Trainee Designer - MR PORTER

Trainee Designer

MR PORTER – a dedicated men’s wear site from the NET-A-PORTER group is the first global shopping destination of its kind. MR PORTER offers an edited product selection of the best in men’s style, from global designer labels to niche specialist brands alongside original editorial and style advice. MR PORTER is powered, curated, edited and served by an independent world class team who benefit from the global infrastructure of the NET-A-PORTER group, a site with ten years of online luxury retail experience delivering to over 170 countries worldwide.

The Role:

We are looking for a talented Trainee Designer to ensure the MR PORTER editorial, merchandising and sales content is brought to life with unique, user friendly, high quality design, without jeopardising site performance.

” During New York Fashion Week, editors and stylists weren’t talking about the runway; they were all a-twitter (literally and figuratively) about the arrival of MR PORTER. The Y chromosome to NET-A-PORTER” GQ USA
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Responsibilities:

• Sophisticated sense of typography and an understanding of its relevance to a good design both online and offline.
• Should be aware of trends and new ideas and should be able to interpret those into fantastic creative.
• Meet stringent deadlines while having the ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities.
• Ensure that image jpeg quality is at maximum on all pages designed as well as fonts and type are all readable on a range of web design requirements.
• Working on HTML emails and promotional emails when required.
• Sourcing images as required
• Development of technical skills to stay abreast of software changes.
• Retouching images as required.
• Supporting the Art Director
• Any other ad hoc duties within Art dept/Editorial when needed.

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Essential Skills & Requirements

• Proven design experience.
• Solid experience of working across a range of web design projects from websites to new media and print.
• Ability to work quickly from concept creation to finished product
• Must be detail-oriented, deadline driven, and able to multi-task with solid organizational, time management, and follow through.
• Proven ability to work to stringent deadlines.
• Photoshop skills.
• Proficient knowledge of Illustrator and Indesign.
• Pro-active and able to show initiative/ideas to constantly improve the editorial quality of the site.
• Self-motivated.

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To Apply:

http://tinyurl.com/ccq58f2

Creative Artworker - Leeds

Creative Artworker Opportunity…

…we’re looking quite busy at the moment, so we’re looking for a bit of a creative all-rounder.
Ideally, we would like an artworker with at least 3/4 years agency experience, who can twiddle all the relevant buttons producing creative and accurate artwork.
But if you also know your way around a bit of HTML and CSS then that would be a tremendous bonus.
If you’ve got the skills and are looking for a rewarding challenge then please email or write to:

Adam Bailey Cooke, PCD Agency, 5 The Courtyard, Thorpe Lane, Guiseley, Leeds LS20 8LG

Email: adam@pcdagency.com

Mint crafts products - Designer

Visual Designer

Mint crafts products designed to inform, entertain or delight and hopefully make people’s lives a little bit better along the way. The Studio within Mint is a cross disciplinary team of creatives, strategists and designers, working in unison to invent and bring our creative vision to life.

We are now looking to add a new visual designer to the team.

Design at Mint is all encompassing. The majority of your work will be designing for the web and mobile, but with the breadth of what Mint makes, you’ll have the opportunity to dip into print, animation and even product design with the likes of Olly. You will be designing for wherever the future takes us. For that journey, we need someone who is broadly talented across design and will recognise this breadth as an opportunity.

The work will involve a balance of client work and developing new Mint products. Everyone at Mint has the opportunity to develop ideas for new Mint products. We’re not afraid to try things we haven’t tried before either: Stickygram, now a thriving Mint business, was one recent idea.

The studio environment is one of collaboration. You will often find you spend more time discussing and sketching than sitting in front of your computer. We question every design decision we make, so you need to be comfortable with having your opinions challenged, as well as ready to challenge the opinions of your colleagues.

A strong visual sense honed over 1-3 years of professional experience will play a key role in our selection, but we would also be looking to see an understanding of how users interact with technology.

We’re a small team doing big things. You will have every chance to make a difference and shape our output. Creative work always involves collaboration and how we gel together as a team is a key consideration. We hope to work with the right person for years to come.

We look forward to talking. Email us at utku@mintdigital.com

Office/Marketing Assistant

Office/Marketing Assistant

We are looking for someone with an understanding of, or empathy for

the creative industries as well as wider media frameworks. Someone organised
with initiative and ideas, who can work towards a goal independently or
under direction, solo or as part of a team, bringing a fresh viewpoint.

More at: http://www.graphicalhouse.co.uk/#/blog

BFI Film Classic competition

Next year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the BFI Film Classics series, which introduces, interprets and celebrates landmarks of world cinema. 

To mark this anniversary, we are publishing special editions of 12 BFI Film Classics in August 2012, with individual covers designed by artists whose work we admire. We are thrilled to be launching a competition, in association with Creative Review, open to students at UK art schools and colleges to create an original artwork for the cover of Mark Sanderson’s BFI Film Classic on Nicolas Roeg’s seminal film Don't Look Now. Students are encouraged to interpret the themes, characters, locations or motifs of the film to create an original artwork in any medium, in one, two or full colour. 

The judging panel are looking for an emerging talent who best interprets the film to produce an original artwork that will feature on the anniversary edition of the book and in our high-profile publicity campaign for the series anniversary. The competition is being organised in association with Creative Review, who will take part in the judging process and, as part of the prize, will offer a 1 year subscription to the magazine as well as feature coverage on their website.

Anna Sims - graduate success

Levi Pinfold

‘Picture This! 

Illustrating Children’s Books’ 

Illustration graduate Anna Sims curates the exhibition 

Gallery Oldham from 26 November until 11 March 2012. 

The show includes work by picture book household names like Shirley Hughes and Anthony Browne as well as emerging artists like the winners of the Booktrust Best New Illustrators award 2011. It was important to me to include illustrators with different styles and those featured in the exhibition include Jez Alborough, Kazuno Kohara and Helen Stephens. 

Tony Meeuwissen

As well as the completed artworks there are a number of examples of the preparatory work by the different artists including sketchbooks, thumbnail layouts, character development and printer proofs. It’s been interesting finding out about the different ways the artists work and I hope that it comes across in the exhibition and gives the visitor a better idea about the work behind the finished product.

http://www.galleryoldham.org.uk/exhibitions/picture_this.htm 

After graduating from Wolverhampton University in 2001 I soon realised that my strength lay in working creatively with groups rather than on my own in my studio. After three years of voluntary work and freelance jobs with various youth projects, community groups, art galleries and heritage sites I moved to Manchester where I completed a Masters in Art Gallery & Museum Studies. 

I have been working in gallery and museum education for the last 7 years and am currently responsible for the formal education programme at Gallery Oldham. As well as delivering workshops and projects I also develop educational resources and 'gallery interactives'. 

This exhibition obviously was a subject that held a lot of interest for me and also fitted into the Gallery’s strategic programming for family friendly exhibitions. It was challenging at times as it is the first exhibition of this scale that I have curated and I have borrowed the work directly from the artists. 

In 2008, I took a career break for 12 months to work on an art project in Ecuador and Mexico with a charity for street-working children and their families. I spent last summer running an art project with a different charity in Guatemala and hope to eventually return to Latin America.


Alice Melvin

Letterpress Induction Workshops - update

There are still a few places left on the Letterpress induction workshops at the Black Living Country Museum. See our earlier post for more information:

http://visualcommunicationwolverhampton.blogspot.com/2011/11/letterpress-induction-workshops-at.html

Booking, in advance is essential.

Digital Presentations Designer - London

Digital Presentations Designer

We’re looking for a middle weight creative to join our busy and expanding innovative presentations design team in Hoxton, London.

We’re not your typical Hoxton design studio though…we’re a PowerPoint using, PC based studio and proud of it…working with the worlds largest brands on a daily basis, pushing the expectations and capability of PowerPoint and loving it!

The role will involve taking briefs, designing presentation visual concepts, laying out content and adding, sometimes simple, sometimes complex animations to bring the presentation and story to life. You will be responsible for client liaison so communication skills are key. You will need to be a great time manager and it’s really important that you work well under tight deadlines.

As an integrated marketing agency our offering covers a variety of creative and technical deliverables so although the role is predominantly presentation design, there are a lot of opportunities to work on the print, digital and online projects too.

Other must haves for any candidate include:
- Strong design skills in both print and interactive platforms
- The ability to use Photoshop and Illustrator CS5 to a high standard
- A good understanding and ability to use In-Design CS5
- Team spirit and eagerness to get stuck in to all projects
- A minimum of 2 years relevant work experience

There are some applications we’d love you to know how to use, but aren’t essential:
- PowerPoint – any previous experience would be great, but we’ll happily give you training on this if not
- Ability to use other Adobe applications in CS5 including Dreamweaver, After Effects, Flash
- Artworking skills
- IT skills
- Knowledge of file formats, for example video formats and their uses

To apply please send your CV, portfolio examples, and tell us briefly about a or some design projects you have been involved in.

Please apply to Work@article10.com

Design Internship - East London

Digital Design Internship

We are looking for a Design Intern to work in our small digital design studio in East London.

Ideally we would like a digital communication design graduate with strong graphics background OR an all rounder with HTML, Javascript and CSS, PHP, MySQL, AS3, JQuery, and bla bla bla… Most importantly is we like you and you like us.

Please send CVs to Minnie
email: minnie@monkiki.co

Junior Graphic Designer - Voice, Leicestershire

Junior Graphic Designer

Voice is a small, highly focused creative agency based in rural Leicestershire. By combining high level creative delivery with expert business thinking, we apply a ‘real world’ methodology to ensure that our clients products and services achieve their goals. We have an international mix of clients and our disciplines range from brand and marketing strategy, design for print, on-line, mobile, high end image retouching and art direction.

We are looking for a very talented junior designer to join our team. You will have a design degree and/or up to two years experience working in a deadline-driven agency environment. You should be confident working as part of a team and have the aptitude to take on projects from concept through to delivery. Your attention to detail must be flawless and you should possess a passion for print and digital projects.

You should be extremely proficient at using Adobe CS including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. A knowledge of HTML, CSS and web technologies would be a bonus.

If you are interested, please email your CV and some of your best work (PDF, no more than 7mb) over to tim@voicebranddesign.com – stating why you are the individual that can make a difference. 

Harrison Learning Centre opening hours over the Holidays

Following representation from the Student’s Union the following arrangements have been made regarding Christmas opening of the Learning Centres:

• Learning Centres will be closed 24th – 27th December and 31st December – 2nd January.
• On December 28th, 29th and 30th the Harrison and Walsall Learning Centres will be open from 0900-1700 for student and staff use.
• Students and staff will be able to borrow and return items using self-service terminals with full access to the print collections at both sites.
• Students and staff will also be able to access network resources via PC’s both within the Learning Centres at City and Walsall and remotely via our electronic resource collections.
• Students and staff wishing to access the facilities should make sure that they have their Campus card with them to gain access.
• Normal opening hours will resume on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

twelve20 Santa Panic

Graphics graduates, Darren Langham and Matt Tullett of twelve20 design have been in touch to introduce their new online game 'Santa Panic'. Why not help Santa collect as many of his falling gifts as possible!

http://christmas.twelve20.co.uk/

http://twelve20.co.uk/

Placement - Ideas Factory, London

Work Placement

Ideas Factory is a creative studio based in Wimbledon, SW London. We’ve been established for 25 years and specialise in print and design primarily for the premium property and travel sectors.

We’re looking for a work placement to help us out in the studio for a few weeks in January.

A recent graduate or 3rd year student would be ideal, someone with a passion for all things print, a good working knowledge of Creative Suite and above all, enthusiasm & a hard working attitude.

If you’re interested please send an email to jonathan@ideasfactory.co.uk with your CV, pdf portfolio and if possible link to your website.

Adobe Competition

Adobe has recently announced the call for entries for the 2012 Adobe Design Achievement Awards (ADAA). The Awards celebrate innovative students and faculty members from all over the world for their achievements using the dynamic combination of technology and the creative arts.

The competition - which showcases individual and group projects created with industry-leading Adobe creative software - honors the most talented and promising student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers and computer artists from the world’s top institutions of higher education.

Both individuals and groups may enter up to three unique projects in the following categories during the entire duration of the contest.

• Interactive Media: Browser-based Design, Non-Browser based Design, Application Development, Mobile Design, Game Design, Installation Design, Innovation in Interactive Media in Education.

• Video and Motion: Animation, Live Action, Motion Graphics, Innovation in Video and Motion in Education.

• Traditional Media: Illustration, Packaging, Photography, Print Communications, Innovation in Traditional Media in Education.

There is no entry fee.

Eligibility

The 2012 Adobe Design Achievement Awards Contest is open to all individuals age 18 years or older who are students, or faculty in an accredited institution of higher education.

Prize

ADAA 2012 finalists will receive Adobe software and a trip to Los Angeles, California where they will be honored in an awards ceremony during the Adobe MAX conference, 20-24 October, 2012.

Category winners will also receive a cash award of US $3,000.

To find out more about the competition visit:

http://www.graphiccompetitions.com/jump.php?contest=adobe-design-achievement-awards-2012

Regular readers of this blog may remember that graphics graduate Kate Farrell achieved semi-finalist status in the 2011 Adobe competition. For more information see:
http://visualcommunicationwolverhampton.blogspot.com/2011/07/adobe-design-achievement-awards-kate.html

Rachel Evans - One Day Residency

Artist Rachel Evans will be working at White Tree Studios for the second One Day Residency event taking place on Saturday 17th December.

One Day Residency sees a series of selected artists responding to a dedicated project space within an artist’s studio. The artists have a day in which to make new work within the space and are encouraged to work experimentally and in any medium they see fit. There are no rules. Audiences will have access to the project space throughout the day.

For more information about Rachel’s performative drawings go to the project blog www.onedayresidency.wordpress.com and follow the link to Rachel's blog.

White Tree studios will be open throughout the day with an exhibition of local artists taking place on the top floor of the studios, and affordable artwork and gifts on sale.

Junior Graphic Designer - Graze

Junior Graphic Designer

About us…

We send tasty, nutritious snacks in the post. In 2009 we were stated by 7 friends and there’s now a few more of us and we send a lot more graze boxes. If you’ve never seen a box go to graze.com and sign up using the code 8JCFJKP3 to try a FREE box.

The job…
We’re looking for a talented designer to join our small creative team. We produce all our creative in-house and need the help of a designer to work on advertising, packaging and digital.

You will be…
• Producing press adverts
• Working on new packaging and making what we have better
• Designing for the website
• Creating emails
• Producing stunning assets for use across all our communications
• Shaping the future of the graze brand
• And generally making graze more beautiful

You will need to…
• Be full of ideas
• Have great drawing skills
• Be very good with InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop
• Be aware of flash and fireworks (more of a bonus)
• Have an interest in all things digital
• Be a perfectionist
• Be a bit of a design geek

You will get…
• Paid £18,000 a year
• Share options after 6 months
• Free graze boxes every week
• Free breakfast every day
• 22 days holiday
• To work in a great startup atmosphere with huge scope for progression

We are passionate about the role design can play in our brand and our new guy or gal will have the opportunity to produce work that will be seen and enjoyed by thousands of grazers. If this sounds good and you have something interesting to offer please do get in touch.

Please send portfolios, CVs and a little bit about yourself by visiting our website: https://www.graze.com/pages/jobs We look forward to seeing your work.

Project Assistant - TCOLondon

Project Assistant
TCOLondon is a creative agency and independent publishing company. We fulfil a range of creative projects for a diverse client roster and produce our own independent magazine titles.

TCOLondon is looking for a Project Assistant to join its London office. The chosen candidate will be tasked with helping our client projects run smoothly and will also help oversee the workflow of our design team. Responsibilities will include:

• Creating and maintaining project schedules
• Creating and maintaining internal schedules for the design team
• Improving workflow and communication efficiency
• Communicating with clients
• Sourcing ad-hoc information or materials for projects, including print proofs and product samples
• Handling print information including timelines and costs

The ideal candidate will have:

• An excellent understanding of how to interpret a range of creative briefs
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience working in either an agency or creative environment
• Previous project management or project assistant experience
• Previous experience working with budgets or financial information
• Previous experience communicating with clients or external stakeholders

To Apply

Please send a CV and covering letter outlining your relevant skills and why you’re suitable for the role, to ailsacaine@thechurchoflondon.com

Intern - twenty%extra

Illustrator intern

We’re looking for a wondrous and ‘kind at heart’ illustrator to support us on a self-initiated social project in response to the summer riots.

Does this sound like the kind of thing you’re in to? If so please get in touch with more@twentypercentextra.com with a link to your portfolio.

A bit about us…
twenty%extra is a multi-disciplinary creative agency with a social conscience.
A creative agency with a what?!? In a nutshell;
We Brand. We Market.
We Advertise. We Teach.
Find out more about us here; http://twentypercentextra.com/

What we like…
Someone with lots of talent, an eye for detail, love of everything, and last but not least, an opinion.

Daniel Dean- Evisu competition

"I was extremely excited and proud to learn that my design was selected to feature within the top twenty.

I am currently undertaking a Graphic Communication degree that is provided me with the determination to succeed as well as the desire and drive to produce innovative design, to convey the intended message.

The experience of travelling to London to view my exhibited piece and communicate with creative’s from industry, has been highly inspirational. 

The final uplifting moment was when professional heavyweight boxer David Haye approved my design." said Daniel

For more information about Visual communication entries to this competition see:

http://visualcommunicationwolverhampton.blogspot.com/2011/12/daniel-dean-evisu-competition-success.html

http://visualcommunicationwolverhampton.blogspot.com/2011/12/forget-politics-vote-for-ben.html

BBC2 TV opportunity

My name is Kay Green and I am a Casting Producer at Lucky Day Productions. We are making a brand new series of 'Show Me the Monet' for BBC Two - the first series transmitted earlier this year in May. 

As before, our Hanging Committee of three art experts is looking for great art - painting, drawing, photography, prints, sculpture, textile art (as hangings not textile design or fashion) - to put into their prestigious exhibition in London where members of the public together with the great and the good of the art world can view and buy the work that is on display. 

We are looking for both amateur and professional artists from across the nation to apply and it would be fantastic if you were able to spread the word. 

Applications open during the week of Monday 12th December 2011 and will close when we have received 3,000 applications or on Sunday 8th January 2012 at midnight (whichever is sooner). 

To apply: Visit our website: www.showmethemonet.tv 

Please note that we are only accepting the first 3,000 applications for the series and any applications received after this cut off point cannot be considered. 

You can follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ShowMetheMonet

To view a clip from the last series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3x3w

kay.green@luckydaytv.co.uk

Gry Jeanett Henriksson - Graduate Success

Gry Jeanett Henriksson graduated from The University Of Wolverhampton in 2009. After returning to her home town  she began working for a design consultancy called "Digitalfabrikken" (The Digital factory).

“I learned a lot and got involved in design projects with huge companies like DnbNor (a bank) and Yara. I designed magazines, stands for Aven, created new logos and art-worked lots of press ads for real estate firms. I had a great time and got a lot of responsibility which I thought was awesome!”

After a while she moved to EddaMedia (http://www.eddamedia.no) as a client manager/graphic designer in Tønsberg before relocating with the company to Oslo where she lives and works today.
Edda Media is one of Norway’s leading media company with 88 editorial publications, niche digital products and a local radio station.
Most of Edda Media's local newspapers are leading titles in their area, and have a weekly readership of 1 million people and an additional 1 million online users.

Gry now manages many different tasks and people and spends a lot of her day contributing to sweetdeal.no (in particular for the cities of Drammen, Fredrikstad and Moss), and designing print ads for  both sweetdeal and "Lokalguiden" (local guide) as well.

www.lokalguiden.no
www.eddamedia.no
www.sweetdeal.no

Horizon

First year typography students are designing a magazine. This project, entitled 'Horizon' focuses on the environment of Wolverhampton and the Black Country.

Artist Zander Olsen has also been thinking of horizons in his series of photographs entitled 'Tree Line'. These images are crafted in a precise way; tree trunks are wrapped in white material that perfectly matches the line of the horizon, creating an unbroken  edge to the landscape, which is brought out by the trees rather than obscured by them.
See more of Zander Olsens images of Horizons at:

http://www.zanderolsen.com/Tree_Line.html

Berg Cloud - Little Printer

Berg Cloud, designers of 'Little Printer' have been in touch to announce the impending launch of this exciting and very useful, new product.

Little Printer lives in your home, bringing you news, puzzles and gossip from friends. Use your smartphone to set up subscriptions and Little Printer will gather them together to create a timely, beautiful mini-newspaper.

Find out more at

http://bergcloud.com/littleprinter/

Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.

Daniel Dean and Ben Lam EVISU Competition Success

Congratulations must go to Daniel Dean, final year graphics student and illustration graduate, Ben Lam, who have been shortlisted, in  the EVISU, Don't Panic, Make the Rules, competition. As Judging has taken place by public vote, this makes Daniel and Ben's success even more impressive. Both designs are among the 20 top-rated pieces selected by the public, from all entries. Designs will be showcased in London, with live DJs, sushi bar plus artists and the winning entry will also be selected.

The overall winning design will be taken on a tour with EVISU to the Far East during 2012 as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations, their artwork will feature on the Don't Panic Poster. The winning designer will be presented with £500 worth of Evisu merchandise.

Good luck Daniel and Ben

http://www.dontpaniconline.com/designbrief/evisu-make-the-rules

Design Internship

Full-Time Design Intern
OTP Studio is a small, full-service design agency who deal in big ideas.

We’re offering a paid internship (£80pw) for up to three months to a talented graphic designer who’ll bring bags of enthusiasm, common sense and a good knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite.

A decent sense of humour is a must along with a willingness to drink beer from 4pm on a Friday.

If you think you fit the bill send a PDF of samples of your work and an email detailing whether, if you were a Bond villain, you would choose to have a moon-base or underwater lair and why to:

iwanttowork@otpstudio.com

Closing date for applications 12th December with the internship beginning early January 2012

http://www.otpstudio.com

Graphic Designer - 2Creatives, East London

Junior Graphic Designer

2Creatives is an award winning design studio based in East London. Founded in 2009 by industrial designer Anton Webb and graphic designer Rishi Sodha, we work for a variety of international and UK clients and have a wide range of exciting projects across the fields of branding, print, editorial, product, mobile, web and e-commerce.

We are looking for a junior graphic designer who is passionate, dedicated and friendly to join our small and welcoming team. The ideal candidate should feel confident working in a team on larger projects and seeing smaller ones through from start to finish. A keen eye for good typography is a must, as is attention to detail and a passion for both print and web. Our potential designer should be extremely proficient at using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign and knowledge of HTML and CSS would be a bonus.

Although not a prerequisite, someone with 6-12 months of working experience would be ideal, however a strong portfolio will always be considered.

If interested please email your CV and work samples to work@2creatives.com (pdfs should be no larger than 5mb)

This is a full time position beginning in January and successful candidates will be asked to come in for an interview. Strictly no agencies, please.

Blair Frame in Two-Fold magazine

Level 6 Illustration student Blair Frame has had a full-page illustration in the inaugural edition of Two-Fold magazine. 

Blair has had a successful 2011, working on a number of commissions and winning £500 and the student runner-up prize in the nationally recognized Cheltenham Illustration Awards.

Signs for Sounds

You’re warmly invited to the private view evening for the opening of Signs for Sounds on Thursday 8 December 6-8pm at Bilston Craft Gallery. This Harley Gallery touring exhibition of contemporary calligraphy and letterforming explores how we communicate through writing and how this is changing in our increasingly digital and international world.

The private view will feature one of the artists, Timothy Donaldson, creating his work live in the exhibition!

We’re delighted to have been able to work with local groups Bilston Writers and Bilston Scribblers to develop and include creative writing about ‘the sights and sounds of Bilston’ within the exhibition.

OCD MAG - Sangita Kumari

Regular readers of this blog may remember a post dating back to November 2010 about Sangita Kumari and her ambitious magazine project OCD.

http://visualcommunicationwolverhampton.blogspot.com/2010/11/guardian-sponsorship-for-graphics.html

Sangita, now a final year graphics students, has just launched an online version of OCD covering music, art, design, fashion, film, photography and as she puts it, "a hell of a lot more". OCD MAG online can be found at http://ocdmag.wordpress.com/

Part Time Student Caroline Gibson

When I am not studying for my degree in graphic communication, I am a graphic designer for an insurance broker that specialises in commercial motor insurance. It is a business that is always evolving to include new brands and products, so I am continuously challenged on a day to day basis, whether it be working on new brand identities or creating artwork for existing brands.

I’m the sole designer in a busy office environment, liaising with marketing teams internally and externally, designing for both print and screen. The print work ranges from designing internal documents to promotional material such as brochures and advertisements. For screen I produce web banners and ecards, as well as editing video footage for our viral campaigns.

Paul Power - Graduate Success

While studying Graphic Communication at the University of Wolverhampton, I participated in the Speed Programme which led me to set up my own design agency -  Deadly Graphics. This experience gave me a great deal of confidence both in designing and in working with clients. 

Being self employed was extremely hard but the experience I gained was unbelievable. I got to work with small start up companies and larger organisations such as NHS, Amtico International, Save the Children, and Polydor Records. 

Subsequently, I decided to apply for and was accepted for a graphic design position at Brintons. I had no idea how big the company was until I joined! The company is one of the largest Axminster carpet suppliers in the world and my role within the company quickly grew and I eventually became the Global Graphic Designer and worldwide Brand Coordinator. 

I have been lucky enough to work on some amazing projects that ranged through brand advertising, iPad app development, product launches, POS and developing corporate design guidelines. I also had the opportunity to design for brand collections such as those for Laura Ashley, Stacy Garcia, Timorous Beasties and Laurence Llewelyn Bowen. 

After working with Brintons for just over a year, I am now moving on and looking forward to new challenges. I will be returning to a more conventional design agency environment in January, when I start working for Connect Group, based in Wolverhampton.

Forget Politics – Vote for Ben

Visual Communications ‘Artist in Residence’ Ben Lam is one of the front runners in the Don’t Panic EVISU 20^th Anniversary competition.

Ben graduated in Illustration in 2010 and has been freelancing since. Ben has worked on a range of commissions including T-shirt designs and Editorial Illustrations.

Ben is currently working on Illustrations for a phone app in liason with the Illustration subject and an outside client: Dilemmr

The Don’t Panic competition is based on votes cast so if you like his work make sure you cast your vote by the midnight 4^th December

http://www.dontpaniconline.com/designbrief/evisu-make-the-rules

The 20 winners will exhibit their work in the EVISU 20^th Anniversary Party in East London.

In addition, Ben will be giving a talk towards the end of January/early February that will cover his working methods, commissions and showing work in progress, all are welcome to attend, details to follow.

As part of the terms of the ‘Artist in Residence’ scheme Ben will be working on site and producing a number of screen-prints, in addition he will be available to give some initial sessions on Illustrator to Visual Communications students, again details to follow.

D and AD awards archive on view

Voyage through the extensive D and AD Awards Archive, as it
showcases 49 of some of the very best shortlisted work from the
first 50 years.

Join the Journey so far at www.dandad.org/50fwd or follow @dandad #50fwd for daily updates.

Internship - Web Developer and New Media Assistant

Lisa Barrett, graphics graduate, has been in touch. She is now working for Sixth Story an Birmingham. Lisa wanted to announce a 4 month part-time internship with Sixth Story giving Wolverhampton students and graduates the chance to apply. The closing date for applications is December 2.

Really exciting new opportunity for a graduate wanting to gain experience in an online marketing and new media company. This would be a great opportunity for a graduate with a web design or interactive media/multi media related degree. 

This voluntary opportunity is to work within a graphic and website design agency based in the creative hub of Birmingham, Rhubarb Building, Digbeth. This voluntary internship will give you a chance to become more familiar with website development as well as SEO. Within this role you will find yourself assisting the Key Web Developer on live projects as well as the SEO of the Sixth Story website.

As a volunteer you will get a well-rounded overview of a creative agency working on various activities including mail outs, customer and competitor research.

Desirable Skills

HTML / CSS / PHP Skills
Basic use of Photoshop
Javascript / jquery
Knowledge of wordpress

Additional Company Information

Sixth Story is a graphic design and website design agency and a marketing consultancy.

Sixth Story is located in Digbeth, a creative hub within the Birmingham City Centre and is highly accessible via bus and rail links.

Suite 202 Rhubarb
25 Heath Mill Lane
Birmingham
West Midlands
B9 4AE
http://www.sixthstory.co.uk

Applications can be made at:
http://www.graduateadvantage.co.uk/internships/view/2010

1st International Conference on Semiotics and Visual Communication, Lemesos, Cyprus

The department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts of the Cyprus University of Technology played host to the 1st International Conference on Semiotics and Visual between 25th and 27th of November 2011.

Course Leader for Graphic Communication, Jeff Leak, was part of the organizing Scientific Committee and as well as chairing one of the sessions, he presented a paper around Semiotics, Architecture and Spatial Design with specific reference to French environmental typography.

His paper discussed the importance of the semiotics of French painted roadside advertising hoarding both in terms of it’s own moment in history and also it’s longer term legacy – what it means in the context of modern France and how these images communicate something about a sense of time, of place and culture. You can see one of Jeff’s images below:

The conference theme was “From Theory to Practice” and it aimed at exploring the broad subject of semiotics in a wide sense, aspiring to bring together researchers and practitioners who study and evaluate the ways that semiotic theories can be analyzed, perceived and applied in the context of various forms in visual communication.

The conference attracted over a hundred speakers from around the world including Australia, Brazil, Russia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Greece, New Zealand, Poland, France, Holland, Great Britain, India, USA, Oman, Mexico, Jordan, Sweden, Kuwait, Qatar, Spain, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Japan, Lichtenstein and Estonia, as well, of course, as Cyprus.

The opening key note speaker was Professor Theo van Leeuwen - Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, who presented insightful observations and work around Creativity and Control: social semiotic reflections on kinetic typography.

You can read more about the event here:
http://www.cut.ac.cy/icsvc/

The conference was endorsed by the International Council of Graphic Design Associations 

Congratulations Kate

Readers of this blog may remember our pervious post about graphics graduate Kate Farrell. Kate is delighted to have been appointed as a designer with Redan Publishing in Shrewsbury, a leading independent publisher for the pre-school magazine sector.

Kate's first designs for Redan are now on sale. She has been designing Sparkle World, the UK's number 1 multi-character girls' magazine. Aimed at children age 4-9, Sparkle World includes stories and activities based on a selection of the most popular licensed characters, including Rainbow Magic, Polly Pocket, Littlest Pet Shop, Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony. Every issue comes with a 24-page pull-out workbook, 4-page cut-out activities or poster, a range of competitions and a free gift. "There is also a "sticker fun" sheet which helps make learning a rewarding and enjoyable experience." says Kate. The magazine is extremely popular, with a circulation of 65,281 (ABC Jan-June 2011).

To see our previous post about Kate, visit:

http://visualcommunicationwolverhampton.blogspot.com/2011/08/redan-publishin g-update-from-shropshire.html

Freelance Project - Ergo, Notting Hill

Digital/Interactive Designer
Freelance Project

We’re Ergo – an independently owned Brand Identity Consultancy, experts in Brand Innovation and Strategy. We work with the likes of Carlsberg, The Coca Cola Company, Speedo and Swedish Match. Based in London’s Notting Hill.

We’re working on a project that’s in need of an experienced and creative digital/interactive designer. Our project requires someone with exceptional front-end design skills, you’ll be imaginative and will be responsible for the look and feel of the overall user interface. You’ll need to be conversant in creating CSS, and supplying files in the appropriate format to our back-end team. We are building an interactive game (not a traditional website), so the design of it requires a slightly different approach. You’ll need to be constantly thinking of the user’s experience. Examples of this type of work in your portfolio will be hugely advantageous.

We’d love to see samples and get an idea of your background, so please do send your details through to Selina at potential@ergo-id.com
www.ergo-id.com

Letterpress Induction Workshops at the Black Country Living Museum

Visual Communications students and alumni are invited to participate in letterpress induction workshops at the Black Country Living Museum with the Museum's artisan printer, Ken Dworak. 

As the print workshop is small, places are limited to 3 students/alumni each day. The sessions, are a wonderful opportunity to get inky fingers and learn about this exciting form of printing. Run on January 16, 18, 19 and 20, the workshops begin at 11.00am – please wear old clothing.

To book you place please contact Julie Green, Visual Communications administrator. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. (J.Green4@wlv.ac.uk)

These sessions have been generously offered by the Black Country Living Museum and are free of charge, plus they include admission to the Museum. Participants will be expected to make their own way to and from the Museum. Location details and information about parking and public transport links can be found at:

http://www.bclm.co.uk/where.htm

Please note booking is essential