LIVE PROJECTS ď‚Ť
Benjamin Rider |
www.benrider.com | benjaminrider.blogspot.com
1
4 // INTRO
6 // SELF PROMOTION
12 // XMASK
16 // BLOC & BLUR
18 // BLUE CROW
20 // OCCUPY LONDON
26 // IDOL MAGAZINE
28 // GREEN WEEK 2012 2
48 // OKIDO
58 // FURIOUS KNIGHTS
70 // E-STORE CURRENCY
74 // SAMSUNG LOVE NOTE
78 // TULIP SUNDAY
84 // D&AD [LITTLE WHITE LIES]
88 // CONCLUSION
92 // PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION 3
IN
Torn between pursuing a career
a shot. Its not like I was
as a graphic designer, or
being paid or anyone was going
making it as an Illustrator, I
to do die.
was confident about the quality of my work and skill set, but
The worst that could happen in
unsure of what exactly to do.
my opinion, the only fail for me was not genuinely applying
So I applied a self limitation
myself and spending the next
of saying yes to whatever
10 weeks watching trisha.
came up. No matter if I could
4
even do it or not,or even if
I started with a plan, which
I had the time, or even if I
immediately flew wildly off
was not even
piste. Infact I did not
the slightest
bit capable. I decided that
acheive a single item on my
whatever it would be, I’d be
original ‘to-do’ list. It was
open minded enough to give it
a bit of a rubbish plan to
TRO begin with as, having been
This book documents my
applying for internships and
journey of learning through
work experience since the
massive cock - ups and
summer
genuine work experience in the areas I genuinely wanted
I still did not have a single
to experience. I’m rating my
internship lined up.
personal performance as I would with music. out of 5
Although the future terrified
Stars. 5 being the best, 1
me, by great fortune I had an
being the worst.
excellent job with What-If over the summer, and I was pretty confident everything would be amazing. And it was!
So for a plan I give myself
5
SELF PROMOTION “Hi Ben, Thanks for your applicati on but unfortunately, I fou nd som eone else who can only be described as being “fucking perfect.” -Mr Bingo
Since August, knowing I had to find work for this term, I sta rted applying. Originally for work experi ence in Singapore. I thought it would be amazing. Its a small place, I thi nk I applied to every single studio. Mos t places were really nice over the pho ne [with the exception of ‘imaginary freinds’ studio who screamed ‘WHAT!’ whe n answering the phone. not even a hello. ] The tried and tested met hod of Designing up a brilliant sharp loo king PDF of work examples worked ver y well for me overall. Although I didnt actually nail an internship, most of the time I got a quick response with som e genuinely positive feedback on my work. So i rate myself just the one star. A website was important to me, and i finally got benrider.com up and running with cargo.
6
g to tweets So I later started respondin some variety of looking for a quick job et a nice twe t and it felt good to jus lowed up fol st small message of intere m’. .co der with a link of ‘benri t much more yes that felt great, fel domain name. own professional with my cargo for the to d well worth the £40 pai off since the g tin year which i’d been put th joining wor l wel end of last year, and ected a exp er nev up for twitter too! i yeild ld cou ok tool on par with facebo s! bit tid some genuinely useful ended] [twitter= #highly recomm at to fire Looking back its been gre Kept easy . PDF ed off a beautifully design p, a PDF kto des my of to find in the corner felt ely nat defi h wit I was really chuffed quick a r ove ght wei like it carried some link. Always had one I kept refining my PDF . working on the t kep on the go, and just ng it depending aki same InDesign file, twe nship I was ter on what kind of job/in applying for. still was unsure Early on, before xmas, I to follow. ted which discipline I wan follow, working I knew what I wanted to ing and print mak with my hands, image this stage, I at making is obvious. But all my eggs g tin was hesitant about put ted to be a wan I t in one basket. I fel do a bit of ld cou graphic designer who
7
illustration should the opportunity arose. I really didnt feel confident enough to really throw myself into anything in particular. And in some respects, I still do, I still have a love for graphic design. But by the luck of nine blind bastards I discovered that the enthusiasm I have for drawing zombies and being over excited about print, could be used to single me out amoungst the crowd [a crowd of no less than 500 other applicants for one particular occasion with Furious Knights] This went a long way to giving me confidence to choose how to present myself, be proud of what i do, and ultimately informs what I’ll do for my final major project. Looking through my ‘sent’ list of emails, I wrote specifically to at Least 40 studios / collectives in the UK. [As well as almost anything that advertised a job, or looked remotely interesting] Having some quick links 8
close to hand of job sites was really useful, and as well as absorbing lots of time. I kept a list and a little collection of business cards since 2nd year which I pulled up and collated. 40 might not sound like a lot. It definatley was. it was a lot when each of those 40 I wrote a special cover letter [in varying length!] why I specifically wanted to work at that particular place with what particular people / disciplines. it wasnt at all anonymous. each email took alot of time, I got a bit anal about each word and sentence trying to eek out a bit more enthusiasm and positivity from my use of language. Did’nt actually get me anywhere. Nor did borderline begging. after about the millionth e-mail, infact after the millionth non-reply, one particularly soggy response 9
kind of made me stop caring that much, and try for something a bit rediculous. For example, Okido. I got a great internship there, they definately liked and remembered me titling my application as “AN AMAZING INTERN APPLICATION!” Taking some of our tried and tested fda brand idea generation I set to work making something different. As great as a PDF was, it was time to utilise my growing graphic communication skills. Thinking the opposite is one part of the ideas generation which led me to think how what I’m offering
is more me giving them something, as opposed to me asking to be given something. This way of thinking led to me making my application in the form of a ‘gift voucher.’ These got sent out to a select handful of specific studio’s I really wanted to work with, to follow up my existing email/
10
Tailor made application for Mr Bingo. Although did not win me an internship, working with my hands, making something, doing what I love doing did win me some amazing feedback, some great exposure. Until twitter removed it for being too brilliant. So I rate myself 5 stars. See for yourself here.
11
XMASK
The thursday before we were
This was Friday afternoon
technically due to finish the
and I had been accepted to
term, the Dean’s secretary
start an internship that same
called mecsaying “The Dean
monday. Genuinely didnt think
needs to see you, its pretty
I was going to complete this,
urgent.” Well that shat me
let alone make something that;
right up, I immediately assumed I was in trouble for
A-I would keep in my portfolio
something.
B-Have work in a brand new format [masks!]
Turns out he had a little
B-Be approved by the Dean
job for me which I was
D-Lead me onto other jobs!
very honoured to be asked. Laurence Zeegen is someone
The Brief was simple, but
I’d be more than happy to
brilliant; “its a staff xmas
work for free for. So for me
party, so we’d like something
thats an immediate 5 stars.
fun and cheesy.”
By fantastic luck, I had
I was breifed really well so
given the Dean some of my
I had a good start. But My
work as a bit of a thanks for
main thinking was how the hell
some previous help with a
to produce something that
project.
would be good enough to pass muster not only for the dean
12
Seeing that work, I was asked
of design but the entire staff
to re-design the posters and
of a visual communication
invites in a similar fashion
university. Something thats
to my work example for their
going to appeal to both
staff xmas party “By Monday.”
security guards and design
tutors at the same time. In about 5 minuites. I was quite used to a fortnight of research before starting on visuals. But a quick trip to Elephant & castle shopping center and a rummage in poundland was enough to fulfill my hunt for fun and cheesy references. Remembering tricks from a ‘half tone workshop’ in 1st year, I dived into visual research; quick and immediate collages.Using cheap wrapping paper, and anything visual related to parties, office, xmas and putting together some collages and scanned in hand drawn elements. I was open about my process, and for example that I pinched this ancient illustration from a local dry cleaners. I think it went a long way to add to the fun
13
14
and cheesy feel I was working for. With a few early mornings and with some back and forths from the dean I was able to put together really fun and cheesy bit of work. I had my work printed and put up, I had my work printed in a new format, approved by the dean of design, and new seasonal portfolio piece to add. Definately 5 stars.
15
BLOCK & BLUR
This was effectively a crowd sourced brief and a complete waste of time. Brief; to make some visuals that play with the logo and the type of the company’s name. I felt that as it’s technically for free and a series of mock ups, so I allowed myself a day. A day is imperative at this stage. With no pay, no concrete plans, or assurances of winning the work, an SVR project and an ITC report to complete. I could not afford to mince about. Reading back over my words and thinking about how little the assurances really were about winning this job, I should of been brutal and just not bothered at all. Quite honestly, I was desperate for any work experience I could get my teeth into. I made a point of speaking with them over the phone. More to get my name remembered, but to clarify the brief, the premise being, do some half good examples of what you can do, show that you can operate a decent level of skills and understanding. sent it off. heard nothing back. no replies, no answers. complete waste of time. Nno stars. Infact minus a star.
16
BLOC+BLUR
TO MAKE YOUR MUSIC LOOK AS GOOD AS IT SOUNDS
BLOCK+BLUR
film photography design
Film
|
Photography
|
Design
17
BLUE CROW
FINALLY! Finally I scored an internship with a studio. Did not matter what studio, just that it was a studio. After all that hard work, hours spent and emails send, I was delighted to have finally got an internship. I wanted an internship at a studio to see for myself how I could work in real studio group dynamics. I wanted to actually work with people, go somewhere. do something learn from those people. Monday 9am sharp, I Knock on the door and im greeted by a completely random bloke in his pyjamas. We spend a few minuites chatting in his hallway as the door creaks to a theatrical close behind me. Eventually being able to ask ‘so when are we going to the studio?’ -’oh its right through here’ -in his living room. I was sat off on his dining table with my laptop. Technically I have never seen a design studio before. But pretty sure they dont look like someones living room. I felt even more gutted when I was sent off to find an internet cafe to print off some stuff for him as they didnt even have a printer. My gut instincts were screaming at me to just leave. By the time I got back with the print outs I was feeling pretty depressed that my years of hard work and education has amounted to working for a random man in his pyjamas. for free. But out of what I
18
would class as sheer professionalism, I stayed. Now, I’m not that stuck up that im bothered about getting my hands dirty with a few menial tasks, and im not at all bothered about where I work. All that matters is testing what I’ve learnt and hopefully picking or practicing some new skills. My job was to make these webcam photos look as if they were taken using an iphone with instagram. Pyjama left the flat and told me to take the rest of the day off when I had finished, and thats what I did. By amazing luck [luck is playing a big part so far] I had a meeting with the Dean the next day for Green Week. And thankfully asked after the internship. I really wanted a second opinion, and that meant loads to me to discuss it and be told its clearly not very organised or professional. Lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. I sent a very polite and thankful email and left it at that. Did get a bit of a guilt trip in response though. For taking the confidence to decide to quit something I did’nt think would be good for me, I give myself a star.
19
OCCUPY LONDON
20
Working for Occupy felt great. I’m proud to say I did some work for them. I agree with what they stand for, I feel it is a really good and positive cause. I’m expecting on working for free anyway, might as well be for a good honest [charitable?] cause. Definately glad I supported it. I litrally just emailed in one day to say this is me, this is what I do, this is what I can offer feel free to get in touch if I can be of help somewhere. By this point I had my website up as well. I was quickly responded to, thanking me for my solidarity and what I offered would be passed to the most needed area. Nice one, did feel a bit worried at that point. Will I be expected to work whilst avoiding stampeding police horses? I spoke with a very welcoming gentleman over the phone who explained what was needed and when, explaining my offer came in just as they were preparing an event broadcasting the Arab Spring and if I could get a solid poster worked up. No problem! Just had to wait for the correct information to come through and I was away.
21
I dropped the ball, what I really should of done is start preparing and working up some images in the time I had. At this point I was still juggling uni work and pretty much concentrated on that. Until i received the extra details and asked if they could have it completed by the next day! I effectively left myself a single evening to do this. How could I let this happen? I didnt waste my time, and I still feel right for spending the time on Uni work. That said I pulled out the bag an amazing poster. I might of stayed up most the night doing it, but I keep it in my portfolio and the feedback from occupy was really positive. The research was ready made really, I was asked to visualise it. I stressed at the time, but remembered the things we have been told and followed that. Began with heirarchy, though how the visuals could communicate the message, choice of imagery, colour and typeface etc. And it was
22
fairly smooth from there, acting almost methodically. Out of speed, I chose photographic imagery over my own illustration, I chose and used copyright free imagery, free typefaces, and designed it so it would work in black and white keeping printing costs right down. As with all my PDF’s and uni projects I though how I could use the layout to reflect the content. Which led me to using the type to mimic the steps on St.Pauls and the shape as if a beam of light actually projecting the information. I was quite chuffed with
myself for coming up with that to be honest. With all these limitations and responsibilities, I did’nt feel as stressed as I was, this was for a really positive cause, this was’nt selling toothpaste or something. If I failed, this realy positive event could fail. I feel that with all these limitations of time, budget all of that I think I excelleed. So I give myself 4 stars. not 5 as I could of and should of used my time better, but 4 because I still achieved
Occupy London presents....
OCCUPY LONDON Presents....
THE ARAB SPRING THROUGH THE LENS OF SYRIA A live broadcast of the syrian revolution on the steps of st. pauls cathedral
THE ARAB SPRING THROUGH THE LENS OF SYRIA
10th december. world human rights day occupylondonlens@gmail.com
A live broadcast of the syrian revolution on the steps of st. pauls cathedral 10th december. world human rights day occupylondonlens@gmail.com
On the 10th December, World Human Rights Day, Occupy London will livestream protests from across Syria to raise awareness and show
On the 10th December, World Human Rights Day, Occupy London will livestream protests from across Syria to raise awareness and show solidarity for the Arab Spring.
solidarity for the Arab Spring.
23
A while later I was contacted again and invited to a ‘Occupy Design’ meeting in a freezing warehouse in Shoreditch. It seemed the design arm of Occupy was gaining more and more momentum, and I was really excited to be a part of it and to support it. This would be somethign and somewhere that I could really utilise my analogue printmaking skills, and made that known. By this stage I could really back up, validate and confidently argue the point for what could be needed and how it could be done, and the value of what I do, based on all the research and interviews I had conducted for our ITC Report. I could argue how say screenprinting posters would add value and honesty from being hand made, its the ocmplete opposite language of how most ‘corporate’ graphics are made. As well as keeping costs down.
24
I could sell my skills, I could litrally be given some scrap wood and I carve effectively a giant stamp out of it to make numerous posters. Only price being the ink and paper. The meeting was basicly an idea generation session for a large group of various designers. I felt it could of been held better. We pretty much sat in a giant circle of strangers and encouraged to come up with new ideas. At this stage I really wish I stood up and suggested the idea generating tools that have been so useful on FDA.
etc, so we set about making visual prototypes and sticking them up critique style. The upshot was quite a positive feeling of doing something good and plans and discussions how to take this forward. Pretty much the same day Occupy’s ‘Bank of Ideas was evicted and destroyed so nothing further really happened. Although some new emails have been filtering in to me lately organising a new meet at some point. With much more organisation and printmaking access. As it stands, there is a design ‘wish list’ up on their site [UK and US] that anyone can take up and answer individually.
But i didnt want to show up the organiser, or come accross as a big know it all or appear controlling. But what i did do was be the first to speak up and made a point of being well involved with discussing and bringing up suggestions. By good fortune I brought extra paper and masking tape, others brought markers
25
IDOL MAGAZINE I did some spreads for Idol magazine, I applied as I was up for trying as wide a range of experiences as possible, and because of the Blue Crow experience I had to miss the interview. I did politely ask to change the date of it, which was
26
ď‚Ť ď‚Ť agreed. but never heard back. I called and wrote and I was given a new interview. It was brilliant, I was interviewed by a staff member who spent the whole day doing interviews with fashion journalists and was visibly delighted at all the colour
and enthusiasm I brought in my treasure box portfolio. I was given the companents to make 2 spreads and told to start right away and have it in by January the 15th, in time for printing on the 30th. NO PROBLEM. So i set to work delighted, didnt even have to
research it. Heres some text, heres some pictures, go do some design tetris. It wasnt, I found it really boring and dull. i didnt work with anyone, i got no feedback, and when I handed in the finals I was told “Thanks for these ben, but we’ve replaced you because you took too long.� For getting fired for the first time ever, and from a job working for free! But for absolutely hating it and learning exactly how and what not to do in the future I award myself 2 stars over a complete and utter fail.
27
GREEN WEEK 2012
Overall this was an amazing opportunity I’m well chuffed I got involved with this. Another Job working with/for the dean of design, and A WHOLE NEW AREA OF DESIGN I NEVER DID BEFORE [Branding] and thousands of other bits of amazingness along the way. Like the fact its for a really wholesome, positive, healthy good cause. That and seeing my work all over the place was brilliant. Finally my girlfreind beleived me. Lauwrence Zeegen was up for re-branding the whole ‘go green 2012’ event for LCC, making it something to really reach out to people. I was again really pleased to be invited in for another briefing, again a quick turn around was asked. By now I rub my hands in glee at a challenge like this, ok I’ve got a few days to do something I’ve never done before. And the GMD are submitting some pitches in groups as well. Nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition. It almost felt like I was hoping to make this into a group project as to be honest a part of me did want to concentrate on some upcoming deadlines. I put a call out online but like me most people just had other priorities, and fair enough. Wasnt going to stop me, and thankfully Laurence was on hand for some online guidance. I think it was those back and forths over email or a cup of coffee in the middle of putting things together that I really got a lot out of. This was no small challenge for me, I had litrally never studied branding or did a branding project before...
28
Go Green Week 2012 brief: To produce something that can be used as the visual identity for UAL’s 2012 green Week, which supports/helps promote our theme of “you can make a difference”. It should be usable by all parts of UAL that might participate in Green Week - Colleges, central services and SU/student groups. It will be used on the sustainability website (ideally as one of the opening/background images) as well as on local Green Week websites/calendars and other promotional materials (I’m not sure what is being planned at this stage). The weeks itself will take place 6-11 February. visual identity theme of “you can make a difference”. 6-11 February. branding for this year logo “Juggling betweenmultiple tasks at once, truly the sign of a great designstudy work life more sustainable er” -Sarah Temple all encompassing identity
29
...So i approached slightly wigging out at first. But falling back into our previous training, I approached this as we’ve been shown for anything, be it branding or illustration or anything; I began by methodically picking through, talking through the brief, Understanding what it asks and what needs to happen and when, taking on board imperative considerations who I’m aiming at and why im doing it. You know the rest of the story, sitting down to research, generate some idea’s mock those ideas up and mail it off in a quick PDF presentation. Some of those Presentation were a little rough round the edges. As were some of the ideas. utterly unproffessionaly, my scanner banjaxed and I resorted to my preliminary ideas and mock ups being taken on the webcam on my laptop. But the inital ideas could still be discussed and a direction could take form. An instant priority and action for further personal
30
Going through and discussing the brief seemed like an obvious thing. But it really helped as I’ve found so far that a brief is an email, or a conversation. Re-writing the brief to myself was something I picked up when beginning WBL projects in the 2nd year. And for a project like this, I REALLY did’nt want to mess up over a schoolboy error. This really helped highlight one key factor that resounded with me; being told how this should appear student led, but not be the obvious looking ‘torn out bits of cardboard or potato stamped’ vibe. Again,my research into what I was studying for my ITC report paid up again.
31
I put that forward that a process should be used. Such as printmaking or letterpress, specifically letterpress for the logo; This is’nt obviously ‘studenty’ there is no torn bits of flappy cardboardand referenced David Pearson’s book covers. Based on that ITC research I could put forward specifically why a letterpressed logo would be perfect,and how it supports the ethos of green week/ environmental concerns. On top of overarching background research I could argue how ‘Green Week’ is an LCC event and the letterpress facility itself has been recycled, it was nearly scrapped in the
32
past. The facility itself is effectively made of recycled equipment, re-purposed for creativity and education. We can use recycled inks and paper, for the marketing and it would all be done in house. think how small the carbon footprint would be! Plus letterpress just looks ace. It would appeal to more than jsut students. Also, I get to have a play in letterpress! Without taking into consideration that this was well into the Xmas break so letterpress was closed for the holiday. So I found myself tearing my hair out at how to mock up a letterpressed logo in time!?!
33
I started going through all my letterpressed scraps kept for collage, but I never had the right typeface or enough letters needed. So, to my shame I discovered a letterpress app, which allowed me to basically fake the whole thing. What was great about this though, was how much it speeded up my process. I could ‘make’ what i needed, and then brought the different elements into photoshop and kern / re-size appropriately. As this was effectively freelance and I had no ‘office’ to go to, I often found myself perched in the back room in the FDA studios, the benefits with this was being able to work with a couple fellow students and get instant honest opinions.
34
35
Examples of some of the varIations and developments I went through.
36
What worked and what did’nt were advised leading to this final.
37
These are what was submitted, next to the GMD’s submissions for pitching to a board of suits. This “won head and shoulders over the competition” which felt brilliant. Especially as the competition was the GMD. This was an amazing
38
acheivement for me. It was thanks to Laurence most likely, as is all of this really. I do owe a lot to our dean for inviting me in on this project in the first place and making time to critique and feedback. It was his suggestion to play with the idea of process and make the black of the logo out of 3 seperate
colours. Screenprinty style, which eventually led to the slightly off registered Magenta version in the final, and finally these extra stars. Annoyingly 2012’ star 5 minuites rest of it own alot.
the ‘greeen which I did compared to got used on
week in the its
39
40
This was amazing suddenly seeing my work used all over the place.
41
It was definatley amazing seeing and making a whole branding process from start to finish and seeing it being used, and for such a positive purpose. I stuck around for as much help as I could for the week itself. I found myself screenprinting the logo onto boxes. I was pleased to use some existing skills, but it was aroudn this time that serious deadlines were approaching, and a team of amazing volutneers were alredy in place to take care of actually putting together the week itself. I still would of liked to of taken care of the printing myself. But priorities had to be made.
42
43
44
Remember getting this flyer emailed in? no? That’s because it wasnt sent. I spent HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS tweaking and refining this ‘flyer’. Working with Sarah Temple and Tara Hanrahan from ThinkDot studio. It was great to work with some new people I could learn from even if it was back and forths over email. I would of liked to have thanked Tara in person for all her help and suggestions, pointing out things such as how to improve legibility, to include logo’s etc etc as well as simply what works and what doesnt about what I’m suggesting. I really took alot from those email discussions. That week was a week away from our ITC hand in and I really felt the pressure, I wanted to promote green week, I wanted to do this and do it well so people would come etc, but I just had so much to do, It was’nt an easy decision having to say,not no but how about later.
45
I was very polite, but the point was I was having difficulties and what should I do? Everyone involved was really understanding and each said to focus on uni work, as that should come first. Which i did, finished and went straight back to it Did do a HUGE amount of work for this at a really busy time before a deadline. But I gave it a go and came off with some brand new work, brand new experience, knowledge, and I refined and improved my working approach and style. Even if it wasnt emailed out. Curiously going into uni one day I found my work recycled into the screenprinted posters for different days events. I had no idea. If i did i certainly would of provided hi-res versions of the headers. No wonder i was getting jip from the 1st and 2nd years for my pixellated prints.
46
For working on a brand new area of design, for taking on this learning curve, for working with different great people and getting some amazing acheivements and feedback from so many sources, and for being able to do so many of the things I love doing applied in areas I was so unconfident about I award myself 6 out of 5 stars.
47
OKIDO
48
Working for Okido was brilliant. Thats all I need to say about my 5 odd weeks there. Briliant. Brilliant and amazing because I scored an internship with people I’ve really wanted to work with since 1st Year, and for a really positive good honest creative company. A place I could use existing skills and interests in illustration and see how different creatives work and work in a team. It couldnt be better. -But actually it could, and did!- They looked after us very well and made us some amazing home made food. Every day. On top of that I learnt a whole brand new skill. Thanks to my time at Okido I can now confidently do animation. As well as gaining first hand experience in an area im really interested in. All the things can only be a maximum 6 out of 5 stars for me. My first day at Okido I was asked that the company could really use some animation done, and could I try out some animation for a particular story? The upcoming Issue was to do with music so a music video of an existing story would be great. I have litrally never ever done anything remotely animated. But I immediately agreed to give it a crack! Luckily I got to work with Andy too who is definately the fuel to a positive can do attitude. Okido were great, they were more than happy for us to take some time out to learn how to animate. By the end of the day our positive attitudes paid dividens. We had actually animated!
49
50
We had the story to animate on hand as well as the digital files of the illustration and just went for it until something didnt work. As you can see we just made it up as we went along. Religiously learning from Lynda.com. That resource was a godsend, without it I doubt we could of got so far. We would work to in a cycle of watching, taking notes on how to do it, then litrally doing it! WE COULD ANIMATE!
51
When the first components of our animation came together and watchable. It felt great, whats more it felt great to contibute and carve ourselves a little place in the group. Every day was great, nothing but learning and creativity. And home made lunches. I was using new skills, making use of existing skills. Every day I was learning a little more, from animation to the production and running of a creative, illustrative publication. On top of that I was being introduced to other really interesting and unique creatives liek set designers, other animators and musicians.
52
One thing I really enjoyed was just the conversations, how a little moments distraction talking about something would blossom into an enthusiastic discussion about some brilliant printmaking technique or being shown some amazing book. Just inspiring.
53
A new Issue was on the horizon, to do with music. So we were there and allowed to be part of the early research and experimentation. That was just so much fun. Testing and making musical intruments, exerimenting and thinking what could be done to teach, what could be made from everyday items, all of this was really fun and interesting and Im really thankful to have been brought in on that. We would generall crack on with our animation but we were never left out, we were always made to feel very welcome to contribute, discuss or just listen in and question their precesses. We were even welcomed to propose some ideas and illustrations of our own! First things first we set some time aside to do some idea generation, being overheard we explained our process and that we would deliberately go through a series of more rediculous stages such as coming up with dubstep okido, but what we do with that and where we go. We presented and taking though our ideas and recommended what to go with and what to avoid.
54
55
56
This in itself was realy great for me, I’d always wanted to do some illustrations for okido, I get to do what I enjoy most, and I learnt and see how my Illustration could work with these professionals, what I need to consider and do to become better. I learnt to take special consideration to make sure not to make anything controversial, or in any way insulting, offensive or any violent imagery. I also learnt to think of how I could use illustration
to make into a story or activity. I orignally had a bongo with dreadlocks, but that could be seen as racist or stereotyping. With their suggestion looked at how the tone and mood the instrument gives could also convey feelings. For learning and experiencing a broad range of experiences beyond jsut illustration, for coming away with a new skill, for all the amazing lunches, people and inspiration; 6 stars.
57
FURIOUS KNIGHTS
This was such a lucky opportunity for me to encounter. Furious Knights is a merchandise company for the music industry. This is perfect for me on so many levels, and making t-shirts was originally on my to-do list. What makes this stand out for me was the fact I was hired for being me, I have been hired for my style, my approach to graphics. Basicly, EXACTLY the things I love to produce and the ways to produce them. Read for yourself here. This on top of all the previous opportunities and research has really given me a confidence boost about how and where to apply myself; exactly in what I love doing, Illustration, print making and image making. EVERYTHING IS AMAZING. How this works is I am one of 10 designers and Illustrators in their talent pool [Picked out of over 500 applicants!thats amazing acheivement for me!] They field a brief to all of us, and we respond if we can or if we want to answer that brief. So far I’ve answered all but 1 of the briefs, and been asked to carry on work for 2, with those 2 being picked for print/use. This is so amazing for with this industry. It i’m remembering things newspaper club project
58
me to really see and work feels a bit wild, again I researched for the in year 2 how design world
is fast. I’ve really seen that. But with whatever field of work I’m learning to refine my process and speed it up. Again, with each brief I’ve methodically set aside time for research, time for idea generation, time for mock ups and importantly, a little time to present those idea’s nicely. So far its worked a charm. The beautiful thing about answering briefs for these guys, is the balance between hand made work and digtial work is well balanced. All of the work and communication happens online, so I made a point to pop down and meet them. For future professional development im going to buy and charge a new mobile phone, as my phone ran out of battery long before I got there, and by pure luck I found it and one of their team was waiting outside for me incase I got lost! Great guys to speak with and run through ideas, and re-enforced the point to really do what I feel is right, what really reflects my visual style. So answering these briefs has really thoroughly refined and defined my visual style as well as speed of approach. These are definately elements Ill be bringing into my FMP.
59
My first brief was to design a range of t-shirts for Daniella Brooker [I hadn’t heard of her either] With a target audience of 11-13 year old girls. What the hell do I know about that. I was very concerned about researching a target audience like that. Surely people go to prison for things like that. I looked at things like the existing material targeting this group and looked at its visual language, also finding myself browsing pre teen girl gossip magazines in WHsmiths. This paid off though, eventually giving ideas for directions to take and when It came to present I could justify decisions based on what I had discovered. I went for a ‘Pop meets Punk’ aesthetic.
60
This was the original picked to take forward for printing. See it for yourself HERE and HERE
As this is how she describes herself and her own work. I tried loads fantastic approaches. Curiously, It was litrally the most simplest and quickest visual idea I had that the singer herself picked, and I got some direct feedback from her as well! That felt quite nice to be honest. That someone technically ‘famous’ had given me some feedback. As of writing im waiting for which version to send as seperate the layers ready for print. Things like working with all that screenprinting in the past has really informed the way I work knowing how layers work on top of each other for print, something they described me as being “old hat” at. Nice.
61
We only have a limited printing space on the shirt, so learning from the first round of samples where I was offering grand ideas of printing round the side of the shirt and down a sleeve etc. I started getting better Ideas of how to work these limitations and hopefully create something the client will pick. These are things im still learning about and will continue to do so. I still personally feel one of the other earlier options of this shirt would of been much better and I wouldnt say these were my best designs.
62
63
I submitted work for their Field Day brief, which was very limited in explanation, other than to just create work based around the logo. With nothing further to go on and balancing other jobs and such as still working at Okido at this time, and finding the time for D&AD I found myself rushing this and recycling some existing graphics I used for bloc+blur, which were crap to begin with. Juggling lots of different tasks Is an issue. If I think about it I’ve almost immediately encountered this from day one. Sarah Temple said some very kind and motivating words to me about the way I’ve been dealing with it without really reaslising the issue was there. I wasnt paid upfront, I was only to be paid if I won the work, so I cant really submit mocks, I technically have to submit a finished illustration. Or how I view it, its a bit of a wrestle how to tackle this. How can I have a mock up finished enough so the client can get a good idea of the potential
64
if given the green light [and the funds!] So this is something I’m still trying to figure out. Certainly an approach I definatley need to master If I want to win work but not continuously work for free. Perfecting Pitching;This is definately one area for future development.
illustrative style and speed of work. I found it so hard thinking in a bubble of what to create of what theme, I ended up spending a day doodling, collaging and trying to think up anything I pretty much wasted a much needed day not starting things. In the end I just threw into what I happened to think was cool at the time. A space monkey.
The Feild day brief came back re-writted to effectively do whatever we wanted. Which I took as an opportunity to develop my
65
This was also the first time I ‘painted’ something digtially, massively shortening the space between sketch and something pitchable and ‘finished’ Im quite chuffed with that, I’d prefer more time and printing it, but I know there is going to be a lot more to experiment with, practice and develop. I ended up recycling this little illustration into a riso print to have a physical portfolio piece/ excuse to have a go on the riso. See this here. Off the back of that print I was contacted out of the blue by an event organiser called ‘yozza’ asking what are my prices to design and illustrate an event poster and flyer. But this is at a time when I’ve my first FMP meeting in a couple days, this report to do, and still to finish my final Freelance job, the only way I was going to do this was for guaranteed payment. Knowing the kind of rough figures by hour we’ve been told on the course,
66
67
and speaking with fellow students I wrote back saying a poster and flyer illustrated, and designed, would be £200. I wouldnt work for less with so much imperative projects around me. To my surprise i did get a reply, but saying ‘that gives me something to think about.’ Pricing is another definate thing to practice for the future. I was learning to take control in a freelancer role. Having the confidence to make decisions and take control of my time. It was great being able to avoid that awful stress into work on the tube. The briefs for this company have really paid well in terms of my development. Im learning how to draw better and quicker, how to make the
68
most out of digital and hand made. I’m really starting to nail my drawing in these banners. I’ve discovered a little trick or approach in each brief. These approaches to image making, im still developing and look forward to taking further through out my career but also into the FMP.
The other great thing about these was being able to draw outdoors in the sun all day before going in to work digtially. love it. For really starting to see my illustrative style emerge, developing that, my working approach, speeding up my approach, learning to deal with problems myself, manage my time and have another
future opportunity I have to award myself the maximum 5 out of 5 stars for this opportunity. Although some issues to wrestle with, I’m learning to work with those, thats why its still max stars.
69
E-STORE
This was a very welcome opportunity to come off the back of Green Week. Laurence recommended me to Jackon Jessop the communications officer.
One thing I suggested at the meet was, as this was involving money and prices, to mimic the look and feel of notes, but as bank notes have the Queen and on the reverse a noteable figure, to mimic that but with Alumni from It took weeks to arrange LCC. That way tie in LCC, a meeting as we were both really busy. When we did meet printing, as well as share some information about the it was great! Couldnt of worked for a more open minded history with a nice visual positive person, I felt really aesthetic. confident and good about the project through out. This went down really well, and as in his opinion ‘the board’ would be well up for The brief was quite simple, something like that. create something more striking than just a number in a box for the pricing for Wanting to avoid testing printing through the e-store. almost every possible avenue I ran with this. The other beautiful thing was being As there was a bit of time able to discuss timing, at until we finally met for a the time I had other projects meeting I had come prepared on the go and asked if I for some ideas I thought could work well than just a pretty visual, which is comepltely fine by me either way. I was just keen to show off to be honest, and as always create a good portfolio piece.
£4
70
£50
£50
£50
£50
£50
£50
£50
Harry Beck
£50
could start in a month. I wanted to be able to finish and concentrate on what was at hand before taking on something new. but I was dead keen for it, as there was a lot of time until the e-store project went live I was assured to not stress or worry. Which was great.
of samples to Foundation, Fashion, and Graphics students and mentioned their feedback and preferences. as well as taking on board Jackson’s preferences
I researched about who studied at LCC as well as the range of things people have studied and gone on to do outside of graphic design I feel I went about this in such as Charles Saatchi and a really good way, I worked Ralph Steadman. My knowledge up some mocks, sent them off, worked on the better visuals. of LCC alumni started and I also went up to High Holbon ended with Neville Brody. to work I showed a range
71
£50
£50 £50
£50
Did ask after it, and was in touch with someone who deals with Alumni and that there are no stock photos kept, but I argued my finished results would be far removed from the original taken from online. As well as looking for and using copyright free imagery.
£50
£50
£50
So this was an interesting subject matter for me. I was working from photographs taken from online so found myself questioning about copyright issues. Things I had never ever considered.
72
£50
£50
£50
£50
£20
£50
£50
Developments
As you can see I tested lots of variations, experimenting with typefaces and colour, presenting to different types of students who are the stakeholder audience for these and bringing these findings into presentations I sent to Jackson. In the end this process felt a bit more streamlined, I presented work in PDF’s about 3 times in total, each time being encouraged and commended which felt really good. I’m pleased I did my
5
£4 £50 £50
£50
Harry Beck
research, did the tests on stakeholders and came back with something better. For being recommended for this job, for being prepared for it, researching it and dealing with it well using research and development techniques practiced earlier in the year, for delivering work well and having it approved by ‘the board’ and managing my time I give myself 4 stars.
£50
£50
Harry Beck
£12
£50
Harry Beck
£50
£50
Not 5 as I wish I could of answered it immediately, and perhaps exploring other ideas first before setting on the Alumni money aesthetic straight away stops me awarding full points. But this is still a portfolio
6
piece for me.
73
SAMSUNG LOVE NOTE
A lucky job mentioned to us by Paul, we had about a day to make and submit a poscard dealing with the theme of ‘Love’ for a nice £70. This was again quite a fast turn around while I was juggling other projects. What I found worked was sending something off for approval, while that was away continuing work on whatever else was going on. So once I sent off an answer to a brief from between Furious Knights, e-store graphics, D&AD or the TulipSunday Identity I mention later, I freed up a bit of time to jump into this. It seemed almost easy at first, but I felt the pressure as if well this should be easy, any illustrator worth their salt could easily do something amazing in a day for something so simple so I felt in a bit of a flurry to prove to myself i could do something well enough to be approved used and paid for.
74
It was a big help discussing with Andy what to do for this as he was working on it as well, and recommended I think what would i actually want to make to send to my loved one? It was easy form there i knew exactlyt what to say and how clearly I wanted it said. After some tests and sketching I fell back on the approach I used in green week, shamelessly using fake letterpress for a nice and unique visual. You can see the development on my blog here, the development of the card, but this was at first approved. This was sent back as there were comncerns the red flash had connotations fo the Japanese war flag.
75
As this was all ready past the deadline I was a bit gutted, but then asked to take it away and they’ll give it another chance! As with previous briefs, this time I offered a variety, with the above being picked. For the first time this term I made an invoice and sent it in. It really was a lovely project, Knowing how it was going to be used to spread messages of love around the world. It felt good as well to send some of my own work to the person I love the most. [me] I did actually send myself one for my portfolio. Which my dog dutifully ate. You can still send one yourself here.
76
77
TULIPSUNDAY
78
I was approached by a member of staff from our Uni who is soon to be made redundant. Inspiringly, they are taking this as an opportunity to start a business selling cupcakes and cushions. They approached me having seen my XMASK posters, asking if I can do illustration. We arranged to meet to discuss the project. Beforehand I read through notes given to us by Karl in a seminar about working in Illustration in my first year. Looking at things to avoid and discuss upfront, such as amount of amendments etc. I was quite lucky I held onto all those old notes, gave me some security. I was asked to design a business card, to do an illustration of a female figure wearing a tulip for a dress, is fishing, and to have her contact details on it. No problem! it seemed simple enough, to be honest I reckon I could of done it in a couple of days, so I decided as she knew i was a student and there was no way I was going to do it for free I’d dsy id do it for half price of £60. Ended up being much more work than I anticipated. Damali, who commissioned this brief, lovely person, I was really inspired is doing so I genuinely wanted to do her. So I couldnt do this purely for
was a by what she right by the money.
79
When I sat down to think about this, I realised I effectively need to work up an identity. I knew she was starting up as a stall in spitalfields market, I also knew she was going to screenprint these herself. I began by sketching out an Illustration as requested, nailed that, the tulip dress was a massive issue, but handled it. Luckily I am very familiar with screenprinting already, and how design for something as small as a business card what considerations should be made. I offered a range of ideas early on, especially with the type, and worked up pages and pages of hand made lettering which I thought were beautiful, they were. But when I thought about the size of the business card, and the process of printmaking itself, I could propose how whatever we decided on, it definately needs to be a simple clear robust design that could stand up to the inevitable screenprinting mistakes that occur. Especially as
80
this will be her 1st time printmaking. Being able to draw upon my experience working with printmaking directly informed the outcome of my design. I could argue why It should be simple, why we should do away with hand made lettering and go for something clear and robust. Hand made elements were actually decided on by her, to reflect the hand made nature of her products which I of all people can certainly get behind. But I wanted to deliver something that would work for her as well, and also worked up a whole series that followed my thinking. I was delighted when my thinking and proposals went down well, and every meeting was really positive it was fantastic to see how excited she was at seeing her identity come together. This did take up a lot of time, but in the end it was worth it and a learning curve in working with clients and explaining decisions as well as taking those decisions. It was great
81
t ul ipsu nd ay
t ul ips
077382565527 tulipsunday@hotmail.co.uk
0773825
tulipsunday@h
t ul ipsu 077382565527 tulipsunday@hotmail.co.uk
077382565527
damali_bah@hotm
having the confidence of experience behind me. I submitted the finals, and I will give her ready to print originals for screenprinting when she is ready. I’ve [almost] finished this feeling I did a good job and helped with more than just making a business card. Truthfully, in the future I would either spend far less time on this or charge much more. An area i need to improve on and be more conifdent about.
82
Benjamin Rider | www.benrider.co
u nd ay
t ul ipsu nd ay
077382565527
565527
hotmail.co.uk
u nd ay
tulipsunday@hotmail.co.uk
t ul ipsu nd ay 077382565527 tulipsunf lower@hotmail.co.uk
mail.com
For doing right, for genuinely helping the client and answering the brief, and creating some a nice body of work, for learning alot about everything involved with freelancing I award myself 3 stars. Minus 2 from being perfect as this took a lot more time than I should of allowed and I still need to learn about timing and pricing appropriately.
om | rider_ben@hotmail.com | 07539637809
83
D&AD
I found this to be an irritating little extra at first but I turned it around to have a great concept and a decent illustration. It was a weight on my mind and time was flying by. After attending the first drop in session with Karl I kept meaning to do a bit of time on it each week and bring it back in and discuss with him and Andy. What actually happened is weeks flew by and suddenly there was a fortnight left until the deadline. As with any brief, I picked through it, discussed the themes, fleshing this out over with Karl was very useful, and useful to be able to bounce ideas and thougths about. Through out this term, this kind of practice of having
84
someone to discuss projects with has been an excellent resource. I think developing the conifdence to run with ideas and make decisions on my own is something I need to man up to. The other great resource has been the other students even to just talk ideas through aloud. One thing that makes this project stand out for me, what pulled it out of the bag and into a piece I keep high up in my portfolio is its concept. I Looked at other submissions posted online, there were alot of good submissions, some excellent illustrations, but 90% were just a prettily painted portrait of Gary Oldman’s character but that was it. It was the same through out. I wanted my piece to pick up and discuss the themes raised in the film, not just draw a picture of it. D&AD was not to be taken lightly so a lot of time was spent on ideas, Studying the film, one thing that struck me which seemed so subtle, yet so pointiant, was the underlying story of ‘Smiley’s’ wife, her unfaithfulness to her husband was a direct metaphor of the films story of unfaithfulness towards the country. Re enforced at the end of the film when the ‘mole’ is caught, faith is resored and smileys wife returns to him. i felt this was a brilliant idea to pick up on that and communicate several issues. Not jsut produce a pretty picture.
85
Again, with the Daniela Brooker brief before it, enough research lef me to discovering something unique to offer. Being clear, I used the reflection in Smileys glasses to show the scene of his wife’s infedility, with a limited use of colour, just a bit of red on the hands to convey the themes of passion, anger, infideltity, communism and draw attention to this element.
86
At this point I had a weekend to make it and submit it. This was a poor management of time in my opinion, but to be honest I did the best I could with what I had available. I had to prioritise what was most important. This was not the most important. I looked at previous Little White Lies covers, and let that inform how I approached the image, shamelessly going for something I felt
would appeal to the editor. Although used, I noticed a preference for highly detailed accurate drawing over something stylised. So went with that, testing tracing, drawing from photo and with different media to give a unique and hand made graphic. I got there in the end with a sharpened stick and a pot of ink. Which was loads of messy fun. Then making use of my new found freindship
with the computer, again falling back on experience and tips from the half tone workshop to experiment with Layers and general graphic design priniciples to spend time thinking about the typography and its use. For nailing a brilliant concept and actually managing to do this in time I give myself 4 stars. Not 5 as I could of managed my time better and gave me a grey hair from stress.
A great opportunity to practice with riso printmaking too. I made different marks with differnt media onto the paper before printing. Making each print unique and not having to make an extra ‘master’.
87
CONCLUSION:
88
I found myself naturally carving a pathinto freelancing, a path carved out of iron with a lathe made of pure luck. With no plan at all to what I have acheived i can only put down to a mixture of good luck, and if I can say so; good work and working practice. What struck me most is having so many different things on at once. Although this book is is nicely laid out in chapters. The projects themselves rarely ever were. My first hand experience has shown me this is to be expected. When making the flyers for Green week Sarah Temple encouragingly told me that “Juggling so many different things at once,[is] surely the sign of a great designer.� Of course, I’ve seen and learnt from so many more experiences that this, working with and for different types of indivual or clients, from an individual who has never screenprinted before to the dean of design. Such a variety, and taking something special and useful from each. Facing and tackling a range of different problems and learning deal with and find solutions to those problems, be it time, quality of work, pricing, payment, materials, even litrally the
89
ability to do what I agreed to do, a positive can-do attitude helped me as much as it got me into potential trouble. I screwed up a couple times, but no one died, nothing bad happened, the worst thing that’s happened is wasting my own time doing it, but still from that, I’ve learnt to not work in those areas of design, or research even more whom I’m working for. From that Ive seen and learnt the use of my number one interest for the future; Illustration. I seen the running of publications, how illustration is used in different contexts, how its used for education and general goodness, how different disciplines work together, interlink and cross pollinate, such as at Okido seeing group work on projects between illustrators, set designers and musicians. Its amazing all the possibilities. Its more amazing that I had a crack at it and I have a real possibility working as an illustrator. Experience with Furious Knights, even just getting on their team has taught me to give myself the confidence to beleive in what I do and what I love as it sets me apart, and that can actually benefit me; Originally My biggest doubt and fear. I have tested and applied so many elements of my experience and knowledge gained from the course. It’s set me up for every project I’ve had the luck of getting, from actually how to get a job, ho to act to my approach to a project from beginning to end. Research skills, idea generation, principles of design, and wider awareness of elements to take into consideration such as copyright, pricing,
90
The tools given to me on the course has led to well informed “highly professional” outcomes to any problem thrown at me. I’ve learnt and gained new skills in my working practice. I mean, I can animate now what else is there to say? I can do branding and Identity design. Massively important to me I’ve really started to nail my illustration style and practice. I’ve learnt to work better and work quicker too. I’ve learnt to work with the computer better and use programs more effectively [and got CS5 for free!] I’ve practiced pitching work, presenting work, working with people. All of which will inform how I approach and make my Final Major project and my attitude for the future. As of writing I have opportunities waiting for me after graduation; Continued work for Furious Knights is one, it keeps getting better, although I would like something more solid that freelancing. A shoreditchy gallery named ‘Jester Jaques’ is opening in september with my work in it, was nice to hear how impressed they were with my image and print making. A hurried chat with Jackson Jessop revealed both he and Laurence Zeegen want to continue working with me “on some big projects” as they’re both impressed with “how I go about doing things” which otu fo anything I really hope happens. As well as a mixed bag of odds and ends to keep me busy like finally doing up Mckills cafe in Berlin and the odd band poster. I feel with enough hard work, positivity, and coffee I stand a good chance.
91
PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION My priorities and actions for further personal development would have to be to work more in a creative studio environment, and/or as an illustrator in a team like this, or just with other people. I love working with others. My focus is definatley 100% on illustration, but I’d like to see what else I can do with that, where else I can take that, and what I need to do to further a career as an illustrator. I still have my eye on working abroad. With what I have practiced and learnt from applying here and abroad, thats something I wish to develop and take further, refining my self promotion, probably using post as thats yielded a personal, and momorable response. I love London, its great, but I dont see why I cant take Illustration to another country. Sustaining myself as a freelance Illustrator is a big concern. Now im waking up thinking its worth the risk, its worth going for, I can actually do it. Speaking with Mentors throughout DGC’s various initiatives I’m confident Im at a good start, and ok with a few years earning my stripes. The feedback I’ve got has been nothing short of bloody encouraging. I need to figure out what to do next what to keep trying and doing to eventually work and support myself full time from illustration. From what I’ve learnt so far, some of those things are the need to practice pricing and pitching more. I will look into how to get an agent / working for an agency. Looking into being a member of the Association of
92
Illustrators, and generally practicing making bloody good work to bring in frther work, and getting that work in the first place. But looking more into getting the work so in 20 years time I’ve still got regular work. Thats a must Looking into every possible format or area I can use my skills, such as selling and making products for shops / retail; Not just, but not excluding, refining my set up at markets. I also want to look into renting desk space. Working from home kills me. I like going somewhere and working with people. Imperatively, I want to find a good quality open access printmaking studio. Although I’ve developed ways around this, having good quality access to screenprinting is vital to my work. I’m coming to terms with spending money to make money. There are still thousands of experiments I’d love to try out, LCC’s facilities will be greatly missed. Especially the Riso. I’ve made notes suggesting learning CS Illustrator. I’ve said that since year one, but I still havent lacked anything and I still hav’ent got round to it. Not sure if I’ll ever need it. I do know as always, I will continue to refine and practice my Illustration and image making approaches. I cant wait to see what I’ll do with that and what areas I’ll take it to. Everything is amazing.
93