Jonathan Barnbrook’s Tips for Students

  1. ok here we go with the grahic design student degree show related tweets:
  2. 1. your portfolio should make it clear the direction you want to go in, if it doesn’t it won't attract the work you want
  3. 2. presentation is really important. if your work looks tatty then it reflects badly on you
  4. 3. your whole folio is a design project. make sure work is big enough to be seen properly & you pay attention to captions etc
  5. 4. if you are british, basic spelling mistakes can mean instant rejection. if you are not a native english speaker its ok.
  6. 5. there aren't that many jobs out there, so don’t expect magic offers. big picture is you need to be happy with what you are doing
  7. 6.don’t get too distracted from what you want to do, think carefully if you are going to take a job which is not as creative as it should be
  8. 7. if your show is not in london then you will get far less professionals visiting, so vital you visit and show your work in the capital
  9. 8. when you contact people & they don’t reply, be persistent. there are various reasons they don’t answer & you could be just unlucky
  10. 9. it could also be that they are just not into your work. try not to hold a grudge, there might be a time in the future when they are
  11. 10. your lack of experience is a good thing. means you will can produce something very different, will try harder and you are ahem…cheap!
  12. 11. design is a service industry, you need to work & deal with people. that means your personality is as important as your work
  13. 12. at you show don’t hang around your work like a spider waiting for a fly to get caught in your web, be unobtrusive
  14. think before you turn down a placement when you are looking for a job, it can be the best chance to show you are indispensable
  15. 14. on opening night, get drunk AFTER the show has closed. don’t group around the work drinking beer, it looks crap
  16. when you contact a design company. say why they are good for you. don’t just tell them what you are good at
  17. 16. finally, never ever ever have your show opening on the same night as an england football match!… more tips tomorrow
  18. @stfumikey every single person who has worked for me has got the job from a placement. evidence enough for you?
  19. @6other thanks. you need to identify the right companies to apply to first though its very important
  20. RT @John_Thackray: When contacting designers / agencies about a placement or more permanent position make sure you get their name right.
  21. @stfumikey i can assure you, for us it’s a lot of work often much more than we get from the student. so i don’t agree
  22. RT @Typ01134: @barnbrook they should also avoid emailing their cv to 40 agencies and openly cc'ing them all.
  23. @WengersToyBus @John_Thackray @anothergraduate some people don’t fit into the system. they are either better on their own, or are picked up
  24. @WengersToyBus @John_Thackray @anothergraduate by a smaller idiosyncratic company that understands the talent. or …do something else!
  25. @WengersToyBus @John_Thackray @anothergraduate you have to try and remember what you believe in. very easy for it to get diluted

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Indra Kupferschmid

typographer, prof @hbksaar, activist

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