Need Help - Just moved to UK

The Crit Pit
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#1

Hey Guys!

I’m a graphic designer from Australia that’s just moved over to the UK! I was just seeking some advice and/or feedback on my portfolio & website as London is a completely new climate, I’m curious to see if my work is displayed right/to industry standards. I’ve had about a year and half of agency experience and applying for jobs at the moment, just awaiting responses! In the meantime, as employers aren’t giving feedback due to the number of applicants, I thought I’d reach out to everyone here! Any professionals and amateurs are welcome to put their two cents in!

My website is studio-since dot com (I’m a freshy so can’t put links in posts yet <3)

THANK YOU SM IN ADVANCE <3

#2

I am not in the UK, so maybe my opinion won’t mean much to you, but here are some random thoughts.

I am guessing those are personal pictures (your mom holding you in the hospital, you in a red jacket). I don’t believe they should be included. I kind of get it with the “between then and now,” but my bias is still that it would be better to just show your work.

The “Serbia 1967” & “Australia 1998” seem odd. Given your introduction, I get it, but what about someone that is just looking at your site without the background info? There is nothing here to indicate that you’re now in the UK. If you’re looking for full time work in the UK, that could be beneficial.

You have some very nice work that looks much more polished than a year and a half of agency experience. I assume you have been designing more than a year and a half.

The page on the Margaret River Distilling Company is a bit overwhelming. I get that it shows your process, but there is a lot to take in and distill – pun intended. I think this page would be better if it were presented like the other portfolio pages that are more straight forward. Or maybe have a slide show of the finished work first and then put a slide show of the research and concepts afterwards for people that want a deeper dive into your process.

My suggestions are tweaks that I think would improve the site. Overall, I am impressed. Good job.

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#3

I am in the UK, though I bailed on working in London studios years ago. My thoughts are the same as Steve_O. The personal pics got in the way. Keep in them in the about page. no matter how nice they may be, or how well done, I had to spend a few seconds looking for waht I wanted to find – your work. That will put many employers off and they may just move to the next before finding it.

Again as Steve_O says, with a few tweaks, there is some nice stuff. The presentation is good. A little different from the usual, but still clear enough (with the caveat of the para above).

A bit of targeted pitching and I’d say you have a better chance than many portfolios I’ve seen of late.

Good luck

#4

There’s a school of thought in graphic design epitomized by people such as Stefan Sagmeister, David Carson, April Greiman, Rudy Vanderlans, and others that treat graphic design as an experimental art project. Your portfolio and much of the work it contains seem to fit within this camp.

It’s a niche approach that might exclude you from consideration at more conventional agencies whose clients might benefit from more conventional solutions. Your print work indicates that you’re quite capable of more conventional work, but the design of your portfolio might suggest that your preferences lie elsewhere.

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#5

Glad you joined us! Personally, First of all, never create a site that requires a hyphen in the name. Many people will never reach you when you do.

Second, I found your site difficult to navigate, a bit confusing with a landing page that does not say “professional” to me, with type laid over photos and very small pix of design work to follow with way too much space between them. This is only my opinion, but it wasn’t that long ago that I was in the position of hiring people like yourself. If that means anything to you, do a redesign.

#6

That is a risk of course, but. I think there are enough agencies (and clients) in London who want something a little more off the wall. Again, my experience of London agencies is a good few years old now, but we Brits are partial to a bit of 'left field’ every now and then.

I do think the portfolio needs a bit of rationalising and curating, but there is some nice stuff in there, once the kiddie pics are tamed, I think there is potential there – and after all, when hiring a young designer, that’s exactly what you are looking for.

I agree with PopsD in that it took me a couple of seconds to work out where to go too – even though scrolling down is not exactly an unknown action when visiting a site – but I think once that main issue is solved, that is a problem that will correct itself. It is definitely not something you want to have happen though. That split-second decision when someone is looking through hundreds of portfolios, is enough to have it hit the no pile before it has been given a fair go.

There are lots of things I would do differently, such as curating the vodka and gin project a little. To my mind there is far too much in there and some over explanation (I don’t need to be told that vodkademy is a contraction of vodka and academy, for example), but at least there is some attempt to explain thinking. That said, I am a great believer that you shouldn’t have to. If it works it should be self explanatory. All I should need to know is the problem that needed solving. Anyway, I digress …

I don’t see this as the same light as the Sagmeister, Carson school of self-indulgence. It leans tthat way, but is still focussed on fulfilling a brief, rather than being a daubing of paint load of pollocks.

There are rough edges, that given the right job in the right agency, will get polished out. That said, for me, it is nice to see a bit of individual creative energy, which seems to be a depressingly rare commodity these days. Perhaps, it’s not and it is just that the playground is flooded with terrible, cookie-cutter template portfolios by people who have no idea what they are doing (but think they do), that to see something with some life would certainly make me sit up and take notice.

If I were hiring, I may well take a chance. As I say, there is some polishing to do (apologies Jordan, that’s not meant to be as patronising as it sounds), but in the right environment that will happen naturally anyway. The practicalities of the job at hand and time will sort that.

Anyway, for what it’s worth, that’s my take.

#7

I’ve never had someone come to me looking for a brand saying ‘I have an idea for a Vodka Academy - can you come up with a clever name for me?’

It would come to you as VodkaAcademy.

I took a look at the portfolio and didn’t take me more than a couple of seconds to realise that a lot of it - if I’m mistaken I apologise - is course work/spec work/college etc.

Is it any of it for an actual client?

#8

One other thing I would say, in the about page, you talk in both the first and the third person. Mixed messages – as though you are a small agency, but also a single person. You need to decide which. The former would imply you are looking for clients, the latter, a job. I assume you are looking for a job, so I would make it more of a personal portfolio.

#9

What is this about? You’ve placed registered marks on some of the names, then followed them up by saying it’s not a registered trademark.

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There are also writing errors, such as run-on sentences, multiple sentence fragments, and apostrophes in the wrong places. In other areas, you have commas and semicolons where dashes belong, compound adjectives without hyphens, and plural-singular conflicts.

Graphic designers aren’t expected to be great copy editors, but since at least half of CDs at agencies seem to have risen through the ranks as writers, I’d fix these problems.

#10

Hi Steve_o!

Thanks for your feedback!

I’m only 24 so the black and white pictures are from Namina and are used in the menu and other deliverables. In my mind, the rationale behind the pictures is that I focus on projects “influenced by memory, identity, place, and the human experience”. But after reading your comment and many others - from an outsider’s perspective, I agree, it looks weird and unprofessional. I can definitely just leave it to graphical elements rather than photography to tell that side of my work.

Definitely changing the dates and location as they are not as relevant, an oversight by myself.

I’ll take your feedback about MRDC and the rest of my projects. The site definitely needs some improving, I just didn’t know where to start and you definitely helped with that!

Many thanks :slight_smile:

#11

Hey Sprout!

100%, the pictures are getting in the way, my work does need to be more front and center. I’ll work on the pitching and fix it accordingly.

Thanks for taking your time and having a look!

#12

Thanks for having me!

In regards to the hyphen, I’ve never heard this school of thought, is this to do with SEO or anything like that? Tighten the work on my page and make it more visible, got it. I’ll most likely be doing a redesign fo sho!

Otherwise, appreciate your time PopsD.

#13

To my mind there is far too much in there and some over explanation (I don’t need to be told that vodkademy is a contraction of vodka and academy, for example)

I’ll answer the main critique before the rest:

With the client, the account manager really just wanted to hit home that the new proposed vodka line would fit within their pre-existing gin line. As it was a pivot within their product range that they already tested, but the previous agency made it look like the equivalent of an ‘off the shelf’ Sainsbury vodka brand, rather than their own, and I wanted to show that in my process.

In regards to the rest, I really appreciate your kind words. Carson, Sagmeister, and many others have always been an influence. I guess, like any designer, we all try to bring our own perspective. Trying to bring an ‘art-like’ approach to design can be risky and possibly pretentious, but if you can it can be the only thing that sets you apart in some cases. My portfolio is definitely rough around the edges, and could use some cleaning up, some polishing is needed (no harm, I get what your trying to say), still in the infancy of my journey and hope to keep learning.

Thanks again sprout!

#14

I’ve never had someone come to me looking for a brand saying ‘I have an idea for a Vodka Academy - can you come up with a clever name for me?’

Same as I said to Sprout - with the client, the account manager really just wanted to hit home that the new proposed vodka line would fit within their pre-existing gin line. As it was a pivot within their product range that they already tested, but the previous agency made it look like the equivalent of an ‘off the shelf’ Sainsbury vodka brand, rather than their own, and I wanted to show that in my process.

I left my college/university work in there as I believe it shows some creative flair and where my passion lies for design as a whole. The client work would be the VodKademy and anything in Print Media. I did a lot more agency work but it was just minor work that was there to bring money in and nothing I was overtly impressed or proud of.

Regardless, thanks for taking time to flick through and leave ya thoughts, appreciate it.

#15

There’s a school of thought in graphic design epitomized by people such as Stefan Sagmeister, David Carson, April Greiman, Rudy Vanderlans, and others that treat graphic design as an experimental art project. Your portfolio and much of the work it contains seem to fit within this camp.

During university, we were always taught it was better to be a specialist, rather than a jack of all trades. Growing up as a designer made me realise it’s the opposite way around. As you’ve realised, I’m definitely guilty in this regard. I do try to tip-toe the line in that regard, as experimental as I am, I still try and solve the brief and not break too many principles of design. I guess it’s a little niche and a bit of a ‘specialty’, but I figured If I want to be a multifaceted designer - start with the creative niche work at University, where I have the freedom and support to do so.

#16

Sorry, my point was, as part of your presentation, that it is redundant to explain where the name came from. It is self-evident and you risk offending the intelligence of a potential employer. It was only an aside, an example of the kind of over explanation I’d personally leave out of a portfolio. Of course you need to show that you had a process, but you are aiming this at people who understand what that process is already.

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#17

I lost that way of thinking, the more experience I gained. I used to think that after I’d graduated, but once I’d been around the block a few times, I realised, that is the exact opposite of what I needed to be doing. That’s for side-shizzles and self-initiated projects. Your job as a designer is to remove your own ego as much as possible and be a conduit for someone else’s message. That is not to say you are neutral, but it is not about your influences and preferences (although it always still is, to some extent), but more about using your skill, knowledge and creativity to get someone else’s message to their audience as efficiently as possible.

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#18

The trademark is just me being silly and trying to show a bit of character :skull:

Weirdly enough, no one has ever picked up on that when critiquing my portfolio, so thanks! I hoping to be a CD one day, so it’s a skill I’ll need to hone in. So I’ll definitely be going through and changing the copy to read much more succinctly.

Thanks for the additional feedback <3

#19

Now that you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense! I guess just trying to keep the options open for freelance work, but my primary objective is definitely finding a job. I’ll leave the third person talk to Instagram.

Cheers!

#20

I think as any designer you start wanting to try and change the world. Slowly, working in an agency makes you realise that, that is not reality. I’m slowly accepting it but part of me doesn’t want to let it go, but I know I need to :sweat_smile:. Leaving it for side-shizzles and self-intiated projects is a great way to put it.