The Chase

Chase is a bold site which have a brief description about their selves, not everyone reads what is on a site unforutnatley however the story here is really interesting, the fact they turnover around £5.6 million is crazy!

But with a bit of further investigation I think that I have fell in love with the designs they do.

I didn't think much of the approach to the website but moving on and looking at the portfolio, it is one of the strongest and varied ones I have seen, I really love the statement 'we are painting the town red' then including the other colours, I think that it was a really smart way to incorporate and improve the famous statement.

I think it is also really good that they are not a one trick pony and have other skills to offer at really interesting and qualified approaches such as this design for digital, some of the shots are really out going and work really well.

Such a broad range of techniques are used in the portfolio, I think these illustrations are really cool and remind me a lot of the red bull advert kind of work.

This little piece below is another way of seeing that this company covers all kinds of elements of work including different tones of work, this place is so cool and again is another site that I would love to get an opinion on my work and keep into contact and perhaps one day meet up with them and have a talk about portfolio stuff

Placement 2

Below is a repky from a high school in Hindley in which I have asked about a placement:
Chris,

We will consider accepting students on placements if they are intending to do PGCE. I would have to consult with MsWoods before making any commitment.
Are you considering PGCE and how long would you want to come for if it was possible?

Martin Rigby
Hindley HS

I am currently waiting for feedback off them onto wether or not it would be possible for me to work there as I am looking into my masters degree and London, I need to of either worked in a educational enviroment or have had quite a few years experience in design as a freelance or in a graphics job so it seems benneficial for me to look into what it is like to teach the subject.

Placement

So after a bit of chasing up I got in touch wit a old friend does free lance design in Wigan, over summer I'm going to get down to Wigan and hae a talk to him about his design and work/ experience also where he finds his market for this kind of design work









































A lot of his work is around new bands who have gigs in clubs around the NW in places such as bar fever, Joseph Wells and a lot of other underground venues for bands.




















His work is made up of vector mostly and uses an interesting pallet which makes the advertisments really pop and look inviting.

I love the work he did for Manchester metal and how he included some of Manchester main highlights such as the mancester eye and printworks which are infact located very close to one another. Then the king kong just looks really rad.




















This is my favorite poster he did, I went to this gig in 2006 and I was amazed at his skills and how he smartly incorporated images together to make another image, I really love howhe go the detail on the wings of the bee and wether he has a few tips that will help my design details and work as a whole.

Reply

Hi Chris


First of all forgive me if some of this doesn't make sense or I rabbit on a bit, as I have just had a bottle of wine.



Thank you for your email, its nice hear from someone who likes your work.


I'm actually just about to finish my new site this week, I have made it live but it still needs tweaking - site address http://www.north45.co.uk/ - I have also attached a pdf of my new work, as I know it is good to see what other people are doing ( this is what I will send to companies).


Advice wise I can only tell you what I wished I had done and I'm still planning on doing, as I have only worked in design agencies for a few years, previously I worked for news media companies, which is a lot different.




1. The thing I wish I had done the most is study other creative media while I was studying at college. All i used to think about is going ooooowwwt on the toon in newcastle, but now 10 years down the line its a lot harder to teach yourself things or go to college at night after working all day . Plus with jobs so scarce these days its good to have other talents and you might get sick of graphic design after a few years, so I wished i had studied at night classes in 3d visualisation, web development or something.


2. Your work looks good to me, you can definitely design - I think you just need some more projects too get your teeth into, plus you need a bit more variety showing you can design for all media, print or web.


3. There are loads of good agencies in Leeds, I would just keep googling them and send your work off, see if you can get a placement.


4. Most of my freelance work is through word of mouth, actually most of them are mates. So maybe if you do some freebies word will get around and you will get some commercial work.


5. The big thing at the mo is social networking, so gets some blogs going and get your work on.


6. Keep looking at the companies in leeds and see what they are doing.


7. Look at inspirational sites like http://logopond.com/ - http://creattica.com/ - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ this is good for everything to do with design. You can also post your work on these sites.


8. Get yourself a website - or get someone at college to build and seo one for you (maybe in exchange of designing something for them). I'm just about to make my site into a resource centre for designs, offering plugins, brushes etc.. which i will email to creative agencies around the country , which should get them revisiting my site - look at http://www.spoongraphics.co.uk/ . Send html emails out.


Hope this helps, keep sending me your work and if I here of anything which will suit you, I'll email ya. Also don't just look in this country, maybe do bit of travelling (before you settle down) and try and get in at some agencies in other countries ( another thing I wish I had done)




Nolan

All of us

WOW is all I can say when I look at some of this work, I love the style of production the site has a lot to offer such as a news feed so we know what they are up to all the time, the site is updated weekly and runs smoothly and with speed.

The site offers a portfolio of their latest achievements which include a journalism kind of description about the brief, what it is about and the highs and lows.

This design team has a lot to offer from html to design for print to 3D design not to mention photography, voted number one designer of the UK all of us appears to be an amazing place to work and is becoming an influence on where I want my design to go in the future, the image of the stone object with the fast forward and rewind symbols on it is something that I would love to produce.

Design agencies

Toast design is a design company I came across when looking at branding and are based in Banbury in Oxfordshire, the company has a fast website which is inviting but to me one of the best things the site has to offer is the process stage in which there is a diagram for the customers to see how they can get a design off toast.

-You're need

-Brief and quote

-Concepts

-Development

-Sign off

-Print and delivery launch.

To me this is the way things should look on a professionals website as the process is known the client is instantly more liable to choose this agency over others as they have a clear understanding of what will be happening.

The site also has a blog which is a very strong way of showing DD and finishes also un related projects, perhaps personal. However this blog is pretty weak and doesn't show a lot of what they are up to and what they are doing which I think is a very important way to back up all of the designers work.

Attik.com

Attik are a well brand related design company whom have a lot to offer for a design agency and from the website appear to work towards a certain kind of style. This site from looking at it is so amazing, This company is some people I would love have comment on my portfolio and someone I would be proud to have as a contact. They cater to the needs of all kinds of clients and produce some fantastic work.

This illustration in my opinion is really inspiring and is just really cool, I love the style and power behind the image, this paticular brief is one which was released in the press. The site has a lot to offer in terms of getting to know who they are before having to even email or ring them..