Reform Creative. Visit Number two

Last week I once again made a portfolio visit to Reform Creative, the agency in Manchester where I had my placement last June. As I have been in contact with Paul on a regular basis, I have been sending work, asking his thoughts on my ideas and talking about the quality’s you need as a designer within the industry. Paul had a good idea of my portfolio when it was formatted in a book/brochure and I was eager to hear his thoughts on my progression and layout of work and what he could advise regarding my next steps.

As Paul arrived, he was happy to see my work take so many steps since the last time he saw me. He was positive about the black box, as my presentation seemed better than last time I saw him. He explained that the positives of having a brochure is being different but, as a box presents your work and ideas in a more professional way, these may be the elements when getting a job in an interview. Paul also pointed out that having a box makes it easier for the person going through your work as they get a better understanding of what the ideas are. Communication seemed to be easier in relation to the previous visit as the A3 plus sized sleeves helped me feel more focused on what I was trying to say.

As we talked about each piece of work, I was unfortunate not to have my new Metro, Tolerance and BBC ideas in my portfolio as at the time, I was still on the creative journey of finalising the projects. I did explain my ideas for each of the briefs and he seemed eager to have a look at them when I had finished. As I asked Paul what projects he felt I should take out of my box, he explained that as a designer, you don’t just have one portfolio. If you are visiting an advertising agency, have more advertising work to show. If you are visiting an agency that focus mainly on branding, have more identity projects. I still had the old brochure and explained I felt it was important for people to see the progression I had taken but Paul disagreed. He advised me to leave the brochure behind as whoever is going through my work, they might not have time or even want to see it as the main work you want to show will be in the box.

One piece of work, which Paul spoke highly about was the tolerance project. He felt that typographically, the ideas work well but as tolerance is such a big subject, having a stronger idea to answer the brief was needed. Maybe having one of the typographic ideas as a logo may work, but using this as the main concept would not engage the audience. Communication is a vital element within a brief such as promoting tolerance and engaging with them on a personal level emotionally was vital as the subject is not a fun filled, entertaining matter. I was able to show Paul one Metro idea and he felt the concept worked greatly. He advised that the creative process will lead the project further and eventually, the answer will come when you least expect it.