![]() ![]() We expect you to be green and to get things wrong. Offer to make tea.Įven if you’re nervous, force yourself to do these things. Find out what people are working on, what they’re into, where you might have shared interests. Make an effort to connect with people and they will. ![]() Sit there with headphones on and no one’s going to remember you. Don’t spend all your time showcasing your work and forget to put the same effort into making yourself stand out. We also want to see curiosity, a desire to discover more, and we want to know you’ll be a fun person to work with. Technical skills are only half of what we look for. Maximising a placement – showcase ‘you’ the individual Do you really want a role or even a placement there? It’s far better to send one or two outstanding applications than spray mediocrity at every agency you can find. Standing out in this way obviously takes time and effort, and so I think it’s important to do your research on firms before you apply. They created a car liveried in the Elmwood brand. Then there was the person who was into drag racing. I thought it was genius when I received it and I still do – a truly iconic brand asset of the young designer who sent it. They drilled holes into it, so you can play a tune on a real eggshell. I still have an egg someone sent me years ago. But I hardly ever get post (mail for our US readers) anymore, so an application through the letterbox is more likely to stand out. When I’m looking at them I’m looking for reasons to delete. What’s your piece of work that makes people sit up and pay attention? Put that front and centre. Focus on what’s relevant to the reader – they probably don’t need to hear about your Saturday job at Costa. How you present a portfolio and application makes all the difference. Applications – think big but be targeted with your portfolio ![]() For the past 39 years as founder of Elmwood, and then Born Ugly, I’ve been evaluating portfolios and running placements, and it’s the people who do something distinctive, fresh, and relevant who tend to stick in the mind and find success. That’s why I advise anyone looking to break into the brand design world to think about their own iconic brand assets. Those are some of the most well-known and successful ones, but they’re a key element of any successful brand identity, and identifying or creating iconic assets is a major part of what we do when we create a new brand identity. You know what I’m talking about: the iconic brand assets that make Apple, McDonalds, Coke, Cadbury’s and Nike so immediately recognisable right around the world. Here, one of the co-founders of The Design Community Hub, a digital platform supporting aspiring creatives break into the creative industries in the UK, Jonathan Sands, who is also Chairman of brand design agency Born Ugly, shares his advice for aspiring creatives on how branding yourself can help land you that first role.Īn apple with a bite taken. Your very first step in the door is the hardest to make, but every year thousands of graduates attempt to land their first design job. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |