Lauren Pennington Design

Should graduates use self-promotion?

2010-04-15T23:00:00.007+01:00

In the design industry there are numerous issues that are always raised, and myself being about to graduate these are issues I must learn to address. Whether it is recession and the struggle to find a job, the prospects are always daunting. The idea of self-promotion seems like a good one. With many companies using self-promotion as a tool to receive more clients, why can’t self-promotion be used to help a graduate find a job?

Self-promotion is another way to be noticed. Smaller design agencies will promote themselves completely different from bigger agencies. Graduates and Students self-promotion again will vary from agencies, as agencies are already in the industry and received work. While students/graduates need to promote themselves to work their way into the industry. A key route for this is portfolios and C.Vs, but is there anything more that graduates can do to promote themselves? For big agencies their promotion is usually via their website on the bases of the awards they have won, and their client list to entice new clients to choose their company.

“It’s different for the big multinational design groups. They are pumped full of marketing steroids, and they know how to get a foot in the doors of big rich corporations hungry to spend millions having their brand image burnished. The big groups have the money and the expertise to promote themselves by using sophisticated marketing and communication techniques” (Shaughnessy, 2005, page 120).

Adrian Shaughnessy’s “How to be a Graphic Designer without losing your soul” has a great chapter about self-promotion, and as you can see with the quote above he is very opinionated on the matter. It seems that big agencies promote themselves to being ‘famous’ in the industry, highlighting all the awards they have won and their excellent client lists. Though I feel graphic design isn’t about this, it shouldn’t be about whether your design agency wins more awards or not. It should be about the quality of work you produce, the relationships and the loyal clients who respect your agency because they can trust you. Awards are just an added bonus to having a career in something you are so passionate about, not the main aspect you should use to promote yourself or the company. However, the obsession to win awards and become famous is something that is taken over, not just the design industry but the public as well. With the obsession of celebrities everybody is wanted to become famous in some shape or form.

“The lesson is simple: we must not confuse admiration and respect with fame or celebrity. A number of groups have sought to acquire fame and celebrity by hyping themselves and behaving more like boy bands than design groups” (Shaughnessy, 2005, page 121).

So does this theory apply with graduates? Is an agency going to employ a graduate because they won a D&AD award, or should it be on the strength of their portfolio? With the recession and the growing amount of graduates in the design industry, graduates have to overcome these issues and find away around the problem. Is the solution self-promotion? It may not be the solution but it can only help. For a student being told you must organise portfolio visits, placements or even find a job once graduating is quite overwhelming. Where do you start? Obviously being a student myself I can’t give a great deal of advice although my methods so far seem to be working. My only method of self-promotion at the moment is my portfolio and blog. Portfolios are a key aspect for self-promotion as it is a collection of your best work; but personally self-promotion is something I need to work on.

Branding is always a good sense for self-promotion. Create a brand for yourself, a logo, business cards and a ‘leave behind’ this maybe a smaller printed version of your portfolio in the form of a leaflet. This will help people stand out from the crowd. I feel that self-promotion is a challenging aspect for graduates that they all need to conquer. When I graduate there will be 40,000 other design students going through the same emotions all of us after the same design jobs. So how do you stand out from the rest and get that placement or job for yourself? Simple the answer is promoting yourself. These are the things that help design graduates become successful, however thinking of original ideas will always help. A quirky and individual idea for your branding is more likely to attract attention than ‘Helvetica Bold’ on a business card. Self-promotion is about breaking the mould and making a statement, and becoming a necessity for graduates to succeed in the industry.

“Acquiring a reputation isn’t easy; you have to earn it and it has to be forged out of the raw materials of your personality and your work” (Shaughnessy, 2005, page 120).

Shaughnessy, A, (2005). How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul. Princeton Architectural Press: New York.

Odd London

2010-04-14T19:53:00.004+01:00

Odd is an award-winning integrated design agency that was founded in 2002, by Nick Stickland and Simon Glover they have offices in Clerkenwell in London. They cover a lot of areas from identity, print, retail experience and more, here is a nice diagram which shows all the areas they cover.

"We have created some truly ground breaking and award winning work for a wide range of clients including global brands like Nike, Westfield, Uniqlo, Lacoste, Sony and Oxfam. Our creativity is also widely recognised by our peers and we have provided support on both national and international campaigns for leading groups including Naked Communications, Adam & Eve, Engine, Mother and Fallon."

Odd have a great client list and an excellent portfolio, that has a great range and is full of diversity. The client list includes Boots, Playstation, Nike and Armani. They have a nice website which is full of lots of interesting things. Here are a few of my favourites.

Star Wars Lego Scenes

2010-04-14T15:39:00.003+01:00

Occasionally you see parodies of famous film scenes, I recently discovered these images of famous film scenes that were acted out by Lego figures. I thought they were really clever and made me laugh, and anything to do with lego will always be a favourite in my eyes. Here are my favourite, the iconic rose petal scene from American beauty and the ET chase scene.

Dave Sedgwick Vs. Container Plus

2010-04-14T15:11:00.008+01:00

As I come to the end of my education at University I have to start considering my options for when I finish my course. How I am going to get a job and what field of design I would like to work in. Throughout the three years on my course we have had numerous of guest lectures come in to speak about their experiences, their work and how they found a job in the design industry. Even this year we have had some great guest lectures, all have different experiences and advice to share. I have decided to compare two of the practitioners’ lectures, and how their experiences with the design industry vary.

The two practitioners I have decided to analyse are Dave Sedgwick the senior designer from Manchester design agency 999, and Louise Vormitag from Container Plus. They both have had different approaches to getting jobs within the design industry, and I felt these two practitioners approaches varied the most, which interested me.

Dave Sedgwick moved to Manchester in 1998 to look for Steve Rose and the Hacienda, he studied a D&AD design course at Manchester Metropolitan University. After finishing his course he received two placements on at Flux Magazine and the other at Splinter, he loved one of the placements and found the other placement boring, as it did not interest him. This showed that placements are important as who don’t know what a company is like to work, and you may think if would be your ideal job then once you work there you may be proven wrong. Dave spoke about the importance of placements and how you learn a lot from them, and the experience helps your skills progress and improves your chances of obtaining a job when graduating. The first placement after graduation was already arrange before he graduated, and it was with an agency who he had shown his portfolio to a year before and who had hated his work. This shows that you should not give up. Whether a designer likes or does not like your work they will still give you advice and feedback, it is also good to keep them as contacts as they can recommend your to other agencies.

Louise Vormitag experiences when finishing her course were very different from Dave’s experiences. Louise spoke about how through her University course her and one of her fellow students Nicole decided to collaborate on a project, where they both realised that they shared the same commitment level and worked well as a team. Once finished University, even though Louise studied Graphic Design, she decided to explore an illustrative freelancing path. Louise and Nicole decided to share a website but have separate portfolios, and would cold call people to find work and once receiving a portfolio visit they would both go and show both portfolios. Louise explained this was a way her and Nicole liked to work, however it does not work for everyone and your must find out what way of work you find most comfortable with.

Both Dave and Louise’s experiences would have been very different on the choices they have chosen, they would have decided to go down these paths, as they would have been more comfortable with. Dave decided to have placements to gain more skills and experience then he went into freelancer, while Louise did the opposite. She went straight into freelancer with no design industry experience. Dave discussion is one many take as they would prefer to work in an agency than freelance, however Louise took a risk straight out of University by going freelance something not many people take the chance at. Luckily for both practitioners their discussion were the best for them and have helped them succeed in the areas they wished too.

Researching agencies and clients was a key point in both lectures, even though they had different experiences and took separate paths there were some comparisons. The importance of getting industry contacts were stressed in both lectures, the more contacts gained will improve your chance of getting jobs in the industry. Louise method of getting contacts was cold calling to get her name out there, but she worked with Nicole and they worked as a team. While Dave create a PDF of only his work and would send that out to agencies so they would view his work as an incentive to help with finding a job.

Relationships within the design industry are important. If you have a strong relationship with your clients they are more likely to choose you over other agencies, and as the trust grows stronger you gain more freedom on briefs. Also design relationships within the agency are good too, so you can work well as a team and produce better work. Good communication skills and strong relationships were key points in both of the lectures. Dave built strong relationship with his clients so they kept choosing him for their design work. While Louise has a strong relationship with her clients she spoke more of the relationship within her design team. When collaborating you need to make sure everyone is reliable and has the same commitment to work well, Container Plus use to have five members however this dynamic did not work. Two of the members left and Louise found it much easier when it was two other members and Louise. When working in a team you need to make sure you spread the workload, and sit together to discuss everything, so everyone communicates to work as a team so everything runs smoothly.

Overall I enjoyed both lectures. Even though each one had a different story and experiences after they finished University, both were extremely interesting. As I will be graduating University in June/July my decision for after my course I need to start to discover. I have been lucky enough to experience two placements so far, and I have enjoy both each one was different from the type of work to the people in the design team. I do believe you have to experience placements before you decide what agency you make want to work in, however throughout my third year I have collaborated a lot as I feel this also prepares me for the design industry. As usually in University you work alone then once you work in the design industry you have to learn to work in a team. This is why I find collaborating on University projects useful, as it is teaching me to work in a team and helping me communicate my ideas with others. I feel both practitioners offered great but different advice. Each person is different that is why people choose different options. I would like to work freelance like Louise however I feel I need more placements and experience in the design industry before I do this. These lectures opened my eyes to the options I can take and that there just is not one, each person’s journey into the industry is different and I look forward to mine.

Coca-Cola Bus Shelter

2010-04-14T13:47:00.003+01:00

I found this on ads of the world blog and I thought it was a great concept. This was designed by McCann Erickson in Turkey, I am unsure whether this is real or not but it is a great ambient piece either way.

The $73,000 bar tab

2010-04-14T12:00:00.002+01:00

Drink driving is a growing issue as more accidents happen every year. The government in Brazil released a zero tolerance on drink driving, but still in the same year as that was released 35,000 people died due to the issue. So bars introduce a new kind bar tab with extra costs would be added to the bill, the extra costs would be hospital bills they would have to pay if they drove drunk. This campaign cost no extra money to produce and got people to think, here is the video explain the campaign.

Ads of the World

Donna Trist - Contact Report

2010-04-14T10:28:00.002+01:00

In London we went on a visit to JKR to view the studio and see what working there was like. Donna the Design Director gave us her contact details so we could keep in contact, when I got home I emailed Donna to say thank you and sent over some of my work for her to look at. I sent over mine and Carrie's Holland and Barrett work, and Carrie sent over our Quaker Oats work. Yesterday she emailed us both back with some really great advice.

Rainy Day

2010-04-13T15:14:00.002+01:00

The term 'Saving for a Rainy Day' is always used for when people have a money box and save for those bad days when you need extra money. Now you can save all you pennies for a rainy day is this black rain cloud money box.

"Even wonder why a black storm cloud looms above you during the most inopportune of times? Black, dense and heavily saturated, when the rain falls, it pours! The sooty Rainy Day Piggy helps you acquire your fortune to get through the rainy days to come."

Unusual Cakes

2010-04-13T14:38:00.004+01:00

These days you can make pretty much anything into a cake, and recently there was a post of toxel.com about '12 Creative and Unusual Cakes'. There were some pretty amazing ones on there, and it shows then creativity can go far. Here a few of my favourites.

Blood Bag Energy Bag

2010-04-13T14:10:00.004+01:00

My final major project is to promote giving blood and get a younger age range to start giving blood. Knowing this one of my fellow classmates, Mike Mara, sent me a link which he thought might help me with my projects. The link was for an article on toxel.com about a new product and its packaging. The product was for Blood Energy Potion a new punch flavoured energy drink. However what makes this product different from other energy drinks is it is stored in a blood transfusion-style blood bag. Which may seem a bit weird with it looking like you are drinking blood, but with the current climate and the new obsession with vampires. I think this product could be very successful, it is a unusual yet clever idea making it stand out from the rest.

Tim MacPherson

2010-04-07T19:34:00.004+01:00

Tim MacPherson is a British advertising photography with an amazing online portfolio, each piece as a great concept or idea behind it which shows in his imaginative photographs. My favourite pieces on his website our the photos of children in fabricated words. Where average objects from around the house make up a motorbike or the sea. This photos are really amazing and so imaginative that bring a smile to my face.

Eco Coca-Cola packaging

2010-04-04T19:46:00.000+01:00

Andrew Kin is an industrial design student who has created a new concept on how to transport Coca-Cola bottles in a new efficient way. The new bottles he has designed are square so use up less space, but the branding is so simple yet fantastic. The idea is a great and it is well designed, however if may not be able to be manufacture but we can always dream.

Specsavers 'The Spec Effect' Advert

2010-04-01T20:18:00.003+01:00

The new specsavers advert is rather clever idea, is it a parody of the famous Lynx adverts where the male sprays himself with some body spray. The next minute millions of bikini clad females and running around to an island to find him. Once they find him he puts of his glasses, which are huge and terrible, once the females realise this they look at him with disgust and begin to walk off. The line then reads "should have gone to specsavers". I think that this advert is better than some of the previous attempts.

TheDieline.com

2010-03-29T12:22:00.004+01:00

The dieline is a great packaging site that was established in 2007 by Andrew Gibbs. Andrew describes the site as "dedicated to the progress of the package design industry and its practitioners, students and enthusiasts. Its purpose it to define and promote the world's best examples of packaging, and provide a place where the package design community can review, critique and stay informed of the latest industry trends and design projects being created in the field." The Dieline is jam packed full of great kinds of packaging which are great for inspiration when stuck on a brief, or just look at and admire. Here are some of my favourites.

Parade, Selfridges & Co.

2010-03-25T19:27:00.000Z

Selfridges always have fantastic displays and there recent one is called Parade, by Emily Forgot a London based Graphic Artist who has worked in the creative industry since graduating from Liverpool school of Art and Design 2004. The display is just as fantastic as all the others with Emily's illustrative and colourful legs surrounding the store, it is an unusual way to display the store but seems to work.

Mercy Design

2010-03-12T18:47:00.003Z

On the 3rd March while in London on our University trip we visited a design agency called Mercy for a portfolio visit. We met with Doug Kerr who is one of the directors of Mercy, we sat down and Doug began to explain how he also studied Graphic Design at Liverpool John Moores University as well. He explained that when he finished University in stayed in Liverpool and as the design industry wasn't big there at the time, so he found it hard to find a job. Doug and one of his fellow students began to design Zines and send them out to people, and by word of mouth people began to ask them to design things and in the end they started up Mercy.

Carrie and I began to speak through our joint portfolio. Doug really liked our Holland and Barrett work, he felt it was a strong project which was executed well and had a great idea behind it. He said we could develop it by designing a point of sale to advertise the new products. As we had made a big feature of the letters for each vitamin he said we should develop this idea into the point of sale, like an alphabet chart with the vitamins in. He also liked the designs of the travel pots, he felt the designs on the travel pots were stronger than the main vitamin pots. With the simplicity of the designs working better than the others. Overall the visit was a good one we received some great advice on how to develop our work, he seemed impressed with our work and told us to keep him informed on our course.

JKR group visit

2010-03-12T14:43:00.003Z

Jones Knowles Ritchie is a branding and packaging design agency that are based in London, they have existed since 1900 and their office now consists of 85/90 people. All the elements of the design are handled in house. The client list is full of big names like Mars, Strongbow, Birdseye and Molton Brown. Our tutor arrange for myself and four other students to visit the studio and get shown around.

When we arrived at the studio we were shown to the meeting room where we meet two of the Creative directors and Lewis Jones who is one of the owners. He gave us a small presentation on the company and the projects they do, Lewis loves packaging because it is design you see everywhere you can go to the supermarket and see a package you have designed. Packaging is used to sell products so if the products don't sell the design isn't working. In the design industry a lot of people copy each others ideas, JKR try to break away from this an create designs people can not copy.

After this presentation we were shown around the studio which was split up into teams with different designers with different abilities on each team, each team would be assigned a brand to work on. We were then taken back into the meeting room so we could ask Donna one of the designers questions. Donna believes that pretty design usual tends to date rather quickly so when designing it is also best to have an idea behind it, as this will make the designs last much longer.

I was really impressed with JKR's work and thought that the company itself was a great one, where I would like to work we were told to email over our end of year show dates and them may try to attend. Donna also explained about a placement scheme they hold with graduates, which is something I would be interested in.

Ian Firth Portfolio Visit

2010-03-12T12:31:00.007Z

Before visiting London I arrange a portfolio visit to see Ian Firth at Pearlfisher for the 2nd March. Carrie and I planned our journey out in advance as we didn't know our way around London that well, we left early too as we wasn't sure how long the tube would take. As we arrived at the offices we were surprised about how grand they were, and we were taking into the library to show Ian our work.

We sat down and explained that Carrie and I collaborate on projects together as we feel we work well as a team, we also explained that we decided to bring a portfolio with just work we had worked on together. The portfolio we put together consisted off 4 projects, 2 projects we had worked on this year and 2 projects from our placement with Thoughtful.

We spoke through each project and explained are ideas and solutions to each project, our first project was the website we created for 'Make It' when with Thoughtful. Ian liked the idea of the project but felt we should have included the animation the idea would have been easy to understand. Ian felt the layout on the website was good, easy to understand and view the content.

The second project was Pagan Wanderer Lu which was a live brief for a musician. Ian liked the project but felt we should push it further, as usually when you work for a client the project is quite restrictive and even though it was executed well he felt we could now be more experimental with it. The third project was the BBC brief, which was a live pitch we had done earlier in the year even though we didn't win we got good feedback on the brief. Ian liked the idea of post it notes and said it was a simple yet effective way to get the information across. He loved the bag for life idea and thought the map graphic was a nice element.

The last project we showed was Holland and Barrett this was the big project as it was a packaging project and with Pearlfisher being a packaging company we were excited to get their feedback. Ian seemed to really like the project he felt it was the strongest project out of a whole portfolio. He said it was a great to include mocks up like we did as you get a really feel of the product then. He thought the idea behind the packaging was a great one and was communicated really well. Overall the portfolio visit was really successful and we came out with some great advice.

London Visit

2010-03-08T10:55:00.002Z

On the 1st March I travelled down to London till the 3rd as part of a University trip. The idea of the trip was to see the area of London and experience what the design industry is like in London. We had to arrange portfolio visits as well as attend a visit that the tutors had arrange, we also got the chance to take part in a lecture by Shellsuit Zombie. Who are an organisation giving advice to graduates trying to get a job in the design industry.

Carrie and I have collaborated on a few projects together so we decided to arrange portfolio visits together again, so travelling around London together would be easier and safer. We created a portfolio with only projects we have collaborated. We arranged two portfolio visits one at Pearlfisher and the other at Mercy. As well as that the tutors had arrange for us to see Jones Knowles Ritchie to see how a London design agency works.

While down in London we also got to visit a few sites like the London Bridge and I saw a few of original Banksy. The whole experience was an exciting one, it gave me contacts with London design and the option to even move to London for a career.

Ian Firth Pearlfisher

2010-02-09T14:50:00.006Z

Pearlfisher are a well known Graphic Design agency based in London, when looking for research for the Holland and Barrett brief I looked at a lot of Pearlfisher's work for inspiration. As Carrie and I plan to develop our Holland and Barrett project, our tutor Guy Lawrence gave us the name of an ex-student of his who works at Pearlfisher.

In March we are traveling down to London for a University trip, to get the chance to visit London Design agencies. I thought this was a great opportunity to get to show Ian some of our Holland and Barrett work, and receive some advice and feedback from the industry. I contacted Ian this morning regarding a visit to show him our work, he was happy to look at the work on PDF or go into the studio for a visit. I decided to go down to the studio and meet him in person, then I can get a better understanding of what he thinks of the work.

Spin

2010-02-06T12:36:00.003Z

As we are visiting London soon we need to arrange portfolio visits, one company I emailed was Spin who are a big company. One of their designers emailed back saying thank you for having interest in the company, but unfortunatly they were too busy to view our portfolio.

Woodpecker

2010-02-05T15:50:00.002Z

Aitken and Hodge have produced a giant woodpecker the exact scaled up replica of the small toy versions that peck up and down poles. This giant woodpecker can scale up and down lamp posts instead. This is a fun concept taking an old fashion toy and modernising it. If I walked down the street and saw this woodpeckers scaling a lamp post it would definitely make me smile.

Tim Burton at the MoMA

2010-02-05T14:56:00.003Z

As I mentioned in a previous post Tim Burton is probably my favourite director and I am a big fan of all his work. Back in November we visited New York on a University Trip, while there I visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). While walking around I was excited to discover there was a Tim Burton exhibition on, however it was still under construction and didn't opening until 11 days after we left New York. I was devastated to find this out. Though recently I have been looking on MoMA website at the Tim Burton exhibition and the site itself it pretty impressive. Sadly I wont be able to see this exhibition as it ends in April, but hopefully they may decide to bring it over to the UK.

View the site here.

Sweeney Todd Opening Credits

2010-02-05T14:01:00.002Z

Last night I watched Tim Burton's Film version of Sweeney Todd, as I am a huge fan of Tim Burton's work I was quite excited to see what he had produced. Tim Burton is know for his dark, usual approaches to directing films. I really liked the opening credits to Sweeney Todd, again they were dark approach to opening credits. I think they were probably produced in a 3D program like Maya, but I was really impressed with the way they were product and the concept fitted with the film.

Advice on Holland and Barrett Work

2010-02-05T13:30:00.004Z

As Carrie and I look to develop our Holland and Barrett project further we began to email contacts with have in the industry with our work. I recently just emailed Simon Morrow from Elmwood Design. I showed my portfolio to Simon at the Liverpool Design Symposium, and he was kind enough to give me his email address and told to stay in touch. Simon suggested I email some projects over when completed so he could have a look through and give me some feedback. So I decided to email over a PDF of the Holland and Barrett brief, he emailed back the next day with some great advice on how it could be developed.

Spin

2010-02-04T14:20:00.003Z

Spin are a London based design agency and were founded in 1992 by Patricia Finegan and Tony Brooks. Spin is an award winning agency that works across a range of disciplines and media. Their online portfolio shows a range of different work with a great client list.

Spin believe graphic design is a dialogue between the client, the designer and the audience. Their approach is tailored each clients needs to the individual projects, and they solve problems in a personal yet insightful way.

Twinings Tea

2010-02-03T15:13:00.005Z

Recently Twinings have realised two similar adverts to advertise their products, in both adverts the product is used in an usual way to promote the product. The first one uses tea leaves and the second one uses cups of herbal tea. Both are great concepts and work really well. They are a unique and interesting approach to advertise tea products.

Advice on Holland and Barrett Work

2010-02-03T13:17:00.005Z

Yesterday Stuart from Thoughtful also replied to my email about our Holland and Barrett work, he also had some good suggested on how to develop our advertising. He also said he like our design too, especially when you see it on the vitamin bottles.

Advice on Holland and Barrett Work.

2010-02-02T14:42:00.005Z

Carrie and I have been working on the Holland and Barrett brief before Christmas, we recently got our marks back which we were pleased with however felt we could develop it further. We wanted to develop the advertising further as we felt it wasn't as strong as the other aspects of design. We decided if we got feedback from other design agencies about our work it might help us develop our work more. As we both were part of the Thoughtful 6 project we decide to email James, Stuart and Chris to see if they had any ideas. Chris emailed us back we some great advice on how we good develop the advertising, he also mention he liked our idea for the packaging and it works even at a quick glance.

Final Major Project

2010-02-01T16:45:00.003Z

For my final major project I have decided to create an advertising campaigns for giving blood. The audience will be targeted at 17 - 25 year olds, as this is the fittest age group and the ones who should be giving blood. To advertise to this age group it must relate to their interests, while getting the facts across in a fun yet informative way. I plan to not just resort to posters for advertisements, but research into different types like guerilla and ambient media. Also maybe even develop a new website for the campaign and create virals. The idea needs to be something that stands out and hasn't been achieved before. This brief will be a difficult one as giving blood is a serious issue, and something that has to be tackled correctly. However, I look forward to the challenge and seeing the final product.

Tea Sub

2010-01-27T20:32:00.001Z

I can always guarantee to find interesting little objects on the SwissMiss blog, and today I found this Submarine to help make the perfect cup of tea. The TeaSub submerges tea leaves to the bottom of your cup, creating the perfect infusion of your favorite brew. This more exciting then just a plain drawstring tea bag.

Cloudy Hot Chocolate

2010-01-27T20:19:00.002Z

I found this on the swissmiss blog and it made me smile. I think these mashmellows would brighten up my day and make hot chocolate taste that little bit better.

Hanger Tea

2010-01-27T17:09:00.004Z

Here is a nice unique piece of design, that has that 'I wish I thought of it' feel to it. Tea bags on hangers a clear way to keep your tea bag in your tea cup, without that annoying drawing string hanging over the edge. Not only is it a great concept, but the packaging of the box is clever too. With each tea bag hung up in a wardrobe style box, a great idea to display them.

Hanger Tea

Designer Barcode

2010-01-27T15:41:00.003Z

While browsing over the Graphic Hug blog I found an interesting post on 'designer barcodes'. Where they featured some barcodes which had been designed instead of the basic barcode that you seen on the back of a pack. Some of them are really nice with great ideas behind them. The designs were found on a website called D-barcode, which is a Japanese site completely dedicated to barcode design. Here are a few examples.

Ampersands

2010-01-24T15:31:00.004Z

When re designing the logo for Holland and Barrett we wanted to make the ampersand a main feature of the logo, we researched many typefaces to find the right ampersand. In the end we ended up re drawing an ampersand from the typeface Guanine.

Recently I came across this blog that is dedicated to ampersand with a new ampersand every day. Shame I didn't find it sooner it would have made the search for an ampersand easier.

http://ampersandampersand.tumblr.com/

Craig Oldham Contact Report

2010-01-11T12:30:00.001Z

A while ago I emailed Craig Oldham from Music for some advice on getting contacts for New York portfolio visits, as I had emailed a lot of people and wasn't getting any replied. Unfortunately, Craig didn't have chance to reply till a while after the trip to New York, however I found his answer to my question really insightful and interesting. He apologised for his delay and answered the question in great depth.

Paris

2010-01-10T15:25:00.006Z

One passion of mine is traveling and trying to see different areas of the world. Just after New Year I was lucky enough to be able to visit Paris. I have always wanted to go Paris to see all the tourist attractions like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. I also like to travel to experience different environments and cultures.

While in Paris I got to experience all the tourist attractions, like going up the Eiffel Tower and the 3 hour wait to get up there as well. The Louvre and the Mona Liza, with it being so crowded that you couldn't get close enough the appreciate Da Vinci's work. Overall it was a great trip and I thought Paris was a very pretty place and I would return again, maybe when it is a bit warm though as it was minus one in daylight hours. Here are some of the pictures I took while in Paris, I had just a received a new Canon D1000 SLR camera for my birthday. So while in Paris I was learning to use it as well.

HandiSleave

2009-12-20T18:30:00.002Z

A great reusable way of not burning your hands on that hot cup of coffee, better that the cardboard ones you usually get from coffee shops. Also with this being reusable great way to save on cardboard too, you can buy them from here.

When I was a kid I..

2009-12-12T20:58:00.003Z

When browsing the swiss miss blog I liked the post about conversation starters, when at a recent CreativeMorining talk people were handed out pieces of paper. On each piece the like "when I was a kid I..." written on, and each person had to write something to help start introduction conversations. My personal favourite was the one about lego, as when I was young I was an major lego fan and tried to make everything out on it too.

Mike Rigby Lecture

2009-12-01T12:02:00.007Z

On 26th November Mike Rigby came into my college to give a lecture, which he could WOW "Words of Wisdom". I had shown my portfolio to Mike previously in the year, so was good to hear about his achievements. Mike attended a graphic design course at Preston for 4 years, he had a one year placement between the 2nd and last year. He graduated in 2002. He has worked for Imagination London, Chase Manchester, Landor Sydney, Moon Design Sydney, Pentagram, Mark Studio and True North.

Mike described how design is a great job to get into as it is interesting and challenging, you meet and collaborate with interesting people. You experience new things like photo shoots, award ceremonies and working abroad. There is a strong design community and the people are very helpful. The positives he highlighted are you can take on sociopolitical issues with better design, you can give people a voice, communicate essential information and even be a spokes person for a cause. With every job there are negatives. The negatives Mike highlighted were it is a competitive industry, long hours with unpaid overtime, there is a lot of pressure, lost of pitches, client interference and sometimes the pay isn't great. Though if you are passionate about the job and are willing to put the effort in you will succeed.

Placements are an essential requirement to help getting a job after graduation, placement speed your pace of working and you get the experience of working on live briefs with real deadlines. You also get to network with others designer which could lead to more placements or even a job opportunity. The best way to get a placement is with a strong portfolio which contain good ideas that are well executed. Take a professional pride in everything you do, impress your tutors and produce solid work. Always be proactive and have a positive attitude. If you are a friendly person who will fit in the team they will probably like you. You need to socialise, be enthusiastic and ask questions. Make tea. Mike always told us to remember that rejection is a part of design, it doesn't mean that your not good enough.

Mike also told us about the importance of taking a break, everyone needs one now and then to refresh. Traveling is a good way of doing this, you can also work abroad while traveling. The advantages of working abroad is you can work anywhere, it is a great experience, meet some great people, great money and experience a different lifestyle.

Other pieces of advice he gave us was that you need to familiarise yourself with the industries, look at everything to get inspiration and don't be afraid to experiment. Make the most of your time left at university, use the studio and resources, work hard and believe in your own ability.

Mike Rigby's talk was very insightful and he gave us all some great advice.

Behavior Design - Portfolio Visit

2009-11-22T18:20:00.002Z

On the last day of our trip in New York we were able to have one more portfolio visit before our journey home. Our visit was with Alison Zack and Caroline Chu from Behavior Design who are an agency who specialise in website design, and even though Carrie's and Mine portfolios haven't got a lot of website design in them, it was good to get another person's opinion on our work.

We sat down in the boardroom with Alison and Caroline we spoke through our portfolio's separately, Carrie went first then I went separately. Overall the feedback was good on our work, obviously Alison and Caroline specialise in website design instead of print base. However, they started on print based then moved onto digital design. They said we had great design skills on our print base work, and we should try to now learn more skills and apply are skills digital as well. Like Alli from Biggs&Co they were impressed with our typography skills, and could tell this was well taught on our course.

Our 'Make It' website was the project we spoke most about as it was more of their area of knowledge. Alison said she was impressed that instead on getting someone else to make the website, we took it upon ourselves to learn a new programme so we could create it ourselves. They were also impressed that we created it in Flash, as they said Flash is a difficult programme to create websites in for the first time.

The visit was a great one and we both received some great advice, and I am definitely considering widen my programme knowledge so I can push my designs further digitally. Whether it is animation or website design, it is always good to have the skills so I can develop my work.

New York Portfolio Visit: Biggs & Co.

2009-11-22T17:09:00.006Z

As part of our trip to New York we needed to arrange portfolio visits, Carrie and myself decide as New York is a big city it would be easier to arrange visits together. Carrie arranged us to see a company called Biggs&Co who do the packaging for Soap and Glory. We arranged our visit for the 10th November with Alli Truch, Biggs&Co is only two people one in New York the other in LA. So Alli's studio was based in her apartment.

Alli sat us down and told us about what her company does, they mainly design packaging so with us doing the Holland and Barrett brief it was really insightful. She showed us her online portfolio and explained some of the ideas behind her work. Alli also teaches at one of the local Universities and does a portfolio class every week, so it was good to get her input on our portfolios. After we had a chat about everything we showed her our portfolios, Carrie went first then I went second. We spoke through each piece of work and explained the thinking behind the brief, and how we developed our ideas. Alli seemed really impressed with my work. She said that our course must emphasis typography, as both mine and Carrie's typography skills were at a high standard. She even said that they were better skills than some of her students, she also explained that if her students graduated with the same standard as our portfolios she would be happy. Alli gave us some great advice and it was a good experience showing our portfolios to someone from a different country, where the design community might have a different outlook of things.

New York

2009-11-22T16:29:00.002Z

This year our University residential trip was to New York. One thing I would like to be in my life is travel and see as much of the world as I can. New York was a place I really wanted to visit so when we were told about the trip I couldn't wait. While there I visit all the tourist areas like the Empire State, Central Park and the Rockerfella Centre, though Carrie and myself arranged two portfolios visits while we were there. I really enjoyed my experience in New York and would consider trying to work there as well.

Chris Jackson Contact Report

2009-11-21T12:11:00.000Z

I also saw Chris Jackson from Elmwood with my portfolio and emailed him saying thanks for his advice, again he emailed me back quite quickly with positive response on my work too.

Simon Morrow Contact Report

2009-11-21T11:43:00.002Z

I also emailed Simon Morrow thanking him for viewing my portfolio, he also emailed back quite quickly and his response about my work was rather positive. I also emailed asking if he had any contacts in New York as they have an office based there.

Chris Fogg Contact Report

2009-11-21T11:25:00.000Z

When at the Liverpool Design Symposium I got the opportunity to show my portfolio at the portfolio surgeries. I was lucky enough to be giving business cards and told to keep in touch. I emailed Chris Fogg saying thank you the day after the event, he emailed back quite quickly and said he was impressed with my work. He even offered me a placement.

Mike Carter from Orchard Creative Recruitment

2009-11-20T17:24:00.000Z

On the 5th November Mike Carter from Orchard creative recruitment came in to do a lecture, his lecture was on how to get a job, CVs and preparing portfolios. With an average of 49,198 students graduating with an Art&Design degree each year, so there is a lot of competition getting a job when graduating. Therefore, being prepare is a key factor before graduating, making some you have a CV and update portfolio is needed, and to begin to make contacts in the industry now. As when we graduate all the other graduates will be doing the same, so it is a good idea to get a head start.

Some key skills you need to have are be enthusiastic, obviously talent is one but personality is important too. If you have a good personality and nice to be around, then you are more likely to fit into the team. You must have determination, commitment and be organised. Overall the workshop was very helpful giving us tips on interview skills, what to do in a CV and how we should change our portfolio for each interview.

D&AD Michael Wolff

2009-11-20T16:34:00.003Z

The main President Lecture at the Design Symposium was Michael Wolff, who was interviewed by Creative Review editor Patrick Burgoyne. I was been to a few of D&AD President Lecture though this one was different, there was no projection of Michael's work and it was more of interview about Michael's views than his work. He didn't give a timeline of his life and how he got to the stage he was today, he gave general advice for designers and about the design industry. Which is helpful for students who will be graduating next year, and having to find jobs while there is a recession.

His advice consisted of been yourself be real, companies aren't going to hire portfolios they will hire the personalities behind them. Never just resort to the basic, like if you want to find a colour don't go to the pantone book go to the park, everything around you can help with your designs. Overall it was a very insightful lecture with some great advice, it might have been nice to see some of Michael's work but I think everyone came away with some sort of advice that might help them.

Portfolio Surgery: Simon Morrow Elmwood Design

2009-11-20T16:15:00.004Z

The third portfolio surgery I had at the Liverpool Design Symposium was Simon Morrow, he also was from Elmwood Design based in Leeds. So it was great to get another person's feedback from the same agency, to see if there views varied much or whether they look for the same thing

Due to the time scale I talked through my portfolio, explaining the briefs and my ideas while Simon gave advice and feedback. Simon explained he look for great ideas in portfolios, and said I had some really good ideas that were nicely executed and he could see my skills as well. He also commented on my presentation skills, he said I was confident with how I present and that was a good skill to have. As many students just hand over there portfolio and don't say much, but he like the fact I spoke about my briefs well and thoroughly.

As we went through my portfolio Simon pointed out the areas he thought I could develop, he suggested I developed the Brass Band Museum brief. He really liked the idea but felt I needed to develop a way where it might be easier to understand for a non designer, whether there was a poster or the logo next to the ambient media piece so people understood it. With my typeface I created he suggested I use it within a design, to show how it would be used.

After discussing my portfolio we spoke about my placement with Thoughtful and how it was a great opportunity, and I was lucky to be apart of it. We also spoke about when I graduate and what area of design I may decided to go in, I said that I wanted to focus my third year on trying new projects to develop my skills. He thought this was a great idea, and suggested I do a few more branding and packaging campaigns. Overall I felt it was really successful, Simon gave he his card and told me to stay in contact as he would be interested in seeing some of my third year work.

Portfolio Surgery: Chris Fogg Fogg Associates

2009-11-20T15:13:00.002Z

The second portfolio surgery I have at the Liverpool Design Symposium was with Chris Fogg, Chris Fogg who is the Creative Director at Fogg Associates which is an creative ideas agency based near Warrington.

As before there wasn't much time in the slots, so I sat down with Chris and spoke through my portfolio explaining the briefs and my ideas. Chris gave feedback on each project as we went along, and again it was a positive feedback and advice. Chris commented on my presentation skills saying my portfolio has a nice layout, which was professional and the way I presented my work was professional too. He liked my portfolio explaining that a had some really strong ideas, and I need to keep working that way and extending on my portfolio.

He felt that I could have pushed my magazine brief a bit more, he said he liked the front cover but felt the idea would have worked more if it was reveal throughout the magazine. So as you turned each page the idea would get more reveal, so it was so much in your face. He really like my Creamfields project, he liked the use of images and said they were strong which convey the idea well.

Overall, all the feedback I got was great and constructive again I plan to take the advice, and help it develop my portfolio as I progress. Chris gave me his card and told me to email him when I got home with a PDF of my work, as he was really interested to show some colleagues in his office.

Portfolio Surgery: Chris Jackson Elmwood Design

2009-11-20T14:52:00.004Z

When I heard that the Liverpool Design Symposium was doing portfolio surgeries I jumped at the chance, it is always a great experience to show someone your work and get feedback on it. Originally, everyone is assigned one time slot to show there portfolio to one person, however a few people ended up not attending the day so I was lucky to have three time slots.

My first portfolio surgery was with Chris Jackson from Elmwood Design, Elmwood Design is based in Leeds and one of the biggest design agencies in the UK. Firstly, we sat down and I went through each project explaining each brief and how I explore the brief. As the time slots were only short we discussed each brief as we went along. Chris was very positive about my portfolio, giving great feedback and constructive advice. He explained that I had some really good strong ideas, and that the layout of my portfolio was well designed and really professional.

He suggested that in my magazine brief I try out different magazine shapes, and different unusual shapes may convey my idea across better. He told me to develop my Brass Band Musuem brief more, he suggest I changed the logo to make it look more elegant instead of bold so it mirrored the instruments more. He really liked my idea behind my guerilla advertising campaign, but said he felt I could still push it more so it was easier to understand.

Overall Chris was really friendly and helpful, and it was great to hear his feedback and advice which I tend to have a look at. He told me to continue and keep developing my skills, and to try out different briefs to how develop my skills. He told me to keep in contact with him and to send him pieces of my work, and he is interested to see how I develop and work and would like to possibly have a placement next summer.

DBA Education Seminar Lecture

2009-11-20T14:21:00.005Z

At the Liverpool Design Symposium I attend the education seminar where Ian Thompson was the host speaker. Ian Thompson is the Creative Director and Founder of Thompson Brand Partners, and he is the Regional Head of the DBA (The Design Business Association). The main theme that ran throughout the lecture was branding, and the guideline to successful effective brand design. The lecture was split into case studies to show brands and how they fit the bran guideline, and whether it was successful or not. He explained how in branding the main objective is to make money, if the brand doesn't sell and make money then it isn't successful.

One of the case studies he spoke about and was extremely successful, was the re brand of Durex condoms and Durex play arrange. Even though the changes to the brand's identity was simple, the impact it has on it's shelves presence was greater than expected. Durex is the number one condom brand which wanted to evolve their brand, from 'Safe Sex' to 'Better Sex' to modernise the condom range and expand of the 'Play' category.

Branding is famous for one thing to create a company territory, so a rebrand is usual always minor changes as the company is terrified of change. The rebrand of Durex was extremely successful, after the rebrand of the sub-bran 'Play' sales increase by 9.4% from 2007-2009. Meaning that the first years extra sales paid for the design work within 5 days, which a great thing to achieve when doing a rebrand.

Ian then took the discussion to what key factors employers look for, which was a interest factor as most of us were third years and will be graduating next year so these are the factors we need to show employers. Some of the points were an insatiable desire to learn, freshness, skills, a willingness to work to name a few. Overall the lecture was really insightful, and I gained a lot of knowledge on branding from the lecture.

D&AD Student Awards lecture

2009-11-20T13:40:00.004Z

The main speaker in this lecture was by Andy Chambers from an agency called Work Club, who has big clients like Coca-cola, Nokia, Dyson and Alfa Romeo. Work Club is a traditional agency who take the best bits from everything, ranging from illustration to game design to TV channel branding to advertising and more.

Andy spoke about how the key factors for creativity is originality and appropriateness, which lead him into the a discussion about the brain, grey matter and white matter. Then how in the brain it is the white matter that is connected to the grey matter, and the better connecting means greater brain matter leading to better creativity which was an interesting fact to learn. He again went into what makes good creativity making these points:

"Creativity is the ability to make unexpected connections."

"Making such unexpected connections relies on the ability to choose relevant possibilities from irreverent ones."

The discussion then lead into D&AD briefs and have to approach a brief, saying if you break the brief down into 4 sections you can understand the brief better. The four sections are insight, audience, technology and advertising. Firstly, you should get an insight into the brief research what it is asking you to do, secondly find out the audience and how the brief is aimed at. Thirdly, exploring different technologies and what you can do to explore the brief, then advertising which is not always the answer but good to explore. One piece of advice he gave us all was have an idea and be interesting not boring, and this will help when you try to find a job and go into the industry.

Liverpool Design Symposium 2009

2009-11-06T22:19:00.004Z

On Wednesday 4th November I attended the Liverpool Design Symposium with a few of my classmates, we got the train from Stockport at 8.30am to make sure we were there is time for the first lecture at 10am. We arrived in Liverpool at 9.30am, but due to not being available to find the Art&Design Academy and it not being very clear where the place was due to no signs. We eventful arrived 5/10 minutes late, so we missed the start to the first lecture D&AD Student Awards. However, we didn't miss too much and the rest of the talk was very interesting. The next lecture we attended was the education seminar which was presented by Ian Thompson, after that I had a few hours break for lunch before the portfolio surgeries.

When you register for the portfolio surgery you get a 20 minute slot with a professional in the industry. However, there were a few people absent and I was lucky to show my portfolio to 3 different professionals. Again then was an hour to spare before I attend the D&AD President Lecture Michael Wolff, I have been to a few D&AD lectures and this was the first where there was know work shown. It was still an fascinating to learn about Michael Wolff's views on the design industry.

The day was a very successful one I feel, I got a lot of useful information and advice from the day which will help me in my development as a designer. It would have been good it I attended more of the lectures, though I felt being in my final year I would have benefitted from the portfolio surgeries more.

Liverpool Design Symposium

D&AD

Container Plus 02/11/09

2009-11-06T21:32:00.006Z

On Monday 2nd November Louise Vormitag from Container Plus, came into college for lecture about collaborating. Louise started to collaborate at University with Nicola a fellow student on her course, she explain the key factors they needed to be able to collaborate. Which was there were friends, they shared the same level of commitment and same idea of work. Louise found this out when she started Container Plus with herself and Nicola, and 3 other people at first it worked but it the end there working strategy didn't work well. So now Container Plus consist of Louise, Nicola and Patricia, and there system work very well.

Louise showed us lots of examples of her work, like the window display her and Nicola designed for Selfridges. Also the Volkswagen Fox car launch, where they had to design 4 rooms at a hotel as well as the car display. Overall the lecture was an interested one, and was good to see work done is collaboration. As this year our tutors are encouraging us to collaborate with others, to help us work in teams as this be what the industry will do like. Working in teams in agencies, something you don't usual get to experience while studying.

David Sedgwick Lecture 29/10/09

2009-11-06T20:19:00.010Z

On Friday 29th October David Sedgwick the senior designer 999 Design Manchester, came into college to give a lecture on his career and his experience in the design industry. The lecture was broken down into three sections: About Me, How to get a job, and examples of his work. Overall the lecture was really insightful and I think everyone got a lot of advice from the lecture.

In 1998 Dave came to Manchester to study a D&AD course at Manchester Metropolitan University, he also came to find the Stone Roses and the Hacienda. In this time he has two placements one he really enjoyed and another he didn't enjoy quite so much, showing that not all agencies are the same and you need to decide what type of agencies you would like to work for. One of the many pieces of advice he gave us, was to research design agencies then research some more. Find out anything you can about then and make notes, like if the agency is small or large, what work they do and how many employees. So you get an idea of what the agency is like, and whether you think it would be a place you would like to work.

Dave then began to talk about portfolios and portfolio visits, and how you can never be to prepared. Dave visited Dinosaur with his portfolio, and they hated his work told him he needed more Yorkshire pudding work. However, when he finished his degree his first placement was with Dinosaur, so he told us is about not giving up. The first job he got was at Love TWC Creative, where he got in early, stayed late, did the work and tried very hard. He was made redundant in 2nd Jan 2003, so he changed his portfolio started freelance work before getting a job at Race. In 2006, he joined 999 Design in Manchester where he is now a senior designer, and had been working there for 3 years now with a wide variety of clients.

Dave said that a designer time is spilt up with 80% designing, 10% account managing, 5% taking calls, 3% making/having tea, and 2% emailing friends.

The next section was on how to get a job Dave gave this list of pointers:

Start looking and planning now, find a list of agencies you would like to work for.
Call to ask who to send CV, PDFs and emails to, don't send to info@...
Spell the name right.
Smaller agencies are good too.
Keep a log book/diary don't show it to anyone.
Find out what agencies are winning awards, what work they do.
Write an email, read it ten times, get someone to check it, check it again, then check it again. Does it make sense? Any spelling mistakes? Attach small PDFs not 25mb. Don't show all your work, just show a few pieces. No Sir/Madam, be honest and polite.
Design a website or blog, keep it up to date and aim it towards agencies.
Stand out from the crowd and keep it relevant.

He also gave up tips for interview as well and portfolios, and how to prepare for them and what to do and not to do. Like talk slowly but don't bore people, and always take advice on board and make sure you always have a leave behind.

Overall the lecture was really useful, and gave plenty of advice for when we all graduate I think everyone came away pleased with the advice we received. I plan to take the advice of board, and hopefully it will help me when I graduate.

www.designbydave.co.uk

Loz Ives

2009-11-02T10:32:00.001Z

Loz Ives is a designer at a design studio in Preston called Because Studio, I email Loz a few questions to get an insight on the design industry.

Hi Lauren

Thanks for your email.

Doesn't feel like too long ago I was in your shoes, so I will do what I can to help!

What qualities do you look for in a design graduate?

Effort, Commitment and willingness to learn

What advice do you have when producing a portfolio?

I'd say concentrate on the content, let your work do the speaking, dont confuse it with a complicated format.

And any advice to a design graduate wanted to succeed in the creative industry?

Similar the above really, don't get put off by rejection, keep bothering people (within reason) and never stop doing stuff, paid or self initiated work just try and keep your folio up to date with new work.

Sorry that all seems a little brief but hope its helped a little.

Good luck for your final year.

Loz

Because Studio

2009-11-01T22:25:00.007Z

Because Studio is a graphic design freelancer called Loz Ives who is based in Preston, on his website Loz Ives describes himself as a young chap from the north of england who has a keen eye for detail, simplicity and relevance within the work he produces. He works across all types of graphic design, from branding to print to website design. Because Studio has a lovely selection of work, it was the half full or half empty posters that appeal to me first and attracted me to look at the website. Where I found a nice selection of great graphic design, some pieces are so simple but very effective. I added a few examples of my favourites below.

The Lost Tribes of New York

2009-10-29T12:07:00.004Z

I saw this video on Motiongrapher blog a while back, but with the upcoming trip to New York I thought I would watch it again. We are having to do a presentation to our fellow classmates about New York before we go, and I think this video would be a unique way to show what New York is like.

Lighten Up Your Mood

2009-10-28T15:26:00.005Z

In March I posted about John Caswell Mr Switch, and how to brighten up your home with his ideas for light switches. Henrietta Swift has just graduated from Brighton University, and she has a different idea of how to brighten up your home. Her 'Lighten Up Your Mood' set of stickers are a great way to make dull light switches, a lot more fun and help put a smile on your face.

Hallloween

2009-10-28T14:41:00.003Z

Halloween is on Saturday and I don't really like the day, the only think I like about halloween is the pumpkin carving. I get to do it every year, I found these pumpkin carvings on toxel.com and they put my efforts to shame. They are amazing pieces of art. Some have so much detail to them it's hard to believe that the image is really carved into a pumpkin, here are a few of my favourites.

Inside My Head

2009-10-28T14:34:00.003Z

I saw this posted on the swiss miss blog and notcot blog, I think it is very appropriate to describe most students minds when at University. I feel that most the stuff you learn you won't understand until you put it into practice, or in a design students case in practice in the industry.

True North Portfolio Visit 23/09/09

2009-10-28T13:33:00.006Z

On Wednesday 23^rd September I visit Mike Rigby from True North, I had met Mike previously with Thoughtful at a D&AD Luke Williamson lecture. However, it wasn’t till Craig Oldham gave me his contact details that I contacted him. After a few emails and questions back and forth, Mike said he would be interested in seeing my portfolio. So we arranged a portfolio visit for 1.30pm on the Wednesday, I had two portfolio visits before but I was still nervous and I was looking forward to getting feedback on my work.

I met Mike in the reception at True North and we went into the board room, where we began the portfolio viewing. I spoke through all my projects, and Mike gave general feedback and advice. After I had spoken through all my projects in my portfolio, we went back through them and spoke about them more in depth highlighting my strengths and weaknesses. Overall the feedback was good and he seemed to like my work, he said I had a nice range of work in my portfolio. He also asked about my experience with Thoughtful and placements, and discussed what agencies are out there. Mike said that he interested in the idea behind the work, that’s where he said he liked the idea behind my Brass Band Museum brief. However, he suggest I push it further as he felt I hadn’t pushed the idea to it’s full potential yet.

We also discussed my final year at University and what I wanted to get out of it, I explained how I wanted to challenge myself as much as I could to find out my strengths and what area I may decide to go into. How I was trying briefs I hadn’t done before so I could have the chance to try them, he said that this was a great idea and would help create a diverse portfolio. Mike said I had a good start of a portfolio and to keep pushing myself in the third year, that I could produce some strong work but to keep working hard. He told me to keep in contact, and when I finish my third year to come and visit him again with my portfolio so he could see my progress. Overall I felt it was a successful meeting and I got a lot of advice from it which I plan to apply to my third year.

VW Van Speakers

2009-10-28T13:22:00.004Z

For sometime I have wanted to go traveling, and my aim is to see as much of the world as I can. So one option is after University is to go traveling for a bit, one idea I wanted to do is get a camper van or VW van and travel across europe. People may think it is silly, but it really excites me to see different areas and cultures in the world. When looking on the swiss miss blog I notice these speakers, and they got me thinking of traveling again. I love this speakers. They are quirky, and remind me of my money box, also this is the type of VW van I would like to get when I go traveling.

You can buy these from urban outfitters, then have lots of these quirky little designed objects.

Holland and Barrett: Logo Design

2009-10-06T21:14:00.006+01:00

The recent logo for Holland and Barrett is very dated, it is a basic serif font with an unnecessary underline underneath it, the only nice thing about the logo is the choice of ampersand. The use of ampersand inspired us when designing our logo. We wanted to create a fresh, bold, logo contemporary, however the use of an elegant ampersand could give our idea a nice twist. We choose a bold typeface Din, and selected an simple but elegant ampersand. After a few designs we cam across one we felt was quite successful. It is simple and can be used at a large scale, or a much smaller one and will still be legible. Also it can be simplified by just using H&B or using the full logo that has Holland and Barrett underneath it.

Holland and Barrett: Research

2009-10-06T20:24:00.005+01:00

When starting the Holland and Barrett brief, Carrie and I looked for examples of packaging designs to give use ideas for our designs. We wanted our packaging easier to understand, with a consistency in the design making it easier to navigate throughout the store. We started our research on one of our favourite blogs lovely package, a blog dedicated to some amazing packaging designs. We found this really useful and got a great idea of the selection of designs already being used. Here are some of our favourite designs, because they are contemporary, compliment the product and stand out from the rest.

Holland and Barrett

2009-10-06T20:09:00.004+01:00

The first brief of my third year is a Holland and Barrett brief, which was to rebrand Holland and Barrett's identity and packaging. Holland and Barrett is one of the UK's largest health food store with over 500 stores nationwide. Holland and Barrett only sell and produce all natural products, and thats how they like to differentiate themselves from the competition. However, with competitors getting stronger Holland and Barrett's brand and identity needs to be changed to help it stand out from the competition. The identity is very dated and needs modernising, while the packaging is very mix match and has no consistency. The store it self is very busy and hard to navigate through, and impossible to find what you are looking for.

The brief was to create a new identity for Holland and Barrett, and redesign the graphic design (type&image), packaging (pack shape) and advertising. Carrie and I decided to work together on this project, as we both have never explored packaging design before and felt it might be a challenge. Our aims for our project was to create a fresh, bold, contemporary logo; introduce consistency throughout the brand; making it easier to navigate through store and find the product your are looking for.

Holland and Barrett

Dissertation

2009-09-23T10:33:00.007+01:00

As I am now in my final year I have to decided whether to write a critical journal or dissertation, I preferred the idea of a dissertation. So over the summer I have been reading and research to come to a conclusion, my conclusion is to base my dissertation around the idea of sex appeal which is sex in advertising. I wanted to base my dissertation around advertising as it is something that interests me, but something I have never explored too much into depth. However, I couldn't just base it around advertising I need an issue to focus on, and the idea of sex in advertising seem like an good topic as there is so much controversy on the subject.

My question that I have chosen is :

To what extend has the perception of and exposure to sexual content in advertising influenced the consumer?

This is an trial question at the moment within time and once I write more, certain aspects of the question may change and I may decide to cover different sections. I have wrote a brief synopsis to help me with my plan, and splitting my dissertation in sections.

Sex appeal has been evident within advertising since the 1800s, where the use of illustrations of nude women was used to advertise tobacco. However, people didn't think that sex within advertising was used till the early 1900s, due to the fact of it being hidden and not seen as a decent method of promotion. Therefore, this dissertation aims to research and critical analysis periods of time where sex appeal may have become more apparent, and whether there was a certain event that caused the up rise of sex in the media. For example the introduction of the contraception pill in the 1960s, and how this affected everything from fashion to the media. Furthermore, the study of Tom Ford's explicit advertisements for the fashion brand Gucci will be used as a case study, with research into the advertisements and whether it was successful or not. On top of the analysis of Tom Ford's work the investigation of others work will be evident, like the controversy the Opium fragrance advert cause, which features Sophie Dahl lay naked in a provocative manor. The argument does sex sell, what extreme will advertiser explore the use of sex appeal and whether it is successful or not will run throughout the dissertation.

This then helped me to devise a plan and structure for the piece of writing, the dissertation has to be 8000 words long and broken up with chapters. I plan to have three chapters, chapter one will consist of a brief history of sex in advertising, and whether there was a certain period in time that caused a up rise in it. Chapter two will be my case study of Tom Ford's advertisements, and bringing in the controversy of the Opium adverts as well. Final chapter 3 will be a critical analysis of all my findings, comparing the case studies and arguments of whether sex in advertising is successful. Which then lead into my conclusion where I will combined everything together to conclude, discussing my findings, and discuss my opinions and if there has been a change in my opinion since the start of the dissertation.

Liverpool Tate Trip

2009-09-23T10:14:00.006+01:00

While working with Thoughtful one of the projects we all worked on was the Liverpool Tate's big summer exhibition called Colour Chart. So on the 14th August Hayley, Amy and I got the train to Liverpool to visit the Colour Chart exhibition, after seeing all the progression and seeing the project from the start it was interesting to see the final product. It was amazing seeing the final product in the museum, rather than seeing all the work on the mac seeing the different solutions they are produced up close and in context. I enjoyed the exhibition. I like the Jim Lambie installation, I am still amazed that it is all made at of vinyl type and how big it actually was.

After lookin at the Tate we went to the museum around the corner, the Merseyside Maritime Museum where the Seized exhibition was being held. Again while working with Thoughtful I had the chance to redesign the leaflet and poster for this exhibition. It was such a great experience see my designs printed, and displayed in the museum it felt really rewarding.

Thoughtful

Liverpool Tate

Pecha Kucha

2009-09-18T11:29:00.005+01:00

Pecha Kucha is a presentation format in which content can be easily, efficiently and informally shown, there are usually at public events designed for that purpose. The name Pecha Kucha is taken from the Japanese term for the sound of conversation ("chit-chat"). The format is that the presenter shows 20 images for 20 seconds, for the total time of 6 minutes 40 seconds. A quick, efficient way to show information, and usually quite humorous.

One of our summer briefs was to do a mini Pecha Kucha, 10 images for 20 seconds lasting a total of 3 minutes 20 seconds, no longer no shorter. The subject was up to us to decide, with the concept that it was stuff that made us tick. My subject I chose was music and music festivals, and I decided to pre record my presentation in keynote. As I thought it would be different and an interesting way to show my Pecha Kucha. I exported it as a Quicktime movie, and I have attached it to this post.

I have had to export the video to be able to uploaded, so the quality isn't the best it usually is.

The Chase Portfolio Visit 04/09/09

2009-09-08T14:26:00.008+01:00

When I visited Music for my portfolio visit Craig Oldham gave me some contacts he thought maybe interested in my portfolio, one of those contacts was Steve Royle from the Chase. I contacted him to arrange a portfolio visit, we arrange one for 4th September just before I went back for my third year. So it was ideal to get some advice and feedback before I started back, so I could apply into my upcoming briefs. I wasn't too sure where the Chase's office was so I ended up taking a taxi from the station, and arriving rather early so I had to walk around until it was nearer the time.

The Chase's office was a lot different to Music's office, the reception was open planned and very clean cut while Music's was a lot smaller crammed full of books. This just showed me that different agencies working environments can very extremely different, depending on the work force or the environment they want to work in. One thing in the reception really stood out to me it was a quote that was printed on one of the walls, it read:

"There was once an old Indian craftsman who carved

elephants from blocks of timber. When asked how he did it,

he would simply reply, 'I just cut away the wood

that doesn't look like an elephant' "

This is a story that the Chase adopted to describe how they work, I thought it was quite expiring quote.

Steve Royle met me in the reception, and took me into the board room for my portfolio visit. We looked through my portfolio and I spoke about each brief. We discussed each project and he gave me advice on how I could extent projects, or little adjustments I could make projects better. His one piece of advice was to take 3rd year very seriously, to continually work hard so that my design knowledge and skills would develop then I can progress. He suggested I start thinking of what I want to do when I finish University, and that they maybe a period where I do a lot of placements before I find a job.

Steve said he wanted me to stay in contact with him as he was interested in seeing my progression, I cam away with some feedback on my work and some more advice to take into my 3rd year. This gave me more determination to do well in my 3rd year, and to keep working hard to progress and learn new skills.

Music Portfolio Visit 12/08/09

2009-08-26T14:01:00.000+01:00

Before I went on holiday I arranged a portfolio visit with Anthony Smith from Music. I have been in contact with him before, as he emailed the Thoughtful Six asking for advice on what to put in his lecture, he was giving to our class a few months ago. Unfortunately, due to having to meet a client with Thoughtful I couldn't attend the lecture. All my classmates seemed to really enjoy the lecture, and said he gave great advice and seemed really genuine. So I decided to contact him for advice and feedback on my work, so he invited me in for a portfolio visit on the 12th August.

I arrived at Music office twenty minutes early, but I decided to go in anyway and wait till they were free to see me. I didn't know what to aspect but everyone was really friendly and welcoming, Anthony introduced himself and explained he had to attend a meeting, so Craig Oldham would be viewing my portfolio instead. Craig Oldham had also come into University to present a lecture, again I was unable to attend due to Thoughtful duties. However, I was curious to meet him as everyone had given him great reviews, and said his lecture was one of the most inspiring lectures they has seen. So we sat down on the couches in the corner of the office, and started to look through my portfolio.

Craig was really nice and gave me some great advice and feedback on my work, over all he said he could see I had talent and I need to push more ideas like my brass band museum brief. He was shocked by my Thoughtful Six work, because even though Ed and Chris had also been in for portfolio visits before me, he hadn't seen any of the work I had showed him before. He said it was interested how I didn't put in the big well known projects like the Liverpool Tate, and how I opted for the little projects that I had more involvement showed what type of designer I was. That I had chosen work that was more personal towards me, and he could tell that my I had worked on the projects he said this was a good quality to have in your portfolio as people can then tell what type of designer you are.

Overall the experience was a great one and I came out with some excellent advice. He advised me to keep my summer notebook project going after the summer, as it will help me get my ideas down and help figure out with ideas will be successful or not. He told me to keep in contact, and to email him if I ever needed any advice.

D&AD New Blood 2009

2009-07-02T14:37:00.003+01:00

D&AD New Blood is a showcase of the countries best design graduates, each year design graduates from around the country exhibit their work in hope design agencies seeing their work, maybe leading onto working opportunities. On Tuesday 30th June, I travelled down to London to see this exhibition, see the competition and what I can expect if I want to exhibit my work their next year.

The exhibit is a real eye opener, not just because off all the excellent work which there was lots off, but the sheer mass of it. It shows just how many design students out there all graduating and wanting a job at the same time, and the students at D&AD New Blood is just a small percentage of them. With the recession and more students wanting to have a career in the design industry, the thought of graduating next year seems to keep dawning on me.

However, the work there was amazing and all the students who took part deserve praise for all the time and effort put in. As I become a 3rd year student I start to wonder all the things I need to do to help me when I graduate, being part of D&AD New Blood would be a pleasure but to get there, there is the consist reminder to work hard.

As most students I hope to be able to exhibit next year, I was lucky enough to be part of the Thoughtful 6 project for the past 6 months. So because of this we had a poster, and a video of the project to be shown on the award night. Also if you look closer enough you will be able to see my face on the back of the leaflet, and on the boards so I kind of got into New Blood this year, fingers crossed for next year.

End of the project, start of summer '09

2009-07-02T13:15:00.004+01:00

As of Friday 26th June we were no longer members of the Thoughtful 6, but had returned to 3rd year Graphic Design students. So as one door closed another one opened. For the past six months we have be working with Thoughtful, working on live briefs, accompanying them to pitches and working as an agency. Over the past 6 months we have all learnt so much more than we would have ever thought, things that we probably couldn't list because now have become second nature to us.

Even though it is sad to see the end of this project, it is also a happy time not only is it Summer and time a a little rest before getting back summer projects and dissertations. It is also a chance to use all the skills we have learnt and put them into practice, in our summer briefs but also into 3rd year as that is when the competition really steps up. We are not only competing for the best marks, we our now all working towards one goal a chance of a job/placement once finishing University. The challenge gets harder and I have to work harder if I want to excel in the design industry, and I believe the skills from this project have helped however I still have a journey ahead of me, and so much more to learn.

Even as it is Summer and I have great things plan like a holiday to Cyprus, V Festival, Leeds Festival and all the little road trips. It is no time to rest. As if I want to succeed I have to be constantly working, looking around for ideas and finding ways of getting myself into the design industry. So I think my summer briefs and dissertation will keep me busy in between my summer plans, and even though I have petrified of the outcome of next year I am looking forward to the challenge and having to push myself that extra bit further.

A Light Breakfast

2009-07-02T12:31:00.002+01:00

This is a great piece of photography by David Sykes of a 'Light Breakfast', such a simple idea but really impressive. This is his latest piece of personal work, he commissioned a model maker to make a giant plate which he attached to the all with the help of Jennie Webster who sourced the balloons for the shot. No photoshop used all taken in one shot. Amazing.

Creative Review

2009-05-21T12:15:00.004+01:00

I just posted about the Creative Review article going online, not long after that James Corazzo our tutor came upstairs to give us a little present. The guys down at CR were kind enough to send us up a copy (each!) of the Graduate Guide we are featured in. The article looks better in print! Once again, thanks to everyone down at Creative Review, and Mark Sinclair for the excellent article.

The Thoughtful Six Blog

Re design of the New Scientist magazine

2009-05-21T11:35:00.006+01:00

Before Christmas I was working on the re design of the New Scientist magazine, as part of a university project, I posted my designs but since then I reviewed it and realised that it could be better. The pull quotes were not legible, and some of the imagery wasn't as strong as it could have been. Here are my re designs, I feel that this new designs works better with my original idea, and is still easy to follow and read.

Creative Review

2009-05-21T11:25:00.003+01:00

As being a member of the Thoughtful six we have had people interested in the project, one of them were Creative Review. They wanted to include an article about the project in the Graduate Guide Issue (June 2009), today the online version has been released and the article looks great. View the online version here. Can't wait to see it in print. Many thanks to Mark Sinclair, and the rest of the CR team.

Coca-Cola Grand Theft Auto Advert

2009-05-19T15:12:00.002+01:00

This advert is a couple years old now, however I rediscovered it today through the Scamp blog. It is a great parody on the game Grand Theft Auto, but with a twist of happiness something that doesn't usually occur in the game. The idea is a great one, and it is definitely up there as one of the top Coca-Cola adverts.

Robinson's Fruit Squash Advert

2009-05-19T15:08:00.002+01:00

The Robinson's fruit squash advert is a such a nice idea, and a great advert all together. The attention to detail is fantastic, and I especially love the clock saying 'Hello' instead of cuckoo-ing.

Portfolio

2009-05-18T16:06:00.005+01:00

Last Friday I handed in my completed portfolio, we had been told we had needed to produce a portfolio as part of our University work. However, as I have been busy with the Thoughtful 6 project I didn't have much time to work on it like my fellow classmates. As term time comes to an end, so did the time to work on our portfolios with our tutor dropping the bombshell that we had a week to complete our portfolios, as well as working on a presentation for critical studies.

Thoughtful were kind enough to help out with everything, and set the whole week to devote our time on the presentation and our portfolio. On Friday, I handed in my completed portfolio which I was more than happy with, and I don't think I would have been able to do it without the help from Thoughtful. Before this project, I don't think they would have been a chance for me to create my portfolio in a week, and it probably wouldn't have been at the standard at it is now. This just shows me that I can manage my time, and produce good quality work in a short period of time. Now I have to learn to keep this pace up, especially as we come closer to the 3rd year then to actually getting a job in the industry.

Below I have included a few screen grabs of my portfolio, my portfolio is displayed in a box so I don't think the screen grabs give my portfolio any justice. Once it has been marked I plan to photograph it and post about it, so you can get the really feel of my portfolio.

Thoughtful Six Blog

Engagement with the industry.

2009-05-18T15:23:00.009+01:00

As we are working along side Thoughtful we get an insight to what the industry is like, and how a design studio works and is structured. As Thoughtful is only a small agency of 3, which has now grown to 9 with the addition of myself and the rest of the Thoughtful six, they have had to learn to adapt to change like we have. Thoughtful have introduced us to many things, for example the blog world which has given a better knowledge of the industry, as well as a better understanding of the design programs we use all the time. However, Thoughtful have learnt things from us, for example different ideas and different ways to approach projects.

Within the studio there are many projects that run alongside each other, so there is always a lot going on and one thing we have learnt is to work around each other, and how to help each other by bouncing ideas off one another. Usually two students work on one project with one of Thoughtful over seeing everything they do. At the start of the project we were guided through everything, and assisted on everything but as we began to progress we were given more independence and took on more responsibility. We all work as a team to get everything done. When you are at college/university when you are completing a project you usually work alone, so if you don’t put the time and effort in you only let yourself and your work down. Working with Thoughtful has shown us to work in a team, so if one person doesn’t put in the time and effort then it affects the whole team and the working process. If we couldn’t all work as a team then this project wouldn’t have been able to work, also in the industry you will be working with different people on certain projects so being able to work with others well is a key skill.

This again shows something everybody we meet in the industry tells us, design isn’t just a 9-5 job to succeed in the industry you must put so much time and effort in. Once you get home we don’t just switch off, we have our laptops so it is easier and convenient to work from where we needed. We are also always in contact with Thoughtful whether it is through email, phone calls or Skype so with this placement we are definitely putting the time and effort into each project.

As a designer you are constantly looking around and discovering new things. Design, ideas and concepts are all around us and as a designer you are always looking for this. Thoughtful have given me a better knowledge of the creative industry through blogs, books, magazines and just the ideas of keeping your eyes open as everything could influence an idea.

Thoughtful Six Blog

Reflection on the Thoughtful 6 project

2009-05-18T15:23:00.008+01:00

Before Christmas six of us got chosen to do a six months placement with the design agency Thoughtful, I was lucky enough to be chosen and have been working with them now for 5 months. As we are coming closer to the end of the placement, I thought it would be time to reflect on my experience, what I have accomplished and learnt from my time with Thoughtful. We started the project on the 8^th January, two weeks before the rest of our classmates started back after Christmas, and we were thrown into the deep end.

Our first day on the project I was partnered up with Amy and we were given our first brief, which was Creamfields which we had about 4 days to complete. So already we were learning about how fast the pace is in the design industry, usually in a college project you have an average of 5 weeks on a project, while we had 4 days. This taught us about time management, and not spending too long working on one section and teaching us to make quick decisions but also making sure they were the right decisions design wise. Unfortunately, we didn’t win this pitch it was our first knock down, however we did win the Liverpool Tate pitch. These are the things people will have to deal with in the industry, winning and losing pitches how to cope with the defeat, take in the criticism and use it to better your designs.

Over the next few weeks we started to create the right environment to work in. So we worked as a team and built our on studio that created our own space in the college for us to work. We painted the walls, and built the tables and chairs. It is our design studio and has to look professional for when clients visit. Although it was our college we wanted to portray a professional atmosphere.

Thoughtful taught us about how to present yourself in a professional manor, by wearing black to a presentation or pitch not as a uniform but so we looked appropriate as we were the face of thoughtful. We didn’t just have to look professional but we had to act it too by learning to present ourselves better and clearly. This came apparent when we all went to our first pitch at howies; we had never experienced a pitch before so this was a learning curve for us. The pitch went better than we had planned, and howies were really excited about our ideas and what we had to offer. This gave myself and the team confidence to develop our skills and the motivation to keep on pushing our ideas.

As well as meeting clients and being taken along to pitches, we had to arrange a photo shoot and meet photographers for our press shoot to be including in the Times education supplement and in Creative Review. Our first attempt we went to Mat Wright’s studio in Manchester and even though the studio was amazing, it didn’t fit in with the shot we wanted. After much consideration a few weeks later we shot it again, but this time in college using the college’s resources and it was a much better shot than our first attempt. It was in the film studio and was shot by members of the photography staff. This taught us all not just to have one idea or plan, and have a back up plan and even another back up in case that fails, as you never know what problem might occur. It also taught us that there are many useful resources within the college that we should take advantage off, as when we leave college these resources will be harder to find and most likely to be very expensive. For example I didn’t know the film studio existed before the photo shoot, this shot didn’t cost us anything while the afternoon with Mat Wright would have and the shot wasn’t right in the end.

Something which I have learnt a lot over these past few months, is even though we are designers the time we actually spend designing is very little probably only 20% of the time do we design. The other 80% of the time is accumulated with pitching, meeting clients, and waiting around for others to make decisions or signing off the ideas so you can push forward. Design isn’t a 9 to 5 job and to get anywhere in the industry, you have to go that extra mile and get as much involved into the project as you can. Otherwise how will you be remembered, or even considered for another brief if you don’t put in the effort. I learnt this when we helped out at the howies sample sale in Manchester, howies didn’t expect us to help but were very grateful when we did and even mentioned us on their blog. It might not have anything to do with the brief howies gave us, but we still went down and helped out and by doing this, our efforts were rewarded.

Everything I have learnt over the past months were all used in the main project behind the Thoughtful Six, which is the rough guide to the creative industry website “Make It”. This project has required me to contact other designers, something which I have never been required to do before, however I feel I have approached this in a professional manor and been quite successful when contacting them. Throughout the “Make It” project I have worked along side Carrie, which again has developed our skills as working as a team. We had the chance to interview Peter Salmon, which was a great opportunity as it was the first interview for the website, as him being the director of the BBC he is an important man, and by getting the chance to meet with him, and having the time for us to interview him was great for not only us but for the project. The interview received good feedback and I think we wouldn’t have been able to be so professional and confident to do this without the skills Thoughtful had taught us. We also had to give a presentation on the project so far, and were left to our on devises to create a presentation in a program we had never used before. We rose to the occasion, and successfully completed the task set. The presentation had positive feedback, and really gave me an insight to the industry but also to how far I had progressed.

So throughout the whole project I have learnt so many things from my experience, however I think the most I have learnt is confidence. Is to have confidence within myself and my design skills, I never thought that I would get chosen for this project but the fact I have got to be apart of this project has been amazing. Before this project I would have never had the skills or the confidence to do half the things I have achieved with Thoughtful’s help and with these things I have learnt I hope to take this experience and use them in my final year at university.

Thoughtful Six Blog

Peter Salmon Interview

2009-05-07T23:27:00.002+01:00

Carrie and I, a few weeks ago, had the pleasure of interviewing Peter Salmon director of BBC North, for the 'Make It' project we are working on with Thoughtful. Here is a blog we wrote together about our experience.

Our first interview was with Peter Salmon, who has recently been appointed as the director of BBC North. The interview took a lot of preparation and our role was organising the event and making sure that everything ran smoothly. The biggest surprise was how much planning and preparation had to go in to making the interview a success. We were in charge of writing the questions, organising the set, planning the interview and most importantly making sure that we had all the right people there at the correct time and place. One hurdle we had to overcome was our cameraman couldn't make it at the last minute, which just goes to show that it is always wise to have a plan B, or even a plan C to fall back on, as this won't be the first or the last time a situation like this arises. Luckily, we managed to get Sayed, John and Rosemary from Little Wonder TV to step in and do the filming - who were brilliant. So, a big thanks to them for helping us out.

After a lot of emailing and making last minute arrangements, we were finally ready for the day of the interview. We arrived at the BBC with plenty of time to spare, allowing us to discuss our requirements with the cameraman and the best area for the interview to take place. We had to think about camera angles, editing, how much time we had, and basically setting the right scene for the interview. As the audience is going to be 14-19 year olds, we wanted the interview to be relaxed and informal so that the audience can relate to it. We chose a relaxed environment within the BBC building, called the 'design den.' The room was open plan, with lots of brightly coloured sofas and tables. It looked welcoming and generally a fun place to be. We decided to shoot the interview on the sofas that ran along a wall with windows looking through to the main reception, which added to the relaxed atmosphere.

When Peter first arrived we were quite nervous, but his relaxed attitude calmed our nerves and the interview soon developed in to a friendly conversation. Peter answered all of our questions in depth (we had quite a few!) and was also really interested in what we had to say and our views on subjects raised. Peter talked enthusiastically about his work and achievements, describing how passion and determination have driven him to success. He stressed the importance of being well educated, but also the need for good social skills and having a like-ability factor so that people will want to work with you. When asked what he would do differently if he was starting his career now, he said that he would develop his skills further, especially in hands on areas such as camera work and independently teach himself new techniques in order to impress employers.

The main thing we've learnt from this experience is that the job of a designer isn't solely 'designing'. Far from it. We've been told many times before but never experienced it first-hand - a junior designer doesn't just need to develop good mac skills and ideas - they need to be able to communicate clearly and possess good presentation and organisational skills. As well as being clean and smart, oh, and it helps to be on brief, on time and on budget, too!

Overall, the interview went really well and it was a great opportunity for us to take the lead on a client based job and develop our own professional skills in a sector that we had little experience in. We'd like to thank Lisa and Liza from the BBC for making the whole thing happen and thank Peter Salmon for being our first interviewee and for giving us some time out of his busy schedule to do the interview. The nicest thing was that he genuinely seemed happy to be there talking to us. Now all that’s left for us to do is edit the interview, which will be very difficult as there is so much good information to choose from!

Thoughtful Six Blog

Badger Badges

2009-05-07T16:32:00.007+01:00

At the start of the Thoughtful Six project, I was asked to develop Thoughtful's badger badges idea for the Stereohype's annual button badge competition under the Thoughtful six name. This was the first mini project that I got to work by myself, and it was quite rewarding as I was learning more skills with using software like InDesign and Illustrator more indepth. We entered the badges into the competition and I was impressed with my final design, a few weeks ago the results of the winners had been announced. However, we didn't win we did get a special mention, which I was impressed with. The designs and special mention are below.

Thoughtful Six Blog

Peter Funch

2009-04-26T18:18:00.003+01:00

After seeing some of Peter Funch's images on formfiftyfive, I checked out some of his work. I love these photographs, they are so natural and some of the moments he has captured are priceless. Here is a selection on my favourite. Also the recurring theme runs throughout his photographs which adds to their greatness.

Google Map Alphabet

2009-04-26T18:01:00.003+01:00

Rhett Dashwood has created a full alphabet from imagery found in locations around Victoria, Australia using Google Maps. Such a fantastic idea, things like this make me want to start a project like this.

Replacing World Landmarks With Cheap Souvenirs

2009-04-06T16:03:00.003+01:00

Michael Hughes is a freelance photographer, and in 1998 started up a new hobby which he has now accumulated a collection of over a 100 images. Michael's hobby is to visit famous landmarks or tourist attractions, and take home a little cheap souvenir to remind him of the trip like most people. However, his hobby has a slight twist, he loves to take picture of the landmarks with the cheap souvenirs perfectly blended. This is such an simple idea, yet it is so creative and some of the pictures are wonderful. I would love to start a little project like this of my own. Here are a few of my favourites.

Big Ben, London

Cairo, Egypt

Abbey Road, London

5th Avenue, New York

www.mymodernmet.com

http://sellsellblog.blogspot.com

In case of a Vampire

2009-04-06T15:56:00.002+01:00

Nice piece of fun ambient media that brings a cheeky grin to your face, seen on Ads of the World.

picture: Flickr

Yulia Brodskaya

2009-04-06T15:40:00.003+01:00

Yulia Brodskaya moved to UK in 2004 (from Russia) with an interested in creative practices, such as Textile Painting, Origami and Collage. She experiments and explores ways to bring everything she loves together, which are: typography, paper, and detailed hand-made crafts.

"Master and inventor of the process of "Papergraphy'; and unusual but equal novel and effective technique which involves intricate, ornate typography with paper"

Here are an example of some of her works, which are truly beautifully crafted and presented.

http://graphichug.com

Let It Shine

2009-03-26T14:42:00.007Z

This is the new advert by Honda, it's amazing and it is just made up of headlights. The advert was written by Weiden + Kennedy Amsterdam, and shot by Erik van Wyk. Watch the advert then watch the making of the video, Honda never seem to fail on creating fabulous adverts.

www.youtube.com

www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/hondas-shining-light/

Colouring Rings

2009-03-26T13:42:00.003Z

These are fantastic! Timothy Liles has designed these rings that are washable crayons, sold in a packet of 8 with 8 different colours. These rings are bound to make colouring more fun, these are wonderful design just so simple yet so creative. Unfortunately at $50 per box, I don't think I will be buying any soon.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/5812/crayon-rings-by-timothy-liles.html

http://www.timothyliles.com/index.php?/work/crayon-rings/

http://thefutureperfect.com/detail.php?id=210

Telegramme Emails.

2009-03-24T10:24:00.001Z

After reading the Creative Review blog a while back, I came across a interview of Telegramme and found it very interesting. I was interesting in how straight from University they came to create their own company, and become quite successful. I emailed them, however they didn't response so yesterday I emailed them again and they replied here is the emails.

Telegramme

2009-03-24T09:57:00.003Z

A while back I read an interview about a small design agency on the Creative Review blog, the agency is called Telegramme. Telegramme is a small design agency in London, consisting of Robert and Chris who developed their friendship through the love of music, art and receiving of post. Both from separate University, they both use to each other flyers, gig posters and advice on each others work. So three years ago they set up Telegramme, they work and sleep in an old peanut factory along with their two kittens and a lot of screen printing equipment.

Their work is mainly based around screen printing, the 'studio offers interactive, illustration and editorial design'. Their work is fantastic, vibrant and really inspiring. They certainly are making a name for themselves, with a client like habitat already under their belt. They truly are inspiring to any student finishing University/College with an aim to start up their own business.

www.telegramme.co.uk

www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/telegramme-from-post-to-print/

BA Moving Image course

2009-03-23T14:17:00.009Z

Last week I attending a course in BA Moving Images, where I was able to do a module in moving image worth 4 credits along with the rest of the Thoughtful 6. The course taught us the basics of using the HDV Z1 camera which were provided. We learnt about the rule of thirds, depth of field, composition, and the importance of 'handles' to name a few things. After a couple of days on the basic, we were sent out with a brief to create a 30 second to a 3 minutes short film. With any idea we wish to pursue.

Carrie and I decided to go out filming together as carrying all the equipment on our own may have been a struggle. With no initial idea, we venture out onto the surrounding grounds on a rather dull windy day. When stumbling across leaves blowing across the path, we came up with the idea of film nature and the movement of it. After 1 and a half days of filming, and an hour worth of footage it was time to edit. This is where we were able to use programs such as Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack and After Effects to edit our short film. As we hadn't any knowledge in using these programs before it was a bit of a challenge at first, however once overcoming this we had edited and presented our films in less than two days.

The whole week was such a great experience, and had broaden my horizons on different programs and techniques. Giving me chance and the ability to maybe use film when tackling briefs. Here is my short film, the idea I try to pursue was the beauty of the nature we pass everyday without noticing, and how you could be missing out. I tried to capture the movements, and beauty of the simple things that get overlooked. I then including the soundtrack, the song is Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy, I think the song helps capture the essences of the short film.

Jelly Babies

2009-03-23T13:35:00.005Z

I came across these on Graphic Hug's blog, they are Mauro Percucchetti's jelly babies which are eye catching and great to look at. His solo exhibition Apopalytic is being held at Halcyon Gallery, in London. Halcyon Gallery describes Mauro's jelly babies as:

"Apopalyptic also sees the return of one of the recurring motifs in Mauro's oeuvre, the jelly baby, which perfectly embodies his style and ethos. Each of these giant figures is perfectly moulded, and composed of light-reflecting resin with an impressive depth of colour. Polyurethane resin is highly unstable, and Mauro has devoted years to manipulating the material, and perfecting a technique which allows him to use the liquid on such a large scale. Although each jelly baby is unique in production, the topical issue of cloning is immediately brought to mind, whether Mauro is depicting members of a family, Budda or Chairman Mao."

I think these jelly baby sculptures are excellent, imagine walking down the street and being greeted by one of these sculpture it would definitely bring a smile to my face.

http://graphichug.com

www.halcyongallery.com/news.php?id=27

Aero Bubbles Advert

2009-03-23T13:16:00.005Z

This is the new advert for the chocolate bar Aero, the video is on a skateboarding skating through the skate park, after taking a bite of Aero. The skate park gets filled with 'Aero Bubbles' and the skateboarding skates through them, the bubbles are represented by brown coloured balloons. This idea is so simple yet looks fantastic.

www.youtube.com/

Cassette Envelopes

2009-03-23T12:41:00.005Z

This is a lovely piece of design that brings a smile to your face, it makes sending a letter that little bit more fun. I read about it on SwissMiss, which linked me to the original site where you can buy this envelopes. This is a website where you can buy and sell only handmade things, there are some great things on this site.

www.smiss-miss.com

www.etsy.com

Sound Advice Project

2009-03-23T12:22:00.005Z

I found out about this on NOTCOT, and I thought I would blog about it because it is a nice little idea. The idea is that you on onto this site, and record yourself saying a phrase or message which you would like to give to someone. The site then translates the the message into a unique three dimensional sound wave, which is strung onto a bracelet. The site describes about the process a bit better:

"The process is simple. Choose a phrase or message you'd like your children to always remember. We record your voice speaking your message. The unique sound waves created by the sound of your voice are translated into a three-dimensional representation strung onto a bracelet that your child can wear."

The main idea about it all is teen drug abuse, with the strap line 'Don't just talk to your kids about drugs. Make sure your words stay with them.' Which is a nice concept behind this idea.

www.notcot.org

www.thesoundadviceproject.com

Mr Switch

2009-03-13T16:30:00.006Z

Something to make you smile and brighten up your home.

'Mr Switch' is a little character to add to your light switches, to make

turning your lights on and off a little more fun. Unfortunately, this isn't

in manufacture yet John Caswell is still looking for an manufacture to create his design.

Found on Swiss Miss