As with AKQA, Wolff Olins was on the 10th floor of a modern building. It had a clean white reception that led off 3 different ways. The white was broken up by some of their colourful work. I noticed that some of it was the NYC branding that I had been seeing around the city previously.
For this visit Bob came with myself and James, we were met by a woman named Debbie who, ironically, was also from Manchester. We then went into a stunning glass conference room and all got a cup of tea. Someone called Mike came in for a while and spoke to us about the way Wolff Olins work and that it is all about strategy. Unfamiliar territory to me but yet again it was mentioned a lot so I really do need to spend some time finding out more bout it. We discussed the Olympic London 2012 logo which Wolff Olins designed and why it had been designed the way it was. They hadn't envisaged the hatred from the British public but wanted it to be something that would be talked about and it was designed to be animated easily. I have seen it animated in different colours and it really does work well.
We were then joined by a designer named Malcolm and a student intern from Germany named Jan who brought over a laptop for us to show our work on. Interestingly, not one of the people we spoke to their out of 4 were American. This goes to show what a big international brand they are and how open they are to other influences and cultures. It was good to get Jan's perspective as he too is looking to graduate and get into the world of industry. His course worked slightly different to ours in the way he has had some time out to work at the Wolff Olins in Dubai, New York and is about to go to London. This shows just how good he was and he was proving to be very valuable to the agency. Debbie mentioned this usefulness as a powerful tool for interns to get noticed. Being outspoken and getting involved with things will get you far. Sitting in the corner and keeping quiet when you have nothing to do will get you nowhere.
We proceeded to then show our work. Bob, who didn't have a portfolio, showed them his blog on the internet. They all liked his work and saw it as very illustrative which I completely agree with. I like the way Bob just does what he wants whether it means anything or not. I also like to do this sometimes and hate being judged for it. Although they liked his work they agreed that it was not the best way to present work and to either have a case or a PDF of your best work is the way forward aswell as inserting your own character into it somehow. Debbie then also advised us not to put stupid things on our blog as people will be looking at them even if you don't realise and these people could be potential future employers. This is good advice that I will take very seriously as I tend to have strong views on things and like to say what I want sometimes where maybe other people might not like it. The balance between being boring and being too silly is very important when it comes to posting work on the internet due to its massive audience. Malcolm spoke to Bob about record designs which started him off in design. They spoke about some artists that I wasn't so aware of but it is good for Bob to be building up them links and is potentially a good route into industry for him.
James then showed his portfolio which they seemed impressed by. Being landscape James' portfolio filled the screen whereas mine being portrait means a lot is cut off. Upon redesigning my portfolio I will take all of this into account. They particularly liked his dental museum and Chesterton work. From this I can tell they like crazy ideas which is something I can relate to and I would love to work there someday.
It was then my turn to show my portfolio which I received some great feedback on. Mainly good but had some suggestions including doing a photoshoot to take my age concern ideas further and also to actually show any animation work actually moving as storyboards just don't have the same effect. They really liked my Blood Drive logo which is what probably got the best response from every agency in New York. They also like the Berghaus billboard work that James also showed as we worked on it together.
Once we had shown all of our work we thanked Malcolm for his time and were shown around the studio by Jan and Debbie. They told us how they work as one big team which I hear time and time again but this time it was done in a new way to what I had seen before. People in account don't sit with other people from accounts and the same goes for designers. All of these people need to collaborate so why have certain sections of work sat together. This apparently works really well and they change the seating plan every 6 months by pulling names out of a hat. I think it's a really good idea as all other agencies are very divided. Due to having work for some big clients in and all over the walls we all had to sign confidentiality forms before we could look around but after this we were able to see how it worked. There was a nice library of books, big open space for experimenting and lots of relaxation space with nice views.
Overall I feel we all really enjoyed the experience of visiting Wolff Olins. I for one would love to work there in the future. I like the way they have created controversy with there work and are not afraid to take risks. The office is a perfect environment to work in and they all seem very friendly. I look forward to keeping in contact.
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