Week 8: Finding the Gaps

This week’s lecture is a series of talking heads case studies, asking of a variety of practitioners the following two questions:

What would you like to be doing that you are not doing in your work?

The talking heads are happy this week. Although their set-ups are all different, their common thought is that they’re already happy doing what they do.

Simon Manchipp from SomeOne tells us that he wouldn’t change a thing, he’s worked hard to build the kind of agency he always wanted; one which brings different challenges with the different work which comes in. This variety is what keeps it interesting for him and also the staff, it’s kept everyone working there together for years which makes for a stronger team.

Sam Winston‘s situation is much different, he seems to find it difficult to actually sum up what it is he does, he sees himself as an artist working in the cultural sector: his playground, and if he wasn’t able to do it he’d leave society behind and ‘go and live in the woods’.

Regular Practice, the newest heads that are talking, tell us of a back-catalogue of ideas. They see something or get an idea they’d like to create and along comes a project which fits in perfectly.

Sarah Boris is the only one who tells us of a change, but only that she would like to do more of the tactile, homeware projects which she has worked on recently.

Intro… even though the two of them sit opposite each other at work complaining about everything; clients, work, daily routine, the world around them, they feel lucky and thoroughly enjoy it as a way to make a living. I think I can relate to these the most.

How important are side projects and are you currently working on any?

Simon Manchipp Side projects are interesting and valuable. From his interview, Simon’s side projects are those which haven’t been commissioned by a client but are still being done by SomeOne, they’re not separate from ‘work’ as others would view them. They’re a way of developing new skills just to see if they can and they have found the projects useful in that they can evaluate the processes used from a different point of view.

Sam Winston Everything is a side project… someone who really is enjoying everything they do.

Regular Practice don’t feel like they need to do side projects at the moment as they can put their mark on the work they get already. Perhaps their view comes is due to the overall enthusiasm and excitement of their momentum.

Sarah Boris summed up a side project really well: ‘you from beginning to end, no client interjection’. I think that’s what makes them enjoyable, if you’re doing something for yourself then it can be a release from the potential frustration of working with others. Another way Sarah has found sides useful is that they have often brought her new work, they’re more honest, they’re just “me”.

Intro… Both Julian and Adrian come across very strongly that they see side projects as really important. Both have sides which have evolved from their interests, one from music; being a collector of vinyl, making their own music and artwork from which he started a record label, and the other created a typeface just to see if he could. Both agreed that a side project should have a criteria, and not just be done for the sake of doing, not necessarily financial but some kind of validation.

A side project often picks you up and it’s a good way to learn new skills which you might not otherwise get the chance to try, it’s something which you have complete ownership of and if it brings you good feedback then it’s even more fulfilling.

Reflection

Listening to the talking heads gives some validation to how I’ve felt about side projects for a long time. For me, side projects always tend to be a way of having a go at something you’re not doing at work, be it a way to learn a new skill or just a way to kick-start your fading enthusiasm. Clients aren’t often up for experimentation or choosing a different format to launch a product or idea so how else are you going to get to try new things?

Now it’s my turn:

What would you like to be doing that you are not doing in your work?

My main passion is for all (most) things printed; the different techniques, the smell of the inks you get when you open a new book, how the paper feels, those special little touches you’d never seen before; how a book is bound, or how pages can interact with each other.

As you’ve probably guessed, I’d like to be doing more creative printing… for people who care what it feels like to open things and touch the paper.

How important are side projects and are you currently working on any?

For me, side projects are vital, they always have been.

Being a graphic designer is all I’ve ever wanted to be since the age of 14, I’d no idea what it meant at that age, just that it was like being good at drawing but you get paid for it.

It’s still all I’ll ever want to be and I still love it, but keeping that feeling alive has only been possible through working on side projects.

I needed them the most during my last job, same work day-in-day-out for the same client in the same room with the same people, the side projects stopped my changing to a new career altogether. I didn’t use them as a way of learning new skills but as a way to prove to myself I still had the old ones.

Now, in my new studio, side projects are used in many ways: the main use is to create a more varied portfolio which helps in chasing down the kind of work I would prefer to do but they also help me to learn new software and new skills, and they’re still a way to release the frustration which comes from the regular studio work.

I always have a few ideas for side projects lying around and I’m now getting time to do them, my current list of still-to-do’s is down to eight, I’ve managed tick off three so far this year. I finished the latest one last week, using photos I took back in 2016 to create a book about a local violin maker. I’ve added it to the online portfolio but not sure if I’ll take it further, that now puts it back on the list.

I see this course as a huge side project now and it’s filling in a lot of gaps I found I have, mainly how to approach projects differently but also how to talk about design and how to back-up ideas with theory and reason, I haven’t had to do that for a long time…

Week 8: Challenge

Mind the Gap

What skills do you have? What skills do you need?

Write a list of your skills and a list of skills / ways of working / thinking / or area of knowledge you wish to develop
Create a design which summarises a process model that works for you at the moment, highlighting the skills you have and the gaps you have.
This piece of work needs to communicate your process model. It could be a diagram, a 3D statement that clearly communicates a thought process relevant to you at this moment (how you deal with weaker skill gaps and how you maximise your talents), a statement, a model, a tool.

Skills…

I find having to ‘admit’ (already sounding negative) to skills pretty difficult as I’m always thinking I could be doing things in a better way. These are today’s lists, there’s an extra ‘sometimes’ list for things that come and go quite a lot.

Have:

Making lists
Use type and layout
How to visualise a concept
Use colour – I’m told…
InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop
Quick learner (though not as quick as I used to be)
See the difference between good and crap – see when something has got ‘that thing’
Stay down-to-earth
I like to design on paper before on-screen
Give advice on design by others
Spot what bit of an idea is worth developing
Open to advice (if I respect who it’s from)
Observant when it’s design related
Determination
‘Bending the truth’
Getting away with it

Have Not:

Finding the work I want
Premier/After Effects/Adobe XD
Conversation/communication
Observant in general
Focus
Self discipline
Control
Saying no
Confidence to chase work or ask to join in/collaborate
Life Drawing
Better Memory

Have Sometimes:

Completing a list
Optimism
Photography
Writing
Self-belief

My working model varies quite a lot depending on what’s going on and who’s around, though now I’m usually on my own. My favourite way is to start with some notes and scribbles and then look through any current favourites from the bookshelf to see if anything jogs an extra level of thought or springboards any new ideas.

Once I’m happy with the initial ideas of how something might look or work and how to go about producing it, I leave it alone for a while and go on to something else. I think, especially if you work alone, it’s a much better way than thrashing things out by yourself as it stops stress and doubt setting in where you could talk yourself out of a good idea. When I go back to the work, if there’s something I still like then that’s the one to develop further, if there’s nothing I like then the break usually brings clearer thought and something new tends to come up.

When that ‘something new’ stays away for longer than I’d like I try and keep self-doubt at bay by reading about studios and people I admire. Here’s some kick-up-the-arse pages from the DixonBaxi studio book, a current go-to favourite.

Prompts or cue-cards, possibly a way to stay on-track with a thought process, refer to Week 5: ways of thinking.

Oblique Strategies by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt – Prompts or cue-cards, some way too scary results in amongst these cards. Just for looking at and not acting on…

Summarise your process model

I’m very forgetful, I keep a clear to-do list, anything not on there is in danger.

To keep things safe I should be very methodical, perhaps more so than I am currently so my list now includes developing a better way of working (referring back again to week 5) which I can be sure covers the basic needs of a project and so leave space to think what extras will turn up, if I’m relaxed about a project I’m more likely to get a eureka moment.

So far… I’m seeing a way of illustrating my process model in the style of artworks from the Russian Constructivist movement of the 1920’s, coming from their view that an artwork would be formed by its materials and not materials distorted into art, the same way a project is defined by the skills and ideas available. It also involves looking into what different results another approach might bring.

Aside from the art movement, constructivism is a framework for teaching and learning where people build their own understanding through experiences and reflection.

https://www.theartstory.org/movement-constructivism.htm
https://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html

The basic sketch above. There are a few ways which I think I can create the design: a 3D illustration or model would work well and the large flat coloured shapes would work very well as a screenprint but I think the item has to show the movement needed to explain the way things build up during the process and so a digital animation would be the best option to take.

My idea being that one central shape, in this case the circle, is the existing knowledge: the Have’s, expanding as more are applied to the process. Outside of that circle are the Have Not’s and the Have Sometimes’, trying to get in.

The Have Not’s are the sharp, jagged pieces which vary massively in size. Looking to do some damage to the circle unless they’re brought under control through learning, meanwhile they continue to revolve around the circle at different rates.

The Have Sometimes’ are the green blocks, more passive shapes than the Have Not’s as they’re easier to deal with and even though they still come in different shapes and sizes, they are much less of a threat to the circle.