Today on Monday 3rd March I attended the Creative Futures 2014 at Glyndwr. The first talk was by Dr Stuart Cunningham on the ‘Developments in the Creative Industries’.
I found this talk quite helpful and also very uplifting as he spoke about the possibilities that will arise when you graduate and also how the creative market is growing and employing many more people. Shortly after this keynote Barry Purves a famous animator gave a talk on the subject ‘What is Art?’. Although this was not my subject area I could understand what Purves what talking about and found his work and love for his job very inspiring. Purves shown us a film he animated about Tchaikovsky named ‘Tales of the old Piano’. This film was very detailed and interesting, it clearly proves Purves’ passion and love for Tchaikovsky and shows how good things turn great if you love what you are doing, which was what I learnt from this talk.
I also attended a presentation by Sid Madge on ‘Building a Brand’.
This keynote was especially interesting to me as I am intending to write my dissertation on Branding. Madge spoke about the power of a brand during his speech and how you can take a simple hat and add a logo for example, Nike and double it’s price. During this keynote Madge also spoke about how colours are also very important in branding, red for aggressive and blue for security, which is why many banks use the colour blue.
As well as Colour he also mentioned shape, size, sound and visual. I was very interested in what he said about the environment of the store, for example Apple and it’s genius bars and M&M’s with their big worldwide M&M World stores in big city’s including London and New York. I think I learnt a lot from attending this lecture and it will help me while writing my dissertation. I learnt that a Brand is much more than just a logo and colour scheme.
I intended to attend a lecture by Tony Clarkson on ‘Push Creative’ a Graphic Design company on Wednesday except it was cancelled. I also intended to go to a lecture by Anne Marie Perks on ‘Portfolio Building – Digital or Print, That is the Question’, which was also cancelled. I was disappointed, as these were the lectures I intended to attend and was let down. Alternatively I attended a keynote lecture by Dave Boydell – ‘University and Beyond’. This lecture turned out to be different from what I expected and was very animation based. Although it was based on animation and illustration also it was helpful at times, especially Boydell’s experience of leaving University and getting a job. During the lecture he spoke about making the most of your time while you’re at University. Experimenting with different styles, creating network bonds, gain experience and also brand yourself. I found this advice very helpful as this is what I feel I will need to do to better my work and gain much experience. Boydell emphasized the importance of getting yourself out there on the internet, for example Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on.
I understand the importance of this as it is important for your work to be out there and people view it and hopefully admire it. It is also very good for networking, getting new connections and making yourself known to a few people. During this lecture Boydell spoke about how it is important to keep your body and mind fit while being a designer, no matter which subject. I agree with this as if you’re behind a computer all day and indoors at night you will never get inspiration. It’s important to step away from your work for a while and enjoy your hobbies outside of design.
On Thursday afternoon I also attended a lecture by Melina Polak, a graduate of Glyndwr University who studied my course Graphic Design. The lecture was titled ‘One Year Out, One Year In’ as she has been in the industry for over a year after graduating in June 2012.
This lecture was by far the most relevant to my course and also myself. Polak spoke about how she got into the industry and how she got a job. She mentioned it is important to stand out from the crowd and be different as it is the way you’ll get notice by potential employers. I agree with this statement, as being different is the only way to get a good job, if you’re the same as everyone else why would they hire you then why would they hire you? Polak also touched on the importance on tutors and to listen to their advice, as you don’t get it as much when you graduate and in a work environment. This lecture was very helpful to me as it spoke about a lot of my concerned after graduating. Polak showed us her work and it was very inspiring to look at, hopefully I can achieve what she has by the time I graduate. In a nutshell Polak simply said to enjoy your University time, practice as much as you can, make boring things interesting, get yourself known, make connections and as many other people have said in the Creative Futures week, stand out from the crowd.
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