Monday 8 May 2017

Where am I in the industry right now? (Blogpost missing from PDF. Printed version included in folder)

This post is a bit different from 'learning experience summary'. This one is a second part of the end of module self evaluation, where I focus on how my interaction with the industries has gone during this second year.

The setback of having to design the CV, website and everything else to have the creative presence that is demanded from any creative, has been very helpful in order to have a clean way in the future. I am very aware that this stuff should have designed during the first year of PPP, but it's also true that this aspect of design is constantly evolving.

The visiting professionals and the trip to Berlin (especially visiting Pentagram) have been a mind shifting experience that has allowed me to have a better understanding of how everything works. There's much left I have to learn, but it is this kind of knowledge professionals in the sector have shared with us that make us really evolve towards our professional career.

I've made contacts and I want to make more by visiting studios or doing internships during the summer. I think at this point in time doing placements can have a great repercussion on my future when it comes to get a job straight out of college.

Saturday 6 May 2017

Exhibitions.

Very soon my work will be exhibited in the exhibition Love Triangle. I've sent the work I produced for COP as I think is the most appropriate for an exhibition and I've had the impression that people generally are interested in them. I also think it is an interesting and different approach when designing a movie poster that creatives (which is going to be the majority of the audience) might appreciate.

Also, the exhibition ran by the first years will be showing the work I produced for it, praising the Leeds Bridge as one of the first places ever recorded in video. These two exhibitions will be great to promote myself and add some more value to my CV.

Learning experience summary

I remember my first year at uni was a bit chaotic and it seemed that I was doing random briefs. But it all had the purpose (for me at least) to know what type of designer I am. It helped me very much to identify things that interest me that I didn't know they did. For example, editorial design or branding.

In the second year things have had a more defined purpose. Despite the briefs being more open to interpretation, the fact that I can decide what direction those briefs can have makes an absolute difference when defining myself as a designer. I focused this year, as it was said in the final presentation, in making things that can be somehow related to cinematography. This approach has, interestingly, made me be more interested in graphic design than ever before. When using the title sequences theories in COP to produce a series of posters I became aware that thanks to that study I've become a better graphic designer because I was able to see more clearly what makes a poster interesting or appealing to certain audiences.

I also have to say that I have become genuinely interested in the professional aspect of graphic design thanks to the designer Chris Do. This man runs a platform called Futur which is basically a source of knowledge for designers to know how to deal with real world problems. It's not focused on design practice, but more on the business aspect of design. I didn't know I could be so interested in this and how useful it is for other aspects of life.

I'm also starting to understand the power of limitations. When a design can have infinite possible shapes but identifying certain limitations to a subjective understanding can result in an objective outcome that everybody understands. I've been obsessed with the use of colours these year and despite maybe not having full control of it I feel that I'm getting somewhere, since what I'm produced appeals me more than the usual.

Also, going to a festival like Leeds Print Festival was very useful to identify where my interests are in graphic design. Although I'm becoming more and more interested in editorial design, I have to admit that the printing side of it is not very attractive to me. The production of something on the screen is where I feel more comfortable and there's definitely people more interested in the tangible aspects of design. I also like to be able to hold what I have created, but it's the obsession in finding the perfect grid, using the appropriate colours and typefaces that appeals me. Of course, everything works together and every aspect of the design process needs to be considered. But knowing what I like makes things so much easier when it comes to identify myself as a designer in such a broad topic.

Placements

I have kept a constant interest in improving my understanding of how the creative industries work. I had planned for my COP3 research (branding) to go to a studio like Alphabet so I can see in first person how the process works. Abbas Mushtaq, partner in Alphabet, was very nice inviting me over. I also told him that the best way to understand what they do might be doing internships with them, but that's something that might be better to be discussed in person. Doing internships would kill at least two birds with one stone: research for my COP3 project and an awesome studio to learn things from that can be applied in my future career.

I have also applied for internships with Elmwood, which creates identities and their projects are very varied, something that interests me. I called the studio to know who was the hiring manager or the HR recruiter for the position so my cover letter and e-mail had a defined destination.

These are other studios in the area I'm interested in applying for internships. The application will take place in the next weeks before June:

Giant leap productions
Only
Alphabet
Build
Blind Club
intermarketing
Studio 12
Motiv productions
Oblique Studios
She was only
Brass
Teabag
Principles Agency
Rockstar Leeds
Numiko
Made By Pi
TwentySix
Epiphany Search
Delete agency
Stickyeyes
Branded 3
Enjoy Digital

I've also spoken with John Watters to see if I'm doing all right in terms of getting an internship, showing him the e-mails and my plan. He suggested me to check on LinkedIn the alumni of LCA and see where they are working, which can potentially be an open door to take advantage from.

Monday 1 May 2017

Life's a Pitch presentation

Direct link here.

Tailoring the interview

At this point in time, I have lined up several people for the interviews, so worst case scenario if one fails I might have another one.

Following John's directions, the first thing I've done to identify these individuals is first to look into where I want to work once I finish at Uni (Barcelona) and try to find links to my way there. Tell them why I've chosen them. Of course, they have to do work I am interested in. Then do a bit of research about that individual or the studio.

For the interview itself these are the 9 steps to follow:

1. Start slow, safe and personal
2. Coax, don't hammer
3. Open ended questions are good.
4. Ask what you don't know
5. Let that person talk
6. Don't send questions in advance.
7. Be prepared.
8. Listen to intonation, emotion, etc.
9. Don't re-ask same questions

Good questions.

Best advice?
Who inspires you?
Hardest lesson?
Define a key moment in your life.
Biggest accomplishment?
Personal motto?

La Vida Moderna (Blogpost missing from PDF. Printed version included in folder)

La Vida Moderna (translated as The modern life) is a popular humour radio program in Spain. They constantly receive fan art they post on their social media profiles and I thought it was a good way to promote ones work, as the quality of these images are normally not professional and standing out shouldn't be hard.

I used the design I made for Studio Brief 1 OUGD505 and recycled it to make a new version this time starring the three comedians that present the show.

Original design:



New version:


They are always making jokes about one day making a program speaking like well educated lords. I thought that would be really fun and I encouraged them to do it with this poster which says:

"The modern life with David Broncano, Ignatius and Quequé. The clowns".

They loved it and used it the very same day I uploaded it to promote that day's episode. That got me a few followers which actually interact with what I share, something I was really missing in Twitter.

They shared my design on Facebook and Twitter and used the image to share their episode here:

Rebrand, CV and cover letter

I wanted to work again on the brand I made for myself last year to make it work in a wider and more formal context. With the presentation of the platform Future Rising and my experience trying to find placements for summer, I soon found out that I needed a CV and a cover letter for many applications. Despite many of them accept LinkedIn profiles as CVs I thought I was missing the opportunity of presenting myself through design.

So I decided to design a template for my cover letters, CV and portfolio. Chris Do, an important designer who teaches designers how to interact with real world problems, suggests that the amount of work you should show to a company it's 3. 1 and 2 pieces of work are not enough to create a pattern for humans, but 3 is enough for an employer to know what it is that you do.



The information and the design of the CV has been informed by an extended feedback I got on the Facebook group The Designers League. Many different designers from around the world suggested me how to make this CV as good as possible. One of those who commented hires designers in a studio in LA and it was very motivating to see that he thought my CV worked very well. The post can be seen here.
This is an example of portfolio I intend to send to Elmwood. This will vary depending on what the studio is focused on.


















The website has also been updated to match this new look.

Final Presentation

PPP has been a module that has allowed me to focus on the professional aspect of graphic design. To me, it's really important that I have my professional profile as polished as possible by the end of the 3rd year. So this second year I've focused this module in understanding what being a professional creative means, and start to behave as one.

Also, the focus of the work I've produced on my second year has been on the graphic design aspects of cinematography. There were more slides than the ones I used for my presentation. But in order to fit the content in 7 minutes I had to get rid of some of them.These absent slides were about the studios I've been interested in and the work they produce, as well as details about my interaction with professional creatives.