say how you should brand yourself as a person because it’s something that you are. You decide what you want to show and how the look or feeling the brand needs to be. I think as a CMD student we should keep a focus on a prolific area (specialize). But don’t forget your ability of seeing the bigger picture as a generalist.

We should make a statement about CMD: “We as CMD students are an expert in being a generalist, specialist in…“We should start up a discussion when people confirm they want a specialist for the job or when people claim they are a specialist. Get the word out that there are only a few true specialists and explain why everyone is a generalist.

We should start as soon as possible by showing the world who you are and what you can do. Have a kick ass portfolio ready to show your best work but do not forget to show what else you can do and what makes you unique.We as CMD students have some unique skills, so you should use that for your personal branding.Think about alternative ways to promote yourself by using your concept, content, visual and UXD background and specialization. Connect those elements and create an authentic way of showing yourself to the world.

At the end, I think we should promote our top three skills to someone. Say you are spe-cialized in this and that your good at two other things you are okay by doing it. I think we should take an example of people who branded themselves already. Have a look at what makes you unique and combine your strengths with your personality. At the end it is your personality that makes the final decision: Whether you get hired or that you can work in a team.

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Attachment

Joshua Fields Millburn

hase Jarvis

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Martin Grohs

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