Turner Duckworth Visit

Above is the first email sent to Turner Duckworth, myself and two other students were given the email address so we could make contact and arrange a visit with our portfolios. We emailed a guy called Jamie McCathie, after a few emails back and forth, we finally arranged a time for 1.30pm, on the 5th March.  

We originally were going to meet Jamie in their studio, but due to the company having so much work, we had to meet in the pub next door, which was great, it was a lot more relaxed and less formal. We all took turns to go through our work, I went first and I decided to show my more recent work first, then went through last years portfolio. After I had finished explaining my work he went through it bit by bit and give my feedback on most pieces. It was really helpful to get another opinion on my work and advice on how I could improve parts. Jamie particularly liked my Women's Library project and gave me some helpful tips on how to work it across other media. I also showed Jamie a few little bits from my Final Major Project, which I am working on at the moment, which was really interesting because it has lead me to go down other routes I may not have gone down with my ideas, and also made me think about different ways to style it. It was a great Portfolio viewing and Jamie's advice was very beneficial, he also offered to look at our work and any ideas we produce, while we are working on the Final Major Projects, so I hope to stay in touch. After each of us had talked through our work, Jamie took us into the studio just to show us around very quickly, and it was really interesting to see that the whole of the company only consisted of around 15-20 designers, which isn't small but isn't too big either. Over all a great experience and very beneficial.   

Too Many Design Graduates?

I am in the third year now of my BA (hons) in Graphic Design, graduation is getting closer and closer, and the reality of getting a job is starting to sink in. Each year thousands of design students graduate, to be exact in 2007 there was a total of 534,495 students graduated (Orchard Suits Lecture), all of them hoping for jobs in the industry, but there simply aren’t enough jobs for all of these graduates. Now there’s recession happening, it makes getting a job even tougher and the competition fiercer. Throughout this course I have seen many guest lecturers that have spoken at about how to get a job in the industry when you graduate. Most of the lecturers I have seen have been designers from agencies in the industry already, they simply spoke of their own experiences on getting a job and what they think would be good ways to impress, but each designer has a different opinion, design is such a subjective area and there isn’t really a right or a wrong, just different opinions.

A recent article in The Independent discusses this area, “creative industry heavyweight Ian Cochrane told design students that they should ‘get out’ of the sector.” (www.theindependent.co.uk) This statement has raised massive debate and also huge discouragement in students. But I believe as long as you are dedicated and passionate about design then any negativity you read shouldn’t matter, your enthusiasm should keep you positive.

“Are design students wasting their time? Cynics say they’re foolish to nurture a ‘frivolous’ dream of finding a job.” (www.theindependent.co.uk) I Disagree with this statement, I believe that agencies will always need fresh, young designers, without them agencies would become stagnant. Graduates will bring new fresh ideas to agencies, and will be more than likely the next generation of creative directors. Telling students not to bother with the subject, I believe is ridiculous. If there aren’t jobs out there then graduates can always turn to freelancing. The recession wont last forever, and when the economy is back on its feet, it will be these new design graduates that will get the industry flowing again, with fresh new talent and ideas.

I decided to email an ex-student called Dan Ingham who now works at Mark Studio, and I also emailed Ady Bibby the creative director of True North, asking each of them some questions about their views on this subject. (Questions can be seen on ‘Contact Reports’ section of blog) I thought it would be interesting to get the opinions of two different ends of the spectrum, one being quite new in the industry with only a few years experience, and one already being in the industry for many years.  I asked the particular question, “Do you think it has got any harder to get a job in the industry since you left university?” Both Dan and Ady agree on this point in saying yes it has got harder, Though Ady found it quite easy to get a job at The Chase after a placement, Dan had to work a bit harder, this could mean it just getting harder as the years go on because there are many more students and because of the recession less jobs. The best advice Ady gave me was just to get placements and keep asking, be persistent. Another reason its going to be harder to get a paid job is because companies can’t afford to take on grads, instead just giving them unpaid placements which could last more than six months at a time, which is good experience for you and cheap for them but you cant work for nothing forever, and eventually you will have to make a decisions. On the other hand it could just be a case of right place right time and get lucky, just keep well connected. Another question I put to Ady and Dan was, “What would you personally suggest to graduates about getting a job now?” Both simply advise to start now, send CV’s and work samples, be persistent until they offer you a placement. Meet as many people as possible, show your work everywhere, network and learn as much about the industry as you can, read design magazines, blogs anything and everything. Be patient and always enthusiastic.

I always thought it might be easier to maybe get a job in London, but after asking Dan and Ady their view on moving to London, both agree that moving to London could be harder. More creative’s in London have lost their jobs than in any other area, if companies can’t afford to pay their own designers they aren’t going to pay graduates of less experience. Also as Dan says in his answer, moving to London may probably be harder as everyone talks about “moving to London” from all over the country so even though there might be more jobs the competition will be greater.

The only thing I can do now is take all the advice I have been given, give it my all and hope to the best. Fingers crossed. 

Articles: 

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/

Si Scott

Si Scott is a Graphic designer, yet it could be argued that he is more of an illustrator. Either way I love his work, the mixture of illustration and type is done in a very unique way, it is very detailed and intricate and is all hand drawn!

Found: http://www.siscottstudio.com/

The Chase

Conception - A marketing business that's trusted for fertilising brands with its strategic thinking. 

Leaf Street - An environmentally friendly housing association in northern England. A leaf becomes a row of houses, and then becomes a logo

3CV - Ethical Marketing company with three core values.

Cock-a-Doodle - A distinctive binding device, made to look like chicken feet, hence the name!

Fine Art - A poster for the Fine Art degree show at Manchester Metropolitan University. Clever use of play on words.

Above are some pieces that have been designed by The Chase. I visited The Chase last year with my 2nd year Portfolio, and got some interesting feedback on my work. The Chase are a Graphic Design Agency that seem to specialize in branding, but also expand into many other areas. I hope to go back with my final Portfolio at the end of this year.

Found: http://www.thechase.co.uk/

Dinosaur

Dinosaur, an agency specializing in advertising, branding, re-branding and working for a wide range of clients, are now in their 10th year. I particularly like these 3 pieces I have posted above, they are poster advertisements for an exhibition held at Urbis. 

Found: http://www.dinosaur.co.uk/

Turner Duckworth

This unique album cover design for Metallica has won many awards, the die cut design stands out, it is bold and striking and designed to be recognizable even on a tiny mobile screen.

USB re-chargeable batteries, that simply pop into your USB port. the logo was also designed by Turner Duckworth and as you can see the letter B against the white block portrays the USB connector and creates a logo that looks like the battery itself.  

Truce - Logo for a new drink of Vodka and Cognac, a mix of two drinks is represented in this typographic logo.

A little red book - A leather bound book of and a-z of Turner Duckworths beliefs. it includes simple typographic spreads and is avaliables to buy from their site.

On the 5th March I am going to London to Visit Turner Duckworth with 2nd year Portfolio and my present Portfolio, which at the moment is a working progress. It will be great to get some feedback on my work. 

Found: http://www.turnerduckworth.com/

Dan Ingham

Two ex-students, Ste Owen and Dan Ingham, came into college to talk to us about like after university and how they have been successful in getting jobs in the creative industry. The talk itself for very helpful and very interesting, Dan now works for Mark Studio, a very small agency with huge success. When I decided on a Final Major Project, to promote the Manchester Comedy Festival 2009, I realised that Dan had worked on the promotion of the Comedy Festival 2008 at Mark Studio. So I decided to email Dan and ask if he had the original brief he worked on for this award winning campaign, I thought it would have been interesting to see what the original brief would have asked for, and it could have helped write my own brief for the Final Major Project. I got a reply quite quickly but unfortunately Dan didn’t have the Brief so instead he sent me the case study about the project talking about the solution and background on the festival, which was very helpful.