OUGD602 / PPP3 - Ideas by Music: Studio visit.

OUGD602
IDEAS BY MUSIC 
NETWORKING + STUDIO VISIT


23RD APRIL 2015. 

Today we went on our studio visit to Music, and it was a really positive and exciting day overall. As I was in the afternoon slot after the Q+A session Dan was holding I arrived 15 mins pre Q+A. We were warmly welcomed into the studio which is situated just off of Piccadilly Gardens. My first impressions of the studio is that it was really incredible and a real contrast to the visit that I had been on at the Archipelago. One of the reasons I wasn't so comfortable about the possibility of working with The Archipelago, was both the size of the studio (very small) and the size / social element (1 designer + 1 project manager/ wife + 1 intern). Music was completely different housing a team of about 25 designers in a really dynamic space that offered lots of different uses from social areas, to working, to meeting. On first impressions I felt a lot more at 'home' at Music. 

Ideas by Music - Studio with long corridor and Multiple rooms. 


Presentation:

The guys at Music laid out a really nice spread for us and we got on with the Q+A session where Dan taught us all about life at music, I took some notes (whilst eating the cookies):

- Music is ranked 6th in the UK for creativity. 
- A set of designers that do all different kinds of jobs. 
- Less like Graphic designers, More like all round creatives. 
- Very concept based: The concept dictates the end product. 
- Their methodology leans towards culture and heritage. 
- Worked with London Fashion week and the British fashion awards.
- Produced pretty much all the marketing for Manchester city football club. 
- They tend to, instead of working for the most successful brands, go for the underdogs and make them better than the original best. 
- QUESTION THE BRIEF - They often question whether what they are being asked to do is the best outcome for the client, and if they think not they suggest doing something totally different. 
e.g when being asked to rebrand the Brit awards, they turned around and instead asked that they redesign the award itself as this is the most memorable brand component. Once they had done this they redesigned the brand to suit the new award. 
- Some clients when presenting to them want to see the journey of the design rather than just the end product. 

Question and Answers at the end:

I asked more so about the practical elements such as the kind of working hours that people at the studio tend to do. The contracted hours are 9 - 5:30 which is pretty standard for a studio, however Dan said its not uncommon for people to stay until 7pm, especially newer designers who take a little longer to finish their work. I thought that this was understandable. He also said that he has stayed there until 9pm or even as far as 1am in the morning. Although its not always great to stay that late, the studio seems to have a great social circle that just enjoys hanging out together. 


My portfolio review:
Whilst at music we were each given a 45 minute slot in which we had a portfolio review. Having spoken to a few of the others after they had theirs I got the general idea that although we would speak through our ideas, the majority of time who be spent talking about how the briefs could be extended, and as I like to call it more 'Music' (out of the box). 
I really appreciated this time spent chatting as not only did I get feedback on my work, which is always valuable, it game me a chance to see my work through the eyes of 'Music' and it also inspired me as to how to take me work further to places I would have never thought of. 

We finished up the day just chatting about general design life and other things over a drink. At Music they have a really cool astro turfed roof top, that people can use in their lunch hour, or go up there to work for some peace and quiet. On the day we went it was a really hot sunny day, so it was really nice to sit outside and relax with the guys at music, and get to know them more behind design. 

Overall I really enjoyed the day at music and Dan said they would be in touch about any internships that they might have. I would love to go back and work there if given the opportunity, more because the idea is quite daunting to me, I think that I would learn a lot from working with Music, and the experience would really teach me a new way of thinking outside of my comfort zone that could prove invaluable in future practice. 

OUGD602 / PPP3 - Ideas by Music - Networking.

OUGD602
IDEAS BY MUSIC 
NETWORKING



Contacting Music for the first time:

Music are a medium sized studio based in the city centre in Manchester whom I would like to contact, not just for a placement opportunity but also to get my foot in the door, so hopefully we could keep in touch even after I finish university. Music are a very out of the box studio and I would be frequently required to 'step outside of the box' if I ever ended up working there, experience based or career. However I think its important during the early stages to experiment with opportunities, after all, whilst i'm still at university i've got nothing to lose! 
I emailed Music asking if I could pop by for a chat, and also attached a pdf of a few projects I had completed that I thought might be more suited to their studio:

The guys at music were enough to pass me me over to Dan who overheads the Internships over there:

Dan was really nice, and although I didn't get any further with being able to head over there, game me some nice feedback, and its always great to feel like you're on the right track. 

About a month later, Amber sent me over an email saying that Dan had been in touch, and was wanting to 'set something up' he had mentioned he spoken to me previously and Amber suggested I should pop him an email over. 

I sent him over an email to see what I could help him with:

Dan suggested that he would like to set up a portfolio review session where we could get to know a little more about music, and music could get to know a little more about us. I helped him to arrange a date that would be best for both Music and the people on the course, involving my course mates to try and find the best time. We set up a day, and after I finished speaking with Dan, he gave me a follow on Twitter... which I should probably start using more. 

0UGD603 / PPP3 - Self Branding: CV + Mini Portfolio.

OUGD603
SELF BRANDING
CV + MINI PORTFOLIO

Today I began working on my CV design of which I was mostly inspired by the invitation image I sourced during my initial stages of research. Alike to the invitation I want to section my cv out clearly, and alternate between purely type sections as a form of communication, and some simple illustrations. I think that a combination of this will help it to connect with the branding I have so far, but also help to communicate the type of work I like to create. 
I began by making a list of information I think is crucial to put on my CV. 

- Logo
- Contact details 
- A small statement about me as a designer
- Education 
- Technical skills
- What type of design I love to do
- Traits 
- Languages 
- What I do outside of designing 
- Lets make Gold together. 

Statement:
Hi, im Sarah Goldthorpe, a graphic designer with a love for branding and packaging. I create experiences and touch points for humans to interact with, love and enjoy. 

Education:
Queensbury school
11 GCSE's A* - C

Queensbury school 
3 A levels  A - C

Leeds college of Art
BA HONS Graphic Design


Technical skills:
- Adobe illustrator 
- Photoshop 
-Indesign 
- Adobe After effects 


What kind of design I love to do:
- To create experiences
- Tactile 
- Concept driven 
- Illustration 

Traits:
- Go getter attitude 
- Positive thinker 
- Likes a challenge 
- Reliable 
- Professional 
- Confident speaker 

Languages:
- English and Spanish 

Alongside designing:
- Eating Mr. pretzel 
- Going to gigs 
- Travelling everywhere 
- Visting the zoo


I think its really important that I try to come across as an all round individual on my CV and speak about elements of both my personal and professional practice. Visting professional Tony Broomhead from Architecture at sheffield commented upon how quite frequently job positions can be handed to people, and the deal can be sealed due to something personal on the CV that captures the attention of the employer, because they find it interesting, or it is something they themselves enjoy as well. 

Using the list above I will cover not only my abilities with Graphic design, but also my work ethic/ mindset and personality. 

Using the invitation as inspiration, I came up with a grid to separate all of the information above, placing them into sections where I thought they were most relevant to each other and read more fluently.

Overall im really happy with my CV design, I think that it communicates all the necessary information needed to know in a simplistic and clear way. Whilst the gold details adhere to the theme running throughout my branding, in keeping with the brand personality, the white dominated colour scheme with black and gold details help the information to be 100% readable. 

I also tried to take Tony Broomhead's advice on board when writing my CV in reference to the information such as 'Alongside designing' in which I tried to be unique and really personal with my responses. 

To send out with my CV I also wanted to produce a mini portfolio encompassing three projects that I've done across my time on the course which I feel really represent my practice. I want the publication to be short and low cost to make offering a 'taste' of my work as a designer, in a format that won't break the bank to produce a set. 

For the front cover continuing with the theme, I've come up with the phrase 'Show me the Gold' in reference to the gold being my work. I was worried that this phrase might sound too overly confident, however on my studio visit to the Archipelago, they said something they admired about me was the confidence I had speaking about my work. Its always good to see a Graphic designer who believes in themselves and what they produce.  
As the publication is meant to be a mini portfolio, I want to have the piece mainly dominated by imagery of my work and supported by only small pieces of text. 

The works I have chosen to include are John Lewis, Bradley Sykes and Beckett Beccari. I wanted to show my ability to work towards different kinds of work including A design competition creating packaging for a large brand, A live brief creating outcomes for a single person, and the ability to create a range of branding for a luxury company. 

The mini portfolio:

To finish off my self branding I wanted to also produce a folder to house my business card, CV and mini portfolio, and a front cover/first sleeve for my full size portfolio that attaches it to my self branding.
I created the portfolio cover and folder to match for clarity and consistency. The only change I made to the folder cover is that I introduce myself on the folder front cover to try and create a friendly and warm but strong introduction.

Folder front cover:



End products:

OUGD602 / PPP3 - Self Branding: Design development.

OUGD602
SELF BRANDING 
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

I found a really great slim typeface 'Raleway thin' that I felt has both the elegance and simplicity I am looking for for my branding. I tried having a bit more of an experiment playing with solely my last name in gold foil, however I felt that by taking part of my name away from the design I was taking away part of my identity. 

Plus I really feel like the business card is something that is exchanged to 'remember' someones name and details, therefore the business card should serve this function and the information presented should be clear. Therefore I will endeavour to use my full name. 

I added my full name back in and started playing around with the size:

I felt that the font was the right kind of minimalism and simplicity I was looking for, to further enhance the ability to read the logo, I played with the kerning to space the letters out a bit more.

I swapped the design to left aligned in order to make it a bit tidier. I also then played with scale a bit more to accentuate the 'gold' theme of my branding. 

I am really happy with the front of the business card design and think it is something that both represents me as an individual playing with colour and finishing in reference to my last name, but is simplistic enough that it was support my portfolio without overcrowding it with extra design.  

I moved onto the back which I wanted to keep just as transparent and clean as the front, however I also wanted to use this space to get some of my personality across also. I won't always hand out my business cards with my other printed branding and so it is important it communicates everything I want it to by itself. As with my last 'temporary' business card I used a bit of word play on the back of the card in hopes of getting those viewing it to warm to me a little. 

Whilst working on my current branding I came up with the idea of 'making gold' as a reference to making better than amazing, on point design. Here I came up with the phrase 'Lets make gold together', I thought that this would be great in that it communicates both to a potential employer and any possible clients I may have before I secure a job at a studio. 

I then listed my details in a simple and readable format adjusting the kerning again to make the design appear even more clean and clear. 

 

OUGD602 / PPP3 - Self Branding research + development.

OUGD602

SELF BRANDING

RESEARCH

I started looking at other branding that played will gold foil for some inspiration how how it could be used, and to see within what kind of designs it looks best. 

 

There are a couple of designs that I really liked from what I had found on my search:

Here I really love the simplicity of the ultra light typography combined with the clean and polished black ink. Although it is something I would normally think of to do, I think the minimalist nature of the type would really work to support my portfolio of work rather than fight it for attention. 

I also found an invitation design that although isn't branding really gave me a few ideas about possible layout. I felt that although the invitation design was very much text based, it had a very illustrative focus due to the use of different typefaces and fonts as well as point sizes.  I also liked again, the simplicity of separating the text via small lined sections and the use of a consistent white background colour pallet with black and gold details. 

Firstly I began playing around with my logo / business card:

My ideas began quite illustratively and I started playing with the visual theme of gold, almost like a sign of something special and magic. However I felt that i might be falling back into my overly illustrative roots again and so I tried stripping back the design a bit more and subtracting the illustrative elements. 

However after subtracting the illustrative elements I still wasn't overly keen. I think this is due to the bold text, it is not as elegant as I would like it to be. 

I tried the design with a typeface I thought might be more elegant, but i still wasn't happy with the design. I went back to the drawing board to see how I could make the design more minimalist and powerful, whilst still being welcoming.  

OUGD602 / PPP3 - Self branding update.

OUGD602.
PPP3.
Self Branding update.

This year I have really thought about how I want my branding to represent me and how my branding will work alongside other elements such as my portfolio. 

I think in past years I have tried much too hard to create something that is visually engaging and experimental with all the bells and whistles to grab attention. Both my first year and second year self branding were very illustrative based and often when looked at alongside my work, would fight it for attention. 

I'm not happy with the branding that I did at all last year, and for this reason I want to start all over again and create something completely different. Last year I was very much swayed by a lot of the projects that I had done and enjoyed. Towards the end of the year I was really interested in and really enjoyed children's design, and I think this was very obvious in my self branding, so much so that I lost myself within it, and it became all about children's design. 

However this year I have found on a journey through branding briefs that branding and packaging is really what is best and most enjoyable for me as a career path. For this reason I want to create something completely different to my previous branding. 

I want to:

- Shed the children based image.
- Create something minimalist and simple that wont fight my work for attention. 
- Use neutral colours that are not over powering. 
- Really think about what elements I need and not what I THINK I need. 

I also want to really consider format. Last year I created my branding to go into a little wooden box but I understand that this is not appropriate or realistic, especially if I need to send work out to studios. Therefore simplifying the format and creating something that is feasible to post out will also be a main priority. 

I think I was ultimately still quite lost and on a journey of discovery when I created my previous branding, whereas now i am much more sure of my place within graphic design and what my branding to communicate. I want my branding to simply put a name to my work almost as when people say put a face to a name. I want my branding to support my work rather than detract from it. 


I felt like with my temporary business cards which I used when out on studio visits, began to communicate the type of brand I wanted to be represented by. I wanted to have my self brand communicate a little bit about myself that was special to anyone else and play upon this - my temporary business cards played upon my nickname for the front logo, and on the back a create a nice bit of word play in hopes it would help potential employers etc warm to me. 

I still really liked the idea of playing with my name, but my temporary cards worried me a little because the term 'sass' can be taken in a range of different ways, including being a bit brash and outspoken. When speaking to one of my friends from outside university (I often ask other people about opinions as it is a hard task to brand yourself) they suggested playing with my second name 'Goldthorpe' using a 'gold effect' (foil) to play with the first section of my name. I thought it was such a simple way to still communicate something about myself, but also gave the opportunity to keep the design quite minimalist and still avoiding the same overboard aesthetic of last year. 

OUGD602 / PPP3 - Studio visit: The Archipelago.

OUGD602
STUDIO VISIT 
THE ARCHIPELAGO


Yesterday I went on my studio visit to The Archipelago, a small design studio situated in the Tower Works complex in Leeds, down at Granary Wharf. 

Tower works:

The row of studio shop fronts:

The view outside of The Archipelago:

The Communal kitchen facilities:

The Archipelago:

I also spotted Robot Food's studio whom I am awaiting a reply from:

First impressions, location and studio:

I had never visited this specific section of Leeds before and so when I made it down to the location of the studio I was greatly impressed. The site combines a large range of different creative studios including photographers, Graphic designers and architects to name a few, in a structure that combined both the old frame of tower works with a contemporary minimalist twist. Each of the studios, which ranged in size, have large windows towards the front looking out over an empty courtyard with trains passing in and out of the train station in the background. As I sat on one of the benches outside waiting to see Mike, It felt like a really inspiring location, and somewhere I would look forward to coming to work every day. 

When I was welcomed inside the studio, I did notice it was quite small, however with a small team of 3, there was more than enough room. It was extremely light, and therefore appeared spacious, especially with the large windows. There are no facilities in the studio themselves for leisure and so all the studios share one large space within tower works where they can make food, drinks and eat. I thought this was pretty cool as it would give you the chance to interact with other creatives, and not just those on your team. 

I was also introduced to Ollie who is the intern currently at The Archipelago. Mike explained to me that every year he takes on an Intern for 6 months, who helps out on all projects and gains experience working in the studio. Ollie will be leaving in June and therefore The Archipelago will be looking for a new intern. As previously said by Mike, he usually looks to Leeds students first for any internships as he wants to give back to the Leeds design community, he was also a student at Leeds college of Art and so likes to give students who were in his position the first shot. He also discussed how he attends all of the end of year shows for Leeds students, and often looks for a potential internship there, therefore if I had no contact with him again, I would probably see him there. 

Portfolio work:

Next we moved onto looking at my portfolio of work, I was both nervous and excited for this part, as I have never had someone in industry see my work and was interested to see what their opinion would be. Overall he was very impressed with the work I had done stating that it was one of the better portfolios he had seen. Things that he liked were my ability to work on a range of different projects including branding and packaging to also projects such as pattern design, card stationary and animation. He also enjoyed such as my projects with Cath Kidston and Yankee candle, my ability to adapt my work to brands that already had a signature style. 

From my portfolio his favourite pieces of work were:

Heavenly.

I think what Mike found most impressive about this project was the amoutn fo research that had gone behind each element of the design and range, which was unavoidable as it was my research topic. He also liked the consistency across the project and was very impressed that I had illustrated the images myself, and made a successful animation on my first time using After effects. 

Bradley Sykes Architect. 

Out of the selection I think that this was probably Mikes most favourite, signalling that it was 'right up his street' and that it is something similar to the kind of work he likes to produce. He also seemed impressed at how considered the production processes were, using embossing to emphasise the use of texture, and appreciate the stock itself rather than printing over it. As this is what the architect I am working with likes to do in his own work. He seemed impressed that I have been approached by a few people also including the project I did for Kate Spreckley and the day workshop with DR.ME.

Mac cosmetics  x  Alice in Wonderland. 

Again with the Alice in Wonderland themed MAC cosmetics packaging, although it is not something that would be produced out of his studio, he was again very impressed by production and how the processes I had chosen lined to the film and concept. He also again enjoyed that I had created the illustrations for the MAC packaging myself. I explained that illustrative work it where a lot of my focus lies. 

I also spoke to Mike about my transition through design work, referring to the idea that, when I first began studying, I felt that everything had to have a lot of bells and whistles and be very highly illustrated with a lot of flourishes etc. However progressing, especially through third year and in the last 2-3 months I have come to realise how important simplicity and minimalism is, and that a powerful, strong and simple mark can communicate just as much as the designs I was producing before. 

Yankee Candle Packaging. 

Again Mike was impressed my ability to fit in with the already existing Yankee Candle brand. He also seemed to like the idea that I had individually painted the textures for each of the pieces of packaging. This prompted him to ask about my design background, and whether I like to turn to more traditional ways of designing. And I started to notice as I looked through my portfolio with Mike how much I integrated more traditional production processes into my work such as; foiling, embossing and screen printing. This in fact made me question and make a realisation about my own way of working. Before I had started on the course I knew very little about the Adobe suite and had almost no experience using it, and so my very roots in beginning my Graphic design career were things that I could create avoiding the computer, and so I noticed that although I am now digitally equipped, I always seem to lean back to my art dominated roots. 

We finished the meeting discussing more about how the studio works on an average day and week. Mike stated how he and Ollie tend to work on a number of different projects each day, spending a few hours on each. He also discussed how regularly they have to complete projects on a very short timescale, which does seem stressful and something I am not particularly used to, but i'm guessing if entering the industry this is something I will come into contact with a lot and so it would be good to get some experience working to such tight deadlines. 

Mike asked me if there was anything I would like to know about the studio and so I took it as the right time to enquire about placements. Mike let me know that as a newly established studio that is only a few years old, they have never actually had a placement and only longer term interns (6 months). However he stated that after seeing my portfolio that he would be very much interested. Unfortunately at the time the project manager was not in the studio and so Mike was unable to discuss the thoughts on placement. Therefore he asked me to email back in about 2 weeks time after they have spoken and things have quietened down to find out if there will be an opportunity to work there.