Matthew Leonard : industry talk

Showing posts with label industry talk. Show all posts

"They're Just People"...

Todays industry talk came from Dave McDonald, a freelance design consultant based in Newcastle. Having previously worked for a number of agencies including Gardner Richardson and Infinite, Dave now works for himself and sees himself as a problem solver, stressing that the most important part of being a graphic designer is having THE idea, that one idea that sets your work apart from everyone else that could have had the brief. Stating the fact that anyone can learn how to work on a computer or draw, "You dont want to be known as a great graphic designer, you want to be known as a great problem solver." This made me think back to a question we got asked right at the beginning of the course, the good ol' "What is Graphic Design?" and at the time it stumped a lot of us, coming up with answers of capturing a brand in a logo and things like that, but what about other projects? The answer is quite simple when you think about it, we're solving problems in a visual way, a client comes with a problem and we go with it, solve it, make something from it. "The solution is always in front of you, its in the brief", this line has stuck in my head nearly as much as the title of this post (which will come later), its a good way to get past a mental block, where ideas just don't seem to be happening and you feel like youre at a dead end. A simple solution, read the brief again, as tedious as reading it over and over again will be youll get a better understanding and something will just spark an idea out of what seems like no where, definitely something I'm keeping in mind for future projects.

The question was raised of how Dave got into the industry, what he did when he left education and went out into the big bad world. An interesting answer came that I wasnt expecting, half thinking he was going to say I jumped from placement to placement until I got offered a job it was a shock to me when he mentioned that he worked on his portfolio for a full year after graduating, and even mentioned that it was his sketchbook that got him to where he is now and not the polished work he has, relating back to the most important core factor, the idea.

Dave then when onto talk about interviews and how you put yourself forward, this was a great insight into both what he has done and looks for and some helpful advice for the future. Saying the first thing he'll do if someone comes in for the chance at a placement is giving them a simple search, checking social media to see if the side theyre putting out is actually them, or just a front to impress. He stands by the fact that being yourself will get you more opportunities than if you put on a facade, mentioning that he would much rather be spoken to like you would usually speak, within reason. Mentioning how even he got nervous when he first started pitching to clients (if you ever meet Dave youll never think this), until he thought of a great way to think about pitches, "Theyre just people", this quote is the one that stuck with me the most through the great advice given. Clients are people, they need you and you need them, its a working relationship that should be back and fourth, if you be yourself and are friendly to them they'll do the same back.

Unfortunately I cant talk about any of the work that Dave shared with us, but the advice he gave was priceless and gave a great insight into the industry and the mindset of a great designer (or problem solver!), I also had the opportunity after the talk to have a quick chat with Dave, asking me about what I wanted to do with my time after college and asking if I had any placements lined up it was nice to get a bit of one on one chat going, asking for his critique on my portfolio when he is free was also mentioned, so I'll get my work all up to the standard I want it and get as many opinions as I can, it will be great to get someone who isnt familiar with my work's critique.

You can see some of Dave's work on his website: http://www.david-mcdonald.net/

"Just Be A Good Person"...

Todays industry talk came from Merlin Duff of Wonderstuff studio, a design studio based in Gosforth that specialise in brand and design consultation. There was no denying from the off that Merlin was confident in what he preached, giving blunt and helpful advice right off the bat, this is my kind of person, getting the point across in a sentence rather that muttering for half an hour and getting to the same result.

Some projects that you might be familiar with that were designed by Wonderstuff is Lane7, the boutique bowling alley just outside of the centre of Newcastle, offering a place for people to socialise in something that is completely different to what youll find currently in the town centre. There is no denying that the visuals in Lane7 are great, the on trend us of wood all around giving it that slightly rustic feel, the type sprawled across the walls and of course the logo that has a special concept behind it. At first glance the logo for Lane7 has a stand out feature to it, people will probably notice that if you rotate it 180 degrees it reads exactly the same, but not a lot of people will know the concept behind this. Merlin explained that the logo does this so no matter what direction the bowling ball is spinning (of which the logo is printed) the branding will still be legible as saying Lane7. Clever! Another project you may be familiar with is the Durham Distillery and their Gin, this was a project that Merlin said they started off with a client approaching them with the simple idea of "I want to make Gin", and after questioning and pushing the brief with the client they got a greater concept and ended up with what they have now, a design that has been feature on blogs such as the Dieline and Design Week.

The question was raised of the creative process within Wonderstuff, the answer was broken down into five parts. Firstly comes the Purpose, other than money, what is the aim for the business. The Vision, if it was all blue sky thinking and nothing went wrong where would the brand be, where do you strive to be. The Values, how does stuff get done, economic? or quick and get as much out as possible? The Position, this should relate to an audience, why do you do what you do and who do you do it for? This needs to be definite for the brand to be as effective as possible and lastly the Promise, this is one sentence that sums up everything about the brand.

This talk was primarily based around branding and what a brand actually was, but Merlin raised a few extra points on top of these to help us along our journey, mentioning how many people approach him for placements and compliment the Lane7 work, he stated "We know its good work, we did it, we put it out". So a helpful tip, talk about the work that an agency has done in the past as a conversation starter, but just think how many people do exactly the same food for thought... What you should be putting forward is that youre a friendly person that can work in a team, if you put yourself out there and are nice to people theyll be the same back and youll be memorable (mentioning even bringing donuts into placement for the team, a hint maybe?), to sum it all up it goes to a simple statement, the title of this post, "Just be a good person", your work obviously has to do something for you as well, but if youre arrogant and that over shadows the standard of your work youre going to get no where.

If you want to see more of Wonderstuff's work, including their work for Lane7 and Durham Distillery check out their website: http://wonderstuffstudio.com/

"I'm All In"

Todays industry talk came from Sarah Hanley, an ex Newcastle College student (where I study) and Creative Director of Sumo, a Newcastle based design agency that has done work for the National Trust, Sunderland City Council, Newcastle University and the National History Museum to name a few.

This talk was a great insight into what life in the industry is like, going from what it was like when Sarah was a student trying to get into agencies, to what its like being in one of the most influential agencies in the north east. She admits she wasn't the best designer on her course, but this made her work harder, this was also the case with her first project in an agency for After Eights, at the pitch the other designers went in with one idea, Sarah went in with 20, going above and beyond what was asked, this is also apparent in her recent work. Three words that definitely stood out in the talk for me was "I'm all in", do everything 100%, surround yourself in the project, dive in and have fun, definitely something I try to do and will do in future projects.

Knowing that we were in our last year of the foundation degree and that we were going to be looking for places to do placements and get experience in agencies, Sarah gave us some useful tips on what we should be doing to be in with a greater chance of getting into the industry. The first tip we were given was think about what agency you want to work for, whether it be a digital agency or a print based, it is better to get in somewhere that is tailored around the kind of work you want to do; however, it is good to get experience in other fields too. The next was to not just stay in Newcastle, try different places around the country, every agency has a different way of working, so why not experience them all? The importance of Twitter and social media was also mentioned, tweet your work to designers, ask for opinions, have an opinion and put stuff you like from agencies etc onto your profile, it should be a representation of you.

Overall this was a great talk, I feel like I've now got a greater understanding of what I have to do/should be doing to get placements in the industry and some places to get inspiration from in the future. A big thank you to Sarah for a brilliant insight and some lovely freebies!

Check out Sumo's work at: http://www.sumodesign.co.uk/work/