You have an interview at a large multidisciplinary studio.
-Prep for the interview prepare a short statement about yourself (we have had past workshops on this)
-A short statement about your technical skills (examples)
Throughout my degree my focus has been predominantly on typography, lettering and calligraphy. This means u have becom very well aquatinted with letter forms and the nuances of kerning, spacing and typographical layout. This allows me to work closely on type based brands as well, creating custom type. A prime example of this would be my hypothetical re brand of the feminist magazine Parallel. This brand was a careful meeting of custom type and image to create a complex message of strength in femininity, which was a difficult message to balance. A close understanding of the construction the letters which make up a logo, allow a much better construction and application of the complete brand with intelligence and continuity. This includes digital applications. Although I only have a small aquaintence with the actual act of coding, I have designed for web on many occasions. This requires a go understanding of the limitations of the medium and the way people interact with digital content. This can be seen in my work for The Leess Arts Party conference, for which I United the UX design approach for the website and printed guide to create a cohesive and easily understood experience.
-A short statement about your work experience (examples)
My first considerable experience of the creative industries was when I interned with Belynda Sharples at The Art of Wallpaper. This internship was basically being Belynda's assistant for several weeks, during which I was integrated into the design process and introduced to the industrial printing processes involved in wallpaper production. This experience allowed me to learn that flexibility and creativity come hand in hand, and being able to role with the last minuet changes is crucial to a successful outcome. I also learned that as creatives we dictate what makes us happy and fulfilled by our work and finding and focussing on that allows the best work to be produced.
I have also recently be elected as the communications officer for the LCA SU. The role involves designing the large campaigns that they need promotional material for, such as Fresher and the Student Elections. The responsibility of this role makes it worth mentioning here. I am given a budget to keep to for each project and I negotiate with the printers about all design outcomes for each campaign. This has allowed me to really understand the requirements of commercial graphic design and the considerations that have to be made to keep to budget and deadline, also with a good outcome.
I also recently applied for the internship program at Dalton Maag type foundry in Brixston. Although I didn't get a place straight out (there were hundreds of applicants) I am at the top of the short list, should anyone not be able to make it.
-Statement about your work as a team and independently.
The SU work I have been doing, as mentioned above, also includes much conversation and decision making as a group with the rest of the SU. This means a state of almost constant collaboration with lots of people. This is a great training ground for collaboration in general and has allowed me to develop both a creative back bone I.e. Knowing when to stand up for your concepts, and also how to introduce diplomacy into the equation; making the best of having external opinions to help develop a concept or aesthetic.
In terms of my internal college studio work, I am constantly on the look out for collaboration. I love working with other people and I am pretty good at it. The way I develop ideas is to discuss them, to get them out into the open and into the mixing bowl of other peoples' minds. This means that group work is often where I do my best work. When it comes to leading a group I am more than happy yet also now when to step back and take direction.
Working independently is a surprisingly similar story. I still work conversationally and orchestrate a number of informal Frits with my peers to talk about my ideas and direction for each brief. I am well aware that I am designing not for my own eyes, but other peoples' and therefore the perspective of others is quintecencial to good design. I have a very hands on approach to the design process its self. This is because my method of fully understanding things is often to draw them. Before getting on a computer, at least some time has to be spent with a pencil, then a more solid direction can be formed and later experimentation have a greater sense of purpose and certainty.
-Statement about your communication skills, customers, clients, peers and organisations.
Spoken communication is probably one of my strongest points as a designer. I love meeting new people and for me design is all about the people you get to know, from other designers to clients. for example, I much prefer communication in person or over the phone, emails can seem very cold to me. Which is not to say they are not practical. When dealing with printers on the SU's behalf, all communication was done over the phone. Speaking with one another just makes everything clearer.
I greatly enjoy presentations as long as I have been given long enough to quaint myself fully with the content. The key is most definitely preparation! Most of all I feel quite comfortable talking to people/an audience about a great idea or what I do, I love it, so talking about it is easy.
Part of my work as a letterer includes chalkboards for independent cafes and shops. This process is very much a social one, in which you sit down and talk to the client at length about what they want to communicate. There is also an aspect of performance to the process as well. With people watching you creating the board and talking to you about what you are doing. This is part of what the client is paying for, the idea of people caring about every aspect of their business and being able to openly converse with new people is part of that.
-Statement about your understanding of graphic design. What is graphic design to you.
To me graphic design is all about people. Whether it be the people you to aspire to work with or like, or the people you create work for and learn from in so doing. Graphic design is about communicating with people and doing so as effectively as possible because you strive to understand those people. I love what I do, the process the trials, the errors, but it is everyone I know because of what I do that is the soul and centre of why I do it.
Start defining what you need to do when applying for a job and what there is to shout about when it comes to your work and what you have achieved.
-work collaboratively
- aquaintence yourself with more typographic programming.
-consider continuity of work in portfolio context.
-start talking to more studios and practitioners.
-communication skills
-collaborative instinct
-I have contributed considerably to the college
-created many opportunities for myself because of it.
Become comfortable with this information and get into twos and conduct mock interviews with a set series of questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment