Hat-Trick

Whilst in London, our tutors had arranged for myself, Jordan and Mike to visit Hat-Trick design studio which was extremely good of them and proved to be very insightful.

We all took along our portfolios on the off chance that we may get 5 minutes each to show them. We were welcomed by Alexandra Jurva, an ex pupil of Guys at Sommerset University. She had been extremely lucky to get a job at Hat-Trick as her friends Dad works there and just so happened to see her work and offer her a job. 

We all sat down in a lovely, glass conference room where Alex began to show us a whole range of projects that Hat-Trick had successfully completed for Nike, The British Heart Foundation, Shelter etc. We each took it in turn to look carefully through the work and she was very willing to talk us through the process as to how the projects had been available, been thought of and completed. 

After much discussion about their work Alex gave us 5 minutes each to put our work in front of her. All she really had to say about mines was that she loved my enthusiasm to explore different routes and that I took care with how i display work. She reflected on the order of my portfolio and said it was well thought through and she particularly liked my end sting work for the RAC. 

 

True North (Alan Herron)

Last year I went to visit Alan Herron at True North with my portfolio. He was ok with my work but said he would like me to go back to see him six months later with an improved portfolio. So I did...

Yesterday at 10am I arrived. We sat down in his office and the first piece of work we looked at was the posters me and Jordan produced for the Tolerance brief. Straight away he warmed to the idea of highlighting small, intolerable issues within the community and said we'd executed the imagery well. The only down fall he saw was that the same idea and imagery ran throughout the whole campaign. He said he would have liked "to see a bit of diversity".

The second piece of work we looked at was my 2nd year magazine work which Alan had already seen. However this was one particular piece that he had told me to improve and he was really pleased with what I had done. He asked a lot about the reasons behind decisions this regards to type, placements, imagery, compositions. Said he was conscious of every small detail so I had a lot to say. Overall he was happy with the magazine and really liked the spreads and use of imagery.

We then looked at my promotional work for the Brass Band Museum. First of all he congratulated me for my logo. Said it was "really well thought through and arranged". Only one small issue arose and that was the logo slightly repeated itself by having two trumpets for the 'b' and 'd' in band. And the direct mail he said we're nice and bold, expressive and he would have liked to have seen and bit more risk taking with my ideas. He said he could see the idea but not a thorough execution.

Onto my RAC end sting and all he had to say was "brilliant, i get it, it works even in print, well done"...

Next was my pencil shavings typeface which he didn't really have much to say about. He just said it was nice and that it worked. Applying the typeface in a poster worked well, which I did, and that was that really.

The last piece which is very exciting for me at the minute and one that I couldn't wait to show him was the metro campaign that me and Jordan have worked on. Straight way he said "there's such a clear difference in this piece of work and the first piece (tolerance) from the rest. These two pieces are well executed, clear to understand, and I get them". So that was brilliant! Given these two pieces are this years work it shows that I've improved and come a long way. So in all it was a great visit and he would like me to go back when I finish and said there might be possible placements...  

     

Almeter Design

On November 13, myself, Jordan and Andrew Dranfield set off to Brooklyn, New York, in search of a small cafe where we would hope to meet Andrew Almeter, head of Almeter Design, for a discussion about our portfolios.

At exactly 11.00 am the three of us bumped into Andrew right outside the cafe that we had arranged to meet at. Bizarre I know. We each grabbed a coffee and sat at the back of this beautiful, all American internet cafe on a round sofa with comfy cushions. 

He seemed very keen to tell us his history and said it was important to really get into the industry as quickly as possible after graduating. After graduation, Andrew joined a design firm, on a placement, where he learnt everything you need to know when you're starting out. He stayed there for four years after going onto work with a British woman from London as a collaboration. Unfortunately she has now left and moved across the states, so he now has his own company. He also enjoyed telling us about his working methods and ideas. Since being in the industry he has always kept a board on the wall where he keeps things he collects and finds that give him inspiration. He enjoys working combining illustrative work with work done on the mac.   

When I showed him my work he was really impressed! Very positive. He really loved my pencil shaving type face which, I must admit, before going, I was reluctant to put in. But it was certainly worth it. He said I was creative with type and layout and had a natural instinct. However he said again that the layout of the portfolio could be worked on in terms of stronger and weaker work. He said that it is important to show good, strong work at the front and back of the portfolio. I will definitely work on this aspect. But other than that it was a brilliant hour and a half... 

Potion Design

There we were, me and Jordan Harrison, trecking through China Town in the city of New York until we came across building 256...

We were greeted by the team of Potion design in the studio and he stepped forward to take us into a much smaller room where we could show our work and discuss ideas. Potion Design are an interactive design group which means they design work to be displayed via projection methods whereby the audience can interact, like a touch screen mobile phone.

We first spoke about the companies work and asked a few relevant questions as to how the team works and how they collaborate. It was really insightful and one thing we learnt is that you have to be very patient with clients. Never assume that if you aren't happy with feedback as to what what areas of a job need scrapping and changing, that you can simply disagree and find another client. He said there have been many times that he's sent work to a client and has had to change things so much to an extent where the initial work was barely recognisable. So that really made me think about how to be able to drop ideas just like that. Even though you may love them and think they're the answer.

After had looked at both our portfolios, we both recieved similar reviews. One thing he was particularly interested in was the order in which our work was featured in our portfolios. He felt that we hadn't displayed some of our stronger work at the front and towards the back. He advised us to thoroughly check our layout before meeting with somebody in the future. But overall he was very impressed with our work. Said there were areas to improve but to continue getting stronger at what we're doing. We left with a small book each containing samples of Potion's work and were very happy with how the whole thing went. It was a very positive experience and one that I hope to have again.       

True North

Today 7/05/09 I went on my 1st portfolio visit to meet Alan Herron from True North. As nerves settled and the lift dropped me off on the forth floor of 57 Hilton Street, I suddenly felt relaxed and really looked forward to it.

He shook my hand and we headed for a little office. I revealed my portfolio and he had a careful look through it. He told me that my main problem was the lack of taking creative thinking further in every project. He said he would have liked to see other versions of certain parts, e.g. a series of posters. However he said that the content was fine and there were some really good ideas developing. The layout was fine and the feel of the work was quite strong. I listened carefully to what he had to say and and took into consideration revisiting some of my work to develop further.

In all it was a nice, calm, informal visit which I'll take a lot from. It was also really exciting to have been in a real, professional design studio...