This past week, a fairly new graphic designer called Craig Oldham came along for a talk. This was a different talk from most which I had attended in the past as Craig had only graduated from university three years ago so his understanding on being a student was fairly fresh in his mind. He previously worked for the Chase and now works for Music where I made a portfolio visit not to long ago. As we sat down, a fifteen page newspaper, designed by Craig, was for us to read through. It was called the 12 in 12. It supported his talk, which involved the issues you should be aware of when leaving university. He talked about staying up all night trying to meet deadlines while being a student. He seemed very passionate about his work and design.
He first explained the two different types of designers in the industry. One would be logical and the other would fall in an emotional category. I felt this was important as he suggested this would help us think whom we would want to work for. He advised honesty is the best in the industry. He explained he couldn’t do web design at all and by saying this to people, it gave him the opportunity to learn more in that field. He also talked about portfolios and how everyone looks differently at it. No matter how many people you show, all opinions will not be the same. People will always say your work is poor or in Craig’s words ‘’Shit’’.
He talked about placements and the rewards you get out of them. Meeting new people, looking good on your CV, helping you be more confident and putting you ahead of the competition all fall into visiting studios and helping out. Exploiting every possible chance of contacts is a must. Craig’s contact list was amazingly big considering the length of time he has been a designer. He also touched on mistakes and how you should learn from them, design being 20% of your actual job, be honest with everyone and being emotional about your work should not be hidden. Overall, the talk was fantastic and Craig definitely made some good points to look out for when graduating.
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