Today, for the first time, I visited the Tetley Gallery with Roxxie Blackham. The reason we went was because of a book fair being on for the weekend. 

 There was also an exhibition on about book design, which was also very interesting: 

Due to the building being a Tetley factory originally, there was information and advertising about Tetley. I found this intriguing, especially the classic brand guidelines. 

 Some nice type on the door: 

The book fair itself: 

                                                                                                                                                               

Pressision Print 

Roxxie and I got speaking to someone who worked at Pressision printers in Leeds. He was happy for some of us to visit their printers, which Roxxie plans to organise for a group of third years. 

Below is an ISSUU document of my presentation: 

For 2 weeks I've worked at Two Times Elliott, based in Royal Oak, London. 

Unlike a high number of studios in London (like Magpie, the studio I did my last placement at), Two Times Elliott is not based in Shoreditch or even in East London. Being from North West London, this made my commute much easiser. 

The studio is part of Great Western Studios, which is composed of lots of small studios. This works really well to create a clustered creative community, across a range of creative disciplines. In the two weeks I worked here, I got to meet a huge number of people working in different creative fields. There is also a huge opportunity for collaborations. 

This is literally the sizes of the studio. Only four people work there: James (the creative director), Magnus, Matt and Laura (all designers). Everyone was young and extremely friendly. I was involved as much as they were with all of the projects. 

Views of the floor I was on: 

Outside the studio: 

                                                                                                                                                                  

Conclusion

I absolutely LOVED my time working here.  Although the placement was unpaid, I was so happy I worked here. I couldn't have felt more welcome or more involved. I will definitely keep in contact with everyone and would really like to secure a place there in the future for something more permanent. 

Before then, I would like to look into working at more studios I like, maybe even somewhere abroad before settling down somewhere. 

www.nice-and-good.tumblr.com

(A sarcastic name coming from the most popular and worst descriptive words in our crits at uni)


I have used Tumblr before, but never thought about it as a way of spreading my work and creating an ongoing diary. I have now set one up, designed it and create categories to work with for my research, similar to Pinterest's Board system. 

Adding my own work to be reblogged: 

The blog itself:

I will continue to use this throughout the year to monitor my interests, as well as showcasing my own work. 

My dissertation involved lots of primary research into the opinions of type designers and foundries. 

Below is a list of those who gave me responses used:

Yassin Baggar - Fatype Type Foundry

Sindre Bremnes - Monokrom Type Foundry

Mark van Bronkhorst - MVB Font Type Foundry

Béla Frank - Faber Fonts Type Foundry

Victor Gaultney - Ex Adobe Type Designer

Frode Bo Helland - Monokrom Type Foundry

Gerry Leonidas - Head of Reading (MA) Type Design

Tal Leming - Type Supply Type Foundry

Greg Lindy - LuxTypo Type Foundry

James Montelbano - Terminal Design Type Foundry

Thomas Phinney -  Ex Adobe Type Designer

Rich Roat - House Industries Type Foundry

František Štorm - Storm Type Foundry

Sumner Stone - Ex Adobe Type Designer

Jack Usine - Smeltery Type Foundry 

Carol Wahler - Executive Director of Type Directors Club

I intend on emailing all of those involved with the essay to show the outcome of the practical. 

Approach

In the passed, I have emailed studios instead of calling, in order to arrange visits / interviews. This time I decided to call studios up, something much more personal. This can also give me a straight yes or no answer instead of waiting. 

                                                                                                                                                        

Graphic Thought Facility
http://www.graphicthoughtfacility.com

For a long time Graphic Thought Facility have been one of my favourite studios. They are also situated a commutable distance from my home in London. 

I called up, and then ended up speaking with Andy Stevens via email:

                                                                                             

Hi there! 

My name is Joe Leadbeater, i’m a final year BA (Hons) Graphic Design student, studying at Leeds College of Art. I absolutely love your work, it seems you’re an agency with a carefully considered ethos that’s communicated throughout all of your projects. I would love to visit the studio to find out more, and hopefully result in an internship at some point after I graduate in July. After graduation i’ll be moving back home to London, so commuting to your studio wouldn’t cause any difficulty. 

Here’s a link to my website, my most up-to-date portfolio:

www.joelead.com

Looking forward to hearing from you and all the best,

Joe 

Joe Leadbeater

Graphic Designer

www.joelead.com

+44 (0) 7854 398957

                                                                                             

Hello Joe

Why don't you call by the studio in the New Year? It would be good to meet up and then we can take a view on what's available here re internships etc.

Let us know when you are down, possibly in New year before you head back up to Leeds?

Yours, Andy

                                                                                             

Hi Andy, 

That sounds great. I start university on the 6th, so the earlier the better really! Were there any dates you were thinking would work best for you? 

Best, 

Joe 

                                                                                             

It's not true that students get 3 months off at Christmas then. I'm up Scotland for Christmas so earlier might not be possible if I'm heading down and you're heading north. Let's Email after New Year. The 2nd might be possible but if not just give me a heads up for when you're next heading down to London and we can sort something out for then.

Andy

                                                                                             

Unfortunately there was not enough time to meet up with Andy before going back to uni for the next term. I will follow this up and hopefully gain a 3 month internship in the future. 

                                                                                                                                                        

Two Times Elliott
http://2xelliott.co.uk

Hi James!

My name is Joe Leadbeater, i’m a final year BA (Hons) Graphic Design student, studying at Leeds College of Art (I think one of your designers - Matt Tucker, was on my course). I absolutely love your work, it all seems so carefully considered, and executed with beautiful clarity. I would love to visit the studio to find out more, and hopefully result in a placement. Out of term time I live in London, so it would be no problem for me to visit in the next couple of weeks. We’re allowed to take up to 2 weeks off university for placements, so again, this wouldn’t be a problem. 

Here’s a link to my website, my most up-to-date portfolio:

www.joelead.com

Looking forward yo hearing from you and all the best,

Joe 

                                                                                             

Hi Joe,

Really lovely work — how long are you looking for a placement for?

Best,

James Horwitz

Creative Director

—

                                                                                             

After a long email correspondence, we organised an interview for the placement. I visited the studio and the next day was offered a placement! I was really happy with the result, which I will obviously blog when it comes to the placement itself. 

Presentation

- Everyone comes out with the same 'Adobe skills', show your personality. 

- Sene of humour can be appropriate, but it depends on the clients you're working with. 

- Your brand image must be consistent and appropriate. 

What should we have by now?
- Online presence
- Print items
- Network connections
- A 'wish' list

Deliverables
- Print promotion appropriate to your ambitions
- Online presence
- Any other material individual to your practice