Over the past eight months, a number of practitioners have come along to talk about their work. These include design agency’s Truth, Fudge, Music, Tal Rosner and Glorious to name a few. I have noticed the way these practitioners present there work, talk to an audience and prepare for unexpected questions are all different and unique in their own way. For example, Truth came to visit to give a lecture on how they operate as a business but also as a design agency. Truth’s members were Darren Scott and Jane Kaye. Darren was the designer and Jane was the administrator. They described their relationship as functional to the business as one would solely concentrate on the design aspect of the briefs where the other would deal with clients, organise meetings, payments and the whole structure of the company. I found this interesting as together, they made the perfect team, which would deliver results for the client and has a functional work ethic.
To my surprise, after all the practitioners who came to visit, Truth was the only agency to operate like this. The lecture overall was very inspiring as the level of design was at a high standard. I could understand why this would be the case as the way Truth operated as a company reflected in their work. I also noticed Truth design more in the typography field. The work they displayed was more in relation to fonts and logo’s than other work practitioners presented such as commercial and new identity designs. Darren also presented some work from previous employers. He explained his work history, as did most of the practitioners. I was starting to understand the vast amount of experience in the field of graphic design needed to be at a similar level of these practitioners.
Another practitioner who held a useful lecture was an agency called Music. A designer called Anthony Smith was at hand to deliver a very useful talk on the methods of working, what qualities they looked for in an employee and how they set up their business. To my surprise, Music has only been functional for a year and half. I was shocked to understand their first office was in a small flat in Manchester. In comparison with Truth and other agency’s who held talks, Music was by far to most honest and outspoken with the way they started out. Anthony began to discuss a brief history about himself. He graduated from Bolton University in 1989 with a HND in graphic design. He explained around that time was a recession and how it took over a year to get his first job. I felt this talk was far more useful than most of the others as this information is vital for when I graduate. Anthony explained the lessons you learn when you are on your own two feet in the industry you carry with you for life. Anthony then began to show some slides of his work. Unlike Truth, Music displayed some thumbnail sketches before the final design was shown. I was intrigued to see this as I was able to familiarise myself with the methods on how Anthony worked. Seeing the use of a pen and pad before designing on the computer was great to see as I could relate within his methods of design.
In comparison between Music and Truth, I found equal qualities between them both. I found that the way Truth functioned as a company was a good way of organization which obviously shown in the work they displayed. Music on the other hand we’re more open with the falls in the industry. Anthony touched on a company he set up himself which didn’t really take off the ground. He also explained he worked for a number of agencies before setting up Music. I feel both talks had very different but great qualities at the same time. For me, it was fantastic to see methods on how Music pre design work on a piece of paper. I was able to relate to this method and that was rewarding to know. Truth explained their functionality on how they worked. I felt this was, in the same level, a useful piece of information as this shows all design agency’s work in a different unique way. I have also noticed some of the methods Truth and Music talked about have in someway applied in my own practise. Preparing for critical meetings with tutors, I try to picture them as the client so when presenting ideas and showing work, the level is at a standard for them to understand and see the functionality with that design.
In conclusion, both talks were as useful as one another. They covered very different aspects of the industry, which was very useful. I would have enjoyed seeing some of Truths rough drafts like Music presented as Darren designed some nice work. I feel many would have benefited the process journey towards some of the final designs he shown in his talk. It was also a shame Music did not have more work on hand but I could understand this as they have only just started out. Another useful touch about Music’s talk was after it had finished, Anthony had his very own portfolio and some other pieces of work at hand. This was an opportunity to see some real life work and how the layout and presentation looked. It’s a shame as Music’s website is still under construction but Truths has an easy access to their information and contact details. I feel that if I was a client, accessing information such as designs, contacts or the work an agency does, it needs to be easy and functional. Truth does this with a great passion as all their work is displayed under the option bar. Maybe if Music had their website up and running, they may be on equal qualities as an agency.
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