Getting my Work Out There

Instagram

This year I decided to take advantage of social media to benefit my practice. Primarily, I only used to use Instagram for pleasure, but this year I decided to start up a design account to showcase my work. The idea came from my CoP project where I wanted to receive feedback from people all over the world and realised that uploading onto Instagram would achieve this. A screen grab of the page is shown below.

Behance

Last year, I started up a Behance account so that my work would be seen by other creatives. This year, I have carried on uploading my projects. However, something I need to improve on next year is photographing and presenting my work in a more professional manor.

Presentation

Above is an online version of the presentation I gave as part of the module. Before putting together the presentation, I did some research into how others conduct their presentations. This included watching TED talks as it gave me a variety of ideas on techniques and methods for a coherent and engaging presentation.

I also learnt a lot from the presentation I gave previously as practice. Some of the things that I learnt from that experience and then implemented included using more visuals and more slides as I spoke so that the audience would have something else to look at other than me which in turn took the pressure off a little. I also rehearsed it several times both on my own and to my friends so that I was confident and sure of the order in which I had put the slides.

A talk that inspired me the most and who I mentioned within the presentation was the one in Berlin during the visit to the Pentagram office. The man who spoke to us was very relaxed and easy going from the start and that made us as an audience relax as well. I aimed to do this when presenting my own by making a joke at the start and speaking in a calm, slow voice.

I think in all the presentation went really well as I remembered to say everything I had prepared and I didn't get too over whelmed or forget my lines. By the end of the presentation I was very comfortable in front of the audience and in fact I could have carried on for a while longer as I really started to enjoy myself. Public speaking is something that I think I could get really confident at and then become one of my strongest skills. This is an extremely useful skill to have in the working world, especially in Graphic Design as very often I will have to pitch my ideas to clients and no matter how good the idea is, I will have to explain it to them as well as possible which requires good public speaking skills.

Interviewing Professionals

Planning for the interview

In preparation for an interview I have organised for next Monday, I have done a bit of research into possible questions I can ask. I tried to find examples of questions that have received interesting replies. I will also make sure that the answers to the chosen questions will benefit my practice and my experiences in Graphic Design.

I found some examples of questions that employers could ask in job interviews as I discovered these questions would also benefit me if I were to ask them.

Inspired by questions that I found online that received successful responses, I produced a list of my own that I considered to be beneficial to my practice. The questions are written out below.

Interviews:
Jane Bates

I first interviewed a woman called Jane Bates who has had a rich and successful career in the Graphic Design world, working her way up to senior designer at Pentagram before starting up her own business and working from home. She has a keen interest in fashion and textiles and this is evidenced in the type of briefs she takes on and how she approaches them. She also specialises in signage and way-finding and has been a part of a number of high profile projects such as the signage for the Warsaw Museum of Art at the start of the millennium.

As Jane runs her business not too far from where I live at home, I decided it would be beneficial to interview her in her home studio. This had a really positive effect on the success of the interview and the responses I got which I will evidence in my creative report. I decided to record the whole interview on my phone so that I could concentrate on listening to her responses as opposed to trying to write things down. I then listened to it afterwards and made notes. The interview went extremely well and was very insightful. The fact that we did in person meant that she could elaborate on her answers and we would make a conversation out of it.

James Greenfield

The other professional I interviewed was James Greenfield who works at Studio Koto, an extremely successful and high profile graphic studio that have had clients as big as Airbnb. I decided to interview him over email as this would give me the opportunity to compare the two interview methods as well as compare their responses. I asked James the same questions that I asked Jane so that I could compare and contrast their responses. They are both very different designers who have different skills and interests. James and Studio Koto specialise in branding and identities.

The method of interview proved to be far less beneficial as his responses were brief and to the point with no elaboration. I received come good answers that I could use for the project, however it was clear that it would have been more successful had I done it in person. Despite this, both interviews were extremely beneficial and gave me plenty of material to work with when it came to producing a report.

The next stage was to decide how I would use the information and produced an informed creative report that suitably utilises the information.

Free-lance Work - Boon

Student-run Smartphone App
Boon

Another bit of client-based work that I have completed this year came when I met a couple of guys who were starting up an app as part of their degrees and they were looking for someone to come up with a logo and general identity. I met up with them in the pub and they showed me some slides that explained the app and concept etc. They gave me some pointers such as a favourite colour of theirs and the general tone of voice. With the notes I made, I went home and immediately started designing and coming up with a range of ideas.

They liked the idea of using a typeface similar to American Typewriter and so I began the process by exploring similar fonts that would suit the app. 

The general concept of the app in a nutshell is an app for people who either need errands done for them or who want to earn a bit of quick cash by performing other peoples errands. From this, I explored a number of shapes and icons that I thought represented this concept. I finally came to the idea of using a squiggled arrow to represent the journey taken by the person running the errand. The arrow is also one component of a smiley face, combined with the two 'O's in the name.

This project is still work in progress, however above is where it is at at the moment. I am yet to show the clients what I have produced but I will be presenting it soon to get their feedback and to then take things further.

To take my designs further and to allow me to proeprly present it to the client, I decided to show how it would look on the smartphone app itself. I did this using skills I have taught myself this year on Experiecne Design. This was a really amazing opportunity for me to use my newly found skills for a real world job and is something that I found very rewarding as it represents the progress I have made this year. 

I am extremely eager to show the clients what I have come up with as I am very happy with it so far as it is informed and professional.

Berlin Trip - Studio & Exhibition visits

International Design Trip

I took the opportunity, whilst being in Berlin, to visit a number of small, niche exhibitions as well as attending a studio visit organised by the tutors.

The first exhibition of work I went to see was a small print shop full of things like posters and publications, two things I am thoroughly interested in. The posters on display, pictured underneath, and some of the other items made use of vibrant and florescent colours. This has inspired me to experiment with more colours as currently I have not used such strong colours in my work before. Previously, I have avoided using florescent colours as it can look tacky but seeing these examples has changed my opinion. The shop was run by the guy who makes the prints, the rest of the shop was then full of one-off books.

This was one thing that i really admired about Berlin. Everywhere we went, we came across small print shops and other creative outlets showcasing really nice and varied work.

 


Ace & Tate

The next visit was to a glasses shop that had an exhibition of a collaboration between them and Anthony Burrill. The show was made up of a series of letter press posters, signed, on 100% recycled paper. 

Pentagram

Out of a choice of three, I decided to put my name down for a studio visit to Pentagrams Berlin office. I chose this for a couple of reasons. One being that next week, I will be interviewing a professional Graphic Designer who has previously worked for Pentagram. I also chose this studio as it is definitely somewhere I could see myself working. I like the size of the company, the fact that is has offices around the world and I really admire the extensive portfolio of work the company has produced over the years.

Notes from visit:

- started pentagram career in London
- Lucky that they were looking to hire someone at that time
- Then opened Berlin branch
- Star Alliance branding & identity 
- Huge project
- Rare that you get to see your own design on an aircraft
- Branded the whole of Sardinia 
- Vivates rebrand
- Red quarter circle
- Clients wont often understand the design itself, so telling a story along with it helps them understand and then they will buy into it
- Acquired taste - when you take on a project - naturally you will think of your own taste
- Rarely will the client share your taste 
- Critique on Graphic Design isn't easily accessed or seen
- Like a restaurant review 
- Need to be an entertainer
- Be likeable, tell a story, "massage the atmosphere"

I found the talk extremely inspiring as I admired him as a professional and a person. He had great presentation skills that kept me really interested and engaged. He was very relaxed and often made jokes which lightened the mood and made it a relaxing experience. I hope one day to be working somewhere similar around the world and have the confidence and people skills that he had.