Raw studio visit

After e-mailing Tom at Raw, I went to visit the studio to show him my portfolio. Tom gave me some really insightful advice and gave me a lot of encouraging feedback. He wasn't able to offer me a placement as they had just taken on a new designer and there would have unfortunately been no room for people on placements. He said to keep in contact and show him updates to my portfolio if I ever need any feedback.

Creative Networks 
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Tom said it was great that me and Luke took on this live project for the university and it was made better by the fact it was in support of creative collaborations and the creative industry in general.


Warrington Museum
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I explained where the concept originated for the brand mark and he informed me that many portfolios rarely have a solid back story behind a branding project and this was nice to see, which was also nice to hear. I will definitely push myself in terms of conceptual idea generation when approaching future projects to ensure a clarified and well thought out concept. With the icons, he said to remove the red to ensure a monochrome palette throughout which I will definitely take on board

Portfolio (so far)

I decided to put a portfolio together as I had organised a visit with Raw in Salford. I tried to select what I believed were my most effective resolutions from the past couple of years. I also incorporated the project for Warrington Museum that I was completing for the OUGD301 module. I collated some of my favourite design a day projects and included this as a self-initiated brief as I have had encouraging feedback regarding the project.

Self promotion - Branding

The other day, we had a pin up of our business card and selected promotional material. I hadn't sorted anything out beforehand so when this task was announced, I decided to look into what I could do in more depth. I am currently doing a design a day challenge and in my studio placement and during my studio visit to Future, this was pointed out on both occasions as it showcased how engaged I was with design and expressed my creative interests.

I thought I could create a mini-mailer with various prints of my design a day designs - also outlining what number in the series it was. I also included an info sheet of who I am, how the challenge came about and my contact details.

The sticker would feature each of the studios / designers / recipients addresses and fold over the back to ensure the package was secure. I used a grey(ish) thin stock to create contrast against the white label.

I wanted a sticker of my logo to apply onto the mailer but as the vinyl cutter wasn't working, I had to make do without. I remembered from my studio at Wash design that they used a hand embossing tool to apply a clients logo through blind embossing onto a letterhead / stationery so I'm gonna do the same - its subtle but creates a nice, tangible aesthetic.

PPD Workshop

List 5 (or more) things you know now that you didn’t before the break:

• Every studio differs; it is about finding my place within the industry
• Researching and contextual referencing is essential & needs to be from a diverse range of sources
• I'd ideally want to work within a small independent studio 
• Invoice a client - potentially request half of the payment upfront & don't get ripped off
• Detail (in terms of design) is key. 

List 5 (or more) things you would address differently than you did this Summer:

• Be more pro-active and prioritise my time more effectively
• To be more conceptual — I tend to stick with what I am most comfortable or familiar with
• Be more engaged with networking (online and offline)
• Ring design studios and devise a mailer as opposed to e-mailing studios
• Be more confident & communicate more

List 5 (or more) specific things you will address this Semester, that should be useful:

• Try and improve my pitching & presenting skills - to be confident about my ideas and in general
• Blog all the time and be consistent
• Not leave things (tasks) to the last minute - when given, do them straight away so its still fresh
• Go outside - to galleries, events, talks etc
• Take full advantage of everything that is available to me - utilise it!

List 5 (or more) things you feel we could address as a group?

• Approaching a live project - legalities, things we need to look out for
• Costing - what's fair? (To us and client)
• Copyrighting work

Future studio visit

The other week, I went to visit Future — a design studio in my home town of Warrington after emailing them a few weeks back. Future work primarily with branding, publication design and digital which is what appealed me to the studio. I also found out that Rob from the year who just graduated from Leeds Art is working there full time which was great.

Nick had a look through my online portfolio and gave me some really insightful advice. He said the diversity of my work was great and particularly liked the 'design a day' project. He suggested having more designs photographed in context to give the sense they were tangible designs and to expand my portfolio, he suggested looking at type heavy projects, such as producing an annual report, to show I can work with type and layout effectively — he said these are rarely seen in portfolios yet are interesting to see.

We talked about coming in for a placement sometime which was ace to hear — and he said to email him with dates when I'm available over the next year or so which I plan to do so once I know when we are in uni.

B&W Studio Placement

Before leaving for the summer, I arranged a visit to B&W studio where we organised a placement for mid-June, just after finishing.  Lee suggested coming in for a month or two — I was honestly just expecting a week or two but this was great.

I had to go home towards the end of June so we organised going in for a couple of weeks, having a week off and going back in for another couple of weeks. As soon as I got in, Lee gave me a tour around the studio, on the second floor of a renovated mill. The studio itself was brill, plenty of space, relaxed environment, meeting rooms and a lot of storage space (as they occupied a full floor). There's 2 creative directors, Lee & Steve, along with two other designers, Matt and Graham.

Projects

B&W have worked with the British Heart Foundation for a while and have been chosen to create a multitude of advertisements and campaigns for the charity. Initially, they required a cover design for an annual report so I initially began sourcing stock imagery within their database. I was also required to devise concepts and design ideas for the cover itself along with the other designers which Lee pitched to the client.

I worked on some other BHF projects over the 4 weeks including a bus advertisement, a campaign for a new set of furniture & electrical stores and another campaign to increase awareness of defibrillators. Due to the nature of the projects, they each had their own strict deadlines so idea generation needed to be efficient. Most projects had at least a couple of others working on different concepts so Lee could propose several ideas to the clients which I was told was fairly unusual due to time and cost restrictions.

I had to quickly adapt to the way of working but through the process I gained a lot of much needed skills. What I learnt though, is that I need to learn to voice my opinion and not be afraid of what I have to say. I need to develop my presentation and pitching skills within the 3rd year so this will be one of my main aims — particularly as I aim to develop a collaborative practice in a years time.

SUMMER/3RD YEAR