Operation Knit To Impress

Well I am no graphic designer, so I dread sending my CV out on any occasion.
I feel a certain pressure in the creative industry to impress with a CV before it has even been read or the envelope even opened!
Recently I have been feeling that I have been overlooked for jobs that I have applied for and I put this down to the first impressions they must have got from my CV.
In this climate, employers get a huge amount of applications for every position, and standing out from the crowd is essential.
From a graphic design point of view I know that comic sans is a no go, but other than that I am sometimes at a loss. So I decided to keep it simple and take a different approach.
The work I have been applying for is mostly model making related so I have to showcase my skills on a 3D level.
I wanted to make it personal to each company, but I knew that I would have to be selective on who I focused on because of the amount of time and effort that would go into the application.

I chose the Bristol based studio Cod Steaks, not just because of their strong links to stop motion animation studio Aardman, but also because I might get the opportunity to branch out to other areas of model making, like window displays and points of sale etc.
What also caught my eye about Cod Steaks is their unique logo

I took up my knitting needles once more and then had to put them down again soon after. I couldn't find a knitting pattern for a fish..... and definitely not one with horns.
So I made a visit to my Grandmas house and got inspiration from some old patterns for children's toys that she had stashed away.
I broke the fish down into shapes, a cone for its body and 2 flaps for the head.
It took a couple of attempts to get the black spots in the right place but eventually I cracked it!
And here it is:

I decided that the details would be sharper and look nicer if I made them from felt. I used gold thread to add detail and a bit of silver rope for for the bull ring.

I added the label with my twitter tag so that as long as it sits on someones desk, it will forever remind them of me and my work, and hopefully will make me top of the list when it comes to hiring new people.
I sent off the fish along with my CV, a cover letter and some postcard shots of my other work. I sent it just as a speculative application, there was no specific vacancy, and it wasn't long before I heard back.
I have had an amazing response from Cod Steaks, they were really flattered and are using the fish as part of a publicity campaign that you can get involved in on twitter, name the fish!
They have also told me that the lady that looks at CVs is on holiday at the moment but will give me a ring when she gets back. So watch this space.
My intention with this project was to create a buzz around my work so that in the long run it will open doors. Fingers crossed.