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Factory311

FACTORY311 is an agency with a difference. Image specialists for the music and fashion industry, Factory311 is a photographic and arts agency that provide imagery that pushes digital imagery to new boundaries.

I first found out about Factory311 when Belin, street artist and graffiti writer, came to Manchester to promote his arrival along with Factory311 to Manchester.

Too Many Design Graduates?

As a design graduate, I am increasingly becoming concerned by the lack of forewarning given to students that there may not be a place in the sector they are studying for. Many students are given rose tinted glasses as they enter their chosen courses and are led to believe that choosing design could be a good opportunity to pursue a career that they may enjoy. But if the statistics of how many job opportunities there are compared to the amount of students that are coming out of design schools were given at the beginning of the course then perhaps many students would think twice about choosing design as a viable pursuit.

I have an appreciation that colleges and universities need students to fill courses but do they really have the students best interests at heart? Or even the field of design’s best interest at heart? By churning out so many students a year, the market is becoming more and more competitive with more students fighting for limited places, and with a recession in swing these places are becoming more and more limited. I’ve read in many blogs that the integrity of good design is at jeopardy because of the amount of drivel coming out of design schools.

Too much emphasis is placed on the creative nature of design rather than the business side of the field. Students are graduating as design graduates but not as designers. My frustration is ‘why’? Why can’t institutions prepare their students for the reality of the industry. The first step of becoming a designer is to get a job and there should be more importance placed on making the leap from education to the real life environment of the studio. There are vital connections to make in the industry before this happens and a lot of students are left to fend for themselves in terms of networking and making these connections.

There seems to a catch twenty-two for graduates coming out of institutions with most agencies requiring experience from their candidates. But how are graduates supposed to gain experience if agencies won’t give them the opportunity? This leaves graduates with the quandary of finding experience without working in an agency. However, even self-directed projects don’t leave the graduate with studio experience.

Finding placements are the only viable option of gaining experience but even these leave graduates with yet another problem as most of these are unpaid or minimally paid. Taking on a placement means that graduates are left with the challenge of making ends meet, often at night through a part-time job.

Getting a job isn’t supposed to be a doddle but in most other sectors there seems to be a system or procedure that most graduates are able to follow, with getting the qualification being enough to get them a job at junior level. Yet in the design sector, it seems that this is not enough due to the volume of candidates applying for limited places.

I suppose you could argue that this is healthy for design as only the best will shine through and get to the position they deserve. But my experience, it seems that who you know not what you can do seems to get you in front of the people with the ability to offer positions.

On a number of occasions, I have known about so-and-so’s uncle getting them an interview or that whoever’s mate knows such-and-such who works for thingy-ma-bob. Does this mean that to get your foot in the door, you need to mix in the right circles to get anywhere? Because to get yourself in front of the people with the power is the hardest part.

The next step is to impress the socks off them. And with the emphasis placed on aesthetics and creative ability in institutions, this makes it difficult as most agencies are looking for professionalism and the ability to design for real life situations. Perhaps institutions should be looking to undertake live briefs as oppose to made up flowery briefs that graduates might not ever encounter in a real agency. It’s so easy for institutions to churn out design graduates that tick all the boxes but don’t offer anything special or bring something new to the table.

In order for design to keep striding forward, there needs to be fresh ideas that spring from grass roots which is why it is vital for agencies to give graduates the opportunity to how them what they’ve got. After all, in this economic situation we find ourselves in, there may be something to dig us out of this hole that has been overlooked because the graduate didn’t get the interview.

Can design companies be ethically green or is it just a gimmick to entice clients in?

Designers are constantly influenced by their environment and in this age of global warming and economic reccession are very aware of the emphasis put on being "green" and reducing their "carbon footprint" in order for future generations to enjoy the planet we live on.

But is this key issue being exploited by companies in order to entice people in and in turn generate more business?

It's all well and good saying that your being environmentally aware but what do companies actually do to be able to classify themselves as being green? Is it just a case of recycling the waste paper in the office or donating money to forestries in order to grow more?

Hat Trick Portfolio Visit

I and two other coursemates recently visited Alexandra Jurva at Hat Trick design agency based in Southwark, London. The studio was very light and airy with a great work area kitted out with plenty of computers and books. It looked very much the part of a design studio with its polished wooden floors and bare brick walls. We were ushered into a small pitching room with a large flat screen monitor on the wall and an array of the company's work on shelving towards the back of the room. We were left to wait for Alexandra and were offered water while we waited. Alexandra turned up soon after with an apology for keeping us waiting and stating that the studio was busy working on their current project. She enquired as to what stages we were at with our degrees and began to explain that she was fresh out of university only a year previously. We then took it in turns to present our portfolios showing her work from the 1st and 2nd year of the course and also where we were upto in our current projects. Alex gave us her opinion of the work as we went through it with her and told us how we might improve it for a future portfolio viewings in order to get the best results. After we exhibited our work she then went on to show us the work the company has worked on which tended to be print-based and had a corporate feel to most of it. All in all the experience was positive and gave me hope that as a post-graduate there is light at the end of the tunnel in terms of gaining employment straight from graduation.

Quiet Storm Portfolio Visit

On the 5th of March 2009, I visited Rashel Tashchien at Quiet Storm. Quiet Storm are an advertising agency based near Oxford Circus in London whose portfolio include HMV, Heat magazine, Bruschettas, Cheesestrings and Mattesons to name but a few clients. The studio is based on the 3rd floor of a busy high street building and the interior is a well equipped and well fitted studio (although appeared slightly unorganised). They have their own production facilities which includes a filming studio and after effects studio. They not only pitch the ideas of the adverts but also see the production right through to the end. This sets Quiet Storm apart from quite a lot of other advertising agencies. With my background being more graphics based, Rashel said that his experience of my work was limited but he was more than willing to give me his opinion from an advertisers perspective. I ran through my portfolio which included editorials, branding and other design projects. Rashel talked about communicating the message through more than just the subject but through the design and composition of the work. I then went on to talk to him about a current project I'm working on for the Magic Circle and how I'm progressing with the ideas I have come up with so far. Rashel gave me an idea of how an agency like Quiet Storm would tackle the brief in terms of the ideas I presented to him which I found very useful. Although Quiet Strom is an advertising agency, I still found it enlightening to see how they work and approach briefs and how they produce them.

Truth vs. Double G

On the 6th of November 2008, the Truth came to Stockport College.

Truth is a design agency that prides itself on telling its clients the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The agency consists of 2 members, Darren Scott, creative director, and Jane Kaye, managing partner.

Darren began by talking to us about how he started in the industry. With a great deal of courage, he began his process of getting a job by door knocking on agencies he had short-listed. By forcing himself in front of prospective employers as well as turning down opportunities to work at smaller design agencies, he managed to bag himself a job at McCann - Erickson, one of the leading agencies based in London. After serving them for a number of years as a senior designer, Darren became tired of not having control of the accounts he was working on and decided he wanted more freedom to work with his clients on a more personal level.

So in 2006, Darren decided to branch out with Jane Kaye, an account handler at McCann - Erickson for 7 years (where they met each other) and have not looked back since. Their client list includes big names such as Christie's Hospital, Durex, Allsports and the Versus Cancer charity. Darren has won numerous design awards for his work and also designs his own fonts, which are regularly used as corporate typefaces.

During the lecture, Darren went on to explain his creative process and some of the projects he has worked on. Although his expertise is in typography and branding, Darren has turned his hand to many different disciplines in design such as packaging, product and web design. His knowledge across these aspects of design as well as his own specialty of type has enabled Darren to collaborate with other creatives and utilise their skills. This also brought fresh eyes and ideas to the projects and helped Darren to develop the idea further and onto other mediums.

Jane Kaye then talked of the business side of Truth, something seldom thought about by students breaking into the industry. She explained that there is a lot more to design than just creativity. She talked about clients and the relationship Truth tries to generate with them in order to get the most success out of the project they are working on. As a small company, Truth are able to have close relations with their clients and to really understand the client's position in the market as well the problem they have in terms of the design required. They also allow them to become involved in the creative process where necessary.

Jane also gave some pointers when trying to pitch to the client. She explained the importance of justifying the creative process in order to get the client on-board the concept of the design so that they can understand where it has come from and what has informed it. This involves rationalising your decisions to the client so they can see how this solves the problem through the design.

On the 21^st of November 2008, Grant Gilbert, founder of Double G Studios also came to Stockport College to present his experience in the design industry.

Gilbert started his education on the ND course at Stockport College specializing in motion graphics for two years. He then went onto UCE in Birmingham to study a degree in graphic design. This was more print-based than digital so Gilbert acquired both a digital and analogous way of working with graphics.

Gilbert began his working life for Planet 24, the company who produced the Big Breakfast show and the Word, both aired in the nineties.

Channel4 then acquired his services for him to produce TV idents for their new channels More4 and Channel4 Music where he worked heavily with moving image.

Gilbert then went onto to work freelance for 8 years and set up Double G Studios. With Grant Gilbert collaborating with many designers and agencies, his company presented a much more polished and established impression to clients and collaborators than just Grant Gilbert alone, albeit the truth as Grant Gilbert runs and owns the agency on his own.

Gilbert then went on to explain his working process from conception to final production. He went through certain projects he had worked on and explained how he got to the finished project.

All his work starts in sketchbooks, with many of his ideas being created and stored, waiting for an application. When he feels an idea can be applied, he uses it and puts it into production.

With most of his work being moving image, Gilbert relies on storyboards to ensure that his production is as close to the visualization as possible.

Gilbert also uses a range of scales to produce his work. From producing the work himself in his studio to hiring out production space in order to film his work with a full production team.

As oppose to brainstorming his ideas in his office on his own, Gilbert prefers to go into the office of his collaborators and bounce ideas around in the hopes that something different (that he may not have thought about) may come out of it.

The similarities between the two agencies are that they are both small independent companies run by the people who produce the work. Here is where the similarities end.

The same working processes can’t be applied, as the work they both produce is completely different with Truth producing print-based design and identities for corporations, while Double G Studios creating moving image.

Double G will collaborate with other designers and agencies on most of their projects in order to gain outside influences that may contribute to the overall concept. Whereas the Truth collaborates with other agencies to produce the ideas they have created. The Truth seems like a very insular company with a lot of their ideas coming from within the company, mainly Darren Scott. However, Double G likes to brainstorm with many different people to come up with a concept together.

In terms of my own design, I feel a lot more comfortable brainstorming with a group in order to get different experiences from different individuals in the hopes to develop a concept from different aspects.

With Truth having a managing partner, this leaves the creative director a lot more time to concentrate on design. Jane Kaye spends her time handling accounts and dealing with the financial side of the company.

Grant Gilbert has to deal with all of these things on his own and therefore has to split his time between his accounts and producing work.

Most students don’t realize how much there is to design besides the creative part and being in a much larger company this is never an issue as there are people to handle this for the designers. Darren Scott is lucky in the fact he works in a small company but still doesn’t need to handle the accounting side of the business.

Most of Double G's clients are based around TV and his reputation tends to be the reason why he gets his accounts. Although he still needs to pitch his ideas, his previous work and his previous clients are what have gotten him to the point he is at now. Truth still go out and fight for clients through pitches although the awards Darren Scott has received for his design in the past is also a major selling point for the clients they pitch to. So in way, both agencies (being small independent companies) rely on reputation in order to get work in the industry.