Online Opportunities

The advice of pretty much every guest speaker expressed how crucial it is to build a strong portfolio and a consistent online presence. I decided to explore different social media platforms and see what kind of opportunities I could get involved in and the best ways of showcasing my work and brand. Through my research I discovered various accessible mediums offering me the necessary opportunities to enhance my professional skills.

After browsing through twitter, I managed to find some free online courses in Photography and Script writing, two disciplines that I am extremely passionate about. Ohh, did I mention that they are free courses? well yes they are absolutely free! This opportunity is part of a project by future Learn, with the hopes of encouraging people to improve their knowledge without having the burden of a huge bill afterwards.  Once I had enrolled, I was immediately able to interact with my fellow course mates through the class forum. People from all over Europe had found this opportunity and like me were keen on networking and learning more about these sectors. This is a great opportunity which I would recommend for anyone looking to improve their knowledge, making connections with people internationally as well as getting an insight into their chosen art forms is a great place to start.

Guest Speaker | Design Bootcamp

With 33 years of freelancing experience, Peter Mickleright's knowledge and tips on entrepreneurship provided an insight into the life of  freelancer. The session touched on do's and don'ts, putting a price on how much your time is worth, branding and maintaining your own business. Design Bootcamp was created to combat how ill prepared aspiring creatives are in the beginning stages of their careers. Peter described his career choice as being a lifestyle rather than a job and felt that it was his duty to pass on his knowledge and experience.

The 2 in 1 session was very informative and helped me put into perspective the value of my work and how this should be reflected in the rates I charge. After applying his formula to myself and my current earnings, I learned that the rates I have been billing clients were nowhere near as much as I should have been earning. After speaking to professionals and ex-students, this seems to be is a common mistake among creatives starting out. Its as if we are blinded by our lack of experience and therefore forget to consider the quality we produce and the investment in time, learning our disciplines and in equipment/tools we have already brought. Despite realising this tremendous loss, it has was beneficial for me to have gone through that period  in order for me to work on producing content of a standard where clients were willing to pay for it and generally conducting business in a professional manner.

I have learnt that the foundations for a good working relationship is to make a good first impression,  the location of an office/workspace is crucial. Having a clean and tranquil environment to work in and a place to conduct business with clients is essential. As a creative, networking and forming connections with other creatives who specialise in different areas to you does not only benefit both you and your contact but also the client. This integration within the creative community is so valuable and essential in order to stimulate growth. A support system within this competitive industry is imperative, a number of online companies some of which include salt, purple and creative recruiters; act as a catalogue for freelance opportunities makes getting into the freelance realm that bit easier.

The only aspect of taking the freelance route is the lack of respect for his intellectual  property rights and the risk of clients not paying for the service requested. Although Petes horror stories are real occurrences within this field, this alone would not discourage me from exploring this option. Being self-employed has always appealed to me, having the freedom of working smart rather than working hard, knowing that my client base will be built on the quality and standard of my work and my passion for my disciplines are reasons that would motivate me to start my own creative business. 

Trends | Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is a reformed approach to businesses communicating with customers though the use of digital technologies. The aim of this interactive form of reaching consumers improves and promotes brands, increases sales and retains customers. Digital marketing began in the 90's with web 1.0 platform. Google was founded closely after this in1998, later leading to the discovery of social media platforms including blogger, myspace, Facebook and Twitter; beginning the period of web 2.0. today it is very common for businesses to utilise these platforms to advertise their services and products. In 2014 a study by we are social found that approximately 2.3 billion people are active users of social media platforms, proving that this medium is an excellent way for companies to reach a lot of people all over the world.

Cookies
The cookie is widely used in the e-commerse world to collect data about users and their search habits. The introduction of this tool changed the game of digital marketing, allowing companies to filter their advertising content depending on the user; this method is commonly used by companies such as Amazon and Ebay.

Argos
Argos has made significant progress in paving the way of digital retail, through their new initiative to reform the company to keep up with the digital age and to maintain their status in retail. John Walden's (Managing director) plans of transforming Argos into a digital retailer has really impacted the way we shop, by integrating convenience with familiar technologies. The series of concept stores across the UK were launched in 2013, with a new fast track service the household company provides customers the option to use in store iPads, free wifi to connect personal devices and pay and collect stands offering a quality service to each customer. Although the traditional catalogs have not been abandoned, Argos' aim to cater to the needs of their customers with urgency has been successful in changing the way we shop.

Asos
Asos' innovative use of social media to drive their #BestNightEver campaign was an amazing phenomenon in digital marketing. The campaign was based around the online tendencies and biggest inspirations of their target audience. This authentic marketing strategy reinforces celebrity influence on consumers by allowing buyers to instantly purchase the products they see in the music videos of urban artist, this clever interaction eradicated the barrier between the audiences, artists and products, whilst taking Asos to new heights. Furthermore, the huge buzz around the brand generated their best sales result during the launch of the campaign in December 2012 in time for the festive season.
 The success of this on demand strategy was  due to their extensive market research as it was evident that the platform the chose was a reflection of what their audience wanted.

Guest Speaker | Google

Since September 1997 Google has prided itself highly on user experience, its minimalistic design, accessible formats and the delivery of information. These features are the aspects we love most about google.  This global community of hard-working, daring, creatively in-tune individuals together makeup this multinational technology company. 

Raj Arjan, a User Experience Researcher at google, shared with us his journey before and during his time working for google, tips and advice for getting a foot into the creative industry as well as his hopes for the future. From his talk, I took away the importance of team work, exploring my own network and tapping into the range of skill sets available to me - In Raj Arjan's words "encouraging a cross pollination of ideas" encouraging this form of communication starts new conversations which lead to new ideas and new projects taking form. It was evident that the google team are very interconnected and share views similar to my own, that there is indeed strength in numbers. 

This notion of taking ideas and putting them into fruition is at the heart of the Google X project, the lab facility was started in California in 2010 and began with the development of the self-driving car. It is a core for experiments of the weird, wonderful and crazy ideas known as moonshots. Although approximately 100 concepts are dismissed each year this does not waiver their confidence in discovering a new revolutionary product. The creative freedom and support that Google offers its employees is next to none, I love this aspect of google because as it must not only be encouraging but make you a more resourceful and resilient individual. One Google X project that really stood out to me was Project Loon, its aim was to create satellite balloons which act as broadband hubs for less developed parts of the world. 

The digital age we live in now has developed tremendously from that of 30 years ago. Although technologies have advanced our access can still be limited by necessary resources such as electricity, finances, education and connectivity. Google aim to eliminate as many of these restrictions as possible, through ideas such as Project Loom, their ultimate aim is to make accessibility as easy and convenient for the user as possible. This was also the goal behind the internet cafe in Senegal which uses tablets instead of desktops, through this they managed to eliminate two constraints through the use of wireless connection and reducing the dependence on electricity. This really puts into perspective how different devices and platforms are dependent on the conditions of the individual, to enable each user to have an equally great experience of a product.

Although Raj isn't a designer he explained that teams can range in terms of size from being closely nit of around 5 people or up to 20 members. Despite the size of the group, each role is dependent on one another in order to present the best possible product. The experimental Delhi Public Transport app was 1. a great example of how team work works and 2. a demonstration of Larry Page's philosophy in  ensuring the best or most appropriate outcomes - "Theres no substitute for personally watching and listening to real people". The feedback received from the target audience proved that cultural and language barriers must be considered when creating technologies for the world, he gave the example of temple run the game application, a craze which began in 2011 with more than a billion downloads in the first year, a simple concept with cultural relevance meant that the phenomenon had spread to all corners of the world and challenged the conventions of most game applications by keeping players engaged years later. 

The user is at the heart of everything creators do, irrespective of the discipline. having an understanding of the fundamentals of human behaviour and cognitive process can really enhance your knowledge and make user design more appropriate.  Raj mentioned that his final paper for his masters which explored the link between psychology and user experience was extremely insightful and practical as he could apply his findings to his work in industry.

Raj is a walking example that hard work can pay off, he expressed that 5 years ago he would never have expected to be working one of the largest tech companies in the world and have progressed to the stage he has reached in his career; this is a healthy reminder to stay focused and strive for the best. One piece of advice he offered us is to practice and continue to perfect our crafts,  the importance of research and paying attention to rational, you never know when you'll have the opportunity to promote your brand or tell someone about your work. knowing how you came to the finished product whether this is during an interview or a networking event it is essential. 

There is always more to learn, absorbing information from professionals and taking advantage of their lessons and experiences can only better prepare me for my future career. I could see myself thriving in an environment similar to what google offers,  being independent in my work but and also having the contrast of working within a focused and dedicated team and having the responsibility and the freedom to express my creativity. 

Web industry trends | Sara Choudhry

Sara Choudhry's presentation highlighted the key trends within the web industry, further illustrating how diverse and how frequent new developments are made. The second part of the talk was about Sara's experience in industry and how she came about making certain decisions on her career path. The content she delivered was very realistic and genuine, she gave us the sometimes harsh but true facts about what kind of things employers look for, interview tips, salary expectations and necessary levels of experience expected of a junior creative.

There is lot of money to be made within this industry, however nothing comes easily. Practice and experience are the main components to a successful career in this field.  As the digital age progresses, media is everywhere and everyone has online access instantly, by using this tools/platforms like social networking sites to our advantage bridges the gap between professionals, businesses and novices; this resource is affluent, so why would we not take advantage of it.

Sara was in the same position as us not too long ago, so she knew exactly what doubts and worries we have at this stage of our studies. It was very interesting to hear from someone who had not been on the year in industry program but had still gotten the necessary experience of working through a summer placement. She expressed that this decision was based on her own convenience and reinforces that  you firstly must, consider what your goals are, whether they are attainable in the set time constraints and then secondly, figure out the best way to achieving the goal. There are plenty of ways to do any one thing, I just have to find the best way for me.

Creative Matters

Creative Matters is a soundcloud account brought to us by creative Skillset in association with Hiive. the pre recorded audio sessions offer advice and inspiration with the hope of empowering talent with tips and information that you need to know about the industry. The monthly show started in 2015, adding soundcloud to their already extensive social media tools magnifies Creative Skillset's online presence. This integration has made accessing their content easy and convenient for people seeking their services.

Episodes 2 and 3 of the series touches on the topic of self-promotion, and desired industry skills. each segment of the show is constructive and breaks down the necessary information into feasible sizes. After listening to episode 2 I realised a lot about myself, the fundamental skills I already possess and the next steps I need to take to attain the ones I do not yet have. For me, the best piece of advice given in the Lifting the Lid segment was to be ruthless when putting showreels and portfolios together. Listening to your initial doubts and allowing your best work to shine without being over shadowed by mediocre pieces of work.

Trends | Diversity in Television Broadcast

The big screen is the traditional medium for visual communication, people now want things instantly and at their own convenience. Due to this, the bid to keep up with the entertainment needs of the public among the conglomerates within the television industry has taken shape. This transition into the digital age has altered the way we access content through the introduction of various online tools such as 4od, BBC iplayer and ITV player, by making room for new channels, increasing revenue and also creating new opportunities for smaller companies.

Commercial broadcasting networks such as chanel 4, Sky, ITV and The BBC have gotten involved in a new initiative surrounding the issue of diversity or the lack of it in the television sector both on and off the screen. The diversity category includes disability, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) and BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups). The first BAFTA Diversify conference took place in 2013 with a follow up conference in 2015, In the two years between these sessions, there have been significant advances in including these diversity groups into the productions, however many people including Lenny Henry, feel that despite the progression, there is still a lot more work to be done.

Diversity within television is a huge deal, it was reported that in 2013 the shockingly low statistics of BAME representation in television had fallen to 5.4%. The harsh reality is that the absence of relevant contributions has resulted in alienation and the formation of negative conceptions concerning these groups. I am therefore an advocate of new initiatives and schemes who aim to combat this problem. The BAFTA conference was a hub for likeminded individuals who have a common notion and urge to better represent multicultural identities. The Diversify conference part 2 was successful in delivering resolutions however for me the problem is that everyone involved is on the same page. Where are the people who do not see that there is a disproportionate opportunities or severe misrepresentations in television and how can we as a creative community get them to listen?

The implementations and schemes that are being put into place now are really going to set the tone for the future. Living in London, a very multicultural city, it is more likely for an ethnic minority to get certain opportunities. The initiatives mentioned during the podcast are essential in ensuring these same opportunities are presented and are attainable in less diverse areas within the UK.  Action planning is a great way to begin but without execution and maintenance these efforts will go to waste.

Britain is the mother of television broadcast and we pride ourselves on this. Society is changing and incorporating all types of diversity is fundamental if we want to continue to reach audiences and exceed their entertainment needs.  As a member of an Ethnic minority, Having this conversation within the industry and having the commercial broadcasting networks recognise that changes need to be made is very positive. This makes me hopeful not only for my generation but the future generations to come.

Diversify conference (part 2)