Work Placement - Conclusions

My placement is now over, and in many ways I am glad! London is too much for me; every cliché you hear about the 'rat race' and the London mentality is true. I can now however reflect properly on what I got out of my placement, and what was learned.

Many of my daily posts were brief affairs, as I was really busy from 9am until 7pm (with a couple of hours of commuting thrown in and sleeping, this meant every day was full). I had posted on technical things and day-to-day stuff in the limited time I had.

I gained an understanding of how their designers work, their backgrounds and how they got where they have by working with them.

Process - Research, design, development, team-work, time management, elbow-grease, perseverance, enthusiasm and dedication.

I have learned that everything we are taught at college is useful (The 1st year goes by so quickly, yet everything taught then is important). The principles of what we call 'paperwork' are all utilised on every job, although there are a number of alternative ways of doing the same kinds of things, and it seems the processes are generally covered intuitively (and at great speed!)

Initial Stages - Pitching and Development

Many jobs start out with a pitching process, which will start with a meeting amongst the designers concerned with production staff, before a further meeting with the client (if they are nearby) - however much can be done digitally, enabling them to do the same processes by sending ideas digitally, combined with phone calls. The digital process would likely feature whether the clients were near or far - PDF's, QuickTime videos or Powerpoint presentations can all be sent via email or FTP.

During this process, research will be undertaken, references images, reference videos and facts gathered. Mood boards can be made up from here whilst a concept can be formed, and initial design work and approximate colour palettes can be made up. There is no standardised way of doing all jobs, as they can vary, but in very general terms initial design work can be combined with the concept, and 'boards' can be made up. These boards would most likely be 'style' boards made up of strong visuals, which would give the client a good idea of what they would be getting. There may be many variations for the client to choose from. The designer should have a good idea in mind on how these will work in production, and can write this into the brief.

These jobs will vary - some will be corporate DVD's, some will include live-action, green-screen, complicated 3D animation work, HD formatting and various other factors which may be required for to win the pitch. This might mean more development, shooting boards indicating camera movements and direction. The work we did at college recently looking at storyboards in detail were exacty the right thing for cases such as these, and there are a few other additional ways to pre-produce this work, such as a floor plan, a location map so that the 3d space can be navigated, and the actors are doing the right thing in the right place. The client may want to see these shooting boards (which are typically non-decorative line drawings in pen or pencil - like a cartoon).

I have learned for a much of the 'simpler' motion graphics jobs, a 'shooting board' isn't required; the designers have described how the pieces will move and have designed logos, style boards etc already, and many of the idents are only 10 seconds long. There is still loads of work that goes into these jobs, but shooting boards aren't really needed. (I think I would most likely do some quick thumbnails on my jobs of this nature, as I am lack experience, but more experienced desigenrs appear to be able to ahve it in their minds eye). Experinced designers work through the motion in After Effects, as a series of tests, as it is quicker.

There are usually about 5 boards for each ident, and as they are only ten seconds in length each, the boards and a detailed description are enough to show the client. The results of this initial work can are put together for presentation, (as well as working as an in-house 'manual' which can be referred to if/when the pitch is won by any member of staff). These are PDF documents, which may have been done on Acrobat in the past or even Powerpoint, but are now all done in InDesign. They can then be formatted for web as a PDF and sent out to clients in addition to being retained on the server for any staff member to be able to access.

My Reflections on Pitching and Development:

I found observing the process of organising the work highly beneficial, and have began basing my work on these techniques. The universal standard for organising and breaking the work into various components leaves the mind free to concentrate on the task at hand. I now realise that structure, discipline, and elbow-grease can mean the difference between success or failure! I am a lot more realistic about how my life might be when i begin work as a designer. This placement differed greatly from my five-day stint at BDA's Sydney office. I went to Sydney when they didn't have much on, and although it seemed that they were busy enough at the time, I realise that it was easy-going. The London office was like punch in the face - very busy, very intense, brutal. I feel I have leaned a huge amount in a short time, but also found it hard-going.

The designers are all very god and have all worked prolifically and on a variety of work. This covers everything from print, brand identity, animation, graphics, motion graphics, film directing and what I have learned is a huge part of the industry these days - pitching. A huge amount of work is covered to win a pitch (refer to the examples above), and a lot of the creative work is already done by the time the pitch is put forward. The work is then presented to a very high standard, by smart PDF's and confident personal presentations. I think this part is so important; if pitches aren't won, there is no work and no money coming in! It is also interesting to know that on a creative level this part is where you have the opportunity to shine - the latter part is often a time-intensive slog which involves real-graft in After Effects or a 3D application, but once the look and idea is agreed between the client and the designer, there's not a great deal can be done later, just get it built *

* I have been told that there are situations where the designer comes up with a better idea after the pitch process - there is an option to go back to the client with this better idea, and negotiate. Al cases are different, and there may be all kinds of practical problems.

Production

The rest of the work happens once pitches are won, which typically covers an amount of on-air and off air production work. There might be up to 10 different idents for a variety of uses, such as differing times of the day, different types of program content or there may be a family of channels. In addition there are 'menu' screens, 'break bumpers', 'end-pages' 'cross-promotionals', 'transitions' and probably a whole load of other particulars to the broadcast industry. I had made attempts to find out as much about these technical terms as possible, but due the busy nature of the office and slightly aloof nature of the other designers, had trouble finding out what exactly what each one meant!

I did however observe a lot of the production work for a family of African channels, GTV. I saw all the pitch work, and got involved in production for the idents and transitions. This is in some ways the less 'creative' part of the work, but in many ways more challenging. The designers have to realise their plans and supply everything that's promised. This could involve various processes, but in this case was made entirely as graphics in After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop and Cinema 4D.

Production consisted of many stages of testing. The design director set up one of the original basic idents, by going through a series of sequences in AFX, then pre-comping them and building up all the components needed for the final ident. Time is set for experimenting on various techniques to build the idents, tests in both After Effects and Cinema 4D, 2D and 3D examples which are saved and rendered as 'work in progress' files. Other designers tried all a few different ideas involving sound synch, test music, expressions to use to make the ident. This enables the team to make decisions on how best to progess, and also gives them something else to show the client (who would be paying the best part of £100k for the work!)

My Reflections on Production

BDA is on the commercial side of the business, they are not really about a 'fine-art' mentality. They have to operate as a business, they have investors, just over 100 staff worldwide with pension plans, maternity leave and all the complicated stuff that comes with the territory. This, I believe, has a very direct impact on the day-to-day operation of the workload, and how the company culture is. All jobs are budgeted for costs and for time, and everything gets done on time, even if that often means that the staff work up to 13 or 14 hours a day and come in at weekends (for no extra pay!) - this isn't a thing I am that keen on, as I have children and a wife that i like to spent a bit of time with, but on the other hand I do understand the workload. In the 10 years BDA has been running they have expanded greatly, whilst some of the competitors such as English and Pockett (and lots of the small 'boutique' outfits) have gone bust. The stakes, it appears, for a company like BDA are high.

General Conclusions:

My conclusions from my work experience have taught me how hard I need to work to get good - this means trying to double my hours and efforts from where they are at the moment, and do it now! (if students don't put the work in now, they end up having to do it after college is finished without any student finance, before they can get a job).

Work prolifically, and to do something that is just about within your capablity but to also always push yourself on every job, trying something new to build your skills.

Work on a variety of types of job to gain experience, as versatility is highly sought after.

Don't be too precious - I have also observed from working in a team, that designers are often not precious about the work; if one designer if off or away on sick leave, another designer will jump on the job and complete. This is also true when big deadlines are on, or if another designer is still finalising a previous job, someone else do the pitch, and you may be assigned to build it (or vice versa).

I have also been advised on many ways to improve, words of wisdom on many technical issues (which I have covered in part, but there were loads more), and also on how to become a good designer: There are jobs for folks who are simply great at the technical stuff, many at post-production facilities, but if you plan to gain creative job satisfaction and want variety, work really hard on stills/boards/ideas and ideas as well as production.

on Portfolios:

Do lots of different jobs to learn more, but don't simply stick it all on your website - If a lot of good work is produced, it is best to hand-pick the relevant two or three projects to show the prospective client.

Think of a good angle on every job:

I have seen designers do great work for corporate in-house dvds for British Gas and Barclays Corporate Banking - there is usually an angle that will benefit you, the designer, and will work for the client. Think positive! it might be the case that it takes a very long time, several years to earn the kind of freedom you'd like. This is 'paying dues'. It takes time and elbow-grease to gain the clients trust and get a good reputation!

On Presenting Work:

Work is always presented to the highest possible standard. This is the same as the year end at college, except it happens all the time! This is essential, and can really help things go your way. Put yourself in your prospective clients shoes.

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My final conclusions are a reflection on myself - I realise I have loads of weak points, which were glaringly obvious at BDA. There were:

Lack of experience

Lack of confidence - I have very little at the moment.

Prone to distraction - internet etc. total focus and graft is required

Isolation - I'm not getting anywhere near as much inspiration at college from other students or teachers as I was at BDA, and even less working on my own. This means having to work everything out for yourself. Skills are gained far faster when you are nurtured and advised by others who know what they are doing!

Time management - too many other things taking up my time - DJ job etc

Not used to employment - the last 18 years of self-employment has left me ill equipped to deal with the 'real world' - I now have a far greater idea, so know what to expect. BDA really shook me, and much my time there wasn't particularly enjoyable (although I think it will do me a lot of good). This was a very scary experience indeed!

Slow Computer - Whilst it isn't all about technical stuff, I now know that my laptop won't really run after effects well enough for anything a bit more complicated - render times are way to slow, and it creates restrictions.

General Slowness - do good work, but hurry up!

I am acting on all the advice and the above weak-points with immediate effect.

The work I produced is here:

Wave for BDA website - this will be composited into a flash site using the alpha channel, hence this version is just plain grey against a transparent background (which appears as black in the Quicktime Video (see posts below)

Transition - this is for a big project. I had to make a transistion which would be used as a matte, which on the final version was coloured and the big white balls in the piece will have video (VT) composited. This has made it into the production package as a small part of the branding package for the TV network in Africa.

Squiggles (test movie) - To build a big project, lots of small compositions are made, then nested inside a big project. I made this from one single traced pebble shape, then naimated the single stone, before nesting and building a bigger sequence. It actally looks a bit rubbish, but I get the the idea of how it works, and will utilise this techniques all the time in future.

Brand Identity - I worked on a pitch with 2 other designers when I first got there, which BDA went on to win. Here are some of the ideas I had (I have no idea what they actually went with as there were about 20 different logos presented (out of a pool of about 70).

AND FINALLY A NOTE ON WRITING BLOGS ABOUT THE INDUSTRY:

I have come to realise that looking at things on the internet and writing about the industry doesn't really count for much - nothing can replace the real world experience. I do however believe in this case it has been worthwhile documenting my experiences in an honest and detailed way; I had a hard-time on this placement, and want to remember so that I can get better. This blog will remind me how hard I need to work, and what I should do for the rest of my time at college.

Days 12 & 13

I have been a bit too busy to post properly for the last 2 days, as I haven't brought my own computer here this week.

I have been shown in great detail what goes into one job (for G Africa) - and been given access to the array of files used to build a series of idents, interstitials, end-pages, links etc

I could have got more involved in trying to put this stuff together, but the machine I was using was just a Macbook Pro running AFX 7 (through Rosetta), and just wouldn't run it. the laptop's fan was going nuts.

I have since done some logo and initial brand identity for Q Music, a Belgian/Dutch radio station brand. This has been pretty interesting as there's a large brief, many elements from the existing design need to be used, and the "Q" needs to be kept in tact, as well as the company colour palette. I have seen multiple examples of this kind of brand extension carried out very well, most notably by the various arms of the Virgin brand.

Virgin seem to sell everything, and London is covered in posters for everything from travel, trains, media, gyms and various others. These all use the company red, and have a fairly unified look, but also have their own voice. Airseide have produced great advertising for Virgin Trains TBC