After Bucks Creative careers in graphic design
Our course at Bucks provides many opportunities to explore the diverse world of graphic design; from editorial design, branding and identity or campaigns, you will write your own brief and start creating your ideas. Supported by a range of graphic design professionals, visiting specialists and highly-skilled technicians, you will work within a community of practitioners in our studio base which will help you prepare for life in an agency or studio environment. Here, you will practise good presentation and ideas generation skills as you meet and impress clients. As you develop a wide range of skills and abilities ready for your career, you’ll be able to specialise in a multitude of different areas. We have graduates in typography, illustration, web design, advertising, publishing and some have started their own companies in the industry. We’re really proud of our graduates, whose profiles tell their own story.
Connie Boulton Currently designer at Engine. After graduating, I began a work placement at WCRS - an advertising agency in London. After two months, I became a full-time employee, and two and a half years later I still work here. The agency has now merged with other companies to form Engine, which started at the beginning of this year. A new company will bring new challenges, which I’m excited to see unfold. I am the lead designer for the next Sky Broadband campaign and the lead designer for the latest Warburton’s campaign. These are my major projects, but I also get involved with different work from all our clients. My time at Bucks gave me a good initial understanding of what the design world is like. As it was a broad course, it showed me various different specialisms that are available within the industry, from illustration to animation, to graphic design. The course gave me an opportunity to learn how to develop my ideas and create thoughtful projects. The structure of the three years helped me develop skills and find what part of design I love, which helped lead me onto my career. I left Bucks feeling confident that I had taken everything I could from the course and onto my life as a designer. There are still techniques I learnt at university that I still use today. Bucks definitely challenged my ways of thinking. It really showed me how to invest in my ideas and not to be scared to spend
time on thinking. Sometimes it can feel like you need to start creating stuff straight away, which can help, but I find doing effective research beforehand can really help push your idea, and help you find a design solution and aesthetic easier. Even now, collecting reference images and discovering other projects that have already been produced can help bulk a project out and give it more life. The most valuable thing I learned at university was to make sure you know the purpose of your project and what the key idea is behind it. If you know why you’re doing the project, it’ll make it easier for you to want to find out the answers in your brief. There were ample opportunities to work on live industry briefs, and my tutor arranged a portfolio review at WCRS, after which I was offered my placement. I think the best part of my experience as a student was having the studio space. By having an area that you can call your own, you can fully immerse yourself into the environment. With other students working alongside you, you can ask for help and guidance easily. It is also easy to work quietly and independently in there too - if you need it. It’s a great chance to create a little design community. I also loved how much contact time that was available with the tutors. At some other universities, you hardly get to see your tutors, which I think would be extremely difficult as you would miss lots of valuable guidance.
Krystian Zun Currently working as a product designer for a tech company focused on blockchain technology called Blk.io and junior designer for a creative agency in Los Angeles. My course at Bucks motivated and inspired me to explore areas that I wasn’t even aware of. It pushed me completely out of my comfort zone. Thanks to that, I started attending several additional courses and workshops which helped me gain a lot of knowledge from different creative fields, and also gave me the opportunity to meet many great people. Those three years at Bucks required a lot of hard work which now when I look back, I think really paid off. Currently, I’m responsible for developing the new visual identity of the Blk.io to better express the significance of our offering. The
official launch will take place in a couple of months. At this moment, our clients include companies such as Microsoft and JP Morgan. I also work on designing UI and UX of our platform which will provide a bridge between enterprises and blockchain. Blockchain technology is still fairly new so it’s an amazing opportunity to be part of a team that has an impact on its development at such an early stage. I feel very honoured and rewarded to work for a company that has a hand in making innovations that don’t yet exist. Essentially, we are literally building the future through the work that we do. During these three years when I was studying design, I completely changed my approach to practice. I realised that design is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal to tackle the huge and extensive challenges that we face every day. I feel much more confident about
the work that I do, and a sense of responsibility for the world around me. I hope to create a positive impact and work on projects that will contribute to creating a better future. There were many valuable lessons and skills I took away from the course. The first thing that comes to my mind is the confidence that I gained. We were encouraged to speak out about our work and hold conversations about our designs. Having this confidence to be able to talk about projects and to articulate particular design decisions is a fundamental skill for those in this field. There was a myriad of opportunities that the course provided that were beneficial. At Bucks, we had something called Specialism Week. During this week different professionals from the creative field came in, and we would have the opportunity to work with them on small
but interesting briefs. The possibility to interact with these professionals was enjoyable and beneficial, as I could ask questions about the industry, get feedback on my current projects, and add a strong piece to my portfolio. One of the most memorable experiences I had at Bucks was the opportunity to design the identity and branding for Bucks New University’s Art & Design Summer Show 2018. I had the opportunity to work alongside a team that consisted of a variety of people from the university. It was really fascinating and put my time at Bucks into a different context. I learnt a lot, especially how to face and overcome unexpected challenges when things are going in a completely different direction.
Svenja Frahm Currently working as a freelance projection mapping designer based in London. This role involves coming up with concepts, designing and animating large-scale animation pieces for concerts, shows and other events. I started off as an animator and motion graphics artist. Through my interest in new technologies and my technical skills, I came to work on a projection mapping project and found my passion. Over the past eight years I have established myself as an expert in the field. I love the technical challenge of projection mapping - no surface is ever the same. I am now developing concepts and leading teams of animators in the studio as well as on-site in London, Kuwait, New York or wherever the project takes me. There is a play featuring my work currently on in Rome called ‘Giudizio Universale Michelangelo and the secrets of the Sistine Chapel’. I designed half of the stage visuals, including moving stage elements, and was heavily involved in the technical side of the mapping. At the end of last year I was also part of the stage visual design team for the 2018 Victoria’s Secret fashion show.
As a freelancer, there is an element of uncertainty regarding projects and booking times but this year I’ll most likely go to Lima to work on the opening of the Pan American games. I am originally from Germany and I think that Bucks challenged my sense for following rules. An outcome is not only evaluated based on the result but also based on the developmental process. We were encouraged to experiment widely with different materials and media. On my course, my most valuable lesson was to keep going. The first idea is not necessarily the best and if the creative block hits you the best thing to do is approach the project from a different angle - maybe do more research into your subject or take a pencil and a pad and doodle while calling your mum or watching a movie. On the course, we were set some industry briefs and I did an internship which was a great insight into the dynamics of a studio. The best part of the course was the studio culture and how everyone was sharing their work. Everyone was open and constructive and provided a great community of support.
Tilly Haley Currently working as a graphic designer for MCC. Since joining MCC, I’ve been able to see for myself how an agency works. Most recently, we’ve been working on a complete re-brand for a school, and I’ve also had the opportunity to design some new alumni publications for a few of our clients. Although these have been personal highlights, my work has been very varied, so I’ve also been working on website design, packaging, illustrations, logo development and digital advertising to name a few. As a student at Bucks, I definitely developed the background and skills necessary to get to where I am now. Bucks has taught me so much and I felt completely ready for the working world when I graduated. I was able to really develop my creative thinking through a variety of internal and external creative briefs, as well as many creative workshops put on for us by the tutors and visiting professionals. Bucks also taught me about the world of work, and I felt prepared for what was to come, with everything from agency trips in places like New York and Barcelona to talks and workshops about developing CVs and how to approach employers. All course tutors have a wealth of experience working in the design industry, and helped us to prepare for placement and job opportunities. Over the course of three years, the tutors have really helped me to produce a solid portfolio that I felt confident with taking to future employers. I don’t think I would have got where I am now if it wasn’t for such knowledgeable and approachable tutors. Bucks helped me to broaden my design understanding and knowledge. Especially when working on briefs, tutors encouraged us to question possibilities and not just think narrow-mindedly about one outcome.
The course has given me a lot of connections within the industry, which is incredibly valuable when starting out in the world of work. However, I think one thing that the course has made me realise, is the sheer determination and drive that you need to have to succeed in design. Graphics is a very competitive field and deadlines can be tight. Everything is very fast-moving, and you need to keep on top of things and have an awareness of design trends. Bucks really helped me to stay alert when looking at current trends happening in the design world, and with the variety of briefs we could be working on at one time, I’ve had to learn to organise my time and be pro-active when talking to people about my work. This course has definitely given me the confidence I needed. We had the opportunity to take part in a number of live briefs, including briefs set specifically for our course by design professionals, and also competition briefs from YCN and D&AD. I found these briefs incredibly interesting as you had to consider not just what the tutors wanted to see in a finished piece, but also the needs of the wider audience. The tutors’ connections also helped to provide us with placement opportunities. I was fortunate enough to gain a two week placement at ANT Telecom where I designed a new animation for their website, to help explain to a wider audience what they do. This was my first time working outside of the university environment, so I found it a valuable experience to be working directly with a client. I think the best part of my time at Bucks was the amount of opportunities I’ve had. Within the course, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some amazing people within the design industry and I don’t think I would have been as well-equipped for the outside if I had studied anywhere else.
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bucks.ac.uk This publication was produced by Buckinghamshire New University in February 2019, and is accurate at the time of going to press. We reserve the right to amend information without prior notice. Š Buckinghamshire New University