Graduate to Design Studio, the differences they don’t teach at University…

Heres abit of background into my experiences

So I attempted to enter the industry straight after college thinking I knew A-Z about everything, evidently not, being in the industry and being taught Graphic Design at college I have found are two completely different things. Yes you get taught the basic knowledge of how a Graphic Designer will work and produce things, but, what they don't let you in on is that your kept in a bubble whilst your there nothing is as it seems when you get into industry. Those entire creative brief's you get, all those fancy ideas you can come up with all those different materials and processes you can use, well unless you can get into a big fancy studio that has the time and money to let you be, then think again.

I was one of those students that used every different process and material that I could get my hands on, but I dismissed the idea of using the computers and adobe suits most of the time. I used them for the very basics to produce the end products and then I didn't use them to there full potential and because I wasn't told at college that this would be an issue later on in my career I carried on and as I was getting good grades. I thought I was going down the right route, to me there was no issue and I’d jump straight into the industry and someone would see my potential. How wrong was I, and if I'm completely honest, how mad I was that my tutor I trusted didn't tell me my faults. Looking for a job as a Junior Graphic Designer was a nightmare, everyone wanted:

- Perfect computer skills in adobe
- 2 years experience within the industry
- Website design skills

These of which because of the way I'd worked for the past four years were a major set back,

- I could use the Adobe suits but didn't have huge amounts of experience on them,

- Experience within the industry, well that was zero (panic started to set in)

Then just to top things off

- Some of the job titles stated that they wanted a "Junior Graphic Designer / Web designer" 

I hadn't even touched on websites. What was I going to do now, I hadn't had a reply back from any graphics places in months and my confidence was taking a battering, so time to sort this.

Light at the end of the tunnel

I began to write letters addressed to studios I'd found on the net, in the yellow pages explaining my dilemma and asking for there help, and to my Joy I have now been to two different studios and I'm working my way up, learning what I need to know and hopefully fingers crossed I'll become that designer I still dream of.

Take a look on this link its got some good points and its something I'd wished that I had read whilst at college-
http://www.jamiewieck.com/visual-essays/the-50-things-every-graphic-design-student-should-know/

For more information on how we can help you visit: www.tridentdesign.co.uk

Local Businesses Work Together to Market Out of Recession

A Hinckley company’s investment in a new marketing campaign has significantly boosted its order book and secured its future.

Strata Designs in New Street, Hinckley, has worked with nearby Trident Design and Print to develop a marketing brochure for its Cyber Glow range of high visibility reflective safety products and promotional items.

Strata Designs, a family-owned business established for 25 years and now employing 15 people, recognised that they needed to step up their marketing strategy to secure orders in a challenging market and appointed Trident to handle the design and print of its first brochure.

Chris Burrage and David Beer - Trident and Strata Design MD's

Managing Director David Beer explained: “The Cyber Glow side of the business specialises in high visibility reflective products aimed at local authorities, Government departments, road safety programmes and promotional companies.

“We have a website and had produced a series of flyers with different products but orders have been increasingly difficult to secure. Our target market is largely public sector who are obviously under budget constraints so we knew we needed to work harder and smarter to ensure the limited spend on items such as these come to us.

“The feedback from existing and potential customers was that they wanted something that made it easy to buy and quick to refer to. We have therefore invested in our first full colour brochure which has brought together all of our stock range.

“We were looking for a local company who we could work closely with particularly as this was our first venture of this kind and wanted face to face contact with the design company. 

“We found Trident who were, by chance, just around the corner and have effectively become our in-house design department.

“Using Trident’s expertise and experience, we have been able to produce a high quality brochure which has resulted in several thousands of pounds worth of new orders and ongoing repeat orders from established customers.

“This first project has been a huge success with a high quality product delivered on time and on budget and now reaping positive results for our business and we are already planning to expand the brochure and double the print run for distribution in the UK.

“We are also looking at doing more exhibitions and will be taking the product out throughout Europe – particularly in countries such as Germany and Italy where the road safety legislation is even more stringent than in the UK and may even result in the brochure being translated into different languages.”

Trident Design and Print Managing Director, Chris Burrage explained: “Despite the tough economic climate, we are finding that more and more businesses are recognising that, rather than cutting marketing budgets, they actually need to invest more to ensure they maintain and grow their market share.

“Although online marketing is crucial, Strata are proof that customers still value printed materials and want easy to use and visually appealing brochures which they can keep close at hand to make purchasing decisions.

“Our key message to all our clients is to think carefully about how their customers buy and apply the wide range of marketing communications available to them in the most appropriate and applicable way to their customer base.

“Using our many years of experience in design and print management, we were able to advise Strata on the best eye catching design to maximise the impact of the product range, the most appropriate materials and incorporated subtle but highly effective finishes such as spot varnish to give the brochure a high quality feel. 

“The benefit to businesses of using agencies such as ours is that we have the contacts, buying power and product knowledge to ensure that print prices are highly competitive and represent true value for money.

“We are obviously delighted that the production of this brochure has resulted in such tangible results and look forward to working with Strata on an ongoing basis.”

David Beer continued that the re-focused marketing strategy has also encouraged the company to improve its overall production planning.

“It has also helped us to focus on the areas of the business that are the most popular and to develop new products – effectively taking us out of our comfort zone and developing us into a marketing focused business rather than a product focused business.

“It is tempting for any business to keep down costs and go for lower marketing budgets in these difficult times but we have discovered that this was a false economy as it did not reflect the professionalism of the company and the quality of the product.

“Without this new business, we would undoubtedly have been in a difficult trading position and the results we have had in a short space of time have proven to us that we need to market ourselves out of the recession rather than cut costs.”

www.tridentdesign.co.uk