Week 08 - Skills and making
By the end of this week, you should be able to:
Analyse and reflect upon your personal subject skills and ways of working.
Imagine, create and communicate a designed personal process model.
Document and communicate your working process in your blog.
Participate in and reflect upon debate on the ideas wall.
Manage your independent learning through good planning and self direction.
Personal Reflection on Skills Development and New Process Model Outcome
This week we are focussing on Finding the Gaps. This lecture is a series of talking heads case studies of a variety of practitioners responding to the questions:
• What would you like to be doing that you are not doing in your work?
• How important are side projects, and are you currently working on any?
Lecture: Finding the Gaps
This weeks lecture asks the above questions to the industry professionals,
Simon Manchipp (SomeOne) , Sam Winston, Kristoffer Soelling, and Tom Finn, Regular Practice (KS),
Sarah Boris (SB), Julian House, Intro (JH), Adrian Talbot, Intro (AT)
Simon Manchipp (SomeOne)
Simon discusses how his practice is so busy he doesn’t really have time for a side hustle, but what he has been working on is inventing their own platforms which in turn could benefit their clients, and hoped to e launching them soon.
Sam Winston
Sam talks about side projects and how as a designer he’s always thinking about how as a designer and business owner even social events could be turned into a work project.
He also describes how giving himself space and actively trying not to focus on work clears his head to find answers to his next creative ideas.
Kristoffer Soelling, and Tom Finn, Regular Practice
Kristoffer and Tom talk about being intrigued by a side project and haven’t found what to do or how to do it at this stage. They like to find something that works with their practice identity to complement their in-house services. They feel that they currently fulfil this in their everyday work so haven’t found the right project yet.
Sarah Boris
Sarah discusses how her side projects have become the breath of her practice. She feels they are incredibly important and define you as a designer, and are great as have no client interruptions and you can work to your own brief and deadlines. She has also found that as the projects have shown off her creativity in other areas that might not have been shown in client work, they have opened doors to other work and new clients.
Julian House, Intro (JH), Adrian Talbot, Intro (AT)
Discuss how a creative outlet in music, films and events has combined into their own work and how the techniques they have learnt fed back into their day job.
They also discuss how with the introduction of new software, they started creating their own typefaces and learning a new craft has inspired them and carried on designing and refining this craft.
They state that the projects don’t necessarily have to be commercial but need to have some other force that validates their craft.
Question of the week
What would you like to be doing that you are not doing in your work?
What was most encouraging from the majority of the designers in this week’s lectures, was how they still enjoyed being creative even though their industry may have seen vast changes.
Although I have small pockets of moments watching ‘Silent Witness’ when I think it would be great to be a ‘forensic scientist’, I still really enjoy working in Graphic Design and the everyday challenges it brings.
How important are side projects, and are you currently working on any?
Imitating media in an art form - my side hussle. In lockdown, when the whole industry went very quiet for the first couple of months and all the work I had disappeared overnight, I signed up to be a creator on ‘Thortful’ an online card company.
With all the doom and gloom, I found it very important to keep busy and keep thinking creating in some form or another. This was my Mother’s Day card 2021 when we were in lockdown 2021. I tied it in with the style of the Government warning advertisements that we were surrounded by and played on the phrase ‘ Keeping the R down’.
I was over the moon when it sold really well, (6107 cards) but I think it helped that it was very much ‘in the moment’ and a lot of shops were still closed so online purchases were very much sort after.
I really enjoyed creating this and still have my account ready to pick up again, but due to current studio work commitments, I have struggled to find the time.
Read | Watch | Listen
Brian Eno: How To Beat Creative Block - BBC Click
Brian Eno has also worked in other media, including sound installations, film, and writing. In the mid-1970s, he co-developed Oblique Strategies, a deck of cards featuring aphorisms intended to spur creative thinking.
He noticed that when people are placed in an unsure situation, they become incredibly alert, and to have a clear idea of the end result when they begin creating something new it's about adapting and being responsive to the situation you find yourself in.
References
Being Alert And Letting Your Ideas Grow [A Conversation With Brian Eno] 4 Nov 2020
Read | Watch | Listen
The Importance of Vulnerability
This short animated video discusses the importance of vulnerability, and how displays of vulnerability have a curious way of signalling that this should not be seen negatively or as a weakness, but acknowledging it does not have to be the final verdict of who we are and that we are simply human.
“It is something of a minor tragedy that we should spend so much of our lives striving to hide our weakness when in fact only upon the dignified sharing of our vulnerability that true friendship and love can arise.”
References
The Importance of Vulnerability The School of Life 4 Nov 2020