Learning about the Industry – Ben Derby & Joe Ashford

Today we met Ben and Joe who I learned had previously been on the same course as us, but had finished the Digital Design Foundation course as well as the Graphic Communication third year a few months ago.  Since then, they have paired up and co-founded their own design freelance company which they called ‘Purple Egg’. They basically prepared us for what it was going to be like in the third and final year of this course, should we decide to go for it. I now feel more informed about this year and am not dissuaded by the amount of work and effort needed for it. Along with that information, the duo also gave us some general tips for when you work/try to find work in the industry. One of the main factors about being a freelancer is the fact you have to constantly promote yourself. Go to expeditions, events, pick up leaflets, meet contacts and lots of general networking (maybe even start a Twitter account one day, god forbid!). Your personality is also an important factor and a client/contact will always appreciate someone who is positive, polite and enthusiastic. This can be accentuated with what you wear, how you present yourself and what you bring when you meet them. The Design industry is full of creative and casual people and thus, the need of looking overly formal is almost inappropriate (except in some cases – pitching for example), don’t feel you have to disconnect yourself with the client. They will open up to you if you’re friendly and humorous (within reason obviously), if you know the client’s name, don’t be shy to call him/her by that. Nobody will stop you if you were to bring a few sweet offerings to butter them up a bit as well! Keep business cards on you at all times and hand out when appropriate, enter competitions and get placements, everything you do will help you learn in the industry and prepare you for the possible issues you may face. The duo also taught us how to go about the current course we are on as they were once in our position. They told us to make sure we turn up to as many lectures as possible and to make use of the resources available to us. So get down to the library for solid primary research on anything and liaise regularly with our mentors. They are there to help!

Also, earlier this morning I also heard back from Sounds of Frome regarding a possible project with re-designing a logo for them. They would like me to come in for a chat tomorrow at around 10.30 and discuss how to approach this brief and have a look at some of the ideas I have made.