Its been some while since I posted here, but I've been very busy in the meantime having started on my third and final year at uni - 9 weeks in already - can't believe how quickly the time is going!

I'm just trying out and setting up my new macbook - thought it was about time to make the plunge with my student loan!

Right - must get on with my dissertation now - and see if I can set up the buttons for delicious!

Brighton

Just spent a long weekend in Brighton, which was a really great break, Brighton is so buzzy - much like Ipswich really - LOL! Stayed at the Metropol which made a good base to explore from.

Spent lots of time meandering around the Lanes, I especially loved the North Laine area, which amazingly, despite having visited Brighton on numerous occassions had managed to completely miss previously!!

Plenty of eating, drinking and people watching too, a special treat being dinner at the Hotel du Vin, which we also escaped to on the Saturday evening to avoid the numerous hen and stag parties roaming around - what is it with hen parties? Do they have to have their names on their T-shirts (or tutus) for when they get so completely pissed they can't remember them!

Lots of examples of good bad and indifferent indie graphics on shops - a few examples here!!

And yet more work experience........

In my continuing efforts to experience the real world of Graphic Design, I have spent a day each at 2Cs and Fuel Creative. 2Cs is a relatively large concern with 3 main divisions and a number of staff, they are located at Martlesham and their business is national with only 10% of clients Suffolk and Ipswich based. This was a really interesting day and as well as talking at length to Jack Thompson about his company and all things Graphic Design, I also got to talk to many of the staff about the jobs they had and their particular career routes. They were all really helpful and friendly and I picked up lots of advice and tips for the coming year.

Fuel Creative comprises just two guys, Clive and Tim, working out of an office space on Ransomes Europark along with a freelance designer, Sarah. For such a small set up their had an impressive portfolio, and again I got a really useful insight into life in a small design studio. I also got to have a go at a current brief for a new corporate ID for a mobile tyre company and to do some research on competitors and possible images for a web site for a personal injury lawyer.

So far, I think I would prefer to work in a 2Cs type set up and be part of a bigger team.

Insect flights as art

Picked this up from CR blog and thought it was really cool! http://vimeo.com/5676816

More work experience!

Thanks to Matt at Matt Porter Web Design for spending time with me today explaining what he does and how his set up works! As always the scary thing is that the more you know the more you realise you don't know!

see his portfolio at www.mattporter.com

Latitude

Yesterday I spent the day at the Latitude festival. Its the third time I've been and this year was the best year yet i think. I went with my friend Soo and we met up with other yoga friends. Things just seemed to fall into place this year, and we started the day with the beat poet Luke Wright, followed by Wild Birds and Peacedrums, a really unusual and interesting husband/wife combo from Sweden. The weather was Ok ish - bit of rain, pretty windy at first but with lots of sun later on. We saw the Ballet Black at the Waterfront stage and got told of by some old woman for sitting in the 4 feet in front of her that she seemed to think she was entitled to having sat there for 45 mins before the act. I did point out that at a festival of thousands one can't expect a front seat AND 4 feet of empty space in front!! We saw a couple of things in the cabaret tent - Revealing Eve and Stuckey and Murray, and Newton Faulkner and last but not least Grace Jones. I probably wouldn't have bothered for myself as I'm not keen on her at all, but what an amazing show - well worth standing in the rain for an hour for - just can't believe she is sixty!

Apart from the scheduled entertaining we spent lots of time chilling out eating, drinking and people watching - haggis tatties and neeps were delicious! Got home 2ish - and was very glad not to have to be going back to a tent in a field!!

Work Experience

I've just completed a weeks work experience with Soo at DoubleSdesign. Soo is a graphic designer running her own business at home. She is also a yoga friend and runs a company designing and selling yoga clothing, Funky Yoga. As well as all that she is a lecturer at Colchester Institute - phew!!

It was really interesting to see how this kind of set up worked and from day one I was involved with producing actual real live work. By the end of the week I had designed a beer bottle label for a commerative event, an ad for weddings at Seckford Hall, updated a couple of websites including one for service disruptions for Ipswich Buses and had a go at designing a logo for a business forum. As well as that I was privvy to the every day business of dealing with clients and experienced having very tight deadlines and ever shifting briefs!

Thanks to Soo for this valuable insight into the real world of graphic design!

I'm also hoping to get various odd days with a few other studios during the summer so that I can see how other setups operate.