Process

Process, idea generation for Thursday morning:

Module 2, Design Production, Digital.

Silent Movie.

Enterprise Meeting. No.1

Group:

Charlotte Bourke

Strengths: Concept driven; Research; Deligation; Organisation; Motivation; Perfectionist.

Weaknesses: Software skills; Confidence; Pushiness; Indecisive.

Luke O'Brien

Strengths: Motivated; Software Skills; Ideas Driven; Project Management; Organised; Presentation; Decisive.

Weaknesses: Spleling; Financial Management; Finishing (craft quality)

Max Gregory

Strengths: SPAG/proofing (spelling & grammar), Craft and finish,

Weaknesses: confidence, presentation, life; Indecision.

Joe Warburton

Strengths: Software skills; attention to detail; maths; Organisation; Innovative.

Weaknesses: Confidence; presentation; drawing; Indecisive.

We decided to outline what our strengths and weaknesses were as a team and found that our strengths counter different peoples weaknesses.  Thus, we will work well as a team.

Some books I thought might help us starting out:

Module Evaluation

Final Work.

Collection of products/ branding include: Promotional posters; t-shirts; t-shirt packaging; business card; letter head.

The repeat pattern on acetate is supposed to mimic a cellophane wrapper for the t-shirt.  Seeing as I couldn't print onto the cellophane due to it being too malleable and shiny I thought this was the next best thing that would visually replicate it.

 Sticker for the bag that stays stuck once ripped open at the top, serving as a decoration once its function has been fulfilled.  Printed black ink on heavy gsm black stock, I then foiled the black in with glossy white foil to give a spot varnish effect.  The bright orange ribbon is supposed to inject a hint of colour against the stark monochrome branding, whilst also hinting at the colourful print within.

I have screenprinted my design onto a t-shirt using two colours- red and black.  Overall I think it works well,  however the only reason this colour scheme has been adopted is because unfortunately, prior to me printing,  my screen was not exposed properly, leaving many gaps in my designs.  This is how I have overcome it.

The tag at the bottom of the tee adds a sense of quality whilst reinforcing the brands identity.

Below is the proposed stock I initially wanted to print onto, but had to change once I realised it was impossible with the available facilities to me.

Not the best photo, but very hard to take an image that would depict what this is.  The lining of the bag.  Here I have printed onto acetate and stuck it on the inside of the bag.  I wanted to achieve a black ink on black stock finish, but unfortunately with stock this size it is not possible with the available facilities. 

Never say you are the 'best'.

How do I need to communicate and how does it match to what my clients/employers need?

First of all, a creative C.V would help.

A few more tips from David Airey

CV tips for graphic designers

99% of CVs are poorly designed. It’s a struggle.

If your CV is good, and relevant to me, you have a higher chance of getting a response.

The creative director often isn’t the person to contact. Many times senior designers are the first port of call for interviews. There is no harm in sending a CV to more than one person at an agency.

Be creative, but don’t be pushy. Agencies find it very difficult to enlist good staff. That’s why most use expensive recruitment agencies.

Here’s my advice to graphic designers trying to get their CV to the top of the pile:

1. Brand yourself. Make yourself memorable. I know that some people may disagree with this, which seems to be a USA thing, but your CV is seen by a creative, not the accountants. ‘Wow’ them.
2. Be more than a sheet of paper. Most CVs are now sent by email. What can you do to differentiate yourself?
3. Don’t include things I don’t care about, like ’I once worked as a waiter’ or ’I got a qualification in chemistry’. I don’t care if you like swimming. I do care, however, if you saw the last lecture by Paul Rand before he died and what your thoughts were. Make it relevant.
4. Ensure everything is beautifully presented. Consider your kerning and double-check there are no silly mistakes — we all want to employ a safe pair of hands.
5. Follow-up anything you send with a phone call, but remember, don’t hassle, be polite. Ask them what they thought of your CV and how it could be improved.
6. Don’t try too hard. One student sent a mailer that was a fake bomb (with the tag line ’dynamite designer’. The bomb squad were called and the designer was contacted — by the police. He didn’t get the job. This raises another point — don’t boast, no-one wants to employ an arrogant designer. Never say you are the best. Leave that to Mohammed Ali.

Patience + time = job. Good luck.

I think one of the most important things to remember is that I am in a creative profession- If i'm sending my C.V to a possible employer I want them to like what they see from the get go.  Make it memorable.

 

Print for Production, Progress Crit.

After todays session it came to my attention that I need to get on with producing things.  


"The content/ concept is good but no evidence of the brand/ product in the real world.


"Experiment with different stocks.  Don't just use one type all the time"


One of the strengths that were highlighted from the crit was the extensiveness of my research, and that the branding has clearly been informed by the subject matter.


Action plan:


I need to try creating my bag for the tees in different stocks.
Go out in Leeds and take some images!  This should have been done long before now.


These need to be done ASAP.  And will be.

Enterprise Group.

Once we had our final Enterprise seminar I had already thought about who i'd ideally like to work with.  I sent an email out to Joe Warburton; Luke O'Brien and Max Gregory.  My thought process initially was that they are good at what they do and i've never worked with them before.  I then started thinking about the argument I would put across to try and persuade them that we should all be in a group together.  I was hoping that they would note my organisation of taking the initiative to send the email and see it as a good thing.

Here are the replies:

 

I also got verbal confirmation from Joe.

We have yet to set a date for our first meeting.

Note to Self

Note to Self:


BECOME BEST FRIENDS WITH A PRINTER.  Preferably a good one.

Print for Production, Progress Crit

We were asked to critique our groups work in pairs.  We thoroughly analysed all of the persons work from this whole brief to answer in-depth questions on what it is they are doing and how well this work answers the brief.

Below is my own feedback:

 

So, from this I have devised an action plan of my own:

Enterprise Tutorial

The main aims of the tutorial were to highlight what we need to complete; lectures to come, and deadlines set.

'How will I promote mysellf?' How will I communicate with them?

There are many different forms of communication, however, they all have different uses and are accepted in different concepts.

For example, in a lot of PPD sessions John has been talking about sending letters out to agencies and studios.  I think they have a certain level of legitimacy and sincerity behind them, it is much more effort to send a letter than it is to send an email.  Whereas, once you've set up a relationship with these people, it would be more appropriate to send emails for a quick response time on both parts.

'How will I promote myself?', What should I say to them?

What will I say to them? 

Initially, my view on this question was that I should think about what I want from people and find out if they have what I am interested in.  For example, if I wanted a tight group of designers that spent a lot of time giving eachother feedback and working together I would ask the director 'How many hours do you spend a day on critique of work?'.

Then I understood it is about self promotion.  I have to say the right thing to them, so that I sound like I know what i'm talking about.  

Well, this is clearly the most helpful thing i've found in some time.  A professional to student advice blog.  Very helpful indeed:

Source: http://www.davidairey.com/design-critique/

The students among you often get in touch looking for a design critique, but for the most part, your question won’t lead to a helpful answer.
Don’t show two logos and ask, “Which one’s best?”


Who’s it for? What do they do? How do they want to be seen? Why?
Additionally, it’s always easier to offer an opinion on designs in context, i.e., on websites, signage, vehicles, stationery. How does the design interact with different media? How does it adapt, flex, grow?


Image via Thinkstock.






 Again, another sourced from http://www.davidairey.com

What Employers look for No.ONE

Finding your ideal job in the design profession isn’t easy, so to help, I asked a number of design employers to give advice to job applicants. The first in the series is kindly contributed by Eric Karjaluoto, partner and creative director at Vancouver-based smashLAB.



Inside smashLAB
Oodles… That’s the best term I can use to describe the number of aspiring designers out there. We haven’t seen less than a hundred applicants for any designer position posted at smashLAB. (Ever.) From a strict supply-and-demand standpoint, this allows employers like me to take my pick of the bunch. Here’s what I look for:
The book: Although it’s rarely a physical book any longer, the first thing I look for in a designer is a visual sensibility. While I’d like to tell you that I pour a cup of tea and gingerly peruse someone’s design samples, the opposite is the case. Typically, it takes me less than 15 seconds to determine whether a portfolio warrants further inspection. While I don’t have a bias to any particular style of work, I do look for a certain amount of professionalism and depth.

Inside smashLAB
Editing: I lied about my first point. The very first thing I look at is the resume. What may be different from what you’d expect, though, is that I consider it from a design standpoint. Yes, the credentials and work experience are important, but I’m more interested in what a designer has chosen to say about him/herself, and how appropriately they can craft this (deceptively complex) marketing tool.
Big picture and close-ups: Good designers tend to be able to step back from a situation and consider the bigger problem before getting carried away with execution. As a result, they are able to articulate their thinking behind a project in a coherent fashion; meanwhile, they know when to finesse details, run spell-checks, and sweat all the other (seemingly) small stuff. Both are equally important points to pay attention to, and it’s awfully easy to spot which designers are attuned to them and which are not.

Inside smashLAB
The person: I need to be able to work efficiently with the people I hire. While we needn’t be the best of friends, it does mean we have to be able to maintain an open and healthy dialogue. The designers who are most apt to communicate/interact in such a way tend to be thoughtful, considerate, and not overly wrapped up in ego. They are largely interested in learning and honing their craft. When we started smashLAB, I struggled with this point, sometimes hiring the wrong people, and we suffered for it. Now, I more quickly flush-out applicants who seem to be a poor fit. Doing so has resulted in an exemplary team at smashLAB, which I’m very proud to work with.

Inside smashLAB
Commitment: Design isn’t like other jobs. In order to be any good at it, you really have to put in your time. For experienced designers, the result of doing so is typically reflected in their portfolios. Young designers, however, generally haven’t had sufficient time to cultivate a solid body of work; therefore, they tend to be a bit of a gamble and are hired on a bit of a hunch. Once in the door, the real interview begins. Now, they need to prove to me that they’re worth the investment I’m making in them (many of my colleagues note feeling the same way). If you’re a new designer in your first professional role, I encourage you to be the first one in, the last to leave, and while you’re there, work your ass off. If you aren’t absolutely committed to your career, I’ll come to the conclusion that I shouldn’t be either.

What Employers look for No.TWO

#2 in the series is from Jim Walls, executive creative director of Philadelphia and Los Angeles-based branding agency 160over90.


160over90 has been damn lucky. Steady growth over 10+ years means we’ve had at least one open design position in Philadelphia at any one time for at least the past five years. Now that we’ve opened a brand new office in Los Angeles, I’ve got positions to fill there, too. Now the bad news for aspiring designers: We receive about 100 inquiries a month, double or triple that when we actually remember to post the position on some of the job boards.
I don’t say this to brag. Any shop worth its salt is getting those same portfolios. It simply underscores how competitive the industry is. To stand-out, your portfolio needs to be nothing short of stunning. I mean literally stunning, in 15 seconds or less.
To get through all those books, I spend nights and weekends reviewing each and every submission we get. Same goes for my six creative directors. I can’t even imagine what someone like Michael Bierut has to deal with. Actually, I bet he doesn’t even review portfolios. Each spring, the best designer in the world is probably just spirited away like the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama to apprentice with him. I bet it’s pretty cool.



Inside 160over90′s Philly studio
We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible for a designer to get our attention. We direct inquiries to 160over90.com/jobs. Designers fill-out a simple form with their basic info, and are asked to submit a PDF of their best samples. Why do we ask for a PDF? Speed. All submissions are converted into e-mails housed on a shared account, where we can immediately review work day and night, in the office, at home, or on the road. A PDF can be viewed directly in the body of an e-mail, or opened in Preview with a hit of a space bar. Gone are the days of having to click on a URL for a half-finished Flash portfolio with questionable navigation or needing to search through a resume for a useable link. Well, gone in theory. About a third of our submitters still fail to attach a PDF — despite a notice that “submissions without a portfolio will be discarded before they are opened.” Truth is, though, we don’t toss them. Most submitters at least still include a link somewhere. It slows things down, and it raises a red flag about a candidate’s ability to follow (or ignore) directions. But I promise you we still look at every submission.
Well, almost. Anybody who goes by a single moniker, like “Chaz,” or gives themselves a nickname like “The Conceptual Ideator” gets booted almost immediately. We just don’t have the patience.



Inside 160over90′s Philly studio
Once we get those out of the way, before we read any resumes or intro letters, we go to the work. What are we looking for?

1. Chops

Do they have a solid understanding of type, color, form, balance? How well do they work with photography or illustration? Grids? Do their layouts communicate immediately? Do they know when to exercise restraint? Does the work accentuate the copy, or work against it? Can they even work with copy? Talking about the basics here. Ninety percent can be eliminated outright based on this criteria almost immediately. That’s the 15 seconds mentioned above.

2. Versatility

You’ll often hear our CDs talk about portfolios being “good, but very samey.” If we look at the work and can’t differentiate a layout between a car ad and a brochure for a retirement home, it’s an indication that the designer is only comfortable working within a particular style. Likewise if a book is mostly letterpress wedding invites or gig posters. The work can be beautiful, but if it’s all of a piece, it’s concerning.
We like to see work for a wide variety of projects, client types, and industries—in different mediums. Short copy, long copy. Logos. Magazine layouts. Motion graphics. Posters. Digital projects. The more the merrier. Our designers never face the same problem twice. You shouldn’t come off as a designer who can solve the same problem 10 different (but mostly samey) ways. I also like to see grand solutions for challenging categories. A beautiful logo for a financial services firm is twice as impressive as a similarly crafted mark for a coffee shop.



Inside 160over90′s Philly studio

3. Conceptual ability

A designer who knows how to develop work around an initial concept and think in terms of broader systems, solutions, and campaigns will go very, very far in life. The one who asks questions before any work is done. The one with insight into the mindset of the target audience. You’re the one every creative director in the world is competing for. An agency of 20 of you can topple Governments.
I’m not talking about design flourish disguised as an idea. That’s just wallpaper. If you don’t know the difference, well, that’s another post, and it’s also how portfolio schools stay in business.

4. Originality

Portfolios, like fashion, tend to run in seasons. In the late 90s, everyone had at least one condom ad in their book. Ten years later, you couldn’t even call yourself a designer if you weren’t selling your Wilco posters on your personal site. If you worked for a certain youth-oriented clothing and lifestyle retailer two years ago, it was all about duotone newsprints. First with lots of vector art triangles, then about a year ago those triangles morphed into diamonds.
We hired a designer recently based mostly on the originality of the work. It just didn’t look like anything we had seen before. Everything just felt so unique and fresh. Nothing made us say “oh yeah, right, the tea packaging again.”
That reminds me of another point: If you’re going to include an identity for a cupcake shop in your portfolio, it had better be the ne plus ultra of cupcake shop identities. I’ve seen so many, I’ve developed a cynical twitch every time I get close to an actual cupcake. That ain’t right.

Inside 160over90′s LA studio

Inside 160over90′s LA studio

5. Editing

What’s that one piece you tried to bury in your book about two-thirds of the way through? The postcard for the real estate development? It sucks. Get rid of it. It makes that fantastic pro bono campaign at the opening of your work look like a one-off. Then again, it was probably your co-designer’s work anyway. What was her name again? Is she looking for work?
Best. Work. Only. Doesn’t matter if it’s your only piece that actually got printed. Here’s a good way to edit: Consider each piece individually. If you had to get hired based on the quality of that piece alone, could you do it? If the answer is no, drop it and move on.
Also, 15 pieces is enough.



Inside 160over90′s LA studio
General portfolio tips:
Have a PDF portfolio always at the ready. And remember you’re designing for a screen, not a printout. Vertical layouts with 4-point type don’t translate well to a 15-inch MacBook format.
Physical books? Endangered species. We maybe get four or five a year, unsolicited. Does it help you stand out? Maybe. But more often than not I’m wondering what the hell to do with the thing once I’m done looking though it. It’s gotten to the point that we don’t even really look at portfolios in the actual interviews anymore. Everything’s digital.

Interviews

Each week, I get together with the CDs and we review books we’ve liked together. We have to unanimously decide to bring someone in for interviews. If one of us isn’t into the work, they get dinged. I’d guess we call about three percent back of our total submission base.
Next step is a series of phone/Skype interviews, followed by what is typically two days of in-person interviews. This is a slow, inefficient system, but we find it’s what yields us the best candidates. What are we looking for at this stage?

• Process — Bar none, this is the most important factor besides the portfolio. How do you approach your work? What kinds of questions do you ask at the beginning phases of a project? Where do you go for inspiration? How do you know when an idea is good? Are you designing from the head or the heart? What are the steps you follow in a print project? How about digital? We’re an extremely methodical, process-driven shop. It’s not right for everyone, but the right people flourish in this system. I’ve got a Google doc full of comments about past interviewees. Most common reason for rejection: “Great work. Zero process.”
• Communication skills — How well can they present themselves? Is their work (and resume) typo-free? Two designers being equal, I’ll always choose the one that understands proper punctuation.
• Personality — How well will they fit in to our culture? What are their interests outside of design? Says a lot.
• Past history — Five different shops in three years of experience is usually a dealbreaker.

160over90′s LA studio
Final step? All candidates typically interview with our entire staff of designers and writers in two one-hour sessions, and you’ll likely have a meal and drinks with a few of them as well. They’ll be spending more time with you than with anyone else, so chemistry is vitally important.
This may all come off as tremendously off-putting to designers who might be considering us, but believe me: This is a two-way interview, and we know top candidates have a wide variety of choices when it comes to where they choose to hang their hats. We’re honored and humbled when people take the time to consider us. All except for Chaz.
—
Jim Walls is executive creative director at Philadelphia and Los Angeles-based branding agency 160over90. Follow the team on Twitter here: @160over90.

 

What Employers look for No.THREE

Today’s job-seeking advice is courtesy of Rochelle Fainstein, digital marketing manager in the Manhattan office of Sterling Brands.

Whenever we post a design job listing at Sterling, we always point out how important it is to us for you to possess four core values: Be brave, be productive, be collaborative, and be creative. These values are what truly connect us and keep us on a common mission to make the consumer world a more beautiful place. In addition to our values, there are a few things that will give you an edge in our hiring process in our design group:

10 things we love about you:

1. Experience in packaging is a must. Packaging is what we do. Packaging is a language; you’re either fluent or you’re not.
2. Must know the supermarket aisle like the back of your hand. Knowledge of Walmart is a PLUS.
3. Must love watching men shave… And getting involved in all sorts of consumer behavior, market research and intelligence gathering.
4. We like quirky.
5. Must not mind a good work/life balance. If you insist on working the week between Christmas and New Years, this may not be the place for you. That in mind, we do work hard the rest of the year.
6. Superior verbal and communications skills in design are critical. You must be able to present your fantastic, creative, incredible ideas.
7. Must love blogs. We recommend you do your daily reading, which should include The Dieline, DavidAirey.com, Brand New, and Design Observer; or turn us on to something new. Inspire yourself. Inspire us.
8. Pets are a plus. Our President of Design is a huge sucker for dogs. AND we get to design a lot of their food!
9. Be a self-starter. We love folks who take the initiative, so don’t wait around for us to call you. If you want to work for Sterling, go all-in!
10. Have a can-do attitude. Sounds like a propaganda poster, but we’re serious. A glass-half-full mentality has helped all of us through a hellacious week. Complainers need not apply.

—
Visit the Sterling Brands website. Follow @SterlingBrands on Twitter, as well as the team’s President of Design @debbiemillman. Debbie has worked on the redesign of global brands for Pepsi, Gillette, Colgate, Nestlé, and many more.

What Employers look for No.FOUR

The fourth installment is from Simon Manchipp, co-founder at London-based SomeOne.






Your portfolio: I run a company. It’s tough. Complex. Very time consuming. I am time-poor. So your portfolio has one purpose: Dazzle me. From the first page. Show me what you got. Now is your chance to make me double-take. Make me actually stop the other thing I’m doing. I get about 20 seconds to jump through your PDF. Often on an iPhone. On the way to a meeting. So make it count. Beautifully crafted, brilliant ideas. And don’t worry, it need’t have actually been accepted by the client (although that always gets extra kudos). Show me your cut. The one that floats your boat.
And being SomeOne, we do want to see your logo work. But make sure it is applied to something, inventively, progressively, interestingly. Make a BrandWorld — not just an Illustrator vector whacked on a LiveImage Photoshop file. Show me how the work goes deep. How you use it to create a rich brand world… not another logo rubber-stamped everywhere. If I cover the logo, what else is there to tell me who’s talking? Make it all shine. Dazzle me.


Copy: Show me you can write, not just make other peoples writing look good, and you’ll get my attention. A witty, smart, appropriate CV will always add value. Never underestimate the CV. It’s old-school, but it tells me a lot. it tells me you can string a sentence together… which probably means you could speak to a client, which probably means you are confident, which probably means you are good. Probably.





Strategy: What was the big idea behind a project? We start all our credentials with a quick run through of: What the challenge was. How we approached it. What the results were. Why it worked. Where it worked. It’s a really simple construct, but if you can answer each of the sections, you get a quick and effective way of describing the creative work behind the creative work. Show me you think. And how you think. And where that thinking works.





You: If you get hired you will love what you do. You won’t quite believe you get paid to do it. You will always be amazed that you’ve managed to make a career out of doing stuff you love. In fact, You’re always going to be waiting to get found out. Everyday you get to go to a cool studio, in the coolest city in the world, to work with the coolest clients on the planet, to just do cool stuff for them, with the coolest people… then go out for drinks with them all. That isn’t a job. That is amazing.
So get excited. If you don’t want it more than the next person, the next person will probably get it. Don’t be annoying, be clever. Think — what’s going on right now? What is topical. What are they up to? How can I be useful? Then do it.





10,000 hours: You are probably young. Fresh from college even. And that’s cool. That’s how most of our designers start. But 10,000 hours is widely accepted to be how long it takes to be an expert. In anything. From playing the guitar to the way you operate on peoples brains. It’s the same with design. You need to do your time. There is no quick fix. You can’t be an overnight expert. So do your time.
The Beatles went to Hamburg to rack up their hours faster than waiting the usual 10 years (the average time it takes to get to 10,000 hours under your belt). They started playing at 8pm and got home at 8am. Every day. For Months. You are no different. To get noticed, to get hired, to keep the job, to get promoted, paid more, you need to be the first in, and the last out. Everyday. All the time.
Getting the job is tough. Keeping it is harder.


And If I get as far as an interview:

15 graphic design interview tips

1. When you arrive in the interview give us your business card. It should be well designed, memorable, simple and hopefully have a great idea. It should be unique and you should be branded.
2. Have 8–12 pieces of work in your folio. Put the best pieces at the front and back.
3. Have at least six questions ready to ask (if you have less, you’ll find they will be answered in the course of the interview).
4. Take a pad and pen, take it out at the beginning of the interview. You don’t have to take notes, but it looks as if you are organized.
5. Talk about your work before you show it, but don’t talk too much. This should be one short sentence to engage the interviewer with you. We will be looking at you as you speak. Then show us your work.
6. Have samples and mock ups.
7. Bring sketches. We are as interested in how you got to the final solution as the solution itself. You can show other concepts.
8. Have a copy of your CV (resumé) at the back of the portfolio. Offer it even if we already have it.
9. On your CV don’t tell people about exam results or part-time jobs that have nothing to do with your chosen career. It pisses us off.
10. Don’t talk about holiday or money in a first interview.
11. Give a firm handshake.
12. Tell us you really want the job (believe it or not, hardly anyone does this).
13. Ask for our business card(s).
14. When you get back home, send an email thanking us for the interview.
15. Make sure your branding is consistent on your business card, CV and email signature.
16. One for luck: Remember, 80% of design students are crap. We see lots of CVs (95% of which are crap). If you can get into the top 20% you will get a job.

 I found a comment below the post obvious yet overlooked:

Gio, on August 1st, 2008 //

Regarding #6, one of the best questions I’ve found to ask from an interviewee’s standpoint is:
“What are you looking for in the ideal candidate?”
I’ve found many employers will gladly tell you what their ‘wishlist’ is, and you can see how good of a mutual fit you and the organization will be, and tailor your answers as such.


Sourced: http://www.davidairey.com/15-graphic-design-interview-tips/




This will help immensely in interviews.  I think it's easy to overlook simple things like taking a notepad and a pen.  I know i'm hardworking and organised, but it i essential that I make it obvious on a first impression basis.

Professional Development

Contacting studio; Creative C.V's; Business Cards- Action Plan.