Tabla de contenidos para July 2016 en Computer Arts

Whether you start as an intern or are lucky enough to bag a fulltime entry-level job, getting your foot in the door of an agency as a junior is a well-trodden path into the design industry. Creative entrepreneurism may be a growing trend, as we covered back in issue 253 – but having that traditional studio-based support network to develop your skills, hone your craft and make your mark is still an invaluable opportunity if you can get it. With this in mind, our cover feature this issue (page 42) is devoted to all the practical advice you need to land that all-important first job, as well as how to impress and climb through the studio ranks once you’ve done so. This is also a topic we touch on in…

Freelance designer, illustrator and ex-Computer Arts staffer Becca Allen resides by the sea in the South West of England. www.beccaallen.co.uk TOTE BAGS I’ve collected tote bags for years, from illustrator friends, festivals – you name it. They hold memories, my belongings, a grocery shop and are machine washable. VINTAGE BAUSCH AND LOMB RAYBANS These shades go everywhere with me. They protect my eyes, complete any look and hide the bags brought on by late nights slaving over the Mac. HANNAH BATST ONE JEWELLERY Hannah made my engagement and wedding ring, necklace and earrings. I do the designs and she makes them. I go everywhere adorned by her creations.…

ABOUT THE WRITER Richard van der Laken is founder and director of What Design Can Do, an annual conference held in Amsterdam that focuses on the social impact of design. www.whatdesigncando.com INSIGHT Strong opinion and analysis from across the global design industry THIS MONTH RICHARD VAN DER LAKEN Founder, what Design Can Do www.whatdesigncando.com JAMES HURST Executive Strategic Creative Director, designstudio www.wearedesignstudio.com BEN TALLON Freelance illustrator www.bentallon.com REGULAR WRITERS ADRIAN SHAUGHNESSY DESIGNER & WRITER SABRINA SMELKO ILLUSTRATOR AND ART DIRECTOR CRAIG WARD DESIGNER AND ART DIRECTOR MARK BONNER CO-CREATIVE DIRECTOR , GBH BEN TALLON FREELANCE ILLUSTRATOR LOUISE SLOPER HEAD OF ART , BMB Each generation likes to believe that its problems are unique. That’s not true of course, but this suspicion could nevertheless cross your mind when you read the…

1. INTERPRET BRIEFS “You should be able to interpret a brief well and quickly,” says Esther Shelley, junior designer at Design Culture. That doesn’t just mean getting the general gist – you’ll need to nail it down precisely so you understand the deliverables, the timeframe and the concept. “Obviously it depends somewhat on where you’re working and on the type of work you’re doing but, as a general rule across the board, it’s important for every project. Understanding the client and what you’re being asked to do for them is really important because that’s the base line for everything.” 2. PRINT PREPARATION “A good understanding of the print process and setting up work for print – including die-cuts, foils, spot UV, finishing, binding, Pantone and spot colours – definitely comes…

“I read something recently that tried to define the difference between design and art. There were several points but one was: design answers questions; art asks them. Making photographic work with the naked human form – rather than informational design, say – will often evoke a response. Sometimes it’s positive, sometimes negative, but I appreciate both. Having a visceral reaction to my work is rewarding. What I don’t appreciate is my work being censored. Eden No.2 [page 56] has had the most negative response. It’s ironic as it was made to spread love and positivity by showing racial harmony and tenderness. It’s not sexual or intending to offend, and simply shows me and my friend Simone naked and embracing. A lot of hateful comments were posted but it also received…

www.tommyparker.co.uk Design industry interviews aren’t a bit like job interviews for other industries. Why? Because your CV counts for little more than a footnote: it’s your portfolio, communication skills and attitude that count. And with roles across the sector in hot competition – from graduate through to senior positions – you need to know how to prepare and perform in order to maximise your chances of success, no matter where you are on the career ladder, or which rung you’re attempting to move up to. Your portfolio is the thread that pulls together the whole interview format. But it’s important that you prepare your folio for specific roles, as you would a CV. If you’re applying for a digital role, there’s little point showing off your print projects. Similarly, only…

VIDEO CONTENT WATCH THE VIDEOS AT www.bit.ly/ca255-someone 25 SOMEONE Ranked 25th in CA’s UK Studio Rankings 2015, SomeOne “strategically launches, relaunches and protects brands”. The agency prides itself in turning ‘big ideas’ into ‘brand worlds’ for a diverse roster of clients, including Cancer Research UK, Baku European Games, Tesco and Eurostar. www.someoneinlondon.com One thing’s for sure: SomeOne is excellent at explaining the value of its craft. Its punchy manifesto feels perfectly tailored to what clients need to hear, written in a language that they understand – extolling the virtues of coherence over consistency, and having a brand position rather than just brand positioning. “Unlike large, traditional groups, working with SomeOne means you meet and work with creatives,” it declares. “It’s better that way.” The vibe is of an agency that’s…

1 Stay positive and don’t panic “Remain calm, although that’s easier said than done,” admits Aebischer. “Communication is key. If you’re struggling, speak to someone – don’t sit there in silence and panic, and wait for the client to wonder what’s happened. Clients are often very understanding, and trust that we’re doing a good job and not taking a long time on purpose. Everybody’s in it together.” 2 Work with the client, not against them “Your client isn’t your enemy,” agrees Brennan. “You need to understand that the client is working with you, as are the directors and the designers. That’s quite a big step to get past.” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all the pressure falls on your shoulders, she adds: “There’s a full team behind…

Designing a custom alphabet To have full control over stroke weight and character design, we made our own typeface. Inspired by circles, each character has a round edge, giving it a fun feel. Live action integration Each name had a unique design using a shared, bright colour palette. The design was unique to the type of shot it appeared over, so it integrated with the live action. Matching motion graphics The motion graphics match the visual movement of the piece, with energy and bounce. Some of the shots are as quick as 18 frames long, because the edit is so pacy.…

This month, Michael Johnson – recently voted one of CA’s top 20 designers of the last two decades – shares his rediscovered pleasure of grappling with f-stops and ISOs Like many designers of a certain age, I once struggled with a manual camera. I stumbled through college with an awful eastern SLR called a Zenit, on which the nuances of light and shade were completely lost. Any attempts on my part to replicate my early heroes such as Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson were, frankly, hopeless. Next I entered a digital age, populated by a succession of point-and-shoot cameras. As these cameras got better, the focus sharper, the pixels more mega, I forgot what ‘manual’ really meant, as these became just reliable ‘life-recording’ devices. Late last year, I bought a…

ALEC DOHERTY London-based illustrator and artist Alec creates bold, graphic images using a range of different media, and is the man behind our beautiful cover art. He’s currently the label artist with London brewer Partizan Brewing and boasts a global client base. www.alecdoherty.com ADE MILLS Ade is a designer from the south east of the UK. By day he works at Playne Design, and in his spare time he runs The Design Jones podcast, which features interviews with leading creatives. He’s responsible for this issue’s Design Matters (page 3). www.ademills.com KRISTEN STRETEN Kristen co-founded Londonbased brand, design and digital agency Design Culture in 2006. She shares her advice on how to make it as a junior designer and climb through the ranks in this month’s survival guide, starting on page…

New York native Simon Morris has created a floating light bulb. At $349 it’s not cheap – but then what do you expect for a gravity-defying luminous spectacle in your own home? Flyte – a crowdfunded label – combines two technologies: magnetic levitation and resonant inductive coupling for a wireless power transfer. A microprocessor stabilises the magnetic field, achieving limitation between the base and the bulb. Says the company: “The suspension of the lightbulb has a direct relation to the concept of freedom; freedom from the constraints of gravity and wires. Our motto is: ‘Set the light bulb free’.” Thomas Edison’s claim to fame has indeed been raised to the next level, with environmental credentials to match. Flyte uses energy-efficient LEDs rated to last for 22 years at six hours…

JACEK UTKO CONSULTANT NEWSPAPER AND WEB DESIGNER www.utko.com “For one of my first newspaper redesigns, we were in a rush but had a clear idea of what we wanted. We changed the logo radically, all new type, cut the size in half and gave it a completely different layout. It was a clear, powerful concept and a fast, smooth delivery. Perfect case, right? Not really. Readers didn’t share our excitement. Sales and advertising went down. I’m still sure it was a good design – but not for the audience or product. Now I think more before designing, and compromise for the market and product legacy. And I design from a strategy and content perspective, not just for pure design.” KELLI ANDERSON ARTIST AND DESIGNER www.kellianderson.com “With my first few client…

1. BE CURIOUS “You need to be curious to be a good designer,” says Ben Jory of Jory & Co. “You should be asking loads of questions and be confident in doing that.” Of course, this can be daunting. “When you’re starting out and you work with people who’ve been doing it for years, you don’t want to risk looking like an idiot. But you need to be able to ask questions without being afraid of the answer.” 2. LISTEN UP Pay attention. Don’t just ask questions – make sure you listen to the answers, because there’s always something to learn from the people around you. Not sure you’re attentive enough? When people speak to you, try focusing on what they’re saying instead of planning how to reply. 3. SHOW…

1. CODING It’s becoming increasingly important to have some grasp of coding, such as HTML, CSS , JavaScript and jQuery. “We want all-rounders who are interested in the digital side,” says Ben Jory. If your background is solely in print design, and it’s between you and another candidate who has these skills, they’re almost certainly going to beat you to the position. There are heaps of free and cheap resources available online to help you learn – to start with, try www.codecademy.com, www.code.org/learn, www.codeavengers.com and www.codeschool.com. 2. PUBLIC SPEAKING Did your stomach just contract when you read that? Public speaking isn’t a piece of cake for everyone, but you do need to master it. It’s not feasible to just never present a client pitch or speak out loud in meetings…

1. DO THE RESEARCH “We expect candidates to look at our site, and see what work we’ve done and clients we’ve worked for,” says Jon Taylor at Bopgun Design. “They should be able to comment on which piece they like best and why. And perhaps tie that into some work they’ve done themselves, or try to show some other sort of connection.” 2. DON’T OVER (OR UNDER) DRESS “We don’t have a dress code as such and would be quite surprised if a designer turned up in a suit,” says Mark Smith at Bandstand. “If a candidate has done their research and looked at us a company, I think they should understand that.” 3. DO PREPARE YOUR FOLIO “Employers also want to understand further detail on creative projects – the…

1 It should be contagious “It’s like cayenne pepper: it hits you and then 20 minutes later you can’t think of anything else,” is Hussey’s analogy. “There’s a buzz that goes around, everybody cottons on and feels the same thing.” As it develops, lots of people will start chipping in with ideas. 2 It could come from anywhere “We once had a designer who started with us and in the first week her idea got through,” recalls Hussey. “We had a week to pull off the whole project. Some studios would take it away and give it to a more senior designer, but she got to work on it all the way through – it was just a brilliant idea and everyone bounced off it.” 3 It must be flexible…

The character was first sculpted from modelling clay with resin eyeballs. He’s a very simple chap, which is what we wanted. We knew that this character would take over the two dancers, but how that would be represented we weren’t sure. Eventually we came up with the idea that our little man would take over their heads, literally. Well, almost. We knew people who could track things on digitally and could have created their new heads digitally, but felt that wasn’t an honest look, so we decided to do it physically. The stopmotion guy is physical, so the masks needed to be physical too. The next question was how to make two gigantic masks. After researching papier mâché, cloth, frames and so on, we chose to use polystyrene that would…

INITIAL SKETCHES First I thought about different ways of creating a 3D identity using materials and light. I talked with the client about using Perspex and acrylic, but felt natural materials would be better for a bold, flat colour. After sketching on paper I brought the ideas into Illustrator, playing with shapes that would work together with the ‘F’ logo. CHOOSING COLOURS I made a vector version of the identity so I could get the shapes and colours right. Palette-wise, I wanted something eclectic, but where each colour was strong enough to stand on its own, in an editorial context as well. They needed to be bold, fresh and playful. At this stage I also signed off the layout for the main poster design. PLANNING LAYOUTS Once I had the…

NICK CARSON EDITOR Nick enjoyed his first visit to OFFF this month, after which he spent a Gaudi-themed Sunday seeing the sights of Barcelona. His house purchase seems to be going ok so far, so he’s cautiously optimistic. JO GULLIVER ART EDITOR Jo liked designing this issue’s Q&A (page 50) almost too much, and invested a considerable amount of time in getting it *just right*. She also did a lot of drinking, sat on a “lush motorbike” and enjoyed the sunshine. JULIA SAGAR ROAMING OPERATIONS editor Having wanted her job title to include the word ‘roaming’ for at least half a decade, Julia is indeed now roaming. After 10 years’ service, she’s taken the plunge into freelance life. Tweet her: @JuliaSagar PETER GRAY VIDEO PRODUCER Peter joined Nick in London…

Michael Thorsby is an art director and graphic designer based in Paris. His clients work in everything from fashion to architecture, and include Uniqlo, Toyota/Scion and Atlantic Records. www.michaelthorsby.com LEMAIRE 28 Rue de Poitou, 75003 www.lemaire.fr The flagship store of top clothing brand Lemaire is located on a backstreet in northern Le Marais. It’s simple and perfect, like everything they do. LA PETITE TABLE 27 Rue de Saintonge, 75003 www.lapetitetableparis.com This is a great little restaurant tucked away just off rue de Bretagne. Everything you order is great and the interior is beautiful, if a little nostalgic. THE BROKEN ARM 12 Rue Perrée, 75003 www.the-broken-arm.com The best clothing store in Paris. The selection is unmatched with brands like Juun J, Raf Simons and Vetements. YVON LAMBERT BOOKSHOP 108 Rue Vieille…

GEORGIA FENDLEY Founder, Construct www.constructlondon.com "I love that this identity is so much more than a logotype. The palette is really powerful. The colour family is immediately identifiable and there is subtle play in the consideration of the forms in three dimensions as well as flat colour. The result is beautiful and considered, my brain imagines shuffling the identity elements just like a playlist." PATRICK MURPHY Director, Made North www.madenorth.co.uk "Interesting combination of typography and colours representing mixed genres and eras of music. I like the way the brand can adapt in various contexts, such as the extended hyphenated 'T'; it looks great embossed out of card too. There could have been more experimentation shown in a secondary palette of colours and shapes that referenced other decades outside the 40s…

1. GETTING POSSESSIVE “We always tell people that we don’t want precious designers,” says Ben Jory. “We don’t want to hire people who will say: ‘This is my idea and I want to take ownership of it.’ There’s nothing worse than a precious designer.” When you work for a studio, it’s not just your idea – it’s everyone’s, to work on together. 2. TUNING OUT “It’s hard in a busy studio if you brief someone and they just haven’t listened to what you’ve said,” says Kristen Streten. “It’s incredibly frustrating as a manager at any point along the line if you’re not taking notes, not listening to briefs and not asking questions.” However obvious a question might seem, it’s better to check than do a task wrong, she notes. 3.…

STEPHEN KELLEHER Dublin-born, Brooklyn-based creative Stephen works chiefly in illustration and motion graphics. He cut his teeth at production studio Buck, before building a successful freelance career. Currently in a creative ‘transitionary period’, he’s exploring self-portrait photography in his personal work. www.stephenkelleher.com “NOT KNOWING WHAT I’M DOING IS A GREAT THING. I’M UNAWARE AND UNBURDENED BY MY ‘MISTAKES’ AND SEE THE PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK AS SIMPLY A NEW WAY TO COMMUNICATE” Until recently, Irish motion designer Stephen Kelleher was best known for his vibrant, geometric designs and mixed-media approach to shape and colour. Big-name clients like Coca-Cola, Cartoon Network and Google called on him to communicate their messages with metaphor and energy, while his personal work traversed digital and physical platforms, often in exploration of his mental health. He still is…

1. READ THE TEXT BEFORE YOU DESIGN Designing a book without reading the text is like having sex wearing duffle coats. Take the advice of the great Dutch book designer Irma Boom: “I always read the text of the books I design. If I don’t know the content, I can’t design. Because I know the content I can go further than other people.” 2. PRINT IT OUT TO SIZE The first rule of book design is: print everything out. The second rule is: prototype. Designing a book today without a computer is unthinkable, but books are dimensional, so check every stage of the design process by printing out to size. Also, always get a dummy made before you start designing pages. 3. USE THE RIGHT BINDING If your book is…

1 Don’t be afraid to be scared If you haven’t done something before, especially if you’re relatively junior, the nerves can paralyse you if you let them – but you need to break through that barrier. “You learn to hone it and use the fear, use the nerves,” insists Skinner, and Dabs agrees: “You should always be scared a little bit, because it keeps you human and wanting to do the best you can. Learning as you go and making mistakes is definitely encouraged here.” 2 Brush up on your presentation skills “Get used to presenting your work,” is Skinner’s advice. At SomeOne, newbies find themselves in client-facing situations very early on. “When you join as an intern, regardless of your level of experience, you’re treated as a designer,” confirms…

1 Finding a base shape Early on we noticed that the OFFF logo looked like a winking eye, framed in two circles. Our character became based on a circle, and then the custom font also evolved from a circle. It’s a pleasing shape that echoes the positivity and fun that runs through the veins of this project. 2 Setting the tone We found ourselves really liking the oppressive grey world we created and had to be careful not to make it too interesting. We wanted the transition into the colourful world to be punchy and for that world to represent a free, creative space, showing the difference between the two mind states. 3 Finding the right dancers The dancers are the physical embodiment of the OFFF character we developed. It…

Early in the project, Merlin was riding his bike and thinking about how the two human characters in the sequence would interact. He imagined them shouting at each other, but their words would be total gobbledygook – a nonsense language. Out of that, the names of the OFFF presenters would appear in type or be represented somehow on screen. I thought that the names could be brought to life in colourful motion graphics on screen, and that the gobbledygook could transform from incoherence to a rapped piece of music. This idea took the project up a gear, and gave it a voice – literally. We approached POS, an independent Minneapolis rapper I know from my contacts in the music scene. POS took the names of all the speakers, and some…

Once I’ve talked to the client about their ideas, generally my approach is to start with research and moodboards – this process is always very visual. I’ll then work up my ideas and rough sketches into a presentation. I show options of where the client could go, and explore what they’re comfortable with and what they think is too far. I then develop ideas based on their responses. I enjoy art direction and I’ve done a lot in the past, working with several agencies, but the process of coordinating a shoot and working with individual collaborators is different to my usual practice. Traditionally I’m more into branding and print. This is probably the first tactile project I’ve done, especially with hand-painting the materials. I like projects with a lot of…

1 TEST NEW GROUND WITH PERSONAL PROJECTS I’m always working on personal projects. Whether it’s body paint or ceramics, they usually involve experimenting with new media and materials. This opens the door to new work. For example, my recent series of doll houses showcased how my illustration translates into 3D spaces. 2 COLOURS ARE CULTURAL There’s a big cultural difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ colours in Korea and in Europe. Some colours have connotations that aren’t at all common in the West, which I didn’t know very much about. It’s important to do your research and, if possible, speak to local partners. 3 FACTOR IN TRANSLATION TIME I haven’t ever spoken verbally with the client for this project; instead we liaise over email. It always take a while for the…