Studio Brief 1 - How I felt about it?

I found the 'Creative Report' very useful and engaging. Being Lithuanian, I choose to contact Lithuanian designers. This was because not only did I want to find out what the design industry is like in Lithuania, but also because I feel like their advice connects and benefits me more. I contacted several studios and individuals, but only 3 replied. BOY Studio, Gabija Platukyte and Greta Madline. I believe my lack in responses was due to my initial attitude towards the emails I sent. At first I tried to be very formal and professional so they would take me seriously, however, I found that this approach lacked personality. I felt as if I was writing the emails simply because I needed to, and not because I wanted to. After several attempts, I decided to take a different approach. Instead of being formal, I started writing to the people in a manner as if they were my friend, I kept it light hearted and fun. This approach instantly proved more successful, as I received responses faster. To everyone I contacted, I presented my questions in Lithuanian, I believe this made it more comfortable and easier for them to communicate with me.

Boy Studio's response was fairly disappointing, although I appreciate that they responded, the answers they gave were very minimal and not very exciting. 

Gabija Platukyte I contacted through Behance instead of email. This was because she is part of Etiquette studio, but I was interested more in her views than the studios as a whole. Her responses were far more engaging and useful. She gave some good advice and provided me with a basic insight into working within a studio, which I found interesting. 

Greta Madline was my favourite and most exciting person I contacted. As we had spoken to her through Skype earlier in the year, I already had a sense of her personality, which made it a lot easier to send her an email. My email to her, unlike previous emails to others, was very personal, energetic and whole-hearted. I wasn't afraid to tell her how I admire her, how I am writing her as part of my PPP module, and how I feel connected to her due to her not only being Lithuanian, but also an alumni of this university. Our emails to each other were very casual, contained emoticons and several jokes. Apart from the questions which I asked her in English, the rest we discussed in Lithuanian, which I believe gave us an easier understanding and connection between each other. I sent her the most questions, which contained both professional and more personal questions. I hope this made it more interesting for Greta to answer them, and as she was the person who replied with the biggest paragraphs to each question, I sense this was true. Her answers I find most beneficial, as she went into depth about each topic, and in the end really provided me with her thoughts and opinions which I really value and can reflect on for my own practice. At the end of her email, Greta prompted me to contact her if I am ever in Barcelona, Amsterdam or Lithuania so that we could meet for coffee. This really warmed my heart and made me excited. She is an individual that is full of enthusiasm and is someone I really look up to and get inspired by, so meeting her for coffee would be very pleasant and I hope this will happen. At the end of this experience, I feel very comfortable talking to Greta, and am planning on keeping in contact with her by possibly sending her some of my work to get feedback on, asking her more advice, and hopefully definitely meeting her for coffee. 

Overall, this studio brief was very interesting and I definitely benefited from it. It allowed me to discover how I should approach contacting and networking others in the future, and has made me more comfortable and confident in doing so. Over the summer holidays and into Level 6, I will continue to contact industry professionals that I find inspiring, and hope that in doing so I can not only improve my confidence and gain advice for my practice, but also open doors and opportunities for myself for when I graduate next year.