benjaminrider: OPEN HOUSE - day trip to Ad Agencies!

Open House was a fantastic day ! basicly some of the major design agencies in East London opened their doors for a few lucky students to come in a look around. a bit like a graphic design willy wonker story
and with free cappocino [how the hell do you spell that coffee name!?} fruit newspapers n bacon rolls in the food hall! [above image]

we started off at 'Poke' and i was very impressed by the people and work space. I felt somewhere like here was worth working towards and if I work hard enough i could carve myself a place in the future.maybe.

We began by talking about how we should research and look at agencies to work for. Not all of them would be right for us. somewhere there is the perfect agency for us

heres what to look for:

OPEN-open plan studio&lack of heirarchy

NO DEFINED PROCESS-defined process=routine=boring=not creative

WORK ON THE WALL-work in progress on the wall is good-sharpens and focuses ideas explaining it to anyone who sees or wants to know

UNIQUE WORK-unlike anyone elses. also there is just too much inspiration out there, dont get sucked into it all.just start working

DIVERSITY-variety is the spice of life! variety of clients,projects,solutions,ideas,platforms

PASSION,PASSION,PASSION-level of interest+passion, NEVER BE SCARED TO SAY WHO YOU ARE,BELIEVE AND ENJOY!=good work!
-and never be afraid to say you dont like or agree with something, ppl may actually give you more respect FOR BEING HONEST

PEOPLE HAVING A LAUGH. -guage the culture-what would it be like

the 'NOW GO HOME AND DO OTHER STUFF' ATTITUDE- have a life, blog ,interest outside of work/design

COLLABORATION IS MAJIC+FUN.HAS TO BE PRESENT. GOOD STUFF HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUT 2 DIFFERENT ENTITIES TOGETHER

CHANGE IS REGARDED AS AN OPPORTUNITY.the only certainty is change!

I loved the unruly work areas and i love the wall of ideas next to the kitchen.

I asked Poke and LBi what makes someone employable?

-portfolio=
IDEAS , CRAFT SKILLS ,
PASSION & ENTHUSIASM

GOOD IDEAS, ARE GOOD IDEAS. they are media neutral GET THE IDEA ACCROSS. and good craft skills! how to articulate and communicate ideas is key.

STAND OUT!
all agencies said this. and MAKE AN IMPRESSION.

BE CREATIVE IN YOUR APPLICATION.camp outside do whatever it take, dont use an agency
-when there is a specific need ,you get recruited.
-think abou it, if its a digital agency, have a digital portfolio

ABILITY TO GET ON WITH PEOPLE

-particular passion? GO FOR IT!!

and interests and Passions outside of work-KEEP A BLOG!!BLOGS ARE GOOD!

LBi was great, and i thank them for a great talk and tour, but was far too business officey and not so much that but far more digital and websitey n all this for me to hope to even have a chance at even thinking of this place
the sheer scale of it doestn daunt me, wouldnt be my first choice tho

Digit wer so cool.the office was cool even though we didnt see that much of it, but the mad cool design toys as id call them wer great! heres me messing about with digital spraypaint!

the people we met a digit wer really laid back good people. they in particular mae me feel both relaced and confident about applying for work in the future and that there is a place for people like me. especially if i work hard enough

i learnt from them as an intern/junior designer..

-always ask questions

-want an opinion on your work

-be part of the team

we should pitch ourselves at first as a junior designer instead of intern