Hammer Fashion

Archive for September, 2010

Just the other day I received a question on Twitter from Adam at Design4Love:

“Hi.. how are you? Do you have any tips for me how to get into the UK design industry (Other than sending applications to agencies). Thanks!”

Which got me thinking about how difficult it was for me and some of the fellow graphic design students I studied with to get a job in the design industry back in 1999 (yes that long ago!) straight out of design college. I snapped up a job with a Central London design agency in Soho within 2 weeks of leaving college but looking back it wasn’t really the right job for me then. Though just 13 months later I changed positions and worked for a great design agency based in London Bridge and learned a huge amount as well as working on lots of different types of projects as a designer.

Anyway competition was fierce then BUT the amount of graphic design and other design courses available in art colleges and universities up and down the college has grown hugely since then.

So here are a few tips on (like Adam asked) “how to get into the UK Design industry”

The Portfolio:

Having a great design portfolio is a must. To be honest your design portfolio is the most important thing on this list, its what you’ll mainly be judged on. It must be well presented and include at least 6 or more design projects. Think about the kind of work the agency your applying to does and try to tailor your portfolio towards that. For example if they specialise in corporate identity and branding work try to include work of this kind.

Be ready to talk about your design work, what inspired you, why you approached the project in the way you did, even choice of typeface, colours, imagery etc. Show them some of your sketchs and development work, some agencies what to see your scribbles more than the finished work as it shows your design process and how you think!

Before taking your portfolio along to job interviews, make sure you show it to a people (tutors, other design students) talk them through it, get them to ask you questions about your design work and respond with suitable answers. This will get you used to talking people through your portfolio, making you a more prepared for the interview.

Work Experience:

Offer to do some work experience with a design company who’s work you really admire (for free if you have to!), even if its just a week then spend that week wowing them, making the tea, producing great work, take an interest in everything relating to that design company. It is a good way to get your foot in the door but also don’t be too pushy or cocky, you might think your a great designer but remember there is a big difference between design college and the real world!

If the company really like you during your work experience they might offer you a full time job!

Finding Work:

Send your portfolio as a PDF etc to as many design companies (that your interested in) as possible, then after a few days give them a quick call to check they have received it.

Another alternative and one that worked for me is to approach a design recruitment agency. I contacted Major Players (there are many others!) when looking for a new graphic design position. They interviewed me and I took them through my portfolio and skills set, based on this they then contacted me when suitable jobs became available. This worked very well as they got me a new job within 2 weeks.

Dress code:

There isn’t one as such. Wear what your comfortable in but also look like you have made some sort of effort! That said I wouldn’t recommend turning up in a suit! Remember what you wear can be seen as a reflection of yourself and your design style or preferences.

Behaviour:

Be yourself, be calm and open to discussing your work and the work of the design agency. Remember to ask questions about what work they produce and what your role would be. One thing I found useful was to ask if someone could take you around the studio, afterall that is where you’ll be working if you get the job and you need to see what sort of environment you’ll be working in. It also easier to ask questions as you move around and see how they work.

Research:

Remember to do some research on the company that is interviewing you, as they are likely to ask you what made you apply for a job with them, what sort of work do they produce, what awards have they won (if any), why do you want to work for them in particular?

Keep trying:

Above all keep trying and keep looking at ways to improve your portfolio. If you go for an interview and they don’t give you a job, don’t worry, your work just might not be suitable for that particular design agency.

So hope this has helped, good luck!

Many people are put off buying designer clothes by the price range. It just doesn’t seem worth it to spend more than you would on a month’s groceries on a pair of shoes, a handbag, or a dress. For those once in a lifetime occasions or style trends that you covet there are ways around paying full retail prices.

You can buy discount designer womens clothing and find yourself decked out in the latest fashion must haves. When taking into account the price you have to look at the brand, the quality of the goods, and how timeless a piece is.

Quality

When you buy discount designer womens clothing you are getting clothes that you can literally wear for years. When you look at the clothes that you are about to buy think about how you would wear them in the years to come and if they could still be a staple in your wardrobe when your own tastes change and when the fashions change.

The high price of high end fashion has to do with the quality of the clothes. Although discount designer womens clothing might still seem pricier than what you might pay at most stores, keep in mind that you are paying not just for the clothes but the workmanship that has been put into these clothes.

Rent a Bag

Ever thought the day would come when you could rent a bag? Many of the handbags you see today that everyone is dying to have will be unfashionable in a season or two. For most of us this means that even the best discount designer clothing stores have to offer won’t be worth it.

You can now rent a bag, rent the latest bags and only buy discounted bags if they are timeless pieces that have been prominent in previous years. This way you won’t feel bad about investing in something that no one wants to be seen with in a year.

Online Stores

Cheap designer clothes for women are available online. Many online stores sell discount designer womens clothing for much less than the original prices. These discount designer womens clothing might even be subject to further reductions when the seasons change or new stock comes in.

Look online and compare prices. Instead of relying on eBay where you don’t always get what you counted on, look at these stores that sell never before worn clothes at excellent prices. You may even find rare pieces that any fashionista would kill to have at unbelievable prices.

Gartner Identifies Intlock LTD as the leading provider of portal analytics solution with CardioLog for SharePoint Usage reports ( MOSS and WSS).

A research released by Gartner (ID Number: G00148326) identifies Intlock as the leading solution provider for portal analytics in general, with a dedicated solution for SharePoint.

The Article’s title “Vendors Struggle to Meet the Challenge of Portal Analytic” talks about the unique and different challenges for reporting and analyzing portal use, and declares Intlock as a provider mitigating these challenges in the most proper technical manner, by using an independent tracking agent, and by identifying portal structure.

Furthermore, the article recommends to explore partnerships between portal vendors and third party solution providers while going through the evaluation process (please refer to the Microsoft web site – “solution finder” in order to locate partnership details between Microsoft Corp. and Intlock LTD.)

Intlock LTD has been in the market of Portal analytics since 2005, and is leading the market with the solution – CardioLog – SharePoint Reports and SharePoint Usage reports. CardioLog editions include CardioLog Lite FREE edition,CardioLog Professional and CardioLog Enterprise. CardioLog editions provide the most complete and advanced analytics solution for organization implementing SharePoint for any of the following solution spaces: Enterprise Portal, Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Web Content Management (WCM), Search, Collaboration, and Project Management.

The Free edition of CardioLog was released on August 2008, the paid reports packages and bundles are expected to be released towards the end of September 2008.

For further details – please visit Intlock’s web site for more information about SharePoint Usage reports .