SKYPE WITH GRETTA

Send people things they will remember you by - it is more interesting, always talk to people

The Kennedys = small group of creatives from all disciplines who live together for 8 months in Amsterdam, was an adjustment but an interesting experience. No rules, was hard to get to know people at the beginning. Ego stops you from creating good work at the start. You are there meeting new people and getting paid doing projects you would not usually get the chance to.

'Do you think being at university gave you enough info to do your own thing?' 

I stuggled but college is a good platform to do whatever you want to do. It is really important to realise you have the opportunity to be serious in industry, experiment and do what you want. It is important to have your own passions and interesting in life. Find new things to do and it is more interesting when people combine skills.

Progression -

Had no idea where she wanted to be at the start, lots of ideas but unsure what she wanted to do. She moved around, freelanced and created the way the industry worked for her. It is important to talk to people and make friends, best things happen when you listen to the advice that is given to you. Alway email people. 

'Is there a limit to persistence?'

Write to anyone like you know them, need to have an idea of what they are about, the people who care will respond to you, be personal

'What was your most enjoyable project?'

Platform about the work in Lithuania - chance to meet new people

'Do you feel uni held you back in any way?'

Uni was hard but she was strong, because of the struggle she learnt to fight for her own ideas. V important to stand your ground. You dont have to be one thing, you dont have to specialise, colege was hard to try and do one thing

Top Tips -

- create your job - it is up to you, create your own what id you don't know what you want to do

- question everyone - people will doubt things but if you feel in it right do it

- be silly - uni doesn't have to be serious

- put 100% into everything, be persistent 

- look for personality in you projects

CREATIVE REPORT / INTERVIEW

PPP 

Design week magazine have a look every week

Interviewing 

• -interview is an exchange of information as a question and answers to extract information
• -more of a conversation this way you will get more out of it
• -interviews will need contacting in advance
• -suggest to them how long the interview would take
• -how and where will it take place
• -better face to face, never do a questionnaire 
• -have a reason to contact someone about why you want to find out about them
• -don’t just have general questions, plan for the more personal ones to them
• -be attentive, look interested
• -empathy, be able to manage silences so it does not get awkward 
• -prompt - if goes silent repeat last few words spoken by the interviewee
• -probe - ask for more detail if you don’t understand
• -checking - summarise their thoughts ‘If I have understood you correctly..’
• -introduction - talk about the aims of the interview / intentions, confirm recording to see if they are ok with it
• -write notes, engage, audio recording
• -first questions significant, should be something they have little difficulty talking about
• -finishing interview - ask interviewee if they have anything else to add? Then thank them for their time
• -transcribing - don’t edit quotes 

Plan before you go some examples of questions -

Interview with Michael Wolff:

how does client relationship evolve:

must like them, can't remember working for someone he didn't like 

Role of client:

Huge, why is very difficult to establish, why are they doing what there doing. Hard when clients aren't open becomes difficult to guide someone on how they should express themselves. Doesn't like the word client, relationship is based on mutual respect.

'people will never forget how you made them feel' they will discard what you say or what they read. 

rather not know what to do and see what happens

Biggest mistake of young designers:

vanity, we idolise others resulting in similar styles and sameness.

Encourage any designers to respect the power of writing.

Best piece of advice:

People can see how you behave, brand is a form of behaviour and very few understand how behviour is seen. 

NETWORKING

Methods of Networking 
– email
– phone
– facebook
– Linkedin
– Behance
– mail

Networking is not just about handing out business cards and hoping people get in touch with you. It also should not be forced because you could then be remembered for the wrong reasons. It is also about making connections for a long time rather than getting instant work. It is more about meeting people and sharing anything such as love of work and making recommendations about who else you could be talking to.

Make sure you engage with others, by sharing impression friends and projects they will simply be within your circle. 

Write a post or an article about something you enjoy and are passionate about then put the link or share it on social media. Other creative people may want to collaborate, it is a two way street. 

If you don't talk to people you can't expect them to talk to you, you need to engage with the industry in order to be noticed and make a difference.

MANIFESTO

Goals –
- Make an impression on people when they see my work
- Do work that inspires me to try as hard as I can
- Be more confident in my own ideas and work
- Have fun in my work and in my own life as well 
- Start networking that will help me in my future practice
- Do more work experience
- Stay on top of all my work and not get stressed out
- Go outside of my comfort zone and push myself
- Do more hand made stuff if that interest me
- look into advertising - done work experience in this area

My Manifesto : Small things make me happy
- little things make me happy
- keep collecting lots of random little things
- keep learning 
- balance work and fun stuff
- always look UP, whats around you makes you the designer you are
- research comes when you're not even looking for it

Keep developing my skills as a designer whilst learning and gathering research. LOOK UP - look around, things you collect and see makes you the designer YOU are. Have fun in your work, have a good balance between all aspects of life.  Keep on top of work, don't stress. 

VILLAGE - BEN HOLMES

Started in Corn Exchanged at the back end of 2012, the aim was to create a space where interesting independently published publications could be easily accessible. Wanted to bring publications/artists to Leeds from around the world but also provide a space for creatives in Leeds to gain exposure. Contribute to making a permanent creative community in Leeds. The incorporation of a non-profit gallery space which gives an opportunity for emerging creatives in Leeds to gain exposure.

Zines - typically referring to a simple staple bound publication, however, this is quite limiting. Anything which independently published and independently published could fit under the umbrella term.

Why self-publish -
- the internet makes it easier to get your work seen however can also make it hard to stand out
- creates something that is permanent
- if you have a passion for making a book then you will try hard and get results which are showcasing ur skills as a designer
- making something physical means people have to stop and look through something physical

What they are looking for -
- mainly photography books
- want to create objects that reflect the content inside
– layout, how content is presented on the page
– printing method must fit the book, as can change how the book looks or is seen
– reproductive print techniques such as risograph printing loose quality, decay through repetition
– no reason the whole book has to be printed in the same way
– paper stock can change as you go through, tactile element
– multiple binding methods, trade off with how affordable something is vs how time-consuming it is

– the book doesn't necessarily have to be bound, no real right way to make a book

One example of what they have had - 

photos of the same spot on the Australian coast, photo a day for 18 months. Used different paper stocks to showcase the photos and colours within the images. A good example of how the designer can influence perspective as some images are portrait and others landscape to show how you can get lost in the ocean

PROFESSIONALISM

Amateur 

Semi - professional

Professional = one’s main paid occupation

Creative for money 

‘Art’ for money used to be known as ‘commercial arts’ Our work is often used to sell, promote, explain, narrate and inform. 

Graphic Design was only named in 1922 - it is still growing 

We need clients to do what we do. Creativity is subjective and any work done is open to personal taste, colour preferences, committee thinking, trend, cultural and ethic acceptance, personality clashes.

To be professional we should be capable of handling most clients. 

What do you hope to achieve - work recognised? Fame? 

There are downsides :

• not being able to get work
• bad clients
• not getting paid for your work
• poor and negotiated outcomes
• clients who don’t listen

Mission statement / manifesto 

Write your own (500) words

This can be seen as what you would like to be seen as, as a creative practitioner. When you are happy with it post it to your blog to explain how you see this at this early stage.

SUMMER REFLECTION

EXPERIENCES 
– Barcelona - visited lots of exhibitions
– Budapest
– Mallorca
– Egypt 
– Bar work at 5 festivals

MOST INFLUENTIAL EXPERIENCE AND WHY
My most influential experience was probably in Barcelona, I visited many museums and exhibitions, my favourite probably being the Fundacio Joan Miro Collection, It was not only the work that was exhibited there but also the actual space it was exhibited in. The space was created by Joan Miro himself with the idea of making art accessible to all. The collection of paintings, drawings and works on paper offered a thorough overview of all the stages of his life and career. One of my favourite pieces was the large canvases Miro produced from the late seventies onwards, they are characterised by large fields of colour and free gesture. I think it was nice to see work that meant something to the person who created it and accessible to all. It made me think that I want to make work that I want to do rather than last year maybe I did some work just because I had to and maybe I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. This year I want to focus on trying to make briefs relevant to myself so that I enjoy them more and be happy.