Last week was excitingly busy. Two incredible new freelance projects (one from the wonderful world of NY), a productive client meeting and an inspiring V&A lecture (all alongside full time work in a studio).
Amongst this creative marathon, two brilliant minds explored and co-wrote a ground-shaking article which is to feature in next months edition of Shellsuit Zombie. This magazine is oriented at inspiring students and graduates within the creative industry. Sponsored by D&AD, it will reach an incredible print run of over 15 000 copies. You can attend the launch (and pick up your free copy alongside a beer or two) on 31st May, 6-9pm, at Boxpark in Shoreditch. Should you miss out, it will also be available online (minus the beer).
What of the article itself? Without giving too much away (would you really want spoilers?) the article is titled ‘An unfulfilling relationship’ and reaches into the very foundations of our current design industry, shakes perceptions, inspires debate and offers several well-tested solutions. Something to keep an eye out for! More information will be posted following the launch.
The article was written together with Alix Land, a highly talented graphic designer and illustrated by Rachel Rawlings, a recent graduate from Plymouth University (she also created the illustration above).
Last week was excitingly busy. It’s not everyone who can claim they live their dream... yet I enjoy every minute of it!
This blog may have laid dormant for several months but, like a volcano, is about to EXPLODE again without warning, releasing with it a torrent of creative imagery and words.
There is a new website in the developing which should be up by the end of the week. This will feature many new projects with plenty still to come over the coming months!
An exciting review of Offset 2012, a design festival in Dublin that took place mid-march, is just around the corner with the finishing touches being added as you read this.
The explosion will be so great in fact, that this blog will be riven in two. This current feed will become a document of my activities, new work and creative writing whilst the secondhighlights treasures I find, from other creatives work through to beautiful type found on my travels.
Setting aside a full year post-graduation for non-stop placements/internships (soon to be at it’s end), living in hostels and earning just enough money to keep the bank from sending out a team of attack dogs.
I may be crazy (although in a creative career is that really such a bad thing), yet I feel this year has been worth every minute. I have met and learned from a wide variety of talented people across a range of design disciplines, travelled across the UK (and beyond) and worked with some of the most highly respected agencies (and professionals) in the industry.
However this ‘animalistic drive’ had not passed by unnoticed. Shellsuit Zombies,Jonny Burch (great designer too) presented the opportunity to feature in a quirky interview style article he was writing for the ‘Creative Review graduate guide’ (released this week). The editorial aimed to offer a range of advice whilst discussing a variety of my adventures and lessons learned. From the title of the article, ‘Placement Man’, I am sure they think I am slightly crazy too!
Following my graduation I felt very strongly that there was still much to be learned and that the best route to achieving that understanding was working alongside a wide variety of companies, cultures and people. In addition, placements are also the best route into a creative career (with very few junior positions advertised). I would encourage any graduate to attempt the same (or at least plan for) to learn exactly what is right for them, the right and wrongs in design, plus a valuable opportunity to network.
I can only hope the experiences and advice I have to offer can aid others in their personal journey through design. An extended version of the article is available in the Shellsuit Zombie Magazine #2, available to buy online next month (July). I also co-wrote an article in issue 1, still available!
Featured below is an intriguing and sometimes surprising set of facts and figures documenting my adventures over the last 10 months. This can be seen to greater detail by clicking on the image.
This month’s Creative Review is available to buy here.
When I finish my years worth of placements I will publish an extensive guide to what I have learned. Until that is complete, a great resource for graduates are the Designers Societies lectures from 2009/10 (apologies for the decay and dust gathered to the site over the last year) and their original blog.
Now for the next step in my career, a permanent position!
Pentagram, one of the most well known and highly respected design agencies in the world. As chance would have it, I have been lucky enough to secure a month internship in the New York office under partner; Luke Hayman.
It is a company that most are familiar with for at least one or two pieces of work; yet the designers, partners, and internal workings are shrouded in mystery. Working here has been all that I expected and more and yet, also far from it.
‘Great design cannot happen without passion, intelligence, and personal commitment.’
Pentagram
Even from my short time here, I feel this belief and ethos sums up exactly what Pentagram is all about. It is their method in achieving this that makes them such a success. As an example of passion; I have never seen a building with as many bookshelves (and accompanying regularly thumbed through books!).
Each brief is researched to great depth until both partners and designers understand exactly what the client is after... and what they really need - not always the same thing (that in itself is a discussion for another post!).
There is a great working atmosphere here too. Although they are a large company, small teams of designers work under each partner and as such, it has the best of both worlds. The passion and closeness of a small company yet, feeling almost like a collection of studios, each able to specialise or collaborate when the opportunity or brief arises.
How I feel Pentagram really shines out is their respect and, as mentioned above, their understanding both of their clients needs and internally for those who make the magic happen. The team are always willing to take the time to patiently discuss any issues, despite how much is to be done. The partners themselves, with their even greater workload, are never seen without a friendly smile and greeting. One of my common problems is remembering to spell the American way!
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A slight interlude to the Pentagram insight. Is New York just another large city? Wide streets, impossibly tall buildings and a million shops; what makes it so special?
Having lived in the city for almost three weeks, I have found the vast breadth of people and flourishing cultures provide an incredible amount of inspiration.
From touring ‘Chinatown’ during the New Year celebrations to exploring ‘Little Italy’ and the Russian district, there is a wide variety of stimuli for ideas (This will be discussed in greater depth in a later post). Add to this the large number of museums, lectures and galleries and you have an inspiration hotspot.
I mentioned how friendly the team at Pentagram are; this applies to many of the New Yorkers too. For example, whilst exploring Central Park I was invited to join a family playing football... in knee deep snow!
It is said the city is a place ‘that never sleeps’. I feel this applies best to the vast number of events and activities taking place. From dancers taking over a subway carriage to the wide variety of live music regularly taking place.
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What I really wanted to share with you is to highlight the most influential moment I have had so far at Pentagram.
Another great example of the passion and commitment that Pentagram have are the talks and lectures they arrange. Their most recent was by Jared Cocken, Creative Director at ‘The Wonderfactory’, discussing his career and designing for the Ipad.
Not having had the luxury of owning one myself, I had foolishly listened to blog posts and others in the design community about how, compared to a Macbook, its functions were limited and had no real purpose. As such, a glorified oversized iPhone. I was wrong. I had no idea as to the range and possibilities of what it can accomplish for both the design and editorial world.
What Apple have done is to challenge the way we see design and create a whole new and exciting medium to explore. They have added great depth to what can be called editorial publications. If well curated, they can become personal to the reader, allowing them to explore exactly what they want to see. The reader can skim through articles or get a bigger picture on a subject. It allows articles to be continually updated and opinionated with feeds from social media sites such as Twitter. Even more scary, Jared discussed how adverts can update and change as you travel through a magazine based on your preferences and what you look at. For example; if you skim past a car advert for a sports car then it will learn and the next may be for a larger family car.
Do not mistake this post as an ad for the iPad. As many were quick to point out, it has flaws; worst of all in the programs used to design for it. However I felt the need to share the excitement and shock I felt during and after the lecture (OK, so I may be very behind in design news). Jared opened my eyes to just how much more there is to learn and this is only the beginning. Where will digital design take us next? The iPad may not be perfect, but has unlocked doors and given us once again, as designers, unlimited possibilities.
Something I have found to be a common problem, more deeply set amongst established designers but evident in us all, we get far too comfortable in thinking we know enough about design and the world around us. I was reminded of this the hard way and can not wait to explore the iPad further. Yet as those at Pentagram strive to do - we should always be learning and expanding our knowledge, always looking around us for inspiration in an attempt to better our design and be innovative and original. Idea’s come at odd times and from the most unexpected place and we should always be trying to find new, and better ways of giving our clients exactly what they need.
Whilst setting up the Designers Society I made contact with designers from around the world. One of these was Luke Hayman, a Partner at Pentagram in New York. With regular contact throughout the year, when he visited the UK on holiday in August (having family in Devon) we agreed to meet and catch up.
This was not only a great opportunity to discuss the society and its achievements but also to learn further about Luke, his work and also experiences designing in New York. With such a prominent designer in front of me, I could not miss the chance to bring my portfolio along, receiving really useful feedback. This resulted in a placement being offered at Pentagram in New York, now finalised as a month through February.
Luke is most recognised for his editorial work, such as ‘New York’ and ‘Time’ magazine.
He joined Pentagram in 2006 and also designs identities, books and exhibitions. Although with a shared passion for print, he is also exploring the digital realm too, as shown by his recent interactive identity for SECCA.
One thing I found particularly inspiring was his vast design knowledge, particularly of past, current and future trends. An example of this can be found in an interview with him on trends in magazine design.
I am really looking forward to working and learning alongside Luke and his team in February.
Bideford, where we met, is also a really exciting place to explore should you get the chance. Luke introduced me to a fantastic antique bookshop, however my main focus of interest was the large number of abandoned and decaying boats in the river, half sunk in the mud and each with their own unknown story.
Museare one of the few bands with an appreciation for design (even if they do go a bit over the top at times) and realise just how important it can be for the fan experience, utilising elaborate light shows and intricate sets. They have even gone as far assuspending acrobats from balloons! One of the highlights are the visuals that play on the back screen to accompany the music featuring everything from illustrations of marching robots to war film footage, even disintegrating type.
This understanding flows across all contact points from website through to promotional items. In addition, they are also one of the first bands to use an interactive print concert guide, where you can access additional online content such as interviews or rehearsal footage using a webcam to take a picture of certain elements on a page. A long and probably annoying process but even so, they are challenging what a program can become, combining both print and digital benefits.
I received some really valuable feedback, such as how to alter it for different markets. They felt it to be a really interesting visual route of displaying music and there is currently a discussion taking place on the possibility of incorporating the project into their current scheme, adding a more visual approach to learning music.
I also visited both the Plymouth and London office for RNID (Royal National Institute for the Deaf), presenting back my final university project (soon to be added to my website). They too, were impressed by what I had produced and whilst currently undergoing a rebrand, plan to review the work in the new year with the hope to incorporate my visuals into their centenary productions.
I have a follow up meeting to present the work to further RNID representatives towards the end of December.
Shellsuit Zombie - since I first met the team at New Blood 2009, they have become lifelong friends to the Designers Society.
Whilst at New Blood we tried to take part in as many of their events as possible, writing an article for the magazine, even getting through to the final of the 'creative face-off's'. They made a video showing the 'best of New Blood 2010' and here is a challenge - how many times can you spot the Plymouth crew?
On a recent camping trip, I visited a car boot sale in Exmouth. Some of my best buys included 10 Beano's from 1966, two newspapers called 'The Graphic' dating back to 1883 with some beautiful illustrations inside and also a collection of war propaganda magazines from 1940-45. Fantastic!!
Seems someone got there before me. On arriving in Edinburgh I was surprised to see a very familiar signpost... lucky for me I have been hearing very mixed reviews! When I return in November I will have to go and feed back what it is like (Or even show them my work...!)
Massimo Vignelli. What a reputation and an important role model to many within the creative industry.
I was lucky enough to be in touch with him recently regarding my dissertation on Emigre, something he still feels very strongly about. Whilst on my travels around Edinburgh I found a very amusing shop frontage, sharing a similar name, interestingly set in Helvetica. I like to think he would approve.
Another insiders designer joke.
Other interesting finds:
Driving School... a great play on words.
Police boxes (the famous Doctor Who Tardis) fill the streets. Apparently Time Lords were very popular in Edinburgh a few years ago. Sadly now they are all boarded up and derelict but still left for people to enjoy.
Either you can not be proactive or if ever you leave off updating a blog for more than a few weeks then you are permanently playing catch-up! I learn my lesson.
The Jigsaw project finally reached completion and opened to the Public 29 July 2010. The final design, produced by former exchange students who had returned to Greece (the council like to stay local), was selected by public consultation and whilst I may not agree with the final choice as the most creative piece of design (in comparison to the majority of others put forward) it is great to see people interacting with the site and using it for lunch/picnics. It is great to know that I have helped the people of Plymouth by helping to organise and taking part in the scheme.
