As I am wanting to work for a small creative studio somewhere I do not yet know where the clients I receive will be located, as this will inevitable depend entirely on where I end up working and the clients the company itself receives. However, as far as employers are concerned, I do not wish to live in central London as the hustle and bustle of the everyday London life is just not for me. Nevertheless, I think if the right job came up for me and happened to be in London then I would, of course, consider the opportunity as it would be foolish not to. I think would ideally like to remain up in the north of the country as from what I have experienced, there is a great creative buzz about it with lots of small independent studios working closely together to produce unique work; it is just getting my foot in the door to begin the networking process within these companies. It would also be cheaper for me to live up in the north of the country as costs up here are generally lower than down south.
Potential employers (the majority of small studios) use the internet to promote themselves and this is an platform in which they are given the opportunity to produce a website in which they can inform potential clients of their mission statement and provide them with examples of their style of work and current projects they are working on. From this, a client can then choose whether they wish to contact the design company, using the contact information also provided. Behance is also a common platform in which studios promote themselves to potential cliental; this is a great platform for creative companies as it allows you categorise your work so it can easily be found. Also, Behance is comprised of a range of creative work from both individuals so it provides the basis for networking. As for the work produced by the employer for the cliental, this can range from paper based documents, to banners or web design; yet again all depending on what the client wants and the brief in hand. Consequently, it is important that I become educated on all aspects of design as I do not yet know what will be required of me.
In order to promote myself to potential clients and employers I will need to inform them of my interests (editorial design, packaging and promotion), my skills (inDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), the type of work I am capable of producing (portfolio) and contact information (telephone number, email address, website link). This can be done through business cards (paper based media) and a website (digital media). My ability to do this will depend on the amount of money I have to spend on producing my business cards. I will have to get them professionally printed on good quality stock if I want them to successfully promote me and my work as they will ultimately say a lot about me and the designs I produce. Technology will also be in factor involved in deciding whether this can be achieved or not as I will require the skills to produce a website.
Example
'Why Not Smile' is a graphic design 'workshop' based in New York. If I were to gain some work experience here I would obviously have to take into consideration flight costs, then once I'm there accommodation costs and everyday expenses such as: food and travelling.
...this is the information continually displayed on the top of each web page. I have chosen this company because they have a focus on printed matter which is one of the areas of design which I am particularly fond of.
They suggest you contact them by sending them a pdf format portfolio to the email address provided. However, considering they also provide their land address and are a graphic design company, it may be to my advantage, to send them something print based that I have designed myself in addition to the pdf portfolio. In doing this, I am showing that I understand what the company is about and am seriously interested in print based matter. 'Why Not Smile' also provides you with their telephone number, so it may not be a bad idea to approach them by dropping them a little call to tell them that I will be sending my pdf portfolio and something a little extra in the post. Hopefully, this will enable them to see my true interest and dedication I posses already. If I do not hear anything back, I could then drop them a quick email of something quite random (like John said 'a picture of a cat crying!') to get their attention and make them realise that I am still interested. All in all, by taking this approach I am differentiating myself from the others and making myself be known to them; even if it is too much and they do not like my work. At the end of the day, these people are creative professionals so why not have a little fun with them rather than just sending a boring pdf file by email.
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