Leeds Bid, Martin Dickson

Wednesday 28th February 

This meeting was with Martin Dickson (Head of Marketing) and Jordan Harrison - Reader (Graphic Designer). In this meeting Martin discussed the opportunity of them employing me as a freelance graphic designer. This role would involve me primarily assisting Jordan with the projects that he is working on; giving feedback, completing design work, research, etc. This role offers the opportunity to gain experience in a workplace environment as well as learn from Jordan. The projects that he works on vary in outcome and timescale which suits my design practice as this is the structure that I work best in. 

Beyond Photography

Beyond Photography, Left Bank, 24th February. 

I attended the opening of this night to support peers at the university and explore the variety of photography based content of the exhibition. It was also influential in seeing how an environment can influence the curation of an exhibition. 

The exhibition provided a range of curation methods to consider in the Point of View exhibition. 

Leeds Bid, Jordan Harrison Reader

Having not received a reply from Martin Dickson and being informed he has been out of the office for a period of time, I contacted Jordan, the graphic designer at Leeds Bid. 

Leeds Bid, Martin Dickson

Start Up Wednesday: Freelancing for Agencies and Organisations

Martin Dickson - Head of Marketing at Leeds Bid
At the end of Martin's talk which covered aspects of the professional industry and expressing the importance of gaining experience, I spoke to him 1 to 1 about their inhouse graphic designer, Jordan Harrison Reader. Jordan is a previous Leeds Arts University student who Martin spoke very highly of. I enquired more about his job role and Leeds Bid and expressed my interest in his practice and gaining some experience with him. Martin was inquisitive about my practice which encouraged me in my confidence in my work. To follow up this conversation I emailed Martin. It was suggested by Sharon Heleine that I do this through my university email to ensure that Martin is aware of who I am.

CROWDYHOUSE Internship

CROWDYHOUSE Graphic Design Internship, Amsterdam

- A platform for emerging designers in a range of design, tech disciplines.

- Their positive outlook on design reflect my own

- They believe that something that is made with sense and sensibility has the ability to influence positive change. This resonates with my own values.

I applied for this internship as an exploration for my future career. 

Brief 03, Evaluation

Strengths 
This brief allowed me to explore my interest in book jacket design as well as working with imagery and text. This is an area of design that is relevant to my practice as it is a media that balances type and imagery. 

Weaknesses
A range of design directions were explored however I felt that the design quality was lacking. This could have been overcome by collaborating with an illustrator however it was a brief that I wanted to fully complete myself. Having a 'creative block' is something I have overcome in previous briefs through collaboration. This allows for various opinions to influence the direction.

Time Management
The time management allowed for sufficient time to read and gain an understanding of the novel. The research, development and outcome was then completed in the scheduled time. However, the research and development process could have benefited from having more time to expand the inspiration for the outcome. 

Exhibition

I have had previous experience in assisting with the development of an exhibition however have not had the responsibility of curating the space. This is an area of creative practice that I would like more experience in and therefore completing an exhibition based project will allow me to do so. This project is in collaboration with Hilda Quick, a photographer with experience in exhibition curation. This brief has been informed by my interest in exhibition production as well as the development of communication and organisation skills.


The Brief:
Organise, brand and curate an exhibition around a topic of personal interest. 

The Problem: Young creatives lack spaces to exhibit their work. There is often an insecurity about sharing work and it being seen by a large audience. 

The Solution: Provide young creatives with a platform to exhibit their work. This would be structured by a brief that individuals would submit to. 


Individual roles within this brief:

Kathryn 
- Organisation: Collecting submissions, communication with those who submit, communication with event spaces
- Branding: Identity to the exhibition, advertising, invitations
- Other: assisting with curation

Hilda
- Curation of exhibition
- Other:In general assisting with feedback, communication and decision making

Abraham Asefaw, The Pop Up Agency

The Pop Up Agency, London.

Solving briefs in 48hrs, globally. 

The first briefs that they did were very open. They valued working on a range as this allowed the team to identify where their strengths are. This is something that I can relate with as throughout my time at university I have tried to experiment in a range of disciplines within design to find where my strengths and weaknesses are.

Finance: 1. Salary 2. Expenses 3. Savings

Their strengths lie within the creative process, not the actual design. 

'We're just a reaction of our time' - The way that they work is informed by the society that we live in. Always consider this when working on a brief or a future idea.

Structure of how they work: Transparency > Reflection > Feedback

Check in:
- check in with a state of mind, feelings, aspirations for the day. the team do this daily to motivate and know where each other are. This is a technique that  connects peers/colleagues as well as allowing for personal reflection 

Creative principles:
1. Open mind
2. Collaboration
3. Focus

The Elephant Room

The Elephant Room, Creative Agency. London.

Friends of the Elephant room.

Will de Groot will.degroot@theelephantroom.net @willdegroot
Shannie Mears shannie.mears@theelephantroom.net @shannieloves

- 'It's not about experience, it's about potential'

- Create the role that's right for you

- Work out what job is best for you through experiencing a range

- 'The best creatives are the ones who have an outside interest'  This comment wants me to work more on my psychology interests and explore how this can work within my creative practice

- Flamingo; brand consultancy. Field work abroad. Agencies that label themselves as brand consultancies or who demonstrate work that is informed by brand strategy are those that I may be interested in in relation to my psychology interests.   

- 'you have to be compassionate' 

- 'brands are taking on an activist role' 

- 'never assume that your audience is stupid'


Brand campaigns to look at that have failed:
- H&M product photography
- Dove
- Pepsi
- Lynx