Craig Oldham Lecture

Yesterday Craig Oldham of 'Design by Music' gave us a talk about what we should expect in the first year of life outside University and in industry. This was constructed in the way of 12 points which he then went on to talk a little bit about each.

Craig spoke about the difference between logical and emotional design. Whereas logical means simple and clean-cut design, emotional tries to engage a response in the viewer. Craig advises us to focus on one of these styles as it will help us in the long run. This is advice I have been given before but I prefer to work with both.

This ties in with the advice of knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are and working to your strengths will really benefit you if you are honest about your weaknesses as this won't matter because you will work with people and get help in areas you struggle with.

Craig touched upon the subject of portfolios and how not to make them contrived with the repetitive idea of holding a poster up and taking a photograph. If there is no idea behind it then what is the point in doing it. I agree with this although it does conflict with prior advice. Something which tends to happen during the course as design is so opinionated.

Placements, Craig believes, are very important and worthwhile in doing as experience is invaluable. He went on to say how, although there are large numbers of people graduating per year in the industry, we shouldn't be deterred from doing what we want and if we are driven we will go places where others will fall by the wayside. He says its all about being ahead of the competition which makes perfect sense because at the end of the day we will all want the same jobs.

This lead onto industry contact. He showed us a contact tree of all the top design agencies and how they are linked together and then showed us his own contact tree which is quite impressive considering he has only been doing this for 3 years since graduating. Once you get to know one person you may get a contact or meet someone else and then opportunities can arise and this pattern can continue until you build up numerous contacts.

Something I have been dubious about in the past is sharing ideas. Craig is of the opinion that sharing ideas is a good thing then if people copy you it is a good thing because you are doing something right. This is good but people can also rip you off when you do this and I'm not too sure.

Craig spoke about life outside London for designers. We are lucky as Manchester is probably the second biggest place for design outside London and there is plenty of good agencies here but there are so many in London that it would be good to go down there and see some places.

The talk ended by Craig sayin its important to have a life out of design and try lots of different things. It can help clear your head and anything and everything can inspire your ideas. Also write any ideas down that you have or do personal projects as it could help you in the long term.