A designer came to do a visiting lecture to tell us about his years as a designer and the things he has learnt that he thought would be useful for us to know before we enter the real world of design. Craig Oldham had been working in the design industry for the past 3 years ad has previously worked for the Chase and currently worked for Music. Instead of coming in and trying to fob us off with a bit of information here and there Craig was actually useful! the most inspiring and informative lecture i've heard so far into my university degree! his most useful information was to be honest with yourself, if your doing work you don't like you'll never get to where you want to be. Don't mess around stressing about creating websites and animations if you don't want to be a web designer or an animator. Which of course is true and is something that i haven't fully thought abut before in terms of the work i am creating, i have been picking briefs depending on wether or not they sound a bit interesting or if they are written by a company i like or simply because it is a compulsory brief. However when i have picked my personal brief i have tailored my choice towards my career goals, after Craig's advice.
Another important piece of information is that placements go along way, i have only done one placement so far and am eager to do more, i have been constantly applying but have either not received a reply or been told my portfolio isn't right for their placement. [which is probably why it is a good time to start tailoring my portfolio properly!] Another good point he made was that "life and work exist outside of London" i have been so focused on the fact that to get any work or placements i would have to go to london, when in fact i don't many closer towns and cities have great design agencies that i have been overlooking because my focus was on london. a definite objective of this year it to start branching out in the design agencies i look at and am applying to in relation to placements.
I think Craig's outlook on design is refreshing and extremely helpful, especially in the way he delivered his presentation, with most visiting lecturers i feel they have been talking at me or just informing me of what they do, whereas Craig delivered his presentation towards us, it was aimed at us to help and guide us, which i loved.
One of the most inspiring things he said was don't just completely focus yourself on your work, and don't ignore the things around you. "the more things your interested in the better your work will be." It is the things around us that inspire us most, i feel like i go so fast all the time when i'm walking around that i miss out on the great pieces of design and inspiration that are around me. i should take time to look around at what is going on and it should help me to create better more cutting edge work.
http://www.craigoldham.co.uk/
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