Today I took along my portfolio to Love Creative. I am beginning to understand a great deal of how a design agency operates, as this was my ninth visit so far. As I approached to studio, I was surprised to notice a number of different companies located in the same building. Besides Love, Flame Digital, The Neighbourhood and McCann Erickson also appeared under the same roof. As I entered, I noticed a number of designers arriving to the studio ready for a working day. As I located the correct floor, the receptionist, who made me welcome, greeted me in and sat me down in the waiting area while Stephen Owen, the designer whom id be talking to, was preparing for the crit. As I looked around the studio, I was amazed to see the scale and size of the workspace. I was bar far in the biggest studio within my visits and was looking forward to meeting Ste for the first time.
As we introduced ourselves, he explained he was in the middle of some work and will be with me in ten minutes. I took the opportunity to engage in all the awards and mistakenly questioned if a Chip award was a D&AD Pencil. As Stephen sat down, I explained my journey from graduating the HND to furthering my studies on the B.A degree. He understood the difference within the two courses, as Ste is a past graduate at the same university completing the same degree. He new my tutors James Corazzo and Iain Parkin and was enjoying my story’s as I explained my experience with them so far. As we went through my portfolio, Stephen made some very positive comments regarding the different outcomes my work could possibly look like. Regarding the Ringo Starr Tate poster, he advised showing some images of myself making the print indicating the process could benefit the piece greatly.
Stephen made some great points on how I communicate my work better. He explained that the Guggenheim end sting looked very dull as a storyboard. He said there was little to get excited about and I should think of producing a flip like story book so whom ever goes through my work can hold a physical object and see my idea evolve without it being flat on a page. I felt this was a great piece of advice as the Guggenheim was beginning to be a negative response within my past visits and I didn’t understand how to improve it. I began to explain my creative process on the Metro project and furthering the ideas I have already was a long topic we discussed. As I explained my Word Festival work, he advised this project brings my portfolio down slightly as it’s an obvious project I had completed sometime ago. I understood his advice as I see the improvement in my design since completing that brief.
As he evaluated of my work, Stephen seemed impressed with the variety of projects I had. He advised that when explaining the briefs, selling yourself should always come first. Talking about how I worked in groups or finding the solution a lengthy task is not what people want to hear. Explaining how you answered the brief greatly and showing a motivational attitude sits well within an interview or visit. Stephen walked me around the studio and shown me all the areas within the Love Creative team. He asked for me to contact him on a regular basis with up to date work from my FMP. I look forward to hearing from him soon.
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