heydays

I finally got a reply from heydays, but they said that they were too busy. so I'm really lost on what to do as I cant do my project as I expected to. I have figured out that Scandinavian studies is way less likely to reply or do interviews as the UK one responded, the American replied and said yes but never gave the answers, and the Scandinavian ones just said no. great.

reflect

analyze what you have learned from the creative report
go through what I have learned
what you got from exploring the environment.
blog more about life is a pitch and teamwork
reflect of life is a pitch
presentation showcase what you have learned
what have you enjoyed in graphic design


I would like to explore things that help people and informs them about issues. I don't really want to do pretty but I want to have effective.

Natalie Ayres

I had an L6 photography student approach me to create a logo for her, we had a chat and she said that she really liked what I did for a project last year. She pointed out what looks she liked of them and that I could do anything that I felt like really. she pointed out some specific ones and they all hade wide kerning and were simple. she wanted a type-based logo and an icon.

I tested some typefaces to see whether she actually preferred sans serif, and she does. 

I did some simple type-based icons since she said that she would like something that would fit in a circle for social media. 

I changed the typeface and modified so it would be in the same vibe as the long logo. 

transcript Oli Split

What is the aim

 Seeing as I am an international student and midst Brexit, I’m not sure what I will be able to do in terms of working in the UK. This report is therefore focused on comparing the answers to the same set of questions from different studios around the world to see how they approach design and how they find the environment.

Their answers

Split studios

How is the creative environment in Leeds?

I think when you compare it to cities this size, certainly, in the North, I think it is really strong. I think it reflects the trend for cultural and creative institutions and organizations and businesses to gravitate towards bigger city centers, perhaps at the expense of small towns and cities around them.

That's not to say there's not great stuff going on in all the smaller towns. I think we've seen Leeds grow and so creative agency we've run a project called the Leeds Creative Family Tree. The Leeds Creative Family Tree is an ongoing not-for-profit project designed to showcase the huge range of creative individuals and organisations in our city and to help us all find other like-minded creatives and collaborate more locally.

The project was started in 2012, and just started in our little area of Corey Hill. We've seen the number of independent start-up grow and we've seen then the size of these independent start-ups we worked with early on grow too.

How would you describe the style of design in the studio?

I think you can kind of approach things in two ways. There are studios who have quite strong house styles and aesthetics and that's what they do and that's what people go to them for. We take a different approach in that I believe we are a fifty percent say. I think our work should reflect this, and specific nature of that brief, their audience, their problems, challenges that they need to overcome, all of that. We are very much led by that. We've got certain beliefs in terms of how we do things, but it's much more for us about a push for originally as much as we possibly can and a push for quality as much as we can. And then a push to answering the needs of the clients brief.

When we do our own thing, especially when we do things like album covers, we act slightly more as artists rather than just designers. I think there's a key distinction there in terms of the mindset of approach. I've never considered myself an artist.

Sometimes people will try and complement our work by saying, “Oh, you're more than a designer” or “You are not just a designer “. I have a real problem with that because I think that the intention is to say something nice, but what they're doing now is placing art on a higher plane than design, perhaps because design gives you so much commercially. But I think it is really powerful stuff. Design can be used on a level with art, but I think it's very different mindsets, different thinking processes, different sort of brain space.

When we work on our own stuff, be the album covers or other creative projects like These Northern Types, which is a book exploring northern identity through type. We do have quite a strong conceptual brand, quite a strong typographic. Now obviously we've got the huge printing press. That has informed our practice, but I wouldn't say we work in an overarching style.

How does the design process look like?

I think there's some set structure to how we approach a project, but it is very much tailored to the brief. Some briefs are much bigger than others. Some allow for a few days of research and play and that's great. It also depends on how much the client is wanting to be involved with. For example, certain album covers, we're given the music and a general direction in terms of the artist approach, and it's a blank slate they want us to come up with something from scratch. And then how we approach that will depend on the budget. There are artists and labels that already have imagery and then work with type and from. Others we might do original shoots, or a type-based concept, or commission an artist to collaborate with us. It all really depends on each individual brief.  

How does the studio operate?

We do have set roles in the studio, we're tiny. So, we also all wear a lot of hats. I mean right now there's only two of us in the studio. Whereas in a bigger agency, you've got 20 people and you've got client handlers and you've got people who just do finance. We're much more blended in that and from the boys to the managing directors, you know, it's much more fluid than that.

I know designers who work in bigger studios rarely have to answer emails because there are people in charge of that. But I think whilst this can make things cleaner in some ways it can also get in the way, sometimes the best creative results come from working directly with the client. You can only do jobs at a certain size working like that. We can therefore only do jobs of a certain size in the studio, although I think for the size are, we probably punch above our capacity sometimes, but it’s a way I really enjoy working.

There are probably ways that we could work that might be slightly more efficient, I set up Split from university I have never worked in another studio.

That means I never do anything how we “should” I try and find the answers that are right for our clients and us.

It’s actually nice to have some self-awareness about that and trying to learn what we're actually doing, reflecting on that sometimes can be quite useful. I'm always asking why. Always picking away at whether we do it like this or that; is this the right thing to do or why not do this more?

How do most clients find you?

Most of our clients find us through word of mouth. We occasionally get people who find us, via our website or social. Some of it's through articles written about These Northern Types. But typically, we've grown it all from word of mouth. The portfolio then backs that up. So people will hear that hopefully, they're good to work with and easy to work with… And we do things like reply to emails promptly.

 Do you ever feel weird about promoting your own work?

I've hidden behind the name Split for 12 years. Not many months ago, we actually put it out there on the internet that Split is the studio, it’s my studio. Even though all our clients, they know that.

 But its terrifying to put yourself out there. When I first started, I trained as a musician as well. And I had to make this choice between being a musician. Along with many other things, I found it a bit easier promoting Split studios whereas as a musician it was me.

There is more to Split than me now, there have been many people contributing to what Split is today. I would never say that Split is me, but I am aware that when it comes to promoting it, I feel much more comfortable it not being my name.

When we promote work, I have a golden rule: We can’t say it's good, we can't decide that. We can have confidence in the work, and we can put it up for people to see, but we can't tell anyone its good. And mean we will probably hate it in six months anyway!

What would the ultimate project?

Some ideas with the big press here. I have been lucky and done a couple of my ultimate projects. We got to do the 20th-anniversary box set for my favourite record level in the world. I think I will always look at that as something that I never dreamed of being able to do and I couldn't even pick it out, like something I thought we could have done. Some people say don't meet your heroes, but those projects where you work with someone you look up to and come away with more respect for them at the end of it, rather than fewer leads to take more inspiration from them than before.

That's kind of the ultimate thing for me and right now is to continue to produce prints on the letterpress but is a very slow process and very expensive.

 What does success mean to you?

Not going bankrupt and that we can do the work we want to do and care about. I always want to be judged on the quality of our creative work. Not on, turnover or anything like that. I’d like for our work next year is to be better and different from last year and to continue evolving, rather than having a fixed goal. I don’t think that is helpful in order to evolve.

There is this saying about enjoying being on the side of the mountain rather than just trying to get to the top. I think success probably means that I'm still really excited about doing some of the work we do in 20, 30 years’ time. And my job is completely different in 20, 30 years’ time as it is totally different from what it was five years ago. As long as I'm still excited about it, everything else follows. Trying to keep ourselves in a position where we can continue to make that sustainable, that would be a success.

I feel like the answers are good but I don't have anything to compare it to so I'm not sure if I've managed to get what I was aiming to get out of this project. i am a bit more informed about how split works but i dont have much else. 

group work

I have figured out that I don't mind working in a group if they do work. my issue is that people like to leave things to the last minute and I hate that it stresses me out. I think I want to curate a group a bit better as in this situation we ended up fixing the Instagram on Monday night.

problems with creative report

the thing that I have learned is that graphic designers don't really answer I have sent out emails out to my studies and I have only got one answer. I had one reply that she would answer but never coming back after I sent the questions I don't know what to do. I have therefore seent out emails to many more now in hopes that one would reply.

poster

initially, we talked about having the workshops in hyde park bookclub but Eleanor found this workshop space in Leeds that already is equipped with a printer and some other tools for 30 quid an hour. we decided, therefore, to go with that. 

in order to incorporate some hands-on technics, I started to do some scribbles in charcoal pencil. I liked the look of it so there were made some sketches of our location that could be used across the branding and presentation.  

 

initially, we talked about using orange and black but it can become a bit Halloweeny so we went with this yellow color. I had some issues with people in the group, not understanding hue and saturation layers in photoshop so this took up a larger part of my day than it should have. we set tasks for people to do today and it has not happened. 

what we did decide on is that we should add a second. I did an argument fro blue and we went with that. 

since i like my type i decided to focus on the typesetting for the poster to get it out of the way. I don't mind it and with the shape that Rosie found from the squiggly building, it works nicely. 

logo

they really wanted to use a typeface from last year. so we need to get it to work. we did the work on Rosies computer, and the files did not get shared with the people that did input, but we managed to create something that could work. I feel like the final logo looks a bit tacky but it think it works for the purpose and I've been picky enough already. we used the ligature of the HO for the icon.

development ish

as we had to spit up and we are now at square one we decided to go with one of the initial ideas and create a workshop focused on quick graphic design production. it is to be similar to the workshops we did with Ben last year.

we have done some discussion and luckily I manage to maneuver the workshop away from what Rosie wanted as I felt like it was a bit niche and I could not really see that being all that useable because you could always just google what graphic design is.  we are instead now focusing on creating a fun environment for creatives to quickly develop somethings and get hands-on as many often get stuck in a purely digital rut.

initial ideas

workshop for younger people (15-18 ish )
Rosie talked about her issues when figuring out graphic design and wanted to create a workshop focusing on educating and introducing people to the world of graphic design. the workshop will function as a six-week crash course to inform and inspire people. there are to be workshops focusing on type image and layout, the workshops are not to be overly complicated but introduce and guide people on what it can be.

skillshare
this workshop is to focus on creatives working together and sharing skills that they have acquired. there could be a bookbinding workshop as this does not need all that much specialist equipment. There could be lino print and other small things that people have learned. this event would go across several weeks and be an afternoon time class. it would also possibly also function as a networking thing as you are forced to talk to people that are in the creative industry but do not necessarily do what you do.

workshop with musicians
this idea is based on connecting musicians and designers, so the musicians would play a short set and the designers would come up with concepts for branding or the artists. the artist would then choose if they would want to work with them. the idea is that the designers would produce a quite large amount of work so that it would all be put together in a zine at the end of the events.

networking with musicians
this idea is a development from the initial idea with musicians but the focus would be on networking and instead of producing work is told be focused on creating ideas and networking in a chill environment.

Hands on

since our group had to split into two we had to lowkey restart but we have managed to come up with a name and re-imagining the initial concept we had for a workshop that focuses on practical outcomes.
we are aiming to target people that need a break from their every day and people that want to explore a bit of graphics. The idea is to create three workshops one focusing on type, one on image and the last one to produce a final outcome. The workshop is to be called hands-on as to showcase that it is not just a digital thing.

what we need is a location
logo/branding
overview of what materials
scanner/printer
type printouts, modular elements and such
an Instagram

We started with creating a logo based on a typeface that Rosie king made in the first year.

tweet

send names and team name to Orlando 
find the essence 
280 characters pitch 
short and sweet 

"Musicians come to play a set with a need something designing. The musicians are showcased on the Instagram what they want to get out of it. If there are many applicants there will be a selection process. Designers bring their work to showcase their style. The work created would be published in a zine."


idea 
bands that need brands
live drawing 
live design 


one band 
several bands would only be there to not hurt peoples feelings 

Instagram polls create exclusively.
have a limited amount of seats.
selection.
commission.

what to create 

Instagram
Megan 
Olivia 
Sadie

logotype 
Ida 

posters and flyers 
Ida 
Eleanor 
Rosie 
Hussaine

budget(planning)
Ewan 

structure of the event
Pheobe
Megan 

presenting 
collective 


production  
Pheobe 


zine- also summary insta? 

beermats 

set rules 
edgy Leeds