Visit to A to M

Today I went to see Mike Fallows of A to M in Manchester. I found it to be a great experience and also found the feed back very useful. I find it is very important to have a look and visit different types of design agencies to give yourself a bigger view and more variety on deciding the type of agency more suited to yourself. A to M is a small company - only a small group, but that doesn't mean the work is on a smaller scale.

Mike had a look at my portfolio and overall had a positive view on it but he explained to me what agencies look for in a portfolio. Whilst looking at my magazine piece he liked the quality of the images and the layout but when looking at my double page spread asked my reasoning behind what I had done. Although there was a reason for it his feedback on it was it is a weak point to my magazine design as the shapes look a bit too random to have a meaning. I am glad he told me this as it has made me have a look back at that piece of work and think about his reasoning's behind it.

Another piece of work we discussed was my typeface, I explained how it was done and why I had one letter on its own and then when turning over the whole alphabet was revealed. I am not sure that Mike liked this as when he looked at the letter on its own he asked where the rest was. Maybe I should consider a different layout on this and also where I have used the typeface in context should be experimented a bit more with as Mike asked me where the typeface would be used if created? and after thinking it wouldn't really be used effectively in a bus stop just as a quote.

Again like with Anthony from Music Mike liked mt Heals piece and thought it was a great way to finish off my portfolio. The way it is set out is enough to just look at and understand without needing to explain. After the third time of hearing that although the book is good a box is better I have decided to re design my portfolio and present it in a box form rather than a book. I have been persuaded.

Design by Music Visit

Today I went to Music to show Anthony my portfolio. I found the visit very useful, before looking at my portfolio Anthony had a chat with me about how I was finding my course and which elements of graphic design I get more enjoyment from doing. I found this a great question to ask me as it has definitely got me thinking as im coming up to my final year, this is the best time to have a think about things like that and also maybe new things I would like to try. He also commented on the recent bus stop tour that the third years from my BA course have done and asked my opinion on the idea. I do like the idea, in fact I think it was a fantastic idea and I am really looking forward to when its my turn to do that.

Overall Anthony liked my portfolio. He did advise that I get myself a box for my third year as it is a lot bigger space to work with and also is easier to edit. I do agree with this, I am glad I did the book first as I think that it would be nice to have this to accompany the box portfolio. After speaking to Anthony I felt that maybe I should consider the layout of each piece of work a lot more, this would be a lot better when designing the spreads for my box. The advice he gave me about the spread which had my alphabet on was really good. He told me that if I am going to show my font being used (like I have) then it is advised that I put it in some sort of context where I would like to see it being used in. Anthony liked my Heals end sting, the way it is set out I find that it is easy to understand without seeing the animation. It works well as the last piece of work in my portfolio.

I enjoyed the visit and took alot from it. I am looking forward to music getting their website up so I can look at their work alot more. I have looked at it when Anthony and Craig came in, and look forward to seeing more of it. I will keep in contact with Anthony as I found everything he said very useful.

Below I have published a piece of work by Music that I really like.