Alun Cocks - dust

Today we had a Graphic Designer Alun Cocks from Dust come in to speak to us. Alun Cocks is a former student from Stockport College who later went on to study a Graphic Arts BA at Leeds University. Dust is a small company that was established in 2000 because of this it is quite hands on.

The talk today was merely about the different actions the Dust team take from starting a project to finishing it. He started with a project he had worked on for Manchester United - this was a very illustrative piece using mainly mark making, figures and facts, this included goals and who scored ect.




There was a lot of research that had to go into this design which consisted of watching a lot of Manchester United games and studying the goals.

The next piece of work he shown us was for Penguin books to celebrate their 70th Year. This piece of work brought a lot of business Dusts way, they found a lot of clients commenting on how they like this. Alun explained " we would rip this up if we could," this made me laugh. I noticed how a lot of the work shown was very illustrative. When asked Alun said that he did not see him self as an illustrator however him and his partner do enjoy this area of design. A lot of screen printing was shown throughout his work, this is something that is not as common in Graphic Design anymore. It was different to see how he worked, as he explained the work that he does is very hands on, he selects everything right down to the paper stock used. Many of the projects he shown experienced a lot of time just simply finishing off rather than designing.

Although a lot of illustration was applied it was obvious that a lot of time went into type setting. This was apparent on a lot of their work. I found most of the work shown was very similar. Having this range of work lead on to Dust designing a book for the king of Bahrain.

Mike Rigby Lecture

On 26th November Mike Rigby came into my college to give a lecture. I really did enjoy this lecture, as it was completely different to other lectures we had had. Mike studied at Preston for 4 years on a Graphic Design course, he had a one year placement between the 2nd and last year and finally graduated in 2002. Since graduating he has worked for Imagination London, Chase Manchester, Landor Sydney, Moon Design Sydney, Pentagram, Mark Studio and True North.

I was extremely interested to hear about Mike's experiences whilst working aboard. He advised us that taking a break is really important and he did this and it resulted in him finding work abroad. Mike had put together some of his pictures he had taken whilst on his travels, I was amazed. Travelling is always something I have wanted to do, him showing us these seemed unreal as we are used to seeing all the work designers have done - which he did do- but he shown us all the places he had been and told us stories about his experiences. It just goes to show that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.

Mike talked to us about the positives and negatives of working in the design world. It is nice to hear both sides. A lot of which we had heard before, it is interesting and challenging working within the design industry, you meet and collaborate with different people and are forever learning. You experience new things like photo shoots, award ceremonies and as he explained even working abroad. As with everything there is always some negatives, as we are always told graphic design is a very competitive industry, with long hours with unpaid overtime, there is a lot of pressure, client interference and sometimes the pay isn't great. Though if you are passionate about the job and are willing to put the effort in you will succeed. This last comment is one that should always be thought about. No matter how difficult something may be.

Placements are essential to help in finding a job after graduation, placements increase your pace of working and you get the experience of working on live briefs with real deadlines. You begin to contact others designer which could lead to more placements or even the possibilities of job opportunities. Having a strong portfolio which contains great ideas that are equally well executed helps you to become notices and get the chance of a placement. Having a positive attitude to your work is essential, being negative about your work will just bring your confidence down. One thing that Mike said, which I found to be a great but of advice was "rejection is a part of design, it doesn't mean that your not good enough."

I really took on board the advice that Mike gave us. He was soon moving back over to Australia to work, which I think is great for him. It just proves how quickly things can change.

Container

I attended a lecture by Container Plus that was based on collaboration within design work. Louise Vormitag who came to do the presentation advised that one of her colleagues she works along side now, Nicola is in fact an old college friend. After graduation they were scared about going into the world of work - as anyone would be- and decided to stick together as they had done work together during their education time. Although working as a team they produced two portfolios - one each - and when one of them had a visit with design directors they would take the other portfolio with them. With doing this they got some work.

One of the first projects the pair worked on was for Selfridges, it was designed for the cafe. The design was in the windows and they were drawn directly onto where it was being shown so the drawings and designing of the whole thing was sort of like a performance and people used to gather around and watch. I thought this was great as it was just something that wasn't planned but turned out to be a great success.







Working in a collaboration has many advantages as you help integrate each others strengths within your design work.

Another piece of work they did as a pair was for the launch of the Volkswagen Fox, they were given four rooms to design at the Copenhagen's creative lifestyle hotel. The idea that they went with was using playing cards as their basis so each room was given a suit and a whole story was shown using imagery in a very illustrative manor. The club room had a seductive feel, they brought people in to do the textiles side of the room.

After many projects had been done and they had a good client base they decided to extend the size of their business which unfortunately didn't work out too well. Although collaborative work has its advantages it can also cause problems especially if a dramatic change is made. The relationship between two people suddenly increased to many different relationships with more opinions and ideas which resulted in decisions being harder to make. Louise continued to work with Nicola after the break up of the company just after a year and also with one of the other women involved in the increased company. This is where Container Plus was formed as it is known today.

Louise shown us lots of her work and a lot of which I thought had a lot of variety in the medias used. This shows why collaboration is such a great thing to encourage. We as students are constantly being encouraged to work with other students on projects and I personally have found it a great opportunity to develop ideas. The majority of my work this year has been collaborative and I do recommend it to anyone as a student as this is how it works when out in the world of design.

Dave Sedgwick - 999

On 29th October David Sedgwick a senior designer from 999 Design Manchester, came into college to give a lecture on his career and his experience in the design industry. I found the main point of his lecture was to show how he got to where he was and to give us advise, which is what he did.





Dave came to Manchester in the late 90s to study a D&AD course at Manchester Metropolitan University, he told us about his first two placements, one at Flix mag - a print based company before Internet was essential, and Splinter in Liverpool - a small design company. He really enjoyed the whole experience at Splinter but not so much at Flix mag, this sort of experience helps to make the decision on what sort of design agency you would prefer to work at. This was one of Dave's pieces of advise - research companies to help you make your own decision, as everyone is different.

Dave began to speak about how we should go about things like, portfolios, placements and even our end of year show. The end of year show last year being a red bus that was hired out to go around the town to different agencies, this was a great idea as it gave designers more of a reason to look at your work. Dave seemed to think it was a great idea but was maybe a little bit too cramped, this is something that us as a year can re think about when deciding on our end of year show. One thing Dave really believed in was getting a placement set up prior to graduation. This is a great bit of advise as it is something that could change everything. Experience is key.



Dave later went on to a placement at TCW - now Love Creative, after his placement there he was offered a job so this was a great achievement but was then later made redundant but as he had experience now as a paid designer he found it a lot easier to get interviews as contacts had been made and also other companies are always interested in what other agencies are doing. After being made redundant thought he decided to do some freelance work, before later getting a job at RACE, whilst working for these he continued to do own work as well which resulted in him gaining publicity and later in 2006 joined 999 where he is still working today. He has worked with a wide rang of clients including the BBC, Warburtons and Puma. Dave is still continuing to do his own work outside off 999 - Design by Dave.

Dave tried to give advise on how to get a job, I liked the attitude Dave gave to this as a lot of agencies that come in stress how difficult it is to be successful in the world of design where as Dave said the complete opposite which gave me personally a bit of confidence. He explained that it is not as hard as we might think, the time to be looking and planing is NOW!!! Finding agencies that we like is essential and to make sure that its not just big companies that are found. One piece of advise I have found great is to call the company you want to email just to find out a name as this is a lot more personal rather than just sending it to info@ and keep a diary of everything found.

This lecture was by far one of my favorite as I found it appealed to me a lot and the advise given helped me to think about things a lot more clearer.

Craig Oldham Vs Truth (1000 word comparison)

During this year, a number of designers have come in to talk about their work. These include Truth, Music, Tal Rosner, Fudge, Fake ID and Glorious. Some of the lectures I have enjoyed a lot and others not so much, this is because each one will have different ways of presenting their work and giving advice. One of the lectures presented was from Truth, a small Graphic Design company, just made up of two people who used to work for McCann Erickson which is a major world wide Advertising company. Darren from Truth was very much into designing typography, over the years he designed quite a wide range of fonts, one which was in fact used in the mast head for the loaded magazine. Some of these fonts are Berliner, Sodium, Mechanic Gothic, Amplifier.

When lecturers come in to speak to us I find most people are more interested when work is shown that we see in our everyday life. This was definitely apparent in their work. They had done work for the likes of: Allsports, Sony, First Advice and Durex.

Truth obviously needed other people to join then in doing their work, as they were such a small company. They thought that this was a good thing as they were always in control and could choose who they liked to do the work. As they were such a small company they had a lot of stuff to do in a small space of time. They would have to speak to the client about their work and the reasons why they had done it, just like all agencies, they explained that its difficult to just hand something to a client and expect them to like it without you explaining it to them.

Craig Oldham has only been graduated 3years, he used to work for the Chase but is currently working for Music. Whilst at the chase he did a publication called 12 in 12 (12 things you might learn in your first year as a designer) This publication did win awards. Craig’s lecture was about his publication, which was very different. Craig has a very strong personality; he likes to make jokes which is why I found his lecture really interesting. This was a different talk from most which I had attended in the past as Craig had only graduated from university three years ago so his understanding on being a student was fairly fresh in his mind. He talked about staying up all night trying to meet deadlines while being a student. He seemed very passionate about his work. Like Truth Craig did show us some of his work, why wouldn’t he? This wasn’t the main part of his lecture though, Truth did what most designers do when they come in to talk to us and told us about what they had done in the design world and then shown us work, although this was good I find that after a few lectures of people coming in saying the same thing and showing the same thing it gets a bit repetitive.

Craig talked through all 12 of the points in his publication. He brought up a point which I found was a great question to ask “Are you a logical designer or an emotional designer? This question really did make me think. Logical designers do things that have an obvious purpose like toilet signs, no parking signs ect.

Then on the other hand there are designers who have an emotional eye for things, who would design something with a purpose but with a twist.




Being asked to think what type of designer you think you are was a really good question. I am still unsure and I’m sure many people will be, it is always fun to make your designs look emotional and have a great idea behind them, but at the same time you want your idea to work and be obvious. This is something young designers like myself need to consider as this splits up the different companies.

Craig asked us to think about what our strengths and weaknesses were?? He told us that he knew his weaknesses, being he wasn't too good at grids and web designing, a piece of advice he gave us was to try and get better by asking questions and seeing what other people are good at. Don't be embarrassed about telling people your strengths and weaknesses.The main points I took out of this part of the lecture was to have a hit list and research them. Be punctual, that a little enthusiasm goes a long way and most of all be yourself.

I found Craigs lecture really useful especially at this time of the year whilst trying to organise portfolio visits and creating my portfolio. Craig seems really down to earth and says things how they are. I think this is a great attitude to have while being in this industry. I did also enjoy the lecture by Truth as they shown that if you try and you believe in yourself aims are reachable, they left their easy job where they had people around to do things for them to be on their own where they had to do every little thing them self. Although I enjoyed both lectures as designers they are both very different and shown them selves is a different way. As Craig has only been out of the industry for three years, he spoke about things that we could relate to, also the majority of his talk was to give us advise, he did show us his work too. They do both work in different environment, Craig works for a very large company with different people to bounce ideas off and work with, where as Truth are a small company but still work with lots of different people.

I feel I took a lot out of both of these lectures as they were both so different it makes you realise that there are so many different things to do with graphic design and different ways of being involved. Craigs attitude was very enthusiastic and really made me think that things can be achieved if you try, which is the same thing I got from the Truth lecture.

Fake ID

FAKE ID consist of 2 people named Joshua Trees and Ivan Martinez. They met in San Francisco a number of years ago after Ivan had achieved a Masters in Mathematics but wanted to do something related to design. Joshua was already based in the area of Graphic design and Fine Art. Joshua and Ivan came in and we worked with us on a project that involved making sound and a dialogue an image. Me and Sarah were given an image of a man playing a keyboard. We had to study the picture then come up with a dialogue that would fit around it without directly commenting on what was goin on in the picture. Below is our scipt.

Bee

Life is fun being a bee. The amount of things you see is great and very exciting as nobody is aware that your there. Oh what do we have here… its looks like a party. Hmm ill go and explore. What is that unusual object, it’s a large round thing that has a large 18 written on it. It also has a type of ribbon hanging from it that’s tied to a chair; I think it will try an escape if it’s untied. I’m hungry, I’m going to try and go and find some food I can nibble on. What is in that giant bowl filled with? It looks quite scary to me up here, what if I fall in it?? Il end up drowning and dying, think I’m going to move away from this bowl. Ok I have found some triangular objects filled with some sort of red stuff, they look nice but it’s not my type of food. Woahhhh watch out I always get batted out of the way and cheers now I’ve been flung across the grass and on the floor. Ouch that really hurt, think they’ve damaged my leg. Ok time to have another fly around. Iv have just landed on something sticky, my feet seem to be stuck ohhh nooo it’s like quick sand what am I going to do? I think is food oh crap he’s picked up the food and im heading towards his mouth HELP MEEEE!!!. Oh thank god I have just fallen off and managed to fly away…lucky escape! Oooo I am tired after all this flying around ill go and have a rest on that leaf over there ( pause ) arrr that’s better, these lil wings don’t last as long as they used to. This party is getting busier and everyone seems to be having a good time, im not sure bout his music though. Where are the words???? Oh no drinks gone flying over the table, hahaha that girls white dress isn’t white any more…arghhhhhhh!! That’s my rest over, stupid wind always blows me off the leaves!! Arwel lets continue to go and find out something interesting. This table is very messy, looks like I will have some fun in here; I think that tall brown thing looks interesting. Ewwww it has sum sticky stuff around the edges, mmmm it tastes good though? What is this? Everyone around seems to be drinking it. Arrrrrrrrrrrrr…….(splash) hellpppp!!! Hellooooooo im stuck……bbblleeee bllleeeee blllleeeee…..

Craig Oldham

Today Craig Oldham came in to talk to us. Craig has only been graduated 3years, he used to work for the Chase but is currently working for Music. Whilst at the chase he did a publication called 12 in 12 (12 things you might learn in your first year as a designer) This publication did win awards.

Craig talked through all 12 of the points. He brought up a good point to Graphic designers, he exaplined you are either a logical designer or an emotional designer. Which one are you? This question really did make me think. Logical designers doing things that have an obvious purpose like toilet signs, no parking signs ect.
Then on the otherhand there is designers who have an emotion eye to thing who would design something with a purpose but with a twist.

Being asked to think what type of designer do you think you are was a really good question. I am still unsure and im sure many people will be, it is always fun to make your designs look emotional and have a great idea behind them, but at the same time you want your idea to work and be obvious. This is something young designers like myself need to consider as this splits up the different companies.

Craig asked us to think about what our strengths and weaknesses were?? He told us that he knew his weaknesses, being he wasn't too good at grids and web designing, a piece of advice he gave us was to try and get better by asking questions and seeing what other people are good at. Don't be embarrassed about telling people your strengths and weaknesses.

Portfolio

As I am currently putting together my portfolio I appreciate feedback and help on portfolios. Craig told us that it is the most subjective thing we will ever design. He shown us his portfolio, it was a very clean layout, very spacious and simply positioned. It makes the pictures do the talking rather than being over fussed with decoration. The way the work is shot is a main important part of a successful portfolio.

Placements

Work placements are a very important part of becoming a graphic designer, when designers come in to talk to us they all say this, they always say the same thing. Thousands of people are in the same boat so to be successful you need to get yourself heard. Craig told us about his journey from placement to placement which was very interesting as he made it obvious that the whole design company world is like a spiders web, everyone knows each other some how. He also gave is a list on reasons we should and reasons we shouldn't do placements.

Should Shouldn't

New expectations Loss money wise
Real work Away for a period of time- more often than not
Meet interesting people Taken advantage of
put you ahead of the competition
improve tea making skills
re assure you of your ability
makes you more confident

The main points I took out of this part of the lecture was to have a hit list and research them. Be punctual, that a little enthusiasm goes a long way and most of all be yourself.

I found this lecture really useful especially at this time of the year whilst trying to organise portfolio visits and creating my portfolio. Craig seems really down to earth and says things how they are. I think this is a great attitude to have while being in this industry.

Lecture from Fudge

A member of the Graphic design company fudge had come in to talk to us today. Out of all the lectures i had experienced this was by far one of my favorites. The person who had come in to talk to us went about the lecture in a completely different way to all the others i have seen. 

Instead of coming in showing us all the successful pieces of work he had brought along his sketch books, containing sketch after sketch after sketch. His book looked very much like ours that we get all of our ideas down. This made me realize that what we do in our lessons we will more than likely be doing when we get in to the industry. He went through one particular project from start to finish. 

This made me realize that just because you like an idea doesn't necessarily mean that everyone else will like it too. There will be knock backs on the way. After showing us his sketches he shown us how they were developed. 

The main thing that i got out of this lecture was how he explained how he had done the powerpoint presentation that he presented to clients, and why he had done them like he did. Instead of presenting his favorite idea he had developed a hand full, and shown them in different ways. I think when pitching to clients this is essential. 

Truth

A desgin company called "truth" came in to talk to us today. They are a small company, just made up of two people who used to work for McCann Erickson which is a major world wide Advertising company.  Darren from Truth was very much into designing typography, over the years he designed quite a wide range of fonts, one which was infact used in the mast head for the loaded magazine. Some of these fonts are Berliner, Sodium, Mechanic Gothic, Amplifier.

When lecturers come in to speak to us i find most people are more interested when work is shown that we see in our everyday life. This was definitely aparent in their work. They had done work for the likes of  

•  Allsports- they changed the ididenty to the one we know today, black and white.
• Sony - they designed the textured sony credit card
• First advice (manchester City sponsor)- this was all designed in a day as they logo needed to go on the Man City shirts the next day
• Durex- they designed the packaging for things for Durex which were more discreet.

The Truth obviously needed other people to join then in doing their work as they were such a small company. They said though that this was a good thing as they were always in control and could choose who they liked to do the work. As they were such a small company they had alot of stuff to do in a small space of time. They would have to speak to the client about their work and the reasons why they had done it,  just like all agencies, they explained that its difficult to just hand something to a client and expect them to like it without you explaining it to them, for example he said you could hand something to a client which was blue and he could just look at it and say i don't like blue..change it, but there is usually a reason for the choice of colour so for them to get the full effect you need to explain.

I enjoyed this lecture as they shown that if you try and you believe in yourself aims are reachable, they left their easy job where they had people around to do things for them to be on their own where they had to do every little thing them self.