Summer School & Bruce Dunlop Associates

I recently filled out an application for McCann Erickson's Summer School program in Macclesfield. This could be a great opportunity to gain work experience. Here's what was said:

1. What was the last big idea you had? (Not related to advertising or business.)

My wife and I have two daughters, so I would say my youngest daughter was the last big idea.

2. What bribes/qualifications do you have that would convince us that you’re cool enough for school?

Since the early 90’s I have worked as a record producer, remixer and globe-trotting DJ (this pays enough to fund my return to education). Years of travel have given me a real insight into spotting global trends plus a good understanding of the universal language of branding.

3. Have you any idea of what you’re getting in to?

I think I have a pretty good idea. Brainstorming, team-playing, and good old-fashioned hard work should factor highly.

4. Where would advertising be without the internet? (Max 100 words).
Oh and what site do you visit the most?

I would say that good advertising has always been about fresh ideas and timing. In recent times however, viral marketing/advertising has revolutionized advertising, breaking the stronghold of the major TV stations and their biggest shows. This means more quantity and variety in advertising, (the best ideas can as easily come from a college student or a huge agency). The internet also has a global reach. The mainstream ad agencies are starting to re-appropriate the best viral/p2p ideas.

My most visited site is http://www.motionographer.com/ - A design portal which concentrates on Motion Graphics. Many of the world’s best ads, idents and music videos are posted here.

5. You’ve just entered the Dragon’s Den. Use no more than 100 words
to pitch your award winning business idea.

Natra-Pak - Biodegradable packaging for food: Kellogg’s annual turnover alone is $100, thus creating billions of tons of waste via packaging. My business has pioneered 90% biodegradable bags, made out of vegetable matter. These bags have a standard zip lock to reseal the food product within for freshness (the handle part can be snapped off and re-used on further bags).

The manufacturers can choose to place these bags within cardboard boxes (which can be recycled), or simply sell in branded bags.

6. The Dragons seem interested. Explain how you would reach your customers
and then how you plan to expand your business in the future. (Max 100 words.)

The product would be initially sold to the big cereal manufacturers, upping their virtually non-existent green credentials, thus helping them to be seen as ‘saviours of the environment’. The current pressure on businesses to be seen to be doing something about the environment will grow over the next decade, and this product will help pre-empt this problem.

The big cereal manufacturers such as Kellogs and Nestle’s upfront investment and early use of this technology (which will surely become industry standard in future) can be used as a big publicity stunt. Patented technology will enable us to license the product globally, used across many more types of food packaging.

7. Tell us about a trend that’s going to change the way we look at things?

Integration and synthesis; the recent shift towards higher, cheaper bandwidth, and cheaper technology will mean more screens. The combination of images, video and sound, once restricted to television and movie advertising can additionally be shown to similar effect on any screen from mobile phones, electronic billboards and any modern computer, all connected to the web wirelessly. I predict that it will be increasingly difficult to avoid these in any urban environment (this is already happening, but this is just the tip of the iceberg).

8. Our swimming pool is redundant 99% of the time – what would you do with it?

Throw it open to the public, free, as an advertising stunt.


9. And finally, why do you not want a proper job?

I do. This is to help get me one!



McCann Erickson rang me the other day, and I now have to go there and do a 30 minute presentation, as a secondary vetting stage. If this is successful, it looks like I will be at the summer school. I have come to realise that with a bit of time, I can appear to have the gift of the gab (on paper), however in real-life and in real-time I am not so good at it.

In addition to this summer school, I have made arrangements to work at Bruce Dunlop Associates Sydney office for a week whilst I am over there touring. Final details are yet to be arranged, but this is a bonus for me as I will already be out there doing a small DJ tour which will pay fairly well. In the past I had always spent the week between gigs chilling, but I didn't want to waste my time this time. This solution is ideal. I will be massively jet-legged whilst being dropped in the deep end with a real firm who do exactly. lovely!

EVB

EVB have embraced the convergence of broadcast and interactive markets (and production techniques) for a long time. Their philosophy sums it up nicely:

“The digital consumer is not media captive, as yesterday’s consumer was. They have the ability to filter the marketing messages they receive. They are born multi-taskers that jump from device to device and media to media with the touch of a button or a click of a mouse. As a result, advertising has become easier and easier to ignore. And the content that fills those digital devices has become king.”

This mix up of broadcast motion graphics and interactive is very interesting to me. It outs a strong case forward for trying to learn 3d, After Effects and Flash.

This week I have been mostly into integration and synthesis.

Critical Studies Essay Vol 2

I had a total nightmare doing this second critical studies essay. Maybe it was a case of the first one being comparitively easy, or maybe the more likely explanation was that I went off on a mission, trying to steer the question around to something I was more enthusiastic about.

I spent 2 weeks+ putting tons of quotes,links and text into a blog, trying to bring enough ideas into it to fill a 300 page book. When I read what I had started, I realised immediately that it was confused and made no sense (even to me!), and that it wasn't really answering the brief. I have since started again, simplified it down to the basic question, and managed to finish the second attempt in 4 (busy) days. I must admit this is the least enjoyable part of the college course by miles and miles.

Student Work from Canada

This is what some canadian students did in their grad show.

Lawrence Zeegen

Lawrence Zeegen runs the graphic design and illustration course at the University of Brighton, and wrote the book 'Digital Illustration', which I found very useful. He is amongst other things, an image maker and utilises technology and computers to create his work. He seems to have a liberal outlook, and I found his book very approachable. Unlike many in the world of art, he avoids using tedious jargon to over-complicate his books and justify his position. This makes his books invaluable. (I read Digital Illustration prior to doing my character design brief).

The other reason he is here is because he has a great CSS site, and I am currently building mine. His site is in the same style as his book, in fact it is cleverly almost the same. Great design and branding, which is a good example to me all round.

I emailed Lawrence for a bit of future networking, and to try and find illustrators / image makers to collaborate with in the future. Collaborating can be great if it works out (this was the case in my past music job, where I always worked with another person). 1+1 can equal 5.

here's Lawrence's reply:

Hi Matthew

Thanks for your email and the posting - just a small point, you got my surname wrong -Zeegen not Zeegan!

I do have another book on the go - Secrets of Digital Illustration - out in Aug/Sept.
Also- did you see The Fundamentals of Illustration (AVA)? That came out late 2005.

I might be interested in getting some of work moving - what's the deal..?

all the best

Lawrence

Collaborators

In the next college year I hope to collaborate with a good illustrator (or a graphics student keen on image creation), or even an animator. The idea is, that I get my Motion Design skills at least up to some kind of working level level, enough to blag my way into a more ambitious collaborative project.

I have worked out enough to know by now that it might not bear fruit at first attempt, but all parties ought to learn a lot. If it did work out very well (you never know), hopefully it'd be a very strong project that could be used for any of those competitions (or something of that effect). I would be happy for either outcome or anything in-between.

I have put a post on the Blackboard, but I can't tell if any of the students look at it (although I have found out the some of the teachers definitely do :) )

Witness The Slickness

Are JPEGs the New Album Covers?

Great article from Adrian Shaughnessy, which is particularly relevant to me, as I am now doing a running live brief for music graphics for Curfew.

Slick Reel from The Big Hitter - Imaginary Forces

This high-end superslick reel speaks for itself. This is great for that type of thing, and the editing on the reel is perfectly executed.

WE FAIL

Wow. I think I have finally really found some web designers that both really impress and float my boat! I had seen all those Hi-Res! bits, and really liked them, but i finally got around to checking WE FAIL out, and I am totally impressed.

WE FAIL's site for Eminem is pretty groovy and a good example of where Flash as been heading more recently with web video. It's still doesn't quite has that sense of "reality" you get when when you watch a quicktime video, there still that bit of glitchyness, but Flash video is already here (everyone watches youtube don't they?). There is also some audio issues with direct synchronisation not being ideal, but it is really getting in the right area.

The Eminem site does a great job. I also noticed that If regular stuff like information is needed there is a separate Eminem HTML/CSS site which can open in a new window. This is a “total” web solution can be done, covering all bases. There are horses for courses when it comes to web work, and if the client can afford to pay for the extra work, why not have your cake and it it too? I can now see where a web company might need staff coming from all sorts of disciplines.

I had read all about WE FAIL in Creative Review. It's a collaboration of and American guy and a Brit who have only ever met a few times, and work in different countries. They did come across slightly gobby, but now i have looked at their work it makes sense. They are pretty irreverent, and maybe that's what the sometimes po-faced Flash community needs anyway!. It seems they have the talent, and can make it work. This inspires me for various reasons, not least because I live in Wrexham, and can't go off moving to London. All I need now is that talent...

Boards Of Canada Artwork

I like Boards of Canada. Not everything they do mind, cos a lot of it is twiddly fiddly nonsense, but they have done some real killers, and their recent artwork is nice too. After their initial "sci-fi" look of the 1st two LP's, they seem to have gone for a retro graphic look. This is definitly a thing I want to find out how to do (because you can do some great graphic things in Adobe Illustrator, but they always look pristine. Where's the retro button?). This retro thing is also refelected in the videos for "Dayvan Cowboy" and "Trans Canada Highway".

This retro graphic style is also used to fantastic effect on the Vitamin Reel

My music partner in crime Matt "Watkins" has pointed out the fact that all the footage they use in their videos is royalty free retro stuff, which anyone can use, which is nice! (although i dare say there is an art to matching it to the music so well). Luckily I have one skill from my previous work that ought to come in handy.......

Ugo Nonis

I don't know loads about this guy, except he's some hotshot art director who used to work at Eyeball, and his work is really refreshing and vibey. This is also reflected in his site which like many other people in the broadcast business is straight to the point (you basically get an email address and the reels), but presented in wholly fresh way. It kinda reminds me of Michel Gondry's music videos for some reason. Personality. It's inspiring stuff!

To be followed up....

reel - everything from scribbly biro doodles to stop motion and flashy stuff, all glued together.

The Professional Studies Assignment - Conclusions

I have reasearched my Professional Studies Brief (which can be viewed in the link above).

I have been able to find out enough from my research to draw these conclusions: I am interested in many areas of Digital media, but it is obvious that one man alone cannot do everything, and if this was attempted, it would certainly be a case of “jack of all trades, master of none”. I had this idea before I started that I would like to look at Motion Graphics and Typography (the more Logo / Display variety), and I think having had a really good look at what's out there and practicioners in that field I realise that this is a viable option.

My professional studies assignment got me to look at a range of work, both things I am interested in and things that are going on within commuter distance to where I live here in Wrexham. I suppose it would be fair to say that if I was looking at this from the view of what is out there where there are jobs available I may have decided to switch to a web design or even print design path, but whilst I like both these I don't really have a passion for it. I'd like to be able to be really into what I am doing, and I think by concentrating on motion design I will be.

There are factors that have helped me decide:

The character design brief: The layering and collage of images are techniques that would be used lots in this field, Photoshop and after effects projects could be built in a similar way.

The Fusion of graphic design / image making, animation and music (my old job was in music) is dynamic and natural to me (well at least working with music on a timeline is. the animation could be hard, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it)

I feel that this area is really building right now, and my research found that there is a shortage of really good motionographers in the UK. Freelance rates for experienced designers are £250-300 a day, and thier expertise is in high demand. I also think there could easily be more of a fusion between motion graphics on the web and motion graphics for broadcast. Despite many differences, both Flash and After Effects work on a timeline, (although Flash has always been notoriously bad at sound synchronisation), there is scope to work within braodcast media and for net based work.

I will keep a hand in with web design in some format, but I wouldn't approach it in the same way that one of my fellow students would if they were to specialise is this field. I think by doing the odd website, possibly more in keeping with what I will be doing with motion work or a simple portfolio site for myself should be enough to keep in the loop to some extent. If I required to do anything more for a site, i'm sure I could collaborate with a web-developer.

My research for the professional studies brief is here