Burges.A.Liveprojects

ADAM BURGES

INTRODUCTION

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Introduction

Overview of the Live Projects unit and my response

Portfolio / Interviews

Portfolio preparation for a number of industry interviews

14 Vivid Brand Internship with shopper-marketing & branding studio in Central London

24 Established & Sons Internship with in-house team at British design company in East London

32 SkiTox Establishing a company and building the brand from scratch

48 Widening Participation Student ambassador: Higher Education workshop at Townley Grammar

55 Conclusion Summary and reflection of my expereinces throughout the unit

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Between January and March 2011, final year BA Hons Design for Graphic Communication students at LCC were required to put together their own program of study for a unit called Live Projects. These ‘Live Projects’ could take the form of placements, competitions or freelance jobs.

Having spent the summer with ico Design, doing what you might call the ‘standard London studio internship’, I wanted to use the opportunity to try different things.

I had planned to spend the term with Propaganda, a design studio based in the French Alps who primarily work with clients from the winter sports industry. Unfortunately, after a telephone interview, it became clear that the logistics weren’t suitable- French employment law meant they wanted me for a longer stint than I had available.

Instead, I decided to follow up on the subject of my recently completed Research Report, by doing a series of short placements in branding. First, with shopper-marketing and branding studio Vivid Brand, then with the in-house team at British furniture design company Established & Sons.

Alongside these formal placements, I worked on a freelance project for a company of which I am in fact a founder member and partner, SkiTox. My final ‘Live Project’ was my work as a Student Ambassador with Widening Participation, the LCC programme that works to encourage the local community into art and design education.

O L IO F T P O R V IE W S ER IN T

I put together a new portfolio and adapted it across several formats: this included a website, a PDF portfolio, an A3 printed version, a leave-behind and business cards.

I had interviews with Esquire Magazine, YCN Studio, Established & Sons, Vivid Brand and The Tate. All but one of these interviews resulted in placement offers.

I used this opportunity to gain further experience of interviews and get on top of my portfolio.

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A3 printed portfolio / Box of print specimens / A5 freench-fold leave behind

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PORTFOLIO / INTERVIEWS

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Pages from PDF portfolio

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PORTFOLIO / INTERVIEWS

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Business card design

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PORTFOLIO / INTERVIEWS

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Left YCN / Right The Tate

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PORTFOLIO / INTERVIEWS

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Left Vivid Brand / Right Established & Sons

ID VIV D N BR A

The following pages evidence examples of work undertaken during the course of my placement. As well as the work shown I also spent a lot of time doing ‘typical intern’ jobs: amends, basic artworking, formatting files, searching for stock imagery, updating the blog and, of course, tea rounds.

I spent the first two weeks of February interning at Vivid Brand. During that time the studio were working with some pretty impressive clients (Coke, Nestle, Phillips).

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Top Concepts for Neutrogena / Above Vivid Brand studio

I put together three variations, these included ‘master page’ templates, type specifications and image guidelines

I had to come up with a simple, effective design that was in keeping with Vivid Brand’s existing communications and that all members of staff (including non-designers) would be able work with in KeyNote.

I was set an ongoing task (alongside my other duties); to redesign the Vivid Brand presentation template.

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Vivid Brand presentation template designs

They wanted something cheap and professional - not an easy task! My more successful ideas included a mug and pencils.

My other ongoing task was to come up with ideas for a Vivid Brand promotional mailer - they currently have a blank note book designed to look like a marketing self-help book (see facing page).

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Left Promotional mailer concepts / Right Current promotional mailer

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VIVID BRAND

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Summary I applied for an internship with Vivid Brand after seeing their call for interns in LCC’s ‘Graphic Opportunities’ newsletter. I hadn’t previously heard of them - I tried to do my research but their website didn’t give much away - so I started the placement not really knowing what to expect.

Based on their name I had assumed Vivid Brand were a branding studio, they sort of are, but they specialise in ‘shopper-marketing’.

This means they mainly do strategy and design for point-of-sale. I thought ‘shopper-marketing’ might be a bit dry and boring, and to be honest, it was!

I tried to learn as much as I could from the opportunity - I spent two weeks trying to be professional and keen. Over the previous pages are some examples of the work I did, but I also spent a lot of time searching for stock imagery and doing in-house jobs like updating the blog and designing a presentation template. I got the impression that Vivid Brand are one of those studios who have almost created a permanent intern position so they free-up the designers from some of the menial tasks. That’s OK I guess, but I’ve done placements like that before and I wasn’t getting much out it - so when they asked if I wanted to stay on at the end of my two weeks - I politely declined.

On the plus side, they do pay their interns £200 a week.

Experiential concepts for Neutrogena ‘Love Winter’ campaign

ED ISH L B A E S T S ONS &

The following pages evidence examples of work undertaken during the course of my placement. Working for an inhouse team meant carrying out basic design tasks but did not allow me much scope for creative input.

Immediately after finishing at Vivid Brand, I started a placement with the inhouse team at Established & Sons.

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Established & Sons annual journal

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ESTABLISHED & SONS

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Left ‘Jumper’ illustration for price list / Right Reworked Volcano illustration

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ESTABLISHED & SONS

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Summary Established & Sons are a high-end British design company who work with some of the world’s leading designers, architects and artists. The brand was created by MadeThought and passed over to an in-house design team.

I spent three weeks with the in-house team (which only comprised of two people; one full-timer and one part-timer). Although the Established & Sons offices are probably the coolest space I have ever worked in and lots of hot girls work in the sales department - the work I was asked to do wasn’t quite so glamorous. I have shown the highlights over the previous few pages - but some of the other stuff I did really isn’t worth showing. I spent an entire week compiling a spreadsheet of product images, which I’m sure will be very useful for the design team, but ranks alongside data entry as one of the most mind-numbing jobs I’ve done.

Once again, when my three weeks were up I was asked if I wanted to stay on - and once again, I politely declined! I felt I had got as much as I could from the experience and had gained an insight into working for an in-house team. I had other projects in the pipeline and felt my time would be better spent focusing on those…

Left Labels and marks for new products / Right Telephone card

TO I K S

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The following pages give an overview of the early stages of the brand’s development.

SkiTox is a venture that I have started with two friends. We are a ski company specialising in healthy ski breaks to the French Alps.

After finishing at Established & Sons, I became involved in an ongoing freelance project called SkiTox.

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Team photoshoot

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aims of the brand price range between ÂŁ900 - ÂŁ2000 luxury but not super luxury (very comfortable) really good service spa treatments a relaxing healthy holiday small carbon footprint / respect the mountain 10 person chalet

From the outset, I felt it was important to focus on creating a brand (rather than simply an idea or concept). Having recently written a Research Report on branding I had some exercises I wanted to try to help us better define what the company was about and clarify our focus.

locally sourced organic food

The SkiTox wheels were already in motion by the time I came on board. We arranged a meeting so I could find out more about the concept and better understand what was needed from me.

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SKITOX

words that sum up the brand

organic natural wellbeing fresh tranquil relax new innovative original vibrant unwind

health retreat personalised tailored green short breaks energy vitality different unique

Branding exercises from first team meeting

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SKITOX

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COMPETITION AND RESOURCES

SKI HOLIDAY COMPANIES

SKI CHARITIES

SKI & SNOWBOARD BRANDS

Alp Leisure Balkan Holidays Consensio Crystal Descent Erna Low Esprit Finlays Fish and Pips High Life La Source Mark Warner Neilson Off The Piste Rocket Ski Scott Dunn Ski Beat Ski France Ski Olympic Ski Total Ski World Snow Fox Snowlife Super Travel Thomson VIP Ski Virgin

Alpine Initiatives Ski Club of Great Britain Ski 2 Freedom Foundation Snow Camp Respect The Mountains Ski Bound

Atomic Armada Bonfire Burton Dynastar K2 Line Salomon Rossingnol

SKI PUBLICATION / BLOGS

Downdays Freeskier Fall-Line Metro Snow Newschoolers The Ski Journal SHOPS, ETC

Chill Factore Ellis Brigham Freeze Snow and Rock SnoZone The Snow Board Asylum The Snow Centre (Hemel)

RELEVANT BRANDS

Albam Do Lectures Howies Innocent Smoothies Nonusual Rapha Roleur T-Post The Green Soccer Journal The Hoxton Hotel The Ride Velorution

Left Compilation of relevant business and brands / Right Existing ski company logos

The final choice, its not actually the choice I would have made but I wanted something that the other two founders were happy with.

After conducting a visual audit of existing ski company logos, I went through the tried and tested routine of trying numerous typeface and typesetting options. I then produced several roughs to show possible directions.

Between the three of us, we whittled this down to our favourite two, and with further feedback we selected a final design.

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Left Logo design mock ups / Right Final two designs (bottom option was selected)

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SKITOX

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Left Business card design research / Right Final printed cards

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SKITOX

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Selected pages from Website Analysis PDF

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SKITOX

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Summary SkiTox is a venture I started with two friends. We are a ski company specialising in healthy ski breaks to the French Alps. Our team consists of myself - a designer and the Creative Director; Elena - a chef and the Managing Director; and James - a pilot and the Operations Director. We have a shared passion for the mountains and a combined experience of nine winters working in the industry.

With the logistics taken care of I undertook a website analysis looking at numerous elements such as the home pages, navigation bars, content and overall design. I am now finalising the site design.

After seeking advice, I decided the best solution was to create the design myself and bring someone in to help me build it. So I will be working with Daniel Samson to get www.sktox.com up and running.

With minimal experience of webdesign, creating a SkiTox website has been a big challenge. First I had to take care of the logistics; things like purchasing domain names and web hosting, setting up webmail addresses and trying to decided what software to use to build it.

My primary role is to create, build and maintain the brand. This will be an ongoing task so I have broken it down to a series of mini projects (some of which I have been able to complete this term). These include defining the brand, designing a logo, business cards, brand book and website. The early stages of the brand’s development are shown over the previous pages.

Although design is my main focus, building a company from scratch has involved a lot more than simply sitting down at my Mac. We’ve had regular meetings to finalise the concept, register the company and discuss finances. We have organised photoshoots, bank appointments and been to view properties in the Alps.

We have found a suitable chalet for our first year and hope to be operational by next winter. We have also booked a stand at The Ski Show in October - so there’s lots to do! SkiTox will now be an ongoing project that I will continue to work on in parallel to finishing my studies.

NG E NI ION D I W AT I C IP T R PA

Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take photographs of the school or students so I’ve included a photograph of the station, a Google Map of the school’s location and a testimonial from my boss at Widening Participation!

I enjoy passing on my knowledge and passion and am very interested in teaching at some point in the future. This role has allowed me to gain great experience.

My final ‘Live Project’ is my work with Widening Participation. I went to Townley Grammar School for Girls in Bexleyheath to talk to the students about applying for art and design courses in Higher Education.

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He brought along his portfolio and delivered a clear, well informed presentation.

Gavin Waters, Widening Participation

We asked Adam to speak about possible routes into university.

On March 23rd Adam accompanied me to Townley Grammar School for Girls to speak with 6th form art students about progression into FE and HE.

LOOK HOW GOOD I AM

I have worked with Adam a number of times over the past few years.

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His insights proved invaluable; he was happy to answer questions and the students found seeing his collection of work really helpful.

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CONCLUSION

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Its been a funny old term. I won’t lie, I’ve found it hard organising my working life - its definitely shown me that I want the structure and discipline of working in a studio when I graduate - for a few years at least.

My previous experience interning with ico Design (spending a whole summer with them), had perhaps given me rose tinted glasses - by the end of that internship I was being trusted to see jobs through from start to completion. Subsequently, my two placements this term were a little disappointing. The experience has taught me that any future placements I undertake need to be longer than two / three weeks to really be worthwhile.

The main positives I can take away from the term are seeing what it is like to work in-house; confirmation of interest in teaching; excellent interview experience and feedback on my portfolio.

Throughout the term I continued to go to interviews and have secured three placements for after I graduate. I am particularly excited about doing a three month stint with the Tate in June, plus it looks like I might finally get to intern in France afterall!

At the start of the term I attended a lecture by David Heiatt (founder of Howies and The Do Lectures). He encouraged us to be ‘doers’ and to follow our passions - something I have tried to do with SkiTox. It’s been a real challenge and a lot of stress hopefully I’ll manage to keep the balance between work and study over the coming months - but if it is a success it might well be the best thing I’ve ever done.

This Publication More often than not I produce PDFs to support my projects. This approach has served me well and consistently earned me good grades. However, for this unit I have decided to break from tradition. This document is intended to be a physical piece - it is my hope that it is read in print.

When designing PDFs I give a very thorough, step-by-step narrative of the project. My default setting is to think “how can I make this design communicate as clearly and simply as possible?� With this project I have allowed myself to indulge in editorial design, been more playful with my placement of image and text and taken a much looser approach to the narrative - its been a liberating experience but I hope it still communicates clearly.

Adam Burges www.adamburges.com arburges@gmail.com

I’ve had to think much more carefully about format, pagination and image preparation.

All-in-all its definitely more work to design for print, but its rewarding to have something physical in your hands at the end of it all rather than another PDF to sit on the hard drive.

www.adamburges.com