Professional Contexts - Presentation

I've got to do a "Pecha Kucha" presentation in a couple of weeks, which is basically 20 slides, 20 seconds each, about who I am as a designer, what inspires me and where I see myself in the creative industry in the future.

Next week is the dry run, so I really need to start thinking about these important questions, thus making the task less nightmarish.

Let's see then... I would never want to work for a massive agency/studio, so I will most-likely be self-employed. However, I have worked on my own from home in the past and it is not conducive to good mental health, so ideally I would share studio space with a couple of other people, even if we work on different projects.

Most of the stuff I like is rather cold and structured in a classic Swiss grid-based style. I love what Paprika do, as well as Build and Music, but what does this say about me as a designer? All three of them use a lot of big, bold typography over solid blocks of colour and Music in particular seem to have a genuine sense of humour. This is very important to me, and something that I struggle with as it seems to be in direct opposition to the austere Swiss/German aesthetics. Maybe I can resolve this one day but for now I just have to switch between my two hats - sensible and mischievous.

The companies mentioned above, along with many of my other favourites, are well-established and no doubt charge a small fortune working for prestigious clients. I think I would like to produce work of a similar style but for small businesses in the local area. Not all small businesses want an off-the-shelf £99 website or Prestoprint stationery, so I think there could be a market for what I am planning to offer.

Until I can think of something better I will continue to work under the name AA72. I don't want people to think of me as a one-man band, operating out of my bedroom, even if I am, and the URL aa72.co.uk is available, which is a bonus. It's easy to remember, at least for me, being my initials and year of birth, and I think some people get too hung up trying to find the perfect name. It's pointless. I mean, look at the companies I like - Paprika, Build, Music, A2/SW/HK! So now perhaps I should crack on and produce a strong visual identity for AA72.

What else can I talk about in this presentation? My views on sustainability? Hmm, I don't really have strong views on that, I don't think you can be too concerned with that when starting out. Same applies to ethics - if Coca Cola or McDonalds want to pay me £100,000 to design a new logo I am very likely to oblige. No-one is forcing anyone to eat that shite. I would however not do any work for arms manufacturers or the military. Getting back to sustainability, I think that really comes down to the client. If it is a high priority for the client I would factor it into any proposal or quote. Obviously if the client was Greenpeace or The Body Shop then I would consider sustainability as a priority from the offset.

I am not an illustrator, although sometimes I get the urge to create something that is more than just type, like this sausage poster:

I would of course still take on work that required less crude illustration, although I would most likely sub-contract it to one of the proper artists I know, acting instead as art director.

And that is all I have for now. At least it's a start.