Although it doesn't cover my specialist focus, I found our visit to Clearleft very useful for a number of reasons. It gave me a good insight into how designers test their work and how the process of iterative design works. We were also able to take part in user testing workshops, below are my notes from the session:
Setting tasks and finding problems to solve.
When you think you know something, you are probably wrong (accept failure). Usability testing is seeking failure.
Main advantages to User Testing:
Informing design
Growing as a designer
Objectivity in opinion battles
Explore users mental models
Fix problems early
Test assumptions
Stakeholder buy-in
Designers bring a lot of judgement and baggage to a design that should be left out.
Usability (how easy) vs Desirability (How much users want)
Guerrilla Testing:
Pros:
Quick
Easy
Inexpensive
Fed back into design progress
Cons:
Arrange it yourself
Familiarity will introduce bias
Not scientific
Planning:
Introduce
State the goals
Profile test subjects
Subject screener
Outline methodology
Define tasks
Testing script
Post test survey
1 Hour Test:
5 min Intro
10 min interview
40 min tasks
5 min wrap-up
Keep tasks as open as possible
Keep testing until you start to get the same answers (5-10 people)
Doesn’t matter what you test as long as its early and regular.
Career Pathways: Liquid LIght
For the next visit we went to a Brighton agency called Liquid Light. They gave us a good idea of the general working environment and the hiring practices of businesses, as well as how to prepare for an interview. Below are my notes from the presentation:
Always research companies before an interview and find out some of their clients.
Freelance can be much more exciting but there is much more security and defined career path.
Make sure that there is plenty of self motivated and outside work in your portfolio rather than just stuff done for uni.
The more you work in the field the more skill you be able to develop (make sure you’re always doing something).
When working as a designer most of the time you’ll be managing time and clients rather that actually designing.
Hiring freelancers into agency roles can be a good thing because they have experience in client facing work and making sure a project is on time and on budget.
Being self sustaining and thinking about other perspectives is a good thing.
There are plenty of stepping stones from design work into SEO roles, producing, strategy and project management.
Things are being tested before going live much more than before through extensive user testing.
Place more emphasis on actual quality of work rather then client profile.
Showing process in a portfolio can be useful, not just the final product.
Active engagement with social media, conferences and the digital world is also important.
Always research companies before an interview and find out some of their clients.
Freelance can be much more exciting but there is much more security and defined career path.
Make sure that there is plenty of self motivated and outside work in your portfolio rather than just stuff done for uni.
The more you work in the field the more skill you be able to develop (make sure you’re always doing something).
When working as a designer most of the time you’ll be managing time and clients rather that actually designing.
Hiring freelancers into agency roles can be a good thing because they have experience in client facing work and making sure a project is on time and on budget.
Being self sustaining and thinking about other perspectives is a good thing.
There are plenty of stepping stones from design work into SEO roles, producing, strategy and project management.
Things are being tested before going live much more than before through extensive user testing.
Place more emphasis on actual quality of work rather then client profile.
Showing process in a portfolio can be useful, not just the final product.
Active engagement with social media, conferences and the digital world is also important.
Career Pathways: Poke Visit
To give a better idea of what the professional world is like we had visits from people in the industry. The first was from an ex student of the course working at a company called Poke. He gave a very good presentation that clarified the structure of freelance vs agency vs running your business, below are my notes from his presentation:
Freelance:
+flexible
+own boss
-no career path
-high pressure
-no personal projects
Full time:
+part of a team
+time to develop
+start to finish on a project
+stability
-not the boss
-not flexible
Own business:
+you’re the boss
+choice of collaboration
+Satisfying
-Hard work
-High risk
-Need a good business mind
Looking for a job:
Find a good match for you in the business
Look for what agencies are doing
Follow on Twitter
Could they be your friend?
Could you work there?
Once you’ve found a place, get to know what they do
Tailor your portfolio
Have questions
Look at their portfolio
Outside Work:
Show them who you are
What do you do outside of Uni
Personal Projects
Qualities:
Be yourself
Arrogance is not key
Be passionate
Eager to learn
New
Being new can be good
Fresh pair of eyes
Portfolio
Clear
Show the best
Tailored
Show production
Personal Work:
Redesign things
Mock up
Design posters
Make up brands
Shows off qualities and skill set
Keep learning:
Learning never ends
Have no fear, you can look stuff up
Keeps things fun
When you start your way isn’t always best
Collaboration
Process negative feedback and learn from it
Freelance:
+flexible
+own boss
-no career path
-high pressure
-no personal projects
Full time:
+part of a team
+time to develop
+start to finish on a project
+stability
-not the boss
-not flexible
Own business:
+you’re the boss
+choice of collaboration
+Satisfying
-Hard work
-High risk
-Need a good business mind
Looking for a job:
Find a good match for you in the business
Look for what agencies are doing
Follow on Twitter
Could they be your friend?
Could you work there?
Once you’ve found a place, get to know what they do
Tailor your portfolio
Have questions
Look at their portfolio
Outside Work:
Show them who you are
What do you do outside of Uni
Personal Projects
Qualities:
Be yourself
Arrogance is not key
Be passionate
Eager to learn
New
Being new can be good
Fresh pair of eyes
Portfolio
Clear
Show the best
Tailored
Show production
Personal Work:
Redesign things
Mock up
Design posters
Make up brands
Shows off qualities and skill set
Keep learning:
Learning never ends
Have no fear, you can look stuff up
Keeps things fun
When you start your way isn’t always best
Collaboration
Process negative feedback and learn from it
Career Pathways
Now that I am graduating and heading into the world of employment, some research into potential jobs and career development would be very valuable. When I started this course I had very little idea of what field I'd like to specialise in, but over the the last 3 years my focus has narrowed significantly. After the first year, I started to lean slightly towards video work after the speech project but it wasn't until the second year animation project that I became more certain about a path in film/motion graphics. Over the third year I had the chance to do 2 projects that involved film work and motion graphics, furthering my interest and drive into the specialism.
After doing some research into the job and career path, I found some general expectations and requirements of employees. The vast majority of companies will require a Bachelors Degree and a strong, consistent portfolio, 2 things I think I will hopefully leave this course with. The field is also expected to grow around 6% over the next 10 years, making career prospects very hopeful.
Film work is something I'd also like to potentially get into as a career. As well as having a degree and a good portfolio, the standard career progression also involves starting as a runner while you get used to the environment of the industry. While I have been studying, I have been working as a freelance video production assistant so feel I like I have built up enough experience that starting as a runner won't be necessary.
The final option I would consider would be starting as a junior creative in a design agency, or in the design team of a larger agency. Over last summer I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work for several months on a design team as part of a technology PR company as a junior creative designer. I really enjoyed working in a wide variety of fields during my time there and I think a job like that could easily allow me to shift between specialisms very easily. After talking to a few people on the job, there some good career pathways available through a job like that, leading to something like a creative strategist or creative director. Creative strategist is something I would like to aim for in the long run as working with the overall strategy and roll-out of campaigns is something that really interests me.
After doing some research into the job and career path, I found some general expectations and requirements of employees. The vast majority of companies will require a Bachelors Degree and a strong, consistent portfolio, 2 things I think I will hopefully leave this course with. The field is also expected to grow around 6% over the next 10 years, making career prospects very hopeful.
Film work is something I'd also like to potentially get into as a career. As well as having a degree and a good portfolio, the standard career progression also involves starting as a runner while you get used to the environment of the industry. While I have been studying, I have been working as a freelance video production assistant so feel I like I have built up enough experience that starting as a runner won't be necessary.
The final option I would consider would be starting as a junior creative in a design agency, or in the design team of a larger agency. Over last summer I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work for several months on a design team as part of a technology PR company as a junior creative designer. I really enjoyed working in a wide variety of fields during my time there and I think a job like that could easily allow me to shift between specialisms very easily. After talking to a few people on the job, there some good career pathways available through a job like that, leading to something like a creative strategist or creative director. Creative strategist is something I would like to aim for in the long run as working with the overall strategy and roll-out of campaigns is something that really interests me.
Personal Promotion on Social Media
As part of my promotion attempts in the lead up to the transition between University and employment, I have decided to promote myself and my work on various social media. I have chosen to concentrate my efforts on LinkedIn and Twitter as they both have a mix of public outreach and pool of professional people.
For LinkedIn I went through all possible contacts, adding people I have worked with in the past as well as following relevant companies. This action didn't yield much success to begin with but eventually led to someone I added recommencing me for a job at a friends agency in London, making it a very successful activity.
For Twitter I went a slightly different route because of the colossal volume of people on there. After noticing how Twitter recommends followers to people based on mutual follows of people in your network, I decided the most effective way to gain exposure was to follow companies or large profiles that had many shared followers. After following Wired Sussex, Capacitor Creative and Bite Global, I managed to get a total of 16 people and companies in the creative and digital fields without having to follow them first. This was a massive change from the previous 2 that had followed me in the 3 years I've had my Twitter account.
A strange side effect of this was getting followed by 5 different video production companies on Instagram. I think this was down to me posting photos of me doing film work to my Twitter via Instagram. Although I didn't initially target Instagram I'm happy to have a more professional following on there.
For LinkedIn I went through all possible contacts, adding people I have worked with in the past as well as following relevant companies. This action didn't yield much success to begin with but eventually led to someone I added recommencing me for a job at a friends agency in London, making it a very successful activity.
For Twitter I went a slightly different route because of the colossal volume of people on there. After noticing how Twitter recommends followers to people based on mutual follows of people in your network, I decided the most effective way to gain exposure was to follow companies or large profiles that had many shared followers. After following Wired Sussex, Capacitor Creative and Bite Global, I managed to get a total of 16 people and companies in the creative and digital fields without having to follow them first. This was a massive change from the previous 2 that had followed me in the 3 years I've had my Twitter account.
A strange side effect of this was getting followed by 5 different video production companies on Instagram. I think this was down to me posting photos of me doing film work to my Twitter via Instagram. Although I didn't initially target Instagram I'm happy to have a more professional following on there.
Personal Promotion and Show Invites
Bite
This digital PR company based in London deals with a wide variety of technology based companies from Amazon to Sony. Over last summer I worked as a freelancer for them in the Content Lab department. I think it would be very useful for me to promote myself to them as they already have a good knowledge of my skills and abilities.
Nice Media
This more local video production company specialises in creating video content for education. After visiting them for a lecture I was able to see how they work and the the products they offer. I think inviting them to the show would be a good ideas because the sector they specialise in is growing very rapidly, meaning much more job opportunities.
Pegasus
Pegasus are a healthcare PR company that I currently do freelance work for. I plan to invite them to the show to increase my career and permanent job prospects there. I think it would be a good opportunity to show them the kind of work I do outside of my filming for the company.
Jellyfish
This Brighton based company would be a good one to promote myself to and invite to the show because they handle a wide range of digital services, much like our course. Although they do have a distinct creative team they also handle web and SEO based teams that should offer a wide range of potential jobs.
Kineo
Kineo are another e-learning company that offer a sever good career paths within their company and are very well integrated into the digital landscape and culture. They have not only hired several people from our course, but have already confirmed that several senior directors will already be attending our show.
BozBoz
A Hove based company, BozBoz are one of the fastest growing digital agencies in the South-east and are actively recruiting for new talent, making them ideal candidates to concentrate promotion for the show on. They were invited to the show last year but were unable to attend due to not being given enough notice.
Tilt
With a client list containing BP, RedBull and Nickelodeon, a company with such big links would be very valuable to have attend our show. They oversee and execute every part of the digital process so they should also be recruiting for a very varied range of roles in their company.
Misfit Creative
Another Brighton based company, Misfit Creative specialise in branding projects, taking on new brands as well as offshoots of more established companies. This company would be very good for anyone looking to specialise in company branding.
Jumpstart Productions
This company specialises in creating engaging short and feature length films on a small budget. They are very open to hiring graduates and have a track record of picking up very young film makers that match their aesthetic. This one would be good for people looking to get into film work.
Bliink
Anyone looking for career in content and creative strategy would find it very valuable to have this company in attendance. They not only cover the actual content creative but also deal with the overall strategy of how and what is rolled out. The are also very local to the show venue with increases the chances of them coming.
O-Motion
This company exclusively do motion graphics for film, tv and web. Although it's a very specific focus, there are quite a few people on our course (myself included) who specialise in this area, making them a good candidate to invite to the end of year show.
Fruit Media
Another Brighton based company that exclusively deals with video production. They have a client list including Nokia, Microsoft and the NHS, meaning they should have some high profile work to add to the portfolios of any new employees.
Butchers Hook
Butchers Hook do a range of products from film and TV to promotional material and animation. They have a focus on technology and music, ensuring a focussed career development. This company aren't as local as the others but are still worth targeting as guests to the show.
Atom Graphics
This company are a Brighton based group that produce motion graphics, animation and illustration. The style they gravitate towards is very similar to a lot of people on our course so I think they would very much enjoy our show if they were invited.
Crushed Creative
The final company I think will be worth inviting is Crushed Creative. They are a design agency that deal with typography, branding, video production, web and graphic design. They have an already large but growing team, meaning they might be looking to hire some new talent, being very local also puts them in the running as potential guests.
This digital PR company based in London deals with a wide variety of technology based companies from Amazon to Sony. Over last summer I worked as a freelancer for them in the Content Lab department. I think it would be very useful for me to promote myself to them as they already have a good knowledge of my skills and abilities.
Nice Media
This more local video production company specialises in creating video content for education. After visiting them for a lecture I was able to see how they work and the the products they offer. I think inviting them to the show would be a good ideas because the sector they specialise in is growing very rapidly, meaning much more job opportunities.
Pegasus
Pegasus are a healthcare PR company that I currently do freelance work for. I plan to invite them to the show to increase my career and permanent job prospects there. I think it would be a good opportunity to show them the kind of work I do outside of my filming for the company.
Jellyfish
This Brighton based company would be a good one to promote myself to and invite to the show because they handle a wide range of digital services, much like our course. Although they do have a distinct creative team they also handle web and SEO based teams that should offer a wide range of potential jobs.
Kineo
Kineo are another e-learning company that offer a sever good career paths within their company and are very well integrated into the digital landscape and culture. They have not only hired several people from our course, but have already confirmed that several senior directors will already be attending our show.
BozBoz
A Hove based company, BozBoz are one of the fastest growing digital agencies in the South-east and are actively recruiting for new talent, making them ideal candidates to concentrate promotion for the show on. They were invited to the show last year but were unable to attend due to not being given enough notice.
Tilt
With a client list containing BP, RedBull and Nickelodeon, a company with such big links would be very valuable to have attend our show. They oversee and execute every part of the digital process so they should also be recruiting for a very varied range of roles in their company.
Misfit Creative
Another Brighton based company, Misfit Creative specialise in branding projects, taking on new brands as well as offshoots of more established companies. This company would be very good for anyone looking to specialise in company branding.
Jumpstart Productions
This company specialises in creating engaging short and feature length films on a small budget. They are very open to hiring graduates and have a track record of picking up very young film makers that match their aesthetic. This one would be good for people looking to get into film work.
Bliink
Anyone looking for career in content and creative strategy would find it very valuable to have this company in attendance. They not only cover the actual content creative but also deal with the overall strategy of how and what is rolled out. The are also very local to the show venue with increases the chances of them coming.
O-Motion
This company exclusively do motion graphics for film, tv and web. Although it's a very specific focus, there are quite a few people on our course (myself included) who specialise in this area, making them a good candidate to invite to the end of year show.
Fruit Media
Another Brighton based company that exclusively deals with video production. They have a client list including Nokia, Microsoft and the NHS, meaning they should have some high profile work to add to the portfolios of any new employees.
Butchers Hook
Butchers Hook do a range of products from film and TV to promotional material and animation. They have a focus on technology and music, ensuring a focussed career development. This company aren't as local as the others but are still worth targeting as guests to the show.
Atom Graphics
This company are a Brighton based group that produce motion graphics, animation and illustration. The style they gravitate towards is very similar to a lot of people on our course so I think they would very much enjoy our show if they were invited.
Crushed Creative
The final company I think will be worth inviting is Crushed Creative. They are a design agency that deal with typography, branding, video production, web and graphic design. They have an already large but growing team, meaning they might be looking to hire some new talent, being very local also puts them in the running as potential guests.
Portfolio Research: Blur
Blur are a production company from Calfornia that carry out a wide range of digital production. I'm a big fan of their hyper-realisic 3d work and vfx for film and tv. Their site is quite dark and very heavy on visuals, which reflects their style very well. the site is slightly cumbersome to navigate due to the large amount of content but this is to be expected from a company that produces such a differing amount of media. Their implementation of social media links is one of the best I've seen, with a link to major profiles embedded at the the top of each page, as well as a link to their blog in the main menu.
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