Hopes, Fears and Opportunities: Part 2

Looking back at my previous hopes, fears and opportunities I have mentioned at the beginning that I was worried about not having enough time with the tutors for my final year. I think at the time this was a big issue for me and I wanted to know that in my head my final major project was going to be created to the best of my ability and look as professional as it possibly could. This is no longer an issue, or should I say it is no longer an issue anymore. As Lisa Baines and I have worked together on two big projects this semester I am confident with what I need to be doing next at all times.

Working with Lisa has made me realise that I don’t need the tutors help to understand how to execute a final idea. If they aren’t around I’d just find somebody in my class that knows, and there is a guarantee that most of the time somebody did. I have learnt to have a lot of patience whilst on this course. Mostly of having to go back to the drawing board because something is never a masterpiece, it can keep adding and adding to something to make it 10 times better than what it originally was. I know that when James said this to us in our first and second year I did not really understand what he meant, but now I do. I understand now that constructive criticism has made me a different person, this may perhaps sound funny but a lot thicker skinned than I used to be. I am able to take it on the chin a lot more and not get annoyed or upset about it but I am able to go back to the drawing board and start again, not so much now in my final year but in my second year this happened a lot and used to frustrate me a little. Yet as I say realising where you are going wrong the first time and having someone tell you how to better yourself sticks in your mind for the next time you go to create a piece of work.

I have immensely enjoyed working with Lisa as we can get together and bounce ideas off each other. We are now in the process of looking at perhaps making a joint portfolio and attempting to get a job together. As we are more ideas based I have now found the area of graphics that I want to go in to which is advertisement to do with re-branding and product design. I like thinking of exciting ideas and I think it is one of my strengths that I could offer to a team of designers. I have really enjoyed my final year at Stockport College. Since Christmas I feel as though something has clicked. I have gained more knowledge about skills on the Mac suite, I have more confidence to be able to contact agencies for portfolio visits and perhaps even placements after building a relationship. I know which agencies to go for which would suit me and not just because it’s there and available, and I am happy about the new pieces of work I have to show to people/ agencies in my portfolio.

That was one of the things I put down as wanting to do before I left University – having more professional work to put in to my portfolio. I used to be quite embarrassed at taking my portfolio to visits as it always seemed to be my first year work that I was going over and over again. Yet now, there is such a wide range of different aspects of graphic design in it that I feel happy and confident as I have already said about attempting to sell myself to the graphic industry.

Overall, I have really enjoyed the fact that this year I have really been able to knuckle down at meeting new contacts not just in the UK but Berlin too. At the time yes there was a bit of a language barrier but it was great to see how different others people’s work can be to your own. I am always going to attempt to arrange visits overseas if I ever plan to go to a different country. If not a contact then an experience is always good to have. I have enjoyed working with the people in my class also as it is intriguing to see what people come out with next as every individual is so different in their own unique ways. I have also taken a liking to photography, which I am thinking about pursuing once I have graduated from the graphic design course.

I see now that there are so many different directions, pathways and opportunities that lie ahead for me and I just can’t wait to explore them. I really do thank the tutors and the people that I have met along the way that have given me the confidence to go out and do it for myself because without that I wouldn’t have that sense of urgency to keep trying and to never, never, never give up. When June 22^nd comes around I think that reality will hit me and I will be upset because I will miss everybody I have connected with within the past three years but I see it as a huge stepping stone now and I’m excited ready to do it.

Word Count: 920

Adidas - Sarah Jones

For my last portfolio visit I decided to contact Sarah Jones from Adidas. She had already come in to our college the year before on the 'Come Design With Me' night and explained to us the harsh reality of actually going out there and being able to get yourself the job of your dreams. She was very helpful on the night and certainly gave me a reality check in that nothing is going to come to me

and that I have to go out there and grab whatever I want to have.

I wanted to see her again to see what she thought of my work and whether I was at the standard that she was when she left University. I e-mailed her and asked if Lisa and I could go to their headquarters and see what she thought of our most recent work. I was a little nervous about asking her if we could go in a pair as I found it sounding a little cheeky. However, she was OK with the idea that Lisa and I wanted to come in together which was a sigh of relief for me as I did not really know what to expect. I could only imagine a big company so it did make me feel at ease a little.

When we turned up to the building I was amazed as to how big the site was. The security was intense which again made me feel a little uncomfortable. However, this changed when we actually got in to the building, the front desk was well designed, the decor was very modern and the whole structure of the building was fantastic to look at. I wanted this to be where I'd end up I just knew it as soon as I got in there I was amazed and intrigued to see and learn more.

When Sarah came down to meet us she lead us in to the canteen which again was beautiful, pure white, the furniture was modern and bubbly, they even had an Adidas shop on the ground floor and I think that I could make out a gym on the second floor. The top of the building showed through a lot of light which made the inside of the building look really clean and professional. Sarah had brought a girl that she knew with her to sit in on the visit and she was called Christina. Christina told us she studied fashion and was now helping Sarah in the graphic side of her job.

Lisa showed her portfolio first which if I am to be honest made me feel a little silly because most of our work was the same. I thought at the time it would perhaps be a good idea to make a portfolio together so we both don't end up going over the same thing and it end up being boring for the person that is looking at it. However, Sarah never did criticise our work she listened and really did take the time to look and ask questions which I found nice that she was really taking an interest.

Both Sarah and Christina liked our Pro-Plus designs and our Ted Baker packaging. Christina said she had pretty much the same brief perhaps a little similar and she thought our idea was brilliant which was refreshing to hear.

Sarah told us that we should perhaps look at trying to get a job together which I did not fully understand at the time so I am going to e-mail her to find out more on the subject as it is something that Lisa and I definitely want to try out if we can.

She gave us a good piece of advice, " Always build a relationship with the person before asking for a placement." I totally agree with this as some people sometimes forget that it's cheeky if you don't do this first! Sarah also made it clear that we will need to put n all the hours if we want to succeed, pay attention to detail and she said that if you work hard and have high goals you will get to where you want to be. I f you stop trying and don't have goals it won't come to you and prepare to stay in whatever position you're in. I have really been inspired by Sarah as she is down to earth and has told stories about her experiences and has told it how it is.

Like Andy Mairs, Sarah told us that it is always a good idea to leave something behind when you go on a visit so that they don't forget you. She said she made little teabags on string and on the end of the string was her contact details, I thought this was a brilliant idea as most people drink tea and yet it is so simple! Lisa and I are in the process of thinking about making something clever to leave behind on our future visits to agencies.

This would definitely have to be the most stimulating visit I have had recently. It is something that I have seen and wanted. I want to be Sarah's workplace and work with a creative team of advertisers like herself as that is what I want to do when I leave. Lisa and I have discovered over the past year that we are good at and enjoy re-branding and product design as opposed to typography. Since Lisa and I are currently finishing our own re-branding brief for Little Chef we are going to get some of the final products and send them to Sarah to see what she thinks and give us some feedback.

Together Trust - Helen Bee

I recently saw an opportunity to go for a voluntary graphic design job for the charity Together Trust. I had already spoken to Helen before and been for a portfolio visit the year before so I felt a little at ease in being able to contact her and send off an application form for the job.

Helen was kind enough to get back to me via e mail and arrange a time to pop in to the agency. I was to go in on 30/03/2011 at 10:00 am. Since my first portfolio visit there i have realised to be organised a few days before and to know where I am going so that I don't get lost on the way and end up being late which is what happened the first time that I went to go and produce my portfolio to her. So I set off a lot earlier and used my Satnav since I have realised that punctuality is everything!

I was quite nervous to see Helen again as I was to show my portfolio which she had already seen that had previous pieces of work that were still in it. I was worried incase she found it boring to look through. However, I was confident enough about my work to go through it again and explain how and why I had chosen to do certain things.

I was on time and she lead us to a small conference room on the other side of the building. Firstly she went through my application form just so she knew what I was confident at doing. She told me that the way that I had worded a few of previous freelance experiences I had made out like they had gone live when they hadn't which was a fault of my own and I will be more careful in future. I think that in my defense I was just trying to sell myself as this job meant a hell of a lot to me. I put in the statement that I was a good leader and she asked why. I gave Helen a quick straight answer as I had previously worked with people in other pathways doing a collaboration and I was the manager, our team worked really well and we all had respect for each others things and ways of thinking whereas some other groups did not. Helen seemed to be impressed with this as she said that some people put that on their CV's and when she asks them the same question why they tend to freeze and not have a lot to say. She also asked how well I could use the mac suite programs which I was confident in using everything but a little rocky on Indesign. Her

specific job needed somebody that was fluent in Indesign and even though I would have loved to give it a go I did not think that she would employ me as I told the truth.

Helen than started to look through my portfolio and asked why I used colours in specific pieces of work which I had an answer for not just because "I liked it." It came to a brief that I did for her company that did not go live but that I had used photography for, which she seemed to like. I told her I have a particular interest in photography too as I think it goes well hand in hand with graphic design. She showed me what the photographs look like once put in the leaflets.

Helen then began to tell me about a voluntary photography job that her company had around the same time and she said that it was quite hard because there is only her and her co- worker in-house that are able to go out and take photographs for their leaflets, so I made it very clear that I was interested and that it is something that I am looking to focus on once I have finished my graphic degree.

Helen asked if I had a portfolio of photographs already online which I hadn't so she gave me some information about a site called Flickr that you are able to upload pictures for free and make your own albums/ portfolios. Then I was to send it to her and she was to tell me what she thought and perhaps give me the opportunity to have a go at the voluntary photography job.

I went away feeling a little unhappy as the job that I initially went for it felt as though I wasn't just quite up to scratch, yet I felt happy that she had seen something in another aspect of my work which is photography and was willing to have a look at more.

Straight away I found my SLR and created an account and picked out the best photographs that I had chosen to show her and make a Flickr account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliette_brooks/

I sent her the link in the next couple of days when I had sorted it all out and again she got back to me quite quickly and to my surprise offered me the voluntary photography job! I felt over the moon as this is the first time I had been in quite a formal situation and managed to get something that I know quite a few other people would have tried applying for. I sent my details of where I lived off so that she could send me a t-shirt to wear for the event.

The job is to go to the Manchester 10K run and take photographs of their runners for their charity campaign. I am a little upset at the fact I am unable to share these photographs with anyone else once they have been taken but I understand rules and regulations so I will definitely stick to that!

The date of the Manchester 10k run is on the 15/05/2011 which is in a couple of days. I am lucky in a way that another 2 girls from my course have got the job too and we are able to pick any point we want to take the photographs of the runners. I am wanting to stand near Old Trafford football ground as I have watched the race every year and around that area seems a little quite where good shots can be taken. It will also be good for the runners having some supporters half way to keep them motivated. I am really looking forward to this as I say and hopefully if my work is good then Helen may use me in the near future.

The Chase - Andy Mairs

At around about Christmas time, perhaps just before, we were all given a brief a choice of 6 projects that we would want to take forward to the next year as they were competition briefs.

I decided to work on a supermarket sweep brief that was created by the Roses Awards. I worked on this with my partner in crime Lisa Baines as I have said previously we really enjoy working together as we just bounce ideas off each other.

This was a long winded project and we had another in between this and our final major projects, yet we thought this was the strongest and decided to go with it. We went in to the supermarket and had to choose something that needed re-branding. After a lot of deliberating we decided we would work with pro-plus.

We had idea after idea, some were complicated with the use of hard materials to support the design, yet during closer to the end we came up with the idea of keeping the cardboard but using a sliding mechanism and a die cutting machine to create some eyes so when the box was closed the eyes were droopy, and when the box slid open the eyes were alert and open which worked well with the meaning of the actual product as it is a stimulant that has caffeine in it.

All was going well until we realised that we had to make the packaging ourselves and it really did have to be professional and be to perfection. Panic set in because we hadn't done anything 3-D before or made anything to a professional standard within a week!

However, we had a lifesaver... Guy Lawrence. He was our tutor at the time and dealt with us every Tuesday. He really did help us out. We were worried about how we were going to cut the eyes out perfectly since die cutting is an expensive job and most places only do it in bulk. Just when we thought we were screwed Guy told us about one of his dearest friends that he still keeps in contact with that works very well freehand with packaging. Andy Mairs from The Chase. My eyes nearly popped out and I think Lisa's did too. Guy asked where I lived so I told him and Andy Mairs ended up living in the same area which was quite unbelievable!

Guy gave me his mobile number and wanted me to ring him up to see if he could meet me on short notice to see what he made of our boxes. Nerves kicked in as I thought it was probably the most cheekiest thing I've ever done, but I did it and he also spoke to Guy on the phone and all was well I was to meet with him the next night in a pub close to my house.

I decided to ask Lisa to come with me as I thought it would be great experience for the both of us to meet somebody from The Chase and to perhaps make a contact. We decided we'd both take our portfolios and if he had time to see them then it would be a bonus and if not at least he met us to help with our work.

Me and Lisa spent most of the day at college and then went early to my house so our mock ups were ready, our portfolios were spotless and we had enough time to get there preferably before he did.

My nerves were really bad even after to speaking to him on the phone I was to actually meet him in person and show him my work, and he is from The Chase one of the most prestigious creative agencies in the UK.

Not long after, we met at the pub and he seemed to like our idea about the pro-plus box. He wrote down some measurements and told us some facts about the weight of paper and the gloss and how it couldn't be what we wanted it to be because the ink would bleed on to the gloss paper and that's not what we wanted. He said he'd take it away and have a go the next day at work for us then come round to my house the following night and drop it off for us!! Lisa and I both felt absolutely privileged to be able to work with Andy Mairs a man that has won many awards and now he was helping us. It really did seem unreal.

He took a look at our portfolios and to be honest I felt a little shot down. It was not the fact that did didn't like the work it was that his eye for detail was incredible. Some things he was picking out in our work were so small that only to the untrained eye would you not notice it. However, constructive criticism is something that I have learned to deal with over the past 3 years and if you do listen to it and you do things differently the next time you do see a huge difference in what ever you are trying to aim higher and it's really nice to have that sense of achievement when you do listen and take what others say on board.

Some of the things he said I wrote down to make a difference on how to present my work better in my portfolio. He told me to use the same typeface throughout the portfolio as it looks cleaner and don't forget to kern. Make some of my posters bigger to A3 size just to possibly get a better image of it. Sort out my drop shadows on some pieces of work and take off the pink line. Since then I have taken on board what he has said and have changed my portfolio and it does even to me look better and a few others have said the same.

He gave us a few tips as well just about portfolio visits in general which is something that me and Lisa are still thinking about here are a few things he said:

- Take a disc and leave some work behind at visits so the agency can look back at your work

- Make our Ted Baker visuals in to actual bags (something we are currently looking at)

- Doesn't matter which way round your work is it doesn't all have to be horizontal/ vertical

- Don't put anything in you're not happy with

- Look at your target audience

- Keep type the same all the way through

- PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL!!

Andy Mairs has helped Lisa and myself immensely and I am very much looking forward to keeping in contact with him. We are both looking to try and arrange another visit with him soon so he can see the corrections we have made to our portfolios and to see whether it appeals to his standards, which I am very much looking forward to!