When looking for studio visits and potential placements, my main focus is around the north of England, in particular Leeds. I am open to moving to a different city in the north, but I think it would be good to stay close to home after graduation in terms of managing my finances. Also, immediately moving to a different city for work would most likely throw me out of my comfort zone.
Having said that, I'd love to travel around and visit various cities around the UK for a few weeks, visiting studios and doing placements to gain experience, but I don't really want to be permanently situated in a city that isn't situated somewhere close to Leeds. Limiting my range to Leeds and Manchester, whilst considering cities such as Liverpool and Newcastle, is a choice that I will be comfortable with.
I'm not suggesting that I will be in Leeds all my life, but I thought I would focus my personal development around the immediate future after college, rather than thinking too far ahead.
On a side note, I really dislike London. I have been at least 3 times in my life and I've had more negative experiences than positive. The prices of accommodation are also ridiculous, and I have a feeling I will be completely out of my depth with my finances if I chose to work there.
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Identify 5 companies/studios which you consider potentially synergetic to you personally. Write a short explanatory paragraph and reasons for each.
Unit
They have worked for some very impressive clients, and although their work varies from illustration, to to branding, to editorial & layout and typography, a lot of their work applies to me.
Qubik
Joe Gilmore came in for a talk earlier on in the year, and he is producing the sort of work that I would love to produce in the future: work for the cultural sector.
Catalogue
Similar to Joe, Catalogue produce work for the culture sector. Set up in 2010, Ollie Shaw and Tom Pratt are graduates from the college, so getting their views of the industry after their departure would be
insightful and useful in building my short-term plans post-graduation.
insightful and useful in building my short-term plans post-graduation.
Boxhead
They created the 'Leeds Made' video, which was beautifully shot and directly involved the college and local organisations. They have an interesting mix of practices - video, branding and editorial across a range of media for both screen and print.
They created the 'Leeds Made' video, which was beautifully shot and directly involved the college and local organisations. They have an interesting mix of practices - video, branding and editorial across a range of media for both screen and print.
Mash Creative
Mark Bloom's creative studio is focused on an area of design that I have little to no interest in: branding. The reason why I have included it is the work makes me want to create brands and identities even though I don't consider it an active part of my practice. The work that stands out is 14/41 - a beautiful booklet that harbours the best of Bloom's logos over his 14 year career.
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Identify the top choice and why you fell that they may have synergy with your practice now, or in the near future.
Is your choice based on:
- Location
- Direction of Practice
- The brand philosophy
- Client base
What if none of those is your main reason for choosing the follow this organisation, what is it specifically?
When choosing these practices, please consider:
- Who they are/who are you?
- Why you are contacting them, and why should they listen?
- What do you want them to do next and what do you actually want?
- Why they should get back to you?
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I think I would have to highlight Mash Creative as my top choice. And it isn't because of the location, or the direction of practice, or even the client base. The studio could be located anywhere and I would still follow it, as I have been doing for well over a year. It isn't even really about the brand philosophy - it's more than that.
The reason why I have chosen Mash Creative is because of the way they make me feel about their work. Little, if not any, of their work is something I could see myself creating. But, after viewing their website, it inspires me to push myself in my work as I want the end product to be as considered, as beautifully laid out and photographed in a way that really does the project justice.
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Now that you have identified these studios you feel synergy with, please list 8 methods you could utilise to contact them.
- Hand-written letter
- Mail-out with work
- Visiting similar events
- Showing up on the door - will show you're dedicated and a direct point of contact.
- Phone call
- Skype Call
- Invitations to my events i.e. End of Year Show
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