Afterlife; Renwick

First Afterlife – Jack Renwick & Susie McGowan

When I found out that Jack was talking I became very excited as last year I saw her at 4 Designers Conference in London. I had and still have a high opinion of her; she is engaging and confident. I always find her life story interesting as it is very different from the more typical schooling then into job work.

Through her unique journey she has a great perspective on how to engage with her clients. For instance, start by telling the client what branding is. Jack uses the example of a country side simple hand painted sign saying fresh eggs. You know and think these eggs have been laid this morning at a local family farm, but further down you see the same styled sign with flying lessons. You are less likely to go there as flying you want safety and professionalism, which the sign is not showing. Thus our job is to create something with the right impressions for the audience.

She also says give what the client needs and think how your work can help them in the long term. Using the example of a turnip farm needing business cards, Jack’s company decided to go the extra mile with creating all branding not just business cards.

Jack and her employee Susie answered some questions from us students to help us get a better understanding of the transition to the creative, job world. They said don’t ever go for an unpaid internship, value the work you do. But if you or I can get an online with courses and webinars. Network through these. BE BALLSYYY! Connect and message people in those calls and start a working relationship. “Your message… resonates with me because… I hope we can work with each other in the future.”

They answered a question of portfolios. They said go back and add past work and show how you have improved by polishing work. They also said add personal work. It is great to add competition work but that will also be seen somewhere else so make it personal and different.

Overall, she is a great role model and I’ve tried to connect to her on LinkedIn as by Christmas course told me to get connections with people you admire.