Phil O'Shaughnessy - London Interior Design

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