'Studios of the future' Task

Task:
Present what a studio will look like 10 years in the future.
- Does not have to primarily revolve around Graphic Design
- Set in 10 years in the future.
- Groups of no more than 6.
- 5 minute presentation.
- Include name and branding of studio.
- Include your predicted trends.
- Include the way the studio meets the new needs of industry.
- Include how you price your services.
- Include a fictional case study project.

Ideas:
- Holograms/holographic design systems. 

- Logos will not die out, maybe become more simplified. 

- Computers will become less popular, more flat/tablet style. 

- Face/voice recognition.

- Voice command features.

- Snapchat, whatsapp will die out.

- Moving image/ motion graphics/ gifs. 

- Shop fronts, advertising, logos, signage will move.

- Interactive graphics, the audience will be able to engage in real life.

- Air drop/Bluetooth will advance, become more accessible.

- Sustainability will become more of a focus.

- NHS/healthcare will become more privatised.

Name and Branding:

Interactive

Interface

Kinetic

Synergy

Flow

Connected

Vital

Align

Amongst

Collective

Bilateral

Predicted industry trends:

The advertising, signage and shopping industry will become more interactive.

How your studio meets these new needs:

We will provide UX/UI design and development for:

self check-out services

bus stop/poster advertisements

shop window displays

Pricing strategy:

Starting from £10,000.

Case Study:

H&M Personal Shopping/Shopping Assistant self-check out.

H&M Bus stop poster, allowing to buy instantly/visit website.

Intern - Origin Story

First started simplifying by contributing to a friends blog - which then led to more enthusiasm towards blogging/writing/publishing.
Started applying for internships to get more experience. Got to do a 2 month one in Milan with Domus architecture magazine.
This is where he started to take interest in other people's work.
Interned at Boat magazine next, an independent art magazine, for 6 months unpaid.
They went to Athens in Greece and found genuine stories from the local people to publish in the magazine.
He was shown different ways to tell these stories (eg. video).

First publication was only 5 copies, just to show the concept of the magazine.
They made a promo video to raise money and put it on kickstarter.
This raised just enough money to get things off the ground.

Now Intern is moving away from publication and going more digital. They're mixing up the ways their communicating. eg. they'll be doing podcasts/videos in the future.
They're now bringing in client revenue by providing their style/service to clients/the world.
They keep fresh/new by providing different types of content - by being innovative, evolving and responding to audience needs/ what they want.

How to Get A Placement

Key Issues you're struggling with?
Putting off applying because your work is not similar to theirs.
- Don't let that put you off, until you email them and get a response, you won't know.
We don't get responses to our emails.
- That's just the way it goes sometimes. But keep on contacting different studios/places, the more you contact the better the chances of getting a response.

The range of different roles that you could do:
- Graphic Designer
- Freelance (freelance in agencies)
- Junior Designer (in a design studio)
- In-house Graphic designer
- Junior Designer (in an ad agency)
- Creative Director
- Marketing
- Consultancy
- Teacher
- Social Media manager
- Studio founder
- App designer
- Ux/UI designer
- Illustration
- Typographer
- Product design
- Blogger
- Set design
- Content strategist
- Art director
- Ad creative
- Packaging design
- Pre-press technician
- Front-end web design
- Motion design
- Exhibition design
- Interior design
- Printmaker
- Account director
- Brand strategist
- Media planner/buyer
- Image retouches
- Artworker
- Magazine editor
- Event production
- Video artist
- Artist
- Podcaster
- Animator
- Editorial design
- Spatial design
- Research design
- Clothing design
- Tattoo artist

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator

My personality type: Protagonist (ENFJ-A)
Jobs from the list above that may be appropriate for this personality type:
- Teacher
- Blogger - inspiring people
- Podcaster - voicing your opinion, having it heard
- Founder of a Studio - leader
- Creative Director
- Art Director
- Any Freelance design role
- Brand Strategist - maintaining consistency of the brands tone of voice, laying out how the brand visually presents itself online/in print
- Magazine Editor

Reaching Out

- You have to do your research, invest time and be resilient.
- How to get in touch: Visit them, Email, Call, Send them mail, Social Media
- If something is not working, mix up your strategy. Try something different.
- Send something physical - it's a lot harder to ignore than an email. It is more memorable, impressive and more personal.
- Call them. This builds a better relationship with people, and is less expected.
- Invite them to your event/exhibition. Send them very nice invitations. It's a good introduction.
- Have your peers review your emails before you send them. (Look out for: bad spelling, sentences that are too long, capitalising the wrong words)
- Don't sell your work or your process, sell yourself!
- Be confident, clear and succinct in your communication.
- Talk up your 'soft skills' and 'fit'. 'Soft skills' are transferable skills, personality traits, stuff that is really useful in all areas. Your 'fit' are those personality traits and interests that will make you a good 'fit' with their studio/the people.
- Have a clear ask. Don't beat around the bush, be direct and ask straight away what you want. Ask them first if you can call them/visit them to discuss the possibility of doing some work experience.
- Make your email easy to respond to. If it would take them more than one sentence it's too long.
- Follow Up. If no one has replied, email them again.
- Your first goal with any communication should be meeting them face to face.

Personal Branding & Communication

Personal Branding

Sites to look at:
soren.un
josephlebus.co.uk
syddharth.com
clairehoster.com
fanqiowang.com

Wesbite Advice:
- Rather than consistency, context is more important. You don't need to show everything, just work you love and are proud of/your best work.
- It makes a big difference when you make your work fit the context of your website.
- If you want to work in two fields eg. Graphic Design & Photography, then make two different websites. In some occasions if done well, the two can be in one website.
- Images can be used to show off photography too, but in a more subtle way.
- Coding. If you insert 'mailto:m.saveikyte1@gmail.com' it will link straight into emailing you.
- Feature the work you feel represents you best, and it doesn't have to be only 3rd year work.
- Watch your image quality. Make sure nothing is pixelated or blurry.
- Have some sort of image consistency. (especially on your homepage)
- Have better copy, explanation of projects. You should sound professional and not like a student.
- Don't be afraid to play around with site structure that's intuitive (different)
- If you click your name or logo, it should go back to the homepage.

Communicating (Talking about your work)

1. PITCHING

Elevator Pitch - pitching your idea in a short time/ the amount of time is takes to ride with someone in an elevator.

One sentence that covers: What, How and Why?
What is the core idea?
How does it work?
Why does it work?

Practice: 'Lit Paint' Project
- WHAT? A spray can label design that pays homage to the graffiti culture of Lithuania, and the visual identity of the country.
- HOW? Graffiti culture is associated with spray cans. Illustrations communicate existing Lithuanian graffiti/street art and the Lithuanian identity.
- WHY? Because the design comes from the perspective of a Lithuanian, and so only other Lithuanian can fully understand the illustrations, their significance and impact.

Elevator Pitch for 'Lit Paint':
A spray can label, designed by a Lithuanian, for Lithuanians, that pays homage to the graffiti culture of Lithuania, and the visual identity of the country.

2. NETWORKING

How to find someone's email address:
- Google. Tools - change 'All Results' to 'Verbatim' to get confirmation of someone's email address.
- Hunter.io. Type in company name and it will give you all related people/email results.
- Email (BCC) lots of guesses. With BCC the people cannot see the other 'BCC's' you've emailed.
- Best to contact someone first thing in the morning, before 7am, and before most of the other people have started to contact them.
- Call them! They all state a telephone number for a reason, and others may not think to call.

3. SUBMISSION

- Ensure you read things over and provide exactly what they're asking for.
- Look at past winners to get a feel for what they're looking for.

D&AD Talk

Winning Tips

1. BRIEF = PROBLEM. Understand it.

Really get to the bottom of what you're trying to solve - the main problem. 

2. FIND A SOLID INSIGHT. Do your research!

Let the research lead you and guide your ideas.

3. PUSH YOUR IDEAS.

Let your imagination run wild, you can always reign it back,

4. KEEP IT HUMAN.

Don't forget to communicate with the audience. Look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

5. CONSIDER REALITY. 

Make sure your response is plausible and can really be implemented.

6. EXECUTE IT.

Bringing the idea to life in anyway possible. Scamp it, crap-o-matic it, moodboard it etc

7. SELL YOUR IDEA.

In person, film or boards. The people need to understand it, how you got to where you are/your outcome. Can you explain your idea in 60 seconds? What was the problem, insight, idea and execution.

Practice Responding to a D&AD Brief

This talk showed me that I shouldn't be afraid of big and bold ideas, especially whilst I'm still a student, It also showed me that when it comes to competition briefs such as this, they are after something unique and grand, something they may not think of themselves. If the idea you present is the first one you thought of, it is likely that many other people also thought of that idea too. The 'Winning Tips' I felt were very useful, because they could be applied to any brief not just a D&AD or competition brief. What also really stuck with me was the advice to 'Push your ideas' and that it's better to think big and then reign it back if necessary. This is something that I feel I should really take on board and try out, as so far as a designer I tend to play it safe and create outcomes for briefs that are the typical print or online format. I hope throughout this year I will be able to experiment more with the use of different materials and try unique and more bold methods to execute my ideas. I do not want my design practice to rely solely on sitting at a computer, as a designer I know I want to me more hands-on and utilise analogue techniques. I hope this will make my design process and final outcomes more unique and representative of me.

Self - Promo (TASK ONE)

Brief:

- You have two weeks to have a personal website live.
- Behance does not count.

Must have:
- consistent application of personal branding.
- a curated selection of your work.
- an engaging biography (about you).
- include your contact details and relevant socials.
- all outbound and inbound links must function.
- give your projects context with some intriguing copy (short paragraphs).

Options:
- either build or continue to refine a custom site.
- use a template site, such as: Squarespace, Persona.co, Cargo Collective, Adobe Portfolio, ReadyMag, Wix

Submission: 29/11/18 15:00

My Existing Site:


My New Site:


Feedback:


Going Forward (Evaluation):

Visioning & Planning

VISIONING

"A way to live a life of choice, not chance"
"A picture of what success looks like at a particular point in the future, with enough richness of detail that you'll know when you've arrived"
"A vision without execution is a hallucination" - Thomas Edison

Rules:
1. Set your vision 5 or 10 years in the future.
2. Start by writing the date.
3. Write in present tense.
4. Describe your ideal life, in rich detail.
5. Include professional and personal life.
6. Cover everything that defines success to you.

9th November 2028

It is September 2028, and I am living in Lithuania with my husband Aistis and our two children.

I wake up each morning to walk our German Shepard and get the kids ready for school. I drive my car into the city to my full-time job as a Graphic Designer at an established design studio. I am involved in various projects, both commercial and creativity driven. My role includes graphic designer and art director. The studio is not very large, up to 15 people, and we are all like a family that support each other and enrich each others skills and work. I work 4 or 5 days a week, 9am to 5pm, so I have evenings and weekends free to spend time with my family. I earn around 50k a year, which gives me confident financial stability and allow us to live stress-free.

We are able to provide for our children, as well as save up for a family holiday each year. For our annual holiday, we go to a different country each time, so we can explore all the beautiful places of the world, as well as teach our children about the world. Throughout the year, we take day and weekends trips around the country. We visit museums, parks, beaches, forests, hills and etc. We camp, hike, walk, run, play and take part in sports.

We live in a beautiful two-storey, three-bedroom house with a big garden and garage big enough for our two cars. The garden includes a large plot for running and playing sports, as well as things such as a swing and sandpit for the children. The interior of the house is quite modern and minimal, but very homey and cosy. My Graphic Design work and paintings are hanging on the walls, as well as many family photos.

Each year at Christmas, we invite the whole family, my mother and brother and Aistis' mother, dad, brother and sister (and any boyfriends/girlfriends they may have). The house is decorated with various wonderful decorations, some hand-made with the family. We cook, eat and celebrate being together. It's a white Christmas, and we all go outside to the garden to have snow-ball fights and build snowman's.


PLANNING

Simplicity + Consistency = Productivity

3 priorities for the week.
3 priorities for the day.
3 wins for the week.

PLAN -> DO -> REVIEW

Sort your tasks from £10 up to £10,000 in their worth. List your priorities and value them.
Start with the £10,000 tasks and work your way down the list.

Don't try and change everything overnight. Try and fins one new positive habit for each day/week.
Set annual goals (3-10). Review them throughout the year.

Pomodoro: 25min work, 5min break. Every 4 cycles, 15min break.
Eat the Frog: Start the day with your most daunting task. Give it 100%.
Getting Things Done: create a master list of tasks, label them 'Next Action', 'Someday Maybe', and 'Waiting For'.
Apps & Software: Stickies, Tuex-duex (paid), Marinara (Chrome), SelfControl, Toggl.

Stage 1: Set your annual goals.
Stage 2: Set goals for each term.
Stage 3: Create an hourly plan for next week ensuring that it works towards your goals for the term.
Stage 4: Test and identify some productivity tools that will help you to stay focused.

STAGE 1 - ANNUAL GOALS

1. Get my degree, a 1st or a 2-1.
2. Get a job within my field eg. junior position in an agency.
3. Save up and visit back home (Lithuania).
4. Save up a buy a car.
5. Solidify my personal branding. Create a strong website, social media etc.

STAGE 2 - GOALS FOR EACH TERM

Autumn:
1. Complete COP.
2. Complete 2 or 3 Extended Practice Briefs.
3. Create personal Christmas presents for my family.

Spring:
1. Focus on Extended Practice and PPP.
2. Go on work experience/ an internship.
3. Work on my personal branding.

Summer:
1. Create my portfolio.
2. Start to go to job interviews.
3. Get my degree.

STAGE 3 - HOURLY PLAN FOR NEXT WEEK

STAGE 4 - PRODUCTIVITY TOOL