I am almost embarrassed to mention how long it’s been since I’ve blogged. So let’s not go ‘there’. Needless to say, if you are in my life currently you will know how much my life has changed and why I have dropped off the radar… three words: *15 hour days* (that’s before I’ve started on the freelance)
I can enjoy the irony in this situation a certain amount right up until it becomes more of a joke-on-me. Let me explain…
I picked this web domain (as regrettable as it is when I am reading my email address down the phone in a whiff about bills) because it highlighted a fundamental belief of mine that you should design like you give a damn. Not just for the money, but because you enjoy it. You want to make something that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional… and perhaps also because you care about the process.
**Disclaimer: With hindsight you should really do everything like you give a damn. Pick a sandwich filling, clean your teeth, choose a holiday destination like you give a damn …but arguably top 5 in the list is more importantly, your career. **
At the time I picked my domain name I was at university. It was 2006, and in all honesty I was surrounded by people who could not give a fuck about getting a career out of their degree… they just wanted *a* degree. Perhaps as a bit of a dig, I wanted to show it wasn’t just something you did as a degree, not just because your parents wanted you to go to uni and you thought it would be a laugh “cus you’re good at computers an’that”… design, if you want it, was something you did in your spare time too.
Oh. And don’t I know it. I do. The design in my life has become a monstrosity that now feeds on my entire waking day. It. Is. My. Essence. Go to work, be the last one to leave, come home, freelance until your eyes are sore. Then it’s microwaved beans hunched over a sink. In Charlie’s world you don’t “do” design, design does you.
A cautionary tale. Design like you give a damn… but not too much. M’kay, kids?
Having said that. I LOVE to design so much I do it when I don’t mean to… and as noted in the last 4 weeks – even when I don’t particularly want to.
But I love my job, my career, and I put effort in BECAUSE I want to look back in a few months or go into a store and see products and packaging I’ve worked on and be proud and not regret that I didn’t um and err over the details enough, or that I didn’t push back about keeping a brief a certain way so instead watch it morph into something ugly or something dysfunctional.
Sigh.
It is this attitude towards my work that might have landed me working long days and longer night but it’s also that which got me this fantastic job. Every single stressful day, low budget brief, and late night has been worth it because, along with the projects I get to design for, working in-house has one main perk… these ones here. And I am lucky because they give a damn too.
For the Visual Research book launch the designers featured will be offered the opportunity to exhibit their work for two weeks following the release date.
Russell Bestley, one of the writers and one of my fantastic tutors during my MA, suggested that the work exhibited should lead on progressively from the work featured in the book so that the audience can see where it developed.
For me, this means exhibiting that insane perspective installation. Great! I mean it went down a storm before so it makes sense I showcase it again… right?
Wrong.
What with scooting home for Christmas before I started my job in January I totally forgot to dismantle the horror which was my final project. It is definitely in the bin now, it’s August. So that means recreating it from scratch.
That thing took me 5 whole days to make when I worked freelance… now I work in house. to say that this is going to be an ordeal would be an understatement. I have actually had nightmares about this.
You are probably thinking to yourself, why not just show a video of it?? Well, I will presume you are not familiar with the concept behind the project, so I will explain. Essentially the project was based around the fact that when you capture a scene with photography, you lose the depth. You also lose the context in which the photograph was taken and in-turn you are only seeing the scene in the way the photographer meant for you to see it.
I made the installation so that, uninstructed, the viewer could stand infront of it, look at it and find the two different positions in which they need to stand so they can see the quote. Its composition was self instructive.
However, to cut a long story short, I fucked up. The room I built the installation in was not going to be part of the exhibition like I had previously thought, I couldn’t move the installation (as it was fixed to the ceiling) so I had to film it, on a craptastic 8 year old camera in the most shocking low resolution.
But it would have to do. And the people downstairs at the exhibition never got to see that nightmare of a project first-hand like it was meant to be… but this time they will!!
I remember the first time I mentioned this exhibition and it was miles in the future, but now I have a month-ish to construct this again from scratch. Getting the laser cut foam, stringing it up in place, projecting and painting onto it. While at the same time putting it on something that can be relocated. /headache.
If you’re still reading you deserve a medal, because I’ve even confused myself.
I am naughty because I haven’t blogged in months.
But I have many excuses prepared! Since I last blogged I have moved house, from the super central Tower Bridge Road to a cute [read: "small"] house in Clapham Common near my work.
I’m counteracting aaaaall the complications in my current personal life by throwing myself into work, both at my full time job and some fantastic freelance projects.
Silly? Possibly. Disfunctional? Perhaps. But right now it feels like a comforting blanket of graphics and nerdery, where the only problems that exist involve fitting 40 words of 3pt type into a 10 x 10mm print area. As difficult as this is (go on, try it) the alternative is a lot worse.
8 months into my job and I am having the best time, the only downside is that I can’t share the work with you as often as I’d like to. Because what’s the point of creating pretty things when it has to stay a secret?
NDA’s are far more difficult to keep track of when you work in a product design studio. There are more ongoing projects and brands… time lines are longer, it’s easier to not mentioning anything than blab about something that’s not released yet. Just you wait. Shiny things are coming.
Last but not least, I graduated from my Masters in Graphic Design a couple of weeks ago, even though I finished the MA way back in December. There I am, in the main image of this blog post, queuing to pick up my graduation gown. I went with my dear old Dad and in return I introduced him to Pieminister… which later lead to me introducing the entire design department to Pieminister. <3
Many, many fun things approaching in the coming months, mega portfolio update. Some gorgeous stuff from the studio... if I do say so myself! But until then, keep your eye on my Dribbble account for updates while-I-work. I am a busy lady after all. ^_-
It has been a loooong time since I’ve posted on le blog, work has taken a priority and today is actually my 3 month anniversary at my new job. I love it!
First impressions, it is SO different working in-house rather than a freelancer. Aside from the incredibly obvious things, I have really enjoyed just being in charge of just being a designer. Not an accountant, a project manager or my own public relations rep. Just a designer.
This is never going to be something you wholly understand until you’ve worked for yourself for a few years. Being self employed is hard fucking work, staying on top of invoices, keeping a steady amount of work coming in, and keeping yourself current involves using 90% of your time… ALL the time.
So I am definitely enjoying getting to come home and not stress about work… except that now I have also got loads of freelance work as well as working full-time.
-.- wise idea huh?
Troubled times. It is fair to say that my personal life is taking a complete beating of late, but lots of exciting things in the pipeline too. Some secret things but among them my MA work is going to be featured in the new edition of Visual Research which I believe gets published in September.
I’m currently flat hunting too. I’ve heard alot of people compare the struggle of finding a flat to the struggle of finding a job. I have to say… job hunting was MUCH easier.
I’ve been working for this company for nearly 3 weeks, it was a perfect fit. As I’ve said before everyone is friendly, the work is fantastic as I’m working in the same skill set as before but able to apply it to a different area, the subject matter is almost totally new to me professionally, also it’s in a great location – more on that later (also there’s usually an abundance of leftover boardroom sandwiches, cakes and cookies! A delicious plus!)
The fact of the matter is, in case you haven’t already noticed, I am torn about whether to disclose where I work. There are pros and cons.
The pro’s are obvious, I want you to know where I work. It’s a great company who make fantastic designs. Serious innovation with some really talented people, working there is a joy.
The cons? Well, the cons are completely self induced. I would say a lot of you have noticed, I am unable to keep my trap shut about work. Even if it’s something stupid like a blog post/project on the importance of doing a project properly based on my experiences with clients to date.
Likewise I share a large amount of myself on my blog my twitter page and my dribbble account …some might even call it ‘venting’ ^_- so what if I slip up and say something that inadvertently gets me the sack?
I’m not stupid, I know that slagging off my boss is a bad idea… Dooce. (FYI Heather Armstrong has lead to the term “dooced” being used to describe the act of getting sacked for something you say on your website) but it’s not always as clear cut as that. Making your company look bad can be done in many, many ways. Directly or indirectly, they might not like the image you are painting of someone that represents their company.
So I guess I had better lay off talking about work issues altogether? Watch this space.
The last couple of weeks has been a serious attempt at getting up early arriving at work on time (I’m always on time but it’s a challenge when you’re half asleep) and likewise not immediately falling asleep when I put my foot through the door at night. 5/6 years of freelancing has done me absolutely no favours when it comes to early mornings, my desk was a mere 4 metres from where I sleep… hardly a commute? Not to mention I don’t drink coffee, I’m never hungry in the morning and I stay up late… a recipe for disaster.
HOW do commuters do it?? By the time I am walking home from the tube I am ready to sleep, or the other end of the spectrum, flip-out at meandering pedestrians, also pedestrians who wave their umbrellas close to my face or smokers who aren’t aware of their cigarettes proximity to my clothes/body.
Do not get me started on the tube…
I have decided TFL don’t deserve a pay increase. Yes, me. I’ve decided. If you disagree with me, try getting on *any* tube from London Bridge from 8.00 – 9.00 any weekday. It’s pretty obvious it is one of THE busiest tube terminals in London, how long has that tube existed I ask you? do you think commuters have suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to start coming through there? No, it’s been there for decades, and for decades it’s served the same purpose. So you would think there would be some kind of system in place by now to ensure people can get to work on time? …right? Wrong.
To date, I have been working for 14 days. Out of those 14 days 6 of them I haven’t been able to get a tube from London Bridge. Locking the gates to the underground, Inspector Sands, evacuating the tube because of dust… yes DUST. (Not something out of a Philip Pullman novel.) Then just random “severe delays” of the Northern Line. Good times… or not.
Needless to say, we will be moving out of this house in SE1 sometime this year and I intend on finding a new location which doesn’t see me sat on a filthy seat, in a smelly tube, surrounded by miserable buggers, every day twice a day. Bikes are the way forward.
This rant has been brought to you by a drawing of a smiling cat. He doesn’t like mornings either.
So it’s been exactly a month since I last blogged… sorry! What can I say, I’ve been busy? I finished the MA with 83% (thankyouverymuch!) was featured on some fantastic blogs, set up for the MA Graphic Design show and started interviews, got offered 3 (magical) jobs and the next day I picked my favourite.
I traveled home to see family back in Frome, like most of the country I caught the flu, came back to London to celebrate the New Year (the picture above isn’t one of my shots… obviously!) and then I started work on the 4th January… more on that later.
All-in-all, it’s been a busy month. I genuinely can’t believe it’s only been ONE month. 2 weekends ago I had a roast with some nerds at Fakedarren’s, eating some expensive beef and talking geekulent things. Last weekend I was at the Top Drawer show, always brilliant for spotting the new product and packaging trends, also checking out the lovely Jenny Wiscombe’s illustrations and catching up with family, friends and clients old and new.
This weekend will be mainly spent wearing pyjamas and eating baked goods. Join me.
I hope you all have a well deserved Christmas break, ’tis the season of excess… and flu. To which I have already succumb (the flu unfortunately, not the excess)
I made the four hour drive back to my hometown on the other side of England in the snow and the freezing cold with the two cats and a sack-load of gifts. 6 days with my family before I come back to London…
I got that perfect job I have been banging on about, the morning after I went for the interview I was offered the job (So hopefully they liked me as much as I liked them) and I start work on the 4th January.
Here is where the difficulty lies though. I was offered a couple of other jobs in the same week. All these places are great and the positions I was offered were very tempting. BUT! Here is what it comes down to future recruiters… *rapport*
As all the jobs were equally great, they had perks, all provided health care, so the job I accepted had to offer something extra and in the end it came down to the simple fact that often gets overlooked these days… at my new job everyone is friendly and could be bothered to spend time talking to me, even though as “just an applicant” they may never see me again. Because they spoke to me, I learned that they had much the same ideals as me when it comes to designing.
This is important to me because, let’s face it, I might be working with them for the next few years!
Although I’m not going to tell you where this perfect job is yet, I will give you a clue in the form of the image above sent to me by the company in their seasons greetings email ^_- Oh I am a tease!
MA [done]
I got my marks on Monday, as many of you may already know if you follow me on twitter I got a First Class Honours! Very very pleased, so much effort went into the creation of that end outcome I thought I might need to hibernate afterward. But thankfully my tutor loved it, and to quote him… “Your award is a reflection of a very successful project which was regarded very highly by the assessment team”
I feel incredibly lucky to have had my tutors help and expertise during the project, he’s obviously a very brilliant man with an extensive typographic knowledge, so he was the perfect choice to advise me during my particular studies. I feel a bit funny about mentioning his name here just in case he finds out and doesn’t like it…. so I wont.
But assuming that he will one day stumble across my blog and see this post, thank you so much for all your help, working with you was inspiring.
Meanwhile, job interviews-a-plenty. All over the place too! Kensington, Angel, Clapham, Westbourne Park, Covent Garden, Wimbledon… jeesh, there are many! I have a favourite, the job is perfect for me and I want to start working there really soon, and that is the last I am saying on the matter because I don’t want to get all excited to then change my mind/not get the job and then have a stupid irrelevant blog post on the internet forever.
I have another busy day tomorrow, my ‘exit tutorial’ in the morning and also another job interview in Covent Garden. No idea what to expect this time as the agency is keeping me in the dark, so fingers crossed!!
