I am becoming more and more interested in editorial design and I think that I will start to look at more studios that are editorial based.

Design Can Change

Design Can Change is an initiative that helps designers make the environment a bigger priority while uncovering ways to combat climate change.

The website is an online portal for graphic designers to learn more about global warming: the issue, potential for change, actions to take, the community building around it, and resources for further learning. The premise for the entire project is that designers play a large role at the beginning of lots of different projects and businesses; by educating them on how to design with more sustainable practices, they can make more positive proactive change rather than waiting to band-aid the problem later.


Take the pledge

By joining with other designers we build critical mass. This helps us illustrate our strength when we lobby government to institute change and ask suppliers to make sustainable options available. Additionally, those who sign the pledge are automatically listed in the Design Can Change directory, which allows green- conscious buyers to locate like-minded designers.

This website really inspired me and that although they are not a design company themselves I think it would still be a really good idea for me to get in touch with them whether for just some general feedback on my design work or how to tackle this issue of sustainability and design.

GROUP TUTORIAL PREP.

1. What is Industrial experience?

• An opportunity to gain an insight into your chosen field of practice and learn about how professionals in that particular line of work carry out their businesses and interact with each each other.
• Being able to work along side with and learn from professionals who are specialized in a particular field of design in order to gain an understanding in how they fit into the general market / commercial world . eg. commercial printing, publication house, packaging design, cooperate branding and etc.
• A networking opportunity where you can meet professionals and potential clients. The more people you meet the higher chance there is of one of them may be becoming your future employer or someone you may want to work with. Eg. if you need to find a printer for a particular project, it may be a good idea to know a few who you can trust and rely on.
• Gaining more practical skills that you may need to have in order to operate in the 'real world' that you may not have had a chance to learn at college. Eg, pitching ideas to actual clients, proofing, business skills etc.
  
• A chance to clarify the type of practice you would want to have from seeing already existing ones work in context. It might allow to you figure out your values, mission and vision in your future practice or the design studio you would want to work for.
  

2. What can you learn from industrial experience?

• Skills and knowledge that you may be unable to gain fully from a classroom.eg. pitching ideas to real clients, working with printers/publication houses etc.
  
• How the different types of design industries interact with each other when a project concerns more that one. ( externally)
  
• How design studio operates internally and the different roles each person takes in order to complete a project.
  
• You can also gain a better understand about yourself and how you may wish to operate in a design practice once the time comes. What kind of designer are you- a collaborator? a project manager? etc.
  
• How to interact with different types of people which may or may not be in your particular field of work. They may not even be working within a design industry at all.
  

3. What form/format could industrial experience take?

• Internship
• Work Placement
• Self directed - freelancing
• A Part time job
• Studio Visit
• Design competitions
  

4. What areas of industry are you interested in?

• Editorial Design
  
• Sustainable (Graphic) Design
• Sustainable Packaging
  
• Branding / logo design
• Typography
• Web Design ( a growing interest but not experience )
• Design with a social responsibility

5. What are your concerns about industrial experience?

• Not being able to find one.
• Not being to find one that will be internationally recognized enough as I will be in Thailand for most of the time where we will be doing internships.
  
• Not making the most out of the particular industrial experience because designers are not willing to teach but only giving make use of me for jobs they don't want to do.
• Doing one and realizing that.....may be I can't do this.
  
• Being given too much responsibilities that I might not be able to manage....or the opposite...not given any and treated as a kid.
  

What do I want to achieve?

What do I want to achieve this year?

• A greater understanding of the design industry especially ones that are concerned about sustainability. I would like to find out more about what goes on inside 'green' or 'sustainable' design studios and what designers are doing to make their practice 'sustainable'
  

• A clearer and more focused design process/development. When starting a new project I would like to have a more systematic way of approaching possible solutions but at the same time not so much that I lose the creativity and freedom to play around if I wanted to.
  

• A better understanding in typography, layout design, sustainable design and branding. These are the areas in Graphic design that I am becoming more and more interested in.

• Web Design Skills

• A better presentation skills
  

What do I want to achieve by the end of the course?

• A focused direction / areas of Graphic design that I am well skilled in. I would to be able to confidently say that I am a skilled Graphic Designer with at least one specialty that makes me different from everyone else (eg. Type)

• A well put together portfolio both print based and web based

• I would like to have had some an experience in the Graphic Design industry ( internships/ work experience).

• I want to become very knowledgeable about design and sustainability.
  

• Be confident in my typographic and layout skills

• Become knowledgeable about the different fields of Graphic Design I am interested in, especially, Sustainable Graphic Design and Editorial Design

What do I want to achieve in my career?'

• If not at the end of this course....I would like to know exactly what the values within my design practice is and keep it.
  

• Work in a design studio that is concerned about sustainability and where the value lies highly within social innovations and impacts of design on the environment.

• Not lose my ethics

• Be financially stable.

• Be happy about what I'm doing and enjoy the work.

• Have a strong network of people and designers who have the same values as me. People who I know that I can work with in order to achieve the best possible results on whatever I'm doing

• Not lose my creativity when trying to compromise with other people who I'm working with or practicality ( printing , etc)

• Be successful

Progress Tutorial: Skill assessment

Enterprise Lecture 4 : How to successfully promote yourself in 6 easy steps

That's the how, here's the what

• Marketing Communication Mix

This is what you need to achieve- may just be a few aspects of it.


How to successfully promote yourself in 6 easy steps


1. Get their attention

• Memorable business card
• Advertising
• Events
• Radio Interviews
• Wrote articles
• Run a blog
• Exploit social media
• Publicity

Note: This is something that you have to keep up. NOT a one off thing. So your name appears here and there.



2. Build their interest

• Website <>
• Portfolio
• Information Packs( free?)
• Catalog
  
• Curation
• Exhibitions- Always have something ( your work )on you, in picture files on your Iphone?

3. Convince them

• Artist Statement
• Recommendations
• Testimonials
• Awards
• Community engagement
• Professional Bodies
• Charity Events

4. Make you offer irresistible

• Value Proposition
• Pricing strategies
• Packaging- not the 'box' but the service, commitment...you as the package
• Try before you buy
• Recommendations
• Differentiation- able to tell them why you're different from everyone else. Therefore you need to know what everyone else is doing, who they are and what they do ? and don't do . Convince people you're better

5. Close the sale- This is the most difficult thing to tackle

• Convenience
• Buy it now
• Right place, right time
• Delivery
• Personal selling
• Interactice website

Start to ask them questions ( clients, investors, etc.)- Is there anything I've missed? anything they have to know? Would you like to make this deal today ? If they hesistate, ask them if there's anyone else? If they say no to deal today....STOP.

6. Reinforce

• After sales service
• Advertising
• Public Relations
• Longevity
• Merchandising
• Maintaining Contact
• Building Relationships
  

7. AIDA- Attention, Interest, Desire, Action



WHO? ( are we targeting this at? ) Target your market

• How to we define customers?

Media Usage

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Radio/TV
• Internet
• Social Media
• Trade Magazines
• Public Space Ad.
• Parish Magazine
• Specialist industry magazines
• marketing magazines
• business magazines
• Radio in the car
• Airline magazine
• Industry exhibition
  
• conferences
• networking events
• Broadsheet newspaper

KEY: knowing where out customers go for information tells you how to read them


Don't assume they're reading what you're reading.

Customer Segmentation

• Demographics
• Geographical Factors
• Life Style (psycho-graphics)
• Media Usage
  

Eg.

a person could be both a marketing director of some company, but at the same time, a keen cyclist. They could also be involved with their local community....etc etc,


Who is that person being when they're thinking of you ?

Enterprise Workshop

First we were asked to write a 50 word summary about ourselves and our practice on 15 minutes. We were also asked not to start it with 'I' and try and use as little 'I's as possible in those fifty words.

I didn't quite finish mine and it was a bit rubbish but here goes,



In my design practice the lies with in sustainability. When you work with me you will find that I will consider the environmental impact that my piece of design may have and were it will end up after it's served its purpose. Aside from the environment I enjoy creating work that is simple, relatable but also effective. ....

then I got stuck

Then we had to take give words that were in that text/ words that says something about out practice and stick them up on the board according to their appropriate category

mine were

Practical
Simplicity
Sustainability
Enthusiastic
Layout


All the words were read out and we had to pick ten of the ones that were most appropriate to ourselves. I chose

Relatable
Sustainability
Minimal
Observations
Enthusiastic
Committed
Typography
Simplicity
Effective
Practical