OUGD602 - New Client | Dazed

After working with Dazed for a while now, in terms of my DJing, I offered my motion graphics services to them for the first time. They required a 20 second-max video that essentially takes all the information, seen in the cover photo below, and quickly animates it in a fast, simple way.

By using some new audio visual software that I have been experimenting with and Adobe After Effects, I was able to complete a video within 20 minutes. The colour scheme was kept the same as in the cover photo, and animations were matched with a So Solid Crew song - the main headliners of the event. The outcome sent to Dazed can be seen below. This was shared across their social media pages and event, which gets my work out thousands of viewers.



As they identified that I am very efficient with motion graphics, they gave me an offer to become their designer from September 2018 onwards. Their offer was £300 a month to complete the majority of design work needed. I did not agree this, as the amount of work could be too substantial; however, I said that we can work something out nearer the time. Their current designer will be leaving them in September; therefore, I aim to fill the gap and work with Dazed in the future. I think that a daily or hourly rate would be more effective, as that way I can fairly judge the amount of work and ensure that the outcomes are to a high quality.

OUGD602 - Confirmed Travelling Dates & Job Application Considerations

Today I booked my flights to go away for 3 months. I leave on the 26th May and return on 22nd August. Because I will be away so soon after hand in I have decided I am not going to apply for internships or jobs that start until September.

In the personal branding brief in this module I aim to create a CV and website will all my portfolio so that I can apply for jobs when I am away. I will be coming back for a week in July for graduation; therefore will use that time to look for jobs and apply to various studios.

OUGD602 - Contracts & Setting Fees High

Very recently I have begun using a contract when dealing with clients for DJ jobs. This was created by Dazed and is signed by every promoter before an event. The rough layout used for each gig can be seen below.

From dealing with clients and using contracts it has made me realise how important it is to value your services highly and that it very beneficial to charge clients a slightly higher price than you feel is normally representative of your time. For a large majority of gigs, promoters try to bring the fee down after you have told them how much your services are. Therefore, by setting the price higher to begin with you are able to get the fee you want in the end.

This is what I aim to apply in my design practice when dealing with clients. Obviously fee proposals and estimates should not be excessive and each situation is different; however, I have learnt from music that under selling myself is something that I will not do in the future.

OUGD602 - Getting In Contact With Utopia Productions & Arranging A Placement

As motion graphics is one the strongest areas of my practice identified at the start of the year I thought that it would be beneficial to try and do a placement that uses these skills to push myself. Utopia Productions are a West London that specialise in the creation of corporate videos, commercials and web content. They have a wide client list - one of which being the Pirelli Calendar, one of the most exclusive annual publications in the World.

The owner, Stu Chapman, is someone who I have been contact with for a few years. He is a family friend and I introduced myself to him a year ago, explaining that I do graphic and motion design and that he should get in contact with me if he is ever looking for a new designer. I have met up with him a variety of times for a chat and few beers and have talked to him via text for a while.

Due to persoanlly knowing Stu fairly well I sent him a text. This didn't need to be too formal and essentially explained that I am interested in working with him for a week, even if unpaid. This could potentially lead to further work after University that is paid; therefore, I was happy to do a placement for free. The conversation that I had was as follows:

A phone call was organised and I rang Stu this morning. We had a quick catch up and spoke about common interests. This led to me asking about coming to do a week's work experience at Utopia Productions to help with any work. Stu highlighted that he is very busy and that I should get in contact with him again in a month or two to further discuss dates. I have written down a note of this and will get back in contact with him regarding a week placement.