Over the summer, I've been talking to many people at family events about my plans for the future, and my hopes of getting into the design industry. This has helped me get contacts as it turns out, a few members of my extensive family know people in the design industry. My cousins' wife introduced me to Phil O'Shaughnessy, an interior designer from London. And I have found his emails very helpful, and has said he may even help me get more contacts elsewhere!
Here is the contact report:
Hello Phil
Its Katherine here, Helen and Ben said I could contact you with any enquiries I have. Thanks for helping me out.
I am currently in my final year of my degree course at Stockport College, and it is obviously quite important that I start to look into the industry and seek out as much contact and advice I can. I spoke to Helen at a wedding about my future and she mentioned your name, and so I hope you don't mind me contacting you for a bit of advice.
I am currently writing a Journal that is marked at the end of the year and goes towards my final degree mark. I can choose any subject for this Journal, so I decided to go with something I am most interested in, and also how it can help my practice in the mean time.
The subject I have chosen is 'The creative process'. Since studying graphic design I have always thought about what it is that makes graphic designers think of the one great idea that cracks the brief. I, myself have found it sometimes an almost 'torturous' process in my quest for the great idea that gets a 'wow' from the audience.
I was just enquiring, as to whether you have a creative process yourself?
Here are some questions I have put together, and when you have the time I would be very grateful to see how you find your way to the great idea?
What are your first steps…when you first given a brief?
What motivates you as a designer? Do you have particular historical, social, contemporary interests?
Does the interest in these designers/canons/themes sometimes get in the way of searching for something more ‘off the wall’ or do you strive in searching out less known, perhaps more individual talent?
What emotions do you go through within the creative process towards the great idea?
Do you consider every idea from your team? Even if it is really silly, do you still see the potential or just knock it on the head straight away?
When a stop-gap occurs, how do you solve it?
What is your plan, is there structure to achieving the great idea?
Are you not satisfied until you get a ‘wow’ from the viewer/audience?
Do you edit/change your creative process depending on the deadline?
As a creative director/team leader, do you decide what ideas to develop or is this a group decision?
Thanking you in anticipation
Katherine Speak
Hi Katherine
No worries about helping you out. I think it is important to pass on any help I can to younger designers – it was not that long ago when I was coming into the industry.
What are your current plans with regards to career path/ moving towards employment and do you have any preconceived ideas on what you think life in the graphic design industry will be like?
I don’t actually work in the graphics industry but I head up our London interior design studio and study a lot of graphics for the purpose of working with clients for branding purposes.
When talking about a creative process I think it is more important to have certain disciplines and to keep an open mind, as different briefs may require different ways of approaching them.
I’ll print off the questions and take a look at them over the weekend – it’ll be good to take a break from the grind and go through them properly and I’ll get back to you early next week.
I think this is a useful exercise for me to go through and may even highlight areas that could be addressed in our internal creative process. Who knows - watch this space.
How many contacts do you need to make for your Journal. I am pretty good friends with quite a few graphic designers and could look into getting them on board too if you want? One of my friends from outside work runs her own graphics company. She’s getting very successful in quite a short space of time (clients include NME, Ted Baker and she writes for Computer Arts Projects). I can ask her if you like, although her answer will undoubtedly involve sitting down at her Mac and listening to Hot Chip all day whilst drinking Red Bull... and playing with her dog.
Cheers;
Phil
Hello Phil
Thanks for getting back to me. In fact, I've just been for an interview with a graphic designer in Manchester who is part of a design company called 'Music'. It is very interesting to find out each designers own unique work process, so yes if you do know other graphic designers I would be very grateful if I could contact them with some questions?
When I finish my final year I plan to try and visit as many agencies as possible with my portfolio, and hopefully a placement will come out of doing that. I am especially interested in advertisement campaigns, but to be honest any kind of agency that designs book covers, posters, billboards, or anything like that I'll be interested in joining.
I went for a few portfolio visits last year where I visited 'Music' and 'LOVE creative', which are based in Manchester, and whilst I was waiting to talk to a designer I took in the surroundings and the way people were working, and it appeared to be quite calm and collected. I remember when visiting Music, one of the designers said they sit down, discuss the brief and then crack on with it and then when the work is done they celebrate with a few drinks in the Northern Quarter. It all seemed like a happy and positive atmosphere that I feel would suit me well! I think I need to visit more agencies and designers so I can get a better feel of what it would be like to work in the industry, so that is my aim for my final year.
I liked what you said about keeping an open mind about briefs, the designer I have just spoken to today said he gets his best ideas when he is doing little tasks such as the washing up or getting the bus home. And even in his sleep!
I'm glad my questions are going to help you look at your own creative processes, I will be finding about so many - I'll be more than happy to email you my final journal once its completed, that will be sometime around next January.
It would be very helpful if you asked your friend who runs her own company, she sounds like a very interesting person and I'd like to hear what she had to say! And also if red bull helps her with her own creative process? ...I may have to try that myself.
Regards
Katherine
Hi Katherine
As promised please see below for my responses to your questions:
What are your first steps…when you first given a brief?
Depending upon what format a brief takes will shape my first steps. If I receive a written document as a brief I obviously take that away and go through it with a fine tooth comb. Alternatively, if I receive a brief through a meeting I will generally take notes and ask any necessary questions to clarify any unclear points and take this away to write up as a brief. Once I have amalgamated a brief I will go through it again with a fine tooth comb. This process is essential, and I think it is one of the most vital skills that designers must come out of uni with - how to dissect a brief.
I will look for leads on a project and assess all of the clients needs, but I will also look for any faults in a brief. A client is not trained in the logistics of design and will usually have points in their brief that just won't work - this is what they pay for. We always have to outline the clients main goals so that whatever the final scheme is then we have to be confident that we fulfill the original objectives from the client whether they realise that what the objectives are or not.
For us it is vital to understand how the client works and so once we have dissected a brief it is always important to compose a series of questions from the brief and meet the client to discuss them and gain a thorough understanding of the client and their processes/ brand/ people. It is usually good to have this first meeting on site so that we can always obtain a site survey and study all the restrictions/ opportunities of the site - sometimes they can be the same thing.
Once all of this information is put together the fun part of sketching can begin.
Another point is that we always endeavor to get the client on side and a successful project is usually represented by building a good social relationship with the client and so we have an informal, friendly and fun approach with all projects.
What motivates you as a designer? Do you have particular historical, social, contemporary interests?
I am motivated as a designer by a social responsibility. As a creative industry, designers have the power to change or at least enhance peoples lives and so I believe that everything we design has to be the best we can make it for the benefit of all people involved. Bad design just isn't acceptable as I see it purely for capital gain with no benefit to others what so ever - and it usually damages the environment too.
I also believe that good design should be available to all, not just for the wealthy and so I usually aim to design environments for socially ambitious projects.
Does the interest in these designers/canons/themes sometimes get in the way of searching for something more ‘off the wall’ or do you strive in searching out less known, perhaps more individual talent?
I do not believe that a design should be off the wall, nor do I think a design should be conservative. The only option is that a design should be right for the client and engage all of the stakeholders. If it fulfills this criteria, design can be as off the wall/ conservative as it wants to be. As long as a designer can do this and are not ego driven then I will have faith in them.
What emotions do you go through within the creative process towards the great idea?
I always work and work and keep on working on a design, to the point of obsession. If an idea is great I will push it to maximize its potential. The process usually goes from a joyous obsession through exhaustion to almost a point of hate were I never want to see it again, but then it all comes together and I see why I originally loved it, and so I am happy again.
Do you consider every idea from your team? Even if it is really silly, do you still see the potential or just knock it on the head straight away?
As design team leader I will always consider every idea of the team. I am responsible for the growth of my teams' skills and all of them have to be happy, confident, and feel valued within the team. It is also important that this team does not just involve the designers. We always use people from all aspects of the business to design including admin, procurement, project managers and designers - everybody thinks differently and will all bring something different to the table and the smallest of ideas can often be the key to unlocking a scheme.
One process I employ at the start of a process is something I call a 'sketch off'. We all take away the brief and depending upon the scheme we get between 5-10 minutes when we must have to sketch out a solution to the scheme. After which we all come together and take it in turns to formally present our ideas. Everybody must present something and everybody must crit. After this we repeat the process a few times and the best ideas are usually developed through to something quite tangible at even this early stage. More often than not the really silly ideas are quashed by the team as a whole at this stage and if a silly idea makes it through this process then they can often turn into something brilliant.
When a stop-gap occurs, how do you solve it?
To stay creative ensure we do a number of things:
- Have fun
- Keep up to date with what the industry is doing
- Work like a trojan
If we need a break we often go and play table footy (minimum of a few games every couple of hours). I usually spend a couple of hours a day researching. I will use the internet for design websites like designboom, dexigner etc; we subscribe to a number of design mags that everybody must read and also I go to the library.
No matter whether we have a blank or not we must always keep working. If we can't push an idea past a certain point, put it to one side and work on something else. A solution to a problem can come from anywhere so to keep an active design brain will eventually solve any problem. But to sit back and hope that a solution will come means that you will get nowhere.
What is your plan, is there structure to achieving the great idea?
For me the only way to achieve a great idea is to truly understand what you are designing for. If you have thorough research then the right solution will be evident.
Are you not satisfied until you get a ‘wow’ from the viewer/audience?
First and foremost I have to be confident in the idea before it goes on site. No point spending money on something that I am not satisfied with. More often than not a client cannot read technical drawings that a designer can and so a degree of trust has to be there from the client. I will present the scheme to the client in a manner they can understand so that they are happy. I see a successful project that not only makes the client happy but many other things. However, I am not usually satisfied until the client has been in the new environment for at least 3 months and realise the full functional benefits as well as the aesthetic beauty of a scheme.
Do you edit/change your creative process depending on the deadline?
For me it is more important to manage deadlines properly. It is more important to get things right than to attempt to squeeze a scheme out in too short a timeframe. If you understand your process then you will know how long a project should take and as long you are clear with the client from the offset then a deadline is usually manageable to meet.
As a creative director/team leader, do you decide what ideas to develop or is this a group decision?
I believe that the whole team has to be on board. Its no fun to have to work on a project you do not believe in. If you do this you soon end up with an unhappy workforce which inevitably produce worse work than a happy workforce. However, through the process of the sketch offs we usually come up with a scheme we all believe in.
One point that is important is experience. Having worked in the industry for longer than a lot of my team I can usually see fall downs that they can't. I will always point these out if present in an idea, but I will always give them the opportunity to counter my points as they could quite easily have foreseen these issues and produced a solution that I have never thought of. This is also a 2-way system, as I have to present any concepts to them and more often than not they will gang up on me and point to any failings. But I find this is the most productive way of working for the full benefit of the team. The team is everything and we are more like a family than colleagues and so must be looked after like a family on both a professional and social level.
Good luck and I hope this is helpful to you.
Phil
Friday 9 October 2009
Craig Oldham visit
As part of our Journal work, myself and Mike went to visit Craig Oldham at Music Studios. As we are studying the Creative Process we decided to interview Craig about his own individual Process to finding the right answer to the brief. After a while the meeting did not seem like an interview, more like a discussion, and so I guess thats why time flew by! What Craig had to say was very helpful and informative. We found out things that we did not know previously, so I guess we have got to know the design industry better, and I certainly know a bit more of what to expect of that world when I enter it. We recorded the whole conversation, and so I am going to take quotes of what he said that I can compare with other designers outlook, and it will help me come up with a steady conclusion at the end. A few things that stood out for me in the interview, was how Craig explained his passion for design....in books, on album covers, posters etc. Furthermore, when his work is acknowledged by the public, for instance he designed a poster that was placed around Manchester. He said he enjoys seeing or hearing of people taking down the posters and 'nicking' them, and making them into T-shirts where they sold out. At the end he even had time to give us answers to our questions on portfolio queries. Here is the contact report:
Hello Craig
Katherine here! I'm a student at Stockport College in my final year of my graphic design degree.
I remember when you came to talk to us about your experiences when leaving uni... that talk still stays with me now as the most honest and also probably...the one that contained the most expletives, but it was about time us students were told how life after uni really goes!
So anyway onto my enquiry...
I am currently writing a journal about 'The creative process', and the path that all designers lead to get to their great idea, one that gets a 'wow' from the audience. I am specifically aiming at the ideas behind advertisement campaigns, that I feel I am more interested in.
I have been recently working with Mike Mara, who I know is doing something similar, and is visiting you on Thursday with some questions.
As we have just finished our recent project and found we worked well together, he came to me with the questions that he had constructed to ask designers when he visited them. Together we edited it down so we had a solid set of questions.
One of our ideas recently, whist working together, was for me to come along on Thursday with Mike, and possibly sit in on the interview if that was okay with you? and maybe ask you a few extra questions myself that are specific to my theme?
Regards
Katherine
Hello Craig.
How are things? Are we still ok tomorrow for 2pm? I have been working with Kat Speak on a project to promote a tolerance festival and we have made a good team.
If its not to much trouble, may I bring Kat with me for some questions tomorrow? As the past four weeks have involved our ideas target the same brief, our journals have gone in a similar direction and it would be great if she could come along.
Look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Take care and thanks again.
Mike
Mike,
Yeah of course she can come.
I did receive Katherine's email, just hadn't had chance to reply (sorry), but if she has some questions then great.
See you both at 2.30pm.
Kindest.
Craig.
Hey Craig
Thanks for meeting with us today, it was very informative and a big help. We got everything we needed and now we can continue to write our journals and study the creative process.
I'll email you mine when its finished, should be sometime around next January.
Regards
Katherine
Katherine, hello.
Thanks for the email. It was great to meet you, and my pleasure.
If there's anything else you need you know where I am.
I'll look forward to reading your journal.
Kindest.
Craig.
.....
Hello Craig
Katherine here! I'm a student at Stockport College in my final year of my graphic design degree.
I remember when you came to talk to us about your experiences when leaving uni... that talk still stays with me now as the most honest and also probably...the one that contained the most expletives, but it was about time us students were told how life after uni really goes!
So anyway onto my enquiry...
I am currently writing a journal about 'The creative process', and the path that all designers lead to get to their great idea, one that gets a 'wow' from the audience. I am specifically aiming at the ideas behind advertisement campaigns, that I feel I am more interested in.
I have been recently working with Mike Mara, who I know is doing something similar, and is visiting you on Thursday with some questions.
As we have just finished our recent project and found we worked well together, he came to me with the questions that he had constructed to ask designers when he visited them. Together we edited it down so we had a solid set of questions.
One of our ideas recently, whist working together, was for me to come along on Thursday with Mike, and possibly sit in on the interview if that was okay with you? and maybe ask you a few extra questions myself that are specific to my theme?
Regards
Katherine
Hello Craig.
How are things? Are we still ok tomorrow for 2pm? I have been working with Kat Speak on a project to promote a tolerance festival and we have made a good team.
If its not to much trouble, may I bring Kat with me for some questions tomorrow? As the past four weeks have involved our ideas target the same brief, our journals have gone in a similar direction and it would be great if she could come along.
Look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Take care and thanks again.
Mike
Mike,
Yeah of course she can come.
I did receive Katherine's email, just hadn't had chance to reply (sorry), but if she has some questions then great.
See you both at 2.30pm.
Kindest.
Craig.
Hey Craig
Thanks for meeting with us today, it was very informative and a big help. We got everything we needed and now we can continue to write our journals and study the creative process.
I'll email you mine when its finished, should be sometime around next January.
Regards
Katherine
Katherine, hello.
Thanks for the email. It was great to meet you, and my pleasure.
If there's anything else you need you know where I am.
I'll look forward to reading your journal.
Kindest.
Craig.
Monday 5 October 2009
Danny Jackson from CBBC
Danny Jackson, is an animator and comedian who is currently one of the lead writers for "Iain and Hacker" on CBBC.
I have been emailing him for advice on briefs if, at any time, I have been struggling and find myself at a dead end. His 'off the wall' humour and 'say is at he sees it' attitude has helped me in my journey to finding the great idea.
As this is the main topic for my Journal, I have also started to ask him about his Creative Process.
I will keep you updated with our email conversations here.
Katherine Speak to dannyjack
show details Sep 28 (7 days ago)
Hello Danny
(I am going to put this email in as a contact report on my blog to someone in the design industry so it might be a bit more formal then I would usually have done it ha)
By the way can you remind me of what the programme is called that your working on at the moment with the BBC?
Okay so firstly I'll let you know what I am doing at the moment.
The brief that I told you about at the wedding, thats called 'Tolerance', I think I've got an idea that me and my design partner are working on. We thought of the strapline 'It's not always as simple as counting to ten' because that is what people have to do when they are tolerating something, but in most cases it doesnt work. So we thought we would use numbers in our design to get our idea across...I'll attach our poster for 'queue jumping' and if you could tell me if 1) you get it and
2) if you have any suggestions?
Secondly, I am writing a Journal towards my degree. I have chosen to write about 'The creative process' that every designer has to go through to reach the great idea that gets a 'wow' from the audience. As someone in the creative industry, have you got a 'creative process' that helps you achieve the goal you have set out to do, either in your animation or comedy?
For eg a graphic designer may need to brainstorm as soon as they get a brief, then discuss it for a while, then perhaps ask themselves a few selective questions to try and conjure up a few ideas....
Anyway I hope all that makes sense?!
Looking forward to hearing your answers
Hope all is well
Katherine
danny jack to me
show details Sep 29 (6 days ago)
Hi Katherine,
Nice to hear from you hope you and your bro are good. Since it's a formal email, ive put a suit on, hope that helps :)
The programme I'm working on is called "Iain and Hacker" on CBBC, I'm one of the lead writers.
First off I like the look of your poster, I'm still a little confused as to what it is your poster is for and the specifics of your design brief probably because of all the chaos of the wedding. Are you designing a poster for que jumping in relation to tolerance or just a poster about tolerance in general? If so what specifically are you trying to say, aim for something original yet simple and try to have a solution, if your point is its not always easy to tolerate people then you could be advertising for talk to frank or the samaritains, the idea being you want to offer support to those who are angered easily and let them vent their frustration in a constructive manner. If you come at this from an opposing angle to everyone else you stand out. (If you can back it up).
In terms of suggestions make your message as short as is physically possible, ppl retain so little so short and simple is always best, a slight modification could be; "It's not as simple as counting to 10". Having said that you should try to create an image that communicates everything without words (words are fine but have an image that doesnt need them to strengthen your point and make your poster iconic), your text is very small and people passing by may only see your image. Imagine you're a passer by and see this poster on a wall having no prior knowledge of its message, would you fully grasp what you are trying to say?
Think about choice of colours, reds are quite angry colours so thats good if you want to convey frustration. But simplicity is always key, think about the posters that have stayed in your mind, a big one going round london is dead simple, i've attached it for good measure, the reason i think it works is its simple and powerful, they've also taken the widely recognised idea of ppl asking questionaires with yes or no specific answers i.e "do you shop here often?" and applied it to a philosophical debate, its thought provoking, original and powerful, the fact they'v left boxes to tick invites you to participate mentally in the poster, would a question be better than a statement? Something to think about... get them talking, debate and controversey! Ooohhh....
I like how you have used the symbol of male and female toilets, taking recognisable symbols and twisting them is a great tool because people already have those images burned into their minds, its a short cut to communicating your point.
Hope this is useful and feel free to email back explaining your brief a bit more to me,
All the best,
P.S: If you want to gain extra marks by editting what im saying or you want me to write you a lovely report or whatever that's fine!
Danny Jackson
Katherine Speak to danny
show details 7:32 PM (50 minutes ago)
Hey Danny
Sorry for the late reply, after I received your email I went into college the next day and showed it to my graphics partner Mike, and it was very helpful indeed. Helped us come up with some new ideas. I designed 'To love or to hate. Tolerate' and 'Treat others...' and Mike designed 'Tolerance' with 'race' reddened out though we didnt use that one in our final presentation.
Thanks for your time to look and give me advice on our 'tolerance' brief, in the end I think we did very well.
I was just wondering though if I could ask you a few questions about something else? I am writing a journal towards my degree and its all about 'the creative process'. This is the process designers/ animators/ illustrators etc go through to come up with a really good idea.
If you had time to ponder on it I was wondering whether you could describe your creative process?
For example, your work at the moment... do your team leaders or creative director state what the aim is and you then have to think about the idea, and how you will get to it. What is it you do, and what is the routine you have that takes you to the great idea?
Who decided what is picked?
Is every idea taken into consideration?
If that doesn't make sense or you want to explain more about it then just let me know.
Thanks for your time so far :)
Katherine
Hi Kat,
Here you go!
The Creative Process
What are your first steps…when you first given a brief?
Generally there's a big brainstorm where we all throw ideas out, the writers tend to come to these meetings with ideas prepared already
What motivates you as a designer? Do you have particular historical, social, contemporary interests?
Generally motivated by social injustice and talking animals, it's a weird mix, I also find its really important to do somethnig original yet accessable to an audience.
Does the interest in these designers/canons/themes sometimes get in the way of searching for something more ‘off the wall’ or do you strive in searching out less known, perhaps more individual talent?
I think its important to have a balance but never write anything you don't believe in, its about making your ideas accessable, I also think you can and should take most briefs in your own direction, this is art after all, we're not typing up memos.
What emotions do you go through within the creative process towards the great idea?
I get giddy then anxious that I'm not good enough to write it, then cross with myself then write it out of fear of a looming deadline, usual stuff really.
Do you consider every idea from your team? Even if it is really silly, do you still see the potential or just knock it on the head straight away?
I try and consider every idea, if we have a situation where everyone disagrees we consider who has the most experience in that area and they get the final say. we also talk about how important it is to seperate the idea from the ego.
When a stop-gap occurs, how do you solve it?
Group meeting where we offer each other advice/ throw biscuits things at each other
What is your plan, is there structure to achieving the great idea?
Deadlines, regular meetings, structure over who gets the final say on certain areas of the work; writers get final say on writing and the animators on the art.
Are you not satisfied until you get a ‘wow’ from the viewer/audience?
Yes that's right, comedians need a lot of attention
Do you edit/change your creative process depending on the deadline?
I try to, although sometimes we're overly ambitious, I currently have 4 days to write a short film from scratch in my spare time... it's not gonig to work
As a creative director/team leader, do you decide what ideas to develop or is this a group decision?
It's a group decision, we all have to be happy with an idea
I have been emailing him for advice on briefs if, at any time, I have been struggling and find myself at a dead end. His 'off the wall' humour and 'say is at he sees it' attitude has helped me in my journey to finding the great idea.
As this is the main topic for my Journal, I have also started to ask him about his Creative Process.
I will keep you updated with our email conversations here.
Katherine Speak to dannyjack
show details Sep 28 (7 days ago)
Hello Danny
(I am going to put this email in as a contact report on my blog to someone in the design industry so it might be a bit more formal then I would usually have done it ha)
By the way can you remind me of what the programme is called that your working on at the moment with the BBC?
Okay so firstly I'll let you know what I am doing at the moment.
The brief that I told you about at the wedding, thats called 'Tolerance', I think I've got an idea that me and my design partner are working on. We thought of the strapline 'It's not always as simple as counting to ten' because that is what people have to do when they are tolerating something, but in most cases it doesnt work. So we thought we would use numbers in our design to get our idea across...I'll attach our poster for 'queue jumping' and if you could tell me if 1) you get it and
2) if you have any suggestions?
Secondly, I am writing a Journal towards my degree. I have chosen to write about 'The creative process' that every designer has to go through to reach the great idea that gets a 'wow' from the audience. As someone in the creative industry, have you got a 'creative process' that helps you achieve the goal you have set out to do, either in your animation or comedy?
For eg a graphic designer may need to brainstorm as soon as they get a brief, then discuss it for a while, then perhaps ask themselves a few selective questions to try and conjure up a few ideas....
Anyway I hope all that makes sense?!
Looking forward to hearing your answers
Hope all is well
Katherine
danny jack to me
show details Sep 29 (6 days ago)
Hi Katherine,
Nice to hear from you hope you and your bro are good. Since it's a formal email, ive put a suit on, hope that helps :)
The programme I'm working on is called "Iain and Hacker" on CBBC, I'm one of the lead writers.
First off I like the look of your poster, I'm still a little confused as to what it is your poster is for and the specifics of your design brief probably because of all the chaos of the wedding. Are you designing a poster for que jumping in relation to tolerance or just a poster about tolerance in general? If so what specifically are you trying to say, aim for something original yet simple and try to have a solution, if your point is its not always easy to tolerate people then you could be advertising for talk to frank or the samaritains, the idea being you want to offer support to those who are angered easily and let them vent their frustration in a constructive manner. If you come at this from an opposing angle to everyone else you stand out. (If you can back it up).
In terms of suggestions make your message as short as is physically possible, ppl retain so little so short and simple is always best, a slight modification could be; "It's not as simple as counting to 10". Having said that you should try to create an image that communicates everything without words (words are fine but have an image that doesnt need them to strengthen your point and make your poster iconic), your text is very small and people passing by may only see your image. Imagine you're a passer by and see this poster on a wall having no prior knowledge of its message, would you fully grasp what you are trying to say?
Think about choice of colours, reds are quite angry colours so thats good if you want to convey frustration. But simplicity is always key, think about the posters that have stayed in your mind, a big one going round london is dead simple, i've attached it for good measure, the reason i think it works is its simple and powerful, they've also taken the widely recognised idea of ppl asking questionaires with yes or no specific answers i.e "do you shop here often?" and applied it to a philosophical debate, its thought provoking, original and powerful, the fact they'v left boxes to tick invites you to participate mentally in the poster, would a question be better than a statement? Something to think about... get them talking, debate and controversey! Ooohhh....
I like how you have used the symbol of male and female toilets, taking recognisable symbols and twisting them is a great tool because people already have those images burned into their minds, its a short cut to communicating your point.
Hope this is useful and feel free to email back explaining your brief a bit more to me,
All the best,
P.S: If you want to gain extra marks by editting what im saying or you want me to write you a lovely report or whatever that's fine!
Danny Jackson
Katherine Speak to danny
show details 7:32 PM (50 minutes ago)
Hey Danny
Sorry for the late reply, after I received your email I went into college the next day and showed it to my graphics partner Mike, and it was very helpful indeed. Helped us come up with some new ideas. I designed 'To love or to hate. Tolerate' and 'Treat others...' and Mike designed 'Tolerance' with 'race' reddened out though we didnt use that one in our final presentation.
Thanks for your time to look and give me advice on our 'tolerance' brief, in the end I think we did very well.
I was just wondering though if I could ask you a few questions about something else? I am writing a journal towards my degree and its all about 'the creative process'. This is the process designers/ animators/ illustrators etc go through to come up with a really good idea.
If you had time to ponder on it I was wondering whether you could describe your creative process?
For example, your work at the moment... do your team leaders or creative director state what the aim is and you then have to think about the idea, and how you will get to it. What is it you do, and what is the routine you have that takes you to the great idea?
Who decided what is picked?
Is every idea taken into consideration?
If that doesn't make sense or you want to explain more about it then just let me know.
Thanks for your time so far :)
Katherine
Hi Kat,
Here you go!
The Creative Process
What are your first steps…when you first given a brief?
Generally there's a big brainstorm where we all throw ideas out, the writers tend to come to these meetings with ideas prepared already
What motivates you as a designer? Do you have particular historical, social, contemporary interests?
Generally motivated by social injustice and talking animals, it's a weird mix, I also find its really important to do somethnig original yet accessable to an audience.
Does the interest in these designers/canons/themes sometimes get in the way of searching for something more ‘off the wall’ or do you strive in searching out less known, perhaps more individual talent?
I think its important to have a balance but never write anything you don't believe in, its about making your ideas accessable, I also think you can and should take most briefs in your own direction, this is art after all, we're not typing up memos.
What emotions do you go through within the creative process towards the great idea?
I get giddy then anxious that I'm not good enough to write it, then cross with myself then write it out of fear of a looming deadline, usual stuff really.
Do you consider every idea from your team? Even if it is really silly, do you still see the potential or just knock it on the head straight away?
I try and consider every idea, if we have a situation where everyone disagrees we consider who has the most experience in that area and they get the final say. we also talk about how important it is to seperate the idea from the ego.
When a stop-gap occurs, how do you solve it?
Group meeting where we offer each other advice/ throw biscuits things at each other
What is your plan, is there structure to achieving the great idea?
Deadlines, regular meetings, structure over who gets the final say on certain areas of the work; writers get final say on writing and the animators on the art.
Are you not satisfied until you get a ‘wow’ from the viewer/audience?
Yes that's right, comedians need a lot of attention
Do you edit/change your creative process depending on the deadline?
I try to, although sometimes we're overly ambitious, I currently have 4 days to write a short film from scratch in my spare time... it's not gonig to work
As a creative director/team leader, do you decide what ideas to develop or is this a group decision?
It's a group decision, we all have to be happy with an idea
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