London Trip

Monday 18th – 4 Designers

To start off the host launched the day’s plans and graciously introduced the first speaker.

This was Jack Renwick. Originally from Scotland she had an interesting start on the world of graphics as she began in metal work and 3D elements such as making plaques for an office desk. Starting in such a place meant that she has a great view on the clients and designers. She learnt over several tries and failures that the customer can just be wrong and not for you and your style of work.

 

In the speech she said a list of things that included;

• keep it simple – whats it trying to simply say
• get under the skin – research!
• make a difference – feel the passion
• see an opportunity in everything – go for everything and always say no after
• Don’t lie, give a shit, be brave, love clients
• work your arse off
• Never give up

Renwick left us with some books that we all could read to become more aware and more knowledgeable of design and how to get there. Oh shit now what, A smile in the mind, International Graphics.

 

Next up we had Alasdair Scott. He was less of a graphic designer of what we might assume one to be but more of a behind the scene type of guy. He has many connections in the world of art as well as design, which means he can get work when ever he wants. One thing he strongly suggests is start building relationships with people of an art background and already in the industry or going to be soon. This means that you/I can go into the world easier and have the back up of people you trust.

Scott has a strong belief that you should ask as many questions as possible even if they are ludicrous. On top of that he says very bluntly that you need to find something your good at and find your money in that. Even if that’s not a job, make it a job. Another random tip he gave was always licence never buy out.

Over all I learnt from them both that if there is a smarter/ easier/ cheaper/ more ethical way to do a thing then go for it. Within the Q and A section they suggested how to layout  a portfolio with a story style. This means that you should show the brief/ problem then progress into the solution with your work.

 

After a nice classy meal in an overcrowded McDonald’s the next to be introduced was Harry Pearce. His work was my favourite due to his style and use of mixed media with photography and typography. He showed a lot of his work and spoke with confidence which made me feel proud to be there and that I’ve made the right decision to become a graphic designer.

Pearce made a suggestion that you should “hustle” into the place you want to be and work hard for it. He inspired me to find inspiration from everything; this includes dreams, a pile of rubbish, the way people express themselves and even negative space around an object.

The last speaker was Laura Jordan-Bambach. She is fine art, photography and digitally trained so has lots of experience. She has found the power of connection very helpful with being creative and having the clarification from someone your working with. When working with people she has found that she can be experimental on a project but will have to find the right people to work with/ for.

She helps run a company called Mr. President, which creates and changes the brands of today’s world. I learnt that a good brand needs to show emotion, shows joy, empathy. Also a well established brand needs to have purpose, intent and impact or there will be no point in gaining a brand image. Jordan-Bambach continues to talk about the uniqueness of a brand, I realised this was from finding the history of the company. Then create a bespoke idea from the heritage through research and understanding.

 

Overall I learnt that it is good to have a weird creative mind and express it in anyway possible. I will need to create bonds between people I am comfortable and able to work well with. When doing all of this ask as many questions as possible and talk about creative experiences. Through doing all of this I will become a better designer and have a more creative mind ready for the industry.