When I'm Sixty Four - Elliott Hart

I’m not too sure how to write about the ‘the opportunities in design since the start of pandemic’ as most of my time has been trying to fit around the uncertainties the global disease has caused. The one thing that can maybe pass as an opportunity would be the copious amount of free time that has come with the pandemic - I am trying to use this time for evaluation and growth which is the result of the blog title ‘When I’m Sixty Four’ as I question the skillsets I would like to learn in this dps year that I will still value when I’m old. My main goal for my dps year was to learn hands on the detail of typography in print and digitally, micro and macro. I want to create design that derives from the content in an intelligent and sophisticated manner. I’m on a mission to learn from great designers however at the moment it feels like everything is on pause and I’m stuck behind my laptop in my room sending out portfolios :/
 
I think the process of precisely selecting what studios I want to work for opened up a lot of important questions such as what kind of projects I want to work on? What kind of clients I want to work for? What do I want to learn? To answer the following and to keep track as it may very well change by the time I finish dps – My main interests are in projects that are typographically focused and occasionally use some interesting printing techniques. Some of which projects may include visual identities, book design, type design, poster and website design. I would like to work with cultural clients, galleries, artists, architects and publishers.
 
Interning with Lorenz Klingebiel - I made the most of the opportunity by my giving it my all. Starting a project from scratch was super amazing and even though it was stated at the beginning there wasn’t any pressure for me to deliver I knew I was going to try my hardest to impress. In the end it worked out really well as the client had chosen the option I had been driving forward. I am still in contact with Lorenz over the collaboration of Obligato – a typeface which came out of the creation of the visual identity for the project I was working on. At the start of the creation of Obligato my ability to use type software Glyphs was very basic and when it came to design problems such as kerning and opentype features I often found myself clueless. However with the determination to make things happen I openly responded by researching and checking online forums to learn more, while receiving advice from Lorenz. This has received great feedback not only from the client but also from Lorenz’s friends and colleagues @ https://abcdinamo.com https://veryvery.de/web/en/  I have also been told studio veryvery will be using the typeface for their Christmas cards (roughly 150-200) which will go out to their clients having the name of the typeface ‘obligato’ as well as my name in the credits.
 
Unfortunately, my plans to intern at Semiotik Design have been cancelled due to covid - I have learnt to remain motivated by keeping myself busy and working hard (more time for Obligato). If I’m honest I can’t see this opportunity happening anytime soon due to all the hassle with covid plus changes in Greek Law which affected the hours working in the studio - however I am defiantly still eager to train with great designers abroad. Instagram offers a great opportunity to find out about new studios abroad and I think I may have potentially secured an internship if corona settles down (via a studio liking one of my photos). Nevertheless, all this time sitting like a banana on Instagram and behind my laptop is doing my nut in – if I am in the same position after christmas I am going to make sure I visit UAL as much as possible and sign up to all the workshops just to get out the bloody house. It hits me most days that I haven’t been outside yet which results in a freezing cold run at nine thirty.
 
To keep myself proactive and in a constant state of learning I have been completing online courses on LinkedIn Learning to increase my knowledge. A territory I am exploring is learning how to design books / magazines, I am fascinated by learning a craft that enables such freedom yet technical restraint. One thing that I think will be very beneficial to my future career would be to learn the ins and outs of InDesign. Maybe I can start making my own books to practice these skills and share to the world what kind of projects I want to work on - I know that’s what the founders of Actual Source done and look at them now! This may be something I look into further once I complete some courses and read more into designing books – I know that the met museum has open access artworks of more than 375,000 hi-res images, I could design something as simple as a daily planner alongside these amazing images and sell it via ual art shop.
 
Most recently I sent out a portfolio for the editorial role at evening standard role and was offered the position however I politely declined due to the fact they were asking for 3 months unpaid!  I fully understand as an intern it’s not about the salary however working unpaid for 3 months is something I’m not prepared to do and I am glad I didn’t settle. Something will come up.