Beyond the Creative to the Business End of Things - Gary Edwards

This talk was given by Gary Edwards. Gary owns the company Digital Issue, where they produce online publications. He began by giving a brief overview of his career, and where he is today. He quickly made it clear that reputation is a very important thing for him. He said it was very hard to build, but can be lost so quickly. Once you gain a reputation, you have to make sure that you maintain it. He gave three pointers on how to gain a reputation:

• Research your market
• Look after your clients
• Know your competition

Although this talk was not what I was expecting, there was some interesting points brought up in it, and it was good to hear about the creative industry from another viewpoint.

Designing for Mobile - Tim Makin

This was probably my least favourite, and least helpful talk out of this week. Tim graduated from Glyndwr in 2007. He now has his own company wink;nudge>. I didn't find this talk relevant to me, personally. There was some interesting points made in this talk, but a lot of it was for people who understand web design and the technical terms, whereas I don't. Something that I found quite interesting was the fact that web access on mobile phones will overtake desktop use in 2013. I found a couple of things helpful, for designing websites, as I am currently starting to create my own website, for example, there are two types of website, dedicated and responsive.

If Only I Had Known... - Sian Saunders

The most inspirational talk of the week!! Sian began the Daydream Designs company in 2006, just working from home. In 2008, the company started to grow and grow, and now there are 6 full-time members of the team, with some added extras. Daydream Designs is quite a unique agency, as they a very small agency, working from a converted garage at Sian and her husband's home, that really gets to know their clients like they're friends. They a offer a homely experience. Sian expressed many times throughout the talk, that they are always looking at how they can do something differently! A good example of this was the work that they have done for The Real Ale Trail, where as you scroll down the page, the beer glass gets emptier and emptier (shown below).

With Sian, as Ffion, a graphic designer who currently works there full time. She gave some good advice; to go into shops and look at what they are selling. See what you think you could do better, e.g. logos, packaging etc, and ask the owner if they are interested in you re-designing it, and sell it to them.

They put together 5 top tips, which they think are the most important things to do/remember:

1. Stand out from the crowd! - designs with personality, because after all, we're hardwired to notice only what's different
2. It's all about the customer! - listen to them!
3. Live by design, not by default!
4. Perspective - look at things differently, and continue to be curious!
5. Go the extra mile! - this always makes a difference!

This talk was really inspiring, and you could really tell that Sian is extremely passionate about her work and her company. She really wants to make a mark, doing the thing's that she loves doing. It so refreshing to see someone get so passionate about their love for their job, not the commercial side, as Sian defines success as loving what you are doing, and waking up in the morning feeling excited about going to work. I came out of this talk, feeling inspired, thinking that I want to work for Sian and Daydream Designs, drinking tea, and creating quirky illustrations.

How Not to be a Designer - Robert Ball

This talk was a look at Robert Ball, and how he basically became a designer, by doing the things we aren't 'supposed' to do as a designer. It was split into three parts; a bit about Robert, a bit about his work, and a bit about us as designers. He talked us through his work when he first came out of uni working on the Robocop 3 video game, and up until now working with the London based advertising agency, The Partners. He showed us some of the work he had helped design for a new advertising campaign for The National Gallery. This work was really impressive, and very well thought out. They went on to do a marketing campaign, where they hung full size copies of the paintings on the streets of London.

I think that the most useful part of the talk, was where Robert got to the part where he was talking about us. Here he gave us some really helpful tips and pieces of advice. He advised us not to write a CV, as most employers will look at your portfolio over your CV. If you do have to write a CV, then only tell them things that you want them to know, and leave out interesting hobbies, unless they are really, really interesting. Enter as many competitions as possible, as it's great exposure for you; after all, it doesn't hurt to try. Another piece of advice he said was to look for inspiration somewhere other than the internet, because if you look in the same place, you’ll have the same portfolio as these. When putting a portfolio together online, keep it very simple, with as few clicks as possible. When putting a paper one together, keep it clean and tidy, and don't include any roughs and sketches, as most people wont want to see these. This was a diagram he put together on how not to put together a portfolio.

Gin and Tonic - Tim McCracken

Tim McCracken owns his own agency, Gin and Tonic, which is an ideas agency, that works graphically, but also works 100% digitally. He is currently based in America. The aims of this talk were: to tell us about his journey through college, his inspiration, your era and culture and key people.

Tim started this talk by asking the question, 'Are you in the right place?' His answer? HELL, YES! His reasoning for this was that it's not where you are, it's the people and lecturers around you that make your experience. I agree with this. Though, I believe that part of it, is where you are. You have to make the most out of the people that are around you, after all, they will be your competition, but they will also be your friends, and ways to collaborate with people. You also have to make the most out of your time with your tutors, as they are there to help you become the very best you can be, and know what they are talking about.

Tim came straight to art college from high school. During his first week, two of his tutors (surprisingly, the same tutors that I have now), set a mark-making exercise, which he had to complete pages, and pages of work for it. This was his first ever case of hard-work. This is how I connected with Tim, as I came straight to art college from A-Levels at high school. I found that first couple of weeks very intimidating, as I was surrounded by all these people, who all seemed to have more knowledge about the industry than me, and the work that was set, was a lot more than I was used to at A-Level.

One piece of advice Tim gave, was, if not you're already doing so, look at your era; i.e. the movies, music, typography in these etc. (the fine details that make up all of these things). Lately, I have found that I am doing so much more of this, for example, when the credits come up in a movie, I pay attention to the typeface they used, and/or the way they laid the text out using grids. I am starting to appreciate typography as an art form itself nowadays, and a lot of that is to do with the fact that we have had several briefs set about typography, and this has really helped me look at things more critically.

Tim wanted to do T.V., but didn't have the experience, so any company he went to, wouldn't hire him. This led to him animating in PowerPoint, and then started learning Flash.

Catalyst Studios saw his work, and hired him. Clients of this company included, Hello Kitty, Target, and fashion labels. While here, he had one of his most important learning curves, he was told his designs were too masculine, and had to get in touch with his feminine side. The main point he learnt from this was to listen to the consumer!

He eventually hit the big time, when he moved to Boston, and started to work for Arnold! Here, he came up with an advertising campaign for ESPN's Fantasy Baseball league. This was a spoof of a American soap opera series. The website is still active now, you can visit it here.

Tim ended the session with asking the question, 'So, you've made it, what next?' He answered this by saying, just be happy, and maybe you could also start your own company. This is a extremely important factor, and piece of advice, as if you are not happy, then you aren't going to be motivated to do your work, and it wont be worth it in the end. You have to have passion, but also be happy doing your work.

Keynote Speaker - Angus Montgomery

Angus Montgomery is the editor of Design Week. He's been working there for 3 years, and was made editor last year. He's from a multi-disciplinary background, and has been a journalist for 10 years. Design Week mainly reports on the design industry and design education.

The aims of this talk were: to pass on advice, to show examples of his favourite design projects over the last 2/3 years, and to explain why he's so envious of people with the skills to become a designer.

There have been two major points that have come up over the last few years. These being:

1. How to break into the design industry
2. The cost of education

Design Week asked several senior professionals in the industry for advice on how to break into the industry. Simon Manchip, founder of SomeOne advertising agency, says, pitching yourself is very important; work hard and be smart. His agency looks for lateral, excited thinkers straight from college. Rhiannon James, the D&AD Director of Education, says, 'we should nurture the best talent', and that D&AD winners gain employment within 3 months of graduating. Lizzie Mary Cullen, an illustrator, and winner of New Designers One Year On, says, 'more emphasis should be placed on marketing yourself, with a business mindset being vital.' Greg Quinton, of The Partners consultancy, says a 3 point action plan should be in place:

1. Encourage students to get off the internet, to stop them looking at what every one else is looking at
2. Collaborate with your peers - find a space that's big enough for group working
3. Love what you do! PASSION is a MUST! Show it and promote yourself with it.

Greg's three-point-plan, sounds like it could be very effective. The steps seem very reasonable, and seem like they could quite easily be achieved. I think that this may be something that I think about in my work. I am incredibly guilty of the first point; I find myself looking on the internet for artists and illustrators a lot of the time. I need to get in the habit of looking more at books or magazines, and I believe if I start looking somewhere else rather than the internet, then I will already be well on my way to this three-point plan.

On the topic of student fees, the same senior professionals were also asked, 'would you pay £9,000 a year to become a designer?' Not a single person said 'no', they all said they would pay this within a heart beat. I suppose that once you have become a successful designer, then it's easy to say this, but if you are a struggling designer, then it may not be such an easy question to answer.  Saying this however, a lot of this job is based on passion, and even if you are struggling, if you have the passion, then it would probably be an easy question to answer. I would like to think in the future, that, even if I am struggling to enter this industry, and/or to get work, that I would still have the passion to carry on with it, and not give up. But that may be another thing altogether when it's actually happening.

Angus then went on to show some examples of his favourite projects from the last 2/3 years. He showed his favourite print project, which was by B&W Studio, who designed the homelessness charity, St. George's Crypt annual report. The report was A2 size, because that is the size of the blankets homeless people sleep under. The report had pictures of people affected by homelessness and included their stories.

Angus also showed some of his favourite student works from the past few years. His favourite of which was a project of several posters for the Olympics, by a student called Alan Clarke, a graphic designer who graduated from Falmouth. The concept of movement in this set of work is amazing. It really looks like the posters are moving.

Angus finished with this piece of advice, it's up to you to take your talent and package it professionally so that you can break into the industry. I believe that this is a very important piece of advice. Yes, if you are lucky enough to be university, then you do have tutors there who can help you prepare, but overall, it is up to YOU to package yourself as a professional, and how you want future clients to see you. You can't rely on someone else all the time, and you have to learn to stand on your own two feet, even if that means success or failure; we learn from them both.