True Creative

Today I visited truecreative.co.uk at the

Towers in Didsbury Manchester. They are

primarily a graphic design business but

have branched out into other areas of creativity

in recent years. I was met by one of the companies

senior designers Mark Rowe who was interested

in my career as a printer.

Mark said that recently they had employed a young

man mainly because he had a printing background,

as they have had problems due to their lack of

understanding of print. This he believed would be

of great importance to me in the future which was

rather encouraging too hear.

We discussed my portfolio and we both agreed

that more graphic design was needed although he

did like the layout and presentation and also the

flick book.

Again this was a positive and interesting meet and

Mark asked me to keep in touch and suggested

we could meet for a beer sometime in the new year.

Presentation Skills

This particular issue within the life of

a professional visual communicator became

pertinent to me today after our end of semester

show. Having the advantage of knowing the importance

of presentation it has never become so obvious

to me of the importance of displaying your own

work well as it did today.

This is especially true when working alone as

you do not have that second pair of eyes to aid you.

I found that through not fault of my own I needed to get

several reprints done which affected my time planning.

I did eventually get my exhibition up and apart from one

error of size by the print department it visually reached

the level I set out to achieve.

I was actually surprised that some of the students didn't

seem too concerned with the display and found that

they spent more time on their work where as others excelled

and made the effort to present well. This has taught me

a great deal on the importance to always make that effort

and always present well!

Central Station

I visited the Richey Goohall Library in Manchester

Last week to view the most recent project by the

iconic Manchester design agency centralstationdesign.

Anyone who is familiar with Stockport College

will who they are as they have probably meet if

not have been taught by the Manchester designer

Pat Caroll.

Pat gave me sound advise when I studied on the

foundation course at Stockport that I should study

on the graphic design degree rather than my preferred

choice at the time which was photography.

After a discussion with Pat last week he encouraged

me to visit the exhibition and view the images

displayed.

centralstationdesign were commissioned by Coronation

Street too produce 25 images of the series hero's

as part of their 50 years celebration of being on our

tv screen.

Typically Pa, Matt and Karen set about this project

in their style. They all have a great interest in the

big screen posters of Hollywood and Bollywood

in particular those produced for Hollywood in the

1930's and 1940's.

I particularly liked the use of colour and texture and

the retro feel of the paintings. Very obviously

with the centralstationdesign flavour to the images

they make you feel rather jealous as to their longevity.

A very interesting and influential display which I am

sure will lead the company from strength to strength.

Hopes, fears and opportunities

As part as my professional development I raised

my concerns with James my tutor as to where I

may fit in the design industry.

We discussed that if and when I may get a portfolio visit

that it would be possible to raise such issues and

include as part of my PDP.

I visited www.thechase.co.uk on Friday of last week and they

were more than welcoming to discuss such concerns

with me which proved to be of great benefit to my

confidence.

My main concern has always been my age and how I

may stand against young students and if this would affect

my career prospects.

Richard Scholey creative director at www.thechase.co.uk

and a senior designer named Stuart were the guys whom

discussed this with me.

They suggested this would not be a problem for me

although they pointed out that I would have to start on

a junior salary. This obviously I do understand and

it is not an issue as I getting the chance of a career in

design would be a major step forward.

So on this journey of mine I felt this was a very positive

step forward and if the placement that they suggested to

me comes off in the new year, well, I certainly could

not ask for more than that from a company as well regarded as

the chase.

The Chase

Yesterday afternoon I had a portfolio visit

to The Chase which is one of Manchester's

premier design companies. www.thechase.co.uk is

situated in a very nice building and the studio

is fitting for a prestigious design company.

My visit was to see Richard Scholey, Creative Director

and a designer called Stuart.

We had a discussion about where I would

stand in the industry and Richard was confidant

that my age would not be a problem which was

some what a relief to me. I must say I was a little

negative about my portfolio but surprisingly they

rather liked it. They felt that I needed more design work

and on the strength of that they would not offer me

a job on my portfolio.

They suggested that I was a fine photographer which

was nice to hear and that there was a lot of intelligent

thinking behind my work. Richard suggested that a

placement would be of benifit to me and Stuart asked

me to email him to arrange something for the new year.

Which was a pleasant surprise. Richard said that he

particularly liked my book covers, they were skillfully

produced and i needed to include more of such in the portfolio.

I was rather surprised that they offered me a placement opportunity

and it has done my confidence much good for future visits

overall a pleasant experience.

Different Approach

WEDNESDAY, 8 DECEMBER 2010

Different Approach

For this semester after a discussion with

James my tutor it was decided that a less formal

approach would be more appropriate. This

is the approach that was applied;

Hello

I would love to get your opinion on where a mature student (age 42)

currently studying for a degree in graphic design might fit into the design industry.

I have 23 year experience in the printing industry (but I don't want to go back there!)

I would be really grateful for 15 minutes of your time – or by you a coffee

Really keen to get some informed opinion (Im not looking for a job)

just your advice

Yours Faithfully

Anthony Wheeldon

I must say I was a little surprised by this

less formal method as i had always been

encouraged to be formal. However it has proved

to be successful and provided me with 2

visits including one to one of the areas best

design agencies The Chase.

Come design with me.

"Come Design With Me" was a night designed to

get past students and some members of industry

together along with ourselves and our tutors.

It was a relaxed and reflective evening in which

refreshments were provided. I found a very pertinent

point being that we all noticed the void and sense

of 'being in the real world' that recent graduates

expressed.

This has proved a difficult time for many of them

and especially for those who have worked over seas

for a period, as the recession is obviously still alive and

kicking with many recent graduates becoming disillusioned.

We started the night by splitting into two

large groups that were split between present students

and graduates. One particularly interesting point

that came across was the rate of change of

their portfolios a constantly evolving and important

archive for our futures.

They outline to my group the difficulties in finding

work and at my age this does concern me. Mike

graduated last summer and he was a good example

of finding work rapidly but he soon realized that

although he had found employment at prestigous

brand "Manchester United" it was not full filling

his creative requirements having producing his own

working in the very creative environment of the

classroom. This issue was expressed by several of

the graduates and one to be mind full of.

I do believe that this evening related well to

our "Hopes and Fears" essay as it will prove to

be a good eye opening exercise for us in the

following few months. All a little daunting

but that's life.