LECTURE BASED CONTENT
Guest Lecturers
This part of my blog is about my findings of our guest lecturers that we were lucky to have had within our professional practice module. Not all of our guest speakers were graphic design based however they all gave an excellent insight into what it is like to be an experienced creative practitioner after education. This section also includes additional guest lectures that I attended out of my free time.
NAOMI GAMES (DAUGHTER OF ABRAM GAMES)
Graphic Designer
On the 18th of November 2021, I attended a guest speaker lecture within Kingsway to learn and gain more insight on one of the most famous poster designers, “Abram Games”. However, even though he passed away in 1996, his daughter Naomi Games still proceeds to live on his memory by giving students the chance to learn more about her Father’s techniques and methods of being a poster designer.
Her talk was a timeline of her Father’s life, explaining his personal and family life and his design career. Abram’s posters are some of the most substantial visual-impacting designs for World War Two. When creating his work, Abram’s tool of choice was an airbrush, given to him by his father when he was 13, practising colour photos as there was no such thing as colour photography in 1930. After several years of practising and mastering the airbrush, he would even go on to sign checks with it.
His career started relatively slow as his designs were seen to be ahead of his time and too modern and thus gaining much attention until he entered a competition and won 2nd prize for his “Where there’s dirt, there’s danger” poster. However, I didn’t sell the copyright to the company explaining that “your work is your future” and that it is important not to sell away your design rights when there is an opportunity. Several years passed, and he went on to doing freelance design work, where he displayed his portfolio to designers and workplaces, but again no one could understand his work due to it being ahead of its time. Shortly after this period, he was approached by Frank Pick, commissioning him to create a poster for British Transport which later became a stamp, and it was then that this became a turning point within his career.
After publishing 24 posters, he was called to serve his country in World War II. He was assigned many different roles within the army, including drawing maps, but he turned them all down to fight on the front line of war. In the barracks, he would practice his portraiture for his fellow soldiers. Abram realised that some of the posters within the barracks were unnoticeable and boring, which led him to write a proposition – “Army Poster Propaganda”, which consisted of colourful posters so that soldiers would notice and read them. He then was positioned in the job role of being a war poster creator setting up a workshop in the attic of Whitehall. Abram, during this time, created over 100 posters and even had a few controversial poster designs, including the ATS poster design that was later banned some time.
In the space of one year, Abram created 36 military war posters, and the surrealist movement heavily inspired the designs. When the war finally ended, Abram began working as a freelance designer, creating posters and advertisements for several different things, including the London Transport again, the 1948 Olympic Games stamp and coin design and even coming first in the competition for the Festival of Britain design work. Unfortunately, he sold the copyright of his creation, causing it to be plagiarised in many ways, and even someone got a tattoo of the design on them as well! A few things he was known for were for creating the BBC’s moving emblem in 1953, an art director for Penguin Books and an inventor for the “De Luxe” (a coffee maker). His later life was more peaceful as he became a lecturer at the Royal College of Art, where he would do one lecture a week.
Since Abram Games passed away, he gave his archive of designs to his family, where Naomi has been a graphic designer. She told us we could have access to this archive in London by getting in touch with her through the official website of Abram Games.
Despite not being the type of graphic design I would like to primarily go into, hearing the story behind Abram Games' life. He never gave up on his dream of being the most successful poster designer. He created designs never seen before and showed an initiative that not many today would achieve even with digital media. I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture and hope for many more like it, looking at the lives of artists and designers alike.
The main thing that I took away from this lecture was that I should never give up on my dream, even when things look rough or don't go to plan. As long as I am determined, there is a way to reach my end goal. Another thing that I will consider is not constantly relying on digital media even though my projects and my "ideal career" path heavily depend on it. It is best to stay in touch with traditional media as you never know what new techniques they could produce that digital media can't replicate. It's best to maintain innovation and display a range of skills to showcase to employers.
BRIAN GRIFFIN
Photographer
Brian Griffin is one of the world's leading photographers, with a unique vision that has taken him on a visual odyssey. Brian Griffin has profoundly affected the medium in the last 30 years. Described by the British Journal of Photography as "the most unpredictable and influential British portrait photographer of the last three decades". Not only that, but he has also been a filmmaker and TV commercials and music video film director since 1972.
The London-based photography talked about his eclectic career, from his first job in engineering and factory life in Birmingham at the age of 16 to finding photography as a form of escapism in his 20s and becoming the most prolific photographer in the music industry, shooting album covers and publicity shots for the likes of Elvis Costello, Depeche Mode, Iggy Pop and Queen, and working for high-profile advertising clients including British Airways, Smirnoff Vodka and BMV as well as for TV and film production photoshoots including Star Wars in the 70s. What is interesting is his approach to the people he photographs. As he says, by creating good communication with them, he can get out of them what he wants. His portraits of famous people are one of a kind. He says he's influenced by painters, sculptors, film, and music. As he says, you can get inspiration from anything.
Brian Griffin is not only an iconic photographer but also a person with a big personality and a great sense of humour. It was a pleasure listening to him and talking about his life and photography career, therefore, quickly becoming one of my favourite lectures so far within this module. His portrait photography is creative, and he is constantly thinking outside the box about his portraiture work. Brian has even admitted he always goes with some plan to the photoshoot but quite frequently ends up with a completely different idea.
The photographer is a brilliant storyteller, not only in his pictures but also in this lecture. I would love to meet and listen to more famous photographers like him as his story was fascinating. It is a shame that Brian's talk was virtual only, but this is better than nothing. Hopefully, one day, I could have a chance to speak to him in person about his ideas and his take on being a creative practitioner whilst getting advice on my own creative journey.
I will always keep in mind to widen my research and inspiration as anything can inspire a creative. I've never thought about looking at inspiration outside of the art form I create, but it could lead to new and innovative ideas that I wouldn't have been able to discover without adapting my research this way. Although it is essential to look into graphic designers as they fit my course better, learning more about different practices can inspire me to try new ways to express myself that my core methods might not be able to achieve.
JENNI GREENWOOD
Interior Designer
Jenni Greenwood is a former single honours fine art student at the University of Chester and is now a successful interior designer and director of her own company “Greenwood Interior Design”. She was also the lead designer of the Mayfair House, one of Britain’s most expensive homes, where there was even a Channel 4 documentary about it!
Although Jenni undertook a degree in fine art, she knew that her passion and interests lay within interior design, supplementing her skills and knowledge by studying AutoCAD at night school following her graduation. She still sketches, making notes and lists in a sketchbook. She always followed the need to quickly assimilate new skills when new opportunities throw you into the deep end.
Jenni doesn’t regret studying fine art over interior design. The course allowed her to have a different range of skills that other interior designers might not have, such as drawing, painting and textiles. Jenni’s first job was at a small interior design firm on the Wirral. Here she would play around with different materials creating material boards for clients. Jenni then continued to talk about previous projects she had taken part in her. The project was a holiday home in Antigua in the Caribbean. She spoke explicitly about how this project was one of her favourite projects as it was a minimal design using natural stones and timber. This project took Jenni around 18 months to complete.
Throughout her career, she informed us at the lecture that she places great importance on relationships with suppliers, flexibility, and effective project management, including monitoring and evaluation, material selection/fabrication and logistical knowledge. Even though I don’t think I will be pursuing a career in interior design, it was still helpful to know as most of those skills can be interchangeable across all different types of employment, not just art. After the PowerPoint presentation, I watched the Channel 4 documentary Britain’s Most Expensive Home, a project Jenni describes working on with much pride. The programme highlights part of the £65million refurbishment of the Mayfair dwelling of billionaire John Caldwell which is quite fascinating but obscene due to the prices of the building!
Hearing Jenni’s story was interesting to learn about and was honestly quite comforting because I often felt like I made the wrong decision to study Graphic Design or go into Games Design after university. I often feel like I am at a disadvantage due to my decision making and slow progress in learning how to 3D model. Her talk made me realise that you don’t have to fit in the job description that your degree has set you out to do, and you can use that to your advantage when starting as a creative practitioner. It made me realise that I can still achieve my goal without studying in more specialised courses. Though it could take me longer to reach my goal, she realised that I should continue further and harder in my ambitions, even if it looks bleak.
LISE PAPE
Product Designer
Lise Pape is the Founder of Walk with Path and is in charge of business development, strategy, and partnership. Despite now being a product designer, Lise holds a BSc in Human Biology from King's College London and a double master's MA/MSc in Innovation Design Engineering from Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art.
Lise founded Walk with Path in 2014 based on her developments during Innovation Design Engineering and her personal experience with Parkinson's suffered by her father. The company launched its first product in 2017; Path Finder, a visual cueing shoe attachment to help those with Parkinson's. The second product is a haptic feedback insole to improve balance; now, her product is still being in development named the "Path Feel".
Her lecture was very informative. Again, like Jenni's lecture, you don't have to limit yourself to what your degree means. You can continuously adapt and change if it doesn't feel right to you. Furthermore, it was inspiring how she built her company from the ground up. Despite the challenges and not being able to be creative all the time, she informed us that it's essential to take responsibility and do all the nitty-gritty tasks that others might not want to do when starting your own company. To quote her exactly, her role is being the "boss but also an intern at the same time".
Again, hearing Lise's story was fascinating, especially hearing about her father being the catalyst in creating her company. It taught me the not so pretty side of being self-employed and running your own business but in a good way, as it was informative. One of the career paths that I have been complementing to pursue shortly after university is freelance work and possibly setting up my own creative business selling my artwork. I have been thinking about doing this since my first year of studying at university due to the fact there has been a rise in creatives selling their work online to start their career, especially during the pandemic. Lise's talk, although it was slightly negative, motivated me to start considering it seriously and think about the benefits and the disadvantages also as it is a lot of hard work and dedication to setting up your own business.
DENISE COURCOUX
Art Gallery Coordinator
Denise Courcoux, like Jenni, also studied at the University of Chester in 2004, and her lecture was about her career path and how she got to where she is today. When she was at university, she studied a combined course of English Literature and Fine Art. She mentioned that she didn’t really know what to do or what type of career she wanted when she was applying. This being the case, she decided to study her two favourite subjects.
She began her talk about her first gallery-based job being an assistant at Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool after not long graduating. After being there for a while, she later got a promotion and landed the role on being Gallery coordinator. She realised that she enjoyed studying why people created the work they do and decided to go back to further education at the University of Manchester to study for a MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies.
After studying for her MA, she worked in a couple of different jobs, but none of them gave her a lasting impact on her career until she got her job at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester. The museum was vastly more extensive than Bluecoat Gallery, and it was set across many different sights, so it allowed her to gain valuable experience in the industry. Denise enjoyed being an Art Curator and liked to interpret people’s work in her own way. Today she now works at the Tate Gallery in Liverpool, one of the most famous art galleries in the Northwest.
It was a fascinating lecture, and she went through many of the diverse areas that she worked in until she found her current role at the Tate Modern in Liverpool. Even though it was difficult for her at first to find her way after leaving university and working in several jobs, including a call centre, before using the career advice department of the university that help. From this, she managed to get a placement at the Bluecoat Museum.
Her advice was to always be open-minded when looking for work, especially when you could be working for something you might not have envisaged. Those experiences you have then would become helpful in the future. This has got me thinking about my future career aspirations. I know where I would like to work, but I know that getting there is likely to be tricky, especially because Game Design has become more popular. It demands artists know how to 3D model if they want a concrete job, not just freelance. This allowed me to think of other career prospects as it could take me a while to reach the career I want and that I should start small first and work myself up to gain more experience and further developed skills.
Denise’s talk inspired me to look into art galleries within Liverpool as that could be a good starting point in my career journey. Although not exactly what I was hoping for when leaving university, it can allow me to still be inspired by being surrounded by artwork and is still a job in a creative setting. Not to mention I have started to contact the careers advice department available here at the University of Chester to help me improve my prospects, making me more confident in pursuing a career after university.
AL JONES & CALLUM PETERS
BBC User Experience & Design
Al Jones and Callum Peters, who previously studied at the University of Chester, presented online with us their career journeys and how they ended up where they are now, working for the BBC. They are UX designers who have worked on a range of BBC user interfaces, including on BBC iPlayer and CBeebies.
To begin with, Al Jones wasn't always interested in design as he studied Computer Science, and it wasn't until he met his wife that the interest started. Throughout his time working, he worked several different jobs that weren't all design or even computer science-related (e.g., WHSmiths, Alton Towers). Still, because of those jobs, then made him realise what he wanted to do for his future and final career. Even though Jones didn't have a creative background, he gained the skills and experience working with the public by communicating and engaging with people. Over time, he gained a passion for technology and, more importantly, UI design.
On the other hand, Callum Peters always knew he loved art and design; therefore, studying Graphic Design, where he created several different outcomes from illustrations, album covers, and advertisements. During his work placement in his second year of study, he was able to work with a design agency called AKQA, which involved a lot of digital design that was quite different to his original work. This being said, Peters decided to pursue digital design further within his final year of study, preparing him for future a career in User Experience.
This was a very entertaining lecture because it was interactive. They had a BBC themed quiz, which made the session more interesting than others we have had in the past. Furthermore, they had a lot of information worth noting about UI/UX.
Despite not being directed towards Games Design, UI and UX are crucial when designing video games. If UI/UX doesn't function well or even at all, the video game would be redundant, and users wouldn't play the product. This made me realise that I do more skills than I thought could be helpful for Games Design due to my knowledge of UI. This revelation has led me to incorporate this more within my work to showcase more skills within my portfolio and direct my focus on different elements of game design, not just concept art.
Furthermore, this talk has allowed me to gain insight into what agencies and employers look for in CVs and what ways to help me stand out from other designers. So I will be sure to keep this in mind when polishing over my CV and portfolio and refer back to this talk to ensure I've hit all of the criteria.
ANTHONY LUVERA
Photographer & Writer
Anthony Luvera is an Australian artist, writer and educator based in London. He is considered a socially engaged artist who works with photography on collaborative projects, which have included working with those who have experienced homelessness and LGBT+ people. Also, Luvera is an Associate Professor of Photography in the Research Centre for Arts, Memory, and Communities at Coventry University. He is also a Chair of the Education Committee at the Royal Photographic Society.
His photographic work has been exhibited widely in galleries, public spaces, and festivals throughout Britain. One of his most famous works, “Stories from Glided Pavements”, was shown in 12 central London Underground stations and is currently held in the collection of the London Transport Museum. Another project available in the Liverpool Tate was “Frequently Asked Questions,” He worked with Gerald Mclaverty. It was another project consisting of people experiencing homelessness and was part of Coventry UK City of Culture. Anthony edits a socially engaged journal that he set up in 2019 called “Photography for Whom?”. It is published biannually and seeks to shine a light on significant yet overlooked work of the past to generate new contemporary practices and debates. This evokes a response to the art community to engage and bring back writing and practice. Each issue presents a historic text alongside a newly commissioned piece of writing to photography today.
It was inspiring to hear his story as a photographer throughout his lecture and how he tries to spread important messages throughout his work, which invokes a conversation to cause change throughout the UK. If there was anything that I learnt from his talk, it was to try and put a meaningful message behind your work because there is nothing more powerful than a piece of artwork that can speak more volumes than words ever can.
Even though sometimes I would like to create a project because "I want to" or "It's fun", if it's a big project, I should have something more substantial to say or meaning behind it. This can allow me to invoke emotion or spark a conversation just like Anthony does in his work. Again, I would like to keep this in mind when creating my projects and that it's important to have meaning behind your work as it can allow not only you to be more passionate but also the audience about the message you are trying to address.
SCARLET WINTER
Set Designer & Prop Stylist
Scarlet Winter is a British set designer and prop stylist based in East London. Throughout her career, she has been naturally drawn to bold and colourful aesthetics that reflect upon the notions of nostalgia, pop culture and surrealism. Her exploration of materials and crafts inspires her to constantly shape and evolve her love for making and design. Her work ranges in all aspects of product design, including Media Production (i.e., Film & TV), Fashion Editorial, Advertising, Event Design & Styling and Retail Pop-ups.
After studying Sculpture at Central St Martins in London, Scarlet was able to assist Rhea Thierstein and then Shona Heath as a prop maker for seven years. This opportunity allowed her to assist on shoots for infamous photographers such as Mert and Marcus and Tim Walker and other high-profile fashion and advertising clients and brands.
This allowed her to develop her practice, working across media like print, motion, digital media, and live events. Scarlett has worked with high-acclaimed brands, including commercial brands such as Spotify and Urban Outfitters and working with editorial brands such as Glass and Vision. My favourite story she had to tell was when she got an internship working for the film “Fantastic Mr Fox”, one of my favourite films, and was super surprised to find out how she was a part of such a fantastic film (no pun intended). She stated that it was also one of her favourite projects to work on and how she’s never got a chance to experience something like that again. Despite only working on a small role in creating the tiny plants and rocks within each background of the film, it still helped her hugely as she progressed in her career because it taught her so much, and she was able to use the techniques she learnt in a future project that she led.
Overall, Scarlet’s career story was amazing to listen to. Despite not wanting to go into Set design or Prop styling myself, it was inspiring as she gave good advice on how not to get disheartened if you don’t get your dream career right away. When she graduated from university, there was a recession making it even harder to get a creative job during that period for her. Scarlet also said always to take up opportunities as you never know where it might take you or what you can learn from it unless you try it, and never be afraid to ask around or send an email because the worse clients can say is that they are not interested.
Hearing this talk encouraged me to network more and be bolder with my future choices in 2022 as a creative practitioner. This inspired me to invite the game industry networks I gained last year to our upcoming exhibition as a way to display what work I am capable of creating for the industry. This talk especially allowed me to pursue more opportunities that were available to me, including creating a chalkboard illustration for the SU bar and applying to be a Digital Ambassador.
If it wasn’t for this talk, I wouldn’t have done those things as I would have thought it was irrelevant to what I wanted to make a career. Still, now I have skills that could put me at an advantage compared to other game designers whilst gaining further experience during my time at university.
SCOTT DUFFEY
Graphic Designer, Illustrator & Print Maker
Scott Duffey, a Liverpool based graphic designer and illustrator, was our last guest lecturer. He gave a tremendous interactive lecture like the BBC guest speakers, where it felt more like a game than a presentation. Instead of a quiz, we could pick between two topics from his presentation on what to talk about first. This allowed us to learn more about techniques that inspired his work and his route to get to where he is now. It was fascinating to hear first-hand about such a unique approach to presenting.
Scott’s previous education was that he used to be a student at the University of Chester and studied Graphic Design. He expressed how we should take advantage of the equipment and materials available today because he had to learn how to create printing techniques first-hand, not by a print technician (and not even with Skillshare). He now works part-time in a design studio and works part-time running his own business, “Toucan Tango”, with his wife, where he created a lot of the print work within the store and the branding for the company. Throughout his creative journey, he spoke about how he struggled to get employment after graduating due to the lack of work experience and ensured that gaining work experience is just as important as the final mark we get at the end of the degree.
This being said, Scott talks about how he used to work for Pizza Express after graduating but never stopped creating or trying to get a creative job throughout his time working there. Even though the pandemic has been slowly turning into some form of normality, I still feel like it could be difficult for me to get a career in the industry I want, especially since it is so competitive more than ever due to the upcoming rise of video games.
Furthermore, his work was amazing to view, and it would have been even better to look at his work up close and ask more questions about his techniques and process in particular. Despite wanting to create a career through digital media, I've wanted to expand upon my printmaking skills because I love the vibrant colour palettes and the textures made within final prints. It is a relaxing and rewarding process when creating prints, as digital media doesn't evoke the same feeling as screen prints always do. Scott's lecture allowed me to expand upon this idea and take advantage of Greg's printing studio before finishing my degree. I also learned more printmaking skills to include within my portfolio to showcase a wide range of skills.
Throughout his talk, whilst being unique in presentation, it was also informative and exciting to learn about, especially him being a Graphic Designer. It allowed me to understand how important it is to learn new skills and get as much experience as possible throughout my time at university. It was helpful advice to direct my focus in the upcoming months and know what to expect post-university whilst taking up new skills to showcase my capabilities as a designer more successfully.