Portfolio Clinic

Today I had the opportunity to get some feedback on my portfolio from Bob Mytton, founder of the Mytton Williams here in Bath. He was impressed with my football chant hymn book, especially the core idea, although he stressed that I should push it as far as possible to make it look as much like a real hymn book as possible. He was also very positive about my 'Swearing Budgies of the World', although he struggled to see how it could be applied commercially. It made him smile and it was memorable, in his opinion, which is definitely a good thing. I pointed out that the famous 'Meerkat' TV ads must have been a hard sell but they have been wildly successful.

At this stage my portfolio was not presented very concisely. I took along an A1 portfolio case, an A2 one, an iPad and some books in a carrier bag. Bob commented that this didn't look very professional, which I knew and agreed with, and I know I have to do a lot of work to get my work presented in the best possible way. He said I should produce a PDF portfolio, as well as something I can show on the iPad. Any printed work should be consistent in size so perhaps I can put it all in the A2 case. It's a much more manageable size to carry around ad open out on a desk.

Looking at how some other people presented their work, I realised it would be really useful to put together a portfolio guide for the iPad, and probably also a PDF that can be emailed. For each project I need to have a little bit of text explaining the brief, my concept, the execution and my conclusion. This should be backed up with nice images showing my design - Bob made a point of saying that we should use big images, let the design breathe instead of cramming too much on one page/screen. This is especially true with screen-based outputs as pages are free. He said that you should aim to have around eight projects in a professional portfolio - stick the best two at the front and another strong project at the back, filling the middle with the rest.

Bob then told us that we should always try to visualize how a project would work as a complete campaign. I have done some of this in the past, showing designs in their real-life contexts (using Photoshop trickery). When working on a branding campaign, try to see how far you can push it, especially in terms of sub-brands so it looks like a considered and well-rounded campaign. He finished by saying that prospective employers want to see three years' worth of quality work, so I will include my strongest projects from the second year too.

I found this exercise very useful and would really like to do a work placement at Mytton Williams. After hand-in I will work on a couple of good branding projects and then contact Bob.

Networking Workshop

Today we had a networking workshop with John Hector from Spike Design. A lot of what he told us was common sense, although it was worth noting down a few of the organisations that can offer help to people in the creative industries. Bristol currently has a vibrant design sector, centred around Stokes Croft, Paintworks, the Watershed and Spike Island. Bath is sorely lacking at present but perhaps that presents an opportunity, plus Bristol is not far to go for a bit of help.

John stressed the importance of keeping up-to-date with local industry bodies, such as Spike Design and Design South West. He also mentioned the West of England Design Forum, who run a series of professional lectures and workshops from the Arnolfini in Bristol. I will sign up to e-bulletins from all of these places to ensure that I am not missing out on any opportunities. Obviously, showing your face at these kind of events can lead to work or project collaborations. Other useful organisations include Creative & Cultural Skills and the Design Council.

He told us to be curious, keeping up-to-date with other designers' work, in the area (in direct competition) as well as on a more global scale. It is clear that I need to conduct some more serious research on the design sector, so I can figure out exactly where I fit within it. What do I like? What am I passionate about? What am I good at? These are all questions I should be able to address when I have a bit of time after final hand-in.

When it comes to actual formal networking events, John told us that planning is key and that you should figure out what you want to achieve. Who's in the room that you want to speak to? If you get to speak to that person, make sure you say something memorable. Get a business card and follow up the next day with an email. Also, it is vital to rehearse the answer to the question "what do you do?". I currently don't have a satisfactory answer to this, certainly nothing more vague than "graphic design", whatever the hell that is!

Social networking is something I need to learn how to use properly, from a business perspective. It seems that many businesses are using Twitter in particular to get work, as well as getting known to the design community by blogging about conferences and exhibitions that will be of interest. I need to look at how my favourite local/global design studios use social media effectively and try do something similar. This is something else that I can research in earnest after hand-in, unless I can find the time before.

One thing that keeps coming up in these events is that you need to make a massive initial impact. It seems obvious but it's amazing how many designers send a CV or letter out that isn't really designed, or even checked for typos! I know I have nothing to worry about regarding the latter, but I should definitely think about producing a beautiful piece of print design that will stand out from the rest. Perhaps I can create a CV that folds out into a massive A1 poster or something...

Thursday Lecture - Pat Starke

Yesterday's guest industry lecturer was Pat Starke, creative director at Design Activity in Bristol. He wore his belt buckle in a jaunty manner, almost on his right hip, which was a bit strange. Creative types, eh? He had my attention.

He told us that he was from Aldershot and that, upon graduating, he took up a role in a really good small studio where he learnt his trade. Ambition eventually drew him to London where he worked for a pretentious studio with a classic wanker boss. Pat told us that there is no need to be an arsehole when you are boss, which is something I totally agree with. I have worked for them in the past and it is obvious that a culture of fear and intimidation is not conducive to good work. He also said that he does not work late, as a matter of principle. Life is too short and there are plenty of other things he wants to do. Again, I find this attitude refreshing. I used to work in the games industry and we were expected to do insane amounts of unpaid overtime, even when we were on schedule. One producer even offered to give me some pointless work to do, so that I would get behind and have to do overtime to catch up, just so it looked good on the boss's spreadsheet!

I fully expect to put in the hours when a deadline approaches, or if you get an unexpected opportunity to pitch for a huge client and time is of the essence - that is absolutely fine and I know that "going the extra mile" makes a good impression, especially when you are starting out.

Pat then went on to show us some of the work he has done over the years. It was all really high-quality branding/packaging stuff for some massive clients. One interesting tip he gave us was that when working for a corporate client, show them a range of concepts, from conservative to completely mental. You'll be amazed how many times they will choose the latter, or ask for something in between. What I found really interesting was the rebranding work he did for Bulmers when they introduced San Miguel to the UK market:



The bottle on the left is the original one sold in Spain. The rebrand is incredibly subtle although in many ways I actually prefer the original. It just looks classier. He said it was important on jobs like this to look at the history of the product and to use iconography that fits, which is why they kept the ship from the original. They also added a crest that looks very similar to the Barcelona FC badge to the UK product, probably to make it look more instantly Spanish.

He then showed us the work he did for Agnelle gloves. These are a premium product from France and he was packaging them for the US market. There were a number of different ranges that needed branding, from the top-end couture gloves to the cheaper sports range. Each needed to packaged accordingly. He said rather than researching what it is to be French, it was important to base everything on the US perception of France. Makes sense. I like the mental bag design concepts he did for the top-end product:



Next was quite a long story about his relationship with The Fabulous Bakin' Boys, who make a range of muffins and flapjacks, etc. I have never actually like their packaging - it looks like a cheap stab at Americana and I just don't think it works. It's never made me buy any of their products, as I assumed they would taste cheap and artificial (which is maybe why I often see them half price in Sainsburys).



My tastes aside, the point he was making was that it was important to develop relationships with your clients - only when you really get on with each other can you produce great work. He also made the point that despite their relationship being so good, they were eventually dropped by the client. You need a thick skin in this industry.

I really liked the packaging and logo designs for both Le Canard Et La Lune and Savse Smoovies and would definitely be tempted to buy them if I ever saw them in the supermarket:



Pat then talked about how Design Activity will regularly approach a large successful company with ideas for new product ranges. The idea is that they may like the idea and want to go ahead with it, based on the awesome packaging designs. Or they may just remember you and admire your proactive spirit, which could stand you in good stead with them in the future. Or they may just nick your ideas and do with them what they will. The latter is of course a risk but in Pat's experience most folk are decent human beings. He said that if nothing comes of one of these projects, at least you have more good stuff to add to your portfolio to show other clients. I think it is a brilliant idea. I also want to get the Photoshop skills to mock up products like this:



He finished by giving us some tips on getting a job:

1. Plan your route. London? Stay local?
2. Understand the competition (fellow students).
3. Research your targets. Look at their work. Find the name of the creative director and write to him directly. Talk about their work as well as yours and try to do something memorable.
4. Make contact with them. Ask for portfolio advice. Most people appreciate how hard it is (they have been there themselves remember) and will offer help.
5. Polish your portfolio. Fill it with ideas, quirkiness and practical considerations.
6. Persist!

I found Pat Starke to be very likeable and full of useful advice. I also really like the sort of work he does. It's a real shame that I didn't get on board with the Buddy Scheme as I think spending a few hours with him would have been very helpful. Perhaps I will take his advice and contact him in the near future, once I have got some strong branding projects in my portfolio.

Branding - Business card ideas

Following on from my logo ideas, I just designed a simple business card, two versions of which can be seen below:



There are loads of other things I want to try but this is a start.

Branding - Logo Development

While I was working on the Bath Uni science brief, I became a big fan of our customised DIN Pro font that we used on the big stencils. I particularly liked the "A" and figured it might look good if I used it as part of my AA72 branding. My current logo looks like this:



It's set in a very heavy weight of Gotham, with tweaks to the As. I think it is perhaps a bit too chunky for my liking. Here is an idea using the A from the stencil:



I am not totally convinced. I was thinking it might work with a splash of colour but at the end of the day a logo has to be able to work in black and white too. I thought I would also try a few ideas using my other 'font du jour', T-STAR PRO:



I reckon I will have to do a bit more research and come back to this later. Some of them are okay though.

Visit to Opal Print

Yesterday I drove over to Opal Print in Midsomer Norton to check out their facilities and see what they had to offer. We had met a couple of guys from there a few weeks ago when they visited uni to show us their stuff and I was very keen to see their huge litho press in action.

As soon as we arrived we given refreshments and invited to look at some of their latest work. I was particularly impressed with this architectural document, which was something like A3 format and used a new type of "lie flat" binding:



Another really impressive publication was this one for a company that leases private jets:



The editorial design of the pages wasn't particularly exciting but the level of finishing was. The book was bound in a white faux leather, that we were assured was at least as expensive as the real thing. It was softer than any leather that I had ever felt. It was then presented in a beautifully-crafted box, which Opal farm out to a specialist craftsman. Turns out that each of these books costs about £100 to produce, which is fine when you consider the market that they are in. I guess they would only give them out to people who have a genuine interest in leasing a jet though!

After drooling over these fancy books, we were shown around some of the amazing kit that Opal use. First up was the machine that turns artwork files into aluminium lithographic plates:



I must say I didn't fully understand the process to begin with but they were kind enough to make up some plates and talk us through it, step by step. It amazes me how fine a print they can produce using the seemingly primitive principal of water and oil repelling each other.

Next we were taken down the shop floor proper, where the massive print machines chugged away:



This beast had six separate elements - one each for C, M, Y and K, one for spot colours and one for special finishes. We were told exactly how it all worked, and it was fascinating, but I will not go into detail here as I am sure all the information is freely available online. Suffice to say it was fascinating to see how each litho plate was put onto a roller, then the paper whizzed through from the far end, getting inked by each of the colours in turn before popping out in beautiful full-colour at the other end.



We were then shown around some of the other amazing machines, including this beautiful old press that they still use for die-cutting:



Back in a quieter part of the building, we saw the machines that were used for creasing and saddle-stitching (stapling), as well the foil blocker and laminater. Basically all the fancy stuff that I would like to use on every job but will rarely be able to afford!

After our tour we went back to the office and I got the chance to spec out a few jobs that I required quotes for. It became abundantly clear that you really need to involve the printer at the very beginning of a project. It turned out that the concertina leaflets I had designed for the Bath Uni science brief were too long to be printed digitally at Opal (I think their max page size is B3). Printing them litho would probably be too expensive so I will need to rejig them to make them fit.

Ink and Bone Anthology cover design

I have recently been working quite closely with one of my tutors, Matt Robertson, on a cover design for an MA Creative Writing anthology called Ink and Bone. The brief was incredibly precise to the point of being rather restrictive, with stuff like:

• We would prefer the whole title in lower case type and use the word "and" rather than an ampersand
• Must be accessible and professional - so nothing too complex or fussy
• It should resemble a proper published book, as opposed to a student give-away or a catalogue
• The typography needs to be strong and classic; a simple serif face, perhaps; no Gothic or old-fashioned/elaborate fonts
• It should be in colour and we like the idea of an image/design which bleeds to the edges of the cover page and, perhaps, spreads across to the back page
• The title could be knocked out of the image in white, or overprinted in a darker colour
• One suggestion is to create something in the style of Rothko
• Another suggestion is a simple recurring pattern or coloured background but more abstract, we think, than geometric
• We don't want anything literal based on the title - i.e. ink wells, ink splotches, bones, skeletons, etc
• We don't want any images that are specific regional references - i.e. to the South West, Bath or Corsham

Kind of sounds like they already know exactly what they want. What are the chances that I will guess exactly what they have got in their heads? Joking aside, it could be a lot worse. Some clients know exactly what they are after but give you no clues as to what that is, or they have no ideas at all, apart from that everything you send them is wrong. So I knocked up a few initial cover ideas based on the brief:



That image is actually a close up of bone, or more specifically osteoporosis, but I think I can get away with it because it is pretty abstract. I tried a whole host of different colours and type treatments but this was my initial favourite. I also quite liked this one, although the font is a cheeky sans serif:



I wondered if the text was strong enough without the photo:



Or how about a much smaller photo of a piece of bone?



I also quite like this one, whereby I used an Illustrator plugin to create a subtle Voronoi pattern, which suggests maybe a cellular structure. I think this would look great with the lines in a spot varnish, although I am sure that would be over-budget.



I sent these off and waited for feedback. When it came it was tepid, to say the least. So I tried attacking it from a different angle, this time going with Illustrator to create some novel designs, rather than relying on photography. Here are a few of my favourites:



I sent these off and heard nothing back for a few weeks. Then Matt got in touch to say that they liked the type, although of course they would like to see more variations, and they had also settled on a photo which he had managed to nab from a textiles student.



I sent a bunch of variations on the title text and was really pleased when I got them to change their minds about the ampersand. This chosen title is set in Baskerville Old Face Regular, while the ampersand is Baskerville Classico Italic:



I love that ampersand! Anyway, we had our image and the title but there was still quite a way to go. Matt and I spent a long time tweaking the text, manually adjusting the kerning and getting everything just right and eventually we came up with this final cover:



This was quite an interesting little distraction for a while, and it will be nice to see it in print (I assume I can blag a copy) but it doesn't really feel like my project. In fact, I was so heavily directed by Matt and the client that it feels more like a collaboration. That's fine really and is probably the way I will work as a junior designer.