|
Marylin Chiaverina, Illustration and Visual Media. For the last few months I have been focusing on my self-initiated project Lin Trips. Here is the Brief: I plan to create this webcomic by collecting from memories or talking to my family about theirs to form the short narratives. I plan to publish these on Webtoon, a platform for self-published comics, which is easily accessible both in the UK and outside. My webcomic will be in a Tim Burton’s style mixed with my own as I believe this will make the webcomic peculiar enough to be noticed and will also represent me as a person and push my art skills further as I usually not use this style of drawing for projects. The artwork will be both created digitally and analogue as I believe some of the markings/colours are beautiful and fit the art style well, and will be advantaged by the digital work, I would also like to experiment further to decide the ratio between the two. Lin Trips was born from my desire to create a webcomic and my Thematic Project: Migration as a Graphic Narratives where I have explained what brought my family in the UK. The characters I created for the project were all happily excepted by my family. As a result, I decided to spend more time on them so they could look decent.                     These are the initial designs sketches. The sketching was a challenge. As a perfectionist I had problems remembering that I should have fun not stress myself out. The book: ‘Things You Think In A Bar’ by Tim Burton made me finally calm down and stop stressing on how everything needs to be 100% perfect. In every step of the way on recreating the final designs I had constant feedback from my mum and sister, as they were their representations. This process was both stressful but also rewarding since the feedback was always supportive.  The next step was the title design. Here a few:      Thinking back this part was the most experimental out of all the work I done so far, not sure if that is a good thing. The tape title won the favour of everyone that I showed it to, so it become the template for the official title.   Reflecting on this, the choice was perfect. The design suits Lin Trips well. I believe so because the title represents me, on how clumsy it looks and how it is straight up in the title: Lin Trips, it supposed to be messy and experimental. Collecting stories can be time consuming as I am a chatterbox when I start talking. This brought a small delay. The first time I had to go through the process of asking my family if they had any funny stories to tell resulted in me talking over an hour with my mum. Taking notes was even worse because my handwriting is messy and sometimes, I struggle to read it as well. Emotion sketching was relaxing and turned out to be greatly helpful when it come down to me creating the webcomic. Here some:           The first episode: Introduction had an awkward and time-consuming way of making. It started with small visual to help me create better sketch layouts, I made four of them. These would have been copied, two panels per page. Next recopied onto tracing paper to be scanned in, the next step was to make it digital and fixed up on Photoshop. The reason why I chooses this software over than Illustrator is because I like the first one’s brushes collection more.                When completed I tried and failed to colour the first panel, this backfired as you can see:  After this I decided to go less extravagant and do a black, white, and red colouring. This was a good second plan as it looks nice and fits the style of Lin Trips better than the first attempt. This episode had a lot of errors and it took a lot of work and time to be completed. I am planning to fix and republish this when I have time to spare. The Second Episode: The Mirror Accident had the same formula as the one before, but this time around I was only able to create three different layouts for it. The other difference was my unsuccessful attempt to create one page out of the several one-page panel I have been working on.  This too will be corrected later one when I have time. From week 4 onward the layouts and style were set. I dropped the coping in bigger two panels in one-page system I had and the tracing paper altogether to create panels as the story required instead to have a set measurement. The ‘formula’ now used to create them is: get the first sketching done while reading the story, then modify them in a panel sequence. Show people the end results and ask them to choose, take the successful layout and modify it on Photoshop, shade it in, sign it and prof read it before publishing the episode.     I am currently using this way of working as it is quicker than the previous one. This is in case if something happens, for example I got stuck and having a few lateness for publishing the episodes, this style makes it easier to catch up. Failed episodes. I currently own 3 unpublished episodes. This is because not all make sense and/or are funny. One does not make any sense in the English language, one can be funny only with a wider context, the last one does not make sense to other people. These examples did slow down my production a lot unfortunately. Next Step:
I will read more carefully what has been suggested on the review of the formative assessment and make choices based on them.
1 Comment
Foteini Spyridakou Graphic and Media Design For the past couple of months I have been doing freelance work for a startup company in Ireland. It’s a small organization that is looking to tackle a specific issue regarding hygiene and oral care. There is not a lot that I can disclose about the project due to the nature of the company not have gone public with it yet, but it has been a very interesting experience so far. This job presented itself to me at a time when I really needed something to help me find my way again. Around the summer months I was going through a lot of personal struggles, which pushed back a lot of the planning I had in mind for my year off on DPS. A couple of months before leaving for summer break I had heard about this project through friends and had offered my help if they ever needed it. And a couple months later in all the darkness there came a light in the tunnel in an opportunity that not only gave me a new and very much appreciated experience, but the very needed time for healing and finding my passion in my work and self again. They took me on board to work on the product design aspect of their mission. I was given a general idea of what they wanted before hitting the drawing board. To begin I have to say I have been very lucky. The people I have had the pleasure to work for are very understanding, and transparent with me. What’s very different about working with a startup such as this is that you get to interact with the “big boss” as they say in movies. The people with the vision, and the drive. It allows you to create a relationship with your employers that I have only heard about, but never seen. I have talked to these people, seen them, exchanged emails. Its truly a special opportunity, I don’t think I can even express it correctly. And its truly an honor, because its such a unique experience, especially for me as a designer having an open playing field, being part of something entirely new, and partaking in the building of this company is a big responsibility, but so much fun. Working freelance came with a whole new set of challenges. To begin with I was undertaking a product design project. I have a history in product design, due to taking Design technology in High school, but after two years of only doing graphic design I appeared to be a little rusty. I had to give myself sometime to familiarize myself with the process. It was a fun and exciting new challenge with many areas for self-improvement, but at the same time really challenged my self-control and time management. I no longer had a traditional schedule to keep me consistent. It was now my responsibility to keep track of my contributions to the project, but also myself. I had to make sure that I was staying on top of my work, while taking care of my personal health. I had to be a boss, a parent, a tutor, a hazard, a mess, a tornado. I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly. The days I felt motivated, and the days I felt like everything I was creating was a total disaster. But that was the fun in it, seeing the disasters turn into good learning experiences, and finally outcomes. I have had the opportunity to expand my skillset as well through this freelance opportunity. I had to produce prototypes for the clients, and in order to do that I had to seek out the help of 3D printers. A form of technology I had never used before. Started by completing the induction at UAL, and booking my first session on the 3D printer. From there I was off producing prototypes. However, like the rest of my journey so far there were good and bad days with printing. Some days I would get a complete print, while others the print would fail. And other days the print would fail for a number of days, which often set me back since I couldn’t report back on time to my clients. But as I mentioned, I have been lucky, my clients accepted the failures with me and waited for the successful prints. And when we had successful prints we all got so excited as this project was coming closer to becoming real. And with the failures also came good things. As I spent more time in the workshop I started to become more comfortable and more knowledgeable with the 3D printers and the staff. They taught me how to change the material, and what warnings I should look out for, and any questions I had they would help me out. I’m very happy I’ve had the opportunity to learn from the staff and play around with this new technology. As of right now I have sent my clients my first prototypes, and they have been approved so my new task is to work on the logo of the product. So I guess I have got my work cut out for me.   I am Inés Mencos, a design for Art Direction student who has started a DPS internship in McCann in Madrid. For those who don’t know, McCann is a worldwide advertising agency with offices around the world. However, for me, moving to Madrid is coming back home. Having started the 9th of September means I have not yet had time to grow in the company, yet it has made me realize a few things about the industry.
I have been accepted as a full-time Trainee, which means I am able to participate in briefings, attend meetings and present ideas for designs. This week I undertook two briefings with my ‘tutors’ – An Art Director and a Copyright – which meant I would be able to attend and participate in brainstorm sessions and meetings with the clients. The first brief consisted in creating a sports campaign that alluded, yet not mentioned, the Olympics that are coming up; a challenging brief. I am not a great sports fan which meant I was useful as I represented a target they were trying to reach. This campaign has great cultural connotations as sports is a huge part of Spanish culture (just as I am writing this the entirety of the office floor is grouped around five computers watching the basketball game). However, sports is part of our day-to-day life, its in our language, the way we live, and the way we feel about our country. Even though you don’t watch sports, you live it some way or another. Yet, besides football, other sports don’t have as much finances to promote their work, which is why this campaign is so culturally emotional. Working in advertising means you always have to be on top of news, behaviors, and debates. Taking into account actual debates and facts when creating campaigns and advertising spots is fundamental to avoid backlash or create opportunities in earned media for brands to interact with actual themes and debates, facing the future. That a brand faces the future is basic in its communication as it will help it grow commercially, politically and socially. It is also necessary to be on top of advertising trends and movements; to encourage action, to promote open-mindness and inspire social action. It is crucial to remove a brand from forwards-facing political interaction, it can greatly and negatively affect its perception, which has the ability to harm it economically as working in an advertising agency means you have to distance your personal political opinion if it can interfere with the brands’, and if so, speak up before taking up a project. Collaboration is key, in communication you are never alone, and a good team is needed for achieving results, brainstorming in the workspace, and learning to leave work in the workspace is something that I challenge with often. Having returned to Spain after 3 years of living in the UK is an interesting adaptative experience; to get used to a different work and study environment, timetable or cultural relationship to work is an interesting challenge to undertake during this DPS year. Charlene De La Cruz Illustration and Visual Media During this DPS year, it feels like I’ve just graduated and out having to find my place in this world. I didn’t expect to feel like this but now I think about it, I don’t know what I was expecting. There are times where I seriously regret doing the DPS year but then I look at how I was at 2nd year and I need to go on this adventure. This time last year, I had no direction into what I even wanted to do after I graduate and now, I feel like a more mature person through the ideas I have now on where I want to be in the future. There are still mistakes I do that I need to learn from such as how to use blogs more often and as a way of self-evaluating. Blogging is a massive part of my course of Illustration and we get graded on how we look at our craft and analyse it daily so before going into my last year, it is something I must practice on. One element of my craft that I wanted to work on in DPS and is something I have been certainly working on in the first few months was my Portfolio. I need to make my Portfolio a lot stronger and work a lot harder to compete in the Creative Industry. To achieve this, I have been I am currently working on a few commissions from friends and some companies This is helping me expand my Portfolio on different types of Storytelling and also give me experience in working with Clients and the way I should communicate with them. To also strengthen my Portfolio and Skills, I have decided to explore Graphic Design online courses to improve my work and broaden what projects I could take on in the future. After my last blog, I was working on 2 projects which were both at university. One of them was a print project for the Scene-Stealer Collective I am a part of and the other was a collaboration with an MA Screenwriter to do the posters for his TV show “Temp Ting”. I have just wrapped up these projects and I loved the experience of working with people with the same passion and motivation as me. As I have a major interest in Films, the Scene-Stealers Collective is helping me grow into a drawing style that I would like to carry on and experiment with. The Collective has given me a platform to show work that I am passionate about and this style of work interests me as it’s reinterpreting someone else’s work/movie. I enjoy how I could change the scene into something that could have been a better angle to a movie scene.  For the Collaboration with the MA Screenwriter at LCC, I produced a main poster and 6-episode posters for his TV Show “Temp Ting”, each poster represents an episode, to display at the Degree Show and for Pitch Visuals. From this experience with Temp Ting, I have learnt how to deal with clients in the ways of keeping them updated and asking if there are any changes in the TV show. The Screenwriter I was working with had to change his episodes and as I was working on his episode poster, I had to start from scratch in September. I loved working on this project as I was working with someone with the same mindset and ideas which was very beneficial, however, I know it isn’t always going to be like that. I was extremely lucky with who I got as a client and I need to be prepared that, next time, I might not be so lucky. I enjoyed how I was able to experiment a lot with imagery because no one has done a poster for his show before. It challenged my imagination as the Scene-Stealer Collective is something I am used to doing and there are many alternative posters for Movies I look at in the Collective, while this project made me think of perspective and things that haven’t been done before.
As I am nearly finishing off the planned projects, I have planned my Self-initiated project which I will start in December and is a follow-up project from a 2nd Year Self-initiated project that I want to develop more. It is influenced on campaigning against the Stigma of Mental Illness. This project is influenced by the success of Extinction Rebellion and I am experimenting with how I can make my Campaign more interactive. I have also reached out to the Production courses and asked if they need any help and a student has come back to me about working on their Film Project in December which is something, I would love to be involved in. I really would like to get some experience in Production to have a feel of it and see if it is something I want to pursue. So those 2 projects are planned to keep me going for the next few months, although, I am still searching for internships to explore my options. It’s been some time I have been volunteering here at the charity hospital. I’ve been recording daily images a lot. Images inspired by the abundant nature of Kkottongnae, the community members, my developing perspectives, and my daily reflection.
Thinking back, I regret a little when I refused my first commission on leaflet design. A Sister wanted me to take on character design and the entire design of a leaflet including format, font, images. I had some confidence in character design part, but I wasn’t confident about the entire format design of leaflet and was worried about the request of having it made within just a week. I kind of gave neutral response and she kept encouraging me but, she didn’t ask me further in the end. I feel bad that I missed that opportunity now. I don’t have confidence in my outcomes. I think the main reason behind such feeling comes from pursuing some kind of perfection, that I must create something that would be appreciated by everyone, something that would show off about my capabilities and something that could put people in awe. I feel like that useless thing creates stress before I start anything. Now that I think about it, what could have happened if I took that commission and saw for myself? Even if the outcome was messy and no where near to my satisfaction, I still would have gained a good experience. I was really shocked recently when M.H showed me his progress on what I had only jokingly asked him to do. A few days ago after learning about his wooden craft skills, I asked him to create something for me in hope to observe and learn his practice. He had his wood prepared already, How could he put into immediate action of what he has in his head, in such a short timeframe? Where does he get his motivation and confidence in his decision from? Whenever I plan to create something, I struggle with the smallest decision. I get scared that I’ll run into things too big to deal with. But M.H knows what he wants, he finds what he needs and eagerly asks for help from surrounding people. That’s another scary factor for me. Asking people for help. All these seem like such a long process and for me, each small step brings in a huge amount of worries and hypothesises. It’s frustrating but powerful. I need more grit and diligence. The amount of work and activity people could take would differ by nature, but it definitely could enhanced if I have the will to try and improve I usually record my daily images at the end of the day. During daytime while working, I try to constantly communicate with patients. I ask them how they’re doing, then I wipe their saliva off their face, I clean their eyes. Being really honest, none of the scenes I see here inspire me pleasant drawings. Everyone’s lying on the bed, some with open eyes and some with closed eyes, some with their mouths open and some closed. Nothing pretty. The patients I usually talk to are limited, and it’s a very biased selection. Those who manage to talk to some extent, those who are young, near my age. Those who don’t throw tantrums. There’s one patient that I often try to talk to, and I usually ask what’s on his mind that day. Sometimes he answers “pretty thoughts”. Sometimes he just repeats my question. Patients aren’t dumb. Some tend to smile more, some tend to show no reaction, but they’re all aware. It’s unbelievable that I’m talking about something so obvious in such an assuring tone. Seeing them barely moving and talking makes me think of the patients like thoughtless babies. And the patients know that I see them this way. They know that I’m unwillingly talking to them and forcing a smile. A few patients used to avoid eye contact with me. Through my volunteering here, I wanted to learn how to apply my practice into something practical, something people-friendly. I wanted to get busy, I wanted to make myself of use. As I find these images of myself, it gets me to think more earnestly about the position of nursing and the fellow nursing department members. It brings joy that I could offer things to those who cannot offer me back. But as that joy comes from having less of me and sacrificing myself, we naturally tire. It’s not always smiles we get in return for our offering, many times we get frustration and anger even. Then we easily come to a conclusion that what we do doesn’t have much meaning, because we aren’t offering genuine kindness or love. And it makes us forget what we actually do. Collaborating is at the heart of my practice,
|
|
The world is fucked. Trump is president of the United States, Brexit is happening and that one meme of Theresa May dancing is still circling the meme-sphere. At this point I think we’re beyond a simple fix, but hey we’re not here to fix it.
DTRY SLK is a zine/collective that is just trying to help people make sense of it all. Whether your biggest fear is EU trade deals or trying to finally rid yourself of acne, this is space for you and people like you to open up, create things and share them without having the weight of ‘the industry’ on your shoulders. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and you don’t have to either. So rip it up, make a collage, stick it on your wall, burn it! (If you really want to...) Take our art and make it your own, it’s beautiful trash. It’s Dirty Silk. |
"We don’t take ourselves too seriously and you don’t have to either."
This isn’t to say that we don’t take what we do seriously, because we do (the dozens of calls to each other before a Pop-Up will tell you that); what we mean by this is that we’ve let our egos go to be able to work collaboratively. There’s no ‘I’ in team and they don’t exist in DRTY SLK either.
But now to talk about myself and my work for a minute.. I'm a self taught and self lead photographer/image maker. Pre-university, I was studying maths, physics, and chemistry, half aspiring to study engineering at Manchester or Imperial or something, but I somehow managed to get unto Media Communications at LCC with a Sociology A Level... Having basically nothing in my portfolio but a few images of friends at parties, I spent first year shooting people I met in my uni halls, setting up lofi photoshoots in my standard student room, collaborating with all these new people. During this year, I realised the importance of locality and community in trying to navigate London and its ever competitive, ever changing creative scene, themes frequently highlighted in almost all my creative projects.
This isn’t to say that we don’t take what we do seriously, because we do (the dozens of calls to each other before a Pop-Up will tell you that); what we mean by this is that we’ve let our egos go to be able to work collaboratively. There’s no ‘I’ in team and they don’t exist in DRTY SLK either.
But now to talk about myself and my work for a minute.. I'm a self taught and self lead photographer/image maker. Pre-university, I was studying maths, physics, and chemistry, half aspiring to study engineering at Manchester or Imperial or something, but I somehow managed to get unto Media Communications at LCC with a Sociology A Level... Having basically nothing in my portfolio but a few images of friends at parties, I spent first year shooting people I met in my uni halls, setting up lofi photoshoots in my standard student room, collaborating with all these new people. During this year, I realised the importance of locality and community in trying to navigate London and its ever competitive, ever changing creative scene, themes frequently highlighted in almost all my creative projects.
|
Commercially, my work is aimed for publications/agencies such as Dazed, Another and Galdem. I think my work is very clean, but with many personal quirks. It’s all pretty personal since all are images of my friends and people I’ve met over the last few years, it feels like my photography has really grown with me through this defining period of my life. It feels like everything has come together perfectly for this DPS year. Now I’m looking for a mentor because everything so far has been self learned and initiated. It is mainly photography + moving image, my design work is in the early experimental stages, I’m using my collective DRTY SLK for that experimentation.
​ |
With the collective's third Pop-Up sale being a great success, this time partnering with LCC's Darkroom Bar for the event, I have many more projects planned for this year, and collaboration is really at the heart of it all. Using the connections in music, fashion, and culture that I have already made these few years at UAL, I am able to get these projects out of the ideation/planning stage and begin making real work with real ideas. Having the opportunity and networks to be able to host the Pop-Up at the Darkroom Bar worked really well with what I wanted to achieve with the event; a space big enough to set everything up, still allowing free unrestricted movement for attendees to shop around and socialise, with their drinks! The DJs, myself and a Sound Arts student, were able to provide a vibe with the music, and we invited other students to bring their music and have a go. The whole event was a fun collaboration with LCC, students, and external guests.
Other really fun collaborations I've been involved with so far on my DPS journey: I've shot underground superstar, rapper Kish! twice for a clothing brand, producing some stunning images and video. These projects were really fun because the creator of the brand is a close friend of mine, and all of us involved in the shoot are deep into the UK underground music, DIY scene, so we had really interesting conversations on topics related to all that, conversations that are a rich source of research for contextualizing my works in progress.
Another fun collaboration has been working with online printing house Everpress, a community of creators dedicated to core community values, and anti waste. I've released some t-shirt designs with them in the past and recently I designed a hoodie to be sold on the site, a campaign that is currently running on there until the end of this month.
So collaboration, whether online or IRL, is very integral to my professional practice. Despite the word "professional" I don't see it as rigid and formal as that. Collaboration to me is more like working with friends but... working with friends as we all know is never as smooth as we initially expect. Navigating friendships and professional relationships with friends can be difficult but the 2 main things I've learned from all this experience are: Communication, communication, communication - clear and direct communication too. The second is the importance of laying out roles and boundaries very early on in a collaboration, and of course then being able to communicate when things change - and they will.
JIGGY MAG: http://www.issuu.com/JIGGYMAG
DRTY SLK INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/drty.slk/
CURRENT EVERPRESS CAMPAIGN: https://everpress.com/hyper-focus
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/ubercapitalistdeathtrade/
DPS INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/daniella.oc.archive/
ONLINE PORTFOLIO: https://daniellac-archive.myportfolio.com
​Dani
DRTY SLK INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/drty.slk/
CURRENT EVERPRESS CAMPAIGN: https://everpress.com/hyper-focus
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/ubercapitalistdeathtrade/
DPS INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/daniella.oc.archive/
ONLINE PORTFOLIO: https://daniellac-archive.myportfolio.com
​Dani
Madeleine Lin
Graphic & Media Design
Two months into DPS and life cannot get any better.
I started sending out my application and portfolio before summer holiday has even started. As August was getting closer, I found myself in the middle of panic and confusion - I applied early, I have a decent portfolio, I was organised… what could’ve possibly gone wrong? The result of sending out over 60 internship applications was nothing but stress and disappointment, I started to lose my expectation until one day I heard back from Studio La Plage.
Graphic & Media Design
Two months into DPS and life cannot get any better.
I started sending out my application and portfolio before summer holiday has even started. As August was getting closer, I found myself in the middle of panic and confusion - I applied early, I have a decent portfolio, I was organised… what could’ve possibly gone wrong? The result of sending out over 60 internship applications was nothing but stress and disappointment, I started to lose my expectation until one day I heard back from Studio La Plage.
Studio La Plage is a multidisciplinary creative studio based in Hoxton. It was one of the places I applied to at the beginning of my application process, and where I had my first interview. I found the studio on If You Could, which they had a design intern position open. After two interviews and a design brief on MasterCard, I was offered the role of junior designer. Working life has been fantastic and I can say that I don’t miss Uni one tiny bit. It can be intimidating at first working in an unfamiliar environment with people you don’t know. It did take me a while to adjust my daily schedule to fit in working 8 hours a day, doing my own things and keeping my social life active all at the same time. Very quickly, I got used to the routine and became part of team La Plage. The great thing about working in a small studio is you have the opportunity to collaborate and communicate with everyone. I get to work on projects for many exciting brands, including Amazon, MasterCard, LaplandUK, Behavioural Insight Team… and more. One of the most interesting clients I got to work with is Black Swan Data. Black Swan Data is a technology company that predicts potential trends by using predictive data science.
Because the clients are so diverse, so are the design tasks and briefs. Sometimes it can be small things like ad banners or social assets; other time it’s about creating fun illustration and animation, or even art directing a photoshoot. Before DPS, I thought freelancing is a better option because, well, who doesn’t want to be their own boss? But having the experience to actually work in a studio changes my thoughts on future plans and career path. For me, working in a studio is more scheduled and organised, I also get the chance to communicate with clients directly, both in person and on call. That being said, dealing with clients can be a pain sometimes, especially those that are aggressive and demanding. Working in a studio means you have project managers to handle situations like this, and try to make both the client and designer happy.
I am glad I chose to do an internship because it builds a solid foundation for my career as a graphic designer. It has been two months since I joined La Plage and I found myself learning more than I planned in my DPS proposal and achieving my goals. It is more than just improving my skills in Adobe Creative Suite, but also communicating with clients and others in the studio, finding new ways to work more efficiently, learning how design cost estimate work…and more.
A couple things I have learned from the experience so far:
- If a simple design task is taking longer than 20 minutes, there must be a quicker way of doing it.
- Name the files clearly can save you and others a lot of time.
- Sometimes you spend forever doing work that aren’t going to be used, and that’s okay.
Here are some fun bits I worked on!
Because the clients are so diverse, so are the design tasks and briefs. Sometimes it can be small things like ad banners or social assets; other time it’s about creating fun illustration and animation, or even art directing a photoshoot. Before DPS, I thought freelancing is a better option because, well, who doesn’t want to be their own boss? But having the experience to actually work in a studio changes my thoughts on future plans and career path. For me, working in a studio is more scheduled and organised, I also get the chance to communicate with clients directly, both in person and on call. That being said, dealing with clients can be a pain sometimes, especially those that are aggressive and demanding. Working in a studio means you have project managers to handle situations like this, and try to make both the client and designer happy.
I am glad I chose to do an internship because it builds a solid foundation for my career as a graphic designer. It has been two months since I joined La Plage and I found myself learning more than I planned in my DPS proposal and achieving my goals. It is more than just improving my skills in Adobe Creative Suite, but also communicating with clients and others in the studio, finding new ways to work more efficiently, learning how design cost estimate work…and more.
A couple things I have learned from the experience so far:
- If a simple design task is taking longer than 20 minutes, there must be a quicker way of doing it.
- Name the files clearly can save you and others a lot of time.
- Sometimes you spend forever doing work that aren’t going to be used, and that’s okay.
Here are some fun bits I worked on!
Intro Video for Amazon Web Service's In Conversation With series. Illustration/ Madeleine Lin | Animation/ Sumi Oh
Tease post for Lapland UK
Also, An Amazon Web Service page I have been working on last month has finally gone live!
https://aws.amazon.com/tw/government-education/city-transformation/
As well as Plates London
https://plates-london.com/
The placement I have for this year was an unexpected opportunity offered to me at the end of GMD year 2. Before I started the DPS year, I also worked in a café based in Shoreditch alongside studying. Around mid-July 2019 the director of a short-term lettings management company expressed his satisfaction with the service I provided. The director happened to be searching for an assistant to help alleviate the pressure of starting up and encouraged me to apply by forwarding him my CV. He further asked about my background and explained how there had been a lot of work accumulating for a period of time. I’m always sceptical when I get job offers based on spontaneous interactions so I was keen on judging the legitimacy of the offer based on the interview we later set up. I think it’s important to question your instincts rather than acting without a reason. I was able to identify that working in a stereotypical female assistant role for a successful businessman was probably not going to be a dream job but working in a company just starting-up may be valuable experience. My safety as a female also factored into my scepticism when I learned that the office also doubles as one of the properties under company management so arranging the interview in a public place before starting the job was also important. This awareness naturally compelled me to evaluate my expectations for the role as the director’s assistant and how I could incorporate graphic design into the role. By practising this it directly affected my ability to set an achievable goal for which I intend on working towards.
As their first official assistant I was in charge of documenting all of the processes I upheld from purchasing new furniture to interacting with guests. Although I see advantages in a flexible work environment, it is challenging because without any examples of achievement the direction of my efforts are often intuitive. It’s especially intimidating having to explain a process to my employer because of how junior my role is. The job role isn’t clearly defined so a lot of my daily routine involves me finding my own projects. Of course, there was an induction where training was provided but I’m beginning to realise that this role relies on good communication and having a close relationship with the director which one could argue is not the purpose of an internship. Perhaps, this can be an indirect way for me to practice being a good communicator as a designer as well.
As the company doesn’t have an online presence I’ve started researching real estate logo designs in anticipation for a new branding project. It was frustrating to learn that my responsibilities didn’t have much to do with design especially because I was promised involvement in the design of the logo and website prior to my hiring. I eventually asked about what the intentions were for the companies web presence and whether I could be put on this project when the time suited. That conversation prompted my director to ask for my portfolio which was what I’d hoped for. It’s encouraging that even after seeing my portfolio I was still asked to design the company logo without any professional help. I’m now a few days in, developing the logo and the dynamic of my relationship with the director has changed to a client-designer relationship. I’ve never been commissioned to make a logo before so for the most part I feel like I’m on the right path. This is a good example of the advantages in a flexible work environment. However, I’m concerned about my projects after I complete the logo. I hoped to be given the opportunity to design the website next but it doesn’t seem to be a high priority in the company right now. If design is continuously treated as a second or last priority I may have to re-evaluate my position in the company.
By Prae Thompson
As their first official assistant I was in charge of documenting all of the processes I upheld from purchasing new furniture to interacting with guests. Although I see advantages in a flexible work environment, it is challenging because without any examples of achievement the direction of my efforts are often intuitive. It’s especially intimidating having to explain a process to my employer because of how junior my role is. The job role isn’t clearly defined so a lot of my daily routine involves me finding my own projects. Of course, there was an induction where training was provided but I’m beginning to realise that this role relies on good communication and having a close relationship with the director which one could argue is not the purpose of an internship. Perhaps, this can be an indirect way for me to practice being a good communicator as a designer as well.
As the company doesn’t have an online presence I’ve started researching real estate logo designs in anticipation for a new branding project. It was frustrating to learn that my responsibilities didn’t have much to do with design especially because I was promised involvement in the design of the logo and website prior to my hiring. I eventually asked about what the intentions were for the companies web presence and whether I could be put on this project when the time suited. That conversation prompted my director to ask for my portfolio which was what I’d hoped for. It’s encouraging that even after seeing my portfolio I was still asked to design the company logo without any professional help. I’m now a few days in, developing the logo and the dynamic of my relationship with the director has changed to a client-designer relationship. I’ve never been commissioned to make a logo before so for the most part I feel like I’m on the right path. This is a good example of the advantages in a flexible work environment. However, I’m concerned about my projects after I complete the logo. I hoped to be given the opportunity to design the website next but it doesn’t seem to be a high priority in the company right now. If design is continuously treated as a second or last priority I may have to re-evaluate my position in the company.
By Prae Thompson
Daisy Aldridge
Illustration and Visual Media
Illustration and Visual Media
Two months into my DPS year and looking back I am not exactly meeting my ambitions that I had planned in the second year proposal.
I thought I would be doing internships, yet I feel I am in an even better place freelancing and putting my skills to the test. Although, not having the structure of a 9-5 day can be scary, going from university life to making my own hours was a bit of a shock to the system to start with as I found myself losing routine, sleeping in, and not knowing when it was work time and when it was play time. As I have progressed through the past two months, I have figured out how to make the most of my time (a daily planner has been my saviour) and the benefits of freelancing…
1 - I can work where I want! (to an extent)
2- I’m in control of who I work with and what I work on (all those first and second year unfinished projects are making a comeback – I don’t think they were expecting to see the light of day anytime soon)
3- Flexible hours are a god send after all. I’ve figured out I can go for lunch with my nan on Tuesday; it might just mean a bit of late night working to make up for it!
I still plan on applying for internships and explore different avenues in the new year, but for now my plans are to continue focusing on my personal practice. Often, I have a tough time delivering projects, due to myself lacking the required production skill. I’ve found that the having basic skills of the tech, apparatus and equipment around you is essential to producing great work. I want to use this year to play around with my skill-set and build upon it, look at enterprise, sort out my portfolio(s), refine my visual language and set my own briefs (and deadlines) so at the end I can go back into my third year feeling more confident as an illustrator with added tools under my belt.
‘’Juggling jobs is like having ten plates on the top of long poles. As long as you keep spinning the poles the plates do not drop off. You run around spinning each pole just in time for it to not fall off, and be ready to dive to catch the one behind if you forget. ‘’ - Phil Cleaver.
I find myself in a fun new situation where I have three projects I expect to finish within the next week. It’s a whole new ball park for me to be working on more than one design job at a time. At first it was slightly daunting to have someone relying on me (me?!) to meet their deadlines and their needs, but with a lot of excessive note taking, list making and time management I have been making my way through it. I have had to learn to chase down supplies, organise meetings, build and deliver presentations, and fill out health and safety forms.
This year so far has helped me greatly to overcome my anxiety problems. I have been pushing myself to overcome my fear of presenting and I have let myself have the confidence to put ideas forwards in group projects (as a result this has helped me get a better opportunity in the work being done). Thinking about working on these live projects with others made me worried initially, but I have come to understand that having been chosen for the job in the first place means my presence is important and thus my ideas are too.
Daisy Aldridge
@illustrateddaisy
I thought I would be doing internships, yet I feel I am in an even better place freelancing and putting my skills to the test. Although, not having the structure of a 9-5 day can be scary, going from university life to making my own hours was a bit of a shock to the system to start with as I found myself losing routine, sleeping in, and not knowing when it was work time and when it was play time. As I have progressed through the past two months, I have figured out how to make the most of my time (a daily planner has been my saviour) and the benefits of freelancing…
1 - I can work where I want! (to an extent)
2- I’m in control of who I work with and what I work on (all those first and second year unfinished projects are making a comeback – I don’t think they were expecting to see the light of day anytime soon)
3- Flexible hours are a god send after all. I’ve figured out I can go for lunch with my nan on Tuesday; it might just mean a bit of late night working to make up for it!
I still plan on applying for internships and explore different avenues in the new year, but for now my plans are to continue focusing on my personal practice. Often, I have a tough time delivering projects, due to myself lacking the required production skill. I’ve found that the having basic skills of the tech, apparatus and equipment around you is essential to producing great work. I want to use this year to play around with my skill-set and build upon it, look at enterprise, sort out my portfolio(s), refine my visual language and set my own briefs (and deadlines) so at the end I can go back into my third year feeling more confident as an illustrator with added tools under my belt.
‘’Juggling jobs is like having ten plates on the top of long poles. As long as you keep spinning the poles the plates do not drop off. You run around spinning each pole just in time for it to not fall off, and be ready to dive to catch the one behind if you forget. ‘’ - Phil Cleaver.
I find myself in a fun new situation where I have three projects I expect to finish within the next week. It’s a whole new ball park for me to be working on more than one design job at a time. At first it was slightly daunting to have someone relying on me (me?!) to meet their deadlines and their needs, but with a lot of excessive note taking, list making and time management I have been making my way through it. I have had to learn to chase down supplies, organise meetings, build and deliver presentations, and fill out health and safety forms.
This year so far has helped me greatly to overcome my anxiety problems. I have been pushing myself to overcome my fear of presenting and I have let myself have the confidence to put ideas forwards in group projects (as a result this has helped me get a better opportunity in the work being done). Thinking about working on these live projects with others made me worried initially, but I have come to understand that having been chosen for the job in the first place means my presence is important and thus my ideas are too.
Daisy Aldridge
@illustrateddaisy
by Karol Tylke, IID
^That could sum up the last few years of my life. In the second year of uni, I felt like that’s how my first year was supposed to look like. Now I feel like that’s the point I should have been in a few months ago.
I haven’t started any internship yet, which, from an outsider point of view, puts me behind a lot of people. Which doesn’t change the fact that personally, I have made huge steps towards developing my practice - I finished my portfolio and started applying for work
Yay! Sounds ridiculous at this point, but it took me forever to get there. When I look at it now, all my work that’s presentable was created since March 2019. Comparing myself to this time of last year, I have infinitely more work to show, and finally, I can explain what I do and what my skills are.
I could say that it’s a shame that I haven’t had any professional practice yet, or that all this time went to waste, but really - whatever. I have never pushed myself as hard as now to create, and if it wasn’t for DPS, I don’t know if I would have had this motivation. Also, there’s still plenty of time in the year, and I’m gonna make sure to make the most of it.
I’m currently working on a live brief with MA Screenwriting from LCC which involves creating a poster for a movie. And even though it has been a huge step out of my comfort zone, I’m really glad I took it. It’s one of the first times when someone actually depends on my work, and I can’t let them down, and this experience had taught me how to fight a creative block and not give in to stress.
The screenwriting project has also given me the motivation to explore drawing and illustration - something that I’ve been trying to do for a long time, but what was always replaced in my schedule with activities that I deemed more valuable. It’s been really fun to do this, and nothing motivates more to learn new skills than deadlines. After this project is done, I’m planning on starting to work on my Self Initiated Project and engaging in more live briefs, to gain more experience while applying for internships.
Another thing that I’ve started learning recently and is giving me a lot of fun is 3D modelling in Cinema4D. 3D graphics is something that fascinated me for a long time. I used to stare at renders created by the likes of Peter Tarka and scratched my head while trying to figure out how they were created. Having the insight into the world that has seemed so distant and difficult to enter has proven to be really satisfying, and I’m hoping that those skills will greatly improve my practice and my ability to execute ideas.
It’s the middle of November now - 2.5 months into DPS. I didn’t expect them to pass so quickly, which makes it more important than ever to seize the moment and opportunity. I’m hoping that to the next party, I will finally arrive on time.
^That could sum up the last few years of my life. In the second year of uni, I felt like that’s how my first year was supposed to look like. Now I feel like that’s the point I should have been in a few months ago.
I haven’t started any internship yet, which, from an outsider point of view, puts me behind a lot of people. Which doesn’t change the fact that personally, I have made huge steps towards developing my practice - I finished my portfolio and started applying for work
Yay! Sounds ridiculous at this point, but it took me forever to get there. When I look at it now, all my work that’s presentable was created since March 2019. Comparing myself to this time of last year, I have infinitely more work to show, and finally, I can explain what I do and what my skills are.
I could say that it’s a shame that I haven’t had any professional practice yet, or that all this time went to waste, but really - whatever. I have never pushed myself as hard as now to create, and if it wasn’t for DPS, I don’t know if I would have had this motivation. Also, there’s still plenty of time in the year, and I’m gonna make sure to make the most of it.
I’m currently working on a live brief with MA Screenwriting from LCC which involves creating a poster for a movie. And even though it has been a huge step out of my comfort zone, I’m really glad I took it. It’s one of the first times when someone actually depends on my work, and I can’t let them down, and this experience had taught me how to fight a creative block and not give in to stress.
The screenwriting project has also given me the motivation to explore drawing and illustration - something that I’ve been trying to do for a long time, but what was always replaced in my schedule with activities that I deemed more valuable. It’s been really fun to do this, and nothing motivates more to learn new skills than deadlines. After this project is done, I’m planning on starting to work on my Self Initiated Project and engaging in more live briefs, to gain more experience while applying for internships.
Another thing that I’ve started learning recently and is giving me a lot of fun is 3D modelling in Cinema4D. 3D graphics is something that fascinated me for a long time. I used to stare at renders created by the likes of Peter Tarka and scratched my head while trying to figure out how they were created. Having the insight into the world that has seemed so distant and difficult to enter has proven to be really satisfying, and I’m hoping that those skills will greatly improve my practice and my ability to execute ideas.
It’s the middle of November now - 2.5 months into DPS. I didn’t expect them to pass so quickly, which makes it more important than ever to seize the moment and opportunity. I’m hoping that to the next party, I will finally arrive on time.
