Brief:
Create a piece of Graphic Design that puts a particular emphasis on personal communication rather than relying on texts and emails etc.
Concept / Proposition:
In order to create sense of interactivity between my design and the intended audience I propose to produce a mail shot which would theoretically be interacted with and then sent back to me.
My personal aims for this particular brief were not only to produce a piece of interactive design which demonstrates my personal preferences in Graphic Design but to also send it out to a variety of studios whose work I admire and am interested in with the hope of creating professional contacts and ideally securing a placement at a later date.
In order to get the most out of this brief I began compiling a mailing list of studios and agencies I am interested in which the final mail shot would be sent out to.
Throughout my first two years on the course I have developed a keen interest in the advertising / promotion aspect of Graphic Design and therefore began searching for advertising agencies in my home town of Liverpool, however, I found that most agencies had a focus on television advertising etc. rather than the traditional print adverts I prefer, therefore I widened the search to branding agencies, another field I am interested in.
Dave Williams
Recently I have developed a passion for football, I support Liverpool FC and try to watch as many games as possibly although most of the time it's from behind my hand anxiously. One of our local newspapers in Liverpool had a insert with a wall chart for the upcoming fixtures which featured illustrations by Dave Williams. I particularly admire the simplicity of his work not only within the illustrations but with other projects which he has primarily worked with type.
Through further research into the Liverpool based illustrator I found he specialises in the sporting industry, producing work for clients such as Liverpool FC, Carlsberg and BT Sport. With sport being a keen interest of mine I felt his agency would be an appropriate one to contact as I had a vested interest in his specialism and would therefore find the work enjoyable.
Liquid
27 Lord Street, Liverpool, L2 9SA
Liquid are again a small advertising agency based in Liverpool, as well as an opportunity to work within the branding sector, a particular area of the field which I find interesting within all there work the agency put a particular emphasis on creating imaginative and memorable designs which is something I too put an emphasis on in my practice.
Black & Ginger
26A Norfolk Street, Baltic Triangle, Liverpool, L1 OBE
Similarly to Liquid advertising agency, Black and Ginger also put a particular emphasis on creativity throughout there work. Their website lists the main principles of their practice; innovative, reliable and effective, which are three key factor I can personally relate to. I have always viewed my design work and briefs I have been set in the past as a opportunity to produce something different and create a concept that is unique.
Uniform
3rd floor, Link 19, 9-19 Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 4DN
Uniform is again another agency in Liverpool which focusses on Branding, however they appear to be more independent and as I can appear quite shy at first I believe this would be more appropriate for me individually. I also found similarities in the three principles they discuss on their website and the principles which underpin my practice, I too have a methodical approach to briefs and the design process.
Although practically it made sense to look at agencies in Liverpool, following the course I am keen to travel and wouldn't really like to move back home. Therefore I began looking for similar agencies in Leeds.
All Good
Morwick Hall, Mortec Park, York Road, Leeds, LS15 4TA
Again, All Good are branding agency which focus on the ideas and concept creation aspect of the design process, much like myself. They call themselves the 'idea people' which is something I can relate to, I also like the idea of experimenting with not only imagery and design but also 'creative wordplay' as they call it to produce original designs.
Robot Food
Tower Works, Globe Road, Leeds, LS11 5Q6
Robot Food is a creative agency which specialises in branding and packaging design which are two areas of the design industry I myself am interested in and would like to explore further this year. They also describe themselves as 'challenging' which is something I would like to achieve with my design work.
Happy Giraffe
6&7 Lower High Street, Stourbridge, DY8 1TE
What first attracted me to this agency was in fact the name, as giraffes are my favourite animal. Through looking through their work I discovered they have quite a hand rendered feel to their work which is something that underpins my own creative practice. Another thing on their website that drew my to Happy Giraffe was the fact that they described themselves as 'doodlers' which is something I have always done growing up and even now on my degree I prefer to draw up ideas on paper than work straight onto the mac.
Over the summer I visited Amsterdam with a couple of my friends, over the holiday I was really struck at how beautiful the city was and the Dutch culture therefore I decided to research into agencies in Amsterdam. I also felt it would be interesting to make my experiment international and seeing how many, if any responses I got.
Freshu
Singel, 64 Sous, 1015 AC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Freshu describes themselves as a 'full service creative agency' and cover a range of disciplines as well as branding, I felt this would be appropriate to me as a start-up designer as it would enable me to learn about these sectors and ultimately grow as a graphic designer. Again they are put a emphasis on creating concepts and pushing them as far as they can go much like myself.
Lava
Silodam, 1F, 1013 AL, Amsterdam
As well as striving to produce creative ideas / solutions to set problems another thing that endeared me to Lava was the hand-rendered quality to their design work. Even the header to their website appeared to have begun as a sketch which was then scanned into the computer, this idea of mixed media within design work is something I aim to explore more this year.
Ideally, in order to get the most out of this brief and to hopefully secure a placement which is my primary aim of the brief I will need to send out as many mail shots as possible, therefore increasing my chance of getting a response.
This list of agencies I have outlined will act as a primary mail list which, over the course of the brief and indeed the year as I find design/designers which interest me I can add too.
Note: When I begin the designing for the solution to this brief I will therefore need to consider the production as it is possible I will need to produce several not just to begin with but also as I add to the mail list.
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