The Netherlands

I've  been looking at a few design studios in the Netherlands and found a couple that I really like. One is even looking for an intern which I really want to apply for which is Silo. They have a lot of identites, print and publication work that really intersts me and also a lot of work for the arts and culture sector with work for exhibitions etc.

I attempted to translate the advert for an intern and what I got from it was:

Aware of adobe programmes
Heated with creative vision (this may not be correct)
Good work, functional and comprehend (again, something not right)
And then something like show your motivation and cv to...

So I'm thinking of re-doing my sampler of work and possibly attahcing a CV to the back of that as soon as possible and maybe sending some kind of physical sample through the post. I want to create a newspaper style publication like I was talking about before just because I think it would be an interesting way of sending a portfolio.

YCN

I was searching for design internships and came across YCN one, I didn't even know there was this section on their page! I was looking through the list and really like the sound of this one actually for YCN. It is for a minimum of a month and based in London and I hopefully fit the requirement list, I need to sort out my CV and sampler as soon as possible and get applying.

Website

Building my website slowly but surely. I'm taking what we did last year with Simon and using the basics to  create a template and pages from this.

I've got a home, about, work and contact page. I'm using my branding from my business card etc to carry through onto my website but have the option of more colours so I've used the web turquoise I used in my PDF because I want it to be an inviting site with colour.

Advice

I found this on D&AD, just some advice on portfolios.

It's all about your portfolio -
Somewhat controversially I’m going to say no-one really cares about your degree – apart from your mum. It’s all about putting work in front of Creative Directors that will make them wet with excitement.
Brace yourself -
Take time to make your ideas easy to understand and practice going through your portfolio so you can talk through it with confidence when it matters.
Sell yourself -
You’re the product, after all. So show what you’re capable of by applying the approach you’d take for a campaign to make them want you.
Be exciting and entertaining -
Creative Directors get more emails a day than you can possibly imagine, so do something to grab their attention.
Be flexible -
It’s important to offer that little bit extra (sitting around me at this moment are people who outside work hours are everything from renowned musicians to taxidermists). Put it in your portfolio so agencies can see the other skills you have to draw on and so you have something you can talk about passionately for hours.
Keep on blogging -
Blogs are a great way, especially as a copywriter, to develop your skills and let your personality shine through – giving insight to how you think and what your capable of. It’s essential to show where you get your inspiration outside of ad land – navel gazing isn’t creatively healthy.
Be a slut -
See as many Creatives for crits as possible to get your work out there. Try to find a team who’s opinion you value to be your mentors – not only can they help you improve your portfolio but they can also refer your work to their contacts. I always made an effort to go to as many industry events as possible, and still do, always having a bit too much fun than is sensible.
It’s not the end of the world if you’re single. Having a creative partner is great but it’s still possible to get a job as a singleton. A lot of digital agencies in particular, have teams of people from across disciplines working together to crack a brief rather than a traditional team. It’s tough but since getting a job on my lonesome, I’ve found it quite liberating and feel confident generating ideas on my own, Plus, I don’t feel dependent on a creative partner or have ‘the fear’ of what will happen if we decide to go separate ways.
Restrictions are fun -
Embrace the brief – part of the satisfaction of cracking it is knowing that you formed something creative despite the restrictions.
Oh, and most importantly remember:

Portfolio surgery- Ric Bell

Feedback from Ric Bell

Ferigoni:
Zoom out on images show the overall products
Focus on the type and layout not the fedrigoni logo
Touch up minor things like where paint has ran etc

Hoaxx:
Use art works as well as photographs
Zoom out on photo of the range to show what it is and show them fanned out

Geo cakes:
Have the logo larger
Show the pattern seperately, don't need to have all images boxed in
Touch up some of the images on folds etc
Don't repeat things in images, show things seperately

Daize
Short Daize long nights slogan could be seperate
Make the look book image larger to show the type
Zoom out on things to show what they are
Inlcude Ted Baker logo

Heinz
Show MIX-zing it up by itself
Turn the pots to show the slogan
Make a range of posters, fluorescents like the colours I've used

Overall feedback:
Zoom out on images to show the strory
More white space, don't have to box the images in
He said he thought I was quite good at coming up with lines of type and was talking to me about copyrighting which I was pleased with because it was something I had thought about before so am going to look further into and maybe try a brief.

Catalogue PDF

There was an opportunity to take on some work for a music magazine which Tom and Ollie from Catalogue used to do but got too busy for so asked if any one in the class would like the chance.

Sarah and I decided we'd like to do it together as we have very similar interests and like the same kinds of things so sent them a PDF of some of our work of layout etc because it's relevant to the kind of work the magazine would be.

I like the format we chose, I'm thinking of doing this for my portfolio PDF rather than a standard A size.

Portfolio-temporary

As we have portfolio surgeries coming up I needed to make sure my portfolio has sufficeint work to show and talk about to get some useful feedback. I was quite selective with what I wanted to piut in but thought it's best to put more in to get feedback and work with from there.

I have 5 piecesin it one from last year and 4 from this year, I wasn't sure about the Heinz Salad cream brief but I do like the idea behind it so put it in.

I have created a cover page with my current branding and contact details and an end thank you page just to finish it off.

Realistically I wanted to go with the RGB colour I am looking at using for my website but obviously it wouldn't print the same quality unless I screen printed it so decided to just go with black and white to keep it simple.

Culture Sector

Sumo design in Newcastle work specifically for the Culture Sector, they have an explanation on their website about how to understand and work in this sector which I think it really helpful.

"We monitor audiences motivatations, keep abreast of what's new, speak at industry events, write articles for the trade press, record trends and even conduct our own research. We spend our lives understanding museums, galleries, theatres, festivals, arts events and venues.

Crucially, this helps us to understand the people who visit them; how they think, act, react and buy. After all, the success of any venue or event is dependent on the audience. Ultimately, they vote with their feet.

That's why our design approach is centred around the audience - what motivates them and how can we persuade them to act?

The arts are different from simply getting people to pick up a new brand in a supermarket. The arts and cultural sectors demand so much more from an audience.

We want them to take that next positive step: to convert a passing interest into a ticket purchase, a website hit into an actual visit, an appreciation into real involvement"