OUGD502 - Session - Getting Paid and Time Management

Getting Paid and Time Management 

Notes about Studio Brief 2:

- Think about the brief as an experience?
- How do people follow directions?
- Where will we be in 10 years time?
- How do people experience the environment? 

Time Management 

- build in extra days into all stages of planning to compensate for if thinks go wrong or are taking longer than necessary

Getting Paid

- don't bother with contracts because it will put people off using you and will take ages to come back to you 
- don't show them too much work otherwise it gives the client too many options to choose from making it complicated to meet all their needs
- put it in an email 
- need to ask what the budget is and negotiate a price for the job 
- you need to write out a quote or estimate for the job, itemise in terms of days. An estimate is fluid a quote is legally binding.
- if they are a new client, your terms should be that you ask for 50% up front and that you want a purchase order
- the balance supply of final files
- copyright will be released on full and final payment. This means that if the company uses your work while 
- any additional work will be charged at £??? per hour and that they would be informed before doing any more work.
- if a project is stopped before completion all fees will be chargeable to that point, Maxim
- send the client a full breakdown of what you have been asked and your terms are itemised 
- if they don't agree or don't send the purchase order through, don't do the job
- sometimes not always good to sign away copyright because it is possible for them to buy it off you, normally passed over though when you get full payment though 
- never do anything under £30 an hour 

The Invoice

- Invoice, Date, Purchase Order Number , Reference Number, Put what you did, payment received and date , balance due
- Bank Transfer : Give account and sort number 
- The invoice should go to the accounts department not the originator of the brief. They take money in and take it out.

By having terms and conditions and knowing about purchase orders etc proves that you know what you are talking about and makes you look professional making them more likely to make sure they pay you.

Video 

Client goes Rogue - if it changes too much through the project then you should stop that contract and start a new one 
Walk away - if someone says that you can trust them on paying you it is a bad way to start a contract and suggests the rest of the job will be like that. Walk away
Client brings in another designer - will be in competition with them and mostly best to walk away
If the contract stops - Termination fee
If a lawyer becomes involved - stop conversation and get your own lawyer 
Have the confidence to ask for what you are owed and charge what you deserve  

- Contracts protect both parties 
- Have a contract
- Don't blindly accept their terms 
- Anticipation negotiation but don't back down on some things

Three main points: 
- contracts up front 
- internal allies 
- work with advisers

OUGD502 - Session - Work experience and why you need it

Work experience and why you need it?

- Placements are about meeting people and finding out what they do rather than learning about skills.
- University of Life understanding how things work in real life , have to learn and change with whats happening

- Work Placement - something that you do while still doing your course and is usually unpaid

- Internships - what you do after you graduate - not funds so should be paid

- A work placement allows you to learn from the people who are already doing it - learn from other people - teach you - speak from experience - mix with like minds -
- Watching how people work or having a mentor, allows you to understand the mindset, time management etc
- Who do you want to work with? Think about synergy with your own interests and personality
- If you don't want to do a work placement tell them
- Choosing the placement or studio is easy but getting it is harder
- Get in touch in different ways, email, letter, etc. Or find a new way
- A Commercial studio is involved in 'real life' situations 'live' briefs and 'actual deadlines'
- Do the work you want to do

Things that may be worked on:
Branding 
3D - stands etc
Print
Art Direction
Editorial
Digital / Apps
Interactive
Packaging

Learn from other people. You are never taught to ride a bike instead you learn from people

Video 1

It is not what you are going to learn but who you are going to meet. It is about the human connections not about learning skills, instead networking. Use the time wisely, the people are the important part and will give you opportunities.

Video 2

- Not easy to find an internship.
- Start with mission statement, portfolio and CV.
- Will have to send lots of emails to find a studio, so make a list of studios. 
- Working with people who are much better can make you feel like you are not  good enough but it is fun and tough
- Learnt not to give up on the process of finding internships, instead you have to keep on trying. Start early if want to find somewhere.
- Use alumni as they are working all around the world. Allow them to help you by connecting with them.
- Getting to know people, allows you to talk about anything. They will have often experienced things in the same way.
- Sometimes good to go somewhere that does different work to you, but finding somewhere that does the work that you do may also suit you.
- Don't stay if you don't like it
- Start conversations , people won't come to you. Use spare time to get in contact with people, even if it means just saying there work is inspiring, you don't necessarily have to ask for anything.

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 1 - Guest Speakers - Footprint

James and Claire from the Footprint Co - op 

Footprint is a cooperative printers that create mainly books and zines for designers, illustrators and bands. The Coop is run by all the people who work there, meaning everyone is a co- director and printer and no one is the boss, also everyone has equal pay. This gives them the opportunity to choose their own terms which makes the job flexible and allows them to make time for other things such as responding to a clients needs or their own needs e.g. taking time off. There is more responsibility than working for someone else but less responsibility than working freelance. Profits that are earned are invested back into the business and 50p of every hour goes into charitable donations. They are part of a network of co-ops and follow the co-operative principles, one of which is cooperation between co - operatives.

They started in 2000 and originally started with an inherited offset litho press. The press was useful up to a point however wasn't very environmentally friendly so they swapped to Risoprinting. Risographs were originally designed for office use. Risoprinting has a grainy quality that does mid tones and a mostly limited colour palette, however can do CMYK. The technique is a lo - fi process and registration is not always perfect. It is a quick printing process but the general process is similar to that of screenprinting. Risoprinting uses soya based inks which are better for the environment when compared with digital printing and they also use recycled papers. It is more cost effective to print more than one and they can only print up to A3. The co-op don't ship to people abroad instead they tell people somewhere closer that they can get the same job done. 

Footprint often go to print fairs and do print workshops where people can get involved in the print process. 

The difference between a coop an collective is that there is a more environmental aspect to co - ops and there is potentially less risk as everyone is an employee and director.

Everyone at Footprint has their own personal projects on the side.

Points of interest from Footprint:

- Footprint as a co-operative shows that being environmentally friendly can be financially sustainable as a business and is actually desired by creative practitioners.

- The risograph print process has a simialar textured aesthetic / quality to that of photocoping in colour which is a technique I have enjoyed using in the past so risoprinting could be interesting to work with in later projects.

- The cooperative framework gives them the freedom as to how the business is run and allows them to have flexibility between work and their own time. This element of choice and freedom is something which appeals to me as a creative. 

- It is interesting to hear how the social aspect of the cooperative and the ideals that they have at Footprint can work in todays market. 

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 1 - Guest Speaker - Connor from It's Nice That

Connor from It's Nice That 

Connor works for It's Nice That blog. It's Nice That aim to publish at least 13 articles everyday on a range of art and design subjects. Within the company they also have It's Nice That Anyways which is the design element and Lecture in Progress. It's Nice That write about everything creative. They meet twice a week to decide what they are going to publish. Printed Pages is their magazine which is published twice a year. 

They choose their best features from throughout the year to put within the magazine, which acts as a physical documentation of the year. The magazine always features  lesser known artist / designer on the cover. He suggested that when creating publications, printing out smaller versions of the pages then sticking them up allows you to easily rearrange the pages and see the flow of the magazine. 

Nicer Tuesdays gets creatives to talk about there work for 10 minutes.

How do they make money? It's Nice That work with big brands to create events and provide art direction.

Lecture in progress aims to bridge the gap between the student and professional within the industry and tries to focus on showing jobs that are quite niche.

Timex is a new watch that has been released that is the embodiment of It's Nice That.

Connor is an art director who did a mix of things during his degree. He was unsure what he wanted to do after university but got a job working for an audio company where he made instructions, photographed and designed packaging for products. 

He did an internship with It's Nice That where he did the branding for The Graduates. He had to learn how to do animation on the job to be able to animate the characters and identity for it. He suggested that making reference pages for commissions, which are simple visualisations of the idea, through things such as sketches and photographs. Mocking things up physically means you are better able to communicate an idea. He said that if the mock ups are good enough than you can win any pitch as it doesn't leave any room for the imagination.

Outside his work he has also done animations for record labels , making elements move within designs. 

Connor said it is important to keep learning new skills, moving on and changing. 
Applying for the Graduates is also a good idea.

OUGD502 - Session - Copyright

Copyright 

Stealing an idea can use the whole design or elements of the idea. 
The work you produce is already copyrighted. You do not have to register your work. You can assign the copyright over to someone but otherwise it is yours. Its best the keep a record of what you've created, when and where you've uploaded it.
If you create work in a company then the copyright is the companies not your own.
If you register a trademark it has to go through a company who do searches into whether it is already being used. Other companies are also allowed to see it to make sure another company isn't using it.
If you don't have a copyright symbol on your work it doesn't matter although its still best to do it.

You can charge for pitches then say that they get the money back if the client uses you.
Don't give ideas away for free.
Have a recorded instance of you creating the work.
To use fonts commercially you have to buy them.
You can only use your work once the copyright has expired or its put on the internet in the public domain, which is 70 years after the person has died or 75 - 90 years after its creation.

Limitations of copyright include:
Facts
Conceptual ideas not expressed in tangible form
Public domain
Expired items can be bought 

Reproduction Rights means you own the copyright and the rights to reproduce your work.

Including:
- What it is reproduced on 
On anything sold with your work applied
- International reproduction
- Indemnity from those who incur your legal costs e.g. someone is hurt from a product that your work is on 
- Bankruptcy of the users
All advance payments of work cancelled to be retained 
The right to have books audited on company failure
- No sub licensing of your work without your permission and fee 
- Retention of all original works (if agreed)

Licensing your work means someone can pay you a fee for your work each year to use your work. You can also limit the license and only let them have a single use rather than using it on a range of materials e.g. printed matter.

In licensing if you physically own the work it doesn't mean that they intellectually own it unless you have assigned it over to them.

If you are happy to assign the copyright you can at any time, however don't give it away unless you trust the client.

Copyright is usually international.
For music the same things apply however the symbol changes.

In the USA it is illegal to break copyright law.

Any thing that is bought for a client, don't sell it as cost you should put a percentage on it to make a profit because you are sourcing and finding the items. A minimum should be 20% as a basic rate.

Aaron Draplin : Show people what you love
Only include what you want and like in your portfolio

OUGD502 - Session - Things to think about when creating work and presenting it

Creating work and presenting it for the best results

- Define the requirements 
- Identify the problems
- Who are you talking to 
- Where/ how do they exist and inhabit in the world
- How do they speak and communicate
- Can you 'see' them as actual people?
Try imagine you are talking to them in language they use
what do they need to know
- Answer the brief and why this is the correct set of outcomes
- Rationalise and be positive with your solution, review over the pre presentation work
- Don't show the work up front
- Put the client in a comfortable place at the beginning of a presentation welcome!
- Explain the requirement you identified
- Tell them what they will see and why 
- Ask them to keep questions to the end
- Explain the rationale and what they w ill see and the reasons why it is the best solution
- Show the work and take time to remind them of why it works 
- Thank them for listening - tell them you are sure the rationale fits the requirement
- Use the rationale as a guide to answer questions 

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 1 - Guest Speaker - Liv Siddall

Liv Siddell 

Worked at Its Nice That and created Rough Trade Magazine

While at university she originally wanted to do Illustration but was told to do Graphic Design which meant she found her degree difficult and not on things that she actually wanted to do.

She enjoyed looking at everyone else's work however was never enthusiastic about her own.

She got an internship at It's Nice That which meant that she was able to write articles about other peoples work which was one thing she enjoyed while at university. 

She would write about anything but enjoyed finding lesser known things to talk about rather than all the big artists / designers.

She worked for It's Nice that for 4 years but quit her job to go freelance which she found quite lonely and not as easy as expected.

Rough Trade approached her to create a magazine for their record store, which included filming and writing interviews, podcasts and making the magazine.

She wanted to inject some fun into the magazine as many similar magazines were all quite serious. Ended up being a magazine about the shop rather than the music.

Bubble types and punk zines were used as references for the magazine which allowed for a fun and free aesthetic. The aesthetic of the magazine aimed to reflect the shop as a working place using the broken, grimy and ripped parts of the place as inspiration.

To make a magazine well a format is needed for every month.

There were limited funds (£1000) to create the magazine with so she had to scavenge for content. For interviews in different countries, people within those countries were asked to interview the musicians. The use of free online fonts is cheap but also plays with the idea that anyone can create the magazine. Bands would get board talking about their work so getting them to do fun tasks e.g. horoscopes, photographing their tours using disposable cameras etc meant lots of content could be created cheaply. Having no time or budget meant that the content had to be fun for the bands to do.

No one was checking the magazine so they had freedom to do what they wanted and had fun doing it.

Tips

Do stuff that you're interested in 

Everything is done before

If you can't do something get someone else to do it 

Tire Theory 

If you're seen to be trying people are more likely to help