Investigate a list of methods you can employ to contact other creatives, studios or agencies.
MY LIST:
- Phone
- Behance
- Business Cards
- Visiting a studio and speaking to them directly
- Through contacts you've already gained
- Online through their website
- Google / search engine
- Sending a letter in the post
- Skype / Facetime
- Blogs
- Fax
- Through random conversation with the general public - I made my first contact from chatting to him at work and talking about our personal interests
- Tutors
- Lectures / Designer & creative talks
- Workshops
- Family and friends
1. Reflecting on your Summer, what is your most memorable event and why?
I'd say going on holiday to France with Joe, as I haven't been to france since I was about 5 years old and my family only ever go on holiday to places around the UK so it was really exciting to go somewhere abroad. It's also really memorable as we stayed in his house over there in a tiny little hamlet called Fontmore, near Bergerac, and you barely met anyone who could speak a word of English so it really put my mind to the test as I hadn't spoken any French since GCSEs! I went on a lot more holidays this year then I usually do, and actually kept active over the summer.
2. Have you made any contacts over the Summer that you feel could be helpful over the coming year or so and what outcomes did you feel you achieved?
I made a contact a few years ago, called Martin Lewis who works at his own design studio in London, but over the summer I actually got to go down there to visit his studio and meet him properly. The visit was really helpful as it gave me more of an insight into how smaller design studios work and how relaxed the atmosphere was at his studio. He's a really great contact as well - he is happy to criticise my work that I send him and give me professional feedback, he's also given me loads of portfolio advice and general feedback on how I present myself or how I could brand myself. His emails are always a lot lengthier than I'd expect them to be which is really good as he's always there to help me out!
3. How did you meet / contact these contacts? (methods used or how it happened)
I met him when I was working at a local gastro-pub in the Cotswolds where I'm from. I knew him already, because I went to school with one of his sons but didn't get talking to him properly about his career until I overheard him talking to another employee about what they're studying and what he does, so I obviously jumped on the opportunity and got chatting to him. He gave me his business card, and we went from there.
4. If you didn't make any contacts, why? Too busy working? Holidays? Commitments?
I haven't really made any new contacts, unfortunately. I just managed to get to know my current contact a lot better, which was really helpful. I think I was a bit too busy travelling and working on uni stuff this summer to consider looking for new contacts, but I'm definitely going to ask Martin if he knows of anyone else that I can talk to about the areas of Graphic Design that I'm interested in, as he doesn't really have any experience in the fashion industry himself even though we've spoken about it plenty of times before.
5. What methods of contacting creatives can you think of and what would you ask?
I think emailing them is an obvious method of contact, but you don't always get a reply. I don't think I'd ring a contact until I've spoken to them over email a little bit, as most contacts are always busy and whenever I need to ring or meet Martin I always have to arrange a time that he's free as he's always busily designing. When contacting creatives, I'd ask about particular work I find interesting on their website (suck up to them a bit and show that you're interested in their work) and then also ask about arranging visits or chats over the phone. Maybe ask if they can offer any feedback on designs that I'm working on currently, etc.