Category: afterlife

Final Afterlife – CSAD 2010 Graduate

Gareth seems to be a free thinker and has found his place in the design world. He was real in his experiences. At the start of his career he struggled to find a job that fit him. Continuing his story, burn out hit and he over came it by taking a trip to Thailand. Then he remembered his love of “play” & “typography with no rules.”

He has passion for his new job with wework and his freelance. He has strong beliefs that his and everyones skills are at their best when collaborating. He explained that working with others allows for specialist abilities to shine and thus make the best work.

This passion to engage with people made him set up ‘open studio’ which is a place for students and new designers to come together and help each other along. On a one-to-one mentoring system to enhance the link between the industry and university. I will most definitely be reaching out when I have something substantial to show.

https://garethdunt.com/Open-Studio

Common Curiosity – Paul Fenton & Alex Woolly

Soak up meaning and show that meaning in the best way. Paul Fenton’s session talked about his process of design, which is all informed by his research and ability to keep asking why? He talked about the curious drive we need for success. Tell a story and take out subjectivity, give reasons so that the core idea is always shown.

His talk was very different to the others previous. Many of the other spoke about the outcomes and why the final piece was like it was but not with common curiosity. He showed us a few pages on the ideas and his process. I saw the art boards from an illustrator file. It made me comfortable in the way that I work. I want to push myself to experiment more.

He challenged the idea of not working on a computer for ideas. This reminds me of ‘make your mark’ a challenge to draw 100 marks with a short deadline. I needed this to remind me to take a step back and just draw.

Friendly Giants – aka little hawk

Gavin Leisfield started his career in travel and progressed into screen writing then found a way into digital design at Dare. After several years he then went freelance and set up a creative company with a partner. He now creates moving images and brand identities.

His company was called Little Hawk which myself and a few others visited on our London trip. I was intrigued as to why he changed their name. They did it because little has limitations and they were no longer little. They were growing and taking in inspiration from all fields. They wanted to still be approachable but have a big presence; hence, friendly giants.

The client the company works for are huge, with BBC, ITV and Lego. His favourites seem to be when he can go creative and do what ever he sees to be the best. Such as the ITV Be rebranding.

One thing I took away from this talk was how they approached the Go Ape rebranding. They dived into the research more than I thought a company would do. He said that a rebrand shouldn’t be scary for anyone but he adventurous as over the century large companies have done this but we forget and only think of the new branding. They also showed everything they created to the clients. They backed up every decision they made. This is how I want to work.

Maris Latham – 2019 Graduate

Honesty was her theme. “Graphic Design is mental” – Maris Latham. She gave her real story of her struggles and successes. It was a great opportunity to get first hand knowledge that from my course I can be successful and find my feet.

Her expectations were high when leaving university as she has several awards and a job lined up. However, she spoke about her plan wanting to go from A to B but in reality it jumped to E. She explained how it is great to take a break and slow down from the high pressure of uni and jobs. Burnout is a thing and that is ok. She explained her overcoming this through the start of lockdown because she had a breather to gather thoughts and it seems like she came back with a purpose.

She asked thought provoking questions on what each of us want to do with our degrees. This is when I thought I want to do idea and creative thinking as that is what I love. Maris then spoke about keeping options open and go for everything. It is a learning curve. She mentioned portfolios and how everyones can be the same with D&AD briefs or the same uni briefs so to challenge myself to try personal projects. This will be a great place to show my interests and my personal strategies.

Second Afterlife – Michael C

He immediately said he hates graphic design. WTF! Well he continued he has a love hate relationship with the concept. In his view design is commercial art; you get paid to achieve a brief. This is his hate element and he wants to find the perfection in the ugly. He said “design needs character.” I completely agreed with his analogy of this but I disagree with his belief on design.

In his short talk I learnt a great deal. His story is so passionate and he understands that people have power. He has such a vast network where he has built a mini empire. He recommends finding advocates for your work, do good work for good people.

He talks with emotion and it shows in his work. He talked about finding inspiration in things other than graphic design. He inspires people to do their own thing and find their own way. I want to now go out into the world and be inspired by the every day things. I want employees to see something different and exciting. I want people to see me as passionate in my work.

https://studio.build/work

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.