Industry Today

Reflection of week 1.

Week one was a difficult one to get my head around. The main struggles were getting used to canvas and expectations from Falmouth, I felt that I could almost talk my way through my ideas and produce something that made sense to me at least. It would be navigating through the online material and canvas. However, once I had spent some time looking through the material and the routes to each section I soon become familiar with this and then could focus on my task for week one. A series of four that answered Who, What, Where and Why. A feeling that one of the biggest compliments I had received through this exercise was from Susanna Edwards who stated,  ‘Jamie demonstrates a good level of reflection and well-articulated narrative’. Susanna went on to suggest that I should aim to develop outcomes through various iterations and explore mixed media in doing this. I could not agree more with this statement, I think that If I had more time on week one I would have aimed to develop the Pantone idea a little further. Edwards and I spoke about my interest in Screen Printing and after listening to the podcast with Maziar, I will aim to bring back the craft of design into my work and focus less on a digital outcome but explore what how a physical outcome would be interpreted differently.

Geo-tagging & Technology.

Cornwall, specifically Bodmin doesn’t scream out innovation and creativity like I associate with London or Manchester and what appears to be a thriving creative scene over in Plymouth. I have been exploring local design agencies and have made contact with some, however, I have also made contact with design agencies in London, Manchester, and Barnsley. I am interested to see any comparisons or opposing views to location and how this may impact a business, especially one of a digital nature such as a design studio.

After watching the introduction for this weeks task from Tom Fin of Regular Practice, He discussed the studios near him and how the location Londons major boroughs may have an impact on the client base and also our expectations of the studio. Comparing Pentagram, a world-leading agency based in the expensive part of the monopoly board to that of  ‘a practice for everyday life‘.  This is a studio based in east London, an up and coming area with a thriving culturally diverse population. Through his video there was a name that appeared on my screen,  Jason Wolfe is a good friend from my time in London and I contacted him to talk about this studio and how he feels that location could have an impact on the clients they work with. He suggests that location isn’t the barrier to working globally, however, budgets are and this can be an issue when meeting clients and giving them a personal experience like they do with UK based work.

Hmm, location and client base. We do work predominantly with U.K. based clients, but we’re definitely not restricted to that. Netherlands / France / Germany / Hong Kong / New York / LA, and others. Our clients are quite global, especially the publishers. The internet helps for sure, although we like to try and meet them when they’re over in the U.K. Project budgets don’t always allow us to travel. 

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It was interesting speaking to Jason about a location and how he felt this impacted their work, in this instance or Jason, he feels location has no real barrier to the kind of clients that they work with. A studio for everyday life, work on a range of projects and clients but have produced designs for the arts and culture sector. Within London, there is a wide variety of arts and cultural institutions, I do wonder if this kind of work comes easier to studios based in London rather than elsewhere.  The branding work for the Design Museum and the ‘Designs of the year 2012’ grabbed my attention and I like the simplicity of the concept. In addition to this, the simplicity of the Yayoi Kusama book is excellent, the fine detail in the type and the strong use of colour throughout adds a simplistic consistency to the design that I admire. The work of A studio for everyday life is beautifully simple, I appreciate that the concepts and ideas behind may be a little more complex than the finished solution but I like their clean aesthetic. The website is easy to navigate and has a no-fuss attitude. I think that this is something that I associate with London, clean, sophisticated designs, great use of type and colour.

From the south in London to the North in Barnsley, Walnut is a studio based in my hometown that is ‘here to get shit done’ and has a no-nonsense approach to their branding, they are brash and bold. Walnut is ‘more than tattoos and beards’. I found it interesting that a design studio based in the north of England would use this type of language on their website. Speaking with Tom and Kristopher we concluded that there has to be a link to the northern mentality and would a London based studio use the same language, does this exclude them from certain clients and multinational brands such as H&M? Walnut work with a wide range of clients, international and UK based, their work with Colbber Clam included a whole branding package, from logo to videos and social media content. Walnut has a large team that delivers design, SEO and social media management. In this instance, the use of language and images shared through social media mirror each other, tattoos, beards and coffee. Lifestyle images that both walnut and Colbber Clam have a similar image that they are portraying. Northern, stylish and ready to go. I was interested to find out from the inside if this perception of the studio of a modern, fun place to work was a reality. I spoke with Jordan Gilroy who works freelance with Walnut, he started the conversation but clarifying his position within the company and explained he worked freelance and his time is split between different agencies. A recent Instagram post and website material would have us believe that he was a full-time designer and newly promoted creative director. I wanted to talk about the work culture there and how they encourage collaborations and creativity, something they boast through social media.

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Having looked at two large studios and their client list I was interested to find out from someone a little more local to me in Cornwall and how they found location and if it is indeed an issue or benefit. I spoke with Pickle Design based in Wadebridge. The small, two-man team, work to support local, independent and start-up businesses. Emma from Pickle explained the benefits of working in Cornwall:

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I also follow Pickle on Instagram and each week they post examples of their work and also post ‘design inspiration’ as an illustration. The statement from Emma and my expectations or ideas of Pickle are that they are a small business and some of the work they produce is clean, simple and uses a no fuss and frills mentality, or so I see it. The design outcomes appear to be print-based and I wonder if this is due to the scale of the studio or the need from the clients. Walnut offers a full service and appear to be very digital-focused. A practice for everyday life produce outcomes of mixed scale and appears to really depend on the needs of the client. Pickle in a way seems to be behind these two studios in their services or is it that Cornwall businesses have little need or see little need for SEO management and are happy with a design and print service. Comparing each of the websites I must conclude that Pickle is the least innovative and interesting at first glance and would appear to be dated,Walnut and A practice for everyday life have a portfolio based website that aims to showcase their client work and what they are able to deliver, while pickle do this, it isn’t as clean and user-friendly. Walnut seems to have gone all out and sell a lifestyle rather than the services.

This investigation into the location and evaluating studios has raised more questions about the drive, economics, and client needs. We live in a society that is more connected than ever, through email and skype we are able to connect with a wide range of people and work in any location. This has to be especially true in the design industry, is it not the goal of many creatives to work on a beach in Bali after a mega surf session? Kristopher raised this point that we can work anywhere but it is so important that we connect with our clients and talk face to face. Jason said the same, Emma Agreed, we have a human need to meet the people we are working with. Trust is a huge factor and looking someone in the eye and knowing they can deliver the work for smaller studios is essential. This is something that Kristopher suggested and got me thinking about scales of clients, do designers and project managers at Pentagram have an association and relationship with their clients like Pickle do? The bigger the budget and brand, do clients become less interested in the human and more focused on results and solutions being presented no matter where you are based?

It would appear that location can be a factor, discussing this with Stuart Tolley and the issue he raised about local interest jobs being sent to London I wonder if there an idea that design studios in London are more suited to delivering solutions to bigger clients. While there are designers here in Cornwall It would appear that they are small operations working with local businesses. Pickle, for example, is a small studio, their website almost appears out of date and not as innovative as Walnut or James Edgar.  An hours drive away in Plymouth James Edgar is working on big publishing projects and has a client list to rival any London studio, so I wonder if this idea of location is just one of ambition. Do the London studios get the bigger jobs as they need to pay bigger rent bills, do we see the studios in the North as being innovative and ‘on trend’ as we see someone in the east end of London. In an ever-connected, trend aware society is there still a need for human connection within the design industry? I think that there has to be, I think that there needs to be. If we cannot connect on a human level with our client how are we expected to connect to a target demographic?

The idea of location and being connected got me on to thinking about technology, there must be an advantage to the development in the computer and design software that enables designers to work remotely and from anywhere in the world. Connecting with a wide selection of clients in different time zones, technology has pushed our working lives forward. Forcing us to work longer hours, be more connected and meet the demands of a sleepless industry.  Working and collaborating on a global scale the internet has had a significant impact on the design industry.  While this advancement in the internet and the computer has opened up the design and advertising world to create new jobs, markets and needs, the subject of skilled craftsmen arose in the podcast with Susanna and Maziar, they discussed the advancement of technology and asked if the skilled tradesmen of the past have been lost. This is also something that was highlighted in ‘Drip-dry shirts: The evolution of the Graphic Designer by Lucienne Roberts.

Sadly, these technological changes led to the almost total disappearance of skilled engravers – craftsmen who had learned within the trade. At the same time, the study of graphic work of all kinds was beginning to produce an expanding market for students who wanted to train more academically at art school.

roberts talks about a shift in the technology and gives the example of enlarging an image, something that I’m sure any designer takes for granted with the use of a computer. I put this idea to Joel Hepworth, a motion graphic designer at Centre Screen Productions based in Manchester. I asked him: How has the development of new technology changed the landscape of a designer. We discussed the subtle changes of practice in our time, during our studies we were using version 2 of the creative suite and that there were many iterations of similar software that come before. Joel added that without the development of technology and software his role would not exists, the scale and type of work he does is due to the advancement of technology but also concluded that:

‘It all boils down to one thing. Despite having a constant advancement of technology and development of new and faster techniques, its trends and fashions that dictate movement and the relationship between creativity and technology’.

Reflecting on Roberts idea and what Joel suggests I must agree that in part, the decline of skilled tradesmen who can beautifully set type, engrave and print images is due to the development and advancement of computers and the internet but I also raise the question, is there still room for skilled craft in design? Aside from small projects or craft classes, does the client have time to allow a skilled craftsman to engrave type, or does their budget only stretch to a photoshop mockup of this? Is it technology that dictates the movement or the client who expects and demands more? This too is a question raised by Susanna Edwards, we discussed the role of a designer and are we a service, meet the needs of the clients or trendsetters, push boundaries and innovation, can there be a place for both in commercial design? Over the last few years, there have been more and more tutorials and encouragement from magazines such as computer arts to produce handmade effects digitally. This then surely is reflective of the work that is being produced, I believe that trends and the need to find something different has inspired designers to look in different avenues. As technology advances, there will always be a need to produce digital outcomes for screen or print but where the project will allow, designers will fall back to the traditional techniques and experiment with solutions that break out of the digital screen.

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I raised this question on the ideas board and was interested to hear from others in the group, did they think that the craftsmanship of design was only limited to one-off projects or evening classes. Benjamin raised a good point that does this idea lay within the education of designers today and is their education is too focused on being digital and not encouraging the handcraft. Being a teacher of design I can see this from both sides, the demands of the curriculum can focus on new and emerging technologies and reward students for developing a range of iterations of a solution. I agree in part that this should be encouraged but with mainstream schools cutting time for students to engage in the creative subjects can teachers still afford the time to spend on the traditional crafts let alone have the resources to do so. Leaving school and studying art and design I was able to explore a range of ideas and media to produce an outcome. This I feel has enabled me to appreciate the aesthetic of the handmade and the efforts that are in the production of books.

On a visit with students to TJ International, a book printer in Cornwall I found that they still have some of the traditional printing equipment for finishing rather than relying on the big automated machines. They also have skilled tradesmen and women who completed an apprenticeship in printing and bookbinding that have been at the business ever since. I was impressed with this focus and commitment to the job, the attention to detail and reflected that we don’t see this in education or the mindset of our generation. Is the craftsmanship in decline in part due to the development of technology and education but also the attitudes of a younger generation that see wealth and fame being flaunted for far less input?

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Stuart Tolly of Transmission, based in Brighton takes the idea of the handmade and bespoke into the mainstream with his work for a Jimmy Hendrix record sleeve. Stuart explained his idea for the design as capturing a moment in time and the impact of the pressed flowers is greater than an image. This is an example where an idea has to be explored outside of something digital, the love for the record again has outgrown the CD. Digital downloads and streaming services have set the trend for listening to music but there is an appreciation for a well made physical product and the nostalgia element of a record. I have a record collection that is made of originals, tatty and scratched but I love the time taken to place the needle on the record and listen, it is too easy to flick through songs on Spotify as we don’t have an appreciation of a physical product. This made me think back to a quote I had seen, how people are willing to spend up to £5 for a mass-produced coffee from Starbucks but are not willing to spend 99p on a digital file that someone has spent time, recording and producing.

This weeks investigation has made me really think about the practice of others, how location and technology can and has had an impact on the landscape of design. In our modern world, connected and caffeine-fueled our working practices can be different depending on location. In a discussion with Kristofer and Tom, we raised the attitudes to work based on location and how we perceive London to have this drive and ruthlessness. While in London I felt that you should always be the first one in and the last one to leave, if not we are seen to not be doing our job properly. I found it interesting that during the podcast ‘Join up Dots’ by David Ralf he highlights the average working hours of the UK is 75 and that of Germany is 35. This is just average but as a nation, Germany is more productive and if you are the last one to leave the office you must not be doing your job properly and need more time to complete work. He suggests that technology and email have had an impact on our working lifestyle and I believe that there is a contrasting view of this depending on location. In Cornwall the term drekly means at an unspecified time, I will do it, eventually. I’m not so sure that this outlook work in London. I then return to my previous point of connotations or pre-conceived ideas of London and contrasting Cornwall. Do we associate London as being driven and cut-throat while we associate Cornwall with a ‘different pace of life’ In my working practice here in Cornwall I have found this mentality to be extremely true of pople who have lived here for a while. There appears to be a shortage of skilled workers in Cornwall and most people I speak to are from London or up north but have come down here to take things a little slower. I guess in part I have to agree as I am one of those people, however, I also believe in working smarter and more efficiently but again, that could be a Northern attitude to things. Without looking into statistics and only basing my investigation on anecdotal evidence I cannot say for sure how location has an impact on productivity and how technology can impact this too but on the surface of things location has a lot of say in how we work and who we work with.