Recruitment Agency

I found a job advertised through an agency called Gloss and was going to call for advice about whether my background made would make any difference to prospective employers.  I have already contacted an agency called Orchard about a job and basically their advise, despite my background, is to target Design studios for placements.  In the meantime I noticed a link on the Gloss' website to a sub company called Creative Protege.  I forwarded this to John as I wasn't sure how legitimate this was. John said there are companies out there like this and usually charge a fee so to scrutinise the T&Cs and don't sign anything!

I scrutinised whats on offer however its not until you start registering that a fee is mentioned.  The fees aren't extortionate by any means however I don't believe I need the CV or on line portfolio help as I basically have this covered.  What interests me is the opportunity to get live briefs and apparently three months 'experience' with a employer on your CV.  They really are in a win-win situation as they will get paid for these briefs by their clients and then get graduates to do the work for free.

I think for me this would be a last resort as I can offer to do live briefs freelance for free(I know we shouldn't) but that's what this is basically.  The only benefit would be you are 'registered' with them and you may be successful securing employment through the agency in the future.  It has given me an idea though.  There is no harm in me approaching companies who i think need a rebrand and seeing if we can come up with a mutually beneficial arrangement.

When I went to Black Marble (the company who really wanted someone to develop into a developer) their own branding/website is shocking especially for a business in this industry.  I really could see how I could have made an immediate impact on the company and I have been thinking of emailing Robert Hogg and telling him so maybe with a few ideas...he seems a really fair employer and if he was interested I am sure I could get paid.

Design Strategy Presentation

As usual my nerves came back to haunt me and I really dont know why as I felt comfortable with the people in the room.  One problem was I hadnt left much time to practice it, even though I knew what I wanted to say and had made a few notes.  On a positive note I did control my breathing to a degree by stopping and sipping water.

I am happy with what I communicated just not how.

Basically I started thinking about my journey from before the course and now towards the completion of it.

I discussed how before GD I had always felt like a square peg in a round hole despite always working hard and achieving a great deal I always knew there was more.

My design strategy is

A concept driven Graphic Designer whose interdisciplinary practice reflects my interest in the relationship between Brands, Culture and Lifestyle.

I qualified this my making it simpler - Graphic Design is something I am passionate about, that absorbs and challenges me and I LOVE IT.

I went on to talk about what has shaped me as a designer:

As well as everyone on and involved with LCA the main things that have shaped me include:
Placements
Briefs - Both self initiated and Course Driven
Critical Thinking
Brand me

10 Associates a three week placement last summer really gave me confidence and affirmed by Design Direction.  Focusing on Branding.  Also the small Design Agency scenario felt right from concept developing in Small meeting to client meetings.  Also nice range of commercial clients which offered them scope to 'design' not just market.  On reflection really was the Perfect 10

Space _ I only  visited Space over three separate days.  Taught me the difference between a Design Agency and more Advertising focused Agency.  Used marketing tools called Sensory Space.

Advertising or Design?  I described how I felt I was starting to straddle the two areas.

I was going to talk about Laura Jordan-Bambach of Dare who is VP of D&AD but was running out of time.  An article she wrote in Computer Arts this month brought a lot of clarity to where I think I sit in the industry.  Design is becoming very much integrated with behaviours, experiences across multiple platforms.

Interviews, Portfolio Surgeries and Studio visits

Although I haven't had a huge response from Studios for visits I am pleased with the contacts I have made and what this has taught me.  Spencer Creative a small branding agency was a real contrast to Logistik a large branding and events business.  I could see myself working within either for different reasons.

Job Interviews at Black Marble and Wakefield College

I have come to  realise I have two/three pathways:

1. I can try to get a Junior Graphic Design/Marketing role within an in house marketing/design department for a company or public sector organisation.

2. I can continue getting Studio/Agency visits with a view to getting six to twelve months work experience on my CV which could lead to a job in the Creative Industry ie a Design Agency.

3.  If all else fails I can freelance

I talked through key briefs that had shaped my design practice.  I also discussed how Richard Miles and Critical thinking has changed how I view the world and my place in it.  I question more and understand the importance of thinking about the impact of design and communication on society and culture.

The rest of the presentation is an overview of my Brand collateral and online presence.

I still aspire to intern at a fairly large Branding/Design Agency such as Thompson or Elmwood so will still pursue this. In the meantime I have one month at a great company Logistik which I am excited about.

A potential opportunity

This advert intrigued me (job based in Huddersfield) also very honest advert.  I have sent Mark a proposition as detailed below...lets see if he takes the bait.

Brand Lisa Whitaker

Well after many permutations and combinations I am nearly there with my own branding, online presence and portfolio.

This is an overview:

Business Cards

Website

lisawhitaker.co.uk/

CV 

After discussing this with several of the visiting professionals and also on Studio Visist the consensus is not to do a mad creative CV(unless thats what you wish to showcase!) just showcase excellent type and layout, keep it as simple as possible.

Linked in

I have been cultivating this for a few months now and have 53 connections, mostly GD related.

Twitter

I have been on Twitter about twelve months and use mainly for professional networking.  I find it useful to keep up to date with studios I am interested in and also sometimes find out about opportunities.  There are also lots of links to current thinking and innovatation in Branding and Design

Digital Portfolio

After the portfolio surgery with Lee Goater I took his advice (And also what John was saying about not showing too much) Lee recommended just showing 'teasers' rather than the whole portfolio initially. So when I send emails to studios although I attach a link to my website the actual portfolio is a snap shot of the printed one.

Printed portfolio

Everytime I look through my portfolio with a professional/designer I grow in confidence and think of ways I can tell 'my story' so I am sure this will keep evolving with me.

SEO, Key Words and tracking

Great advice about SEO which is something I dont know a great deal about.

SEO can be tricky, so follow these eight simple tips to ensure your site stands out from the crowd Digital self-promotion is the most cost-effective and powerful means of elevating your professional status. It goes without saying that you need an online calling card – but just being online doesn't attract an audience. You'll also need to know the tricks of creative SEO. Here are eight steps for making your site stand out from the crowd...

1. Do your research Before you start making any website improvements or building links, you’ll need to do some research. Start by determining which keywords you want to target based on what type of traffic you want to attract. This will be based primarily on how much traffic and competition the keywords have.

2. Be realistic It’s also important to remember that you want relevant keywords that are likely to convert into a sale or a lead from a potential client. Bigger traffic isn’t always better, so don’t focus on the big audience grabs. Go niche and specific, and target words that relate to your services as a designer.

3. Use the right tools Make sure you use Google’s Keyword Tool. It’s the most well known to online marketers, enabling you to find keywords related to the ones you enter and see how many searches they get per month, both globally and locally. Apply it to your keywords and heed its results.

4. Check the competition By using a nifty tool like SimilarSites you can find lots of competitors and see what keywords they’re optimising for. There’s nothing wrong with examining the site of another designer or illustrator and deploying similar techniques to theirs. It’s a simple idea, but very useful.

5. Optimise your site Once you’ve determined the keywords you want to target, you’ll need to move on to optimising your website’s content and code. The way you structure your site and the content you place on it helps Google determine what it thinks your site is all about, and how it can best promote it. 

6. Be fast The speed of your website can have a big influence on your rankings. Google’s Page Speed Tool is free, and provides lots of great tips on how to improve the general speed of your site. Some simple tweaks can make all the difference here.

 7. Link build The main objective in link building is to identify link prospects that will benefit your site and foster relationships, with the ultimate goal of securing a link. There’s a lot of information to keep track of, but sites like Majestic SEO and ontolo can help hugely.

8. Track and analyse Fundamentally, SEO is all about testing, so monitoring your results over time is extremely important. Track that into site numbers and client leads, and you’ll have a set of metrics that tell you how successful your online campaign is.


Source
Computer Arts
eight-ways-increase-traffic-your-portfolio-site-

Job Application for a Graphic designer

This one is a bit of a long shot (They want someone with experience if websites and content managemnet systems) however the company is based in Holmfirth (Ten mins from where I live!) so silly to not at least put myself out there.  Also I am quite interested in one the company does they are the leading supplier of Craft products.  Crafts was how I was able to express my creativity until I started this new journey so I can realte to their products and markets well.

D&AD Digital Revolution Revisted

I went to the D&AD Presidents lecture in Manchester on Wednesday 27 April.  When I booked my ticket I thought I was going to get to see Neville Brody (Current President) up close however it turned out he couldnt make it.

Overview of the people presenting:
The event was chaired by Jim Ralley from Hyper Island 

Tom Roope
The Rumpus Room Digital Director
Tom helped to set up the interactive branch of Tomato in 1999, and has worked on projects with Sony, Levi’s and MTV, to name a few.

Drew Hemment  CEO and Founder
Future Everything
Award winning Festival and Innovation lab
Craig Ward Music

Laura Jordan Bambach

Creative Director of Dare

Laura is credited for her ability to use technological advances and digital media in experimental and innovative ways.

Craig Ward - Music

Brand me

A successful brand me day.  I have been contemplating treating myself to a personalised URL and some GF Smith Colorplan cards.  Cant do one without the other!  So on investigating the Colorplan range I picked out turquoise, citrine and mandarin.  As I wanted the cards to be bright and sunny.  Velocity Print in Leeds offer really competitive prices on foiling and embossing so having priced them up I contacted them.  They had Citrine and pristine white duplex in stock so I decided to go with that.

I bought the URL and web hosting from one.com as apart from a set up fee its free for a year.  Due to time constraints I have decided to keep my Cargo account and just upgrade it for a year.  I just have not got time to start developing a website from scratch at this stage.  With the web hosting you also get a customised email address.

I tried the yellow logo on my website but it actually looks better black.

I found a link to a really inspirational Stationery site.  When i saw the tall business cards this helped me make a decision about the colour.  I love these...and started following Tall on twitter and told them how much I love their cards.

These are the new designs I have come up with.  I have chosen Frutiger as I discovered Adrian Frutiger designed the font in 1968 which is the year I was born.  Its also a clean crisp sans serif font which goes well with the logo. The yellow L which actually be blind embossed in the white card and the copy will be white foiled to the Citrine.

Junior Designer job application with TBWA

Today I have applied for a job advertised on the IPA website at TBWA

This was the email I sent with my CV, summarised portfolio and link to my Cargo account.

From: Lisa Whitaker Date: 10 April 2013 
Subject: Junior Designer 
To: mcr-recruitment@tbwamanchester.co.uk 

 Hi 
Following your advertisement for a Junior Designer at TBWA, please find attached my CV and Portfolio. My name is Lisa Whitaker and I am currently in my third and final year at Leeds College of Art studying BA (Hons) Graphic Design. I was really excited to see your advertisement on the IPA website not least because it is so rare to find Junior positions advertised. 

Although I have embraced all elements of the course my practice has become focused on Branding with an emphasis on strong concept development. I love digging until I really understand a problem or subject. My dissertation continued to fuel my interest in Brands, through critical analysis, the title was 'Is Vans the brand's relationship with wider culture, authentic or insidious?' I also realise finding the best solution to engage an audience has to consider both print and digital media so I am constantly challenging myself to learn new skills. 

My drive to understand new technology is evidenced through the YCN commended Heinz Salad Cream brief. A quote from The Heinz Team 'This campaign is well integrated and engaging using an upbeat tone of voice, giving Heinz Salad Cream a strong personality that resonates with customers...New generation of technology used (Snaptags) keeping Heinz at the forefront of new and engaging technological trends.' 

Over the last few months I have also been developing stronger type and layout skill and as part of this was lucky enough to attend the inspiring Typo 2012 in London. 

I hope you find my unique and varied background of interest to you, as detailed in the attached CV.and a snapshot of my portfolio. Also find a link to my online portfolio, which includes two briefs which demonstrate my experience of After Effects and Final Cut Express. http://cargocollective.com/lisawhitaker 

For your information I will be available for employment from 24th June 2013, after the Course finishes. I look forward to hearing from you, 

Best regards
Lisa Whitaker

Interview at Black Marble

I applied for a job on 5 March 2013 I found through the Indeed.co.uk as follows:

I was surprised to be offered an interview as I made it clear I had limited HTML skills as per the online letter which accompanied my CV:

'I am in my final year studying BA (Hons) Graphic Design at Leeds College of Art due to graduate 24th June 2013. I have enjoyed all elements of the course and although my strengths are concept development and branding, I am always challenging myself to learn new skills. I particularly enjoyed learning Adobe After Effects as demonstrated on the TV Ident brief in my Portfolio. We have been given a foundation in HTML and CSS coding in Adobe Dreamweaver, enough to produce a simple four page website. The focus was on Design for Screen rather than developing websites.

The YCN commendation for Heinz Salad Cream was a highlight last year and demonstrates my interest in new technology. One reason the Heinz Team selected our entry was its use of New Generation Technology (Snaptags and Social Media)
Please find a link to my portfolio: http://cargocollective.com/lisawhitaker
I hope my unique background will be of interest to you and look forward to hearing from your soon. Best regards
Lisa'

On researching the company, I was surprised given they are a Software Consultancy how weak their websites is.  There is lots of information which is good from my point of view however its is difficult to make sense of for someone with no knowledge in this area.  On further digging I found they actually do some really cutting edge and interesting work, all be it using Microsoft platforms and software.

The skills required for the role lead me to researching Sharepoint, Microsoft, Natural user Interfaces .  I found some really interesting links to Albert Schum who lead the team who developed the Windows phone.  I will expand on this research on my design context blog.

natural-user-interfaces-part-4-what-s-next

the-role-of-designers-in-a-connected-world

Connecting from Bassett & Partners on Vimeo.

The company is based in a modern business park and on entering I was immediately impressed how comfortable the surroundings were.  The developers play Xbox 360 at lunch in the reception area!  There are sweets, chocolate and drinks free for all the staff.

The interview was with Robert Hogg, the Managing director of the Company, Lauren Fear the Graphic Designer and Abby Mann the HR officer.

Robert spent a lot of time explaining why he set the business up in 1997 and how it had evolved over the years.  His background is a Programmer and he was keen to stress that his company was esoteric.  He referred to those 'fruit' based products as he is Microsoft through and through!  He explained the different services the business offers including Software Consultancy, Developing, UX (User Experience) and Rescue. He stressed the importance he plays on keeping his staff happy and even has a fully stocked kitchen to keep everyone fed!  The staff also get to do a lot of travel and attending events including Microsoft's events in America.  They are taking 18 staff to the Microsoft Build Developers Conference in San Fransisco.

Lauren actually did the Foundation Art and design with Fred and Amber about 10 years ago!  Small world again...

She has basically learnt how to code to provide Graphics for the SUR40 screens which are really impressive.  She also works very closely with the Developers on site.  they want the Junior to both work on their own marketing and also support the digital role.  I can see so many ways I could add value to this business from its branding and identity point of view.  Lauren explained that she has not had chance to do anything with the website since 2007 which explains a lot.   I have been checking her background she did a Multimedia Design degree at University of Cumbria.

They asked me what I could bring to the business and I actually said how surprised I was being offered an interview however Lauren said she really liked my on line portfolio.  I think I could bring tighter type and layout and strong visual identity to the business.  The programming/coding doesn't scare me I would actually relish the challenge.  they actually want to develop someone with XAML

XAML overview

Overall I was with them for two and half hours.  Robert offered to sum up what they thought about me in front of me so I could discuss this with them.  This was such a refreshing approach.  They felt my GD skills were strong but were sure how I would cope with learning about programming and working with the Developers!

I am happy with the experience as it has presented quite a different opportunity into a more digital role than I had originally thought possible.  It has also opened up researching User Experience which ties in with the research I am undertaking on the Branding/Lifestyle themes.  If I was to be offered anything its just deciding whether I want to go over to the other side!

Spencer Creative Studio visit/Portfolio review

Thursday 28 March 2013

I had applied for the Junior Graphic Design role at Spencer and this had set up a dialogue with Kyle Bibby.  The hook had been my dissertation theme - Vans!  I discovered a couple more interesting links as well as Spencers employing Liv Greaves of LCABAGD Kyle was actually from the first graduating year!  He designed the prospectus that I got before visiting the college.

I had a couple of hours at the studio where Kyle talked through the work of Spencer which is was really intersting seeing it through a smaller Studios eyes.  They have some reasonably large clients such as Virgin Care.  I then went through my portfolio and he particularly liked the Heinz Salad Cream brief.  I asked him for honest feedback and he said that Studios want Juniors that can get stuck into good type and layout straight away.  He pointed out a couple of inconsistencies on my Circus Visitors guide which would not be acceptable.  He felt we didnt do enough on Software skills at Uni and I said I think it depends on your motivation at Uni.   I think I have always pushed my skills beyond the workshops so am I challenge myself.

Overall it was a really good chat and I liked Kyle. I talked about my dissertation with him and he has loved Vans, Skateboarding and BMX for years so he was really interested in what I had to say.

Another contact made on Linked in.