Study Task 3 - What is Industrial Experience?

Following on from the Industrial Experience from the last PPP workshop we have a task to complete in time for the group tutorials with John. This task will allow me to gain a better understanding of my perceptions of industrial experience along with other peoples perceptions. They're usually questions which are in my mind all the time but not something I would have thought about really highlighting and writing down so this task will be pretty helpful moving forward.

I've also added a few extra questions as they were questions asked in the workshop

What is Industrial experience?

• Experience of working in the graphic design industry, be it on the creative or production side in terms of the printing and production process
• It can vary in length. If you've worked in a design studio for a month or been an industrial printer for 10 years. It's still industry experience
• The ability to use formal language in a professional environment
• Dealing with clients and printers
• Experience of collaboration and networking

What can you learn from industrial experience?

• Time management and dealing with deadline
• How to efficiently prepare artwork for print
• The print process and limitations and creative opportunities
• How to deal with clients in a professional and effective manner
• How to brand myself effectively as a creative practitioner or maybe as part of a design studio
• Knowledge of different sectors and areas within the creative industries and trends
• Previous trends and market gaps that currently exist

What form/format could industrial experience take?

• Through being in a professional environment for a notable amount of time
• Talking to and discussing issues with industry professionals
• Visiting professional environments and experiencing it and taking notes
• Asking questions and researching various aspects of the industry
• Study visits/placements/internships
• Being around a professional environment, such as professional printers, even if you're making tea you'll still pick up small things.
• Networking, be it through personal terms or through a web presence.
• Building a portfolio

What areas of industry are you interested in?

• I'm interested in design for the entertainment and arts industry, posters is something I'm really interested in, so for example movie posters or being commissioned to produce a limited run of posters for events or anniversaries of classic movies
• Design for journalistic purposes, specifically for media and entertainment industries. For example, something like Little White Lies
• Fashion and clothing industry. I recently set up a clothing brand just to step into an area I've always been into and I'm very interested in digging deeper into this. The design and production process of hand-printed and commercially printed garments to a professional standard. For myself or in the future, maybe for clients or brands.
• I'm interested in the print production process. Learning about this aspect to the finish of design is something I've only just started to reflect and research upon and it's refreshing to see a different side to design, not just wizards on a computer but a more hands-on industrial approach.
• Lifestyle magazines are also something I'm interested in, again the sort of services industry, whereby we would report news, but specifically in the arts, design, culture and lifestyle areas. It's not something I've thought about in-depth but I've been setting a few plans in place at the moment for a website and print aspect, along with a brand name but I just thought I'd throw this out there
• I'm interested in design studios and professional creative practices, in terms of their ethos, design principles, atmosphere, environment. How they started, when they started, what kind of work they do. How they brand themselves. It's something I've always envisioned myself doing, rather than working for someone else. Another reason why this module is so important to me

What are your concerns about industrial experience?

• At the moment I'm not clued up on what design studios are around and what they do. I don't know where to start looking and don't feel knowledgable enough to be able to fully take advantage of my visits in terms of analysing equipment and processes
• I'm worried if I will fully be able to get my head round the print processes and basically general print production. I don't want to leave university with this area still troubling me as it's going to lead to problems and in a sense, make me less efficient and employable compared to other graphic designers
• Not having a clear and focused idea of my ambitions and specialisms this time next year. I'm still very broad-minded in terms of the fields of graphic design and specialisms I want to explore, and I don't want to just stop doing this and focus on something in the third year if I still feel I have something to give in other areas
• How will I stand out as an individual in industry. It's very different when designing for your peers and your tutors, compared to when designing for clients in a professional manner. Their tastes are different and their demands are probably different, so it's an issue on my mind about how I'll be understood and interpreted in the industry
• I've always wanted to, and envisioned myself working in my own design studio as a collaborative practice. so one of my concerns is how to start up a professional practice and be viable in the real world. In terms of costing, business plans, branding ourselves and so on. I expect this module and especially the "Life's A Pitch" brief to really help with that.

Why is industry experience useful?

• It will inform my own practice, especially in terms of carrying out freelance work as it will give background knowledge of dealing with clients and limitations and creative opportunityiand experience and knowledge can only help, cliche thing to say but knowledge of any kind can never harm or detriment anything.
• Knowledge of company ethos and professional environments. It will allow me to possibly create a gap for my own practise and also help to get in touch with existing practices
• Informs my own portfolio, especially for interviews and job applications as you'd already know what's out there and what kinds of thing impress businesses
• Industry experience will obviously look good on a CV
• It will give a benchmark to aspire towards or even better aspire to beat, it will allow me to get an idea where I stand in terms of skills/expertise in certain areas and knowledge of the industry and production.
• It will help me build confidence so when opportunities and situations arise where I need to go into an industrial environment I have an idea of what to expect.
• It will allow me to build contacts and acquaintances and increase the network of people I know and are aware I'm a graphic design student/fresh graduate. This can only help down the line, things can fall into place at any moment
• It will inform my own decisions, in a way I'll have a taster of different design environments. In-house teams, independent practises and freelance designers and different specialisms within graphic design. Even the production and industrial side too. Trying everything before buying kind of thing. It will inform my own ambitions and where I want to head.
• Could even get paid for a little industry experience
• It will broaden my knowledge of graphic design as an industry, and realise the amount of people and sectors involved and get away from the college bubble mentality. With the real big bad world waiting for us outside.

What do you need in order to gain industrial experience?

• Confidence
• Enthusiasm
• Motivation
• A good range of work
• Commitment
• Good attitude
• Positive attitude
• Hard working attitude
• YES attitude
• Skills
• Organisation
• Financing, flexibility, for example working for free if you're able to get money for transport
• Transport definitely helps, if not that ability to use trains to get anywhere you want. Not everything is based in Leeds
• A presence, online or in the general area. Definitely helps if people know you and what you're about
• Mail outs, for example CV's and letters
• An understanding of what you want out of your experience, so you can have maximum benefit
• Preparation and planning

Who can offer industrial experience?

• Studios
• Designers
• Agencies
• People you know
• Tutors
• Different sectors e.g designing for NHS in the public sector
• Production houses, for example the production side

10 statements communicating my aims & ambitions relating to industrial experience:

• I want to increase my online presence on the internet but most importantly in the creative networks around Leeds, and regionally in the North. As I want to focus on the north and it makes sense to sell myself and be proud of being Northern.
• I want to learn and research into how to brand myself and present myself professionally, be it through invoicing, to business cards. I want to make some progression in this area.
• I want to visit as many professional environments as I can, be it an independent design studio, to an industrial printer printing huge runs of wedding invitations. It will give me knowledge
• To become more aware and knowledgable to the point I can fully understand the print process from pre-press to press to finishing. I want to be able to understand it well enough so I can even explain it to a small kid in a sentence. That's when you know you understand something!
• I want to become more clued up and aware of design studios and design teams in the local area, nationally and especially internationally in terms of what's out there and kind of stuff is offered out there.
• I want to collaborate more in a professional manner and make some really impressive work, maybe even designers overseas or further my skills of working with other designers, or maybe even designers of a different specialism, for example fashion.
• I want to carry out more freelance work this year, to increase experience with dealing with clients and communication skills along with invoicing - but also to increase my presence as a graphic designer
• I want to artwork a piece of work correctly as has been taught and at least once get in touch with industrial printers and have a piece of work printed professionally with industry standard print techniques such as correct use of spot colours and finishing techniques such as foiling/embossing. I want to have achieved this by the end of the year. To gain knowledge first hand of communicating with printers.
• I want to make my clothing brand grow to an even more professional standard, have lookbooks, adverts etc and be stocked around Leeds in more shop. I want to be at a stage where I'm in touch with suppliers, printers, couriers etc at an industrial heavy-run stage. This is to increase my skills in again dealing with professionals of different trades as a designer and professional and to also make headway in the fashion and independent label business.
• I want to sell my work at fairs, and attempt more competition briefs especially around West Yorkshire and the Leeds. I want to make my presence stronger to local businesses as a local dependable designer. I've never sold work at a fair or sold at a fair full stop so I want to achieve this by the end of the year. So I'm more knowledgable and experienced in this kind of lo-fi, cheap and cheerful area of the Leeds art scene.